Star Wars Rogue Knight - Chapter 34

Part 1

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Republic R&D Centre

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Coruscant

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A schematic of “BR-1 Hailstorm” floats in a holo-tank display. The rifle is modded with under-slung grenade launcher as well as reflex sight in case the uplink to a clone’s HUD display is down.

“As you can see, the replacement for the standard blaster carbine used by our troopers is at hand. The Hailstorm is ten percent more accurate…”

A line of clones could be seen, taking aim at a modified firing range. Suddenly the light dims and dozens of holographic targets appears. They start moving erratically, more often than not hiding behind cover strewn all over the range. A moment later, the targets start blinking out of existence, reaped by accurate burst of blaster fire.

“Nevertheless, that particular ȧsset of our new weapon is of secondary value, no matter how useful. Considering the toughness of the CIS Super Battle Droids, we deem that the next feature of the BR-1 is of a paramount importance. The Hailstorm is twenty five percent deadlier than its predecessor, making it an ideal tool to deal with the soulless hordes of the Confederation.”

A clone trooper appears in the holo-tank. The view angle changes to reveal that he is facing a Super Battle Droid. The soldier takes aim and sends a single tri-shot burst at the machine’s ċhėst plating. The metal plate boils at the points of impact instant before disintegrating, thus allowing the third blaster shot to pass unimpeded into the war droid’s innards.

“Another great feature of the Hailstorm is that each rifle is designed to work seamlessly with a multipurpose grenade launcher. The “Grendel” itself is a superb piece of Republic engineering and know how. It could fire one of two dozen types of grenades. From the standard and loved Fragmentation, to the ever useful High Explosive, to anti-personnel rounds containing mono-molecular edged flechettes, stun and Ion rounds as well as various other munition types which would suit any situation the modern soldier could find himself in.”

A room full with mannequins of Geonosian natives appears in the holo-tank. A muted thump could be heard a second later. Then the room explodes in a eye-watering fire storm.

The image changes to another group of the insect like beings. This time they are shredded by a storm metal shards.

“Naturally, the BR-1, no matter how good it is, is not fit for every situation. Next I want to present you the SR-3 ‘Reaper’, multi purpose sniper rifle. With few easy tweaks, this piece of deadly technology could be modded to fit different mission parameters. From anti-material work-”

The view changes again, showing a standard CIS APC moving over a rocky road. Kilometres of empty tundra could be seen on both sides of the third rate motorway.

“to a precise anti-personnel system.”

This time, the image is not staged. It shows a Duros clad in long coat, arriving on a landing pad, where an advanced looking starfighter awaits him. When the man reaches the ground he is struck by invisible force, which takes a huge chunk from his shoulder.

“As the latest, gruesome display shows, no one is really safe on a modern battlefield. That’s why, we made sure to give our boys and girls the best possible chance of survival! I want to present you our newest series of armours! Please keep in mind, that no matter how good they are, those outfits are only a stepping stone for our true goal – effective combat exoskeletons and power armours.”

The next image is a suit of armor, similar to that worn by the Clone Commandos. The only apparent differenced is that the new armor is a centimetre or so thicker.

“As you can see, the new medium armor Mark II is not very different from what we outfit our special forces with. At least in appearance. However, the Mark II is a different beast. First, it’s made from a new composite, which gives it almost two and half times better protection against both energy and kinetic impact. Second, the Mark II has integrated shield generator, which not only doesn’t need a backpack to carry, but it releases orders of magnitude less harmful radiation!”

A mannequin clad in said armor could be seen. It tanks the fire of six clones armed with the old type of carbines, for couple of seconds, before the shields are depleted. Then, the strength of the composite is truly shown, when the unshielded armor takes enough punishment to decimate a squad worth of soldiers before its breached.

“When the going gets tough, our troopers need to break out the heavy weapons. For such instances, we designed the Juggernaut Heavy armor. As you can see, it somewhat resembles the Medium Mark II, all the while it provides protection close to a light vehicle. The trooper’s strength and battlefield endurance are vastly increased thanks to motorized joins, which not only take off a lot of pressure from a soldier’s body, but allows the use of heavy weapons with ease! Further, the Juggernaut, integrates much more powerful shields and can carry various other equipment. For example, a portable Jammer, AA or AT missile pack, high-powered comm equipment…”

The next image shows a two meters tall behemoth of gleaming metal. He carries a heavy laser cannon. He has a backpack with two vertically launched AA missiles.

“Next, something for our scouts. The Ghost Armor. It is lighter than the Mark II, though it features the same shield system. What makes this outfit a unique piece of equipment, is its purpose. Thanks to built-in sound dampeners and thermo-optic camouflage field, the Ghost Armor renders its wearer virtually invisible!”

A soldier in a slimmer, form fitting armor is shown. Then he vanishes leaving a bȧrėly visible haze behind. Moments later it’s gone too, leaving no sight of the man.

“Finally, we come to our crown achievement so far! The ‘Raptor’ 01 prototype! This is our first working variant of a combat exoskeleton ready for field testing! It features…”

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