Aciec Aeternam (etarnal Battlefield) Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
Enjoy,
Carlo AKA Faukx
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Chapter Nine:
Sam, Ivan and Affra walked to the nearest elevators and made their way to the lab level of the ship, they met up with Duncan, one of the engineers, and followed him to the weapons lab.
"Isn't it a bit early for you to be transferred to weapons research? You arrived not even a week ago..." Duncan said to Sam, who looked thoughtful at this question. "Well, mister Yamashita asked permission to transfer me. They said I had some amazing knowledge regarding energy conduction and storage, and he lend me a book about plasma physics to see if I understood anything about it. He was surprised when I told him that I finished the book in three days and understood all of it. So that's probably the whole reason for the transfer." Duncan stopped for a moment and turned around, "You understand how plasma works?" He asked with open mouth. Ivan and Affra almost bumped into Sam, Sam looked questioning at Duncan. "Errr, yes? Why wouldn't I be able to understand how it works?" "But that's extremely difficult and new technology, only a few people really know how it works" "Yeah, and now I happened to be one of them" Sam answered irritated and continued to the labs. Duncan wanted to say something but a paw from Ivan on his shoulder stopped him, "Leave him be." He said softly, Duncan raised his shoulders in a 'sure, if you say so' kind of way and the three of them followed Sam.
Sam entered a code on a num-pad next to a heavy security door, after a few bleeping sounds the door opened and Sam entered. "Were here Kenji!" Sam yelled. His voice echoed through the vast hall that opened up before him. The other three entered the hall and Ivan and Affra marveled at its complexity. The hall was filled with strange equipment and machines, strange sounds vibrated through the air and in the distant they could hear voices talking to each other.
"Ah good, show them the generator in the east wing. I'll be there with you shortly!" Kenji answered Sam from another part of the hall. Sam showed them the way into the east wing of the labs. "This is so cool! I've never seen so much machinery in one place!" Ivan said, he was almost hopping with excitement. "Yeah I know what you mean, that's how I was when I first witnessed these labs. But I still don't know why we have a huge laboratory floor on a military vessel." Duncan said. "But most commanding vessels have a lab right?" Affra asked. "Yeah but not this big, It has everything from your standard lab stuff to the most advanced robotics labs, machinery equipment, test labs and much more. I have no idea what they want with all this." Affra smiled, "But it is a very big ship sir." Duncan raised an eyebrow, "Smartass." He joked. Sam stopped before another security door and punched in a code, like the last door it made some strange sounds and opened. "Don't mind the mess, we have been very busy in here." Sam said apologetic. They had entered the east wing of the laboratory, and the place was littered with blueprints, data pads, and other bits and pieces. The generator was in the back of the east wing, on their way there encountered some more people in lab coats. "So what is wrong with the generator? I fixed it two weeks ago after a power fail." Duncan asked Sam. "So I heard, well someone got the smart idea to add some upgrades to the generator. Some of us thought that it needed extra power since the last accident." He explained. Duncan walked around the generator, "What have you done with this thing, it's in a worse state then last time." Duncan said asking. "But Tachis told us there was nothing to fix on this ship yet, how come you have been repairing this thing two weeks ago then?" Ivan asked. "Well, that is actually classified. I got called in because I have a lot of experience with this kind of mysterious lab stuff. It was filed as a routine check, just like this one will be. So I hope you can keep your mouths closed to the others about this." He said to them while giving them a stern look. "And why did you need us for then?" Affra dared to ask, "Well, I do need some extra paws you know. You both seem experienced enough for complex machines and computers, and Sam here recommended you two to Kenji to lend them a paw sometime" He explained. Sam gave Affra and Ivan a little smile who smiled back at him.
Sam showed them what they had to install into the generator and what had to be fixed or replaced. They four of them went to work, Ivan and Duncan installing parts and fixing the electronics while Affra installed the more delicate computer parts and made the checks on the systems computer. Sam kept a close eye on them and checked the blueprints, data pads and numerous calculation and recalculations. Kenji joined them to see how things were working out, but he was soon called away to weapons department. Sam insured him that things would work out just fine.
After a good two hours of brain braking work the four of them were finished, Sam looked pleased to the generator. "We'll run some tests before we put the plating back on, if my calculation are right the generator should be able to start and sustain itself." He turned to Affra who was sitting behind the generators computer terminal. "Could you run test one and two please Affra?" "Sure thing, starting test one... now" The generator made some humming sounds and started. "Readings are normal, it starts as it should do. Affra?" "Starting test two...now" Some more humming sounds came from the generator and various lights began to emit from the generator. "Readings are normal, I think we can start the storage units. Affra?" "Starting storage units...now" Two round cylinders next to the generator hummed to life, and slowly started to emit the same light that came from the generators. "And again readings are normal, you can shut it all down now Affra." Affra did what Sam asked, the sounds from the generator started to die down. "Well, It seems it was a success. You can mound the plating's and then we can start up the generator again." Ivan and Duncan began to work and after a few minutes the plates were mounted on the generator. "Can you start everything up again Affra?" Sam asked her. "No problem, starting generator." The generator and storage units hummed to life again, this time the sound was dampened by the plating's.
"So... this is robotics lab right?" Ivan asked, unsure if he should ask the question. Sam nodded with a smile, "Yep, can't really tell you what we do here I'm afraid. That sort of stuff is classified." "oh, sorry. I was just curious..." "Nah, no problem. I'm sorry I can't tell you. Let's just say it's cool stuff." Sam smiled to Ivan. Duncan walked to Sam, "So, we done?" "Yes, thanks a lot. Couldn't have done it without you guys." Sam smiled. "But ehm, I do have to escort you out now I'm afraid." "It's okay dear, we understand." Affra said, "I had a lot of fun working here, it was very interesting."
Sam walked them back to the labs entrance and showed them out, "I'll see you two at dinner, then we can have to fun afterwards. Okay?" Affra and Ivan smiled and nodded, Sam gave them both a quick hug, "See you at dinner Sammy" Ivan said with a smile. And with that they walked away.