“Next, we will proceed to testing continuous recoveries and relaunches. Operation of each aircraft will be conducted from <Naglfar> by E-class Tactical AI <Heath>. Control of ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) the ship itself will be handled by U-class AI <Rochester>.”
“Will this be the first time in actual operation?”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. The simulations have produced strong results, so I am not concerned.”
Utsugi and Erika settled in to watch the performance of the AIs built from their neural patterns.
Naturally, even if this was the first operational run, the real-aircraft tests themselves were already complete. This was the first full test of launching all aircraft and recovering all aircraft.
“It’s my first time really looking at a carrier like this up close, so it’s exciting. Do recoveries land on the deck?”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. More precisely, we use the EM Tractor installed on the deck. During descent, it synchronizes with forward speed and then secures the aircraft with electromagnets. Because it clamps by powerful magnetic attraction, it can force a recovery even if the approach line wobbles in rough weather.”
After that explanation, carrier aircraft recoveries began in earnest.
The EM Tractor could move relatively freely across <Naglfar>’s full-length deck. Multiple rails had been prepared for movement.
The carrier aircraft entered the deck area at a decent speed. The landing gear was deployed, but that was for use if a touch-and-go became necessary. The EM Tractor itself did not require landing gear.
After synchronizing flight speed, it secured the airframe with electromagnets. Once the specified holding force was achieved, it handed the aircraft off to a parallel-running stowage arm.
The secured aircraft was pulled into the ship.
All of that took only seven seconds. Three seconds after that, the next aircraft entered the deck area. The EM Tractor had four approach lanes. That meant each lane could recover an aircraft into the ship in about ten seconds.
Carrier aircraft were being swallowed into the deck one after another. In actual combat, it was unlikely that aircraft would line up and approach this neatly, but even so, the recovery speed was astonishing.
“Recovered aircraft will be cooled by forced air while we perform component checks, replenish weapons and ammunition, and refuel. Minimum time to relaunch is eight minutes. If it is fuel only, five minutes is possible.”
The area around the jet engines in particular ran hot, so pulling them inside carried a fire risk by itself. To prevent heat buildup, the hangar circulated air through powerful exhaust equipment.
A reloading device connected and swapped ammunition.
From a fuel hose, jet fuel was pumped in all at once.
The entire sequence ran like an assembly line, one after another, and aircraft that finished replacement and replenishment were pushed straight into the launch booths.
“All aircraft recovered—complete!”
“No issues! All functions confirmed normal!”
Once it was confirmed that every aircraft had recovered safely, Utsugi and Erika were delighted. It seemed they were happy to see the AIs split off from themselves performing solidly.
The embarked AIs had not been named yet, so learning capability was limited, but naming could wait until things stabilized. In the end, the AI group mounted on <Hringhorni> and <Naglfar> would become the brain of <The Tree>’s defensive force.
“Time required for full recovery was approximately 500 seconds. Essentially the theoretical value.”
“Ooh... If continuous relaunch is possible too, then the deployable combat power feels like several times the aircraft count. Mmm. Even back in my game days, I probably never assembled power on this scale.”
Eve muttered that, and of course it was true. Back in the game days, she had pacified the surroundings early and moved up into space. There were probably hostile oceanic nations as well, but they would have been crushed beneath her civilization that seized the high ground first. On the starter planet, there were only AI-managed nations under ability restrictions, so that was how it went.
In other words, there had been no need to build a naval force on purpose.
“Whatever. Next... underwater forces, I guess? That’s what still needs checking.”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. As for submarines that would serve as the main underwater force, there is little documentation and no operational track record, so we are still in a trial-and-error phase. At present, in an emergency, we are adjusting toward releasing small submersibles and responding as needed.”
“Big Sis. Then we will begin launch training for the submersible <Bluefin> carried aboard <Naglfar>.”
This time, Ichigo reported it.
Because some level of underwater defense also needed to be considered, it seemed Ichigo had formed something like a study group around the topic.
Everyone’s judgment was that the sea likely held many unknown threats. Because of that, <The Tree>’s conclusion was that a half-baked submarine would not even serve as a shield.
For example, when it came to the sea, there was <Rain Kroin>. A run-of-the-mill submarine would be unable to resist that threat at all. After a few torpedo salvos, it would be over. If it got bitten, it would be crushed in an instant.
“<Naglfar> will begin deployment of assault submersible <Bluefin>.”
At the rear of <Naglfar>, an opening set into the ship’s side slid aside, gaping wide. A suspended rail protruded, and the submersible <Bluefin>—hanging nose-down—moved into position.
“Beginning release.”
A string of <Bluefin> units moved along the rail like beads on a cord, and each one was released in turn.
With a pace that practically made a SHPOON sound, the freed <Bluefin> units slipped into the water one after another.
“That’s a rough release...”
“Dropping them in that orientation allows immediate diving to about fifteen meters below the surface. Recovery is performed by slowing speed and using crane arms, so during combat operations, they will basically remain deployed.”
As expected, it was not easy to recover a <Bluefin> moving underwater. In the worst case, abandoning them outright was also anticipated.
Even so, at present, the likely underwater enemies were <Rain Kroin> and unknown monsters. Since there had been no encounters with underwater monsters besides <Rain Kroin>, the priority had been pushed quite low.
The working assumption was that, at worst, fleeing at full speed would get them through, which was why overall ship speed improvements were being pursued.
“<Bluefin> deployment complete for all boats. Low-power acoustic communication link established. Next, attempting laser communication link... complete.”
“Ooh. Acoustic communication. How far will it reach?”
“If we raise output, communication is possible on the scale of several thousand meters. However, in that case, the communication sound waves will propagate widely, so ordinarily, it will operate in fully autonomous mode.”
Underwater, radio waves attenuated severely. Lasers were better than that, but only on the order of a few hundred meters at most. Sound waves could reach much farther, but low frequencies in particular lacked directivity, so there was no eliminating the risk of needlessly provoking some... thing.
Therefore, <Bluefin> would basically operate autonomously at any distance beyond short range.
“We considered various options for the internal reactor, but at present, we have determined that a Stirling engine using fuel stones is the most efficient. The energy density of fuel stones is extremely high, and even compared with petroleum fuel of the same volume, it can generate tens to hundreds of times more thermal energy.”
“...Huh? Then that means those <Bluefin> units are carrying fuel stones?”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. Asahi was excited, calling it <The Tree>’s first magic engine, but we did not adopt it across the board due to limited operational history. Fuel stones have too many unknown characteristics.”
Come to think of it, she felt like she had heard something about vehicles running inside the Kingdom of Lepuitari using Stirling engines powered by fuel stones. So they had likely obtained operational data there, and then adopted it as <Bluefin>’s power source this time.
“In theory, Asahi claimed that fuel stones synthesized on the ton scale would provide enough power to run a battleship for years. However, because the effects of synthesizing enormous fuel stones are unknown, we have not approved it at this time.”
“H-huh...”
She had been told before that fuel stones could be fused together. The fuel stones exported to the Kingdom of Lepuitari were produced by using exactly that property.
But as <Ringo> feared, if they made an enormous fuel stone, it could ignite under its own weight, or explode, or turn into something dangerous in any number of ways.
As expected, Asahi could not be left unsupervised.
In an unexpected place, Eve renewed her resolve.
