What's new
  • If you were supposed to get an email from the forum but didn't (e.g. to verify your account for registration), email Wes at [email protected] or talk to me on Discord for help. Sometimes the server hits our limit of emails we can send per hour.
  • Get in our Discord chat! Discord.gg/stararmy
  • 📅 April 2024 is YE 46.3 in the RP.

RP: 188604 Making a Monster (SHIVA test)

A

Air Admiral

188604 desert, before Operation Roach Hotel

Jay gazed at the beast of a weapon before him from a hastily constructed control building, the weapon itself on a huge concrete platform - immobile. A countdown clock showed 15 minutes remaining as he turned to address the assembly of technicians and military personnel before him.

"Welcome, everyone, to the first test of the Strategic Heavy Intelligent Vanguard Artillery cannon. For those of you not familiar with it, the SHIVA is the harbinger of a new era for USO.

"Why send a squadron of bombers to take out the enemy base when you can blast the shit out of them with the push of a button? In fact, this weapon is able to hit any target on this planet in 70 minutes or less. My colleague and I hope that this weapon will bolster this organization to become a force to be reckoned with. In short, this weapon will be the crown jewel of our arsenal."
 
"High energy lasers wo.."

Vier was immidiately cut off by Uso covering her mouth with her own hands, "VIER!" She snapped, "Let him have this! We need localish people who are willing to make stuff. Besides its a big cannon. Big cannons can get put on all kinds of things... Cyrus has been wanting more since we got here."

Vier's grey eyes looked sternly at Uso, waiting for the catgirl to remove her hand before continuing, "You should ask what he is shooting at."

"HEY JAY! WHAT ARE YOU TESTING THIS ON!?" Uso asked, it was a valid question.
 
"Glad you asked. Today, you will see what a 10 ton High Explosive shell does to a ghost town."

He then motioned to a production team, and one of the many large screens showed a collection of small buildings and assorted military equipment.

"Complete, of course, with replica personnel wearing various degrees of armour - from unarmoured up to PA - as well as various vehicles - APCs, mecha, even a few battle tanks I believe..."

The clock now showed 12 minutes remaining.
 
"Cool, Cool..." Uso said, nodding, ".......... so how are we going to see that from here?"

"We should position some additional sensor platforms near the impact sight for additional assessment information." Vier added. The desaturated greys and blacks of Vier's tight fitting pants and simple shirt seemed to fit with how robotically she was standing among the crowd while Uso went to get a chair from one of the nearby tables, moving it towards herself before sitting down and kicking her legs up on the table, leaning back and balancing on two legs in her curve hugging deep blue bodysuit.
 
Yinsar hated speaking publicly. He wasn't a fan of having so many pairs of judgemental eyes staring at him.

And Uso was here! The big boss lady herself! Yinsar wouldn't lie, she intimidated him. He shuffled a bit, staring around the crowd, his eyes briefly settling on Vier before he continued to scan the crowd, muttering nonsensical things to himself. He dearly hoped he wouldn't have to present anything here, though he wasn't optimistic about that.

He was the one who had decided the firing barrel of the S.H.I.V.A. after all.

The Mouse shuffled a bit more, and stared at his feet, hoping to stave off his part of the presentation until it was absolutely necessary. He'd just let Jay handle all the talking, if given the choice.
 
Outside, mechanics engineers and technicians galore scurried about checking and rechecking the many parts and system. This was an important test, no doubt. Not only was this the first full test, but there were also top executives from FSCorp and Ragnarok PMC.

Failure here would mean funding cuts, possibly even shuttering the program. On the flip side, impressing them would mean more funding and manpower, not to mention the reputation boost that would surely come from having participated in such a project.

Jay, feeling confident, addressed Vier directly.

"I think the sheer power of this weapon will be quite enough to satisfy even you, general."

He then turned towards Yinsar.

And now I present my associate, Mr. Yinsar Kine."
 
Yinsar nearly jumped with surprise and perhaps some mild fear. He had always been shy, and never liked talking to a person, much less a crowd of people.

"Oh.. Uh... Err... Well... You see..." Yin stuttered for a bit before he took a deep breath to calm himself. "So... yeah... The S.H.I.V.A is capable of err... many things like... uh..." The Mouse trailed off before turning away from the crowd, his eyes drifting up the form of the massive cannon they were currently presenting. He blinked a few times and realized that it was far easier to talk when not facing the crowd.

"The S.H.I.V.A. has a variety of different rounds capable of accomplishing specialized tasks. Currently there are three different categories of ammunition that the S.H.I.V.A. is capable of firing; High Explosive - which we will be demonstrating shortly, Armor Piercing rounds - designed specifically to penetrate heavy point defense emplacements, and Interplanetary Slugs - capable of striking targets that are on other planets within reasonable distance." The Mouse scratched the back of his head, now lost in thought, more speaking his thoughts that actually attempting to present them.

He proceeded to rattle off complex statistics and mathematical calculations concerning the S.H.I.V.A., dozens of numbers that represented any part of the project that came to mind. Yinsar Kine would go on like this for a full ten minutes or so unless someone were to bring him back to reality.
 
Last edited:
Jay barged onto the stage, awkwardly shoving Yinsar aside and cutting him off mid-sentence

"Thank you for that... enlightening presentation, Mr. Kine. And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for."

Some more patiently than others... he added under his breath.

He then signalled to a technician and the room was bathed in a rich blue light while the windows were tinted slightly (to offset the flash). At the same time, a command was issued to the suited crew on the gun itself, and they all either moved away from it or dropped prone onto the nearest solid ground.

Then, finally, Jay and some of the crowd counted down the remaining seconds on the clock.

10... 9... 8... 7... 6...

Some of the technicians, including Jay, were sweating slightly.

5... 4.... 3..... 2...... 1.......

And then it fired.

First a huge flash, instantly justifying the extra precautions. Then, the whole building rocked as the shockwave passed by. And finally, the flame of a rocket motor firing as the shell shuttled into temporary orbit.
 
"Neet... What'd you shoot it at?" Uso asked, watching through deep black sunglasses that helped block the flash of the shot.

Meanwhile Vier would watch silently. After the weapon fired she'd switch over to monitoring the projectile remotely. She could feel it moving using the long range radar systems both planetside and in orbit. She'd carefully keep any starships out of the orbital path of the weapon... even if there wasn't really that much to track... she did consider it good practice.

"It looks like a success for local development," Vier replied, "Launch has gone correctly."
 
Last edited:
RPG-D RPGfix
Back
Top