Building the 'Hammerheads' (contact for invite)

[Kal Kandossii]

Work. It seemed as though he never got out anymore. Beskar'ad Inc had been busy along with custom orders they had been pushing out generic beskar'gam for the mando'ade as well as ,with conjunction with Nyos' company, building prosthetics for wounded vode. It was a busy schedule.

So Kal and his three vode, Teroch,Aayla, and Haran, took on other smiths. There was plenty of work to go around. One of the projects included making more ori'verd. Then yesterday they got more work from a vod. Retrofitting three Corellian corvettes.

Sitting at the work station he reviewed the plans and improvements needed as well as finding the schematics for other similar ships. It was going to be a lot of hard work, but it paid well and it was for their people so Kal was up for the challenge.

The warning on his workstation' s monitor alerted Kal to the incoming ships. So rising from his seat he headed out of the forge and up the sloped tunnel to leave the half buried building. Outside he stood in his typical store of jeans, long sleeve white shirt with the sleeves rolled up revealing muscled forearms covered in faint scars, and his trusty work boots. A hand was raised shielding his eyes even as the twenty turrets around the perimeter lowered from their positions down into their hatches to hide under the sand.

The three ships touched down and ramps lowered as the pilots e,cited with their small crews. A smirk crossed Kal's face as in his mind he over layed the plans he had been working on over the visual he had.

Clapping his hands together lightly he spoke," time to get to work."

 

[Kal Kandossii]

"Ok vode. Let's get every thing off these crates." Then the work began. In each of the corvettes cargo, seats, carpets, bunks, pretty much everything not bolted down were taken off, catalogued, then stored. When that was done it had been a full day of work and they called it.

The next day Kal had his workers around him on the landing where the ships rested. "Today we continue stripping them down. Control panels, computer systems, bulkheads, wiring, everything comes out. We are taking them down to the frame as much as possible. Now let's get to work."

And so they did.

 

[Kal Kandossii]

The work took several days. Finally Kal walked into the center ship and examined the interior. The vode had done exceptionally well and he dropped through the studs where the flooring had been to run his hands along some of the frame work. Looking down each piece slowly and methodically he examined the ship often barking orders to test the structural integrity and most of the beams and reinforced steel. Nodding he climbed from the bowels of the first ship and did the same to the other two.

During his survey and examination of the ships he had slipped on a pair of custom goggles that recorded everything and streamed it to his work station in the forge. Leaving the landing he made his way down and sat at his station. Pulling up the ships' schematics he began tinkering with each section, adding support struts, new brackets, and even new beams for reinforcing the existing frame work. Teroch came over soon and added suggestions and recommendations as the plans for the ships slowly came to fruition.

 

[Kal Kandossii]

After a night's sleep and some breakfast he sent Teroch the plans and a work crew who began implementing the new designs. Slowly the work renewed as supports, grids, brackets, and other beams were welded in, fitted on, and bolted into place. Soon enough the first ship was complete and Teroch and the crews moved to the next two to complete the design upgrade.

Meanwhile Kal sat at his work station comparing designs. He had found a design for an old CR90 corvette that removed a deck to incorporate a larger hangar. Continuing to search Kal also found records in an Alliance database where temporary struts were added to house an entire squadron of x-wings. Pulling the two schematics he over layed them onto the CR92a blueprints already on his station's hologram. Slowly he made calculations and new plans for creating a permanent landing bay with brackets reinforce and secured permanently in the new ship's hangars.

 

[Kal Kandossii]

When Teroch and his crews finished one ship Aayla and another crew entered the finished ship to begin laying out new wiring, updating the electronics, replacing ancient systems with new hardware, and upgrading the software. As she focused her group on each section of the ship Haran and a third crew followed behind to replace bulkheads, flooring, life support systems, and other menial tasks that were absolutely necessary for a functioning ship. Often he worked hand in hand with Aayla and her crew as the systems he was installing involved such things as gravity control, inertial compensaters, and even upgraded engines and the systems to run the propulsion systems.

All the while Kal would walk among the crews lending a hand, tweaking the plans, and finding new ideas to complete the Hammerheads. With the work well in hand and trusted hands with plenty experience Kal would often return to his work station to go over the next steps of the ships' progress. Finally after several weeks the work was done, the first leg at least, and the next phase came into existence.

 

[Kal Kandossii]

In the ship's current hangar Kal stood with Teroch as he laid out the plans for expanding the hangar. "Pretty much we need to remove this portion of the next level, make it taller in here. Here, look at the plans." As Teroch reviewed the mini hologram Kal continued speaking. "We can't make it deeper, but if we make it taller by removing the portion of the next level we can create brackets which would house a squadron of vhe'viin. I found the plans from an old CR90 called the Night Caller. Pretty much they had a temporary system for doing what I want to do here. Except our will be permanent. It's going to take a lot of man hours, but it will be functional and secure. By the end it will almost look like an old wine rack. But it will be functional and solid."

Teroch nodded and got to work with his crew. As he worked Kal had a shipment of vhe'viin star fighters come in for the eventual finished product. The days stretched out and with some trial and error the newly enlarged hangar took form with the secured brackets for the fighters. Each step of the process was tested until the day came when Kal climbed into the hangar and found twelve vhe'viin sitting in their new homes, resting silently but no less menacingly within their miniature bays.

"Good work vode, now two more ships to do like this and we will be doing good." Kal smirked at the groans that moments before were self satisfied groans.

 

[Kal Kandossii]

Several days later Kal was back at his work station comparing the height and weight requirements on the original life pods of the corvettes. In his research he had found where the life pods had been removed and Tie fighters were docked at each hatch. He saw no reinforcements made to the hatches for the fighters. Leaning back he mulled on things. It had been requested for these ships also to be able to deploy infantry units, but with the hangar full there really was no room for any shuttles. Then an idea came to mind.

Pulling up the plans on the BTK-599 Orbital drop pod he began comparing the weights and dimensions. A smirk crossed his face as he found that the pod was slightly smaller then a Tie fighter. Getting to work on the plans he stayed hunched over his workstation as he tweaked things here and there to make his idea not only work but to be effective.

With the finished plans he scrounged up Haran and his crew and walked them out to the landing explaining his plan as he went. "We are replacing the escape pods with the Orbital drop pod. Blueprints show the ship can handle it, but I'd like the hatches and supports to be reinforced. I'll order the pods and let you boys get to work. Oya!"

 

[Kal Kandossii]

With the Orbital drop pods arrival Kal was beginning to feel pleased by the progress. Heading back into the forge he sat at his workstation and pulled up the schematics with the improvements. Nodding quietly he looked at adding an extra layer of armor plating on the hull, specifically the under side, and around the engines. Next he brought up plans for adding grappling claws to the under carriage of the ships. Ones that could take the weight of a tank, the stress of carrying it through atmosphere reentry, as well as through hyperspace. This would give the ships the ability to carry and launch armored tanks.

With the new plans he went out and shared them with Teroch, Aayla, and Haran. With the new blueprints shared Teroch took his crew to begin putting on the extra armor plates. Aayla took her crew to begin running the necessary controls for the grappling claws so they could be controlled by either the cockpit or in the hangar. Haran took his crew to begin to manufacture the grappling claws so that when Teroch was finished the claws could be attached.

 

[Kal Kandossii]

Kal slowly walked around the perimeter of the ships. He was very pleased. The extra armor, the grappling claws, the orbital pods it was all looking very good. Entering the ship he admired the extended hangar with the permanent brackets which held twelve vhe'viin within their embrace. The systems were upgraded and the bulkheads were secured and reinstalled. But as he stood there he had a thought to add just a little bit more to the ships' already formidable presence.

Lightly he tapped out a command on his gauntlet sending a message to Teroch within the forge. A small smirk crossed his face ten minutes later as eight familiar silhouettes came up the ramp. Ori'verd, eight of them, would be loaded onto each corvette. While they were being secured he continued on his inspection. Hours went by until finally he stood on the landing pad looking upon the Hammerheads. "Beautiful. Tomorrow we test them out."

 

[Kal Kandossii]

Kal sat behind the controls of one of the Hammerheads. Earlier he did one more walk through inspection, even though he trusted his crews, to ensure everything was in order and secured. Satisfied he had went to the cockpit where he currently sat. Going through the pre flight checklist he saw everything was operating at one hundred percent efficency. With a small smirk he opened the channel to the rest of the ship. "Maiden voyage about to commence."

Firing thrusters he felt the ship strain for a moment before raising from the ground. Stowing the landing gear he raised the nose and slowly accelerated until the wash from the engines would not affect the ground, the buildings, or the crew watching from below. Engaging the engines he felt the force of the acceleration press him into the seat. His left hand checked the inertial compensators and dialed it up for the rest of the ship. He preferred to feel a bit of what the ship felt for it helped him fly better.

Breaking orbit he put the ship through her paces feeling how the extra weight slowed her down a bit and made the controls a bit sluggish. The price for all the enhancements. Opening the hangar doors the vhe'viin launched from the belly of the corvette, between the two nestled tanks firmly in the grasp of the grappling claws near front and back of the bottom of the ship.

The squadron of star fighters twirled away heading back to base as the corvette slowly angled for the atmosphere. Hitting the turbulence he felt the corvette's controls fight him but he was used to fighting controls. Smirking he kept her in control as he spoke over the ship's comms again. "Preparing to launch orbital drop pods in three, two, one, launch." The pods launched and their thrusters fired off controlling their descent. Nodding at how everything was coming together he dropped altitude and slowed the corvette's speed.

"Ungrappling tanks in three, two, one, launch." The tanks dropped and landed safely as Kal pulled the ship up, climbing into the air. One thousand feet in the air he again spoke over the comms. "Launch the ori'verd in three, two, one, launch." Eight armored ori'verd leaped from the ship and did a controlled descent. Grinning Kal nodded as he brought the ship back to base.

Everything had gone off without a hitch and the Hammerheads were ready.