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Grace Howard, the technician from Belobog Heavy Industries, had always made Ignis suspect that she might be the daughter of the Omnissiah left behind in this world.
She could climb onto the Leviathan Dreadnought or work on Cerakos's jetpack, performing repairs entirely with New Eridu's current technology and materials—and everything worked flawlessly.
And the state of the equipment afterward was surprisingly solid.
But when Gotthardt mentioned that she had hand-crafted a plasma cannon from scratch, Ignis still felt his worldview being shaken.
A plasma weapon—used by the Astra Militarum all the way up to the Titans, the Empire's standard long-range anti-armor armament—was casually recreated by a civilian engineer?
No words except "Omnissiah" could describe my shock…
Even after consulting Cerakos, the Son of Sanguinius himself seemed just as shaken.
After all, repairing his jetpack or replacing the Leviathan Dreadnought's broken power system was modifying something already there. But this plasma cannon… from scratch, based only on Gotthardt's verbal description, using only the technical capabilities of New Eridu?
It's like grabbing a handful of sand and turning it into microchips.
It was the level of a technological myth.
So, when the weapon was about to undergo test firing, the two Space Marines arrived at the scene immediately.
Thanks to the addition of the Leviathan Dreadnought of the Imperial Fists, Belobog Heavy Industries' construction progress had been astonishingly fast. Tasks that were expected to take much longer, like dismantling old buildings, had been more than half completed under Gotthardt's command and personal involvement. Now, the only lagging part was new construction, leaving plenty of open space.
These open areas became ideal for weapon testing.
"Ah, long time no see, you two." Koleda Belobog, the petite president of Belobog Heavy Industries, greeted Ignis and Cerakos. "I didn't expect the Public Security officers to show up too—I thought it would just be the Defense Force."
Qingyi nodded. "Weapon testing is critical. The higher-ups don't want any mishaps."
Standing beside the petite president was Lieutenant Roland, whom they had met at Scott Outpost. He groaned internally at the sudden assignment—managing Scott Outpost and conducting the Hollow Zero exploration and suppression duties was already exhausting, and now he was tasked with attending a civilian company's weapon test?
But the military is the military; orders come first. After briefing his subordinate, he rushed to the site.
The massive bipedal mech did pique his interest, but hearing from his superiors that it couldn't be mass-produced or forcibly requisitioned quickly killed any thought of claiming it.
War is an unforgiving drain. Things that can't be mass-produced have little value.
Seeing Ignis and Cerakos simply nod in acknowledgment, as representatives of New Eridu's strongest departments, he felt a small pang of envy—but the two Space Marines paid it no mind. Their focus was solely on the plasma cannon: its destructive power and potential for miniaturization. They needed a reliable long-range weapon; constantly relying on swords and hammers for close combat wasn't ideal.
"Koleda, enough with the pleasantries. Let's go see it already." Ignis couldn't hide his urgency and went straight to the point.
Accustomed to working on construction sites, Koleda, despite being the head of Belobog Heavy Industries, didn't care for idle chatter. Hearing Ignis's request, she nodded and led the four directly to the testing ground.
"Honestly, I've considered plasma weapons before, but stabilizing the generation of plasma is a technical challenge," Ignis said, turning to Cerakos. "Previously, we used a lithium-based micro nuclear reactor to heat hydrogen into plasma, then launched it using electromagnetic coils."
"Electromagnetic launchers are pretty common here," Koleda explained. "Not long ago, a Thiren tried using one to shoot coins and ended up breaking a lot of concrete. He was supposed to pay full damages, but we decided half was enough—equipment mismanagement is partly our fault too."
"So, the main challenge is plasma generation," Cerakos nodded. "Nuclear power tech isn't widespread in New Eridu, so their method must differ from our era. Fundamentally, it's continuous heating of hydrogen—does ether fuel provide enough thermal energy?"
"From what I've seen, it's not enough," Ignis shook his head. "There must be another method."
While the two Space Marines discussed the issue methodically, Qingyi and Roland, representatives of New Eridu's powerful departments, remained silent. Qingyi knew how strong these two were; if they were this excited to discuss it, the weapon's power had to be extraordinary.
Just hope the test doesn't go wrong…
As for Roland, his rank wasn't high, so he wasn't fully aware of the details. His orders were to avoid conflict and assist where possible, so he chose to listen more and report back to superiors.
He wasn't particularly concerned about a non-mass-producible weapon. Such a device held little significance for a lower-level officer like him.
The testing ground was a completely cleared lot, though some debris remained. The Leviathan Dreadnought had already detected the group and waved its power claw in acknowledgment.
Gotthardt's plasma cannon mounted on the Dreadnought's right arm was visually faithful, with extra hoses connecting to the mech's interior. The classic combustion chamber structure and spiral electromagnetic launch coils looked familiar to Ignis. Although Salamanders primarily used meltas, some units still fielded plasma weaponry.
"Hey, brothers." Gotthardt opened the Dreadnought's sarcophagus lid and waved his mechanical arm.
Though his body couldn't leave the sarcophagus, Grace had installed a mechanical arm for him—two hands were far more convenient than one. The arm wasn't simple either; it was inspired by Ignis's Flamestorm Gauntlet, with numerous servomotors granting flexibility nearly equal to a real arm.
"Heard you finished the cleanup mission? Too bad I couldn't join." The old veteran sounded regretful. "Hope your hunt went well."
"We've mostly finished hunting the targets on the list," Cerakos replied. "Honestly, it's not a pleasant job."
"Ha, young man. Think about it—they can't harm this world anymore. Isn't that enough to make you happy?" Gotthardt waved dismissively and popped open a can of beer.
"Mr. Gotthardt Stahlgriff!" Koleda's voice rose several octaves. "No drinking on site! Pay your fine afterward!"
"Got it, got it. Drinking this is basically like drinking water." The old man nodded and guzzled it down.
"Good, looks like everyone's here." Grace Howard didn't lift her gaze from her datapad. "Prepare for the test fire. If my calculations are correct, this weapon shouldn't exceed the engine's power limit."
"Excuse me." Lieutenant Roland interrupted. "Your company deals in mechanical manufacturing and construction, right? When did you start making weapons?"
"When did we ever call this a weapon?" Koleda crossed her arms. "We have no intention of competing with Three Gates Corp. militarily. This is a long-range breaching tool for engineering. If it can destroy a building's main support from a distance, you don't need personnel to risk placing explosives. Worker safety is improved, isn't it?"
"Koleda, anything you describe like this is usually defined as a weapon," Qingyi tilted her head, unconvinced.
"Hmph. As long as it's not used against people, it's just an engineering breacher," Koleda shook her head. "Our company has no military layout."
Of course, with minor adjustments, such engineering machines could serve as weapons. Ignis knew this well; in many assault operations, the Imperial Guard and Space Marines used mining drills to bypass defenses and reach behind enemy lines.
Even Imperial Knight Titans were rumored to descend from massive lumbering machines of the Golden Age.
I wonder what size trees those could even cut…
Grace ignored the bickering entirely, focusing only on her technical work. For her, as long as it wasn't used on ordinary people, the ultimate application didn't matter.
"Enough. What matters is the test fire." The technical lead interrupted. "Although we simulated in lab and software, the real-world effects are unknown."
Everyone went silent. The Leviathan Dreadnought closed its sarcophagus armor, aimed at the preselected target—a pile of building debris.
As the electromagnetic coils charged, sparks flickered. Ignis noticed the plasma cannon's rear section temperature rising sharply; hot air distorted around the weapon. It was clear this technology differed entirely from Space Marine designs—hand-holding this would be impossible given the heat alone.
The Empire's materials were truly the pinnacle of black-tech—inside one gun, a micro nuclear reactor was properly shielded.
From heating to firing, it took roughly five seconds. A blue high-temperature plasma sphere shot out, launched by the electromagnetic coils, hitting the debris pile precisely. The heat unleashed a shockwave, flipping debris and leaving a molten crater in the ground.
Everyone thought the first shot would be the only one, but the second fired at twice the speed, the blue plasma sphere shooting out in half the time.
"Overheat at 25%." Grace looked at her datapad. "Good. Matches the calculation model!"
"So… it can fire eight shots in a row?" Ignis was stunned. Its power was impressive, and the interval between shots was only two seconds.
"If pushed, the model says it could fire fifteen in a row." Grace looked up at Ignis, whose jaw had nearly dropped. "What's wrong?"
Fifteen shots in thirty seconds? That firing rate is terrifying.
"This…" Roland was dumbfounded. Even the Defense Force's large-caliber weapons couldn't match that volume in half a minute. With precise targeting, this could obliterate an entire squad of tactical mechs…
And this is a civilian company? What on earth is this thing?
"I'm curious how it heats hydrogen into plasma." Ignis stared at the Omnissiah-like miracle.
"Simple. Laser irradiation." Grace shrugged. "I modified a heat-ray thermal laser for continuous irradiation. Weapon-grade laser heats the hydrogen until it ionizes, then the electromagnetic launcher's field constrains and fires it. Done."
Done…
Done…
Ignis felt his worldview collapsing. How could she describe this as casually as pouring soup? Never mind modifying a weapon-grade thermal cannon for continuous firing—the monitoring of the heating process alone is insane. Does she really think this work is simple?
Fifteen shots in thirty seconds? Even the Mechanicus would have to learn from her. Razor's plasma weapons weren't this powerful.
"Relax, kiddo." Gotthardt noticed Ignis's reaction. "It's not as extreme as you imagine."
"First, it can't be miniaturized; it needs massive structures for heat dissipation and plasma generation. Second, it requires enormous energy; I couldn't move at all during firing—every bit of power goes to the weapon. Third, the output is actually lower than the official model; firing fifteen times consecutively would destroy the system, still requiring full cooling afterward."
The old veteran explained the weapon's limitations.
But given its power, these flaws were negligible.
"This is incredible…" Qingyi shook her head. Lucky they were on the same side—if this were against New Eridu, she couldn't even imagine.
"Ms. Koleda." Lieutenant Roland became serious. "Would you consider selling the design to the Defense Force?"
"Eh?" Koleda froze. She assumed the Defense Force was just observing, not actually interested. She turned to Grace for her opinion.
"You think?"
"Me?" Grace raised her head. "I think we need to improve energy efficiency. Right now, a lot of heat is wasted. We should optimize it, at least to maintain minimal mobility during firing."
"Wait! You mean it can be optimized?" Ignis felt his face muscles twitch.
Omnissiah… Grace, what connection do you have to him? How do you even do all of this?
Roland stroked his chin. "Can we test-fire a few more times? I want to record video evidence."
"Of course!" Gotthardt readily agreed. This weapon was far more powerful than the quad thermal laser cannon array.
"Good." Qingyi activated her recording device, preparing to report back to the Public Security.
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