08-20 Quinta
When it came time to go all-out in preparing the armaments, Jin consulted Laozi.
The main task was strengthening Hourai Island.
“Let’s see. Intelligence, transport or mobilization otherwise, and military force. I think these three things are important. Don’t you think it would be a good idea to list each avenue for improvement in order of priority?”
Laozi said, and Jin followed his advice and thought. And the plan he came up with was,
1. For solid intelligence, send spies everywhere.
3. Development of new weapons.
These three steps.
“For spies, I think that increasing the amount of current Ninja unit members should do, however…”
“Hmm, that sounds good. Alright, let’s do that. Let’s make roughly 100 of them, and call them the ‘Quinta’.”
Laozi approved of it too, and for starters they settled upon the construction of the intelligence unit ‘Quinta’.
The adult-male types that would find it easiest to act numbered 40 and the adult female types 30. For camouflage purposes there were ten teenage boy types and ten teenage girl types, and finally ten small Reiko-types for a total of 100 Automata. Their foundation would be the same as that of Hourai Island’s SP’s, but they would be covered in Magical Skin and have hair to make them resemble humans. Jin would make the principal parts and Laozi would be in charge of the rest.
The next thing they started to work on was ways of movement.
“Transport that can takeoff and land anywhere, I see. I think that is a fine idea.”
Finally, with regards to the armaments, because they would operate together with the intelligence and the transport systems, they weren’t in a hurry to make decisions.
Then when they were just about to begin working on the Quinta, Reiko returned.
“Father, the establishment of a base at the ruins of the stronghold has been completed.”
Then Reiko began her report.
“First of all, the wreckage of the stronghold was left as it was.”
“The hole in the central part of the stronghold was dug in deeper, and the base was established in a depth of 50 meters. The installation of ManaComs and the Warp Gate have also been taken care of.”
“For personnel faculties there are bedrooms, a kitchen, and a toilet. It’s small, but a bath has also been installed.”
“There isn’t a stockpile of food yet, but water has been stocked. Enough for about ten people to subsist for a week.”
He added one more thing, the establishment of bases, to the list with three points from earlier. He indeed urgently needed some military staff for planning. Because even Laozi had Jin’s knowledge as his base.
“What would you like me to do? Master.”
“Oh, Ann.”
“It’s only a little, but I think I can offer some advice.”
“Oh right. You were something like a private secretary in that fortress, weren’t you, Ann?”
“Dispose of? Why are you suddenly talking about that?”
“In that fortress, I was an old model, I also had a low combat capability, and all the soldiers had grown tired of my body too. And so I was simply left alone to decay without even receiving repairs for any breakdowns.”
What a cruel story, Jin thought in anger.
“Yes, thank you very much, master. I will do my utmost to serve you.”
Reiko also encouraged Ann. For some reason Jin had never seen Reiko burn with jealousy towards Ann. It must be because they’re ‘blood relatives’ due to the foundation being of the predecessor’s design, Jin thought.
“Alright, in that case let’s start afresh. There’s a lot of things to take care of, but they don’t have to be done in order.”
“Armaments mainly for use against the Unifilers, right?”
“That’s right. But if possible, I was thinking about keeping them nonlethal.”
“In that case, the top priority is collecting intelligence about the Unifilers. The best weapon is knowing your enemy.”
“Mh-hm, that’s what I thought. For that we’ve decided to make the Quinta and dispatch them to various places.”
Ann voiced her opinion.
“Yes. It’s certain that in other ruins like the one I was in, there yet remains equipment from the past. It is important to not let even a part of the advanced knowledge of the past be known by the Unifilers.”
“Yes. Gigantes was a trial version of the mass-produced product, but I recall ten of them being manufactured. Three of them were destroyed in battles in those days. One of the remaining seven was destroyed the other day so the likelihood of six remaining is high.”
Laozi had the same information as her, but as Ann’s thought patterns weren’t designed by Jin she could point out things that Jin had overlooked.
First of all, the maximum priority task was to build the Quinta and dispatch them all around to gather intelligence about the Unifilers as well as ancient ruins. After that was the so-called ‘VTOL’ carriage vehicle.
Specifically, once the prototype VTOL was completed its mass production was left to Laozi. Jin then ended up completing the Quinta.
The order of things that was mentioned earlier may have become reversed, but Ann assured them that this was the most efficient method.
Jin got into planning the VTOL.
Jin remembered an article in a magazine he had once read in the past. However, it didn’t apply to Magi Jet Engines.
This too was from the article in the magazine and so he was uncertain.
After deciding the rest was quick. Taking speed, stability, permissible load, et cetera into consideration, he thought about the number and installation method of the Magi Jet Engines.
In the end, two large Magi Jet Engines were installed on both wings in a manner that they could point down for takeoff and landing. In addition, another pair of a bit smaller Magi Jet Engines were used for propulsion. On top of that four tiny Magi Jet Engines for adjusting the direction were installed, each pointing in another direction.
By carefully balancing the engines that float the vehicle they believed the change in attitude could be minimized.
Once Jin got into the manufacture he turned even more lively.
While mixing in some trial and error, the first prototype model of the VTOL was completed just past the afternoon on the same day.
“Alright, now let’s take it for a test flight.”
“Reiko, it’s up to you.”
After a small exchange, Reiko boarded the prototype VTOL and started the engines.
“It floats!”
Its stability looked a little poor, but with Reiko’s reflexes that were dozens of times faster than a human’s she compensated for it, and as planned the machine stayed still at a height of two meters.
Using a ManaCom Jin issued instructions to Reiko. After receiving them Reiko once more operated the prototype machine.
“Hmm, hm. Good, good.”
After that it moved sideways, then slowly moved in a circle, carefully confirming the operability and behavior at slow speeds.
Satisfied with the performance for now, Jin instructed her to move to the next stage of testing it as an airplane.
After reaching a height of about 50 meters, she activated the Magi Jet Engines for propulsion. The prototype machine rushed forwards in a snap.
It was difficult. The lifting power decreased and the propulsive power increased. The steering turned tricky. It may have even been impossible if it weren’t for Reiko’s reaction speed.
By comparing this information in this Magi Crystal with computer support, afterwards the steering of the VTOL would become remarkably easier.
Small adjustments were probably necessary, but on this day Hourai Island grew new wings.
That night, Reinhardt made contact. He seemed to have crossed River Torres without any problems, in other words there wasn’t anything abnormal going on.
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