ASAHI NO NISHISEI - Rising Sun Goes West (1)

What Awaits at the Bottom of the Snowfield?

Undeveloped Area, Rotom Subcontinent

Four tracked vehicles marched across the snow. Leading the pack is an SM100S Antarctic snowmobile. Behind them are two Type 10 snowmobiles, the escort of the survey team, and one BTR-D, running in formation. Inside the SM100S, First Lieutenant Wajima, who was in command of the expedition escort, was gripping the steering wheels and keeping an eye on the magnetic compass.

By the way, it is known that the geomagnetic field of this planet is 'extremely accurate' compared to that of the Earth. On Earth, the N-pole pointer of the magnetic compass does not exactly point to the North Pole. In other words, true north on a map does not coincide with north as indicated by the magnetic compass. This is because the South Pole and North Pole do not equal the N and S poles of the geomagnetic field. However, it is known that the magnetic compasses of this world point to north and south very accurately compared to those of the earth. It is speculated that this is because the magnetic poles that point to the N and S poles of the geomagnetic field are almost the same as the South and North Poles, but the details are still unknown.

"Direction of travel is clear."

In a world without GPS, they are moving over a snowfield with no landmarks. The only thing they could rely on was their compass. The weather was clear and visibility was good.

"I just hope the weather holds up..."

Murata looked out the window and prayed that the weather would not change.

. . .

6 hours later

On snowfield

The four vehicles stopped on the snowfield for a driver change, rest, and lunch. In the SM100S car, the surveyors were using gas stoves and microwave ovens to heat rations and frozen foods. Originally developed in the Antarctic, as a camper for use in extremely cold conditions, the SM100S is equipped with a stove similar to those used in Antarctic exploration, and a generator that can be used to power a microwave oven.

"I never thought I would be able to eat warm white rice here..."

Murata murmured sincerely as he watched the white steam rise. Having lunch in the automobile were 11 surveyors, mainly consisting of non-combatants, and two medical staff.

'This is... what a delicacy! Besides, I never thought I'd be able to eat something warm here...!'

Sparasky was impressed by the taste of the ration cooked inside the SM100S and the Japanese technology. Meanwhile, outside the automobile, a total of 15 SDF members and Russian soldiers were cooking rations with their own cooking utensils. Perhaps because of the rarity of each other's rations, some of the SDF personnel and Russian soldiers exchanged rations.

"There's some nasty clouds coming..."

"..."

Looking up at the black clouds covering the sky through the window, Kawamoto, one of the surveyors, spoke to Lieutenant Commander Yabe. The sky was pitch black, as if the weather had just changed.

"Will the snow be coming...?" Yabe murmured.

Then, after taking a rest, the survey team headed northeast to the north-northeast, where the Lime settlement was located, with a great deal of anxiety. It was 30 minutes later that snow began to fall.

Another six hours later, the survey team was again stopped on the snow. The snow that had begun falling in flurries had finally turned into a full-on downpour. The view from inside the SM100S snowmobile had changed drastically from the time of departure.