Chương 108: Chapter 108: Engineering Revolutions
"Wait, Major! Are you serious?!"
Gio hurried after me as I strode back into the factory, his jaw hanging in disbelief.
"Do you really intend on fixing their super-heavy tank and getting it ready for actual use in the battlefield?!"
"Yes," I replied. Gio couldn't help but blanch at that.
"How?! Do you have some engineering background that I don't know of?!"
"I've played Dead Space and pretended to be Isaac Clarke, an engineer. If I can put together mining tools and use them to dismember necromorphs, I sure as hell will be able to fix a tank."
"Huh?! But those are two completely different things!"
I waved Gio away dismissively. "Don't mind the details. Besides, I convinced his majesty King Hedol to lend me some help."
Basically, a few minutes ago, after I proposed the deal to King Hedol, he was so taken aback that he was speechless.
Hedol had glared at me, his eyes hooded and unreadable under that massive sombrero of his and slightly concealed behind cigarette smoke.
"How do I know you're not lying? For all I know this could be a trick. You're buying time to live while using this chance to escape with your men.
"You really think very little of me, don't you, your majesty?"
I had sighed dramatically, but Hedol had remained unmoved.
"Without evidence, it is hard to believe you. And the risk is too high."
"So all I need to do is show you proof?" I had countered. Hedol had frowned at that.
"You have…proof?"
"Yeah." I shrugged and gestured toward the exit of the chamber. "Follow me outside. I have something to show you."
"It might be a trap," one of Hedol's Terminator bodyguards growled. The retinue of Terminator bodyguards had arrived just a couple of minutes prior to our exchange, and they were surrounding my men and me.
"…trap?" Gio muttered.
"You might have the rest of your battalion positioned outside, ready to take us out and assassinate his majesty. Do you not think we'll see through what you're planning? It's too obvious, you Helsfortian scum!"
"You really think too little of me." in a second I emanated a chilling killing intent that dropped even the vaunted Terminator bodyguard elites of the Morian dwarves to their knees. The atmosphere itself became suffocating, the bulky warriors gasping for air as they staggered. "If I want to kill you all, I will do it here, by myself. I don't need my battalion for that."
"You…" Hedol had snarled, but I ignored him.
"Indulge me, your majesty. You wanted proof, and I'm trying to show it to you. Or…are you afraid of becoming aware that there are greater engineers and craftsmen than the highly revered dwarves of Moria?"
"Rubbish!" Hedol roared. He was the only one who was still on his feet after I did the whole killing intent thing. As expected of the dwarven king, he was truly a formidable foe. Even though I had emerged slightly on top after our initial exchange, I knew that he would prove to be a difficult opponent if the battle had gone on longer.
I was so glad he fell for my bluff.
"Fine. I will see what you have to show me."
"Thank you."
I had smiled. This whole time I had been casting the spell and conducting the ritual for another summoning. Hedol's assault on me had sped up the ritual and shaved off several seconds from my summoning.
The moment we emerged outside, with Hedol's Terminator bodyguards zealously guarding their king from any possible attack, I summoned Matsukaze.
Boom…!
An explosion rocked the air and a Titan fell from the heavens, landing in front of us in a blue, shimmering dome-shield.
"That's…what the hell is that thing?!"
One of the Terminator bodyguards had gasped. King Hedol was stunned, speechless for a few moments, but he managed to shake his head.
"That's a Golem."
"That's the word the people of Restia have for it, yes."
"But it's nothing like any Golem I've ever seen." Hedol was approaching Matsukaze, his eyes full of wonder. "That design…that thin, lightweight frame…I suspect it's much more mobile than the clumsy, armored Golems of ancient times and divine craftsmanship."
"It is," I confirmed. Hedol turned to me.
"Where did you get this from?! I don't believe you built it!"
"I summoned it. I designed it. You're right, I did not build it, not physically with my hands, anyway. But I know the theoretical concepts, and I designed it."
I pushed past Hedol and climbed into Matsukaze. The dome-shield disappeared and the Titan reared up, casting a shadow over the frightened Terminator bodyguards. My men, who were used to seeing me pilot Matsukaze, merely grinned.
"This is why a battle against me will be costly."
My voice boomed out through the speakers built into Matsukaze's frame. Hedol tensed, even as his men cowered.
"I have access to technology that you can't even imagine. I told you…I will be able to improve on the design of your Hellblade and make it viable…in the same way I designed this Titan."
Matsukaze moved quickly, dashing across the barren valley. Drawing his katana, I unleashed an arc wave that smashed against the side of a mountain, sending an avalanche of rocks tumbling down the slope.
Turning back to Hedol, I further demonstrated Matsukaze's prowess by unslinging the Predator Gatling cannon and unleashing a hail of adamantium fury on another mountain. The dwarves stared at me, unable to believe their eyes.
"You…just what are you?"
"I'm a Major in his majesty Emperor Regis's army." I turned to face him…or rather, Matsukaze did. "So what will it be?"
Hedol considered my question for a moment, chewing on his cigar with such force the thing actually broke under his teeth. Spitting out the snapped cigarette, he fished out a new one and lit it up, inhaling the smoke.
He then studied Matsukaze again, proceeding forward despite his Terminator bodyguards' protests. Running his hands along the frame, he admired the intricate and sophisticated design, as well as the devastating array of weaponry mounted upon it.
After a few moments, Hedol had finally made his decision. Looking up, his lips curled.
"You…really think you can perfect the design of our super-heavy tank?" he had sneered. I had smiled in reply.
"Can't hurt to try. Why not give me a chance? You have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Or are you afraid that I'll put you to shame by succeeding where you failed?"
"Nonsense!" Hedol bellowed furiously. "Fine then. I'll give you a month. If you fail to perfect the design of the Hellblade and make it workable by then, I'll immediately execute you and your men. Is that clear?"
"Crystal clear, your majesty."
"Hmph. Make sure you clean your necks and await the guillotine."
Turning away, Hedol had made to leave in a huff while gesturing for his sister, Donorea, to follow him. However, I had called out to him.
"Oh, your majesty. As my soldiers aren't engineers, and you don't want such secrets falling into the hands of outsiders, do you mind lending me a team of Morians craftsmen? I'll teach them how to construct a workable super-heavy tank."
Hedol had spun around and glowered at me. I had responded by raising my hands in a pacifiying manner.
"Or would you prefer if I keep the secrets to myself and my men?"
I did have several tech-priests accompanying my tank battalion. If Hedol refused my suggestion, they were my fall-back. But the adepts of Mars were a mysterious, enigmatic lot, and I didn't know if I could trust the priesthood of the Adeptus Mechanicus…
…wrong universe. I meant the priesthood of Morten Mechanica.
"Fine. Ledrey, you are to pick a team you think most suitable for this task and have them cooperate with the major. Make sure he doesn't try anything funny and keep an eye on him at all times. Is that understood?"
"Yes, your majesty."
Ledrey had fallen to a knee and bowed his head in supplication.
That same Ledrey was now in his office, calling an emergency meeting and selecting a team for me. He had told me and my men to wait, which was how we arrived to the present.
"It's the Major!" Geoffrey Gunnery assured Gio brightly. "Don't worry! He's bound to have a solution! Look, he even has a Golem in his possession! If he can build a Golem like that, then he can pretty much build anything!"
I couldn't help but feel guilty when I saw his shining face. What did I do to deserve such levels of loyalty?
Furthermore, I didn't actually build Matsukaze. I summoned him. I did not have the technical know-how of how to actually assemble him. The dwarves had requested that they take him apart, but I couldn't keep him summoned forever.
Trying to conceal my uncertainty, I masked my lack of confidence with an arrogant smirk and turned to the gigantic steel behemoth in the chamber behind us.
"Well…it's true that the boss has never let us down before," Jurgen agreed as he folded his arms. "But this is a completely different task altogether. How is he going to pull this off? Like Lieutenant Vanni said, unless he has some engineering background we don't know of…"
"…I do. Well, not practical experience, but I do have theoretical knowledge of it…or rather, I have books on engineering that will help us counteract this problem."
I already knew what book to pick. Reaching into the Library of Eden, I conjured a holographic eBook of engineering tank engines.
"That's…"
"A book on how to build tank engines."
"I…I've never seen such a book before!"
Gunnery's eyes were wide as he gawked at the shimmering holographic pages hovering in front of me.
I smiled. "Well, yeah, because this library is limited only to me."
"Eh?! You're monopolizing it!? How unfair!"
"Well…once the dwarves arrive, we're going to start building this."
Flipping through the book, I rapidly browsed through the pages until I found the one I was looking for. With a broad smile, I stopped at the section on a plasma reactor meant for super-heavy tanks. This was going to be tight…
"Er…what's this? I've never seen technology like this before. Where did you get this book from, boss?"
Jurgen was staring at the pages, trying to decipher the text and illustrations.
"It's technology from the heavens," I replied. To be honest, I didn't know either. It was neither technology that existed in present Restia nor technology that existed in my previous world. For all I knew, it could be technology from the Dark Age of Technology or the 41st Millennium, but there was no way such a book would find its way in my Library of Eden.
Then I recalled the ancient weapons and technology in Alucard's tomb. It might just be possible that this was very ancient technology.
It was also entirely possible that this book came from the future. At that time, I didn't think of it, but later I often wondered if it was precisely because I attempted to build and engineer a plasma reactor at that particular period of time that led to this book being written and published. Some sort of weird temporal paradox or causality.
For now, it was more than enough that I had the theoretical means in my hands. The only concern was putting all this theory into practice and making the concept a reality. As far as I knew, we were the first people ever attempting to construct a plasma reactor of this scale…a generator efficient and powerful enough to move a super-heavy tank and supply its magical weapons at the same time. It was unprecedented.
I was under no illusions the difficulty of the task we had ahead of us. That was why I requested a team of skilled dwarves to aid us.
"I don't understand a single word this book is saying," Gio complained after trying to read the text. "Too much technical jargon and complicated procedures…"
"That's why you're a soldier and not an engineer," I replied. Truth be told, I had completely no clue what the text was saying either. All I could do was show this eBook to the dwarves and convince them to follow my instructions.
Speaking of which, where were my assigned team? Ledrey was sure taking his time.
I glanced impatiently at the office. We had a month to experiment and do this. Not only that, I would have to fight a war during that month. It was suddenly a blessing in disguise that we were posted to this remote garrison in the middle of nowhere. The enemy was unlikely to attack here, so we would be away from the worst of the fighting.
My men would be irked at being robbed of the chance of achieving glory in combat and war, but if we succeeded in perfecting a practical and workable super-heavy tank, we would be able to turn the war on its head completely.
I could almost imagine the expressions on my former classmates' faces when a Hellblade emerged out of nowhere and obliterated entire regiments of their human armies. For the Emperor, indeed.
"Major?"
Jolting up at Ledrey's voice, I eagerly turned to face him. He had stayed true to his word and assembled a tough-looking team of dwarves who wore various beards and mustaches, their messy overalls sporting different patterns and colors. The only similarities were the sombreros on their heads and the cigars sticking out of their mouths.
"Ah, Ledrey."
"I've picked the team. These men will be under your care for the next month."
"So when do we begin?"
The lead dwarf, a muscular, bald guy whose shiny scalp was hidden under his sombrero, asked.
"Right away, if you guys don't mind."
"Of course not. Let's not waste any time. So what will you have us do?"
"I'll be frank."
Taking up a position in front of the team of rugged-looking dwarves, I bowed my head.
"I have no practical experience in engineering, no technical expertise in building stuff, no education in assembling vehicles. So I will be deferring to you."
"Are you saying you lied to his majesty?"
A dwarf at the back, with a curly mustache and a guitar hanging from his back, demanded snidely.
I smiled at that. "No, not at all."
"Then why are you telling us this?" the leader asked, his voice calm and composed.
"Because if we're going to work together, I need to be honest. I need to let you guys know my weaknesses so that you can help me shore up on it."
"That sounds like quite the crippling weakness," another dwarf remarked. "If you're expecting us to do your work for you, you're totally wrong, pup."
"Oh, now there's something that you misunderstand." I raised my hands good-naturedly, the smile still on my face. "I might not have practical experience or an engineering background, but what I do have is theoretical concepts and knowledge. I have blueprints and schematics that might interest you. If you follow my blueprints and execute my theory in reality, we might just be able to overcome this hurdle together and create the most powerful tank the world has ever seen."
The dwarves glanced at each other, their eyes hooded and their expressions concealed beneath poker faces. Then the lead bald dwarf turned to me, resting his hammer on his shoulder.
"Show us the blueprints."
My grin widened. "I thought you would never ask."
*
"So what do you think? Will you be able to assemble the plasma reactor in a month?"
"Yes."
The leader of the dwarven team, the bald foreman named Belisarius, looked up and confirmed. He was actually grinning.
"No, never mind a month. We'll get you the plasma reactor in three days."
"Whoa?!" I stared at him, completely stupefied. "Really?! That's fast! How…?"
"We already have the prototypes and primary components for this." Belisarius tried to tap the blue hologram, but his fingers went through the soft light. "Bringing the parts together and making a few modifications to fit this schematic is child's play. I actually feel ashamed…the answer was so obvious, the solution was right in front of us, and we so-called master crasftmen didn't even notice it! Ugh! I'm so grateful to you for bringing us this blueprint!"
"Uh…okay. No problem."
"Another thing."
Belisarius turned to me before glancing over my shoulder.
"Your Golem…I mean, Titan. Earlier, you were telling us that it's powered by a similar plasma reactor, right? I had several of my men go through the schematics you gave us regarding your Titan, and as you said, even though the plasma reactor is small, it won't be enough to power the Hellblade."
Earlier, I had went through the Library of Eden and procured a copy of the blueprints for Matsukaze. Even though I had designed him with my imagination, I was surprised to find an actual manual detailing how to build him.
It was clear that there was some temporal anomality at work here. I didn't write it, and to my knowledge, nobody should know how to assemble Matsukaze. Yet there was a book written on how to build Titans, and provided a dizzying array of designs and schematics of Titans I had vaguely imagined but never concretely conceptualized.
This was disturbing.
"Yeah, I told you. But Matsukaze is half the size of your Hellblade, and much lighter, so he doesn't need as much power. That said, the theoretical concept is still there. The plasma reactor is an efficient source of energy that works through mana fusion, a process that releases vast amounts of energy. If we can replicate that process in a working reactor, we can adjust and build a bigger plasma reactor that is suitable for the Hellblade that's similar to a Titan's reactor. That's why I have this."
I gestured toward the book I had shown Belisarius and his men. We had compared the schematics of the plasma reactor inside the super-heavy tank in the tank book with that of the titan book and found a lot of similarities.
The size and scale might differ slightly, but the concept and mechanisms were largely the same. We could use that to our advantage.
"Good. I already have a picture of how to build the reactors." Belisarius grinned and slapped me in the back. "Well done, Helsfortian! We're so going to revolutionize Morian technology…and dare I say all of technology in Restia!"
"I look forward to that."
I wasn't a Helsfortian, to be honest. I was only serving in the Helsfort army at Regis's request, so I guess I could see why the dwarves classified me as one. Whatever. The truth was too complicated to explain, and they didn't know about the existence of Earth.
"Let's get to work, men!" Belisarius bellowed at his team. He turned back to me and winked. "I'll get the plasma reactor to you in three days, pup. Don't you worry."
"Yeah." I rolled up my sleeves. "I may not be as deft with my hands as you are at building stuff, but let me know how I can help and what I can do."
"You've already done plenty, brat. You've already done plenty."
*
Despite Belisarius's assurances, I couldn't sit still and do nothing while the team of dwarves assigned to me welded, assembled and built. Fortunately, Belisarius found a few errands that even someone as ignorant of engineering like me could do, and I did whatever was asked of me.
"Here are the parts!"
I was like an errand boy, ferrying necessary components, catalouging whatever things the dwarves needed me to do, and sometimes helping out with the administrative work. The dwarves were so engrossed in their work that they barely paid any attention to what was happening in the outside world.
I couldn't help but smile as I watched them work. They truly were master craftsmen, their movements precise, their hammering disciplined, and their assembly coordinated. It was heartening to see them put together a massive piece of machinery.
It was on the second day that everything almost fell apart.
"We're almost done, boy."
Belisarius grinned as he lowered his goggles and dusted off his gloves to take a break. Retrieving a cigarette from his pocket, he lit it up and took a puff.
"My boy, you've revolutionized Morian technology. What do you say? Why don't you emigrate to Moria and join us? Together, we can build new things…lots of new weapons and machinery that will end this Hedas-forsaken war once and for all!"
"Uh…I'll just give you the schematics and blueprints to work on."
We had already discussed a little on developing smaller Titans. With the current technology, the Morian dwarves were still unable to fully replicate the manufacturing process of Matsukaze, but we searched through the Titan book and found several smaller versions of armored suits that were more feasible for mass production.
We had dubbed them Elementals.
"Sure! Let me know whenever you fish out a new one!"
"Yeah."
I leaned back against the bench, relieved at the small break. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and ran through the errands that I was assigned…
"Major!"
I snapped back to full wakefulness and turned toward the direction of Jurgen's voice. My aide was rushing down the stairs of the manufactorum, flustered and panicky.
"What's the matter, Jason?"
"Bad news!" Jurgen was pale and perspiring as he waved a sheet of paper at me. "The humans! They're finally here! The Emperor of Humanity and his armies are currently launching an assault on the hive city in Mount Aleron!"
A cold chill ran down my spine when I realized that we were out of time.
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