Gotta make it run smoother

Tyreis

The Mur Refuge - Luvin River Valley - Site of the Great Mur Canal

The sun was shining high. The valley lay between the Great and Lesser New Karthian Hills. There was a road leading south towards the proposed Onsite HQ for the new and ambitious Project.

There was a group of about 20 people. One of them was holding a big map. They were planning something.

"Okay, the place looks nice. Now, how about the water?"

"It's good, we could even swim there if we wanted to. I can see at least three fish!"

"And the ground?"

"Well, it's a bit soft. I don't think that it could bear the weight of the construction works..."

"Okay, so, what now?"

"We go back to the HQ and report. Then, the High Command will decide."

"Alright, let's go. I'm getting tired."

The group turned and began walking towards their cars, leaving behind the valley and the small stream that joined the Luvin River a few kilometers south.

Many nations had been invited to part take in the new project to build a canal, A Massive Grand Canal, an ambitious project that would forever change the way goods and people moved on the continent.

As the survey group reached their HQs, they were informed that foreign teams were to arrive in a few days. For now, they had to prepare the blueprint and wait ...

Arcy

[A few days later ,of course.]
A few medium-sized magical construct in the form of a bipedal walker are scattered across the site, scanning the land with lasers. Following one unit are a few trucks with geological surveying equipment.
Stopping at a designated spot, the trucks set up camp on a hill. A few sharks come out, leading them is head engineer Maria, a graduate of Korolya University.

"Ok, this is the spot. Set up the recievers so we can get the data from the walkers, on the double!"
Maria would order around her crew, and also sprinkle in her compliments.
"Javol!" "On it!" "Setting up communications tower, 10 kilometer radiowave tower!"
"Okie, then. Any news?"
"Yes!" "The land will be easy to dig using conventional land based open air methods!" "We need large tools!"
"Now i need to see blueprints, or the plan for the canal..."

Tyreis

"Oh jolly yes." Replied Site Director Klein Watcher. "The survey team has prepared a blueprint. Let's have a look at their tent." He says, leading the sharks into a nearby tent, with a board in Insular Latin saying "Survey Team".

"HULLO Dennis !" Kelvin says to a man dressed in an engineer's uniform. "Maria this Dennis, head of the Survey Team and our Cheif Engineer. Dennis this is Maria from Crown Royal, in charge of the Driver's team and Head Engineer for Group Kohl."

Dennis would say hello to Maria as he would produce a map.

"So this is the map of the valley. The Grand Cannal would go from river Jezerna to Yuvin. We are planning to install a Plasma Ordnance to aid in the mining operations riight here." He says, gesturing towards a cross on the map.

Arcy

Maria is sort of confused
"I can see, but why the heavy ordinance for mining? There's omse useful ore nodules in the way, so why not mine it?"
She looks at the map
"Though it cost more, I'm able to call the royal goverment to bring in 5 bucket wheel excavators. Should be able to get it done in... give or take... a few months, if we can get the dirt somewhere else, much better. Maybe for land reclamation."
Maria reviews the plans
"It's totally doable. Does the canal need walls or any sort of ship lift?"

Japuile

River for Every Business

During the energy crisis caused by a sudden shortage of coal and oil, the Grand Duchy of Japuile shifted from a free market to temporary state corporatism - important companies were replaced by state corporations that filled the basic needs of the citizens of the Grand Duchy of Japuile. It was then that institutions like BioFul Corp, Moon-Agro Conglomerated, and Azutetide Royal Logistics saw their short-lived dawn - their twilight was as beautiful as their dawn. Azutetide Royal Logistics - a logistics corporation led by Menet Chaucer - was the only one to survive in the free market environment.

Did the permanent state contracts help? Certainly. Preferential bureaucratic conditions? Warmly welcomed. The reputation that comes with being a company created by the Crown? Proudly worn and utilized. Menet Chaucer may be a bit selfish and blinded by self-assurance, but he is a great businessman - and most importantly, he always fulfills his commitments.

Canal Cargo

"Of course, Maria! Azutetide Royal Logistics will take care of the river transport of your equipment for the canal construction. You can count on us, as we are the best company in the entire Grand Duchy of Japuile," reassured the former student of Korolya University over the phone. At the same time, he signed a contract with the Crown Government representative in his office.

Afterward, he learned that a project for much better floatboats, specifically designed for such transports, was already developed. It just needed to be built - so he sent an order to the state shipyard, which built ships for humanoid sharks. Thanks to this, the order was completed in a reasonable time - the most significant design innovation is the water-jet propulsion system, which is more efficient and provides slightly greater maneuverability. Each unit was equipped with two autonomous artificial intelligence units to monitor and warn of collisions - whether with land or other ships. The ships were appropriately named - "ARL Crown"; "ARL Moon"; "ARL Sun."

In total, four ships were sent - two for excavators, one for spare parts, and the fourth with a supply of biofuel for the three ships, which are usually used for other ships arriving in the waters of the Grand Duchy of Japuile.

Arcy

Japuile
[Help from Japulie]
After chatting on the phone over to the logistics corporation, Maria sends one of her gals to fetch a depth map of the river and send it to the company for transport planning.
Along with that, in the industrial port city of Neu Damascus, 6 medium-sized bucket wheel excavators, BWE 234 to 240, and a entire shipload of spare parts enough to assemble two more are prepared and left to sit at Port 3.

[Meanwhile in the valley]
The shorks manage to bring in a few hundred dozen reinforced panels to hold the water in, and a few regular excavators and trucks. They begin making a ramp for the BWE's to roll down and dig. It's about 500 meters long, and 30 meters deep, at a relatively shallow angle. The panels are put on the ramp and nearby ground to prevent the BWE's from sinking into the soil.
Obviously, they are using the walkers for this task, so they took off the sensitive modules and plopped onto the machines cranes and lights.

"Ok, keep the panels moving. Oh, one of the walkers is taking a short rest."
Maria walks over to the mech, and looks into it's stabilized ball camera
"Hey, is it ok in there?"
"Ya." It said in it's usual mechanical tone, "Replenishing Diesel Generator Unit. . ."
"Oh, i see."
Maria walks to the back of the mech, grabs a nearby fuel hose, and plugs it into the diesel port. Locking mechanism noises.
"Replenishing stores. . . 12%. . ."
"Ok, so we need a few automated resupply stations... But we won't need these walkers soon... or do we?"
Marie gets an idea, but that's for another post.

Tyreis

Dennis would look towards Kelvin in confusion.

"Didn't you tell her ?" Asked Dennis.

"I thought they will know. It's common knowledge. We even sent the details !" Replied Kelvin.

Dennis looked towards Maria and said, "The soil is mainly losse, that is it is mainly sediments and soft. Plasma Ordnances are the best option. They aren't heavy, are flexible in comparison to their military counterparts, and are much safer. For you wouldn't want to risk lives in case of a landslide, right ?"

He took a pause and added, "Yes we do need walls. Concrete slabs to protect the construction from landslides until we reach solid soil."

Arcy

Tyreis

[Soft Soil]

"Wait.. That's what the 'likely spam' email was?"
Maria seems confused
"Well, no worry. I suppose the soft soil is easier to dig. It's also a bit fertile, so why waste it by disintegrating it? You with all your fancy pew pews."
She looks over to Kevin
"Some other places need the dirt too. Though it's more efficient in your eyes, it's not that great of a decision in the long run."

Looking over to the aforementioned ramp, the excavators are just slowly digging out a ramp. The reinforced 10 meter by 10 meter panels glow green when linked together, as the runes etched into them activates the treated Glowstone indicator modules molded into the panel that change the light depending on some circumstances.

Tyreis

"Aah no. It's terrible. A mixture of clay, gravel and red soil. Fruits grown on this soil will have too much iron. Nitrogen fixation will also be terrible." Dennis replies with a saddened voice.

"The debris from the plasma excavation would be more helpful in creating compost soil. Ash yeilds gold you know. And the cannal won't be straight. We want to avoid regions with a higher altitude." Says Kevin.

"And I think Lorzpek would be coming to help us too. Right ?" Kevin asks Dennis.

"I'm not sure." Dennis replies. "Ok."

Arcy

"It's useful, for something. The Crown's just going to take the unwanted soil for free."
"Oh, Lorzpek? I wonder why they are coming anyway?"
Maria wonders, what does Lorzpek want with this river?

Tyreis

"Lorzepk may want to, you know, gain access to the sea or Smthg ?" Said Kevin.

"Not sure about that but now it's time to get to work !" Dennis replied.

Kevin replied affirmatively.

"And we have other uses for the soil. Don't you worry about that. No need to ship it away. Now, the first business is to clear the ground here." Said Kevin pointing towards a location at a high altitude on the map.

"We would make our small facility here. And we have already begun clearing the way for the canal's base. Now, get going everyone."

Arcy

"Heh, Lorzpek. something i've never heard of. Let's go work, then!"
Maria makes her way to the other sharks, to probably tell them about the change of plans.