Scouting - 14

Aqua POV

It's just as hard as I thought it would be. I ran another failed simulation on the plane design. It's frustrating. The concept seemed solid—twin graviton thrusters based on Fleet of Fog technology, twin nuclear reactors inside the plane, and four scaled-up graviton lasers based on an assault rifle's design. Technically, they should function like sniper-grade laser rounds but with the fire rate of an assault rifle. Scaling the power up was easy actually.

The reason I couldn't use ship-grade graviton lasers was due to their sheer size and power drain. For now, I had to make do. The control surfaces seemed adequate—two flaps on each side of the wings for stability.

But something was going wrong. Center of mass? Center of lift? Thrust vectoring? All the calculations checked out on mass and lift, yet the plane kept spinning uncontrollably. Did I forget vertical control surfaces? No, I already added those. So was it a thrust problem? I positioned the thrusters as far back as I could without destabilizing the plane.

Maybe it was something else. I based the design on an F-15 hull shape. Aerodynamically, it was dark green across all surfaces—at least according to the replicated designing software I "borrowed" from Trailmakers game. So why wasn't it working?

Wait a minute. Did I accidentally set the wing flaps to a non-zero position?

Sigh. Yep. I'd set one of the left wing flaps to full tilt and then mirrored the setting to the other side. But why did it spin instead of just diving straight down?

I reset both wing flaps to zero and ran the simulation again. This time, the plane naturally rolled to the right.

"What the...?" I muttered.

I'd made the plane symmetrical, so why was it rolling? The weight distribution was already centered. I groaned, rubbing my temples as a headache began to form.

A gentle hand began patting my head. The sensation was familiar but slightly off—probably Helena. I couldn't even muster the energy to be mad at them especially when their comforting me.

Was it the angle of the twin thrusters? I'd built them on sockets so they could shift downward for VTOL capabilities—a requirement since these planes were supposed to function as Strike Witches. Now that I thought about it, I'd probably butchered the naming convention. What did you even call Plane Girls anyway?

"Master~ Those two Kansen are incoming, and they've brought a lot of girls with them," Helena's voice chimed, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I looked up and saw Gawr and Rupture walking toward the gazebo where I was working. Following behind them were six T-Doll girls.

I sat up from the outdoor bed and willed my 3D holographic map to appear. The sensor range now covered 10 square kilometers around the base, but we still hadn't detected any movements from Epsilon's forces.

"Commander," Rupture greeted with a nod as she stepped into the gazebo, holding up a hand to signal her crew to wait outside.

"Gawr~" Gawr added. That was all she said. Just "Gawr," like it was an absolute statement of fact. Did I accidentally summon a Berserker-class Servant from Fate? And what was with that shark tail? She really committed to the bit, didn't she?

I sighed. "Welcome, you two," I said with a nod, pulling up footage from yesterday.

The holographic map displayed the Piranha minisub moving through the eastern sensor grid, which wasn't fully operational yet.

"Yeah, sorry about the spotty intel. That's why I want to launch a scout mission," I explained to the two Kansen as their crews waited outside the gazebo, occasionally glancing in.

"Rupture, Gawr, your mission is to scout a 50-kilometer radius around the base. Track down Epsilon's forces and destroy them if possible. Gather any intel from their base along the way."

I leaned forward slightly, making sure they understood the gravity of the task. "If you encounter other forces—like Pacific Front or Allied bases—contact me. If comms are jammed, eliminate them and recover intel. That's about it. Prepare for sorties."

"Affirmative, Commander," Rupture acknowledged with a crisp nod before turning toward the underwater shipyard. Her three T-Doll crew members followed closely behind.

"Gawr!" Gawr responded, her excitement palpable as she hurried out of the gazebo, her crew scrambling to keep up.

"Absolutely, Aqua-chan," Amy replied enthusiastically.

"Obviously, Master~," Helena teased, poking my cheek playfully.

I stretched my back as I stood up. "Ahh," I sighed, looking toward the simulator direction.

I noticed bright flashes on the transparent ceiling. Laser fire illuminated the space. Checking the log, I realized Hestia was running a 2v2 team fight in the simulator.

'I want to watch…' I thought to myself.

But no, I had work to do. Watching would mean I'd get nothing else done. Reluctantly, I turned back toward the outdoor bed and lay down again as I don't just step out of Gazebo and now I back in it again.

"On second thought, I can just create a hologram table to do that job here," I said, deciding to have my nanoswarm fabricate a deployer box just outside the gazebo. I connected it to Gawr and Rupture's sensors.

Meanwhile, Amy and Helena were at it again, playing rock-paper-scissors. This time, Helena won.

"Yay! I get to headpat Master!" she exclaimed, visibly thrilled. Honestly, isn't that a bit of an overreaction?

Amy, on the other hand, pouted slightly, clearly disappointed. I sighed and motioned for her to come over. She hesitated at first but complied, and I patted her head a few times.

"No pouting," I said, as Helena happily patted my head in turn. A headpat chain, huh?

I shifted my attention back to the holographic miniature map. On it, I could see Gawr and Rupture's thrusters activating as they exited the submarine gates of the base. It would take them about two minutes to surface—these girls were designed for speed, after all.

"If they find anything, let me know. I'm going back to figuring out Strike Witches… again." I groaned as Helena's hand remained gently patting my head. Fine, no getting frustrated—just focus.

"Okay, where was I? Something about thrust vectoring?" I muttered to myself. "Ah, right, the fricking VTOL function is messing with my plane. Found the problem. Now, how do I fix it?"

I pondered for a moment. The propulsion system was located at the back of the aircraft, which made it difficult to achieve balance. I needed something to help stabilize the front. Unfortunately, I didn't have any complete VTOL craft blueprints that weren't inspired by the Osprey. I probably knew more about the Osprey than the F-15, that's for sure.

Grumbling, I decided to go with an Osprey-inspired design first. My goal was simple: create a Strike Witch that could dominate the skies with close air support capabilities. If it sacrificed some speed for versatility, so be it.

I saved the unfinished plane blueprint and opened a new template. Starting fresh always felt better.

I began sketching out the new design. The craft's main frame took the shape of a rectangle structure measuring 12 meters in length, 6 meters in width. Thrusters were mounted at each corners on rotating servos for maneuverability with added 1 meter in width per thrusters so 8 meters in width total.

Beneath the frame, I positioned the cockpit at the front for optimal visibility. Behind it, I placed a compact quad-fusion reactor system—a 2x4x4-meter block capable of providing immense power. Adjacent to the reactor, I allocated another section of equal size for resource storage, ensuring long-term operational capability. The rear section was left open, intended for customizable loadouts or additional modules.

Once the framework was complete, I simulated flight. Everything checked out. Next came the firepower: a pair of graviton autocannons mounted beneath the cockpit on rotating bearings. They had a 270-degree firing arc, perfect for targeting enemies below.

I moved on to the loadouts. The first was a missile platform with four underbelly tubes, seamlessly integrated into the ship's frame. Each tube could fire at a rate of four missiles per second, holding enough ammunition for a full minute—240 missiles in total. Half the craft's resource storage would be devoted to missiles, with the other half reserved for self-repair and emergencies.

The second loadout was a fortified cargo container for transporting either resources or T-Dolls. While I considered adding gun ports, I decided against it for now—better to avoid friendly fire incidents when passengers got shrunk in to fairy and gun ports can change places on the body. The container was designed for hot drops, doubling as a temporary fortification upon landing.

The third loadout? An empty bay for carrying vehicles or tankgirls. This configuration allowed the transport of larger ground units when necessary, not that I know if it necessary.

Satisfied with the versatility of the design, I hit Generate.

[Unnamed Dropship - Strike witches - Wargirl]

Cost: $2,200 x 10 (wargirls)

Speed: 35 (flying)

Hitpoints: 300 + 1000 (Wargirls)

Armor Class: Heavy Aircraft

Prerequisite: Wargirl's Wisdom Cube Factory + Wargirl's Strike Witches Airbase

Purpose: Transport, Anti-Infantry, Anti-Armor, Ground Support

Weapons: 2x Graviton autocannon laser

Range: 16

Additional Info: Immune to mind control. Self-repairing. Have 3 mode: 1st 4x Graviton Missiles, Range: 22 / 2nd Armored transport, have passenger slot of 12 / 3rd Tank carrier, allows tankgirls to be transport via VTOL.

Looking at the humanoid manifestation of my creation, I noticed she had a vibrant neon-blue aesthetic reminiscent of Miku, and her style suddenly change to twin tails. Apparently, my thoughts could influence their humanoid forms—good to know, though it was probably too late to change her now.

"Master~ She the new girl?" Helena ask in her usual teasing tone as I got more headpat from her..

"Yeah," I replied, slightly embarrassed but used to her antics. "She's the first Strike Witches design. I haven't thought of a name for her yet, but here's her actual rigging." I swiped through the interface, pulling up the dropship's schematics for Helena to see.

"Master's going full sci-fi now, huh?" Helena smirked smugly, her tone dripping with mischief. I didn't like that look, so I retaliated by squishing her cheek with both hands, earning a soft yelp.

"Anyway," I continued, "I think I'll just call her Hammerhead. She's designed for front-line support, so the name fits her role perfectly." Satisfied, I set the name and confirmed it.

Amy joined the cheek-squeezing fun without hesitation. Poor Helena was caught between us, muttering a muffled protest. After a while, I let go and turned my attention to the 3D map.

The scout teams hadn't reported any findings yet. Just endless oceans. No forces in sight within a 30-kilometer radius to the east. No Epsilon sightings either.

"Any news?" I asked Amy, who seemed more invested in the map than I was.

"No news, Aqua-chan," she replied, her voice tinged with boredom. "It's been quiet on the surface."

I sighed deeply, letting my head sink into the bed. "Back to designing, I guess."

The next challenge was figuring out how to create an underwater base that could launch flyers into the air at high speeds. I'd been planning this for a while—ever since I acquired the research box.

The solution? A railgun launcher.

I started sketching out a massive railgun capable of launching drop pods while submerged. Honestly, it could probably launch satellites into space if I ever built one of these on land. But for now, its primary function would be to send Strike Witches to the surface from a depth of 2,200 meters at the ocean floor, giving extra 1,000 meters to be sure and It need to shoot up flyer.

Satisfied with the initial concept, I added defensive measures—four PD turrets for missile and anti-air defense. Not that it was likely to get raided within a 10-kilometer radius of the main base, but it never hurt to be prepared. Once done, I saved the design as a separate entry and hit 'Generate'.

[Wargirl's Railgun launcher - Experimental]

Cost: $3000 x 10 (Wargirls)

Power: -1000 x 10 (Wargirls)

Hitpoints: 2500 + 1000 (Wargirls)

Prerequisite: Wargirl's Strike witches Airbase

Purpose: Transport

Armor Class: Ultra Heavy Structure

Weapon: 1x Super Railgun / 4x PD graviton turrets

Range: 256 / 4

Additional Information: Can shoot drop pod at targeted location. Can Gain Experience. Self repairing.

"Okay, this is going to be fun. Also, 256 range? Isn't that on par with that one Pacific Front unit that could shoot across the map?" I muttered to myself.

Helena resumed her head-patting spree as I transitioned to the airbase design.

Rupture's POV

The Commander assigned us a scouting mission. I had honestly expected us to be deep in combat by now I sigh as I even start a chat with my crews.. I sighed, leaning back slightly on my submarine bike as I started a casual chat with my crew. The bike looks like a submarine but handles more like a motorcycle, equipped with twin thrusters instead of a standard propeller system. Thanks to this design, I can reach a top speed of 65 knots underwater. For now, we're diving just below the surface to avoid detection—though I doubt surface detection systems are even present in this area. Still, protocols are protocols, and we need to stay in range to deliver total destruction if we ever got detected.

"Still no sign of anything," I muttered, glancing back at the common area where my crew was gathered. Despite the uneventful mission so far, they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Lib, one of my support models, had created a game using her nanoswarms—something she called UNO. Let me tell you, I despise those +4 chains. Sakura, another support model, somehow always manages to have one up her sleeve. At least Danielle, our lone combat model, shares my pain. Not that I'd ever cheat in the game, even though we're on my ship, and I technically have full access to know what happen on my ship and know cards everyone holds. I cast a sidelong glance at my sister, Gawr.

"Gawr!" she suddenly exclaimed, pointing toward something in the distance.

I followed her gaze, zooming in with my optics. The landscape ahead seemed to rise from the water—a landmass of some sort.

"Alright, heads up. We've found something," I announced to the crew while cycling through the sensors. A surface fleet appeared on the radar, but there were no signs of submarines. That struck me as odd. Adding to the scene was a pod of dolphins swimming lazily nearby.

("Allied forces… Still unknown if they're with the USA or the Pacific Front, try to see if their got hover tank. Either way, try to stay undetected. Gather intel from their base and extract. Oh, and if you find any Epsilon submarines, destroy them") the Commander's voice crackled through my comms.

Destroy an Epsilon sub? Great. I continued scanning for hover tanks while preparing to maneuver through the dolphins. Gawr, meanwhile, dived deeper. "Gawr~" she chimed, her tone almost playful. Was she already hunting for a hidden Epsilon sub? Wait—how was I even understanding her all of a sudden?

I shook the thought away and focused on the task at hand. Deploying my crew along the cliffs seemed like the most efficient approach. The port area was bustling with ships, but the patrols on this side of the island were sparse. Perfect.

To my surprise, we remained undetected, despite how conspicuous we must have been on thermal imaging. Did their security really overlook something so basic? Sure, our optical camouflage blends well with the water, but thermals or other advanced optics should have easily picked us up.

"Ouch. Why not me?" Danielle interjected, her tone indignant.

"You're the one who tripped and fell into an empty dock last time. And that was on a flat surface. I'd rather play it safe," I replied bluntly.

"That was one time!" she protested.

"Calm down. You'll have your chance to prove yourself on this mission," Sakura chimed in, giving Danielle a light karate chop on the head.

Positioning my rigging near the cliff base, I braced against the waves crashing against the rocky surface.

"Ready whenever you are," I said as Lib exited the submarine bike. With practiced precision, she fired a grappling hook toward the cliff face and ascended swiftly. She did mentioned how support models don't have predefined loadouts as she copy the equipment from Combat model data. Was that intentional on the Commander's part, or had she just forgotten?

Danielle followed, climbing after Lib with determination. Lastly, Sakura materialized, nodding at me before using her grappling hook and jump pack for an extra boost.

As they worked their way up, I stayed submerged, keeping watch for their all-clear signal. Suddenly, a deep rumble echoed from below the surface.

BOOM!