Devastator Artillery Shell (Dev thread)

[Ice]

Here was yet another meeting with his design team. After a failed attempt to simply negotiate for the technology, Ice decided he would just develop it himself. At least then, he wouldn't have to give anything away either. With everyone assembled, he cleared his throat and began. "Ok people. This is what I want. Currently a company exists in Fringe space that has what they call field disruptor technology. Essentially it is a device that allows object the pass through any type of shield. I want multiple versions of this as well. I want a small one that can get a simple flack/artillery shell through a shield, all the way to something like a freighter. If they can do it, we can to!"

He thought about it for a few more seconds and then threw out another request. "Also I want idea on applications for this technology. My initial concept is for an artillery shell to make our small ships that much more effective against a larger opponent. But I am open to just about any idea right now." He then sat back in his chair and waited to see what could be thought up.

 

[Ice]

People began to raise their hands and throw out suggestion. "How about mining operations where shields might be up blocking an unstable area?" Came one persons suggestion. "Or underwater activities too along the same lines. Could have a damaged portion of an underwater facility that needs fixing, but currently has a shield up to hold back the water." Came another suggestion. Ice simply nodded and continued to call on people as they rose there hands. And as more suggestions were given, he continued to write them down.

Most had military applications, like operatives, vehicles, or ships. But others were a bit more inventive. Security guards in a prison. Now they could throw up shield barriers but still be able to move freely throughout the prison. Or even espionage and getting spy drones into enemy territory, possibly even corporate espionage. In short, there were plenty of opportunities to use this technology. It would be a worthwhile investment.

After a good while of information gathering, Ice finally concluded the meeting to get them to work. "Ok people, I think that should do it for now. We obviously have plenty of marketable areas for us to take advantage of. Now let's go actually develop this tech so we can do just that!"

 

[Ice]

And so the team was off. Hours they toiled, days, and even weeks. They kept coming up short on a viable way to make their ideas work. Just when they were getting close to what they thought was an answer, a glaring problem would rear its ugly head. They would soon realize that it would work for one type of shield but not another type. No simulation they ran on their computers would show anything but failed results for one reason or the next.

Truly the team were beginning to wonder how in the galaxy that other company was able to figure this out. After all shields were designed to keep things out no matter what. It was almost as if they were rejecting the reality of physics that held everything together, and substituted it with their own. Periodically Ice would come in though and offer some words of encouragement. They had never failed to achieve a goal they set out for yet, and they wouldn't fail now. The simple words helped to rekindle a desire to push on.

 

[Ice]

On one fateful day, an engineer was finishing the last of his calculations and entering them into his terminal for test simulations. Hitting the "begin test" button, he pulled over a mug of tea that he had been working on. Bringing it up to his nose he took in a deep breath of the wonderful aroma and sighed in a pleased manner. He hadn't really held out much hope anymore for this project, and it was only the simple pleasure like his tea that were getting him through the workday.

Taking a sip from his mug, a green message flashed up on his terminal. "Simulation Successful!" When the man saw the message, he spit his tea all over his monitor and simply stared in disbelief. He quickly recorded the results and cleared the test. Running it again before his excitement got the better of him, he was absolutely ecstatic when the same result came back a second time. He began cheering loudly at his station. A small stack of nearby papers may have been flung into the air as he celebrated.

The rest of the office only stared at him for a while before cautiously approaching to see what he was incoherently yelling and cheering about. ....There was soon papers all over the office....

 

[Ice]

The day had come to test this new theory. They had made a working prototype based off the calculations of the engineer. And now would be the moment of truth. They had decided to start small, and go with trying to put an object the size of an artillery shell through a shield. To that end, they set up a simply door way. A small shield generator was installed next to it and powered by a generator so it shorting out from lack of energy would not be an issue. If anything they wanted to make sure this device could pass through even tough military grade shielding. Especially military grade shielding in fact.

The item, which was attached to a simple rover type droid, wheeled its way on up to the door. You could practically cut the air with a knife from the feeling in the room being so tense. All the engineers took a collective deep breath in anticipation as the droid made first contact with the doorway. It had just started to successfully pass through the doorway when something went horribly wrong.

BOOM!

The droid suddenly exploded into a million pieces as the shield reasserted itself and vaporized the poor droid. And again collectively, all the engineers let out a sigh of disappointment. What could possibly have gone wrong?

 

[Ice]

The engineers slowly made their way back to their work stations to analyse the data. They were at least taking solace in the fact that it was new data they could look over, and perhaps within the failed test, they could glean some new information to work from. Hours they poured over every stitch of data. Nothing seemed to make any sense. They reran the simulation, and every time it came up successful. So if the test was successful, what other factor could make it fail? Especially since it seemed to be working at first.

Another engineer across the office suddenly had an epiphany. She ran a test of her own, and soon jumped to her feet. "I have it! I figured it out!" With all eyes on her and eagerly awaiting her next words, she continued. "It was the power. Our energy cell wasn't stable enough. The moment the droid hit the shield, the sudden increase in power overwhelmed the power source. Essentially the device couldn't get enough juice!" Back to the drawing board, they quickly devised an improve power source that could better regulate the flow of energy required by the device itself.

 

[Ice]

A few days after the first failure, the engineers found themselves back out on the testing floor. With droid number two now outfitted with the new and improved field disruptor device, they set up the same situation as before. The same door, the same shield, the same power generator. They hoped and prayed this time would be the winner. Some of them even crossed their fingers as if that would give them better luck. Such strange customs people have.

As the droid inched its way toward the shield again, the engineers once more took a collective deep breath at the moment of truth. This time however, the droid moved into the door and then through it without a hitch. The sound of their cries of joy and cheering could practically be heard in Ice's office upstairs, they were so loud. Success had finally been achieved. Now to celebrate with a bang!

Having already made a prototype artillery shell, they slipped in a replica of the one that had just been successful into the shell and got it ready to fire. Standing back once more, they reset the scenario for a third time. The order to fire was given and the shell sailed toward the door. Once again, something unexpected happened. The shell exploded just fine. However it never made it through the doorway. It managed to vaporize the door frame, and overload the shield itself. But the shield still held long enough to stop the shell. It shouldn't have been able to stop it at all. And since the shell was obviously live, they didn't have any pieces left to analyse.

 

[Ice]

This problem however was not nearly as difficult to figure out. Simple deduction really. Why does it work with a droid slowly moving through the field but not with an artillery shell moving at breakneck speeds? For most of the engineers, the answer was almost instantly obvious. Inertia. The second the artillery shell fired, all of the electronics in their device shattered up against the back end of the shell.

So they would have to install mini inertial dampeners into the shell just to keep the tech in once piece so the whole weapon can get through the shield. Again a few days went by before they were able to return back to the testing grounds. Except this time they wouldn't be alone. It was time to call in the boss.

 

[Ice]

Finally all their work had culminated down to this. Everyone one present. The people, the target, the artillery piece, and the artillery shell. Everybody looked on eagerly, as the final adjustments were being made. "Ok sir. We believe we have finally managed to pull of this field disruptor technology. And we have several forms for you to choose from. The biggest challenge with scaling this technology up or down seems to simply be power requirements. As long as you can regulate the flow of energy properly and have enough power, we should be able to scale it up even more so than the other company you mentioned before."

"However, I digress. We wish to show you the culmination of our work, and your requested artillery shell in action. With that, I direct you to the testing ground." The engineer turned to allow Ice a good view. "You may fire when ready." Came the voice of the representing engineer. A loud boom signaled the weapon was soon fired. It sailed through the air, effortlessly through the shield and struck the wall behind it, soon vaporizing the entire area!

The engineer turned toward Ice with a big smile. "And that sir, is how we do that!"

 

[Ice]

Ice had an equally large smile on his face as he saw his dream had become a reality. His team really was top notch. He gave them a long round of applause. "Excellent work ladies and gentlmen! Really, you guys are amazing. This is exactly what I was looking for. And I know you all have putt in a lot of long days and weeks. Trying to work your way through this challenge. So I want to show my appreciation, by giving each of you a week paid vacation to relax and unwind. You have all earned it!"

He stayed for a little while longer and mingled with his team, but eventually Ice left to make more plans. His next stop was to see Aurna. Perhaps he could get some help on other projects, while he too helped her.