38 M1 - Term: 1, Round: 3 (1/2)
Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy M1 Y:2142
House Thoth, Squad Leader, Squad Zero
M1 Rank: 1/1275, Tier 3 M-Rank: Null
Term: 1, Round: 3
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An alarm was sounding. In the first instant, it disturbed Daedo, and he panicked. Before he realised it was the weekend and Picard set audible alarms to wake herself for Physical Training thirty minutes before sunrise.
Where his apartment in the Academy had excellent soundproofing, he never heard anything from the other cadet's rooms, the workshop was an office converted into living facilities.
Barran groaned and then swore. He loved physical activity more than anyone, just not predawn.
Gaumont woke and yawned then lay back down trying to go back to sleep.
Daedo decided to get up as did his Father.
The males shared a room. which gave the girls some privacy, in the larger of the two converted bunkrooms. Ikaros always stayed with the Cadets on the weekend and Daedo didn't mind at all. Cisse stayed more often than not lately. How much the pair worked during the week was up to them. As long as his R and D schedule was met Daedo didn't care what they did. They were both employees and minor shareholders of Daedalus now. It was as much their warehouse as the cadets.
Cisse set her own schedule. It was not like Daedo could order a ZPE reactor with a ten-week deadline. They would be fortunate if they ever cracked it. She had manufactured all the improved cold fusion reactors for the exos. Which were almost twice as effective as the units which came with the standard exos.
The squad were able to return all the original exos in their original condition. They had effectively swapped out every single component. So much so it was now classified medium instead of light due to its size. It was stronger than a medium, had more durability and was more mobile than a mesh.
Daedo made his way down to the outside yard to catch some fresh air before sunrise. They were close to the river, and although they did not have frontage, he could smell and hear the water running from the yard.
If the business went well, they could expand the workshop into the yard. They could also add levels up and down if they wanted to as well. There were plenty of options to expand. The yard was still full of spare parts, some precious, some junk, from the many years the workshop had operated before his squad purchased it.
Daedo liked to pick through the junk when he needed to think. He would pick up items, turn them over and put them back down. Sometimes it didn't even register what it was he was inspecting while he was lost in thought on some problem.
He gravitated to the old mech which sat pride of place in the rear corner. One day he would rebuild it. Although he probably could build the unit from scratch given their expanded manufacturing capability, there was a part of him who wanted to restore this old fella. Its frame was the most valuable component, it was a titanium graphite alloy. There were enough kilos of the metal compound to be worth quite a few bitcreds. This one stripped down mech weighed more than all their exos combined.
If it stood tall, it would have been almost six metres. Its cabin was large enough for an adult to sit comfortably. It could probably fit two cadets. It didn't have a head, the cabin was in a trapezoid shape with a flat undercarriage that was one metre across at the bottom over two at the top. Its arms and legs attached to shoulders and a pivot which were connected to the central cabin structure. This gave it full range torso twist no matter which way it was moving.
He wondered how fast it could run. Its reactor had been removed and most likely sold when the old company needed creds. The reactor would have been the most valuable part. It probably needed a one-megawatt reactor to power its movement and weapons.
The exos were a good stepping stone before a mech in more ways than one. The engineering and combat tactics were similar. And it was more likely a mech commander would have exo combat troops in support. Learning with an exo would assist a future mech commander to understand the equipment of his or her troops much better than if they only ever used mechs.
”Are you admiring old dawg again?” Vannier asked suddenly from behind. Daedo jumped slightly he didn't even know she had come outside.
”You named him old dawg?” Daedo asked.
She laughed softly. ”No. Axelzero gave it to him.”
The girls had tidied and organised the entire workshop in the first few weeks. Before they got stuck into their own projects. They found the time to improve the workshop as much as possible without spending hundreds or thousands of creds.
”I think I would like to bring him back to life one day,” Daedo said, ”he is ours now. He is our responsibility.” It was as if Daedo thought of the mech as a pet or companion.
”Well, I am sure you and your Father can do it. Its just a matter of creds,” Vannier replied. ”You know you could always enter an EU pro league tournament, that would help repay his resurrection.”
”Do I have to call him old dawg?” Daedo asked.
”If you register him, you can call him whatever you wish,” she said before adding, ”assuming it isn't already taken.”
”I hadn't thought about the tournaments,” Daedo replied.
”There's some between term three and four during the break. I've seen cadets enter those in previous years.”
Daedo nodded and took the information on board. He hadn't watched the ”real” mech combat streams. He had always played the VR version, CyberMech, which was in stark contrast with the severe duels from the amateur and pro circuits.
”Did you need help with your Railgun? Are you ready to manufacture the prototype?” he asked. Daedo was well aware one area Horus was more advanced than Thoth squad zero was with weapons. Although he was now on the third version of the light exo, and second of the heavy, they had yet to produce a working prototype of the railgun.
Vannier shifted her feet nervously.
”I'm,” she hesitated, ”not sure we are ready,” she meant Picard as they were working on it together.
”Do you have competing ideas or are you stuck?” Daedo asked.
”We have a few concepts,” she said.
”Then we make a few prototypes and test. The modelling can only tell you so much. I realised this when testing the exos. Compared to reality even the best modelling apps are poor,” he said.
”But the cost,” Vannier said. It was not like her to be unsure of herself. Maybe it was when it came to technical projects she lacked confidence where she showed no fear or hesitation in physical or combat.
”Don't worry about the cost. The bitcreds will come. We know the AI foundation will make creds, we know its better than anything available on the open market. It's just a matter of time,” he repeated back her statements regarding his AI foundation.
”And Barran screwed fifteen k bitcreds out of M3 Shu zero, their payment is due at the end of round four,” he added.
The exclusive rights for an M3 team to five of their light exo for term one was sold for over half what they paid for the entire workshop. Which was necessary because their running costs were way above what was predicted due to the cost of all their R and D materials.
Vannier lit up, ”yeah he did. And we can sell it all over again in term two.”
”They want to practice against us during round five, until the tournament,” Daedo said.
”Really?” it was news to Vannier.
”Yeah. Barran tried to screw them for another one k. But I overruled saying the practice would benefit us as well,” Daedo laughed. Barran closed the deal with Shu on Saturday night, and Daedo hadn't had a chance to tell everyone the good news.
”Talk to my Father and get the prototypes started today. Hopefully, we can test tonight before heading back to the Academy,” Daedo said. He wasn't sure how long the manufacture of Railgun prototypes would take until they were programmed in.
”Yes sir,” Vannier said smiling and saluting. Although the salute was perfect, he couldn't help but feel the undertone of levity.
More seriously she asked, ”how goes it with Gaumont? I noticed you two seem to be getting along.”
”It was difficult at first. But its early days and we are getting closer to a solution,” Daedo answered.
”You redesigned a light exo in a week. You solved the first math problem in a few hours. How long will this problem take?” Vannier asked.
”I can't answer that. It could take one hour or ten years. When we have the solution, we will have it. Until then we are thinking, experimenting and learning,' he said.
A spiderbot crept up on the pair.
Vannier kicked it. ”You aren't meant to use these to spy,” she scolded the little security guard.
A squeaky voice sounded from the spiderbot, ”I am running tests, and I wanted to hear something juicy.” Barran was in charge of security and as he didn't have a project or any other responsibilities he usually mucked around, rode his bike, annoyed his squadmates or joined in testing and exercise activities.
Daedo was allowing Barran to use the heavy exo as his tech project as Daedo himself was using the light. Barran was certain he would ace Tech Studies.
”Did you do something to your hair?” the spiderbot squeaked. Barran could have messaged or used comms but was having too much fun controlling the spiderbot.
”Yes,” she answered. Daedo finally noticed it was no longer the purple-pink colour she had when entering the Academy but now it was a more orange colour.
”It's ochre,” she said as if it was an important fact they needed to know.
”Ah good. I thought the sensors were malfunctioning for a minute,” the spiderbot squeaked.
Axelzero approached from the mech bay door, ”ah there you are,” she called. ”Coming for breakfast?”
Vannier's hair colour forgotten the pair made their way to breakfast. Ikaros usually nuked up a mass serving of beans, changing the flavour and sauce each week for variety.
Gaumont and Daedo worked together in a virtual room. Although they were both in the workshop, they could have been in different cities and worked this way. The virtual room allowed for multiple displays, sharing of files, images and ideas quickly.
Daedo only had to think about numbers, an equation or words and they would appear on a virtual board. Myrmidon would assist seamlessly, but even without his aid, it was possible with the cybernetic implant.