MGM-493 Arceus
Statistics
Type: Long range truck or ship launched ballistic missile
Weight: 29,520 kg (missile only)
Dimensions: 8.23 meters (length); 1.67 meters (diameter)
Propulsion: 3-stage polymer bonded nanoparticle Al-AP solid fuel propellant
Guidance: Inertial with stellar reference
Performance: speed of approximately 17,000 km/h; range of 6,790 km; ceiling of 402.33 km; throw weight 11,000 kg
Payload: 1x W512 "Judgement" fusion warhead (with reentry vehicle) with 23 MT yield; 10,420 kg conventional HE warhead (with reentry vehicle); 5x CMX-109 "Koffing" binary chemical warhead yielding 1,500 kg of agent (with reentry vehicle); 5x IW-637 "Volcarona" cluster incendiary warhead each containing 1,200 bomblets (with reentry vehicle)
Notes by Doctor Kaminko
This is the Coalition's first weapon of mass destruction (or "superweapon" as it has been referred to by some soldiers). The missile is launched from "Wailord" aquatic launch platform or "Lunatone" mobile launch pad. The propellant formulation used is a polymer bonded nanoparticle Al-AP solid fuel — the same formula that is used by the "Solrock" launch vehicle.
Early on, "Solrock" launch vehicles had been modified to carry explosives, chemical or incendiary weapons and used as improvised ballistic missiles. While these rockets were capable of carrying payloads equal to that carried by an entire "Dragonite" supersonic bomber, they were ill-suited for use as weapons. In most instances, the rockets usually burnt up upon reentry or missed their targets (a consequence of the fact that the "Solrock" rockets were not designed to be reused). This dismal failure led to Project Clefable, a crash research project at Fort Phenac to develop a suitable ballistic missile with scientists from Mossdeep Space Center.
After only a year, the team had developed the LGM-493 ballistic missile, which has been dubbed "Arceus". Preliminary tests at Eclo Proving Grounds were hailed as a great success: not only was the missile accurate, reliable and swift, it carried a large payload.
Its first use in combat was the destruction of a Team Snagem stronghold in Orre. Since then it has mostly been equipped with a large HE warhead for destroying materiel; on occasion it has been fitted with five CMX-109 "Koffing" binary chemical warheads for use against massed quantities of bug-types. IW-637 "Volcarona" cluster incendiary warheads have also been used to raze forests or cities overrun by hostile pokémon.
The warhead itself was created after nearly three years of intensive research that draws from numerous research fields including but not limited to: fusion power, Electrode physiology, materials science, electrical engineering, explosives engineering, energetic chemistry and metallurgy.
The exact sequence of the warhead's detonation has not been conclusively elucidated but at least two mechanisms have been proposed. What is conclusively known is how the first stage detonates. The first stage only serves to ignite the secondary fusion reaction — its contribution to the yield of the warhead is negligible compared to the fusion secondary.
The first stage is derived from the ultra-high density energy storage media (based off the physiology of Electrode) of the same type used in Sunyshore Tower. While capacitors using this media are capable of storing vast amounts of electricity, they tended to violently fail if they were overcharged. Obviously, overcharging an energy storage bank large enough to produce the required yield to initiate the secondary stage is both too dangerous and impractical. Instead, it was found that crushing a charged capacitor into a with a powerful shockwave causes a massive simultaneous decay of the electrons into a more stable energy level, releasing a massive burst of gamma radiation in the process — and vaporizing the capacitor. However, sending a short high-voltage and high-amperage pulse of electricity into a charged capacitor before imploding it considerably boosts the yield of gamma photons. All of this occurs in the nanosecond time scale. This entire assembly is placed atop the second stage.
The second stage consists of a tungsten tamper/pusher wrapped around a cryostat containing 700 kg of cryogenic deuterium. To maintain the 15 kelvin temperature required to keep the fusion fuel in a liquid state, 40 kg of nevermeltice is used as insulation in addition to various heat-reflective coatings. Additional insulation is provided by the silica aerogel foam that fills the remaining space of the warhead. Due to the extensive insulation provided, boiling and subsequent venting of the fusion fuel is minimal (30 days at 325 kelvin ambient air temperature resulted in approximately 0.5% by mass loss of the cryogenic deuterium).
A smaller Electrode capacitor (250 grams) is placed inside the center of the charge and charged to approximately 3 kF. This capacitor serves only to heat the fusion fuel. During the implosion process, the extreme pressure causes it to release its stored energy as a single burst of gamma rays. This then heats the fuel to temperatures required to initiate fusion.
The primary, known as the "sparkplug", consists of a standard 1 kg Electrode capacitor charged to approximately 30 kF and surrounded by 392 carefully machined explosive lenses. While technically any explosive that can be molded into the proper shape can be used, DPP is preferred despite its lower velocity of detonation as it is a hard, stable and insensitive explosive that can be machined to very tight tolerances with conventional tools.
Upon initiation of the device, two explosively pumped flux compression generators are simultaneously triggered by barometric fuzes. One is used to generate a powerful but short electric charge lasting approximately 3.5 µs. The other produces the electrical pulse that initiates the slapper detonators.
The explosive lenses then shape the shockwave into a roughly spherical pattern that exerts an even force over the capacitor, causing to it implode. In mere microseconds, a massive burst of gamma radiation is emitted. Normally, the gamma rays would be radiated into the air, heating it to millions of kelvin, but the warhead casing (which is made of a high Z metal such as tungsten or lead) serves as a holrhaum to focus and contain the gamma rays so they can drive the fusion of the secondary.
This intense burst of gamma radiation is responsible for the compression of the fusion fuel. However, how the energy is transmitted to the fusion secondary has not been conclusively determined.
One hypothesis proposes that the gamma rays from the detonation of the primary are reflected off and focused into the aerogel foam that surrounds the secondary. This then turns the foam into plasma, which expands at a rapid rate, crushing the secondary and initiating fusion. However, implosion experiments under similar conditions reveal that pressure produced by the plasma is only slightly greater than the radiation pressure from the gamma rays produced by the primary. In addition, the aerogel foam is "transparent" to gamma radiation, suggesting that energy transfer to the foam will be minimal.
Another, better supported, hypothesis proposes that the immense gamma ray flux from the primary stage causes rapid ablation of the tamper/pusher. As a result, the vaporized material expands outward at high velocity; consequently, the tamper/pusher recoils inward at an even higher velocity (owing to the fact that a substantial mass of tamper/pusher has been vaporized). This rapid recoil of the tamper/pusher crushes the rest of the secondary, causing the internal igniter to release gamma rays and heating the fuel. Fusion of the deuterium fuel can now proceed. The aerogel foam simply serves to delay the ablation until a sufficient fraction of the energy has reached the tamper/pusher.
Calculations showing the secondary's maximum yield, which assumes complete fusion of the deuterium fuel, are shown below:
m = 700 kg (mass of deuterium fuel)
e = 82.2 kt/kg (energy content of deuterium)
Total yield = me
Total yield = (700 kg)(82.2 kt/kg)
Total yield = 57,540 kt (57.40 MT)
The actual yield of the device as was calculated from timing the gap between the first flash and the second flash as was detected by specialized photodetectors. This "double flash" is unique to rapid fusion and Electrode capacitor energy level decay and is caused by gamma and x-rays heating the air to incandescence (the first flash), the subsequent shockwave then compresses the air in front of it to such a degree that it becomes ionized. This ionized air is opaque to visible light and serves to reduce the fireball's perceived luminosity (the dip). As the ionized air cools, it becomes transparent to visible light, causing the still hot fireball's perceived luminosity to increase (the second flash). Do note that while the shock front is dimmer than the fireball itself, its luminosity is still far greater than that of the Sun.
It is not possible for the device to reach its calculated maximum yield due to the fact that pressures and temperatures conducive to thermonuclear fusion cannot be sustained until total consumption of the deuterium fuel.
The efficiency of the device is calculated as shown:
% efficiency = 100(actual yield/theoretical yield)
% efficiency = 100(23/57.40 megatons)
% efficiency = 40.1%
Hypothetically, using two opposed primaries or a primary with a higher yield could also allow pressures and temperatures conducive to fusion to persist for a greater period of time as well as compressing the fusion fuel to a higher density. However, I do not recommend this path be taken as it wastes rare materials and labor for what is likely to be a minimal increase in yield.
I recommend that this device be deployed only in the direst of circumstances due to its extreme destructive potential as well as its cost. Construction of this weapon is very labor intensive (both the warhead and missile itself) and requires rare materials (many of which are used in power plants, vehicles and other important infrastructure). In addition, numerous highly-trained personnel are required to operate and maintain this weapon.
However, compared to the potential loss of life that would be sustained if a location such as Mount Moon were conventionally assaulted, the "Arceus" is well-worth the cost.
Special Security Protocols
Because of the extreme power of this device, protocol dictates that the device be broken into three separate pieces (the primary, the fusion secondary and the central "spark plug") when not in use. Each piece is to be stored in separately locked bunkers at least 30 km distant from the other bunkers containing the remaining components. Each bunker shall be under constant armed guard with electronic surveillance in constant use.
Selected Field Reports
"Do we need Lugia's forces anymore?" Captain Bruno Marshall, 85th Missile Regiment (Fort Pyrite)
"I am Yveltal. The Destroyer." Doctor Teller Ulam, High Energy Weapons Research Division (Fort Phenac)
"Is this even a good idea?" Doctor Ivy Michaels, High Energy Weapons Research Division (Fort Phenac)
"Victini, eat your heart out!" Bianca Alba, Castelia News Network reporter.
"Aptly named." Major General Wes Rulson, Commander (Fort Pallet)
"Let's see what Ho-Oh thinks of us 'pathetic humans' now!" Doctor Glennis Peene, Project Clefable (Fort Phenac)
"This is a gross misuse of Mossdeep Space Center's research but what choice do we have?" Doctor Werner Münde, Project Clefable (Fort Phenac)
Tales from the Front Lines
A "Lunatone" mobile launch pad slowly rumbled as it made its way down the dusty roads that crisscrossed Orre. Two open bed "Turtwig" trucks with soldiers riding in the back followed. The "Lunatone's" payload was unremarkable — even boring. It was a simple white painted sleek metal tube with four fins and an aerodynamic nosecone. This was the LGM-493 "Arceus" ballistic missile.
Everyone in the Coalition, as well as numerous civilians, had heard of the weapon. It had been used innumerable times to destroy Uxie's laboratories, research complexes and factories as well as strongholds of various violent non-state actors. But it had never been equipped with a payload this destructive before.
Eclo Canyon Proving Grounds, Orre. Team Snagem had once called the harsh craggy landscape home. But seven years later, the once elaborate labyrinth of tunnels, laboratories and ancillary structures was no more than a desolate plain. Craters and gouges from Coalition bombing runs, artillery practice and pokémon battles scarred the landscape. Mangled metallic ruins jutted from the shifting sands like the bones of a long-dead prehistoric pokémon.
But even among these scars were two craters that dwarfed the others. One was big enough to fit a stadium into and the other was merely large enough to swallow a house. Remnants of test shots Omega Sapphire and Alpha Ruby respectively. These early tests of the Electrode capacitor primary were preludes to the destruction that would soon be unleashed. Even though the primaries were intended solely to ignite and compress the fusion secondary, the large craters they gouged in the desert landscape was a testament to the sheer power needed to initiate fusion.
But now, incongruously, the ravaged landscape had a small town in its midst. Golem, Eevee, Alakazam, Venusaur and other pokémon milled around. Some armored vehicles slowly trundled through the town. To an untrained observer, it was an oasis in the middle of a harsh land. They could not be more wrong. The "pokémon" were really advanced drones that possessed the same durability as the real thing. Psychic-types even placed Light Screens, Barriers and Protects to better mimic realistic battlefield conditions. As for the armored vehicles patrolling the town, they were obsolete Coalition vehicles that had been fitted with remote control steering and programmed to follow a preset patrol route. This was Town #1, a town whose only purpose was to be destroyed.
Another town just like Town #1 was erected 5.6 kilometers away. The same vehicles and fakemons ambled through the town. It too, existed solely to be destroyed.
One could reasonably wonder why armored vehicles were set up as targets given that vehicles of any sort had been used only by Humans. But as with any war, new intelligence had a way of obviating previous plans and preconceptions. Kalosian refugees had reported seeing pokémon armed with stolen Human weaponry and even entire citadels constructed by pokémon. Picturing The All-Knowing's forces using armored vehicles wasn't too far of a stretch. Furthermore, intel suggested that a group of warlords known as "Team Flare" was currently active in Kalos.
Eclo Canyon Proving Grounds – 75 km away from ground zero
T-minus 30 minutes
A crowd of journalists, scientists, military personnel and not an insignificant number of interested civilians milled about. Most of them made small talk or drank ice-cold water in an attempt to stave off the searing Orrean heat. Behind them was the endless expanse of desert that made up the proving grounds.
Stone-faced MPs stood ready to keep order and usher the guests to their proper locations. No one paid them any heed; after all, Eclo Canyon Proving Grounds was an Coalition military installation.
A man with a video camera on a tripod aimed at a young black-haired woman. "Are we rolling?" she asked.
"It's all yours Bianca." Bianca — the black-haired woman — picked up the microphone from a table just out of view. She gestured for the man to get the camera rolling.
"Good day. This is Bianca Alba of the Castelia News Network. Today, I have been invited to the Eclo Canyon Proving Grounds by Doctor Kaminko himself to witness the test of the Coalition's newest weapon. However, I am not allowed to say anything about the weapon other than its name. As befitting its incredible destructive power, it has been given the name 'Judgement'. Today's test marks the first time that this device has ever been launched from a missile. You can't see it from here, but two mock towns have been set up for scientists to gauge the missile's destructive power."
Eclo Canyon Proving Grounds – 16 km away from ground zero
T-minus 20 minutes
Scientists and technicians scrambled like Durant as they checked and double checked the measuring equipment. A group of allied Mr. Mime and Gardevoir frantically worked to erect additional Light Screens.
Shimmering walls indicated that Barrier and Light Screen had been liberally used. Instead of using concrete blockhouses to protect their scientific equipment, the researchers opted to use Light Screens and Barriers. Not only were they almost completely transparent, the walls required no materials, produced no destructive fragments and could be constructed in mere seconds.
One of the scientists aimed the camera at Town #1 — the epicenter of the blast. Her hands trembled as she hooked up the cable; just the thought of being in the same region as this weapon of unimaginable power sent shivers down her spine. When that was done, she gave a thumbs-up to a nearby Gardevoir. The pokémon immediately sealed the camera inside a shimmering box of Light Screens.
The scientist looked around; bulwarks of Light Screens and Barriers shone in the midday sun. If the calculations that Doctor Kaminko made were correct, these fortifications would be destroyed in an instant. But at least it would keep their cameras safe.
Doctor Kaminko looked at his tablet. He nodded as he received word that Town #2 had been rigged with sensors. "All right, we need to hurry up. The other town's rigged up with sensors and the 'Lunatone' mobile launch pad is already in position."
"And done!" a scientist said as he hooked up the last camera.
Doctor Kaminko nodded and climbed aboard one of the trucks. With the whine of the electric motor spooling up, the vehicle lurched as it made quick u-turn and headed back the way they had come. He smiled as he leaned against the hard backed seat. Those years of calculations, lab experiments, Test Shot Omega Ruby and Test Shot Alpha Sapphire would finally come to an explosive finish.
Eclo Canyon Proving Grounds – 100 km away from ground zero
T-minus 5 minutes
"Move! Move! Move!"
The still desert air hung like burning veil as soldiers and rocketeers frantically scrambled to get the "Lunatone" mobile launch pad ready. Electric motors whirred as the six stabilizing legs extended from the sides of the large eight-wheeled vehicle.
The missileer watched as the men checked and rechecked the legs of the launch platform. Two additional workers were busy examining the missile itself to ensure it was structurally sound.
Ten minutes later, the missile, launch vehicle and payload had been checked and double checked.
"Everything is in order!" a soldier said with a salute to the missileer.
The man in question returned the salute. "Good. Everyone who is not manning the launch pad must evacuate the area!"
"You heard Colonel Raine! Move it!" a sergeant barked. He quickly rushed his men and the civilian employees into a waiting cargo truck that would take them away from the launch site to a safe area. The trucks kicked up long plumes of dust as they thundered down the dusty roads.
Colonel Raine entered the cab of the "Lunatone". Grunting with exertion, he pulled the armored door shut and latched it in place. He took the third seat, which would normally be occupied by the mission control engineer.
The man then spoke into his radio: "Kaminko, this is Colonel Raine; the missile has been checked and is ready for launch. We await your command. Over."
Eclo Canyon Proving Grounds – 75 km away from ground zero
T-minus 2 minutes
The doctor was in his own private "VIP box" overlooking the soon to be obliterated villages. His radio buzzed. A set of blackened goggles was on the table next to his half consumed bottle of water. He picked up the radio. "Acknowledged. Missile launch in T-minus two minutes."
"Solid copy. Colonel Raine out."
Doctor Kaminko took a swig from his bottle of water and threw the empty bottle into the nearby trash can. He put the radio aside and picked up the mike for the loudspeaker. He pressed one of the buttons on the siren control panel.
Eclo Canyon Proving Grounds – 75 km away from ground zero
T-minus 2 minutes
The nervous chattering of the gathered spectators was cut short by a short pulse from the nearby siren. The nearby loudspeaker howled with brief feedback and then Doctor Kaminko's voice came over the speaker.
"Attention all spectators! The missile will be launched in approximately two minutes. Once this sustained tone is played"— a four second warbling tone blared over the siren, forcing those nearby to cover their ears—"everyone present must put on the dark goggles that they have been given. Failure to do so will result in instant and permanent blindness upon detonation of the device."
Some of the spectators donned the goggles. Most of them, however, opted to enjoy the surprisingly calm vista of Eclo Canyon.
Eclo Canyon Proving Grounds – 75 km away from ground zero
T-minus 1 minute
Doctor Kaminko put the mike away and donned the goggles. Almost immediately, the world plunged into blackness. He looked upwards. The only thing he saw was a single spot of light — the Sun. Normally, staring at the Sun was an invitation to instant and permanent blindness, but these goggles filtered out so much of the light and other radiation that it was no more dangerous than staring into a weak flashlight. He took off the goggles and was instantly bathed in light again. He blinked and raised a set of binoculars to his eyes.
Barely visible in the hazy desert air were the two doomed towns. The scientist smiled and nodded.
He donned the dark goggles and stared into the distance, awaiting the deadly flash of light.
Eclo Canyon Proving Grounds – 75 km away from ground zero
T-minus 30 seconds
The cameraman had just finished putting the blackened glass filter on his camera. Had he chosen to film the nuclear test without it, he would be out hundreds of thousands of poké, as the surge of light would have instantly burnt out all the sensors.
"All ready?" Bianca asked. The goggles were up on her forehead. She had opted not to narrate the actual footage of the detonation since the lens filter was too dark to let anything other than the nuclear explosion show up.
He wiped some sweat off his forehead. Whether it was from the Orrean sun or his racing heart, he couldn't tell. He pressed the record button on the camera and aimed it at the two "towns".
And then, the siren sounded. A low wavering four second-long drone evocative of a dying prehistoric pokémon's cry. The cameraman flinched and shuddered at the noise before he placed the darkened goggles over his eyes, shutting out all the light.
Doctor Kaminko's voice came over the speaker. "T-minus ten seconds to launch."
The entire crowd held its breath.
Eclo Canyon Proving Grounds – 100 km away from ground zero
T-minus 0 seconds
Two missileers, seated at consoles offset from each other, simultaneously turned their keys. Two clicks were heard as the launch buttons popped out from their recesses. The buttons were protected under a transparent corundum hood large enough to admit a human hand.
Even without the protective hood, it would have required some fairly impressive, if not outright impossible contortionism to simultaneously turn the keys to unlock the launch buttons and to simultaneously press and hold the buttons to launch the missile.
"Coordinates checked," the first missileer said as she looked at the monitor on her console.
The second missileer looked at the checklist that was on the clipboard attached to his console. He read the coordinates aloud as he compared them to what was on the screen. "Coordinates confirmed. Launch ready?"
"Launch ready."
With those words, two clicks were heard as the two launch buttons were simultaneously pressed and held down.
The missile was raised into the sky, pointing towards ground zero like an accusing finger. Time seemed to freeze for a brief moment before the area shuddered as if a herd of Tauros had begun stampeding. And then, the air was split by an almighty roar. Gouts of smoke and flame wreathed the launch vehicle.
But just for a brief moment, the missile was visible as a sleek white object soaring into space with the grace and elegance of its namesake.
Eclo Canyon Proving Grounds – ground zero
The missile hurtled through the atmosphere like a meteor, covering hundreds of kilometers in mere seconds. The streak of light that it painted in the clear Orrean sky was all but invisible to the observers.
Five kilometers above the doomed villages, the radar fuze tripped, setting off a chain of events that would eventually lead to the rapid fusion of the deuterium fuel. Explosives inside one of the two explosively pumped flux compression generators then detonated, sending a surge of current more powerful than a lightning bolt into the Electrode capacitor of the first stage. Microseconds later, the second explosively pumped flux compression generator initiated, sending another electrical surge into all 392 slapper detonators inserted into the DPP explosive lenses.
And then all 392 of those lenses simultaneously detonated; through the synergy of well-timed detonators and precisely machined explosives, shockwaves converged upon the overcharged Electrode capacitor, subjecting it to immense pressures.
That was all it took for the electrons in the capacitor to decay into a lower energy state. In mere nanoseconds, a massive burst of gamma radiation reduced the capacitor and the primary's case to vapor. That same surge of gamma rays impinged upon the tungsten tamper/pusher, flash-heating it to millions of kelvin. The rapidly ablating tamper/pusher was now an inverted rocket engine, the surging vapor propelling its remnants inward at velocities unrivaled even by Mossdeep Space Center's most powerful rockets.
The sheer amount of kinetic energy imparted onto the remainder of the secondary translated into immense pressures. Pressures that caused the Electrode capacitor at the core to release its own surge of gamma rays. The surge of gamma rays combined with the immense pressures meant that, quite literally, the heart of a star had been born in the Orrean desert.
The kinetic energy of the deuterium atoms was now so high that their natural electrostatic repulsion was overcome and they rapidly fused into helium. The heat released from one reaction spurred on additional reactions and in mere nanoseconds, the fusion chain reaction ripped through the deuterium fuel.
By now, the energy released from the unbridled fusion reactions had vaporized the missile and superheated the surrounding area
And the second Sun cast its baleful gaze on the Orrean desert.
Town #1 was simply no match for the sheer destructive force of the missile. The fireball was high enough off of the ground that the town and the sand it was built were not simply vaporized.
Instead, the radiant heat fused the sand into a glassy plain. Wood, paper, cloth — anything and everything flammable — didn't so much as catch on fire as they did vaporize. Anything that hadn't been set aflame was reduced to molten puddles. Sensors embedded in the walls of the structures recorded temperatures well above 1,000 degrees centigrade — enough to melt steel — before the heat destroyed them.
Even the Coalition armored vehicles were not safe. The intense heat charred tires, softened armor and cracked windshields. The inside of the vehicles became crematoria; that is if there were any living beings inside.
Had the fakemons been real pokémon, the flash of heat would have instantly carbonized them. Rock, steel and ground-types would have been reduced to pools of lava. Protect instantly shattered under the intense heat.
Barrier and Light Screen provided no protection as they were transparent to radiation. And that direct radiation impingement on the fakemons would have heated their surface beyond the melting point of steel.
Milliseconds later, the expanding shockwave slammed into the remains of the town like the fists of a colossal Machamp. The remains of the buildings exploded into fragments under the vicious impact. Steel girders, chunks of concrete and other debris were hurled through the air as if they weighed nothing. Even the heavy vehicles were flipped over and tossed around like toys. Barrier and Light Screen shattered into glittering motes of dust under the massive impact.
But it was not over; following the shockwave was a massive surge of wind from the opposite direction. The Beast of the Sea's wings was the only thing on the planet even remotely capable of such a fierce windstorm. The remnants of the already ravaged buildings crumbled under the fist of air. Fragments of solid concrete walls and steel beams flew through the air like leaves in spring breeze.
Sensors buried deeper in the soil recorded a massive surge of neutrons liberated from the fusion reaction.
In mere seconds, what was once a town was now no more than twisted wreckage and dross scattered over an angrily glowing — and radioactive — glass plain
Town #2 fared only slightly better. A wave of superheated air that would put the Firebird's Heat Wave to shame washed over the town. Wood, cloth and paper burst into flame at the wind's searing touch.
The shockwave's arrival extinguished the fires — and tore apart everything in its path. Debris and vehicles tumbled and flew through the air. Buildings were reduced to piles of rubble under the invisible hammer.
Sensors in the fakemons revealed that had anything living been in the town, they would have been killed thrice over. They would have been burnt to death by the surge of superheated air, their organs pulverized by the powerful shockwave. And then their battered remains would be slammed into the ground or against debris with a force strong enough to level structures.
Eclo Canyon Proving Grounds – 16 km away from ground zero
The shockwave and wind raced over the measuring equipment, throwing dirt and debris into the air. Despite being weakened from the distance it had to travel, the shockwave was still powerful enough to shatter the Barrier and Light Screen that protected the cameras. The fragments of those psychic barriers glittered in the Orrean sun like diamond dust on the wind as they were swept up by the shockwave.
Eclo Canyon Proving Grounds – 75 km away from ground zero
Even through goggles so dark that the Orrean afternoon had turned into night, the flash of light from the test practically lit up the entire landscape. There no words of shock, no gasps, no exclamations or oaths. Just stunned silence at the expression of raw elemental wrath.
There was stillness and silence for a few moments. Pebbles and sand jittered as the shockwave thundered across the desert like a breaking wave. In its wake was a white condensation trail as the invisible impact forced the water vapor to condense.
And then the silence was shattered by a thunderous roar that seemed to shake the very earth. The noise was so stunning that a few of the spectators even staggered backwards.
Eclo Canyon Proving Grounds – 75 km away from ground zero
T-plus 5 minutes
As Doctor Ulam took off his darkened goggles, he was treated to a massive black mushroom cloud rising into the Orrean sky. His ears still rang slightly from the deafening noise of the blast. Despite the suffocating heat of the midday Orrean sun, a chill ran down his spine; they had matched the raw power of the Legendaries. And he recalled that in many myths, hubris was the fatal flaw of the heroes. Would the allied Legendaries turn against them for this sacrilege? Or would they understand the desperation that drove Humanity to develop such a lethal weapon?
He recalled some verses from an ancient Kalosian poem:
O' Oblivion's Son
Unleash the Black Sun
Spread your deadly wings
Silence the Song of Life
For without death
There shall be no life
Illuminate the world
With your Dark Light
For you are Yveltal
The Destroyer
"I am Yveltal, The Destroyer," the scientist muttered.