Shadow Slave

The vehicle stable of the battleship took up a whole lesser cargo hold. Calling it lesser, of course, did not do the space justice — it was a vast metal hall filled with all types of heavy machinery and bustling human activity.

Feeling the floor sway slightly beneath him, Sunny walked along various cradles, each holding a powerful engine of war, until he reached the one assigned to his cohort. There, he finally saw the Rhino.

Sunny remained motionless for a while, studying the formidable vehicle.

The armored personnel carrier was angular and stocky, with heavy plates of composite alloy armor covering its solid frame. Its design was stout, sleek, and strangely predatory. The whole machine was almost the size of a train car, with six mighty wheels supporting its overbearing weight.

Each massive wheel was as tall as a human and as tough as the alloy hull of the Rhino. A lot of engineering went into making the APC as mobile as possible — not only were the wheels connected to an extremely robust suspension system, they were also attached to a set of short integrated limbs that could be extended from the frame of the vehicle to raise its profile and maneuverability.

The APC also possessed powerful boosters that allowed it to sustain brief bursts of autonomous levitation, hop over short distances, or soften the blow of landing from height. It could even move across water as an amphibious vessel… not that Sunny had any plans to do so.

The feature that gave the Rhino its peculiar name was a massive steel wedge that was raised slightly above its wide snout. This plow could be lowered down to the ground, turning the APC into a semblance of a heavy siege ram. With this sharp catcher lowered, the alloy beast looked like it was capable of tearing through walls, piles of debris, natural obstacles, and the flesh of the Nightmare Creatures with equal ease.

Sunny studied it with a dark sense of glee.

'Well, alright. I have to admit… it does look good.'

He lowered his eyes and looked at Kim and Samara, who were busy inspecting the vehicle. He walked over to his technicians and asked in a neutral tone:

"So, what's the status?"

Samara glanced up from the screen of her communicator, where a diagnostic program was displaying the results of a series of complicated tests. She offered him a small smile.

"Everything seems to be in order, Captain. He's a real beast."

Kim affectionately patted the surface of the APC, which had been painted in a grey camouflage pattern.

"This is a superb machine. Rhino is really fast despite being burdened by heavy armor, highly maneuverable, and has exceedingly durable internals. With the expensive upgrades we procured, he had become nothing short of a beast, indeed."

Sunny blinked a couple of times, coming to terms with the fact that his personnel carrier was, apparently, a "he".

Kim, meanwhile, shifted from foot to foot and said in a tentative tone:

"Uh… would you like to take a look inside, Captain?"

Sunny looked at her nonchalantly and shrugged.

"Sure."

'Of course I want to take a look inside! What kind of question is that?!'

He entered the Rhino through an opened hatch, climbed a set of steep steps, and found himself in the interior of the massive vehicle.

Everything there was spartan, highly utilitarian, and designed with maximum durability in mind. It was clear that he was inside a military machine… and yet, Sunny couldn't help but feel that he was surrounded by pure luxury.

Maybe it was because he knew how much all this seemingly unassuming equipment cost.

The front of the Rhino was dedicated to a slightly raised pilot's cabin, where Luster was currently studying various control panels and switches with an excited expression. There was enough space in there for a couple of additional seats, as well. The reinforced windshield was long and narrow, but offered almost a panoramic view of the surroundings.

Of course, there were plenty of monitors displaying the feeds from various external cameras and sensors, as well.

The middle of the vehicle was dedicated to a modest living space. There was a small lounge area where the crew could rest and spend time together, a compact galley, and a partitioned hygiene compartment. Six sleeping nooks were situated on the opposing walls. Sunny could already imagine the competition for who would get the bottom bunks.

Of course, each of these "bunks" could actually function as a dedicated sleeping pod, should the need arise.

Behind the lounge area was a cargo hold that also served as the armory and integrated a high-tech engineering workstation. The engineering compartment itself was situated below the floor and ran the whole length of the vehicle.

Finally, the very back of the Rhino was taken by the command and communication suite. There was a large holographic table, a powerful console connected to the antennae array of the APC, and a set of monitors that received the same input as the ones in the pilot's cabin.

Most importantly, behind all that was an alcove where Sunny's own bed was situated, complete with a privacy partition and a dedicated storage space.

The mattress was the very best the First Evacuation Army could offer.

He grinned, imagining how pleasant it would be to sleep on that thing.

'This is actually better than what I have back home…'

Such an addition was not simply to please the officers. As an Ascended, Sunny possessed an ability that his soldiers lacked — he did not have to travel to the Dream Realm every time he fell asleep.

What it actually meant was that his soldiers were going to be utterly defenseless while they slept. Even if a swarm of Nightmare Creatures attacked the Rhino, they would not wake up. He was the only one who could guard the cohort no matter what happened.

A staggered sleeping schedule was supposed to help with this problem to a degree, but Sunny had no illusions about how often he would get the opportunity to properly rest. Which meant that the rare occasions when he did get a chance to take a nap had to be as comfortable and efficient as possible.

Sunny walked around the Rhino for a bit, trying to suppress a satisfied grin as he studied the layout. Eventually, he approached his personal alcove and sat down on the soft bed.

There, he glanced at his shadows and smiled.

"Not bad, huh?"

The shadows stared at him silently. A few moments later, the happy one energetically raised both hands, showing him two thumbs.

Sunny nodded.

"Yes… indeed. I like it, too!"