Hitting Cotton

As the electromagnetic cannon switched to combat readiness, the entire landing operation entered its power-up phase.

"Slow down!" Beianqi ordered.

An operator moved the engine order telegraph to ahead one, or slow ahead. The engine room responded at once, with the engineers adjusting the valve assemblies to gradually reduce the power supplied to the propulsion pods at the stern.

Strangely, though, the output of the ship's power units did not decrease along with it. Instead, it continued to climb until the equipment reached its maximum permitted output.

The Pansy carried six 30-megawatt gas turbine units and two 50-megawatt steam generator units, giving it a total generating capacity of 280 megawatts. That was roughly equivalent to the power demand of 150,000 households.

That enormous supply had to be distributed among the propulsion, radar, communications, and other combat systems. Once the electromagnetic cannon, that "electricity glutton," started operating, even that would be stretched thin.

"Charge the battery banks!" Beianqi ordered.

In a dedicated battery compartment on one side of the Pansy stood twenty large battery enclosures, each measuring 12 by 2.5 by 3 meters.

The operators first activated the temperature management and cooling systems. Enormous cooling fans hummed into operation, coolant raced through the liquid-cooling pipes, and rows of green indicator lights came on one after another throughout the compartment.

The battery enclosure array had a maximum discharge power of 50 megawatts and a storage capacity of 200 megawatt-hours, or 200,000 kilowatt-hours.

The batteries had previously been charged to 80 percent capacity, the upper limit of their healthy operating range. Now they were being topped off to full capacity for the coming battle.

After confirming that the cooling, voltage, stored energy, and other parameters were all within normal ranges, the operators began connecting the battery banks to the grid.

As rows of