The LAS-98 Laser Cannon.
A shoulder-mounted Directed Energy support weapon, it unleashes a sustained beam of energy capable of piercing through heavy armor.
Another support weapon in a long list to be refitted and refashioned from the First Galactic War, the LAS-98 Laser Cannon of today, understandably, has undergone many design changes that differentiates it from the LAS-98 MK3. Most notable of these changes can be seen with the LAS-98's housing, being designed with ergonomics in mind.
Being a direct upgrade under the same designation, the LAS-98 MK3 of the First War was a bulky and unwieldy support weapon, forcing the Helldiver to remain stationary during operation. Though still recommended, its current iteration allows the operator to move and fire simultaneously, allowing for quick repositioning.
Another major design change to be implemented into the Laser Cannon is its cooling system. The MK3, being limited by the technology of the time, was forced to compromise in its design, having the heatsinks protrude from the casing, throwing off the center of mass. Fortunately, this is no longer the case. Now equipped with the vastly more efficient Internal Cooling Element, it allows the LAS-98 to fire continuously for fifteen straight seconds. When managed properly, this effectively gives the support weapon a nigh unlimited supply of ammunition.
With the implementation of more efficient cooling systems and miniaturized reactors, it also paved the way for greater damage potential. Unlike the MK3, which was a sidegrade to the MG-94 Machine Gun, the current version is capable of piercing heavy armor by warping the molecular structure of the target, allowing it to tackle fodder and armored units. Alongside the increased energy projection within the beam, the higher temperature also allows it to ignite certain targets, increasing its Anti-Personnel capabilities.
Often referred to as the 'Swiss-Army Knife' of the support weapons, the title is not ill-earned. With its capabilities encompassing a wide range of needs, it has found itself tackling all sorts of fronts that require its flexibility. Unfortunately, that same nature has placed the weapon in a state where it's unable to find a niche.
Despite that, it is nonetheless a great option to shore up an otherwise overwhelmed loadout.
The LAS-98 Laser Cannon.
"Power Overwhelming!" - 'Admiral Defense Contracting'.
Within the Gehenna Prefect Office
"So, what do you think, Chinatsu?"
The glasses-clad elven student raised a brow. "Head Prefect?"
"Of this... Helldiver-Sensei?" The Head Prefect reiterated.
Chinatsu held a hand to her chin to ruminate over the question.
On one hand, Sensei- no, Allen Hicks, is a person that is undoubtedly someone who holds an unimaginable amount of destructive firepower. After all, she had witnessed it firsthand the same day they arrived. But on the other, he has displayed a surprising amount of humanity, as shown in his- admittedly, heartfelt speech about defending Humanity.
He did accept to only use his... power, for good.
Chinatsu dropped her hand and glanced back at the Head Prefect.
"In my opinion, he's trustworthy. I give Sensei that much."
The head prefect nodded as she clasped her hands together to lean on them. "I see, anything else?"
For the Head Prefect, Sorasaki Hina, any outliers, particularly anyone or anything destructive, always appeared on her radar. Of course, as someone befitting of the title, this much is expected. What threw a sizable wrench into that was the new variable that is Sensei.
Chinatsu grimaced. "I've... got nothing else."
Hina gave her an appraising glance before returning her gaze towards the dossier on top of her desk.
'Allen Hicks, a Helldiver of... Super Earth? Currently heading the Super Earth Ship, the 'Hammer of Democracy'.' No matter how many times she glossed over the details, Hina still couldn't really wrap her head around each aspect of Sensei.
'Currently holds the rank of Sergeant, making him somewhat of an important figure within his military, which would explain his combat capabilities and knowledge.'
Hina nodded, that would explain how he took back the SCHALE Clubhouse with no more than a small squad, against the Fox of Calamity, no less.
Then came the problem of this... Super Earth Ship of his. He referred to it a few times as a Super Destroyer, as Chinatsu says. Calling it 'super' might sound childish, but if it has even half of the ordnance the reports say, then it has more than earned the moniker.
A sigh escaped her. No matter how trustworthy Chinatsu says he is, he ultimately wields an unknown weapon with unknown capabilities. Therein also lies the problem that is the unstable political landscape. With SCHALE thrown into the mix, it became increasingly more unpredictable, doubly so with Sensei at the helm.
The sound of ceramic clinking against ceramic filled the air. Glancing upward, Hina was met with a smile as her senior administrator placed a steaming cup of coffee onto her desk.
A nod was given. "Thank you, Ako."
"It is not a problem, Head Prefect." The senior administrator replied.
Nodding approvingly at the caffeinated beverage, Hina brought it up to her lips and took a small sip. Settling it back down onto its plate, she glanced back at Ako, who all too quickly cleared her throat before beginning.
"What do you have in mind, Head Prefect?"
Hina shook her head. "Not enough intel to go off of, unfortunately. Given the shreds of information we do acquire, Sensei is an individual who holds strong values towards Freedom and-" A brow is raised. "-Liberty. Though he still holds quite the number of unknown variables, he has not attempted to use his power to strongarm others into submission."
Ako nodded along. "Perhaps it is only a matter of time? After all, he is able to project impressive amounts of firepower almost anywhere at any time from his... Super Destroyer."
"Hmm..." The Head Prefect hummed as she continued to organize her thoughts.
"What I don't particularly like is what he calls himself." The senior administrator commented.
This gains her a few raised brows from the other two. Unfazed, except under Hina's gaze, she continued.
"He calls himself a Helldiver." Her eyes narrowed. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Well..." Chinatsu chimed in. "From what he told us, he is a soldier for his military's special forces, and are trained to be sent deep into enemy lines to cause havoc. And I quote, 'to disrupt and destroy key targets so that they are softened up for the main military'."
This puts a sour taste into both Hina's and Ako's mouths.
"Er... did I say something wrong?"
Hina shook her head. "Not exactly, but you said Helldivers are a special force that specializes in black ops?"
Hesitantly, she nodded. Unknowingly on her part, she had raised the threat level on Sensei a whole bunch.
Ako exhaled in disbelief. "So, you mean to say is that we have a soldier, an otherworldly, special forces soldier that's adept in disrupting all sorts of key operations, in charge of one of the most powerful organizations in Kivotos?"
"Well, when you put it like that..."
The former facepalmed. "That's because I am!" She turned towards Hina with a stern look. "Head Prefect, I suggest we take action before he does. There's no telling what someone of his skillset is able to do."
A rhythmic inhale and exhale. "I suggest you rethink your actions, Ako." The Head Prefect stated as she gave her a piercing glare. "While I do agree that he is capable of destructive results, he also has not done anything to disrupt nor destroy anything." She glanced upward as another thought came to mind. "Nothing important, anyways."
Chinatsu froze as Hina's gaze lingered on her.
"Chinatsu."
"Yes, Head Prefect?"
"You've come to the understanding that Sensei is not someone who would use his power for anything heinous?"
A nod.
Briefly, Hina studied the student before taking another sip of coffee.
"I see... ah." A pause before setting down her cup. "Chinatsu, see what you can do about applying for the assistant position for SCHALE. Currently, they are accepting applications from all academies."
The elven student gave her a questioning look. "Head Prefect?"
"I want you join SCHALE and see if you can figure out his true motives. If he is truly as you say, then he would prove to be a boon to us as an ally." A frown took its place on her face. "If not, then..."
Her sentence was left unsaid, but the implications were loud and clear.
A nod. "I'll see what I can do, Head Prefect."
"Good, if nothing else, you all are dismissed."
Following the order, the Prefect Team members filed out the room. Left to her own devices, Hina reviewed the various videos that were subsequently uploaded following the operation to retake the SCHALE Clubhouse. No matter which way it's put, Sensei was undeniably a wildcard thrust into an unstable house of cards.
This is not at all aided by the fact that Hina was then informed via text message that Sensei was then seen operating within the Abydos District by her informants in the area. Though, given the poorly maintained state of the area, this message took much longer than usual to reach her eyes.
Nonetheless, this would further increase the unpredictability of Sensei.
Hina leaned back into her chair as she gazed outside the window. Another sigh escaped her as her eyes moved towards the sky. Hopefully, despite his abilities, he would remain someone Kivotos could depend on.
Unfortunately, that sentiment all but dried up as a recently uploaded video showed up on her recommended.
"The Situation in Abydos is CRAZY!"
A frown crossed her as the thumbnail loaded. A split-second preview of the Abydos District, with three sizable black blurs screaming towards the abandoned buildings. It could be anything, but she had a sinking feeling that a certain important figure was behind it all.
Pressing play, the shaky cameraperson aimed their phone towards the sky.
"Holy crap! What is THAT!?"
THOOMP
THOOMP
THOOMP
Three deep and reverberating reports filled the air, with the screen zooming in unsteadily on the sky. That's when three artillery shells broke atmosphere.
Hina grimaced as the shells impacted the ruined district with extremely destructive results. Shaking her head at the unnecessary level of destruction, her eyes went wide as the show had yet to end.
THOOMP
THOOMP
THOOMP
Another salvo.
Then another.
And another.
Her mouth was agape as she watched the ensuing barrage level a sizable portion of the district. Last she read up on the area, this portion of the district was completely abandoned. This gave her some sort of comfort to know that no one was seriously hurt.
But her frown grew deeper. She had only seen photos of the aftermath of Sensei's use of his Super Destroyer. It's one thing to see what had happened, it's a whole different story to watch it unfold. The amount of destructive ordnance that rained down came to her as an extreme shock.
Shock wouldn't even describe half of it.
'He's able to call this in whenever, wherever?'
Looks like she had to revise what plans she had in store for him. Firepower at this scale... with not a single way to know when and where it'll strike.
"Haaaaah..." A long and drawn-out exhale could be heard emanate from the Head Prefect's office.
Within the Abydos Clubroom
Following the skirmish and, uh, mishap with the barrage, we decided that today was filled with enough excitement and returned back to the school to debrief.
"Now that I think about it..." Hoshino began as she looked me up and down. "...You got shot quite a lot, huh?"
I raised a brow as I poked at the various dents that pock-marked my armor. "...Quite."
Nonomi scooched her chair closer as she poked at my armor as well. "So, what're you going to do about your, uh, armor?"
I watched as Shiroko got up from her seat just to poke at my helmet. "Nn, your stuff's pretty messed up."
"That... I don't know, but-" I knocked on my chestplate. "-But Super Earth armaments are built tough and rugged. A few low caliber rounds won't penetrate the Titanium-A plating."
Ayane raised a brow as she pointed at my shredded BDUs. "And the parts that aren't?"
I shrugged. "That's what the stims are for."
Collectively, the room frowned at my words.
"Is... did I say something wrong?"
Nonomi shook her head. "No, it's just that... you got hurt pretty bad by the looks of things."
In the corner of my eye, Serika nodded along.
"Well, that's just the nature of my job." I scratched my helmet. "Can't get scared a few injuries."
Serika frowned as she leaned forward onto the table. "Don't you get scared?"
I raised a brow her way. "Huh?"
"You don't have a halo like the rest of us, so you get hurt a lot more easily... but you still went out of your way to rescue me, despite how much you got hurt."
The table went quiet as they looked at me.
"...Well, it's a bit more complicated than that, Serika."
"How so?" Hoshino chimed in.
I glanced her way. "Even I have moments that I'm terrified. Heck, even back when I was deployed, I've always had a time where I was shaking in my boots."
"Then how come you still do the things you do?"
"Because that's what we are trained to do." I grinned. "We stare death in the eye and kick 'em in the jaw as we raise hell."
I looked them all in the eye, finding that a small smile had made its way onto all of their faces.
"Now then, what's next on our to do list, Ayane?"
Her smile grows just a bit bigger as she pushed up her glasses. "Well, after that little skirmish we had..." She paused as she glanced at her wristwatch. "I guess we could postpone it for tomorrow."
I raised a brow. "Postpone what?"
"We had plans to brainstorm some ways for us to best approach our debt today after we finished up with school."
Right, they still have that debt issue.
I nodded. "And I'm guessing...?"
She nodded. "Yup, but it's not all that bad, we have tomorrow off anyways, so we could use up that time figuring things out."
The table nodded along at her words, with Hoshino yawning out loud.
With a clap, Ayane continued. "And with that, this meeting's over. Good work today, everyone."
I glanced out the window, realizing we still have a few hours of sunlight out. Time's good as any to finally call in that helicopter escort.
"Going to head out Sensei? Or are you planning to stay here like yesterday?" Shiroko asked.
I shook my head. "Still got some time left in the day, so their helicopters should still be around for transport."
"Gonna head back then, Sensei?" This time Hoshino chimed in.
"Yup, can't stay away too long from the office."
Slumping back down onto the table, she waved me off. "Well, see ya then, Sensei."
Saying our goodbyes, I found myself back in the courtyard, communication unit at the ready.
"This is Sergeant Allen Hicks, requesting transport to the SCHALE Clubhouse, how copy?"
"PSSSSHT- Hearing you loud and clear Sensei, took ya long enough!" The recognizable, cheery voice on the other side began. "I was wondering where you were at yesterday, did ya sleep over at Abydos?"
I grinned. "Yep, business here's a bit on the hectic side, so I had to stick around. Hopefully I'm not too late today?"
"Nope! You're actually still within working hours. But I'll probably be bleeding into overtime by the time we get back, I'd hope you have the cash for that, Sensei!"
"Just don't take your time, yeah?"
"I hear ya, just sit tight then, I'm on my way!"
Cutting the comm link, I took the time to walk around, Shittim Chest in hand.
"Doing alright, Arona?"
At my words, the system manager popped up on screen. "Sensei?"
"You doing alright in there?"
She nodded. "I am, but are you okay, Sensei? You got hurt a bunch back there!"
I knocked on my helmet. "Ready to take on the world."
An appraising look crossed her. "Are you really sure?"
"I'm always sure."
The welcoming sound of a helicopter cutting through the air entered earshot. On its hull is the SCHALE symbol painted in all white.
Huh, I think I missed that the first time.
Glancing back down, I nodded at AI behind the screen. "Ready to head back, Arona?"
After a moment of deliberation, she gave me a nod. "Always ready!"
Sliding the tablet back into my chestplate, I watched as the heli lowered itself down onto the courtyard grounds. If it weren't for my helmet, all the sand and dust kicked up would be quite annoying.
Setting her down gently, the rotor spooled down to a more manageable speed to approach. Sliding open the door, I pulled myself in and gave the pilot a wave. After a few moments of fiddling with my helmet's comm suite, I connected with the helicopter's.
"Take us home, Pilot!" I say as I strapped myself into my seat.
"Music to my ears!" She replied as she gave me a thumbs up. "Hold tight then, Sensei, before you know it, we'll be back at SCHALE! Hopefully you had a light dinner!"
Within the SCHALE Hangar
The flight back was a bit bumpy, to say the least, but true to her words were back before I knew it. Touching down onto the tarmac of the SCHALE hangar, I slid the door open and hopped out.
"And we're home! With a minute to spare, no less!" The pilot cheered as the rotors died down.
I slapped the side of the hull a few times. "I hope you're up for doing this a few more times, Pilot. Still have business over at Abydos that requires my attention."
"Heehee~! Thought you wouldn't ask! Y'know? Until you came around, business has been slooooooow." She gave me a thumbs up as she flipped up her helmet's visor.
"You let me know when we need to head out, and I'll be ready!"
I nodded her way. "Good deal, I'll be sure to call for you when I need some fancy flying."
"Got it, see ya then, Sensei-! Oh!" She cut herself off as she fumbled with her harness.
Then she gave me a very recognizable salute. Raising her fist up and bringing it down with gusto, she gave me a grin. "Liberty be with you, Sensei!"
I returned the grin and salute. "As with you."
As I made my way back towards the main building, I took out the Shittim Chest from behind my chestplate. "Hey Arona?"
"Sensei?" She asked as she popped up on screen.
I scratched my chin. "Has... have there been cases where my salute's been circulating?"
Arona raised a brow as she pulled up KivoTube in a window.
"I'll say-" She gave me a sly smile. "-You may not know it, but there are quite the number of videos online of you."
I frown. "Videos?"
"Mmm hmm!" She hummed as she pulled one up. Pressing play, the short video was of me saluting the girls from when we took back SCHALE. Judging from the angle it was taken, the onlooker was a few dozen meters away behind a corner of a building.
My frown grew deeper. "And there's... more of this? Of just me milling about?"
Arona nodded as she continued to scroll through the various videos. "Yuuuuup."
She gave me a look. "You wanna look at the comments?"
I grimaced. "I think I'll pass on that... for now, at least."