004. Oi, Atkins, Listen up

It had been a month and Huu was standing in front of his new shed with great pride.

It had taken longer than he thought to get this all set up, but! But, it worked out in the end.

It turned out that concrete, or rockcrete, which was... uh... the same thing? Like concrete was cement with rocks. So what the hell was rockcrete that the Star League used? Concrete with extra rocks? Concrete with special rocks? The rocks were there to provide support, so what even was the deal with special star-league grade rocks or whatever?

Anyway.

Rockcrete took a while to set, not as long as it would take concrete but a while. Huu, for all his random trivia knowledge, had forgotten this little fact and it was only now that they could get the machinery inside. Not three months like it would have taken for a foundation back on Earth, just three weeks.

A month to cure a slab four metres thick, reinforced with rebar, tens of metres of piles, and who knew what else to allow a stable foundation for the drop hammers.

A series of different sheds for the different manufacturing areas, ammunition separate from everything else, the barrels, the breech, the Universal Carrier, and so on. Different sheds to keep it all contained in case something went wrong and caught fire. Lines on the ground painted in different colours to make it easy to navigate.

The movement crew shifting the machinery inside as he stood there, having pulled something in his back trying to help.

Lift with your legs, not your back!

"Everything is looking good Mister Eggers. I'm actually a little worried things have been so... easy." Former Warrant Officer Glory Brantzollen said. Eyes scanning the situation at hand, the surrounding area, his body posture, and her tablet, linked to the personal computer on her waist scrolling through a stream of digital gibberish. To him anyway, apparently it made sense to Miss Brantzollen. His new factotum was the one who had sorted the small details, leaving him to make executive decisions.

Like, no moving equipment in until the curing process for the rockcrete was complete.

"Right? When those cadets in the Blackjack school offered to help I was actually a little worried. Heard about how they would cheat you of your underwear while you are wearing it!"

Glory paused.

"Yes. In any case, they have been working at the behest of Duke-Colonel Martin Kleist. I am sure that he is using this as a learning opportunity Mister Eggers. Sabotaging you for protection money is not in the best interests of Blackjack. It would be more efficient to ensure production begins and diverting some arms to separate buyers."

The new owner of an armaments factory nodded his head.

Yes, that made sense. The System forbade any illegal activity, but it wasn't a problem if nobody was buying the weapons in the first place.

There can be no illegal activity if there was no activity headtap

The two of them stood in companionable silence. Well, Glory was liaising with the machinists to start work tomorrow. Huu was thinking Glory was very attractive and trying very hard not to think about it.

Women that could kill him with their bare hands had always been his weak spot. That and haircuts that looked like angled bowl cuts, edges sharp enough to cut glass. She had both properties and it was mighty distracting.

"Would you like a tour of the facility sir?" Glory finally said, the movers setting everything down, leaving it for the machinists to nail down what they wanted where in the afternoon.

"No thank you, I'll leave it in your capable hands. I'm thinking of a trip to Lint's Bowl, check on the steel foundries... or something." Huu paused, just what was he meant to be doing right now?

The machinists were coming by tomorrow, the factory was established, the materials had been organised... just what was left for him to do besides wait?

No dammit! He had forgotten the most important part of opening a new factory. The horoscope!

Head turning so fast that it cracked, Huu opened his mouth, "what about the Horoscope? Is tomorrow an auspicious day?"

Jerking in equal levels of shock, her fingers started flicking rapidly. Glory opened up I Ching, the Maltal computer program. Used by business tycoons across the Lyran Commonwealth to guide their major business decisions, seeking advice from the spirit world to get that tiny extra edge on their competition. Prevalent in the Lyran Commonwealth since its inception, the rise of Margaret Olsen only increased its spread and depth in Lyran society.

"Tomorrow is an auspicious day, the sun shall shine brightly on your endeavours." Glory dutifully recited, a relieved sigh exiting her lips.

Huu pumped his fist in exultation. Perfect!

Tomorrow was the best time to open the factory up!

+_+

Martin Kleist as planetary duke stood in front of the factory.

No.

Shed.

He couldn't with a straight face call it a factory. Not after the sheer size and scale of the operations that he had observed on Hesperus in the Defiance factories. Factories inside of hollowed out mountains that provided a large number of the Heavy and Assault battlemechs that the Lyran Commonwealth so desperately needed to hold the line against Combine and Free World aggression.

This, meanwhile... was a shed that contained several pieces of machinery that could forge and mill out equipment obsolete before his great great grandfather had even been born.

One that had fifteen people working the line, compared to the tens of thousands on Hesperus, not mentioning the satellite factories and support networks that added up to the hundreds of thousands or millions of workers.

The issue with calling it a factory wasn't the equipment really, it was the scale of the thing. An artisan shop in someone's backyard would be more accurate. Now that he thought about it, some backyards were in fact... larger than this new shed. Some workshops he had seen, particularly closer to the front were larger than this entire complex.

Yet, as they say, from humble beginnings, greatness blooms.

With a pair of scissors in his hands, Duke-Colonel Kleist snipped the ribbon. Officially declaring the first factories in a thousand years capable of producing the Ordnance 2-pdr and Universal Carrier factories open.

The small crowd around him applauded, some even losing their decorum, whooping and hollering as they did so, excited for all the great things that were happening. Local media companies were recording this for prosperity. There was even a news crew for Commonwealth Press here to record the event. Hell, they had even brought out a sensory cube recording device. 

Which was really the point wasnt it? For all his griping, Kleist knew the value of Eggers Armaments, a subsidiary of Eggers General Utility. The new company that Huu Eggers had registered.

Stepping back into the crowd as the media circus followed Huu Eggers, who was trying not to stumble over his words. Not expecting the vehement interest in his new factory, that much was certain. A slight shock really considering he must have known about the impact of this factory he had put together. Perhaps there was something he was missing. As he rejoined two of his trainees, Kleist also metaphorically stepped back into his role as educator. 

"Explain to me the importance of self-sustaining domestic weapons manufacturing." He said to Private Francoeur the young woman was a mechwarrior trainee, a private as all new initiates into the LCAF were. Failing to get into the Nagelring, Marie Francoeur's parents had made a small donation to get her into the Blackjack School of Combat. Small as in her parents were descended from the original British and French settlers of Blackjack III. It was always good to stoke a little planetary pride.

Straightening to attention Marie looked straight ahead. "Domestic manufacturing ensures a local supply chain in the event of an invasion corridor into the Lyran Commonwealth. This means that regardless of the enemy's movements in the region, we will be able to supply our local and regional forces with munitions and weapons."

He nodded in approval. Fast on her feet, able to recite facts well. Not so much inference and analysis, something they would be working on in her years as a trainee.

"Correct. Private Gipps, explain to me how the factory we see in front of us now is an example of domestic manufacturing."

Her eyes were full of confusion as she looked up at him. Breaking from her forward attention stance as she did so. Born out in the periphery, Amelie Gipps' parents were rather wealthy. Wealthy in the manner of having several Battlemechs and the ability to enforce their will upon the area around them. In other words, they were the Ducal House of Barcelona.

Lacking a traditonal education, she had not been able to gain entrance into the standard mechwarrior schools of the Commonwealth, bringing her to Blackjack. For a large fee of course.

"The factory in front of us produces... old cannons which can be used on the battlefield? But I'm unsure why this matters... it's obsolete headmaster."

He snorted in amusement.

"Yes, it's obsolete, but you will find that these weapon systems still have an effect on the battlefield. Remember that the battlefield is not just mechwarriors, trainees. It is also filled with militia troops, armed with the most basic of equipment because their masters have forgotten they exist. Yet we at the Blackjack School of Combat do not, do we?"

Private Gipps nodded. Then remembered that she was meant to reply in these situations.

"Yes headmaster, militia troops can serve to delay the enemy by employing defence in depth, allowing battlemech units to manoeuvre on the field of battle."

Kleist nodded again in approval. These two were the most promising of the new cadets that had just arrived. Those focused solely on the mechwarrior and their glory would find it hard to succeed at the Blackjack School of Combat.

Combined arms, communication, and a little greasing of the palms was what allowed their graduates to be so successful on the field of battle... and off it.

"Exactly right trainee. What is the standard composition of our battlemech units in the Lyran Commonealth private Francoeur? How does a heavily armed militia impact the standard doctrine of the Commonwealth?" A little more in the way of extrapolation in this question. Requiring the students to infer information and consider multiple factors. Quite difficult for a teenager of 16, or so they said. Kleist expected more of his students.

"Heavy to Assault form the backbone of the Commonwealth's battlemech units. A heavily armed militia means... means..."

He gave her a few seconds to think about it. Thinking time was a critical part of a student's learning process after all, they had to compose their thoughts, and put those into words. Especially for a question that demanded cross referencing and extrapolation.

"Means that the enemy can't use their standard doctrine against us anymore! With the slower speed of our heavier units, enemy forces could manoeuvre us out of position with feinting attacks, before striking when we are out of position. This has been a weakness we have dealt with for thee centuries. But if the defending militia is sufficiently equipped to drive the enemy off on their own... then the battlemech units can focus on chasing down the enemy logistics chain and bases."

"Absolutely correct private. We are looking at a shift in favour of the standard doctrine in defence. Cost and availability of arms has always been a limiting factor when it comes to arming our militia with heavy equipment. But if this works, the Commonwealth is about to become nigh-impenetrable by enemy forces. The manoeurve elements have always been afraid of leaving their objectives undefending to chase the enemy. But if the objective is as well armed as the manoeuvre elements, does this not mean we are no longer fighting with one arm tied behind our backs? This Huu Eggers has just potentially made a contribution to the realm that cannot be measured."

Kleist had been unsure of the younger man. It was just a plot of land he was renting, but the idea. The idea was uncertain. The success an unknown. But he had seen the weapons, they were mature designs, easy to put into production, and so long as they did more damage than a vehicle grade machine-gun, it would bring about a wave of change.

But it was potential change. Until the testing reports came notihng was certain. For Colonel Kleist however, he had a good feeling about this. After fighting on the Combine and Free-Worlds Front for a decade, before teaching another two decades... he had learnt to trust his feelings.

"But headmaster, if this was so easy, why hasn't anyone else done something like it before? It's not like this is lostech. Shouldn't it have been possible for anyone else to copy?" Private Gipps asked, looking a little confused about the matter.

"The largest issue that we in the LCAF face is not external foes Private. It is incompetence, in particular, the incompetence of our own high command. Who, nearly to a man are all mechwarriors. Those who aren't run aerospace. We teach you effective combined arms skills at the Blackjack School of Combat, you will find that other schools are nowhere near as well rounded. In fact, most officers could not care less about the other branches of the LCAF, especially not the militia." Both looked shocked. Well, Private Francoeur did, Private Gipps looked like she might agree with command. Something to knock out of her head before it became an issue.

"They will not willingly attempt to improve the lot of the militia, when they themselves can purchase another laser, or another battlemech. But this is a groundswell change, or as the Reserve Bank would call it, supply-side economics. Things will be changing regardless of high command's wishes. Even if this fails, it offers inspiration going forward for all other entrepenours that wish to make a difference." The headmaster continued, the growing appreciation of the now empty factory front filling the faces of the trainees.

The training base commanders on-planet had already been in touch about the process of acquiring these weapons to train the conscripts with. It all hinged on the evaluation once the first guns were produced. If they were successful... capable? Who knew where the limit was.

+_+

Huu Eggers walked around the factory, guiding the media who were recording everything.

He had no idea why they were here. It was just some obsolete guns, obsolete even before he had been born in his previous life on Earth. Why was everyone so interested?

He had given the little speech of course, wishing that these weapons would be useful in the hands of the militia, providing them with another option in the defence of Blackjack, the standard spiel that he had heard politicians the world over saying regarding defence contracts.

So why was this such a big deal?

"What was your inspiration for undertaking such an ambitious project?" The local news lady, a mousey woman that definitely could not kill him with her bare hands asked. There was silence after she asked the question, the reporters focused intently on his answer.

Remember your public speaking skills Huu. He fell back on the skills he had developed in high school. Never using the word 'uh' because that indicated he had no idea what was going on. Instead, it was much better to keep talking! Keep talking and you will eventually find the words you needed.

"Well, I thought to myself that the militia of Blackjack are armed with the most basic weapons really. A rifle and flak vest is really all they have and it's not great when you think about it. An invading force is likely to use tanks and mechs, rifles aren't going to do anything to that. So that's why I've set up Eggers Armaments, a subsidiary of Eggers General Utility. It's here to provide that extra punch our militia need, especially since I wasn't conscripted. I wanted to make sure that there was something I could do to help you know?"

Perfect. A general statement that barely said anything concrete. No promises were made and there wouldn't be people that expected him to deliver. When the guns inevitably failed to sell, he could say that he had never ever promised anything!

Judging by the smiles and the nods everyone else agreed with him!

"Now, in this shed we are producing the ammunition for the 2 pounder. Everything is self contained to this facility, we don't use any technologically advanced products to build these devices. Everything was built here on Blackjack! In fact, the only modern equipment we have is this synthesiser for petroleum fuels. It produces the lubricants for the machinery and the fuel for the Universal Carrier. I'll remind you, this is the only modern piece of equipment we have on site!"

Another perfect shot. Everything about the system was primitive, who was going to spend cash on buying these weapon systems if it wasn't using anything that could be considered high tech? It didn't even have an autoloader. Seriously, who would waste their time and money by doing such a thing? Why buy one of these when you could buy an autocannon 2?

Fucking nobody that was who.

Huu led the tour onwards, no idea why there were people here, no idea why there was a ribbon cutting ceremony at all, but Glory had told him it was expected and so he was carrying through with it.

She was his factotum after all and made his life that much easier. Executive decisions was all you needed to do!

In fact, ever since she had become his factotum, the issues of liaising with different people, groups, organisations, and so on had become non-existent. It was as if she had this magical power to ease the way in any conversation.

She kind of reminded him of his father actually.