Speed and energy.
According to the rule of physics, an object in motion possessed an energy that was equal to the force needed to accelerate from its rest state to its current velocity. The higher the velocity, the higher the energy it contained.
This was the so-called kinetic energy in classical mechanics.
This phenomenon existed everywhere in the universe, like a constant rule. The breeze of the air, the swing of people's arms as they walk, the movement of cars as they hovered above the ground… even the orbit of celestial bodies in the vacuum of space.
It was everywhere, anytime. From the beginning of the universe until its eventual end.
Usually, it was invincible and hard to perceive in everyday life. But just like any force of nature, it became noticeable when its scale grew enormous.
The kinetic energy of a bouncing ball might be minuscule and harmless, but that was only because its scope—mass, speed, gravity—was just too small. The bottom tier, so to speak.
The limit was set by the light. The speed of light in a vacuum, c. Even with ten thousand years of history, mankind has not yet managed to reach that venerable height.
At least not on a macroscale.
It was easy to say that scientists accelerated particles almost to the speed of light, but so what? It was only when they apply this feat to weaponry that people would notice.
But those scientists didn't need to put in as much effort if that were the case. Moving bullets to very high velocity was hard. Very hard.
The reason why was simple. It was expensive.
Not in the monetary sense, but energy, the currency of the universe. Even reaching a mere 1 percent of the speed of light for a medium-sized projectile would cost as much energy as needed to power a metropolis in a day. Hundreds of trillions of joules.
Yet that number… was enough. No, rather, it was too deadly.
A projectile moving at very high velocity also contained very high kinetic energy. That was the rule, as it was set upon. But that same rule also stated that energy couldn't be destroyed, or erased. It could only change form.
Which, in the case of what Milanor saw this very moment, into an explosive blast that leveled his surrounding.
Qwattor City was burning.
The usual red dwarf-tinged, iron-filled red sky was turning into an even more vivid scarlet. It was as if a supervolcano had just erupted yesterday and dyed the whole planet red.
Maybe it was cliché to say this, but it was as if the city was bathed in blood.
"…20… 30… More than 40, I reckon."
"Data from Helios, Captain. 31 flyers, 8 frigate-class, and 3 corvette-class."
Accessing her connection to Helios' radar, Miledi explained it to him. "I also detected a large cruiser class high up in orbit."
"There're fires everywhere," Naya commented close from close by.
"Indeed. The ground radar indicated at least 21 hotspots. The biggest one…" Miledi hesitated before turning toward the view behind them.
It was the location where the City Tower—the government's center—stood.
They all turned around as if following her action.
That tower was no more. Gone. Reduced to smoldering rubble. The fire was so intense they could feel it clearly on their skin, even though it was quite a distance away.
"Orbital strike. Must be that cruiser."
"Yes. I do not detect any harmful radiation, however."
'A kinetic weapon, then. Effective, but cheap. Perfect for pirates. Only in the range of dozens of Machs, and this is the result.'
The fleet that was currently descending rapidly must be the one that dealt the other 20 blasts.
Milanor doubted they were the same weapon as the one that destroyed the tower though. They were already too low and Qwattor gravity wouldn't provide enough energy for this kind of damage.
If he had to guess, probably heat rays, seeing the extensive fires.
Those ships were painted black. Most of them were small flyers that the freelancer guessed would be used for dog-fighting, but there were some 100 meters class attack ships mixed in with them.
Those were probably the most dangerous ones.
The majority of those ships were heading to the western part of the city, the district with the largest concentration of factories and warehouses.
The sight of them racing each other through the sky was reminiscent of migrating birds. Although they were nothing cute like swallows… They looked more like birds of prey in the midst of a hunt.
"No… Again…!! It's them… They're coming back!" Wilfred yelled with despair not too far away.
Hundreds of people were screaming and wailing all around. They were frantically running for any cover they could find, hoping it would save them from the next bombardment.
"Wil, has it always been this bad?" Milanor approached him.
"N-No way… This is just like two years ago, no… maybe even worse. They never come with more than 10 ships before… And certainly not with a cruiser in tow!" the mechanic replied while trembling.
He probably overheard Miledi's detection of the orbiting cruiser.
"Shit… They're serious then." Milanor quickly turned on his PAW and contacted Fianna.
"Milanor here. Fia, you alright? Report to me."
"It's me!" her boisterous voice rang clearly through the tiny speaker. It relieved him greatly to hear there was nothing wrong with her.
"Why didn't you respond earlier, Mil!? I sent you a message, right? I noticed like, dozens of suspicious ships approaching and wanted to warn you!"
'So that's what that notification earlier for… She should've simply called me if it was that urgent.'
But well, she probably wasn't sure of the situation and tried to avoid bothering him. Milanor knew that she could be very considerate when he was on the job.
'Still, Helios' radar detected them way ahead of the city's own…? Talk about crap. I hoped this would be an important lesson for those officials…'
The captain blankly gazed at the burning rubble.
'…Probably not. Well, not much of my business.'
"Sorry about that. Next time just call me if you notice anything strange, alright? Safety first, and all that. Really, I won't hold it against you."
"Then I will hold you to that."
"Anyway, take to the sky. Now. You're currently a sitting duck just staying put on that tarmac."
"R-Really? Won't they target me if I fly away?"
"Prioritize the barrier in the config. I taught you that already. I know the ships these raiders are using. They gonna need a lot of firepowers to take you down," he reassured her.
Milanor hadn't been lying either. The flyers were all Stern Kavallerie, light scout ships designed for short patrols.
They were a product of the old Federation, which must have fallen into the pirates' hands after their collapse. They weren't capable of taking down Helios even if they ganged it up.
The other ships? They were too few to put into consideration. He might have said that they were dangerous but he meant that only for the defense force of this city.
In all honesty, Helios sitting offline on that port was the most vulnerable position it could have been.
The only concern was that orbiting cruiser. It was too high up for the radar to make clear its appearance. But if it had to rely on orbital bombardment for a large-scale attack, there shouldn't have much need to worry.
"Alright, I trust you Mil. What should I do once I'm in the sky?" Fianna asked, her voice uncharacteristically tense.
"Stay in a holding position. Let's see… 100 kilometers from the city. I'll give you further instructions if I have the chance," he said, keeping his tone carefree.
"Huh!? Shouldn't I, you know, pick you all up or something!?"
"Nah, don't bother. We brought our own ride, don't you remember? It's fine." Milanor had to reassure her as much as he can for now.
"Lady Fia, please follow what the master says. Do not worry, we can easily take care of ourselves," Miledi added. She must have contacted her independently using her autonomous network.
"Hrrrghh…!! I won't forgive you if you lie to me, got it Mil!? You too, Miledi! I'm out!" she cut off the communication with her usual spirited burst of energy.
'Alright…'
He said all of that half-truths and half-excuses so that Fianna would obediently follow his instructions. However, it didn't change the fact that their situation was pretty dire.
"Miledi, run as fast as you can to the shuttle. We need to secure it ASAP. Judging by their speed, they'll be on top of us any minute now. Go."
"Understood," she bowed and then opened the weapon case she had been carrying around the whole time. With practiced hands, she took the large rifle inside and prepped it up.
Extra Precision AR-S Type 21.
It was an assault rifle made by a company that put emphasis on accuracy for its products.
Unlike his Noctilucent, the rifle had solid rounds as its ammunition. Because of that, it was highly effective against molecular shielding that was somewhat oversaturated in the market lately.
It was a pure killing weapon.
Although with skilled enough users, they could keep the damage to the targets to a minimum. Like only maiming them, for example.
Miledi was the perfect example of such a skilled user.
She slung the empty case back over her shoulder. "I will be going, Master."
After a slight nod from him, she dashed off back toward the landing pads they just left earlier. Her speed was incredible, about three times faster than a normal human in a full sprint.
"You sure she's fine going alone like that?" Naya questioned.
"I'll be more worried about ourselves if I were you. She's more than capable enough on her own," Milanor answered with confidence.
"I sent her ahead because her mobility is the highest out of all of us. And because she handles herself just fine. We still need to go back to the shuttle ourselves, however, so let's follow her track."
"I-I had to go back to my home…! I need to make sure she's fine!!"
Out of the blue, Wilfred had started to scramble away. Milanor quickly held his collar to stop him in his track.
"H-Hey, wait a minute. Don't just jump out on us like that."
"L-Let me go! I-I need to get home no—"
"Wait, shut up!" the captain forcefully cut him off by covering his mouth and then pushed him together into the cover of a fallen advert sign. It must have been knocked down by the blast.
"Naya, you get here too!" Milanor pulled her hand with him as he stumbled along.
"Mmmhh!!?? Mmmhh!!"
"Calm down, Wil! I'm serious here! Keep it down."
As he kept covering the bewildered mechanic's mouth so he wouldn't give them away, Milanor peered out of the cover to see what he sensed just now.
"Gahaha!!! It's today folks! It's party time!"