“The Vault” as the testing facility was known, loomed in front of Max when his planned route ended. an enormous door, the height of the entire level, and twenty meters thick stood in front of him in shining metallic glory, open and waiting for his arrival.
[X137 Please step to the Blue Line to begin testing the Main Ion Bombard Arrays.] Came the voice of Sister Lilith over the intercom, shaking with excitement.
Her team wasn’t involved in that part of the development, so she had never seen the new design in action, even in a simulation. This was a big moment for her and the team.
The Blue Line was the closest to the door, giving the weapons the maximum range of 800 meters to the far wall where a thick armored target was set up to take the full fury of his blasts. It was covered in dozens of layers of energy shielding, so it didn’t need to be replaced every time it was used, and Max could only wish such a thing was practical for a Mecha.
Unfortunately, the power requirements were too much for even a reactor as mighty as the X137 carried and needed one intended to power an entire major city to keep them online. This was a modified design of the Orbital Strike Defenses that all major cities had, but used on a much smaller area. The chance of a Mecha unleashing something more terrifying than the Orbital Lance of the Fleet’s Destroyers and President Class transport ships was laughable, so Max had full confidence in unleashing the full fury of the new weapons in this room.
“Single Shot, Maximum output strike with the right arm.” Sister Lilith directed, and Max triggered the blinding white light of the Ion Bombard Array to crash into the target.
“Excellent results. Now, left arm.”
“All six barrels at once.”
“Rapid Fire, cyclic pulses.”
The Ion Bombard Arrays were put through their paces, including heat retention and power draw tests that saw them put on rapid fire mode for a straight minute to ensure that they had a level of stability that the original version lacked. That was mostly due to power output though. The X137 had a much larger reactor than even the Shining Darkness, which was set up specifically for Energy Attacks.
“Align the Thunder Gun, we will start with all three barrels on single shot mode,” Lilith instructed.
Hundreds of people were observing and there were ten team members, they had more than enough manpower to analyze all three guns at once, so she might as well put on a show for the crowd. Within test scenario regulations of course.
All three guns barked out their crackling report as the Mass Drivers pushed their shells toward the target. The speed was lower than usual since the distance was short and speed wasn’t necessary, but all three rounds hit the target millimeters apart.
“Excellent synchronization. Repeat the test with maximum velocity.” Lilith instructed and the guns barked again, except this time with a heavy boom of the sound barrier being broken by three large projectiles.
With that sort of speed, the X137 would have no problem lobbing projectiles over the horizon, making it a suitable replacement for the standard artillery battery that the Infantry units currently deployed.
“Maximum Rate of Fire, staggered intervals at maximum velocity. The design team is eager to hear the thunder in person.” This time the voice belonged to Uncle Lu, who was just as eager as the weapons team to hear the sound in person and not in a simulation.
The two should theoretically be identical, but he had always felt that the simulation was lacking something visceral. A feeling that only the real world could provide, no matter how well simulated the sound and shockwaves were.
The observers were all in a separate room, thickly armored and isolated from the worst of the effects of the live fire lab, but Max was pretty sure that this would get their hearts pumping like the bass line of a dance club.
At two hundred and forty beats a minute, the rhythm of the Thunder Guns made the air inside the live fire lab shake, and even the insulation of the cockpit couldn’t keep the changes in air pressure from the vibration from affecting Max.
It wouldn’t hurt him, his System had made him far too durable for that, but he could see it giving lower-ranked technicians a severe headache with prolonged fire.
Max added it to his notes and let the guns fire for the entire minute of the test, running the test munitions dry at the end.
“Munitions spent,” Max reported, and the sound of clapping came over the radio as the scientists celebrated.
As Uncle Lu had expected, the tests were flawless. Virtual testing only ever failed if physical construction didn’t meet specifications, and his lab did an amazing job of creating exactly what they were told to.
The first signal the eccentric General sent was to Central Command, informing them that the tests were successful and that the production of the Pre Production models could begin for the first round of battlefield testing.
The second signal he sent was to General Tennant aboard Abraham Kepler.
[My dearest brother Tennant,
It is with great regret to inform you that you are no longer the most beautiful in the family. Today we celebrated the birth of Sanju Nana, the most beautiful baby girl. One day she will grow up just as mighty as her big brother, I am certain.
With Regards,
Uncle Lu]
General Tennant had been waiting for the signal from the Labs to indicate that the testing was finished, but what he hadn’t expected was that the General in charge was such an odd character. General Tennant did view the Shining Darkness as his own child since it had been in the family for generations, but that message was a bit unexpected.
Sanju Nana was the local language’s word for thirty-seven, so General Tennant knew exactly what the message was about, and how long he had to get all the upgrades finished before it would be time to go pick up the test units, as well as a crew to staff them.
It was going to be a very busy month for him.
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