Chapter 56 – Combat Mechs
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I had a discussion with my readers on discord, who helped me come up with a chapter for Rin Miyo that would deserve the 10k word count. So I will post this chapter with around 2000 words as it leads up to the special chapter and shouldn't be merged with it. 

 

After the meeting with Admiral Radford ended, Soma was given the additional task of assembling several Tamers to serve under Selvaria. He wanted to pick a few among the survivors from Dallas who haven't been assigned any Combat teams or Support Wings yet. However, when Soma approached them, the majority were reluctant to serve under someone else besides Bison. They had already agreed to sign up for the Tamer Police Force to support his mission to hunt down Extremist Tamers. But after hearing that that it was Selvaria who needed a team, Dallas asked his people for volunteers because she not only saved Albert's life, she was among the few who assisted him in the battle outside the stadium when the majority declined his request.

Rin, Mason, Zext, and Albert volunteered for it in the end as they had personally witnessed Selvaria's skills and felt they could do more to help her with their abilities. They thanked Bison for his understanding and followed Soma to the Industrial area east of Seward, where the Admiral mentioned that Selvaria was currently working to improve the technology of Non-Tamer equipment. Jack Hammer, head of the Blacksmith Support Wing, informed them that Selvaria had claimed an abandoned factory and had the Engineering Support Wing give up most of their advanced 3D industrial printers for her project.

When Soma asked about the project details, Jack Hammer replied that they would not believe it if he told them. So he guided them to her worksite, located on the outskirts of the industrial area. When the building came into view, they found three twelve-meters-tall, seventy-ton Combat Mechs. Their torso regions where the pilot cockpits are located are all open. Soldiers and Engineers are inspecting the interiors and exteriors, studying them, and experimenting with basic body movements of the limbs. The group approached these Mechs in awe as the last time such creations walked the Earth was during the Cold War many decades ago.

Their designs seem to be more advanced than those used in the past. Each of these Mechs is equipped with Heat-Blades, one of them being a Long Sword and the other a Kukri Dagger. They hang around the sides of the waist. Gatling guns are equipped on each wrist. They are all linked to an ammo chain that leads to a storage container behind the Pilot cockpit. Unfortunately, there is no paint on their dull grey frames, which made them resemble Medieval Knights with massive guns.

Soma was the first to recover his wits and got the rest of the group to follow him into the factory, where they found Selvaria modifying an advanced 3D industrial printer. Captain Razack and his Marines are standing close by, eagerly waiting for something to happen. The machine she worked on lay next to three heavily modified printers, creating Heat-Blades, Gatling Guns, Ammo Belts, and Mech frames. A team of Engineers transfers the components to the assembly area, where they use automated robotic arms to assemble the pieces to build the fourth Mech. It is around fifty percent done, but the speed of its construction looked like it would take less than an hour more for it to be completed.

Soma spotted several trucks bringing supplies of scrap metal, blocks of Titanium alloy, and other precious metals to the cargo area of the factory. First, the contents are dumped onto a steel-plated conveyor belt which takes their load into a machine that separates the metals from the waste components. Once that is complete multiple conveyor belts carry the contents into large smelters. Finally, they liquefy and pump the liquid metal into the three advanced 3D industrial printers who use the material like an artist uses paint.

These three 3D printers have already been heavily modified by Selvaria to make Combat Mechs, but the fourth one is smaller in size and looks very different from its kind. Selvaria lets out a satisfied breath before activating this machine which rapidly creates a futuristic version of a Medieval Jousting Armor from head to toe out of the liquid Titanium.

Captain Razack wearing a similar armor, walks up to the finished product and examines its quality. He notes the extra features added to this model and is surprised to find that it could be adjusted to suit the wearer. He then hands it over to one of his subordinates, who dons the armor over his military uniform and walks around, flexing his body.

After completing a series of movements, he affirms the armor is satisfactory and thanks Selvaria. She nods at the acknowledgment and then sets the 3D Industrial Printer on autopilot mode. It begins producing the same armor without rest which excites the rest of the Marines who were still waiting to receive their own.

Before Selvaria could move on to another task, Soma used the skill Static step to teleport in front of her. He performs a military salute followed by a namaste hand sign with a smile on his face.

Soma. "Namaste Admiral Selvaria! I am Soma Nathan, head of the Intelligence Gathering Support Wing. Admiral Radford promised you a team to assist you in battles and projects. I have brought these four here for that purpose. Since you are already familiar with them, I will skip the introductions."

Selvaria was surprised by Soma's entry, but she got over it and looked towards Rin, Mason, Zext, and Albert. They were all smiling at her before Soma mumbled them to salute her Rank as Admiral, which they complied after much hesitation and confusion.

Soma. "Though you might find it awkward to do this, it is Admiral Radford's orders. Since you all are now part of the UGP, you will have to follow the chain of command. Not to mention saluting those ranked above you."

Selvaria. "It's alright. Adjusting to these changes will take some time since they were civilians. Let your Admiral know that I will take care of them and make sure they are put to good use."

Soma. "I am sure you will... There is another matter that I need to discuss with you. It's about the extremist Tamers from Canada who declared war on the UGP this morning. The Admiral needs you to build fortifications around Seward as soon as possible. He is willing to place all the Tamer Support Wings under your command to build our defenses."

Selvaria. "I heard about this threat from Rebecca, so I took the initiative to have her focus on summoning her Ant Golem army to build Earthen fortifications around Seward."

Soma. "Rebecca came to you?"

Selvaria. "Dale asked her to assist me in my construction projects in the Islands of Resurrection Bay. Fortunately for you, protecting Seward will also benefit me, so it was not an inconvenience to divert her attention to this task instead."

Soma. "Do you think some Earthen walls will be enough?"

Selvaria. "Of course not! I plan to have these Combat Mechs serve as the first line of defense. Fortunately, your resource vaults have enough metal to make a Legion of these Mechs and provide all your regular forces with Titanium grade armor."

Soma. "We have that much Titanium? The reports said the only way to get it now is by raiding metal factories or collecting it from dead Metal Birds."

Selvaria. "What do you think your storage vaults are made of? I am dismantling them block by block and bringing them here by trucks."

Soma. "Are you serious? Then what about the contents inside them?"

Selvaria. "All the heavy weapons and heavy ammo inside will be equipped to the Combat Mechs. Fortunately, they all managed to survive the wear down of time and rust, so there is no risk of it backfiring on the Legion."

Soma. "But how will you train a thousand pilots for this legion in a few days?"

Selvaria. "The butlers on your phones have AI. Though limited in their capacity, they can aid their users on how to pilot the Mechs. I designed a special interface in the cockpits, which will allow anyone to jack their phones in and give over the complicated tasks for their Butlers to handle during a fight. It won't allow the Mechs to operate on Butlers alone, but it will provide their pilots with auto-aiming, enemy detection, status analysis, and energy level monitoring."

Soma. "I see... What kind of energy are they running on? I didn't see any charging cables or stations to power them."

Selvaria. "Oh, I built a Wireless Power transfer tower that will power these machines from afar. However, if they go beyond the borders of Seward, they will shut down."

Soma. "Where did you have the time to build all of this in a day?"

Selvaria. "Before I made these Combat Mechs, I had the printers and the engineering Wing build up a few hundred Neo Atlas Construction Mechs that can operate independently, given enough instructions. I can remotely control them from my phone if something goes wrong during their work."

Soma. "Damn! I knew Vector had wild tech, but how can an Admiral know all this stuff?"

Selvaria. "That's a Vector secret. Just know that there is more to me than meets the eye."

Soma. "So we will have Legion of Combat Mechs and an Army of Knights in a few days?"

Selvaria. "Yes, but it's a shame there aren't enough printers here. I wanted to build a few hundred automated Phalanx CIWS systems. Then mount them on top of Rebecca's Earth walls so that they can shoot down anything that comes at us from the air."

Soma. "Wait... all you need is more printers, and you can do more for us?"

Selvaria. "Yes, do you have more in hiding?"

Soma. "No, but I know of a few bunkers in North America who should have several more. The tricky part is going there and bringing them back here."

Selvaria. "What do you mean?"

Soma. "Well, almost all our aircraft are occupied on missions. My Junk Jet is the only one gathering dust in the hangar, so I can spare it for you. But if you aren't comfortable using it, you will have to build a new Transport Drone with these printers. I doubt you have the time to create that without stalling your Mech and Armor production."

Zext, busy staring at the sky with a bored expression, gravitated towards Soma after mentioning his vehicle.

Zext. "Did you say the Junkjet? The one used in the battle of Rockville?"

Soma. "Yes? Are you a fan of my craft?"

Zext nodded in excitement with a face that looked like a kid in a candy store. He immediately went up to Selvaria with a pleading look on his face.

Zext. "I will personally go and fetch you those printers."

Selvaria was surprised by the offer and grew suspicious. There had to be a catch or incentive behind this.

Selvaria. "Is there anything you want in return?"

Zext. "For now, I just want you to modify the JunkJet to make it go faster. Oh, and I also want to keep it forever."

Soma. "Hey! I put a lot of work into customizing that bird! I can't just give it away for free."

Selvaria. "How about we make a trade, give him the Junkjet, and I will give you whatever tech you like."

That caught Soma's interest.

Soma. "I am lacking in offensive abilities with my lightning skills. Do you have any weapons that can be powered by lightning?"

Selvaria. "Depends on how much mana you can gather to power it."

Soma. "Oh, I have a crystal that generates lightning without any mana. The problem is that most of my lightning skills are agility or defensive in nature. Thunder Whip is the only short-range attack skill I have at the moment, but it's pretty useless in a long-range fight."

Selvaria. "In that case, I will build you a rail gun that fires projectiles at up to seven times the speed of sound using electricity."

Soma knew those weapons existed, but it wasn't practically useful on the battlefield, so the research into them had been abandoned for decades. Now there was a chance of being one of the rare few who could make it work on the battlefield, making him break out an evil grin.

Soma. "I have to go on a recon mission in Canada by nightfall, and that thing sounds like it will come in handy. Is there any way for you to build it quickly for me?"

Selvaria. "First, share the locations of those bunkers with printers in them. Second hand over the keys to your JunkJet. Third, give me some time to upgrade its speed to send Zext on his way. After that, I will pause the armor construction and build you the Rail Gun in twenty minutes."

Soma nodded and dug in his pant pockets to pull out the keys and tossed it to Zext, who looked like he had won the lottery.

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