“We’re still only at the level of casual discussion, but we should start considering a command vessel for transport, or possibly evacuation.”
During a break in their usual routine, Ringo said that to the sisters gathered there.
“A command vessel?”
“A ship for a person of rank. In this case, a ship Big Sis would ride aboard.”
“Wouldn’t the Fringhornir-class be good enough?”
Incidentally, Eve was out sunbathing with Asahi and was not present.
When Asahi was back, they usually left the two of them alone during break time.
Normally the five sisters were always together, so they gave way to the youngest sister during those times.
“The Fringhornir-class is a powerful battleship, but it lacks sufficient capability for the purpose of carrying Commander Ma’am and fully protecting her. The Fringhornir-class is, in the end, an escort ship. It was not designed to guarantee internal safety.”
“But compared to the surrounding powers, doesn’t it already have more than enough capability?”
At Ichigo’s question, Ringo shook her head.
“I acknowledge that human civilization is negligible. The threat organisms, however, are far too vicious. And while there are no signs of it yet, if ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ an advanced magic civilization exists anywhere, it would be a clear threat. As Asahi also mentioned, we would need to get a hand on the head of such powers before they rise. ...Well, that topic can wait for another time. This time, we are talking about a capital ship.”
They held spoken meetings on a regular basis.
Since they were interacting with humans more and more often, they were training their face-to-face communication abilities.
Of course, if they used simulators, training could be completed in just a matter of hours, so this was largely something that fell under hobby or killing time.
“We are doing everything possible to secure the safety of <The Tree>, but we are still far from perfection. Therefore, we need a means of safely evacuating Commander Ma’am if some sort of problem occurs.”
“...For now?”
“For now, the obvious answer is to have Commander Ma’am board either a Fringhornir-class or a Naglfar-class ship, attach an escort fleet, and evacuate to Second Fortress Black Iron. It would be safer than the sky.”
“Aerial monsters are scary~”
“If something wyvern-class attacks, even Titan-class or Gigantia-class ships could get shot down~”
Utsugi and Erika said that while laughing, but it was not really a laughing matter.
Even so, it was true that if they could deal with such a threat together with the sea fleet, it would not be that overwhelming.
“...If it’s the forces stationed at Second Fortress Black Iron, wouldn’t that be easy...?”
Tilting her head, Olive murmured that.
“Olive. Are you saying that Second Fortress Black Iron has the stronger military presence?”
“Yeah...”
When Olive spoke, she tended to leave out a few words.
Most likely that was because Eve and Ringo spoiled her.
They had ended up being able to understand one another with very few words.
If you wanted to call it anything, it was part of her individuality.
“Yes. In terms of simple military values, there is no doubt that Second Fortress Black Iron is stronger. Even so, <The Tree> has many non-combat installations. For the time being, this will continue to be our main base.”
Second Fortress Black Iron was a fortress focused on military expansion and resource production.
<The Tree> had research facilities, medical facilities, and above all, <The Core>, an astonishing supercomputer.
If they were to move the main base over to the continent, they would need to relocate <The Core> as well.
Otherwise, for the AIs led by Ringo, it would result in a fatal drop in performance.
“The problem is that evacuation options are limited. At present, a fleet centered on a Naglfar-class carrier is the only evacuation destination.”
“Could one reason be that Big Sis has not been actively expanding <The Tree>’s defensive mechanisms? The logic that the continent side needs more military strength is correct, but still.”
“Commander Ma’am makes resource-allocation decisions according to the numbers, so there is no issue with that itself. Rather, she distributes them accurately, which is something we ought to welcome as well.”
Ringo lowered her gaze ever so slightly, her expression remaining blank.
“Personally, I would like to allocate more resources to <The Tree>’s defensive forces.”
“We agree too~”
“It’d be nice if she gave us a little more, right?”
Utsugi and Erika also sided with Ringo.
The degree varied, but the sisters all believed that <The Tree>’s military strength ought to be expanded.
The problem was that the reason was only a vague sense of unease, and because they could not show concrete grounds for it, Eve had rejected the idea so far.
Until now, resource shortages had been a constant chronic condition, so that was unavoidable.
But at present, the resource balance had improved considerably.
Even if they diverted resources into expanding <The Tree> itself, in the long term it would have almost no effect on the overall plan.
At most, it would only delay production plans for the next few years by a few months.
However, Eve understood it.
Even if she accepted this demand, the AIs would never truly be satisfied.
Looking at how overprotective they were, it was easy to imagine that their wishes would only continue to grow.
That was why the sisters were airing complaints in the guise of idle chatter.
“So your position is that we keep increasing the escort fleet as we are, and also build a command vessel?”
“That is correct, Akane. A capital ship was already planned from the start. It would be realistic to make that the command vessel. Commander Ma’am would need living quarters, as well as protective facilities.”
An unmodified Fringhornir-class battleship was 321 meters long overall.
It did have living space, but compared to the scale of its enormous hull, it was modest.
However, simply expanding the living space as-is would do nothing but reduce structural strength.
“As for the capital ship that would serve as the command vessel, it would need to be at least 400 meters long. Living quarters, an armored section to protect them, anti-air equipment, underwater equipment, and a supercomputer for command and control. After fitting all of that inside, it would still need combat capability as well.”
“...If we could build a floating fortress, that would be best..., but we still don’t have the resources...”
What Olive was talking about was some method of securing buoyancy and then floating an entire gigantic installation in the air, large enough to be mistaken for a fortress.
Naturally, construction would require enormous quantities of resources.
And because the current reactors had reached their limit, they would need to develop a new kind of reactor based on an entirely different principle.
At present, the hurdle was simply too high.
“We may be able to manage structural reinforcement. We have already succeeded in producing hardened construction materials using Big Moth structural material.”
“If we could somehow deal with Commander Ma’am’s aversion to it, it would absolutely be worth considering. If we could mass-produce Superior reactors, we could use reinforced structures strengthened by energy force fields.”
“Monster materials are convenient, though~”
“It’s the procurement method being hunting that’s the problem~”
High-strength structures using monster materials, materials that transcended ordinary scientific constraints.
If they used those, then even at <The Tree>’s current technological level, they could build extremely robust structures.
But monster materials had a supply problem.
“Procurement of Big Moths is proceeding smoothly, but the issue is that the absolute numbers are too small. According to the people handling matters in the Forest Kingdom of Levresta, their breeding numbers should begin to decline after enough time passes, which means procurement will likely become even harder from here on.”
“Even if we use it for aerial escort ships, there is not enough for a monocoque structure. The only practical use is in mechanically critical sections, to reduce weight.”
Big Moths were giant monsters, but even so, the limit was only enough to produce structural material around five to seven meters long.
Even if they gathered those pieces and combined them, it was still not enough for the hull material of the Titan-class aerial escort ship, which had an overall length of 180 meters and an overall beam of 393 meters.
“...Asahi said chemical mass production is impossible...”
Naturally, light and strong materials were extremely useful.
<The Tree> wanted to mass-produce them if possible.
But according to Asahi’s assessment, magical growth factors were indispensable.
As things stood, she had no idea how to mass-produce them through culturing or any similar method.
