Chapter 28: CH 27.1

After discussing the technology tree, the next item on the agenda was planning out Unit 5’s upgrades.

It seemed Voy [1] had already taken a look at its accumulated battle data.

「Based on my analysis of your combat style Kou, I propose prioritizing upgrades centered on the unit’s mobility and armor strength.」

「It’s a rather old-fashioned combat style, right? When I first fought with a Keres, I was told by Master that cutting it down with weapons infused with Whis at close range was more effective.」

「Yeah, that’s certainly not wrong. That way, you can deal the maximum amount of damage to your enemy. However, it’s not good to get overly fixated on having a damage race with your opponents. Considering the inherent risks during combat, there’s still a need for you to employ some projectile weapons in your loadout.」

「Yeah. I kinda realized that as well.」

「Even though you only practiced it as a hobby, you’re really accustomed to swordsmanship. That can be considered a point in your favor, I guess. You put up a pretty good fight against that Mantis-type even though you only had a sword.」

Voy exclaimed in an exasperated tone. He was dexterously operating a tablet device even though he had pretty big bear paws.

「For armor upgrades, you can go ahead and research the tank development tree. For mobility, use helicopters and fighter aircraft as references. It’s not required for you to make any actual units. Though I do recommend building some. We’ll go fight in them if necessary.」

「I don’t plan on sending you guys out to fight. Just leave that stuff to me.」

「I appreciate your feelings, Kou. But there might be a need for it in the future. Just go ahead and make some.」

Kou didn’t respond. Voy knew that Kou really cared for him and his fellow Familiars. Perhaps, he was even a bit too overprotective.

「We’ll need some materials for armor. We’re currently restricted from employing the more advanced materials though.」

「Is it a problem of availability?」

「That’s right. Well, it’s important to have stuff that can be fixed up with the equipment and materials employed by standard maintenance facilities after all. It’s more convenient and efficient that way」

「Yeah, I really get that. Even during the era I was living in, you needed to go to a specialized shop in order to make repairs on units that made use of ultra high-tensile steel. It was quite a hassle.」

「Producing composite stuff using iron combined with various other materials is also very common here on Nemesis.」

「Stop right there. It sounds far too familiar to me that I kinda don’t feel like hearing about it anymore. I absolutely hate handling aluminum and titanium alloy. Chips fly around all the time, and you encounter processing defects a lot.」

「You have some trauma with this stuff? Well, I guess that means you’re following the discussion so far. Nanocarbon materials are excellent, but ceramic materials are just the opposite. It’s like they’re destined to break. You can’t reinforce them as well. Since you have no choice but to replace them once they’re broken, you have to design stuff with that in mind. Plus, they’re also expensive.」

Kou understood that as well. The reason why ceramic materials didn’t get popularized in the 21st Century was the high unit price. Popular steel materials such as high-tensile steel and S45C cost about 100 to 200 Yen per kilo. In comparison, ceramic material costs 1000 to 2000 Yen per kilo. Considering manufacturing costs, this was a pretty big deal-breaker.

That’s true for aluminum as well. It’s said that they purposely reduced the ratio of aluminum used to build unmanned electric trucks and went back to using steel because the manufacturing cost was too high otherwise.

Balancing unit costs was very important for weapons as well. It’s a line of reasoning that Kou fully understood.

「So you mainly use titanium alloy in this era?」

「It depends on the parts. Titanium alloy is indeed widely used, but that mostly applies to high-end units that are capable of aerial combat. It’s an excellent material due to how light it is, but once it gets cracked even slightly, it’s prone to breaking completely. Moreover, it’s just far too light to be used as material for armor. What I mean is that armor also needs a certain degree of heft to it in some cases. But generally, it’s a good thing to increase defensive capability while reducing the weight, so what materials to use depends on which parts you’re gonna use them on.」

「It does seem that you can more easily process titanium alloy and aluminum in this era.」

「The standard manufacturing method is to run Whis through the material during the process or use tools that are coated with Whis.」

It was decided that the material used for Unit 5’s armor needs to be replaced.

Voy continued to consult with Kou about what kind of material would be good while considering ease of maintenance.

「Well, you can just think of the materials as iron-based coupled with some chemical elements you’re familiar with, Kou. You’re familiar with rare metals like tungsten, right? We also make use of tantalum and hafnium.」

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「I’m not familiar with the latter two.」

「Yeah, I suppose that’s reasonable. Even though we’re currently in an era far beyond the era Kou lived in, the basic materials available in the universe haven’t changed. There shouldn’t be a lot of advanced metal materials that haven’t been seen before. Though I suppose there’s the nanomaterial that’s manufactured in the vacuum of space.」

「I can’t even imagine such a thing.」

「 There are also high-entropy alloys and other manufacturing methods that are also utilized during Kou’s era.」

「Nope never heard of those at all……」

「Oh well. Don’t worry. Astraea will give you a detailed lecture regarding all that stuff. Look forward to it.」

Voy gave Kou a nasty-looking smirk. Before he knew it, Kou was already internally screaming for help from Master.

「Next would be your projectile weapons. You’re already aware of the importance of keeping a good distance between you and your opponent, right?」

「There kinda wasn’t any opportunity to consider something like that back then. After all, I found Unit 5 inside a junkyard.」

Kou mumbled an excuse. Voy laughed softly in response.

「There are currently no Silhouette-sized weapons available, but we can certainly manufacture some. The two young ladies are experts on the subject.」

「Eh?」

The two ladies in question nodded in acknowledgment.

「I specialize in manufacturing and tuning cannon turrets and gun barrels of combustion-type firearms. Nyanta specializes in customization. I’m actually a gunsmith. I only specialize in Silhouette-use weapons though.」

「I see. So I guess it would be better to have you girls make a gun that’s suited to me.」

「Leave it to us nyaa. By the way, I’m a Wildcat designer nyaa. Basically, I’m a custom gun and ammo craftsman.」

「Wildcat?」

「That’s right nyaa. My job scope involves changing the caliber, adjusting the number of explosive charges, amount of gas used, and improving the overall performance of firearms.」

「Wow. You two sure are amazing.」

「But maybe a railgun is actually more suited for you, Kou. That thing’s really effective against high-dimensional projection armor nyaa.」

「I don’t specialize in making railguns, but we can certainly manufacture one using this ship’s facilities.」

「The ammo it uses is also pretty cheap nyaa.」

「Hm…… No, I think I’d rather use a combustion-type firearm. A light-gas gun would be fine. Make it a rifle. I asked Master about it previously and she told me that the initial velocity of the projectiles fired by that type of gun doesn’t lose out to railgun projectiles.」

Kou noticed that the reaction of the two girls was a bit strange.

They exchanged looks with blank expressions.

Kou got worried that he might have said something weird.

「Um, you see, I’m the type who likes to approach targets and slash them at close range. I don’t really want to spend energy charging the railgun during combat. I also heard it often breaks down without warning.」

TL Notes:

[1] The author decided to shorten Voytek’s name to Voy. It’s probably because Voytek is a pretty iconic bear, and the author wanted to differentiate his character from the actual RL Voytek.

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