Chapter 122: What Happens Next
It had taken a few more days before Tom started to worry about whether or not this was really a good idea. They were starting the earliest preparations immediately. Most people still had a lot to do with their other jobs, but the huntresses ramped up foraging for some of the more exotic things that could be found in the forest and plains that were their backyard. Tom had translated a section of some PDFs on homemade beer for Raulf after he promised to make a special brew for the event. They did have a little over a month, so there was time for a lot of things, and Tom definitely insisted on the beer being made properly. He still couldn’t believe how shitty an experience getting poisoned had been last time. Not to mention just how much he had ended up missing a good pilsner.
It did mean fewer hands in the workshop though, and it showed. They were still keeping up with the machines, and that was the important part, but plans for doing much more on testing and experimenting with the fancy new gravity oil more or less went out the window. The main priority was Jarix’s .50 cal, then the shotguns, then the festival, then research and development, so to speak, since research was the only one not really on a set schedule. Of course, that didn’t stop Tom from playing with the idea of what it would be possible to do with the stuff. They needed to know more though, and he suspected that just making a steam pressure gauge was gonna prove quite the challenge.
There were of course plenty of challenges for the festival too. Even just figuring out rope for the tug of war was quite the struggle. Tom didn’t believe they would get Baron to take part, but if he did they would need one hell of a tether. Glira probably would though, and she was nothing to sneeze at either. Plus Tiguan was more strongly built than Jarix that was for sure…
‘How did the flying lightning gun that’s larger than an elephant end up as the little one?’ Tom had to question himself as he stopped milling on the receiver for a second before just shaking his head with a chuckle. ‘Another day in loopy land.’
__________________________________________________________________________________
As timing would have it, the combat wing returned the day they were gonna do the first test fire for the machine gun. They already had the gun out on the range all set up, with Tom and Shiva going over their masterpiece. Saph had tried to peek over Tom’s shoulder when she had the chance while they were building it, but she had been real busy with teaching the greenhorns what to find and where to find it. It hadn’t helped that Raulf wanted a few things for his brewing right away. The gun certainly looked awesome, and a lot prettier than the ones Tom had shown them. Then again, this was a product of Shiva Furlong; she could make damn near anything worth looking at.
The combat wing gave a quick report as soon as they landed. They had finished mapping out the available tunnel network, but they hadn’t found anything useful aside from confirming that the entrances they had found were all sealed purposefully. Most seemed to have been melted shut and reinforced with defensive wards that Linkosta didn’t dare touch, at least not yet. Considering that the witches hadn't even tried either, that was probably a good idea.
There had been a few interesting sights though. They had found a few more scraps of signs here and there. They had gathered that there were both bunks and apparently a forge down there. The rooms had been mostly empty though, aside from the ruins of what they assumed to be a big furnace. There were some rusty bits of metal too, which must have been tools or the like at some point, but all in all it seemed like most things had withered into dust or had long since been plundered.
When Victoria and the others had found out that all the commotion at the range was the machine gun being prepped for its first-ever test fire, they had of course all wanted to watch. To say Tom looked nervous was an understatement. He just wouldn’t stop fidgeting. This was in a sense the culmination of months worth of work, starting with the lathe, then the mill, and leading finally to this. And now pretty much everyone he knew from around here was gathered around to watch the results. Saph did cross her fingers for the poor guy as Jarix did his best to contain himself. At least the dragon was momentarily distracted by explaining to Zarko why they had a wildly fluctuating number of new recruits at their disposal.
“Okay then, there is a round in the chamber. Safety is off,” Tom went, stepping back from the weapon. Jacky had of course wanted the honors of pushing the trigger, but Nunuk had vetoed that. It had been weeks, but being in close proximity of an explosion was apparently on the list of things she was not allowed to do yet. That and the fact that getting her into her armor would be a more than slightly painful experience.
Jarix had offered his services, but once Tom had questioned the dragon’s fine dexterity he had been forced to retract the offer, cursing the pushdown trigger for being far too dinky. Instead, Victoria had been chosen since Nunuk didn’t want to either. She had top-of-the-line armor, and she was at least partially responsible for this thing existing. She got out the long stick, looking to everyone else to make sure they were clear before psyching herself up a little.
“Here goes nothing,” Jacky went expectantly, adjusting her earmuffs, Kiran peeking up from his place on Tom’s back. Then there was a loud crack as the weapon fired, a small fireball shooting out the end of the barrel. Saph sure was glad she had covered her ears for that one. Jacky dropped to her knees raising both hands in the air triumphantly and cheering their success. Victoria staggered back, shaking her head a little and adjusting the borrowed set of earmuffs.
“Hah! Suck it, Mum, it works,” Jarix let out, Glira sitting down hard on her haunches with a grumpy mumble about something, Baron for once getting to smirk at her misfortune. ‘You don’t bet against Tom, he tends to be right,’ Saph mused to herself. Perhaps she should have tried putting a bet on it working? ‘Nah. The guy was sweating like a traitor in a temple.’
Tom started walking over, going to look at the gun, but Jacky still sprang to her feet and intercepted him. The burly woman lifted him off the ground, swinging him around helplessly. She didn’t stop until Nunuk shouted at her that if she didn’t calm down she would be tied to a bed. When she finally put him down again, Tom had staggered around for a bit, looking slightly unwell and walking in circles for a bit before going over to inspect the weapon. ‘What the hell?’ Saph had to question, suppressing a giggle at the odd display, even Jacky tilting her head at him as he sat down at the gun and opened up the cover. Shiva went over to help give everything a once over after half-heartedly reprimanding Jacky, which did exactly nothing to hamper the huntress’s mood.
“Looks good,” Tom eventually let out, Saph releasing a breath she hadn’t noticed she was holding. Of course the machine of death would work. It was tried and tested after all. Perhaps she should have bet on it anyway. “Let’s try a short burst.”
Radexi excitedly brought over the belt loaded with three rounds and helped reload the gun, everyone stepping back once the lid was shut. Saph threw a glance at Jortun and Victoria, who were seemingly bickering with each other before Victoria walked back over to the gun. ‘Yeah, look who has the nice toys now,’ Sapphire chuckled to herself.
Maiko was also gawking at the weapon like a little kid, much to Saph’s amusement. She couldn’t wait to get her hands on a shotgun. The swordsman would love that for sure. She and Dakota had been talking about how to use their new weapons in the air. Perhaps they could have some fun with the guard there too, even if they didn't quite know how they would go about training with them yet. Still, a humiliation or two would be great fun, perhaps with Jarix on their side next time.
Dakota had wanted a smaller version of the shotgun to use one handed, and they had already started work on it. Someone like Victoria might appreciate that model too, come to think of it. Saph would rather have a proper one though. Even if her bow might actually be better, it would still be cool as hell.
Saph was ripped from her little day dream as the machine gun fired again. Bang, bang, click. In quick succession, luckily she hadn't taken her fingers out of her ears yet. But still that feeling... She could feel it. Tom definitely hadn’t lied. This was a different kind of gun to what he had brought. Movies were one thing, but that kick to the chest… It felt awesome.
Tom went over and pulled the handle on the side then stepped back again, giving Victoria the go ahead. The gun fired the last shot in the belt, leaving Tom scratching the back of his head as he opened it up again.
“Alright, I guess that ain’t bad for a first run. Let’s get it zeroed so we can start cutting the sights. Then we can work on jamming later. Radexi, Zarko get over here. You need to learn your gun.”
As Saph stood watching, it was almost comical to see a 70 year old colonel trying to get a glimpse of what they were doing, like a kid pretending they weren’t looking all while scooting over a bit closer. Tom got out some tools to start working on the gun, mainly the sights. Junior was sent down range to set up more targets at different ranges to help set up the sights. Tom was apparently worried the gun would ruin the archery targets. Saph could see why he would arrive at that conclusion now, or more like feel it, actually.
Dakota had come waltzing over, looking very pleased. Rachuck and Anchor trailing her. Saph gave her a polite nod before they both looked back to the, sure to be, topic of the day.
“What do you reckon the chances are that we get to keep that thing for long?” Dakota opened with a slightly sarcastic tone.
“With or without Tom’s approval?” Saph replied, pulling a crooked smile herself.
“Fair point. At this rate, within a year we would out match the guard I think. Even Glira is gonna be ‘outgunned’ as Jacky put it.”
“Strap it to Jarix and I think she already is,” Saph countered, looking at the young blue, who was lying down flat on the ground by now, head on the ground right up against where they were working.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“I just wanna know what one could do up in the guard tower,” Rachuck added, Anchor nodding silently.
“If Tom gets his way, then I don’t think we are gonna need it. Well, maybe if Jarix is away for something. I mean look at him. He’s not going anywhere in a hurry.”
The dragon was indeed not doing his dignity any favours. Honestly, he might be competing with Fengi in the biggest eyes competition, at least once the scale was taken into account. Equally hilarious was just how grumpy Glira was looking, the older female still not having eased up. In fact, it seemed to be getting worse, likely not helped by Baron's cheery attitude.
“We are gonna have to give her one at some point. Otherwise I think there might be trouble,” Saph replied noding at Glira.
“Well, we knew what letting them see all this would lead to. Besides, if we can get them to fight to defend this place, then better them than us. Even if it’s using our weapons,” Dakota replied, the smile vanishing from her face.
“Sounds a bit cowardly to me,” Saph replied, trying to remain lighthearted. Dakota was right, but that was skirting the line of cowardice to hide behind others. Maybe that was her pride talking though. It was sort of what the Royal Guard was for after all. “I don’t think he’s gonna let one go lightly either,” she continued, gesturing to Tom, who was lining up a shot.
The gun sounded again, Tom himself this time acting as gunner, though judging by the accompanying grumbling he hadn’t actually hit anything. He had given a lengthy lecture on just how hard actually figuring out where to aim with the machine gun was gonna be. Something about ballistics being different here because of the gravity and the different powder. Still, at least it would offer plenty of opportunity for everyone to get their curiosity sated when it came to seeing the new superweapon in action.
“He said himself that we would figure this out eventually with all this industry stuff. It’s just a matter of when.”
“I just don’t get why he gets to decide that. We aren’t helpless children,” Anchor added, receiving a slightly angry look from Dakota.
“Because we have no idea what we are playing with here. He at least sort of does. All he wants is to be ahead of the game I think. I sure don’t mind that myself.”
“And he doesn’t even have the common sense to keep a secret secret,” Anchor countered, looking at Glira. “Keeps have been falling, we know that. Who knows, it might have gotten worse. What if the guard feels they need that thing?”
“Then the deal struck with Victoria comes into play, and that’s the end of it. We will defend our home first and foremost and let the Royal Guard handle everyone else,” Rachuck added in a hard tone, looking at his second in command. “And take whatever help we can get too, just because,” the captain continued, losing a bit of steam.
“It’s not like we have a stack of them to give away anyway,” Saph said, putting her fingers back in her ears as Tom racked the charging handle again, before letting Jacky sit down behind the gun. ‘Shit, I wanna try too!’ Saph thought to herself, looking at Dakota again. “Besides, those would cost a fortune,” Saph went with a wink, starting to make her way over as inconspicuously as possible, if slightly hurriedly, as the gun sounded again.
“Aww hell yeah,” Jacky let out with the biggest shit-eating grin on her face as Saph walked up to the group. Tom started to tinker with where the gun ate the belt.
“Heya, I know firing that thing might be a little expensive, buuut...”
“Look Tom, Miss I-can-hit-anything wants a crack at it,” Jacky went, looking back at Saph before going back to swiveling the gun around on the mount, peering down the sights. Tom simply grumbled a bit louder as she moved what he was working on.
“You know you are gonna look like an idiot if she hits, right?” Tom countered, not looking up from his work.
“Hey! I pointed it at the target just fine.”
“And yet it’s still there. You put it too far away. Saph, have a seat,” Tom invited. “This weapon is able to hit a target further away than we can even see from here. One hundred meters shouldn’t be a problem at all.”
“I’ll give it a shot,” Saph replied, Radexi rolling his eyes a bit as Jacky got up with a grumble before putting her earmuffs on Saph and giving her a pat on the back.
“Good luck.”
“Dishes tonight say I hit that thing,” Saph went as she got comfortable.
“Fucking deal. I ain’t washing up after this many people,” Jacky replied, putting her fingers in her ears.
Tom closed the lid and racked the charging handle again before stepping back. “Gun is hot, one round. Fire when ready.”
__________________________________________________________________________________
All things considered, the M2 was a success. They had taken it back inside to disassemble it away from too many prying eyes and give it a proper once over. Not that it really mattered if Victoria or the others knew how it worked, but it was easier to work in peace. Well, as much peace as a hyperactive Jacky would allow. Nor did it help that, after Saph was allowed to pull the trigger, she too was just impossible to pin down, even if she hadn't hit anything either. At least they didn’t have the ammunition to let everyone have a go. They needed to get Zarko and Radexi trained and to get the sights properly adjusted. That and the gun didn't feed right just yet. It tended to jam periodically, and it had gotten pretty hot even with the rather sedate firerate they had managed.
Once they got it taken apart the news was good though. Nothing had broken, the mainspring looked perfect, the headspacing hadn’t shifted, and there were no signs of excessive wear or cracks. All in all, one hell of a first effort. Even if the design was very much stolen, Tom was still rather proud of it. They were only firing with a little over half charge, but Tom was fairly certain this would still do for most targets. And while the M2 was an excellent design, asking it to operate at roughly twice the chamber pressure it was designed for was a bit much. Especially considering that it was made from subpar steel, excluding the few mithril parts that had been thrown in. Tom just needed to remember not to say that part about the steel out loud… He had just made friends with Shiva again. It wouldn’t do to jeopardize that by criticizing her work. Especially since even he had to admit that the gun looked absolutely gorgeous.
The evening after the testfire they had held a little meeting in the grand hall to discuss the findings from down below. The news from the combat wing wasn’t particularly good nor bad. They had found nothing interesting besides more corridors, rooms full of ruined stuff, and purposely blocked entrances. With the notes they had found on the place, Linkosta believed that the vault doors seals could be broken rather easily, and she was in fact well underway with the second one already. It would still take her a while, but the enemy had done much of the work to figure out what needed to be done. The entrances, though, were a different story. There she would be starting from scratch, and she had no clue what they might be hiding. They might be trapped in all manner of ways too. The doors were trapped too apparently, which was part of the problem when it came to opening them.
Most people at the table had quite a few questions as to whether trying to use the methods of a witch was wise, even Tom agreeing that it sounded at least a little risky. Linkosta, though, was adamant that there was nothing malicious in the notes. In fact, it would seem the main problem the witches had faced was getting around some elements of the enchantments designed to detect corruption, many of the traps being linked directly to sniffers looking for corruption, which was rather comforting. It at least meant that it wasn’t darklings or other such nonsense that had built the vaults.
“But even if the wards are disabled, we won’t be getting those doors open in anything short of a month’s labor without a dragon to break them,” Victoria concluded, after Linkosta’s little presentation.
“We could try and blow it open?” Tom questioned, looking around at everyone at the table. He certainly got Twitch’s attention, and Jacky looked at him with a smiling expression that honestly made him a little uncomfortable.
“And risk destroying the contents within? Not an option,” Jortun added, Victoria nodding her agreeance.
“Just some small shaped charges to blow the hinges. We do have one door to work off of. They were the same, right?“
“Seems so, yes. I haven’t found any variation in the doors. There are some differences in the enchantments though,” Linkosta replied, looking at Tom with a curious face.
“Do you think there might be something different in the other vaults?” Victoria questioned, leaning forward in her chair, Linkosta just shrugging in reply.
“In that case, I think we want them open right away,” Tom tried again. “Pop the hinges and get everything to safety.”
“And where exactly is safety? You are all but out of space around here.”
“Then we dig another bunker, maybe set up a storehouse or two. With the new weapons, we will be a force to be reckoned with.”
“That you are,” Victoria conceded, resting her head on her hands with a thoughtful expression. “I agree that if we find anything up your alley then we might be best served by leaving it here. But I must stress that nothing we find down there will be kept secret from my superiors, and just like with the gravity oil, we will require samples to send home for study. Any regular wealth would be split two ways. If we find items of historical or religious significance then they are to be sent to the capital for study and preservation.”
“That is very generous of you,” Nunuk added with a polite nod, before glancing at Tom.
“Sounds good I think.” Tom couldn’t see a problem with it. Honestly, he would have expected them to put up more of a fight for the gravity oil once they figured out what it was and more specifically what it was worth. Then again, they might do that once Grevi returned, likely carrying new orders from the capital. ‘They are trying to butter us up,’ he realized after a bit, leaning back in his chair taking a second to appreciate all the faces, trying not to smile. Well, that suited him just fine, for the time being. It might be a problem in the future though, once they started expecting some rewards for being so generous and helpful.
“Very well. We will continue to patrol as well as provide an escort for you, Linkosta. I have no doubt that once the academy hears of this they will want to know what is going on down there,” Victoria replied, leaning back in her chair. “If you play your cards right, you just might end up in charge of a research team before you even graduate,” she continued, looking at Linkosta with a friendly smile. The young mage looked a touch apprehensive at the prospect, as if she had just figured that one out now.
“Are we about to become a tourist destination?” Tom questioned. That would be a problem. They really didn’t need that many people snooping around. It was bad enough to have the combat wing looking over their shoulder, but they were bound to secrecy and a part of the military which they kinda needed to ensure the keep’s safety anyway. A bunch of randos running around though. That would be bad.
“This will be kept hush hush for now. In time maybe. It's not like I would know anyway, nor is it my decision to make. But certain people in power would already have been informed of what has been found by now. I’m expecting Grevi back in a few days at most… What do you think, Jortun? Me and Baron guard the cave. You and Glira on patrol and hunting duty. Perhaps switch every couple of days. Then send Grevi to help with the construction at Hylsdal when she gets here?”
“Oh, she won’t like that posting,” the major replied, taking a sharp breath.
“No, but we want that work crew for clearing the entrances, assuming we can crack the wards on them. I have a feeling Grevi will be bringing academy representatives that might be helpful in that endeavor.”
“Or orders to start recalling us, but you’re probably right. Sounds like a plan to me,” the major replied, Victoria looking around at the table. Dakota and Nunuk had a quick whisper before looking to Tom.
He just shrugged in reply. Chances were pretty good that the other vaults just contained more of the cylinders, and they had more than they knew what to do with already. But if there was something else down there, then he didn’t really see any reason why they should just give it up. It didn’t sound like they were trying to steal anything that they would want to keep at the keep though, and they were running most of the risk too by the sound of it.
“Sounds good to me,” Nunuk replied after a few seconds of silence for any objections.
“Marvelous. Baron departs for the cave tomorrow. I will stay here with the rest of you ‘til Grevi gets here. Then we will see.”