Post by EmperorMyric on Apr 25, 2021 17:25:32 GMT
Vulkan System: Triarch Inc. Space
With the tour of the Puppeteers world ship having gone extremely well it was only fair that John extend the invitation to have a tour around Vulkan and to show his new allies the company’s capabilities. While he was unsure if the grandeur would be quite on par with such an advanced species John was determined to show what made Triarch great and help alleviate any concerns which the Puppeteers might have about the company’s ability to deliver.
He sighed to himself as he placed his hands inside the immaculately pressed suits pockets, Destro as always standing to his right side, this time in a well pressed suit as well to cover his large form. Around him stood several of Triarchs best operators, bodyguards, aides and diplomats. They formed small semi-circle as they awaited the entry of their new allies, the small hangar bay was anything but grand but then John had wanted to start the tour off planet and up in the huge labyrinthine shipyards that orbited the planet. After all they were a huge accomplishment and one of the primary centres of the company’s funds, it wouldn’t feel right to not show them off and after such a tour around them it would be easy to transfer down to the surface via one of the three orbital elevators.
“Do you think they will be impressed with this place?” Destro asked. John was somewhat surprised at the comment.
“Truthfully my friend I don’t know, we did see some… Rather incredible things up in that ship of theirs. Let’s hope we can at least match it eh?”
Right on time, the Puppeteer vessel swooped in with as much grace as a vehicle of its kind could have, landing softly in the hanger not with a clink but a soft plink. The hardly-audible whirr of internal machinery announced the opening of its hatch as the party of Puppeteers stepped out. In their suits, it was difficult to discern one another apart, but the body language of a few were made apparent.
The first to make it off the ramp was a shorter woman in green-trimmed ‘robes,’ it was somewhat easier to discern between the men and woman now that John, Destro and some others had more experience with their wearers, and the speaker was familiar enough, most likely Avenia the Tinkerer. Despite how old the woman must be she acted the most juvenile of the dozen or so robe-suited figures present. “Whoa, so this is what it’s like being in orbit of a planet…”
“This is the first time you’ve ever set foot outside one of our constructs after all,” a second voice, wiser and more elegant than the first and very familiar to John and Destro spoke to the first, this was without doubt Azun the Seamstress. The sole red-trimmed suit all but confirmed it, as they seemed to be worn only by an elite few as she bowed in greetings to the people before them. “Good noon, fellow peers.”
“Don’t be too hard on Avenia, her promotion was really recent compared to us, and she deserved it,” a disembodied voice spoke from a little flying drone, held afloat by some unknown contraption. Likely psionics, considering the Puppeteers’ natural aptitude. The speaker, soft and gentle, was Tanni the Scientist. Given the Puppeteers’ practical reverence to science and the study of the flowing universe, her position was certainly amongst the highest. “I couldn’t make it here in person but I wouldn’t miss this for the world!”
The last figure was a blue-trimmed man, the most grounded of them all in both gait and attitude as he surveyed the hanger. This was no doubt Lephi the Commander, perhaps the most practical of the four speaking, though for good reason. “Greetings, John, Destro, fellow allies. Fleetmaster Sturm and Adeptus Fujiwa will not be attending due to their duties, and Hephistotles is incapable of moving from the Chorus, but they will be watching alongside Adeptus Tanni with her drone, and perhaps they might chime in from time to time.”
John bowed as the guests descended the ramp and arrayed themselves in the group. While they seemed somewhat hard to distinguish he could clearly make out each for their eccentricities displayed upon the world ship.
“Welcome to Vulkans orbital docks, I know it’s nothing too impressive beyond what your already used to but it’s such an integral part of the company that it will be our first port of call before we head down to the planet proper in the orbital elevator.” He smiled and gestured them to follow, after all this was a small scale hangar bay for executives but it linked into a huge networked bay which could accommodate hauling starships and other logistics trains. The corridors they travelled down, only a short way at least, were gunmetal in colour and extremely Spartan with no decoration whatsoever other than the company logo placed about, much of which seemed new given the changeover.
Beyond they stepped out into one of the main docks, the scale being immense in size. Over 20km long and almost just as much across the multiple tiers of ship docks and more went up and down and across as far as the eye could see. It was as well extremely noisy so John had to shout quite loudly.
“I apologise for the noise! This is one of the busiest areas in the entire complex, nearly all our materials and stock goes through here from the planet’s surface. We have four docks just like this one across the orbital complex but two of them now are rarely used, at our height all four of them were even more busy than this one. In fact we are lucky it is fairly quiet today or I would have provided audio protection” He grinned. They made their way down one of the walkways towards a vacuum shuttle line reserved to executives and with the crew waiting for them. It was quite small but was remarkably well accommodating with cushioned seats and even a small wine bar. Once in the doors sealed shut and the noise and commotion of hundreds of ships unloading, offloading and firing their drives disappeared. John sighed.
“Ah that’s better, no longer assaulted in the ears I do apologise might have to fit some sound dampeners on that walkway. Anyway first sight is the main shipyards then the orbital elevator and we can head down to the planet proper”
“This is fairly quiet?” Avenia remarked incredulously after the ships had left. “That’s incredible!”
“All of the material for your company... travels through these docks? That must be an immense amount of traffic,” Fujiwa spoke through Tanni’s drone. No doubt the curt voice was hers, but with the typical curtness of the woman was some lining of amazement.
“It seems that you are in dire need of a review, Adeptus Fujiwa,” Lephi joked to the drone.
“Keep your foot out of my matters, Commander, lest you lose it,” the woman dryly responded, returning to her old self. For some reason everyone was sure the old soldier was grinning to himself in silence.
“The main shipyards? This, I am truly interested in,” the voice of Sturm chimed in. Of them all it was him alone that gave the impression of an old, bearded naval captain of old. The others present remained silent, tapping away on their datapads and looking up and around every so often. Azun alone seemed to be writing on hers with a stylus pen.
He nodded "Oh yes, all the material brought to Vulkans forges down on the planet below or into the other forges aboard the orbital ring travel through these docks. On top of that all of the finished products, be they super processed material shipments, guns, tanks or more travel back through these docks to wherever else they are going. These docks are truly the gate and heart of our entire operation helping to keep the lifeblood flowing of the company" He smiled, looking out of the windows on the vacuum shuttle it was plain to see the scale of the docks, or at least this particular one, a massive '02' emblazoned on a far wall, the amount of paint needed for it was likely a logistical challenge in its own right.
Soon they left the docks, a dark but dimly lit passage tube taking them through some of the monumental storage areas and assorted maintenance regions on the ring where ready to go products were left in storage able to be shipped out in a moments notice. Within only 15 minutes however they broke out into a large open space, mostly vacuum and would have been easy to see from the shuttle journey over the ring here was a spiderwork of lattice. And it was easy to see why, thousands of ships of all shapes and sizes were being either constructed here or undergoing maintenance. Each had its own hexagonal berth, replete with titanic manipulator arms, smaller more intricate arms and numerous support chambers for materials and components, the arms appeared to work to construct the vessels but on closer inspection small dots could also be seen around the vessels. Piloted construction rigs, each the size of a tank to be used by a single person to maneuverer and conduct work in the vacuum of space. There were millions of them alone.
"Ah, the main docks. Yes this is where our spaceborne magic happens, warships and civilian vessels both. Constructed here around Vulkan for maximum quality" He grinned.
The green-trimmed Adeptus that was Avenia crowded next to her own window, and if it were not for Azun’s piercing gaze upon the other woman it was not impossible to imagine her bursting out of the window to inspect the sight even more closely. “Support vessels to aid in construction, that is an idea… perhaps I could repurpose some drone types for field work…” the chief engineer muttered to herself.
“A powerful sight,” Lephi spoke. It was clear he liked what he saw. “Our own shipyards seem empty in comparison to such a sight. And to think, this is what your docks looks like despite all that has happened? Doubly impressive.”
“Your shipyards do not disappoint, Mr Triarch,” Sturm agreed from Tanni’s drone as it floated in front of a window. “A hexagonal design, though? That is certainly curious, it reminds me of the formation of graphene…if I may ask, is there a deeper reason in particular?”
"It is an effective method indeed, we use a hybrid of construction drones, piloted craft as overseers and a type of construction technique somewhat similar to 3D printing. Of course a ships a very complicated affair and one not easily just slapped together or printed. Each vessel depending on size has several thousand individuals working on it as physical labourers, inspectors, managers and operators" John gestured as they drove by extremely close to one of the hexagonal tube sections.
Within it was the semi complete form of a Triarch Hammer class Destroyer, its main hull was almost fitted, huge articulated arms from the hexagonal structure moved quickly and precisely, printing on armoured plates and the hull layer after layer carefully as the relevant materials moved down the long arms internals via conveyers. Meanwhile several drones were inspecting the print, watching for any slip ups or poor quality moulds. The skeletal frame of the ships interior supports were still visible and within such drones flitted to slowly kit out the internals of the ship. A large dual railgun turret hung motionless above the vessel on the arm of another manipulator segment, waiting for the signal to be put on. Then in a moment they had passed it now approaching their drop off point. Still the shipyards were visible wherever they looked.
"Thank you, it has been a hard endeavour keeping our skilled shipwrights and it pains me to say we lost the majority of our work force. It’s true these yards were full to capacity when we were at our height" He looked out at the empty structures, plenty existed and he one day hoped to fill them again "In time we will be as we were. And as for the hexagons while I do not personally know I believe our shipwrights explained to me that it matched the designs of our vessels better and that it helped with the articulated printing process. But your right it looks like either grapheme or some kind of bee hive” Though John realised they may not know what that was immediately after he said it.
“Ah we are about to arrive at another destination, it’s time we head down to the surface” He smiled.
The vacuum shuttle tube came to a stop in a truly huge room many hundreds of stories tall. It was busy and with multiple levels all moving gear onto and off of the huge cylinder which sat motionless in the centre of the massive space, taking up most of it easily. Out of its top and bottom were the easy signs of cable, hundreds of meters thick while the bottom also mounted numerous almost solar cell like arrangements much like the top as it could just be made out beyond the floors above.
“Welcome to one of our space elevators. We call them Chariots and without them I expect our shuttle bills would be truly enough to cause our financial staff to commit suicide” He grinned “We shall head aboard in the passenger section it shouldn’t take long to depart they are merely loading up additional fuel elements for the surface, unfortunately not even we the heads of the company get to dictate a trip on a whim, it’s all waiting for the schedule otherwise millions of tasks could be thrown out of sync, we have tight schedules here you see”
“Bee hive?” all of the present Adeptus looked to John in confusion and curiosity. Even the normally stoic Lephi. The only who did not follow suit was Azun, strangely, who continued to peer out of the windows at the shipyards they passed.
“This is a mere suggestion, but perhaps our people could supplement your own? Our youth are in need of an outside touch… they can be perhaps naive to the greater workings of the world, but they are just as fast at learning, and are not held down by our own civilization’s age and all the burdens that come with it,” Azun suggested as they arrived at the elevators.
Meanwhile Avenia was fluttering to and fro within the confines of their little group, eagerly soaking up all of the sights. It was clear that she had never witnessed an orbital elevator before, and was ecstatic at the thought of actually landing on a planetary surface. Lephi had the envious task of keeping the woman on a metaphorical leash.
"An influx of new potential workers? I could certainly appreciate a cultural exchange. Perhaps you would take on a few of our engineers and help them to construct some new designs?" John nodded "I can sanction that with ease yes" He gestured for them to follow him as they walked up several stairs in a circular motion, across layers of floor each with huge industrial conveyers moving large pieces of machinery or substance, the whole affair moving in a massive spiral leading up to the chariots multiple entrances at different levels. Massive manipulator arms and more stretched from the walls as they helped move the cargo into place. Several ramps and walkways helped personnel move through designated areas without being in danger of the machinery.
"I have to say helping teach a new age of another species is quite a job, but yes I suitably love the idea. Life experience is a powerful thing" They got to a small entrance to the chariot and then went inside, the interior of the personnel section being like the inside of a passanger liner. Rows of seats stretched out with many individuals having taken up such waiting for the ride down.
"Have a seat, we should be departing within a few moments, the journey should take round about 3 minutes. Its quick but here" He trapped a few holo controls in mid air as he took his own seat and strapped in "You can watch the descent from here" The screen came up in front of all of them showing a 360 view of them floating in orbit, and of the planet below.
"Neat feature I insisted they install"
“Life experience is a powerful thing indeed,” Azun mused, seemingly with a smile of her own, her gaze fluttering to and fro as she absorbed the sights. Despite being the most common of the six top Adeptus to act as a liaison between Triarch and the Puppeteers, she was still the hardest to read.
As they stepped into the chariot, everyone seated themselves. Though Lephi and Azun were stoic and calm in their actions as they settled down, Avenia looked almost distraught to be unable to move about freely. But despite that she made herself comfortable in one of the many seats.
“A full view of our surroundings? A very tasteful aesthetic… and an excellent view,” Lephi commented as he admired their orbital vantage point.
“I did not realized how much I have missed the feel of terrestrial earth,” Sturm added, a tad more quietly. “I do hope that I will be able to visit, one day in the near future.”
"Nothing quite beats the feeling of Terra firma" John remarked "The intertial dampeners will keep us from being splatted on our way down but you will feel quite the pressure, something so big going down so fast can only do so much. But yes I had them install the feature because it was rather depressing going down to the surface in a metal box with no way to watch what was going on"
John then looked out across the holographic horizon, even though the view was of course real. The open view of Vulkan took up most of the surroundings, the dull grey orb illuminated by the systems star off to one side, and the large orbital ring extending out to both sides to wrap around the huge marble before them.
"All passengers drop is commencing in one minute"
The announcement came through finally and John grinned.
"This never gets old"
As the counter hit zero the Chariot was released, it very quickly descended, causing strange sensations as the intertial dampeners tried their best to stop the G forces from killing everyone on board. The speed was such that the planet rapidly came up to meet them, before a bright green light signified the deceleration laser. Speeding through the cloud cover the Chariot began to decelerate before finally with an impact that could be physically felt they reached the surface. Having arrived and impacted into a large cradle filled with shock absorbers and other technology. The holographics showing the first view of the surface, an industrial drab grey world.
"And so we have arrived, welcome to Vulkan friends"
It was a shame that the Puppeteer visitors had their facemasks on, as Avenia no doubt created an interesting expression when the negative-g’s forced everything the wrong way. Lephi almost seemed to laugh, but any sound he made was drowned out by the sensation reaching the ears of the Chariot’s occupants. Azun however was the usual unreadable red-trimmed individual of the lot, without a flinch as they were sent rocketing to their destination. She even looked a little comfortable, in an odd sort of way.
When the flash of green signified the deceleration of their vehicle, it almost seemed as if Avenia’s spine would turn to jelly with how ill-prepared she was with the sensation. The other guests, even the drone on the other hand seemed well-braced for their arrival.
“Hoo… that, that was fun. Can we do it again?” the engineer asked eagerly, whatever aftershocks she was feeling were wearing off quickly.
“Avenia, behave,” Azun said sternly to the other woman, even as Lephi looked about calmly, clearly assessing their new surroundings. The other Puppeteer guests had finally lowered their datapads enough to look about their surroundings, clearly in differing levels of awe and appreciation. Perhaps, for many, this was their first foray onto a planet.
“This level of industrial output is impressive,” Fujiwa commented from the drone. “The sight from our Worldship is one thing, sure, but it doesn’t compare to the close and personal.”
“Maybe if you come back for another visit” John smiled as they released their seat restraints and he gestured for them to make their way out.
While the holographic inside had been a grey drabness the outside was only marginally brighter. Still grey skies which were almost perpetually overcast hung above them while large stacks of black or white smoke rose from numerous titanic foundries and forges almost all the way out to the horizon and likely beyond it too. They had stepped out into an area very similar to the one that they had used to board the chariot, and already the huge cargo doors had opened to allow for offloading and reloading ready for the trip back up into the orbital ring.
Still there was plenty of room to see out across the surface despite the large multi story complex around them and it was their first look into a world which had been slowly converted into one huge industrial zone.
“Thank you for the compliment, at least the ground facilities are still very much operational despite the companies misfortunes, many of them produce the frames for starships along with lots of tailor made parts and specific equipment. After all a great deal of nations still use our warships, and our company still has to uphold maintenance contracts and support contracts to help keep them all going. Without those I believe we wouldn’t have made it through the first months honestly” John mused as Destro walked out in front, leading the group to a small shuttle left on a landing pad which jutted out over a large drop. The sense of the drop gave them a clear indication that a great deal of operations also existed just below the surface.
“First stop is one of the largest forge foundries, then onto the automated lines and then on to the corporate capital and then you get to see my desk” he smiled.
“The thought is tempting, I must admit,” Fujiwa added as they left the chariot and stepped outside.
“Wooow, how high up are we?” Avenia asked, venturing close to the edge before a telekinetic force gently and quietly tugged her back to Azun.
“How long did it take to build all these facilities, may I ask?” Lephi inquired as he surveyed the entirety of the complex from where he was. Meanwhile, Avenia perked up once again from the mention of the desk, only being restrained by a disapproving red-trimmed Adeptus.
“Approximately 700m above ‘sea level’ not that this world has any proper sea level of course.” He gestured for the guests to step aboard the small personnel shuttle that lay on the pad before them, one of Triarchs well-known Condor models. Just like everything else in the company it was sleek, angular and remarkably stealthy in appearance.
The inside was well lit however, and the interior was surrounded by holographic panels, providing everyone inside with the illusion that they were strapped to flying chairs. With a rapid hum the crafts anti grav systems engaged and within moments they were off the platform, flying away from the chariot complex and over its surrounding massive warehouse and storage regions each one containing materials which were destined for orbit or being brought down to the surface to be ferried off elsewhere.
“The facilities over this planet have been built up over about 50 years, the company was always expanding and as we mined Vulkan new cities and forge sites kept springing up closer to the materials. Eventually they expanded so much most of them have amalgamated, only a few areas of the planet are not entirely built over. Of course much if not all of Vulkans own mineral wealth has been exhausted now hence the sheer inflow of resources from the orbital docks, we stripped the old girl bare unfortunately but we treat her as well as we can” He smiled looking up at the perpetually overcast and dreary sky “Of course even when we first came here the planet wasn’t exactly a paradise. It was a very barren world, lots of material wealth and minimal water but a liveable atmosphere which we helped engineer. No Vulkan was never meant to be a paradise, only a jewel made of iron”
“And thus, the ecumenopolis we see today is born…” Azun mused as they flew, watching the landscape beyond. She was certainly impressed by the tone in the woman’s voice. “Fifty years, it is not a long time for our people, but that is very nearly an eternity for humans such as yourself, is it not?”
“I cannot fathom the sort of effort that would have required. We have an eternity upon which to rest our achievements upon. You did not,” Lephi acknowledged.
“A jewel of iron… that is a beautiful metaphor,” Tanni spoke happily through the little drone that continued to float over their companion’s heads and shoulders. “It is no paradise by the common definition, but to machinists and engineers, there could be nothing greater, isn’t that so, Adeptus Fujiwa?”
“Certainly, that explains such comprehensive orbital facilities, and the thoroughness of material transportation,” Fujiwa added, though with a little sigh as she continued speaking. “Azun, you were correct, this has been a learning experience. And to Mr Triarch and his people, I would like to apologize for my hubris from our meeting prior.”
“The universe is always teaching, Adeptus Fujiwa. Not just in metrics and statistics. We should always strive to learn, and I thank Mr. Triarch for granting us such opportunity today,” Azun answered the drone, with a nod of her head to John.
John nodded “Yes, 50 years is a long time for Humans. But I saw all of it and time before that too. Up until very recently I used clone bodies to transfer my consciousness to, to escape the threat of time. I am…” He paused “Not proud of it, but I have sworn that I will let myself pass when I know it’s my time, strange I know but I am not a superstitious man this is just something I’ve known most of my life.” Destro gave Triarch a look of sadness briefly before John spoke up again.
“Unfortunately those with smaller lives must work quicker, believe me when I say this world has been a hive of activity for many years, not even I know everything that goes on here due to the sheer labyrinthine nature of the company and the planets activities, although that has been cut down somewhat at least” He gave a hollow smile.
“Do not worry about apologising, it is easy to think that when you are in a position of superiority that you cannot be humbled or taken down a peg, or not learn something new. Believe me I fully understand that as a man who was recently humbled. I am merely glad that we can assist in your understanding of the universe despite your age. Ah we are close” John gestured with a finger out across the holo display to the huge building complex before them.
It must have been several kilometres tall and was spread out so far it went beyond the horizon. Huge stacks of run off vent gas bellowed into the atmosphere while the area around the titanic structure (or rather structures given the chopped up nature of the sprawling area) was made up of endless maglev and transportation lines. This was the largest forge complex on Vulkan, so large as to forge in one go the entire outer and inner hull of a Hammer class destroyer.
“Welcome to Reginn the largest forge on Vulkan, we will be making our descent shortly.”
There was little doubt that the ancient visitors were awestruck by the sight before them, the massive space before them must be a new sight to all but the most well-travelled amongst them. The first to break the silence was Fujiwa, with a light chuckle before she spoke.
“The peak of efficiency and industry…. So long as there is the will, there’ll always be the way,” the Adeptus said. “This is the first I’ve seen like it. We have nothing of this sheer size. Everything is built in modular parts and then assembled in zero gravity.”
“To find a singular production facility of this size, you would have to go to the City of the Cosmos,” Sturm interjected. “But the comparison would be unfair. This is a mighty forge, indeed. Master-class.”
“...How many tons could this one forge handle?” Lehpi asked, with an approving nod.
“Before your introduction to us with the high efficacy 3D printing we had to make do with what we had, hell we still do. To us such a process is excellent for certain measures, but others still require massive facilities like this. Strange how the old ways of forging, casting and the like are still in many cases the superior method for plenty of designs. Here we are” He smiled as the shuttle came to a gentle landing on one of the outcrops. Just before the doors opened small hatches inside the shuttle revealed little breathing apparatus, both John and Destro put theirs on clipping to their nose.
“The smog isn’t exactly healthy I’m afraid, it’s just a short walk but better than the potential consequences” He laughed. The doors opened to reveal a blow of dark air, alas the region around here was polluted by the process and despite the heavy use of recyclers, dampers and reprocessing it was not enough. The walkway down to the roof entrance was thankfully a quick walk and the airlock rapidly opened accepting the new guests.
“I take it that is the biggest production affair for your people in the past?” John asked in reference to the City, eager to hear tales of another large industrial zone. Before the answer the door beeped as the pollutants were siphoned out and it opened. Before them was a walkway balcony at least several kilometres up and the view stretching out for a massive distance that you could observe the curvature of the planet. Below them the entire moulding process for a Triarch Hammer was well underway as titanic crucibles poured molten Azanium into the moulds. It was a process repeated with smaller ships and countless other things across multi-level factory floors, the entire place glowing orange from heat and pressure. The place was automated but workers in a civilian version of Forgemaster power armour tended where needed. The unbearable heat and more was kept at bay by an invisible field around the walkway to protect them.
“Around 82,000 tonnes give or take what’s being produced at the time” John grinned gesturing to below as the sound of the foundry rang heavy in the air
“Thankfully our suits were made for hazardous environments in mind,” Azun mused, once they had walked through the smog and pollution, as the airlock opened to take in the newcomers.
“The past, and the present,” the Fleetmaster answered John’s question. “The City is a Class-A Dyson Sphere, a true survivor and the last one of its kind. That construct is an ancient wonder even for us… before its time as a Sphere, it was a Worldship. If I recall, the second Worldship to be ever built. Today, it is where the newest Worldships are built and launched, but that is still a tediously slow affair, as you can imagine. The Chorus in its current form came from the City’s own drydocks.”
As the group stepped forward, and were granted witness to the mighty sight of entire ship hulls being cast, rendering the guests in awe and silence. It was Lephi who broke the quiet amongst his people.
“82,000 tonnes. If I recall, the name of this world is derived from an ancient human god of smithing? That name could not be better honored,” he nodded as the old soldier watched on.
“That... that is the largest cast mould I have ever seen,” Fujiwa added.
“Well that’s a bonus. I guess with that amount of time your people would have thought of such” John remarked about the suits. He then looked surprised.
“You build those worldships in dock? Damn that’s got to be pretty awe inspiring. What I wouldn’t give for such a dyson sphere… Although it is ironic you say that, we are helping to build yours and we also have plans for our own. The plans for ‘New Forge’ would probably look similar to this City of yours, although I doubt it will be anywhere near as advanced.” He smiled as he gestured for them to walk down the walkway.
“It is indeed, Vulkan was the smith god in ancient religions and as such it made sense for this place to be called by him. All of our stuff is rather blandly related for forging or creation, marketing thought it was the best touch” He was interrupted by a large alarm, its shrill noise penetrating even the roaring noise of the foundry.
“Hold on to the railing. Don’t worry this isn’t some kind of incident, it’s the one minute warning before they fire up the old nuclear forge down below. Its on the bottom level, used to make heavy armour plates to fit to the largest ship classes. Only way to heat the material uniformly is to nuke it” He grinned. A few moments later there was a bang which reverberated through the entire structure and shook them all on the spot. Immediately after the alarm ceased “There you go a 10kt explosion just beneath your feet, no harm done”
“Even our people lack the ability to produce something so mighty as of this moment,” Sturm hummed. “The City is a unique existence right now… and a precious one, even for us.”
As the alarm went off, and John warned them to hold onto the railing, all of those present did as instructed with the little drone mag-locking itself to a free spot. The explosion seemed to reverberate through more than the structure, slightly shaking up some of the guests. But Lephi and Azun seemed to be nonplussed by the information that a nuclear bomb had just gone off.
If anything, the old soldier seemed to be amused. “You people use nuclear armaments as heat? That is the best, and most human forging method I have ever heard,” the man laughed.
“Explosion welding on an extreme scale? I’ve never heard let alone seen someone doing such on this extreme scale,” Fujiwa inquired from the drone, clearly curious.
John grinned at the comment about the most human thing ever and quickly replied “Isn’t it just? You see we tried other methods, but we could never quite get the exact flash heat we needed in such a short time span. It wasn’t until one of our engineers joked about the concept of nuking it that we actually investigated the method. Low and behold a month later we had our first prototype”
“It exploded of course. Went abysmally wrong” He laughed as he brought up a small holographic overlay of the actual Nuclear forge itself showing its workings “But the subsequent tests worked, after we decontaminated the area and rebuilt it of course. In no time at all we were making proper forged armour plates of uniform material and were able to drastically increase our Azanium composite armour strength.”
“It’s definitely not hugely common, it is done elsewhere in the galaxy of course but on these scales its quite rare. While its limited in its uses what it does get used for is extremely handy” A huge crane came over head bringing another set of armour panel ready for forging, its size dwarfing the walkway and everyone on it.
“But this place is predominantly major ship manufacturing and material production. Most of our other smaller production areas are on the automated assembly yards to the north of here. We have forges across the planet but this by far is the largest single complex, was the first we built as well when we came here and it just has grown as we kept adding”
“Then we are fortunate to bear witness to the greatest of its kind,” Lephi nodded in clear approval.
“Truly, a nuclear heart,” Azun mused finally. “A beating, nuclear heart that shall only cease when all is said and done in finality. All other facilities, before they took life of their own, were supplementary and beholden to this single one, was it?”
“What marvel might we be seeing next?” Tanni asked as the little drone returned to the air.
“Yes, this was the first. And as for whats next, come I shall show you” He beckoned them back out and into the outside, the wind from being so high up whipping across the landing platform. Boarding the small shuttle again they swiftly lifted off, moving to the north of the area and leaving the huge sprawling forge behind.
“Factory line 001, also known as Naucratis is the main automated assembly hard for the planet, all others are based off its layout and as such it’s the biggest and best of them all” The complex that again sprawled out was like a black spiders web with each line going on for kilometers in a chaotic interconnected melee of massive buildings, touching down again on the pad Triarch gestured for them to enter.
Thankfully the place was a great deal less noisy than the forge, but still the building seemed to go on forever in both directions, the curvature of the planet being plainly visible from the point they were at. Conveyers of impossible size carried all sorts of objects down the line, various different automated units and sections laid out at close intervals each one dedicated to a specific sub set of assembly. New objects in their base state were placed onto the conveyer at certain intervals, built across a few hundred meters then taken off again. All sorts trundled past, entire military vehicles, firearms, construction segments and even parts for engines and aerospace craft.
“As you can see, this one line connects to at least 68 others to form the complex”
“What amazing volume,” Lephi commented as he nodded his head, gazing upon the processions before them all.
“I cannot imagine how much raw materials must go into such a herculean effort,” Sturm added thoughtfully. “This easily compares to the material the Worldship needs, and our needs do not stop at just military applications.”
“May I ask how maintenance is done on such a vast facility? I cannot imagine that such an assembly would be shut down for anything short of a major emergency,” Tanni asked.
Triarch nodded to the statement and gestured with his hands down below to several smaller conveyors which fed in unprocessed parts and materials in this small section alone.
"The logistics departments who handle the input have to be meticulous, its why we have the chariots prioritise materials and income given the sheer amount that facilities like this can go through in a few hours let alone to be kept on the go non stop for years at a time. All sorts of pieces are thrown into this, mostly basic materials and the like however we also have conveyors bringing in proper processed parts produced in other smaller locations given the layout" but the question about maintenance made him laugh.
"I do not envy the maintenance men who look after this place, minor incidents and breaks are dealt with by using hover drones specifically made for the task so that the work can continue even as they do theirs, but any major issue has to be fixed as quick as possible. Every second these conveyors sit idle is tens of thousands of SIGEC lost on the market. However when the company fell for a time we had an opportunity, these lines stopped for the first time in decades and we used that time to maintain every inch of them. A full overhaul if you will. They were getting a bit old and ragged" There was a pause.
"Currently these specific facilities are creating ground vehicles and fire-arms for foreign sale. I can provide more information if you wish or would you like to move on?"
“The same chariot we came planetside with? That’s a special honor,” Avenia said delightfully. The others nodded as they watched the conveyers, pondering on just how much this one world alone produced in the scale of the wider galaxy.
“Certainly, such information would be interesting to know, perhaps we could talk about mutual specifications as we move on?” Azun asked graciously.
“Of course,” John replied as he gestured for them to move on.
The tour continued for several hours, huge foundries, impressive datacentres including the main server hub for all the company were put on show, displayed in their basic tenets and offered for the Puppeteers to investigate and analyse themselves. Numerous discussions took place on the different locations, how they came to be, their place within the company and their possibilities in helping the Puppeteers realise their new goal of a Dyson sphere for a very specific purpose. John had already said yes to aiding such a project but to hear the details made him grin, it was ambitious and quite beyond what he had thought possible.
Still the journeys continued as he took them across Vulkan to the very internals of the company until finally they had reached his state room containing the galaxy famous mahogany desk he used. Lephi had even requested to sit in the big high back leather chair which John had granted. He had explained several previous big deals and the company’s history with his father before he had come to Ancerious, still with such wonders of both sides traded it was no wonder both nations had come so far.
“I am afraid that is the grand tour my friends, not quite as bright, flashy and advanced as your own fantastic World Ship but I hope Vulkan lived up to not only your expectations of us but also reassured you that this company is very much capable of assisting and fulfilling your mega structural engineering needs” John grinned.
“Is there anything I can do for you before you return to your home?
“It may have not been as flashy and bright, but this was a very grounded overview of how our own foundations worked a long time ago, and a good lesson for our younguns on how the world outside of our Worldship is like,” Lephi mused.
“Indeed so. many of our people only know a life aboard our vessel. It is a situation that requires significant regulation, lest that detachment become dangerously isolationist or xenophobic,” Sturm added. “Thank you for allowing us this opportunity, you may not know of it but it seems a large deal of our leadership, asides from just ourselves, had tuned in as the tour had progressed. We will be releasing an edited version out to the others once the drone is back.”
“The journey has been an excellent one, Mr Triarch, I don’t believe that we need anything as of immediately. Though, Avenia had something she wished to give to you,” Azun added.
At that, Avenia stepped up, having rummaged around through her robe-like suit for something, before finding what she had wanted and handing it forward. It was in the shape of a snow globe, but what it had contained was anything but. A small swirling sun, rotating peacefully within its confines, despite what must be an immense amount of heat and light bottled up within nobody present could feel any discomfort from even directly staring at it intently enough to recognize a tiny blip of a sunspot on the rotating star.
“I remembered that you said you wanted something like what we had on the Worldship, so I took some time to build this. Most of its power is being used to contain itself, so it’s just a decoration, but you can also adjust its brightness with the knob on the front,” Avenia explained happily as she handed it over to the man. "It should last a hundred years."
“I’m sure your engineers will become experts of the skills needed to build something like this with the project we have lined up, even if they don’t have the tools to make something like this,” she added with some joy and pride.
“Perhaps in time your people can once again know and enjoy the openness of the galaxy and the feeling of the sun on your faces. Either way you have our full support for your project, the plans are nearly finalised on our end as we speak” John smiled “But I am very much happy you enjoyed such a journey”
He stepped forward to take the object Avenia had given him. Taking it in his hands he turned and studied it with a grin, watching the sun spin round in its impossible prison. They were right, if the project did go according to plan, they were essentially doing what he now held, albeit on a much larger scale. He appreciated the significance of the gift.
“Thank you, I am honoured. I know for sure that we will explore much together in this coming project, and no doubt it will be a colossal step forward for our two peoples. Once again, I must thank you for your patronage and for coming here” John placed the small object onto his desk, in a position where it would sit for as long as he could manage it.
“If that is all, would you like me to escort you back to a direct vessel to your worldship? For I think that shall be all until the next time we meet, almost assuredly soon I hope”
With the tour of the Puppeteers world ship having gone extremely well it was only fair that John extend the invitation to have a tour around Vulkan and to show his new allies the company’s capabilities. While he was unsure if the grandeur would be quite on par with such an advanced species John was determined to show what made Triarch great and help alleviate any concerns which the Puppeteers might have about the company’s ability to deliver.
He sighed to himself as he placed his hands inside the immaculately pressed suits pockets, Destro as always standing to his right side, this time in a well pressed suit as well to cover his large form. Around him stood several of Triarchs best operators, bodyguards, aides and diplomats. They formed small semi-circle as they awaited the entry of their new allies, the small hangar bay was anything but grand but then John had wanted to start the tour off planet and up in the huge labyrinthine shipyards that orbited the planet. After all they were a huge accomplishment and one of the primary centres of the company’s funds, it wouldn’t feel right to not show them off and after such a tour around them it would be easy to transfer down to the surface via one of the three orbital elevators.
“Do you think they will be impressed with this place?” Destro asked. John was somewhat surprised at the comment.
“Truthfully my friend I don’t know, we did see some… Rather incredible things up in that ship of theirs. Let’s hope we can at least match it eh?”
Right on time, the Puppeteer vessel swooped in with as much grace as a vehicle of its kind could have, landing softly in the hanger not with a clink but a soft plink. The hardly-audible whirr of internal machinery announced the opening of its hatch as the party of Puppeteers stepped out. In their suits, it was difficult to discern one another apart, but the body language of a few were made apparent.
The first to make it off the ramp was a shorter woman in green-trimmed ‘robes,’ it was somewhat easier to discern between the men and woman now that John, Destro and some others had more experience with their wearers, and the speaker was familiar enough, most likely Avenia the Tinkerer. Despite how old the woman must be she acted the most juvenile of the dozen or so robe-suited figures present. “Whoa, so this is what it’s like being in orbit of a planet…”
“This is the first time you’ve ever set foot outside one of our constructs after all,” a second voice, wiser and more elegant than the first and very familiar to John and Destro spoke to the first, this was without doubt Azun the Seamstress. The sole red-trimmed suit all but confirmed it, as they seemed to be worn only by an elite few as she bowed in greetings to the people before them. “Good noon, fellow peers.”
“Don’t be too hard on Avenia, her promotion was really recent compared to us, and she deserved it,” a disembodied voice spoke from a little flying drone, held afloat by some unknown contraption. Likely psionics, considering the Puppeteers’ natural aptitude. The speaker, soft and gentle, was Tanni the Scientist. Given the Puppeteers’ practical reverence to science and the study of the flowing universe, her position was certainly amongst the highest. “I couldn’t make it here in person but I wouldn’t miss this for the world!”
The last figure was a blue-trimmed man, the most grounded of them all in both gait and attitude as he surveyed the hanger. This was no doubt Lephi the Commander, perhaps the most practical of the four speaking, though for good reason. “Greetings, John, Destro, fellow allies. Fleetmaster Sturm and Adeptus Fujiwa will not be attending due to their duties, and Hephistotles is incapable of moving from the Chorus, but they will be watching alongside Adeptus Tanni with her drone, and perhaps they might chime in from time to time.”
John bowed as the guests descended the ramp and arrayed themselves in the group. While they seemed somewhat hard to distinguish he could clearly make out each for their eccentricities displayed upon the world ship.
“Welcome to Vulkans orbital docks, I know it’s nothing too impressive beyond what your already used to but it’s such an integral part of the company that it will be our first port of call before we head down to the planet proper in the orbital elevator.” He smiled and gestured them to follow, after all this was a small scale hangar bay for executives but it linked into a huge networked bay which could accommodate hauling starships and other logistics trains. The corridors they travelled down, only a short way at least, were gunmetal in colour and extremely Spartan with no decoration whatsoever other than the company logo placed about, much of which seemed new given the changeover.
Beyond they stepped out into one of the main docks, the scale being immense in size. Over 20km long and almost just as much across the multiple tiers of ship docks and more went up and down and across as far as the eye could see. It was as well extremely noisy so John had to shout quite loudly.
“I apologise for the noise! This is one of the busiest areas in the entire complex, nearly all our materials and stock goes through here from the planet’s surface. We have four docks just like this one across the orbital complex but two of them now are rarely used, at our height all four of them were even more busy than this one. In fact we are lucky it is fairly quiet today or I would have provided audio protection” He grinned. They made their way down one of the walkways towards a vacuum shuttle line reserved to executives and with the crew waiting for them. It was quite small but was remarkably well accommodating with cushioned seats and even a small wine bar. Once in the doors sealed shut and the noise and commotion of hundreds of ships unloading, offloading and firing their drives disappeared. John sighed.
“Ah that’s better, no longer assaulted in the ears I do apologise might have to fit some sound dampeners on that walkway. Anyway first sight is the main shipyards then the orbital elevator and we can head down to the planet proper”
“This is fairly quiet?” Avenia remarked incredulously after the ships had left. “That’s incredible!”
“All of the material for your company... travels through these docks? That must be an immense amount of traffic,” Fujiwa spoke through Tanni’s drone. No doubt the curt voice was hers, but with the typical curtness of the woman was some lining of amazement.
“It seems that you are in dire need of a review, Adeptus Fujiwa,” Lephi joked to the drone.
“Keep your foot out of my matters, Commander, lest you lose it,” the woman dryly responded, returning to her old self. For some reason everyone was sure the old soldier was grinning to himself in silence.
“The main shipyards? This, I am truly interested in,” the voice of Sturm chimed in. Of them all it was him alone that gave the impression of an old, bearded naval captain of old. The others present remained silent, tapping away on their datapads and looking up and around every so often. Azun alone seemed to be writing on hers with a stylus pen.
He nodded "Oh yes, all the material brought to Vulkans forges down on the planet below or into the other forges aboard the orbital ring travel through these docks. On top of that all of the finished products, be they super processed material shipments, guns, tanks or more travel back through these docks to wherever else they are going. These docks are truly the gate and heart of our entire operation helping to keep the lifeblood flowing of the company" He smiled, looking out of the windows on the vacuum shuttle it was plain to see the scale of the docks, or at least this particular one, a massive '02' emblazoned on a far wall, the amount of paint needed for it was likely a logistical challenge in its own right.
Soon they left the docks, a dark but dimly lit passage tube taking them through some of the monumental storage areas and assorted maintenance regions on the ring where ready to go products were left in storage able to be shipped out in a moments notice. Within only 15 minutes however they broke out into a large open space, mostly vacuum and would have been easy to see from the shuttle journey over the ring here was a spiderwork of lattice. And it was easy to see why, thousands of ships of all shapes and sizes were being either constructed here or undergoing maintenance. Each had its own hexagonal berth, replete with titanic manipulator arms, smaller more intricate arms and numerous support chambers for materials and components, the arms appeared to work to construct the vessels but on closer inspection small dots could also be seen around the vessels. Piloted construction rigs, each the size of a tank to be used by a single person to maneuverer and conduct work in the vacuum of space. There were millions of them alone.
"Ah, the main docks. Yes this is where our spaceborne magic happens, warships and civilian vessels both. Constructed here around Vulkan for maximum quality" He grinned.
The green-trimmed Adeptus that was Avenia crowded next to her own window, and if it were not for Azun’s piercing gaze upon the other woman it was not impossible to imagine her bursting out of the window to inspect the sight even more closely. “Support vessels to aid in construction, that is an idea… perhaps I could repurpose some drone types for field work…” the chief engineer muttered to herself.
“A powerful sight,” Lephi spoke. It was clear he liked what he saw. “Our own shipyards seem empty in comparison to such a sight. And to think, this is what your docks looks like despite all that has happened? Doubly impressive.”
“Your shipyards do not disappoint, Mr Triarch,” Sturm agreed from Tanni’s drone as it floated in front of a window. “A hexagonal design, though? That is certainly curious, it reminds me of the formation of graphene…if I may ask, is there a deeper reason in particular?”
"It is an effective method indeed, we use a hybrid of construction drones, piloted craft as overseers and a type of construction technique somewhat similar to 3D printing. Of course a ships a very complicated affair and one not easily just slapped together or printed. Each vessel depending on size has several thousand individuals working on it as physical labourers, inspectors, managers and operators" John gestured as they drove by extremely close to one of the hexagonal tube sections.
Within it was the semi complete form of a Triarch Hammer class Destroyer, its main hull was almost fitted, huge articulated arms from the hexagonal structure moved quickly and precisely, printing on armoured plates and the hull layer after layer carefully as the relevant materials moved down the long arms internals via conveyers. Meanwhile several drones were inspecting the print, watching for any slip ups or poor quality moulds. The skeletal frame of the ships interior supports were still visible and within such drones flitted to slowly kit out the internals of the ship. A large dual railgun turret hung motionless above the vessel on the arm of another manipulator segment, waiting for the signal to be put on. Then in a moment they had passed it now approaching their drop off point. Still the shipyards were visible wherever they looked.
"Thank you, it has been a hard endeavour keeping our skilled shipwrights and it pains me to say we lost the majority of our work force. It’s true these yards were full to capacity when we were at our height" He looked out at the empty structures, plenty existed and he one day hoped to fill them again "In time we will be as we were. And as for the hexagons while I do not personally know I believe our shipwrights explained to me that it matched the designs of our vessels better and that it helped with the articulated printing process. But your right it looks like either grapheme or some kind of bee hive” Though John realised they may not know what that was immediately after he said it.
“Ah we are about to arrive at another destination, it’s time we head down to the surface” He smiled.
The vacuum shuttle tube came to a stop in a truly huge room many hundreds of stories tall. It was busy and with multiple levels all moving gear onto and off of the huge cylinder which sat motionless in the centre of the massive space, taking up most of it easily. Out of its top and bottom were the easy signs of cable, hundreds of meters thick while the bottom also mounted numerous almost solar cell like arrangements much like the top as it could just be made out beyond the floors above.
“Welcome to one of our space elevators. We call them Chariots and without them I expect our shuttle bills would be truly enough to cause our financial staff to commit suicide” He grinned “We shall head aboard in the passenger section it shouldn’t take long to depart they are merely loading up additional fuel elements for the surface, unfortunately not even we the heads of the company get to dictate a trip on a whim, it’s all waiting for the schedule otherwise millions of tasks could be thrown out of sync, we have tight schedules here you see”
“Bee hive?” all of the present Adeptus looked to John in confusion and curiosity. Even the normally stoic Lephi. The only who did not follow suit was Azun, strangely, who continued to peer out of the windows at the shipyards they passed.
“This is a mere suggestion, but perhaps our people could supplement your own? Our youth are in need of an outside touch… they can be perhaps naive to the greater workings of the world, but they are just as fast at learning, and are not held down by our own civilization’s age and all the burdens that come with it,” Azun suggested as they arrived at the elevators.
Meanwhile Avenia was fluttering to and fro within the confines of their little group, eagerly soaking up all of the sights. It was clear that she had never witnessed an orbital elevator before, and was ecstatic at the thought of actually landing on a planetary surface. Lephi had the envious task of keeping the woman on a metaphorical leash.
"An influx of new potential workers? I could certainly appreciate a cultural exchange. Perhaps you would take on a few of our engineers and help them to construct some new designs?" John nodded "I can sanction that with ease yes" He gestured for them to follow him as they walked up several stairs in a circular motion, across layers of floor each with huge industrial conveyers moving large pieces of machinery or substance, the whole affair moving in a massive spiral leading up to the chariots multiple entrances at different levels. Massive manipulator arms and more stretched from the walls as they helped move the cargo into place. Several ramps and walkways helped personnel move through designated areas without being in danger of the machinery.
"I have to say helping teach a new age of another species is quite a job, but yes I suitably love the idea. Life experience is a powerful thing" They got to a small entrance to the chariot and then went inside, the interior of the personnel section being like the inside of a passanger liner. Rows of seats stretched out with many individuals having taken up such waiting for the ride down.
"Have a seat, we should be departing within a few moments, the journey should take round about 3 minutes. Its quick but here" He trapped a few holo controls in mid air as he took his own seat and strapped in "You can watch the descent from here" The screen came up in front of all of them showing a 360 view of them floating in orbit, and of the planet below.
"Neat feature I insisted they install"
“Life experience is a powerful thing indeed,” Azun mused, seemingly with a smile of her own, her gaze fluttering to and fro as she absorbed the sights. Despite being the most common of the six top Adeptus to act as a liaison between Triarch and the Puppeteers, she was still the hardest to read.
As they stepped into the chariot, everyone seated themselves. Though Lephi and Azun were stoic and calm in their actions as they settled down, Avenia looked almost distraught to be unable to move about freely. But despite that she made herself comfortable in one of the many seats.
“A full view of our surroundings? A very tasteful aesthetic… and an excellent view,” Lephi commented as he admired their orbital vantage point.
“I did not realized how much I have missed the feel of terrestrial earth,” Sturm added, a tad more quietly. “I do hope that I will be able to visit, one day in the near future.”
"Nothing quite beats the feeling of Terra firma" John remarked "The intertial dampeners will keep us from being splatted on our way down but you will feel quite the pressure, something so big going down so fast can only do so much. But yes I had them install the feature because it was rather depressing going down to the surface in a metal box with no way to watch what was going on"
John then looked out across the holographic horizon, even though the view was of course real. The open view of Vulkan took up most of the surroundings, the dull grey orb illuminated by the systems star off to one side, and the large orbital ring extending out to both sides to wrap around the huge marble before them.
"All passengers drop is commencing in one minute"
The announcement came through finally and John grinned.
"This never gets old"
As the counter hit zero the Chariot was released, it very quickly descended, causing strange sensations as the intertial dampeners tried their best to stop the G forces from killing everyone on board. The speed was such that the planet rapidly came up to meet them, before a bright green light signified the deceleration laser. Speeding through the cloud cover the Chariot began to decelerate before finally with an impact that could be physically felt they reached the surface. Having arrived and impacted into a large cradle filled with shock absorbers and other technology. The holographics showing the first view of the surface, an industrial drab grey world.
"And so we have arrived, welcome to Vulkan friends"
It was a shame that the Puppeteer visitors had their facemasks on, as Avenia no doubt created an interesting expression when the negative-g’s forced everything the wrong way. Lephi almost seemed to laugh, but any sound he made was drowned out by the sensation reaching the ears of the Chariot’s occupants. Azun however was the usual unreadable red-trimmed individual of the lot, without a flinch as they were sent rocketing to their destination. She even looked a little comfortable, in an odd sort of way.
When the flash of green signified the deceleration of their vehicle, it almost seemed as if Avenia’s spine would turn to jelly with how ill-prepared she was with the sensation. The other guests, even the drone on the other hand seemed well-braced for their arrival.
“Hoo… that, that was fun. Can we do it again?” the engineer asked eagerly, whatever aftershocks she was feeling were wearing off quickly.
“Avenia, behave,” Azun said sternly to the other woman, even as Lephi looked about calmly, clearly assessing their new surroundings. The other Puppeteer guests had finally lowered their datapads enough to look about their surroundings, clearly in differing levels of awe and appreciation. Perhaps, for many, this was their first foray onto a planet.
“This level of industrial output is impressive,” Fujiwa commented from the drone. “The sight from our Worldship is one thing, sure, but it doesn’t compare to the close and personal.”
“Maybe if you come back for another visit” John smiled as they released their seat restraints and he gestured for them to make their way out.
While the holographic inside had been a grey drabness the outside was only marginally brighter. Still grey skies which were almost perpetually overcast hung above them while large stacks of black or white smoke rose from numerous titanic foundries and forges almost all the way out to the horizon and likely beyond it too. They had stepped out into an area very similar to the one that they had used to board the chariot, and already the huge cargo doors had opened to allow for offloading and reloading ready for the trip back up into the orbital ring.
Still there was plenty of room to see out across the surface despite the large multi story complex around them and it was their first look into a world which had been slowly converted into one huge industrial zone.
“Thank you for the compliment, at least the ground facilities are still very much operational despite the companies misfortunes, many of them produce the frames for starships along with lots of tailor made parts and specific equipment. After all a great deal of nations still use our warships, and our company still has to uphold maintenance contracts and support contracts to help keep them all going. Without those I believe we wouldn’t have made it through the first months honestly” John mused as Destro walked out in front, leading the group to a small shuttle left on a landing pad which jutted out over a large drop. The sense of the drop gave them a clear indication that a great deal of operations also existed just below the surface.
“First stop is one of the largest forge foundries, then onto the automated lines and then on to the corporate capital and then you get to see my desk” he smiled.
“The thought is tempting, I must admit,” Fujiwa added as they left the chariot and stepped outside.
“Wooow, how high up are we?” Avenia asked, venturing close to the edge before a telekinetic force gently and quietly tugged her back to Azun.
“How long did it take to build all these facilities, may I ask?” Lephi inquired as he surveyed the entirety of the complex from where he was. Meanwhile, Avenia perked up once again from the mention of the desk, only being restrained by a disapproving red-trimmed Adeptus.
“Approximately 700m above ‘sea level’ not that this world has any proper sea level of course.” He gestured for the guests to step aboard the small personnel shuttle that lay on the pad before them, one of Triarchs well-known Condor models. Just like everything else in the company it was sleek, angular and remarkably stealthy in appearance.
The inside was well lit however, and the interior was surrounded by holographic panels, providing everyone inside with the illusion that they were strapped to flying chairs. With a rapid hum the crafts anti grav systems engaged and within moments they were off the platform, flying away from the chariot complex and over its surrounding massive warehouse and storage regions each one containing materials which were destined for orbit or being brought down to the surface to be ferried off elsewhere.
“The facilities over this planet have been built up over about 50 years, the company was always expanding and as we mined Vulkan new cities and forge sites kept springing up closer to the materials. Eventually they expanded so much most of them have amalgamated, only a few areas of the planet are not entirely built over. Of course much if not all of Vulkans own mineral wealth has been exhausted now hence the sheer inflow of resources from the orbital docks, we stripped the old girl bare unfortunately but we treat her as well as we can” He smiled looking up at the perpetually overcast and dreary sky “Of course even when we first came here the planet wasn’t exactly a paradise. It was a very barren world, lots of material wealth and minimal water but a liveable atmosphere which we helped engineer. No Vulkan was never meant to be a paradise, only a jewel made of iron”
“And thus, the ecumenopolis we see today is born…” Azun mused as they flew, watching the landscape beyond. She was certainly impressed by the tone in the woman’s voice. “Fifty years, it is not a long time for our people, but that is very nearly an eternity for humans such as yourself, is it not?”
“I cannot fathom the sort of effort that would have required. We have an eternity upon which to rest our achievements upon. You did not,” Lephi acknowledged.
“A jewel of iron… that is a beautiful metaphor,” Tanni spoke happily through the little drone that continued to float over their companion’s heads and shoulders. “It is no paradise by the common definition, but to machinists and engineers, there could be nothing greater, isn’t that so, Adeptus Fujiwa?”
“Certainly, that explains such comprehensive orbital facilities, and the thoroughness of material transportation,” Fujiwa added, though with a little sigh as she continued speaking. “Azun, you were correct, this has been a learning experience. And to Mr Triarch and his people, I would like to apologize for my hubris from our meeting prior.”
“The universe is always teaching, Adeptus Fujiwa. Not just in metrics and statistics. We should always strive to learn, and I thank Mr. Triarch for granting us such opportunity today,” Azun answered the drone, with a nod of her head to John.
John nodded “Yes, 50 years is a long time for Humans. But I saw all of it and time before that too. Up until very recently I used clone bodies to transfer my consciousness to, to escape the threat of time. I am…” He paused “Not proud of it, but I have sworn that I will let myself pass when I know it’s my time, strange I know but I am not a superstitious man this is just something I’ve known most of my life.” Destro gave Triarch a look of sadness briefly before John spoke up again.
“Unfortunately those with smaller lives must work quicker, believe me when I say this world has been a hive of activity for many years, not even I know everything that goes on here due to the sheer labyrinthine nature of the company and the planets activities, although that has been cut down somewhat at least” He gave a hollow smile.
“Do not worry about apologising, it is easy to think that when you are in a position of superiority that you cannot be humbled or taken down a peg, or not learn something new. Believe me I fully understand that as a man who was recently humbled. I am merely glad that we can assist in your understanding of the universe despite your age. Ah we are close” John gestured with a finger out across the holo display to the huge building complex before them.
It must have been several kilometres tall and was spread out so far it went beyond the horizon. Huge stacks of run off vent gas bellowed into the atmosphere while the area around the titanic structure (or rather structures given the chopped up nature of the sprawling area) was made up of endless maglev and transportation lines. This was the largest forge complex on Vulkan, so large as to forge in one go the entire outer and inner hull of a Hammer class destroyer.
“Welcome to Reginn the largest forge on Vulkan, we will be making our descent shortly.”
There was little doubt that the ancient visitors were awestruck by the sight before them, the massive space before them must be a new sight to all but the most well-travelled amongst them. The first to break the silence was Fujiwa, with a light chuckle before she spoke.
“The peak of efficiency and industry…. So long as there is the will, there’ll always be the way,” the Adeptus said. “This is the first I’ve seen like it. We have nothing of this sheer size. Everything is built in modular parts and then assembled in zero gravity.”
“To find a singular production facility of this size, you would have to go to the City of the Cosmos,” Sturm interjected. “But the comparison would be unfair. This is a mighty forge, indeed. Master-class.”
“...How many tons could this one forge handle?” Lehpi asked, with an approving nod.
“Before your introduction to us with the high efficacy 3D printing we had to make do with what we had, hell we still do. To us such a process is excellent for certain measures, but others still require massive facilities like this. Strange how the old ways of forging, casting and the like are still in many cases the superior method for plenty of designs. Here we are” He smiled as the shuttle came to a gentle landing on one of the outcrops. Just before the doors opened small hatches inside the shuttle revealed little breathing apparatus, both John and Destro put theirs on clipping to their nose.
“The smog isn’t exactly healthy I’m afraid, it’s just a short walk but better than the potential consequences” He laughed. The doors opened to reveal a blow of dark air, alas the region around here was polluted by the process and despite the heavy use of recyclers, dampers and reprocessing it was not enough. The walkway down to the roof entrance was thankfully a quick walk and the airlock rapidly opened accepting the new guests.
“I take it that is the biggest production affair for your people in the past?” John asked in reference to the City, eager to hear tales of another large industrial zone. Before the answer the door beeped as the pollutants were siphoned out and it opened. Before them was a walkway balcony at least several kilometres up and the view stretching out for a massive distance that you could observe the curvature of the planet. Below them the entire moulding process for a Triarch Hammer was well underway as titanic crucibles poured molten Azanium into the moulds. It was a process repeated with smaller ships and countless other things across multi-level factory floors, the entire place glowing orange from heat and pressure. The place was automated but workers in a civilian version of Forgemaster power armour tended where needed. The unbearable heat and more was kept at bay by an invisible field around the walkway to protect them.
“Around 82,000 tonnes give or take what’s being produced at the time” John grinned gesturing to below as the sound of the foundry rang heavy in the air
“Thankfully our suits were made for hazardous environments in mind,” Azun mused, once they had walked through the smog and pollution, as the airlock opened to take in the newcomers.
“The past, and the present,” the Fleetmaster answered John’s question. “The City is a Class-A Dyson Sphere, a true survivor and the last one of its kind. That construct is an ancient wonder even for us… before its time as a Sphere, it was a Worldship. If I recall, the second Worldship to be ever built. Today, it is where the newest Worldships are built and launched, but that is still a tediously slow affair, as you can imagine. The Chorus in its current form came from the City’s own drydocks.”
As the group stepped forward, and were granted witness to the mighty sight of entire ship hulls being cast, rendering the guests in awe and silence. It was Lephi who broke the quiet amongst his people.
“82,000 tonnes. If I recall, the name of this world is derived from an ancient human god of smithing? That name could not be better honored,” he nodded as the old soldier watched on.
“That... that is the largest cast mould I have ever seen,” Fujiwa added.
“Well that’s a bonus. I guess with that amount of time your people would have thought of such” John remarked about the suits. He then looked surprised.
“You build those worldships in dock? Damn that’s got to be pretty awe inspiring. What I wouldn’t give for such a dyson sphere… Although it is ironic you say that, we are helping to build yours and we also have plans for our own. The plans for ‘New Forge’ would probably look similar to this City of yours, although I doubt it will be anywhere near as advanced.” He smiled as he gestured for them to walk down the walkway.
“It is indeed, Vulkan was the smith god in ancient religions and as such it made sense for this place to be called by him. All of our stuff is rather blandly related for forging or creation, marketing thought it was the best touch” He was interrupted by a large alarm, its shrill noise penetrating even the roaring noise of the foundry.
“Hold on to the railing. Don’t worry this isn’t some kind of incident, it’s the one minute warning before they fire up the old nuclear forge down below. Its on the bottom level, used to make heavy armour plates to fit to the largest ship classes. Only way to heat the material uniformly is to nuke it” He grinned. A few moments later there was a bang which reverberated through the entire structure and shook them all on the spot. Immediately after the alarm ceased “There you go a 10kt explosion just beneath your feet, no harm done”
“Even our people lack the ability to produce something so mighty as of this moment,” Sturm hummed. “The City is a unique existence right now… and a precious one, even for us.”
As the alarm went off, and John warned them to hold onto the railing, all of those present did as instructed with the little drone mag-locking itself to a free spot. The explosion seemed to reverberate through more than the structure, slightly shaking up some of the guests. But Lephi and Azun seemed to be nonplussed by the information that a nuclear bomb had just gone off.
If anything, the old soldier seemed to be amused. “You people use nuclear armaments as heat? That is the best, and most human forging method I have ever heard,” the man laughed.
“Explosion welding on an extreme scale? I’ve never heard let alone seen someone doing such on this extreme scale,” Fujiwa inquired from the drone, clearly curious.
John grinned at the comment about the most human thing ever and quickly replied “Isn’t it just? You see we tried other methods, but we could never quite get the exact flash heat we needed in such a short time span. It wasn’t until one of our engineers joked about the concept of nuking it that we actually investigated the method. Low and behold a month later we had our first prototype”
“It exploded of course. Went abysmally wrong” He laughed as he brought up a small holographic overlay of the actual Nuclear forge itself showing its workings “But the subsequent tests worked, after we decontaminated the area and rebuilt it of course. In no time at all we were making proper forged armour plates of uniform material and were able to drastically increase our Azanium composite armour strength.”
“It’s definitely not hugely common, it is done elsewhere in the galaxy of course but on these scales its quite rare. While its limited in its uses what it does get used for is extremely handy” A huge crane came over head bringing another set of armour panel ready for forging, its size dwarfing the walkway and everyone on it.
“But this place is predominantly major ship manufacturing and material production. Most of our other smaller production areas are on the automated assembly yards to the north of here. We have forges across the planet but this by far is the largest single complex, was the first we built as well when we came here and it just has grown as we kept adding”
“Then we are fortunate to bear witness to the greatest of its kind,” Lephi nodded in clear approval.
“Truly, a nuclear heart,” Azun mused finally. “A beating, nuclear heart that shall only cease when all is said and done in finality. All other facilities, before they took life of their own, were supplementary and beholden to this single one, was it?”
“What marvel might we be seeing next?” Tanni asked as the little drone returned to the air.
“Yes, this was the first. And as for whats next, come I shall show you” He beckoned them back out and into the outside, the wind from being so high up whipping across the landing platform. Boarding the small shuttle again they swiftly lifted off, moving to the north of the area and leaving the huge sprawling forge behind.
“Factory line 001, also known as Naucratis is the main automated assembly hard for the planet, all others are based off its layout and as such it’s the biggest and best of them all” The complex that again sprawled out was like a black spiders web with each line going on for kilometers in a chaotic interconnected melee of massive buildings, touching down again on the pad Triarch gestured for them to enter.
Thankfully the place was a great deal less noisy than the forge, but still the building seemed to go on forever in both directions, the curvature of the planet being plainly visible from the point they were at. Conveyers of impossible size carried all sorts of objects down the line, various different automated units and sections laid out at close intervals each one dedicated to a specific sub set of assembly. New objects in their base state were placed onto the conveyer at certain intervals, built across a few hundred meters then taken off again. All sorts trundled past, entire military vehicles, firearms, construction segments and even parts for engines and aerospace craft.
“As you can see, this one line connects to at least 68 others to form the complex”
“What amazing volume,” Lephi commented as he nodded his head, gazing upon the processions before them all.
“I cannot imagine how much raw materials must go into such a herculean effort,” Sturm added thoughtfully. “This easily compares to the material the Worldship needs, and our needs do not stop at just military applications.”
“May I ask how maintenance is done on such a vast facility? I cannot imagine that such an assembly would be shut down for anything short of a major emergency,” Tanni asked.
Triarch nodded to the statement and gestured with his hands down below to several smaller conveyors which fed in unprocessed parts and materials in this small section alone.
"The logistics departments who handle the input have to be meticulous, its why we have the chariots prioritise materials and income given the sheer amount that facilities like this can go through in a few hours let alone to be kept on the go non stop for years at a time. All sorts of pieces are thrown into this, mostly basic materials and the like however we also have conveyors bringing in proper processed parts produced in other smaller locations given the layout" but the question about maintenance made him laugh.
"I do not envy the maintenance men who look after this place, minor incidents and breaks are dealt with by using hover drones specifically made for the task so that the work can continue even as they do theirs, but any major issue has to be fixed as quick as possible. Every second these conveyors sit idle is tens of thousands of SIGEC lost on the market. However when the company fell for a time we had an opportunity, these lines stopped for the first time in decades and we used that time to maintain every inch of them. A full overhaul if you will. They were getting a bit old and ragged" There was a pause.
"Currently these specific facilities are creating ground vehicles and fire-arms for foreign sale. I can provide more information if you wish or would you like to move on?"
“The same chariot we came planetside with? That’s a special honor,” Avenia said delightfully. The others nodded as they watched the conveyers, pondering on just how much this one world alone produced in the scale of the wider galaxy.
“Certainly, such information would be interesting to know, perhaps we could talk about mutual specifications as we move on?” Azun asked graciously.
“Of course,” John replied as he gestured for them to move on.
The tour continued for several hours, huge foundries, impressive datacentres including the main server hub for all the company were put on show, displayed in their basic tenets and offered for the Puppeteers to investigate and analyse themselves. Numerous discussions took place on the different locations, how they came to be, their place within the company and their possibilities in helping the Puppeteers realise their new goal of a Dyson sphere for a very specific purpose. John had already said yes to aiding such a project but to hear the details made him grin, it was ambitious and quite beyond what he had thought possible.
Still the journeys continued as he took them across Vulkan to the very internals of the company until finally they had reached his state room containing the galaxy famous mahogany desk he used. Lephi had even requested to sit in the big high back leather chair which John had granted. He had explained several previous big deals and the company’s history with his father before he had come to Ancerious, still with such wonders of both sides traded it was no wonder both nations had come so far.
“I am afraid that is the grand tour my friends, not quite as bright, flashy and advanced as your own fantastic World Ship but I hope Vulkan lived up to not only your expectations of us but also reassured you that this company is very much capable of assisting and fulfilling your mega structural engineering needs” John grinned.
“Is there anything I can do for you before you return to your home?
“It may have not been as flashy and bright, but this was a very grounded overview of how our own foundations worked a long time ago, and a good lesson for our younguns on how the world outside of our Worldship is like,” Lephi mused.
“Indeed so. many of our people only know a life aboard our vessel. It is a situation that requires significant regulation, lest that detachment become dangerously isolationist or xenophobic,” Sturm added. “Thank you for allowing us this opportunity, you may not know of it but it seems a large deal of our leadership, asides from just ourselves, had tuned in as the tour had progressed. We will be releasing an edited version out to the others once the drone is back.”
“The journey has been an excellent one, Mr Triarch, I don’t believe that we need anything as of immediately. Though, Avenia had something she wished to give to you,” Azun added.
At that, Avenia stepped up, having rummaged around through her robe-like suit for something, before finding what she had wanted and handing it forward. It was in the shape of a snow globe, but what it had contained was anything but. A small swirling sun, rotating peacefully within its confines, despite what must be an immense amount of heat and light bottled up within nobody present could feel any discomfort from even directly staring at it intently enough to recognize a tiny blip of a sunspot on the rotating star.
“I remembered that you said you wanted something like what we had on the Worldship, so I took some time to build this. Most of its power is being used to contain itself, so it’s just a decoration, but you can also adjust its brightness with the knob on the front,” Avenia explained happily as she handed it over to the man. "It should last a hundred years."
“I’m sure your engineers will become experts of the skills needed to build something like this with the project we have lined up, even if they don’t have the tools to make something like this,” she added with some joy and pride.
“Perhaps in time your people can once again know and enjoy the openness of the galaxy and the feeling of the sun on your faces. Either way you have our full support for your project, the plans are nearly finalised on our end as we speak” John smiled “But I am very much happy you enjoyed such a journey”
He stepped forward to take the object Avenia had given him. Taking it in his hands he turned and studied it with a grin, watching the sun spin round in its impossible prison. They were right, if the project did go according to plan, they were essentially doing what he now held, albeit on a much larger scale. He appreciated the significance of the gift.
“Thank you, I am honoured. I know for sure that we will explore much together in this coming project, and no doubt it will be a colossal step forward for our two peoples. Once again, I must thank you for your patronage and for coming here” John placed the small object onto his desk, in a position where it would sit for as long as he could manage it.
“If that is all, would you like me to escort you back to a direct vessel to your worldship? For I think that shall be all until the next time we meet, almost assuredly soon I hope”