The Pilot of Wrath

Chapter 56 – Busy Bees

The city of Vil’ Krad was a regular hive of activity in preparation for the upcoming city defense event. Earth shapers worked on the walls and the land around the city. Crafters made armors, weapons and other items. Alchemists were making every sort of potion they knew how to with all the ingredients they could find or buy. Enchanters crawled over everything from equipment to buildings, setting wards and enchantments on nearly every surface. Then there were the pilots.

The pilot corps was being used as beasts of burden. The superior strength and mobility made them perfect for emplacing gun mounts and helping to install defenses. They also expanded the perimeter around the city, pushing the trees back another few hundred meters, getting at least a full kilometer in every direction.

Outside the city, on what had become the official testing and firing range, the citizens all practiced with their weapons. Everyone was out there at some point, regardless of if they had the more modern equipment that the forge was making or if they had their original class weapons still. The most intense training was being done by the crew served weapons.

There had been mortar teams training with every type of round that they had available and also working with the new forward observers. The FOs were of the scout class archetype but had several skills that translated quite well to the task of directing fires. They also worked with the other ‘big guns’ which were, of course, the 90-millimeter cannons which were being put in the walls.

One of the guns hadn’t been installed for exactly this purpose. It sat on a temporary mount and the crews all cycled through the weapon system and learned how to operate it. Thankfully, they found the weight of the shells trivial due to stats boosting strength, allowing them to be easily handled. They were engaging targets set lengthwise down the valley out to the maximum range of 2000 meters. Odds of them engaging a target at that range were slim but possible.

Closer to the walls, a crew was going along and flattening out the ground around the city. They didn’t make it a perfectly flat and level field, but they did remove all the terrain that might allow for something to sneak up to the wall’s unseen. They also prepared the entrance ways to the city, making sure that the path in and out would be easily accessible to pilots in case they needed it.

*****

Franklin was in his office within the newly expanded hub. It wasn’t exactly expanded in any meaningful way but there had been armaments added to the roof. He didn’t know the specifics but heard the drilling and saw the dozens of machineguns being carried up. Rohm had even been talking about setting a depression limiter, which Franklin had no idea of what that meant. He was even more confused by the cables that were being dragged all over the place and run to a new cellar below the hub.

Currently Franklin was watching the progress in real time from his city development display in his menu’s. He could get a bird’s eye view of all the changes going on in the city infrastructure. The display didn’t allow him to see people, or at least it didn’t yet. He was hopeful that it would be an improvement in the future as it would be of immense help in these situations. According to his new patron, it would only improve in function with time.

When the display was zoomed out, Franklin could see the borderline terraforming to the surrounding plains and hills. Grass was being wiped out and small bumps being flattened. The trees had been, once again, pushed back in every direction. The cut trees had rapidly been processed into tidy lengths and dragged inside the walls to act as reserve building material.

Franklin then scrolled over the walls and toggled a view that showed a wire frame representation of the network of tunnels and fighting positions. Every usable meter of the walls had been carefully planned and plotted to give the maximum amount of defensive firepower that they could manage. What drew his attention was the mortar pits dug around the hub. Each was made in a strange way that allowed them to fire in almost any direction with a little maneuvering.

Overall, he was feeling pretty satisfied with the current progress and was confident in the measures they had taken. He spent another few minutes trying to memorize the new layout before he pulled up the System screen that showed the remaining time before the start of the event. In just over a week, they would be embroiled in a fight for survival.

*****

Venri smiled in satisfaction at her latest concoction. She had put out the requested quota of resource potions, making quite a few extra in fact. She didn’t mind since it was still giving her class experience even if she didn’t get much satisfaction out of it. What did satisfy her was things like the swirling blue liquid that currently sat within her cauldron.

Vaporizing Essence of Incineration (Uncommon)

After bottling, this concoction becomes violently reactive when its container is broken. After being reintroduced to the air, the liquid turns into a fine vapor that then ignites and burns everything trapped within its confines.

“Another variant in the books.” Venri said to herself as she transferred the brew into a dozen large glass bottles. She had gotten some guidance from her new patron on how to innovate with known ingredients. She was currently working on area of effect type concoctions but had also made some progress with her projectile treatments.

‘Excellent craft my prime’. The voice of her patron echoed through her mind.

“Thank you master. I stive for greatness at every opportunity.” She replied before getting the mental impression of a nod and a smile. She didn’t know how Matt was able to handle an even more powerful god in his head. No, that wasn’t right, she knew it was because of his nature and his origins. She was trying very hard not to put the man on a pedestal and project her misconceptions onto him.

After washing out her cauldron, she then looked to the special request that she had gotten from Tobias. She had never heard of these parachute flares but was pretty sure that she could make a solid compound that put out intense amounts of light when burned. She thought she might be able to use some of her previous creations for an ignition device and looked to the Vaporizing Essence that she had just made.

With a few adjustments I should be able to…. No, that won’t work. But maybe. Yes, yes that would do it. She thought as she reviewed the requirements and then looked at her current ingredients. She began creating another brew just like what she had made with a few alterations. The entire time she was focused on how the end result would work with the fuel source Tobias had specified. She hadn’t ever worked with phosphorus of any color, let alone white.

*****

Nix carefully moved her etching pen across the mount for the larger artillery piece. Every line was meant to be as precise as possible, but she was having a hard time due to the angle that she was working on. The platform itself was made of several parts and all bolted together. That was the main issue she was facing. The scale of the item was hard for her to adjust to after spending so much time on small items. Just as she finished, she heard a familiar voice drifting into the cave like hole in the wall.

“…seen my friend? Nix is her name. She is a human about this tall.” Sari was saying. She must have gotten an answer because shortly after the demoness popped her head into the room Nix was in. “Oh, there you are.”

“Hi Sari.” Nix said.

“Hey. Are you about done? I need some help with the light things that Tobias said go on top of the wall.” Sari asked.

“Just a minute. I have to finish up the movement enchantments on the traversing mechanism now that the platform is done.”

“OK, I can wait for a few.”

Nix watched her walk away, likely annoying the people installing the other parts of the fortification. She worked quickly but carefully to ensure the enchantments would be correct the first time. She didn’t want anything failing on her watch. After a few minutes, she was done, and the script glowed bright white before dimming and fading away.

Leaving the tunnels for the artillery and other guns, Nix found sari exactly where she thought she would be. Sari was watching a couple of the forge staff but not exactly from a respectful distance. She had parked herself right in the middle of their tools and parts. She likely thought the view was best and didn’t give any consideration for their personal space or being in the way.

Nix sighed and walked over to collect her wayward friend. Demons were an odd species to begin with, but Sari was a special case. Few of the people in the city would tolerate her well and that’s why Nix let her latch on. They were even roommates, sharing a house near the forge. The arrangement would allow Nix to keep an eye on Sari, hopefully preventing her from getting into trouble with someone less tolerant.

“So, what is it that we are doing?” Nix asked after her and Sari began climbing up to the top of the wall.

“Oh, Tobias made these light things. Remember that elemental stone that Matt brought back a while ago? Yeah, that is being used as a power source for the lights and few other things.” Sari explained. “These cables all run back to the hub where Tobias set up a sort of battery using the stone.”

“That seems… like its overkill?” Nix said, not sure how to frame her thoughts.

Sari shrugged. “Yes, but then again what do we know?”

“True, Matt and Tobias seem to have strong opinions about these things.” Nix hesitated for a moment. “Have you seen them actually fight?”

“No, but I hear there is a recording of some sort from Matt’s trip where he found the trial orb.” Sari said cheerfully. “Think we can watch it? It should be available on the projection tables.”

Nix wasn’t sure if they should. It seemed like prying to her, but at the same time… “Yeah, lets see if its there. I saw how the other pilots and the regular classers fight but I want to know what makes them so confident.”

“Did you hear about the guardian monster for the mines?” Sari said, leaning in to whisper in a more conspiratorial manner. “It was a level 40 something and Matt took it on by himself. I heard that elf pilot, Jess, talking about it.”

The enchanters ended up continuing their gossip as they started working on the light fixtures being installed facing both in and out of the city. They were just one of many teams working on projects atop the walls but were left to work alone, nobody wanting to draw the attention of Sari.

*****

“What are we doing?” Rohm asked Matt as they climbed up into the tunnels within the walls.

“I told you, Rohm. We are going to do the actual preparations of the position. We cant just plop a gun here and expect that everything is covered. We need to set firing limits for both left and right maximums. There would ideally be a sector sketch but since we made the terrain completely flat, that’s not really a problem anymore.” Matt explained.

“Huh, never would have thought that much about it.” Rohm still didn’t seem convinced. “Why does it matter if they have designated sectors of fire?”

“You did use the codex, right?” Matt asked.

Rohm took a moment to think then it seemed to come to him. “Oh, I get it now.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Its so strange to use the knowledge of the codex. There is information that I know by heart but can’t recall how it was learned. I have to literally think about the codex to get the information.”

Matt looked over to his felid friend. “That sounds very strange. I don’t know what it is like since I made the damn thing.” Then he muttered under his breath. “Maybe Tori will have something like that for me?”

“Hmm, what’s that?” Rohm asked.

“Oh, nothing just my idle musings.” Matt said. He didn’t want to divulge too much information about the gods, if he didn’t have to. Matt wasn’t of the opinion that others couldn’t handle it, but he didn’t want to open that can of worms for no reason.

They arrived at the first 90-millimeter gun position and climbed in through the armored door that gave access to the cannon plus its support guns. Matt saw a crew was already in there getting familiar with the weapon. He could also hear voices of others coming down the hallway. It seemed that the assigned teams were already doing their own prep work.

“Lord Matt, Commander Rohm.” One of the gun crew called before bowing. The rest of the crew stopped what they had been doing to wait respectfully.

“Knock that shit off.” Matt said with a wave of his hand. “We are interrupting you, so please feel free to go about your work.”

The first person to speak was apparently going to act as spokesperson since he stepped forward while the others went back to familiarizing themselves with the turret. “Is there anything I can help with?” He was a human of middling height with a dark complexion but had odd orange irises.

Rohm clearly knew the man. “Relax Westal, we are just setting up the guns for their sectors of fire. Is there anything you guys need?”

Westal evidently hadn’t expected such a relaxed conversation and took a moment to respond. “No, we are just trying to figure out all the controls for the gun and the damned radio.”

“What’s wrong with the radio?” Matt asked.

Westal flinched at the sound of Matt’s voice almost like he had forgotten that he was there. “N-Nothing, I am sure they are fine and its just our own incompetence.”

Matt just pushed out calming influence though his aura, a skill he was getting rather handy with. “How about you tell me what the issue is, and I can try to help?” Matt noticed that the others in the room also seemed to relax a little.

“Of course.” Westal said with a nod and led them over to the back of the ‘turret’ and Matt got a good look at how the guns were mounted. The design was like a tank turret but there was no armor, instead just a large open top basket that the crew could sit in. The gun was mounted centrally with the loader and gunner on either side. The commander sat above and behind the gunner like a traditional turret.

This turret had a lot more room than its earth counterparts. The extra room wasn’t only because of the lack of armored box but also because the ammunition racks were all replaced by a single cabinet design that sat right next to the loader. Matt climbed in ad found the radio set next to the commander’s position. He quickly saw what the problem was and fixed the preset frequency.

“Hey guys, come check this out.” Matt said to the crew and Rohm. “Actually, grab the others from the MG positions.” One of the crew ran down the hall to get the rest of the classers. After everyone was assembled, Matt gave a quick class on how to use the radio. He showed them how to set the frequency to the 2 ‘Nets’ for the general command net and the local one that would allow the MG teams and the gun team to communicate.

“Rohm, can I ask you to do something?” Matt asked after he was done. Getting a nod, he continued. “Can you make sure the rest of the teams are set up for radios?”

“Yeah, I got it covered. You good here?”

“I think I can handle the rest of it on my own. Thanks for the help.”

Rohm left to handle the rest of the fighting positions, leaving Matt with the crew for this position. “So, how much hands on time do you guys have with the guns?” he asked the classers still standing around. When he saw a bunch of unsure looks, he just sighed. “Alright, grab your shit and lets head to the range.”

Immediately they all broke away to collect their equipment before following Matt like a bunch of ducklings following their mother. They thankfully found the range area empty and had free use of the training guns still set up. Matt was going to do this as group training since he didn’t have the expertise to do detailed training on the 90.

Matt showed them the ins and outs of the heavy MG. He also showed them some of the tricks he learned to quickly make adjustments and keep the gun running at all times. The ammunition was thankfully generated in boxes that were ready to go and wasn’t loose or just an uncontained belt.

“Here you can actually adjust the rate of fire.” Matt was pointing to a threaded rod that you could only see with the backplate taken off. “By adjusting the timing nut and the headspace, you can get the rate of fire up a couple hundred rounds per minute.”

“Why would you want to do faster or slower?” One of them asked.

“Good question.” Matt said, pointing to him. “Slower would help conserve ammunition and can be better for suppressing where higher rates of fire can help to catch enemies in the open. If someone is moving between covered location, you might get lucky and get them with a lot more lead in the air.”

The crews were nodding along to Matts words, so he wrapped up the demonstration with the adjustments before moving to the big gun. “Ok, so I don’t have practice with this method but it’s something I overheard from old tankers.”

“Uh, what are tankers?” Westal asked.

“Doesn’t matter yet, they don’t really exist in out world.” Matt waved the question off. “They used similar guns to this which is all that matters. Now, you guys go ahead and get in. I want you to fire 2 rounds as fast as you can.” Matt explained the first part to them and watched them climb into their positions.

Matt was impressed, they actually followed a proper gun drill. Westal called out a target and gave the fire order with the gunner and loader firing the first round followed by the second around 10 seconds later. Matt figured it wasn’t so bad for an inexperienced team. He did notice how the giant casings were ejected downward and through a chute so they wouldn’t clutter the turret basket.

“Alright now what I want you to do is the same drill, but gunner will be holding a second round. Immediately after the first ejects, just plop that one onto the breach block. The round will be sucked in, and you can close the block.” Matt explained what they were to do and watched them set up.

This time the loader was sitting with the near meter long cartridge in his lap. BOOM. The gun fired and recoiled. The block opened and the case ejected down and out of the way. The loader didn’t miss a beat and flopped the second shot on the breach, where it was sucked up buy the bore evacuator. The breach block slammed shut and the gunner fired a second round. Less than 2 seconds Matt counted.

The crew was grinning at each other like a bunch of idiots, but Matt had to rain on their parade. “So, as you can probably figure out, this only works for a quick double tap. You cant do this with a third round.” Seeing the looks on their faces, he brought them back to the reason they were out there. “Lets run a few more drills and see how we look by the end of the day.”

Matt didn’t have much time, but he was sure going to make the most of it and already planned to have the rest of the crews back out the next day to practice.