Gundam: From Piece to Player

After that so-called "Principality Memorial Hall" was burned down,

The adults and servants of the Zabi family arrived at the scene, wailing and cursing Dagannin.

Karma was furious at the time, and was just about to send those bastards to their deaths with the Vulcan cannon... but in the end she didn't, because Alice turned off the weapon system.

She refused to open the safety lock.

It was said that Karma was detected to be in a state of impaired judgment due to emotional agitation.

That's true.

That's true, but Karma didn't want to bring this bunch of overpowered Zabi family members onto the Juno. She sent a Columbus-class ship to Side 6 and told them to get lost.

He specifically instructed the crew that if this group of people wanted compensation, they should send the ship directly to SIDE1 or SIDE4.

Let them experience the warmth and hospitality of the locals.

Arrangements have been made for General Daganning's funeral.

On May 10, all 30,000 Axis men and their belongings were transferred to the warships.

Axis has become a ghost town... Although it has a shipyard and such, it can't compare to the complete facilities on Juno.

It's hard to go from extravagance to frugality.

The fleet then accelerated, keeping pace with the Juno, and boarded the ship in a relatively stationary state.

Back on the Juno.

Kalmar went straight to the Rice Furnace - Energy Center.

He could finally focus his energy on research.

The next six months of travel will take several months to reach the asteroid belt.

It can only be said that the spacecraft propelled by nuclear fusion today are a huge improvement over those of the old century, but the universe is far more vast than common sense imagines.

For example, Voyager 2, which was in the cosmic century before, would have needed to travel for about 18,000 years to reach Barnard's Star (a star about 6 light-years from the Sun, while Alpha Centauri is in the opposite direction, about 4 light-years away).

Are there any spacecraft capable of reaching sub-light speeds in the Universal Century?

Karma thought for a moment.

There really is one... and it's the all-powerful Minovsky particle.

It seems to be called something like the Minovsky Particle Propulsion Device, and it appears in the children's anime series, 'V Gundam'.

The story of V Gundam takes place roughly seventy or eighty years from now.

Thanks to the various negative reviews of the work at the time, Kalmar knew almost nothing about the plot.

But all I remember is that the main character was just a little kid... and that blonde villainous older sister.

In my past life, I only saw clips and excerpts... the part where the lightsaber roasts the older sister.

But if objects can be accelerated to near the speed of light, would they still be worth making into mobile suits?

Wouldn't it be more effective to directly manufacture disposable weapons?

Uh... a light particle attack?

This idea feels dangerous... Karma scratched her head.

There's definitely no way to get that thing working right now... and we can't jump around in the tech tree.

However, the principle of the Minovsky particle propulsion device is unknown.

However, Kalmar, because he loves science fiction, knows the principles of light sail propulsion technology.

He immediately called Oliver over.

Let's see if the technology of the Universal Century can make it possible. Even if it can't carry people, it would still be interesting to fly a sub-light-speed kite.

. .

“I understand your idea: to use the momentum carried by photons to generate forward thrust. I’ve seen this in scientific journals, but the relevant papers don’t have experimental results. I can look for them myself.”

"Well, after all, we have the financial resources to implement (making toys)."

It was already 8 p.m. GMT, but Oliver still took a sip of coffee.

"There are several technical challenges, the first of which is heat dissipation."

"Heat dissipation?"

"Yes, heat dissipation has always been a major problem for spacecraft. If we use lasers to shine on these sails, the sails are very likely to absorb the laser energy and heat up rapidly or even melt. So we need to think of a solution for the sails."

That is to say, we need to work on materials and structural engineering.

"Secondly, we need to ensure that the laser beam is accurately directed onto the sail. For the source laser, we may need a large M-type furnace to power the laser emitter, while ensuring that the laser beam is concentrated on the small area of ​​the sail over thousands or millions of kilometers. In addition, dust in space may also interfere with the laser."

"The third point is the deployment and closure during flight. We must ensure that the sail membrane can be safely folded during flight, and that it is easily punctured by space debris or fine dust at high speeds. Therefore, it is best to have a certain degree of self-repair capability."

Self-healing ability.

Karma then thought of some kind of advanced technology, but he didn't say it out loud... It was another situation where he couldn't climb out in a short time.

This toy still has potential applications, although listening to Oliver's explanation, it seems risky to use it for carrying people—until the technology matures.

However, it would be very convenient for delivery.

If you need to send something to Earth, just send a "kite".

The fastest delivery in human history.

"If we're going to do this, how much resources and time do you think we'll need... I'll handle this project myself."

Just like with every brilliant idea that comes to fruition, Karma, as usual, asked Oliver to take a look.

"It's hard to say, but I don't think there will be too much. There's a material you could try using on the [sail]."

"Don't tell me, let me guess." Karma crossed her arms and began to make assumptions.

"The Luna titanium alloy used on the RX-78-2?"

"As expected of you, Your Excellency." Oliver flattered him, "But actually, we found in the Federation Army's database that there is more than one specification."

"Oh?"

"The Federation's first specification of Luna Titanium alloy was developed in UC0064. By 79, it had been 15 years since the material was developed, and it was the 128th alloy. It was also used by Dr. Tim Ray in Project V. I think the 50th or 63rd alloys were more suitable as materials for light sails, as they have strong heat resistance and high ductility."

What is a surprise?

That's what you call a surprise.

Karma couldn't hide her joy, as the prize pool hadn't been fully opened yet.

Chapter 175 Your Excellency, Your Niece is in My Hands

The nuclear thrusters on Juno are slowly starting up, performing retro-thrust in the forward direction, to bring the stumbling boulder to a stop until it is recaptured by the sun's gravity and returns to the position it was in 40 years ago.

As for the sun, it appeared smaller than it would be from Earth's orbit—about the size of a distant coin. Yet, its brightness was not diminished by the distance.

It was nailed to the black sky, like an unmissable white burn mark.

The asteroid belt is essentially a sparse storm diluted to the extreme.

It was much more spacious than Kalma had imagined. Although it appeared densely packed on the overview map, it was actually a billion rocks distributed in a three-dimensional space tens of thousands of times larger than the Earth's surface area.

On average, there is only one fist-sized fragment per million cubic kilometers.

"Girl, how does it feel to be back in your hometown after so many years?"

"I feel much calmer now... The pace of life on Earth is too fast. I like this quiet place... provided there are no space pirates or armed groups that double-cross each other."

"Then you don't need to be afraid now. We are now the absolute rulers of this area."

"Brother, could you please not be so belligerent?"

"We need to establish a sustainable food supply and energy system first. The Juno must be self-sufficient, just like a newborn baby must first learn to maintain its own breathing, eat, drink and excrete smoothly, before it can take care of other things."

"You really are a 'leader,' girl."

Kalmar couldn't help but admire Haiwen's awareness of survival in this area.

In comparison, collecting helium-3 is actually a later step... When we set off from Earth, using the Mars gravity slingshot saved a considerable amount of fuel.

In October UC0080, after departing in May and taking more than 150 days, the Deep Space Group and the 60,000 people on board the Juno spacecraft finally reached the asteroid belt.

"This place is about 50 kilometers away from Ceres... It's nominally under federal jurisdiction. Would you be interested in paying a visit to the local administrators, brother?"

Haiwen is now practically the most experienced guide in the area.

Before coming here, Kalmar had learned about Ceres. As the only dwarf planet in the asteroid belt, it has a diameter of 950 kilometers.

It is also the largest celestial body here.

"In name only? A local tyrant."

"Yes, it is actually ruled by the local gangster family, the Caruso. When I was a child, I thought that the air tax and gravity tax were collected by the federal government, but when I arrived in the Earth Sphere, I learned that there was no such official organization at all, and the Federation had no interest in going through such a long journey to cause them trouble."

"Their niche is actually a transit point—whether it's mineral resources, intelligence, the black market, or technology. They provide all sorts of services and are adept at navigating between different sectors, ensuring that the cost of eliminating them far outweighs the benefits of trading with them."

"There are also quite a few Geon people."

It sounds like a character like Orb.

Don't rush into diplomacy. We need to take advantage of this window of opportunity while the Federation is missing to quickly develop some resources... Although the resources inside are enough to last for four years, we must plan ahead. If the population increases, it won't be enough.

"Girl, what did you mainly eat when you were in the asteroid belt?"

"Stone bread".

"Ah, you're a silicon-based life form?" Kalma looked at him half-jokingly.

“That’s just a description.” Haiwen said speechlessly, “Carbon-rich asteroids are rich in water and carbon, which can be used to quickly cultivate yeast for fermentation, and then starch blocks can be made into bread.”

"There is another kind of 'meat' on Ceres, which is more expensive, but it is an artificial product fermented with synthetic amino acids, as well as synthetic cream... It tastes pretty good when made into ice cream."

"Are they all synthetic foods?"

"Aside from some natural foods imported from Earth, they are either grown in closed ecological cabins set up by wealthy people to simulate Earth's environment... but the quantity is extremely small, the price is high, and they are all luxury items."

Kalmar suddenly realized that this might be a huge business opportunity.

Since this thing doesn't exist, why can't we create a huge ecological capsule on the Juno?