Zhou Lin

In this universe, even though human technology has become very advanced in the 23rd century, things like "giant humanoid combat robots" are still settings that only exist in literature or film and television works.

The reason why the Federation does not develop this kind of weapon is also very simple: first, energy issues; second, practicality.

In terms of energy, the main difficulty lies in the miniaturization of power devices.

Since you have built a humanoid combat unit, you must ensure that it has close to human-like movement performance during action, otherwise it will be meaningless; but if the power unit takes up too much space, it is not a "humanoid robot", and It is the "Kamesen Humanoid Robot".

Unfortunately, with the technology of this era, the only power source that can meet the conditions of miniaturization is "nuclear energy"; it is inappropriate to allow a combat unit that can move long distances to carry this kind of power, let alone aircraft carriers and submarines. The risk of land-based weapons carrying a nuclear reactor everywhere is difficult to estimate... Therefore, before the emergence of new energy or newer miniaturization technology, this problem may not be solved.

What? You mean plug in the wire? Not to mention how long you can make the wire, if your enemy sees the wire and just pulls it out or breaks it, it's the end of it? Do you think they are mentally retarded?

Of course, when it comes to giant robots, energy is only a secondary issue, and practicality is the main issue.

When you develop a weapon, it will naturally be used. So... what kind of war must be fought by giant humanoid combat robots?

The answer is, there is no such war.

Modern human war is an attack and defense launched by both sides around each other's strategies and military facilities, with the ultimate goal of destruction or occupation.

If you want to attack a certain facility or unit, the best way is to use missiles and explosives to kill it remotely, rather than sending a huge humanoid mecha to chop it up.

If you want to defend against the enemy's attack, the best way is to open barrages and protective shields to offset the opponent's long-range attacks. At the same time, you can also send some missiles to counterattack the enemy's projectiles, rather than sending a giant robot through Go through the hail of bullets and fight back.

If you're trying to capture an area or facility, your best bet is to send armed ground troops to search and suppress it after the bombardment, rather than having giant robots go over there and tear off the roofs of buildings and point guns at the prisoners with barrels thicker than cement pipes. Their heads asked them to raise their hands in surrender.

In short, there is no such thing as "tasks that must be completed by giant robots" in modern warfare. All tasks that giant robots can complete can be completed by other combat units, and the latter are more efficient.

If there is one thing that only giant robots can do, it would probably be "melee combat". But what kind of enemy has to be defeated with a fist as big as a truck head and an armored knife as long as a train? ? Monster?

However, even if you are not going to fight but fighting monsters, it is still more effective to use traditional war weapons.

If a monster can't dodge a robot's fist, it certainly can't dodge a missile. So why don't I just hit it with a missile? Could it be that the destructive power produced when a missile explodes is not as great as a large iron block moving forward at a certain speed?

In the final analysis... the logic of "use giant robots instead of missiles to fight monsters" is basically equivalent to - "I want to kill a rhinoceros, but I think it is better to use a bazooka than a big hammer."

To sum up, in the Federation of 2218, the huge humanoid body is still just a "man's romance"; no rational and responsible military researcher can seriously develop such a weapon. Putting it on the agenda, let alone actually doing research and development.

But, at this moment, at this moment...Solid saw such a thing with his own eyes, and was chasing the plane he was on.

Even though he had experienced hundreds of battles, he couldn't help but curse when he saw this incredible scene.

"I understand..." However, a veteran is a veteran after all. It only took him a few seconds to regain his composure and said to the two pilots, "You two, my men and I will take over the driving now. You Let's go back to the cabin and wait for my instructions."

When the two pilots heard this, they didn't say much. The plane was already in semi-autonomous driving mode at this moment, so they simply responded and left their seats; from the beginning to the end, they never questioned whether Solid could fly. Aircraft, because the aura of this officer when he spoke gave them the feeling of an experienced driver.

"By the way..." When the two people were about to open the door, Solid reminded them again, "...don't talk nonsense after you go out."

…………

At the same time, on the other side, in the cockpit of "Scarlet Mokui R-42".

"We're not far from the 'designated area', hehe... which attack method should be better?" The doctor sat in the driver's seat that he had modified (in order to match his body type), smiling sinisterly. With.

"Don't kill them all..." Lance, who was sitting behind him, sharpened his nails with a file and continued, "Huh... Although it might be interesting to do that..."

"You want to see how Zi Lin will react when you say, 'I accidentally killed all the people on the plane,' right?" The doctor also knows a thing or two about Lance's bad taste.

"Yeah..." Lance responded with a long voice, "But I can generally guess that he will reply to me casually, 'He will die here, which means they are nothing more than that', and then in his heart Silently make a note of it for me, and stab me one more time when you come to settle accounts with me in the future..."

"Listen to what you mean...do you think you will die in his hands one day?" the doctor continued.

"Probably, but he may not have done it himself." Lance replied.

"Why do you want to cooperate with someone who will kill you sooner or later?" The doctor's tone suddenly became serious.

"Hahahaha..." Lance laughed out loud and continued, "The whole world will be destroyed by him. What's the harm in adding one or two more dead souls like you and me?"

When he said this, his tone was seven parts like a joke, but another three parts sounded like he was talking about something destined to happen.

"Hey...why are you including me?" The doctor turned his head, looked at Lance, and asked suspiciously.

"I just said it casually, you just listen casually, don't care." Lance laughed and changed the topic, "What you should pay attention to now is... the plane we are tracking has left you. out of sight."

After his reminder, the doctor quickly turned his head and looked ahead, only to find that... the "Wangan No. 9" plane that was originally flying at a level in front of him had disappeared.

"No way... Could it be that optical camouflage is also popular on civilian aircraft these days?" The doctor muttered as he brought up a scanning storyboard on the main screen in front of him. As a result, he soon realized... that aircraft It wasn't that it became "invisible", it just suddenly and drastically reduced its height and speed in a short period of time, falling below them and being thrown behind them.

"Oh~ I was distracted and actually ran behind me." As the doctor spoke, his hands also flew on the operating table. Under his control, the Scarlet Mokui R-42 also changed its direction and headed towards The plane rushed over.

"Even if the pilot of a civil aircraft can perform the actions just now, he will definitely not act rashly before obtaining the consent of the person in charge on the aircraft." Lance continued, "So...if nothing else, Solid should Already spotted us and took over control of the aircraft."

"Ha... you mean, the plane is being piloted by the 'veteran' himself, so it doesn't matter even if I'm 'rough' to them?" When the doctor said this, he showed an excited smile.

"It's up to you." Lance responded, "As I said... just don't kill those 'key figures'."

After receiving this answer that was close to "affirmative", the doctor felt confident.

The next second, the Scarlet Mokui R-42 accelerated, instantly closing the distance between it and the aircraft.

This huge robot model number "R-42" is a variant of a prototype called "Scarlet Demon Kui". After continuous improvements from types "1" to "41", type 42 is already A very mature model, its main feature is its emphasis on "versatility"; although the combat performance of the R-42 is about twice that of the prototype, it also has lower requirements for pilots. Most ordinary people can drive it after training, and this machine can be mass-produced.

Seeing this, some people may ask, doesn’t the Federation develop giant robots? And don’t giant robots have two problems that they can’t solve? So where did this thing come from?

The answer is simple: because this is the technology of the "Reverse Cross" camp.

Regarding the technology of power core miniaturization, they have long mastered it. As for practicality... it is very clear as mentioned above - "It is impossible for any 'rational and responsible' military industry researcher to engage in this kind of research." "...But an organization like the Anti-Cross, which uses mad scientists all the year round, has no rationality or responsibility in most cases. They just want to engage in "men's romance" and build giant robots!

So, at this moment we saw this scene——

A scarlet-painted mecha dived from above an aircraft. During the dive, it stretched its hands backwards, detached its two wings, and assembled them to form a weapon. A huge "ship-cutting knife".

Immediately afterwards, he held the knife and slashed furiously.

In the blink of an eye, a huge scarlet shadow flashed across the sky, and wherever the blade passed, a shock wave of sound barrier erupted. In an instant, the wing on one side of the aircraft was severed from the fuselage, and the cut... was as smooth as a fault scanned by a laser.

Luxurious civilian airliners like "Wangan 9", which are designed to pursue comfort, usually have huge sizes, slow control, and ineffective defense systems (only two functions: calling for help and small-scale automatic maintenance)... Under this absolute hardware disadvantage, even Solid was unable to make evasive actions and could only carry it hard.

However, he was already prepared for this situation...

The moment he took over the plane, Solid understood that as long as the opponent launched an attack, whether it was with artillery fire or this exaggerated attack method, he would have no room to counterattack, so he would take down the plane before the opponent could take action. Down to this height.

It was too late, but it was too soon. Almost at the same second when the slash occurred, Solid used manual mode to forcefully shut down all the propulsion engines. As a result, the engines on the remaining wing no longer produced propulsion. .

However, even if the engines on both sides are stopped, the weight of the wing itself and its role in aerodynamics will still make the aircraft lose balance. Turning off the engines will only slow down the tendency of the fuselage to lose control.

Fortunately... with Solid's technology, this "slightly slower" leeway is enough.

After a few seconds, the plane began to tilt and fall. The remaining wing gradually deformed under the pressure and was about to break.

Solid just sat calmly in front of the control console. Under the shocked eyes of the soldier next to him, he adjusted the "levitation system" on the aircraft with slow hand speed.

This system serves the "hovering, take-off and landing" function of the aircraft, and this function itself requires the cooperation of the main propulsion engines to achieve it. However, the wings on both sides are now useless, and only the "auxiliary" ones at the bottom of the aircraft are The "boost well" can still be used... At the current speed of the aircraft, this power will have extremely limited impact on the fuselage.

However, Solid can use this "limited power" to do things beyond people's imagination...

Using the remaining, shaky wing as a fulcrum, he continuously raised and lowered the output ratio of each auxiliary booster well. In the midst of a spinning body, and in a dangerous situation where he could crash and die at any time... Calmly finding a relatively balanced operating mode, the plane began to spin like a waltz in mid-air.

Under this regular rotation, the aircraft slowed down... Both the lateral and falling speeds were slowed down in this delicate balance. The role of the boost well became obvious after the fuselage decelerated. The upward force maintaining "hover stability" gradually increases.

During this process, Solid continuously adjusted the output ratio of each booster well according to the changes in speed and the movement of the fuselage, and finally... the aircraft made an emergency landing on a thick tree cover.

Although the impact during "landing" is still very large, it is much lighter than falling directly without control. The fuselage is still intact when it lands and stops, and is not disconnected or disintegrated. From the operation point of view, Judging from the various instruments on the stage, more than half of the systems on board are still functioning.

To be able to save a tragedy that resulted in the destruction of a machine and life and lead to the current situation is already a miracle for most people.

But for Solid, it seems like that's all...

"Are you okay?" After the plane came to a complete stop, only two seconds later, Solid turned his head and asked the soldier beside him in a calm tone.

And the soldier's response was...opened his mask, turned his head away, and vomited out all the overnight dinner.

"I'll go take a look at the back." Seeing that his subordinate was so focused on vomiting, Solid thought it was nothing serious, so he got up and walked to the cabin.

Due to the slight deformation of the fuselage, the cockpit door could no longer open automatically, so Solid had no choice but to remove the entire door; anyway, his B17 armor was still very powerful, and it didn't cost much to remove one or two doors. electricity.

After the door was removed, the scene that greeted Solid's eyes was undoubtedly a mess. Although he immediately informed all crew members on the plane to sit down and fasten their seat belts immediately after taking over the plane, it was obvious that some people did not comply...

"Soldiers, count!" Solid didn't waste any words. He shouted while scanning the environment.

The few soldiers who remained in the cabin also responded instinctively.

"one!"

"two!"

"Three... vomit..."

"Four!"

As a result, there were only four counting sounds from the six soldiers.

"Quickly check if you are injured and how serious the injury is, and then search everything from the passenger cabin to the cargo hold to see where No. 5 and No. 6 are and whether they are still alive. Then gather the injured and take them off the plane." Solid He quickly issued the order and walked forward as he said, "I will go to the power room to see if there is any risk of the core exploding. I will also check the damage to each system. I will meet you outside in fifteen minutes."

At this moment, after having just experienced this shocking disaster that was enough to leave psychological trauma, Solid was as if nothing had happened and was still doing what he should do vigorously and resolutely. Not to mention his subordinates, everyone else was thinking about it. I was thinking, "Is this guy really a human?"

"Sir..." When Solid passed by, Jimenez, who was slumped in his seat and unbuckling his seat belt, said with a dry smile, "Seriously... you really don't have any spares for your armor. ?"