File 2.8 - Planning for War

In a briefing room within the base several high ranking figures met. General Nornland sat at the head of the table with the Air Marshal and Admiral on his right. An empty seat with a disorganized pile of papers and tablets marked out the Head Engineer’s place. Kitawara stood at the end of the table where a large screen glowed with the data retrieved from the recent battle. “There’s still a lot of data we’ve yet to analyze relating to the enemy machines, but this is the initial report we have.”

Images appeared of the Skadi firing upon a heavily armored machine staying to protect the downed transport. Video played out of the resulting blast being scattered by the enemy. He paused the video at the moment of impact. “This was of great interest to us. Preliminary data says that this shield they had was able to take most of the energy of Skadi’s Heavy Focused Energy Cannon before being destroyed. It seems like it could disperse and absorb the heat and particle density to reduce its overall effectiveness. The shield still got destroyed, but under a less powerful particle beam the shield would be able to take the hit and completely negate the damage done.” A new image appeared with the destruction of the enemy machine.

“Indications from this are that the enemy machine's armor is not using the same technology as the shield. It’s unclear if this is due to cost or the technology being ineffective for larger application. However, this should be of great interest with the further development of the AESIR units.” The screen changed over to the first enemy unit to appear in the battle. An analysis program displayed a wireframe model of the flight parts. “This unit seems to have been specifically constructed for flight within a gravity environment. Considering the enemy, the need for a gravity combat unit would be unnecessary for them.”

“So we can assume that they built that specifically for combat on Earth,” remarked the Air Marshall. He looked over to the General with a grim expression. “This unit makes their intentions quite clear.”

The General shifted away from the screen keeping his hands up against his chin. “Indeed. This little intrusion of theirs is only a prelude to what is to come in the future. My concern is with the AESIR units. We sank an enormous amount of resources into them ensuring that they would be the most advanced machines and to be defeated by only two units.”

Kitawara didn’t crack from his self assured confident features. The doubt from the military didn’t make him flinch. He switched the images over to the Skadi project files. The computer ran simulations and test data on the machine that everyone had seen far too frequently. “The AESIR project was designed for multiple target engagements with at least two units. The Skadi was incomplete and alone when it faced the enemy. Once the Njord is completed nothing will ever harm the Skadi.”

“That’s some arrogance, Kitawara,” the Admiral commented. He held his doubts about the project, but knew in the end it had to succeed. Without the AESIR they had no defense that could survive. “Remember that it is human beings in all of those machines. You can’t put a number to the human factor.”

“The AESIR were designed specifically for the Potentials. The Potentials were specifically trained and selected because they are superior humans. It’s not arrogance when you understand the facts.”

General Nornland raised his hand looking to an end to the debate. He fixed his sight on the engineer. “Just ensure the units are completed quickly. With the enemy earlier than predicted we’ll need them all functioning.” Kitawara nodded to the General. The next matter made him look to his right at the table. “For now we’ll keep running with the story that it’s the work of Ragnarok. We always have trouble with them. So the public won’t think much of what they can’t see.” Everyone at the table nodded in agreement. They knew the truth proved to be more dangerous. A forgotten people did little for them.

The communication panel in the room lit up, breaking up the discussion. “Excuse me, but you requested to be informed when the new pilots were arriving.”

“Yes. That is all.” The lights in the briefing room turned back on. The military officers stood up looking over to Kitawara with heavy expectations on him. After a long stare between them and the engineer they departed the room.