The Mechanical Era

Kant sat on the back of the carriage, being protected by knights at the front and back. Next to him sat Minister Alan Fleck. They were going through the city, to a small building that Alan had found for the small firearms workshop. The ride was a little uncomfortable, with the two feelings little vibration as the carriage got dragged along.

Kant looks outside the window, to see a few buildings have brick and cement chimneys puffing out smoke. The buildings themselves were all made out of wooden planks and wooden roofs, with barely any stone present. From the looks of it, many skilled people are coming all over the continent to take advantage of the reforms and technologies Kant had introduced.

"Are you sure the machines are ready?" Kant questions the minister.

"Yes sir, I am positive," Alan Fleck replied with a confident tone.

The carriage soon came to a stop, and the two men got out, with Alan holding a black briefcase. The two men got off at a particularly old big building. It was sold off to the palace as the previous owner had no use for the place. Considering it was relatively close to a road that Lower-East Middletown, where the workers came from, it was the perfect place for the job.

The men entered the building through the front right door. Inside, there were men and machinery found inside, with steam engines connected to the machinery. Their exhausts have been connected to pipes that led to the chimney of the building, where the smoke can puff out safely.

The machines themselves were arranged in a linear pattern, starting from the right end, where Alan and Kant came from, and ending at the left end of the building. There with three horizontal lines each on the right end, while there was a vertical line on the left end, where the muskets were to be assembled using the necessary parts they needed.

On the right wall, there were plenty of materials, such as wood, iron, and coal. On the left end table, wooden boxes filled with flint, nails, and springs could be found. The workers themselves were wearing leather aprons on top of their normal clothes, as well as leather gloves to protect their hands. As soon as the two entered, the room quickly fade into silence as they see their king with his minister, standing in front of them.

"This is it, sir. What do you think?" Alan Fleck asks. Kant slowly walks around the place and examines everything before giving his judgment. He talked with the men, interacted with the machines, and tested the pipe's strength, before he headed back to the minister, to voice his thoughts.

"You have done a great job. Well done, minister Fleck." Kant then turned to the workers, who had gathered around.

"You are here today, to complete an important mission. In just one month from now, or maybe even less, the demonic wave will hit the realm and could cause the death of many around the world, including your own families.

However, there is hope. With the same weapons the south had used to beat back our armies, we will use the same weapon to defeat the demons. To do that, we need to produce enough firearms to arm every man, woman, and child if necessary.

We are here today, to attempt to mass-produce firearms at a cheap rate, in order to allow humanity to properly fight back. Though the work will be exhausting, you will be working for the betterment of mankind, and be compensated fairly for it," he said.

"Now... let's get to work." Kant separated the workers and organized them into their respective areas to do their tasks efficiently. Group 1 was meant to bring coal and any tools over to them, while groups 2, 3, and 4 were in charge of making the specialized parts. Group 5 was the one that had the job of taking the parts and assembling them into a gun.

"The FLM-18, which is the name of the weapon we will be making, consists of three main parts; the barrel, the trigger system, and the stock. The first line is where you all will be making the barrels, while the second line is where the trigger system will be made, with the third allocated for the stock."

Kant then started to instruct how to make these components. He first started out with the barrel. Kant orders group 1 to take a wrought iron blank and heat it up in the furnace, with a few workers using forge bellows. Once the metal was heated up, Kant commands them to activate the rolling mills.

"Feed the iron blank to the rolling mill. It will create the next part that we will need." The workers obeyed.

The heated iron blank was then fed to the rolling mill, which consisted of a series of large, heavy rollers, powered by steam engines. As it passed through the moving rollers, the blank was compressed and shaped into a hot iron barrel blank, which is cylindrical in shape.

To avoid getting their hands burned, the workers used tongs with wooden handles to pass down the blank to the next worker.

"Good job. Now pass it down to the next person, to your right." Not wanting to hold a hot metal rod on their tongs, they happily complied. The one on the right was in charge of operating a special steam-powered lathe, called a boring bar. The boring bar allowed the bore to be much more precise and consistent, just as it was made to be.

"Turn on the boring bar, and use it to create a hole through the center of the cylinder," Kant inquired. The worker did as he was told. Once the bore was drilled into the cylinder, he was told to heat it again, before dumping it into a bath of cool water, allowing the metal to harden and strengthen.

After a good minute of keeping it in the bath, Kant, after putting on some gloves, picked it up with his own hands and examined it closely. Once he was done inspecting it, his face made a little smile.

"So far, so good. Well done," he commented, before throwing the barrel into a wooden box. He walked up to the workers and gave them another order.

"Now, I need you all to do that again, understood?" he asked. The workers nodded. Kant gave them a smile and moved on to the next line. Kant got the workers to grab a sheet of wrought iron, and place it on the table.

"Use your power shears, and cut the necessary parts..." Kant said as he takes out a rolled piece of paper, and presents it to the worker. Once the worker understand, he immediately started cutting up stocks, the trigger, the sear, the tumbler, the mainspring, and the frizzen spring. He would then pass it to the next worker, to his left. Kant reached into his pocket and took out another piece of paper, and presented it to the man.

"Alright. Here is a diagram of the stock components you have received. I need you to mill and drill these components. We need to make sure that the pivot holes, screw holes, and other holes for pins and springs are being placed inside. Got it?"

"Yes, your majesty." The man started his milling machine, also powered by the steam engine, and started making the holes in the spots marked on the diagram. Once it was done, it was handed over to the next person. Just like the barrel, the components were heated and dumped in a liquid bath, before placing them into a wooden box.

Kant handed him the blueprint, which visually explained where everything needed to go. With that, the worker understood and got to work. Once he is done with assembling the lock mechanism, he placed it into another wooden box. With the 1st and 2nd lines complete, Kant moved on to the third line.

The wood was sawn off a log using a steam-powered circular saw. Once it was cut, it was handed over to the next worker, who would use a lathe to shape the stock into its basic form, with the worker holding the hand-held chisels added in more detail.

The stock would then be inletted to accept the other metal components of the gun, such as the trigger guard, the barrel, and the lock mechanism. It was done by hand using chisels and gouges, with a little aid from the steam-powered milling machine. Once it was completed, it was placed in the create.

From there, the final worker was then tasked to assemble the gun. After listening to Kant's instructions, he used the various components that had just been made, as well as the smaller components like nails, springs, and flint, before he fully assembled the gun. Once it was finished, Kant was given the weapon to be inspected.

"Gentlemen, please... stop the engines, and gather around," Kant ordered. The workers immediately came back to him, a little nervous about what he had to say.

"Gentlemen, after inspecting the weapon that has been presented to me, I conclude..." The men all held their hands while taking deep breaths.

"...that you have all done a magnificent job. Well done." There was a wave of smiles across their faces, glad that they were able to please the king. With that, Kant instructed Minister Fleck to open his briefcase. Inside the case, was an hourglass, a clipboard, and a pencil with an eraser on the back end of it.

"Now that you know how to make an FLM-18, I will be requiring you all to start producing one as fast as you possibly can. With this, I can measure the number of rifles we will be able to produce and adjust accordingly. Do I make myself clear?" he asked in a calm tone.

"Yes, your majesty!"

"Good. Now... go get to work. You all have a long day ahead."