Within the Brass Web.
Page 19
Chapter 17: Laying plans.
General Eisenberg watched the news real with interest as they covered the march of World War I veterans on Washington DC in protest of promised pay. How ironic that this assembly of honored soldiers concealed the movement of five hundred more men. They would spend the march in Washington and then instead of heading back home to the south, they would travel back home to Paragon City and the surrounding area. It was so easy to move about this country. If this had been a plan to take over Europe then they would be horribly restricted to a small area. Better to let that Austrian deal with those problems. He did his best to enjoy the movie with Helena and the rest of the directors. It had been awhile since they had rented out The Liberty, and some private down time was just what everyone needed. It was funny to think that they were safe in a public movie house. The movie started, a new Laurel and Hardy film, but even their antics couldn’t distract him for long and his mind went back to his previous conversation with Lord Nemesis, concerning their latest problem.
The problem had been growing as the jaeger production not only caught up with the refits, but started to produce new mechanized warriors. The problem was simple, where to put them all. The solution came when they were breaking ground on a new building and they needed the permits to break into the city sewer systems. Most of the actual sewage was channeled through pipe work four feet in diameter. The rest of the tunnels housed the City’s electrical and water lines.
“Lord Nemesis, excuse me but I have an idea I wanted to talk to you about.” Lukas said as the looked into Lord Nemesis’s office. Very little journals actually remained on the shelves to the left side of room. More corkboard had been placed over the empty shelves and more articles and papers on the five named heroes and a new ones only hinted at covered the boards. Lukas waited for Nemesis to put his pen down and look up from his latest journal.
“Okay, what is this about?” His voice seemed to have taken on an older tone. It was as if his leader was rapidly aging before him these last few weeks. Lukas figured it was the stress of these new heroes. The thought that it could be that Lord Nemesis was quickly approaching the ripe old age of ninety-one didn’t enter his mind.
“Well sir, I was thinking about storage areas for Jaegers where they wouldn’t be found, at least not easily. My thought was towards the City’s sewer system in this part of town. The main sewer lines are self-contained, as are the power and communication lines. There is almost a meter of space, more than enough for Jaeger movement, and it connects this entire part of the City.”
Lord Nemesis considered this for a moment. “Please continue.”
“We can add warehouse space under the Steinberg, Knotts, and Macy’s buildings easily enough because construction is still months from completion. Also our building’s sub levels can be converted and tapped into the same system. We can have a crew tap into the tunnels at the shipping terminal and as the trucks come in they can drop off a few at a time. Open the hatch and down they go. Then it’s just a matter of guiding them to the right warehouse.”
“That is a brilliant idea General… simply brilliant. I would only add one part to that. While we are at it, I would like you to install exit ports at key points through out the city. That way we can move anywhere if need be. It would also give us a way to move our troops around without prying eyes seeing what we are doing. Good work general, very good… I knew there was a reason I liked you.”
“Thank you sir that is high praise. I will draw up the appropriate plans and will get them to the work crews by tomorrow morning.”
“Very good. Have you also had any thoughts to the box cars containing the Warhulks?”
“Not as of yet sir. It would be too obvious if we suddenly started laying rails when there is no need for them.”
“Laying rails… General what if we alter the box car design, most of that space was wasted anyways. What if we made the cars to look like the tram cars. There are always a number of them sidelined for repair or lack of need. We could just mix them in one tram car at a time from anywhere in the city. Spread out over that distance would make them less conspicuous than all of them just sitting in the same rail yard.”
“Now it’s your turn to be brilliant sir, as usual.”
“You are too kind general, too kind… now I must finish this before I can get back to my lab. Thank you Lukas.”
“You are welcome sir.” Lukas left feeling good about this. It solved so many logistic problems and it would all happen right under the noses of those heroes. He smiled; maybe he should have a crew investigate the tunnels under the Kings Row area. Perhaps a surprise Jaeger attack might improve his mood.
The planning stage was easy enough and the construction workers made quick time with the alterations to the structures. Soon the delivery trucks started dropping off four to six Jaegers at a time and they were guided down under the bowels of the city and shut down to wait use. The tram car idea would take at least five more weeks to get ready, but that only delayed their initial time frame by a couple of weeks.
Lukas had also taken to manning high points around the city with some of his best marksmen. The target was this Dark Watcher. There was only one rule, if you shoot your rifle, you had better hit him. One shot one kill, nothing else would be tolerated. They were not to reveal themselves other wise. The troops now back from the march on Washington, found homes and jobs waiting for them. They quickly adjusted to city life and their duel roles.
General Eisenberg and Colonel Tomain waded through the shinning brass of the stilled Jaegers. Some men moved about tapping off their water supplies and checking the vacuum tubes for any damage. It wouldn’t do for the targeting system to malfunction and attack their own troops.
“Do you really think he’ll attack those heroes? Sure they’re a nuisance but no more so than The Kings.”
“He has not mentioned it since our last meeting, but that doesn’t mean he has forgotten. I’m sure like all things it will be in his time frame.”
“True, but I just don’t want him to jeopardize everything by showing his hand too soon. We have been working hard too many years now just to throw it away on a personal vendetta.”
“Gerald, you know as well as I do that he does nothing on a whim. If he decides to act it will be the right time to do so.”
“Please stop me if I’m out of line, but you are related to him so maybe you don’t see it as clearly, but he’s not looking that good. I have no doubt that his brain is as sharp as ever, but his body is failing him. Lukas, what will happen if he passes away before things happen?”
Lukas pondered this for a moment. It wasn’t the first time he had considered this possibility. Its not one he wanted to consider to tell the truth. But it was true, he had noticed Lord Nemesis’ failing body, but maybe the preservation of his memories was his first step to preserving his dreams.
“This is not an appropriate conversation, even between the two of us my friend. Lord Nemesis is if nothing else meticulous in his plans and visions. When the time comes for him to die, rest assured he has planned for it and everything will go according to plan. Knowing him he’s also scheduled the day and time he is to die.” Lukas said smiling. The two men looked over the rest of the round brass soldiers in silence.
“So did you hear how the Red Socks did last night?” Gerald asked looking sideways to Lukas. Lukas rolled his eyes and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a folded twenty dollar bill and handed it over to Gerald. “Thank you very much.” Gerald laughed putting the bill into his own pocket.
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It was the last bit of his conversation Colonel Tomain that kept coming back to Lukas as the movie played on. He tried to laugh with the rest of the audience but it was only in response to them, not with the movie. Helena took his arm and asked if something was bothering him, but he shrugged it off to his lunch not settling well. He made an extra effort to concentrate on the film, but feared he had missed something important as to why Laurel and Hardy had
a chimpanzee.