Some Warpunk in Cybercraft! [Fanfiction]

Faergin was a charming tree, waving his arm branches around and doing a shuffle with his stubby legs. His dancing was a joy to behold.

One day soon he'd be able to talk and according to Meadran, he would be able to tap into a lot of information over the Great Tree Network. He would also be able to train my spells into new configurations. I needed a mentor, if was was willing.

My magic was a stranger to me. And nothing seemed to help me think of the best ways to use it. Sure Cleanse had become almost second nature to use, but perhaps there a more efficient way to use it, or could I shape it differently to get better results. What even counted as dirt anyway? Though all that usage did seem to improve the shaping process over time. Hmm.

Which turned my mind to the fact that often notifications didn't occur when things improved and I never remembered to check with my BTC on my progress. That was my only source of information on my progress right now, and I needed to understand it more. I could only try to do better going forward, I had a feeling my life would depend on it one day.

However, my focus right now was trying to solve the problem of being observed by Corpos. We could do that by developing cloaking technology or by reducing or masking energy emissions from the Pylons, maybe both, so I could expand my base and my outposts in peace.

Alina had been cranking away on several topics of research. Adapting Khalai technology to Human cyberware, designing AI cores for vehicles like the Dragoon, the Arbiter or the Scout, since I saw a need for a broader range of combat options. Lastly, she was researching how to miniaturize several pieces of tech for use in personal armor or even for the Probes like a cloaking field, revolving shields and maybe even small arms plasma weapons or disrupter beams.

The Probes especially when infused by Wisps had proven their worth and their loyalty. I had no reason to not continuing to utilize them going forward, other than the pain caused by losing them. I would like to develop ways for them to serve in that role while reducing those losses.

We might have to build something from the ground up.

Heading to the Nexus, I stopped at the Company Store to see if there were any new quests or sales. No luck. Other than a huge batch of something called burrower mites, nothing was on sale right now, and I really didn't like the sound of those things.

Everything along the trails looked lush and overgrown, the air was humid and rich with mana. Even the Ley Line below our base had gained a golden hue and seem much stronger than before.

Heh. I even spotted the Forest Cockerel, well I guess it was a Roster now, almost as tall as me. Damn, mana really affected growth, and yet creatures that are immersed in it tended to live far longer lives. That seemed strange to me, was I overthinking it? Something to ask Faergin about when he grows up.

Huh, did that mean I'd live longer?

Then I ran into the two Sentries, I had queued up so long ago. They kind of reminded me of a giant Roomba. About four feet tall and six feet in diameter, though that was broken up by the large crystalline sphere that acted as their energy core.

'Greetings, Executor.' Even without being infused by a Wisp these robot seemed much more aware than the Probes. A result of more energy, or more data storage, maybe even better coding? Hmm.

'Keep up the good work.' I told them while pondering how to improve them.

I reached the Nexus slightly worried about how the Sentries would have a hard time in buildings. They were certainly powerful but easily avoided by using doorways.

I spent the next few hours pouring over schematics as well as Alina's research trying to find ways to apply them to the problem at hand.

As fortune would have it, one of the Probes had scanned Optical Camouflage cyberware from somewhere. That helped by giving a baseline comparison between a human result of bending light that was practical versus the Khalai method of altering field effects to blend every signature into the background fields, including light, heat, vibration and Psi energy.

We tried merging the two and after countless failures one simulated result produced a success. We built a prototype in the Forge. Layers of extra crystal circuits embedded into a suit of armor that combined the principles of both technologies.

Testing showed it was a success. A small field was projected around the armor that muted all signals and emissions and even worked as excellent optical camouflage.

Sadly, it wasn't perfect. The energy requirements were rather large, so it had to be in a Pylon's area of transmission. That really didn't help right now, but I was sure we could figure it out later.

The next prototype was a Photon Cannon. They already required being built next to a Pylon so no worries there. However, trying to fire while maintaining the cloaking field overloaded the circuits and melted the cannon after just a few shots. No go.

Wait a minute. What was the common factor in all Khalai tech? Pylons! Why don't I just alter the Pylons to generate the cloaking field and then invest the effect into every piece of Khalai tech around itself. It didn't fix the armor issue but it was a resolution to the corporate spying problem.

The Pylons as it turned out were very difficult to alter. To start with the schematic was semi-locked. Certain parts where not allowed to be messed with under Khalai law, no changing the structure of the crystal itself, for example. However, the control ring surrounding it was fair game though. Heh.

The next morning, I had a working Pylon prototype that could generate a cloaking field, creating almost any appearance of any type of emission desired, but it had a cost. The Psi transmission field was decreased to just two miles in open air. It wasn't a terrible problem, as we were going to need a ton of Pylons anyway. But that wasn't the only issue. Things in the field were rendered into the image effectively disappearing, however the field would distort around them when they fired, or moved too rapidly. Only for a second, but it was highly noticeable.

I threw my hands up, it was good enough for now. I was sure I could improve it later anyway, as I leveled my Warp-Smith...Son of a Bitch I did it again.

There was probably a solution in the further knowledge I would have gained by leveling up. Argh, I'm such an idiot.

I ended up shrugging it off, we still had gotten the job done.

Finally, I could expand without worrying quite so much about Corpo interference.

Now, I could think about a few other issues that had built up.