NationStates Jolt Archive

Reports and generals alike waited in the display room. An air of quiet anticipation was at hand as many felt this to be the FRCS's last weapon under the old company name. With the abolition of the Republic, rumor was that the name would be changed over to Federal Crown Combat Systems. Others felt that this was just a multi-billion dollar waste of time which could have been used to further other programs such as reasearch of new aircraft to replacing the aging bomber force. To the FRCS's CEO this was the pinnacle project.

Developed under the codename "Centurion" the new battlesystem was suppose to revolutionize the way combat was fought by Federal Troops. It was the hope that the previous Martian conflict would have allowed it to be a test, however as the situation unfolded Operation Roundhammer occured earlier than most in the FRCS has thought it would, and ended far sooner than most thought it would. This allowed FRCS to concentrate more on several glaring flaws with targeting individual targets, and with movement of the machine. Time however was not on the side of FRCS, the completion of Roundhammer, and the ending of fighting on Mars, combined with an impatient Monarch led to this press conference.

Gregory had adequete reason to be angry with FRCS as well. They hadnt put out a combat system since the M5 Rolling Thunder series of MBTs. After that it was a steady stream of rejected ideas and unfeasable projects. Black ops projects including into a solid working gravitic drive which had been going on for nearl 150 years, had stalled slightly in recent history on the verge of major breakthroughs in terms of the stability of the field. The Eternal Defender(E.D.) fighting unit was suppose to show the people of the kingdom that they were still going to be defended by new top of the line weaponry. Top of the line?Yup. New?Not in all cases. The combat armor used by the Federal Army and Marine Corps was nearing the century mark in design usage, and while the combat suit was on the Mark XIV, it was still nearly 100 years old.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the press and military may I have your attention please. I'd like to show you, the future of Squad Support Weaponry. The Eternal Defender,or ED for short." The spokesmen, an upper level corporate weasel, stood off to the side as big red curtains were drawn to the sides to reveal the machine underneth it. The ED fighting unit moved up coming to life and took several steps forward. Not real graceful at slow speed but it was definately imposing. Stopping beside of the corporate executive, a robotic voice blarring loudly over the national anthem,"ED combat unit 001, reporting for duty." At this, flashes of bulbs and reports raising their arms to ask questions could be heard...

It was all typical questions really:"How much?" "How many?" "How long till its deployed?" For the moment it was all answered away and deflected, yet the answers would be forth coming in the next statement. For now it was just to show off. The CEO Lewis Neville had to sit infront of the Committee on Military Spending, and give all the answers then. He wanted to drag this out as much as possible to show King Gregory, that FRCS was still a viable corporation...time would tell though if the King agreed.

http://www.stopmotionanimation.com/photos/tippett/images/big_ed2_jpg.jpg
Eternal Defender(ED)Fighting System

The single ED unit moved ahead of the cameramen, guns at the ready on both arms. In the distance loudspeakers blared for an FRCS spokesmen. "The ED series combat unit is armmed with 4 20 millimeter cannons..."Said as the nearly one and half ton fighting machine raised its arms up and aimmed them ahead. In the distance a series of targets were prepared for the demonstration. Onboard, the computer system which could be considered artificial intelligence at its most basic form acquired and locked onto as many targets as its current sensor package would allow. The four cannons,two on the ends of each arm lit up and unleashed tracer and regular rounds off into the distance,of about nearly a kilometer. After about ten seconds of firing the cannons died down smoke rising up from the barrels. "...Each cannon is belt fed ammunition through the arms and into the main body itself, the total amount of rounds for each cannon is 250 rounds. However the 20mm cannons are not the only weapons that ED comes with."

The AI,switched over to the 60mm mortar launcher which was attached to the back. Self loading a single mortar round, the unique thunk sound was heard as a starshell round was fired into the sky. Exploding sometime later it made day even brighter for a few moments before dying off completely. "The ED fighting system can help lay squad artillary fire, or launch flares for nighttime actions. In the future we hope to incorporate further weapons systems on the ED series. Our next series of demonstrations will put ED against some of the standard threats he'll face on the modern battlefield. The cameramen had made sure to capture all the footage of the action for later broadcasts. Those broadcasts would follow FRCS's CEO meeting with the nations top military generals and the ministers of defense and war, to discuss the price tag on the ED series. Development, research, concept prototype, full scale prototype, and estimated production costs were all on the agenda for the upcoming meeting.

Wow... What I would give for 5 of those.

You are in Violation of ED-200, in which you have somehow spied and copied our designs. Immedietly cease all productions until you are properly investigated for crimes against The People.

Prepared Statement from FRCS:
To: Lawyers and Government of Nodea Rudav

Until your statement, we've never even heard of your nation before. How can we copy something from someone, we pay no attention to, or better yet, how do you expect us to pay attention to countless, thousands, of other nations. The design of the Eternal Defender fighting system was on the drawing boards for sometime now, its only now hit the prototype stage. We suggest, that you quietly go bother someone else with your accusations of spying and copying of designs. Of which is an insult on the national level, and will not be tolerated in the future.