Phoenix Urban Task Zone, Unit 11

[Brian da Basher]

Holy fudge! That's just incredible!!!

Brian da Basher

[Captain Canada]

Nice one, Greg ! Love the gun on the cab roof !

 

[cthulhu77]

Thanks! The hatch cover even has a unique way of closing (yes, it moves)...for those of you who are interested in the new wave of projectiles, here is a somewhat basic article:

http://www.haynes.tv/metal-storm/technolog...ogy/2006/05/04/

[Mossie]

Have a look at this thread Greg, some astonishing videos to view!

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/forum//index...opic=12536&st=0

Definately has that kind of dystopian futuristic look, can't wait to see it finished!

[cthulhu77]

Thanks Mossie!  Yep, it is a 2013 vehicle, from the suburbs of southern Phoenix...

 Those metalstorm cannons and guns are actually being field tested now for use by several branches, and expected to take service by 2009.

  I'll post up another pic this afternoon or so...it is looking quite vicious!

[GTX]

and expected to take service by 2009.

I'll believe that when I see it - sorry, but this is one technology that has always engendered amazement but never seems to get any closer to entering service.  Defence forces/investors provide money and some equipment is produced and sometimes trials are performed (such as pic below), but it never goes any further.  I'm not sure if the problem is with Metal Storm (maybe they simply can't close a deal) or maybe issues such as logistic supportability (a weapon that fires at that rate will demand a very high resupply rate) or maybe there are other problems.  I don't know, but it just seems as though this is one technology that always seems to be "coming soon...".  



Regards,

Greg

[cthulhu77]

Hmmm...I think you might be wrong on this one Greg. I guess the proof is in the pudding, no?  We shall see....anyways, I did pick up some hubcaps, so I am off to model.

[GTX]

Happy to be proven wrong, but we will have to wait...

Regards,

Greg

[cthulhu77]

Timeline so far:
June 15, 2008 :  President George W. Bush declares a state of emergency, and suspends all elections until the time of crisis is over.

August 21, 2008:   California withdraws from the United States of America, declaring itself a sovereign entity. Arizona, New Mexico and Utah are quick to follow, forming the American West Charter, electing President Arnold Schwarzenegger .

August 29, 2008:   Skirmishes between border troops begin, and President Bush orders a full scale attack on Salt Lake City, the new capital of the AWC.  The attack is rebuffed,  but most of the city is leveled.  With the world in shock over the death of millions of civilians, support for the United States government dwindles, while new supplies and troops from France, Argentina, South Africa, Germany and Denmark flow into the ports of western California.

September 3, 2008:   The states of Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada,Wyoming and Montana join the AWC, and the border between the two countries is closed. A state of martial law exists in the United States, and discontent grows. Food riots are common in the streets of the eastern cities, New York is put under curfew.

October 13, 2008:   President Bush is stricken with rotavirus at Camp David, where he
has been secluded, and in a surprise move, steps down from the presidency temporarily, Dick Cheney assumes the title of President.

October 14, 2008:  With the western oil reserves cut off, gas prices soar in the east, and communication lines begin to break down.  President Cheney officially declares war on the AWC.

October 15, 2008:   The Pentagon withdraws it's support from the United States, and the separate branches of the military begin to break up. Chaos rules in the east.

October 31, 2008:   In what came to be known as "the night of the long knives", President Cheney has most of the Generals and Commanders executed, they are quickly replaced with new staff picked by C. Rice, the Secretary of Defense.  
 
November 10, 2008:  King Charles of England disbands Parliament, and assumes the role of complete ruler , vowing to help the United States defeat any and all enemies.  

November 15, 2008:  Troops stationed in Iraq rebel, and the coalition splits into two factions, Baghdad is leveled again.  The United States army is attacked by militia groups from Wisconsin outside of  Fort Knox, as it was preparing to roll west. SECDEF Rice oversees the extermination of the militia groups, and their relatives. The underground prisons in Oklahoma and Kentucky are opened up, millions are incarcerated, and disappear.

November 26, 2008:   In a state of the union address, President Cheney insists he wants only peace between the east and west, then orders a full scale neutron strike on the major cities of the AWC.

November 27, 2008:   Los Angeles, San Francisco,  and Boise are hit with neutron weapons, everyone within a 50 kilometer radius of the bomb drop are killed The B-2's targeted for Spokane mistakenly drop a bomb on Calgary, Canada, millions are left dead.
Four B-2's ordered to bomb Phoenix and Las Vegas defect, and land at Luke Airforce Base in Arizona.

November 28, 2008:   Canada declares war on the United States, and pledges its support to the American West Charter.  Texas withdraws from the union, and closes the borders to both sides.

December 6, 2008:  Presidents Schwarzenegger and Cheney meet to discuss a possible cease-fire with their respective staff.  President Cheney attempts to shoot Schwarzenegger  with a shotgun while on a  grouse hunt near the DMZ, but fails.  The peace talks are called off.

December 7, 2008:  AWC drones out of Groom Lake drop nuclear weapons on Ft. Knox, rendering the gold store unusable, and decimating the surrounding area.  TSR.2 attack bombers from Ontario hit Washington DC with fuel-air explosives, but suffer heavy losses from the New Jersey National Guard F-22's.  The United States capital is moved to Atlanta, Georgia.

December 15, 2008:  All of the closed automobile factories and manufacturing plants in the east are re-opened, by a Presidential order. Work begins on a 24/7 schedule as the Ford, GMC, and Chevy  companies begin to churn out tanks, lav's, and jeeps. President Cheney announces that the people of the United States of America finally have a zero percent unemployment rate, to the cheers of millions.

[cthulhu77]

Backstory is coming...but hey, look at the cool hubcaps!

[cthulhu77]

South Mountain Preserve, September 2, 2013, 10:15 p.m.

  The interior of the truck was cramped, with all three of them there, and even with the air conditioning cranked up all the way, Officer Evans still had a bead of sweat on his forehead.
  He took his do-rag and wiped off his brow, " Hey, it was 127 today, isn't that a new record?" he asked.
  "Nah", the gunner answered, " Last year we hit 129 three days in a row."  He was typing in commands on his laptop, the MetalStorm guns were slaved to the Cdrive, and servos moaned and hummed as the system warmed up.
  They had been tipped off that an interdiction flight would be coming in from the south tonight, heading towards the private republic set up by Farrakhan in south Phoenix...anywhere below Broadway was a war zone anymore, what with the Chupacabras gangs roaming around, and the Muslim Militants.  16th street was frequently used as a runway now, for small puddle jumpers out of the Mexican Republic, and that was what they were here to stop.

  "Systems online" the gunner announced, "We are free and clear."  The truck was dark and silent, lit only by the soft green glow of the keyboard.
 
  "Well, I gotta piss", Evans opened up the armored door and climbed out into the sweltering heat, it was like walking near a blast furnace. You could see more stars tonight, as the moon was just a sliver, and he remembered how much fun it had been back in the 90's, going out with his dad stargazing..."Crap. What the hell happened." He sighed and let a thin trickle of urine spill out onto a nearby cactus. Might as well water something.

  Strung out below, the Valley of the Sun was a beautiful sight, lights from North Mountain and Camelback spilled over the bowl of desert, made it look peaceful...which was a deception, Phoenix had become a violent, war torn city.  Evans hoped to be able to move to Green Valley soon, where it was a bit cooler, and the roving gangs were less of a threat.

  "Contact, we have contact!" shouted the RIO, and Evans zipped up and climbed back into the cab, slamming and locking the door...South Mountain, though barren, was not a safe place to be during the night.  "Target coming in at EL725 230 degrees."  The gunner punched in coordinates, and the rear 12mm cannons rotated to the position, rocking the truck gently.
 
   The com crackled, "Unit 11, unit 11, we are tracking two incoming UFO's, no IFF available, do you read?"

   Evans thumbed his throat mike, "Yes we are following, will intercept."  He buckled himself back in to the seat. " Hey, Martin, is that you?"

   "Roger" the dispatcher said, "hold the line, new tele coming in from Estrella listening post 42."

  There was a crackle, and the auto targeting systems of the cannons came on board. The depleted uranium tipped rounds were stacked in horizontal cases, and could fire as fast as 1200 rounds per minute, with no recoil...the four barrels equaled the firepower of a small garrison.

  "Uh, sir, those aren't Cessna's." the RIO looked pale..."the signature is...excrement, we have two A-10's coming in sir, this is a setup!"

   "Martin, scramble Fox 4 from Luke, we are heading out asap."  The truck spun a frisbee of gravel as it whirled around, heading down the winding road to Baseline road, the guns still tracking the incoming jets.
 
   One A-10 came up over the crest of a hill, and 20mm explosive rounds struck the asphalt around them, but the shrapnel was kept away by the lightweight panels...it disappeared in a ball of fire as three hundred slugs from the four cannons, made into a plasma by the speed at which they were launched, caught the starboard engine, and ignited the fuel.

   "Vampire! We have a missile launch!"  The other A-10 had remained aloft, and fired off a guided AGM.  "Vector 2-3", the Rio yelled.
 
   The gunner typed in a blur on the keyboard, and the single cannon on the top of the truck swung around, and began chattering as rounds flew out towards the incoming missile.  It detonated less than 300 yards away, and a ball of fire washed over the truck.

   "Great, just great," said Evans, "Like it couldn't get any hotter."  The truck weaved down the switchbacks at 75 kph.

  "Crap!  Where is it, Rio?" he yelled, swerving around an errant Gila Monster and trying to avoid crashing into the white pipe fencing that ran parallel to the road.  A warbling tone came from the threat monitor on the dash...."They have a lock!"  Evans wished he was back home with his daughter, maybe watching a taped show of Wallace and Ladmo, instead of out racing in the desert mountains trying to avoid an enemy attack...not for the first time, and not for the last.

   He slammed on the brakes, and the 400 kilo warhead slammed into the guard station ahead of them, tossing debris up into the air.

  Plywood and steel crashed against the side panels as they roared through the barricade, the A-10 hurtling down the mountainside towards them, cannon rounds pummeled the road into char behind.

   "Incoming...read 11 we have friendly inbound !" , the tap-tap-tapping from the keyboard was driving him nuts, but Evans knew that the gunner and rio worked together well.


   Overhead, the twin engine attack fighter blew apart in a cloud of titanium and steel, ripped apart from a sidewinder launched by the F4 Weasel out of the western air force base...
 
 "From 165th avenue and love" , the pilot said, as he hurtled overhead at 700 kph, "You all are peace out and ready to go!"

   "Thanks, boomer, "  Evans spun around the last corner and headed towards the safety of Baseline, " Happy landings, and I owe you a cold one".

   "Roger that one, officer...see you at the VA on 7th later."

   Evans chuckled, and called in the Phoenix Metro Fire to keep an eye on the fire caused by the two jets crashing...they didn't need a wildfire to top things off, after all.

   Back to the hive of Phoenix, with the hookers, the dealers, the factions...and his family.

[Jason M.]

I'm a STAR!!??!!! I knew my job as a dispatcher was exciting, but now you have teken it to a whole new level Greg. Just think, it's  2013, I'm dispatching on stuff like that, and I still have 12 years before I can retire!
I love all the PHoenix based info and references...from baseline to Wallace and Ladmo, you hit the mark on this Greg. What an awesome build, I can't wait to see it finished, and in person.

Congrats on a great build and a great writing talent!!      

[Eddie M.]

Outstanding writing. I really love your literary skills. Just as inspiring is your plastic work. Wonderful vision and execution!    :salute:
  Eddie  

[BlackOps]

Really cool build and great write up. For some reason everytime I see this build I think it looks like something that would have been in the "Dark Angel" tv series. I could just see this parked at a checkpoint.

Most excellent!

[philp]

Greg,
Love the model, love the story.  Wish you could have made Anaheim.