ASAHI NO NISHISEI - Rising Sun Goes West (1)

Asuka's Crisis

Asuka CIC

"Shell trajectory straight ahead! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."

The APFSDS flew in a straight line toward the Leviathan, piercing the sound barrier. Flying through the air at a muzzle velocity of Mach 7,2, it arrived at its target at an overwhelming speed exceeding 2 kilometers per second.

GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...!

Under attack, the Leviathan lets out a high-pitched scream. The loudness of the scream was louder than any other scream ever heard.

"The shell hits the outer left side of the Leviathan's abdomen! It penetrated!"

Lieutenant Minorikawa, who had been observing the Leviathan from above, reported the situation.

"Tell me the details!"

Lieutenant Junior Grade Kajita, an officer aboard the Asuka, asked Minorikawa for a detailed report. The other crew members listened with bated breath.

F-35B at sea

At sea, the figure of the Leviathan was sprawled out, bleeding from the abdomen and suffering.

GAAAAH...! GROAAAR...!

The screams of the legendary monster echoed throughout the area.

'The armor that is impervious to an ASM-3...! The penetration power of the railgun is indeed impressive... however...!'

Minorikawa, who was flying around the Leviathan, brings his mouth close to the radio and informed each ship about the current situation in detail.

"It didn't hit directly in the abdomen! It's like it grazed the edge and gouged out the entire epidermis and flesh! I'm sure it did cause a lot of blood loss and damage, but the extent of the damage is small compared to its physique! The wound was not fatal!"

Asuka CIC

"Damn it! It must have missed!"

Upon hearing Minorikawa's report, Commander Okahashi shook his fist in frustration. He then pondered why the bullet did not hit exactly.

"Perhaps one of the bullet cases did not separate completely! The high-heat caused it to latch to the shell, and it screwed up their trajectory!"

The APFSDS or HEFSDS used in the railgun are, of course, different from those used in tanks, only having the same name and a different construction. It is composed of a shell case that conducts an electric current and generates Lorentz force, and an armor-piercing penetrator, which is the bullet itself.

However, in the early days of the experiment, the high heat generated by the enormous amount of electricity sometimes caused the bullet casing to latch to the wing-stabilized armor-piercing bullet, which is the main body of the projectile. This was despite the fact that this problem was discussed before the experiments began, and countermeasures were developed before the experiments began. Later, as experiments were repeated and improvements were made to the wing-stabilized armor-piercing shells with a special loading tube for the railgun, the problem ceased to occur. But now, for the first time in almost two years, adhesion to the loading tube has occurred.

"Ungh...! Why now... and it's happening under these circumstances!?"

Okahashi is frustrated that an issue that should have been solved has been dragged down here.

'...Only when you're doing something out of the ordinary do things happen that don't usually happen...!'

He immediately pulled himself together and gives the next order to all personnel in the CIC.