Hey there, Fierce Ones! Remember that old World War 2 U-boat that vampire crew was cruising around the flooded streets of London in? Well, your British friend, Tyler Greene, and Hooty the Helicopter Pilot, thought it might come in handy when you were ready to go to R'lyeh.... Of course, Radsworth can drop you pretty much anywhere on Earth with his magic portals.... But if you'd like to go to the battle in high style, we've made some modifications to the old submarine that I think you might like....
Andy demonstrates the U-boat's new capabilities, some of which were obviously made possible through the use of potent magic....
It can now fold down and fit in one's backpack as per a folding boat....
It has hardness 12 and 500 hp, and provides total cover to those inside....
It's torpedos are now enchanted and considered epic weapons....
Crew cabins are more spacious and furnished as per mage's magnificent mansion, including magical servants, etc....
It can ram at the helmsman's base attack bonus, plus Dex modifier, as a +6 epic bludgeoning weapon....
It travels at speeds three times as fast as it did before the elven wizards enchanted it....
Based on reports of minor malfunctions from a few of the Jaegers following their operations in Sarasota, Andy Cox and his assistants recall and make modifications to all ATMDG units, improving their performance (bringing them up to expected standards), and correcting an issue with the design of the cable reels....
The master engineer studies Derrik's designs for several long moments....
This is incredible, Derrik.... Everything I've seen here so far seems feasible.... Of course, equipment of this kind would require careful training.... The operator could easily be harmed or killed if this kind of contraption were used incorrectly.... But that applies to all of my previous designs anyway.... To many things, really.... Let me show these to my colleagues and assistants.... I think we could make swift progress, given the amount of mithral we've recently acquired from the fallen star....
Andy smiles with genuine excitement at the prospect of developing Derrik's plans....
What do you have in mind, Derrik?
Andy Cox and Weselain (and his apprentice elves) labor with vigor in the castle foundry, setting molds according to Cox's plans....
The newfound ore promises to yield tangible advances in Cox's models, which the elven smiths seem quite impressed by....
Hmmmm.... Mithral? Adamantine? I thought that stuff was an invention of Tolkien or ancient myth-makers.... But, then, I thought a lot of things were myths that I've seen with my own eyes these past five months.... Okay, Professor.... I suppose I have no choice, anyway.... Go along with everyone else to Alfheim.... Or remain here alone until more monsters come....
Andy casts a disappointed look around the huge cavern at the partly disassembled humvees, tanks, jets, jeeps, and boats he would have to leave behind. He began to collect his blueprints with a mixture of resignation and growing hope sparked by Dirge's promise of superior resources and craftsmen in Alfheim....
Andy Cox sighs with frustration, pacing around a skeletal framework that resembles the metal bones of a robotic dinosaur....
But I'm so close with this first model, Professor Dirge! Can't we delay our move until at least this one is finished? I....I could get it done in maybe a week! You mentioned our new home is some kind of.... Fairyland? Surely, no matter how much raw ore they have there, it can't compare to having prefabricated military vehicles to cannibalize.... I'd need a foundry to smelt the ore, and I'd have to make molds....
Andy finds himself moved to try to dance, though he had never before felt so compelled.... He rises and grins awkwardly at the others assembled around his plans....
I'll be happy to answer any questions about my designs after this....dance....I just can't resist....
In fact, nuclear weapons were deployed against R'lyeh....but were somehow neutralized.... According to reports I heard, incoming missiles were....drawn....into some kind of, uh....extradimensional rifts, or....holes....that seemed to open in parts of the alien city.... I can't claim to understand how....
That, I don't know.... I have a feeling that, if I managed to live this long, surely the president of the United States managed to get to safety in some relatively secure location.... I know of several hidden underground bases he could be at.... I just don't know whether he made it to one of them or not.... After communications satellites were downed by Cthulhu's star spawn, information was basically limited to what you could see with your own eyes.... He would have more resources to survive with than any of us, but then, none of us was a specific target for an evil god, like all the world leaders were....
Yes. I was working on classified special weapons, as you can probably guess. Most of my work was more....conservative than these designs....new tanks, fighter jets, armored transports, the usual.... After Cthulhu invaded, I pulled out some of my more radical designs, such as these.... The president even examined them himself.... It was decided that the manpower and cost to produce even one of my designs could be better spent combatting Cthulhu with existing weapons and vehicles.... Well, you saw how that turned out.
Here are some examples of Mr Cox's designs....
Another....
And this....
These models can be built as unmanned combat robots, as well.... But the degree of control is, of course, much less than if manned by a pilot....
This is the usual, and to be fair, sane response to my designs.... They all laughed at the Pentagon, too.... I know they seem....extravagant....but mankind has never faced an enemy like Cthulhu before.... We can't afford to remain hindered by conventional logic when dealing with an entity that seems to personify evil and madness....
Mr Cox speaks calmly and evenly, as though he were used to skepticism regarding his designs, expected it, and was prepared to address it with patient explanation....
Conventional weapons and tactics have proven useless against Cthulhu and his spawn.
Andy points out the cockpit and control mechanism for the vaguely quadrupedal machine depicted in the plan Levinson is perusing....
My designs utilize a unique neurokinetic synergy system that translates the pilots movements perfectly.... They are more like....second skins....suits of armor that respond to and amplify the pilots movements....
At Pandora's Box in the Canyon, a brilliant newcomer named Andy Cox presents the Navajo chiefs and the faculty from Pandora's Box with blueprints for several different weaponized vehicles that might prove useful in the fight against Cthulhu and the other Great Old Ones....
From spare parts salvaged from abandoned military vehicles, and given the needed labor and tools, Mr Cox proposes to build a number of innovative weaponized vehicles on site at the Grand Canyon base, and launch them against Cthulhu when the moment is right.....
Some of Cox's plans resemble mecha from sci-fi literature and games....
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