>>5670191You want to tussle her hair, but she's got that helmet on... so after jumping back down from the container you settle for pulling her into your chest and giving her a big hug.
"Yes, thank you very much, SHODAN. That was some excellent shooting."
"Of course, Captain." She says, sounding muffled as her head is still pressed into you.
Cylia sighs as she walks around.
"I'd tell you two to get a room, but..." She mutters.
"You're right, sorry. Let's get back to business." You say, clearing your throat and letting SHODAN go.
The old man turns a shade of light yellow as he crawls out of the container as well.
"Got yourself a girlfriend, eh? Good for you, son. I don't know much about bipeds, but even i can tell she's a looker."
Mmm. Yeah, the girls definitely have their curves accentuated by their suits.
The armor isn't super heavy or anything, so all the right parts really shine through. There are even parts where the skinsuit underneath is visible.
You shake your head to clear it up and move around to the front of the truck.
"Thanks, Grandpa... ah, jeez. You need a name, don't you? I can't just keep calling you a gas-bag."
Stepping up onto the bumper, you look down into the engine bay.
It's not a normal engine. Reminds you mostly of a jet turbine, but it's designed to use some kind of extremely stable extruded solid fuel.
There are a couple of lines which have come loose, which may have been part of the problem. But you doubt it was the main issue, otherwise you would have lost all power immediately.
"You don't have to give me a name, son. Just "grandpa" is fine." He argues.
You find a puddle of white shit dripping out of the fuel nozzle. That can only be the 'solid' fuel, and looking at this design, it seems like it uses the heat of the combustion chamber to vaporize it.
A quick test of the ignition coil shows that it's fine, and several globs of half-melted fuel are pushed out of the tube by the pressure build-up.
"Well, i guess that would be fine normally, but you're not the only old coot i've gotta work with." You argue back.
Looking around a bit more, you're confused as to what the issue was at first, until you look at the grille of the truck.
It took a solid hit, and while it doesn't immediately look damaged, you can see that the air intake has been fused open.
Your best guess is that it wasn't getting too little air, but too much. That cooled down the combustion chamber until the fuel was no longer vaporizing properly, and then started to pour out of the tube as a liquid, directly into the combustion chamber.
After removing the grille, a few solid whacks with the butt of your rifle breaks the laser-welded metal fins loose, and you work them back and forth until they're able to be controlled using the throttle.
"I see... well, if you must. But i have no suggestions for such a thing. I've never even thought about it." Gramps tells you.
