What's Junk? (The Mech Touch)

[lost star]

"Who the fuck attacked us?!"

That was the general question on everyone's mind. Getting assaulted was one thing. Getting assaulted by Second Rate mechs in this area was another thing. That was both extremely expensive and something that was only possible through government backing. This cost was compounded by the stealth mechs. Stealth mechs were always something that people hid the designs on. You didn't get the good ones out in the public domain because that would just invite easy counters. Stealth mechs were always best as hidden daggers. There were a grand total of two possible states in the sector capable of an operation like this.

It was obvious which of the two it was. It was also equally obvious that it didn't matter. The mechs had been stripped of identifying markings and they weren't in general databases. The pilots and attackers, all women, were all dead and likewise lacked markings. It might have been obvious, but there was also just enough deniability that the Hexadric Hegemony could disavow the entire operation. Even the stealth mechs were just unusual since the primary designer wasn't in the public databases.

"It's almost generically standard Hexxer tech." Bolt told Lilly as he looked over the ruined machinery. "They use a specific set and number of bolts in all their works, frequently to the point of causing structural issues."

"Seriously?" The expert asked as she patted the Fu-Dog next to her.

The new defensive 'mech' had rapidly become a favorite of the mountain. So much so that Bolt had made two more of them. (With spirit consent of course.) He'd done some refinement on the design and added a few small infantry scale weapons to complete the setup. They could actually work in the mountain indefinitely if the population kept active due to various reasons, but would be utterly useless outside. This was more than acceptable and made them a very useful new defensive measure.

"Yes. They're obsessed with the number six and hexes. So much so that you could probably tell if I showed you a few bits." The designer snorted. "It also doesn't matter that much. I reported it to Bubbles, and she's going to try to get something done, but officially the MTA has no statement to make."

"So that's it then. They try to kill us and we just have to take it?" Lilly's pat turned into a grip that fortunately couldn't hurt the metal monster she'd been stroking.

"There will be something. It's just going to take time and likely not specifically pay us. There's a reason I'm looking through this aside from the obvious." Bolt responded quietly and with very real anger in his voice. "They killed a lot of good people. We both have seen that shit happen and can almost accept it. It was going after the kids and families that really pisses me off. That's when you go for the eyes and nuts and make sure they bleed."

"Ya think ya can get proof?" Lilly asked with wide eyes.

"Not quite. Ya see, a lotta stealth systems aren't public." Bolt explained with a shake of his head. "There's a lotta reasons, but mostly cause the big guys like ta keep it close to the chest. I'm gonna figure it out and then sell it to the Fridays. It will net us some money, and give them a big middle finger too."

Lilly stared at him. "I don't get it?" She said.

Bolt chuckled. He didn't blame her. It required a fair bit of cultural context. The surface of it was really simple though. "Basically, cause I'm a guy, they'll hate me fer proving that their tech is something I can understand. Little rat like me getting his grubby hands on their stuff? That's like Satan himself walking up and dragging his balls over their face."

"Seems like a good way of getting them pissed off more then." Lilly observed the big problem.

"What are they gonna do, try ta kill us harder?" Bolt then nodded. "You are right though. It's just that while the MTA might not be doing anything right away they did inform me that they've taken steps to prevent this from happening again. If some more Second Rate mechs are dropped in they'll have more than words."

In point of fact, Bolt was fairly sure that the MTA would nail the Hegemony to the wall with great relish if they tried something so blatant again. Bubbles hadn't outright told him to hurt them, but officially had the MTA's blessing to do whatever he could do in retaliation. The Hexxers were just shy of being put on the MTA's formal shit list. Something like that would be outright crippling to the nation.

"It ain't blood, but I suppose it will have ta do." Lilly eventually said before sighing. "I'm going to see about kicking up morale a bit."

The young man nodded at his wife. They didn't do elaborate funerals and things like that, but there was going to be a lot of drinking over the next few days. Lilly would fit in better on that end than hovering around him. Morale wasn't actually that low though. They'd fought and won against Second Rate mechs while also gaining a new expert. They had lost enough that it hurt, but it was still a win. They had pulled off something near impossible in the conventional sense.

What Bolt was doing was just another near impossibility. Trying to decipher secrets from destroyed mechs was hard. Trying to do it from things that had been deliberately destroyed was harder. Trying to do it from a level above him would have been impossible for anyone else.

Bolt did have several advantages though. This was probably the pinnacle of what his personal design ethos was meant to do. He had also already worked with Second Rate tech, and even had a small grounding in First Rate technology thanks to MTA lessons. Furthermore, he had spiritual nonsense!

The last part was something he was putting together on the fly really. It felt right. Every since he'd returned from the Stone Shaper world he'd been studying and doing small tests. It was time to try something unique and completely his.

It started with the normal recovery.

Picking apart and identifying the parts of the mechs. All of them were pretty damaged. The self destruct was pretty good at totaling the big parts of a mech. It wasn't meant to really destroy everything though. It couldn't. Mech were weapons of war. They needed to be able to take damage. Self destruction was contrary to that. Having a good self sabotaged option meant you had a mech that could be damaged.

He had four stealth mechs. All of their internals were fried in various ways. They were fried in various different ways though. If you took all the working parts and merged them together, you had about... Half a working mech.

This was actually a good sign from a salvagers perspective. Very typically you had to pull from something like five or six broken mechs to get something that could run, and that was if you got lucky. Typically you needed a good dozen or so. Inoperable mechs were inoperable for a reason after all. Good designers made sure they took a lot of damage before they dropped. You typically had one or two good parts from each wreck, unless the cockpit had been pierced. (Then you had a ghost mech that was both lucky and unlucky at the same time.)

After he finished pulling out the good parts from the wrecks Bolt moved onto the next part. This was basically filling in the gaps and where a lot of reverse engineering struggled. Since Bolt wasn't trying to get a fully functional mech he could skip a lot. He didn't care about the reactor for instance, and that was probably the only thing he couldn't recreate. Reactors were one of the biggest physical separators between tiers, and self destructs used them to destroy the rest of the mech typically. He lacked everything, from materials to expertise, to remake one. Which wasn't really a bad thing. If he could make a Second Rate reactor with his materials and setup he wouldn't be making Third Rate mechs!

His restoration wasn't like coloring the blank spots on a coloring book. There were significant chunks missing in the mech. That was fine. Bolt very carefully started to pick at the feel of the mech rather than the form. He defined the designer. He took the feelings they'd put through the mech, the hopes and dreams, and pulled them out. He 'devoured' them, though that was being dramatic. There were just trace elements to go off. Paltry base thoughts and impressions that were hidden under who'd made the mech. It gave him information though, and let him almost see the one that had created this design.

The core design system wasn't made by a master. It was made by a senior at best. The entire pattern reeked of indoctrination. The person that made them was dedicated to the state above all else, and this mech had suffered for it. Sequestered away in the dark, alone, and with only their superiors as points of contact. She had scribbled away and learned not because she wanted to, but just because. There was no soul or passion here. Only absolute and mindless dedication. A slave in everything but name. The design was crude, unimaginative, and souless.

Bolt had never met the woman who'd designed this mech. He didn't know her. He couldn't. He really and genuinely pitied her. He'd also put her down like a mad dog if he met her. This was seeing scribbles on a wall written in blood. The words might have been valid, but the writer was not well.

Once he had a feel of the designers mindset he was able to almost finish the design. He could identify what decisions she'd made and where she'd placed important components. The sound mufflers were in the ankles, a bit above the joints there and threaded through the soles. The vision obscuring was actually a set of shield emitters in several points, also nearby the joints. The radar obscurement was mostly paint and physical design with a side of emissions around the back.

Bit by bit Bolt identified it all. He picked apart the mech's strengths and weaknesses. He verified how it worked and what the flaws were.

Neither the technology nor the mech were particularly innovative. Stealth was never just one system. It was multiple ones. The tricky part was always in coordinating it all in one package and keeping ahead of the local sensory package. His people had lucked out that scent had been a low priority for this stealth system.

Despite the flaws, this was a mech he couldn't really replicate. As a designer of Third Rate mechs, Bolt could tell that a stealth system was functionally impossible for Third Rate. There just wasn't enough room to do it. Even this mech had struggled with it. There had been several very critical tradeoffs to make it work.

By this point Bolt had mostly recreated the mech. It was still missing a few parts due to his lack of the appropriate exotic materials, but that was fine. He had notes. If he were to hook it up to a reactor, the mech would be functional and have about ninety percent of it's original performance. He had already written up an analysis and a breakdown of everything about it.

Bolt didn't feel satisfied though. He had a near rebuilt mech and he felt more frustrated than anything else. He debated a moment internally before he decided he needed to do something more with this knowledge. But what?

He couldn't make a stealth mech at Third Rate. Well, he could, but it wouldn't be able to do anything. The power requirements alone would cause the thing to be barely functional. Perhaps if he cut most of the functions and did the bare minimum, but that would take thought and likely cost far too much to be worth it.

Bolt sent a message to his father. His family would contact a few neutral brokers and see if there were buyers out there. The Friday Coalition should be interested in both the near intact stealth mech and the swordsman. Getting that sort of thing always helped in war and even if they didn't want them, someone else would.

He still felt frustrated.

The young designer sighed and tried to put it out of his mind. He'd figure out something later. Just like he had to figure out how he was going to get a senior designer or above to help with Pup's new expert mech.

 

[lost star]

Bolt tapped at the design pad. He then tapped some more. He took a deep breath. What should he do? What should he do?

He lacked inspiration. He also sort of lacked a crucial factor. He couldn't make an expert mech without a senior or greater help, and he didn't have that at the moment. This wasn't going to happen in the future either. Designing felt pointless with that in mind. He turned the pad off and began to wander.

The mountain hallways had not changed aside from a few scrapes here and there from the new Fu-dogs patrolling. The things had decided that the best way to defend the place was continuous patrol. When they weren't recharging at their little shrines / recharging stations, they were roaming the halls. There were a few complaints about that, but most people seemed to like the security it implied. The spirits in the mechs loved it as well. Something about the purpose and duty combined with the reverence was strengthening them.

Bolt was reminded again that he still knew so little about, well everything. It a heady feeling that washed away a lot of his current frustration. There was so much to learn and discover! It was like when he was first learning. The horizons were endless and the possibilities infinite.

"How do you work?" The words reached him before the designer could see the speaker.

The voice was familiar and around the corner. A few steps later and they were in view. Gadget had almost crawled up one of the Fu-dogs and was poking at various things in an attempt to plot out the machine's functions. She looked more than a little frustrated as she climbed down and brought up the blueprint on her comm. The Fu-dog looked as amused as a machine could look at the situation.

"Ya aren't gonna figure it out that way." Bolt called out.

"Brother!" Gadget blew out a frustrated breath of air. "How?!" She gestured emphatically to the guardian.

"Well first, quit bothering the war machine." The older tech said with a small grin. "Then I suppose yer old big bro can tell you a few things."

"Nothing about it makes sense." The young girl complained as she slowly followed his lead.

"Course nothing about it makes sense. We're missing like half the equations for reality." Bolt shot back before he amended himself quickly. "No, more like... Hmm. How would I describe it really?"

Gadget gave him a sour look as he continued to dither. "You are supposed to be explaining things not confusing me more."

"I'm trying, but I haven't done it verbally yet." The designer led them into his designing room and took a seat. He also had a few things he had to keep secret and non-verbal. Which was good practice really. "Let's go with this. So far as I can tell there's a bit of a second layer on reality."

"Are we getting into FTL physics?" The girl asked almost eagerly.

"No." Bolt said before wincing. "Though maybe? I'm really just an amateur. Can't call myself an expert. But basically there's the physical, and a layer alongside it. The powers that be call it psionics. I call it spiritual. The name doesn't matter so much as what the stuff does. For all I know, FTL uses some of it."

"So magic." Gadget concluded with far less enthusiasm.

That got a chuckle. "I think it's called that too." Bolt said while chuckling again and continuing. "But the core of it is that something is created when living things live, die, think, and have other emotions. Really hard ta define cause it's not visible and humans can't touch it at all. Tis what gives a lotta aliens freaky special powers. Humans got nothing compared ta them."

Gadget stared at him. "We got nothing?" She asked incredulously.

"Reality is haves and have nots. Humans as a race have absolutely no sense that feel it and no abilities that touch that energy by default." Bolt advised back while taking a seat and revving up a few of the displays. "Doesn't mean we can't use it. It just means we need to do more than squishing our faces up and wishing hard. Humans make tools. Ain't like we can see heat fer instance, but I can bring up a heat camera in a few seconds." He did so as an example.

Gadget frowned at the screens. "So why lecture? Give me the tools and let me try!" She half asked and half demanded while making grabbing motions.

"Still workin' on that part. The Heart System I have in mechs does a lotta it right now." Bolt explained and very carefully didn't even hint at his guesses on why it worked so well. "That stuff only works cause o' the human element working with mechs. Making something the average person could use is a lot harder."

"That explains why you used that crystal in the blueprint. That doesn't really explain everything though." The young girl took a seat of her own and pulled up the Fu-dog blueprint.

"Yep. That's part o' my latest project. The hint here is why I prefer spirit as a name for all this jazz." Bolt replied with a small grin.

Gadget was smart, she picked it up immediately. "You put ghosts inside. How?!"

"Special sauce!" Bolt replied back and chuckled as his sister looked for something to throw at him. "One moment." He grabbed a few materials he kept in a side bin for models and such.

This was actually going to be something he needed to do at some point. The primer he was thinking of had to speak of spiritual senses and such, but how do you show that to someone that has never felt it before? Bolt had thought about if a fair deal. Humans couldn't really do things the way other races did. They were firmly grounded in the physical realm. They could only do a tiny amount.

Yet, hadn't he already proved that tiny amount was enough? You just needed some guidance on how to develop the right tools and senses. Everything else would come from being a human. One didn't need the strength to move a mountain. They needed a shovel. Or a bulldozer.

Humming to himself Bolt crafted a small Rubix Cube. He then used tiny, tiny bits of exotics to each of the faces. He then added a small verifier. Once the cube was in a proper position the thing would flash. With all of this done he colored all of the sides a singular color and gave the new toy a few twists.

"Ok, this is the first step. Getting a sense of spirit." Bolt set the cube down. "Exotics have a tiny trace of spirit in them. Everyone has a different way of feeling that spirit if they develop it. You need focus and intent to develop it." He pushed the item to Gadget.

The girl frowned as she grabbed at the cube and felt it with her fingers. "You do know you can solve these blindfolded right?"

"If you can think o' a better tool let me know." Bolt said back before giving a shrug. "Once you can sort of feel it, ya can start to interact with it. It takes a lot of will and a lot of effort. Remember humans got nothing so we can only do the bare minimum with just our will." He had more than a normal human, but he still didn't have a lot. "I think that is more than enough to do whatever we need. Let me know when you get a sense and I can give you what I have written up, or do some tutoring."

"I want both." Gadget practically demanded as he fingers flipped the cube around. "You owe me big brother time."

"Really?" Bolt asked with a grin. "And when did that get established?"

"Just now. You need a break from those icky mechs anyway." The cube in the girl's hands flashed which drew a frown. "I might need a different puzzle. I'm going to remember the solution by rote."

"I'll brainstorm some. And icky mechs?" Bolt laughed softly at the description. "Still hate em?"

"Yes. They might be better than fighters in the sand war, but I don't like them anyway. Too many things that don't make sense!" The girl's frown increased. "They use spirit nonsense too don't they?"

"Mine do. The rest, might use a little bit. I don't have facts there." Bolt's answer was particularly noncommittal. "A lot of of it is likely very secret and not something to pry into."

"Of course." Gadget set the cube down with a sigh as he enthusiasm clearly dropped. "I'm going to go think on this ok?"

"Please feel free." Bolt said back with a small wince.

She was a very smart girl who picked up a lot of context. Some of it was about things he had only guesses on. As much as he hated that sort of thing, she was also smart enough to know why secrets stayed secrets.

Bolt spent a few minutes looking up how her lessons were going once she left. The girl was racing along. Which was both good, and bad. Good because she was a brilliant young girl. Bad because they were running out of general educational material and would need to let her specialize soon. The problem was what? The CFA ship building course was expensive, and she wouldn't use half the tech.

Perhaps he should see about a mentor? But who? How?

Bolt sighed and pulled out his comm. His expensive, First Rate comm. "I know I'm speaking with an automated program, but I don't suppose you could spare a moment to recommend something for my sister? She wants to get into making space ships and I really have no idea how to help. Perhaps I should talk with the Rim Guardians on it, but I'm not certain that's the best option. They'd what, arrange for her to be mentored with some Third or Second Rate shipyard?"

It'd be a good career, but it felt so limited too. Bolt wished he had better answers. Nothing he could find fit what he wanted really.

Now that he was thinking about it though. "Look at me, asking for something here already." Bolt laughed at himself. "I shouldn't be. She has a good life ahead of her no matter what. Is this what I'll feel like when I have kids? This is how those young master tales start isn't it? Asking for special treatment. Haaa. If you review this, sorry for even asking." He turned off his comm.

He'd figure something out alone.

 

[lost star]

Bolt spent the next few days in something of a rut. Nothing serious enough to stop work, but he since he wasn't able to make progress on Pup's new expert mech he felt more than a little stuck and lacked the desire to really design. He switched to review instead and looked over a few other things.

The most prominent future project that would progress his ability was creating a mental computer. He actually had the components for that now in his opinion. The mental 'engine' and the 'programming' and so on. He even had the ability to make an interface if he wanted to. His skill still felt lacking though. He wanted to get more practice making things under his belt before he started a few prototypes.

In light of that need he decided to work on Mech-halla while he tried to throw off his malaise. He made it a point not to change much. He just monitored the alterations the spirits were doing and carefully adjusted one or two minor things here and there to see what happened. It was a cross between practice and debugging. While it was neither needed nor significant, it did give him valuable practice.

Eventually work called and he had to try to focus. Bolt's inquiries about selling the near-intact stealth met got decent enough offers that they accepted them, and the family got a decent chunk of change. Enough to actually afford an expert mech flat out with money left over. Which was nice, but still didn't fix the Senior issue.

The only solution they had was to work with mercenaries again. Getting a decent senior to assist was expensive. Even a Third Rate one demanded premium money. This was even more expensive when one accounted for travel time. The mech would have to be assembled in the mountain, and getting to it would take a lot of time. It hurt his frugal soul to contemplate hiring someone. Bolt was almost ready to do it anyway before Bubbles sent him an unusual message.

"You can do it?" Bolt asked incredulously when he got a call setup.

"Yep." The woman said with a nod. "Consider it an off the books apology from the MTA. Officially I'm doing an authorized personal project with a person of interest."

Bolt honestly didn't understand. MTA designers were expensive, and for good reason. Bubbles had enough expertise to do First Rate mechs and a wide enough education to help with everything. Bolt would put her better technically than most masters in Third Rate nations breadth wise, and maybe even rivaling some Second Rate ones. She might have been a recently raised Senior, but she was still extremely valuable and rather wasted on Third Rate mechs, even expert ones.

"Look hun." Bubbles explained almost kindly as she saw the look on his face. "Think of it like the MTA getting some payback and don't over think it."

The young designer nodded slowly. "All right then. I suppose this simplifies my decision." He noted.

"Glad to help! Now we'll have to do most of this on a secured line and virtually. I am quite busy still." For a brief moment the designer looked very tired before she continued. "But I'll be there for the construction!"

Bolt nodded and then ended the call. There wasn't much more to say.

Instead he started up the designer and decided to think. What would suit Pup the best? Upgraded a Cerberus model was possible, but Bolt wasn't quite sold on that. Nor was Lilly really. She was the only one with real opinions on what would be best. Pup had absolutely none aside from it being a dog mech.

According to Lilly, Pup was very good at dodging, middling at commanding, and his weakest talents were in offense. His aim was poor for an expert, and he tended towards evasive maneuvers rather than aggressive offense. Cerberus had been a decent fit for him simply due to his best talent being working with sensors. The young man had been very good with that before, but as an expert he could pick out half the mechs around the mountain in a few seconds.

Bolt figured that sort of skillset would have been tricky for another designer. They probably would have had to just slap a few sensors on a standard expert mech and called it a day. Maybe some of them would have tried to emphasize the command aspect, but that would have been a waste. Pup was specifically good at small unit tactics. Command experts did battlefields as a whole.

He had a different idea.

First he needed to be sure it worked though. At least at a small scale. Bolt reached for his supplies and made a small horn. Nothing particularly big, nor fancy. Just a horn with a very minor bit of spirit in it. He then blew it. Once he was done he adjusted the spiritual construction and did it again. He was looking for one particular 'note' so to speak.

After a few tries he managed what he wanted. A bit of feeling at the edge of his senses after the horn was blown. Perfect for what he needed, and confirmation that he could do what he wanted to do.

With that information Bolt started to design with renewed enthusiasm. He began with the mech frame. This one was more on the lightweight side. He was angling towards the light side of medium. This was going to be a hunting hound. One that found the enemy and directed others towards it.

Cu Sith.

That was the name of the dog he was going for. A hunter with a supernatural bark. It was one of the more obscure Earth legends, though that didn't mean much. Earth legends had been done and redone many, many times. The MTA and CFA both wanted everyone to have similar cultural touch-stones, so they encouraged repeats and made the legends freely and easily available.

Midway through the preliminary sketch Bolt frowned at what he'd made. The initial thought of sleek and fast didn't feel fitting with what the pilot needed. Pup was noted to be good at evasive maneuvers, but he'd piloted Cerberus. That mech was not a speed focused mech. He switched things to a more heavy build and changed the frame alloy to something that could support weight. Nimble was going to goal mobility wise. Fast would be an afterthought.

Also, it was a tradition that Rats kept what they killed so he needed the room for the next part.

Bolt very, very carefully added a few stealth systems he'd stolen from the Hexxer mech to the design. Something for the paws, and some minor baffling. This was explicitly not going to be a stealth mech. It was going to be a mech that wasn't easy to spot. There was a significant difference. The mech would not escape detection. It would simply be harder to spot from a distance. This focus saved on the power budget somewhat but still made it rather tight. Especially when you added the increased sensory suite that Bolt wanted to include.

The designer paused and tidied up everything. He then added some of his spiritual notation. Cu Sith was basically a ghost hunting dog, crudely and simply put. Spirit construction worked best with all encompassing stories so to speak. So far everything felt right, but the weapons and resonant components still needed to be added. It was best to have Bubbles give her input before he went beyond the general outline.

Bolt spent the next day and change working on getting a list of the supplies needed and double checking his math before he got the updated blueprint. He was quite gratified to see the changes and also quite thankful as well. The woman had improved the power budget significantly, and then gone right up to the edge of it.

This was a good thing mind you. Some of the less useful stealth systems had been removed, but the sensory systems had been improved tremendously. More importantly, the weapons had been added, along with the resonant materials.

Cu Sith would have two. The first one was a sort of explosive 'bark'. More akin to a close-range shotgun, it was a combination of explosive ordinance and pellets. It would take awhile to reload, but it was mostly a weapon used when you had an opportunity than a primary weapon. One shot, then move away.

The primary weapon was not one that Bolt would have chosen. The tail deployed hovering explosive mines. Surprisingly simple and primitive, they were extreme area denial rather than a pure offensive weapon. Once detonated they'd cause a small electromagnetic field that could cause damage if entered. It made sense though. Pup was not an offensive expert. He would not go into battle and duel the enemy. He was meant to be a force multiplier. Identifying the weak points and then enabling his allies.

Most surprising was the resonant material. Bolt's spiritual notation had designed something around a hunting call of sorts. This was a hound that would call in the hunt. He'd initially designed it to simply broadcast a sound and have it backed by spiritual power. The resonant material Bubbles had proposed would reinforce that still further. The material was a relatively obscure one that enhanced sound. Combined with everything else it had potentially unpredictable effects. Bolt was fairly sure it would reinforce the power of that he was going for. He just didn't know how!

Unknowns were usually a problem in design. In this case they'd have to tolerate it. Everything they knew said it would work out in some fashion. It was just impossible to predict the exact end result. Bolt hummed to himself in thought before he took the time to get Pup's Crystal Heart. Then he tried to commune with the spirit and show them the blueprint in hopes that he'd get more information.

The back and forth that followed wasn't so much a matter of words so much as concepts. The spirit didn't quite know technology. It did know mechs. It did like the blueprint. It felt as if the blueprint would fit both it and the pilot. The spirit knew for a fact that it could control the result once placed into it and make it beneficial. The spirit could say no more than that.

A positive response like that wasn't exactly what he wanted, but it would have to be enough. Bolt tidied up everything and sent the preliminary blueprint to Lilly. She'd check with Pup and see what needed to be adjusted, if anything, and after that they'd need to do sims, then more passes depending on sim results to eliminate obvious flaws and problems. After that would be building.

Bolt did make a side note that the spirit was significantly stronger and different now. Expert ascensions gave them a lot of power apparently. Useful to note, but not surprising. It was another point of data to add to the list.

 

[lost star]

It was very silly, but this was the first time Bolt was making an actual expert mech from scratch using human tools. Well, almost from scratch. He'd specifically salvaged some parts from the mech that Pup had damaged to add to this. The Second Rate materials he'd selected were relatively small and inconsequential, but it was the principle of the matter! Pup's most notable 'kill' was going to be part of his new mech.

"Interesting order of operations here." Bubbles noted as she examined the plan for assembly and tapped at one part in particular.

"We've found earlier is better for the Heart system." Bolt explained. "You got no issues with the aides?" He gestured to the men arranged to the side.

"More hands is fine. I far more used to automation, but you've noted it helps your style significantly, and I can defer to your expertise." The Senior responded before pulling her hair back and tying it off. "Also, no offense, but I'm using personal time for this. I want it totally done fast so I can go get a bubble bath going."

That got a chuckle from Bolt. "Here that boys? We're gotta finish quick so our lovely lady here can get her relaxation!" He called out.

The other techs both laughed and cheered as they immediately began to move parts. These were the best techs they had in the mountain, so they barely needed directions from either Bolt or Bubbles. This was very useful because it freed them up to verify and identify any possible flaws and what changes had to be made in the final assembly. This had to be very, very carefully done. He and Bubbles had gone over the design several times, and there was precious little space for alteration at this stage. Cu Sith's design had extremely tight tolerances.

Yet this was required to get the best result. A mech was a complicated thing. Even First Rate mechs run through thousands of sims still had teething issues that would only come up in activation or construction. As weapons of war they could tolerate flaws, but that didn't mean you could ignore them. One benefit of the method and his people were using was that you could verify the potential pain points and address them before the mech was finished.

Shaving down a bit of metal here, adjusting the wire position there, even the order you assembled things could help make the best product possible. Bolt and his family knew mechs like the back of their hand. They knew how to account for all of that. Sometimes Bolt didn't even need to tell them something. They pointed it out themselves.

Midway through Bubbles actually took a step back and watched them all. "You know, we've spent a lot of money to cut out this part." She gestured to the assembly process.

"That's the flash-made First Rate stuff right?" Bolt asked. He'd seen it referenced a few times. First Rate mechs at high levels were materialized in a few seconds wholesale.

"Yep!" The girl bounced on her heels and watched as a few welds were started. "There's something more, like potent here. It feels more human if that makes sense."

The designer nodded in turn. "I know. Ain't perfect, but I don't think I'd trade this for the world. This is the best of my childhood believe it or not." He laughed at the thought.

"Music time!" Someone called out.

"Need something with a howl!"

"No, you need something with a good beat, a horn, and strings." Bubbles practically commanded as she got back into the work.

There was a lot of laughter. "You heard the lady!"

Somehow someone had found a good reimagined Celtic tune that they started to play. Bolt smiled as he continued the assembly. This, above all things was what he loved about his life. Designing a mech and seeing it built just felt right. It was a weapon of war. It killed. It destroyed. Yet, it was also more than that. It was the cumulation of a thousand things. It was life as well. It was creating something beautiful and terrible at the same time.

Humming along with the song Bolt started up the plating. This mech was going to be a bit different than other mechs in its plating. The outer part resembled fur. The spikey sections provided a baffling effect that would make certain detection methods less effective. It was still armor of course, and the tolerances were pretty good. It just wasn't the best design or material for durability. It was basically an upgraded version and refined version of the Drowned Man's armor he'd done so long ago.

Soon the mech was almost finished. Everyone could already see the potential. This would be a fearsome nightmare to its enemies. The mech was practically declaring it. The presence was potent and thick in an insubstantial way. Not enough to hinder, just enough to let it be known that this was a mech worthy of time and consideration.

"Just head left." Bolt mused.

"Got the throat armor prepared!"

This was going to be the hardest part. Heads were always bad in mechs, but this one was particularly difficult. Cu Sith's head was filled to the absolute limit. They'd had to make serious decisions as to what to put where, and there was a finger's worth of space in some areas to set things. It was going to be a very tricky assembly.

Bolt was actually rather impressed at the sacrifices Bubbles had decided to make here. Cu Sith was not meant for direct confrontation. He wanted time. The mine layer on the tail was meant to give most of that time. The shotgun in the mouth was an added insurance and an additional threat to cover when the mines weren't useful. It didn't need to reload quickly.

This was how trade offs worked. Room in the head was at a premium. Since the shotgun didn't need speed, they could shift the ammo storage down to the chest. The shell traveled up the throat and into the mouth. This gave space for the sensors which mostly ran from the ears and down to the shoulders. Only one didn't. The nose was the most expensive part of the sensors they'd installed, and it was one of the highest quality scenting modules on the market. It was a deliberate design choice to help fit the theme and design of the mech. Properly done this should reinforce the construction and make the mech more than the sum of it's parts.

Of course all of this with machinery with the additional sound system made the head take as much time as the rest of the mech had. It was delicate precision work that required attention. Both Bolt and Bubbles had to work on that exclusively while the others finished up the body.

If there was a flaw with Cu Sith it was going to be that it would only work where there was atmosphere. The sound attack Bolt had planned for the spirit part would theoretically work without actual sound, but the scenting definitely wouldn't work in a vacuum. That was perfectly acceptable for their purposes. It'd probably be considered a larger issue with Second Rate and above, but for this it wasn't even really a flaw. Bolt would just have to keep that in mind for later. (Thinking about it, this was probably why the Hexxer stealth mechs hadn't really accounted for scent.)

Once the head was wrapped up, all that was left was the teeth and some painting. For entertainments sake, each tech put in a tooth, before Bolt and Bubbles finished it off with a nice polish. Then they got out the sprayers and gave it a good solid coating of green colors. Since this was a brand new mech, they took their sweet time to get all the detailing look exactly right.

Bolt barely noticed the change when it happened. He was more focused on making sure the feet and toes were aligned right in a last minute check. It was the equivalent of a doggy manicure really. The physical shift didn't register to him due to his focus. He did notice the sudden surge of spiritual power though. It was like something aligned suddenly and snapped into place with a click. The mental kick was so big that it practically blinded him spiritually.

"Huh?" Bolt muttered and stepped back to look the mech before he tilted his head. "Huh?!"

Bubbles stared at it from her place on the other side and her lips twitched into a half smile. "Well darn." She muttered. "A masterwork."

"Oh, cool, another one!" One of the techs quipped and got a smack.

"Do we sell this one?" Someone else asked in mild confusion.

"No, no. This is Pup's mech." Bolt interrupted any possible arguments. "Though, er, as the co-maker you do have a say I think?" He almost asked Bubbles.

"It's best to keep it with him. Expert mechs are tuned to the expert in question." Bubbles responded back absentmindedly before groaning theatrically. "There goes my break! I have to report this and we need to do a lot of scans to see the changes." She gave Bolt a wide grin. "You really make things interesting for me you know?" The grin was more than a little maniac.

Bolt had a sneaking suspicion that interesting was not quite the word she wanted to use there.