After his wonderful birthday evening with Brittany, nothing could seem impossible. Except that today was a whole different ball-game. The Ghost was up at the ripe hour of 4 o'clock in the morning. He'd been living in the Reddick Mansion as the citizens had voted that the Mansion be used as the leader's house while in office. The Ghost got out of bed and went into the bathroom. He wrote a note on the mirror as he brushed his teeth, brushed his hair and put on some deodorant. He put on his dry-cleaned "G of O" coveralls; few citizens had pitched the idea of turning his outfit into a line of clothing. Just before he was out the door, he grabbed his bag and adjusted the bedcovers to better cover for Brittany who was fast asleep. With a light kiss on her cheek, he was out the door.
Everything kicked off with the Ghost arriving at the Greater Ottawa A.W Labs. There, he was meeting Dr. Sue, President Keith, an old friend from California, and Dr. Schneider, the German Refugee. As he shut off his S-10's ignition, got out and closed the truck's door, Dr. Sue greeted him.
"Good Morning Ghost." Said Dr. Sue as she opened the door.
"Morning Madie, let's get the ball rolling shall we?
"Yes, right away Sir."
After they'd both met up with the other two, they introduced themselves.
"To kick things off, Ghost, President Keith, who you already acquainted with. Now, the President has brought us a new asset. This is Dr. Dietrich Von Schneider, a refugee from Germany. He, his father, and a few colleagues made the journey with him in retrofitted ME-262s. On his left is Mr. Sundeep Y., CEO and Founder of Sun-Di Artificial Intelligence Solutions or Sun-Di AIS. Mr. Sundeep's company is based out of San Francisco, California and behind him is his bodyguard, M. Murphy. Everyone, this is Greater Ottawa's leader, The Ghost of Ottawa." Dr. Sue said, finishing her part of introductions.
"I hope the trip back here wasn't too bad for everyone, Doctor Schneider, Sundeep. Said the Ghost as he shook their hands.
"Oh, cut the formalities. You and I both went to Marquette Academy High School, so please, just Sundeep."
The Ghost laughed, "Just for Freshman Year."
They were all ushered out of the room and led into Dr. Sue's testing area where the day really began.
"Gentlemen, Greater Ottawa has been very busy. From building new houses, roads and more, this city is in great shape. While that's been happening, my team and I have created a new classification system of the various armor platforms I have invented."
"As you are all aware, I have invented and designed four suits of Powered Armor. First, I created the Ottawa Powered Combat Armor or the O.P.C.A. Then came the Ottawan Infantry Powered Combat Suit Mark IV or OIPCS-IV, used exclusively by the Ottawan Army. During the battle of Corpus Christi, the Ghost utilized the O.M.P.A-XF84H or Ottawan Modeled Powered Armor-XF84H that utilized the Republic Thunderscreech Aircraft in its design. Just before winter, I let the Ghost test out the brand new, O.P-D.S.A or the Ottawa Powered-Defensive Survival Armor." Said Madie Sue as President Keith, one of his head engineers, Sundeep and the Ghost looked over all four suits.
"Each suit fits into a dual category series. For this the armors are classified as either Combat Utility or Non-Combat Utility, then if they are Singular or Multi Functionality based. Looking at the armors, the OPCA, OMPA and the OIPCS-IV are all under the Combat Utility Category, with the OMPA being the only Multi-Functionality based Combat Utility Armor." As she went on, she turned on a board that displayed each of the armor's attributes called, "Function Abilities".
"Looking at the Function Abilities of all the Combat Utility Armors, you'll see they all provide the wearer a durable, titanium shell that deflects most of the commonly used types of ammo, 5.56 and 7.62 NATO for example. For the OPCA and OIPCS-IV that's as far as Function Abilities go. The OMPA, model XF84H, adds flight-capability, the use of sonic booms as a Concussive Auditory Weapon, and was the first suit compatible to power the Lasalle Lake Powered Cannon. Keep the LLPC in mind as we'll come back to it."
As they moved down the line, Dr. Sue led them to the OP-DSA.
"Gentlemen, this is the first armor I created that wasn't designed under the Combat Utility Category. This falls under the Non-Combat Utility Category. It is the first standardized Civilian and Military usable unit. All the current in-service models have what we called "Adaptive Functions." Every OP-DSA comes with a series of attachable tools such as Jackhammers, Saws, Claws, Piledrivers, Augers, Rivet-Guns, Arc-Welding Rig, Minesweeper, and Blast Shield Barrier. This by far is the most versatile armor-style platform I have ever created. Currently, civilian models are made primarily for Construction, Natural Disaster Relief Response while military models are equipped with all of those Adaptive Functions with the added armament of a handheld single-action rifle." Said Madie concluding her overview of the armors.
"So, these are all the armors you've made?" President Keith asked as the first portion of lights came up.
"Not even close. Those are the four original models I created." Dr. Sue said as she led them down to the next area. There was a massive tarp hiding something in the room. As she grabbed the rope she said, "Now, allow me to introduce the newests additions and replacements I have created." As the tarps lifted, it revealed several new armors.
"This first armor is going to serve as a replacement to both the OPCA and the OIPCS-IV. This is the GO-A.P.A or the Greater Ottawa -Advanced Powered Armor. It has already proven its combat-effectiveness. President Keith, the Lone Star Armor you used recently is this suit. The GO-APA can utilize all of the old combat utility category function abilities as the armor has been made with the idea that the Greater Ottawa Army will be the primary users. While the armor can't use the flight ability of the OMPA, this one has added extreme heat and fire resistance as well."
As they stepped to the next suit, it was clear Madie Sue and went all out.
"The Battle of Corpus Christi was an eye opener for all of us here in Ottawa and in Texas. While OMPA-XF84H was a game-changing factor in the outcome of this battle, this new armor is a vast improvement over it. After reviewing our aircraft inventory, it's clear that the R-82 Silverplate B-29 known as "Enola Gay" is a critical part of our Air Force. With all that in mind, I took made the hydraulic frame out of lightweight-titanium rather than steel, then added the versatility of the GO-APA to give you, the B.M.P.A-82s & 29 or the Bombardier Model Powered Armor-Mark 82s and Mark 29. The Mark-82s stands for the Enola Gay style, with the lowercase S standing for Silverplate, indicating nuclear carrying capability. Standard Mark-29 armors are modeled after the base model, non-silverplate B-29s. In terms of durability, pilots could use both models, take direct-hit CIWS Phalanx fire for a solid hour, and return home safely without so much as a bruise."
She paused for a moment then spoke to President Keith.
"I am aware you lost some bombers during the attack on the flagship, so I have authorized the creation of forty B.M.P.A-17's that have been modeled after the Texan Reserve Air Force B-17s."
"Thank you kindly." President Keith said as he looked at the 17 Model.
As Dr. Sue moved the final display, the L.L.P.C was on display alongside a new suit of armor.
"Now, as you all can see, the L.L.P.C is on display. After the Ghost annihilated that New World Order Flagship, I did some tests on it. As it would turn out, the Texan guess of it shooting an atomic explosion beam wasn't right, nor was the Ottawan guess of it firing a laser. It turns out that the Lasalle Lake Powered Cannon isn't exactly the correct name."
The Ghost and Two Texans were stunned. Neither of them believed it could be named something else.
"Well, what's up with the name? How isn't it named correctly?" The Ghost asked examining the series of documents outlining what Dr. Sue had researched.
"Well to start, the P in L.L.P.C, shouldn't stand for "Powered". I had Dr. Schneider here take a look at it. So I'll turn this over to him."
Dietrich adjusted his glasses, then showed the others the observations he'd made. As he spoke his thick, German accent became very prominent.
"While I was initially asked to see what I could to boost the power supply of the weapon, I noticed a few things. Firstly, the notion that this thing could shoot a laser or a full atomic beam, does sound cool, but is pure nonsense. What Dr. Sue built here is neither of those. While the one armor was able to power the cannon, the P, like Dr. Sue said, does not stand for "Powered" rather, it stands for "Particle". You see, Dr. Sue created the first ever Particle Cannon, and I made some modifications to it."
Dietrich moved two carts into the test-firing range. The first cart held the original L.L.P.C. As he powered it up, and fired it remotely at a series of metal plates, he explained further.
"You see, the original cannon has a difficult time punching through the steel plate. While Dr. Sue powered it using a Beryllium Battery, it was that armor's dual turboprop engine drive system that added the needed wattage. As those batteries weren't strong enough, the both of us created a new source of power. It is a sealed core of Triti-Corium. The world's radioactive substances combined to be stable. I called this version, "The Radium Dial." Said Dr. Schneider as he fired the new cannon. It punched through every material they'd stacked up and had even singed the wall behind it.
The Ghost and the others looked at the results and nodded. The Ghost had been trying to find a new name for the L.L.P.C but that'd be something for later. Dr. Sue took the show back and with the pull of a rope, two variants of the same armor were unveiled.
"These two armors have no designation yet, but they are both on what I'd called the "Overkill with Offensive Power" side of things. Both have twin-shoulder mounted versions of the superior L.L.P.C, and both could be powered by the sealed core. However, I thought it wise to make one model that had a back up. Dr. Schneider helped us make a new battery.The new backup batteries that will be used in all of our armors is made by taking the elements of Beryllium and Iridium, then using an acid to combine them to the new element of By-rdium. These Batteries could power several other offensive weapons that are included on the armor and can be used with no risk, no matter the temperature outside." Concluded both Doctors.
"This has to be the equivalent of turning a Four-Loko into a suit of armor." Said the Ghost looking at the armor.
"Does it have a name?" Asked Sundeep.
"At this moment, no. This will be an exclusive armor for the Ghost to use. It will never see the trade market. This thing took the last of my supply of everything that wasn't steel and titanium." Said Madie Sue as she ushered everyone back to the conference room to discuss what they say before the busy day continued as it hadn't even hit 10 o'clock in the morning yet.