Daedalus 38 M1 - Term: 1, Round: 3

House Thoth, Squad Leader, Squad Zero

M1 Rank: 1/1275, Tier 3 M-Rank: Null

Term: 1, Round: 3

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An alarm was sounding. In the first instant, it disturbed Daedo, and he panicked. Before he realised it was the weekend and Picard set audible alarms to wake herself for Physical Training thirty minutes before sunrise.

Where his apartment in the Academy had excellent soundproofing, he never heard anything from the other cadet's rooms, the workshop was an office converted into living facilities.

Barran groaned and then swore. He loved physical activity more than anyone, just not predawn.

Gaumont woke and yawned then lay back down trying to go back to sleep.

Daedo decided to get up as did his Father.

The males shared a room. which gave the girls some privacy, in the larger of the two converted bunkrooms. Ikaros always stayed with the Cadets on the weekend and Daedo didn't mind at all. Cisse stayed more often than not lately. How much the pair worked during the week was up to them. As long as his R and D schedule was met Daedo didn't care what they did. They were both employees and minor shareholders of Daedalus now. It was as much their warehouse as the cadets.

Cisse set her own schedule. It was not like Daedo could order a ZPE reactor with a ten-week deadline. They would be fortunate if they ever cracked it. She had manufactured all the improved cold fusion reactors for the exos. Which were almost twice as effective as the units which came with the standard exos.

The squad were able to return all the original exos in their original condition. They had effectively swapped out every single component. So much so it was now cla.s.sified medium instead of light due to its size. It was stronger than a medium, had more durability and was more mobile than a mesh.

Daedo made his way down to the outside yard to catch some fresh air before sunrise. They were close to the river, and although they did not have frontage, he could smell and hear the water running from the yard.

If the business went well, they could expand the workshop into the yard. They could also add levels up and down if they wanted to as well. There were plenty of options to expand. The yard was still full of spare parts, some precious, some junk, from the many years the workshop had operated before his squad purchased it.

Daedo liked to pick through the junk when he needed to think. He would pick up items, turn them over and put them back down. Sometimes it didn't even register what it was he was inspecting while he was lost in thought on some problem.

He gravitated to the old mech which sat pride of place in the rear corner. One day he would rebuild it. Although he probably could build the unit from scratch given their expanded manufacturing capability, there was a part of him who wanted to restore this old fella. Its frame was the most valuable component, it was a t.i.tanium graphite alloy. There were enough kilos of the metal compound to be worth quite a few bitcreds. This one stripped down mech weighed more than all their exos combined.

If it stood tall, it would have been almost six metres. Its cabin was large enough for an adult to sit comfortably. It could probably fit two cadets. It didn't have a head, the cabin was in a trapezoid shape with a flat undercarriage that was one metre across at the bottom over two at the top. Its arms and legs attached to shoulders and a pivot which were connected to the central cabin structure. This gave it full range torso twist no matter which way it was moving.

He wondered how fast it could run. Its reactor had been removed and most likely sold when the old company needed creds. The reactor would have been the most valuable part. It probably needed a one-megawatt reactor to power its movement and weapons.

The exos were a good stepping stone before a mech in more ways than one. The engineering and combat tactics were similar. And it was more likely a mech commander would have exo combat troops in support. Learning with an exo would a.s.sist a future mech commander to understand the equipment of his or her troops much better than if they only ever used mechs.

"Are you admiring old dawg again?" Vannier asked suddenly from behind. Daedo jumped slightly he didn't even know she had come outside.

"You named him old dawg?" Daedo asked.

She laughed softly. "No. Axelzero gave it to him."

The girls had tidied and organised the entire workshop in the first few weeks. Before they got stuck into their own projects. They found the time to improve the workshop as much as possible without spending hundreds or thousands of creds.

"I think I would like to bring him back to life one day," Daedo said, "he is ours now. He is our responsibility." It was as if Daedo thought of the mech as a pet or companion.

"Well, I am sure you and your Father can do it. Its just a matter of creds," Vannier replied. "You know you could always enter an EU pro league tournament, that would help repay his resurrection."

"Do I have to call him old dawg?" Daedo asked.

"If you register him, you can call him whatever you wish," she said before adding, "a.s.suming it isn't already taken."

"I hadn't thought about the tournaments," Daedo replied.

"There's some between term three and four during the break. I've seen cadets enter those in previous years."

Daedo nodded and took the information on board. He hadn't watched the "real" mech combat streams. He had always played the VR version, CyberMech, which was in stark contrast with the severe duels from the amateur and pro circuits.

"Did you need help with your Railgun? Are you ready to manufacture the prototype?" he asked. Daedo was well aware one area Horus was more advanced than Thoth squad zero was with weapons. Although he was now on the third version of the light exo, and second of the heavy, they had yet to produce a working prototype of the railgun.

Vannier shifted her feet nervously.

"I'm," she hesitated, "not sure we are ready," she meant Picard as they were working on it together.

"Do you have competing ideas or are you stuck?" Daedo asked.

"We have a few concepts," she said.

"Then we make a few prototypes and test. The modelling can only tell you so much. I realised this when testing the exos. Compared to reality even the best modelling apps are poor," he said.

"But the cost," Vannier said. It was not like her to be unsure of herself. Maybe it was when it came to technical projects she lacked confidence where she showed no fear or hesitation in physical or combat.

"Don't worry about the cost. The bitcreds will come. We know the AI foundation will make creds, we know its better than anything available on the open market. It's just a matter of time," he repeated back her statements regarding his AI foundation.

"And Barran screwed fifteen k bitcreds out of M3 Shu zero, their payment is due at the end of round four," he added.

The exclusive rights for an M3 team to five of their light exo for term one was sold for over half what they paid for the entire workshop. Which was necessary because their running costs were way above what was predicted due to the cost of all their R and D materials.

Vannier lit up, "yeah he did. And we can sell it all over again in term two."

"They want to practice against us during round five, until the tournament," Daedo said.

"Really?" it was news to Vannier.

"Yeah. Barran tried to screw them for another one k. But I overruled saying the practice would benefit us as well," Daedo laughed. Barran closed the deal with Shu on Sat.u.r.day night, and Daedo hadn't had a chance to tell everyone the good news.

"Talk to my Father and get the prototypes started today. Hopefully, we can test tonight before heading back to the Academy," Daedo said. He wasn't sure how long the manufacture of Railgun prototypes would take until they were programmed in.

"Yes sir," Vannier said smiling and saluting. Although the salute was perfect, he couldn't help but feel the undertone of levity.

More seriously she asked, "how goes it with Gaumont? I noticed you two seem to be getting along."

"It was difficult at first. But its early days and we are getting closer to a solution," Daedo answered.

"You redesigned a light exo in a week. You solved the first math problem in a few hours. How long will this problem take?" Vannier asked.

"I can't answer that. It could take one hour or ten years. When we have the solution, we will have it. Until then we are thinking, experimenting and learning,' he said.

A spiderbot crept up on the pair.

Vannier kicked it. "You aren't meant to use these to spy," she scolded the little security guard.

A squeaky voice sounded from the spiderbot, "I am running tests, and I wanted to hear something juicy." Barran was in charge of security and as he didn't have a project or any other responsibilities he usually mucked around, rode his bike, annoyed his squadmates or joined in testing and exercise activities.

Daedo was allowing Barran to use the heavy exo as his tech project as Daedo himself was using the light. Barran was certain he would ace Tech Studies.

"Did you do something to your hair?" the spiderbot squeaked. Barran could have messaged or used comms but was having too much fun controlling the spiderbot.

"Yes," she answered. Daedo finally noticed it was no longer the purple-pink colour she had when entering the Academy but now it was a more orange colour.

"It's ochre," she said as if it was an important fact they needed to know.

"Ah good. I thought the sensors were malfunctioning for a minute," the spiderbot squeaked.

Axelzero approached from the mech bay door, "ah there you are," she called. "Coming for breakfast?"

Vannier's hair colour forgotten the pair made their way to breakfast. Ikaros usually nuked up a ma.s.s serving of beans, changing the flavour and sauce each week for variety.

Gaumont and Daedo worked together in a virtual room. Although they were both in the workshop, they could have been in different cities and worked this way. The virtual room allowed for multiple displays, sharing of files, images and ideas quickly.

Daedo only had to think about numbers, an equation or words and they would appear on a virtual board. Myrmidon would a.s.sist seamlessly, but even without his aid, it was possible with the cybernetic implant.

"I think we are getting closer," Daedo said. "It feels to me the answer is just out of reach and when we find it we will think about how stupid we were to take so long."

Despite the differences in temperament, there was not a great deal of difference in ability. Gaumont would be able to run with Daedo's ideas and add a spin or element to them. Together they were better than Daedo alone. They both knew Gaumont would have no chance of solving this problem alone. But it wasn't something Gaumont admitted, nor did Daedo rub it in.

"We are always getting stuck on the coefficient. It never works even with a complex variable," Gaumont said.

"Is it the complex variable that is the issue or is it the foundation we are using that places the coefficient here," he pointed, "in the first place."

"Your AI is miraculous, what does he think?" Gaumont asked.

They switched from audio to virtual comms to include Myrmidon in their conversation.

Myrmidon: I am still running a process to crack the complex variable.

Gaumont: I don't think you will brute force it. How long have you been running?

Myrmidon: sixteen hours.

Gaumont: how many teraflops is that?

Myrmidon: over a quadrillion.

Gaumont: seriously? Geez, Daedo I wish I got your foundation now. Those are crazy numbers.

Daedo: he is cheating, he is using a.s.sets from the net to a.s.sist.

Gaumont: still. He has the capacity to do that, which gives the result. So who cares that he is cheating. If he hasn't brute forced it by now, it will probably never happen in our lifetimes because the complex variable does not exist.

Daedo: agreed. I think we should flip the equation on its head and start again.

Gaumont: what do you mean by flipping it on its head.

Daedo: we should try and prove it is not possible.

Gaumont: that's harder!

Daedo: I know. But it may give us the insight into a new way of solving this.

Gaumont: what part are we proving is not possible?

Daedo: the coefficient. It's where we are always stuck.

Gaumont: ok, I'll bite what method are we using.

Daedo: we aren't going to use the elimination method that is certain. We will use symbolic subst.i.tution.

The pair began to work using symbolic subst.i.tution to prove the coefficient did not exist with Myrmidons a.s.sistance. They were at it for hours until Vannier interrupted them for dinner.

Daedo: I didn't realise how much time had pa.s.sed.

Vannier: you never do. Any luck?

Gaumont: none yet. But we must be closer to this than anyone else.

Vannier: I would expect so!

Gaumont may have meant the entire planet where Vannier meant the Academy.

Daedo: do we have two railgun prototypes yet?

Vannier: we will by the time dinner is completed.

Daedo: great! I look forward to seeing some test results tonight, we can wait until Monday for the third.

Vannier: acceleration, velocity, power consumption and noise levels. Am I missing anything?

Daedo: accuracy variation test and each test must use the five main round types.

The entire squad sat down for dinner together. The Sunday night dinner always included Cisse and Ikaros, and now that Gaumont was on board it was the entire Thoth zero squad.

Barran leaned over Daedo who was seated.

"Daedo, Daedo, Daedo, Daedo," he said with his tone dropping every time he said his name. "When are you going to start making creds so we can deck this place out." He made a play of looking around before exclaiming, "It's a dump!"

Axelzero rolled her eyes, "if we," she emphasised we, "start making creds it will go towards equipment and supplies. Not frivolous luxuries."

Barran took on a slightly mocking tone, pretending to be the bastion of ethics. "It will be for the person whose shoulders this is built on to decide, yeah?" he asked rhetorically.

Axelzero just shook her head. She should know better not to argue or attempt to inject reason into Barran's banter.

Daedo stood, ignoring the banter, as usual, by using silence or change of topic. "Time to test these new railguns," he announced, and everyone got excited. They made their way down to the testing bay and go into their exos.

It was one of the areas the squad had upgraded. It was not expensive to clear out the junk and expand the area. Part of the gunnery range was set up for robots to test armour with different kinds of damage. They would also run the gamut of test on the new railguns. Picard and Vannier had been programming them in all afternoon while Ikaros and his robots manufactured their designs into prototypes.

Daedo just wanted to feel the new guns, he would not be testing them. The robots possessed the necessary instrumentation and precision to produce the required results. The cadets would go by feel. Simple tests like shooting a sheet of metal would be enough for the next hour or two.

Daedo looked at prototype railgun one. Similar to all their prototype designs it was not pretty. Even his third version of the light exo had yet to receive any cosmetic enhancements, he was leaving that until he was satisfied with the design. His squadmates speculated that would never happen.

All railguns consisted of two conductive rails. These were made from superconductive alloy and were the heart of the gun. The better the material, the better the design of the rails would account for up to eighty percent of the performance of the railgun itself. The other two main parts were the pulse generator and the power delivery system.

Handheld railguns had their own power source. These railguns would tap into the power source of the exo delivering unlimited power and as much as the railgun needed. A battery would always run flat. The railgun had a series of capacitors for quick release of power, but these were filled from the exo's reactor.

Another main factor, which was not physical, was the design and programming of the magnetic field itself. Slight improvements increased power to the armature which effected in higher velocity propulsion delivery to the round. The higher the velocity of the round would result in more damage and improved optimal accuracy range. As a round breaking mach four would create multiple sonic booms, Vannier was working on sound dispersion technologies which did not affect the velocity of the round.

Conventional sound suppression devices lowered the velocity of the round to under the speed of sound. This would defeat the point of using a railgun. Railguns produced higher velocity rounds than standard rifles. That was their forte. It did not matter what technologies the round itself contained. Speed was king. The suppression techniques Vannier was implementing involved sound dispersion.

The prototype was simple. It had a sight, clip, rails, stock, grip and trigger mechanism. Power was carried from a suit socket to the chambers above the grip. Quick connect and disconnect with their exos were possible at multiple points.

Daedo had donned his exo, it was needed for a power supply, but he would also use it when testing the railgun in their mini gauntlet that was set up in the testing bay.

The prototype was a medium range version, a long range would have longer rails. Daedo sighted the target and fired off a few rounds. A small increase in speed would not be noticeable to a human's normal senses. Daedo sensed it was a distinctly faster round. Even Myrmidon hummed his approval.

The impact on some sc.r.a.p metal from the yard was significant, a large hole now appeared in the mild steel sheeting. The ten-meter thick construct behind the gunnery range was earning its pay again. It was only protecting whatever was underground on the other side, but it was their responsibility to capture all munitions on their property.

Daedo turned around. Vannier and Picard looked on expectantly.

"Wow," he said. "I am looking forward to the results of the testing even more now."

Next in line was Axelzero. Picard and Vannier wanted everyone to have a turn before they did themselves. Prototype two would be ready any moment for testing as well.

Daedo handed the railgun to Axelzero who grinned as she entered the gunnery range cubicle.

Barran, Mace and Gaumont patiently waited for their turn as Axelzero emptied a few rounds into the metal sheet.

"I think we will need more sc.r.a.p," Gaumont said. The damage on the target would soon result in its demise.

"You know where it is," Barran responded.

Daedo nodded to Vannier and Picard.

"Well done," he said and delivered a rare smile. He didn't need to force it, he was genuinely happy with the railgun. It would be the foundation of their squad's a.r.s.enal. Designs could be adapted for short range, medium and long. Theoretically, all members could use one, but that would impact versatility and create an opportunity for opponents.

Daedo was considering as Barran had his turn. Axelzero, Mace and himself with medium to short-range railguns, melee weapon, grappler and selection of traps. Vannier and Picard with long-range railguns, grappler and selection of traps. Barran with a minigun or melee weapons. Gaumont with a complimentary loadout to Barran.

There was also the shield he had been working on. Something to negate the Ion bolt from the PPC. The increased strength of the exos allowed them to carry versatile loadouts with many elements. He wanted to be on the battlefield with options. The more variety in attacks his squad could perform would prevent the enemy from predicting their tactics.