The Pilot of Wrath

Chapter 34 – Samples and Ideas

After a grueling hour of debate with a 30-minute self-imposed time out, Matt and his class came to an agreement. They would call the general population that wanted to fight more than create classers and the creative group would be crafters. None of the people in the room really knew if this would stick but decided to try and spread it around. They also came to the decision to reserve naming rights for more specific groups in the future.

Matt did have to break their hearts a little bit because he had already picked a name for their group, or rather a classification. They would be known as commandos, a name they all liked since they had some background context from using Matt’s codex. He began outlining his plans but kept any commitments vague, not wanting to establish a culture that relied on a military hierarchy.

Speaking to how each team should be able to operate independently, Matt was sure to include as much of the philosophy behind these sorts of units. Since this was the first time, he ever heard of a mechanized force acting in such a role he proposed a strategy that he thought would work well. He wanted them to act as shock troops when supporting a larger mission.

If normal commando units were to infiltrate and disrupt, then Matt would just turn that up to 11 so to speak. He outlined what he wanted to both teach and establish for the teams and then the squads. Since he was running with only 2 squads, it would be a little trial and error but thankfully, there was a nice big high value target for them to test themselves against. He was also sure to touch briefly on the idea that they might not only fight beasts in the wilds, but also might have to contend with other sentient beings. Matt was sure there would be fighting between cities at some point but had no idea the scope of the conflict.

Matt spent most of that first day just getting to know the commandos, finding out that they had arranged themselves into these teams naturally. The teams themselves were balanced, besides one pilot each, they also had someone with healing capabilities which was apparently pretty standard amongst what they referred to as the corps. When Matt asked why they called it the corps, he was told that Construct Corps sounded cool and that was about all the thought that went into it.

As he dug further, Matt found out that they had quite a wide range of affinities in just this group. Besides the healers having a light, nature or similar concept for an affinity, they had the full host of elements. Jess had an earth element affinity while the oddest one was Tran, one of the non-pilots, with a conceptual affinity for sound. Matt asked how that worked and then got his first of many roadblocks thrown in his face. Tran said that he never tried and didn’t have a skill to help with it, the problem was the others had similar stories.

“I gotta admit, I have no idea what to do about that.” Matt said to the group. “I just got mine at my last class skill selection and haven’t really used it. I don’t know how it works or the limits of it. So how about we table that until we have skills to test and can work as a group?” A room full of shocked faces looked back at him. “What? Can’t expect me to know everything, I’m figuring out this System stuff just like you.”

Some thoughtful looks and nods of agreement from the commandos had them moving along to the next thing Matt wanted to talk about. He was very curious about the equipment and weapons that the other classers used. “Alright folks, I want to see what you are working with for gear. Pull out what you normally wear and use on our patrols.”

Nobody seemed to mind, and they began neatly stacking things on tables. Armor, weapons, load bearing equipment and some smaller items were all laid out for Matt to look at. He was slightly disappointed in what he saw. While the group was still fresh, and the system new, almost none of the gear was anything besides the starting equipment. What wasn’t starting gear was crudely made, most likely by themselves.

Picking up one of the rifles, Matt began to inspect it more closely. It was a rather long weapon, with a barrel somewhere around a meter in length with an exposed hammer and wood stocks. There was a lever on the bottom that would open a sliding block to feed the single 12-millimeter projectile in. The barrels appeared to be rifled thankfully but he assumed the sights graduated to 1500 meters was a bit hopeful. Another item Matt noticed was the mounts for a bayonet, which he later found on the table, which almost doubled as a short sword itself. That would be redundant given the variety of melee weapons on the tables, swords, maces and an axe were all present.

The revolvers the pilots had were also large bore, gate loading devices made of brass and iron firing a slightly smaller projectile. Once again there was an odd ball thrown in, this time from a demon pilot who went by Lisk. He had a double barrel shotgun, like he just wandered off the set of a western movie. Matt found out he had used a similar one on his home world. What was interesting is that he had 3 different ammunition types.

“So, what do you have here?” Matt asked, looking at the three different hulls, each had a painted color band near the rim.

“Well, you have two different types of shot, small and large in the yellow and red ones, respectively. Then the blue one is a solid ball of lead, not the most accurate but packs a punch.” He coughed a little as and muttered. “Not much use for the small shot when every game animal shrugs it off.”

Matt set the shells back into their carriers and looked back to Lisk. “Do you prefer a shotgun? Or is it a matter of picking what you know?” Matt had plans but they varied on his answer.

“If I’m being honest, I like the shotgun. Its payload is very versatile despite its very limited range.” Lisk said after thinking for a moment.

“Great, I’m going to get you set up with Tobias.” Seeing the odd look from Lisk, Matt elaborated. “Our planet mastered the shotgun decades ago and we have a bunch of designs not only for your weapon but also for the ammunition.” This seemed to excite the demon and Matts hand was gripped then shaken with more force than he would have expected from the short and slim man.

The armor the pilots wore was about the same as the non-pilots in that it was a breast plate and upper leg armor with not much else. They all had rugged leather boots and gloves that looked like they could take some slashing damage but not much more. One thing he noticed was that the brightly colored tabards had disappeared, replaced with more neutral colors in brown or tan.

“Hey Jess, what’s with the tabards?” He pointed to the folded garments before continuing. “If I remember right, you guys all looked like knights at one-point, bright colors and heraldry.”

“That was at the direction of the previous commander, he was insistent on ‘proper uniforms. That guy made us all wear those bright colors at the cost of all our sheets and bedding.” Jess was properly heated by the memory. “He came in acting like he was hot stuff with complete disregard for our culture and history.”

“Yeah, pretty much said it was his way or the highway. Franklin tried to lobby for us even though he is not from our world, just like the demons.” Tran said, adding on to what Jess was saying.

Matt was taken aback by the news. Not that Alfron was a dick, that was well established already, but that the demon’s and orc’s weren’t from the same world as the others. “Wait, what species or races does your world have?”

Jess was quick to answer. “Well, we have humans, dwarves, elves and what are collectively know and beast folk. They are the cat, wolf, lizard and a couple others I haven’t seen in our city yet.” She looked to Lisk. “The demons are similar to what our stories and legends told of but completely different in personality and ability.”

Lisk laughed and shook his head. “We don’t eat souls and wage war for fun, but it was a wild first few days, having to get past preconceived notions about us.” He saw Matt’s questioning look and explained a bit more. “So, we have similar cultures around being social, communal areas like baths, parks, restaurants and such. We had a different name for our peoples, but we are collectively called demons by the system, despite having a lot of variances in races.”

“Good to know.” Matt nodded and returned to his perusing of the equipment before having the group head outside and asking the pilots to give him the details on the constructs. They all went out the bay door and Jess was the first to offer up hers to inspection. Matt had her climb in so he could see exactly how it all worked. He was impressed but not in a good way, in more of a ‘how does this thing still work’ way.

The constructs had narrow and shallow seats and held the pilots in by straps that suspended them in place. The construct moved by the pilots actually moving their limbs in their own harnesses, every part was articulated in excruciating detail which explained why getting in and out took so long. The other part Matt learned was how they had an enchanted pane of glass that pulled down and attached to their heads to give them a view through the constructs vision slits.

“It’s a wonder you have been able to get anything done in these things.” Matt said to the group as Jess climbed back out and they moved to inspect the cannon her construct had. She had lowered it to the ground and opened the action, briefly showing how it worked. It was a carbon copy of the rifles he had seen only several times bigger. I wonder if they are black powder or smokeless.

“What does yours look like?” Jess asked, clearly using her relationship to ask more probing questions for the group. “Is it really so different?”

Matt gestured toward his mech and started leading the way there. “Much different, my limbs don’t move the mech and everything is done through my neural interface.” He pulled down his collar and showed the slightly discolored spot over his spine. “This device is surgically implanted and then intercepts and interprets the movements into the construct. It has other functions but mostly its for interfacing with armor and communications.” Seeing the look on their faces, he decided to show them and had Van open the hatch. “Anyone want a ride?”

A couple hours and several laps around the city later, Matt had explained how everything worked in his mech and given some rides to the other pilots and commandos. He had put his tablet in the rear slot so the passenger could see but had to adjust the rear overlay to almost off since it was making them nauseous. Jess had looked at him with a newfound respect after her turn and he opened it up when she asked how fast it could go. As it turns out faster than he though at nearly 80 kph when running flat out on level ground.

They had decided to take a break for the day and get some dinner before calling it a night. The food was good and this time they had a table to themselves, chatting mostly about how things were different and what they wanted to see come to the city. As it turns out, they were universally looking forward to their new accommodations.

The builders had gained a lot of levels in recent days and had been able to branch out, raising more buildings at once than they had only a week ago. They were still focusing on getting the infrastructure up and running but nearly a quarter of them had started on housing. Apparently, they had decided to make the homes to order, letting the future occupant decide the layout. Matt thought that was generous of them but also quite forward thinking, make it right the first time.

“I’m just wondering what they have marked out from between the points.” One of the commandos asked, pointing out the window to the gap in the wall where the internal points came together.

“That’s part of my plan.” Matt said and immediately continued to give detail. “All that space will become a giant fighting compartment or at least most of it. We have so much tech that could be built but we would never be able to employ it as the walls are now.” He paused, reconsidered and then amended his last statement. “Well, that’s not entirely true. We could employ mortars and artillery from inside the wall but nothing direct fire.”

One of the other commandos blurted out his question before anyone else could manage to. “So, we are not going to have to sally from the wall? How will that work?”

“One step at a time. We have a long way to go before anyone needs to consider the strategy of buildings that aren’t made yet.” Matt had to laugh at the dejected looks from the group. “I think I’m going to call it a night. I will see you all in the morning back in the training room.” He stood and made his excuses, paying the tab on the way out. As much as he wanted to stay, there was still some work to be done and he made his way along the street to a small shop he saw on his way to the restaurant.

The following day Matt met all the commandos outside the forge, and greeted them as they trickled in. He had arranged for some guests to come and visit them that morning and wanted to make sure the group was all accounted for. His plan was going to be moderately expensive but mostly time consuming. Finally, the last people he was waiting on walked around the corner of the building and he ushered them in.

Getting some off looks from the commandos that had gathered, Matt explained who his quests were. “Alrighty, listen up folks.” The quiet chatter stopped, and everyone turned to look at him, so he decided to introduce the human man standing just to his left. “This is Emnath, an armorer by trade and a mage by class.” He then pointed to Sari, standing a little off to his right. “That is Sari, she is one of the enchanters in the forge and… and I have no idea what her other class is.”

Picking up so Matt wasn’t left floundering Sari completed his sentence. “I am also a mage. Though the class hasn’t had much opportunity for growth.”

“Thanks Sari.” Matt gave her a small smile and a nod of thanks before turning back to his class. “Your weapons suck, and we already have a solution there, but your armor is also lacking. So, these two will be helping to get you some better protection. I am providing materials and the funding, but the priority is the non-pilots since they don’t have a construct to protect them.”

Matt then produced the hide of one of the steel flank boars and flopped it down in the open area of the room. “This is the base material so all we need is to get your preferences for armor type and some sizing. After Emnath gets that info, Sari will put some enchantments on it.” The commandos were suitably impressed after identifying the shining skin and one expressed their concerns.

“We cant afford to pay you for this, Matt.” Bea-Lan said, and she looked to the rest of the group. “This material is E grade and that’s not counting the services of having it made into armor.” She looked genuinely worried about what he would demand for a price to this service.

Having planned for some objection, Matt was prepared. “Don’t worry about the cost. Emanth is being paid from the cost of the party sharing and the material was going to be wasted on me since I have my own armor.” He then looked to Sari. “The enchantments have a different price that we already came to an agreement on.” Sari just tilted her head and smiled back at him, clearly happy with being able to study his mech in detail.

Jess spoke up next. “Since they are getting sized for armor, what would you have of us pilots?”

“Oh, I have plans for you too. Come with me.” Looking back to Sari and Emnath, Matt called back over his shoulder. “They are all yours, and they can find us after your done with them.” He was taking a little liberty there. Emnath had been over the moon at the opportunity to work with the material since it was far higher value than anything he had before. The problem was, he was a little too excited and had some, unconventional ideas about fashion and armor. Matt ended up making him promise that there wouldn’t be tassels, fringe, bells or any other nonsense on the armor pieces.

The 4 pilots scurried off after Matt as the armorer began rubbing his hands together and muttering under his breath. Matt led them all over to the line of constructs, specifically the one owned by Lisk. The demon had given him an idea for a solution to a problem that had been worrying him about the fight with the bugs. How to overcome the accuracy issue for the construct’s weapons.

Just as Matt had thought, Lisk’s construct was also armed with a shotgun, double barreled at a bore of nearly 70 millimeters. The barrels were short compared to the other constructs and their 50 mil bores but that wasn’t a problem for him. He asked Jess to open the breech on her construct’s cannon and then looked down the inside of the barrel.

“Perfect!” Matt said as he looked at the gently twisting grooves in the barrel.

“What is perfect?” Jess asked as she shared a nervous look with the other pilots.

Matt pulled his head out of the breech of the massive gun. “I was hoping that your construct weapons would be similar to your personal ones. The rifling is a very slow twist which will help with a plan I have.” He explained as he walked back. Grab a couple rounds for your constructs weapon and being them to the lab, we are meeting with Tobias. “You too, Lisk.”

leading the group to where Tibias usually lurked when in the forge Matt found him sitting behind a desk, reading something on his tablet. Tobias looked up as they entered directing them to set their burdens down on one of the tables and walked over to join them.

“So, this is your bright idea?” Tobias said as he looked at the giant shotgun shell next to the slightly smaller cannon rounds.

“Well, partly. I was hoping that we could make rifled slugs for the shotgun and also get some explosive payload for the normal cannons. If my little twenty-five can have it, then these fifties should be able to as well.” Matt told Tobias of his hopes as he poked at the shotgun shell that was as long as his arm.

Tobias sighed as he looked up. “That’s actually a pretty good idea. Given what we know about their ammo pouches, it should replicate too. We just need to pair the new ammo. It’s kinda like pairing a Bluetooth device but involves runes.” Taking a breath, he then said some of the sweetest words Matt had heard. “The machineguns are ready, and I have a sample for your specialty ammunition.”

Matt smiled and clapped his friend on the back. “It’s just like Christmas!” he shouted. This afternoon was going to be very exciting for him and the commandos. He decided to ignore the other pilots asking each other what Christmas was.