Chapter 272: Tech Center - I

A little over two and a half hours later, Dianne followed Hans out of the Command Center as they made their way toward a restricted section of the northwestern industrial sector.

The area had gradually become known as the Golden Eagle Army’s Main Base.

Several Construction Yards were spread throughout the secured industrial zone, surrounded by Power Plants, War Factories, Barracks and other System structures that had accumulated over the past few months.

The people from Route One had since moved farther toward Westgate. Living that close to Golden Eagle himself had become a little awkward for some of them.

Hans couldn’t really blame them either.

He climbed into the armored SUV waiting outside while Dianne took the front passenger seat.

"How’s the preparation for the Tech Center deployment?"

Dianne flipped through several papers before replying.

"The Engineers have already cleared and leveled the site, Commander. The surrounding area has also been secured. They’re only waiting for the construction timer to finish and for you to deploy it."

Hans nodded and looked out the window.

A week or so ago, much of this part of the industrial sector had still been filled with abandoned factories, warehouses and smaller industrial buildings that nobody had used since the Event.

Most of them were gone now.

The useful equipment and materials had been salvaged first. Steel, machinery, wiring and anything else that civilians could still use had been separated before the remaining structures were demolished.

None of the buildings had qualified for anything useful through the System anyway, and leaving hundreds of abandoned structures standing inside one of the G.E.A.’s largest base areas only made future expansion harder.

Might as well clear them now.

The SUV continued between several System structures before turning toward a newly restricted section of the base.

Hans checked the timer again.

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[ Tech Center ]

[ Construction in Progress ]

[ Time Remaining: 11 minutes, 26 seconds ]

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A few minutes later, the SUV slowed near the prepared deployment area. Hans understood immediately why the Engineers had asked for so much space.

Dust still hung lightly over parts of the site.

Most of the old industrial buildings had been completely removed, leaving a broad stretch of flattened ground surrounded by temporary barriers and security position.

Several repaired civilian bulldozers remained parked along one side. Their paint was scratched and mismatched after months of recovery work, but they were running again.

Two Combat Engineering Vehicles sat farther away beside several Engineering support vehicles.

One CEV still had dirt packed around part of its blade from leveling the last section of ground.

Engineers moved between survey markers while other personnel collected tools, cables and portable equipment from the center of the prepared zone.

Security had been pushed farther outward.

Infantry guarded the nearest access roads while several armored vehicles remained parked near the perimeter. Anyone who didn’t have a reason to be there were kindly asked away.

The Engineers also cleared more ground than the Tech Center itself seemed likely to need.

Hans looked from one end of the site to the other. This was not just an empty construction plot anymore.

It looked like they were preparing for an entire new section of the base.

An Engineer wearing a yellow hard hat approached Hans with several others behind him.

"Commander."

Hans nodded.

"You’ve prepared quite a sight for me."

He looked across the cleared ground again.

"Is all of this actually necessary for the Tech Center?"

"It’s necessary, Commander."

The Engineer answered so quickly that Hans wasn’t sure whether he should feel reassured or worried.

"I’ll trust you on that."

Whatever the System intended for the Tech Center, the Engineers clearly expected it to need room.

Hans checked the timer again.

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[ Tech Center ]

[ Construction in Progress ]

[ Time Remaining: 4 minutes, 18 seconds ]

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"I’ll be deploying it in a few minutes. Is everything ready?"

The Engineer glanced toward the remaining personnel still inside the marked area.

"Almost. Give us a few minutes, Commander."

He turned immediately and used his communicator.

"Clear the center! All equipment outside the deployment markers!"

The remaining Engineers started moving.

A support vehicle backed away first while another team collected the last survey equipment from the middle of the site.

The two Combat Engineering Vehicles reversed toward the perimeter.

Several workers pulled temporary markers farther outward while the security personnel made sure nobody wandered back into the cleared zone.

Hans waited beside the SUV.

He checked the timer once, and then again.

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[ Tech Center ]

[ Construction in Progress ]

[ Time Remaining: 38 seconds ]

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After fifteen days and fifteen hours, the final thirty-eight seconds somehow felt longer than the rest of the wait.

The Engineer returned.

"We’re clear, Commander."

Hans nodded.

The timer soon reached zero.

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[ Tech Center ]

[ Construction Complete ]

[ Awaiting Commander Deployment ]

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Hans opened the construction interface. The map around his position expanded before narrowing toward the prepared site.

A large placement outline appeared across the cleared ground.

Hans’s movement paused.

The area was big—ridiculously big.

The main footprint occupied a substantial portion of the area the Engineers had prepared, while the System highlighted a much wider surrounding zone around it.

Hans shifted the placement slightly.

The outline remained valid.

The area around the Tech Center also showed sufficient open ground for additional structures or support facilities the System might eventually expect around it.

He finalized the placement.

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[ Placement Valid ]

[ Tech Center Ready for Deployment ]

------

Hans looked across the empty ground one last time.

"Deploy."

The ground lit up. The placement outline flashed once before the entire footprint began changing at the same time.

The Tech Center did not rise like a single tall building but rather, it spread.

Foundation sections formed across the prepared ground in wide blocks, covering an area considerably larger than the Command Center. Reinforced slabs appeared first, followed by thick structural sections that divided the footprint into several connected parts.

The central section formed faster than the rest.

A broad reinforced structure rose from the middle of the site while additional wings extended outward from it. Some sections looked closer to ordinary buildings, while others were much more enclosed, with thick walls and fewer visible openings.

Hans watched another section take shape along one side.

Large service entrances formed there, followed by a hardened loading area wide enough for trucks and recovered equipment to enter without passing through the main entrance.

Several wider rooms and enclosed bays appeared behind the outer walls. Interior partitions formed almost as quickly, separating one section from another with reinforced doors and narrower access corridors.

One part looked more industrial than the others.

The walls rose around a group of enclosed work bays while heavy service access formed along the outside. It reminded Hans slightly of a much smaller War Factory, except there were no large production lines or vehicle exits leading through the building.

Whatever was built there was clearly not meant for mass production.

The System continued farther inward. Hans could see parts of the interior before the outer walls sealed them away.

Rows of equipment appeared inside some rooms.

Workstations filled others.

Dense equipment banks formed around the central structure while several deeper sections became almost completely enclosed behind heavier walls.

Hans could not tell what half of it did and before he could think more of it, another change caught his attention.

Four heavy service lines began extending away from the main structure. They ran beneath the ground in different directions before stopping well outside the building itself.

Hans opened the placement view again.

The lines ended inside the empty ground the Engineers intentionally cleared around the Tech Center.

Hans closed the interface. Whatever those connections were for, the System could explain them later.

More sections finished materializing.

Power connections linked the Tech Center into the existing System grid. Additional data lines followed shortly afterward, disappearing beneath the ground toward the rest of Main Base.

The outer appearance finally began settling.

The building was enormous, but not in the same way as an Airfield or War Factory.

There were no open production halls, no aircraft shelters, and no cooling towers rising above everything around it.

Most of the Tech Center’s size came from how far it spread across the ground.

The central structure dominated the middle while several connected research and service wings surrounded it. Controlled entrances were separated from the larger receiving areas, while other doors seemed to lead directly toward the more isolated parts of the facility.

Then the security systems appeared.

Dark cameras and narrow sensor strips formed around the main approaches. Additional sensors covered the service entrances and loading areas, while reinforced barriers separated public-facing approaches from sections deeper inside the compound.

Hans noticed that there were more controlled doors than regular ones.

The last exterior sections finished forming.

Dust rolled outward from the edges of the deployment zone as the ground settled. Several Engineers farther back covered their faces while the closest armored vehicles slowly disappeared behind the haze.

Then lights began appearing across the building—from the main entrances to the service corridors, one section lit up right after another.

The central section came online last.

The entire facility sat quietly across the cleared ground. A moment later, a low mechanical hum joined the sounds of vehicles and Engineers around them.

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[ Tech Center deployed. ]

[ Tech Center operational. ]

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Hans stared at the finished large structure and checked the additional clear area.

Looking at the four unfinished service connections disappearing into that empty ground, he suspected that the Tech Center may have more to it than what it seems.

This wasn’t just another building.

The System had given him the beginning of an entire research complex.