Monetistan
13-01-2006, 21:46
Monetistan
Ap Lei Chun Research Complex
The small, asian-looking man smiled, looking down the- Actually, not looking down. Looking up.
So, the small, asian-looking man smiled, looking up the fairly sizeable metallic eel in front of him, eyes gazing over its silhouette, measuring the somewhat oversized-looking apparatus, its smooth surface and oddly cute-looking bow – That it contained two two-point-three-nine megaton warheads didn’t seem to bother him. Much.
“And it works?” he asked, turning towards one of the bystanders, an engineer.
“Well, the reactor does. So does the torpedo itself – We had a couple testruns, already. The warheads are technically tested, too, but not with the present system, so, this will be the final test series before we’ll be finished and ready to produce.”
“Very good, then.” Mr. Lee nodded. “Well, go on.”
The engineer – Jennifer Hao – nodded.
Fourty-seven minutes later
“Almost on time… Impressive.” There was perhaps a little hint of irony in Lee’s voice – Just a hint, of course, but Jennifer noticed it clearly enough, and quietly cursed a few of her inferiors – but it didn’t really matter. Jennifer gave another nod, and a button was pressed (Personally, Jennifer would have preferred it if a lever had to be pulled, but Mr. Lee was decidedly in favour of less vintage-resembling methods, little technophile he was).
The torpedo started to move, slowly leaving the hanger, creating a wake of not-actually glowing water.
That’d come later.
Slightly more than twenty-four hours later, 2400km off the coast, approximately fifty kilometers off the decommissioned aircraft carrier Aerie
“Well… That was pleasant.”
Jennifer said nothing, she just looked at the (Apparently very relaxed and pleased) Mr. Lee, somewhat bored, and missing her usual tools and programs – She was an engineer, not a smug public relations fake-figure.
They’d taken the flight here, and she was tired (Though not hungry, due to the rather enjoyable meal) and just wanted to be over with it. That Mr. Lee was a fantastic host for his employees, well… Right now, she didn’t really care.
Mr. Lee waited for a few moments, and as no answer was forthcoming, leaned back. “Well… it should happen every moment, now…”
A quick glimpse to the clock. One second… Two seconds…
Ten seconds…
Twelve seconds…
“Think something happened?”
“Huh? No, it sh-“
It should, and it did.
The torpedo, having spent the last twenty-four hours in transit, guided partly by its programming, and partly by satellite – This being the primary reason for it to be so close to the surface – and leaving a faint trace of radiation on its path that’d result in rather interesting discoveries by fishermen over the next decade, had ‘disconnected’ from its first warhead perhaps half a minute ago.
Now it (And the second) warhead went off.
Mr. Lee, Jennifer, and the rest of the team – And Mr. Lee’s entourage – watched with interest as the two – quickly turning into one – fireball(s) expanded, consuming the old, strong-government-era ship with their rather excessive energies. At the distance in question – The second warhead had detonated just below the Aerie’s stern, the first had been released a hundred metres off – it was hardly surprising that the wreck didn’t exactly stay afloat.
“Well. I suppose you have a few more tests to do, yes?”
“Yes…” Jennifer sighed. “A few more months for various configurations and finetuning, a few more massive ships sinking – Well, it’s not like we could support them.”
The latter was, for all intends and purposes, true. Monetistan, for all its industrial strength and economic powerhouse-ness, was fracturised, essentially consisting of several thousand entirely independent entities.
And of course, very small, very independent entities have issues when it comes to maintaining vast and considerably expensive military equipment. Like large aircraft carriers.
“Well, good luck – I’m certain you’ll manage to make IONT a success.” Mr. Lee smiled, albeit very thinly. “Try and get rid of the radiation, though.”
“Well… I’ll try, but shielding will be expensive. But yes, Sir.”
“Mr. Lee.”
“Of course.”
Ap Lei Chun Research Complex
The small, asian-looking man smiled, looking down the- Actually, not looking down. Looking up.
So, the small, asian-looking man smiled, looking up the fairly sizeable metallic eel in front of him, eyes gazing over its silhouette, measuring the somewhat oversized-looking apparatus, its smooth surface and oddly cute-looking bow – That it contained two two-point-three-nine megaton warheads didn’t seem to bother him. Much.
“And it works?” he asked, turning towards one of the bystanders, an engineer.
“Well, the reactor does. So does the torpedo itself – We had a couple testruns, already. The warheads are technically tested, too, but not with the present system, so, this will be the final test series before we’ll be finished and ready to produce.”
“Very good, then.” Mr. Lee nodded. “Well, go on.”
The engineer – Jennifer Hao – nodded.
Fourty-seven minutes later
“Almost on time… Impressive.” There was perhaps a little hint of irony in Lee’s voice – Just a hint, of course, but Jennifer noticed it clearly enough, and quietly cursed a few of her inferiors – but it didn’t really matter. Jennifer gave another nod, and a button was pressed (Personally, Jennifer would have preferred it if a lever had to be pulled, but Mr. Lee was decidedly in favour of less vintage-resembling methods, little technophile he was).
The torpedo started to move, slowly leaving the hanger, creating a wake of not-actually glowing water.
That’d come later.
Slightly more than twenty-four hours later, 2400km off the coast, approximately fifty kilometers off the decommissioned aircraft carrier Aerie
“Well… That was pleasant.”
Jennifer said nothing, she just looked at the (Apparently very relaxed and pleased) Mr. Lee, somewhat bored, and missing her usual tools and programs – She was an engineer, not a smug public relations fake-figure.
They’d taken the flight here, and she was tired (Though not hungry, due to the rather enjoyable meal) and just wanted to be over with it. That Mr. Lee was a fantastic host for his employees, well… Right now, she didn’t really care.
Mr. Lee waited for a few moments, and as no answer was forthcoming, leaned back. “Well… it should happen every moment, now…”
A quick glimpse to the clock. One second… Two seconds…
Ten seconds…
Twelve seconds…
“Think something happened?”
“Huh? No, it sh-“
It should, and it did.
The torpedo, having spent the last twenty-four hours in transit, guided partly by its programming, and partly by satellite – This being the primary reason for it to be so close to the surface – and leaving a faint trace of radiation on its path that’d result in rather interesting discoveries by fishermen over the next decade, had ‘disconnected’ from its first warhead perhaps half a minute ago.
Now it (And the second) warhead went off.
Mr. Lee, Jennifer, and the rest of the team – And Mr. Lee’s entourage – watched with interest as the two – quickly turning into one – fireball(s) expanded, consuming the old, strong-government-era ship with their rather excessive energies. At the distance in question – The second warhead had detonated just below the Aerie’s stern, the first had been released a hundred metres off – it was hardly surprising that the wreck didn’t exactly stay afloat.
“Well. I suppose you have a few more tests to do, yes?”
“Yes…” Jennifer sighed. “A few more months for various configurations and finetuning, a few more massive ships sinking – Well, it’s not like we could support them.”
The latter was, for all intends and purposes, true. Monetistan, for all its industrial strength and economic powerhouse-ness, was fracturised, essentially consisting of several thousand entirely independent entities.
And of course, very small, very independent entities have issues when it comes to maintaining vast and considerably expensive military equipment. Like large aircraft carriers.
“Well, good luck – I’m certain you’ll manage to make IONT a success.” Mr. Lee smiled, albeit very thinly. “Try and get rid of the radiation, though.”
“Well… I’ll try, but shielding will be expensive. But yes, Sir.”
“Mr. Lee.”
“Of course.”