Free Tulsa
11-02-2006, 01:52
The night sky was perfectly clear, and the full moon cast an ethereal glow over Ocean Platform Gamma-Six, a.k.a. New Fort Sill or simply Fort Sill, the Free Tulsan military test range. The platform was exactly one mile square and covered with firing ranges and other structures. A bridge connected it to the rest of the artificial islands. Near the platform, on the deep, sparkling Pacific Ocean, a massive Hightower-class naval testbed vessel steamed to the naval test range at the slow speed of two knots to avoid damaging the sensitive prototype attached to one of the vessel's many modular equipment ports. As they reached the range, the captain walked into CIC. "Sound general quarters," he said. The Battle Stations klaxons wailed, and the fifteen men and women that were the vessel's crew raced to their stations. "Ship Control Officer," said the captain, "activate the sighting mechanism." The targeting computers cam online, depicting an old American Knox-class frigate. "The weapon has acquired the target," the SCO said. "Very well," said the captain. "Fire when ready." The prototype - a small gun turret like a CIWS turret in appearance (sort of lik R2D2 with a gun on it) - swiveled toward the target, and the tip of the gun began to glow blue. An unbelievably bright blue beam silently lanced out of the barrel and traveled the seven miles between the testbed and the frigate in three-hundreths of a second. Upon impact, the frigate glowed red for a brief, terrible instant before exploding in a shower of molten metal and steam. The testbed vessel grew dark and silent - all power in the ship's batteries had been drained by the new weapon (this was no small matter, as the batteries contained enough stored electricity to power all of Tokyo for three days). But even so, the test was a stunning success. New Tulsa had finally mastered the greatest technological discovery in military history. They had mastered......LASER.