NationStates Jolt Archive

Los Angeles, California, Earth SSR--

"What-what-what!?"

The assembled generals on secure HoloNet communications lines were amazed and shocked at their Premier's request. Could this be true?

"But we just deployed the For Those About to Rock! The others are being built, but it will take time for them to be finished. Even the closest two, the Rock 'N' Roll Damnation and Back In Black just got finished! You mean to tell me, before we've even rolled out the design to our own navy, before we've given it a throrough shakedown, before we've even given these damn things crews, you wanna sell the Coredians one of these suckers--the Mao Zedong Mark IV--for testing purposes! I'm usually with you on these sort of things, but hell, this is a bit rushed, don't you think?" one of the Admirals said.

MacIntyre gave his usual, ever effacing smile, and said, "Gentlemen, relax. I know this seems a bit hasty. But believe me, this isn't the sort of thing that can wait. Intelligence indicates the Masaki Clan is about to face another round of assaults, and I feel that it is in our strategic interest to keep these fellows alive with the biggest firepower we can give them!"

"But a proprietary battleship!" yelled another Admiral.

"I agree. At least give us some time to get the appropriate crews up to speed....Jesus H. Christ! This isn't some toy we're talking about! We're talking about a monster!" screamed yet another, this time a Senator.

MacIntyre then said, curtly, "What crews do we have training to operate these things?"

Another Admiral flipped through a book, and said, "Reports indicate that the crews from the old Drama Casserole ships are undergoing simulation retraining in Nevada, Ft. MacAllister, and in Farrellsgrad, sir. They should be somewhat competent...though it is only simulation training."

MacIntyre then said, "Hmm....in that case, we'll give the crews some hands-on experience. I want to arrange a shakedown cruise with the Coredians onboard, to see if they'll buy the craft. Obviously, we'll conduct the live fire exercises without them onboard. We don't wanna scare them."

The other admirals were adamant, but MacIntyre eventually swayed them to his viewpoint.

--------------------------

A letter, marked top secret, was then sent to the Coredian Embassy in Little Tokyo. Borne by a simple bike messenger, he delivered it to the secretary at the Embassy without a word, and left.

"To Whom it May Concern--

The Workers State of New Dornalia would like to offer the Masaki Clan and the Imperial Republic of Coreworlds the ability to purchase one of our new Mao Zedong Mark IV battleships. We are willing to allow any available observers from the appropriate service branches/companies to come aboard one of the most recent examples of this model, the Back In Black, and follow our men on a shakedown cruise to demonstrate the abilities of what we hope you will feel is a vessel capable of defending your space.

Sincerely,

the Commissariat of National Defense."

A courier was sent back to the Dornalians double-quick.

"Quite. We're rather busy, what with war going on and all, so we will send a Padawan with a Naval Lieutenant attached. That should be sufficient."

~Field Marshal Daniel Masaki

"We are pleased to inform you that a Vector Representative will be along for the ride. Thank you for your attention."

~Vector Industries

It didn't take long for two young boys and a slightly older Vector Representative chick to fly to Los Angeles on their first mission without a Master, Captain or Manager looking over their shoulders. Their orders were simple: view the shakedown cruise of the battleship that Coredia will buy and report back on it (and hold the enthusiasm, please). Also, they would inquire of the torpedo replicators that New Dornalia uses to see if they can purchase the production rights for the Navy.

Their ship exited hyperspace over the Terran homeworld and requested landing protocols.

It didn't take long for two young boys and a slightly older Vector Representative chick to fly to Los Angeles on their first mission without a Master, Captain or Manager looking over their shoulders. Their orders were simple: view the shakedown cruise of the battleship that Coredia will buy and report back on it (and hold the enthusiasm, please). Also, they would inquire of the torpedo replicators that New Dornalia uses to see if they can purchase the production rights for the Navy.

Their ship exited hyperspace over the Terran homeworld and requested landing protocols.

Los Angeles, CA, Earth SSR--

Tower Six, Los Angeles International Spaceport

Tower Six's sensors and other items of that sort were hooked into the orbital network that detected the approach of the Coredians, and before long, picked up their transmission requesting landing protocols.

The man who heard the call got up, and yelled "HEY! NEW GUY!"

A fresh-faced, pimply-faced weedy new hire, presumably fresh out of Flight Controller School, ran up to the man and saluted him, a relic of his Army days. The man then said, "Keep your hand down, this ain't the Army. Be a good kid and direct these fine folks down to Los Angeles. Will ya? I gotta take a wicked leak."

The kid nodded, and said, "Understood!" before leaping into the seat with nervous enthusiasm. He then put on the headset and said, "Coredian vessel, this is Tower Six, Los Angeles International Spaceport. You are cleared to land, please proceed to hangar Twenty Four via Skyway Four. Be aware, the weather conditions are somewhat hazy today, which may lower visibility. Over."

When the Coredians finally did touch down onto LAX and landed in Hangar Twenty Four, they would be met by a representative from Jensen Design, a man from the People's Navy and a representative from the Commissariat of National Defense. A motorcade with a very strong security detail consisting of Marines and LAPD Officers watching was parked to the side, near Hangar Twenty Four, to bring the Coredians as quickly as possible to Jensen Design's headquarters in Long Beach in order to brief them, answer a few questions, and then bring them into orbit.

"Not a problem." Freckle-faced Padawan Xavier Weasley smiled over the comms. "Hazy weather is like clear skies to me."

"Jedi kids..." Lieutenant Wataru Hoshino shook his head good-naturedly, despite the fact that he was only a year older than the fifteen year old Jedi kid.

The Vector Chick simply smiled as the shuttle descended through the clouds and eventually landed.

The boys were rather short as Coredian boys tend to be, even after puberty sets in. Xavier had brown hair that seems to be a barber's nightmare as it nearly covered the kid's eyes. He refused to have it cut and hated ponytails. Wataru had more traditional close-cropped black hair with a small, clean rattail trailing down his neck for a couple of inches. The Vector Chick was a taller, voluminously-breasted redheaded chick with the unseemly name of Mune Eutus. All three headed down to LAX...

The boys were rather short as Coredian boys tend to be, even after puberty sets in. Xavier had brown hair that seems to be a barber's nightmare as it nearly covered the kid's eyes. He refused to have it cut and hated ponytails. Wataru had more traditional close-cropped black hair with a small, clean rattail trailing down his neck for a couple of inches. The Vector Chick was a taller, voluminously-breasted redheaded chick with the unseemly name of Mune Eutus. All three headed down to LAX...

...where they were met by Michael Jensen, the representative from Jensen Design. He shook the hands of the Coredians, and marveled to himself as he did so: "They must be really hurting over there; they had to send kids to greet us." Naturally, he didn't say that, and instead greeted the party with a smile and a, "Hello, I'm Michael Jensen, from the Jensen Design Bureau. If you would, please follow me."

He led them to the motorcade, and led them inside the limo. Once everybody got seated, he motioned to the driver to get moving, and he did so, radioing the security detail to move with him.

Speedily moving along the highway, he then said, "The driver will take us quickly to Jensen, since I bet you ladies and gentlemen don't have a lot of time. Lemme introduce you to my other colleagues."

He motioned to the Navy rep, a woman in full dress uniform, echoing an odd mixture of American and Soviet naval uniform designs of the 20th Century. She was thin, pale and at the moment, staring out the window when Jensen motioned to her, saying, "This is Admiral Katarzyna Wachowski, commander of the Back In Black."

She turned to the Coredians, nodded, and said in a thick Polish accent, "Good day" before turning back to the window. Jensen then turned to the Commissariat of National Defense's representative, a darkly tanned gentegata that although had the usual marks of her kind--cat ears--these were less distinctly pronounced than were usual. He then said, "This is Alejandra Jimenez de Melina-chibi. She represents the Commissariat of National Defense."

Bowing her head, she then spoke with a friendly voice, tinged with a slight Mexican accent saying, "How do you do?" as she extended her hand out to the Coredians. She added as she did so, "I'm empowered by the Commissariat to deal with your party in this instance, particularly in the procurement and shipment of weaponry--in this case, a battleship, I am correct?"

"Among other items, but yes, we are in the market for a battleship." The Lt said, leading the team and introduced them. "Lieutenant Wataru Hoshino. Jedi Padawan Xavier Weasley and Vector Rep. Mune Eutus. Nice to meet you too."

"Among other items, but yes, we are in the market for a battleship." The Lt said, leading the team and introduced them. "Lieutenant Wataru Hoshino. Jedi Padawan Xavier Weasley and Vector Rep. Mune Eutus. Nice to meet you too."

"Ah, that is good." Alejandra replied with a smile. "Well, Lieutenant, Padawan, Representative--I assure you that our government has only offered you the highest quality battleship in terms of defensive and offensive capability. The Mao Zedong Mark IV, as indicated in our initial missive to the Coredian Embassy in Little Tokyo, is the ship we will be offering, and as my colleague Mr. Jensen can tell you, it is quite powerful."

She then adds, "And I do not say this idly either, for I have seen the reports from the tests on the For Those About to Rock, the first example of the Mao Zedong Mark IV."

Jensen then adds, "Indeed. However, we recognize you may have some questions about the ship. Therefore, I have prepared this packet for you to get you fellows and ladies up to speed on the skinny behind this war machine we're offering."

He then opened a briefcase, and produced several packets of paper. Inside were the stats on the Mao Zedong Mark IV, and copies of all the reports from the tests.

The driver then said, "We're getting close to Long Beach, sir."

Jensen then said, "Good." He then turned to the Coredians and said, "I'll let you peruse those packets, and we'll be happy to field any questions. There will also be additional info waiting at Jensen HQ if you wish to see that."

Alejandra interjected, suddenly realizing the request: "I don't mean to be rude, but Lieutenant....what "other things" did your government want from us?"

Ooc: Stats are on the GFFA site, and reports I can RP out upon request.

"The Huntarian Alliance referred us to you for the purchase of your torpedo replicator system." The Lt. said as he and his friends perused the packet with approval.

"Sounds like a great addition to our fleet, but we'd like to see this ship in action nevertheless." Xavier said, trying to sound like a serene Knight, but failing to contain the excitement in his voice.

"The Huntarian Alliance referred us to you for the purchase of your torpedo replicator system." The Lt. said as he and his friends perused the packet with approval.

"Sounds like a great addition to our fleet, but we'd like to see this ship in action nevertheless." Xavier said, trying to sound like a serene Knight, but failing to contain the excitement in his voice.

"Ah. The Alianza. They were not wrong to refer you to us," Alejandra replied back.

"We'd be willing to license the Anaconda Replicating Torpedo Launcher System to Vector Industries and the Coredian Navy. I'll have my secretary print up a copy of the specifications once we make it...."

As he turned, he spotted the large, hangarlike structures that characterized Jensen Design's HQ. Michael then replied, "Well, it looks like we did. I'll have my secretary print out a copy, anywho."

They parked in a lot off to the side, guarded by company employees armed with high-powered rifles. Then, getting out, the Coredians were quickly escorted inside the building into the conference room. Along the way, he bumped into his secretary, and asked her to print out a copy of those Anaconda stats they wanted.

There, Michael said, "Okay, ladies and gentlemen, here's how its going to go down. Today, we're going to take you on a shakedown cruise of the Mao Zedong Mark IV class Battleship. In this case, the Back In Black is waiting in orbit, as we speak. Admiral Wachowski will assume command when we get onboard. Whilst onboard, you will be allowed to tour the facilities, observe the drones at work, observe the crew at work and be even able to participate in a series of live-fire tests in the Kuiper Belt. Mind you, we may be test firing weapons--live weapons--against the Back In Black. However, should you choose to observe the live fire assault tests from outside of the vessel--and for insurance reasons, we suggest that you do--shuttles will be available."

Jensen then said, "Now, any questions?"

The threesome looked at each other, and then Lt. Hoshino shook his head. "Not at this time, no. We're ready to be given the tour."

The threesome looked at each other, and then Lt. Hoshino shook his head. "Not at this time, no. We're ready to be given the tour."

Michael nodded and then said, "Right then." He was expecting some sort of questions...but he supposed they were going to hold them until the tour. Then, the secretary popped in, going, "Mr. Jensen?" She waved a manila envelope, and Jensen lit up, saying, "Ah yes! The Anaconda stats!"

He then picked them up and handed them over to the Coredians, distributing them as he said, "Now, these are the stats for the Anaconda Torpedo System. We are ready to sell you the plans, as Coredia is a trusted ally of the Workers State, though we must ask for payment-say 250,000,000 Universal Standard Dollars. I'm sure we can hammer things out though as we go up there."

He then looked at his watch, and said, "Excuse me for a moment." Leaving the room, he came back several minutes later with a portable computer, saying to the assembled, "Almost forgot my lappy. Never go anywhere without it." After packing it into an attaché case, he then said, "Let's go. Follow me."

Michael Jensen quickly led the parties, Dornalian and Coredian, though a series of industrial yellow halls decorated with safety posters, propaganda, and bulletin boards advertising Golf Day or Bring-Your-Daughter-To-Work-Day. A few lifts later, they then emerged on the roof of the campus, where a People's Navy Gagarin II shuttle was waiting. Leading them onboard, they would find a somewhat spartan yet comfortable environment, bearing the mark of "VIP Model." After all of them had assembled, Admiral Wachowski gave the signal to lift off, and they did so, with a roar.

Within minutes, they were in orbit, and out of the windows of the Gagarin, the assembled could get their first glimpse of the Back In Black in all of its glory. Lumbering into place, it dwarfed all the other ships around it, creating an imposing presence in the star lanes above Earth no one could ignore.....

"Wow, I could definitely see this ship would have a fine place among the Fleet." Lt. Hoshino said.

"Agreed." The Jedi Padawan nodded enthusiastically.

"Now now, boys! We still have to see the goodies inside, But I must say, it certainly looks like something out of Konoha Shipyards. Would fit right in there." Mune added.

"Wow, I could definitely see this ship would have a fine place among the Fleet." Lt. Hoshino said.

"Agreed." The Jedi Padawan nodded enthusiastically.

"Now now, boys! We still have to see the goodies inside, But I must say, it certainly looks like something out of Konoha Shipyards. Would fit right in there." Mune added.

"I'm glad to hear that. Jensen Design and the Karl Liebknecht Shipyard put their heart and soul into each Mark IV we produce. They're meant to be a limited batch of 900 altogether--small by Dornalian standards, you see," Michael said.

The pilot, meanwhile, contacted the vessel and got clearance to land aboard the Back In Black. Thus, they made it inside, parking in an empty spot. The side door opened, and the Admiral led them out.

As this occurred, one of the hangar crew said, "Attention on deck!" and the officers and Marines onboard stood to attention, standing ramrod straight and saluting the Admiral and the party. They saw the Coredians coming by and held the salute for them as well. Privately, however, some were surprised to see people they percieved as "kids" coming to visit.....one person thought to himself, "This isn't a Tiger Cruise, is it?"

They walked quickly through the ship onto the bridge, an impressive two tiered room filled with a massive screen in the front and control consoles with their own suite of viewing monitors and command and control computers to enable each man to do their job. The crew could be seen at work, waving their hands over the screens, chirping into mikes and pushing buttons. On the viewscreen in front is a view of the Earth in orbit, with Western North America and the Che Guevara Station clearly visible. Faintly, AC/DC's "Soul Stripper" can be heard playing off of someone's console.

The Admiral stepped onto her post, and then turned to the Coredians and the assembled, saying, "Ladies, Gentlemen, this is the bridge of the Back In Black. In particular, my control console. Mr. Jensen's company supplied this proprietary design for use on the Mao Zedong Mark IV. As you can see it is composed of several screens which provide real time information about the ship's status and battlefield conditions, as shown here."

Waving her hand over one of the screens, a three-dimensional map of the Solar system appeared, with the ship's position marked upon it. Poking it, she then focused in on the vessel, which produced a real-time, three dimensional map of the area around the ship, which she rotated, zoomed in, and zoomed out, using her hand and some commands on the console (OOC: Akin to Homeworld). She then said, "The map is good for up to the maximum on the sensors--in this case, one light-day."

She then pushed a few more buttons, and brought up a maps of the ship, a muster list of officers and soldiers, views from security cameras around the vessel and even outside the ship, as well as other command and control programs, as well as Gracie, whom she called up to the tune of Gracie going, "Hello! How can I help you today?"

She even called up a music player program where she proceeded to play a snippet of Dvorak's 9th Symphony. Upon that, she said, "Normally, the men play rock and roll music....I find it distracing."

She then tapped the microphone, and then said, "Atten-shun!"

The men then stood to attention, leaping from their seats in a highly disciplined, ordered formation. She then addressed them, saying, "Comrades, today, we have some men from the Jensen Design Bureau and Vector Industries. They are here to observe the workings of our vessel as we go on our trial run. You will cooperate with them as you will cooperate with me! Do you understand!?"

They then shouted, "Yes, Comrade-Admiral!"

Wachowski then said, "Now, Comrades! We have our orders! Proceed to the Kuiper Belt, and begin tests! All ahead at Warp!"

One of the other officers then yelled back, "All ahead aye, Comrade-Admiral!"

She then led the Coredians and the Dornalians to the lower bridge tier, where the majority of the consoles were. She then said, "You may now explore the bridge. Feel free to ask questions of the men and their equipment. I have to monitor our trip."

She then went back to her console, and began monitoring things, leaving them below....

Questions and conversations went on as the Back in Black zoomed towards the Kuiper Belt. They found Gracie to be quite a personable AI and Xavier even imagined a meeting between her and Chief, the result of which they fall in love and make lots of AI-babies. Then he shook his head at the funny but weird thought as they neared the belt.

Questions and conversations went on as the Back in Black zoomed towards the Kuiper Belt. They found Gracie to be quite a personable AI and Xavier even imagined a meeting between her and Chief, the result of which they fall in love and make lots of AI-babies. Then he shook his head at the funny but weird thought as they neared the belt.

The Back In Black's Tactical Officer then looked at his console, and reported back to Wachowski. Chirping into his microphone, he said matter-of-factly, "Comrade-Admiral, we're approaching the Kuiper Belt."

Wachowski waved her hands, bringing up the necessary dialog screens and replying, "All stop. Engineering, take us out of Warp!"

The ship shuddered somewhat, but the view on the screen returned to normal, showing empty space surrounded by asteroids and some comets flying past. Wachowski then waved on the screen once more, bringing up the packet containing the test parameters. She then called on her microphone, "XO, XO!"

The XO rushed up from his post, and saluted her, saying, "Yes, Comrade Admiral?"

Wachowski then said, "Begin the testing procedures. First, we'll simulate an attack. Let's test the Alert Protocols, inform the Tactical Officer."

He then nodded, and ran back to his post. Wachowski then pulled up a menu on her console that accessed the security cameras,and then patched herself in with the various Section commanders, that ran the aspects of the ship--Security, Engineering, Weapons, etc. and then said, "We're going to execute the test known as Darling Picky. Repeat, Darling Picky will be initiated. Over." She then hung up, and informed the XO and the Tac Officer, "Go to Red Alert."

With that, the ships klaxons made an intermittent cry over the PA, whilst yellow lights began flashing and Gracie piped in with, "Attention all crew. We are on Red Alert. Repeat, Red Alert. Report to battle stations." The order was repeated in Spanish, and then English again.

In the halls, a flood of men got up from whatever they were doing, and quickly ran across lifts, gangplanks, ladders, and stairwells to reach their posts. Their respective section commanders, Chief Engineers, Chief Armorers, Master-At-Arms for the Marine detail, etc., all called in, asking for their instructions. Wachowski then said, "Inform your men that that was a test of the alarm system and the crew's readiness. They have done reasonably well, according to expectations. Hold on a moment."

She then flipped through the testing document, and then said, "Helm, steer us into that concentration of asteroids."

The Helm replied skeptically, "Comrade Admiral, the asteroid concentration in that area are quite thick."

Wachowski then said, "Do it, or I will find someone who will."

The Officer saluted, and then executed the order, taking the ship into the worst of the asteroids. Now, the crew could feel the pings and light rumbles of large asteroids and the sounds of the point defenses doing their job (if somewhat strainedly, owing to the sheer number of asteroids coming in), hitting the shielding, to the tune of a warning dialog popping up on the console and Gracie declaring, somewhat panicky: "Umm....we're getting hit by asteroids! Big ones! Shields are holding! Point Defenses at 84% efficency! We're holding!" One even seemed almost ready to slam directly into the viewscreen, before the ships point defenses violently reacted, attacking it and splintering the asteroid into numerous pieces in a dramatic fashion.

Wachowski then told the somewhat nervous officers who were still on the line, "Now, we are going to begin test fire on some asteroids. Chief Armorer. Have your men begin targeting asteroids and firing on them with the ship's ordinance. Use all available measures. Engineering, have your men keep watch on systems, to ensure they don't get damaged too badly. Science, keep watch on the performance of the gunners and the engineers and be ready to give me some stats on how they did. Understood?"

They all saluted, and before long, the viewscreen was alight with green Demolisher Gun fire, soaring from the batteries. Hundreds of shots at a time hit clusters of asteroids, annihlating them and reducing them to clouds of dust.

Wachowski then took this opportunity to come down to the Party and say, "Would you like to see the Anaconda Guns at work? I will take you to Weapons, I'm sure they'll be firing those next."

Michael then said, "I have no objections." Alejandra said, "Neither do I."

They then turned to the Coredians, and awaited their reply.

OOC: Speeding things up some, CW. If you wanted to post the reactions of your men, I can edit this.

IC:

Wachowski then led them to the Weapons Area, and opened the door, leading them into a long oval-shaped hall filled with the rear assemblies of Anaconda Torpedo Launchers, which resembled turbines of some sort, in terms of hemispherical shape and the glowing lights coming from them.

Arranged like the broadsides of old "ships of the line," the launchers were busy at work, with the humming of replicators cranking out new torpedoes, the whirring and "kerchunk" sounds of the torpedoes being loaded into their drum magazines by the autoloaders, and the sounds of the rotating of the drums, the alignment with the tube and the "pteew!" and zipping sound of the torpedoes as they discharged from their containers, out to meet their targets the asteroids. All the while, speakers could be heard in the background, blaring at incredible volume loud rock music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym016NijZXs) to exhort the men forward. Even if it was a mock battle, it was treated with a great degree of sincerity.

A few of the officers recognized the Admiral, and saluted. She then waved at them and said, "At ease. Get back to work." She then walked past each one, inspecting the two-man teams assigned to each gun as they moved back and forth, monitoring them and ensuring a steady supply of power went to the replicator. She then said to Eutus, "This is the Anaconda system at work. Would you like a closer examination?"

"Nice. A simple modification to handle our own torpedoes and..." Mune muttered before she heard the question. "Oh, yes! Let me examine this further!"

"Nice. A simple modification to handle our own torpedoes and..." Mune muttered before she heard the question. "Oh, yes! Let me examine this further!"

Wachowski nodded and replied, "As you wish." She then led Mune to one of the Anaconda Launchers, and flagged down one of the teams. She tried to talk to them, but found the men were too distracted--call it the music or the work--to listen. So, she found a pair, tapped them on the shoulder and awaited their reply.

She got it, as the soldiers did an about face and stood straight up, saluting her. They were a couple of scruffy individuals, carrying armfuls of electronics and tools, their names marked "Loyola" and "Chalmers." She then said, "At ease!" The soldiers assuming the At Ease position, Admiral Wachowski then said, "Comrades. Show our guests the Anaconda Torpedo Launcher."

They nodded, and then she yelled out, "Kurwa! (OOC: Polish equivalent of the F-bomb) Will someone turn down this cursed music!? I cannot hear myself think!"

Gracie then piped in, and said, "Righto! Lowering music!"

The volume lowered just a tad, the team then turned to Eutus, and then one of them, the man named Loyola then said, "Well, lemme introduce you to this little sucker here. Anaconda Number 5--we call this one Momma Cass."

Tapping it with pride, he then pointed to a screen with some buttons on the back and said "This here's the main control console. You can set the gun from Safe to Fire. Here, you can also program in the type of ammunition you want to use that the machine can replicate, like so--" he then pushes a few buttons, and brings up the appropriate dialog screen--"Or you can set it to External Loader Mode, and load in a specialized round, like so." He then pushes a few buttons again, and the screen switches to a dialog flashing, "Please insert desired munition."

The man then yells at the other team member, "Hey Chalmers! Quit staring at the lady and open the Loading Hatch, will ya?"

Chalmers then sighed, and opened the Hatch. It revealed the interior, a softly lit environment big enough, it seemed fit a torpedo. Inside the interior, a hopper could be seen moving back and forth between the Magazine and the Replicator, which seemed to magically produce a torpedo out of thin air before moving it up to one of the empty slots in the Drum magazine and then inserting it in with an autoloader, and repeating the process again. Loyola then put the procedure on pause, for safety reasons.

Loyola then said, "Right. Now, normally when we have specialized torpedoes, there's a hatch down here--"he then pointed to a spot on the floor marked wth yellow and black caution flags--"That opens up and elevates another assembly into place. Then, the thing extends an external loading gate into the interior, a highspeed elevator to lift the torp from a heavily shielded magazine underneath, and a crane to plop 'er in place. When we're done, we push the right commands on the console, and then pack up the assembly and lower it back down."

Loyola then said, "Any questions? What other parts of the Anaconda would you like to know about? I can leave the Loading Hatch open for ya to examine."

"Nice, very simple to install and learn. What is the rate of fire of one torpedo tube?" Mune asked.

"Nice, very simple to install and learn. What is the rate of fire of one torpedo tube?" Mune asked.

Loyola then leaned on the cylinder and thought for a moment, then said, "On a good day, with no power interruptions and a constant stream of fire, and when we gotta really lay down the law....oh I say about twenty-forty a minute."

EDIT; Changes made after some contemplation.