Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 44: Shop Talk

VROOM!

The speeder bike zipped down the road. Steel moved the right handle forward slightly and it turned to the right slowly. Then he did the same with the left. Then he straightened it and there was no sway.

He slowed and did a sharp corner turn, which he felt as it continued slightly in the same direction, but the majority of its forward momentum went directly to the direction he was turning. The friction air brakes were working perfectly.

He pulled up to the gate which was manned by the Bird's Nest squad today, he waved at them and the gate opened up as he slowed on approach. His speeder was not roaring loudly, it was quietly humming. The loudest noise it made was the wind moving through it, but there was nothing he could do about that.

Zipping past the gate he navigated the base slipping past several vehicles but slowing down as he approached his garage. A smirk appeared on his face as he saw a vehicle parked outside of it. He came to a rolling stop in front of the pair standing in front of him.

"Cadet Steel, I tried entering your garage but it does not appear to be possible. How have you so thoroughly locked up your garage?" Miss Romav asked as stood cross-armed.

"Quite easily, how can I help you, Miss Romav and Mister…" Steel looked over at the man dressed in robes and noble attire.

"Draxus, I am Earl Draxus. We are here because there are rumors you have experimental military weaponry in your possession. I order you to hand them over to me immediately." The Earl ordered while standing tall and proud.

Steel raised an eyebrow and looked at Romav.

She sighed, "he made the same order of Mendez but he laughed him out of the room. Then the Earl paid me a tidy sum to bring him to where the experimental weaponry is held." She shrugged her shoulders.

Steel sighed and shook his head, "I have no reason to even entertain such an order. You are neither my commanding officer, nor are you in the military chain of command."

"But I am a noble of the Vexical Empire and the military has to protect my assets at all-" Steel interrupted the Earl with a laugh.

"No I don't, nor does the military. What we do have an obligation to do is keep you nobles in line. You wasted a trip so I suggest you head back home to Talus Prime." Steel advised as he waved his hand in a shooing motion.

The Earl became red in the face and stormed off toward a vehicle that had someone dressed nicely standing by it. Probably a butler or a driver for the Earl.

"You know he will make official complaints and decrees to try and stunt your career." Miss Romav added as they watched the vehicle quickly pull away.

"'Try' is the key word there. If he focused on besmirching my name instead of surviving the civil revolt even his own factions of nobility would toss him to the curb. I suppose if he survived he could report it, but I have a feeling by that point it will be too late." Steel shrugged as he slowly rode his speeder bike into the garage as the door opened.

Romav followed him in, "I heard you have personally repaired most of the mecha, with the only exception being mine."

"Correct, I have already looked over your Mecha." Steel parked his speeder and powered it down. It slowly lowered itself to the ground, "the modified Walker, Trojan, and Knight Mecha are all space worthy but your Demigod-class Mecha is a whole 'nother beast. If I did not know any better I doubt it has had a proper full-spec maintenance job since it came off the manufacturing line."

"Oh? How could you tell that? Most people only did repairs on the armor, weapons, and mecha skeleton." Romav was impressed as she walked into his garage. He was part of the Vexical Empire, but it appeared he was extremely knowledgeable about mecha.

Steel smirked and looked at the woman, "machines and I get along exceptionally well."

"What?" She seemed to think about it as she looked around the various devices situated around the room. She could see what looked like Vexical infantry armor but the back had a sheath and a spot for a larger weapon instead of two spots for larger weapons. There was another that looked like a cannon of some kind. Then there were parts for the hover bike that he had built, mostly spare parts that were scattered around. A moment later she understood, "it is part of one of your nanomachine talents or abilities."

"Correct." Steel answered as he moved over to a holographic projection table and pulled up the schematic of the Demigod Mecha. "Actually I learned quite a few things about directed energy weaponization."

"Is that what the cannon over there is for?" She asked, nodding at the unfinished tube weapon.

"Yes it is a prototype, once it is complete I will miniaturize it. Then it will be far more useful. But I will have to find a substantial powersource in order to make it viable." Steel verified, "I am actually about to go out and meet your daughter for dinner."

"Oh I thought you two weren't dating?" She asked quizzically.

"We aren't." Steel shrugged, "but we will still talk and stuff. By the way I have the day off tomorrow so…"

"Don't bother my daughter in the morning?" She asked.

"Correct again, are there any modifications you want for your mecha?" Steel asked as he typed on his console. He was making notes on the Speeder Bike, he did not notice anything that he really needed change. But he would make alterations for a commercial version which he would give to Hellion Corporation and the military for a tidy sum.

"No, I am not too much into modifications. Just the standard full repair kit. You know…" Romav trailed off as she looked at the mecha. "One of these days I am going to teach my daughter to pilot a mecha, when it comes time to get her own will I be able to hire you to make her one?"

"I actually do not think so. Of course I know if you get really buddy-buddy with the military then I could help arrange the creation of a mecha," Steel explained as he made a note to come up with prototype mecha designs.

"Very well. I heard your spacecraft are all being modified as well. Apparently your commanding officers are unopposed to experimental weapons and modifications on the fly." Romav sat on a chair and looked around.

"Yeah, but I have a feeling it is a newer development. Probably an initiative of the current emperor or high ranking military officials. Apparently the engineering division has had the orders for a few years but they really got into it when the war started." Steel explained as he saw Elena walking toward the garage.

"Really? Hmm… I don't know how much you know about military protocols but I have worked in several different administrations and nations, what you just talked about is unheard of." Miss Romav explained as she adopted a thinking pose.

"Well, at least not in any of the human societies." Solisa appeared suddenly, surprising both Miss Romav and Elena who had just walked through the door. "Several societies and races have all developed a similar mindset but they all have the same outlook. I know Cadet Steel knows the answer to this question, but what type of society do you think I am talking about?" She asked, swimming around Miss Romav and then Elena.

Steel rolled his eyes as he went to busy himself. "What are you?" Elena asked as she walked forward a bit more.

"I am an artificial intelligence, more specifically I am Specialist Technician Solisa. Currently assigned to Cadet Steel at this base. In the event of operations or defensive action I will provide technical assistance." Solisa explained, "Now your answers?"

"Umm…" Elena was the first to recover, "A society like that would be cultured with an artistic mindset, so it would usually be a peaceful one that values strong defense."

Miss Romav seemed to have gathered herself after the shock of meeting Solisa, "no it is a military culture and society, where everything revolves around fighting and adaptation. I am guessing the societies you are talking about are the Victorium?"

"Correct on both accounts, I am in fact talking about the Victorium. Or rather most of the races within the group." Solisa answered.

"Wait? How does that make sense?" Elena asked with a frown, "why would their creativity be a reason for military efforts and not a result of their artistic development?"

"Actually the opposite can be true. But there have only been two races in the records I have who have developed in that way." Solisa swam over to Elena, "however, for military societies to keep their tactics absolutely superior in order to maintain their stance for a long time they either need to have a disposable population that they can use as combatants or develop creative outlets and stress release that is productive."

"So the Vexical Empire, or rather the emperor, is developing the nation into a new form of society. But that makes no sense, with nobility the existence of-" Miss Romav stopped mid sentence as she looked over at Steel who sighed and nodded. "How have they not noticed?"

"They have." Steel answered, "the Tyranus Society."

"I am confused." Elena cut in.

"Do not think about it too hard," Solisa told her. "In order to calculate and understand the macro developments within the nation you have to be incredibly intelligent or have plenty of experience under your belt."

Elena frowned but held off on responding to the insult. Because this Solisa was right, she did not yet understand what they were talking about.

"This is troubling but many things are starting to make sense." Miss Romav sighed before she walked away, "I am leaving now. I have a few things to do before I can go home. Have fun you two!" She called out as she walked out and hopped in her vehicle.

Elena waved goodbye and then turned to Solisa, "how long have you been here?"

"Since the first week. You do not have to worry, I turn off the cameras when you and Cadet Steel get funky~" Solisa wiggled her body.

"That- I- what?" Elena blushed. "There are cameras in here?"

"Of course, it is an experimental lab. It was a gift in lieu of payment and promotion for Cadet Steel's efforts on Waterswan-2." Solisa explained as she swam over to Steel, "by the way all attacks where the Victorium were present have ceased. I know you have the day off tomorrow but you should prepare your gear just in case, I have already told the base commander that I believe a consolidated attack is about to commence."

"Understood, give me a moment Elena. I will get my armor and weapons prepared then we can leave. We will be taking my Speeder Bike." Jace explained as he walked over and started setting up his armor in a stand then he put his Pyre-21 in a hip holster and hid it under a coat.

"Okay… you sure you don't want to stay in, just in case?" Elena asked in surprise as Steel clicked a button on the Speeder Bike and it started up.

"No, if I did that every time I was worried about an attack I would never get a break." Steel explained as he waved at the bike, "you are driving."

"What?" Elena asked in surprise as she walked up to the bike. "Well… then," she hopped on to it, "how different is it from a wheeled motorcycle or bike?"

"The controls are different since the propulsion system is different. The controls are all by hand, the handles control speed and direction. You can set a speed limit with the console in the center there." Steel pointed at the space between the handlebars where electronic gauges and boxed numbers appeared.

"How about the breaks?" Elena asked as she leaned forward in the chair and got comfortable.

"The emergency brakes are not immediately stopping. But the functional brakes are the triggers on the handlebars, which are similar to bikes. Pushing the right handle forward or putting pressure on the break on the right handle both turn the vehicle to the right. Same with the left side." Steel explained as he pointed at multiple things. He clicked something on the console and the max speed limit went up to 10 mph. Then he climbed onto the back behind Elena, "now in order to reverse you pull both handles back, it only reverses straight back."

"That is so confusing, why is it set up like that?" Elena asked in confusion as she processed his directions.

"Because it makes sense to me." Steel shrugged in response.

"Haa…" Elena pulled the handles back and they sped backward, almost pulling her out of her seat while also quickly putting the handles forward. "Wow! That is a quick speed up."

"Because it relies on air friction instead of ground friction." Steel nodded.

Elena sighed and then re-oriented herself and Steel wrapped his arms around her waist. Then she turned away and moved toward the entrance of the base then she turned up the limit as she got more comfortable. "You use your feet to maintain stability and stay in the seat. That actually makes a lot of sense."

She began getting into it as she drove and sped up. She was almost getting better then Jace was at using the speeder.