Bab 27: 27 - Android crew Mk. 2
When Merlin eventually woke up again he felt a splitting headache, his entire body was sore, he felt a strange numbness in his entire body, but the weirdest thing of all was the strange clarity he felt, even though he had a splitting headache, he set himself up in the soft bed, he found himself in his room in the castle, and on a chair next to the bed sat Jane, she was fast asleep even though it was around noon, Merlin unconsciously showed a smile when he saw her, then after hesitating a bit he reached out and brushed some of her fiery red hair away from her face though he quickly pulled his hand back as she stirred and woke up, she blinked her eyes a few times before they regained focus and she looked at Merlin and looked visibly relieved before she quickly remembered something and spoke
"Merlin you got to do something about them"
"Them?"
"The crew of the tanks, they nearly started a rebellion…"
"Eh? Wait, really?"
Jane nodded and explained
"Yeah, they started to move around right after you passed out, one of them is even waiting right outside the room!"
Merlin gazed over at the door and after a moment he called out
"I am ready for your report"
The door was quickly opened and a person, no android in a German tank uniform stepped into the room before giving a salute as it spoke out in a strangely human-like voice
"Reporting! 14 tanks fully operational, 3 tanks currently undergoing maintenance, 2 tanks require spare parts!"
Merlin looked baffled for a moment before he nodded and thought for a moment before he spoke
"Good work, I'll supply the spare parts before our next sortie… Call the rest of the commanders for a meeting in 10!"
"Sir, Yes sir!"
The android gave a salute again before it turned around on the spot and walked out of the room and respectfully shut the door, Merlin breathed out a long sigh before he asked Jane
"How exactly were they about to start a rebellion?"
"Erm, when you passed out one of them arrived at the castle and told the guards outside to, and I quote 'I need to verify the General's safety, step aside civilian or we will be forced to use lethal force' the guards weren't so pleased about that… It was only when the king eventually arrived and used more diplomatic language that the tank crews were pacified"
Merlin imagined the scene for a few moments before he nodded, then he stepped out of bed and stretched before he asked Jane
"Could you go get Geo?"
"Sure? What do you need him for?"
"I want to establish a clear chain of command, You'll be 2nd in command while Geo will be 3rd in command"
"Got it… Then you better start teaching us about commanding tanks"
"Yeah, sure… I'll fill you in after the meeting"
"Got it, I'll be right back… Also, are you okay now?"
"I got a headache... But besides that I am fine"
Jane looked at Merlin for a bit before she nodded and spoke
"Don't push yourself too much Merlin…"
Merlin showed a smile and spoke sincerely
"I won't"
Jane showed a smile as she walked out of the room, Merlin sighed before he began thinking about how to build his command structure up
'From the conversation earlier I could tell that the commanders seem loyal… I don't think I need to make contingencies about them for the time being… I am more worried about the system, though as long as I do as I am supposed to do you won't harm me, will you?'
[Ding! I admire smart mortals, though being too smart isn't good either]
"I see…"
Merlin put the slightly ominous-sounding system out of his mind before he began focusing on how to make an efficient tank battalion up
'..That's it…'
A glint showed in Merlin's eyes as he showed a smile and muttered
"System, how many points do I currently have?"
[Ding! 5272 points available]
"... And how much is an M41 bulldog?"
[Ding! An M41 Walker bulldog is 116 points]
Merlin nodded as he continued thinking about the battalion plan, soon Jane and Geo arrived, then right after they did the 19 tank commanders arrive, they lined up neatly in two rows before they made did a synchronized salute, Merlin did a salute back before he spoke
"Good work, first things first, these two people, namely Jane and Geo are hereby promoted to 2nd and 3rd in command respectively, to avoid conflicting commands I'll be splitting our forces in 3, the Churchill crocodiles and the 2 King tigers will be under the command of the 2nd in command, Jane, while the 20mm Puma Along with the 10 M41's I plan to purchase in a few moments will be under the command of Geo. As for the rest, they will remain under my direct command"
The tank commander androids made a salute once more as they spoke in unison
"Sir, yes sir! Orders received, greetings to the 2nd in command Jane, ma'am, greetings to the 3rd in command Geo, sir"
Merlin showed a smile before he nodded and exclaimed
"Alright I've got 5000 points to spend, let's go greet our new comrades outside the walls"
"He did what..?"
The king nearly dropped his feather pen when he received word, Jack repeated his earlier report
"He summoned another 20 tanks, doubling the number of tanks… One seems to be an identical version to the one he summoned doing the weapons demonstration, while the other half seems to be a new type"
The King nodded after some time, his eyes shone with excitement if he could just continue allowing Merlin to grow his tanks then they would have a fighting chance against their enemies, the king stood up from his desk before he asked
"Is he still outside the walls?"
"Yes, he appears to be training his two companions in tank tactics, should I ready a carriage?"
The king thought for a moment before he sat down again as something flashed through his eyes and he spoke
"No, take the corpse to observe them, inquire about the inner-workings of the tanks, then tell him to stop by my office once he's back at the castle"
Jack looked surprised for a moment before he asked
"You plan to learn more about the tanks..? No, you think the corpse could replicate them?"
The king showed a smile and nodded
"I am not expecting any results in the next 5 years, but if we could learn about them we could start making our own at some point in the further"
Jack nodded before he sighed, the king had an idea of what he was thinking about and asked
"What is it?"
"It's just… The age of regular soldiers like me seems to be coming to an end all of a sudden"
The king laughed before his eyes shone and he spoke
"Isn't it good, no longer will we have to expect losses in the thousands when we go to war… Besides if you were just a regular soldier I would like at least 50 more of you"
Jack showed a smile and nodded before he bowed to the king
"Then I'll be off"
The king nodded
"Roar my beauties, ROAR!"
Merlin stood at a safe distance and watched the new tanks go through their paces, it sheared a name with him, it was, of course, the M41 Walker Bulldog light tank, as its classification stated this was a rather small, lighter built tank, it was built and designed for a reconnaissance role while being equipped with a 76mm which among the unusual shell types fired a particularly nasty shell, under the official designation of M361 the WP-SMK shell was more commonly known as a white phosphorus smoke shell
"...So basically it shoots a shell that explodes, spreading a white smoke that burns skin and is also poisonous?"
"...Yes"
Jane frowned before she commented
"That seems unnecessarily cruel"
"It is"
As Merlin and Jane chatted while they watched Geo practice commanding the new M41's form Sharpshooter a carriage arrived carrying Jack and the corpse, Jack that had seen the tanks in action before was passive, but the corpse was anything but as it yelled
"What are those!?"
Merlin smiled before he spoke a single word
"Tanks"
"Thanks?"
"No, tanks, as in a tank, multiple tanks"
The corpse let out a sigh of amazement after Merlin described the basic combat role of the tanks, then its somewhat dull eyes shined as it stated
"I want to know more!"
Merlin showed a smile and nodded, he wasn't black-hearted enough to turn down someone that seemed genuinely curious about tanks, then he pointed to the Bulldogs that were racing around in various formations
"Why don't we start with that one, it's called an M41 Walker Bulldog besides the tracks that propel it forwards via the engine it's equipped with a 76mm cannon"
"Cannon? As in the ones on a ship?"
"Yeah, though the cannons equipped on the tanks are about 300 years more advanced than the cannons first fitted on ships"
The corpse nodded before it proceeded to ask another question, Merlin answered its questions for a while until Jack spoke to him
"His majesty have summoned you, though it's not urgent, please stop by his office before sunset"
Merlin nodded as a glint of understanding flashed through his eyes
'TIme to work for a living I guess…'
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone