Chapter 3: Lawmaker
Unlike his arrival the first time that morning, the second trip down to TICTOCC didn't privilage Crash, or the ladies he had in tow, to the Express ride straight down. So for probably the millionth time that day, (or at least, what it felt like to Crash) they found themselves showing ID cards to the personele at a checkpoint. Unlike most ID checks in the TSA, the security details on duty around the base actually examined the ID cards thoroughly for the group of women they didn't recognize. Crash and Fox, of course, being regulars, were on a first name basis, and their IDs were merely glanced at out of protocall. But the security was alert, and still ran everyone through a weapons check. Anything other than devices that were listed on their cards would have been confiscated. Not that this would have really done any good against the firepower of the seven ladies, but procedures involving security and safety weren't jokes around Roland.
The two Card Reader doors that were further down, were much less irritating to get past.
Their greeting when they arrived in TICTOCC was something they'd never forget however. The moment the doors opened, Crash froze, and then dove sideways with only a shout of warning. Fate was first in line of the reactionary reflexes, falling back and bolting sideways as well, as a blue robot the size of a man plowed into the group. Hayate would have been the one to get mowed down by the machine thanks to her slow reaction, if it weren't for Signum launching her own counter offensive on the machine, catching both of its hands and locking position with it. It gave a hefty roar that sounded much like the reving of an internal combustion engine, planted its feet, and began putting a significant amount of force into its aggression. Over barely audible shouts to turn it off, Signum considered dropping back and using Leavantin to chop it to shreds. Luckly, it never got that far, as there was a sudden click, and the robot relaxed and slumped over onto her.
"Aw man! I wanted to try a Verticle Brainbuster Suplex next too," a new voice whined. Signum managed to push her way past the dead weight of the robot to notice the source. A rotund man with blond hair and a bit of a gotee. He had half-moon spectacles and wore a torn white lab coat. In his hands, there was a device that looked like a convoluted cross between a video game controller, and a steering wheel.
"Cooper," Crash began, shaking his head. "I don't think it would go down very the Brass if you managed to pull off that attack. Most people don't take well to being flipped onto their skulls." He paused and looked at the robot again. "What is that thing anyway?"
"Oh!" Cooper grinned as he stepped forward. "This is just something I've been doing as a side hobby. It's a Multiple Engagement Guardian Automatic Sentinel, I just call it MEGAS."
Fox shook her head.
"You and your Robot fetish," she muttered. This was Cooper, the certafiably most intelligent idiot she'd ever known, and head of the engineering department in robotics and arteficial intelligence systems. The man who designed the Maidens, Battery, and Lawmaker. Cooper was for all intents and purposes, a mad scientest in all but name. He loved wrestling (rather watching it), food, caffinated beverages, designing AI, Giant Robots, designing Giant Robots, Building Giant Robots (if someone would just let him), and watching Giant Robots smash things, like buildings.
Most of the latter part of the introduction was left out by Crash as he explained the maniac to the Aces, which Fox was happy for.
Cooper pushed a button on the controls he was holding, and they immediately started retracting, the console impossibly folding down into itself many times, fitting more mass into its internal space than should have been physically possible until it had compressed itself into a simple car key, which he hooked to a chain around his neck. Nanoha noted it, and labeled it a device in her mind.
"So where's Commander Roland?" Crash asked after a pause. Cooper turned to him as he bent over to pick the MEGAS up.
"Oh you just missed him," he stated. "He took the express up a minute ago, had something he needed to retrieve from his office. He'll meet us up on Pad One here in a little bit."
"So he left you alone in here?" Crash asked.
"Oh yeah right," another voice stated. They quickly focused on the key device around Cooper's neck. A little red light flashed on it as it spoke in a tone far more sentient than any of the devices they had themselves. "As if anyone would be dumb enough to leave Cooper ALONE in the Command Center for ANY length of time."
"Oh, come on Key," Cooper moaned. "Not in front of the guests..."
"And why not?" the Device shot back. "You're already using the MEGAS to see if you could wrestle with one of them. Don't think I don't know you better than that. You just wanted to see if it could fight an Ace. MEGAS is NOT a Toy!"
The device was arguing with him, it wasn't acting like any device they had seen. It had a personality far more dynamic, it was voicing its oppinion, and it was telling its own master off. The fact that it was telling its own master off seemed to be the one everyone was hung up on.
"I must apologize for my master's childishness," Key intoned to the group. "He's brilliant, but he can be a blockhead at times."
At a loss for words, Signum merely nodded.
"Focus Cooper," Crash interrupted the bickering couple. "Who'd he leave you with? The Vice Commander?"
"That would be correct."
They jumped, even Crash. Nobody had noticed the third man in the room despite his size and the fact that he was only mere feet from Cooper. At six foot two, he was absolutely towering. And even at age sixty-two, he was still built like a tank. This was the Vice Commander, Operations Director Martin, second in charge of facility operations, and probably the most serious person on base asside from Don.
He oversaw and managed the general schedule of events for the entire facility, directing when and where things would happen, checking that regulations were being adhered to, and acting as the Bad Cop to Roland's Good Cop. He was not without a sense of humor though, as a test force unit leader himself for nearly thirty years, he'd been there, done that, got the T-shirt. (He litterally had a T-Shirt that had a picture of a TSAB Test Force pilot going bug-eye as he was about to slam into the ground...) It was obvious that while Cooper was the mastermind of the MEGAS ambush, it wouldn't have gotten done without the approval of Martin. He didn't skip a beat however, going straight to seriousness once the joke had run its course.
"Cooper, get that thing out of here now, it's taking up space."
Cooper worked his mouth, trying to find words to convey how 'useful' the MEGAS could be, but trying to counter any decision from the Operations Director was like trying to stop an avalanch with a piece of paper.
"I suppose that's enough duty mode," Martin continued. Crash snapped his fingers.
"I thought it was quiet."
"Well DUH!" Key intoned from Cooper's neck as he struggled with the unpowered Sentinel. The red light on the tiny device blinked a few more times before it seemed to sigh. "Just turn it back on Cooper, and walk it over to storage three down the hall."
"Oh yeah," the engineer blinked. "I was doing it the hard way..." He pulled key off and it unfolded quickly into the control panel he had before.
"You would," the red light blinked from amongst displays on his miniature dashboard. A moment later, the MEGAS straightened up. Signum tightened her stance, but the robot merely walked past her and out the door.
"Ladies, Cancel Duty Mode," Martin ordered.
"Well, that was interesting to watch," Lime's voice echoed on the main room speakers and the MSM, currently displaying the usual, blinked to show a virtual render of her face. It blinked again as the other two AI came out of Duty mode, displaying their faces in tandem to hers.
"It is an honor to meet such distinguished guests," Cherry chirped in. She'd already processed their files earlier that morning after Lime had been told to bring them up. "I hope your visit will be a pleasant one."
"Those are," Nanoha began, but Martin finished the statement.
"Advanced Intelligence, Arteficial Intelligence," he informed. "AI-squared. Cooper's specialty, and despite his less favorable characteristics, an area in which he is undeniably an expert. These are the Test Operation Command Center's new AI units, the triple redundant AI management system, The Maidens. On your left is Cherry. A little resserved, but she's got a fiesty side. She's in charge of logistics and probability calculations."
"Pleased to meet you," the AI's digital persona was dressed in a pink kimono, had bright purple hair, and had two huge orbs in her hair.
"In the middle," he continued. "We have Lime. Eternally cheerful, and a dominant voice around here. She's in charge of general management and monitoring."
"HELOOOOO!!!!!" Lime squealed. She had dark blue hair, and seemed to wear a yellow bandana on her head with its own massive orb.
"On the right," Martin wanted to get introductions over with before lime could launch into a tirade. "Bloodberry. She's pretty direct. Test Supervisor, base security, and tactical assessment are her jurisdiction."
"How's it going?" the third AI smiled. Her red ponytail made it easy to remember her name immediately.
"I'm sure they've already processed and reprocessed the entire TSAB file library on you ladies," Martin continued. "So I don't belive cross introductions are required."
He turned quickly and walked back towards his console, his boots creating a formidable eccho as he strode.
"Now, here at the Beaurau Experimental Systems Test Force, we are charged with the developement, testing, and application of both the magical and the non-magical aspects of advanced technology, ranging from unproven concept work, to reinventing the wheel, so to speak." He sat himself down in his chair.
"Unlike a lot of the," he paused, looking for the right word as not to insult Nanoha, knowing full well she'd done some testing herself. "...unregulated testing that goes on back on the mainland, we're slated with the duty of conducting some of the more hazzardous, and sometimes frighteningly dangerous tests. Safety and security are top on the list. Which makes this facility perfect for the job."
He started to type on his console, bringing up the TSAB log file on Abenobashi Air Base and the other islands in the McGreggor chain. A data review maps of McGreggor appeared in place of the Maiden's images on the MSM as he did so.
"Asside from the test facility, we're also one of MidChilda's few mass weapons storage and disposal sites. Crash probably gave you a nice brief on that while you were wandering across the facility, so I won't waste my breath repeating it."
Various nods met his comment as he paused to look over his shoulder, he then continued.
"As such, the combined safety level presented for the Island Chain is such that we are permitted to conduct larger scale critical tests with a a possibility for involving bystanders far lower by an order of magnitude. This pleases nearly all of the TSAB's higher level beaurocrats and that helps in keeping the facility funded... if only barely. Our funding, which tends to be an issue at least once a month with the higher ups, is actually quite good. Despite our designation as a Ground Force jurisdiction, we recieve joint funding from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and even commissions from the corporate sector when we're safety testing equipment for them."
Martin pushed a button, displaying a basic overview of funding sources, showing that a considerable amount of extra funds was indeed brought in by corporate commission. Where as official TSAB funding pretty much sandwhiched off as barely enough to keep the facility afloat.
"However, actual TSAB projects take precidence," he continued. "Our primary project for the last business quarter, has been the developement involved with what has been designated Project Lawmaker."
"Finally," Crash muttered.
"Major Crash, shut-up, or push-up," Martin snapped without skipping a beat.
"Shutting up..." Vita smirked as she looked at Crash out of the corner of her eyes. The pilot was acting as if he was suddenly more interested in a speck of dust floating in the air.
"Before we head up to Pad One, Roland has instructed me to give you a quick brief," Martin continued. "Six Months ago, General Regius expressed moderate concern over the increased gadget drone activity that had culminated in the entire Cradle event you had participated in. Unfortunately, he was killed during that incident."
Signum, ever so slightly, fidgited in place, but nobody noticed except Crash.
"Despite lack of funding for such a project since his assets were focused on his Einharijar Project, he had given us the instruction to look into developing some kind of functional active countermeasure to deal with large numbers of drones at a rapid pace."
Another few button presses, and a new screen.
"Project Lawmaker, anti-drone tactical combat system. Primary purpose, to engage and destroy drone and/or cannon fodder units employed by a hostile force so that ground force mages can be freed up to do more important tasks. Emphasis was placed on individual unit cost, as well as expanding its ability to take out as many drone units as possible, prefferably on its own."
"But the incident has been closed," Fate stated. "Why continue a project designed to remove threat that no longer exists?"
"A good question Enforcer," Martin used her title officially. "It has been Roland's undying doctrine that being prepared for a probable scenario, especially one that has occured at least once, is better than the alternatives of being unprepared. That being said, Project Lawmaker continued under high classification after Regius' death. Roland is sure that seeing the obvious disadvantages in the Mage Ground forces in such a situation, he can use the project to prod the TSAB's top into adopting doctrine that allows for tools to engage dangerous hostiles sooner, faster, and from much further away, putting fewer mages on the ground at risk to personal injury."
"So the big question is..." Hayate was putting the pieces together.
"Before we present Lawmaker to the TSAB in full, it needs to pass inspection from the actual mages it will be designed to assist. If we can't convince the people we're trying to help, how can we convince the paper pushers at the top that its a good idea?"
There was a beep on his console, but Cherry beat him to it as she appeared in a small window on the MSM.
"Commander Roland requests your pressence on Helipad One," she informed the group. "Commander Martin is to maintain the floor."
"Tell him we read him," Martin instructed. Cherry bowed and her window on the MSM blinked out.
"Ladies," he turned to the group. "Crash will escort you up to Helipad One, from there, you will be briefed by the commander himself."
They nodded.
"Dismissed Crash, try not to break too much today," he paused. "I've still got a headache from Don's ranting last weak."
"I try, you know me," Crashed nodded sincerely.
"All too well," Martin seemed to rub his forehead. "Go on, get out of here."
He waved his hand in a vaguely 'shoo! shoo!' fashon, which Crash took prompt to escort the group back towards the exit of TICTOCC.
As they made their way up the hall, they picked Cooper back up as he tucked Key into his shirt. (To which she gave an audible 'EWWW, not again...') He was carrying a couple of small drink cans, and was in the process of downing one as he caught up with them. Rein noticed them and dropped back to talk with him. Cooper offered a can with a smile as they made their way to a high capacity lift at ground level. There they transported up to the top floor of the building, where they exited a rooftop door and proceded to climb one last set of stairs.
On the roof, standing somewhere in the middle, staring around at the sky, Base Commander William Roland stood, almost dramticly in the ocean winds. Breaking the low muttering conversation of the group first was Crash as he broke into a small jog.
"So you going to tell me what this project is all about NOW?!" Crash asked in an exasperated tone. "Any more teasers and I'm going to LOOK for something to break around here..."
"And you'll most certainly find it," Roland nodded to Crash. "But have some patience, you'll see it here in a few minutes. It's better that way anyway."
He turned to the group emerging one by one from the stairs.
"Ladies, so glad you could make it on such short notice," he began, returning a series of Salutes as the girls assembled at attention close enough to talk to him. "Looks like you've all survived the tour unfazed, which is probably good for my budget assessment for the week."
"A few interesting things," Hayate commented as her own hand lowered. "A very... unique facility around here Sir."
"It has it's quirks," Roland nodded. "Personally I like the climate. Every day I have off is like a vacation. Name's Roland, William Roland. Feel free to relax here, I don't find excessive formalities any good use of time. A salute's good enough."
At his words, all the girls immediately relaxed their stance.
"You've met just about everyone you need to know around here, except maybe Don," Roland continued. "I've got him over on D Complex chasing his tail with a list of maintanance issues. Had to get him away this morning somehow."
"So that's what that list was for," Crash muttered, though not exactly to himself.
"Anyay," Roland didn't even stop to entertain Crash's more than audible mutter. "You had your brief as to what you're here for correct?"
Hayate Nodded.
"We're here to evaluate the field test of Project Lawmaker. And produce, based on our experience, an accurate assessment of its functions for the Bearau Sir."
Roland furrowed his brow but smiled.
"Aww, did you copy that answer of the person in front of you?"
The aces shot Roland a unanimous glance that said 'HUH?'
"I'm not sure I understand what you mean Sir."
Roland turned to his right.
"That's a textbook answer, Lt. Col. Yagami," he waved as if trying to dismiss it. "Or perhaps we could call it Autopilot. I don't want to hear a regurgitation of what those Armchair Commanders back at TSAGCOM are telling you. If it helps you any, drop the SIR. In fact..."
He took two steps, reached out, and extended his hand, Hayate reached out herself, and recieved a firm handshake from the General.
"Now," he began again after stepping back, then backing a few paces more. "Why do you THINK you are here?"
"Uh..." Hayate was at a loss for words. "I... guess we're here to watch your field test and see if we like what you have to show us."
"There's that intelligent noggin I've read about in reports," he smiled, turning to face away from them. "Autopilot is for paperwork... and I don't really like paperwork. More time wasting thann excessive formalities."
He turned back, one eye squinted, and he frowned.
"Oh dea-"
"WHEEEEEEEE!!!!!"
Crash ducked instrinctively at the Genera's broken comment as Rein shot over his head, giggling madly as she zipped back and forth between the Aces and Test Pilots. Roland snapped into the front lean in rest and back up again as she came close to crashing into him.
"Cooper! What, did you give her?!"
"Hey she asked ME if she could have some," the engineer snapped in defense. "Don't look at me like I did something wrong!"
Fox shook her head, letting it drop. As she did so, she noticed a small silver can rolling up to her foot. Bending down to pick it up, she examined it briefly before her eyes widened.
"Cooper you gave her SHOCKLATE!?"
Cooper squirmed in her glare.
"Only a little bi-"
"YOU NIMROD!" Fox interrupted him, swinging her arm to point where Rien was dooing loop-de-loops. "And you didn't think that maybe a Unison like her was a little SMALL to handle that?!"
"SMALL?! WAIT! WHO CARES?!" Rein cackled as she zipped through the group again, before getting obsessed with strands of her hair and spinning around in circles trying to catch them with her teeth until she was dizzy enough to fall right out of the air. Signum's stoic manner twitched ever so slightly towards a smile as she tried to suppress the image of a Dog.
"Uh..." Hayate began. "What is... Shocklate?"
"Chololate Energy," Crash supplied, taking a knee to ensure the unison was okay. "It's like adding chocolate to an electrical storm."
"Sounds interesting," Nanoha interjected, then turned to Cooper. "Mind if I try some?"
"Oh, sure, I've still got a can of Rawberry here so-"
"NO!"
They all froze as Fox stormed her way over to Cooper and yanked the can right out of his hands.
"You are NOT giving this stuff to any S level mages! If it does THAT-" she motioned to Rein, who had recovered and was once more zipping in loops around Crash's head, "-to a Unison... I could only imagine what it would do to HER!" she made a rough motion to Nanoha this time.
"Probably best not to try any," Roland managed to mutter to Nanoha as Fox and Cooper argued back and forth. "That stuff's like liquid cartridge power on steroids. One can and you'd probably be able to shoot a cruiser clean out of orbit."
Nanoha managed to imagine herself firing an Arc-en-ciel for a second before looking at the bickering duo.
"Shouldn't we stop them?"
"Nah, this'll be over in a second," Crash closed his eyes.
"It's MY drink, I can give it to whomever I want! Give it back you hear?"
There was a clap as Cooper grabbed Fox's wrist to retrieve his can.
"Big mistake," Crash stated with his eyes shut.
'CRACK! WHOMP! SLAM! THUD!'
The aces all winced at the same time as they watched Fox deftly leverage her way out of Cooper's grip, throw his elbow into a lock with the sound of protesting joints, then drive her other fist into his abdomen, and finally step in and hurl him right off her next move that rolled right from an elbo strike to a palm-thrust. Despite being twice her height, and several times her weight, she sent the overweight engineer a good four meters straight backwards in the air.
Crash opened his eyes and looked over to Fox, who was now standing in a finishing stance with her eyes closed and a very unfriendly frown on her face.
"That was a freebie," she hissed. "Touch me again and I'll ensure you go over the rail with both arms broken."
"Sure you want to tango?" Signum whispered into Vita's ear. Vita merely smirked, the girl had moves to back her attitude. And that instantly made everything else excusable.
"Sorry you had to see that," Fox apologized to the group as she spun about, giving off a serious air counter to her normal attitude. Signum appraised the momentary change in attitude. If only for a moment, she wasn't cocky. Good, that showed there was some proffessional disapline invoked in whatever hand to hand classes she appeared to have taken.
Roland opened his mouth to comment about not breaking his best engineer, but then closed it when he heard what sounded like another passing jet, with a slightly distinct engine noise none of the others would have noticed. Crash noticed him looking around and spoke up.
"What is it?"
Roland paused when he finally fixed where the sound was coming from.
"He's here..."
Everyone froze and looked at the General, then followed his gaze.
"That's not what I think it is.... is it?" Fox asked.
With a near deafening roar it appeared, swooping low over the island before it came looping around the landing pad. It's arrowhead shape defining it as an aircraft, it was smooth, with rounded curves that looked too delicate for such a craft, yet at the same time, gave it a menacing, deadly elegance. Banking sharply, it near snapped to a halt in mid air, small hatches on the top and underside opening to blow downwards as it settled into a hover.
"I feel like I just got thrown into a movie," Vita muttered.
"Ladies," Roland began in a tone audible over the vehicle's roaring thrust. "Allow me to introduce Project Lawmaker, the answer to any future problems concerning quantity over quality."
The vehicle settled down, gently dropping onto its deployed landing gear with painstaking precision just two meters behind the General. And then powered down, it's roar cutting back to a whine before dying out.
"This," Roland continued with a flourish. "Is the Magical Autonomous Drone, Combat Assault Platform. The MADCAP. "
"STEALTH!" Fox snapped her fingers. Everyone turned to her suddenly. "It's like we're living in a movie! Cooper was watching that movie every night for a month straight!"
Vita got the next word in.
"So your concept of anti-drone combat strategy... is another drone," she sighed. "And one based on a fictional design."
"When in Rome," Signum began.
"Yes, and no," Roland smirked. "The gadget drones were, quite frankly, stupid, remote controlled cannon fodder. With all the predictable features that comes with them."
"It better be as smart as the one in the movie if it's going to do any good," Vita was starting to get extremely sarchastic.
To her remark, the General grinned, and that made Crash's mind click.
"My god, you mean Cooper..."
AI expert, Aircraft... Appearantly nobody else was making the connection. Not even Fox. Crash simply blinked, then started to grin as the pieces finally slid into place. He started to laugh at the simplicity of it all, getting worried glances from the aces.
"About time I got the respect I deserve," Cooper huffed, rotating his arm as he made his way past the group. "I spent over eight-hundred hours on this part..." He walked up to the MADCAP and stopped short, and cleared his throat.
"Good morning EDI."
"Good morning Cooper," the aircraft's electronic voice resonated back in a deep, soothing tone. Vita and Fox froze stock still in place, the other aces didn't hold nearly as much shock. Nanoha was smiling herself.
"It's an Intelligent Device," she concluded.
"Close," Cooper turned around. "This, is many times more autonomous, the Enhanced, Device, Intelligence. EDI for short."
"My god," Fox turned to Vita. "He even managed to give it the same name without making the acronym sound stupid. Even the same VOICE... We really have been dragged into a movie. Did we do a dimensional transit while I wasn't looking?"
"Someobody, shoot me now," Vita returned.
"That could be arranged if you feel it necissary," EDI resonated. There was a click and two slots opened near the top on each side.
"Let's not and say we did," Cooper interjected before the fireworks could begin with him in the same area. "EDI, Weapons SAFE."
"Affirmative," the aircraft responded. There was a click as the two slots they had seen shut themselves.
"The idea is to fight drones," Roland continued his showmanship. "But to fight them with a drone that makes them look like cheap immitations. EDI has the same advanced AI-2 system the Maidens downstairs have. Only oriented with less personality, and more combat skill. He- Yes, it's a he, runs on an internal magic generator, and uses Magical Ignition Sequence Supersonic Combustion Ramjet Engines, or MISSCRAMJETs... as propulsion. A hybrid engine using conventional thrust with magic as its fuel."
"For tactical purposes," EDI toned in, "I'm equipped with twin Cerberus II class gatling cannons that rate class B energy delivery per round during maximum rate of fire. My internal bay can be loaded with up to eight mission specific modules ranging from duplicates of device functions such as the buster system, to onboard advanced electronic warfare suites. I am capable of sustained Mach Four velocity, and a dash speed to hypersonic at Mach Five."
Fate and Nanoha shared a glance.
"There's also a stealthed coating," Cooper smiled. "EDI's pretty much invisible to conventional sensors, and difficult to detect on modern TSAB equipment, it would take an orbiting cruiser to paint a good fix on him."
"What about... going on a near homocidal rampage across Midchilda?" Vita took a stab.
"Eh?" Cooper asked.
"Remember what happened in the movie?"
Cooper had one of those 'Smartest Idiot' moments, looking at the short knight was a completely blank look. Under his shirt, Key duplicated a sigh.
"The Lightning Strike," she supplied.
"OH!" Cooper smacked his fist in his palm. "No worries! I spent two-hundred hours on that ALONE! EDI's got a full suite of philisophical and moral judgement to ball back upon. No misunderstanding rougue fighter planes around here!"
"I am fully aware of the flaws my fictional counterpart had," EDI resonated. "I can assure you I will not be causing any situations which I would willingly endanger innocents."
Hayate looked at Vita, who looked at Fox, then at Signum before they each exchanged glances with the rest of the people assembled. There seemed to be a silent confirmation before they all looked expectantly at Roland.
"Good enough for you?" he asked.
Vita shrugged. "Works for me."
"Good," he nodded. "Now, about this field test..."
He turned to Crash.
"What have you got for me?" the pilot asked.
"Well, I was thinking, the standard course, two-hundred point checklist, performance envolope evaluations... stress tests..."
Cooper watched as the General continued to count off the various field test protocalls, took one glance at the group, and then interrupted.
"Hey, hold up!"
He walked up to Roland's side and spoke in a hushed tone with him. They conversed quietly for several seconds, occaisionally gesturing towards the guest aces as they did so, looking up twice before finishing with a nod to each other.
"On second thought," Roland stated. "A new plan. How about a combat test instead? Two Aces VS Madcap Mock Battle? If you ladies don't mind of course," he motioned to Fate and Nanoha.
"Hah!" Crash couldn't help but voice his thought. "Funny. No offense to Cooper's engineering skill, but how is EDI going to stand a chance against the TSAB's Aces of Aces? Seems a little unfair if you ask me."
"Of course, which is why you'll be helping EDI," Roland stated.
"Ah," Crash nodded. That seemed like a logical way to- ... Wait a minute.
"OBJECTION!!!"
Everyone jumped as Crash nearly shouted.
"And just where was I in this decision making process? Me? Fight an ACE? You've got to be KIDDING!"
"You can handle it," Roland stated, shaking his head. "It's not like we're having a real life or death battle. It'll be a timed mock battle, survival in your favor."
"In my favor?" Crash asked. "I'm not exactly combat trained, and you want to put me up against combat ACES?"
"Actually, it's my idea," Cooper stated. "I did a serious overhaul of your device and armor system, I want to see how the modifications perform."
"Won't be much of a test if I get creamed in the first two minutes," Crash snapped. Roland shook his head.
"You lasted eight minutes at six to one odds against the imfamous NUMBERS combat cyborgs," Roland took the same stab that Fox had at breakfast, and dragged that sentence out loud and clear. He silently cursed the General bringing that point up as all of their guests looked straight at him with extreme scrutiny they hadn't been using up to that point. "If you can last eight minutes in a six-to-one scenario against the likes of them when they had all the cards, you should be able to manage okay in a two-on-two mock battle."
"That was pure luck I lasted that long," Crash argued, he was getting annoyed at the look of sympathy coming from Nanoha.
"NONSENSE," Roland stated in his most authorative tone. "Luck had nothing to do with that fight, it was a combination of good armor engineering, and your own potential that kept you alive until support arrived. And you KNOW it."
Fox suddenly cut in, changing the tone of the conversation.
"You're not SCARED are you," she asked. Damn that devilish smirk she was using.
"Scared?!" Crash asked her. Actually, yes, but not scared, TERRIFIED. But his pride wouldn't let him say that though. "I'm not scared!"
To Nanoha, it was like watching two children argue, and reminded her of earlier times. Oh god, she wasn't even into her mid twenties and already nostalgia?
"Then why don't you accept the challenge then?" Fox asked. "It's perfectly alright if you're scared. Fear is the body's way of telling you what you're doing is pretty STUPID after all. But you're an idiot, so you should be immune to fear by this point."
Fate was more inclined to note how the girl was baiting Crash, but still making fun of him and taking stabs at him throughout. If this kept up, the end result was certain.
"Maybe because I know a worthless cause when I see one," he responded.
Vita knew a fail arugment when she heard one. After all, she'd spent the better part of several months living one. Fox wasn't going to let him get away with it, certainly.
"So you're a worthless cause now eh?" she sniped.
Ohhh... a blow to pride was one thing Signum definately recognized when she heard it.
"I didn't say that!"
Hayate, having had to argue with hundreds of people to get her Riot Force Six unit set up, knew Fox had Crash cornered and on the ropes, all it needed would be a coup-de-gras to finish him.
"Sure sounded like it to me," Fox shrugged. "Crash is a Worthless Cause and can't so much as challenge an Ace."
"I am NOT a worthless cause!" Crash shot back.
"PROVE IT!" Fox snapped.
"You know what?" Crash asked. "I WILL!"
He spun around to Roland.
"Challenge Accepted!"
Behind his back, Fox smiled and gave the General a knowing wink.
"It's settled then," Cooper took the initiative before Crash's brain could catch up with him enough to retract his statement. "I need you to go ahead and Set Up so I can explain a few things."
Crash looked over at the engineer.
"What, NOW?" he asked.
"Unless you can think of a better time," Cooper shrugged. "Tomarrow, next year... Yes NOW!"
Crash shrugged.
"Ohhh... kay. Battery, status."
[PRIMED]
The deep authorative tone boomed from the dogtags that were around his neck.
"Here goes nothing," Crash began. "Engage."
[ENGAGING]
'CRACK!'
There was a flash of light as the device came online, initiating the standard barrier jacket formation sequence. When it cleared, just about everyone took an involuntary step backwards. In place of Crash was... well. The best description was a six foot tall, metal clad robotic line backer. From head to toe, armor, armor, and more armor. It was a dull looking matte gray color, and for barrier jackets, it wasn't exactly eye-catching. But it had a certain air of menace to it just by standing there. It had to be the shoulder pads. At least, that was Nanoha's thought.
"Something's different," Crash's voice came with a filtered sound from the helmet. "I haven't actually done this in about a month and a half, what's different?"
That voice, Nanoha recognized it... where?
"I've modified the armor chasis from the prototype," Cooper stated, walking up to crash. "Improved motion tracking dynamics should make it feel more natural to move than before. I've also dumped the active reconfiguration mechanism for the different armor variations. No more specialized air superiority mode on the fly, and no more ultra-heavy artillery modes for the Multiform Rifle. While the versatility was pretty good, it was too much extra weight and was straining the system. Instead, I've optimized the intermediate mode, added some new features, and made extended mission modes into a modular arrangement."
"What kind of features," Crash asked. That filtered voice was REALLY bugging Nanoha.
"Well," Cooper started counting on his hands. "The Heads Up Display now has improved auto-tracking features and display modes for environmental conditions, such as digital terrain overlay during night-time or limited visibility operations, even full infrared. I improved the power to mass ratio by optimizing the actuators, and I installed a specialized energy management system called the Mobility, Attack, Defense, Active Management System, or MAD Active Management System."
"Don't devices already do that kind of thing?" Signum asked. "It seems redundant."
"Yes and no..." Cooper turned to the girls. "Active Mana Management is usually done on mental instruction and concentraition efforts of the mage, and relayed through the device. The MADAM, pardon the term, provides hyper-fast, automated management of mana to three areas in the blink of an eye in ways not even natural instincts can recall. It will alow the mage using them to direct ALL of their energy to a specific area, exactly when it's needed, rather than trying to compensate for rather slow human mental processing speed by dividing it. I've made it split from the Device AI as an active subsystem that can be turned on and off so that it doesn't become a handicap if there's a malfunction. When active however, it frees up a mage's concentraition by doing this task for them, allowing them to worry more about what they're actually doing in combat."
"What about that Armor?" Vita asked. "Don't barrier jackets and standard defenses work well enough?"
Cooper examined Vita with an inquisitive eye, the girl was known for smashing down defenses.
"This is an Olympian Powered Armor Exoskeleton," he stated. "It has all the standard defense measures of a barrier jacket, but also solid armor made of reinforced tungsten carbide and titanium alloy. If an enemy is strong enough to break through a barrier, a shield, and the barrier jacket standard defensive response, he'd still have to deal with two centimeters of solid armor plating if it were a chest shot. The best part is that it's magic forged, so it's triple density thanks to the precision in which the molecules could be layed out. I rechecked it twelve times to be sure... these plates are FLAWLESS. No cracks, no fatigue, no stress weakpoints. I LOVE Magic Forged steel."
"Isn't such a suit extremely heavy?" Shamal asked.
"Very much so," Cooper nodded. "But I accounted for it." He slapped one of the large shoulder pads. "Passive Anti-grav." He slapped the lower back. "Active flight enhancement Grav Drive. Just like cruisers, but smaller and less powerful. The mage wearing still has to use flight magic, but at least the armor weight is mostly nullified."
He then took one step back.
"For all intents and purposes, the exoskeleton turns him into a tank. The physical strength of a combat cyborg, without having to replace half his organic body parts to do it."
"Anything else you changed?" Crash asked.
"No, you're pretty much the same asside from what I said..." Cooper informed him.
"AH!"
They looked at Nanoha.
"Now I remember!" she smiled. "Just after the auction, you were under attack while trapped in a communications jamming barrier over the ocean."
Inside his helmet, Crash furrowed his brow.
"How do you... wait... What's you're callsign?"
"Stars One," she smiled.
"Lightning One," Fate added her own callsign, remembering exactly what Nanoha was talking about.
Crash visibly slumped.
"Great..." he mumbled. Unfortunately for him, it came out filtered and clear. "I'm fighting the people who saved my ass by beating the people who could kick my ass... It was nice knowing me."
"Don't worry about it," Shamal smiled as she walked up and patted the helmet he was wearing a few times. "If they accidently hurt you I'll be sure and take good care of you."
Crash slumped more than before. He couldn't decide if entertaining the thought of the pretty blond doctor taking care of him was a nice fantasy, or suicidal. This thought was even more difficult because he couldn't figure out if Shamal hadn't just done that to mess with him. Recalling who managed to talk him into this, he looked over at Fox.
"For the record, you're a demon."
Fox smiled a not so innocent grin.
2008-03-25, 06:26
Author
You call Teana's skills at the end of Strikers Basic? Err that's a bit of an understatement don't you think? She's a proficient all-rounder with at least Intermediate skill in both Ranged and Melee (if not more).
