She can do it! (At least she'd better!)

[actuallyselfish]

[1]

[Dated to a few weeks after "Keep Away"]

Those of the Unity Group who like to creep about the Saikhama base at night may hear faint sounds of grinding and hissing come from the main hanger deck.

Those who investigate this discover two things.

One, all the mechs that fought in the latest battle have been completely repaired. Not just the standard limb reattachment and armor replacement: they've also had new paint jobs and their scratches ground out!

Second, Dido Sybil is at the controls of a huge lathe and machining device, grinding out some kind of component from alloy stock. Sparks fly, and she gazes at her work with eyes shadowed from a grim mood and lack of sleep.

Interrupt?

[2]

The next morning, Dido is still in the hanger, hanging from a work harness like a narcoleptic rock climber, and rocking side to side like a baby in a crib.

She snores as you approach, and has a bit of dribble on her chin.

Wake her up?

[3]

The next next morning, Dido's out at a nearby abandoned airstrip, running some wires from a strange metallic cylinder in the middle of the field to a concrete bunker.

She looks up at you. "What are you doing here? Nevermind, get in the bunker with me!" She grins. "This should be cool!"

Get in the bunker with her? Ask what the heck's going on?

Comments

[herodrawing]

[Izuru glances outside the bunker.]

You don't know how large the explosion's going to be?

[actuallyselfish]

"Well hypothetically speaking," Dido frowns. "Since a Sol Capacitor bank at max charge has 100 KIlowatt-hours of power, and it can discharge it's power at exponentially higher rates once it's resistors are disabled, the resulting explosion..."

She hesitates "...wouldn't be large enough to kill us?" She finishes lamely.

[herodrawing]

It's like I'm talking to Suruga. Are we really really safe?

Well, only one way to find out.

[Red button, push! How reckless of you Izuru.]

[actuallyselfish]

The big cylinder out in the middle of the field starts to rumble!

Beams of golden light shoot out of it at random points in it's outer shell! Steam and smoke start billowing out of a gap in it's side! And then–!

[actuallyselfish]

–a small explosion blows one of it's panels off, and it tips over and falls onto it's side.

It starts rolling to the left, energy hissing out of it's side like a teapot. Eventually it runs dry and lies still on the tarmac.

"...Huh." Dido says, looking crestfallen.

[herodrawing]

That... wasn't what I expected at all.

[Izuru wipes the sweat off his brow.]

[actuallyselfish]

"Man." Dido says. "They really build those Sol capacitors sturdy! I supposed I shouldn't complain, given what I pilot."

She pulls out a clipboard and scratches something out. "Back to the drawing board, then. Say Izuru, I don't suppose you know anything about land-mines, do you?"

[herodrawing]

Eeeh?!

[Translation: No, he doesn't.]