After the discussion ended, Amir directly pulled out the concept sketches for the mechanical exoskeleton he had prepared in advance.
Although Kahalman had never heard of such an idea before, he understood it quickly, because in essence it was close to the work he already did. The difference was that instead of replacing human tissue with mechanical parts, this concept moved the machinery outside the body.
"I can't believe I never thought of this," Kahalman said. "I was a fool. If it hadn't been you, Amir, and someone else had proposed something like this, I would've loudly asked why not just use a robot."
Ahsoka asked weakly, "Why not just use a robot?"
"Robots? How could those stupid, stiff-headed things compare to a human? No tactics, no flexibility. No matter how many of them you build, they can only handle ordinary people. But if a human wore this exoskeleton, combining powerful strength with a flexible mind, their combat power could rival a Mandalorian!"
BD-4 also let out a weak series of beeps. If he was going to insult robots, he should at least check whether one was standing right there.
"That would require a lot of funding," Ahsoka said, frowning as she looked over the schematics.
"The cost of the exoskeleton is definitely much higher," Amir replied, "but outfitting a few hundred people first wouldn't be a problem."
"Mm. We can start by assigning one to each squad in every sector, then slowly increase the number later. There's still some free funding left in the base. I'll transfer that to you first."
"Mm..." Kahalman did not refuse the support. With his personal finances alone, sustaining this kind of research would be difficult. Even though the entire station belonged to him, too many things were tied up in it, and his personal cash reserve was not exactly abundant.
After a moment's thought, Amir remembered the credit chits stored on his ship and said, "If it's not enough, I can add more. After all, if we build it, I want one too."
Kahalman awkwardly reminded him, "Research funding tends to be enormous. We usually start counting from hundreds of thousands of credits..."
"Mm." Amir nodded. He had already decided these credits could not be put to better use.
He understood Ahsoka's situation well. They had money, but it was stretched thin everywhere, and the amount they could freely move around was definitely tighter than his own.
Seeing the strained expressions on both Kahalman and Ahsoka, Amir more or less guessed what they were thinking.
"Stop looking at me like that. I have money. I raided Oba Diah not long ago," Amir said, unable to keep from laughing.
"What?" Ahsoka stared at him in shock. "That was you? While the Pykes were out protecting the spice base, you broke into Oba Diah? Hah, those smugglers have been going crazy looking for the culprit lately."
Amir smiled faintly. They were probably never going to find him. From the moment he approached the Pyke headquarters, not a single surveillance camera had been functioning properly. But the Pykes did know Sainir, so naturally all the blame had fallen on his head.
"It's a long story... In short, an old friend asked me to help him find evidence that an Imperial officer was colluding with the Pykes. Once we were already inside their treasury, there was no such thing as leaving empty-handed."
"Come to think of it, you know this man too. The first time we met on that prison ship, he was the one who sent me there."
Ahsoka quickly remembered. "That person has fed us useful information many times, though I still don't know what he's after."
"What kind of information?" Amir asked, suddenly interested.
"Mostly Imperial intelligence. Supply ships headed for the front, hidden grain depots, things like that. Every time, we've gained quite a lot from it."
Amir barely managed not to laugh. More likely than not, Sainir had been using them as a knife. Once those supply ships and depots were hit, someone was bound to suffer for it, and that someone was probably one of Sainir's enemies.
Still, it was not exploitation in the purest sense. At the very least, both sides benefited.
When the discussion ended, Kahalman led Amir and Ahsoka down into the lower levels of Eternal Ark. As they rode the elevator down, Amir realized that the space station was more layered than he had imagined.
They were using Kahalman's private access route, located inside the clinic itself.
Not long after, the elevator doors opened, and Amir found himself staring at a spacious, bright, and immaculate area. The lower levels of Eternal Ark were divided into many connected sections.
The room they were currently in was clearly the place where Kahalman built cybernetics.
There was a large workbench directly ahead, and several droids were intently manufacturing different models of mechanical arms.
"The space here is too small. Come this way." Kahalman led the two of them down a corridor and into another room.
This one was much larger, filled with brand-new instruments that looked advanced enough to be incomprehensible.
"This is my entire fortune, right here. These machines should be enough to support the necessary testing. If we need anything else, I'll keep searching. For now, we can work here. I'll bring in more droids to set up the assembly lines."
Amir was extremely satisfied.
Looking at all those instruments, he felt a surge of excitement.
He had always worked with the crudest possible tools. Now it was like a beggar suddenly being moved into a palace.
He did not want to leave.
Under Kahalman's explanation, Amir quickly learned how to use the instruments and machine tools, then immediately began redesigning and modifying things with the materials Kahalman already had on hand.
Ahsoka did not stay long. She simply told them she would send over a new round of funding after some time, then left.
Millisyn and 32 were delighted when they learned they would be staying here for a while.
Eternal Ark was enormous, and there were plenty of places to explore. Millisyn was already in high spirits, and Euphemia seemed more than happy to act as her minder.
As for 32, he stayed behind to assist Amir and Kahalman.
And while "assisting," he ended up being pinned to the workbench by Kahalman, who removed all four of his limbs and enthusiastically gave him another round of major upgrades.
Since Amir already had a finished model of the smart combat backpack, improving it went quickly. Just two days later, a new alloy backpack was strapped to his back.
Connected to it was also a single-lens eyepiece.
The eyepiece had a circular frame that hooked behind the head. When in use, the lens could be pulled down to cover one eye and display the feed projected onto it.
What it displayed was the environment scanned by the backpack's sensors.
At the moment, Amir had his back to the room. Inside stood several humanoid targets made from stacked metal plates.
Through the lens, Amir could see everything behind him clearly.
Each target had been automatically highlighted by a red frame, with its own letter marked above it.
Amir calmly began calling them out. "A... D... B..."
As he spoke, the blaster mounted on the backpack fired rapidly. The bolts almost connected into a flowing arc as they swept in quick succession across the targets Amir had called out.
"Excellent. Very accurate! Now try manual selection," Kahalman said from the side.
Amir lowered his gaze to his right hand. Mounted there was a new datapad showing the same visual feed as the eyepiece.
He quickly tapped several targets to select them, and another burst of blaster fire erupted from behind him.
Every shot hit home.
Kahalman began applauding.
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🌌 STAR WARS: RELICS OF THE PAST
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