Andy stood in a newly cleared giant workshop, holding a holographic blueprint in his hand.
This workshop had likely been used for repairing heavy mining machinery in the past; the floor still bore the tracks of gantry cranes capable of lifting several tons. However, ever since the stockpile of "scavenged junk" forcefully assembled by the Adeptus Mechanicus had run dry, the place had been filled with nothing but the prayer items of the Cogboys.
Now, it had become Andy's private modification plant. He was going to build a vehicle—a proper APC (Armored Personnel Carrier)!
In the Warhammer universe, the prototype for an APC is called the "Chimera," the mainstay transport of the Astra Militarum. It was rugged, durable, capable of carrying twelve men, and amphibious. But the original Chimera was too complex. Its multi-fuel engine, amphibious propulsion system, and sophisticated fire-control radar were beyond the current industrial capabilities of the shelter. Specifically, the amphibious thrusters required precision seals and high-pressure pumps; the machining accuracy of the shelter's current lathes couldn't even cut a qualified O-ring.
So, with a grand stroke of his pen, Andy began to subtract.
He cut the amphibious function—where in the Underhive was there a river wide enough to swim across? If they hit an acid lake, they could just drive around it. He cut the fire-control radar—warfare these days relied on visual contact; who needed radar? A large searchlight was far more useful. Finally, he cut the lasgun arrays; they consumed too much power and were a hassle to maintain. It was better to just cut firing slits so the soldiers could use their own guns.
What remained was a mismatched "Chimera-lite," which Andy dubbed the "Underhive Happy Wagon."
With the design finalized, Andy dismantled a heavy mining truck chassis he had "borrowed" from the Plague Doctor. This chassis was originally meant to haul dozens of tons of ore; its main beams were as thick as Andy's thigh. Andy sliced off the rear half, shortening the wheelbase to increase maneuverability.
Next was the power system. The original engine was still functional, but Andy found its horsepower lacking. He dug through the scrap heaps and found two high-power industrial diesel engines originally meant for generators. Their torque was terrifying, even if their RPM was low. Andy didn't care; he coupled the two engines together and fueled them with high-octane fuel scavenged from the Plague Doctor.
Look at that! Twin engines, eight cylinders, turbocharged! This thing would practically fly.
Of course, the Chimera didn't win wars with horsepower alone; the real highlight was the armor. Ordinary steel plates couldn't stop a bolter, let alone a multi-melta. Fortunately, Andy had several plates of memory alloy steel. This material was typically used to resist strong acid corrosion and high-pressure gases; it was extremely hard and possessed self-repairing properties when heated. Andy cut these plates into angled armor blocks and welded them around the hull.
To bolster the defense, he sandwiched a layer of high-density industrial rubber between the armor plates. This rubber was one of the first products Andy had synthesized using sulfuric acid and organic solvents. Don't underestimate this layer of rubber; it could effectively absorb explosive shockwaves and prevent deadly spalling fragments if the armor was pierced by an anti-tank round. What emerged was the prototype of composite armor.
Finally, the weapon system. Through Andy's "genius" design, a fully enclosed rotating turret was welded to the roof, into which he stuffed another twin-linked heavy stubber. To increase sustained firepower, he bypassed belt-feeding and designed a massive drum magazine capable of holding a thousand rounds.
At the front of the hull, Andy added a flamer. The fuel tank for the flamer was connected directly to the vehicle's auxiliary fuel tank. With the press of a button, a thirty-meter-long dragon of fire would roar forth. Against gang members who favored human-wave tactics or dense Tyranid swarms, a flamer was always a man's best friend.
For three days and three nights, Andy worked like a tireless mechanical artisan—hammering, welding, and cutting. When the "Underhive Happy Wagon" finally hit the ground, it hadn't even been painted. The raw metal color, coupled with the scorch marks from the welding, exuded a rugged aesthetic of industrial violence.
Andy sat in the cockpit and turned the ignition.
ROAR—!!!
The roar of the twin engines made the entire workshop tremble.
"Comfortable!" Andy was satisfied. With this thing, walking tall in the Underhive was no longer a dream. As long as he didn't run into a Leman Russ tank armed with a battle cannon or a true Space Marine Dreadnought, this car was essentially invincible.
Stepping out of the workshop, Andy inspected the status of the various production lines. He had to admit, ever since the Plague Doctor's chemical warehouse had been emptied, the shelter's development had shifted into overdrive.
The chemical production line was the first to show results. Gamma-9 and his men had pushed the barrels of sulfuric acid and saltpeter to their limits. The awkward days of scraping primer from scrap heaps were over. On the ammunition assembly line, workers were spooning pale yellow nitro-starch powder into brass casings. This new double-base propellant burned completely with minimal residue. Every bullet produced was now a lethal killer capable of piercing light armor.
The explosives line nearby wasn't idle either. Andy saw Bauer leading a team in hand-assembling grenades. They were making simple fragmentation grenades using sections of old steel pipe, sealed at both ends and filled with high-energy explosives. To increase lethality, Bauer had mixed in heavy metal particles salvaged from old batteries. When they detonated, there would be a shockwave and countless toxic metal fragments. Even if the target survived the blast, they would die a painful death from heavy metal poisoning a few days later.
Andy highly appreciated this "vicious" design.
Of course, there were difficulties. For instance, the rocket launcher project Andy had high hopes for—the XPG-200. It looked simple, but in practice, it was full of problems. First were the rocket nozzles; they required high-temperature ceramics or alloys, and the shelter's current materials couldn't handle the instantaneous heat and pressure. The only viable material, the memory alloy, had all been used to build the car. After several test fires, the nozzles either burned through mid-flight, causing the rocket to spiral, or they exploded directly in the launcher.
Then there was the warhead fuze. Piezoelectric fuzes were too precise; even with STC assistance, the success rate of hand-crafting them was less than ten percent. They often failed to detonate upon impact or, worse, detonated in the user's hand before firing.
"Stop, stop, stop!" Andy had to temporarily halt the project. "Cease all testing immediately!"
It seemed that, for now, sticking to guns and grenades was the more reliable path. But this didn't hinder the leap in the shelter's overall strength. The shelter was no longer a refugee camp relying on scavenging; it had become a small warlord power with a complete light weapons production line, chemical supplies, and even heavy armored vehicles.
Andy stood on high, watching it all. The sense of achievement in turning scrap into products made his non-existent heart skip a beat. This was the joy of the "farming" life! As long as there were raw materials and blueprints, nothing was impossible.
"Boss Andy!"
Just then, Bauer ran over hurriedly, his face a mix of excitement and tension. "It's done! It's done!"
"What's done?" Andy asked.
"That!" Bauer pointed toward the medical workshop. "The first batch of true antibiotics, Andy Bio-Chemical No. 1, has been successfully mass-produced!"
Andy's electronic eye flickered. While the shelter could start by selling other goods, the "Andy Bio-Chemical No. 1" was the true hard currency. With this, Andy would have the bargaining chips to negotiate with the entire Underhive, or even the society above.
"Let's go take a look."