Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy M1 Y:2142
Inter-Academy Round 2 Fortescue Points: 193, Rank: 6, PR: 0.4825
Tier 3 Daedo M-Rank: 140
Term: 3, Round: 2
Daedalus Financial Position +2,650,000 bitcreds
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The cadets sat uneasily. The Templars were smashing the upper Academy team in the arena from pillar to post. Poor Barran was subdued with the Templar’s Marshal sitting amongst them, where he would normally be extremely vocal regarding the shortcomings of the U3 cadets and Romulus in particular.
“My apologies cadets,” Marshal Odo stated. “My presence here must have been uncomfortable for you given the result.” The Templars still had five mechs standing after downing all eight from Fortescue. They had excellent weapons, but that was offset by the speed and durability of the Fortescue Mechs. The real difference was teamwork, tactics and piloting.
“No need to apologise, Marshal,” Axel-Zero said kindly. “It’s a competition after all and your team performed exceptionally.”
Barran looked at Axel-Zero as if she was crazy while he considered plastering her mouth shut.
Jeram interposed himself upon the group. “The carrier is ready to be loaded. Are we just taking the gauntlet eight?”
“No,” Daedo replied. “We will take the arena eight as well. Ikaros will need to check them at the workshop,” which meant the Fortescue carrier would take the other eight mechs. Although large, the Marais carrier which Daedalus used could only manage eight mechs total. It could easily take all the exos and up to thirty people as well.
Jeram nodded and took off. He had taken on the logistical duties, slowly becoming part of the team even if it was an ancillary role.
“I guess that’s my cue,” Marshal Odo stated. “Give some thought to what I said and contact me when you can. We are open to discussions and can certainly work something out.”
Within moments of Marshal Odo leaving, the cadets began chatting enthusiastically.
“You know we could get heaps better offers,” Barran said making his view known after a few moments. “Templars are good ‘n all, but they are still Tier 3 and, at best, if they win this year, Tier 2.”
After the second round, with four matches completed for each Academy the standings were:
Academy
Points
Performance Ratio
Tehran Mech
271
0.6775
Templars MA
240
0.6
Seoul MA
230
0.575
KAIST
229
0.5725
Tsinghua MA
201
0.5025
Fortescue MA
193
0.4825
Lockheed Martin MA
192
0.48
Heidelberg MA
188
0.47
ETH Zurich
178
0.445
Mumbai MA
169
0.4225
Humboldt MA
160
0.4
Udon Thani MA
149
0.3725
Although the performance ratios were a factor from their actual score, it is what the expert’s paid attention to. An Academy with a PR above 0.7 would almost certainly gain promotion. And the most important was the relegation zone, anything under 0.3 was certain relegation.
The spread this year was moderately close. Fortescue was performing well despite scoring below 500 in all their mech matches which was a good outcome because the mech competition carried heavier weighting, (500 equated to a 0.5 PR).
Their performance in the exo competition achieved well over the 500 average.
What was certain is that all academies would be determined to beat Udon Thani, thus assuring they were not relegated at the Asian Academy’s expense.
“I like the idea of leaving Fortescue,” Axel-Zero said. “My family were led to believe it was a much better academy than what we’ve found.”
“The academics are solid,” Vannier stated. “It’s the politics that let it down.”
“Who’s to say that all Academies aren’t the same?” Kang asked. She received shrugs all round. No one had first or even second-hand experience of another academy.
“We could tour other academies, the ones putting out offers at least,” Barran stated and looked around the excited faces.
“Only after the end of term four,” Vannier said, “during the six-week break.”
“It would have to be a full scholarship for me to consider it,” Picard stated.
“Oh, we will be asking for more than that,” Barran grinned.
“What would we ask for?” Axel-Zero asked.
“To be taken seriously would be a good start,” Vannier said.
“What do you think Daedo?” Mace asked quietly. She had said nothing, but neither had he.
“I think we need to think about it,” he said in a non-committal tone. “Let's get on the carrier as we have a detour planned.”
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“Detour?” Vannier asked.
“The Eye of the Sahara,” Daedo stated. “You have the reports, but I thought it would be good to take a look firsthand while reviewing them. I’d also like to see how the changes to the mechs stand up to the conditions.”
“Like the sand all through them last time,” Mace stated, nodding.
The Templar Military Academy was situated on the Black Sea near Sevastopol. The Daedalus carrier would fly southwest to Mauretania rather than due west back to Paris. The trip was 4,000 km (2500 mi) and would take less than four hours. It could travel faster, but with winds and full load, it would reach a top speed of 1200 km/h (750 mph).
The cadets still found carrier flights exciting, albeit noisy. Their comms reverted to helmets with noise cancelling activated.
“She’s heavy,” Jeram called over the comms as they lifted off.
During the four-hour flight, the cadets attempted a nap without much success, so they decided to bring forward the weekly business report rather than complete tutes. After a hectic week, they all wanted a break from academics. Weekends were for building, playing and Daedalus.
“All forty pre-orders have paid their deposit now,” Axel-Zero stated. “With royalties and rentals, we’ve paid our Marais debt and have over 2.65 M bitcreds in our account.”
“I remember being happy when we sold exos to Siderus for 20 K,” Barran laughed.
“Without any new business, the fulfilment of the forty mechs, avoiding relegation escrow deposit reimbursement and bonus, our balance will be over 13.5 M bitcreds.”
Although all the cadets were aware of the sales and success, having the number spoken out loud by Axel-Zero brought silence to the group.
“Outgoing we have the purchase and upgrading of adjacent lots in Nanterre; royalties on the mech sales, materials, as well as the equipment requisition and fees for the Eye of Sahara. This is expected to be 1.5 M bitcreds,” Axel-Zero stated.
“I am putting in a request to have the budget for the Eye of Sahara increased to five million bitcreds,” Daedo announced. “After I show you what we have planned today, you can form an opinion for a vote next Sunday.”
“Five million?” Mace asked.
“What the hell costs five million?” Barran asked.
“I thought it was going to be self-sufficient after the start-up cost?” Vannier added.
“I’ll show you today,” Daedo explained.
“Couldn’t we build a secret base on an island with great beaches, swimming and nice weather?” Barran asked and received some non-verbal support.
“This place is special, and its harshness is nothing compared to what’s out there.” Daedo pointed up to the sky. “Asteroids, Space, Titan and Mars are all incredibly hostile environments. The Sahara is a resort in comparison.”
“I can’t wait to see the progress and the plan then,” Vannier said in a conciliatory tone.
When they arrived at the site, it was early evening, and the sun had fully set minutes earlier. The sand was bathed in red from the sun’s dying light. Daedo had Jeram hover two hundred metres above the landing pad and open the back door after the cadets had donned their exos.
“I have created an overlay of the plans which show current and future build,” Daedo stated as the back hatch yawed open. Air swept into the cabin, but it was not as hot as during the day, at this height and time it had cooled to a moderate temperature.
The seven cadets stood at the edge looking down, and they could see the current underground mining and manufacturing facility.
“At the moment we only have the small mining drones, and their role has predominately been prospecting. They can retrieve ores when found but due to their size and capability tunnels close behind them,” Daedo began.
One of the prospecting areas shot off far to the north. “What’s up there?” Picard asked.
“Iron ore and some non-ferrous metal deposits, copper in particular. The local area is rich with kernite and hydrocarbons, but we have to go further for iron and copper,” Daedo said.
While hydrocarbons were the primary resource for constructofoam used in construction, iron was still extensively used in the alloys used for machines and robots.
“Wouldn’t it be more efficient to fly the ores back through the air?” Mace asked.
“Yes,” Daedo answered, “But the entire base will be underground, including supply lines.”
The current base was much larger than their expanded workshop. AEMO had been busy as had Daedo and Ikaros, remotely controlling the building of the refining and manufacturing base.
“It is true, we could slowly use the current forge and machines and slowly but surely build bigger machines, fabricators and robots, but I want to speed this process up. There are large mining and construction bots we can purchase and ship in now, and that’s just the beginning. Take a look at this,” Daedo said.
The overlay expanded showing the future plans in blue, and while Jeram moved the carrier slowly, the cadets could see from a top-down angle at the moment.
“Wow,” Axel-Zero stated.
“How many people is this for?” Vannier asked perceptively.
“I haven’t added living areas to the plans yet,” Daedo said.
“Are those Arenas?” Picard asked looking at the massive underground structures.
“No,” Daedo said, “Life support and food production. However, it is mostly biomass, greenhouse and hydrofarm facilities.”
“Why so many?” Mace asked looking at the expanse.
“They need time to replenish and when in full use they need to be rotated. That’s only enough for two thousand people,” Daedo said.
“Two thousand? Why two thousand?” Barran asked.
“You know why,” Daedo said. From their studies, they all knew that two thousand was the minimum number of humans needed to ensure the continuation of the species. Any less and genetic material and manipulation would need to be implemented.
“What’s on the top floor, I can’t see the unique icons in this area,” Picard asked.
“Sensor shielding and cloaking,” Daedo stated.
“Are those sentry guns? They are huge!” Barran asked and observed.
“Yes, in addition to drone surveillance, security with mechs and exos being the secondary force. See the workshop and hangars,” Daedo highlighted the area.
“It’s like you are playing a real-life tower defence game,” Mace observed. Her tone was sombre which contributed to her delivery sounding humorous.
Nearly all the cadets laughed while Mace and Daedo were grimly silent.
After a pause, Daedo asked Jeram to land, and they entered the existing, albeit temporary plant.
“AEMO has done an excellent job,” Daedo began. “He has, in human terms, hundreds of years’ experience in many types of environments. We would have failed dismally without his knowledge. The breakdown rate was horrendous, and drones get stuck all the time. Now we have fit for purpose prospectors. He has almost finished scanning down to four kilometres and a hundred in each direction.”
“That much?” Vannier asked surprised.
“He follows superficial scans which inform where to prospect in more detail. Depending on our targets, and the geological surveys we purchased have been helpful, but they did not capture anything close to what we now know. We even discovered a new element,” Daedo stated.
“What?” Mace asked incredulously. New naturally occurring elements were extremely rare. Synthetic elements were a dime a dozen, but something found underground was a one in twenty-year occurrence worldwide. Daedalus had been mining and prospecting for figuratively a few moments, and they had come across a new element when one-hundred-year-old mining companies had discovered one or none.
Daedo waved his hand, “I will cover it in more detail when we review the analysis by Cisse. We are exploring its potential as a superconductor.”
“Daedo!” Vannier exclaimed. “This is the sort of news you share immediately.”
Daedo shrugged looking a little sheepish. She was correct, it was a mistake on his part to hide it even for a week or two. “I wasn’t sure at first,” he lied. “I wanted the tests to be completed before I told you about it.”
“It’s okay,” Axel-Zero said.
“I understand,” Vannier said kindly, but the look on her face showed she was uncertain.
Mace looked in the other direction.
“I can see a large cost for the new machines,” Barran changed the subject, “But I can’t see a five million budget.”
Daedo nodded, “If we stock up on the latest machines and pay for expedited orders at most it will be two million. I want another million for supply and specifically the expertise needed for the green factory.” The biomass, greenhouse and hydrofarms were identified as green icons and lines in the expansion plans.
“The remainder is for communication, computer processing, security and lab equipment budget. The base needs to be self-sufficient and, at the moment, it has little to zero capability in these areas.”
“What’s the hurry?” Mace asked perceptively.
Daedo walked across the sand in his exo as if in thought. “You’re right,” he began, “if what we have been told is accurate, we have a few years at least, but does this mean we should wait? Why not hurry, I would ask you?”
“I’m far from an expert,” Picard said, “but a base like this will have many issues that will need sorting out. I don’t see any harm building it and working out the issues ahead of time.”
Axel-Zero quickly looked something up on the net. The only bases she knew of that were akin to this one were the EUDF major bases and the academies, albeit there had many differences, but they were of similar size and complexity.
“It took three years to build and commission the EUDF base in the Loire Valley. I take it commission means to get everything working,” Axel-Zero stated.
“Everything takes longer and costs more with the EUDF,” Picard added.
“Even with our expenses and a five million bitcred budget for this base, we still have millions left over for an island base,” Barran suggested.
“We need a billion,” Daedo said.
“Why?” Barran asked exasperatedly.
“Research, experts, soldiers and equipment not to mention to build our capability to enable space travel and exploration. I don’t know the exact number, but it's not going to be cheap. We need enough bitcreds that we can do anything we can imagine and not have to worry about the cost.” Daedo replied.
“It will be cheaper if we partner with Marais,” Vannier observed looking back towards the carrier.
Daedo nodded.
“It’s good if we don’t have to do everything ourselves,” Axel-Zero said.
“If we rely on others, they can let us down,” Mace said softly, she’d been in a negative mood since arriving.
Daedo nodded again. “Every choice has risks. We will need to assess and make a decision when the time comes.”
Barran was lost in thought since the discussion regarding budgetary goals. “I know!” he exclaimed. “There is plenty of sand here. It’s hot. We could build our own underground resort beach. There’s enough water, right?”
Daedo laughed, “I was considering connecting to the ocean for a backup source of water. We can always desalinate it if needed.”
“That’s over 200 km!” Vannier exclaimed.
Daedo shrugged, “It’s just a pipeline. I’m sure you can get approval from the local government.”
“Oh,” she said slightly agitated, “They will agree to anything if you pay the fee.” She accentuated the word ‘fee’ to imply bribe.
“Are you going to show the design to Master Nader?” Picard asked. “She could assess the security aspects.”
“It’s Daedalus business,” Mace stated implying it was none of Master Nader’s business.
“She would certainly pick holes in it,” Barran stated from experience.
“I’m not sure if we can trust Master Nader,” Daedo said.
“How can you say that after all, she has done?” Vannier questioned in protest. “She fought Fortescue for us, on numerous occasions.”
“And when your father was injured,” Axel-Zero mentioned.
“She has her reasons for everything she does. Her motives are not necessarily to protect us for our own sake. There are other reasons she protects us, I am sure,” Daedo said.
Mace was suddenly extremely interested and moved closer to Daedo. “You must have some ideas what those reasons are,” she prompted.
“In some of my dealings with her as squad captain – I’ve been sworn to secrecy, which means I cannot say what I know or even speculate. I take those promises seriously.”
“Would she kill you if you told?” Barran laughed at his joke.
“Probably!” Mace muttered under her breath and only Kang, who acted like a bystander most of the time, noticed.
Vannier replied to Daedo’s statement, “If you’ve given your word and cannot disclose your reasons – I still trust your judgment. If you say we cannot blindly trust Master Nader, then that is that.”
“That sums it up accurately,” Daedo said thankfully, and after some thought, he added, “Maybe I am just being paranoid. I’ll show her the plans next week to get feedback on the security systems.”