Playing the Game - BT/CF SI - Chapter 10
🕑 Added 2024-10-03 22:25:15 +0000 UTCHilton Head Island Complex, North America
Terra, Sol System
January 5th, 2981 AD
Yin Takami, Primus of Comstar, bounced his foot off the floor. It was the only sign he showed of his anxiety.
The Precentors of the First Circuit, comprising of New Earth, Barnard, Alpha C, Bryant, Procyon, Dieron, Arcturus, Oriente, Altair, and Capella, all sat in their own positions facing the holographic projection that showed the visual data and recordings that only came in two days ago from Novo Franklin.
Novo Franklin. A planet of minor note in the Anti-Spin periphery of the Inner Sphere, specifically off the edge of the Federated Suns, Outworlds Alliance and technically the Draconis Combine. A warm Agri-World with a small population barely over a hundred thousand, give or take fifty thousand that weren’t counted in what could be considered a census.
Possessing a small force officially, but something larger unofficially in terms of military might.
It was a backwater at best, and a microcosm of the Inner Sphere as so many worlds like it are.
It was the last place in the universe that anyone would imagine becoming anything approaching a threat to the status quo of everything.
Yet it now is. It so very much is.
The recording of the Precentor of Novo Franklin, a Lim Nyung, shook hands with the Sovereign of the nation that had suddenly become a point of focus with laser precision.
Subnautica. The Deep Sea Kingdom. It sounded utterly fantastical and fictional. Until the recordings were viewed with the transcripts and written reports.
Novo Franklin had little to no resources on site, save a handful of lesser trained Beta and Delta operatives who were there for local studies than anything of this magnitude. What little they had managed to accomplish was the best they could have at the moment, and was as informative as one can expect from a small team.
Even so, the recordings, and data of what they did have caused a variety of emotions. From inspiration, to fear, to greed.
The tools they had managed to get their hands on were ground breaking in their own ways. The laser cutter was far more effective at its purpose than almost everything on the market as a result of not its capabilities, but that it was in such a small package and powered by a small battery.
The Mineral Detector, after being more thoroughly tested, was capable of finding a vast variety of minerals without fail. Emphasis…without fail. So long as you are within a certain distance of what you are seeking, it will lead you to it, even if it were under your feet. After testing the device out more, as a result of another tool showing its potential, they found they can do a narrow scan where the range is increased by two hundred meters, but only in a cone that widened to five feet in front of the scanner.
They discovered many hidden mineral resources in the last month just in the region of the HPG, untapped by all but Comstar now. It was only Copper and Iron, but local metals were not easily gained without off world trade.
The last was the greatest tool, which is what led to believing the stories of Subnautica more than anything. The Repair Tool. They still haven’t been able to figure out how it exactly works, but the recordings of its use made many scoff in disbelief. That was until a Jumpship came a week after, and they loaded the device onto an outgoing drop ship to a nearby world.
Delos was the closest world they had to that world, and within a short time, the device was confirmed as real, to the awe of the Precentor of Delos.
That was several days before the latest pulse from Novo Franklin came in, and everything was taken much more seriously. New images that were subtly taken by the adepts, until the Subnautican relations gave them permission to use cameras, allowing for recordings instead of just pictures.
It was a nightmare scenario. The images of the ultra-advanced habitat at such unassailable depths. Yin had learned more about Wet Water Naval craft in the last week than he had ever learned in his life time before then. Categories of craft, weight class, displacement, weapon types, mission purpose, and more.
The submersible fleet at the hands of the Subnauticans was more advanced then anything they had ever seen, and dove to depths unheard of outside research submarines.
The combat submarines currently made were nothing compared to that, and while it was unreasonable to lay blame upon people of the past for not making such craft in a universe where space travel was the primary form of travel, Yin could not help lament that such a vast hole existed now, and couldn’t be filled quickly enough.
Even if they did have such equipment available, he doubted Subnautica could be destroyed at all.
They were, for all practical purposes, unassailable. Eleven kilometers deep, covering a huge amount of space at the bottom with vast resources. A submersible naval fleet of unknown capability outside operations depths.
Then there were the Battlemech they had, which according to recordings, were generations ahead of anything the Star League possessed. One, within a total combat time of less than a minute, was able to take out a near company of Battlemechs on its own with dexterity and power unseen before.
This wasn’t even taking into account everything else. Materials Science, such as what went into their reinforced diving suits that allowed a skin tight suit to not be crushed at such depths. They would need to see about seeking Kyanite in an energized state within Terra’s oceans, since it was mentioned it existed here.
Genetic Engineering. Advanced Energy weapons and equipment, such as Power Armor. The sort that apparently can function at such depths, and on land.
Then came the technology that sent waves of raw panic and awe into the first circuit.
Nano-Fabrication technology. It was practically Magic. Microscopic robots, coupled with focused magnetic fields and material transportation, combine to create the mans to fabricate and build structures, equipment, and needs within moments to minutes. The recording demonstration of a simple habitat dwelling, followed by the fabrication of an energy rifle, and then an entire mech within minutes.
It was nightmare inducing. This technology cannot. CAN. NOT. EVER. Get off that planet and into the hands of anyone else.
Just as bad, Biosynthetic technology. A field of study that never existed before they heard of it in the recording. Visual recordings of a mech with…biomechanical armor, as well as the Neuro-Clinic and the Skill Shard Technology.
That sent several of the more academic and scientifically minded Precentors into conniptions to the potential of this device, despite its limitations. Thank Blake those limitations seemed to be confirmed, at the moment anyways.
Then came the historical documentation, and all it implied. It made him wonder if there were any other advanced societies out there in the periphery they were unaware of, that weren’t Kerensky’s Star League in Exile. That said, the history was a fascinating one, once you got past the initial rise and fall of Andrew Ryan’s folly.
They had searched for any record of the man in question, but nothing had come up in any search. It was understandable as they were looking for information on a man from well over five hundred years ago that took great pains to be forgotten. According to the historical documentary, Andrew Ryan was a minor member of the Expansionists Party of Terra.
He sought to remove the Demarcation Declaration, and reassert Terra’s domain into humanity’s domain while expanding industrial capability to allow the means to prevent future rebellions to occur. Given the lack of forward movement with his party, he resigned in disgust, gave up all his holdings within the Terran Alliance of the time, a mere three years before James McKenna had ended the Alliances existence as a state, and with a few dozen ships filled with like-minded people, left for parts unknown.
One would think such an event would be noteworthy enough to mark down, but according to the documentary, Ryan spent more than a small amount of his fortune to make certain no one was aware of his departure, and that he wasn’t followed. Since he was leaving entirely, his money was seen as useless beyond what he could get before reaching zero net worth.
His connections and wealth allowed his slipping away to succeed, and for the next year, his fleet of ships traveled beyond the boundaries of humanity of the time. Having proposed to go beyond the five hundred light year mark in a straight shot, the leaders under Ryan agreed with this and held on for a long eight months before finally setting efforts to search for a new world to call their own.
Four months with ships travelling in a general direction gave them nothing but lifeless systems until they found what would be in time called Novo Franklin. At that time, the world was a hot, arid place, but capable of sustaining human life due to its oceans.
Then came an interesting proposal…or insane depending on who you spoke to.
Given that the land was utterly incapable of supporting human life at the moment, they decided to make a plan to terraform the world with the best technology they had with them at the time. It would take centuries, but given the oceans of the world already present, it may be shortened to only a century or less.
But to see over it, they would settle down on the world by using the advanced oceanic equipment they had brought with them, and began constructing a series of underwater habitats. These, unlike the ones existing currently, were small ones closer to the surface, only a few hundred meters deep at best.
Over time, less time than expected, the world began to blossom into a green world. At the same time however, ventures into the deeper ocean began yielding resources never before seen by humanity, and a discovery known only to the founders of Subnautica today, changed Ryan’s priorities.
He sought to build deeper. Using new materials discovered, he began to construct the city of dreams. Rapture.
Over the time he traveled to Novo Franklin, Ryan had constructed a cult of personality around him. While not entirely believed by everyone, enough were followers of his will that there was only a minor amount of resistance to building and living in such depths.
Ten years is what it took to construct a city that was right out of a utopian fantasy. A testament to humanity’s ingenuity and will to conquer any challenge.
The city was divided among sections, and the first circuit came to understand how such a city was able to function. With the divisions of people however, came the first cracks in Ryan’s vision.
Class systems in a society that value putting a price on everything one does and makes, coupled with competition to excel and the stark class separations as a result of failure or success, it was easy to see the failure coming.
It was at the twenty years after its founding that everything fell apart.
With society crumbling down due to the system functioning as it had, plus Ryan’s unwillingness to adjust and change to the needs of his people, and add in the genetic technologies that had been developed within the last five years prior, it led to a total breakdown of the system, and then eventually, anarchy as the Genespawn, people who modified themselves too much for the power it gave, lost their minds and began to act more like animals then human.
Those who could escape, did, leaving to Subnautica, which at the time was the large research station that had studied the discoveries in the trench. Within a few years, Rapture was nothing more than a ruin, and filled with water, and madmen in what locations were still habitable
Lacking the means to return a large population to the surface in any real capacity, the leaders of Subnautica were forced to genetically modify volunteer divers to explore the trench for resources. It was hard, and dangerous due to creatures living in these depths, not to mention the abyss itself. It was this abyss that these divers gained their name. Abyssals.
Slowly, but surely, they were eventually able to expand and care for the numbers they were forced to take on, all due to the efforts of the hundreds of divers that swam the depths.
While the documentary didn’t go into real detail on how this was accomplished, the results that are present today show these legendary divers succeeded in their duty.
Yin had to admit, these divers were praise worthy by all measures because of their efforts. They would need to see about making their own such people, given the threat of Subnautica now.
Over time, Subnautica assumed the role of leader for all habitats, and began to return to the surface to see to the continuation of their terraforming efforts, to eventually live on the surface.
This changed however with the creation of Fabricator Technology. Nanomachines. Microscopic robots that were collectively controlled by a powerful computer, micromanaging the actions of each individual to accomplish something as a whole. Initial fabricators were the size of a building, and were capable of constructing a submarine within a day, which would normally take months, as the vehicle was put together at the molecular level.
Utilizing designs stored in the computer database, and having orders for each nanomachine set specifically, and long practice of the method, they were able to reduce construction time to less than an hour. It had taken a mere five years to accomplish this. With the potential realized, the Subnauticans pushed to develop the technology as far as they could, as quickly as they could, and within four decades, the method they developed was finalized into what is used to this day.
Having the means to construct not just vehicles, but dwellings, equipment, and even food stuff, at a quick pace, the society exploded into an age of exploration and colonization within the world’s oceans. Terraforming was stopped at this point in favor of this path, and even though the planet was unfinished, it would eventually become a living world after another century of just existing on its own.
Over these centuries, the Subnauticans developed more technology as a result of being able to so quickly construct and test ideas, and they forgot about the rest of humanity. They, ironically, created what would be considered by today’s standards to be a battlemech, predating the Mackie by only eight years, with the creation of the Marine Mech, an industrial exploration machine that had equipped weapons for fauna. This plus diving suits and the primitive exoskeleton Prawn Suit, were the first creations for their mech development.
Subnautica developed quietly without much care for the wider universe.
At least until they received a signal from an exploration ship from the Federated Suns in the 2600s. While they didn’t return any calls, they watched as the Federated Suns did their survey of the world from orbit, and then left. Eventually the ship returned to its jump ship and disappeared.
Suddenly realizing they weren’t alone out there anymore, the Subnauticans decided to send an expedition into the Inner Sphere to see what had come about after three hundred years of isolation. Creating and launching a ship into orbit, and then utilizing ship mounted fabricators, they constructed an Aquila Class Jumpship within an hour.
That demonstration brought absolute chills to the First circuit.
They returned to the Inner Sphere as merchants, and got a general overview of the situation. It had been only five years after the end of the Reunification War and the death of Ian Cameron had occurred not a few months prior, thus Subnautica was given all the reason to keep quiet and stay out of the eyes of the Inner Sphere. They also managed to get their hands on a handful of technologies, including a lance of Mackie MSK-7A Battlemechs they stole from the Star League military within the Terran Hegemony.
How they managed that was not remarked upon, much to Yin’s irritation.
They returned with news and goods, and from there adopted a form of isolation, lest they be attacked and conquered by the more powerful Star League as the Taurian Concordat had been just a short time before.
Then, much to his irritation, the next three centuries are mostly skimmed over for developments of new technologies and advancements of already established ones, before finally finishing off the documentary with the current state of Subnautica as of 2950.
With the holographic presentation ended, the room was silent as they digested everything. Yin Takami sighed dramatically, and gave the first word.
“Thoughts.” He requested.
The Precentor of New Earth groaned as he covered his face with his hands. “First the Tripitz, and now this. What is it with sources of advanced technology coming out of nowhere all of the sudden?”
“This makes that look like a minor issue in comparison, if even half of this is even true.” Precentor of Procyon muttered.
“We have confirmation of the Repair Tool working as shown and described. So, what we just watched is likely true, even if heavily redacted in the truth of events.” Precentor of Oriente reminded everyone.
“The worst part is we can’t really do anything about this. We have no assets on hand to do anything on Novo Franklin. It would take months to gather and then send anything there, and by then the situation would expand beyond what it is now.” The Precentor of Tau Ceti.
“Obviously just nuking the place is out of the question. Not just for the obvious reasons, but they are deep underwater, which means it’s pointless to even try.” Precentor of Rigel Kentarus stated tiredly.
Yin took that as the point to steer the conversation. “There’s a handful of things we can do about the situation however, but they are all gambles in one way or another.”
Typing in a command to bring up a small list, with pros and cons, he began listing them out loud.
“The First idea, option-A, is we try to contain the situation by blockading the system. We take it off the records and announce it as lost. Do our best to isolate the system. During which time we send in our own assets, in force, and try to take the world for ourselves.”
Most of the Precentors grimaced.
“That’s gonna cost a lot of money and time. We don’t exactly have a standing military, despite what the Exodus left behind. Plus, we would have to not only take control of the planet, but also build the means to take the fight to the Subnauticans, who have the home field advantage. They know the lay of the undersea terrain, they have the forces and numbers, and unlike a great many, are highly skilled and trained.”
Yin nodded, waving to the cons being more or less matching what was said.
“There’s also Operational Security and a Logistics requirement that hadn’t been seen since the succession wars, which we are not equipped for.”
With a wave to the pros, Yin continued. “On the other hand, if we can successfully cut them off from travel and communications, we will have the most valuable resource. Time. The issue is that it will not be quick, as this is something we need handled yesterday. We can even enlist the locals to do the work for us for a chance at equipment that makes their lives easier, or just some shiny new mechs if nothing else. There is also the possibility we can co-opt their technology for our own use and make it happen more quickly. Then it would be a matter of transporting people than material.”
“With that technology in our hands, there’s very little we couldn’t do ourselves.” Precentor of Capella noted.
“Which brings up option-B of the first plan. Instead of making war on the system, we encourage Subnautica to allow us to help them. To…bring them out of their relative isolation from the world and ease them into the universe beyond.”
“Make them into a client state? Not sure how well that would work given they don’t really need anything.” Precentor of Caph spoke in a doubtful tone.
“They do not need anything from us materially, but we have access to the stars, and to a logistics chain that would see to spreading the “Greater Good” to the rest of the Inner Sphere. While we would encourage them to keep any military, or potentially destructive technologies to themselves, such as Fabrication, other things are open to selling and spreading their will.”
The group looked thoughtful to the idea.
“It would allow us access to their technology base, as well as prevent the overall spread of their existence.”
“The things they send out, if they do, will have to be nothing but trinkets, or better than useful tools for the masses. Maybe vehicles for mass production that do not possess their technology, but possess similar capabilities?”
The group began to come up with their own pros and cons to the idea, and Yin grinned a little. While he had handled the Tirpitz affair with force, the same couldn’t be done with this situation. Instead, he had to come up with a solution that showed he can handle problems in a diplomatic manner as well. Especially with such a potentially destructive faction revealing itself.
He had been tempted to handle this with force, but Yin had to admit…the technology presented, if even a fraction as capable as shown in the reports, would elevate Comstar’s power beyond anything anyone could have imagined. The dream of leading the inner sphere into an age of prosperity and peace by their hand is one they could see within their lifetime.
The idea of it all being possible because of him, and his actions here today. It would elevate him to the same level as Blake, Toyama, and Kerensky. They just needed to play their cards right.
“I can see the second option is preferential to our desires. So, what would it take to bring about a total black out of the system from the rest of humanity?”
That made them all take pause for a minute.
“We could enlist pirates, and have them send a raid. Make it a big deal that they raided this planet and destroyed it. Thus, forcing us to mark it out.”
“Pirates? Why…oh right. Forgive me. We don’t want any of the houses or mercenary units to even have a sniff this exists.” Precentor Bryant started before apologizing. “Which brings to mind the question of how we prevent the Outworlds, and the Suns from sniffing about?”
Precentor of Altair had been silent for the entire discussion, before finally speaking up.
“I believe there is a simpler solution.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to the Samurai turned Priest, one of the few among them who possessed a warrior’s background before turning to Blake’s light after waking from a coma.
Yin was able to push forth the way of handling the Tirpitz due to him, and he valued his council.
“Enlighten us friend.”
“This suggestion may sound strange, but the leader of this nation was receptive to Comstar and our mission. What if we simply…speak to him of the dangers his technology present to the whole of the inner sphere? Perhaps enlighten him to our way of seeing things? From what recordings and data we have, he appears to be aware of the Inner Sphere’s current status. He must also be aware of the danger his existence presents to the world his nation exists upon?”
For a moment, everyone stared, as if the idea had simply not occurred to them. He had to admit, he was one of them, though only partially. It was why he created Option-B after all. That said, simply speaking to the man about things…would that even work?
Surely not. Then again…
“It would have to be in a way that speaks to their benefit as much as it does everyone else.”
Altair nodded and grinned lightly. “It would be for the Greater Good.”
As if a lightbulb suddenly illuminated the room, the very idea he put forth suddenly felt much more viable than making war. More then subterfuge. What if the source of their issues helped them hide said issues? It would have to be done in a very specific manner, but if the young man had an open mind to Blake’s Will…
===
Comstar HPG Compound, Corealdas Port, Northern Continant
Novo Franklin, Periphery Space
January 15th, 2981 AD
Adept Yarri Xing watched in silent awe as the small fleet of VTOL craft hovered gracefully outside of the compound grounds, save a single craft that carried the VIP. It looked like a whale, with a dorsal fin, tail, and flippers on the side. All functional and for show. The symbol of Subnautica on emblazoned upon its side, a navy blue with Novo Franklin’s map upon it, with a stylized star upon that.
It landed hovered without any apparent source of lift, as in defiance of gravity itself, before softly landing upon a small pad for aircraft. The side of the craft opened up, marring the seamless exterior with a square hole. Two suits of knightly power armor stepped out, carrying large, two handed weapons that possessed glowing parts in the color of bright blue. They stood at ease, but gazed over the grounds, alert and ready for a fight.
Then out came the man they waited for.
The Sovereign of the Undersea Nation of Subnautica.
Yarri felt nervous as the man strode towards him with ease of step, filled with confidence, but a hint of danger.
Yarri bowed as the man approached. “Welcome to the Comstar HPG Compound Lord Sovereign.”
It felt a bit redundant to call someone “Lord Lord.”, but it felt better to do so than be wrong.
Said Lord, nodded his head in return. “Thank you for the greeting.”
Yarri led the man into the main building that made up the entrance of the compound, with the Sovereign staring up at the vast antenna that made up the actual HPG. Yarri grinned a little, for as childish as it was, there was some pride in knowing that for all that Subnautica had, this was something that Comstar at least had over them. In every other regard though…
Precentor Lim Nyung had been waiting for them in the master lounge beyond the entry area, and Yarri stepped away so the two leaders could exchange greetings. Then the two went on the introduction tour that most Lords of the fiefdoms were given, but given Subnautica’s level of…everything really, he was given the “grand tour” of the compound.
Throughout it all, the Sovereign was pleasant, asking questions here and there, and was impressed by the HPG. Not entirely surprised by it though, but it was reasonable to assume he had seen more impressive things.
Then, the tour took an unexpected turn when the group passed by the underground entrance to the garage. The Sovereign paused as, and Yarri paled slightly as the Warhammer laid in his line of sight.
With reluctance, Precentor Lim allowed the Sovereign to go into the garage to take a look at the machine. The appearance of the leader surprised many of the technicians and staff, but stayed back when they saw the Precentor with him.
That is until the Sovereign made a bee-line to something else, instead of the Battlemech.
Yarri and the Precentor both paled and wanted to stop him, but the man kept going until he stopped near a project that was apparent for those who knew what they were looking at.
A jury rigged battery charger with Subnautican Batteries placed in it.
The man stared down, scrutinizing the charger port more than anything else, and there was a tenseness in the air before the Sovereign gave a simple grin.
“I am impressed. It’s a little haphazard, but you managed to create a charging station.”
Everyone was thrown off by how easily the man spoke about it.
“You’re not…” Precentor Lim stared before the lord waved it off.
“No. To be honest, I am not surprised in the least. If I were a leader of a group, or organization, and some newcomer with advanced technology came out of nowhere appeared suddenly, I’d want samples of said tech to know what the hell I was dealing with too.”
He crouched down and looked the charging station over.
“It is pretty inefficient in its design though.” he said in a thoughtful tone before standing up, and facing the people about.
“Who is responsible for making this charge station.”
Chief Technician Vance stood forward, looking like he was ready to defend his, and his people’s work. It took them a week to figure out the means to power the batteries without destroying them in the process, and it helped greatly once they had the means to power the repair tool they once had.
“I and my people are.”
Instead of challenging the man, the Lord stepped over and shook his hand.
“Well done. You and yours managed to take something few had seen, and actually make something that worked instead of exploding everything. You might have a job with my people if you ever leave Comstar.”
The man returned the shake easily enough, but looked a little apprehensive.
“Exploding everything?”
The Sovereign nodded. “The batteries you have are…well, to put it simply. They’re nuclear batteries. If they had exploded due to a bad connection, or burning through the shell, this place would have gone up like a roman candle.”
Everyone blanched.
The Lord paused for effect, seemingly taking in everyone’s reaction before sighing in relief, and nodding.
“I’m glad you understand the gravity of the situation. These are the small ones for tools, but they still can hold enough energy to match a…I would say, a tactical nuke of zero point one kilotons going off. That is, if they were at full power. If they were drained to nothing, they would just burn and give off radioactive smoke for a few hours like an emergency flare.”
Yarri felt faint. Thank god they got it right.
“But, I can see some issues with this one. Bring your tools, and I’ll show you what I mean.”
Then for the next half hour, the Sovereign gave an impromptu class to the technicians, the Adepts, and Precentor about the batteries and full contact charging. It was mainly a proprietary thing developed back in the past that hadn’t been changed.
They also improved on the charger, now called the charging station, as they added some safeties and improved on the connection to prevent any explosive mishaps. Then he decided to improve the charge connections to speed up the charge time.
“Two hours for a single battery is nice, but with a proper charging station, these batteries go from zero to one hundred percent in twenty minutes.”
That said a lot about Subnautica’s power sources and infrastructure.
Once finished, the Sovereign nodded in approval.
“Without our infrastructure here, you all will have to make do for now with this. Otherwise, I’d just make one for you right now.”
“That easily?” Chief Vance asked.
The Lord shrugged. “Might seem silly, or grandiose, but it would be for the Greater Good if you had something that worked instead of jury rigging stuff if you’re gonna have our technology. Some of it is quite dangerous is fiddled with incorrectly.”
Looking at the Precentor. “Out of curiosity, what tools do you have?”
Looking a bit embarrassed, Precentor admitted to having a laser cutter, a mineral detector, and a Repair Tool.
The Lord noticed the despondent looks at the mention of the Repair tool, and grinned with amusement.
“Loved how easily it fixed things, didja?” he said in a low brow drawl.
“You have no idea.” A technician muttered.
“I do actually. I had to fix my own stuff once upon a time, with nothing but my own hands without the repair tool. It was a pain in the ass.” The sovereign replied, clearly hearing the man.
“How does it work?” Chief Vance asked.
The Sovereign looked at the man, and more a moment contemplated before answering.
“To put it simply, the machine contains a small amount of nanomachines. Microscopic robots. When the tool is activated, the robots enter through whatever item you are repairing through the prongs which holds a miniature electromagnetic field, and then simply restores whatever you are using it on. Materials for the repair are either taken from sources you bring with, local elements in the air the machines grab, or from the object itself if it is deemed safe to do. As for what it can repair, it can repair anything, provided the machines are programmed with the data on the object in question. For example…”
The Sovereign waves to the Warhammer.
“Thanks to the Battlemechs we have scanned in the past, plus data on mechs in general, we can repair pretty much any mech made from the Star League and back. If it’s a new machine we had never seen before, or new equipment, or new anything, it will not repair it because the nanomachines have no data on it. It could repair equipment that is known, but little else.”
A wave of understanding flowed through the group. It made a lot of sense now. They repaired the Warhammer easily enough, but they also tried to use it on other equipment, and it just did nothing. They had an inkling that this might be the case, but now it was confirmed.
Still…microscopic robots. If it were anyone else, that would be fantastical. Given the fabrication technology he had been informed about, it made sense they would have made tools that use the same methods to repair.
The Precentor’s eyes sharpened slightly at something, contemplative in his expression, before returning to a smile.
“Well, I’m glad this detour has turned out so well. Very informative.”
The Lord nodded. “I agree.” He replied before turning back to Chief Vance.
“By the way, where is the repair tool, now that we have it set up, the tool might improve the charge station further as it “detects damage” and turns it into a fully capable device.”
Then it got awkward, but the chief lied well enough.
“I wish we had known that, but at the moment it’s being used to repair other stuff outside the compound. Things we have agreements with the other fiefdoms to maintain.”
The Sovereign nodded easily, though somewhat stiffly. Did he see through the lie? Maybe he was just disappointed. He seemed the type to want things to happen. Looking at his wrist, a screen on his vambrace appeared, and he clicked away on it, before then showing a clock. The Sovereign nodded before looking back at the Chief.
“I’ll have my people up top give you four more tools then. When you get them use one to see about improving the station.”
Then he turned to the Precentor. “I believe our time is limited, and we are running a bit late now.”
The Precentor took the change and ran with it.
“Yes. We do have many things to discuss.”
With a turn and smile he bid the techs goodbye and left the garage.
Once more up top, the Sovereign and the Precentor went to the sitting room to have their discussions, and Yarri was released to his duties. Specifically to pick up the tools that were waiting for him.
Returning to the landing pad outside, there was a man in a uniform and a box.
“Four Repair tools, four batteries. Enjoy.” The man said as he handed them over. Yarri bowed before returning to the garage.
The moment he entered, he was practically mobbed by the techs who were excited and antsy for the new tools.
The chief shouted for calm, and opened the case, showing the brand new, shiny and clean tools, with full charged batteries that were lit up a bright cyan color.
Placing the battery into the tool, it clicked and hummed in a high pitch that it was powered up and ready to be used.
The chief led the group over to the charging station, and after a moment of pause, placed the prongs on the device and pulled the trigger. They watched before their eyes as wires and metal bent and molded into new shapes before finally stopping.
The new, improved Charging Station was an entirely different beast than before.
“Alright…I want this taken apart, studied, and recorded. We put it back together ourselves, and the repeat it to make sure it works as intended.”
He stared down at the tool, before handing it off to a tech. “Alright, let’s get back to work.”
Everyone took their own tool and went off to their own tasks with a bounce in their step, before a smaller group began to work on the charger.
Yarri left to go back to his own duties once more, though he did so with some worry. Did the Sovereign know what his actions were leading to, and didn’t care? Or did he know and was counting on it? Yarri refused to think the man was that naïve about the world.
Only time would tell.
Comments
Kasikan
Their tech is far beneath Subnautica's. They had colony ships with fabricators on them. I'm sure the tech they had and the alien tech he now has access to on the planet would put Comstar and the rest of the Battletech universe as bottom tier trash. Battletech universe in general is fairly low level tech wise. At least compared to most sci-fi settings.
Wildebranch
"Yarri grinned a little, for as childish as it was, there was some pride in knowing that for all that Subnautica had, this was something that Comstar at least had over them..." This is so funny to me because right now, it isn't. Pretty sure it was all scanned during the tour. After all, as he said, he's just taking some 'samples' after encountering an organization with advanced tech.
GundamChief
You read my mind. Chapter 11 will reveal what I mean.
Lictor Magnus
In that case, he just needs to make a documentary about the founding and maybe a couple of action movies where they mention the greater good. Rick Sanchez could definitely come up with something to appeal to the masses.
GundamChief
And notice, it only happened when the "Greater Good" was suddenly mentioned. There was enough of the memetic hazard on the history vid they watched that it's already affecting them. All according to plan, as a mollusk would say.
Lictor Magnus
Thanks for the chapter. I love that comstar is so in love with their schemes that just talking to someone and working out a deal is considered a revolutionary idea 😂
