22 M1 - Term: 1, Round: 1 (2/2)
”Ah,” he said, ”are you trying to kill me?” He was amazed she could keep up with him while wearing an extra twenty kilos.
She laughed, ”no, you misunderstand. If you wear these for a few days a week and during your obstacle course practice runs you will get much stronger. And when it comes time to complete your best time on the obstacle course, when you do not have them on you will feel like you are flying.”
Daedo just thought it sounded like torture. But his competitive nature talked him into it; he was only behind his squadmates and other cadets in physical training. And if he wanted to perform well in an exo, he would need to improve, especially given his preferred strategy probably included a heavy sword lance. The more he thought about strategy a short range weapon may be better than a melee weapon. If the melee weapon could not pull off a one-shot kill then dual pistols, like Axelzero, or a large calibre gun maybe a better option.
Other than the bet with Horus he had plenty of time to experiment with different weapons. The fact they could be modified or built from scratch made tactics infinitely more complex than CyberMech with its set ordnance and loadouts.
”Picard,” Daedo said as they ran, ”what do you know about large calibre short range guns.”
”You mean twelve point seven mill rounds?” She asked.
”They would be awesome for a railgun, but I am thinking a short range weapon, something with an exploding round,” Daedo said.
”Explode on impact or one which explodes before impact?” Picard asked.
”There are rounds which you can explode remotely?” Daedo asked.
”Yes, usually the rifle has a laser sight, and as the round approached the target it explodes a hundred mills in front of them causing a cone of shrapnel to spread, but for exos and mechs, armour piercing rounds are more effective,” she answered.
”I think a twelve point seven round gun is great at medium range, even with an old gun like an M2HB packs a punch into mech armour given modern ordnance,” Picard said.
”If I did use a twelve point seven type round, we might as well design a short barrel railgun so that I can swing it around faster. The faster the speed of the round the more damage it will inflict,” Daedo said.
”Yeah and there is no reason you cannot use a high explosive round in a railgun,” she responded.
”What about a plasma cannon?” Axelzero asked, joining the conversation.
”I don't like the heat they generate, and I would prefer a shorter barrel for close range, the longer the barrel, the slower it is to pan,” Daedo said.
”I heard one of our affiliate patent companies are working on a plasma shield,” Mace joined in as well.
”Now that is interesting,” Daedo was intrigued on how a plasma shield could work.
They ran on for awhile discussing different weapons.
”I think I will stick with the vibro sword for now,” Daedo said, ”that and the grenades. And when the work on the railgun is done, I will try a shorter barrel version of it.”
”If it out damages pistols significantly I may switch too,” Axelzero said.
”The pressure is all on us now Picard,” Vannier said.
”I am used to carrying my own weight and then some,” Picard said indicating the weights she was wearing.
Vannier gave a snort of encouragement for Picard, ”yes I noticed. Daedo,” she began changing the subject, ”if the exos are ready on Sunday night, when will we put them in for testing and update the AR?”
”I thought we should book them in for the following Monday, so there is no record of the increased effectiveness, of the armour at least, until our wager match with Horus,” Daedo answered.
”Oh smart thinking,” Vannier said.
”And we will have an extra week to make tweaks and improvements to the design,” Daedo said, ”which we will need after testing during the week. We have a long way to go. Don't be surprised if we are not making small upgrades and changes weekly,” he informed them.
”We really need to work on making some creds. Those materials are not cheap,” Vannier said.
”Well, if an opportunity comes up, we should jump on it,” Axelzero said, ”Mace how are you going with a patent for Daedo's AI foundation?”
”I am afraid these things take a long time, it may be months before it starts making creds. I am sure some companies will start selling it though, it is just a matter of getting it registered, being offered to the companies, they then market and sell. Lastly, the royalties are paid quarterly at best. I doubt anyone will agree to an advance,” she said.
”Why not?” Axelzero asked, ”I know Daedo is an unknown, but if the product is good they should pay.”
”The lawyers and our sales agent will get an advance if they can, we will just have to wait and see,” Mace answered.
Barran had run ahead and was inspecting the outside of their workshop when they arrived back.
”You know, I reckon we could put a climbing wall down the side, in the yard, and maybe something on the roof. It's flat up there,” Barran suggested.
”A climbing wall is a great idea, if we are here all weekend, we should do some workouts. We could also put a gym on the gunnery range and testing bay level. Or in the offices on the top level,” Picard said.
”If we have robots doing a lot of the work, we don't have to be here all weekend,” Daedo said.
Vannier walked up beside him an put a hand on his shoulder, ”yes, but it's ours, and it's nice to get away from the Academy and our tiny rooms.”
”Did you see the old mech in the yard?” Barran asked, ”follow me.”
The six cadets walked around to the yard which consisted of dump bins, old crates and unused pallets, and a tonne of junk metal and parts.
”Look behind here,” he said, and after digging through a pile of scrap, they could all see the four-metre mech.
”All its armour is missing,” Picard said.
”And it has no weapons,” Axelzero added.
”But still,” Barran said, ”we own our very own mech!”
Daedo inspected it, it was ancient, and its titanium alloy frame was extremely heavy compared to modern composites.
”They don't make them like this anymore,” Barran said.
”Maybe for a good reason,” Mace retorted.
Daedo began to consider it. Everything they learned while developing the exos could be transferred to the four metre. It was just on a larger scale. The guns were larger, the armour heavier and the reactor was a decent size. The main difference would be manoeuvrability, he doubted any mech could be as agile as an exo.
”I am going inside, I want to test the exo,” Daedo informed his squad.
”Oh, I need to see this,” Barran said and the entire squad, the entire squad present, minus Gaumont of course, followed Daedo down into the testing bay which Vannier, Axelzero and Picard had worked so hard to clean and organise.
Myrmidon: this will be interesting. I am looking forward to seeing how our design works in reality.
Myrmidon spoke to Daedo as he got into the exo. Ikaros and Cisse were present as well. Everyone wanted to see how the first prototype performed.
Daedo: well here goes.
Myrmidon: everything is online, running diagnostics.
Daedo: Display the power consumption and generation for Cisse. I will start walking.
Myrmidon: done, she has a live feed to her hud. There is no weapon so the figures will be light.
Daedo: but she can see how these old jump jets and old reactor perform.
Daedo and Myrmidon started to put the new exo through its paces. It was exceedingly strong and fast compared to the original light. Daedo did not even know if they could call it light anymore. And this was with the old reactor if they got another with double the power output he could push the hydraulics further.
The original light exo had a strength factor of one point five, armour value of twenty, a mobility factor of one point two five and a jump jet runtime of thirty seconds per ten minutes.
The new Daedo light version one had a strength factor of three, it was higher than a standard medium and double the original. The new armour value was unknown, it would have to go through regulation AR testing. Its mobility factor was now one point six, it moved faster than a standard mesh. Due to no changes in the jump jets or reactor its runtime was still the same.
Overall Daedo was impressed with the improvement. A list of tweaks and fixes the length of his arm was made. Although it was much improved, there were minor errors and mistakes which inhibited its fluidity of movement or more drastically could cause it to break down after running for ten minutes. What was apparent was the hydraulic fluid needed replacing. The industrial machinery fluid was too thick for the tiny fibre vessels.
After running up and down, dodging and lifting a few hundred kilos, Daedo arrived back to the group to a round of applause.
”I want a try!” called Mace excitedly and everyone clamoured for a turn. Daedo jumped out and one after another all the cadets took the new exo for a spin. After an hour he was dead tired and, the exo was beginning to break down mainly due to the unsuitable fluid.