More Creative Blueprints For Death [AT-AT development thread]

[Ludolf Vaas]

The testing location on Verkuyl was out of the way enough; a lone field in one of the most remote locations of the planet, far away from the bacta production that normally took place here. It was on this golden field of swaying reeds, with crisp chalky mountains dotting the horizon, that the First Order would test its latest weapon.

Field Marshal Vaas had long been petitioning the rest of High Command to satisfy the need for a new heavy walker for the First Order. Vaas' goal for this project was to have it be the heaviest piece of mechanized artillery that the First Order would bring to the ground in a battle. There had already been many precedents set before for Ludolf to work off of, namely the Bahamut-class AT-AT walker that had been developed some years prior by the Imperium. The Bahamut-class was a hulking monstrosity of a weapon, capable of unleashing pure carnage on the enemy, and it was very well-equipped with a variety of offensive and defensive weaponry. As such, it was serving as the basis for the First Order's prototype here today. However, the Bahamut had several weaknesses, not least its exorbitant cost. It was vulnerable to aerial assaults as well, and there were several things Ludolf considered to be a slight design flaw that he felt could be improved upon. That would be the First Order's goal here today; to improve upon the Bahamut to make a viable heavy walker for the First Order.

Ludolf waited for his subordinate, [member="Asharad Graush"], to arrive on the testing site. The prototype walker was barely visible behind the veritable legion of mechanics and engineers making last-minute adjustments, but the first thing that Graush would likely notice was that unlike the six-legged Bahamut, the First Order's prototype sported only four legs, splayed out in an almost spider-like fashion.

Vaas sipped on a cup of stimcaf away from the cacophony of engineers on the prototype. He would wait for Graush to arrive before discussing the rest of his ideas.

 

[Asharad Graush]

Images.

Images is what they had of the Bahamut, he figured. The shuttle that carried him down to the planet was the Upsilon-class Command Shuttle. A lovely ship whose wings protected the cockpit from the sides. Clearing his throat, he focused himself for the meeting he had before him. Some modifications were going to be made, but mainly he figured that it would be his company that would be taking part in creating the final product of the new design.

A prototype, he thought he saw when his shuttle passed by overhead and headed for the landing pad.

Golden eyes. Sith eyes. No corruption was spread about his features. What Sith Pureblood had ever been corrupted by the power of the Dark Side? A blessing, it would've been a shame if he had been rendered ugly in his relatively young age.

The ship landed.

He walked down the ramp, straightening out his Officer's Cloak as he walked the rest of the distance to the small makeshift bunker, or tent.

Once he stepped on site, he halted and stood at attention.

"High Colonel Graush, reporting."

Young, cold, perhaps even cruel some would say, but crisp. His appearance was made to look as Imperial as any bureaucrat, as any member of High Command, even those four fingers on his right hand looked like they belonged.

But results.

Results is what the Sith Hybrid produced.

[member="Ludolf Vaas"]

 

[Ludolf Vaas]

"Welcome, High Colonel," Field Marshal Vaas inclined his head as Graush made his way to the test area. Behind him, the sea of engineers continued to scramble around the prototype walker that loomed behind Vaas.

Ludolf had placed Graush in charge of the White Wolves after upgrading them to Regiment strength. He knew that Graush was an able commander and his results spoke for themselves. He had been hearing reports of Graush's brutality - unconfirmed as of yet - especially when it came to executing prisoners of war. Ludolf had yet to look into these reports about A'sharad Graush's supposed merciless treatment of not only prisoners but Stormtroopers under his command, and if they were true he would certainly have to deal with that. However, Ludolf couldn't argue that Graush produced results, which was why he was standing next to him here today.

"The engineers have been poring over the Bahamut blueprints, as you know," Ludolf said to the High Colonel as they walked towards the walker. "Our prototype is just about ready for a full field test. The first thing you'll notice is that the leg design has been improved. The legs are more convex, in a spider-like fashion to reduce top-heaviness and provide more stability. As a result we've gone from six to four legs, thereby also saving weight in the process."

A lead engineer gave Ludolf a signal from atop the walker's head, which Ludolf acknowledged with a wave.

"Well then, it appears that the systems are fired up. Care to give it a try, High Colonel?"

[member="Asharad Graush"]

 

[Asharad Graush]

Now A'sharad strode forwards to the table.

There was a nod of his head of course when [member="Ludolf Vaas"] had begun talking about the leg design.

Six legs.

That had seemed ridiculous. If the two legs in the front had been taken out, then the walker would've been unbalanced. It would fall forwards - right into the ground. A tank could do that. Of course, the concept of vehicle combat was lost on the High Colonel. Six legs likely had advantages that he didn't have the capacity for understanding. Darth Acarus of the One Sith, his Father had taught him much of warfare. He doubted his Father had ever been upon a tank, or seen one in combat. Likely the reason why his son, A'sharad knew relatively nothing about ground vehicles as well.

Besides speeders.

Everybody knows about speeders.

Typically cold and a born warrior, a query had been made to him... To try out the new walker... "Is that an order, Field Marshal?" He turns to regard his superior. In this, he appeared to be almost innocent, yet the hardness in his eyes remained. Perhaps it was unfamiliarity, or uncertainty? "Am I expected to drive it?"

 

[Ludolf Vaas]

"Not drive it," Vaas corrected Graush. "That will be left to me."

An engineer approached the Field Marhsal, offering him his protective body armor and standard-issue goggled helmet. The engineer placed the body armor around Ludolf's waist as he held his arm out, and this being done, handed Vaas his helmet, which the Field Marshal cradled beneath his arm as he addressed High Colonel Graush.

"Rather, I will need someone to test the armaments aboard the prototype," He gestured up to the massive cannons placed in strategic spots all around the walker. "We have taken the baseline weaponry systems of the Bahamut and improved upon them. Using our access to Tibanna gas from Bespin, we have made the main turbolaser aboard the walker even more powerful. In fact, the engineers tell me that even they are not sure how strong it will be. As such there may be some risk involved in this test. You will need to test the turbolaser first."

[member="Asharad Graush"]

 

[Asharad Graush]

A'sharad nodded his head.

At least he wasn't supposed to drive this monstrosity. Shooting he could do, how hard could it be?

There was a nod of his head as he watched [member="Ludolf Vaas"] garb himself in his body armour. The Force was the only armour the Sith High Colonel needed.

"Then it shall be done," he said.

A one time thing. He couldn't imagine himself being within a Walker again after this day. Even if they caused plenty of damage, he much rather preferred a lightsabre in his hand rather than the controls of a machine.

 

[Ludolf Vaas]

"Very good. Let's get moving," Vaas ordered.

He climbed the ladder to the cockpit of the walker and sat himself in the lead pilot's chair, familiarizing himself with the array of controls at his disposal. The engineers had briefed him already on the basic functions of the walker, and its relative design was not altogether different than the all-terrain vehicles he had been used to piloting. A'sharad's job, however, would be different. The guns had been designed for simplicity, so that they took as little training as possible to fire, but there was still a bit of a learning curve. A'sharad's performance would tell Ludolf and the engineers how easy the guns were to operate by someone who was completely unfamiliar with the controls.

[member="Asharad Graush"] and Ludolf would be testing the biggest gun first, the main turbolaser battery.

Vaas engaged the engines of the prototype, and soon the legs of the metal beast groaned to life. The monolithic machine lurched forward, placing one behemoth leg in front of the other, and soon began to work itself into a steady forward rhythm. Ludolf moved up and down in the cockpit in tandem with the walker's movements. Straight ahead a target had been placed; it was nothing but an inconsequential bunker, but it was shielded by a full-power shield generator. They would now see whether the turbolaser was powerful enough to punch through the shield generator in one hit.

"Ready the turbolaser," Ludolf radioed to A'sharad. "Let's see what the power of Tibanna gas can do."

 

[Asharad Graush]

The High Colonel nodded.

After the Field Marshal started climbing up the ladder, so did Colonel Graush a moment later.

The ladder led them up and into the cockpit, and by the time he got up there the superior officer was seating himself in the pilot's chair, and then came the Sith. He closed the hatch behind him and then took as many steps as was necessary to get to the gun controls.

A turbolaser, right?

Well, he could certainly applaud Imperial manufacturing.

They looked simple enough.

Targeting computer.

He reached to the controls after he took a seat and tested out the gun controls. Bobbed up and down. Felt smooth.

All was well.

The metal beast came to life under the well practiced hand of Vaas. The target was in view and A'sharad allowed his thumb to hover over the firing button. He heard the voice of Vaas over the radio above him.

He depressed the button and the crimson turbolaser bolts screeched out of the cannon as if they came directly from the throat of a banshee.

Thwump.

And there was an explosion as the bolts splashed across the shields and then powered through the shield generator and exploding.

[member="Ludolf Vaas"]

 

[Ludolf Vaas]

Field Marshal Vaas could feel the entire walker move as it absorbed the turbolaser's mighty blast, and his grip instinctively loosened on the controls of the AT-AT. He would have known that the turbolaser had punched through the shield generator even with his eyes closed; the crack of the shield shattering followed by the throaty explosion was all he needed to hear, and seeing it for himself only confirmed what he already knew. The spot on the horizon where the target bunker was went awash in a sea of fireball red for a moment, and a second later Ludolf felt the tremor from the explosion site reach back to the AT-AT. He lowered the binocular scope in the cockpit to eye-level to survey the damage. The shield had been obliterated in one hit, and had barely absorbed any of the damage, for where the bunker once stood, there was nothing discernible left of it, only a smoking crater filled with some rubble.

Incredible. The Tibanna gas had turned the Bahamut-class turbolaser into an even greater monstrosity. And with an effective range of 10,000 meters, Vaas could only imagine the possibilities. This turbolaser was going to cause some serious carnage on the battlefield.

"That's a direct hit, over," Ludolf radioed back to [member="Asharad Graush"]. Direct hit was an understatement. "Let's let the turbolaser cool down; move to the anti-air batteries on the top hull. Let's give those a try. Then that will conclude our test."

Meanwhile, Ludolf pressed down on the controls. He had warmed up the AT-AT's engine, now it was time to see at what speed it would top out.

 

[Asharad Graush]

A'sharad nodded his head to himself as the bunker combusted when the turbolasers vaporized it.

Goodbye.

A part of him wondered what it would've been like from the inside as it quite literally combusted. As far as he knew there were no additional explosions in there for the Michael Bay effect, yet, the explosion had been enormous.

Such was the power of tibanna gas it seemed.

"Copy," he answered, and he rose from the chair, and to another one that was little more than a step away from his position. The gunner compartment was compact, so that way more passengers could be carried within, though that was no problem for the Sith. When he was in position on the anti air batteries, he went through the same sequence as he had with the turbolasers.

Up and down they went.

To and fro.

And then he was ready, all he needed was a target now.

[member="Ludolf Vaas"]