Chapter 2.
Had she finally made her way to the damned Shaft stand was it full! She puffed in frustration and noticed some people staring at her but after receiving an angry stare, not her most diplomatic victory, they quickly turned their heads.
Picking up the folder she at least had obtained about Shaft Enterprises she flipped quickly through it before tossing it in the nearest trashcan. Only stupid babble about how great their products were, simply put: a complete and total waste of her time! Just as she was planning to kick the trashcan she saw two other officers who also seemed a bit disappointed like herself. A French Army lieutenant and a British RAF Major.
"This is truly a waste of our time, we should have staid in the hotel mon ami." The French officer was just saying to his British friend as they both noticed her.
"Ah it seems were not the only ones who are bored to death here." The Major mentioned as they all saluted and introduced themselves. Major Black and Lieutenant de Gau.
Suddenly the situation wasn't so bad after all. "So I'm not the only one." Miranda laughed looking at the two officers who were also grinning as they fumbled with their own Shaft Enterprise folders.
"We should have gone with 'hot head' Henrich." Lieutenant de Gau said after sharing some information about labors and their experience, or lack of it, with them.
"Henrich?" Miranda asked puzzled: "Hot head?"
"Ah I see you haven't met our esteemed colleague from Germany yet." Major Blackburn answered as he tossed away his Shaft Information folder. "He's a bit tempered to say the least, but he at least thought that the smaller stands also deserved some attention, must be his experience with those bloody robotic machines." "I'm here basically for vacation as the Vickers Fairfax is the new labor for the UK military. Shame they only figured that one out two days ago." He smiled apparently thinking about the administration back drop this would cost for the UK Ministry of Defense.
Then the memory about the German Bundeswehr Officer having a 'conversation' with that girl earlier came to mind. "Is this Henrich about 1,80 tall, short dark brown hair and a pair of grey eyes the Henrich you mentioned?"
"That's the guy!" Both said in unison. "How did you know?" De Gau asked.
"Ah I've seen him near the JSDF Helldiver stand having a conversation with some showgirl." She chuckled at the memory of the 6 feet soldier arguing with the small girl. (And losing it!)
"That must be him!" De Gau said hopefully: "We should also do the same as him and not stand here pointlessly."
"With once I have to agree with you Frenchy, this is pointless." Major Black tossed his folder in a trashcan. De Gau only briefly looked at the front cover of the sheet before following suit and tossing it away. Shaking her hand and giving her a invitation to join them later at their hotel they went there separate ways, searching for their friend; Henrich.
Maybe it was in the best interest of the Ministry of Defence to see the competitors as well Miranda though remembering the pep talk at the embassy.
She grinned and looked around noticing a stand at the other side of the walkway. And noticed a thing she had been looking for: a coffee can! Ha coffee! Should have brought a flask next time. Making up her mind she only briefly looked around at the Shaft Enterprises stand and 'dived' into the moving crowd and headed towards the other side.
** Shuki Fujima looked at the passing crowd and felt bored. Their small stand was completely looked over by the Labor Expo visitors. But what else had she expected, all potential customers went to Shaft Enterprises, which had their stand (a very large stand) at the other side of the walkway. Next time they really should look more closely at the stand locations. At least the coffee made by Harry, one of the two mechanics her dad had sent along, was decent enough. Grabbing a mock she gazed at the Shaft Enterprises stand and smiled, they at least couldn't beat their coffee. She almost choked in her coffee as suddenly an older foreign woman clad in an unknown Airforce uniform appeared out of the crowd and headed her way. She looked at the two mechanics that also were looking at some surprise at the approaching woman who was clearly heading their way and mentioned them to do something. Harry nodded understandingly and pushed his younger counterpart, Takahira, to their only labor and started to look busy and representative. Their company might be small but the people that were working for it are pro's. She put her thumps up, receiving smiles from the mechanics that now looked busy, and examined the approaching airforce officer who slowly moved towards their stand dogging the many visitors.
The woman seemed to be in her early 40'ties with only a tad of grey in her dark brown hair, which was combed backwards and put in a single short ponytail. Two glittering dark brown eyes, which always seemed to laugh, and what was perhaps the thing she stood out with the most: was her lenght. She must be at least 15 centimetres longer then her 1,66 she thought but then again the Airforce soldier was a foreigner. And that was the most important detail of all: a foreign customer. Suddenly the day was looking much more interesting.
** With a sigh of relieve Lt. Colonel Miranda Postma took a seat while closely being examined by the stand crew. A young woman and two mechanics, the woman sitting in front of her with a cup of coffee and the mechanics busy working on the sole labor.
The labor, a Cougar Mk. II produced by Fujima Mechanised Technologies, seemed a relative normal labor in comparison with some of the other labors the EXPO exhibited. A bipedal model with the appearance of one of those Helldivers labors she saw earlier. But while it looked like a Helldiver it still had some remarkable differences. Most notable the larger, and probably more powerful legs and arms. Thanks to this the labor main torso also was bigger and bulkier, but even so the labor seemed quite agile. A larger version of the Helldiver airborne labor perhaps?
Noting the resemblance of the Cougar with the Helldiver the obvious question to start the conversation was: why? The young woman answered the question with a polite smile, apparently it was an often-asked question.
"Our company Fujima Mechanised Technologies has a lot of ties with the Shinohara Heavy Industries, as such the design features some resembling parts with the JSDF Helldiver Model. Maybe even a lot but many different features are added making this labor, the Cougar, quite different."
The Japanese woman looked at the labor with excitement before returning back to the conversation. "I think we haven't been introduced yet: I'm Shuki Fujima."
"Miranda Postma, lt. Colonel, Royal Dutch Airforce" She answered as she shook the extended hand. The woman, Shuki Fujima, seemed even more excited now.
"It's a pleasure to meet you! Can I interest you in our labor?" Maybe a bit too exited.
"Ahum maybe." She answered looking at the exited woman: "If you first answer some questions." She looked at the Cougar as she sipped her coffee thinking about some good questions. And in the mean time examined the Cougar: it was good looking but then again good looking didn't mean acting well in combat situations. With a sigh she put the cup on the table and picked up a small notepad from her pocket, lets see what 'we' need. After some quick reading she looked up and watched at the waiting Shuki Fujima before starting:
"My employer, the Dutch Military, is looking for a urban labor for either police actions and military operations." "The labor needs to be airliftable and must be fast enough to manoeuvre in a urbanised landscape." "Also it would be handy to know what kind of weaponry the Cougar can use."
The two mechanics had by now joined them and were making notes while giving slow nods, like they were thinking about the requirements she opted and the possibilities to change the machine to fit them. She smiled, sometimes a smaller company was much more helpfully then a large one.
"But more important: I'm here to see labors in action, and compare them." "The labors there," Waving at the Shaft stand behind her, "might be cheaper in some accounts but looking at their performance I'm a bit disappointed."
Shuki Fujima scratched her head they hadn't brought a pilot. And even if they did the stand was simply too small for any actual movement. There was a larger exercise field for smaller companies to use their labors though she mused. But they simply hadn't a pilot. Disappointed she was planning to answer but was interrupted by Harry.
** Harry had written most of the technical aspects down and thinking of the technical manuals and schematics he didn't see many problems. The Cougar was easy to upgrade to house more advanced equipment when needed. And with weaponry the Cougar was also quite a capable machine. Carrying from a 20mm autocanon up to 120mm smooth bore canon. As for transport it was quite capable to be airlifted with the newer military aircraft in use with airforces around the world. Their friendly relation with Shinohara Heavy Industries would help them to exchange the other necessary military technology that would be needed to adopt their Cougar into a real fighting machine.
He looked up just to hear the Dutch Colonel talking about some actual action and looking at the disappointed look of miss Fujima, it was clear that they couldn't provide that as their 2 test pilots were still at the factory. But wait, he could pilot a labor! It was 3 years ago but still he should be able to move around in it!
"Ma'am there is a way to show our labor's combat actions." He quickly explained to Shuki that he had experience piloting labors. Even though it was a while back it should be enough for some basics. Shuki seemed to live up. "Yeah this should work." And in a matter of a few seconds he was 'promoted' from mechanic to labor pilot.
Had she finally made her way to the damned Shaft stand was it full! She puffed in frustration and noticed some people staring at her but after receiving an angry stare, not her most diplomatic victory, they quickly turned their heads.
Picking up the folder she at least had obtained about Shaft Enterprises she flipped quickly through it before tossing it in the nearest trashcan. Only stupid babble about how great their products were, simply put: a complete and total waste of her time! Just as she was planning to kick the trashcan she saw two other officers who also seemed a bit disappointed like herself. A French Army lieutenant and a British RAF Major.
"This is truly a waste of our time, we should have staid in the hotel mon ami." The French officer was just saying to his British friend as they both noticed her.
"Ah it seems were not the only ones who are bored to death here." The Major mentioned as they all saluted and introduced themselves. Major Black and Lieutenant de Gau.
Suddenly the situation wasn't so bad after all. "So I'm not the only one." Miranda laughed looking at the two officers who were also grinning as they fumbled with their own Shaft Enterprise folders.
"We should have gone with 'hot head' Henrich." Lieutenant de Gau said after sharing some information about labors and their experience, or lack of it, with them.
"Henrich?" Miranda asked puzzled: "Hot head?"
"Ah I see you haven't met our esteemed colleague from Germany yet." Major Blackburn answered as he tossed away his Shaft Information folder. "He's a bit tempered to say the least, but he at least thought that the smaller stands also deserved some attention, must be his experience with those bloody robotic machines." "I'm here basically for vacation as the Vickers Fairfax is the new labor for the UK military. Shame they only figured that one out two days ago." He smiled apparently thinking about the administration back drop this would cost for the UK Ministry of Defense.
Then the memory about the German Bundeswehr Officer having a 'conversation' with that girl earlier came to mind. "Is this Henrich about 1,80 tall, short dark brown hair and a pair of grey eyes the Henrich you mentioned?"
"That's the guy!" Both said in unison. "How did you know?" De Gau asked.
"Ah I've seen him near the JSDF Helldiver stand having a conversation with some showgirl." She chuckled at the memory of the 6 feet soldier arguing with the small girl. (And losing it!)
"That must be him!" De Gau said hopefully: "We should also do the same as him and not stand here pointlessly."
"With once I have to agree with you Frenchy, this is pointless." Major Black tossed his folder in a trashcan. De Gau only briefly looked at the front cover of the sheet before following suit and tossing it away. Shaking her hand and giving her a invitation to join them later at their hotel they went there separate ways, searching for their friend; Henrich.
Maybe it was in the best interest of the Ministry of Defence to see the competitors as well Miranda though remembering the pep talk at the embassy.
She grinned and looked around noticing a stand at the other side of the walkway. And noticed a thing she had been looking for: a coffee can! Ha coffee! Should have brought a flask next time. Making up her mind she only briefly looked around at the Shaft Enterprises stand and 'dived' into the moving crowd and headed towards the other side.
** Shuki Fujima looked at the passing crowd and felt bored. Their small stand was completely looked over by the Labor Expo visitors. But what else had she expected, all potential customers went to Shaft Enterprises, which had their stand (a very large stand) at the other side of the walkway. Next time they really should look more closely at the stand locations. At least the coffee made by Harry, one of the two mechanics her dad had sent along, was decent enough. Grabbing a mock she gazed at the Shaft Enterprises stand and smiled, they at least couldn't beat their coffee. She almost choked in her coffee as suddenly an older foreign woman clad in an unknown Airforce uniform appeared out of the crowd and headed her way. She looked at the two mechanics that also were looking at some surprise at the approaching woman who was clearly heading their way and mentioned them to do something. Harry nodded understandingly and pushed his younger counterpart, Takahira, to their only labor and started to look busy and representative. Their company might be small but the people that were working for it are pro's. She put her thumps up, receiving smiles from the mechanics that now looked busy, and examined the approaching airforce officer who slowly moved towards their stand dogging the many visitors.
The woman seemed to be in her early 40'ties with only a tad of grey in her dark brown hair, which was combed backwards and put in a single short ponytail. Two glittering dark brown eyes, which always seemed to laugh, and what was perhaps the thing she stood out with the most: was her lenght. She must be at least 15 centimetres longer then her 1,66 she thought but then again the Airforce soldier was a foreigner. And that was the most important detail of all: a foreign customer. Suddenly the day was looking much more interesting.
** With a sigh of relieve Lt. Colonel Miranda Postma took a seat while closely being examined by the stand crew. A young woman and two mechanics, the woman sitting in front of her with a cup of coffee and the mechanics busy working on the sole labor.
The labor, a Cougar Mk. II produced by Fujima Mechanised Technologies, seemed a relative normal labor in comparison with some of the other labors the EXPO exhibited. A bipedal model with the appearance of one of those Helldivers labors she saw earlier. But while it looked like a Helldiver it still had some remarkable differences. Most notable the larger, and probably more powerful legs and arms. Thanks to this the labor main torso also was bigger and bulkier, but even so the labor seemed quite agile. A larger version of the Helldiver airborne labor perhaps?
Noting the resemblance of the Cougar with the Helldiver the obvious question to start the conversation was: why? The young woman answered the question with a polite smile, apparently it was an often-asked question.
"Our company Fujima Mechanised Technologies has a lot of ties with the Shinohara Heavy Industries, as such the design features some resembling parts with the JSDF Helldiver Model. Maybe even a lot but many different features are added making this labor, the Cougar, quite different."
The Japanese woman looked at the labor with excitement before returning back to the conversation. "I think we haven't been introduced yet: I'm Shuki Fujima."
"Miranda Postma, lt. Colonel, Royal Dutch Airforce" She answered as she shook the extended hand. The woman, Shuki Fujima, seemed even more excited now.
"It's a pleasure to meet you! Can I interest you in our labor?" Maybe a bit too exited.
"Ahum maybe." She answered looking at the exited woman: "If you first answer some questions." She looked at the Cougar as she sipped her coffee thinking about some good questions. And in the mean time examined the Cougar: it was good looking but then again good looking didn't mean acting well in combat situations. With a sigh she put the cup on the table and picked up a small notepad from her pocket, lets see what 'we' need. After some quick reading she looked up and watched at the waiting Shuki Fujima before starting:
"My employer, the Dutch Military, is looking for a urban labor for either police actions and military operations." "The labor needs to be airliftable and must be fast enough to manoeuvre in a urbanised landscape." "Also it would be handy to know what kind of weaponry the Cougar can use."
The two mechanics had by now joined them and were making notes while giving slow nods, like they were thinking about the requirements she opted and the possibilities to change the machine to fit them. She smiled, sometimes a smaller company was much more helpfully then a large one.
"But more important: I'm here to see labors in action, and compare them." "The labors there," Waving at the Shaft stand behind her, "might be cheaper in some accounts but looking at their performance I'm a bit disappointed."
Shuki Fujima scratched her head they hadn't brought a pilot. And even if they did the stand was simply too small for any actual movement. There was a larger exercise field for smaller companies to use their labors though she mused. But they simply hadn't a pilot. Disappointed she was planning to answer but was interrupted by Harry.
** Harry had written most of the technical aspects down and thinking of the technical manuals and schematics he didn't see many problems. The Cougar was easy to upgrade to house more advanced equipment when needed. And with weaponry the Cougar was also quite a capable machine. Carrying from a 20mm autocanon up to 120mm smooth bore canon. As for transport it was quite capable to be airlifted with the newer military aircraft in use with airforces around the world. Their friendly relation with Shinohara Heavy Industries would help them to exchange the other necessary military technology that would be needed to adopt their Cougar into a real fighting machine.
He looked up just to hear the Dutch Colonel talking about some actual action and looking at the disappointed look of miss Fujima, it was clear that they couldn't provide that as their 2 test pilots were still at the factory. But wait, he could pilot a labor! It was 3 years ago but still he should be able to move around in it!
"Ma'am there is a way to show our labor's combat actions." He quickly explained to Shuki that he had experience piloting labors. Even though it was a while back it should be enough for some basics. Shuki seemed to live up. "Yeah this should work." And in a matter of a few seconds he was 'promoted' from mechanic to labor pilot.