© 1999-2001 Imminent Storm of NEWST.
Colonel Franke walked towards the Uultra Cyorg plant. It was a brisk morning with the air full of the sounds of repairs underway and units moving to and fro busily fulfilling their tasks. He looked to the east. The once beautiful evergreen wooded hills that towered over the base were now blackened, cratered, and blasted away. It was unquestionable that the Ultra-Borgs played a key role in winning that fight. Any lingering doubts about their performance were now gone. What worried him though was that the ED was not using U-Borgs of their own. It’s likely that the enemy U-Borg encountered by Necron was intended for this base; but why only one? The enemy was planning something, and likely something big.
He entered the Factory and walked into the large open space called the "Hangar" where the Ultra-Borgs were stored for repair. Standing against the far back wall were two completed new Ultra-Borgs.
"Ah. Colonel, we've been waiting for you. Come over here."
He looked in the direction of the voice and saw the other five members of his team standing with a short, skinny man in blue work clothes motioning to him. He walked over and joined them.
"Good, glad you all are here," the man in blue said. "I am a member of the research team here and I was assigned to manage the Ultra-Borg production. I'm sure you are interested in the progress so far. Those two," pointing to the two new Ultra-Borgs at the back, "are finalizing the fitting of their shoulder weapons. For the lack of better names right now we have given them the designations 'UB Delta 1' and 'UB Delta 2'. Delta 1 on the left is Colonel Franke's; and Delta 2 on the right is Captain Rogers's. They have been both built according to the designs you requested. Now, if you'll follow me...." He walked over to a control panel. "Everyone stay inside the yellow-black striped lines please." They all moved into the area designated. The production manager pressed a button on the control panel. Railings came up around them and the entire section of the floor they were standing on moved down. They now entered the underground factory floor.
There were six sections marked on the floor of the facility. Each section was big enough for an entire Ultra-Borg. The back two were mostly empty, where the first two were previously built. The center two sections were occupied by semi-completed U-Borg parts, workers, and construction robots. The front two sections were occupied by a few workers, but no parts were under construction. The production manager began talking again. "This is where we build them. Then we move them upstairs to the hangar for weapon fitting and finalizing settings." The elevator they were on reached the floor and stopped, and its railings retracted. "We have some guides here to show you around to your machines, in their various stages of construction. We plan to start work on the last two within the hour; they are doing prep work right now. Captain Rogers, you will be taken back up-stairs so you can make finalized settings for your machine, and give it a name. Colonel Franke, I'd like you to come with me. I want to talk about the primary weapon you selected."
The group split up. Richard walked over to where his U-Borg was previously built along with the manager. There was a huge, oddly shaped gun-like weapon there. On the front of the weapon he could see what looked like two laser emitters and two other ports he couldn't tell what they were for.
The manager spoke. "This is the high power laser weapon you selected. We have laser hand weapons already on file, but this one, the one you brought the plans for, is far different. It's quite possibly the most complex weapon ever built. It has two laser emitters. The first is a beam laser that functions as a weapon in its primary mode and a laser targeting system and range finder in its secondary mode. The second emitter is a super pulse laser. It has three times the wattage of the conventional pulse laser. Now its the second weapon system available on this thing that's really interesting. The weapon contains the first known true Particle Projection Cannon, or PPC, that actually works. I assume that somewhere around 2080, huge leaps in weapon technology made this possible. It carries a fuel tank of anti-hydrogen plasma. This anti-matter plasma is ionized into twin streams of positrons and anti-protons. These streams can then be fired at velocities near the speed of light either separately or simultaneously in short half-second bursts. It must then re-charge. There is enough fuel for 20 shots of each type. The sub-atomic particle bursts cause massive physical degeneration and thermal damage, as you might imagine. The positron stream has longer range but less physical impact; the anti-proton stream has shorter range but more physical impact. Now, you must be careful, since even solid matter is mostly empty space, not all of the particles you fire will interact with your target; most will go right through and hit things behind the target. Keep that in mind. Any questions?"
Questions came pouring into Richard's mind but he decided against asking them. "No."
"Ok, good; let's take you back up to get you aqcuainted with your machine."
They took another elevator back up to the hangar floor. Chris already had his U-Borg up and walking around. Each step it took vibrated the floor and made it tricky to walk. The manager turned around and handed him a package. "One more thing," he said, "you need to put this suit on, it allows the restraints to anchor to your body much better. You can change in that room over there." He pointed to a small door along the wall.
A few minutes later Richard came out wearing the suit. It was skin tight with anchor points placed at numerous areas. "Ok, now that you are ready, we can plug you in." They took another elevator that let them off at a catwalk that ran next to the U-Borg's pilot hatch. Soon they had the entrance hatch open and he was getting "plugged in."
"Ok now," the manager was speaking over the intercom inside the "slot" where the pilot was secured in the torso, "once the restraints are in place and the synaptic link is engaged we can begin." Richard felt a wave of claustrophobic panic come over him as the place went dark and the walls closed in. He felt devices wrap around him and lock to the anchor points on his suit. He tried to put it out of his mind. Then came the familiar feeling of the synaptic link plug inserting into the socket at the base of his skull. The manager came back on, "Good, all stats normal. Now we need to calibrate the onboard CPU and data systems to your brain patterns and download the operation commands into your brain. This machine is a lot different from all our other units and cyborg armor; it's far more complex. This is going to feel weird, so just hold on tight."
'Weird' was an understatement. The feeling was the most strange and odd feeling he had ever felt, and there are no words in the dictionary to describe it. In a few moments, though, it passed. "Ok now, we are going to link you up to the U-Borg's systems now." He felt something click. The darkness and the silence vanished. He was looking with the machine's "eyes" and hearing with its "ears" now. The view was a little disorienting; its not everyday your point of view is from sixty feet up in the air. "Alright, can you see?"
"Yes, I can see. This is... amazing...."
"I'll bet it is. Now, all we need is a code name that you and your ultra-borg will be referred to as in battle."
"I want you to name it ... 'Paladin'"
"Ok, Paladin it is. Now, let's try a few exercises. I am removing the magnetic locking clamps now. Take a few steps and try to get used to moving about." Chris had already taken his U-Borg outside, so the hangar was empty.
He raised his arm and looked at his hand. He tried to move his fingers and the U-B’s fingers moved. "Wow, this truly is amazing." He took a step, and in doing so almost fell over. It was a lot harder to balance than walking normally. But after a few minutes, he was starting to get a feel for it. The balancing mechanisms were slower reacting than a human body so one had to anticipate moves further in advance. About ten minutes later he was adjusted to the new balance, and walking fine.
"Well, it looks like you are getting it. Time for a little practice."
A panel in the floor opened up, and his hand weapon came up on an elevator. "Let's see what you can do with that." He walked over to the gun. He lifted it up and almost fell over again. "Whoa! This thing's heavy" Richard commented as he regained his balance.
"Yes, it is. Let's go outside and practice on a target I had set up last night."
He went outside and the manager followed in a small vehicle. He now noticed that stationed on the western hills was a large, 5-meter by 5-meter bullseye type target. "Now, try to shoot it with the positron cannon. Remember, it’s untested, so be careful."
"Ok." He raised the weapon and aimed, leaning backwards slightly to help maintain balance. His rangefinder was dead center and read 200 meters. The weapon was switched to fire the positron beam. He pulled the trigger and a bright blue beam shot from the gun. It was a clean hit. The target melted badly, a small hole burnt right through its center. "Wow. This thing's got some punch. That's the same armor as on the Ultra Borgs?"
"Yes it is. It's a little thinner than usual, and without the normal reinforcing, but it's the same compound."
Several solid rounds flew over Paladin's left shoulder and hit the now damaged target, blowing it to pieces. He turned around and saw Chris's U-Borg, code named "Bahamut", holding its heavy machine gun, the barrel now smoking from use.
"But," Chris said, "There's nothing like a good machine gun. You can have your fancy laser weapons and particle cannons if you want, but I prefer to put metal slugs through my enemies."
"Well now; you're having fun aren't you?" was Richard's amused reply.
"Hehe, yeah! I guess you could say that I'm having some fun."
By the next morning, the six Ultra-Borgs were finished and ready for combat. And soon, combat was exactly what they were going to face.
The Commander was enjoying his morning coffee in his office when a message came in from Ops. "Commander we have a com signal coming in. It's in text only sir."
"Text only?"
"Yes sir, text only."
"Ok, put it through...."
The message appeared on his computer screen. It was very short. After reading it, The Commander almost dropped his coffee in shock. "Ah, Hell." He ran out of his office towards Ops.
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Team Leader: 
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Pilot: Colonel Richard D. Franke
HEAD: AP-60/Redeye Mk2. A re-designed Redeye headpiece, housing more precise targetting systems intended specifically for particle weapons. |
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A sophisticated medium assault model, Paladin is armed with high-power laser weaponry and the experimental Particle Cannon. Precise particle-targetting systems should prove useful and deadly against aerial and ground targets alike. | |
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Ultra-Borg 00T2-A: Bahamut 
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Pilot: Captain Christopher J. Rogers
HEAD: AP-80/HD One. A large headpiece housing powerful radar and target-lock systems. |
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As a medium assault model, Bahamut is both lighter weight and much faster than the super-heavy assault model Tiamat. It packs high explosive and solid-shot weapons, making it another ideal choice for general-purpose destruction, blanketing, and demolitions. | |
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Ultra-Borg 00T3-A: Longbow 
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Pilot: Captain Lisa T. Fletcher
HEAD: AP-54/Sniper |
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As a light recon/sniper model, Longbow carries an assortment of long-range and high-accuracy weapons coupled with the AP-54/Sniper's long range targetting systems. Excellent in stealth and distance combat, but not suitable for heavy or close combat purposes. | |
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Ultra-Borg 00T4-A: Rapier 
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Pilot: Lieutenant Jim L. Rezna
HEAD: AP-27/Redeye |
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A moderate assault model, Rapier is best suited for close-range or point-blank combat. Its high agility and light weight is tempered by two plasma-cutter systems and energy pack, enabling the Rapier to literally cut an opponent to pieces at close range. No long-range capability; usefulness against aerial targets is limited at best. | |
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Ultra-Borg 00T5-A: Pandora 
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Pilot: Lieutenant Sarah L. Wagner
HEAD: AP-75/Eagle Eye: A special headpiece designed to process radar data and calculate adaptive jamming routines for the "Black Ops" torso. |
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A medium specials model, Pandora sacrifices virtually all damage potential for stealth and sabotage/espionage weaponry. Pandora is virtually invisible to radar, thermal, and audio detection; EMP cannons help assure that Pandora is never seen or heard. Best used in conjunction with combat mech designs such as Paladin and Bahamut. | |
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Ultra-Borg 00T6-A: Phalanx 
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Pilot: Sargeant Harry K. Armstrong
HEAD: AP-30/Bonehead |
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A heavy assault/demolitions model, Phalanx carries a large aresenal of rapid-fire and super-high caliber cannon weaponry. Tank-based propulsion system supports the heavy weight load and hardcast ammunition capacity. Primary weapons useful against both ground and air targets; secondary weapons limited in capacity but ideal for demolitions. | |
