Chapter 88- Sentinel Mark-2

The workshop lights flickered uncertainly overhead, their wavering glow painting restless shadows across the cramped, cluttered space. The air was heavy with the sharp bite of machine oil, mingling with the lingering sting of burnt metal from earlier welding.

Rion, disguised as Everett, stood before the Sentinel Mark-1, his boots grinding faintly against the scattered metal shavings littering the concrete floor.

The bot's armor lay in a disordered heap nearby, battered and scorched, like the discarded shields of a fallen soldier. Stripped of its protective shell, the Sentinel now stood vulnerable, its inner workings exposed—a maze of tangled wires, glinting hydraulic pistons, and the sturdy steel framework of its skeletal frame.

Rion exhaled, adjusting his grip on a wrench. The weight of it felt familiar in his hand, cool and solid. He reached out, running his fingers over the Sentinel's framework, feeling the rough welds and the faint vibrations of machinery still settling. The previous battle had not impacted the internals much so he would normally have only had to perform light maintenance.

However, since he had recently come into a large amount of money, he was planning to revamp several of its subsystems and change the rugged armor plating to the more superior Alin A-12 3rd generation plates he had bought through the Normos Family's store.

Changing the armor wasn't as simple as slapping on the plates. The new material, being lighter and much stronger, would shift the weight distribution, affecting the bot's balance, speed, and power output. Everything had to be recalibrated.

"Can't just make you look good on the outside," Rion muttered, grabbing a spanner from the workbench. "Gotta make sure you're even better on the inside."

He crouched down next to the Sentinel's wheels, carefully disconnecting a set of cables attached to the joint at the base. The wires slipped free easily enough, but Rion knew the real work was in recalculating the load-bearing capacity of the base.

With the lighter armor, the stress on the joints would change, meaning he had to reinforce the servo-motors to handle the increased agility. The last thing he wanted was for the bot to trip or overexert its motors in the middle of combat.

After making some adjustments, he tightened the screws and reconnected the cables. He pressed a button on the controller and the Sentinel's wheels spun slightly, acknowledging the changes, and Rion nodded in satisfaction.

He wiped the sweat on his forehead, pulling back slightly. "Alright. Time to bulk you up a little."

Though the Alin A-12 was ultralight, Rion had decided to increase the thickness of the plating around the torso to ensure maximum durability, especially since it would be taking the brunt of the damage in combat.

This meant adjusting the framework to accommodate the added bulk while maintaining the bot's center of gravity. Rion carefully measured and marked the attachment points, ensuring the weight distribution wouldn't interfere with the Sentinel's movement. While the material was far superior to the previous scrap-metal armor, its increased density meant that the chassis had to be reinforced at key stress points.

He welded additional support brackets to the frame, reinforcing the torso and limb connections before proceeding to the more delicate calibrations. The servos in the arms needed rebalancing, as the lighter material would shift the inertia during rapid movements. He made precise tweaks to the motor configurations, adjusting the rotational limits and ensuring that the newly reinforced structure didn't hinder flexibility.

With that done, he turned his attention to an even bigger issue—heat management.

The Sentinel's old cooling system was barely functional, a jumbled mess of insulated tubing that did little more than delay inevitable overheating. The compact frame left minimal space for airflow, and prolonged use caused the engine temperature to spike dangerously. It had not been an issue in the past since it had only seen limited operational time, but that was hardly a sustainable solution.

Now that he had the money, he wasn't going to settle for quick fixes.

From the workbench, he grabbed the compact radiator system he had bought through the Normos Family's channels. It was a high-efficiency model, originally designed for military-grade motorcycles. Small enough to fit within the Sentinel's frame yet powerful enough to manage heat dissipation, it was the best option given the space constraints.

Purchasing the radiator had been the easy part—integrating it into the existing fuel and coolant network was the real challenge. However, the answer to this problem was already in place.

A familiar hum resonated through his bones, and within moments, arcs of electricity crackled along his skin. His Resonance ability flared to life—more specifically, the [Mechanical Insight] aspect of it.

Instantly, the tangled mess of coolant lines and pressure valves became a mental blueprint, breaking down into precise schematics. Weak points, ideal connection routes, and the perfect placement for optimal heat dissipation all unfolded before him in vivid detail.

Rion smirked. Alright, let's do this right....

The moment he detached the old coolant lines, a pressurized hiss burst out, followed by a sluggish, wet gurgle as the thick, syrupy liquid drained from the system.

The biting scent of antifreeze hit him immediately, an astringent sting burning the inside of his nostrils. He turned his head away slightly, blinking against the chemical irritation, but worked quickly to keep the mess from spreading.

The old tubing wasn't compatible with the new system, forcing Rion to carefully dismantle and replace multiple lines. Over the next hour, he worked with practiced efficiency, stripping out the outdated components and installing the replacements piece by piece, ensuring each fit seamlessly into the Sentinel's frame.

Once he ensured each connection was snug against the clamps, leaving no room for leaks, he ran a pressure test, watching the gauge as the fluid cycled through. The numbers stabilized within the expected range, and a satisfied smirk tugged at his lips. Finally, the Sentinel wouldn't be at risk of cooking itself alive after prolonged use.

That should do the trick....

But cooling was only one part of the equation. Power efficiency was next.

The carburetor was a crude, inefficient stopgap—something Rion had thrown in as a necessity when he first built the Sentinel, knowing he'd replace it as soon as he had the funds. Now, finally, it was time to rip it out.

He braced himself and twisted the wrench, feeling the resistance as the bolts held firm. The metal groaned under pressure before a sharp creak split the air, the component finally breaking free with a jolt.

A puff of stale fuel vapor hissed out, the sour, chemical stink curling into his nostrils. The sharp tang of burnt residue clung to the air, mixing with the greasy scent of oil-soaked rubber. A few stray droplets of fuel dribbled onto his glove, the icy liquid bleeding through the fabric and chilling his fingertips.

Setting the old system aside, he wiped his hands on a rag before grabbing the new fuel injection system. The sleek tubing and precision valves were a stark contrast to the bulky, outdated carburetor. flow. As he connected the lines, he felt the smooth, rubberized casing under his fingertips, carefully tightening the clamps to ensure an airtight seal.

Unlike the carburetor, which simply dumped fuel into the engine, this system allowed for a much finer balance of air and fuel intake, improving efficiency while reducing unnecessary waste. It meant smoother performance, less heat buildup, and more consistent power output.

He powered up the Sentinel, letting the engine run idle for a few minutes. The combustion process was noticeably cleaner, with none of the uneven sputtering from before. A marked improvement.

While he was refitting the power system, he was also working on the most important module of the Sentinel Mark-1, its firepower.

The Sentinel's mounted machine guns were already formidable, as evidenced during their debut. But they had one glaring issue: recoil. Every sustained burst sent vibrations through the frame, throwing off accuracy and putting unnecessary strain on the joints.

To counter this, Rion installed a stabilizer mechanism, integrating it into the arm segments. He had personally made it from gyroscopic dampeners, originally used in construction machinery to reduce mechanical vibrations. With this addition, the Sentinel would maintain much better accuracy, even when firing in rapid succession.

While he would have loved to switch from magazine-fed ammunition to a belt-fed system for sustained fire, the modification would require a complete redesign of the internal ammo compartments. That was an upgrade for the future, but not something he could afford to focus on right now.

Instead, he double-checked the existing ammo feeds, ensuring they were properly aligned and capable of handling the recoil adjustments.

With the internal adjustments complete, it was time for the final phase: attaching the new armor. He rolled over a cart filled with the Alin A-12 plates, their smooth, dark-blue surface gleaming under the workshop lights. Unlike the old armor, which was bulky and uneven, these plates were sleek and aerodynamic, designed to reduce wind resistance while maximizing protection.

He lifted one, running a hand over the reinforced alloy. While it was the cheapest variant in the Alin A-12 series, it still shared many properties with its more expensive counterparts—superior durability, resistance to small arms fire, and enhanced shock absorption. The projected thickness meant it could take multiple rifle rounds before failing, a massive improvement from the haphazard plating the Sentinel had previously worn.

"Not bad," he muttered, grabbing his tools. "The only other downside I have to keep in mind is that it doesn't do well against vibrations and concussive shocks."

To counter this inherent flaw, he incorporated shock-absorbing features into the Sentinel's internal architecture.

The final factor why he chose to go with the Alin A-12 was that its mix of alloys allowed it to exhibit stronger attraction to magnetism than others of its kind. This way, the process of channeling his Resonance into the bot should theoretically be smoother.

One by one, he began attaching the plates, securing them to the reinforced framework with precision. The first plate—covering the left shoulder—snapped into place with a satisfying click, followed by the chest and back panels.

Every piece had been cut and shaped to fit seamlessly, minimizing gaps while maintaining accessibility for future repairs. The process was meticulous, requiring constant adjustments as he aligned each plate to ensure optimal coverage without compromising flexibility.

Despite bulking up some areas, the bot still maintained a sleek, nimble profile. The Alin A-12's strength meant he could reinforce critical sections—like the chest and legs—without adding unnecessary weight.

All through the upgrade process, Rion reactivated his [Mechanical Insight] whenever his origin energy reserves had replenished enough, saving him hours of manual recalculations.

Each activation was a burst of clarity, like flipping through a well-organized blueprint that existed only in his mind. Structural weaknesses, inefficiencies in power routing, even micro-improvements that would have taken hours of trial and error—all became immediately obvious.

By the time he attached the last piece, he took a step back, wiping his hands on his grease-streaked pants. The Sentinel Mark-1—no, Sentinel Mark-2, no longer looked like a hastily assembled combat machine—it looked more like a war machine, sleek and formidable.

"Looking good, big guy," Rion muttered, rolling his shoulders. "Now let's see how you handle the new threads."

Rion moved the Sentinel to a testing room at the back of the workshop and activated its power-up sequence. The bot hummed to life, its internal systems syncing with the recalibrations and new armor loadouts. Rion watched closely as he controlled the Sentinel to shift slightly, testing its joints and servos. The new armor gleamed as the bot moved with a fluidity it hadn't had before.

"Startup complete. No issues so far," Rion muttered, his eyes narrowing as he pressed a few more buttons to initiate an agility test. He could feel the anticipation building as the Sentinel prepared to surge forward. "Let's see how you handle some quick maneuvers."

The bot responded instantly, its wheels spinning with a faint hiss as it glided across the workshop's metal flooring. The sound was almost hypnotic, like the wind slicing through the trees, and Rion found himself leaning slightly forward, watching intently.

He analyzed the adjustments in real-time, mentally noting the improved response time in its servos. The weight distribution seemed perfect—the ultralight armor was doing its job, allowing the Sentinel to retain its original speed despite the reinforced plates.

"Good, good," he said, nodding to himself as he controlled the bot to weave through a series of metal cones set up for the test.

The wheels screeched slightly against the floor when it accelerated into sharper turns, but his impeccable control and the Sentinel's calibrations handled the tight maneuvers effortlessly, even more fluid than before. The heavier torso didn't compromise the bot's agility. In fact, it seemed more balanced than ever.

He smirked, his fingers adjusting the controls again. Now, it was time to test the bot in combat.