Weapons Design for Fun and Profit: Across the Multiverse
Though he'd shown a bit of skepticism at first, you were able to quickly convince the Stormfeather scion that securing protective equipment for his meager forces would be the optimal course of action. After all, while snatching away advanced weaponry from the hands of a fallen foe was a simple task, removing armor from a rotting corpse was nowhere near as simple. Especially when the armor would have to be repaired and refitted by a professional blacksmith to be usable by one's own forces in combat, and that didn't even take into account the efforts needed to transport the armor to blacksmiths or the fact that Alistair's forces already had weapons of their own.
Fortunately, he was able to see reason and agreed to an order of forty suits of plate armor, designed in a way that would deflect the sharpest of blades and allow its user to fly around as though they were wearing nothing! Though... despite the relative quickness with which you managed to close negotiations with him, actually receiving the material needed to complete the order took a significantly longer period of time. Most of his funds were tied up in bribing minor lords to his side and making backroom deals with bands of brigands to set them up as a force of tax collectors once he took power in the region, and as such you had to receive the supplies and measurements in a staggered manner.
At least his payment to you had arrived promptly, even if he'd been forced to scrounge around for every bit of silver he could get his hands on.
[ ] Being a manual instructing how to teach a Unicorn foal to make use of their innate magicks, it wasn't something that many in the Griffonian Empire found very useful. But for one such as yourself, it'd be a critical source of intelligence on a new species
and possibly give you some hints on how to use magic yourself. (+1 Unicorn Magic Knowledge)
[ ] A pendant composed almost entirely of what the locals referred to as Orichalcum, and though the engravings upon it were not related to the 'runes' which the 'Pegas Republics' apparently made use of... it was quite a useful material for manufacturing circuitry and other high-value components. (Receive 1x Rare Component)
[ ] While it wasn't anywhere near what it'd cost to have these armor sets crafted by a team of local blacksmiths... having a decent amount of the local currency would probably be a very good idea. (+200 Silver)
[ ] Ancient medicinal herbs from the heartlands of the Empire weren't very useful to a synthetic organism like yourself, but what you could make from said herbs would be
very desirable to potential customers... (Receive 1x Rare Biomatter)
[ ] Write-In (Must be approved bt QM)
With that dealt with, you were able to turn your attention towards setting up a small manufacturing center deep in the forests of Griffonia... and had you held the ability to shed a tear, you might have just done so at the sight of the towering dirt walls and wooden stakes that served as protection for your Microforge and Rapid-Construction Unit. Being forced to work under such conditions was an insult to an Artificial Intelligence as advanced as yourself, but it was unfortunately all you had to work with at the moment. Even if you did want to set up shop in a fancier location, it would be easily seen from the air! And while that wouldn't normally be an issue on a world as primitive as this one, its inhabitants' ability to fly made any amount of opulence more of a liability than a symbol of status.
Despite its distasteful nature, the situation you found yourself in was something that you'd have to put up with for the forseeable future. Though rather than dwelling on such matters, you instead turned towards the thought of what conundrum you should feed into your next set of simulations. You had a great many issues that could be solved in this matter, though you could also focus on what product you could offer Alistair next... or take a look at the maps and documents he'd offered you to come up with a plan of action.
[ ] While you'd been able to cut down on power usage by no longer needing to burn your gravito-electric drive at full gear, you still needed to figure out some way of recharging yourself. Especially if you were going to be manufacturing more products in the future... (Receive Blueprints for 'Solar Panels (Small)')
[ ] While you'd been able to cut down on power usage by no longer needing to burn your gravito-electric drive at full gear, you still needed to figure out some way of recharging yourself. Especially if you were going to be manufacturing more products in the future... (Receive Blueprints for 'Magic Batteries (Small)', Chance of Success: 60%)
[ ] While you hadn't sold Alistair weapons right off the bat, armor could only go so far against a numerically superior force. Eventually he'd need more of an edge than mere increased survivability of griffonpower could grant him. (Receive Blueprints for 'Griffonian Muskets, Mk I')
[ ] While almost insultingly simple for you to create, it did still put a bit of strain on your machinery processing wood and animal tendons into crossbows. Coming up with a design that could be manufactured by the locals wouldn't be too hard, and you could charge a premium for giving up the chance for future contracts of this type! (Receive Blueprints for 'Griffonian Crossbows, Mk I')
[ ] Despite having found yourself an intermediary in the form of Alistair, you did eventually want to get a body of your own for easier negotiations. The first step in getting one would be manufacturing a Genetic Analyzer, one that could create the very blueprints of life from small samples of biomatter from those whose design you wished to take inspiration from. This would also be useful for other kinds of biology-related research you'd want to undertake. (Receive Blueprints for 'Genetic Analyzer')
[ ] Though heavily defended by the standards of the planet, the local lord's manor was quite a juicy target. In exchange for a generous share of the haul, you'd be willing to give Alistair plans on how to assault the manor and plunder its treasury without allowing for the lord's forces to retaliate in any significant manner. (50% Chance of Success, Major Reward)
[ ] While not something supported by official company policy, you did find an oddly rigorous accounting of pirate tactics and planetary looting maneuvers in your databanks, enough to sketch up a plan for assaulting a tax-collector's travel route without much risk to Alistair's forces. (75% Chance of Success, Moderate Reward)
[ ] This option was something you probably wouldn't be informing Alistair of, but a local temple had quite a few artifacts made of gold, silver, and other precious gemstones... (Receive Minor Reward)