"Finally finished... Damn this took forever." Valentine pulled his goggles back up onto his forehead, pushing his bangs back as he heaved a sigh. Beside him, Kuro and Shiro were collecting all of the relevant data for the manufacturing of the new ballistic masks that he'd just finished. "And I still have two more things in mind for these T-15's. At least the next one's small..."
"The emergency medical system, correct?" Kuro asked.
"No, that'll have to be scrapped. I have something else in mind. Much more useful." Valentine gave one final look over his finished segment, then slid over to his slowly evolving T-15 prototype. After a solid fifteen minutes of wirework and a few bolts, he finally had his ballistic mask system installed.
Aside from being general head protection, the new design had a built in radio system, cyberbrain uplink - for any cyborgs, of course - as well as thermal and night vision filters, an LED headlamp and even a mount on the forehead for additional optical equipment such as monoculars. In addition, aside from the radio speaker near the ear, it had the standard earpiece's thin boom microphone integrated into the jawline.
"Replay my father's report on the ballistic mask's firearms integrity." Valentine spoke aloud as he sat upright from his close up view of his work.
Shiro complied, filling the workshop with the recorded sound of Tobias' deep voice from her stored data, using her integrated speaker to play the file. "Preliminary testing of the prototype's Quinque Steel outer surface has proven consistent deflection of 7.62x51mm and all lesser rounds, strictly due to the overall shaping and surface angles. Recommending higher caliber tests on a fresh inneration of the mask. The lenses over the eyes, which are ballistic glass between two layers of transparent reinforced polymer, had successfully withheld direct impacts from up to .458 Socom rounds. Again, higher caliber tests recommended. Overall, from my personal experience in the field and on the topic of firearms, I would say that the current version of the ballistic mask design passed the preliminary durability tests. Production is approved, and further models are encouraged."
"End report." Shiro announced in her own voice, leaving Valentine to think in silence for several seconds before he spoke.
"Alright, Prep an exact copy of the mask's latest blueprint, archive it as a new project, indexed as 'Ballistic Mask Mk.2, T-15 Exosuit' in my usual directory. I plan to modify it soon, once I've gotten more data from the ballistic tests." Valentine pinched the bridge of his nose between his index and thumb for a moment, knowing that he still had to study for his upcoming exams on top of his T-15 Program, plus oversee the progress on the Nightfall and of course deal with any of their damn bumbling idiocy on top of that. "For now, let's head over to the meeting for the ship, It's about time for me to check in with the fools over there."
"I will inform Tobias immediately." Kuro nodded, already sending him the message with her cyberbrain as the left Valentine's workshop and went over to a different section of the R&D facility as a whole; Into the administrative wing, and swiftly into a boardroom, with Valentine taking the seat at the end of the table while Shiro set up the conference hologram system.
"Ah, Young Mr. Darkwood, you're early. I trust things are going well on your end?" One of the nearby projections, a man with a full beard, quickly noticed his arrival despite him not saying a word.
"I have plenty of things on my end, thank you." Valentine glanced at his current batch of headaches while a live holographic rendering of the Nightfall's slowly forming construction progress dominated the center of the long table. "Fill me in for this visit. Starting on my left, as always."
"Very well." The bearded man sat up slightly straighter and clasped his hands on the surface on the desk. "As of thirty minutes ago, the personnel you've assigned under my command have informed me that they are a day ahead of schedule concerning their progress on manufacturing your ship's personalized figurehead. They estimate it to be built by the end of the month, should they remain at their current pace."
"I want to see it personally, I'll provide you with an acceptable date for my visit at a later time. Next." Valentine briefly glanced at the bow of his ship, where he'd specially designed a figurehead to adorn the front, just ahead of the hangar. It was a secret even from his family, they would find out in due time, of course.
"Manufacturing of the hull is on schedule. Nothing new to report." The next man spoke his turn, then fell silent for the next man.
"Ordnance and weapons systems are still on the East Coast, I have received word this morning that all seven of the main cannon turrets are completed and awaiting transport across the country via freight train. All of the other weapons systems are still in progress, I shall update you accordingly when I receive anything new."
"Why are they not being transported by plane?" Valentine glanced up from his fingernails - which had a few spots of oil stuck to them - to stare at the man that just spoke.
"Your specifications for their size prevent air transportation. They're just too big." The man explained.
"Kuro, call Koko, tell her I wish to speak with her." Valentine didn't even take his gaze away from the man's hologram. "If she can't handle this transportation detail, then I understand why you cannot." He spoke darkly to them man, who nodded without a word.
"Oh, c'mon Valmet, just try it~!" Koko held out the large stein of German beer, her own resting beside her elbow. Valmet, of course, wasn't taking the offer.
"I'm not a fan of beer, Koko, I thought we've been over this?" Valmet couldn't help but sound a touch whiney.
"Just one swig, then I'll give it to Jonah. God, he can keep up with me now, I'm impressed." Koko smiled at her most loyal companion nearby, still in line with a few of her crew, all waiting for their turn for dinner at the large outdoor food market in the cool Germany evening.
"Just one?" Valmet was hesitating, nervously biting her lip as she glanced at the tall beer.
"Just one, I promise." Koko held up one hand solemnly.
"Okay, fine." Valmet finally admitted defeat and took an experimental sip of the beer, finding it surprisingly pleasant compared to her expectations. "It's... better than I thought it would be..."
"I know, right?! Germany definitely knows their stuff!" Koko set the agreed upon beverage aside for Jonah, just as Lehm came up to the table from behind Koko, chuckling in his usual fashion.
"Beer, guns, and medical research. I definitely agree with you there, Koko." Lehm had an unlit cigarette pinched between his lips as he spoke, jokingly tapping his chest after he'd put down his food.
"You did smoke for over half your life, Lehm. You should be thankful they were able to replace your lungs with prosthetic ones so quickly before the cancer spread." Valmet commented, since Lehm was actually more than half prosthetic now. His lungs were just the latest to be replaced. Of course, he also had a cyberbrain, just like Tojo and Wiley.
"I know, I know." Lehm shrugged half-heartedly before picking up his utensils to start eating - he still had the rest of his organs, and he was thankful he didn't have to eat cyborg food - just as Jonah seemed to materialize out of the crowd like a ghost at Koko's side.
"Koko, is your phone on silent?" He asked as he sat beside her, glancing at the device poking out of her purse.
"I think so, why?" Koko glanced down at her side where the bag was hanging and realized it was flashing to inform her of an incoming call. "Koko speaking."
Jonah kept one eye on her reaction while he ate, unable to hear the person's voice like how he could whenever Tobias called.
"Hmmm... By air, is that correct?" Koko queried, then after the reply she continued. "And there's seven of them?"
Whatever those seven things are, Koko seems really unsure about them... Jonah noticed the brief flicker in Koko's ever present smiling mask.
"Well, to be completely honest, I could easily pull it off by sea. By air, the size of these cannons is simply beyond the dimensions of even the largest cargo plane that HCLI has to offer. I'm sure you understand." Koko explained, idly tapping the tip of her fork into her dinner with one hand. "Of course... Yes, yes, I shall. Spasibo. Do svidaniya, Valentine."
Lehm, Valmet and Jonah all suddenly stared at her intensely, shocked by the language and name change from the one person they combined the use with.
"Tobias' son. His name's Valentine, he wanted to hire me to transport seven naval cannon turrets to California for him by air. Problem is... They're a bit on the large end of the spectrum." Koko explained as she resumed eating. "The dimensions he gave me seem way bigger than the typical battleship's turrets... Like, two or three times in length, and at least one and a half the average width."
"You think his old man knows about this?" Lehm asked, a hint of concern in his tone.
"He admitted that it was an official BSAA program, so I assume so." Koko swallowed her food before speaking. "Besides, there's no way something that big would be happening right under Tobias' nose."
"You got very lucky..." Valentine hung up the phone and stared at the now relieved man's hologram. "But, I have an idea. I'll speak to you directly about it once I've cleared things up. Have the cannons placed on standby until I say otherwise."
"Of course, sir. I shall do so after this meeting."
"Good. Next." Valentine turned to the next person, a woman this time.
"Until we start working with the crew you've assigned to build the hull, the superstructure's on standby, as you said last week, sir." She explained. "D'you mind if I ask who that Koko person is? I've never heard that name before."
"She's a friend of my father's... She's a ballistic arms dealer, the acting head of HCLI, the shipping and geo-logistics corporation. The fact that she couldn't pull it off is actually a huge surprise rather than a letdown. I'll admit... It may have been a bit ambitious to have been building the Nightfall's main cannons at our New York shipyard..."