111 Moving Out
"Ready to fire!" a Fabricator shouts, and I authorize him to press a button.
Four Spell Jammers come to life, and a bunch of graphs appears on a couple of screens. The Fabricator is paying close attention to the data displayed in front of him, and I glance over the numbers while pretending to know what they mean. I then turn towards Alan, who is standing next to me and paying attention to what's displayed on his tablet. From the looks of things, it's mirroring the main screens.
"What do you think?" I ask the Chief Fabricator, who briefly raises his head.
"It looks like Philip was right, the anti-magic fields are combining and providing a much better suppression effect, and over a larger area too," Alan replies.
I nod as I recall the reason for this test. Philip, the man responsible for the Improbability Factor theory and Mary's adoptive father, had a heated discussion with Krognar about the newly made Spell Jammers. Philip applied his theory to the Spell Jammer and discovered that we might be able to increase the range and efficiency of the device. But Krognar, who designed the artifact, didn't believe it. To the Goblin, the Improbability Factor theory was interesting, but it was just an incomplete model that worked in certain instances and not an accurate description of the underlying logic behind spells.
Krognar then cited a long list of expensive spells that did nothing extraordinary. He recalled a species that has just discovered teleportation and used a continent-wide magic circle to cast the spell. Philip countered the argument with the Portal Station, which is based on his theory.
In the end, the two bickering Fabricators came to me and explained their point of view. Making the Spell Jammers even more effective than they already are was an interesting proposal, so I accepted the request for a controlled test. Four Spell Jammers were set up in the corners of a large area, and the Fabricators put up a bunch of sensors in the center of the testing grounds.
Krognar did warn me that unexpected things might happen if we combine the fields of disturbed mana, so I keep my hand on the Rewinder just in case things go out of control. Philip, on the other hand, assures me that nothing will happen, but I think that being careful is always a good idea.
"I told you!" the old man says to the Goblin. "My theory is the real deal!"
"Let's wait and see what happens; I'm not convinced yet." The frowning Goblin says as he stares at his own tablet. "Those numbers don't make any sense, why is it increasing so much..." he mutters.
"Alright, let's try to cast some spells. Mary, how are you doing?" I ask the hybrid who was dispatched to the center of the testing grounds once we made sure that it was mostly safe.
"I'm fine, not feeling anything out of the ordinary if that's what you're asking." She replies.
"Her vitals are normal." A Fabricator adds.
"Good, then start with a few regular spells," I order, and Mary nods. An array of small orbs made of purple flames briefly appear over the hybrid's hands, but they shatter like glass in the next moment.
"There were no fluctuations in the fields." The Fabricator in charge of monitoring the experiment declares.
"Alright, how are you feeling?" I ask the draconic woman.
"I'm fine, don't worry! But I do have to admit that it was a weird experience. I'm so used to having my spells react how I want to that I was surprised and caught off-guard." She says. "I can definitely see how it will help in our fight."
I grin, that was the plan all along. But it's too early to declare victory, so I prompt Mary to continue testing.
"Okay, then let's try this!" she says as she raises her hand in the air.
A bit of mana gathers at her fingertips; then it fizzles out.
"Interesting," Alan says. "It looks like stronger spells are destroyed faster than weaker ones."
I doubt that the Stonecrusher Empire is going to hold back, so that's good to hear.
"It's really impressive!" Mary compliments as she goes back to a more relaxed stance.
"So far so good, the fields are barely reacting!" the Fabricator operating one of the consoles declares.
"Now let's try this!" Mary shouts and slams her hand into the ground.
Ten minutes pass before the hybrid gives up, either because she has no more spells or because she's too embarrassed.
After all, making grand gestures only looks cool when it results in actual magic, not the awkward silence that followed after each of Mary's attempts.
The Fabricators gathered a lot of data, and according to Alan the Spell Jammers barely reacted to Mary's strongest attack.
It is reassuring; at least we know that the Stonecrushers should not be able to attack us too much. Of course, the Spell Jammer isn't the ultimate weapon; a lot of species are strong enough to endure bullets without flinching. But that's why we developed artillery. If the round is bigger than you and flies faster than the planet rotates then I doubt that anything would survive.
Of course, that's assuming that we are following the laws of logic and common sense. So it doesn't mean much, but it's still a good reference point.
"Okay, then what's next on the agenda?" I ask Alan while doing my best to ignore the smug Philip making fun of Krognar in the background.
"The production of the Spell Jammers is going to end soon since we are running out of Starmetal. If I recall correctly, we should have a hundred in stock." Alan answers.
I hoped for more, but a hundred of the magical devices should be enough to allow us to survive this war.
"Normal production should resume soon. I also have a project that requires your approval." Alan says.
I raise an eyebrow; the Fabricator has free reigns over the Order's production capabilities, so he shouldn't need my approval. The only times when he asks for permission is for big and resource-intensive projects, so I listen carefully.
"As you are already aware, we are running out of storage space." The Chief Fabricator begins.
I nod, the limited size of our Shard has been a problem, and our only hope for a solution turned out to be nothing more than mere fairy tales.
"So I thought about using our spatial storage to solve that problem." Alan says, "I envision a massive warehouse-like structure, where all our items are stored inside. That way we won't run out of space, because it's going to happen sooner than later if we keep up the current production rates."
I never expected to run into this problem so soon. It had to happen during our biggest war, didn't it?
"Are we already out of space?" I ask with a raised eyebrow, the Shard is small, but it should have free space left.
Alan shakes his head, "Not yet, but we are steadily approaching that moment. Furthermore, clearing all our storage spaces would allow us to expand our production capacity."
"I know that having a larger stockpile is always a good idea, but aren't we producing way more than we are using?" I ask the Chief Fabricator.
"You are right, but a group of Fabricators ran some calculations on our current consumption of ammunition, and what we used during our previous battles. According to them, we are going to burn through our stockpile at an alarming rate. The most concerned items are the complex ones, like shells for the Hammer. But, if the war keeps going for a long time, then even our EGB stockpile might be threatened. Of course, those are just theoretical predictions, and they could be wrong, but I felt like I had to bring it up."
Alan's words act like a cold shower. I never paid too much attention to our logistics. I delegated everything to Terrence and Alan, so I thought that we were fine. But apparently, we are not despite our already massive stockpiles.
It might be linked to the fact that we keep inventing new weapons. Don't get me wrong, they are very effective, but they also take more time to make and even more resources to produce.
"Okay, then what do we need to make that warehouse of yours happen?" I ask, "If you need my permission then it must be a massive project."
"It is. At least it doesn't require exotic materials, and we have everything on hand. But the problem is the sheer amount of materials that need to be processed. If my estimates are correct, then we would need to mobilize all our Printers for a week to make it, or two if we only dedicate half of our production to this particular endeavor." Alan declares.
My jaw almost drops to the floor. One week if we use all our Printers? That warehouse must be insanely big.
"I can't give you all our Printers, the war is going to start soon, and we need to be as ready as possible. But I'll give you the go-ahead for the second option." I say.
We need the space. I'm not foolish enough to believe that the war is going to end quickly, so planning for a long term solution seems like the best bet to me.
Alan nods, "it's understandable. Halving our production for two weeks should be fine, provided that the Legionaries do not burn through all our shells for the Hammer."
I make a wry smile; the Legionaries aren't the ones who are consuming the most shells.
That title belongs to me by a fair margin.
"Is there anything else?" I ask.
"There's nothing left to report. Thank you for your time; Prometheus!" Alan says while saluting.
I nod and teleport away; my next stop is the command room. I emerge next to Terrence, who is looking a the main screen with a worried expression.
"Prometheus, I was about to call you!" the Commander says.
"Why? Did something happen?" I ask.
"We learned that the Stonecrushers are fortifying their positions, and there have been sightings of large groups of soldiers patrolling the area around their bases," Terrence says.
"The Empire is getting ready for war," I say.
Terrence nods, "Indeed. W don't have a lot of information, but we gathered a list of the most active areas."
The Commander then points towards the screen, which shows a satellite map of the local area. The red dots indicate where the Stonecrushers could b gathering large armies, and there are a lot of them.
"As you can see, the enemy is focusing on its borders. But there's also a substantial amount of soldiers encircling this position." The Commander says as he points towards a large red circle on the map.
"We know that the Freedom Movement holds this territory. It seems like the Stonecrushers want to wipe out any rebellions." Terrence continues.
For fuck's sake, it looks like we are going to go to war earlier than I thought.
