Reich Marshal of the Belkan Reich

RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Chapter 18: Meanwhile

While Yuki and Bryn are off on a vacation in another universe altogether, the situation back home is progressing at a different pace than theirs. Above Gaia and staying in a geosynchronous orbit is a hidden space station. One that is recently constructed by members of the Belka Space Agency, BSA for short. It's there that an ambitious project is taking place without the rest of the world being privy to it.

Commander Lily Maine, a human leader of this very first crewed space expedition, presses a button on the intercom, speaking. "Oy! Specialist Lightning, Ray! You there?"

After a couple of seconds, a young female voice answers. "I'm here, Commander! What do you need, boss?"

"Status on the Jar of Oz, Ray?" Lily asked, switching the internal camera feed to view the station's special activity room. It's there that Lily sees a dwarven girl floating in Zero-G, performing an operational check on the equipment of the room while holding a military tablet.

"Airlocks are good, concealment system is ok, the oxygen level is nominal, the temperature is normal, dispensers are at full capacity... All systems are A-ok on my end, boss." The dwarven astronaut, Ray, looked at the security camera while saying that.

"Good copy, Ray. Standby for the acquisition of the Takodachis on mining duty. ETA ten minutes." Having said that, Lily then sees Ray giving her half a salute through the camera. "You got it, boss. What's the progress on the construction party?"

"The next set of GPS satellites is almost ready, soon, we will have constant coverage for the entirety of Europe and the Atlantic. Currently, Tannen and Duponne are loading up the OS for them." Lili answered, earning a nod from Ray on the screen.

"Great! That means that I won't have to learn how to read a map when I return!" Ray said with a cheeky smile, causing Lily to roll her eyes. "For the life of me, I have no idea how you passed as an astronaut despite being awfully inept at reading a map on the ground."

Ray quips back with a smirk. "Well I never fail when it matters, that's all!"

"Ok, enough talk, prepare to cycle the airlocks. The last thing we need is a pack of hungry Takodachis on a road of mischief." Lily reminded Ray of the task at hand. The dwarven girl shudders at the mention of hungry Takodachis. "Yeah... I will never forget refilling the food canisters ever again. Being forced to sport an afro for a week was a nightmare."

Lily chuckled, being reminded of an image of a dwarf having an afro haircut. But at least, the space expedition is progressing as planned, minus a few hilarious details that nearly caused Berlin to topple over in laughter.

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Speaking of Berlin, there exists a peculiar test in one of the many basements of the Mansion of Knowledge. A certain younger sister of the Reich marshal has commandeered a fortified room to construct a personal project of her. While it's unknown to many in the Mansion what the purpose of this project is, they allow Ningyo to have free reign and funding. After all, Ningyo is Yuki's little sister and the girl is a certified genius, having already worked on many, many big projects. But more importantly, Ningyo is cute, and her being cute means she is doted on by everyone, especially Mobius. And no one in the Mansion wants to cross Mobius by being rude to Ningyo. Absolutely no one.

Currently dragging her bestie Mei along the hallway of the Mansion, Ningyo greets whoever says hi to her with an excited expression. She can't wait to show Mei what she has been working on in her free time. It's like a kid trying to show off her pet project... Wait, Ningyo is still a kid. Anyway!

"Ningyo, slow down! I'm not going anywhere, you know!" Mei chuckled, feeling giddy as well when she saw Ningyo excited. Her words cause Ningyo slow to a crawl, however, the gray hair girl is suddenly conscious of her dragging Mei by the hand, perhaps a bit too tight in her excitement.

Scratching her cheek sheepishly with a light blush while releasing her hold on Mei, Ningyo apologizes. "Sorry, Mei! I was too anxious to show you my very own masterpiece. Did it hurt?"

Mei giggles, seeing the concerned expression plastered all over Ningyo. Grabbing the girl's hand, Mei says. "I'm fine, Ningyo! Just do be more mindful of your surrounding. Otherwise, we will bump into somebody and ruin their time."

Being reprimanded by her friend, Ningyo nods, accepting her fault for being inattentive. Ningyo is a good girl and she doesn't want others' work to be interrupted rudely by her hastiness. What if that person is carrying their own pride and joy? Won't it be bad if she bumps into them? "Ok, I will reign in my anxiety! Haste makes waste, after all!" Ningyo said with conviction clear in her voice, prompting Mei to giggle once again. "Come on! You still have to show me what's gotten you to be this excited in the first place."

Nodding, Ningyo then leads Mei to her personal workshop, more calmly this time, however. Arriving at the entrance to her workplace, Ningyo gives a cheery greeting to a pair of female guards there before swiping her access key over a scanner, thus opening a sliding bulkhead that's been sealing the place. Once inside, Ningyo turns to Mei. "Make yourself comfortable, Mei! I will present you my project in just a minute!" Ningyou then runs off to grab protective equipment for both her and Mei.

This leaves Mei alone to take in the ever-changing state of Ningyo's lab. Whenever Mei arrives here, she is bound to see something new being worked on or that the layout of the room is changed to facilitate better equipment. To Mei, visiting Ningyo's little underground hideout always seems to spark her curiosity. Every time she has the chance, it has been a joy to explore and learn more about how Ningyo views the world. 

Mei used to be a very reclusive girl, her impressive mindset and ingenuity had been her undoing in making friends with her peers. And her intellect soon outclassed the tutors offered by Long Dynasty at the time. It took no time at all for people to feel lacking to interact with her, barring her family and close servants. That's until her father and mother sent her to Belka. It's here that Mei was opened to a brand new world of intellectuals. It's here that she was soon befriended by a very abrupt Ningyo at a party. Never had Mei thought that there was still much to learn about the world nor had she thought that she would come across a girl her age that trumped her in terms of knowledge and experience. It was a very, very humbling and exciting experience.

Thanks to her interactions with Ningyo, who Mei can confidently say is her best buddy nowadays, and the higher education offered by the Reich, Mei has soon moved on from her sadness over not being able to see her father, Cao Long, in person. In fact, under the pleased gaze of her mother, Consort Ling, Mei is maturing at a rapid but stable pace having found her true calling in the way of science. Her childish curiosity, quenched by the boring confined of her previous home, is now relighted and turned into a thirst for knowledge. Mei now seeks exhilarating solutions to unanswered questions.

Having known of her daughter's resolution long ago, Consort Ling has advised Mei that her road will be long and arduous, but if she persists, the returns will be worth all the blood and tears she sheds. The fruit of her labors will even be sweeter if she has someone to share it with. And while it's not a conversation that should be understood by a normal thirteen years old girl, Mei is anything but normal. Paraphrasing Ningyo's many enlightening quotes, Mei usually reminds herself each morning. "Science! Science is the answer to everything! And if that's not the answer, then you simply aren't using enough science!"

Mei, the little girl from the Far East, has now set her sight to be brighter and grander than the normies! Inspired by the figures of Ningyo's big sister, Yuki, the mechanical genius Einstein, and the miraculous biologist Mobius, Mei will carve out a page for herself in the history book! Maybe not now, but in the future, surely! And who else better than Ningyo for Mei to share it with? Nobody! Ningyo is her bestie!

Unknowingly to Mei, her name being plastered on a history page will come much sooner than she thinks. Ningyo has returned with two sets of lab coats and protective visors for both Mei and herself. With practiced ease, the two young teens put on their specialized equipment, enhanced to the very brink by a very zealous Yuki, much to Mei's gratefulness. Mei won't lie and will say it straight that there have been many, many times before that Ningyo and her have messed up an experiment big time. The lab coats and visors have saved them more time than even Mei is comfortable with. Though she persists every time Ningyo repeatedly shouts in a childish voice. "Science! Everything is for science! Now that we have identified that this solution will result in our equipment exploding, we can move on to the next one!" Wait a minute, just how many times did she hear that sentence again? 

Meh.

Back to the present, Ningyo is now skipping away to a contraption, covered by a thick cloth. Turning to Mei with both her hands on the cloth, Ningyo announces with mock professionalism. Though her struggle to contain her grin is plain for Mei to see. "I present to you, the Boomstick!" Ningyo then pulls the cloth away, revealing to Mei a set of two long rails that are connected to a stationary platform and a power source. 

Rather than saying anything, Mei steps closer to inspect the hulking machinery, instantly identifying the rails as conductive rails. The way they're hooked to a generator suggests that they will be running energy currents through the rail, with one rail running a positive one while the other is running the negative. But what for?

From the look of it, the rails are positioned horizontally to the ground, fixed in place, and aimed at the far-off set of thick steel plates stacking behind each other. The whole area surrounding the plates is vacated and sealed off from them by a thick protective glass panel. Even the Ningyo's contraption is encased in protective coverages for the most part. By the side, there're also multiple cameras set up at different angles. Mei knows that those cameras are expensive high-speed cameras for viewing a slow-motion video of particularly important tests. So whatever the test Ningyo is about to perform, it must be nigh invisible for the naked eye to analyze. Now let's add up the details: A stationary platform that is anchored to the floor, a set of probable targets stacking like dominos, high-speed cameras, and the likeness to that of a firing range that Mei was lucky enough to visit with Ningyo...

Slowly turning toward Ningyo with her eyes twitching, Mei speaks up in a very sweet voice. "Ningyo, my very, very good friend, mind telling me why have you built a gun inside your basement?"

Without a hint of remorse, Ningyo excitedly replies. "Well, technically it's not a gun, it's a Gauss cannon! More specifically, it's what I called a railgun! The rails-"

"Are made out of conductive metals such as copper, which are fed with whopping amounts of energy from a generator — one side positive, the other negative — to propel an armature containing a projectile at great speed and distance via magnetic force! I know! Ningyo! But why is it that we're testing out this thing in your basement in the first place!? I can just about done with my mental calculation and the force this thing generates is no joke!" Mei threw her little hands up in the air in exasperation. 

"Oh... Right." Finally noticing a hole in her thought process, Ningyo has the gal to act sheepish. "Eh... Tehe?" She lightly bonks her head while putting out her tongue, prompting Mei to shout. "Don't 'Tehe' me!"

Mei then collapses onto the ground, hugging her head. "It's over, it's so over...! Ningyo has finally built a weapon in her free time! Big sis Yuki is sure to reprimand us when she's back from her vacation!"

With the fault in her logic now truly sinking in, Ningyo is now being very afraid for the first time in her life. She truly doesn't want to disappoint her sister at all! "W-What should I do now!? I never thought that big sis might be disappointed in me for doing this! S-Should I just scrap this and apologize to her!?"

Before Ningyo can run around like a headless chicken, however, Mei suddenly springs up and clamp Ningyo on her shoulders. "Stop! Breathe, Ningyo! Breathe! Remember what you've been saying to me! Science! Science is the answer to everything! And if that's not the answer, then you simply aren't using enough science! Come on, Ningyo! Repeat it after me! Science! Science is the answer to everything! And if that's not the answer, then you simply aren't using enough science!"

Being shaken back to reality by Mei, Ningyo struggles to form her words but ultimately, she is able to. "S-Science! Science is the answer to everything! And if that's not the answer, then you simply aren't using enough science!" A bit of life return to her expression, having escaped from the rabbit hole she dug herself.

"Good girl!" Mei nodded in relief. The last thing she needs is for Ningyo to have a mental crisis. To be honest, Mei herself is also dreading the fact that big sis Yuki will be reprimanding them later. Nonetheless, Ningyo has gone too far to just put everything away. "Ningyo, listen to me. I know you have painstakingly built this cannon, sacrificing your free time. While this is no doubt a folly on your part for not thinking this through. It's also my fault for not noticing this in the first place. Had I been a better friend, I would have contributed to this effort for it to bear sweaty fruits! The least we can do right now is to gather the necessary data to justify this being built in your basement. With the data, we can at least offset any punishment. However, this is not a good mentality to practice in the future! Hence, next time, you must discuss with someone else before you make something major like a cannon, alright?"

With teary eyes, Ningyo nods repeatedly. "I promise! I will consult with everyone before I do something drastic!" Ningyo then shakes her head. "Mei, you're the best friend I could have ever asked! Please don't belittle yourself like that!" 

Mei lets out a wry smile when she is suddenly pulled into a hug by Ningyo. Wrapping her arms around Ningyo in return, Mei responds. "Gosh, what would I ever do with you?"

The pair then stays in a comfortable hug for a few minutes before pulling away. Looking at each other in the eyes with seriousness they both nod before dashing to their workstations, preparing the railgun for activation. 

"Turning on the power supply unit!" Ningyo said as she raised a red lever slowly to the max.

"Power linkages are stable, the capacitors are charging!" Mei said as she was monitoring the readings.

"Loading the armature now!" Ningyo announced as a mechanical arm installed a case containing a strong, high melting point and good conductivity alloy into the rail chamber. "It's completed!"

"Capacitors are reaching nominal capacity! Armature will launch in five, four, three," Ningyo steps closer to Mei, both girls waiting in muted excitement as the countdown goes lower. "Two, one!"

*BANG*

Before they can even register the hypersonic booming of the solid penetrator leaving the rails, the projectile has already pierced through eight thick steel plates and even crumbled the reinforced ballistic wall behind the targets. The shocking impact left behind by the Mach 8 kinetic rod causes the very foundation of the Mansion of Knowledge to shake, not dissimilar to an abrupt earthquake. As the walls and floors start cracking because of the underground testing, Ningyo and Mei are given the scare of their lives as they hastily turn off the power unit at risk of accidental fire. The test was a success, yes, but now they have to deal with a potentially collapsing Mansion! Who would have ever thought that the damage is much more than anticipated? Scratch that, the upper floor has collapsed on the other side of the protective glass!

"The railgun worked too well!" Mei and Ningyo both screamed out in fright as a wave of dust hit the glass. Thankfully, the shaking subsides after a partial collapse of the Mansion. With bated breath, Ningyo and Mei then peer through the now dissipating dust cloud on the other side. Very much hoping that this will be the end of a nightmare of their own making. Unfortunately for the girls, this won't be ending just yet.

With the dust cloud settled, they're greeted with a very interesting sight of a stunned Mobius who is still standing on the collapsed flooring with a stunned expression. Her face is covered with dust, her hair is unkempt, her pristine lab coat is ruined, and her crisp white laboratory is destroyed! Both Mei and Ningyo can see that Mobius' face is struggling to retain a semblance of calm, twitching very fiercely, but ultimately, she fails.

"Motherfucker!" Mobius threw her already broken test tube onto the ground, raging at the fact that her experiment was so rudely interrupted by whatever Yggdra be damned intervention. 

Understandably, both Mei and Ningyo know. They've fucked up.