War Machines

[J3C0]

Mierin sat in a small chair in the Imperial Palace on Coruscant, one of the many dozen meeting rooms within the massive citadel. Her face was impassive as always, her eyes gazing directly at the man in front of her.

The man seemed fidgety, sitting in place but still moving his body as though he could not make himself comfortable. That wasn't an uncommon thing when someone met Darth Mierin. She was after quite the intimidating figure. She had killed Jedi and Sith alike, and despite her own efforts her legend had begun to spread. Perhaps it had been her appearances on Coruscant, or perhaps it had been her efforts on Alderaan.

It mattered very little, but in the end the effect was the same.

The man shook in front of her, looking at her with a nervousness in his eyes that told of a hidden fear. The Sith Pureblood watched her for a moment more, her head tilting slightly as he tried to stutter something out, but then immediately stopped. Mierin waited for a moment more, letting the man stew in his place.

“Why are you requested this meeting.” Her voice broke the silence, and the man nearly jumped out of his seat.

 

[J3C0]

The man stared for another few minutes, and then finally he spoke.

“We...we have created something that we thought you would be interested your highness.”

Highness? That was interesting. She was no Queen, at least not anymore. Highness was an interesting way to address her, though despite herself she found a smile blooming on her lips. Respect and titles were something that Mierin enjoyed, perhaps above everything else. The man spotted her smile, and stopped for a few moments, unsure of how to continue with a smiling Sith Pureblood opposite him.

Smiling Sith were never a good thing.

Mierins face returned to its more unemotional state. She tried to calm the man with a nudge of the force, pressing him to be more calm, less jittery. She couldn't stand annoying people, and this man was certainly proving to be fairly annoying so far.

However he was a representative of Titan Industries, and engineer of some sort that worked in their R&D Vehicle division. They were the ones that designed the new AT-HK, a small walker that Mierin would be equipping The Crimson Wraith with. Perhaps if they had something more, it would prove fruitful for her and the One Sith. Their military was slowly taking shape, but it still needed expanding.

 

[J3C0]

Mierin blinked a few times as silence reigned within the room. The man was still not speaking, and slowly she became more and more annoyed by the fear she sensed from him. He needed th man to speak! He needed to spit it out! She didn't have all day to sit around and do nothing, She had things to do! Jedi to torture, Protectorate soldiers to dismantle! She didn't have all day to wait for this man to grow some balls.

“Speak!” She nearly screamed the word in her annoyance.

It seemed to work however, and the man finally sat himself upright. For a moment he gathered himself, and then he placed the blue-prints to something onto the table, they were facing away from her but she could make out mostly what they were.

“We designed a new Vehicle Ma'am, something to augment our forces.”

Mierin raised and eyebrow.

Well this was certainly interesting, and if she was reading the measurements correctly then it was something quite large. Her lips pursed for a moment, and she looked down at the plans with downcast eyes. She looked up at him, waiting for more details.

 

[J3C0]

“Its a walker Ma'am. Something akin to the Ancient AT-TE that the Old Republic utilized in their wars against the Confederacy, not unlike the AT-AT as well, but more size able, better controlled and far more difficult to destroy.”

She assumed that there should've been an 'in theory' in that given that the creation of no such vehicle had been approved for construction, at least not to her knowledge.

“On Alderaan we took note of the Republics heavy Tanks, the Skocha I believe they call them. The weapons they carried were impressive to say the least, able to take down the entire Palace in only a few shots.”

Of course that wasn't really true.

The palace had been set with explosives twice before it was fired on by the tanks, and it was also structurally damaged, but the tanks definitely helped in the whole situation of the Palaces destruction. They were also quite impressive from what she had seen, powerful weapons of war that had presented a danger to the Sith.

Would this be able to counter it?

 

[J3C0]

“I see.” Mierin said quietly, putting a hand on the blue-prints and spinning them around so they faced her. The man had been right in his comparison of of this vehicle to the AT-TE. It was short and squat, much like the old All Terrain Tactical Enforcer. It's lower center of gravity and its more stout features would make it more difficult to trip, unlike the more 'new' AT-AT. Of course it would also make it slower by quite a bit.

She pursed her lips as she read over the plans.

“We have also added another design to it, something that makes it wholly unique when it comes to combat weapons.”

Mierin looked up slightly, and the engineer bade her to flip over the blue-prints. She did so, revealing detailed schematics for a shield generator paired with a highly advanced sensor array. Mierin frowned slightly, not quite understanding the purpose of this. The Engineer seemed to relax slightly, taking it as a good indication that he had done something unique, and therefore good.

The Sith Pureblood waved the man on, eager to hear the explanation.

 

[J3C0]

The Engineer began to wring out a small hat, as if he was a poor person thinking about how to ask for more food, amusing really. The Sith Pureblood simply waited, she was curious now, and that meant she had more patience than one would ordinarily have in this situation. Finally, after a solid minute of silence the man finally spoke, stuttering at first but then beginning to speak with a passion, as if this was the project of a life time.

“The walker, will be equipped with a shield.”

Mierin frowned at that. A shield took up space. It would make it so less troops fit into the compartment and would all in all make the walker less useful. Of course it was a weapon of war, meant to be a battering ram to tear down structure, but one of the greatest advantages of the AT-AT and AT-TE was the fact that they carried troops.

A shield hampered that ability.

The engineer could apparently tell that she was displeased by this news, but almost immediately he began to speak again, as if trying to quiet those thoughts. This was an advantage, not a disadvantage.

“A shield on a walker of this size has never been done, but it will give the walker more survivability, rockets and small arms fire will be utterly useless against it and even medium tanks will struggle to breach its shields.”

 

[J3C0]

Yes, a shield was a great thing, but there were flaws with it, big flaws.

Mierin was about to point these out, but before she could something caught her eye on the blue-print. There wasn't just a shield generator, but another added system. A highly advanced Sensor suite that would be able to detect...well nearly everything around the monstrous walker. The Sith Pureblood frowned slightly. She didn't quite understand.

“Obviously the power requirements for a Shield are quite high, however we have found a way around this.”

Curiously, she looked up at the engineer.

“You see. We wish to install an advanced sensor suite on the Walker. A system that will detect on comming life forms, missiles, or any energy reading at all. As soon as the sensors pick these things up, the shields are raised. This allows the Shield to remain down most of the time, while still adding excellent protection.”

Now she understood. It was a brilliant solution, but it had flaws as well.

 

[J3C0]

“Obviously the system still has a few...kinks to be worked out, but we believe that with a little work we could produce a working model within a number of weeks.”

The Engineer stopped speaking, waiting for Mierin to respond.

This walker would be a boon. A weapon of war capable of assaulting fortresses and keeping itself safe at the same time. There was still room for a few troops, but it wouldn't be bringing any armies like the AT-AT or AT-TE's, just small strike teams. Her lips pursed again, and she wondered what kind of environments this weapon could be deployed in.

When she found that the answer was, everywhere, she became slightly more interested.

A weapon like this could be deployed on the ground, in space, perhaps even underwater with some modifications. She smiled slightly, her eyes shifting back to the Blue-prints for a moment before looking back up at the Engineer.

“Tell me of its armaments.” It was on the blue-prints, but she didn't have time for reading.

 

[J3C0]

The Engineer seemed to relax.

He had hooked her, he had put his idea in her head and now she wanted it. He knew it, but he still had to be careful. She could squash the progress on his work in a moment if she didn't like what was about to happen. Slowly he continued on, his words careful, but excited. This was his lifes ambition, to create something that would be used the galaxy over.

“The Armament will be made for Siege and destruction. Four Anti-personnel Laser Cannons are distributed all over the the Walker. One at the very front, One on each side, and one on the rear. This gives it excellent coverage against smaller targets. On the right 'shoulder' of the weapon is located a quad laser canon.”

She listened, knowing full well that this would hardly be the extent of what the walker carried.

“On the top turret , which has a full range of 360 degrees is located a single Proton Cannon, based off of the same design as the J-1 Semi-Autonomous Proton Cannon of old.”

Mierin smiled at that. The Proton Cannon had power, strength enough to take out entire starships. The walker would hit hard, very hard against any target that would come against it. There was of course one last thing, one last weapon to top it all off.

“The last weapon, is a single Concussion Missile Launcher, ten rockets.”

 

[J3C0]

Mierin smiled. Yes. This would do.

They could use this weapon for something, they could use this as a weapon of war and destruction. It wouldn't be the perfect solution, but it would at least supply them with a measure of extreme firepower that so far they had been unable to match. Her lips pursed, and she looked at the Engineer. She wondered if Tsavong had a hand in sending this man here. She supposed so, he was the owner of the company after all.

“I want the first ready in one month.” She said to the Engineer as she rose from her chair.

This weapon would take longer than that to build, she knew this. It was good to push them however, to see just how fast they could go. If Titan Industries began to fully produce at the rate the One Sith Needed, if they began to take up more and more of their industry, it was a good thing. The company growing and developing would mean bigger and better products.

Not to mention the One Sith Themselves would manufacture this.

The Engineer seemed to shake, and then smiled finally. He breathed a very loud, very heavy sigh of relief. His eyes shifted, and the he stood. Mierin could see that he wanted to Thank her, but before he could she simply walked out the room.

There were things to do.