Star System K17T
Astroid in the 7th planet orbit
Captain Calsa was in the command room or bridge of the 'Aachen' and watching the crew that had been selected to run the 'Aachen'. They were doing final checks before they would take the 'Aachen' into orbit to meet the mobile docks that would take the 'Aachen' to Elysia.
Since yesterday, Captain Calsa has ordered the central computer to check and recheck all systems. In performing the recheck, the central computer of the 'Aachen' brought out various droids that had been hidden to perform the check. In addition to communication with the Myto Empire's droids, the Myto droids were also used by the central computer to check all the systems of 'Aachen."
They also found a hidden log belonging to a crew member of the 'Aachen'. It contained a shortened version of the main log that had been deleted. According to the log, they were on patrol when they were suddenly swept away by some kind of wave-like force that their drive systems could not compensate for. The force came from the impact reaction of a meteorite on the star they were patrolling. Sensor logs showed that there were anomalous quartz crystals in the meteorite. They were pulled across dimensions and suddenly found themselves in this dimension.
After they made repairs for nearly a month and were unable to replicate the events that happened to them, they explored the surrounding universe and found the planet Elysia. After observing Elysia for several months, they decided to settle on Elysia. 'Aachen' was ordered to hide on an asteroid in Star System K17T that was still within range of their communication system. They deliberately deleted all logs so that if 'Aachen' was captured by another party, they would be safe, but one crew member hid his personal logs on a personal computer in his room. From the hidden logs, they learned many things about the 'Aachen' and the Solar Empire that built it.
Although no logs were found on Aachen's central computer, Aachen's computer library remained intact. It was from there that many new technologies were acquired by the engineers of the Myto Empire. The files on the library computer had been copied and brought to Elysia for further research.
Captain Calsa was currently sitting in the captain's chair of the 'Aachen'. Captain Calsa waited for the preparations to fly the 'Aachen' to be ready.
"Captain, refueling is now complete, fuel is at 87%." A technician said.
"Central computer, begin activation of all ship systems." Captain Calsa ordered the central computer.
"Begin activation of all fusion reactors. Checking off all systems... All systems report being green and ready. Activating all engines...engines are in hot standby and ready for maneuver." The central computer said.
"Captain, helm control report ready." The helmsman said.
"Navigation report ready." Navigator said.
"All system reports ready" said the engineer manning the engineering station.
"Good, activate thrusters. Lift-off!" said captain Calsa.
"Impulse engines are active, lifting off." said the central computer.
All plasma thrusters in the ring section of the 'Aachen' became active, and the 'Aachen' slowly rose towards orbit. Since 'Aachen' was on a small astroid, it took less than a minute for 'Aachen' to reach orbit. There, the 'Aachen' slowly moved towards the mobile docks that would take the 'Aachen' to Elysia.
---oOo---
Terminus Island, Jakarta
In front of the Saluit Hotel
The next morning.
The delegates from HME today were going to visit a military exhibition that happened to be held in Jakarta. They had not gone anywhere since returning from the meeting held at the Central Government Building because they were quite tired, and they held their own meeting at the hotel to evaluate the results of the meeting. With Ambassador Gravit by their side, they were now getting ready to depart.
"We will now go to attend the annual military exhibition held at the military base outside Jakarta." Gravit said
"Will all of Myto's military equipment be on display there?" asked Phiam.
"Nearly all the equipment that was used in Elysia might be on display. Of course, large equipment cannot be exhibited." Gravit said.
Actually, the military exhibition that was being held only exhibited combat equipment that was newly made and used in Elysia. Therefore, space combat equipment was not among the items on display.
The group from HME got into their vehicles and drove to the military base outside Jakarta. Along the way, the group from HME saw the city of Jakarta and were amazed at its efficiency and cleanliness. However, Phiam noticed that the architecture of Jakarta was rigid and not artistic to his taste, unlike the cities in HME.
They drove for a long time to the military base. As they started to exit the city, Rydorka suddenly said, "It seems that this city does not have a fortress protecting it, right?"
"That's correct, we don't have them because such a static defense system makes it difficult to develop the city and it simple for combat aircraft to get around." Gravit said.
Ambassador Phiam nodded in agreement about the assessment. In modern combat, it is indeed difficult to withstand an attack using only static fortifications. But the question was, why did Jakarta have no traces of fortifications? Is the city so new that it doesn't need fortifications?
They continued to talk on the short journey.
.
.
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After a while, they arrived at the military base on the outskirts of Jakarta. General Alena, the commanding officer of the base, greeted them. Some people from the HME group were quite surprised at the fact that the head of the base was a woman. Although many members of the magic squad were women in HME, it was rare to find women in the regular army.
"Welcome to our military base." General Alena said.
They introduced themselves to each other. It took almost 10 minutes because there are 20 members of the HME delegation. After that, they were taken into the waiting room and given drinks and snacks while waiting for preparations to take them into the exhibition.
"General, are exhibitions like this held regularly?" asked Phiam while drinking the drinks that had been served.
"Yes, sir. We hold it every year. Each time, it is held for two weeks. This is the fifth day of the exhibition." Alena said
"Oh, why is it held every year? Is it to celebrate a certain day?" Phiam asked further.
"No, to celebrate Military Establishment Day, we do combat equipment demonstrations, but not exhibitions. We hold this exhibition because we are currently in the highest phase of military change and growth." Alena said.
"The highest phase of change, what does that mean?" asked Rydorka.
"In the past few years, we've created all kinds of new military equipment. This is why people need to be educated about the military equipment that has been mass-produced." Alena said
"Oh, I see." Said Phiam, who came to have the thought that the Myto Empire was getting new technologies from outsiders, hence the rapid increase in its technological capabilities. The question was, which party had technology as high as or higher than the Myto Empire?
"Alright, it looks like everything is ready, let us take you to take a look at our exhibition. We have deliberately delayed the opening of the exhibition to the public for an hour so that you can view it at ease." Alena said
The delegates were taken to see the open-air military exhibit, which was a display of various combat vehicles and long-range missile systems that could not be placed indoors. The HME delegates were quite confused by the unfamiliar equipment. The principles and procedures of combat were completely new.
They were first taken up close to a Leopard tank. They were very surprised to see the concept of cannons (in this case, magic cannons for HME) being placed on the vehicle to increase its mobility. The analysts in the group wondered about the warfare scenarios in which the tank's weapon system could be used. The armor plating on the Leopard tank also makes it impenetrable to infantry weapons.
Ambassador Phiam and Rydorka became dizzy and broke out in a cold sweat at the thought of these tanks being used against them. No HME force of similar size or mobility would be able to effectively counter the tank. Moreover, the tank was equipped with a machine gun, a weapon still being experimented with in the HME that could mow down infantry in the blink of an eye.
"What a tank this is. Is this weapon so newly introduced that it needs to be displayed in this exhibition?" Rydorka said to Gravit.
"Yes, this weapon has only been in development for a few years, and we only have a few thousand tanks at the moment. Very few compared to our total army." Gravit said.
Phiam, Rydorka, and Baeluno exchanged meaningful glances. They got two pieces of information that were very troubling. First, the number of tanks had reached thousands. With just those tanks, if HME got into a war with the Myto Empire and could be deployed in their country, then HME would almost certainly suffer a crushing defeat. The second piece of information is that thousands of tanks are still considered too few. According to their logic, 1 tank would be equal to at least hundreds to thousands of infantry troops. Therefore, how many troops does Myto empire have?
But it was not noticed by either Ambassador Gravit or General Alena because they were already taking the group from HME to the next place. They approached the airspeeder exhibition. Two types of airspeeders were parked on the field. One for fighters and one for utilities that could be used to carry passengers and goods.
"Gentlemen, this is the atmospheric fighter we have. We made two types with relatively the same shape. One acts as a fighter, and one acts as a transport aircraft. Of course, the transport aircraft version has a much smaller combat capability." Alena said.
"Atmospheric fighter? What does that mean?" asked Rydarko.
"Atmospheric fighters are fighters used in the atmosphere of the planet, Elysia." Gravit said.
"We call this aircraft the airspeeder. This is because it has relatively the same principles as the landspeeder that the gentlemen rode to get here." Alena said.
Alena deliberately explained more details to avoid the question of whether there was a fighter used outside the atmosphere.
"Using repulsorlift?" asked Baeluno.
"That's right, sir, that's why the airspeeder doesn't need as much lift from the wings, so the wings can be smaller to reduce drag and increase speed and agility." Alena said.
"What is the maximum speed of this airspeeder?" asked Phiam fearfully, as the answer would surely make him even more dizzy.
"More than Mach 3, or three times the speed of sound." Alena said.
The answer was beyond the expectations of the three people from HME, and also beyond the reasoning of most members of the HME delegation. How could it reach three times the speed of sound? How to dissipate the heat caused by friction with the air? Such questions arose in the minds of Rydorka, Baeluno, and their fellow technology analysts.
Ambassador Phiam also had a headache as he realized the consequences of the technology. HME's technological capabilities were far below those of the Myto Empire! How could HME, which was declared the most advanced country in Elysia, be technologically inferior to the Myto Empire?
As a result of these thoughts, all members of the delegation from HME became speechless.
General Alena invited the group to move to the next location, which was the personal combat vehicle, after observing that the group from HME had finished asking questions. There, they were shown the AT-PT and AT-PC 1 vehicles. The AT-PC 1 is a mecha-shaped combat vehicle.
Seeing the machines, Ambassador Phiam and Rydorka immediately said in unison, "Golems. They have a giant golem."
"Golem? That's not a golem. Those are human-controlled robots." Alena said
"Oh, it's human-controlled? The humans are inside the thing?" asked Rydarko.
"Yes, let me show you." Alena said while bringing the group closer to the AT-PT.
When they were near the AT-PT, Alena opened the hatch where the pilot entered and showed it to the group. Rydorka and Baeluno were the longest beside the hatch, even Rydorka had sat in the pilot's seat of the AT-PT.
Phiam also secretly studied the AT-PT. He used magic detection to find the magic core of the thing. Phiam found that the AT-PT did not have a magic core, so it was certain that it was technological in nature, not magic. This made Phiam even more depressed because he knew neither HME nor Mu Empire had the technology to make such an object.
The group also saw the AT-PC 1 mecha. They admired the mecha because it had hands and fingers, so it could theoretically be used for things other than warfare.
"Well, we call this military tool a mecha, its type is AT-PC 1. Mecha states that this object is made with a human-like shape and basically has the same function as humans." Gravit said.
"Oh, I see. What is that cylindrical thing on the shoulder of the mecha?" asked Baeluno.
"Oh, that's one of the weapons, a short-range missile." Alena said.
"Missile? What is that?" said Phiam
"A missile is a projectile that is controlled. This causes the missile to pursue its target even if the target maneuvers to save itself." Alena said.
"Controlled, how?" asked Rydarko.
"It uses a combination of sensors that could be radar, imaging, and a computer system or programmable calculator," Alena said.
"Such a small object has a high-precision, high-speed calculator? I think it takes a lot of calculations per second to be able to direct the trajectory of the projectile." Baeluno said in surprise.
"Oh yes, if you want, you can use a fairly simple computer or analog calculator, but we are already using a digital computer capable of running billions of calculations per second."
"Did I hear that right—billions of calculations per second?" asked Baeluno.
"Oh right, that kind of capability is enough for this purpose. There is no need to use anything more advanced. We use the cheapest components for this purpose because it is only a one-time use.
Phiam, Baeluno, and Rydorka looked between them. The guided projectile ability was an ability that only the Revernal Empire possessed! Even HME hadn't finished the research to replicate it. It also turned out that the Myto Empire had a calculator capable of calculating over a billion calculations per second! That was beyond the capabilities of the Mu Empire, HME, and possibly the Revernal Empire!
Ambassador Phiam felt his body get both hot and cold after hearing this. If this was true, then they had visited a country that was equal to or more than the Revernal Empire! A country that was not just a superpower but a hyperpower!
"You can see the missiles at the exhibition inside the building. There you can see cutaways of similar missiles." Alena said.
"Alright, shall we go there after this?" asked Phiam quietly, fearing that they would be shown even more horrifying things.
"Not yet, sir, there is still one more exhibition worth seeing. Let's go there." Alena spoke as she led the group to another place.
They went for a large mobile missile that had more capabilities than an ICBM. The missile was carried by a truck that was not too big.
"Oh, you have a larger version of the missile?" asked Rydorka.
"Yes, sir. This missile is used for long-range missiles. Used to bombard enemy targets." Alena said.
"Oh, I see. What is the range, and what is the explosive capability?" asked Baeluna, who was intrigued by seeing the smaller missiles.
"Oh, the range is unlimited. We can target all places in Elysia. While the explosive power is variable with a maximum capability of about 200 thousand tons of explosives," Alena said.
"Core magic!!!!" said Phiam and Rydorka in unison.
"What is core magic?" asked Gravit.
"Core magic is a way to produce a powerful explosion by pressing a special metal with explosion magic so that there is tremendous pressure on the metal core, and as a result, there is a reaction that explodes the special metal very violently. If it is true that the explosive power of this missile is 200,000 tons of explosives with such a small size, then this is core magic." Baeluno said
"Oh, that's nuclear fission. We use something that is more stable and has less environmental impact, plasma explosives. Of course we can make nuclear fission and fusion explosives that way, but it's very old and simple technology." Alena said.
"That method is ancient? How can it be that only the Revernal Empire can make it, and it's considered ancient? Where is the logic in that?" thought Phiam.
Although the feelings and thoughts of the members of the diplomatic team from HME were in a state of turmoil, outside they just nodded wordlessly. That was the result of the education of diplomats from HME, always trying not to give any indication of interest, fear, etc. to the interlocutors of diplomatic conversations.
"Oh, you have core magic?" Gravit asked Phiam.
"We are still researching it. We know that the Revernal Empire has core magic that was used in the war to control Elysia." Phiam said
"Sorry, did I hear wrong, that this missile has an unlimited range? That means this missile can reach all places in Elysia?" Baeluno asked.
"Yes, we have two ways and two types of missiles to do that. The first is by using a ballistic trajectory. This missile uses that method. The second is to cruise in the atmosphere like an airplane. The missile over there can do that. Both methods have their own advantages and disadvantages." Alena said.
The explanation further depressed Ambassador Phiam's mentality and made the analysts in the group dizzy, including Rydarko and Baeluno.
"Do you still have other questions? If not, let's take a look at the exhibition indoors. The sun is getting hot, we will be more comfortable indoors," General Alena said.
"I don't think so, let's head there." Phiam said.
General Alena also took them to see the exhibits in the room. There they saw various missiles, kinetic weapons used on the ground, as well as various supporting equipment. Among the equipment on display, there were some that HME had its own version of. But it seems that the equipment on display relies entirely on technology alone, there is no magic factor in the military equipment.
What surprised HME the most was the number of missile systems on display. Even many artillery shells were guided. There were even numerous types of missiles that a single person could carry and fire. This was far more advanced than the Revernal Empire, which only had a few types of guided weapons, and none of them were portable enough to be carried by one person.
As a result, they became mostly passive, not asking many questions, just listening to the explanation given by a guide at each stand and additionally by General Alena. But they took notes, and some took photos of the Myto Empire military equipment on display.
Ambassador Gravit watched the movements of the group from the HME. He noticed that there was a kind of desperation from the HME group, who had thought that HME was the most advanced country in Elysia, but was still far lagging behind the Myto Empire. Gravit wondered what would happen if they found out that the Galactic Empire/Myto Empire had technology used in space? They might have a heart attack or stroke!
After the HME group finished looking through the entire exhibition, they were invited to watch a video showing a demonstration of some of the military equipment on display. The result was that the HME group became even more depressed, especially Ambassador Phiam, who was speechless until they returned to the hotel. It was because of the video demonstration that they found out that all their estimates of Myto Empire's military equipment were too low, way too low. The Myto Empire's military equipment was much much more potent and terrifying.
After watching the exhibition for more than 5 hours, the HME group returned to the hotel, and they refused to be invited to have dinner together by Ambassador Gravit. They immediately retired to their rooms and tried to rest, although most of them were unable to sleep because they were imagining Myto Empire's military and technological capabilities, and also if Myto Empire went to war against HME. It was only at dinner time that they were able to have a brief discussion, and from their discussion, they finally concluded that the Myto Empire had at least the same capabilities as the Revernal Empire and possibly more. It was fortunate, if they looked at it from that perspective, then Myto Empire could be categorized as very pacifist, not aggressive towards other countries.