Wade scratched the back of his head. "My lord, you mean the glory boys in the Imperial Guard?"
"Right, them. If we had a Stormtrooper squad, how much could we reduce casualties when taking the underwater shipyard?" Fu Haoran tapped the screen with his fingertips, his tone sure.
Wade thought for a moment. "At least forty percent. Stormtroopers are battering rams, made to deal with tough opponents."
"But, my lord..." He scratched the edge of his helmet. "The equipment for Tempestus Scions is far too expensive for us to afford. The biggest problem, though, is the technology."
"Easy. We'll use Ivan's micro Craftworlds." Fu Haoran brought up the reactor progress, unaware of the sticking point.
"No, my lord, I'm not just talking about the power supply." Wade sighed, his tone grave.
"My lord, I'm afraid you don't quite understand. The Tempestus Scions of the Schola Progenium are military assets directly under the Empire."
"Their formation, organization, and equipment allocations must be jointly approved by the Imperial Ministry of Interior, the Departmento Munitorum, and the relevant Forge World. A Planetary Governor has no authority to establish them privately."
"What's more, Tempestus Scion equipment follows standardized Forge World templates. I can't manufacture it. If we modify it without permission and get caught, the Adeptus Mechanicus will invite us in for a chat."
Fu Haoran furrowed his brows and jabbed a finger at the bearings in the Stormtrooper armor on the screen. "We can't even change the size of a bearing?"
Wade shook his head sharply. "My lord, we can't make them! We don't have the corresponding STC Template!"
"We don't need an STC. We can just modify existing parts to make them fit." Fu Haoran waved the concern away.
"We can't!" Wade shook his head like a rattle drum, his tone firm. "All Stormtrooper equipment comes directly from Forge Worlds as standardized templates. We can't even adjust the size of an armor elbow joint without permission!"
"If the Adeptus Mechanicus discovers any uncertified modifications, it's technological heresy. They'll invite us in for a chat!"
Fu Haoran's forehead creased with exasperation.
What he considered a minor adjustment was impossibly difficult for these Warhammer people. They were absurdly rigid.
Fu Haoran fell silent for two seconds, then slapped the control console. "If pure Warhammer won't work, we'll make a Frankenstein's monster."
As Fu Haoran's fingers flew across the controls, blueprints for the Iron Monger and Hive City force-feedback data appeared at the same time.
Fu Haoran studied the combined sketch, quickly calculating.
"The Iron Monger is tough and simple, so it'll do as a disposable unit, but it's not enough."
Fu Haoran brought up two sets of blueprints.
On the left was the Iron Monger: a sturdy frame and heavy armor, but its control system used cumbersome hydraulic transmission, with a delay visible to the naked eye.
On the right was an engineering exoskeleton from the Warhammer Universe: simple in structure, but labeled with a Neural Force Feedback System. It let the wearer feel as if the Mechanical Arm were an extension of their own arm, with three times the response speed.
Fu Haoran layered the two blueprints together with his finger. The lines merged instantly, and the slots for the exposed hydraulic pipes were automatically marked. "Iron Monger frame plus force-feedback controls. Give the armor modular slots, with Plasteel outer plates and a Plastisteel inner layer. If they get smashed, just yank off the fasteners and replace them. Saves labor."
"Add a Jump Pack, connect the pipes to the hydraulic frame, and we'll have short-range flight."
Wade stared at the composite sketch. "What about defense? We can't make Carapace Armour."
"Use external armor and plates." Fu Haoran brought up the materials database. "For the outermost layer, use the highest-purity Plasteel we can smelt and press it into standard plates."
"Line it with Plastisteel, pad the inside with Ballistic Fiber, and make every plate use quick-release fasteners. If they get smashed in battle, pull them off by hand and replace them in three seconds. No tools needed."
"That sounds..." Wade scratched his head, weighing his words. "Like a walking metal cabinet."
"But it's cheap." Fu Haoran tapped the screen. "We brought plenty of Plasteel and Plastisteel."
"The plates can be stamped into shape. We can modify the excavator-arm production line at Stark Industries and use it without recalibrating the equipment. That'll save time."
"We don't want a regiment's worth of works of art three years from now. We want a battalion armed within three months, with metal brutes that can smash through walls."
"Also, source the materials through Stark Industries. Modify the magnetic-adhesion system to mount the weapons."
"Use Hellguns and Autoguns for weapons. Have Ivan finish miniaturizing the reactor. We'll handle R&D and manufacturing using Stark's workshops and equipment."
Wade froze, then asked without thinking, "...So we're freeloading?"
"Mr. Obadiah is generously funding the development of new individual combat equipment." Fu Haoran smiled. "We're just testing how practical the new gear is. Why spend money when we can take advantage of a good deal?"
That afternoon, Fu Haoran went straight to Ivan's temporary laboratory.
Ivan was studying his new armor without looking up. "What, you want to build an Iron Suit too?"
Fu Haoran pushed the design sketches over to him.
Ivan opened the plans and sneered, a toothpick jutting from his mouth. "You call this Power Armour? Tony's Mark III could take it apart and use it as a toy!"
"There's no need to compare it to Tony's. I want something we can mass-produce quickly." Fu Haoran's tone was calm.
Ivan looked thoroughly disdainful, but finally just curled his lip. "Got it. I'll have the finished design in three days. Don't tell anyone I made it. I can't afford that kind of embarrassment."
Stark Industries, Factory District 7.
This production line had originally been used to manufacture heavy excavator arms.
A five-axis CNC machine stood quietly in one corner of the workshop, its precision laser calibrator glowing blue in standby. But the racket now came from the heavy hydraulic press beside it.
Bang!
The press came down, stamping a sheet of Plasteel into the sharply defined shape of a breastplate, its edges rough with burrs.
A robotic arm picked up the plate and moved it to the welding station.
A Servo-Skull hovered nearby, scanning the plate with a high-precision optical lens before beginning to weld. This was the only part of the entire line that used "high technology."
Next, workers rolled over an old-fashioned carbon dioxide shielded welder. Blue-white sparks flew with a crackle, while someone used a riveting gun to rapidly fasten the quick-release buckles. The pipes were welded directly into the slots reserved in the frame.
An old Stark technician crouched at the end of the assembly line, tapped the stamped burrs on the breastplate with a wrench, then clicked his tongue and shook his head.
The report, with photos attached, was sent to Obadiah's office.
Obadiah glanced at the sharply edged metal parts in the photos, their stamped burrs still visible, sneered, and tossed the report into the trash.
"Just as I thought. A bunch of outsiders who don't know their way around. They can only do rough work."
Obadiah waved to his subordinates. "Keep a close eye on them. Don't let them touch the precision equipment. As for these tin toys... let them tinker all they want."
Deep into the night, the stamping machines at Stark Factory District 7 still clanged away. The blows of the hydraulic press mixed with the rapid-fire rattle of riveting guns, while lights pierced the darkness.
No one knew that in this factory, sneered at as a "backwater workshop," Plasteel plates, hydraulic frames, and quick-release buckles were piling up in the warehouse like mountains. A flood of steel that would soon shock the world was quietly gathering.
[Worldline Variation Rate: 26.7%] [Special Unit: Iron Skeleton Heavy Power Armor (First-Generation Modular Model) Unlocked]
But now there was a new problem: how could they mass-produce it quickly?
Before you continue