6th of Ash, 124th Year of the Age of Steel
Everything exploded and Olga was thrilled.
“Completely ruined, ma’am. Congratulations.”
“Congratulations to us, Tolfar,” Olga said, removing her goggles. “Ready for test two?”
“Shouldn’t we confirm the damage? There was a target,” he said, already walking to the other side of the testing area. “Not that it should be especially easy to find.”
“Good instincts, and no, I can’t imagine it will be,” Olga said, following - and then quickly leading - forward.
The tank had fired trued, sans Operator. Olga hadn’t needed Private Baccas or any of the other trainees for the first tests. Easy enough for her or Tolfar to input what was needed. All that remained was booking the testing grounds; easy, considering her project. Then, of course, there was getting there. The testing grounds were below ground - very far below ground. A basement in the basement of the Imperial Academy of Arcane Sciences. This was, of course, for security reasons. It wasn’t just tanks that were tested here but all sorts of weaponry. Artifice aside, there were all sorts of Alchemic concoctions and Runeforged items, all for the purpose of warfare. Olga only had the faintest idea of what either world magic was capable of, but she was sure that it wasn’t pretty. She’d heard rumors of all sorts of horrors. Magetech capable of using some strange sort of frequency to scramble the brain and poisoning you without gas or injection. She wasn’t sure how any of that could be tested, or even who it was tested on, but that those things needed to be contained was obvious even to her.
However, the testing grounds proved to be excellent for Artifice.
She’d ordered a tank to be constructed - by who, she wasn’t sure - and once that had been done, it was easy enough to install the core. There was about three-hundred and fifty feet between the tank and the target range, which she wasn’t sure was really enough. Olga had definitely felt the explosion when the missile landed. Luckily, the missile itself was as standard as she could order, meaning not enchanted. No, she decided there wasn’t any point in risking her or Tolfar, and there wasn’t a need to order a special missile. She just needed whatever it was they planned on stocking the tanks with normally.
And so, she arrived, they loaded the tanks and they shot - and it worked. Perhaps a bit too well.
“I don’t understand why you asked for a mannequin.”
“I didn’t -,” she paused, frowning, as both her and Tolfar looked for the torso, or any part of the wooden doll. “- don’t question me, Tolfar. It was a fine idea. The tanks will be aiming for soldiers, anyway. It needs to be able to differentiate between a human figure from otherwise.”
“Yes, ma’am. Of course, ma’am.”
“Well, keep looking, Tolfar! We need to see the exact damage and piece together the mannequin, if possible. I want to see where it struck.”
“Perhaps, next time ma’am, we can request a Sembler for support? Or Sembler glasses.”