Imperial Research Facility 'Arc Hammer'

Undisclosed Location


The Arc Hammer hovered in the dark void of space, utterly alone. The top-secret Imperial Research Facility had been seen as folly by many of the top commander of the Ubiqtorate High Command, an uneccessary waste of resources.

But seeing the massive construct actually working would change many of their minds. The ship, or station as it were, was so new it still smelt of fresh paint, and its engines still screamed with what the engineers called the "baby's cry".

"It is done, then?" The man asked, watching the last of the droids troop by through the glasteel viewpanes that seperated this sector of the vessel from the testing grounds on the other side.

"Yes. The last of our shuttles arrived at Olabria yesterday morning. Mining is at full effeciency; we'll have stockpiled enough of the material to produce any army."

Yuri Katan gave a cold smile.

"Very good, Commander. The war against the Galactic Coalition will come to the ground soon. I wish the Empire to be prepared to bring them their war."

The Commander, a young man with dirty blone hair worn slightly longer than Imperial regulations demanded, nodded affirmitively.

"The Empire will be ready, Yuri. We have not lost a war yet."

The man known as Yuri nodded slowly.

"Very good." He indicated the Dark Troopers on the other side of the viewpans. "See that they are delivered to Yaga Minor as soon as possible."






The room was dark, almost pitch black. The only light came from the computer terminal, which gave off an eery blew glow. The figure hunched over the terminal was blurry-eyed, the blood vessels becoming increasingly visible as he scrolled through reams of information.

Yuri Katarn was a terrible insomniac. He had tried everything; from sleep-aides to counting banthas, to no avail. After long experiance, he had learned that mathmatical problems and research where the only thing that relaxed his mind enough to allow him to sleep.

Tonight, it was research.

There were literally thousands of starships in the galaxy, from small transports to the massive Star Destroyers of the New Order. And all of them, for the most part, were exactly the same.

They all relied on the same technology, technology that had been created during the Galactic Civil War. That did not make the Imperator Class of Star Destroyers any less deadly, of course. But it left the door wide open for more advanced forms of space combat. Forms no one, not even the world-spanning Empire, had delved into.

Littering the desk on which the computer sat were literally hundreds of scraps of paper, filled with long lists of names and devices and descriptions. Not to mention ideas and drawings of new devices. The holonet was literred with ideas and readouts from the sorts of devices people had once used, but had never recieved mention in the galactic market. Even some of the oldest technology used by the Old Republic was effective, if somewhat outdated.

With the completion of the Arc Hammer facility, it was time to concentrate on a new project. Something the likes of which the Empire had never seen before. A warship that would put the entire galaxy on its toes.

All he needed was the technology with which to do it.

The Empire's budget for the research and development of new technology was neccessary large. The New Order preferred, needed even, to remain on the forefront in terms of modern technology.

It had been said that no one had ever beaten the Empire at the game of technological discovery. Certainly, the Rebellion or the Republic that followed it never even came close.

Research centres such as the Maw Installation had created startlingly powerful pieces of equipment that, for a variety of reasons, never became parts of the Empire's arsenal. Most had been destroyed by the Rebels, who seemed to think that if they couldn't have it, no one could.

Yuri Katarn had been assigned complete control of the Arc Hammer and its resources to continue the race to outtech the enemy.

He entered the Experiment Weapons Department, located deep in one of the vessel's spires, early in the morning. Somce weeks had passed since the Dark Trooper project had been cleared from his agenda, the completed units having been sent to Moff Drayson of Yaga Minor and production continuing on Olabria.

There were already a handful of techs working on the other side of the glasteel. Errected in the centre of the floor was a small turret, approximately the same size as an E-web repeating blaster. But the weapon on the turret did not like a standard blaster.

"The experiment?" Yuri asked, indicating the setup. Two techs were, at the moment, carefully backing away.

"You're just in time, Sir. We're about to begin." The Engineer nodded approvingly. Among the technologies he had spread among the techs to enhance and devise new uses for, this was one of his favourites.

Some distance from the blaster was a barely distinquishable plate of durasteel, the same thickness as the armour plating on most medium freighters. The blaster was pointed straight at it.

"We're ready." One of the techs announced, sealing the only door that seperated the two rooms. The chief engineer nodded.

"At your leisure, then." The tech removed a datapad from his pocket and put in a command, then looked to the window. With another tap, the blaster fired once.

The bolt was not the usual green or red of most weapons, nor the blue of an ion bolt. It was an odd mix of white and gold, and it fired with a resounding crash. The durasteel plating buckled and began to melt away where the energy had struck it.

"Very good work, Commander." Yuri said, looking to the twisted metal. "Congratulations-"

"Sir! Critical overload in the Disruptor cannon!" They only just had time to duck before the weapon exploded, smashing into the viewports before falling to the ground, where it lay smoking.

Of the many forms of armour developed by the Empire, the glasteel in front of them was perhaps the most useful. With the same strength as durasteel, the glasteel was transparent, allowing it to be used in the construction of buildings, and be worked directly into the design. It was also quite useful in defensive screens that required transperency.

"What happened?" Yuri demanded of the techs, looking from man to man.

"Heat overload, sir. The weapon was set to recharge at the same rate as a normal repeating blaster. The shot must have fried a couple of coolers, and the next charge blew it."

Yuri nodded slowly. A simple error, and one that could be easily fixed.

"Very good. Prepare a new weapon, and slow it down. Add additional cooling units, as well. Let's say, three days from now we'll conduct another test?"

The techs nodded their agreement, and Yuri left. There were many other demonstrations and reports awaiting - the Dirsuptor Cannons were only the first.