Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Jericho Cannon

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The Jericho Cannon is the Grey Steel Order's primary superheavy artillery. This unit is planned to be voiced by

History
"Bow before the voice of the Lord Almighty!"

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Short story
Every time I think I have the Order figured out, they go and prove me wrong. They are fanatics, of course, ranging from utterly deranged flagellants to otherwise normal people whose faith informs and guides their every action. I'm not there yet, of course, but someday... What truly fascinates me, however, is their grasp of science and technology. They don't see it that way and give me funny looks whenever I use either of those terms. Craftsmanship, artifice, and understanding are the terms they use.

In many ways, the craftsmen of the Order are absolutely brilliant engineers. I'd go so far as to say the Order's craftsmen are some of the best mechanical engineers in the world, using steam and clockwork to accomplish and even overtake Imperial designs created by artificial intelligence and assembled by self-directing nanite swarms programmed by a collaboration of human programmers and artificial intelligence. According to Deirdre, the analytical engines the Order uses are even more advanced than Aquilan and Voshkod computers, being digital, programmable, and Turing-complete despite the inconvenient user interfaces.

The funny thing is, they don't realize what they've done at all. If the Order had not interfered with Babbage's work, his engines could have revolutionized the world. The Order's steam engines have power output comparable to some modern internal combustion engines. Talon Steel still could change the world if it was ever widely disseminated. Their etheric and ambiaric technologies are something else altogether - I'm still not sure how the Etheric Storm on the gun platforms work, and I "designed" the thing.

I suppose the artificers are right. Designing and building are both acts of faith. Every engineer in the world knows the feeling when you see something you've built tested for the first time. Your heart skips a beat or ten until you see its motion. You have faith that it will work. And sometimes, well, it doesn't. Tying that into religious faith kind of makes sense, I suppose. Wait. I'm actually understanding why parts of the Order do what they do. That's... Frightening. I had no idea what I was getting into back when I was just a Katsuragi woman with doubts. Now I'm actually agreeing with the lunatics in this asylum.

At any rate, what brought all this on is that today I got a chance to see the Jericho Cannon in action. Like most Order war machines, looks are deceiving because, frankly, it looks absolutely ridiculous. Take the base of a Cleric Track, add a gigantic network of pipes, and a huge horn on the front. A small, enclosed compartment mounted on the rear holds the driver and... Gunner? I don't even know with this monstrosity. I read the story of Jericho in the Bible, of course.

In ancient times, the city of Jericho was surrounded by a great wall so sturdy as to be virtually impregnable. So the (Israelites) marched around the city for seven days, then blew ram's horns that shattered the walls. I couldn't get anyone to tell me when the Jericho Cannon was developed, but the machine is clearly named after - or inspired by - the story from the Bible.

Thing is, you don't really hear the horn's sound. You feel it. Teeth rattle and bones tremble, and your whole body feels very weird. That's what it does to flesh and bone. To wood and concrete and rough, corrugated steel, all materials common in buildings across the world... They vibrate and shake and break. As do the walls behind them. And the walls behind them. Simply put, the Jericho Cannon is a fearsome siege weapon for all that no one would tell me how it works. They say I'm nosy enough already, and that I desecrate sacred craft with my desire to break it all down into numbers.

I won't tell them, then, that I think I actually know how this weapon works. (Nikola Tesla) - what an entertaining man to read about - toyed with something similar in 1898 V.C.. Now, his device is widely known today as an earthquake machine and is the basis for the seismic weapons of the Minutemen. However, that's only one application of the principles Tesla was playing with.

Resonance. Now, I'm not an acoustical engineer, but I'm familiar with the basic theory. It's what allows a well-trained singer to shatter glass with their voice. Sonic waves, calibrated on the correct frequency and amplitude, can cause materials to rapidly vibrate and shatter. The Jericho Cannon seems to weaponize this principle to emit sonic waves that shake apart entire fortified structures, in a similar way to the ADI's aptly named Resonance Weapons.

Now, what this leaves me to wonder is how on Earth the Order knew about this principle and how to use it to this degree in such direct application. Is it possible that this is exactly how the Biblical (Israelites) shattered the walls of Jericho? Even worse than the Order, how could they have known what frequency would destroy the walls, much less achieve it with simple trumpets crafted from ram horns? How do they know these things? How can these narrow-minded zealots, who treat their craft like a religion in its own right, do things like this?

The more I learn about the Grey Steel Order, about its capabilities and purpose, the more I'm convinced I'll never know the complete story. In fact, I'm starting to believe that no one shy of the almost mythical Triumvirate knows the complete story. I don't know what they intend, or how the Order does all that it does. I suppose I'll have to take all this... On faith.

- From the journal of Masoko Okamura, Master Shipwright

Guardians of the Tacitus

 * Tomahawk (Aquila)
 * Bishop (Alliance)
 * Sabretooth Missile Artillery (ADI)
 * Raiden MPRS (Protectorate)
 * Athena Cannon (Andora)
 * Nuke Cannon (Empire)
 * Hyunmoo (Community)

Destroyers of Balthazar

 * V-3 Launcher (Voshkod)
 * V-4 Launcher (Gorizont Division)
 * SSM Launcher (Brotherhood)
 * Kondensator (Horde)
 * Luna (MLA)
 * Firestorm Artillery (Collective)
 * V-2 Launcher (Encantadia)
 * Devastator Warship (Scrin)

Neutrals

 * Glass Cannon (Coalition)
 * Forgefiend (Heralds)
 * Jericho Cannon (Order)
 * M55 "Husky" Artillery (Survivors)
 * Rawhide (Syndicate)
 * ... (Conglomerate)
 * Basilisk (Legion)

DLC

 * ... (Federation)
 * ... (Corona)
 * ... (Party)
 * ... (Skynet)
 * ... (Dominion)
 * ... (Elemental)
 * ... (Autocracy)
 * ... (League)
 * ... (Swarm)
 * ... (Pirates)
 * Iskander-K (Elona)
 * ... (Ascalia)
 * ... (Confederation)
 * ... (Kingdom)
 * Crescent (Goo)
 * ... (Security)
 * ... (Imperium)
 * ... (Dynasty)
 * Ural SSM Launcher (Warlords)
 * ... (Cult)
 * ... (Raiders)
 * ... (Theocracy)
 * ... (ASA)
 * ... (Insurgents)
 * ... (Bastion)
 * ... (Guardians)
 * ... (Hierarchy)
 * ... (Sundered)
 * ... (Ecumene)
 * ... (Concordat)
 * ... (Contingent)
 * ... (Rangers)
 * ... (Eden)
 * ... (InGen)
 * ... (Hallows)
 * T92 HMC (Commune)