Episode 67: Multi-Legged Airborne Unit, Arose with a Bang
At 10,000 meters above ground, a flying boat equipped with six propellers soared. With escorting flying boats flanking its sides, it slowly opened its rear hatch.
As the doors fully opened, small parachutes popped out.
Attached to them were 5-meter-long cylinders, released into the air. These cylinders, succumbing to Gravity, immediately began to fall.
Another flying boat released an identical cylinder.
Far enough from the flying boats, the cylinders detonated explosive bolts, purging their outer shells.
Revealed within were Bunker Busters. As they began their free fall, they deployed stabilizing fins, adjusting their entry positions with a gentle spin.
Ten seconds after the fall began, once the entry trajectory was confirmed, the rear rocket motors ignited. The rockets burned for approximately ten seconds, accelerating the bombs to the velocity needed for penetration.
The two Bunker Busters struck their designated targets with pinpoint accuracy. The high-strength warheads, designed to penetrate hardened targets, pierced through layers of rock, reaching the required depth.
And then—explosion.
The resulting explosive pressure, as calculated, blew the target in the ground away, exposing it to the surface.
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It had most of its sensory organs destroyed, and was cowering in the earth.
It had found a moving prey and attacked as usual, but it had managed to escape.
Furthermore, it was attacked in a way it couldn’t understand, and a part of its body was torn off.
Instinctively, it retreated, holding its breath in the hole it had dug.
It judged the damage to its body as not critical. It would regenerate in time.
However, it regretted the lost flesh. It needed to somehow make up for the loss.
There was plenty of “bait” in this area, so moving wasn’t a problem, but it needed “food” to grow.
It couldn’t move now due to the severe damage, but once it healed, it would be as usual—
Something pierced into the ground nearby.
The moment it heard the sound, it reflexively tensed up—
◇◇◇◇
“Bunker Busters detonated normally at the set depth.”
“Whoa.”
On the projection display, the ground was erupting as if being turned inside out.
“That’s some serious power. Do you think the Worm is completely pulverized?”
“Analyzing the images… confirmed. An object that appears to be the Worm’s main body is exposed on the surface. No activity detected so far. It might just be stunned.”
Amidst the billowing dust clouds, the analyzed Worm’s body was displayed in wireframe.
The plan to synchronize the detonation of two Bunker Busters underground, attacking with explosive pressure and pushing it to the surface, had worked as calculated.
However, the fact that the Worm was emerging onto the surface without any noticeable damage to its body was unexpected.
“We calculated the Worm’s toughness based on its durability during the Railgun attack, but it seems it was tougher than anticipated. We should have been able to penetrate with sufficient impact.”
“I see. According to the calculations, there was a high probability of it being split into multiple pieces, right?”
“Yes, Ma’am. In some areas, the impact would be greater than that of an Armor-Piercing Shell fired from the Railgun, so we assumed that the pressure difference would cause the body tissue to rupture.”
Due to the layering of the surrounding strata, the shockwaves generated by the two explosions reached the target Worm with a slight time difference. This pressure difference should have caused damage.
The sand and dust were blown away by the wind, and the epicenter was displayed on the screen.
“That’s quite a sight…”
A massive Crater had appeared there. And the Worm’s body, half-buried in the earth and sand, could also be seen.
“It’s good that the road wasn’t damaged.”
“Depending on the Worm’s position, the road might have been damaged as well. But this level of damage can be repaired quickly, so there’s no problem.”
＜Ringo＞ said that because the road, though called a road, was just a simple path of ruts.
It was a path used by caravans that traveled back and forth regularly, and basically, it would return to its original state if it was filled back in.
Indeed, if ＜The Tree＞ deployed several of its heavy machines, the road could be restored in less than half a day.
“Is that so? Well, even so, I’d like to fill in this Crater if possible. It’s near the road, and it would be bad if water accumulated there.”
“Yes, Ma’am. As you wish.”
“Please do. …So. The Worm isn’t moving, huh?”
The Worm’s body was buried in the Crater. There was no sign of movement, and its condition was unknown.
Considering the impact that created the Crater, even if its outer skin was hard, the inside was likely in terrible condition.
However, if it had undergone structural reinforcement similar to ＜Rain Croin＞, there was a possibility that it had survived unscathed.
“Hmm… For now, let’s send in a Rotorcraft for transport. We need to dismantle it and level the ground, so we need to transport heavy machinery as well.”
“Yes, Ma’am. I’ll arrange it. We’ll drop the heavy machinery with the SR-1 (Albatross). For recovery… well, there seems to be a lake nearby, so we can use that.”
“Ah, that’s right, it’s a flying boat. It can land on the lake too.”
And so, they prepared various heavy machines and Rotorcraft. During that time, they continued to monitor the Worm, but they never confirmed any activity.
“Starting the drop of the Multi-Legged Heavy Machine.”
From the rear hatch of the Albatross that had reached the sky, a parachute popped out, and the connected Multi-Legged Heavy Machine was dragged out by its air resistance.
As it began to fall according to Gravity, multiple parachutes were deployed, supporting its weight.
“Oh, what a sight.”
“This was also carried out to gather information for future airborne units. However, descending by parachute takes time. If the enemy has sufficient anti-air weaponry, there is a risk of interception.”
Commander (Eve) was innocently cheering as she watched the descending Multi-Legged Machines, but ＜Ringo＞ didn’t seem to like it.
“I don’t know much about this, but isn’t this something you do after securing Airspace Control?”
“Yes, Ma’am. However, assuming a situation where we actually airdrop tanks, it means that the enemy’s position is so strong that tanks are needed. If the suppression of anti-air positions has been completed, the deployment of Drones would be sufficient.”
“Hmm… is that so?”
“Yes, Ma’am. I am not well-versed in tactics, so there may be holes in my reasoning… but it would be better for airborne units to decelerate forcibly with rocket motors or something similar after free-falling or accelerating. The structure of the parachute itself is very simple, so if a parachute is sufficient, we can always manufacture it again at that point.”
While the concept of ＜The Tree＞’s airborne machine unit was being developed in this way, Multi-Legged Tanks and Multi-Legged Heavy Machines were landing one after another.
The biggest advantage of Multi-Legged Machines is that they can easily operate on uneven terrain. They can also absorb impact with their Legs upon landing.
The disadvantage is that they tend to sink because they need to support their weight with their feet.
However, this can be solved by actively burying their feet in the ground to increase the contact area.
The landed Multi-Legged Machines, while reeling in their parachutes, began to walk towards the Crater where the Worm was buried.
“They’re collecting the parachutes.”
“Yes, Ma’am. It’s to minimize the leakage of technical information, even if they are not reusable.”
“Hmm… well… I guess so. If someone who knows what they’re looking at sees it, they might realize the possibility of airborne deployment…”
From the structure of the parachute, there was indeed a possibility that someone could realize that a huge object could be safely brought to the ground from the air at a safe speed.
There was almost no possibility of that information leaking in this area right now, but it was important to be thorough about these things from the start.
“Reached the Crater. No reaction from the motion sensors. The Worm is completely silent.”
“I see… If we don’t know, we have no choice but to dig. Start digging while being cautious. What about self-defense measures?”
“The deployment of the Multi-Legged Tanks has been completed. We can attack immediately if anything happens. …Checking the infrared images. As expected, the Worm’s body temperature is almost the same as the underground temperature. It cannot be detected by infrared sensors.”
There was a lot that they didn’t know about the Worm, but it was clear that precise vibration detection was necessary to detect the approach of this Monster. In areas that were not thought to be outside the Worm’s habitat, they would have no choice but to constantly patrol with Wide-Area Surveillance Drones.
“I don’t want to stand out too much, though.”
“Ma’am. I think you should give up on that idea, considering you’re deploying Multi-Legged Machines.”
＜Ringo＞ thought that Commander (Eve)’s sense of the world might need a little correction.