Heavenquake Force Drive

“Do you have something in mind?”

“Since there doesn’t seem to be a Trans-Spacetime Jump Field Generator anywhere in this spaceport, I think we should search somewhere else.”

“Where exactly should we look?”

“The most promising place would be the space station, but there are goblins there…”

After discussing our options, Sario and I decided to head for the sixth planet. The sixth planet was a rocky world like Earth, and the Anubis race had apparently mined resources there. It had no atmosphere, and its gravity was approximately eighty percent of Earth’s.

Earth’s gravity had been calculated by examining my body. Apparently, studying someone’s genes and physical structure could reveal a certain amount about the environment in which they had grown up.

There was a small space colony near the sixth planet. However, it had been completely destroyed by the Celestial Gods, to the point that even the goblins had decided it wasn’t worth investigating.

The space colony had apparently housed numerous spacecraft shipyards, so we thought there might still be equipment related to spacecraft construction among the ruins. However, since the colony had been thoroughly destroyed, the chances of finding anything intact were slim.

We had reached these conclusions using the basic information stored in the small spacecraft’s control computer, combined with our observations of the current situation.

“The problem is that we don’t have much propellant left for the plasma engines.”

“Are you saying we don’t have enough propellant to reach that space colony?”

“No, we have enough for that. But if we keep using it at this rate, we’ll run out very quickly.”

“Then what should we do?”

“Zen, can’t you use the ‘Heavenquake Force Drive’?”

Heavenquake Force Drive was a method of spacecraft propulsion in which a Magus used their abilities to perform the function of an Acceleration Field Generator rather than relying on machinery. At last, the Acceleration Field Circuit I’d endured so much pain to acquire would prove useful.

The hangar had a passage leading outside the spaceport, so we used it to take the small spacecraft out into space.

“Zen, go to the combat room we built on top of the hull and move the ship from there.”

“Understood.”

I left the cockpit, moved to the combat room, and sat down. Since the room was enclosed by a transparent dome made of high-strength resin, it felt as though I were floating freely in space.

“I’ll set our course from here first. Once that’s done, you can start accelerating.”

“Got it.”

Sario took the controls, and the small spacecraft began moving. The Space Alliance used a unit of speed called a ‘Varch.’ One Varch represented 0.1 percent of the speed of light and served as a basic unit of measurement for space travel.

Varch 1 was equivalent to 874 times the speed of sound. Our plan was to use propellant to accelerate the small spacecraft to approximately seven times the speed of sound, then use Heavenquake Force Drive to accelerate it to Varch 5.

“Zen, begin accelerating.”

“Understood.”

With the Control Gate of my Power Conduit opened to Release Level T, I channeled Heavenquake Force into the Acceleration Field Circuit engraved within my mind. When I designated the small spacecraft as the target for acceleration, I felt Heavenquake Force envelop the entire vessel, and then it began accelerating.

However, the amount of Heavenquake Force available at Release Level T wasn’t particularly great, so it couldn’t produce much acceleration. I therefore increased the output to Release Level 1. When I’d been practicing Particle Shot, I could only control the amount of Heavenquake Force flowing in at Release Level T. However, with the assistance of the Acceleration Field Circuit, I could apparently increase my control capacity considerably.

I couldn’t help thinking that if I could use the Acceleration Field Circuit with Particle Shot, I might even be able to defeat large monsters in a single hit. Unfortunately, that wasn’t how the circuit worked, so there was nothing I could do about it.

I worked hard for approximately thirty minutes, but I only managed to increase the small spacecraft’s speed to just under Varch 1. At that point, my mental strength was exhausted, so I returned to the cockpit.

“Phew, I’m exhausted.”

I dropped into a cockpit seat and let out a weary sigh.

“Good work. If you use Heavenquake Force Drive another three or four times, we should reach our target speed.”

Sario told me this while looking at the flight monitor.

I lay down in the rest room behind the cockpit and rested until my fatigue subsided, then used Heavenquake Force Drive again. I repeated this process several times.

Afterward, we traveled at Varch 5 for approximately a day before using Heavenquake Force Drive to decelerate. We then docked alongside the ruined space colony near the sixth planet.

We changed into our Mobile Armor and ventured into space. Using our Thruster Packs, we entered the space colony through an enormous hole in its exterior. Inside, we were greeted by the sight of countless spacecraft wrecks drifting through the weightless interior.

We flew between the wrecks, desperately searching for a Trans-Spacetime Jump Field Generator. Approximately twenty days later, we discovered the remains of what had once been a space cruiser warship.

“This space cruiser warship looks promising.”

At a location that had once been one of the space colony’s shipyards, two space cruiser warships had been torn apart, their scattered remains drifting through space.

“All I can see is a bunch of scrap metal.”

Almost everything in sight had been destroyed, and there didn’t appear to be a single undamaged machine anywhere.

“We can’t give up. If we keep searching patiently, we might find something.”

And so we continued searching for days. At long last, we finally discovered a Trans-Spacetime Jump Field Generator.

“I found one!”

When I heard Sario’s voice, I hurried over to him. In front of him stood a machine approximately three meters wide and two meters tall. However, what appeared to be a fragment of steel was embedded in one end of the machine.

“Wait, isn’t it broken?”

“I think we can repair this much damage. Let’s take it back to the small spacecraft.”

We transported the Trans-Spacetime Jump Field Generator back to our small spacecraft. Afterward, we discovered the remains of several other Trans-Spacetime Jump Field Generators, but the one from the space cruiser warship appeared to be in the best condition.

However, some components from the wrecked units might still be usable, so we had the maintenance robots dismantle them and brought the undamaged parts back to the small spacecraft.

We ordered the maintenance robots to examine the Trans-Spacetime Jump Field Generator and determine whether it could be repaired. Three maintenance robots began disassembling and inspecting the machine. These military maintenance robots had originally been manufactured to service Anubis military vessels. Consequently, their artificial brains contained knowledge of the advanced technologies used in equipment such as Trans-Spacetime Jump Field Generators.

However, that knowledge was limited to the techniques necessary for maintenance. The robots couldn’t manufacture a Trans-Spacetime Jump Field Generator from scratch. If they could, we would probably have been able to acquire enough wealth to spend the rest of our lives enjoying ourselves without ever having to work again.

While searching for a Trans-Spacetime Jump Field Generator, we had also discovered another piece of equipment that looked useful. It was an undamaged Eight-Light-Diameter Charged Particle Cannon. Charged particle cannons required enormous amounts of energy, so they were often installed alongside dedicated miniature nuclear fusion reactors.

This Eight-Light-Diameter Charged Particle Cannon was approximately seven meters long and was commonly mounted as a secondary gun on corvette-class warships measuring around 150 meters in length. We brought all of the equipment back to the small spacecraft.

Incidentally, since charged particle cannons fired plasma, using the term ‘light diameter’ to describe them was technically incorrect. However, apparently, it had become customary long ago to use the same ‘light diameter’ designation employed for laser cannons.

While Zen and his companions were investigating the destroyed space colony, a space battle between the orcs and goblins had begun near the fourth planet.

Amid the fighting, the second-class reconnaissance ship Gyogaru was observing the fierce battle. As a reconnaissance vessel, the Gyogaru wasn’t considered part of the combat force and wasn’t participating directly. Instead, it used its excellent radar system to gather information and transmit the data to the allied fleet.

“Captain Bobro, radar has detected an enormous object!”

“Orc reinforcements?”

“Apparently not, sir.”

“Don’t tell me it’s a giant monster!”

“It’s a monster approximately six Jiras—three kilometers—in length!”

Captain Bobro immediately contacted the fleet headquarters aboard the flagship Garchura.