DEV: Improvised Designs

[Myra Hadrix]

Myra looked at her daughter as she leaned over the aluminum-topped table, her fists resting against the metal. "Well, what do you think?" She asked, her voice even and unassuming. Resting before her were the initial blueprints of her first military vehicle, the Modernized All-Terrain Tactical-Enforcer. It was an updated version of the old AT-TE walker tanks utilized by the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars, and Myra had sought to bring the design back with a vengeance. It featured improved hull materials, a full assortment of countermeasure systems, modular weapons emplacements, and a shielding system that utilized another previous design of hers: The C-1 Defender Adaptive Shielding Array. Considering the large, 120 mm Mass Driver Cannon on its back, the fact that it was operable in vacuum environments, and that it carried a sensor package stolen from the HAv/r A-9 Floating Fortress, the C1M2A MAT-TE was a tank to replace tanks. It was faster than a tracked vehicle but slower than repulsorcraft. More damaging than your typical tank, but more maneuverable and adaptive. It was better defended and more dangerous the more tactically it was applied in battle.

And Myra wanted to make the damn thing.

[member=Ali Hadrix]

 

[Ali Hadrix]

Ali glanced at her mother, entirely unsure of what to say. She hadn't seen her mother's eyes light up quite like they were now in years. Her repair business was doing fine, but Myra had grown bored of it over the last couple months, and was working on a plan to reinvigorate her own life. Ali glanced down at the vehicle, the...C1M2A MAT-TE?
"It's a mouthful, that's for sure, mother." Ali muttered, running a finger over the flimsiplast blueprint and tracing the lines of the large cannon on the beetle-shaped walker's back. "Huge..." She murmured, then stepped back and looked at the scale model her mother had built out of alusteel plate. It took up a good quarter of the workshop, and was only to the 1/7th scale.
"The thing's fifteen meters long, right?" Ali asked as she walked a circle around the model. Glancing back at her mother, she caught the woman nodding, her bare arms hugging her own chest. The tattoo that marked her mother's left side from neck to hip coiled and swirled around like waves on her bare skin.
Ali shrugged, "It's alright, I suppose. It's a plan at least. Though a lot different from anything you've done before. Sure you haven't forgotten something?" Ali asked, an eyebrow arched. "No loose wires? Maybe forget to account for ammunition?" Ali grinned, but her mother didn't look amused. Criticize as she would, Ali had know idea the design would end up saving her life one day...

Ali turned her gaze back to the model. It stood only a couple inches taller than her, and Ali was fairly short for a Human woman. The vehicle had a beetle-like appearance, and whilst Ali was not unfamiliar with the old AT-TE design, she'd never sat down and stared at one either. "It looks like a bug..." Ali commented, poking at one of the two laser cannons jutting out like bulges from the bow of the vehicle. The MAT-TE was as balanced as any vehicle could be, as far as Ali could tell, though she hadn't had much exposure to such types of weaponry before. What Ali knew was it was large, it was heavy, and it would be expensive.

And her mother wanted to build the damn thing.

[member=Myra Hadrix]

 

[Myra Hadrix]

Myra let her daughter make her jokes, as long as she got them all out of her system quickly enough. She walked over to where Ali stood, looking at the model she'd built based on her own design. "It does look like a bug." She rapped her knuckles against the hull. "But it's supposed to look like the Rothanan Whelmer, or some nonsense. I guess they figured that'd give it a fierce look in battle, though I've never seen a holo of one before." Myra shrugged, "It is what it is. And what it is, is effective."
Ali was giving her a look. "Well, it's going to be." Myra assured her. "Just waiting to find out about the bank loan. Once that's authorized, I'll have the funds to buy the droid fabrication equipment and materials I need to build a working model. I'll also need to rent out some construction droids to pan out a good firing range once I get all the test munitions in from Keldabe." Myra rested her hands on her hips and looked over at her daughter, feeling as proud of herself as she was of Ali. The young woman was full grown, and had been for years, but whatever work she had going on with the Republic really seemed to be panning out for her. "Yep...this is all going to pan out...I can feel it."

[member=Ali Hadrix]

 

[Ali Hadrix]

Ali smiled, appreciating her mother's optimism. For a while, it didn't seem as if her repair business was going to kick off, but it did, even more so after Myra started doing custom work. Where she had begun with a mid-sized warehouse and workshop that could hold no more than a YT-series freighter, now Myra had 15 employees and a 600 meter long landing pad for larger contracts. Ali returned to the table where the blueprints lay, then looked them over a second time. The armor strength was superb, and the angled facing of the plates would do a great job of deflecting impacting rounds, particularly physical ones. The countermeasures were designed in layers, and could each support one another in some way during reloading times. The weaponry packed into the vehicle was amazing, and the ammunition storage cleverly designed to add ease of influence to the old models. "You know, for an eight-hundred year old design...this isn't half bad." Ali pursed her lips. "Have you thought about who you'd sell it to?"

[member=Myra Hadrix]

 

[Myra Hadrix]

Myra shrugged, "I've talked to people." She didn't much want to say anything more, considering the type of people she'd talked to. But when Ali narrowed her eyes suspiciously, Myra felt as if she didn't have a choice. Myra and her daughter hadn't spent Ali's entire life being honest with each other for no reason.
"I've been in talks...with the Sith. And a couple others...contacts from my old days." Before Ali could react, Myra threw her hands up defensively. "They've got crap equipment! And I'm just poking around right now. I haven't made any absurd decisions, don't worry." Myra lifted herself up onto the table and sat there, letting her feet dangle. She brushed a lock of bright red hair out of her eyes. "Look, Ali, I understand you're a part of the Republic, but this is Mandalorian space, and I've got to do what's best for the business. If that means selling to the Sith...then so be it. Unless, the Republic would like to make an offer for the design and a contract for services that I can agree with."

[member=Ali Hadrix]

 

[Gir Quee]

Champion-class Star Destroyer Obi-Wan Kenobi, in orbit via Onderon

"More paperwork, sir?" asked the clipped automated voice of C-5PO

Admiral Quee glanced up from his desk, a utilitarian model made out of folded sheet metal, "Hm? Yes. It's the army this time. They want a design competition for a new type of tank."

"That's exciting."

"It's really not," sighed the man, leaning back, "you have the competition, a variety of companies make designs, and invariably someone wins in the end. But the winner is not always the best design. Sometimes there's politics involved, and shady backdoor deals made, and our troops don't get the product they deserve. I'd like to completely grab something that's already on the market. Get it faster and cheaper,but that's not going half as well as I would like."

"Surely there are many tank designs out there for you to choose from."

"Yes, but not many of them have the mobility the army is looking for this time around. I've heard faint whispers of several designs that haven't been released yet from some people that I know...but nothing solid."

"Rumors sir?" gasped the droid, abruptly rocking his torso back.

"Sometimes there's a grain of truth in them," said the blonde man, clicking a button on his datapad, "but it requires some searching to find."

Minutes later, the officer's inquiry letter was routed through the star destroyer's subspace transceiver and discretely bounced through a network of satellites to Mandalorian space, and hopefully to [member="Myra Hadrix"].

[member="Ali Hadrix"]

 

[Ali Hadrix]

Ali wasn't sure why her mother's talks with the Sith had angered her so much, but she found herself clench-fisted and burning at the cheeks. Maybe it was the fact that Ali was a Republic spy, and was thus often subject to the equipment fielded by the Sith. She wouldn't want to end up staring down the barrel of her own mother's design any more than Myra would want her own equipment to result in the death of her daughter. At the end of the day, Ali's loyalties weren't to the Republic, they were to the people of the Galaxy, and that meant...what did that mean? Ali wasn't sure. She understood the limitations of the Republic government, which is one reason she ended up working in the Intelligence field: fewer limitations. Even so, GRIM operated on a certain premise that someone was responsible and accountable, for the measures Ali and her fellow operatives took to protect citizens of not only the Republic, but the Galaxy as a whole.

"Don't sell to the Sith, mother," Ali suggested, resting her hand on Myra's shoulder. "Sell to me."

Before her mother could speak in response, adding words to the confused look on her face, Myra Hadrix's comlink beeped. She drew it and turned it on. "Myra Hadrix, Improvised Designs, what can I do ya for?"

[member=Gir Quee]

 

[Gir Quee]

"Oh...this thing is on...I am C-5PO, human-cyborg relations-"

"Thank you C-5PO, here, let me take that from you," cut in Admiral Quee,

The admiral spared a glance at C-5PO. While the droid was exceptionally good at working with various computer protocols and other droids to get a message through to a woman light-years away, he didn't trust him to handle any negotiations with someone he didn't know. Still, he'd have to reconsider not wiping the droid's memory after this. That experience might be useful later on....He quickly turned his focus to a more important person: [member="Myra Hadrix"].


"Hello Miss Hadrix, this is Admiral Quee of the Republic Defense Forces. I've heard rumors that your company is working on a new vehicle design. From what I've heard of it, and I do not know if it is true or not, I would like to purchase several units for field evaluation. Depending on its performance, it could lead to a contract for larger order of vehicles. Is this a possibility that you would be interested in pursuing? If so, I'd like us to both lay out all our cards on the table, just to make sure we can take care of any potential problems right away..."

[member="Ali Hadrix"]

 

[Myra Hadrix]

Myra activated the commlink's speaker and set it down on the table between herself and her daughter. Ali nodded as the man declared himself, confirming his identity. "I have that same personal commlink frequency registered on my device, it's him." Myra nodded in return and heard the man out. She leaned forward to respond when Ali put a hand on her shoulder and covered the commlink's microphone.
"Just a couple things, mother," Ali muttered. "This is Gir Quee as in Republic military Supreme Commander Gir Quee. You'll have to be careful in your negotiations, he's smart. Also, he heard about the design through me, so don't worry where he got his intel." Myra frowned, "What did you tell him about the design?" Ali smirked, "I told him it was a tank to end all tanks."
Myra rolled her eyes and pried her daughter's hand away from the commlink. "It's Mrs, and I'm not looking to sell...yet. I'm vetting a few different buyers at the moment, but I could arrange a demonstration of the vehicle's capabilities here on Mandalore, if you wish. Both the Republic and the Sith would be more than welcome to observe, in person."

[member=Gir Quee]​

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir leaned back in his chair, idly gazing at C-5PO's golden torso as he contemplated [member="Myra Hadrix"]'s words. Pitting me against other buyers...but then again, if she is anything like her daughter, I shouldn't be surprised...but Mandalore isn't too far from Lantillies, at least in terms of the greater galaxy...I could make that trip...Gir briefly rubbed his eyes, blinked, and brought the comlink once more in front of his mouth.

"That sounds promising," mused the admiral, "are there any stipulations about who can attend? What exactly will this demonstration entail?"

I don't like the idea being around Sith at all. Sure, some of them have been able to run a brilliant PR campaign for their nation, but their reality always manages to seep through any facade they could concoct. He never knew when one of them might snap. If he was to attend publically, he would likely have to request a Jedi or two to accompany him, just to be on the safe side. Better start writing that request memo once I'm done with her...

 

[Myra Hadrix]

"Stipulations?" Myra clarified, "None. Just no fighting. And no lightsabers." She said, only half-joking. The conflict raging between the One Sith and the Republic enveloped nearly half the Galaxy, and the entire Core. Myra didn't want potential customers literally fighting over her merchandise, though a part of her worried about the Sith's ability to remain an honest competitor. It would be good to have Republic representatives present.
"I have scheduled the demonstration for ten days from now. That should be plenty of time for any and all potential buyers to send representatives here to Mandalore. We'll meet at the Keldabe spaceport and travel to the testing area from there." Myra signed off after leaving Mr. Quee with the information he needed. She looked at Ali and crossed her arms over her chest. "Looks like we've got some work to do. And only ten days to do it."

​

[member=Gir Quee]​

 

[Myra Hadrix]

Several days into the refitting job, Myra and Ali ran into minor problems. She didn't have enough of the wiring medium necessary to re-circuit the entire control console, and the old circuitry was made of more resistant metals, which would slow the vehicle computer's processing speed. "Think anyone's going to notice the difference between a tenth of a second?" Myra asked as she stood inside the vehicle's cockpit. The front blast armor was sealed in the new model, rather than being modular. The pilot entered and exited through the rear hold or a hatch built into the vehicle's topside. This allowed for the use of thicker armor in the front, which Myra felt the vehicle had needed. Likewise its skirt armor was rather heavy, and the leg joints were all reinforced and plated.
"I dunno," Ali replied with a shrug. "Force users might, which is why I suggested we ban them from joining the observation parties. They're far too observant for their own good, a tenth of a second really doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things." Myra glanced over at her daughter with a frown. "Good point, if you're cutting it that close you've fecked up already." Ali said, "Just finish it with what we've got for now, and make sure to include the newer circuitry when it arrives. Should be here next week, right?" Myra nodded in agreement, "Hopefully they don't mind."

[member=Gir Quee]​

[member=Ali Hadrix]​

 

[Myra Hadrix]

The day of the demonstration had come, and a handful of representatives from a variety of government organizations throughout the Galaxy stood together on the dusty observation platform at the back end of the range. Myra glanced back at them from where she stood by the range control consoles, looking them each over momentarily before turning to look down at her daughter, who was completing final checks on the vehicle on the firing line below.. There were two representatives from the Sith and the Galactic Republic, though neither were Force Users from what Myra could tell. Others included a Quarren representative from the Hutt Cartel, and several humans from Rendili Star Drive. Kuat Drive Yards also sent a representative, a Bith. Myra picked up the commlink and flicked it on.
"You ready yet scout?" Myra asked. She watched as Ali pulled her buy'ce over her head, then heard her voice over the commlink. "Final checks complete, I'm about to hop in with the crew." Myra thanked her and turned the commlink off, then patted Atam Jensen on the shoulder. "Go ahead Jenny, you're on comms now."
Jensen nodded and signaled the flagger to raise the red range fan beside the control booth. It went up on a tall pole, visible from miles around. A loudspeaker screamed with static and feedback before Jensen's voice was heard. "This range is now live. No persons are permitted to move forward of the marked control booth until the vehicle's weapon systems have been cleared, and authorization given by range control." Jensen cut the feed and looked up at Myra. "Alright, just waiting on you."
Myra nodded and spoke to Ali via the console communicator. "Kay, babydoll, you comfy yet?" Ali's response was casual and absentminded. "Yeah, just finishing up the last start up procedures. Firing engines now." Moments later a dull whine was heard before the MAT-TE's engines roared to life and began quieting down.

[member=Ali Hadrix]​

 

[Ali Hadrix]

Ali cracked her neck and wrapped her hands around the controls of the vehicle. Before her sat a canted control console with a series of buttons, flip-switches, knobs and lights. The movement and power controls rested at the center. The left stick controlled sideward movement and had a twist control function built into the handle that would allow Ali to bank the vehicle left-or-right. A pair of buttons on the underbelly of the handgrip controlled the primary and secondary passive countermeasure systems, and were linked to the heads-up-display that covered the bottom half of the transparasteel viewport before her. The right stick controlled turning side-to-side and banking front to back. The throttle was a rolling switch that rested where her thumb sat naturally on the stick. She was amazed by the amount of control she was afforded just from the sticks themselves.
She practised for a moment, banking the vehicle from side to side and front to back, tilting and tipping it. The right stick had a similar twist control built into the handle that allowed her to lift and lower the vehicle on its legs, which would be great for ducking down while on the move to avoid low ceilings or lifting up to dodge objects on the ground. If she turned her wrists gently the vehicle approached these maneuvers evenly, but if she gave a quick twist, the hydraulics thrust the vehicle up or down swiftly.
"I could dodge missiles and rockets this way," Ali realised, whistling gleefully into the mic. Her mother sounded on the other end. "Having fun?" Ali grinned, "You bet your shebs, buir." Ali replied, then cut on the vehicle's remaining systems.

The controls and switches were all helpfully labeled, which was great considering Ali hadn't spent much time reading the vehicle manual. "Alright babydoll, take her forward and navigate the terrain ahead of you. It's set up in such a way as to test the vehicle's most extreme capabilities, so push it hard. After this run, we'll reset you and you can move to the cannon." Ali replied in the affirmative to her mother and began rolling the throttle forward. The vehicle lurched somewhat as she increased the drive power, then reached a decent clip at 20 km/h. Before her were sets of boulders and canted slopes set up to test the vehicle's versatility. A climbing wall had likewise been erected of stone some hundred meters ahead. Ali took the vehicle forward and crossed the boulders swiftly. By combining the sticks, Ali was able to lift the MAT-TE's forward legs and grasp the rock before her, then propel the vehicle forward with the main driving legs and stabilize her maneuver with the rear set. To climb forty meters of boulders only took Ali a half minute, which was astoundingly fast for a vehicle of this type in such terrain. As she clambered down from the last set, rocking gently in her harness, Ali walked right over the canted slopes and approached the rock wall. It was fifty meters tall, and built at a straight 90º angle. Ali paused long enough to consider her maneuver, then located the vehicle's Angled Climbing Function switch and activated it. Coils in the vehicle's feet began to power up and a moment later the console switch switched from red to green in colour. Ali lifted the front legs again and pressed them against the rock wall. The coils drew the feet against it and they stuck, as did the main drive legs and the rear ones as well, once Ali had pressed the vehicle far enough forward. She climbed straight upward, her back pressed against her seat tightly.
The vehicle moved much slower at this rate, of course, but within a minute or two, Ali was reaching the peak and pulling the vehicle forward over it. She mounted the slope and felt her weight drop back to the bottom of her seat as the MAT-TE rocked forward and sat still. Before her the back of the wall sloped steadily, but steeply downward. She kept the Angled Climbing System on and headed downward, scaling the 45º slope swiftly. Ali smirked as she brought the vehicle to a halt some time later back near the front of the range. It had performed beyond her expectations, though she hadn't been sure what those expectations should have been before sitting down in the pilot's seat.

 

[Ali Hadrix]

Roughly an hour later, Ali found herself back at the forefront of the same range, which had been altered to accommodate a weapon capabilities test. The closest targets were one-hundred meters away, the furthest were nearly seven kilometers, which neared the weapon's maximum range. Ali was sitting in the gunner's seat, her eyes glued to the firing display before her. Were she to put her helmet on, the display would match with her buy'ce's transceiver and adapt the data to her HUD screen. She held the firing controls loosely, waiting for her first targets to appear. The control panel was every bit as comfortable and adaptable as the pilot's console, for which Ali was glad. The gun utilized a dual stick approach that functioned on prorated movement senses, which meant that they adapted to the urgency of the gunner's motions. A sharp turn of the sticks manifested in a sharp turn of the gun turret. Gentle movements were given more specific control, which greatly enhanced the gun's ability to focus in on particular targets and target areas. The sticks also contained every button and switch Ali would need to command the turret's weaponry. Each ammunition type was given its own trigger; when a specific ammunition trigger was squeezed, the turret automatically loaded that ammunition type onto the rail system.

Ali's first target popped up, the black silhouette of an old T-51B Tank. Ali selected high mag, zooming in swiftly to the preset magnification level (which was adaptive and could be changed by the gunner at any time), and focused in on the front armor panel of the tank's right tread cover. "Damn, that's specific," Ali muttered to herself as she traced the edges of the target's chipped paint with her eyes. "Target identified, Heavy Tank! Zee-Ro Degrees, One-Thousand-Fifty Meters. Ready Aye-Pee, on the way!" Ali squeezed the "AP" trigger and loosed a single armor piercing fin-stabilized discarded-sabot round. The gun fired and shook the entire vehicle, which compensated for the recoil using an adaptive hydraulic suspension system. The target vanished in a cloud as the sabot round struck its target, collapsing in on itself and cutting through the armor panel, tank tread, and gears and wheels hidden behind it. Sparks flashed and Ali heard the BOOM! a split second later. By the time the smoke cleared, Ali could see the T-51B was listing to its injured side, all the forward gears on that side had been destroyed, their pieces laying about in a fifteen meter radius around the vehicle. Smoke boiled from the tank's side, black and thick as flames licked the air. Ali grinned and hopped back on the commlink. "Target destroyed. Now give me the seven klick target."

[member=Myra Hadrix]​

 

[Onrai]

A button would find itself pressed by Vitor Imperieuse, the new head of Emeritus Industries after Vanessa Kuhn's retirement. A smile crossed his face as he pressed the button to form the seven kilometer-ranged target. This new weapon was proving to be more than exceptional, capable of easily devastating anything that could be brought against it.

Hopefully, it would keep up the good performance.

[member="Ali Hadrix"]

 

[Myra Hadrix]

Myra glanced over at the range operations table as Vitor, representing Emeritus Industries, tapped the control panel and brought up the distance target. Emeritus had joined in on the testing aspect of the project, providing Myra with the funds they'd needed to set up the range. "Alright, target's up, babydoll." Myra told Ali over the commlink. From within, she heard her daughter shuffle about in the gunner's seat, and watched the barrel of the MAT-TE's main mass drive cannon began to shift upward. "Target identified, seven-point-five kilometers, locked." Ali replied. Myra checked the target distance with her macros. "Copy that, fire at will."

 

[Ali Hadrix]

"Copy that, fire at will." Ali heard the order and gently squeezed the triggers on the control stick. "On the way!" She called just before the trigger cycled and the mass driver released a pulse of energy that would loose the round from its housing within the chamber. The vehicle shook as the weapon fired, and after a brief moment during which Ali's breath was hitched, the target disappeared in a plume of dust and smoke. The resulting BOOM sounded just a split second later, muffled by distance. The target itself, which had been the hull frame of a junked speeder car, was left as a twisted hulk with hundreds of holes blown through its far side where the SABOT round had penetrated it and dispersed as it became super-heated. Ali grinned, "Perfect," she declared as the weapon cycled the next round. "Give me the plate target, I want to see what this thing does to full-thickness armor."

[member=Vitor Imperieuse]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Ali Hadrix"]

A thick plate, over two hundred millimeters of solid durasteel, was placed before the new weapon, courtesy of Vitor's pressing the button. Though the prior tests had proven its power, this one would determine precisely how effective the weapon was at penetrating through the standard armor of vehicles. If it could... well, such would be quite the beneficial weapon.

Perhaps as beneficial as what he was working on.

 

[Ali Hadrix]

Ali watched the target pop up, though it didn't so much pop as it did lean upward from the ground, seven kilometers away. "Target identified," Ali murmured as she brought her sights down onto the metal plate. "Seven-zero-five-zero meters...AP selected..." Ali relaxed her grip on the left stick for a moment, then rested her finger on the AP trigger. "Fire when ready," her mother's voice returned, and Ali squeezed. "On the way."
The mass driver pulsed once more and loosed the round, which struck the target just above the midline. As the dense depleted-Chanlon and durasteel penetrating rod blew through the armor plate it scored the edges of the hole it made before disintegrating into a cloud of superheated pellets. Dust and cloud burst into life behind and around the target, settling after several long, windless moments.
"Target destroyed," Ali quipped non-chalantly as she increased the magnification of her optic. "Wooo, that's a tiny hole." Ali commented as she stepped up out of her seat and opened the dorsal hatch. She looked back at the range line, catching sight of her mother and flashing her a thumb up.
"She's good!" Ali called over the commlink. One of the range operators reviewing the firing data being transmitted from sensors and holocams at the target sight nodded. "The sheathless SABOT round did its job. Almost seven times the velocity of a traditional sheathed penetrator." Ali watched her mother grinning and climbed out of the vehicle herself, leaving the engine to run for the time being. She took off her helmet and clipped it to her belt, then climbed down from the side plate and walked over to the range line, where her mother was waiting.

[member=Vitor Imperieuse]​