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Info
竹槍三百万本論
Original: http://scp-jp.wikidot.com/surface-to-air-bamboo
Author: ©︎Nanigashi Sato
Translator:Salamander724
Surface-to-air Bomboo
Flying Bolts (飛箭, hisen) (IJAMEA),
SCP-518-JP (the Jailors),
Type イ Anti-air Bomboo (Toyoho)
Conspectus
In the prewar era, there was an army minister who said that three million bamboo spears would be enough for national defense. Neither the authenticity of that statement nor the minister's intention matters here. We are neither soldiers nor historians. However, it seems that there was someone who took his words literally and sincerely tried to realize it. If the arrangement of this bamboo grove had been successful, it is certain that Imperial Japan would not have suffered from airstrikes.
Knowledge
Traits: This bamboo grove is located in Tohno Youkai Sanctuary and the mountains of Nagano Prefecture. It behaves like mundane bamboo unless it meets the requirements described later.1
Nature: The bamboo shakes off its branches and leaves and ejects everything above the root node into the air when any object powered by an engine enters the airspace above the bamboo grove. The launched stem rushes into the flying object at great speed and explodes at the same time as it makes contact.234 There is no sonic boom or shockwave that physically should have occurred. It is worth noting that the bamboo is capable of both hypersonic speed and high-performance interception. The number of bamboo that fire depends on the size of the target, and there is even an automatic tracking function, capable of deflection shooting to intercept a target moving at speed.
This property is completely lost when the bamboo stem is completely separated from the rhizome by causes other than its own attack manoeuvre.
Approach: Needless to say, never levitate nor fly near the bamboo grove consistng of this bomboo.567
History & Associated Parties: This story begins in 1945, when Tohno Youkai Sanctuary was established. A group of youkai mutinied, deserting the IJAMEA's Youkai Battalion to flee to Tohno. It appears that Tohno provided them a ride on the Galactic Railroad,8 one of the legacies left by the late Mr. Kenji Miyazawa. While carrying youkai east across the Japanese archipelago, the Galactic Railroad train encountered a barrage of anti-air fire91011 as it passed through the airspace of Nagano Prefecture.12
Afterwards, practitioners who had been members of the Youkai Battalion and the defectors from the Keepers jointly restored the samples embedded in the body of the Galactic Railroad train and grew them into a grove.131415 As a means to counter external invasions, repeated varietal improvements to the bamboo have been made,16 and Type ト is now being used.
The original variety was developed in 1945 by the IJAMEA to be placed in air defense points,17 and was “contained” by the Jailors after the crash of an airliner happened in 1980s.1819
Illustration
My new friend in Tohno, Song (松) treated me to bamboo shoot rice made with shoots collected from the anti-air bomboo grove.20 It tasted the same as a normal bamboo shoot, normally fresh and delicious.2122 — AO
Observations & Stories
“No genetic anomaly was detectable in SCP-518-JP, and it has been concluded that its genome is consistent with mundane bamboo species belonging to the genus Phyllostachys, subfamily Bambusoideae. ( … ) Considering that its properties were not dependent on environmental conditions including soil factors,23 it is thought that the anomalous nature of this object relies on its underground rhizome or root.”
— Genetic analysis report 518-JP
With some exceptions,24 the Jailors' scientific analysis is reliable. It is very useful as a reference data.25 — C.X.
“I cannot help but regret that the success of Project Samidare (五月雨, lit. ‘rain in May’) had not been a little faster. It is said that any bomber is like scrap metal in front of hisen (飛箭, lit. ‘flying bolts’), so how much of the realm and how many of its loyal subjects could have been saved if it was faster? I will never forget our compatriots who became hitobashira (人柱) for hisen to defend the fatherland.
The yankees are already around the corner. Even if we begin to increase the area of hisen-groves from now on, there will not be enough time to surround a city with a grove. So, at least we must protect the new capital where his Majesty will be.”
— Manuscript by General Watanabe, Shōwa 20 (1945)
The Gingkonut guys26272829 tended to think that patriotism or yamato-damashī could solve everything. But bamboo?3031 This is not mentalism. Of course, there seems to be some mental aspect, but at least in this case, it's nothing but a mental of patriots sacrificed to develop this fearsome anti-air weapon.3233 The reason everyone at the time recognized the Gingkonuts as a formidable opponent was because they really did have the executory ability to find solutions to given problems. — Shr.
“The anti-air bomboo grove is the core of defence of our locality, along with the Grand Ward. I am doing my best with pride in this work. Though I might be still immature, I inherited the position of bamboo keeper (竹守, take-mori) from my father. It is the child's duty to enable their parents to fully retire as soon as possible, isn't it? If anybody invades us by an airway, it'll be over my dead body. There has been a noticeable reduction in attacks since my father's incumbency, so maybe even the Five Elements savages have given up. If that's the case, I'll be glad. Still, I'll make sure the fireworks at the festivals are properly and perfectly produced. The next one will be a blast. If you don't mind, please let me know your thoughts.”
What kind of expression did I look on my face when talking to her? It was my first time meeting someone who is a bloodline of the IJAMEA like me but is not “hidden” like me, so I was strangely nervous. Since the last getaway operation, the encounters with the shadow of the IJAMEA have been suddenly frequent. Even though it is matter of course as the Sanctuary was originated from the IJAMEA, I couldn't get myself sorted yet. I feel qualms and envy of her. I don't intend to change the direction of my life, but I can never be a good daughter. Oh, what was I going to write? I shouldn't have written personal feelings in the first place. I will erase this later.37
Of the “ways” into the Sanctuary, the landway,38 the seaway,39 and the airway, the airway is the most frequently used by uninvited guests trying to infiltrate.40 And for decades since its landscaping, this anti-air bamboo-spear41424344 grove has shot down all uninvited guests. However, just as the Galactic Railroad train carrying the youkai of Tohno broke through the IJAMEA's hisen grove in the past, there will be ways to break through. I don't think that Mayor Isanagi have dismissed this possibility,45 but there is no harm in keeping the risk in our mind. — AO
Doubt
After an inquiry in Tohno, I noticed one thing. No one has ever seen these bamboo in bloom. The stems that spring up and are recognized by us as bamboo are all connected underground. Biologically, the entire bamboo grove is one single bamboo plant. Bamboo flowers indicate that bamboo will die sooner or later.
What I want to say is that when a bamboo plant dies, all the bamboo in the grove wilts at the same time. It seems that this generally occurs every 120 years. If the anti-air bomboo grove withers all at once, Tohno will lose its anti-air defence for at least a year.
This worry may be unwarranted. Perhaps they have already modified it so that it won't wither. But we know that things are not always that handy and easy. And although the frquecy of attacks from the Five Elements Association has decreased, there is no way they will just give up like this — they are much more obstinate than the Jailors. The anti-air bomboo grove of Tohno is about 70 years old. I have an ill-favored intuition about this: if the Five Elements are not plotting another approach to “destroy” the grove, the Sanctuary might face turmoil, comparable to the time of its establishment, decades later.
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