บท 22: European Alliance & quick trip back to base - 22

European Alliance General's POV

I cut off communication from the Pacific Front General, my mind racing with thoughts. The command room descends into silence.

Russia ramping up military production is confirmed as we suspected, but the Midas Project and the deployment of ICBMs suggest something far worse—a prelude to war on higher scale. To make matters worse, reports of Psychic Beacons raise even more alarms. I'll need to contact Siegfield, our lead research expert about these 2 topics first.

Thanks to our pact with the Pacific Front, we share defense protocols and technological advancements. Still, the news of Pearl Harbor complicates things. At least the Pacific Front seems to have struck a deal with this new faction. I'll trust their judgment for now.

5 years that what this new faction told us, Soviet invasion of America.. the intels seem accurate

Five years. That's the timeline this faction has given us—five years until a Soviet invasion of America. If their intel on the Midas Project and Psychic Beacons is accurate, we need to start preparing now.

"Call Siegfield. Emergency meeting. No codes," I instruct the comms officer. We have two codes in place—Alpha for immediate danger and Gamma for evacuation. This situation doesn't fit either, but it's no less urgent.

Siegfield appears on the screen moments later. "General," he says, his lab's sterile white walls visible in the background.

"Siegfield," I nod. "We have a situation." The comms officer begins transmitting the data.

As Siegfield reviews the files, his face pales. He exhales sharply before looking at me with a serious expression. "How much time do we have?"

"Five years, give or take a few months. Our allies in the Pacific disrupted their Midas production site," I reply.

"My Zeitgeist is nearly ready for deployment. If needed, I can expedite its completion," Siegfield offers. The Zeitgeist—a siege engine that uses chrono-vortex technology to erase targets from existence. Last I heard, mobility was still an issue but if Siegfield said it can be done now I will believe him.

"We currently gathering intels by ourselves right now, also there another topic I want you to look at" I said as there two files I sent to Siegfield the second one being Psychic beacon.. mind control beacon as well as report of mind controlled units.

"We're still gathering intel, but there's something else I need you to analyze." I send him the second file—the report on the Psychic Beacons and mind-controlled units.

"Is this real?" Siegfield asks before answering himself, "No, this is too elaborate to be fake."

"I need you to develop countermeasures. You have six months to produce a prototype. I'll assign you two infantry squads for testing."

"Do we know what happens to long-term mind-controlled soldiers?" Siegfield asks.

I shake my head. "We don't. But it can't be good. Good luck, Siegfield. Godspeed."

The comms cut out, leaving me to prepare for the busy months ahead as I need to clean the whole organization from ground up against suspect mind controlled, not that I know how to check but there should be a sign.

Siegfield's POV

This is a mess. Good thing the lab's location is classified, and most of my staff are handpicked. Still, I'll need to run another security sweep.

I glance around the white lab, my mirrored screens filled with project data. In the corner, the Zeitgeist looms—almost finished. It's a strange-looking device, resembling a floating chair with a cannon surrounded by armor. It uses miniaturized Einstein tech to create a stable chrono-field that phases itself—and anyone nearby—out of reality.

It works, but it's still experimental. I'm also developing a weather controller tech to protect the whole of Europe but its still in designing phase. But now, I'll need to shift focus.

"System, add these two files to the database. Create a new folder… call it 'Lucid Protocol.'" A new blank screen pops up with a blinking cursor.

I spin my pen, reviewing the Psychic Beacon reports. Bald men with strange tattoos and mind control capabilities—sounds like something from a bad sci-fi novel.

The report mentions brief moments of resistance before control resumes, stronger than before. It seems to be a battle of wills between the controller and the controlled.

If this is correct, I can develop a plan for anti-torture and anti-mind control training, similar to what spies and special agents receive. But if even commandos can only resist for a split second, it means the mind controllers either have exceptionally strong willpower... or they have something assisting them in their control.

As I pull up the Psychic Beacon plan, I find the blueprints for constructing it. It's more like a building guide and manual than an explanation of the science behind it. That's a bummer because it means I don't have an easy way to counter this tech at its root cause.

Anyway, I bring up the schematics and start dissecting the beacon into parts. Using my pen, I link the components and make short notes about each one.

First off, this is surprisingly similar to the radar towers I've seen before. The concept involves tiny rods extending skyward, transmitting different frequencies to create stable channels.

This beacon has five tiny rods extending skyward, and they spin when active. So, it's an amplifier of some kind. But where's the source signal coming from? I search through the manual.

Wait... there's an empty slot that seems designed to hold some type of computer? No, that can't be right. Computers can't simulate the human mind well enough for this kind of control. And even if they could, the hardware would be too big for this small space. Could it be... a brain?

I feel nauseous as the implications hit me. If that's correct, it means the Psychic Beacon uses modified brains stuffed inside to act as amplifiers.

Evil. Pure evil. Soviets... you are the enemy of the free world, and this just proves it even more.

Fighting them with willpower alone won't work while the beacon is active. At best, psychological training might buy a few seconds—enough time for someone to take out the mind controller before they can retaliate. I'll need to create two projects. One short-term experiment to test if willpower training can work. I don't have high hopes, but if it buys even a few seconds, it could be enough to prevent friendly fire and neutralize the controller.

For the other project, I'll revisit an old concept developed by Einstein when I was still his apprentice—Chrono tech. Specifically, I'll work on creating a variant of the Chrono Legionnaire suit. This version will isolate unauthorized signals inside the suit using a temporal time bubble.

The design will consume less energy than the standard Chrono Legionnaire because we don't need these soldiers to teleport. I'll also need to upgrade the Legionnaires later to make them resistant to mind control. I note that down on another screen displaying my to-do list.

This will drive up costs significantly if the general wants to outfit basic troops with anti-mind-control tech. I'll need to talk with him again, but at least I have a baseline for further research now.

Back to the willpower method—I need to ramp up psychological training. Torture resistance alone won't be enough. I'll need to ensure their minds are as strong as their bodies.

"System, call the Bio Department head and tell her to meet me in meeting room three," I say to the comm as I sigh. Biology isn't my strong suit, so I'll need some help. I walk toward the glass door and step outside.

Aqua's POV

So my support model teams and Pama are apparently camping in the forest below, as Triple and Sakura told me during dinner.

It's about 7:00 PM already, and to be fair, playing as a Hexblade Warlock in DnD game was fun. But for now, the game is shelved. I want to take my submarine bike—my rigging—for a spin. I just finished retrofitting it, so it has a lot more speed and fun built in.

I stretch and get up from the picnic table where we had dinner—well, except for those four who set up a campfire in the forest below.

"I'm going to take a ride back to base. Really want to test my new rigging," I say as Amy and Helena decide to join me. Not surprising.

"Hestia, I'm bringing two more MCVs to help fortify this island tomorrow. We're going to turn it into a fortress," I add. I really need to start automated production now. Two MCVs aren't enough—four should do the trick. I also have Wisdom Cubes stockpiling at the main base, five now, as they take four hours per cube.

I head toward the cliff edge facing east, the closest direction to the water. I will my rigging into existence and grin widely. Have you ever had a lucid dream where you can fly? That's what this feels like, as I about to jump off the climb and fly.

"Master! Wait for us!" Helena shouts as Amy pushes her to touch the rigging. Amy follows right after, and both disappear inside my hull. I use my nanoswarm to lift my submarine rigging upright as I sit on top of it. The twin thrusters are ready.

One design flaw—it's not designed for lift. But I can use nanoswarms for that. Does it work? Yes. Does it burn through resources? Probably $3,000 per minute, but whatever—I can replenish it once I'm in the water. The retrofit even added enough room to carry another girl on the back, unlike the earlier design.

I lean down and grab the handlebar. It feels more like a bike now, and I love that design, so I kept it. I fire up the thrusters.

Zoom!

Cold air rushes against my face, and my hoodie falls back from the wind. I grin while maintaining my nanoswarms. I kind of want to do some fancy maneuvers, but this submarine wasn't designed for that, we don't even have enough lift as it is as our altitude slowly descending. As we approach the shoreline, I release the nanoswarm control and let gravity take over.

Boom!

I dive into the water, creating a huge splash, and keep going at full throttle. I lean my submarine toward the base's direction. That was fun.

("So... how do you feel, Aqua-chan?") Amy asks through comms.

"I wanna do it again," I reply with excitement as I continue diving toward the base. I love the speed and wind as it a habit I picked up from piloting fighter craft I built in Space Engineers.

I always built fast, small, and agile ships. Adding thrusters feels like it's catching up to me.

So the question is—do I want to build a spaceship and break the whole setting?

I mean, the Paradox Engine exists, and that's technically an Allied spaceship a few kilometers long, complete with pocket dimensions and ridiculous tech.

Too bad the inventor of the time machine died before WW3. Otherwise, that spaceship could time jump, and that would be chaos. Also, I'll probably need to steal that broken-down time machine from Yuri in Antarctica.

Back to the topic—yes, I want a spaceship, but by progression standards, I need to finish the satellite project first, and that's two months away.

I reach the fog-covered underwater base. My defense grids are in view. I kind of wonder why I'm so paranoid, putting so much effort into 10 square kilometers of defense grids 2 km underwater.

Not like the Paradox Engine can handle crush depths, let alone normal Epsilon subs, which would get shot down by a single missile turret.

I arrive at the submarine gate—fast. I surface inside and unsummon my rigging. Amy and Helena appear beside me.

"So, girls, have fun?" I ask, curious if they felt the rigging shake during the landing.

"It's fun, master! Too bad I can't fly," Helena says as we move toward the dock. I queue two more Hestia-class MCVs. Flying for T-Dolls, huh? There's that stealth flyer set from NOD—I wonder how hard it would be to build something like that for T-Dolls, which weigh over 400 kg. I'll figure it out tomorrow.

I head toward the airbase and queue up one Hammerhead dropship. She'll be the first Strike Witch to awaken. Yawn I'm feeling super sleepy now.

"Let's go to the dorm and sleep," I say. The girls nod. We approach the residence building, and I head inside my room, collapsing onto my bed.

I will my nanoswarm to create a pile of pillows and fall asleep surrounded by them. Zzz.