(Sigma Mercenaries, Story 0002: Training The Trainers)
(Chapter 03: Impact Work)
(26 March, Magi Year 14408 / Year SL 8838, 0600 Hours Local Time)
(Hess' Quarters, Administration Building 4th floor, Base Boarhound, Terra 232)
(Day 9 of Campaign)
For Hess, it was a hard sell to duck out of morning gym time, but in this case Sidonia had given him a 90-minute pass given the projects he had lined up that were not trivial matters.
And, as these things happened, certain forms of pain were best shared, so…
"Morning, sir," SSO Lydia Q. said after Sigma One stepped out of his apartment into the corridors of the fourth floor.
"Good morning! Or, at the minimum, a better morning this morning than in the past week, I daresay," Hess said with a smile.
"After yesterday, it is good to be back to the usual routines," Lydia answered.
"Not a fan of yesterday's break from the mundane?" Hess asked after a moment.
"No, it was a good break, and I'm not even frustrated with being the hands-down worst shot on the line in the sniper comp. It's all in good fun, and the entire SSO group got an up-vote for trying, but word around the base is that you are a monster behind the scope. That alone makes it worth it, nobody in their right mind is going to fuck with you when they know you can do left-eye-right-eye at 250 yards reliably."
"Huh. Not the apropos I was aiming for, but it works," Hess said as he waved Lydia towards the stairs. "I would have figured Toni toasting the target field with a Fireball spell after we were done would have struck more fear in people than my precision rifle work."
"No way," Lydia said. "It's like you pointed out while cleaning the rifles, at 250 yards, by the time the target hears the shot, the target is already dead and you have crosshairs on his buddy (1). That is some real fear factor, that they never hear the shot that got 'em. Nobody in their right mind would screw with that."
"So it's only the ones not in their right mind I need to concern about," Hess said glibly. On the bottom floor, he continued down the hall and down the stairs into the engine room, headed toward the railhead.
"Uh, sir, where are we going? The new train?" Lydia asked.
"No, certainly not! Clint has that sorted out, I will not interfere unless he needs it," Hess said. "No, our purpose here is to grab an item, a dolly, and hike it upstairs for installation. Once we have it in place, we use that item to complete further objectives," Hess said as he opened the door to the Rail Head and began the descent down the stairs.
"Wow, that was… surprisingly vague," she commented dryly.
"Relax, Lydia, all we're doing is installing a ScrapNet Interface up top, then we use it to pull tools, equipment, and materials for a couple projects upstairs," Hess said before he hit the bottom stair. "Do I not get any fun with wordplay here?"
"SIGMA ONE ON DECK!" The westernmost of the two Armored Infantry guarding the access stairs to the engine room shouted after Sigma One landed on the bottom floor and turned left
"Erm, as you were," Hess said. Wasn't expecting that, he thought but did not say.
"Nor was I, sir," Lydia said.
Hess took the next left into the ScrapNet Bay and stopped. Lydia was fast enough not to plow into his back with the sudden stop, but only barely. "How many of the Secret Service are telepathic?"
"Four, sir," Lydia said. "Oh! Oh shit, sorry! I didn't realize I did that!"
Sigma One sighed. "I do not know how I should feel about that, really," Erich said as he approached the ScrapNet Terminal. "I mean, coming from a nation where privacy is a de jure expectation, if not always reality, the premise of telepathy or similar skills is a bit haunting. Still, I guess it comes down to the premise of elimination of thoughtcrime and conspiracy, and criminalizing only crimes, not the intent or the discussion thereof. And then there is the privacy conduct angle, but..."
"That is — " Lydia was cut off briefly as the ScrapNet Interface beeped to signal the arrival of the material. " — The most unusual explanation I have ever heard for it."
"Remember, United States Law is based mostly on the premise of innocent until proven guilty, with the burden of proof on the prosecution. It was written so — " Hess cut himself off during the lifting of the motorized appliance dolly, which was not a particularly light item. " — So that the government theoretically could not use the court system as a weapon against the people, in the same way tyrants do so routinely to intimidate the people with a patina of legitimacy."
"But…?" Lydia prompted him.
"But, in the past five or six decades prior to my departure on the 523 Train, the whole premise of innocent until proven guilty has been pissed on thoroughly," Sigma One said as he walked the dolly toward the boxed-up ScrapNet Interface Terminal. "Can you tilt that back so I can slip the dolly under it?"
"Oh, sure," Lydia grabbed the two handles on the top of the box frame and hauled it back. "Holy — this thing is heavy!"
"Now you know why I have a motorized appliance dolly for this gig," Sigma One said. "If we had to truck this thing upstairs the hard way, neither of us would have usable backs for the next three days."
"The power of planning," Lydia said.
"Hrm?" Hess indirectly prompted her for an explanation of her comment.
"Oh, nothing," Lydia said innocently. Hess figured (not incorrectly) that she was leading toward something.
-x-
(10 minutes later)
(Northwest Corner, Administration Building 4th Floor)
The process of hoisting the ScrapNet Interface up to the top of the Administration Building had been slow going, though the effort involved was far reduced from what either had expected for the task. Still, both Sigma One and Lydia had worked up a significant sweat just getting the Interface Unit up the stairs.
"So, we're here, now what?" Lydia asked after they arrived on the top floor.
"Now, oh, now we put the unit in place, connect it, and bolt the damn thing down," Hess said. "Then, once we have that in place, we pull 36 ScrapNet Tiles to bolt down as well, creating a small three-meter-square ScrapNet Pad and an interface up here," Sigma One said.
"Where to? Or, is it where the Techs pulled that cable set out of the western channel?" Erich nodded twice. "Bullshit. Always the farthest point away," she groused.
"I had them put it there because that is a dead corner on the west wall, not much traffic, and because it is the corner geometrically farthest away from my apartment door," Sigma One said. "If I am going to have ready access, I want it to be as physically difficult as possible. And because the position also dissuades Clint from wandering around the top floor in his underwear."
"Do what?" Lydia asked.
"Give it a few weeks, you will encounter him wandering around in his boxers. He is also rather fond of doing so when doing handloading. Less fabric, less chance of static sparking, less chance of igniting primers or powder," Erich said deadpan.
"Okay then," Lydia said, not entirely believing Hess on that note, but not about to argue the point.
"And this is it," Hess said as they arrived at the destination for the ScrapNet Interface. "This is also a bit handy for those cases when someone has laid siege to the building, having an extra terminal makes it easier to draw ammo for a protracted battle."
"Good point, never thought of that," the Copper Dragon in human form said. "Where do you think of these things?"
Hess snorted with a big grin to effect. "Planning and analysis skills, milady," Sigma One said at the same time he started cutting the plastic straps that held the cardboard box over the ScrapNet appliance. "To win at anything, one must understand what has to be done, devise a method to accomplish what must be done, and then must execute the plan to get it done. Most people can get point one. Not many people are effective at point two. If a person tries point three without proper effort in the first two points, they usually fail. Proper analysis gets you the objective. Proper planning gets you the method. Proper troops get you the results."
"They wrap these things pretty well," Lydia said as she assisted Sigma One in the process of unpacking the terminal.
"Nature of the beast," Hess said as he used his combat knife to chop through the exceptionally tough sealing plastic wrap.
"Okay, we have it loose, now how do we do this?" the Secret Service Officer asked.
"Carefully." Hess rocked the terminal onto one edge, then spun it to move it off the cardboard baseplate under the terminal. Another such action and it was free of the last vestiges of cardboard. "Now, we crab-walk it over to where it needs to be."
"Got it." The two rump technicians walked the unit over to where it needed to be, effectively one step at a movement, until it was roughly where Hess intended it. The ScrapNet Terminal was about the size of a short, fat professional range / oven unit, with control systems up top instead of burners and the oven section is where gear went in or out. Without the packing and shipping material, each ScrapNet Interface Unit weighed in at about 400 kilograms, hence the difficulty in transport or placement.
"Glad you talked us out of a workout, boss, this damn thing is all the workout I'll need today."
Hess giggled. "This is just the warmup, milady. Things are going to get better from here out."
"Serious?" Lydia asked.
"Quite serious. Now, if you want, check this," Sigma One said as he crouched down at the back of the device. "We have a data interface cable and a power cable. I'll let you do the connections."
"Certainly, sir," she said. The cables were simple to attach, a rotary locking lug secured the power cable and the data was a straight-in spring-steel-locking plug. "Done."
"Machine's coming up now. Virtue, do you have the purchases for the next phases readied?" Hess asked his tablet.
"Yes, all equipment is purchased and ready. You may commence at will."
"Start with the securing hardware and tools for the interface box and the plates for the Pad."
"Extracting from storage now," Virtue said. The interface locked, made some electrostatic noise for a few seconds, then dinged to signal ready.
"And here we go." Hess pulled out a significantly large drill with a forearm handle, a pack of drill bits with flanged heads, a socket set, and two bags of fasteners — one was some kind of bolt, the other was something different, a steel cylinder with four small cuts on the outside? "Time to get this screwed down, then place the floor of the Scrapnet Pad and begin the next couple projects."
-x-x-x-
(26 March, Magi Year 14408 / Year SL 8838, 0700 Hours Local Time)
(Phoenix Room, Administration Building 4th floor, Base Boarhound, Terra 232)
(Day 9 of Campaign)
Of the 16 rooms on the top floor of the Administration Building, so far only 8 were in use. One was to be set up as a full-purpose armory, one for the Secret Service Barracks, three for the Sigma Callsigns (for obvious reasons, Clarence and Victoria shared a room), one for Nereus, one room for Gail Storme, and the last had been converted into a Phoenix Hatchery.
And, one of the problems with the latter arrangement, was the lack of mission-specific equipment in the armory, the hatchery, and the barracks for the Secret Service troops. That said, using portable equipment to do what should be a permanent job was unacceptable to Hess, given the price ranges of permanent fixed equipment compared to the portable stuff and the expected maintenance over time. Hence, the present project schedule.
"The Phoenix Room?" Lydia asked as they stopped at the apartment in question.
"Permanent heating and environment systems, cheaper and more efficient than portable equipment. Flipside, we have to hard-mount them into the titanocrete walls, which is, as just demonstrated, an interesting challenge," Sigma One said with a raised eyebrow.
"Right," she said before she tripped the doorbell on the room. After ten seconds, the door opened up to reveal a lady in a nightgown — Amethyst, the friend to Dianthe who was also grossly violated by the racist punks that were slain later that eventful day.
"Sir!" She said in shock. "I — "
"Hold, Amethyst," Hess said. "It is early, and I am not offended by your lack of complete dress. Can hardly fault you for being in your jammies this soon after waking up."
"Oh, thank you, sir." She bowed slightly, which gave Hess a brief view and Lydia a partial view. "Uh, if I may ask, what may I be of service for?"
"We are here to replace the temporary heat lamps with a proper array of radiant heat systems on the walls," Lydia said.
"Something wrong with the heat lamps?"
"No, they are good hardware, but permanent hardware would be better — this is probably going to be a permanent facility, unless we have to expand it to a significant degree," Hess said. "And for a permanent facility, permanent equipment is cheaper to maintain in the long run."
"Oh, understood, sir," she said. "What do you need from me?"
Hess held out a pair of electronic earmuffs. "This will get noisy and dusty, but this is the kind of task that is done once and that is it for that area. As we move forward, we'll put the mods into other parts of the room."
Amethyst stepped back and allowed the two in to do the work. "All right, boss, where do we start?"
"Shift the portable lamps to the right, install the wall unit on the left side. Unlike the heat lamps, these radiant units are attached to the wall surface around the enclosure — they will provide a more even heating than just a heat lamp."
"Got it, sir," Lydia said as she began moving and adjusting the heat lamps to gain easy access to the egg resting area, and immediately realized a problem. "Sir, issue."
"Indeed, even I wouldn't try to do as we envisioned," Hess admitted. "Opposite corner. We'll put the plates in place, then we move the egg into position with the plates. And, as we find ourselves dealing with Phoenix that are pregnant, we will move forward with setting up new cubicles and swing-out arms for more plates."
"Vertical, sir?" Amethyst asked.
"No, this is all horizontal," Hess said. "We're not doing a stack — pack — rack routine on this. That would be uncivil."
"Oh, good point," Amethyst said.
"That, and I want space above each cubby for medical monitor equipment."
Lydia reached the corner and stopped to survey the task. "Okay, this is workable. Here," she said before she pulled out a placement projector. Once activated, the projector put lasers on the center of the locations where the bore-holes needed to be, which allowed for very easy, very accurate drilling locations. The locations were programmed into the projector by way of Virtue, and the projector could be moved and would keep the dot position so long as the lens still had line of sight to the needed area.
Once the dot pattern was set up, one thing became quickly obvious about the work site. "Okay, sir, looks like this is a one-person job by the quarters. You or me?"
"You need the practice. I did a lot of masonry drilling back when I was on my homeworld."
"Got it, sir," Lydia said. She plugged the hammer drill in, checked to make sure the quick-attach bit was secured in place, and moved up to position to do the boreholes.
"Remember, level your drill before you even put your finger on the trigger." Lydia took a few seconds to make sure the drill was angled properly, then drove in on it and cut loose with the trigger. Halfway to the required depth, she stopped, backed the drill bit out to clear debris, and drove in again to finish punching into the titanocrete wall for the first hole. Total time to do the first borehole was roughly ten seconds.
"That was good," Lydia said before she flexed her back, then arched and stretched. "Rough on the shoulders, though. The vibration of the drill feels weird."
"Whenever you're ready," Hess said as he prepared the wall anchors for insertion.
"You saw that, right, sir?" Amethyst asked. "I mean, Toni said you — " she was cut off by the sound of the hammer drill, briefly. " — Toni said you don't miss much, if I remember correctly."
"Oh yes, I don't miss much, but keep in mind I don't fly that way," Sigma One said.
Lydia bored the third of fourteen needed holes for the project, again in ten seconds, and again with a stretch and arch afterwards. Much to Toni's apropos, he did not miss much.
-x-
(15 minutes later)
The last of the bolts on the movable heater frame was ratcheted down into place until it was tight, rendering the frame attached to the wall so the egg could now be surrounded on all four sides by radiant heat systems. The actual heating element for the water hoses was self-contained in each frame panel, with an isolated water loop in the panel to give the radiant heat; all that was needed was electricity, and if the heat system failed, the entire unit was replaced en bloc and the failed unit was returned to the manufacturer for warranty service (lifetime warranty).
"How much expanding does the egg do?" Hess asked.
"Five percent, in the days prior to hatching," Amethyst asked. "I've been researching this, I want to make sure it is done right," she said emphatically.
Lydia closed up the unit, creating a four-direction box around the egg enclosure. "Now we move it."
"You have one side, we have the opposite corners," Lydia said immediately, since this was mostly a factor of strength.
"Roger that," Hess waved them over to where the egg was still sitting on a nylon tarp that had been used by the Armored Medics to transport the egg initially.
"Whenever you are ready, sir," Amethyst said.
"We're going to do this real slow, guys. Lydia, I want you on the back corner, Amethyst, near corner." Hess crouched down and took hold of the two hand-holds put in place by the Armored Medics. Once the two ladies had maneuvered into place, Hess steeled himself for one of the most delicate operations he had done in his lifetime. "We do count of three, then lift on what would be four. Follow?"
"One, two, three, lift?" Lydia asked.
"Correct. One, two, three, lift," Hess did the timing, and the two ladies matched him movement for movement. "Keep it steady and keep the corners up. Let the tarp cradle it."
"Aye, sir. You're walking backwards, you set the pace," Amethyst offered.
"Lydia, keep an eye out for obstacles." Sigma One began shuffling himself backwards at a slow pace, to make sure he was not outpacing the ladies. "How we doing?" he asked after a minute.
"Hold," Lydia said, which brought the whole train to a stop. "You about walked backwards into the movable frame."
"Great, a heating panel up the ass. Lovely way to start the day," Sigma One said. "Which way does it need to go?"
"To your left, sir," Amethyst said. To both their surprise, he was able to shift his weight to one leg and use the other leg to boot the panel clear from the path. "You're free, sir."
"Nice and slow," Hess said as he maneuvered backwards until his back hit the wall. "Okay, you two rotate around, easy, then begin setting it down. You set the pace."
"Slow, sir," Amethyst said. "Slow, slow, almost there, done," she said as the tarp and egg reached the ground, then the tarp slacked under it.
"I'll move it into alignment," Lydia offered, then took over the handles against the back wall of the room to drag it into proper spacing from the heater panels. "We're done!"
"There has got to be a better way to move an egg! My back is killing me!" This time, it was Amethyst that did the stretching and flexing. Again, much as Toni had said the day prior, he did not miss much, and Lydia noticed that Hess had noticed.
"Twenty kilos, give or take," Hess judged.
"Our vests, with full ammo, weigh more," Lydia said. "And we're still wearing them."
"Virtue, you have the panels online and regulated?" Hess asked.
"Go ahead and close the enclosure, I will take it from here," the AI entity said.
"Mission accomplished!" Lydia said after the movable panels were closed up.
"Tomorrow, we resume with the armory," Hess said. "For now, we get cleaned up and ready for the day."
Author's Chapter Afterword:
Bit of a different take on things in this chapter.
First, one of the things the Secret Service troops are going to have to learn is the plethora of analysis, planning, and technician functions that Hess used in his day job in prior years, and Hess will inadvertently teach them all those skills to one degree or another. This may not seem to be a big thing, but it is as things move forward: the ability to repair things big and small helps take some of the strain off the engineering groups. And, as these things happen, they will also prove handy as a secondary skill for after their retirement from Secret Service duty — I expect that some, if not most SSOs will retire from the position eventually.
The second thing is, obviously, the Phoenix Hatchery itself. This is a rather revolutionary concept amongst even the Magi, who while they do provide some accommodation for Phoenix or Dragon, there are no actual Hatcheries for Phoenix or Dragon eggs anywhere in Known Existence. Usually, individual ladies will set up a single or double egg resting spot in their nest (home), and to an extent such eggs are somewhat environmentally resistant, but a systematic setup for optimal care does itself not exist prior to this one. Given that both Phoenix and Dragons are a small minority in Magi society, it was never considered that such a facility would be needed in any direct fashion.
Sigma One, on the other hand, is seeing a need for such facilities, given the density of Dragons and Phoenix in his own ranks are well above the national average for the Magi. Something about the innate magic skills of the Dragons and Phoenix make them a bit more survivable on the Trains, I daresay. Anyway, in fashion that Hess intends to make the organization a bit more friendly to nonhumans, you will actually see a lot more of this and similar projects to come — Sigma will, in time, end up being one of the major powers to have integral and widespread ranks of nonhumans, including several classes of nonhuman that are not commonplace or represented at all in the other Star Empires. Dragons are rare amongst the Magi and slightly more common amongst the New Moon Empire, Phoenix are rare amongst the Magi and the Illyaris, but amongst Sigma they will be fairly common — including several breeds that are not seen amongst any of the Star Empires, such as the Chromatic and Eternal Dragons or the Eternal Phoenix. Not to mention that, among the major and minor Star Empires, Dragons and Phoenix very rarely do anything to advertise their nonhuman status, instead preferring to play low key by way of remaining in human form. Amongst Sigma, there will be a shift toward those entities operating and staying in Draconic or Phoenix form unless required by duties to operate as Human form.
Third thing is the noted personal conduct between Sigma One, the Phoenix Guardian (her title to come), and the Secret Service operator. This is one of those things that will come back to haunt everyone involved, especially when considering that the Secret Service deliberately structured themselves all-female to keep the attention of the Sigma top-level operators. Suffice it to say, there may be some opinions on conduct here that are inflated past the point of actual conduct and will cause adverse reactions when the Secret Service personnel get together and compare 'notes' on what they think is happening.
On the outside of my writing, as of right now things are still going to Hell and I am trying to sort it out as best as possible. It will take time for me to get everything sorted out, and my ability to write narrative is taking a hit. And then there was the whole 'no internet for two weeks because my phone demarc is flooded and filled with snakes' problem, so I could do little active writing for a goodly part of the end of June and into July. Yeah, not been a good few weeks for me :( As soon as things start calming down, you will see me return more to my traditional writing pursuits and return Sigma to side-story status, but as of right now I am writing Sigma pretty much heavy because, at least for me, it is easier for me to narrate random selection systems than it is to write prose altered by random results. It sounds counter-intuitive, but it is not. Trust me.
That's it for now. I'll keep writing as best as possible, when possible!
Review Replies: 1 review for Chapter 2, thanks!
Holy Dragoon: There are more than a few ways this could have gone, but as I stated in the notes, this is going to become more prevalent as things go on. The Command Section and the Secret Service are headed for a 'jack of all trades' designation rather quickly.
The Gripe Sheet:
No gripes, just one request to move the narrative along by one of my Beta Readers. The slow, building pace of the narrative is the intent of the story, with a culmination at the end of it that shall be three parts strange, one part creepy, and five or six parts embarrassing. As always, thanks to Takeshi Yamato, Sieben Nightwing, Necroblade, and One Village Idiot for the support and patience during these trying times!
Footnotes:
No footnotes for this chapter.
Included Works:
— Sigma Standard: All applicable material from the mainline Sigma Mercenaries stories applies here.
— Personal Works: The Runic Magic System, of which the Transformation Runes that will be installed in the hangars are part of, is a physical stationary manifestation of the standard magic system in use throughout my stories. (Shown in Chapter 2, will be expanded on in coming chapters of both mainline and this story).
— IRL Units: The HEMTT System (Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck) is an IRL unit, but the HEMTT II units are improved versions in use by the Magi for noncombat or rear-line duty. HEMTT II units are available in both ICE (Diesel Engine) and Fusion (not shown here), and have a maximum tow capacity of 60 tons as opposed to 40 tons for the United States HEMTT units. (Shown in Chapter 2)
— Game: Dungeons and Dragons: the ScrapNet Interface is a derivation and technological reworking of a special item in the original Advanced Dungeons and Dragons system, called a Magic Hole. The Magic Hole allowed someone to open the hole, reach in, and withdraw anything from the pocket space (hammerspace in anime nomenclature) that was previously stored there, or could put materials in. The ScrapNet systems are the same principle, but far more organized and cross-dimensional, relying on the ScrapNet Interface Units to direct what goes in and out. This is all centrally maintained and processed by ComStar, and is a lucrative business venture for interdimensional purchase and shipping of goods.