Big Treads and Big Guns (Ilsa Voll)

[Noah Corek]

[member="Ilsa Voll"]
Noah sighed as he took a drink from his canteen on his hip as he checked over the 7th Armored Regiment. He was checking over them for a upcoming operation the Omega Pyre was particapating in. Finally after nearly a hour of checking on the multiple tank and IFV crews, he got to one of the new Skocha-class MBT's that Cater had purchased from Tenloss and looked over the crew manifest and saw that the tanks sergeant was missing. "Were the feth is Sergeant Voll?" Noah yelled out, causing a few of the junior NCO's and officers to flinch, while the senior officers stood still, expecting the yelling.

 

[Ilsa Voll]

A pair of boots stuck out from underneath one of the Skocha tanks, neither boot a standard issue model. Attached to the boots were a pair of shapely legs wearing skin tight breaches, again, not the typical standard issue, though they were made of sturdy and worn leather. From underneath the tank, and presumably emanating from whatever the legs were attached to, a medley of clanking, banging, and ratcheting noises could be easily heard. Nearby lay electrical components, mechanical parts, and various tools sprawled out around the legs and close to hand for whoever was working on the tank. Despite the noises from all the tools and mechanical work going on, whoever was under the tank clearly heard the shouting.

"Can zeh shouting and hand me zat spanner!" came an irritable and heavily accented voice from beneath the tank. "I cannot vork vith the shouting and the roll-calling and ewerysing else! And hand me zeh plasma torch vhile you're at it!"

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Ilsa Voll"]
Noah rolled his eyes as he looked down at the pair of unregulation pants and boots that were sticking out from under the tank, Noah then decided to comply with her. Noah grabbed the aforementioned tools and slid them under the tank to the woman. "So, Sergeant, having fun under there?" Noah asked as he kneeled down, snarkiness obvious in his voice as he brushed over a scorch mark on the tanks hull, whether it was hit by a blaster cannon, laser cannon or a rocket, Noah didn't know, he could only speculate.

 

[Ilsa Voll]

"Alvays," came the flat response, carefully toned to imply sarcasm without actually committing to the snarkiness. "I enjoy vorking on my wehicles. I do not like other mechanics tinkering vith zem."

A gloved hand and sleeve reached out and snagged the tools Corek handed her before disappearing once more. The sound of metal clanging increased as the spanner was put to work. Steadily, a series of nuts, bolts, and wiring piled up near the edge of the tank's hull.

"Zis tank is vonderful! Zeh cannon can destroy anysing it targets and it is wery fast. And zeh armor!" Voll exclaimed from under the tank. She sounded less like she was talking about a lump of machinery and armor and more like a men's magazine or a male model. "Zeh armor is nearly impenetrable! And zeh tank is still faster zahn most. It has problems, though. I am fixing zem. Is zehre a large power cell by you? Hand zat to me."

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Ilsa Voll"]
Noah chuckled and then dismissed everyone else who were standing at attention for role call. Noah looked at all the machine guts piling up around him and frowned. "It looks more or less like your gutting it to me. Be careful not to break anything, the Lord Protector would have my ass if any of these were broken on my watch." Noah informed her and then grabbed the power cell she asked for, he looked it over for a few minutes and then handed it to her. "You know you'd get more power output if you used a plasma-based power core, right?" Noah asked as he slid the power core under the tank so she could grab it.

 

[Ilsa Voll]

"Ja, but a power cell vill not explode and damage other internal components vhen damaged," Voll said as she hooked the power cell in place. "And vith zeh right power coupling, I can get similar power levels. It is more parts and somewhat more maintenance, but zeh trade-off is vorth it. Vith the second power cell you gave me and zeh other I have installed already, both hooked up to zeh higher output power coupling, I can push zeh tank's engines more. I am estimating another ten or so kilometers an hour with zihs setup."

At this, the glove and arm emerged once more, snagging electrical components and bolts before disappearing again. The clanging and ratcheting noises increased sparodically as Voll reattached panels and repaired wiring.

"After zihs, I need to open zeh cannon's firing mechanisms and zeh cannon's breach. I have other parts and components to modify or replace zhere. Zihs tank is vunderbar, but some parts can be improved on."

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Ilsa Voll"]
"Well, good thing for you then, cause I know my way around big guns." Noah informed her as he hopped up on top of the tank and down into the hatch of the tank. Once inside, Noah found that it was actually quite roomy compared to how it looked outside. Noah found his target pretty quick, the firing mechanism and breach for the tanks main gun, he was astonished by what he found, the Skocha's main gun was basically a J-1 Proton Cannon stripped of its chassis. This made him smiled, since he had done previous work on this exact cannon, albeit that was when it was on its chassis, but the basics were still the same. "Hey, can you pass me up some tools?" Noah asked as he popped his head up from one of the cupola's. "Good thing is that I've worked on J-1's before."

 

[Ilsa Voll]

The last panel in place, the legs wiggled and shifted further out from under the tank until a rather shapely torso followed suit. A pair of hands and arms gripped the hull of the tank and pulled the rest of Voll out from under the vehicle. Dusting herself off, the blue-skinned Twi'lek made sure she got the worst of the debris off her rear end and dusted off her lekku of any dirt and dust that managed to cling onto them.

She spotted that the man who was shouting before and had been handing her tools had made his way into the tank. Her tank. As he asked for tools, Voll marched her way up to the hatch as best as she could while climbing. The young and pretty Twi'lek glared down at the man in her tank.

"Raus!" she commanded, caring not one bit for rank, station, or who was in charge of who. "Out! I vork on my tank, you go get your own. Help I vill take, but zihs is my Leapold, and I vill vork on it! Besides, zeh breach I must do. Zeh replacement part I made myself. It is better than zeh standard or vaht ve have from zeh quartermaster."

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Ilsa Voll"]
Noah raised an eyebrow at the woman's, who was now revealed to be a blue skinned Twi'lek, yelling spree, in response, Noah shifted himself around in the tank, providing enough room for Ilsa to move around and work, but still allowing him to stay inside the tank and pass her tools and whatever else she need. "I'm staying, I still wanna have a look around in here, but your welcome to come in and do whatever you need to do." Noah informed her, sending a grin up at her through one of the cupolas.

 

[Ilsa Voll]

Voll simply glared at the man for a moment longer before huffing and climbing into the tank. She wasn't happy with someone attempting to tamper with her tank or not fully following her commands, but she wanted the work done and at least he'd moved out of her way. The Twi'lek plopped herself down in the loader's seat and got to work.

She handed Corek the tool bag and snagged a pair of tools out of the thing as she did so. Using the pair, she started disassembling the breach to get to the firing mechanism and electrical systems inside. As she pulled off bolts and lug nuts, she realized she'd need a few more tools.

"Hand me zeh woltmeter," she stated flatly. "Zhere should also be a packet of electrical viring and a silfer conduit. Pull zhose out and set zhem aside. I vill need zhem vhen I remove zeh old conduit controlling zeh firing mechanism."

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Ilsa Voll"]
Noah clicked his tongue as Ilsa asked him, well more like commanded him to give her the voltmeter, or that at least what he thought she said. "Uh, here you go. That's a strange accent you got there Sergeant, never heard it before, especially from someone from Ryloth." Noah said as he handed her voltmeter and then set aside the wiring and conduit for later. "You know the one thing that would make this tank even better? A alusteel hull. It's lighter and more durable that durasteel, so not only would it be able to go faster, but it would be able to take more punishment." Noah informed her as he began to look through a periscope he had found.

 

[Ilsa Voll]

"Zeh Skocha is able to take anysing zeh enemy can field," Voll stated matter-of-factly. "Alusteel may be lighter, but it is roughly equivalent in durability. You vill find most starships that use the metal, use it as an oferlay on top of Durasteel."

As she spoke, she pulled the last part off the breach and snagged the voltmeter. She deftly activated it and checked to see which wires were hot, which weren't, and which were faulty or potentially faulty. Seeing that all that stock wires were fine, the Twi'lek casually cut off the power to the electricals and promptly began to remove them.

"A lighter chassis sounds vunderbar, but a tank needs... veight. It needs mass. If I shoot zhis tank with zeh durasteel hull, it takes it and keeps going. Alusteel? It vould weer off course. Firing on zeh move requires a steady hand and a stead tank. Alusteel is too light to do all of zhat at zeh same time," she declared. As she spoke, Voll began rewiring the electrical components with the newer packet she'd had Corek set out. "Zhis here is zeh firing mechanism for zeh J-1 Cannon. Normally, zeh standard cannon firing time between trigger pull and weapon fire is zero-point-nine-repeating seconds. Zhis new wiring and zeh new conduit vill allow a time delay of only zero-point-four-three seconds. I get zeh round out zeh barrel and on target much faster."

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Ilsa Voll"]
Noah was looking through the periscope as Ilsa spoke. "Yeah, I saw one of the Skocha's take a 90mm cannon shot from a Popper on Corellia during testing." Noah told her as he popped his head out of the cupola and checked on the cupola mounted heavy blaster repeater, making sure that everything was locked down tight and it had no nicks or dings on it that would hinder performance. "Yeah, I was a commando, I'm use to hitting fast and hard before anyone can stop me. But I guess with prolonged tank warfare you wouldn't have to do that." Noah told her as he dropped back down in the tank just as she was explaining what exactly she was doing with the breach and firing mechanism. "You know me and my commando buddies made a rack that we used to load it more easily, but of course, it probably wouldn't fit in this tank." Noah informed her as he took a seat in the drivers seat and wiggled to get comfortable.

 

[Ilsa Voll]

"Tanks are just like zeh infantry," Ilsa said as she opened a conduit and started checking the voltage before promptly ripping it all out when finished. "You move as a squad and you fight like a team. Tanks vith vell trained crews can do zeh same damage commandos can. It is all in zeh tactics, training, and command. Blitzing tanks vith weteran crews and competent leaders vill break battle lines and rampage zeh enemy rear if you aren't prepared."

As she spoke, the Twi'lek continued her work. She rewired the conduit in place and anchored it, making sure the mounting was sturdy and stable. Once done, she began unbolting another panel and checking the voltage of the electrical equipment beneath it. This time, though, instead of ripping them out, she began fiddling with them. Rewiring here or removing a part there. It was far more delicate than the work she'd done so far and was obviously far more complicated.

"Zhis is zeh fire control module of zeh cannon," she explained as she worked, unplugging another wire and grabbing a few more parts and tools from the bag. Mostly heavier gauge wiring and a few other odds and ends. "If you revire it just so and readjust zeh safety mechanisms like zhis, zeh cannon vill fire further. You see, zeh targeter can range out farther zhan zeh gun can shoot, but zeh gun is limited to four kilometers because longer range shots vear down zeh breach and lock, vhich can fail and blow up. Vith better equipment, zeh cannon has no risk of damage and can reach out further. I estimate six or seven kilometers. Eight if zeh tank is stationary so zeh targeter can track and range vith minimal adjustments."

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Ilsa Voll"]
"Yeah, but without the infantry, tank warfare would be next to impossible to perform." Noah countered as he watched Ilsa intently as she disconnected wires gently rather than yanking them out as she had done before. "But won't rewiring and adjusting the safety mechanism make it, well, unsafe? Don't get me wrong, I'm a sniper, accuracy is part of my job and I'm expected to do it well, but safety is also very important as well." It was after this, Noah heard he say that she was fixing it to be more accurate, but safe as well. "Ah, good, these improvements are wonderful, do you think you could do these to Protectorate standard issue tanks?"

 

[Ilsa Voll]

"Nein, it vould be too costly," Voll stated with a shrug. "Skocha tanks are expensive already, to do zhis kind of modification to all of zhem? It vould be too much. Zhis one I can do vith zeh parts I find or make."

She finished up the fire control module and stood up for a moment. Reaching around outside on the turret for a moment, she brought back down a very large, cloth wrapped bundle. Sitting back down with an 'oof', she began unwrapping the heavy item.

"Zhis," she said with a grunt as she hefted the huge lump of metal with both hands. "Zhis is zeh new breach mechanism. It is reinforced and vill take the lessened safety parameters. I also had it polished. It vill close faster, making zeh loader's job much easier and faster."

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Ilsa Voll"]
Noah whistled as he saw Ilsa heft the large thing in her hands and heard he obvious grunt of effort as she lifted it. Noah smiled when she mentioned all the things she did about the mechanism. "Man, I should hire you on as a designer for Hekler'Kok." Noah said as he wiped a small amount of grease off of his elbow. "So, do you need any help?"

 

[Ilsa Voll]

"Yes, zhere is zeh last job I must do on zeh wehicle," Voll stated as she locked the custom breach mechanism in place. "Vell, two actually. One I vill need help vith, zeh other I vill need zeh part from outside."

As she spoke, she fixed the breach in place and connected it. After a few minutes, the lump of metal was attached, firm, and ready for use.

"Zeh tank sights are outside on zeh ground. I forgot zhem when I climbed up here. Also, keep an eye out for any large, delivered cargo crates vith Tenloss logos on zeh side. Zhat is the last item zhat goes on Leopold."

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Ilsa Voll"]
Hearing Voll, Noah hopped outside of the tank and searched, finally he found the tanks sights on the ground and also saw a few of the aforementioned crates. Climbing back up onto the tank was a bit difficult with the tanks sights in one hand as the other hand attempted to climb up the side. But after a minute of struggle Noah was finally capable of hauling the sights and himself up the side of the tank and to the turret, after which he lowered the sights down into the tank. "Hey, I saw some of those crates you ordered. What do I do with them."

 

[Ilsa Voll]

"Take zeh crates and open zhem," said the Twi'lek from within the tank as she took the gun sights from Corek. "Zhere should be sheets of vhat looks like wire fencing. Take zhose out and set zhem aside. Zhet stuff zhat looks like clay, leave zhat zhere for now. I'll be out in a minute."

Voll started installing the gun sights into the internals. She hooked up the wiring after removing the previous sight and bolted the thing in place. It was a quick process, accelerated by her training and knack with armored vehicles. Once done, she poked her head out of the turret and started to climb out.

"Is zeh wiring unspooled?" she asked, eager to apply the newest tank product from Tenloss: the TTAA-C-FK.

[member="Noah Corek"]