TFA3 0.0 – Prologue

For the whole night, a platoon of combat engineer in Jack Sparrow gave their best to put a Net-centric Tower into commission. They didn’t have to build it from scratch. They only had to install a few pieces of final component, to the half-assembled equipment that had been mounted on a huge skeletal tower, and were tightly covered with weather proof sheet to hide its presence.

And speaking about the skeletal tower, it had eight quadrants facing to all direction, seven floors in total, and was 35 meters high to ensure the core equipment could be placed higher than tree tops in Penna Hill. All this time, this skeletal tower was being reported as a facility to air dry semi-processed black pine.

Some Makai Riders who flew above Penna Hill and saw the skeletal tower, had submit a concern that the tower could be used as a platform for ballista. However, the bribed to Donte and the smooth flow of black pine supply to timber industry in Makai Royal City had outweighed this concern.

Not to mention in a glance the skeletal tower looked very fragile. The main supporting pillars and hundreds of frame that being attached to it was too thin compared to regular supporting pillar in Makai Royal City, so it gave the locals an eerie impression that the whole tower may collapse at any moment. Local people would never believe it if they were told that the skeletal tower could support a weigh up to dozens tons with ease.

In summary, from its highest mount on 7th floor down to 4th floor the skeletal tower was able to accommodate:

2 x 2D Air Search and Surveillance Radar

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4 x Broad Area Passive Radar Sensor

4 x Medium Range Electro-optic and Visual Identification

1 x Multi-spectrum Electronic Warfare Package

1 x Quad-panel Multi-mission 3D AESA Radar

1 x Communication Terminal

1 x Primary Satcom

1 x Weapon and Fire Control Radar

2 x Fire Support Radar

2 x Weather Forecasting Radar

3 x Air Traffic Control Radar

2 x Instrument Landing System Radar

1 x Secondary Satcom

Normally, a base would distribute their core equipment to separate locations to prevent total destruction from a single attack. Only aircraft carrier or warship would centralize that array of equipment in one specific area because the lack of space.

Unfortunately, Jack Sparrow’s circumstances didn’t allow it to adopt conventional practice. They had to hide their presence as long as possible while building the necessary equipment they needed to defend themselves. Therefore, they could only go with whatever means that didn’t compromising their covert presence.

As the sun started to peek in the east, the engineer platoon finally completed the final work for Net-centric Tower. After taking a sip of his coffee Lieutenant Norma said, “Let’s put this tower online, and see how high it can fly.”

“Aye LT,” Engineer Powel happily replied.

A moment later, Lieutenant Norma received a notification that Command Center was conducting a test run on the Net-centric Tower. The initial result was good so he also received an order to take some rest.

Without many words Lieutenant Norma carried the order. He leaved a team of senior engineer to stand by in the tower peak, while he and the rest of his men used a mechanical elevator that was moved by a counter-weight to descend, and then went straight to the kitchen for breakfast before taking a short nap in their barrack.

They had worked so hard all night so they really could use some good rest. Moreover, Lieutenant Norma and his men were fully aware that if the assault on Makai Royal Palace failed, Kingdom of Makai would definitely unleashed whatever storm they could muster on Jack Sparrow. In that scenario, the engineers had to ensure every system in Jack Sparrow would work as expected by all means.

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