Sundari Shotguns

[Laira Darkhold]

I stood inside MandalHypernautics headquarters awaiting a meeting with [member="Captain Larraq"] where we would be discussing the creation of a vehicle component he was interested in using for his massive project that he had begun some time ago. I had helped him in the past, mining beskar, designing systems, and producing components for the project he had undertaken. I was never one to pass up a golden opportunity, and MandalHypernautics had a reputation for overpaying, at least in my experience. Last time I had worked for Larraq he had given me a set of Beskar’gam and invited me to into the fold. It might have taken some time for me to finally join the Mandalorians, but nonetheless I had, eventually. I approached the secretary, stepping from the turbolift on the top floor, “I have an appointment with Rygel Larraq.” I told her waiting to hear a response and be let in to see the man about his newest project. Working on something like this often included a very lucrative credit amount that might balance out the expenditure I recently made with Arceneau Trade.

 

[Captain Larraq]

Security systems within Mandal Hypernautics' Headquarters would have identified [member="Draco Vereen"] and flagged him as a VIP customer upon entering the building. By the time he had reached the secretary, she and Rygel Larraq had already been informed of his presence and intent of meeting with Mr. Larraq. "Of course Mr. Vereen. He is waiting for you." She said as she gestured towards a door to the left of her station. The large double doors, made of ornately carved real wood, parted before the man and let him into Rygel Larraq's office. The office was as it had been upon Draco's last visit with Larraq, though this time the man himself was tinkering with something on the far side of the room. "Welcome." Larraq said absently as he continued to tinker with what appeared to be a suit of armor placed upon a stand. An initial glance at the armor would show it to be overtly similar and nearly identical to the suit of armor provided to Draco so many months ago. Albeit, significantly thinner and lighter. More armorweave and fewer plates. The plates themselves appeared to be significantly lighter than those on the suit of armor given to Draco and the beskar armorweave of the suit was of an extraordinarily high quality. The entirety of it gave off an unmistakably feminine aesthetic. "What brings you to Sundari, vod?" Larraq said as he stepped back and assessed his work.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I nodded to the secretary as she gestured towards the door and started off in that direction, taking no time to admire the ornate wooden doors. I was a man that preferred the comfort of cold blackened steel over fashionable. I had been here before, once before I had come into the fold. Before I had become a Mandalorian, though I hadn’t completed any tests or trials since joining their ranks. I glanced over and say the armor on display. I kind of regretted having yet to customize my own set that [member="Captain Larraq"] had given me all those months ago, before when I had worked for him as a simple foreman. I liked my current suit, but it felt odd not having a beskar set and calling myself Mandalorian. I came forward and took a seat infront of the desk between me and the blonde Mandalorian.”I have been working on something and I was wondering if you were interested, since I know we share some common interests in the field of tanks.” I said, removing my helmet and letting it rest on the arm of the chair, cradling it softly. I smiled a bit, “Plus I like to come and browse your wares.”

 

[Captain Larraq]

Larraq glanced back at [member="Draco Vereen"] for a moment before his gaze returned to the small suit of armor before him. "My sister likes tanks." He said flatly as he stared at the armor. He tilted his head to the right, presumably attempting to see the armor from a different angle. "Me..." Larraq said, pausing for a moment as he straitened his head and took a deep, sighing breath. "I prefer to settle my disputes from orbit." Turning from his work on the armor, Larraq picked his datapad from a nearby stand and tapped a few lines into the small device. Instead of returning to his desk, Larraq plopped himself down on one of the many expensive looking couches that lined his office. His datapad resting on the cushion next to him, a final tap signaled the activation of the large holoprojector on the far side of the room, directly behind the suit of light beskar'gam. Projected in the air for all to see was a profile on a woman named [member="Olivia Dem'adas"]. Her long blonde hair and blue dress uniform stared defiantly out from the projection. A nearby image showed the same woman, plus helmet, nimbly fighting three much larger men using lightning quick moves that appeared at first to be one part fencing and one part ballet. Another image showed a trio of aging Canderous class Tanks bogged down in a ruined, urban warzone as blaster and laser cannon fire poured over their hulls and mass-driver rounds were fired in return.

"Her birthday's coming up." Larraq said casually as he pulled what could only be assumed to be a bottle of beer from some hidden dispenser. "And I've been working on that armor for weeks. But sure..." Larraq said as he twisted his wrist and popped the cap. "What have you got?"

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I nodded at the mention of settling disputes from orbit. The man did have a fearsome reputation when he was aboard a warship. The Sith could remember that much, as he had burned a crater into their collective memory for all time with just a few rocks. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself thinking about that. “Well, I have an idea for a countermeasure to put on tanks. Basically it’s just an oversized shotgun with short range controlled by a droid brain to target incoming projectiles. Quick, easy, and most of all, effective.” I said, pulling a hologram projector from a pouch and activating it showing a hologram of a tubular weapon with a belt feed going down into the tank, altering from belt to drum, and a little omni-directional sensor atop it. “With this, you can knock missiles out of the sky before they get to your tank and well, that keeps you alive obviously. I nicknamed them the Sundari Shotgun." I said, pleased with myself. I placed the device on the desk and leaned back, relaxing and letting the man look over the design.

[member="Captain Larraq"]

 

[Captain Larraq]

Larraq sipped his beer as he continued to stare at the suit of armor and the hologram behind it. "Do you have an idea, or do you have a prototype?" Larraq asked as he regarded the small suit of armor. It was thin. On an actual person, it would likely be skin tights, or very, very close to it. But it was designed to be the sort of thing one wore under a military uniform. Thin plates on the shoulders, shins, thighs, and wrists would allow the wearer to take a few glancing blows. The armorweave over the abdomen was thicker than elsewhere, but lacked any form of solid plating. The plates that comprised the chest and back of the armor were just as thin and light as elsewhere. Unlike most armors, the chest and black plating was not a single, bulky piece. It was comprised of close to fifty smaller segments of plating secured to the underlining beskar armorweave. Designed for maximum flexibility, but still retaining a high level of durability. Just as importantly though, the armor fully incorporated the stealth and shielding technology of his Hyperion line of armor. Small sensors and projectors dotted the armor. Beskar-glasteel alloy protecting each delicate bit of electronics that were worked into and above various sections of armor. "Because the last man to come into this office peddling an idea turned out to be wearing his prototype." Larraq said as he motioned towards the suit of armor. "Which is how we ended up with armor that can do this." He added as he pressed a button on his datapad and the suit of armor faded from view, the faint outline of a hologram betraying its location.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I nodded when he turned on the Active Camouflage. I had a system lying around, just hadn't had the time to put it in a suit yet. "Well, as someone who is very large, I have been equated to a tank before. That said, I can't exactly fit one of these to my personal armor, if you know what I'm saying." I sat up. I hadn't known how he had gotten a hold of the Active Camouflage, but I was certain that successful tests were better than talk, and he seemed to agree. I liked having the resources I did, especially through my relationship with the Mandalorians. "But since I could do that, I did manage to strap a pair of them to a Reliant-class tank for a show if you'd like." I said, still smiling. I had interacted with [member="Captain Larraq"] enough to know what he was looking for in a product, and to know what he wanted to see before he ever put thought into it. I could have simply produced the thing myself, but I preferred to stick with the ACS-404 which while more effective against guided weapons, offered no protection against non-guided projectiles and warheads like the Sundari Shotguns would. "We can go take a look at them whenever is convienent for you, boss." I told the man, ready to stand if he started to move to go see what I had in store.

 

[Captain Larraq]

Larraq rubbed his eyes when [member="Draco Vereen"] had finished talking. "Sounds like you've got something waiting for me at the testing range." He said as he finished rubbing his eyes. He had been tinkering with Olivia's new suit for several hours, not including the days of manufacturing and weeks of design that had gone into it. He could use the break... but he wasn't quite sure he really wanted to leave the comfort of his office to do it. "Alright then." He said as he downed the last of his beer and set it on an end table. "I'll have my limo shuttle us over to the site... so you can show off the prototypes."

It only took a few minutes for the large, bus sized speeder to arrive. It hovered gracefully next to the massive wall to wall window of Larraq's office, the one that oversaw the vast expanse of desert that surrounded Sundari City. Part of the window retracted into the floor and a sliding door on the side of the limo opened to them. Larraq nodded for Mr. Vereen to enter the limo first and quickly followed the man into the large, luxurious vehicle.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I got into the limousine and traveled with [member="Captain Larraq"] to a test facility where an R-10 Reliant-class Republic Battle Tank sat waiting for us to arrive. It wouldn't be crewed, and this varient had the thirty two round drum magazine attached, though a belt fed system could be installed with much more ammunition. Around the vehicle several men were placed, ready to begin the tests, with alternate fire paths, set up to show its ability to gauge, track, and destroy variable threats in the most efficient way possible. I got out of the luxurious limousine and stood outside, allowing for the good CEO of Mandalhypernautics to watch from within the vehicle or get outside to see it work. "Alright, what the boys have got set up it a couple automated missile turrets that are gonna hit it from different attack vectors and use a combination of Fire-and-Forget, as well as direct fire weapons." I turned and scooped up a comm-link. "Whenever you're ready boys." I said over the channel. Moments later three missile launched, two from opposite sides going straight for the vehicle another striking upwards to attempt to ping the vehicles roof. The too small devices, rotated rapidly, gunning down both direct fire missiles at a range of about thirty meters while the fire and forget missile arced downwards with one of the devices swiveling upwards to fire at it. In the end, fire and shrapnel rained harmlessly upon the vehicle. "The only design flaw there is, is if there are infantry massed around the vehicle, they might wanna duck. It can engage two targets simultaneously and can stack threats in order of precedence." I told [member="Captain Larraq"] as the show finished.

 

[Captain Larraq]

Rygel Larraq exited the vehicle behind [member="Draco Vereen"] and stood behind him for the demonstration. It was impressive. The initial implications were obvious. It could function similarly to a shield in terms of anti-missile defense systems, and would require considerably less power to do so. There were a few details that he would need additional information on though, before he could make up his mind about the project.

"How's it handle area of effect warheads?" Larraq asked as he took a pair of magnifiers from a nearby Hyperion Security guard and used them to get a better view of the system that Draco had installed on the tank. "What happens if someone shoots it with an incendiary missile or a CryoBan warhead?"

Larraq had a feeling he already knew the answer to that particular question. The system appeared to be focused on defense against anti-tank missiles with armor-penetrating warheads. In all likelihood, anything with this system installed on it would probably have thick enough armor to shrug off any area of effect weaponry pointed in its direction.

Then again... a fragmentation warhead could still do a great deal of damage to a vehicle without necessarily penetrating the armor.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Well, it doesn't handle those well. I guess if you combined it with a pressor field generator you could negate those though. At least somewhat. The fragmentation, incendiary, and others like it, is the system's primary weakness because there isn't a primary charge to destroy before it gets to the vehicle. But nothing is effective against everything. If you want the design you can have it, so long as i can use some of your Hyperion Combat Power Packs for some projects I am working on. I'll buy them, I just want to buy a crapload of them, if that's all right." I told [member="Captain Larraq"] . Besides nothing is technically free.

 

[Captain Larraq]

Larraq put down the magnifiers and looked back at [member="Draco Vereen"]. "Sounds decent enough." Larraq said to the man as he handed the magnifiers back to the Hyperion Security Guard. It wasn't a flawless system, but the initial design showed promise. In the long run, it might end up being significantly more cost effective than installing shields on a vehicle. And... Larraq had a particular design in mind for this system. The tank he was building, with a system like this, wouldn't need shields at all. "We'll buy the design from you and see what we can do with it. And you can have as many power packs as you need." He added before turning and heading back towards the limo, motioning to Draco that he should join him. "Now that that's out of the way, and assuming you don't have anything else you're going to try and sell me," He began as he took his seat and ordered a drink from the bartending droid built into the floor of the limo. "Where there any other wares you were after?" He asked as he waited for his drink.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Not really no. That's all i needed, and I think we can both walk away happy with this the way it is." I said to [member="Captain Larraq"] shaking his hand and heading back for my ship, parked nearby. He could have the R-10 Reliant. They weren't that expensive anyway.