Frozen Flame of Dawn

"Call it whatever you want," Layla said dryly. "It would be slow, yes, and it can't go over mountains or rough terrain, but on flat ground, it'll work. And if we make it look and sound like a pile of silent metal... beasts won't even know there's anyone inside."

Aiden tilted his head, thoughtful. "They'd think it's scrap."

"Exactly," Layla replied. "If we can create one, maybe two, as a prototype and get it functional—just enough for urgent deployments. Then maybe not perfect, but good enough to let people rest without being attacked in their sleep."

"And how long would that take?" Amira asked.

Layla didn't answer right away but thought for a while in her usual calm expression.

"Three, maybe four days," she said. "If we start tonight, and double the team working in shifts—day and night—we can get the first basic version ready. It won't have any luxuries, and it won't be pretty. But it'll work."

The room went quiet again, thoughtful.

Ezzie broke the silence first, stretching her legs out beneath the table with a tired groan. "It's still better than nothing," she said, rolling her shoulders. "Most of the missions we've got lined up next are over flatland anyway and we're not exactly cliff-scaling anytime soon."

Tommy leaning a little back in his chair said. "If we manage to build four of these rolling bunkers, we could even line them up to build a makeshift barricade wall. Hell, we could even use them like mobile barricades and move with them while shielding the smaller transport in the middle."

He paused and looked back at Layla. "You said they'd be heavy and strong, right? So it might be more useful than just a sleep pod on wheels."

Layla nodded. "They'll be strong enough and probably tougher than half our current defenses."

Layla gave a short nod. "Yeah. They'll be strong enough and heavy—very with reinforced alloy, layered steel, shock-resistant framework making it so they'll hold up against anything we've seen from standard mutated beasts so far."

She paused, her tone darkening just slightly.

"But I won't pretend they'll hold up against boss-class mutated beast. The ones with small intelligence, command capability and enhanced elemental traits? No bunker's going to keep them out forever. But if those show up—" she looked around the table, "—you take them down first. After that, the regulars won't be a problem."

Everyone nodded silently, the weight of her words not lost on them.

Bella, who had been listening and quietly observing with her arms crossed, finally leaned in. "That's a good start. But if we're thinking of creating makeshift protection on-site... why not go even simpler?"

She picked up a scrap of paper and a pen, sketching quick lines as she spoke.

She stepped forward, fingers brushing the edge of the map. "We could design compact, retractable steel plates something about ten feet tall, reinforced and stackable. While making them compact enough to be loaded and transported by those construction-grade supply trucks we've salvaged, and when the team need to camp out, they just unload and set up a perimeter quickly with these. Not perfect—but a hell of a lot safer than open exposure."

Aiden studied the rough sketch she slid across the table and nodded slowly. "That could work... and doable but there's catch." His voice was quiet, thoughtful. "If we want real protection, the steel needs to be thick—and thick means heavy, so setting it up and packing it down every time? Not a easy job for few people. We'll need strength, time, and coordination. And in high-alert situations, that's a problem."

He glanced at Layla. "I still lean toward the RV plan. Less setup, more protection. It moves with us and carries personnel. The barrier steel plates are good for stationary camps, but not for teams always on the move."

Layla nodded slowly, as she raised a brow. "Agreed. It aligns better with the time and resources we've got. Not perfect, but efficient."

She fell quiet for a moment, eyes distant, almost as if she were remembering something. Then her voice shifted,

"There is something else," she said slowly.

Every head at the table turned her way.

"A chance..." she said softly, just loud enough to draw their attention again. "As there might be something else—something already exist. Something that, if we can get our hands on it... we won't have to start from scratch at all."

"I know you all must be aware," she began, glancing around the room, "that before the surge, the Federation was heavily investing in high-end weapon programs—advanced tech powered by energy. Things like plasma rifles and energy shields."

Elias leaned forward with a faint smile, resting his arms on the table in that casual, "I-know-some-things" kind of way. "Yeah, they were pouring money into it," he said, sounding almost if he is sure. "But they didn't actually succeed, I mean, I don't remember hearing anything about final products before things went sideways."

Layla gave a small nod, lips pulling into a faint, knowing smile. "You're right. They never finalized anything for public or wide-scale use. But they did succeed—partially. They managed to build several prototype variants. Most weren't practical. Too heavy, too power-hungry, too... experimental."

Her fingers drummed lightly now, eyes flicking to Amira, who sat across the table, watching quietly, knowingly, but choosing not to interrupt.

"But in today's world," Layla continued, "even those flawed prototypes could be game-changers. More than anything we have now."

That caught more attention.

The room quieted again as the group leaned in, curiosity sharpening.

Layla's tone grew more measured. "I was part of one of the intermediate development teams—specifically working to reduce the size and energy draw of the plasma rifle variant. The original model was massive—seven feet long, heavy as hell, and required its own power pack which can run a factory. No way anyone could use that in the field."

Tommy raised a brow. "That's not a rifle. That's a damn turret."

"Exactly," Layla said, giving him a dry look. "Which is why I and some others were brought in—to make it smaller, more efficient. But we were never able to finished it, though, not before the surge."

She paused, then added, "But while I was there, I heard something... saw news of another development they were working on which was related to energy power force field or you say energy shield—a functioning energy barrier that could wrap around a full prototype setup."

She looked around slowly, her voice lower now. "The most intriguing part? That they developed a model that could—if fueled properly—create a protective field which was supposedly strong enough to cover a full square kilometer area."

The room went silent again. The type of silence that fell when speculation began to feel a little too real.

"That's not much," Rina said slowly, "but it's enough to cover a village... or a section of the wall."

Layla nodded. "It's not much yet, but if the shield could be stabilized and enhanced for large energy source, then the range could grow."

Then her eyes landed on Aiden.

"You were a high-ranking officer and also Captain of the Dragon Unit know as number one special forces and as how the Federation worked. If they built anything advanced—you would've been the one to test it."

Aiden had been sitting silently, his fingers steepled under his chin, watching everything. Now he exhaled slowly, his voice low.

"You're not wrong," he said. "We were always the first to test any weapons developed. And yeah... I saw few of those prototypes."

He shifted, sitting up straighter.

"I tested one of the early plasma rifle and the energy shield variants," he added. "The plasma rifle was bulky and it took six people just to set it up. Its attack was strong and damage like few grenade concentrated a small area. As for the shield it held up against many of those grenade even rocket launcher."

He paused foe moment and continued, "Even when I first awakened and wasn't nearly as strong as I am now and was still adjusting to my awakening, they brought me again to test whether I can use this new energy within me as a energy replacement but it didn't work to adjustment and compatibility issue of the energy convertor machine but they still have me try the energy shield with my new abilities to check whether it works or not so I tried everything I had to crack that barrier. Physical attacks, fire-based elemental strikes and even combined bursts."

Tommy raised an eyebrow. "And?"

Aiden gave a dry smile. "Didn't leave a scratch. Not even a flicker."

That got a few hushed murmurs around the table.

"I hit it for two hours straight," he went on. "And after, I learned that the energy needed to keep that shield active—just for those two hours—was the same as what a mid-sized town used in a whole day. All of that for two hours of protection."

Ezzie gave a low whistle. "That's... insane."