NationStates Jolt Archive

-=<Sneaky B News: RPRA Research Labs move to space>=-

"Good afternoon and thanks for tuning in. Just a few minutes ago, officials from the RPRA Research Labs wrapped up a press conference regarding the recent completion of the first parts of an orbital research facility by the Labs. Details on new the facility were made public at the conference by the director of the labs, Dr. Yoshiro Takashi, via sattelite link from the asteroid "Seijoutai Island" in geosynchronous orbit above the nation.

Housed within the hollowed out parts of the massive asteroid, now called "Seijoutai Island", the new orbital facility's primary use will be mainly for researching new technology for civilian and military use. Other research departments are expected to expand to the asteroid. The facility will also be used as a maintenance and supply facility for the space fleet vessels. Currently, only the Department of Thamaturgic Research and Department of Space Technology Research have sections operational within the asteroid.

As the mining operation continues and more of the interior is cleared and hollowed out, more sections of the orbital lab will be constructed. The asteroid is expected to be fully mined out within the next three years. Currently, only 1/4 of the massive asteroid has been mined out since the day it was brought into geosynchronous orbit above the nation.

Should the labs release more information regarding the new facility, we'll will bring it to you.

-=<Sneaky B News: End Transmission>=-


Seijoutai Island Orbital Lab Operations Center

Dr. Takashi stepped into the operations center from the conference room where his part of the press conference took place. He watched the operators and technicians working at their stations, working on monitoring various parts of the asteroid. There were sections for monitoring the asteroid's orbit, the active sections of the lab facilities, the miners inside other sections of the asteroid, and the processing stations on the surface.

As he stood back and watched, one of his assistants entered from a connecting office.

"Dr. Takashi! You've got a message from AHI regarding the new battleship that they're supposed to be sending over." said the assistant, handing the doctor a printout.

Dr. Takashi took it and read it over a few times before looking back up at his assistant.

"Hmmm, it wasn't supposed to be sent out for another week and they want to know if its okay to send it early... Do we even have the parts here for it that we're supposed to install and test?" the doctor asked, folding up the piece of paper.

"Not yet, they're supposed to come later with today's shipment of equipment and supplies."

The doctor scratched his head and thought for a moment. He unfolded the paper and read it over again, looking back up when he got to the end.

"Send a reply to AHI. They can send the ship out anytime they want to. We'll take it in at Dock 1." said Dr. Takashi.

The assistant nodded to the doctor and headed back to the office to send the reply.

Dr. Takashi looked back down at the message.

"They're using part of Triton's crew to operate it. I wonder if Hikaru will be comming..." he thought to himself.

Dock 8, Lordinum 6 Factory Colony, L3
http://www.angelfire.com/gundam/rpra/images/Junk/MitsukaiArgama.JPG

A group of about 40 crewmen gathered at the boarding ramp to the new ship they stood before. All of them were examining the new vessel they were about to serve on for the next few hours. Many were comparing the vessel to their home ship in the next slip over from where this new one sat.

"Daaaamn. This thing looks like it could whup the Triton. Its huge!"

"I heard it's supposed to be faster than the Starwind-Class, and those are the fleet's fastest ships!"

"I hope this one gets mass produced. Supposedly they've got artificial gravity systems on it."

"Alright everyone! Boarding time is now! You can stand around and chat about the pretty new ship when we get to Seijoutai Island."

The group slowly began to shrink as members made their way up the ramp and on board the ship. On the bridge, Lieutenant Julie Rowe sat in the captain's chair, playing with some of the buttons on. The chair slowly rotated around until she was facing the front of the bridge again. One of the helmsmen turned around and watched.

"Having fun being captain for a day?" he asked.

"Hell yeah. Probably the only time I'm ever gonna sit in a captain's chair." She replied as she glanced down at one of the little monitors at the end of the armrest, taking note of the time.

"Alright, the crew should all be on board by now. Pre-flight check time everyone." She announced in a serious tone.

"Main generator online. No problems detected. Emergency generators 1 through 3 on standby. No problems detected."

"Main engines 1 through 4 are online and idle. All are operating normally. Sub-engines 1 and 2 idle. Both are operating normally. Looking good here."

"Navigation systems online. Mass sensors and radar are active."

"Communication systems operating normally. We're good to go here."

"Weapon systems offline. Not like they'd work if we needed them to anyways."

"Good. What about the hangars. We have three units onboard, correct?" Lieutenant Rowe asked as she turned to the officer sitting in the ship's CIC console behind her to her left.

"All three prototype Mk-IIIs are locked down in the starboard hangar bay." the officer replied.

Lieutenant Rowe turned forward again opened a communication link to the dock command tower from her console on the chair.

"Shugotenshi to Dock 8 Control. All pre-flight checks are good. Requesting permission to set out."

"Roger, Shugotenshi. You are cleared for launch. Captain Edwards asked us to inform you that the Triton will be launching shortly after you set out. Good luck and have a safe trip."

"Understood. Thanks." replied Lieutenant Rowe. She looked up towards the helmsman, ready to give her first order as the ship's acting captain. "Take us out, ensign. Once we're out about 1 kliometer, accelerate us to maximum speed. Lets see if this ship is as fast as they say it is." she ordered.

All 4 of the Shugotenshi's main engines throttled up, slowly setting the ship out of the dock and on its way to its new destination.

http://www.angelfire.com/gundam/rpra/images/Junk/Shugotenshi1.JPGhttp://www.angelfire.com/gundam/rpra/images/Junk/Shugotenshi2.JPG