Five minutes became closer to eight before Hans opened his eyes.
The ceiling was still cracked, but the room had settled and the heaviness in his body was gone. He sat up carefully; somehow, the bed survived.
The notifications were waiting.
------
[ Commander Rank Advancement Complete ]
[ Current Rank ]
[ Rank 4 - Battalion Commander ]
[ Current Synchronization ]
[ Tier 1 - 30% ]
[ Primary Synchronization Axes ]
[ Somatic ]
[ Cognitive ]
[ Perceptual ]
------
The next panel covered his equipment.
------
[ Commander Personal Equipment Updated ]
[ Primary Weapon ]
HK416 Assault Rifle
5.56mm
30-round magazines
16 magazines
[ Secondary Weapon ]
M9 Pistol
15-round magazines
10 magazines
[ Personal Storage ]
16 cubic meters
[ Combat Armor ]
Adaptive Composite Armor
Integrated shock dampening
------
His storage had doubled from eight to sixteen cubic meters. The rest of the changes were easier to feel than measure.
------
[ Current Commander Physical Bonuses ]
Reaction Speed: +30%
Stamina: +30%
Strength: +20%
Movement Speed: +15%
[ Weapon Proficiency ]
Accuracy: +25%
Reload Speed: +35%
------
Hans flexed one hand. The movement felt normal until he paid attention; his fingers answered faster, and even a small turn of the wrist came easier than before. He left the strength test alone after what happened to the sheet.
The force-wide changes mattered more.
------
[ Battalion Commander Force Bonuses ]
Movement Speed: +20%
Weapon Accuracy: +20%
Reload Speed: +25%
Ammunition Capacity: +50%
Fatigue Loss: -15%
[ Applies to eligible System forces across all branches. ]
------
Ammunition Capacity caught his attention. The bonus now applied across every eligible branch, including ships that already carried hundreds of heavy shells and aircraft built around fixed weapon loads. That would matter more than another few points of personal strength.
Another personal notification explained what had happened to the room.
------
[ Commander Evolutionary Expression Identified ]
[ Elemental Axis ]
[ Pressure / Kinetic Resonance ]
[ Development State: Incipient ]
[ Current Manifestation ]
Pressure presence
Force-transfer anomalies
[ Reliable control has not yet been established. ]
------
That accounted for the shifted light, the bottle and the pressure waves. Hans raised a hand and tried to reproduce it, but nothing moved. A second attempt did no better, so deliberate control could wait until he was somewhere that would not bury him if the experiment went wrong.
The Battalion-era interface came next.
------
[ Battalion Command Framework Activated ]
[ Formation-Centric Command Interface ]
[ Officer Command Cards ]
[ Exception-First Alerts ]
[ Battalion Strategic Command Overlay ]
------
At twenty-four Mobile Companies, the old roster had become something he drilled through rather than something he could read at a glance.
------
[ Commander Force Overview ]
[ Ground Formations ]
24 Mobile Companies
[ Independent and Commander-Held Assets ]
[ Armored Branch ]
[ Air Branch ]
[ Naval Branch ]
[ Special Operations ]
[ Rear Establishment ]
[ Base and Route Security ]
[ Production ]
[ Readiness ]
------
A Mobile Company card now showed its commander, location, mission, attachments, readiness, casualties and replacement state in one place. Individual units were still available underneath it when he needed them, but the System no longer opened with thousands of names and counts.
The new Primary Structures were more interesting.
------
[ New Primary Structures Available ]
[ Heavy Manufacturing Complex modifier applied. ]
Tech Center - 250,000 Gold (-10%) => 225,000 Gold
Command Center - 80,000 Gold (-10%) => 72,000 Gold
------
The Tech Center was the obvious research building. The Battle Lab from the games came to mind, but the name alone did not tell him what this version would actually unlock.
------
[ Research Interface Locked ]
[ Operational Tech Center required. ]
------
That settled the immediate question. The Highcross fragment had been sitting inside containment because Hans had no safe way to release or study it; once the Tech Center existed, that problem finally had somewhere to go. The Command Center could wait for the same reason as before: neither structure had shown him its full functions yet.
The Secondary Structure list was shorter.
------
[ New Secondary Structures Available ]
[ Heavy Manufacturing Complex modifier applied. ]
Ammo Depot - 25,000 Gold (-10%) => 22,500 Gold
Field Kitchen - 8,000 Gold (-10%) => 7,200 Gold
Detention Camp - 20,000 Gold (-10%) => 18,000 Gold
------
Ammo Depot and Field Kitchen were obvious enough. The Detention Camp was not useful enough to compete with the rest of his construction queue yet.
The Barracks added two combat classes.
------
[ New Infantry Units Available ]
Mortar Team - 3,000 Gold
Tactical Drone Operator - 2,500 Gold
------
The mortar itself needed little explanation; the odd part was receiving it this late, after months of using Hellhammers for indirect fire. Exact range, ammunition and team setup could wait until the first team finished training. The Tactical Drone Operator was even simpler: a drone gave him another way to look ahead without putting a squad there first.
He queued one of each.
------
[ Mortar Team x1 queued. ]
[ Gold Cost: 3,000 ]
[ ETA: 20 minutes ]
[ Tactical Drone Operator x1 queued. ]
[ Gold Cost: 2,500 ]
[ ETA: 15 minutes ]
------
They were cheap enough to inspect before he decided how many more he wanted.
Another Barracks category appeared below them.
------
[ New Support Personnel Available ]
[ Classification: Rear Establishment ]
Cook - 500 Gold
Training Time: 5 minutes
Ammo Quartermaster - 1,000 Gold
Training Time: 10 minutes
Mechanic - 1,500 Gold
Training Time: 15 minutes
------
The System separated all three from Infantry and placed them under Rear Establishment. Cook and Ammo Quartermaster matched the new support structures immediately. Mechanic was the only overlap Hans wanted to inspect more closely when Engineers, FSVs and Service Centers already handled repairs.
The War Factory list was considerably longer.
------
[ New Armored Units Available ]
[ Active Production Modifiers ]
[ Heavy Manufacturing Complex: -10% Mechanical Unit Production Cost ]
[ Machinery Workshop: -10% Vehicle Production Cost ]
Armored Recovery Vehicle (ARV) - 15,000 Gold => 12,150 Gold
Armored Resupply Vehicle (ARSV) - 12,000 Gold => 9,720 Gold
Combat Engineering Vehicle - 15,000 Gold => 12,150 Gold
Armored Bridge Layer - 20,000 Gold => 16,200 Gold
Mobile SHORAD Vehicle - 25,000 Gold => 20,250 Gold
Armored Reconnaissance / Forward Observer Vehicle - 12,000 Gold => 9,720 Gold
Heavy Equipment Transporter - 10,000 Gold => 8,100 Gold
Battalion Armored Command Vehicle (BACV) - 50,000 Gold => 40,500 Gold
Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) - 35,000 Gold => 28,350 Gold
Precision Strike Missile Launcher (PSML) - 45,000 Gold => 36,450 Gold
------
Ten new vehicles appeared at once. Most of the names told Hans enough to understand the broad role, but the MLRS and PSML mattered immediately. Saturation rockets and precision missiles were exactly the kinds of options he had delayed the Core operation to see; range, ammunition and targeting limits could wait until the first vehicles finished.
The Airfield had only one addition.
------
[ New Aircraft Available ]
[ Heavy Manufacturing Complex modifier applied. ]
Phantom B-2 Saturation Bomber - 120,000 Gold (-10%) => 108,000 Gold
------
A B-2-class saturation bomber at Rank 4 was hard to ignore, but the name still told him only the broad role. He would know what the System version actually carried when one existed in front of him.
The Shipyard added two more vessels.
------
[ New Naval Units Available ]
[ Heavy Manufacturing Complex modifier applied. ]
Triton ASW Frigate - 50,000 Gold (-10%) => 45,000 Gold
Haven Fleet Support Ship - 45,000 Gold (-10%) => 40,500 Gold
------
Triton was the obvious one. ASW meant anti-submarine warfare, and Saicine still had submerged contacts worth hunting once he was ready to push beyond the secured harbor. Haven’s exact value was less obvious, but Hans was not going to dismiss a fleet support ship before seeing what it supported.
Two personal updates remained.
------
[ Commander Medical Support Pack Updated ]
First Aid Kits: 5
Suppressant Injections: 5
Maximum Infection Threshold: 85%
------
The infection threshold had climbed to eighty-five percent. Useful, but not something Hans intended to test on purpose.
The final notification unlocked a unique asset.
------
[ Unique Commander Asset Unlocked ]
Commander Transport Plane
[ Note ]
Currently not deployed. Requires one slot in any Airfield Base.
------
The Commander Transport Plane was different again. The System gave him nothing beyond the Airfield-slot requirement, so he left it undeployed until he could inspect it properly.
He had enough to start ordering what mattered, beginning with the structures.
------
[ Tech Center queued. ]
[ Gold Cost: 225,000 ]
[ ETA: 15 days, 15 hours ]
[ Command Center queued. ]
[ Gold Cost: 72,000 ]
[ ETA: 5 days ]
------
Fifteen days and fifteen hours put the Tech Center firmly in the background. The aircraft and ships he was about to queue would finish long before it.
Two Phantom B-2s went into the Airfield network.
------
[ Phantom B-2 Saturation Bomber x2 queued. ]
[ Gold Cost: 216,000 ]
[ Production Time per Aircraft: 18 hours ]
------
The existing Airfields accepted both orders without a capacity warning, but Hans added two more Airfield Bases anyway. Rank 4 had just widened the aircraft list, and he wanted the spare fixed-wing space before it widened again.
------
[ Airfield Base x2 queued. ]
[ Gold Cost: 72,000 ]
[ Construction Time per Airfield: 2 days, 12 hours ]
------
The Ammo Depot and Field Kitchen followed.
------
[ Ammo Depot queued. ]
[ Gold Cost: 22,500 ]
[ ETA: 1 day, 13 hours, 30 minutes ]
[ Field Kitchen queued. ]
[ Gold Cost: 7,200 ]
[ ETA: 12 hours ]
------
Hans also queued one of each new Support Personnel class.
------
[ Initial Support Personnel Batch queued. ]
[ Cook x1 ]
[ Ammo Quartermaster x1 ]
[ Mechanic x1 ]
[ Gold Cost: 3,000 ]
------
One of each was enough to learn where they belonged before he ordered a larger support batch.
The Detention Camp stayed off the queue. He had no prisoners and several more immediate uses for Construction Yard time.
The War Factory orders were easier: ten MLRS for saturation, four PSMLs for precision, and one example of every other new support chassis.
------
[ Multiple Launch Rocket System x10 queued. ]
[ Gold Cost: 283,500 ]
------
[ Precision Strike Missile Launcher x4 queued. ]
[ Gold Cost: 145,800 ]
------
[ Initial Rank 4 Armored Support Batch queued. ]
[ Armored Recovery Vehicle x1 ]
[ Armored Resupply Vehicle x1 ]
[ Combat Engineering Vehicle x1 ]
[ Armored Bridge Layer x1 ]
[ Mobile SHORAD Vehicle x1 ]
[ Armored Reconnaissance / Forward Observer Vehicle x1 ]
[ Heavy Equipment Transporter x1 ]
[ Battalion Armored Command Vehicle x1 ]
[ Gold Cost: 128,790 ]
------
His War Factories were spread across enough bases that the System distributed the orders through the available production network instead of forcing everything through one facility.
Both Saicine Shipyards were free, so Hans queued one Triton and one Haven.
------
[ Triton ASW Frigate queued. ]
[ Gold Cost: 45,000 ]
[ ETA: 7 hours, 30 minutes ]
[ Haven Fleet Support Ship queued. ]
[ Gold Cost: 40,500 ]
[ ETA: 6 hours, 45 minutes ]
------
The Triton already had work waiting for it. Whatever survived the harbor bombardment had disappeared into water his Hellhammers could not reach properly.
Sentinel One and Wraith One already had harbor-security tasks, but the new frigate was the first ship whose name promised to be dedicated Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW). Haven’s support capabilities could explain itself after launch.
The consolidated order was the last thing Hans checked.
------
[ Rank 4 Expansion Orders ]
[ Structures: 398,700 Gold ]
[ Infantry: 5,500 Gold ]
[ Support Personnel: 3,000 Gold ]
[ Aircraft: 216,000 Gold ]
[ Armored Units: 558,090 Gold ]
[ Naval Units: 85,500 Gold ]
[ Total Gold Spent: 1,266,790 Gold ]
------
More than a million Gold left his reserve. Several months ago, that would have been the problem. Now the number mattered less than what the queues might change.
Tyrus had warned that even HELIX botanical subjects regenerated aggressively, then admitted that nothing HELIX produced came close to the roots that appeared near the Core. Hans had postponed testing that Tier Two warning because Rank 4 was close enough to reach first.
With two saturation bombers, ten MLRS launchers and four PSMLs in production, Hans was feeling a little more confident.
He still did not know their exact ranges, payloads or limits, which was precisely why he was not writing the Core plan around them yet. He could inspect the first units, test what they actually did, and decide with Matilda afterward.
The Tree could wait one more day.
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