Chương 436: Book 7 - Chapter 32 -Standardization

I decided to wait down in the hangar for the heavy lifters to return from the Destiny, carrying the various defenses. Although I had a general idea of what they were sending to me, emplacements and mines, I wanted to see exactly what I was working with. When the first lifter finally arrived, I jumped down from the catwalk leading from the habitation area to the hangar to meet it.

As the large hover vehicle slipped through the outer blast doors and I got my first look at the cannon hanging underneath, I understood why Alise and Claire had concerns that I wouldn't be able to transfer it. The sonic cannon was a squat, stubby thing that was wider than a Kodiak was long. Instead of a barrel, it had several adjustable panels that formed something that resembled a segmented parabolic dish.

"This thing doesn't look that dangerous," I muttered. Do you remember that sonic cannon Shannon fired on your first day as a samurai? The one that disoriented you and killed the Model Fourteen? Nyx asked. This emplacement is approximately a thousand times more powerful than that and is capable of liquefying your entire body, through your armor, at close range.

"Good to know," I said, stepping away from what I assumed was the business end of the sonic weapon.

"Well, it seems to be a fairly sturdy thing, but I have to ask, why sonic weapons? Wouldn't lasers or torpedoes be more effective?" Lasers are effective at close range, but they suffer far more attenuation through water than through air. While torpedoes are powerful, they require a steady supply of ammunition to function, Nyx explained.

Sonic pulse emitters are one of the very few weapons available to low-tier samurai that don't require ammo, just a steady power supply, and are more effective underwater than above it.

"Is that why you've never suggested sonic weaponry to me?" I asked. That is part of it, Nyx said. The truth is, whenever I give you different options, you always tend to show more interest in more conventional, easy-to-replicate, and highly reliable technologies than the esoteric offerings, so I focused on those options.

"Well, you're not exactly wrong," I admitted.

"Why invest in an alien superweapon when a bullet will be just as effective?" I stepped back from the cannon and pulled up a map of the area in my augs.

"How many cannons are we getting?" I asked.

"Will they be enough to cover the area?" According to the shipping manifest, they'll be sending us twelve cannons and a dozen crates of mines, Nyx said. Placing the cannons a hundred meters apart would provide optimal coverage, allowing them to catch 99. 983% of Antithesis that enters the area. They could be spread out further, up to two hundred meters apart, but if we do that, their effectiveness would drop to 94%"However, it would allow us to cover twice the area," I muttered.

I started up an external program, which allowed me to overlay some lines on the map, then stretched out a couple of one- and two-kilometer lines. I dragged the lines around for a couple of seconds, trying to figure out the best way to set up the defenses, before shaking my head.

"Let's space the guns out as widely as possible. Although I know they'll lose effectiveness, I'd rather let a small number of Antithesis through over a wide area than let a ton through because they approached an area that wasn't covered at all. Besides, we can always deploy the mines in areas that are weaker to bolster the defenses," I said.

"And before you say anything, I know I'm in the chat group with everyone else, but you know how distracted I can get and how often I miss messages." The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Nothing significant, Nyx replied. Their submersible crossed the sensor net about ten minutes ago, and they've started combing the area, looking for a trail they can follow.

"In that case, let's set the cannons up for both the section Mako and her friends were defending and the section Sharron and the bears were fighting. Assuming the Antithesis are just sending biomass fodder to the Gene Tender like Sharron and Hel suspect, then I doubt they'd bother making an effort to create leader units. If that's the case, future waves will likely attempt to penetrate the same areas," I said. That's a sensible assumption, Nyx said.

"Then let's go ahead and deploy the cannons around this area," I said, removing most of the doodles I'd placed on the map, leaving a single long line. I knew Nyx could pull the data right out of my augs if they wanted to, so I didn't even bother packaging it.

"Now tell me about the mines they're sending. If they're only sending twelve boxes, they must either be extremely small or each mine must cover an extremely large area." A little bit of both, actually, Nyx said. The Mark thirty-seven cleansing tide mine system is a little like your self-replicating minefields. Once the core units are deployed and anchored, they'll start creating biodegradable bubbles filled with a flesh-melter-like liquid.

As soon as something brushes against the bubble, it'll burst, releasing the chemical into the surrounding water. Completely safe for the native wildlife, and it doubles as a cleanup system.

"And that'll be enough to stop whatever the Antithesis send our way?" I asked. It's strong enough to almost instantly kill the smaller models, and although the larger models can push through four or five bubbles, the continuous buildup will eventually be fatal, Nyx said.

"What if we get something exceptionally large, like another leviathan? It sounds like something like that could push right through," I said. That's the beauty of pairing these two defenses together, Nyx replied. While the sonic cannons can devastate a wide area, they're actually more effective against large antithesis because they ignore most types of armor and strike directly at the delicate inner organs. The larger the body, the more surface area the sonic pulse can hit, and the more damage it can cause.

It is a truly frightening weapon when used properly.

"Right…" I muttered, squinting my eyes and staring at the oversized emplacement.

"Are we going to be able to maneuver these things into place? When I volunteered to place them, I pictured something a little smaller, something the bears could maneuver into place. This… this is a solid chunk of steel." The cannon's armor may be a match for the Marsupial, but the system isn't completely solid. It actually has a number of internal systems that make it easy to deploy.

Each unit has self-righting mechanisms and automatic anchors so they can be dropped from surface ships, but they also have internal buoyancy tanks so a small team of divers can reposition each unit and fine-tune their position, Nyx explained.

"Sounds like a lot of thought went into these things," I said. While the samurai on the west coast may not agree upon everything, they did get together and agree upon a single standard defensive system. It's the most effective system available for both the point cost and number of catalogs needed to buy them, and each one has a built-in warning beacon to let civilians and other samurai know they're entering a protected area.

"I can't believe so many samurai agreed to use the same equipment," I muttered.

"I've barely ever discussed my kit with other samurai, never mind trying to coordinate my gear." Keep in mind that the aquatic-based samurai are trying to protect an even larger area than their terrestrial counterparts, with only a fraction of the forces. Although not all the samurai involved were willing to implement the design, many were willing to sacrifice a little bit of personalization in exchange for efficiency.

"Makes sense," I said.

"Anyways, let's get deploying these things. If what you say is true, I might as well have the incoming heavy lifters just drop their payloads in approximately the right area, then have the bears come in and adjust them later. We can concentrate on deploying the mines first… I guess we can just drop those crates directly into the ocean too and have the bears crack them open and deploy them in place." Are you sure that's a good idea?

"I mean, as long as we drop them from a low height. If the mines and cannons can't survive a couple foot drop to the ocean surface, I wouldn't trust them in combat," I said.

"It'll be fine." Uh-huh. I'll be sure to remind you of this moment if the defenses ever fail, Nyx replied.

"If that happens, I'll have bigger problems to worry about," I muttered.

"Let's just get this done before the Antithesis show up. I've had enough excitement for one day."