.
It was officially the mid-point of the term and Daedalus were completing their traditional Sat.u.r.day morning PT which was usually a run, but this week it was altered by Picard. She saw a need for change due to the changing nature of each rounds obstacle course.
Mace scaled the side of the warehouse, and onto the roof, where Ikaros" robots had been installing contructofoam designs and features which would deliver an agility, strength, coordination and reflex orientated course.
Covered in pads, bots on wheels zig-zagged randomly across the roof as the cadets dodged and rolled past trying to avoid being knocked into the netting which surrounded the building. After successfully crossing the roof they would drop down the other side.
The junkyard had been transformed into a series of structured junk piles and tunnels which the cadets had to climb, jump and crawl through before ultimately running into a small square where they had to box a bot for thirty seconds. Not only was the bot quick, with one-and-half metre arms, it also cheated. Each spar it was allowed to break three of the predetermined rules at random.
To finish off a single lap, the cadets then sprinted the block, which was eight hundred and fifty metres in length, unless they jumped a series of fences and took an alley, which was allowed by the course designer aka Picard.
Daedo smiled as Kang finally finished her fifth lap.
"What are you grinning about?" Kang accused.
"Your improvement. The rate you are climbing ranks is impressive, especially when we factor in the cadets you are competing against have a full term under their belt. They didn"t when I was rising in the ranks," Daedo stated factually.
"So you stopped climbing ranks in the obstacle course?" Kang asked.
"I am in a band of twenty cadets which frequently swap places, its seems rank fifty to seventy is my limit," Daedo replied.
Kang walked up to him and patted him on the head, "It"s ok cadet when you grow you"ll improve," she said the words dripping with sarcasm and payback.
Daedo adroitly moved his head from under her hand, dipping and stepping back. "Let"s go through Dead Beat"s design one final time before we start the installation," he said.
Not only was Kang instrumental in the design due to her experience and knowledge of composites and components. Her Father insisted she approved of the final design before it was implemented.
"We have almost forty kilometres of mesh adhered to the structure protecting everything except the outer armour." Daedo brought up the mesh design which showed the layers and the redundancy it delivered in terms of hydraulic capacity. "The three outer layers contain no hydraulic fluid, and even then we have a four to one redundancy ratio."
"This will be great if it delivers the speed and strength you promised," Kang said with a slight hint of scepticism. "I"m a don"t believe it until I see it kinda girl."
"Which is a good way to be, the modelling is always out. It is a tool we use to a.s.sist, but I have never seen one encapsulate everything," Daedo replied.
"My new plating is ready. It"s lighter due to all this extra weight you"re adding, but it will protect your mesh from most melee attacks," Kang stated.
"Let"s start putting this together so it can be ready to test against Old Dawg tomorrow at the old hangar next door," Daedo said.
"Old Dawg"s reactor is ready?" Kang asked.
"Cisse finished it yesterday, and Axelzero bought the properties on either side of us this week as well," Daedo stated.
"Doesn"t anyone want to have warehouses here anymore?" Kang asked.
"Not since the noisy kids moved in," Ikaros answered, inserting himself into the conversation.
Axelzero had offered well over market value for the properties, and the owners simply accepted. One of them was a perfect spot for a practice arena; it was large enough for two mechs to spar in melee combat. In area it was bigger than the workshop and yard combined, it was depressed into the earth with a thirty-metre high roof. It had been vacant of tenants so was available immediately.
The second was behind them, which was occupied, but Axelzero would decline to renew the lease which was expiring in a little over seven months in order for them to use it early next year.
"Is next door ready Father?" Daedo asked.
Ikaros nodded, "We added a door to its side so you can access from here without going on to the street and a tonne of constructofoam reinforcement in order to meet the requirements for a test range."
Daedo used his comms to talk to the whole squad.
*Daedo: Axelzero would you do the honour of moving Old Dawg next door for his launch party? Aside from the initialisation tests, he is ready. Dead Beat will be ready by tomorrow for Old Dawgs first spar.*
*Axelzero: Yes! I"d love to! Why me?*
*Daedo: You named him.*
*Vannier: Our very first Mech. And it"s a great name Axelzero.*
Axelzero sprinted from the upstairs area where she had been checking on regulations and contracts regarding their existing and new properties. She lept down the twenty stairs in three bounds before turning and skidding to a halt in front of Daedo and Old Dawg.
"That was quick, did you hurt yourself?" Daedo asked.
Axelzero shook her head, "I"m ready," she beamed.
Vannier, Picard, Barran arrived moments before Mace and Cisse.
"That"s everyone," Vannier announced.
"Okay Axelzero get in, and we will run the initialisation," Daedo said. While they had walked Old Dawg around for Mr Kang, he wasn"t ready, his armour wasn"t finished, and his reactor needed tweaking. It was only this week Daedo was happy to launch and initialise. The latest control systems were installed, and they would be tuned to Axelzero.
"I"m so jealous," Picard said smiling.
"Everyone has been working hard," Vannier said, "but Axelzero has been taking on everything thrown at her and more, and I can"t recall her complaining, not once."
"She is the heart of the squad," Picard stated truthfully.
Axelzero couldn"t hear them she was enclosed in the c.o.c.kpit and the sensors had not yet activated.
"Bah," Barran said at the mushy emotions emanating from the girls. "She"s the most expendable if Old Dawg blows up. That"s what Daedo is thinking."
He was rewarded with a thump from Picard. The particular spot on his shoulder was probably starting to form calluses it happened so often.
Axelzero ran through the initialisation steps with Daedo and Ikaros monitoring and adjusting control panels.
"Reactor good, all actuators are receiving power," Daedo announced.
"Interface is solid, she can move now," Ikaros said.
Daedo: Ok, Axelzero. Take him next door.
"We should make today his birthday," Vannier said suddenly.
"May the fourth?" Barran said, "Anyway, isn"t he like a hundred years old?"
"More like twenty," Kang said.
"Today is his official launch day with Daedalus, not only is most of him new, his name is new," Vannier said.
Old Dawg slowly walked towards the new warehouse, he could move much faster, but Axelzero was getting used to the controls. As she moved her arms, his arms moved, as she moved her legs, his legs moved. She was standing in the cabin with her bodysuit and helmet interfacing with Old Dawg. Her AI would take on certain functions as she nurtured, trained and familiarised it with the Mech.
Old Dawg himself was a six-metre model, he looked like an old war veteran compared to the pro league mechs and the Svarski mech on display at the Munich expo. The cabin was in the torso which was heavily armoured and contained most of the mech systems and sensors. There was no head, at the top of Old Dawg was a hatch that the pilot climbed into the cabin, it was heavily armoured and when closed was airtight.
All mechs had to be designed with life support, it was one of the Inter-Academy rules although not a rule in the pro league. Daedo had designed Old Dawg so he could be used in both.
The only remaining equipment to go on Old Dawg were jumpjets, Daedo wanted to get a better system before implementing. Old Dawg weighed over fifteen tonnes that required a lot of force to lift him off the ground. Between a PPC and jumpjets, the power requirements on a Mech would make an exos seem minuscule in comparison. If Old Dawg was fitted with an a.s.sualt Cannon, there would be more weight to deal with both the weapon and a tonne of ammo.
They had not painted Old Dawg yet, he was still gunmetal grey except where the black mesh was showing at his joints. Being an older structural model his structural design was almost identical to a human minus the head. Including ankle and knee joints, wrist, elbow and shoulder joints. Old Dawg even had hands to grip a variety of weapons, or he could make a heavy fist.
If Old Dawg were to be a melee mech in the pro league, Daedo would upgrade his hands to something more suitable. But it was more likely that he would be a sword and board Mech.
"Can he go faster?" Barran asked worriedly.
"Yeah," Daedo answered, "Axelzero is just getting used to the controls."
"When do I get a turn?" Barran asked.
"Take a number," Picard replied and added, "I have number two, don"t you have three Vannier?"
"Yes. Yes, I do," she said, "Daedo has four and doesn"t Mace have five?"
"Yes. I have five," Mace replied.
"When the h.e.l.l were these numbers given out? I didn"t know!" Barran exclaimed.
"Just now," Daedo said deadpan.
Daedo: Axelzero you have the rest of today to practice. Tomorrow you will be fighting Dead Beat.