Act 2, Chapter 11: Carrots and Sticks
A/N: My sincerest apologies for the extremely late upload. Remnant 2 and general laziness had stopped me from uploading much earlier but better late than never, so here's the next chapter. Please enjoy and leave any feedback you may have, I'd love to know what your thoughts are on this chapter or this story as a whole. Thanks.
FIRST MINISTER'S OFFICE,
GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
NEW EPHYRA.
"Baird, I thought I could trust you…"
"Anya, I don't see what the big deal is. The Flame Dragon isn't a problem to anybody now"
"You lied to me about those satellites! You brought weapons of mass destruction to the Special Region! An entire network of them! The same kind of weapons that were responsible for the loss of millions of innocent human lives here on Sera during the Locust War!"
"Alright, first of all, it's not the Hammer's fault for all those lost lives, it was Prescott's. He made that decision, not the satellites. Secondly, we finally have something that'll convince even the most stubborn Imperial big-shot to reconsider going to 'war' with us, and last but not least, if it weren't for the Hammer, your kid and his whole squad could've been that Dragon's lunch"
Anya took some moments to consider Baird's words before she responded.
"You're not wrong on any of those counts, especially the last one, but that still doesn't change the fact that you betrayed my trust! Things could've gone smoothly and safer for putting down that dragon, had our military assets been left untouched instead of having the vast majority of them stripped and salvaged just so your satellites and your company's projects can be finished sooner! Why couldn't you just have waited!?"
"Anya, that dragon made it obvious that it needed to be put down as soon as it started started making itself out to be something we couldn't just keep ignoring and now it doesn't even matter at this point if things could've gone smoothly or safer had any of us done things differently, because the dragon's dead and no one on Recon Team Delta is, and that's what counts. Besides, what's the big deal about having reduced readily available military assets for a little while now? Now that we have the Hammer, anything like the Empire or another huge monster won't be such a headache to deal with ever again. That's gonna give us and save us time, time we can use to fully recover from losing everything we've had to scrap"
"We can't just keep counting on luck alone to get by"
"Again, we got the Hammer, so we won't ever need to anymore"
"Baird, you're missing the point. No matter how well prepared we are, there will always be some level uncertainty and risk, and you of all people, as an engineer, the founder and CEO of DBi, should know that"
"I do, and you want to know what else I know as an engineer? That it's impossible to eliminate all uncertainty and by extension, risk. That we need to decide what minimums and maximums we can tolerate because of that and live with it"
"That doesn't mean you can just recklessly go through with these massive resource-draining projects and put our ability to operate effectively and the lives of those that carry out those operations at anymore risk than they have to!"
"I still stand by what I've said and what I've done, because it all worked out"
Anya remained silent for a few moments as she contemplated the current state of things before responding.
"It's not like I can throw you in prison anyway. You're important enough to current operations that I can't just force you to work from a cell when that'll probably change absolutely nothing but slow things down and waste time"
"Anya, look, for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I know you would've never allowed me to work on those satellites and get them deployed in the Special Region if you knew the whole truth, so I had to work on them behind your back. I knew you'd not be happy about it but look what we can do now. We got something to that'll make anyone else, not just the Empire, not want to mess with us or the ones under our protection and let us work to get what we need through peaceful trading and resource acquisition rights to make us even stronger so we can put the grubs down for good some day soon, and maybe even get around to making the Special Region a better place to live in, not just for us but for the natives there too, especially all the ones still living pretty rough lives"
Anya once again considered Baird's words for a couple of minutes before slumping back in her cushioned executive's chair and sighed before responding.
"Fine, you can keep going with and can do whatever you want as far as you and your company's projects are concerned, but on two conditions"
"Sure"
"One; Complete control of the entire system orbiting the Special Region is to be transferred to me and later today on my request, you will explain to me everything those satellites can do and to what extent. Two; From now on, should anyone want to use or otherwise do anything with the Hammer for any reason, I'm the first person to be told about it and I get the final say for what does or doesn't happen with it, and three; all your future projects will have resource allocation limits"
"You got it, Anya. No problem"
"I'll get to work soon on all the necessary paperwork to get the framework for all of that established. If there won't be anything else, you can go"
Baird promptly left the First Minister's office with bittersweet satisfaction, knowing that the satellites wouldn't be going anywhere other than along their orbits around the world of the Special Region and would continue to fill their reconnaissance and offensive roles, even if it was all at the cost of future DBi projects being hit with restrictions and having himself risk facing severe consequences for what was, so far at least, the only other time he made unauthorized use of WMDs.
MEANWHILE,
MESS HALL,
OMEN KEEP.
"My old man wasn't kidding when he said 'half-baked' plans were Baird's specialties", JD commented as he looked to his recently repaired Stim Sleeve.
"Piece of crap almost cost us the entire mission and our lives"
"C'mon, cut Baird some slack. Sure he does slip up from time to time but he does good work", Del countered.
"Good enough work you mean?"
"Good enough is better than not good at all. He's an engineer, not a miracle worker"
"Whatever, I'm just glad we're still kicking", JD stated before taking a bite from his chicken sandwich and a spoonful of beetle soup.
"Hey JD, I just noticed, I haven't seen Cato around lately", Del brought up.
"Oh yeah, he went back to Rondel to publish all the new things he's learned from us, for now at least. No idea if he's coming back or not"
"Wait, how can Command let him just go like that? Doesn't he, I don't know, have knowledge we wouldn't like him to be just sharing?
"Del, I'm pretty sure basic physics, chemistry and biology aren't gonna constitute a security breach"
"Basic leads to advanced, advanced leads to working knowledge, working knowledge leads to practical application and practical application leads to things that we may not like"
"Sure but you really think any of the natives here can get to that last step with the lack of infrastructure they've got going on. Besides even if they could somehow replicate some of our tech, I really doubt any of them could mass produce them at a safe, let alone practical standard, at least within any reasonable amount of time. Not to mention that the Empire refuses to use any kind of magic, the only thing that might even give them the slightest chance to level the playing field. In other words, we don't need to worry", JD explained.
"Del? You alright?"
"There's that word again…"
"What? Magic? I thought you already got over the fact that it exists?"
"It just keeps bugging me man, it literally goes against everything that makes sense…"
"I don't know what to tell you, buddy. Look, maybe it's some kind of yet-to-be-discovered and yet-to-be-understood branch of particle physics or something, you know? We're only calling it magic for now because that's what it looks like; textbook high fantasy magic"
"I did consider that but…there's just so many well-established and proven theories that fail to even explain the most basic 'magic' we've seen…it's almost like we need an entirely new model of particle physics, made from scratch, to even begin to understand any of it"
"One or more of our eggheads will figure that out eventually"
"Their childrens' children will, long after we stop kicking"
"Not sounding too optimistic there"
"No, I'm trying to sound realistic"
"Captain Fenix, Lieutenant Walker"
Upon hearing this, the two COG officers quickly turned, stood up out of their seats and saluted the source of the familiar voice that demanded unquestionable compliance and radiated authority.
"Colonel Landry, sir!", JD and Del addressed loudly and firmly as they saluted.
"As you were"
The two officers seated themselves once again but remained facing their superior.
"I came by to not only congratulate you, Fenix, for leading your team towards the successful elimination of the Flame Dragon but to also inform you that a brief award ceremony will be held for you to receive commendations for personally putting down the Dragon yourself, as well as some third-party compensation"
"Third-party compensation?", JD asked
"The Dark Elf Elder council and Duran insisted on wanting to make killing the beast worth your while"
"Oh, that's right"
"The ceremony will be in an hour. I want you and your team to be there. Don't worry, the rest of your team will receive commendations too, though none with the level of honors as the ones you'll be getting, Captain"
"Sounds good to me", JD stated with satisfaction.
"Alright then, I'll see you, Lieutenant Walker, the rest of your team as well as some of the Dark Elves and Duran there", Landry stated.
"Yes sir!", JD and Del acknowledged in unison after standing to their feet once again and saluted.
"You take it easy for now, you've both earned it", Landry stated proudly before leaving the two officers to finish their meal.
JD and Del ceased saluting once Landry exited the Mess Hall and seated themselves once again.
"I smell imminent promotions", Del excitedly stated.
"And then some, for me anyway", JD added, wondering how the Dark Elf Elders and Duran could compensate him for his troubles.
"Glory hog", Del jokingly called JD.
"Hey, you and the rest of Delta are getting recognition too"
LATER,
RECON TEAM DELTA'S AWARD CEREMONY,
CEREMONY HALL,
OMEN KEEP.
Once all the formal COG commendations and promotions had been awarded to each of Delta's members in recognition of their contributions to rescuing all the kidnapped New Ephyrans they could and successfully killing the Flame Dragon, the official COG part of the ceremony concluded and with that, the departure of the gathered COG personnel, whom had given the team many rounds of applauses for every commendation awarded. With only Delta, Landry, The Schwartz Forest Dark Elves and Duran the only ones now present in the ceremony hall, the unofficially extended part of the award ceremony commenced, with the eldest member of the Dark Elf Council stepping forward to get things going.
"Sir James Dominic Fenix of the Kaug, In recognition of your great benevolence and strength through slaying the very bane of life itself, we, the Council of Dark Elf Elders hailing from the Schwartz Forest, have unanimously agreed to compensate you with two well-deserved rewards. First, is the rank of honorary tribe chieftain. With this rank, you now hold as much authority as any member within our council. Secondly, is the full ownership of Yao Ha Dushi. Do not be concerned, her servitude to you now is purely of her own volition. Originally, the rank of honorary tribe chieftain and all the benefits such a rank holds were to be as much as we could give as compensation, however upon her vehement insistence, Yao felt that becoming your slave was also necessary for proper compensation. We the council, have also unanimously agreed with this and allowed it to be so. We hope all of this serves as adequate compensation"
Almost immediately as soon as the Dark Elf Elder was done speaking, Yao moved to stand then kneel reverently before JD, who was still trying to process the amount of compensation he was receiving.
"I, Yao Ha Dushi, of the Schwartz Forest Dark Elves, from this moment on, swear my eternal servitude and unwavering loyalty to you, Sir James Dominic Fenix of the Kaug. My body, my soul and everything that I am, are yours to do with as you please. I shall carry out your will without hesitation and to the best of my ability. If you so wish, I will not hesitate to serve as a blade or shield in your name and I will gladly lay down my life if it means preserving yours"
At a complete loss for words, the COG Captain simply stared at Yao, unsure how to even respond to such an extreme vow.
Before JD could respond to Yao's pledge of servitude, Duran stepped forward.
"Considering the sheer amount power the Kaug has, I had not even a shadow of a doubt that you, with the assistance of your fellow 'Geers', could slay the Flame Dragon. Without your intervention, great calamity could have permeated unchecked throughout the land and brought ruin of untold proportions. In recognition of your legendary feat of heroism, I dub you an official Duke and Knight of Elbe. Please kneel, so that I may knight you"
JD looked to Landry, who simply nodded. With this, JD kneeled before Duran.
"I, King Duran of Elbe, hereby grant Sir James Dominic Fenix of the Kaug, the rank of Knight of Elbe alongside the title of Duke of Elbe"
The scarred king unsheathed his sword and gently tapped the broad and flat side of its blade once on each of JD's pauldrons, before sheathing it back in its ornate scabbard.
"Arise, Knight of Elbe"
JD stood to his feet, unsure how to feel.
"Given the constraints of the system I used to formally govern under, they are the highest honors I can grant you, and should anyone question your legitimacy as a duke and knight of Elbe, you may present this to them"
The COG Captain was given two rolled up sheets of parchment, tied up neatly in red silk ribbons.
"They are official declarations of your titles' legitimacy, personally written up and wax sealed by yours truly. I have given you two copies just in case you lose one of them. These honors are well-deserved. I wish you and your fellow Geers the best of luck in your future duties", the king said with a proud smile.
"And that concludes this little award ceremony. Keep up the outstanding work, Delta. You make me and the rest of the COG proud", Landry addressed the squad as he saluted its Captain, with the latter returning the gesture. The two held the salute towards each other for a few seconds before both dropped it.
"If anyone should seek an audience with me, I'll be in my quarters", Duran stated just before yawning and walking out of the ceremony hall.
"Kurnul Landry, It was an honor, for all of us to be here. Now that all the formalities have been said and done, we shall commence our journey back home. It will be long as it was reaching this place but now being able to live under a sky devoid of death incarnate, it is no issue", the eldest member of the Dark Elf Council stated.
"Who said you were walking home? I've already arranged for some transport to get you all back home safely in just a few hours. Some of my men are just outside this hall, already waiting for you. Meet up with them and they'll escort you to your transportation"
"You and your people's kindness knows no bounds", the elder said as he and the rest of his council and fellow Dark Elves bowed respectfully.
"Elder! Would you allow me to say my goodbyes before you all depart?", Yao requested.
"Of course. We shall be waiting just outside for the rest of you until then", the elder stated before gesturing for his fellow council members to follow him out of the ceremony hall.
"JD, I don't have any words for what just happened….", Del stated.
"How do you think I feel? All of a sudden I'm a knight, a duke, and top it all off, I got gifted a slave, a willing slave at that…How the shit am I gonna explain all of this to my folks. Better yet, how am I gonna handle all of this going forward?…"
"At ease, Captain. You needn't worry about that too much. While the titles you've been given are legitimate, for all and intents and purposes, they may as well be symbolic", Landry explained in response to the Captain's concerns.
"That is, unless you plan to go AWOL to make use of those titles?"
"Not a chance, sir"
"Exactly, and as for your new 'assistant', well, normally under COG law, slavery is illegal and I would've simply just not allowed this happen, but not wanting to risk offending the Dark Elf Elder Council and potentially making unnecessary enemies, and for the sake maintaining positive relations with as many groups as we can here in the Special Region for better overall operational flow, I decided to pull some strings and let it happen. Yao is now your squad's new 'Expeditionary Resource Officer'. She'll serve on your team as someone you can consult with, regarding matters of Special Region etiquette, geography, cultural concerns and whatever else you might need to know before making a move out there with the rest of your subordinates for future missions. Is that all clear, Captain?"
"Crystal clear, sir"
"Good. As for personal matters between yourself and her, I trust that you can maintain a mostly professional relationship while on duty?"
"She'll be just another member of the team, nothing more, nothing less"
"Outstanding. Given your persistence to exercise common decency, even if you have to break protocol at times to make it happen, I'm confident you won't do anything to make me regret letting her be a part of your team. If there'll be nothing else, you and the rest of your squad can enjoy the rest of this day off"
"Will do, sir"
"Now then, I've got another squad to hand down new mission orders to"
With that, Landry left, now leaving just Recon Team Delta and it's new member in the otherwise empty ceremony hall, with the latter having just finished bidding her fellow tribe members farewell and seeing them exit the ceremony hall.
"Sir Jaydee, what would you have me do?", Yao asked as she knelt before the Captain.
"Well, first off, to stop kneeling like that to me or anyone else on my team from now on. I understand you do it out of respect but it's a little much"
"I understand", Yao responded before promptly standing to her feet.
"Will there be anything else, Sir Jaydee?"
"Yeah, will there be anything else, Sir Glory Hog?", Del stated in jest as he gave his best friend a strong nudge with his elbow, eliciting a small chuckle from the rest of Delta, save for Yao.
"Start making that a thing, Del, I dare you"
"What? You gonna drop the Hammer on me if I do"
"No, but I'll drag your ass to the sparring arena and introduce you to a world of hurt, not nearly as painful but more drawn out than the kind I gave that reptile"
"Sir Jaydee, may I have permission to ask you something?, Yao suddenly asked, only just remembering what she wanted to know for some time upon the Captain's mention of the recently slayed beast.
"You just did but sure, go ahead"
"How is it that you have gained the favor of the Gods?"
"Favor of the Gods?", JD uttered in confusion, understandably as puzzled as his teammates were upon hearing the odd question.
"The power you called down from the very heavens to slay the Flame Dragon, how and why is it that the Gods have granted you use of their might?"
Del looked to JD with an amused smirk, wondering how he was going to explain the Hammer of Dawn to Yao without making himself sound stupid or intellectually condescending.
JD looked to a smirking Del, then back to Yao, who eagerly yet patiently awaited an explanation.
"Alright…", JD thought to himself before beginning to wrack his mind for an adequate yet intellectually respectful answer.
A LITTLE WHILE LATER,
THE COLONEL'S OFFICE,
OMEN KEEP.
"Sergeant, I've got new mission orders for you and your squad, straight from High Command", Landry stated.
"Whatever it is, sir, we can handle it", Sergeant Arnold Falaguerra confidently stated.
"I hope you and your men can maintain that attitude because this mission will neither be quick nor easy"
"Why pick us then, sir?"
"Just like Delta, your squad has shown a lot of promise. Despite about half your squad consisting of bots, a still ongoing experiment to field test the Gen 2 DeeBees, you and your men nonetheless continue to perform admirably, enough that I see no other team fit for this mission. I would have just gotten Delta to handle it but they've just returned from a particularly taxing mission, and pushing them any further will make things counterproductive to say the least"
"Understood sir but….."
"Yes, Sergeant?"
"We're not a recon squad"
"Your squad is now, I've just gotten the paperwork for that sorted out earlier today as a matter of fact. Now, I'll brief you on what you and your squad can expect to be doing for this upcoming mission. Any more questions before I begin?"
"Just one; So, I've heard Delta just got done with their rescue missions right before killing that Dragon. Did they bring all the kidnapped civvies home safe?"
"Most of them, at least of the ones we had confirmation on getting kidnapped initially and where they ended up. For all we know, there could still be a few more out there that still need saving, but until we can get more solid leads on where they could be, we still need to address other areas of concern for now"
"I understand, sir"
"Anything other questions, Sergeant?
"No, sir"
"Alright then. So, we've recently gotten reports from some of the recon teams that strongly suggest that the Flame Dragon had eggs we previously weren't aware of, have been taken from its nest, presumably after its death. Besides us, I can't think of anyone or faction in the Special Region that could steal them without the extremely likelihood of failure while the Dragon was alive and very much protective of its eggs"
"That's reasonable to assume. So, did the other recon teams get word of the eggs or did they get a visual but weren't geared at the time to get to them?"
"A bit of both"
"I see. You want us to recover those eggs then?"
"No. Your squad will find and destroy them"
"Destroy them? I'm no scientist or anything but wouldn't keeping them for research lead to a breakthrough or something?"
"High Command insists, for 'reasons in relation to classified information', as I've been told, but if you really must know, all I can tell you is the only other thing they told me and that would be 'Not risking a repeat of our predecessors' past mistakes'. My guess to what they could possibly mean by that is as good as yours"
"Understood, sir. When do we ship out?"
"No exact date yet but very soon. You and your squad will be notified as soon as High Command gets this op green lit"
"Got it, sir"
"Any questions before I let you go, Sergeant?"
"No, sir"
"Very well. You're dismissed", Landry stated before he and Falaguerra saluted each other, with the latter exiting his office soon after.
A LITTLE WHILE LATER,
OUTDOOR FIRING RANGE,
OMEN KEEP.
"Langford, how the fuck did you pass basic with that kind of accuracy?"
"You know, 'Jerkov', it ain't easy trying to hit your mark while you got someone talking shit right up in your ear. Oh great, your blabbering also threw me off my reload game too!"
"Guys, come on, give it a rest"
"Don't worry Yokoyama, we will, once Langford here stops shooting like he's been sitting on his hand for an hour, probably like he does to make it feel like someone else was 'doing it' for him, hehe…."
Langford abruptly ceased practicing his shooting and looked to Volkov, staring daggers at him.
"You want to repeat that again, Jerkov?"
As Volkov was about to speak, he felt a firm hand on his pauldorn-clad shoulder. Looking back it was their squad leader, Sergeant Falaguerra, who slowly shook his head at him as if to say 'Let's not escalate things'. Volkov rolled his eyes, sighed in defeat and complied by nodding in acknowledgment and remaining silent. With this, Falaguerra let go of his hold on Volkov's shoulder and addressed the rest of his squad.
"Boys, we got a new mission coming up pretty soon"
"What's on the chopping block then, Sarge?", Langford asked as he holstered his Lancer on his back.
"A search and destroy op"
"Of what exactly?", Yokoyama asked.
"The Flame Dragon's eggs. While Delta got done dealing with the main threat, it's up to us to make sure those eggs get scrambled before they hatch"
"So, we just go to its nest and just crack those eggs open with a few rounds?", Langford guessed.
"No. The eggs got relocated by an unknown party before any Gear could get to them after Delta took out the Flame Dragon. We got to find where those eggs were taken first before we can destroy them"
"Alright, when do we get going?", Yokoyama asked.
"No exact date yet but very soon. You boys can carry on with whatever you were doing. I'll notify you all as soon as we're a go for the op", Falaguerra explained before promptly leaving his subordinates to resume their previous activities.
"Finally, something that isn't just patrol duty on the Keep walls", Langford exclaimed in relief as he once again unholstered his Lancer and resumed practicing his shooting.
"Screw this!", Volkov exclaimed in frustration as he picked up a Lancer from a nearby weapons rack, loaded it and stood next to Langford.
"Here's how you do it", Volkov stated as he adopted a stable stance before nailing multiple bullseyes in rapid succession with only quick bursts for each target.
"Pfft…Show-off", Langford commented with disdain before resuming his own target practice, trying to mimic some of the shooting techniques that Volkov just demonstrated, albeit poorly.
"Volkov, how about actually helping him? Especially since we got a mission coming up", Yokoyama urged.
"Alright fine, but only because it's the only way I can stop subjecting myself to seeing his awful aim", the Corporal responded.
This earned another unfriendly glare from Langford who nonetheless allowed Volkov to tutor him on proper and reliable shooting techniques.
Yokoyama simply stood back and watched as Volkov was doing his best to get Langford to mimic his techniques.
"He's such a good shot. I wonder who taught him?….", Yokoyama commented to himself as he watched Volkov yet again demonstrate why his shooting was so good to Langford who now was looking like he was beginning to understand what he was being shown, now almost being able to emulate Volkov's techniques.
"I did"
"Huh?"
Yokoyama turned to the voice next to him.
"Sergeant Carmine!", Yokoyama addressed in panic as he saluted.
"At ease, Private", the Locust War veteran ordered casually as he never moved an inch while leaning his back against a wall of sandbags, arms crossed and one leg loosely wrapped around the other, as he watched Volkov helping Langford with his aim.
"Hey kid, since my squad won't be up to anything for a while, I can give you a hand with your aim if you'd like?"
"You wouldn't mind?"
"Not at all. Even for a while after barely passing basic all those years ago and until I got enough practice in, I couldn't even hit the broad side of a Brumak.
"A what?"
"Never mind. So, what do you say?"
Yokoyama seemed to be deep in thought. After a brief but great deal of consideration, he responded.
"Sergeant?"
"Yeah?"
"I'd like your help but not just with target practice"
Carmine slightly tilted his head at this.
Heavy weapons. I'd like you to give me a few pointers on using heavy weapons"
"Well, you've come to the right person for that sort of help"
"You don't think it's overkill, what I'm asking for help with?"
"Kid, overkill is best kill. Putting down your enemies ain't enough, you got to destroy them. That's how you guarantee a win. They can't exactly fight back when they're nothing but bits. Well, at least that's my approach to dealing with Grubs"
"Can't argue with that"
"Why heavy weapons specifically?"
"With the next-gen DeeBees and Corporal Volkov, my squad is definitely not lacking in long-range precision capability. I can't say the same for our ability to lay down sustained suppressing fire though"
"Say no more, kid. Follow me"
"Yes sir"
DESIGNATED HEAVY WEAPONS RANGE,
OUTDOOR FIRING RANGE,
OMEN KEEP.
"Alright kid, here you go"
With a textbook two-handed grip, Yokoyama hefted the Mulcher that was so casually placed onto the ground single-handedly by Carmine, bending his knees and keeping his back straight the whole time he lifted, but not without some effort.
"Good form on the pick up, on the grip AND on the stance. You sure you still need to me to give you some pointers? Cause' it looks like you already know what you're doing"
"Asides from what I just showed you and knowing how to fire this, I don't know much else. I know what I already know just from looking at others"
"Not too bad, kid. Alright, show me how you think you should fire it on that target over there", Carmine instructed as he pointed to a wide steel target at a moderate distance.
Bracing himself and estimating his point-of-aim as best as he could, Yokoyama began working the crank. Slow and labored at first but once he got momentum on the mechanism, he very soon got the barrel cluster spinning up to speed, with a stream of roaring lead following immediately afterwards. The private fought to keep his stance, grip and aim stable as best he could while emptying the Mulcher onto the center of the wide steel target, pinging it with blistering frequency, until the crank seized up.
"Okay, okay, pretty good, but it can overheat if you crank it for too long and that makes the whole thing seize up until it cools down enough. There aren't any gauges or anything on the thing to warn you beforehand so you're just gonna have to go off of how red-hot the front end gets and it's best to fire it in bursts, long but not too long, you get me?"
Still maintaining an iron-grip on the weapon as it's red-hot barrel cluster cooled rapidly, the private nodded in understanding.
"You see that little switch there?"
"Yeah?"
"Hold it down to vent the heat faster"
Yokoyama followed the instructions and was met with a small panel opening up on the weapon that vented out a jet of steam.
"And when most of the steam's gone and it stops hissing so much, let go of the switch"
Once again heeding the instructions, the small panel closed back up upon letting go of the switch.
"And now you're ready to lay down more suppressing fire, assuming you still got ammo. You should manually vent the heat at the end of each burst too, minimizes downtime between bursts"
The private once again nodded understanding, now having a good mental image of the ideal firing and cooling cycle for laying down the longest sustained fire possible.
"Asides from more target practice and getting in the habit of checking your ammo frequently, I think you've got it, kid"
"Really?"
"And maybe some strength training too, no offense", Carmine added, noticing that the private was visibly struggling the entire time to keep the weapon up at an appropriate height.
"None taken", Yokoyama responded before resting the Mulcher back on the ground and taking the time to catch his breath.
"As someone who actually has the authority to, I officially declare you heavy weapons certified", Carmine stated before signing a small document and handing it to Yokoyama.
"Thanks Sarge", the private said as he inspected the certification before pocketing it.
"So, that's it? I thought I would've needed to go through an entire course on how to use this"
"You're getting certified in using one specific weapon, not figuring out how to coordinate an entire offensive", Carmine stated in jest.
"When you put it like that, I guess there's not a whole lot to it outside of practice, hehe"
"Exactly, and until those Imperial fuckheads wise up and stop throwing themselves at us, you won't have to worry about any lack opportunities for practice"
At this, the private smirked in amusement.
"Anything else you wanna get certified in? Tri-Shot? Salvo? Mortar? One-Shot?…."
"No, not at the moment anyway"
"Alright then. If you need me, I'll be at the mess hall. Bacon awaits and I cannot say no"
Yokoyama watched as Carmine made his way out of the outdoor firing range, but before leaving he turned to the private once more.
"And remember kid: Practice. Every. Day"
Yokoyama nodded in understanding, heeding his superior's words.
"Or whenever you can really. See ya"
Now alone in the designated heavy weapons range, Yokoyama plopped himself down on a nearby chair and took some time to catch his breath.
"I think using that thing regularly is more than enough strength training…", Yokoyama thought to himself, still somewhat exhausted.
"Locust War vets really are something….."
"Not bad, Yokoyama", Falaguerra complimented the private, having silently watched the entire impromptu weapon certification process.
"Oh, hey Sarge", Yokoyama said as he gave a barely passable salute, still catching his breath.
"I was about to go through the trouble of having to figure out a last minute solution to our squad's lack of suppressing fire capability for the upcoming op but I guess I don't have to now"
"Glad to hear that I saved you the trouble, Sarge. Any idea what you would've done if I didn't?"
"Maybe try to get one of the squad's DeeBees to fill the heavy weapon support role by having Baird or another DBi tech make that happen. I don't know shit about coding, programming or whatever so I had no idea how long that would take and that kinda worried me, but like I said, I don't have to now"
"You're a lot stronger than I thought you were, Yokoyama, being able to lug that thing around, but I bet Langford here can lift that shit no problem with his ooga-booga coomer arm, haha!"
"Shut your trap, Jerkov!"
"Or what, Wankford?"
"Or I'll shut it for you"
"Oh, I'm so 'scared', haha!"
"As much as I'd love to hear you two ladies go at each other, we got prep work to do for the upcoming op", Falaguerra stated before signaling for his subordinates to follow him out of the range.
"So, in short, these 'satellites' are responsible for the power that I witnessed that fateful
day? None of the gods had any hand in it?", Yao asking in clarification.
"Yeah, that was all the Hammer's work. All I had to do was just 'tell it' where to let loose", JD clarified.
"I see. Did you perhaps create the Hammer of Dawn?"
"Oh, no, no. It was invented a long time ago, decades before I was born, by people way, way smarter than me"
"Such a powerful weapon to be crafted with hands not in service to any kind of divinity…It is…nigh-unfathomable. Had I not seen it with my own eyes, I would have dismissed the notion of such a weapon as the mere product of a mad man's incoherent ramblings…"
"Yeah, it's something alright. It's helped my forefathers win a lot of battles in the past"
"Then I must ask, why hadn't it been used when your people first came here? Why resort to using your 'guns' and 'artillery' instead of using an omnipotent weapon that could have effortlessly wiped out the Imperials and its vassals that attacked this fortress?"
"We didn't have any that were ready to use at the time and it wasn't even meant to be used here at all to begin with"
Yao tilted her head in confusion at this.
"Alright, so the Hammer, being as powerful as it is, had always been a controversial weapon. Our current First Minister, the leader of all the COG, who happens to also be my mother, saw the weapon being used so recklessly in one major past conflict that killed a lot of innocent people as well as our enemies. After that conflict ended a little over two decades and after she became First Minister, she vowed to never allow the Hammer of Dawn to be used again under any circumstances. She didn't want to see innocent lives being lost to reckless use of the weapon, but as you've already seen, that wasn't the case, at least not anymore"
"Then how did the weapon see use here?"
"Hey kid! Ah shit, award ceremony's over, isn't it?", Baird suddenly called out as he approached Delta, looking around the otherwise empty ceremony hall.
"It ended about an hour ago", Del responded.
"Damn it. Oh well, I'll definitely be at your squad's next one, I promise"
"Sir Jaydee, may I ask who this is?"
"Right, you two haven't met yet. Yao, this is Baird. Baird, this is Yao"
"Oh, you're the one who gave Landry that Adamantite", Baird stated, remembering the name being mentioned during his acquisition of the rare crystal in question.
"Yes, as preemptive compensation for the slaying of the Flame Dragon"
"Yao, Baird here actually built the Hammer of Dawn satellite I used to kill the Flame Dragon, as well as the other ones going around above this world right now, even if it was all behind my mother's back"
"Then I am eternally indebted to you too, Sir Baird. Both the wielder and the maker of the blade should be honored. While the former carried out the successful hunt, the latter is responsible for making the hunt even possible to begin with. Whatever it is you may need or desire, know that I will not hesitate to carry out your will, of course if my master, Sir Jaydee will allow it"
"Uhh…kid, what does she mean by 'Master'?", Baird asked with an amused smirk.
JD started to panic and tried to quickly formulate an explanation that avoided further awkwardness but Yao began to explain.
"I am Sir Jaydee's self-proclaimed slave. Asides from the Adamantite, this arrangement is the only other compensation I felt was well-deserved after completing an otherwise impossible task for my people's continued existence"
"Huh…I see. Well, anyway I should give some credit to you as well, Yao. If it weren't for that Adamantite you gave us, I couldn't have been able build those satellites"
Yao was taken aback at this revelation, feeling pleasantly surprised in knowing that she did, though indirectly and unknowingly, served a far greater part in saving her own people, more than successfully being granted the COG's assistance.
"How did this 'Adamantite' make the satellites possible?", Del asked.
"So making the satellites were pretty straightforward, I already had dozens of pre-existing schematics to work with and I could get everything I needed to make them, except the focusing lens. See, all the past satellites had focusing lenses made from super heavy-duty lenses, incorporating super-refined Imulsion crystals in their composition. Seeing as how the Imulsion we had to work with was limited to say the least, and all the lenses I needed to make would've used up nearly all of it, I was about to scrap the whole project, until Landry gave that big old crystal to me. I had a shard of the Adamantite be processed in preparation for lens making, made some lenses afterwards and ran some small scale tests, substituting the Imulsion crystals I would've needed with the Adamantite. It turned out not just to be a viable alternative, but an even better option. The tests I ran show that the lenses made with Adamantite somehow increased the power output of the Hammer's beam without actually needing to draw additional power to do so. I'm not sure how exactly it was doing that but hey, it works, and even better than I could ever hoped for. With those Adamantite focusing lenses, the Hammer satellites we have overhead right now have an estimated life span at least a dozen times longer than any past satellites using Imulsion crystal lenses"
"You're saying the satellites we have right now, here in this world, are more powerful than any the COG had before? More powerful than the ones Prescott used to torch all of Sera way back then?"
"Yeah and because of that fact, your mom now has a tighter leash on authorizing the Hammer for use on this side of the Gate"
"How'd she figure that out? The Hammer being the strongest it's ever been that is"
"Because I told her. Explaining exactly how powerful it was and everything it could do was part of a deal she made with me"
"A deal?"
"Yeah, in exchange for letting me and my company keep going with our current and planned future projects, I had to give her complete control of the Hammer system, any and all authorization to use the Hammer and the right to put resource limits on my company's future projects"
"That doesn't sound too bad", JD commented.
"Yeah, it's not too bad. Hey, where's the rest of your squad?"
"They went to the mess hall to get some chow while me and Del stayed behind, so I could explain the Hammer to Yao and have my second-in command here give me shit for not being able to explain it right and correct me"
"Sounds fun, but I think having some bacon would even be more fun"
"Oh yeah, I second that", Del agreed.
"Alright, let's get going then", JD suggested, as he, Baird, Del and Yao all followed him out of the ceremony hall.
(Achievement Unlocked)
(20G - Fretting Over Eggs)
(Read Chapter 11)