MBMSFS Chpt 8

==Manufacturing a Blueprint for a More Stable Federated Suns‎‎ - Chapter 8 - ==
== - Be Cool, Go Back to School - ==
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===Running into Little Sister===
[Arthur Corean]
[NAIS]
[New Avalon, New Avalon System; Federated Suns]
[October 12th, 3027]
"Psst, hey, did you hear?" A voice whispered from behind me as I was trying to pay attention to the Professor who was excitedly telling the class about drag coefficients.
 
"Hear what?"
 
"A big pirate band attacked Helm, in the Free Worlds League."
 
"What? Helm? Why there?"
 
"No one knows, but they burned their way across the entirety of the Lyran Commonwealth before the Lyrans managed to corner them there. They destroyed the planet's HPG, and ComStar is not happy about it; they threatened to interdict the Lyrans if such an attack was ever allowed to happen again!"
 
"The Lyrans destroyed an HPG!? Are they mad!?"
 
"Noooo~, it was the pirates. Apparently, they got into a tiff with the ComStar Precentor and the leader of the pirate band decided to make an example of them since the jig was up."
I sighed and looked up from my noteputer, turning my head toward the young man and young woman who were seated on the next level behind me in the NAIS lecture hall, "Do you two mind? You can gossip after the lecture."
 
The two young adults flushed red, though the young man opened up his mouth- likely to tell me to mind my own business- but he was interrupted when Professor Julius Anders, one of the NAIS' Aerospace faculty, cleared his throat, "I would agree with Arthur; if you wish to prattle there are plenty of places to do it, but my classroom isn't it."
 
They flushed even deeper as suddenly the entire class' attention was now on them.
 
Professor Anders nodded, satisfied that there would be no further interruptions before he clicked over to the next slide, "Now, as you can see here-"
I was in school again, though this time it was to get my degree in Aerospace engineering. As much as I might have talked a good game to Salim, I was of the mindset that everyone doing their job should be qualified for the position; even if I could have 'certified' myself, I wouldn't do so because that would make me a massive hypocrite. Thus here I was attending an abbreviated course that should see me with the necessary notations on my degrees; it made me very happy that Hanse didn't see the need to hold me back any longer, and since there was a great deal of overlap in the various fields of engineering that I was already certified in, I only needed to take the necessary courses.
 
As for the reason I was stepping up my timetable?
Well, my younger sister, Amelia Corean, had graduated from Tertiary School and come to New Avalon, and she brought with her- much to Big Sis Yeather's horror- a desire to be an Aerospace Pilot instead of a Mechwarrior.
 
She was here, attending the five-year Aerospace Pilot course at NAIS' Military Science Academy intent on becoming the pilot for a Stuka Heavy ASF. However, little did she know that like hell was I going to let her sit in a Stuka of all things! Sure, they were great 100-ton aerospace fighters, possibly one of the best in the Inner Sphere, but the thought of one of my family members entrusting their lives to a machine that I didn't build galled me; I hadn't been born early enough to build a machine for Andrew, but I could build one for Amelia, and I was going to do it. 
 
However, it wasn't totally out of a sense of nationalistic pride, as Amelia had told me that she knew through Yeathers that I was planning on expanding Corean's portfolio to include Conventional Aircraft and Aerospace Fighters, so after serving her time in the AFFS she would join the company as a test pilot and possibly even go back to school for business so that she could assist me in the company more than just testing out whatever new machine I built.
 
It was... heartening to see the little sister I've only met a few times so invested in both me and the company.
---- 
====Nobility and Geeks====
I ran through two more classes that morning before I hopped onto the tram, with my security team close behind, and headed toward NAIS' military campus- both to meet with Amelia and to meet with the Prince.
 
The campus of the New Avalon Institute of Science was a thing of beauty, built in a mountainous, heavily wooded bowl 30 kilometers south of New Avalon City, which put it between Corean Enterprises and the city. There were no roads up or down the mountain, and the only way to enter was through a trio of heavily defended subway tunnels that had been bored through the rock or via the campus' private spaceport Albion. Hundreds of acres of lush forestry and mountain streams surrounded Lake Ian near the center of the bowl, and the heavy woods created a clear delineation between the academic portions of the campus and the military section; if standing at the center of the academy grounds, if you listened very hard, then you might be able to hear the muffled thunder-like cracks of Autocannons being fired off in the distance. To defend the academy were two battalions of Battlemechs as well as a full infantry regiment, and a squadron of Aerospace Fighters.
 
A formidable force, to be sure, but that didn't stop ComStar from launching their destructive attack against the Academy while disguised as the Capellan Death Commandos in the future.
 
Which was one of the primary reasons I was here. 
 
Aside from meeting with Hanse, of course.
 
I had spent more than a month in transit, and the week that I got to spend resting and slipping into my role as CEO once more was a welcome relief, one none more enjoyed than by Yuri; the poor boy looked as though he was about to fall asleep standing up when I met him at the Spaceport, but there was an underlying buzz of satisfaction in him. He was proud that he was able to maintain his schooling while stepping in to fill my shoes as CEO, and the place hadn't burned to the ground while I was gone. Hell, I was proud of him too, even if I spent my initial years expanding the ranks of the middle and upper-middle management to reduce the workload on everyone involved and to create some redundancy within the corporate structure; it was a careful line we needed to balance on, but the flexibility meant that if things cropped up then there were people trained that could handle it.
 
Amanda Yu, my former Chief Maido, helped him out a lot as well; one didn't spend their whole adult life around me without picking up on what I liked, and Amanda was a cut above the rest most assuredly. 
 
Yet, I wasn't going to take this achievement away from him because I wanted to get technical, and because pointing any of that wouldn't change a thing. As long as he didn't get a big head over it then it wouldn't be an issue, and with Yuri's humble attitude, I didn't think it ever would be.
 
The doors to the tram hissed open, and I ignored the stares of AFFS cadets that were on the tram with me as I followed my security detail out and into the Academy of Military Science proper; the number of people who could have a heavily armed security escort within the NAIS' grounds were far and few in between, and I just so happened to be one of them.
 
We moved through the small cluster of cadets easily enough and made our way over to a small garage near the tram terminal, and waiting there for us were a trio of fuel cell golf karts that weighed barely 300 kilograms. One of the techs looked a bit affronted as my men, led by former SAS Major Alphonse Hendricks- the Captain of my security detail, spent a few minutes going over all three vehicles with a fine-toothed comb to ensure that I wouldn't get blown the fuck up. 
 
After that, we were putting across the campus, metaphorically speaking, and making our way toward the central fountain where Hanse would be meeting me. 
 
All around the large fountain were dozens of AFFS Cadets wearing their respective uniforms, but a cloister of Aerospace Cadets in a sea of Mechwarriors and Armor Cadets caught my attention- the curtain of blazing red hair like a beacon in a sea of blonde and brunette.
Like my elder sister, she wasn't very tall, a boon for any Aerospace pilot as most cockpits tended to be even more cramped than those on a Battlemech, but she was lithe and muscular with a bit of power on that slim frame. Adorning her body, instead of the typical Aerospace uniform, was an olive drab cooling suit, but over the top of that was a brown leather jacket with numerous large pockets; a peaked cap was perched on top of her head.
 
Corean had gotten close to finalizing the Improved Cooling Suits, and thus we were getting some initial limited deployments both here at NAIS with their Cadets and defense complement, and out in the field some of the more heavily engaged Federated Suns regiments out on the Combine and Capellan borders. It would likely be another year of testing before they were ready to be rolled out, but with the reconstruction of the Corean complex underway, it would likely be another year after that before we were able to begin manufacturing them in any appreciable numbers. As it sat now, we had an out-of-the-way warehouse near the Admin complex where a few dozen old ladies with specialized sewing machines and a handful of techs were hard at work making about a hundred of them a month to fulfill the trial rollouts.
 
At the shocked looks of Amelia's small group of compatriots, the young woman looked over her shoulder to catch sight of us as we approached, "Arthur? What are you doing here?"
 
"Just got finished with my classes for the day, and I have a meeting with our dear Prince Davion in a little while," I shot her a small, lopsided smile as I threw an arm over her shoulder and dragged her into a side hug; she was tense for a moment before relaxing into it, her arm wrapping around my waist from behind.
 
"You're going back to school? Again?" She asked incredulously, the young woman choosing to focus on me instead of acknowledging the teasing smirks and smiles of her friends.
 
Did I not tell her? I could have sworn I told her...
 
"I'm... going to get my Aerospace certifications. For Conventional and Aerospace first, but then after that?" I raised a hand up before half-shrugging, "I'm thinking about picking up the Dropship and Jumpship certifications, though those will likely be a bit further down the line. But, getting the ASF cert is the most important one, because I refuse to let my little sister fly in some trumped-up, over-hyped hunk of junk. If I can't find a good Aerospace frame then I'll just make one myself."
 
The freckles coating her face seemed to fade away as the redness in her cheeks dialed up to match.
 
Lightly embarrass the little sister? Check. Now, time to deflect.
 
"So, what did you boys and girls do in classes today?" I withdrew my arm from my sister and stuffed my hands into my pockets nonchalantly, turning my attention toward her merry band of Aerospace Menaces.
 
One of the boys, light-skinned with black hair and blue eyes, tilted his head to the side as he crossed his arms over his chest, "We got to sit in the sims for the first time. Fire them up and have a go-round with the Corsair- the V12."
 
Ah, that explains why they were all still wearing their cooling suits then, "So soon? The term just started a month ago."
 
"It was mainly an exercise," One of the girls, a brunette with brown eyes chirped, "To show us how little we actually know about flying in zero-g."
 
"Yeah, most of us have experience with flying already, I've been operatin' my pa's crop duster for years now, but boy, without gravity or wind resistance? It changes the mental calculus a lot," One boy grumbled as he rubbed at the side of his cheek with the heel of his palm.
 
I snorted a touch, "I would imagine. Are frequent trips to the sims going to be a thing?"
 
Amelia chose that moment to inject herself into the situation, "We'll only be getting a few more this year, mainly if we all perform well as a class, but in the later years we'll be in the sims sometimes three days a week once we get our theory classes out of the way."
 
There was a slight murmuring from the crowd, and out of the corner of my eye I could see all of the Cadets stop their conversations and snap to the position of attention before saluting. I turned around to see Hanse Davion himself stepping off of a golf kart himself, and he crisply returned the salute to the group of students before raising his voice, "Alright everyone! Carry on!"
 
With that he immediately made a beeline for me, a broad grin on his face.
 
"Arthur Corean, as I live and breathe! It's good to see you've returned to New Avalon hearty and hale," He sniffed playfully as he looked me over, "Though you've lost some weight. Have you been eating enough?" 
 
"My Prince," I demurred as we clasped hands, "Thank you for your kind words; I've been on a new routine since I touched back down."
 
What? I can totally be civil with Hanse when we're in public!
 
He turned his attention to Amelia and gave her one of his famous, fox-like grins, "Cadet Corean, I trust that NAIS has been treating you well thus far?"
 
Amelia looked like she was swooning, her eyes hooded as her lips parted, "Y-yes, My Prince. It's only been a month since the term started yet I feel like I could face down a hundred Drac fighters already."
 
Somewhere between the time she was born and now Amelia had grown skin as tough as battle plate, because she seemed impervious to my 8cm Laser Eyes with the First Prince standing in front of her. Hey. Get your brain back, little sis, the man already has another young woman to speak for him.
 
Showcasing his astute social acumen, Hanse easily brushed the light-headed talk aside with a casual sweep of his hand, "My dear, if you ever find yourself facing down a hundred Drac fighters, no matter if you could take them all on single-handed, then the AFFS and myself would have failed you miserably."
 
As if she realized the drivel that had tumbled out of her mouth, she clamped her mouth shut as her eyes darted toward her friends.
 
Yes, please get a hold of yourself, it's only Hanse Davion you're talking to.
I sort of tuned out the bit of small talk and well wishes that followed as the Prince did his duty to elevate the spirits of the Cadets that were close enough to hear him, and after a few more minutes of pleasantries we were moving back over to the golf karts. 
 
I gave Amelia a short wave as we departed.
 
"That was exhausting, and I wasn't even the one doing the talking." I grumbled as I plopped my ass on the seat next to Hanse, and the man shook his head- an easy, confident smile on his face.
 
"Oh, I don't know, Arthur, I got to see your initial address to the people of Petrolia, and I think that you have a knack for public speaking," He drummed his fingers on the hand hold on the back of the driver's seat, "The weekly address format that you used? The one where you gave the people tangible progress reports as to the state of the realm? Particularly inspired, that! I'm thinking of doing something similar for the entirety of the Federated Suns going forward. Maybe quarterly."
 
"I'm just taking note of older styles of interacting with the people; the Terran President Franklin D. Roosevelt first popularized the 'fireside chat' format during his leadership of the United States of America," I deflected the praise, "Hardly worth noting, but easy enough to do when you're only dealing with a single world. Though I do think that a more frequent quarterly address to the people of the Federated Suns wouldn't go amiss; much better than trying to cram every bit of the year's progress into the Annual Address of the First Prince. People wouldn't be forced to listen to you drone on for three straight hours that way, and you wouldn't have to speak for three straight hours either. A win-win in my book."
 
"Yes, the annual address is rather rough on the throat," The man ran a few fingers along his neck, "I usually lose my voice the next day and have to rest it. Still, I think you're doing a great job with Petrolia, Arthur, and it's because of that I think you're ready to spend more time here at home putting in the long hours for the good of the Federated Suns as a whole."
 
"Just as God intended," I nodded with a grin on my face, "Not to say that laying the foundation for the uplift of Petrolia wasn't rewarding in its own right, I have to say that I feel much better working in my labs. Or in this case, sitting in a classroom."
 
He leaned back, the man easily rocking with the kart as we trundled along, "Yes, you rather surprised me with your snap enrollment back into NAIS. I was certain that once you left you'd never come back. Duke, CEO, Scientist, and now a student once more? You certainly don't slow down, Arthur."
 
"I have only one speed, Hanse, and that's 'Mach Jesus'," I smirked, though I probably thought it sounded way cooler than it actually was, but I didn't care; I'd been waiting years to finally use that in a conversation, and who better to unveil it than to the First Prince of the Federated Suns?
 
When they put my face and a list of quotes into the NAIS' Hall of Honors, a long hallway at the entrance to the Academy where famous graduates went for future generations to bear witness to, I wanted that quote to be at the very top.
 
"I'm not putting that on your entry, and if you ever suggest it I'll strike it down in a heartbeat," The Prince chuckled wryly as if he read my mind, "Though maybe it will be featured in my memoir. 'And no shit, there I was, sitting next to Arthur Corean as we traveled to the Albion Spaceport, and the man, unironically said 'I only have one speed, Hanse, and that's 'Mach Jesus'. Yes. He said that with a straight face too, and I could tell that he thought it was particularly humorous and clever. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, despite his cool facade, one of the greatest scientific minds in our nation's history was indeed a massive dork.'"
 
I narrowed my eyes, "I double-dog dare you to put that in there. I bet your editors will have conniptions."
 
The driver agreed with me as well going by the shit-eating grin on his face as he did his best to navigate our little convoy through the grounds.
 
"Anyway, why don't you tell me a little bit about what you're bringing to show me, Arthur?" The man asked, steering the conversation back toward something more productive as we turned off the last campus road onto the heavily reinforced tarmac leading toward the Albion Spaceport. With there being no more obstacles the karts sped up to their maximum speed of forty kilometers per hour and it was nothing but the open road in front of us.
 
"And spoil the surprise?" I asked incredulously, "You love surprises when they're from me, Hanse. Besides, sometimes it's just better to show rather than tell; knowing you you'll get so excited to see the latest Corean advancement that you'll have them crack open the cases on the tarmac where all and sundry could see. No, better to get everything to the bunkers where you and the rest of the Egg Carton can geek out over them in peace."
 
I saw the First Prince's lips purse as he worked his jaw for a moment before he conceded the point, "Touche'. I suppose that I can be patient, but I'll just let you know now that you've ruined me for other Technology briefs from the rest of the corporate establishment, Arthur. They hardly come up with anything new or exciting these days."
 
"I'd say that was exactly the point, but that would be a lie. A convenient side-benefit if anything else," I mused out loud, "Mega Corporations spanning dozens of planets, millions of employees, and hundreds of trillions of dollars to throw around, and yet the exact same model of Battlemech, Tank, or Airframe has been produced for centuries with little advancement. Truly a travesty if there ever was one."
 
All was quiet except the hum of the kart's electric motor and the whistling of the chilly Fall breeze as we booked down the road.
 
It was a bit too quiet for my taste, so I decided to lighten up the mood a bit, "Speaking of memoirs, I think I have a good passage for mine: 'No shit, there I was, sitting on a golf kart on the way to the Albion Spaceport, and after I told him that giving him a brief on the new toys would spoil the surprise, Hanse Davion spent the rest of the ride fidgeting with excitement like a kid on Christmas Eve. Yes. You heard that right, Hanse Davion, First Prince of the Federated Suns, despite his cultured and noble airs, was in truth, a gigantic tech geek.'"
 
That managed to put a grin back on his face.
---- 
===Down to the Cavern of Wonders===
This old Corean Planetlifter was one of the many things we managed to evacuate from the Free Worlds League, had carried to us a lot of goodies, which were quickly loaded up into flatbed trucks. 
 
After they were inspected by my personal security teams and the flight line checkpoint boys; even though the seal tags had a Date/Time stamp that was last updated when it was loaded on the tarmac two hours ago, I wasn't about to take any chances, and neither was Hanse. Especially not when part of the payload was eight tons of small arms ammunition.
 
It was nice to see Hanse coming around my levels of paranoia.
 
Just because I trusted the vast, vast, vast majority of Corean employees working in the more sensitive areas of the facility didn't mean I could trust them all. Espionage, corporate or national, was part and parcel of the world I lived in, and having almost gotten gibbed by the one competent extra-national SAFE team in likely the entirety of the Inner Sphere (read: ComStar), the simple fact of the matter was that I had to get every defense of my person right, while my enemies only had to get lucky once. The odds sucked, but I wasn't beneath stacking the deck in my favor- never going anywhere without my security detail was one such measure, and ensuring that my security detail had the best equipment the Inner Sphere could offer was the second card in my hand.
 
So, with the trucks now behind us, we made our way toward one of the dirt 'maintenance roads'- this one leading toward a scenic hiking trail- and despite the rough shape the roads were in the golf karts and ten-ton flatbeds were able to navigate them with ease; though there was one particular part of the road that required all of us to lean to the right side of the kart so that we didn't take a little tumble. Hanse just smiled broadly, so I decided to smile as well; if he wasn't worried about it, then why should I be? 
 
Eventually, we came to one of the handful of secret entrances, which looked like a simple gazebo with a water fountain. I knew it had to be a secret entrance because there was nothin else here- just the dirt road, the gazebo, and the water fountain. 
 
"You know, lots of the Cadet units take weekly runs or ruck marches down this trail, and every day they come so close to one of the best-hidden entrances to the Egg Carton," Hanse looked at me and waggled his eyebrows a bit, "Care to take a guess where before we crack it open?"
 
I sighed a bit before looking around, and deciding to take the easy way out I pointed to an almost unnaturally flat stretch of rock; it sort of looked like a wall. "Lemme guess- that rock wall is gonna push out and then slide to the side to let us in?"
 
Instead, about thirty meters in front of us, grass and dirt began to lift up and out of the way, revealing a gently descending ramp with a grippy textured floor; staying true to form, it was large enough to accommodate an Atlas.
 
"Close enough," I muttered as Hanse patted my shoulder.
 
Down into the tunnel we went, reaching the bottom of the incline after a minute or so of driving, and we continued on for at least two kilometers before reaching a security check-point in front of a pair of double doors large enough to fit two Battlemechs abreast. 
 
Judging by my mental map we were well beneath the mountain that formed the bowl in which NAIS was nestled, which would put us right around- "Dozen-Two?"
 
"Correct again," Hanse replied as the doors started to open up so we could be on our merry way.
 
The Egg Carton, as Hanse so loved to call it, wasn't so much one facility as it was three; sort of a play on the old adage that one 'shouldn't put all of their eggs in one basket'. 
 
The Primary Dozen was the facility beneath the Admin Building in the NAIS Academy of Military Science. It was not only a strong point that was well defended, but it was also the 'secret facility' that everyone knew about- the one where low-impact testing for various technologies could be conducted. The Secondary Dozen, or 'Dozen-Two' as I liked to call it just to be extra, was where most secretive vehicle testing and construction was conducted- the excavated facility giving a bit more room for the vehicles and scientists to breathe. Then the last one, Tertiary Dozen, was the largest of the facilities where Battlemechs and Aerospace fighters did their testing, though if I heard correctly there was supposed to be some new form of Dropship being mocked up down there as well...
 
"Hanse, about the Dropship that was supposed to be down here?" I began, and the First Prince gave me a rakish grin.
 
"Heard about that, did you? Well, sad to say that your information is five years out of date, but if you're curious we were attempting to find a way to improve the Vengence-class Fighter Carrier Dropship to make it able to withstand atmospheric flight," He winced, "Unfortunately we didn't make much headway and had to have it removed so that it could be constructed up in orbit and put to use around the border instead of sitting down here and wasting funding."
 
I clicked my tongue, "The Vengeance is a shit Dropship anyway. Why bother making it an Aerodyne if it can't insert or pick up its large fighter complement?"
 
The Prince snorted, "If anyone from Kallon heard you say that they would say those were fight'n words."
 
"Then we could duke it out in the free marketplace," I scoffed as we were waved through another checkpoint further into the facility, "I'll build a better one, Hanse, of that I can promise you. However, I think I'll first settle for building a better Leopard. There is a metric ton of wasted space inside that thing, and the open-air munitions storage makes me weep. As do the crew accommodations; in a craft that big the people shouldn't have to hot bunk."
 
After spending the better part of almost a month and a half on one I was very quickly able to pick out areas that could be improved upon; with as much lift capacity as it had, and as much space as it had, only carrying two Aerospace Fighters and a quartet of Battlemechs was bupkiss. I already had a half-dozen different floor plans for the Leopard-C, one a refit package that would gut the thing down to the hull, engines, and supports to overhaul the existing fleet to a more reasonable layout. The second was an expanded Leopard design, one with an actual aerodynamic shape, that could carry four ASFs, four Battlemechs, and two Lances of Combat vehicles up to 80 tons, with bunking space for up to a company of infantry... in addition to four hundred tons of cargo capacity inside of a bay large enough for a quartet of Battlemechs to lay down in- a space for the battlefield salvage was a must.
 
Through the magic of Andosteel, Endosteel, and Ferr-ofibrous armor, the 'Insert Big Cat Name to Evoke Positive Comparisons to the Leopard Here' would be born. 
 
One with reasonable crew accommodations.
 
"I look forward to that day, Arthur, by God do I ever."
 
It was oddly unsettling to see Hanse rubbing his hands together like some sort of demented mastermind, "But before that... short-term goals. The first of which is to see what you brought to show off this time. The second? You and I need to chat. Some big things will be coming our way in the future, Arthur, and I think the Federated Suns will need your help now more than ever to make the most of what is to come."
 
I snorted slightly, "Oh, I can tell. I've felt the winds of change blowing every since Mallory's World. Whether we want it or not, something is coming to the Inner Sphere, Hanse. Thankfully God gave me broad shoulders, so I'll carry the entire Federated Suns on my back if I need to."
 
I meant it to sound flippant, but the deep, meaningful look the man gave me made me feel as though there was some giant misunderstanding that was taking place. 
 
 While usually his misconceptions worked out for me in the past, I got the feeling if I let this particular one lay it would only cause more trouble than good.
 
 He let out a wistful sigh, "You don't need to worry about that, Arthur. Protecting the Federated Suns' and its interests is my whole life's purpose."
 
Yeah, best to nip this in the bud before it goes any further.
 
"We all have our own burdens to bear, Hanse, but the safety and well-being of the Federated Suns? That's one we all share together, so even if you hold the fancy title of First Prince, don't forget that you've got people you can rely on," I shrugged, "Don't ask me to make an orbital drop or anything stupid, but when it comes to Tech and Science? I'm your man."
 
I turned to face him fully, giving him my best, most genuine look I could muster without appearing as though I was about to burst into tears, "However, I can't help you and the Federated Suns if I don't know what needs to be looked at. You have a lot of bright minds here at NAIS, but at the risk of sounding like a huge asshole, none of them are me. I can do anything if given enough information and time, Hanse. You know this. So don't pawn off an important project to languish for decades because you might think it would inconvenience me. I promise you, it won't. If there is one thing I'm good at it's bouncing around from project to project, and it won't hurt my feelings none if I have to step into something new. What will hurt my feelings is if I have to step into a project at the Eleventh Hour and make a mad dash to the finish line because something terrible will happen if we don't get it done in time."
 
Hanse held my gaze for a few moments before he sighed and shook his head, "It's not that I don't want to, Arthur. It's that I can't. NAIS can't have a corporate influence over the research facilities, it's in the damn charter. And I can't make you a professor as well because that requires teaching and office hours, which would put you so far into a time deficit..."
 
Ah. Did he finally figure it out?
 
"Unless..."
 
"Unless I was a student again," I finished for him with a small grin, "Of which as of last week I was once more enrolled in NAIS as a student, which entitles me to a chance at a Research and Development slot. If I had the necessary merits, of course. So, Hanse, do you think I have the proper abilities to serve as a member of the Egg Carton once more?"
 
The First Prince shook his head as he threw an arm over the back of our bench, the man crossing one leg over another as we closed in on our final destination, "And people say that I'm clever."
 
I rolled my eyes, "I've only been a student for a week. You would have gotten around to this solution eventually. It's just that I don't want to wait around for 'eventually'. There are some projects that I wanted an update on, and I can't get those without being a member. So really, this serves my purposes just fine."
 
"Anything for the Federated Suns, hmm, Arthur?" Hanse rubbed a hand along his jaw as he gazed out at the rough-hewn stone walls of the tunnel.
 
"Everything for the Federated Suns, Hanse," Was my simple reply.
----
====A selection of our finest wares====
It took roughly ten minutes for the crews to unload the crates from the trucks, and I spent that time with the boys setting up some cheap polymer folding tables before tossing a black drape over the top and calling it good; one of the black drapes had what looked to be a mustard stain, but a little bit of spit and scratching at it with my fingernail made it almost invisible. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Hanse cover up a smile with his hand, though he was torn between watching my antics and attempting to peek around the curtain where the other demonstrations were being set up; I arched an eyebrow and he waved me off.
 
I sniffed. Good enough for Hanse.
 
Those who needed pretty displays probably had shit products anyway.
 
We were in one of the underground weapon-testing ranges, a long, vast tunnel stretched out before us- a tunnel so deep that I couldn't even see our backstop, which I knew to be metric fuck tons of rubberized pellets meant to catch dummy projectiles fired from tanks so that they could accurately gauge things like muzzle velocity and the flight characteristics of the round with the bevy of sensors every few dozen meters along the walls. It really boggled my mind that we had the tech to do all of this shit but the poor infantryman was still stuck with this piece of shit from almost a thousand years ago.
 
Yes, Eugene Stoner's famous M-16 still lived even into the 31st Century, but while it did gain improvements in reliability- something it had issues with in the past- it also ended up gaining a little bit of extra chonk to go along with its stepped-up caliber. The damn thing was 5 kilograms in its base format, and if you wanted to add on things to it? Well, the weight quickly started to balloon out of control.
 
A clearing throat caught my attention, and I saw one of my techies give me the go-ahead, "The humble infantryman."
 
My words caught Hanse's attention, and he stopped trying to sneak a peek to look at me.
 
"Jumpships and Dropships transport. Armor and Battlemechs conquer, but, in order to truly hold a planet, one needs Infantry," I spoke as I picked up the Federated Long Rifle before pulling back the slide to make sure it was indeed empty before I continued, "It is the humble Infantryman on the ground that holds the forts, staffs the guard houses, interacts with the populace of a newly liberated world, and does the dirty street to street fighting that no one else wants to do. They're the ones who fight, kill, bleed, and die for the Federated Suns, and since the inception of the AFFS it has been the venerable, reliable Federated Long Rifle that was used by those brave men and women."
 
I looked down at the showpiece that I was about to completely lambaste, "I don't think you'll find a soul in this room who'll say that it is a bad rifle, in fact, I think that plenty will have nothing but good things to say about it. From SAS and other Special Forces to the line Infantryman, the Federated Long Rifle has been carried around for so long that many households in the Federated Suns have their Great, great, great, great grandfather's rifle somewhere in their home; hung up over the mantle or nestled with their gun safe." 
 
"However?" Hanse asked leadingly, the man all but bouncing on the balls of his feet.
 
A huff of laughter left me, throwing me off my groove for a moment, but I managed to get myself back into Presentation Mode pretty quickly, "However, the Federated Long Rifle is the very epitome of 'Good Enough for Government Work', and it has been for over five centuries. It hasn't been improved or iterated upon since its inception- unless you call making the barrel shorter for Special Operations Forces or making the barrel longer, thicker, and giving it a shitty bipod that can hardly stay deployed an 'improvement.'"
 
I gave the weapon a few curls, "It's heavy at 5 kilograms, hardly something without strong arms can carry for extended periods of time, which is something always complained about by the boys and girls carrying this thing around in long city fights, or on treks through the mountains and jungles. Its 7.62mm cartridge, while effective, is certainly behind the times in terms of ballistics, and metallurgy, and its powder charge has only been updated one time to my knowledge; the sealants they put on the cartridges to keep moisture out kept failing, so rather than develop better sealants they created a powder that was hydrophobic instead."
 
"The only good thing you can say about the weight is that it is instrumental in taming the recoil of the cartridge, but with the standard issue weapon only having iron sights, the eight hundred meters effective range the weapon boasts is almost completely nullified by the simple fact that the average soldier can hardly be accurate enough to hit a man-sized target out at those distances unassisted," I put the rifle down and picked up a non-standard optics mount which screwed into the block in front of where the rear sight was, "And in terms of assistance? Well, if you decide to put an optic, such as this simple 1-4 power Field Hunter XI from Cabelas', then you're adding on an additional two kilograms and some change."
 
I dropped the solid block of machined steel onto the plastic, letting it clatter. 
 
"Even then, such options are really only seen by House Militia forces or Special Operations where they have more leeway, and funding, to make these unit-wide adjustments to their kits. The standard line infantryman doesn't have that luxury unless they are willing to shell out for the kit themselves," I held up a hand and began ticking off my fingers, "The Federated Suns has a funding pyramid for its military operations. Yes, everyone will get a share of the tax payer's Pound, but realistically speaking there is an order of operations- First the Jumpships and Dropships get as much money as they can reasonably take, then the Battlemechs and Aerospace Fighters, after them the Armor and other Combat Vehicles, then the Support Vehicles get their money, and lastly... the humble infantryman gets their pittance. Let's be honest, if it came down to getting newer equipment or putting that money toward the training budgets to produce better soldiers to use the equipment they already had... we already know which choice they'd take."
 
"Not that anyone can fault them, however, cause for centuries pieces of kit like the Federated Long Rifle have always been 'good enough', and barely anyone caters to the Infantry- not when there is always a new Battlemech, Aerospace Fighter, or Tank that needs to be built," I shrugged my shoulders as I grabbed at the edge of one of the clothes covering the objects on the table, "And from a business standpoint it isn't that attractive either; kit for the Infantryman has always been a high volume, low-profit affair, and why dedicate factory space to making $500 Pound rifles you only make a 15% profit on when you can instead make Battlemech Communications packages that you can charge $2,000 per ton of Mech Weight for? I, however, intend to shift that paradigm- maybe if I get lucky I can even flip it on its head."
 
I yanked on the clothes and revealed a trio of weapons.
I picked up the rifle first, "This is the X-1 Rifle, name pending- I'd suggest polling the lads and lasses, let them have a say- and it is the first fully functional prototype Corean's new Infantry Advancement Division has put together."
 
It made it sound cool and distinguished, even if it was only just fifty-three gun nerds that I found in the company who were also qualified engineers, chemists, metallurgists, and hobbyist gunsmiths. Toss in a smattering of folks from the electronics and sensor division, a few of the Battlemech and Vehicle boys and girls for some outside perspectives, and a handful of administrative staff to keep them on track, and BAM! Instant weapons Division for Infantry. I did the same with some of the Company's Security Forces and the Commercial Exo-skeleton boys, and after giving them some time to find their sea legs I folded them in together to form the 'Infantry Advancement Division'.
 
They'd only been working together for like eight months, but when you could just print and grow your prototypes? You could work fast. 
 
I practically locked them away with a noteputers chock full of my notes and tossed away the key, pretty much telling them to "make me some futuristic, bleeding edge shit; I'll come back to check your progress" and then fucked off to Augusta. 
 
God, that seems so damn long ago.'
 
After returning from my trip to Augusta they had plenty of neat things to show me, and boy did they deliver.
 
I was sort of worried about finding out just what sort of twisted monstrosity they'd turn my notes and CAD models into, but to my delight they pretty much stayed true to form despite their Inner Futuristic Post-Apocalyptic 1980s telling them that curves and saucers were sexy.
 
I'd have to go over most of this in the future personally, as I couldn't afford to look over the shoulder of every division, but this and the combat Exo Skeleton program were well worth looking into. Battle Armor would come, one day, but putting better gear in the hands of the tens of millions of Federated Suns soldiery now would pay far more dividends in the future than a few thousand Battle Armors; you had to fight the wars you were in now, and the 4th Succession War was going to kick in far sooner than the war with the Clans.
 
"The X-1 is everything the Federated Long Rifle is but better. It has a lot of similarities in its control schemes, such as the safety, magazine release, and bolt hold-open & slide release, though that is where the similarities end," I let the rifle dangle from a single finger by the trigger guard, something that I wouldn't have done easily with the Federated Rifle, "Firstly, the weapon is criminally light at a scant 2.2 kilograms. This daintiness was achieved through the liberal use of the best technologies that Corean has to offer: both the Henan Crystal Growth and Augusta Process were used to make these weapons. The upper and lower receivers were fashioned from the same durable crystalline polymer the Star League used in their XL Fusion Engines, interlaced with a ferrous metal weave to provide some extra structural integrity. The barrel is only a millimeter thick, but that is because it was constructed out of Battlemech-Grade armor plating; shaped and cold hammer forged into a barrel that will outlast virtually every other T26 steel on the market. This barrel is mated to an Andosteel barrel shroud that effortlessly soaks up the heat and quickly disperses it into the environment, with the side vents keeping this heat away from the top of the weapon where sustained weapon's fire might cause enough heat mirage to obstruct a soldier's vision of the target."
 
"It has a telescoping stock to adjust the length of pull unlike the Federated Long Rifle, and the rectangular block on the end is a suppressor fashioned from the same lightweight materials that can be pulled apart and serviced by the end-user or the unit armorer," I made to place the weapon on the table, but Hanse was immediately in front of me- the First Prince of the Federated Suns making grabby hands. 
 
Good God man, have some shame! You act like there haven't been any real attempts to advance the humble rifle in over a thousand years! 
 
Still, my lips quirked as I handed the weapon over to the man I'd sworn to support long before I'd ever been ennobled and continued my speech, my now free hands able to pick up a thin-walled CrystalClear(tm) magazine off the bench.
 
"Just like the receiver was grown, so too is the magazine that feeds it, though this is manufactured from the same SapphireClear ferro glass that we use on our Battlemech cockpits. It holds forty-five rounds of a new, 7.2mm caseless ammunition, and the rubber gasket at the top of the magazine not only ensures a tight fit which keeps dust and dirt out of the receiver; though not so tight that the spring-assisted magazine release can't kick it out," I popped a small clear plastic polymer cylinder out of the top and held it out for Hanse to inspect, "The ammunition is waterproof down to a depth of 20 meters, and this new powder charge uses a similar- if toned down- version of the charges we use for our Autocannons."
 
In order to maximize the ballistics for the bullet we went with a double-ended bullet design, where a cap at the back of the bullet propelled the projectile down the barrel like the wad of a shotshell before- at the end of the multi-stage powder's burn- it reached the appropriate pressure and temperature conditions to combust itself. The polymer case that surrounded the bullet burned up too, because in the Battletech universe, even the casings of things were meant to blow up or combust.
 
Even the missile's body casings, which you would think would be made from metal, were actually made of explosive metal. 
 
Because why not?
 
It was probably why Anti-Missile Systems were as effective as they were.
 
"Gordon, would you hand me one of your magazines?" Hanse asked as he took the crystal magazine from my hand and slotted the bullet back into it, and one of the Prince's PSD cats- this one rocking a 'Commando' variant of the Federated Long Rifle with a shortened barrel- grabbed a twenty-five round steel magazine and handed it over. 
 
I could see the man's blue eyes shimmer as he tried to balance them by weight in his hands, "Dare I say they weigh almost the same. What do you think, Gordon?"
 
After taking the two magazines from his boss the man bounced them around in his palms, "The Federated magazine is a touch lighter, but not by much. However, forty-five rounds to twenty-five make it a pretty easy decision from an infantryman's perspective."
 
Hanse grinned broadly as he took the rifle back from the other men who were with him and grabbed the magazine, then he looked to me before slapping it home, "You said this was a functional prototype, right?"
 
"Yyyyeeeesssssssss, it is..." I felt something within me cringe.
 
"This suppressor, is it hearing safe?" He grinned even wider.
 
Hanse. I know what you're about to do. Don't do it. 
 
"My Prince, perhaps one of us should fire it first?" One of the Prince's Guard gently eased himself in much to my approval, "Just in case it blows up, it won't be your face eating the shrapnel."
 
Oi. 
 
Fuck it, we ball. 
 
"Will you shoot the damn thing, Hanse?"
 
The Prince took a few bouncy steps past us, squinted down the tunnel to check and see if there was anyone down there, and he shouldered the rifle before clicking the safety off.
I hope my faith in my Team wasn't misplaced, because even if I'd fired that same rifle, there was always a chance it could fuck up. 
 
'Snap-crack!'
 
A supersonic retort barked from the end of the rifle, but the chonky suppressor did its job and kept the sound to a level where it was loud but not painful. 
 
Hanse peeled his cheek away from the stock and looked down at it, his lips parted in shock, "I did fire it, correct? A projectile did leave the barrel? I barely moved."
 
"You did indeed. That would be the cam-delayed bolt, the internal reciprocal tungsten counter-weight, and the tuned hydraulic buffer with its own counter-weight all working in concert to keep the recoil light and-"
 
'Snap-crack!'
 
"- manageable for even the most fatigued-"
 
'Snap-crack!'
 
"-Infantryman to shoot. The three systems working in concert with one another make shooting it a breeze compared to the Federated Long-"
 
'Snap-crack!'
 
"Damnit, Hanse! Cut the shit!" I snapped, and the forty-something First Prince gave me a shit-eating grin as he flicked the safety on and beckoned one of his PSD over to get behind the gun.
 
"Hahahaha! Lighten up, chap, that rifle is a spiffing good time," The Prince saddled up and slapped my shoulder lightly, "Don't get too hung up about it. I'm having fun."
 
I rolled my eyes and huffed before grabbing the 6.5mm PDW which I sort of based on the P90 and slapped a fresh magazine on the top and stuffed it into his hands before showing him where the safety was; this one too had a suppressor, "I know, I know. God, you're making me feel like the asshole here. When was the last time you actually had some real fun? When was the last time you stomped around in that Battlemaster of yours and shot some shit?"
 
"Far too long-" 
 
'Snap-crack' 
 
"-Arthur, far too-" 
 
'Snap-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack!'
 
"-long," He bounced over next to his man and shouldered the PDW before glancing over at the member of his Personal Guard, "It's a riot, isn't it?"
 
'Snap-hiss!'
 
"Oh, this one is pretty peppy as well, moreso than the X-1. Probably doesn't have as many of the fancies, Arthur?" Hanse flicked it over to full-auto and sent a burst down range.
 
'Snap-hiss-ss-ss-ss-ss-ss-ss-ss-ss-ss-ss!'
 
I rolled my eyes and went about making the Light Machine gun ready for the Prince, because once he got finished with his turn on the PDW he'd be first in line for the MG.
 
True to form, Hanse swaggered back over and thumbed over the magazine release near the top of the receiver and was startled when the clear mag practically leaped into his hand, "Goodness. So what are you calling this one, and what's its role?"
 
"For simplicity's sake it's the X-2 PDW, or Personal Defense Weapon. Meant for Mechwarriors, vehicle crews, and Officers whose duties don't require a traditional long gun to be hauled around everywhere but want something with a bit more reach and stability than a laser pistol. It's compact with a more than serviceable barrel length, and it has a slightly undersized 6.5mm rifle bullet to punch holes with. The magazine on the top prevents it from protruding everywhere, and because of its placement we can cram fifty-eight rounds into a single magazine; you could feasibly carry a mag in the weapon and one on the stock and have enough business to carry around with you for garrison duties on even a hostile world. More than enough to get you to someplace safe, failing that, killing some other bloke and taking his shit for yourself."
 
"And that?" He pointed to the LMG, "Let me guess. 'The X3 Light Machine Gun'?"
 
"It's almost like you're in my head, Hanse," I rolled my eyes before I charged it and handed it over to him, "It fires from a closed bolt, though once it reaches a certain temperature threshold it starts firing from an open bolt. Roughly around three hundred rounds of sustained fire will get it to that point, but until then you can enjoy all of the bonuses that a closed bolt has."
 
"And how does it know when the temperature is right? Good God this thing is light," It made me smile to see the man popping the light machine gun up and down in his arms like it was a particularly large foam object.
 
"3.8 kilograms, and memory metals, my dear Hanse. Once the switch governing the open/closed bolt heats up the metal 'remembers' its place when heated, and when it cools the force of the internals forces it to disengage. Same recoil-reducing systems as the X1 Rifle, but the extra mass went into beefing up the portions of the weapon which receive the most heat, and therefore the most Andosteel foam," I gestured to a few bottles of water sitting on the table, "And thanks to the fact it is a dense open cell foam, pouring water into the barrel will be quite effective- that is if you just don't quick change the barrel out for a cool one." 
 
I pressed the button at the base of the receiver, twisted the barrel 45 degrees, popped it off, and then put it back on, "No tools required, no head-space and timing, just twist it off and twist it on."
 
Hanse trotted back over to our impromptu firing line.
 
God, he was so excited and I hadn't even gotten the best parts!
 
'Shhh-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!'
 
Jesus Christ, Hanse! That was a whole 120-round belt!
 
First Prince Hanse Davion strutted back over with the satisfied look of a man who looked like he just blew a fat load down some eager harlot's throat, only instead of a cigarette it was the barrel that was smoking. He sighed as he sat the weapon down after deploying the bipod and grabbed a bottle of water before sprinkling a liberal amount over the foam barrel to watch it steam and hiss; the foam holding a fair amount of it rather easily.
 
"How well you think it will hold up, the barrel I mean, with dirt accumulation and the like?"
 
I felt it was a silly question because even if you slathered it in mud the thing would still be twelve kilos lighter than the LMGs issued to the boys already, but that was neither here nor there. 
 
With a slight shrug, I gestured to a simple brush, "That will get most of it as the cells are incredibly fine; you'd have to find moon dust or something like it to penetrate more than a few layers. Even then, a dip in an ultrasonic tank will have all of that cleaned out in a few minutes, and we already use dip tanks to clean rifles anyway so..."
 
"Probably a bit silly to ask but I thought I would get it out of the way while I was thinking about it. Let's get everyone a turn on these little beauties and then we'll move on, because if there is one thing I know about you Arthur is that you always have something more."
 
We spent the next twenty minutes watching everyone that was present, including my personal security team, run through the weapons, though Hanse did have to ask: "Where is the pistol?"
 
"It isn't ready yet. If it was I would have brought it, Hanse. Though just for you I'll make sure that yours is expertly crafted by yours truly. And I'll make one for anyone else you want. A special variant to protect the special people in the life of Hanse Davion."
 
He looked around to make sure no one else was close enough to overhear, and he grinned, "You're going to make one for yourself then?"
 
"Hanse, I'm going to have one in every room in the house and then some. There will be so many guns about my labs and offices that even a Taurian will shed a tear. And speaking of labs and offices..."
"They're glass barriers on wheels." One particularly astute fellow commented.
 
"And a bunker on wheels." Another replied with a hum.
 
"That looks just like the baseball net I keep out in the back when I play with my son." A third chimed in.
----
"They're lightweight, mobile fortifications meant to reinforce chokepoints, rooftops, and of course a net that is pushed out in front and locked down to prevent grenades from being tossed into said fortifications and discourage infantry rushes," I scoffed, "The Mobile Barrier is made from pure SapphireClear ferro glass, except it's cavitated and honeycombed to keep it light compared to what is used on cockpit glass. The first layer is four centimeters of pure Ferro glass while the center is the honeycombed structure, and the final section is just like the first; this will stand up to a few seconds of sustained Battlemech grade MG fire. We've tested it. And for anything infantry can bring around you might as well be standing behind BAR 10 armor."
 
"And you put a one-way mirror coating on the front of it so that the troops behind can see out, but attacking forces have to make guesses. Smart," One Operator who didn't feel like yanking my chain commented, "Is it surface level or...?"
 
"No, it's technically three thousand layers beneath the surface; the growth process was halted, the one-way sheet dipped into the suspension fluid and lined up, and then the growth process restarted. Quick and painless for the operator, but figuring out how to convince the crystals to start growing properly again without the seedbed was a pain in the ass. One of the few things that I had to step in on and help outside of what's next." I mused lightly, "They're all designed to be lightweight, quick to set up and wheel around, and are exceptionally durable while being rather inexpensive. I already have these being distributed to all of my buildings at Corean, and once I build up enough stock I'll be sending them to my Elder Sister to deploy at the Corean offices on Augusta and with her County Guard. I think they'll be just perfect for NAIS."
 
Hanse blinked and then stared at me, "Arthur, NAIS is one of the best-protected places in the Federated Suns, let alone New Avalon. Only-"
 
I stared even harder, "Go ahead. Finish that thought. I dare you, Hanse. The Death Commandos already attacked one research facility here on New Avalon, so who is to say that it won't happen again? My sister is here, Hanse, and if you think I'm going to let her get slaughtered like the research staff did then you have another thing coming. I'll give the damn things to NAIS as a donation. Four of the mobile bunkers for every rooftop corner and dozens of the mobile barriers for the ground floors of every damn building on campus; triple that for the important buildings. If you can make every hallway a kill box that the enemy couldn't just flush out with grenades, then why wouldn't you?"
 
Hanse looked pensive as he turned his eyes toward the barriers and I huffed, "Besides, these things were damn cheap to make. The crystal Ferro glass was grown from materials I can find on almost any beach on New Avalon, with some special additives, some refining, some choice trace elements, and the Andosteel is printed. It won't even cost you a finger, let alone an arm and a leg. Hell, if you cut a few live fire training days off of the year's schedule you'd probably make up the costs immediately."
 
"You're right, Arthur," Hanse ran a hand along his bottom lip, "I'll have a few of these dropped off at the security office at Central and get them to work up just how these can be deployed efficiently and where. More protection for the Cadets and our Research Staff is always better than less, especially if a few mobile barriers and the grenade stops can stymie a Commando team. At least until the enemy can cut through the netting with some sheers."
 
I grinned, "Unless they brought bolt cutters, a set of snips, a knife, or even a low-end vibroblade isn't going to cut through that; it's a Henan crystal fiber weave around a flexible, tungsten-titanium memory metal."
 
His eyebrows shot up, "Crystalline fibers?"
 
"Who said we could only grow sheets and lenses, Hanse?"
----
"This a 5-kilogram missile tube, Arthur."
"Yes. It is. Can fire a full-sized Mech SRM as well or LRM. But really, it's just an Andosteel tube with a small fire control system on it and a visible/IR laser package with a rudimentary holographic sight. It's nothing special."
 
"Our current standard issue SRM launchers weigh 35-kilograms, Arthur, and the missiles they fire are half-strength 10-kilogram warheads. Both together weigh almost 50-kilograms. I'm not an infantryman, I'm a Mechwarrior through and through, but this? This can change a lot of things for our boys and girls."
 
"It doesn't matter if you give them a 10-kaygee tube or a 35-kaygee tube. You're just going to load them up with more missiles anyway so the weight savings will be rendered moot."
 
"Yesssss, but I'd much rather the Infantry carry this tube and two full-sized SRMs than one man carrying the 35-kilogram tube and another man carrying four half-strength missiles."
 
"I am not arguing with the logic, Hanse. I made the designs for the damn thing, didn't I?"
----
"Henan Crystal again?" Hanse looked at the rectangular block of Henan crystal that I pulled out of a soft-sided case no larger than deck of playing cards, "Now what makes this little bit of crystal so special?"
 
"That is only a prototype, based on the helpful knowledge the NAIS' libraries have had for me to digest, but it's the start of the first light-based optical computer that the Inner Sphere has seen since the fall of the Star League," I paused, "Probably. Even the white papers and books you recovered on the subject were not nearly as detailed as I would like, but that was to be expected given it was a relatively new branch of technology before Amaris pulled his fateful coup."
 
"I cannot claim to know exactly what an Optical Computer is, but I would imagine that it is significant?"
 
"Significant enough for the Recharge station to use a rudimentary version of it for its charge controllers, and likely was being prototyped on others Dropships or Jumpships as well. Might have even seen some limited deployment on some of the newer WarShips, but that is just speculation on my part. The key thing is that little crystal block is the entire targeting package and flight control system for the ARROW-IV artillery missile."
 
"The whole thing? That's... fifty kilos of vac-tube stacks."
 
"Yeah, that Crystalline Pattern is a hunk of shit compared to what I know the technology is capable of, Hanse, but it's still dozens of times faster than the Star League FCST package." I used a small pen flashlight to run it back and forth over the crystal deck, the light and refractions and distortions revealing hundreds of hair-thin channels that looped around, encircled spiraled but never crossed, "The trick is figuring out how to map everything out so that the channels carry the light signals without interfering with each other. There are some other hurdles that will need to be overcome if I want to make anything more complex than this, but with some time and effort I can make newer, better crystalline computers that could be thousands of times faster than Vac-stacks in singular tasks."
 
"I don't think I have the proper mindset to envision the scope of what's going through your mind right now, but the fact that you shrunk a 50kg targeting and flight control system's package into a deck of playing cards is astounding enough."
 
I sniffed, "It's hardly mature, but I have a funny feeling that I'm going to be making some compromises in the future. Oh, and speaking of Arrows, after studying a couple for a few months while I was on Petrolia II, I figured out how to make them now, and yesterday I successfully deployed one of the ones I made in a machine shop. And driving it was a clone of the very same crystal computer you have in your hand."
 
Seeing Hanse fumble the crystal processor and send it skidding across the ferrocrete of the tunnel should not have been as satisfying as it was.
 
"You can make ARROWS now!?"
 
The Federated Suns was home to most of the Inner Sphere's ARROW-IV Missile Artillery platforms, but as the ability to manufacture them was lost in the First and Second Succession Wars almost all of them have been languishing in mothballs awaiting the day when production could be restarted once more. 
 
He picked it up off of the ground and brushed it off on his coat before realizing that with how hard and scratch-resistant Henan Ferro Glass was- he would likely chip the ferrocrete before damaging the Optical Computer, "How many?"
 
"Eh, a hundred a month for the next five months? Then after that one of my new munitions warehouses should be finished, and I can really expand my Henan and Augusta process machines into it; I'd have to sit down and run the numbers but one of my factories should be able to build out stock ARROWs with an extra 60kg of HE without issues. Probably forty-five hundred a year for a single plant? The longest part of the process will be growing the targeting computers in the crystal tanks, but compared to crafting a vac-tube targeting stack? It's practically as easy as breathing."
 
"I want all of them."
 
"Naturally. Once the ARROW systems Corean has are nicely stocked so that if we're beset upon we have something nice to give anyone stupid enough to attack us."
 
"Done and done. Next up?"
"So we've finally moved into the main event then?" Hanse rubbed his hands together, "So, how are you going to astound me for this grande finale?"
 
"I would give a nice speech about how the standard issue uniforms suck for everyone who isn't a part of the Special Operations groups, but instead I'll just bring it on out," I clapped my hands, "Harvey! Come on out!"
 
Booted feet were barely audible as I continued, "Now, firstly, what you're seeing first is only a mock-up. This is what I envision the end product to look like after I've had a decade or so to iterate and make improvements."
----
====Future Soldier====
"Is that an Exoskeleton?" Hanse asked the moment Harvey, one of my techies, strolled up with a plastic mock-up rifle of the X-1; I had it colored in white, orange, and yellow. Classic Nerf aesthetic.
 
"It is a mock-up of what I want the future of Infantry Warfare to be for the Federated Suns. Where the performance of every single infantryman is improved via exoskeletons that can be operated powered or semi-powered. Heavier armor for immense survivability against the conventional infantry weapons that our enemies can reasonably field. Enhanced mobility with powered assistance to enhance soldier stamina and reduce fatigue. Improved weapon handling and outright recoil negation so that our men and women can field heavier weapons without being weighed down by them for maximum lethality," I pointed toward the helmet, "Fully sealed with a Henan Sapphire Glass face plate with auto-polarization. Integrated Life Support with CO2 scrubbers, hydration apparatus, and a special feeding port with a new style of tubular MRE that can allow someone to chow down even while in hostile environments. Night Vision, Color Thermal, IR, LIDAR, Infrasound, EM, and Mag-Scan capabilities, along with an enhanced optical zoom- all of which can be easily cycled through on the integrated holographic Heads Up Display. Then some powerful communications packages that allow for data to be easily shared between infantrymen and their officers just as easily as Mechwarriors can do with their Battlemechs."
 
I made a 'there it is' gesture with both hands, "That is the goal of the Future Soldier System. However... we're not there quite yet. Marv and Co! You're up!"
 
Hanse toyed with his lower lip as he stared at the newcomers intently, the man staring at the demonstrator who was standing only in his skivvies and socks. Behind him, a wheeled table with lots of stuff on it followed a large dolly with a bulkier-looking exoskeleton strapped to it. 
 
"Now. Corean, like most heavy equipment manufacturers, either produces their own industrial exoskeletons or purchases from someone who does. Exoskeletons are something everyone has had since before the Star League was even founded, and there is some evidence to support the theories that the Star League had had some form of powered armor present in the Periphery but details are virtually non-existent on what they were and how they worked," I crossed my arms underneath my chest and sniffed, "Knowing the Star League my money is in stealth armors for their personal hit squads; the Periphery Uprising certainly made them mad enough to use something like that to try and cut out the bad elements before they could fester. However, I don't have a clue as to how they accomplished such a feat, but I'm not really worried about what they did back then, I'm worried about what I can do right now. And right now I can make some pretty damn good armor for infantry."
 
"The first layer is an environmentally sealed Cooling Suit, with the fully-fledged ballistics weaves that the Star League used, but only on the arms, legs, bum, and crotch; the torso is going to be completely covered with even better protection, so cutting costs and time by removing redundancies is a thing we can do," I held up a hand and pointed out the details of the exoskeleton as they started to strap Marv into it.
So, everything on that chassis is Andosteel. You already know. Then it has three forms of movement assistance, two of which are passive and one which is active; coiled springs and hydraulics provide the passive work while servos provide the active. We don't expect the exoskeleton to be moving more than 300 kilograms, so trying to invest in better servos or Myomer isn't really worth it. These guys don't need to be able to run 30 kilometers per hour either, though with the active portion of the locomotion engaged you can run as far and as long as you would normally be able to unencumbered, you'd just have to get used to running with a slightly different gait."
 
Marv slipped his gloved hands into the open-fingered portions of the frame and squeezed it to bring it to life. He raised and lowered his legs, and raised and lowered his arms. After that, the retired soldier-turned-engineer performed some walking lunges. The springs, and hydraulics handling the vast majority of the workload for him with the man putting in only the barest amount of effort. Once again, it was nothing extraordinary given exoskeletons have existed for over six hundred years, but once he was ready to proceed, the tactical vest was added, and then the armor paneling over the top of that.
 
Last to go on was the helmet, which Marv had to have some help to get so that it locked into the extended turtleneck of the Cooling Suit to seal, but he was able to reach behind him and connect the in-going and out-going coolant lines without assistance.
It was a chonky boy, no doubt.
 
"The exterior panels are Henan crystal weave, look like bundles of angel hair pasta or those thin Pho noodles when uncompressed, and those bundles are impregnated with a metalize-crystalline sheer thickening fluid that hardens in response to physical trauma," Another block on my 'Cool things to say unironically' checked off, "Just the ballistic panel alone can stop pretty much everything short of Mech MG fire, and because it's virtually a fiber-optic weave it neatly disperses the heat of laser rife across the entire panel. The Cooling Suit does not have this, unfortunately, but I'm planning on getting some of the old ladies to make a mesh layer that can be incorporated into it... once I figure out a way to make the angel hair noodles more flexible without degrading their robustness."
 
"If it looks like a bundle of angel hair pasta then how- ah, you grew it like that, didn't you?" Hanse caught himself before he asked another silly question, and at my nod he let me continue.
 
"Underneath the ballistic panel, though still inside of the camo cover, is a thin Andosteel plate, and welded to the Andosteel is a quarter centimeter of Battlemech Plate. All in all, Marv is carrying around 150 kilograms of Mech armor and is no worse for wear," I held a hand up to my neck, "The high collar protects the neck and head, and the ballistic panels can easily soak up incoming fire from even the strongest infantry weapons, and even the ammunition carried on the soldier is protected by the panels."
 
Marv, upon hearing this, stopped moving around and struck a pose, the man showing off the eight barely visible magazine blocks that were hidden behind another panel, "Running, diving, and crawling from cover to cover isn't going to be necessary for soldiers wearing this armor, as speed and firepower are going to be their greatest allies, so naturally you're going to attract a lot of fire while running down a Capellan MG nest; I would want my ammunition protected, if only to prevent something silly like having my magazines rendered into scrap because I had a canvas magazine pouch instead of something studier when I'm wearing what is essentially a bullet magnet."
"The helmet is still something I'm working on, but I have the holographic HUD interface already integrated into the Henan crystal face plate, and I'm already working with my teams to see if we either can't find or create more miniaturized sensors; IR and Nightvision is simple enough for now, but everything I mentioned before? I want all of that functionality, and I know I can get it, I just have to make it myself."
 
"He looks like a bit of a doughboy, dunn't he?" One of the Special Ops guys on Hanse's security detail sounded rather dismissive.
 
<<"Well, why don't we put our money where our mouth is and see if this isn't just for show?">> Marv spoke up, his voice slightly distorted by the helmet speaker but still plenty easy to hear and understand; I'd skimped on the speakers for this prototype for obvious reasons, "I'm going to start from a hundred meters away, and you're going to shoot at me with that oversized, overhyped wad spitter of yours. Shoot anywhere you want, just not the face or crotch, because I'll fucking gut you if you do."
 
"Mate, you don't want to try and test me and my Zeus here. I've put down boars bigger than you are with this rifle, and plenty more men besides," The soldier held up the heavy in front of him, "700 grains at 1,300 meters per second is no joke. No need to put your life before your pride."
 
<<"And I want to show you that I'm confident enough in this combat exo armor to stand up to one of the best man killers in a small package. Besides, if I die the bossman will give my wife at least a million Pounds, so she'll retire and live a good life while I'm enjoying my pine board box.">> Marve replied easily with a smug shrug.
 
"Don't sell yourself short Marv, you're worth at least two million Pounds, but I'll pay the Missus five million just to make sure she can get that solid gold toilet she's always wanted."
 
<<"You are a saint, bossman.">>
 
"Absolutely not," Hanse snapped his fingers, "As much as I appreciate the bravado, gentlemen, I do believe we can save such styles of testing for ballistic gelatin dummies; they do exist for such purposes, and if the armor isn't as good as you believe... well, it wouldn't be you, Mister Marv, who paid the price for it."
 
The Prince looked at me, "Honestly, Arthur? You weren't going to stop them?"
 
"One of those panels stopped a 25mm Mech-grade machine gun round from penetrating. The ballistic dummy we used didn't survive the kinetic impact of such a collision, but the panel sure did. I think it would have been fine, but if you don't want to see it then... you're the Prince."
 
"Am I... going to have to conduct safety inspections if this is how flippant you are about employee safety?" He narrowed his eyes slightly.
 
"MIIO lives so much in my personal space you probably know how many nose hairs I have, Hanse. If there was any sort of illegal safety practices going on you would have been notified a long time ago. This was just a serendipitous occasion where all sorts of strange factors coalesced into the one moment where one man was about to shoot another man- both wanting to show off the superiority of their chosen thing. Weapon or armor? Which would come out on top?" I shrugged. 
 
"Fair point, but I have to admit that I was sort of curious as to see if this wasn't just an overly elaborate game of chicken," Hanse admitted as he bobbed his head, "But since they looked as though they were actually going to do it? No. Best to put that to bed right now while everyone still has their egos intact and are still alive."
 
"The energy behind the Zeus' 13mm is a bit overblown if you ask me, it's virtually an elephant gun if you listen to their advertising, and that makes for a terrible infantry rifle," It really was. What sort of psychopath looks at that thing and says 'I'm going to carry this into combat even though I have barely more ammunition on my person than a guy with pockets full of shotgun shells.'
 
"If you ain't too much of a pussy to use it."
 
"Yeah, yeah," I waved an arm, "I'll let Marv give some demonstrations and then he'll talk about the rest of the cool gee-whiz gadgets on it. I'm going to get some much-needed coffee."
----
Once show and tell was done, Hanse gave me a meaningful look, "I've had my fun, Arthur. Thank you for indulging me, but now I think its time we both retired to one of the briefing rooms. We have much to discuss."
 
I blinked.
 
Am I in trouble for something?
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==Chapter Note==
*Chapter Note from the Author ; So, Exoskeletons have existed for a long time. Many people besides the Star League have tried to weaponize them for a long time. It's just they've never really caught on due to clunkiness, bulk, and cost. Andosteel and other Corean processes change that calculus a lot, along with effective armor. The Zeus' stat sheet overhypes the shit of it as a certified man-killer, dropping any man with a single shot- except for the Word of Blake of course. God every time I see Word of Blake now all I keep seeing is that 'retarded sponge bob meme' "But the Word of Blake".
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