Rupture's POV - Hangzhou
My team and I made our way into another urban area, this one called Hangzhou. The city streets were eerily quiet under the dim glow of streetlights as we moved cautiously, keeping to the shadows. I waited for Lib to pinpoint our next destination while she hacked into the power grid. Meanwhile, Danielle and Sakura kept an eye out, scanning for any passersby or guards.
So far, we'd only spotted two guards. That was suspiciously low for a city that served as a key trade hub, even at 1 AM.
"Captain, no signs of a main base at all," Lib reported, her fingers still touching the power grid as her nanoswarms spread out.
"Any significant power drains or grid redirections?" I asked, narrowing my eyes as I observed the surrounding buildings.
"One unusual large reroute heading south, Captain," Lib replied.
"Good. We'll head south," I ordered. Lib disconnected from the grid and fell back into formation, taking her position as our rear guard. Danielle and Sakura silently regrouped at the front, their weapons ready.
Hestia's POV - Pearl Harbor
I sat quietly in the gazebo near the construction site, enjoying a rare moment of peace. The sound of faint machinery hummed in the distance, accompanied by the rhythmic movements of my nanoswarms as they tirelessly worked.
Belfast approached gracefully, setting a cup of tea before me. "Thank you, Belfast," I said, smiling at her before turning my gaze toward the site.
The project was nearing completion—a Railgun Launcher. Personally, I thought Aqua-chan should give it a more dramatic name, like Orbital Railgun Launcher. Just calling it a railgun might confuse people due to sheer size of its all, but that was a discussion for later.
For now, it was just me and Mal here helping out. Terra had already returned to the main base earlier, something about Aqua-chan wanting to start on new ship designs. I couldn't blame her—some of those blueprints were incredible. Shinano, in particular, looked stunningly elegant with her nine flowing tails.
Who Mal? She another MCV I have as my underling.
"Captain," Belfast said, interrupting my thoughts. I blinked, realizing I'd been spacing out.
"Ah, sorry about that, Belfast," I replied with a sheepish smile. The warm glow of the construction site's lights was mesmerizing, even if unnecessary for us. Still, they gave the scene a proper, industrious atmosphere.
"What did you need from me?" I asked again, knowing Belfast wouldn't call me "Captain" unless there was a reason.
"Earlier today, I conducted a survey of the defensive lines," Belfast began, her tone calm yet serious. "While our defenses are strong overall, I noticed an issue with our transit systems."
I tilted my head slightly, summoning a holographic map of the island for both of us to examine. "Elaborate," I prompted.
Belfast leaned closer, highlighting key areas on the map, starting with the coastline and defensive lines. "As of today, I've been running routine checks and simulating response times to each sector," she explained, tracing existing roads and routes. "It currently takes about 15 minutes to reach the northern defensive line from this residential building, five minutes to Pearl City, seven minutes to the west, and four minutes to the east."
"That's using nanoswarm dirt bikes," she added for context.
I nodded, taking in the information. "So, what's your recommendation?"
"To address this, I've drafted several proposals to improve transit and response efficiency. I'll send these to Aqua-chan for review after you've had a chance to look them over," Belfast said, bowing slightly in deference.
"Interesting," I murmured, studying the map. "Alright, let's see what you've got."
Belfast nodded, stepping aside to pull up her proposals while I mentally prepared to evaluate the potential upgrades, Aqua-chan gonna throw this jobs at me after all so might as well make it perfect.
Aqua's POV - On transit to Nanjing - 0200
Riding a bike with fields stretching out on both sides, I was struck by how different this world felt. It was easy to forget that it was still 1977 here, despite all the insane technology and military advancements. I couldn't help but marvel at the sight of vast rice fields in the darkness of the night as we sped along the quiet road.
Helena had launched several UAVs earlier to scout ahead, their faint hum now blending into the ambiance. I couldn't help but think about how much easier this could have been if I'd just deployed them sooner instead of bothering with sensor towers.
"Anything yet?" I asked, breaking the silence.
"Not yet, Master~," Helena replied cheerfully, riding her bike alongside me. Amy cruised on my other side.
"Ah~ Found a checkpoint! Jackpot!" Helena suddenly announced.
I quickly accessed the UAV feed to see what she was talking about. Just before the outskirts of Nanjing city, there it was—a proper military base. It was set strategically along the river, likely housing a naval production facility.
"Well, looks like we're ditching the bikes," I said, bringing us to a halt. We dismounted and summoned nanoswarms to recycle the bikes back into resources.
"We could probably just walk through the front gate," Amy suggested as she checked her cloaking hoodies. "The rain's let up, so visibility is better, but our invisibility hoodies block sensors and sight anyway. No need for wall-scaling drama."
"Good point. Let's go," I said, motioning forward.
"Four UAVs operational," Helena updated. "All in stealth mode, with two deploying sensor jamming for extra coverage."
We moved cautiously, following a small road that cut between the ridges of rice fields. The UAVs flitted overhead, giving us detailed views of the base.
From a distance, I studied the military vehicles parked within the compound. Tanks—Nuwa Cannons, to be precise. These beasts featured oversized caliber guns call 'Atomic Fission Cannon' mounted on tank chassis, using uranium shells as payloads. The design was flawed but terrifying—forward-facing guns with heavy armor and a built-in tendency to explode on destruction thanks to their nuclear cores.
Also AA trucks.. If I remember right its name are sentinel? I mean it not gonna do much as its just modify flak cannon rounds to include some type of phosphor to create bigger splash? well gonna need to scan it to see how it work too..
I also spotted anti-air (AA) trucks. If memory served me right, they were called Sentinels. Their modified flak cannons fired rounds with phosphorous additives, creating larger splash effects. Not particularly dangerous for us, but worth scanning for research.
"They've got the tank I want to scan," I muttered.
"Found the radar tower!" Helena chimed in. One of the UAVs showed a clear view of the installation—tall, imposing, and large satellite disk.
Switching to another UAV, I focused on the river. Sure enough, submarine production facilities were visible, with cranes and docks busy even at this hour.
"Nuclear reactor?" I asked aloud.
"Got it!" Amy responded, bringing up a feed of a suspicious structure. It wasn't an ordinary reactor. Only one cooling tower stood there unlike normal three cooling tower, and a cluster of buildings surrounded it. "That's a research lab," I realized, my voice barely above a whisper.
Jackpot.
We reached the checkpoint filled with guards but walked through undetected, our invisibility cloaks rendering us ghosts.
("I'll start with the tanks before heading to the research lab. We can split up or move together, depending on what works best,") I said over the comms, careful not to break the silence around us. Being a Kansen came with perks, like a built-in comm system that didn't rely on conventional tech or physical movement.
("Let's go, then,") Helena said, taking the lead toward the tank hangar. Even with her right next to me, her cloaking tech was so advanced that I struggled to detect her movement. Our invisibility hoodies were truly top-notch.
We soon arrived at the parking area inside the hangar. The tanks were lined up neatly, their massive cannons mounted on specialized chassis. These weren't tanks with turrets; the entire design was built around the oversized guns.
I placed my hand on the Nuwa Cannon tank nearest to me, deploying nanoswarms to infiltrate its systems and extract its blueprint. Thankfully, this base didn't seem to have Iron Curtain technology active, which made my job much easier. While my nanoswarms did their work, I observed the surroundings.
The base was crawling with infantry garrisons. They patrolled with precision, though no tanks were among them—just APCs. It made sense; Nuwa Cannons were poorly suited for patrols since the entire tank had to rotate to fire its forward-facing gun. Definitely not ideal for quick or fluid engagements.
Once the nanoswarms finished their task, I muttered, "Nuwa Cannon blueprint acquired."
("Shall we move on?") I asked over the comm. Amy and Helena immediately shifted to cover me, their Graviton Uzis drawn. These weapons were perfect for punching through infantry and medium-armored vehicles. Graviton assault rifles existed, but those would be overkill for this operation.
As we made our way toward the research lab, we encountered a patrol at an intersection. A group of infantry crossed our path, accompanied by dogs sniffing for potential intruders. Luckily, our cloaking tech left no scent, and the rain masked any trace of us.
("That building is 'Atom Heart,' or at least that's what I remembered,") I said as we approached the lab.
("After this, we hit the radar tower, right?") Amy asked.
("Yep,") I confirmed.
The lab loomed before us—large, imposing, and heavily secured. Entering through the front door wasn't an option. I didn't have the time or resources to stage a distraction or breach the main entrance. Instead, we circled to the side of the building.
I placed my hand on the wall, releasing nanoswarms to scan for patrols or personnel in the adjacent rooms. The swarms returned data: the area was clear. With a mental command, I ordered them to break down the wall. It crumbled silently as the swarms consumed the material, creating a gap just big enough for us to slip through. Once inside, I commanded them to reseal the wall.
("Now we need to locate the server room or any connected terminal,") I said, scanning the dimly lit interior.
Rather than spreading nanoswarms through the air, I used them to trace energy lines. Every server room needed power, so it wasn't difficult to track the cables. After a moment, I found what looked like a breaker switch and used it as a starting point.
("Found it,") I announced. My nanoswarms had already reached the server room, located below us. I connected to the servers remotely through the swarm and began exploring the files.
The data was a treasure trove: Nuwa Tank Research, EMP Deployment, Dragonfly, and Centurion…
Centurion? That caught my attention. This was China's prized war machine. I opened the file, which was locked, but that wasn't a problem for me. With a bit of effort, I cracked it open and started analyzing the contents.
The design was functional but far from elegant. It was a three-legged mech with a massive battleship turret mounted on top. Its official designation was the Centurion Siege Crawler. To be honest, I couldn't help but feel that a Battletech-inspired design would have been far more practical than this monstrosity. Still, it had its merits as a slow-moving but heavily armed siege platform.
Developed by multiple scientists, the blueprint was a collaborative effort. It was functional and ambitious, I mean it a 8 stories crawler siege engine.
Since this blueprint have a list of scientists, I initiated a search for the genius scientist. Yunru. The system returned a single match. A picture of a pink-haired girl appeared on the screen.
I stared at the image for a moment. "It's her," I muttered under my breath. I'd seen her anime version before, but this real-world counterpart felt... surreal.
Next, I searched for her current location. Research Lab: Beijing.
"Figures," I said, sighing. I followed up with another search for Yunru's family and found that they were also based in Beijing.
"That's a long way north," I muttered to myself.
("Found the files. We can get out now,") I said over the comm, turning toward the wall. My nanoswarms melted the material silently, creating an exit. Amy and Helena followed me as I stepped through. Once we were all outside, I resealed the wall using the same material.
("Next objective is way up north, but we'll head east first. I want to get on my submarine rigging to ride then a bike that for sure.") I informed them.
("More riding with Master!") Helena said with barely contained excitement.
I chuckled softly, shaking my head. "If it works, it works."