Project-K Final

Journal Entry extract from Diary of Blueberry Muffin. Head Weapons specialist of Project-K


Applejack's vision of the ultimate war machine was coming close to completion. It been at least three years since I had been dragged into this project because she had stole my Railgun Rifle design and supersized it for the machine's primary weapons. I can't complain as being apart of this had given me the opportunity to create bigger and better weapons for it.

Since I'm now in Stable 88 and no longer sworn to the secrecy of the project I can now talk about it but there is no point in telling ponies that we could of had something that could of stopped the war now. I'm writing this to get it off my chest since I've kept it a secret since day one.

So, what is Project-K?

Well Project-K was something thought up by Applejack. She wanted to create a machine of great power to fight our enemies and possibly end this war.

The machine's full title is K-01 ACM KROGOTH. ACM standing for Advanced Combat Mechanoid.

The machine stands roughly ten stories tall and was modeled on the appearance of a Steel Ranger with the mother of all battlesaddles and complete with sail like mane and segmented tail.

The Krogoth is armed with an array of powerful weapons.

1. Multi-Calibre Anti-Equine Machiengun. This machinegun has multiple gun barrels that rotate at high speed. It is the machine's anti-infantry weapon but with ponies wearing all sorts of different types of armour the weapon was designed to fire several kinds of ammunition to deal with the armour. It can fire 5mm rounds for standard infantry, 50cal for armoured infantry and also can also fire two experimental calibres. These are 55 and 60 calibre. The two experimental calibres were meant for greater penetrating power.

2. Advanced Magical Railguns. These are my pride'n'joy. Originally they started out as supersized versions of my Railgun Rifle but because the engineers didn't have my expert knowledge they cocked it up badly. It was because of this that I was approached by Applejack to be apart of the team. I had to redesign the weapons to make them work. The result was better than I had thought possible but I guess being powered by the Stable-Tec Spark Reactor helped. These Railguns fire a concentrated beam of magical energy which in our successful test fire proved to over power the the Celestia Tier shield we had set up to protect the Hanger from internal weapons tests.

3. High Explosive Missiles. Mounted on the backs of the two sets of Railguns are two large missile pods. These pods hold a total of 18 missiles each giving the Krogoth a total of 36 missiles. The missile pods were originally designed for anti-air since our Zebra enemies somehow have Dragons on their side and can somehow magic bat like wings onto their troops. Considering being attacked by a dragon wasn't that likely in battle and the rare occurrence of flying zebras we had the pods redesigned so they could also fire at ground targets. This gave the Krogoth a long range. It could fire one missile at a time or several or the entire pod.

4. The fourth weapon is actually two weapons as its an experimental interchangeable weapon. This was also a genius stroke from me as the first of the two weapons is my own designed Disc-Grenade Launcher. Disc-Grenades hold the same explosive force as a frag-grenade but packed into a disc like shape. When fired this shape gives the explosive more air time so it has a longer range than standard grenades and again with its shape it can bounce. It was intended for the grenades to bounce so they could get over cover to hit whatever is behind. A downside to this was that the grenades would activate a timer after bouncing once so this meant they'd sometimes explode before hitting their mark. The second weapon is a smaller Raingun. Its entirely for Anti-Air as I know missiles alone won't be enough for its air defense so I made up this Railgun. This weapon is five percent of the power of the ADV Railguns but for its lack of power it makes up in rate of fire and accuracy. However the Anti-Air Railgun can only fire at one target at a time.

Now, I'm not an expert on the robotics but I've been told enough and since I've worked on the machine I've learned some things. The machine has the most advanced joints I've ever seen on a robot before. I've seen joints that look to mimic a pony's leg movements. Applejack enlisted the help of the technological genius of Mr Horse for these and I can say he delivered. With these joints the Krogoth can move in ways a standard robot can't and this also allows the machine to handle its weight better over rough terrain.

To control all these advanced systems Applejack got her friend, Twilight Sparkle, to make her a Crusader Mainframe just for the Krogoth. The Crusader would give the Krogoth great control over its systems and with its ability to think and solve problems it would make the Krogoth a truly dangerous machine to our enemies. Applejack had the Crusader programmed with a mission. The mission and I quote was "To attack and destroy all who would threaten the safety and security of Equestria". I know what your thinking, that's a perfect mission for the machine but think again. Applejack didn't say enemies, she said ALL which means if the Krogoth sees anypony as a threat it gives it reason to destroy them. I voiced my concern about this after the Railgun test fire when I realised it could generate more power than Celestia herself. Applejack said that it wouldn't attack the princesses but I then told her that they could feel threatened by the power of the Krogoth and so they might attack it. And if they attack the machine the Krogoth would then see them as a threat which would give it reason to attack them. Applejack was going to have it reprogrammed but the bombs fell before she got the chance.

The Krogoth also had a new and very experimental control system installed. With the way technology was advancing with machines and cybernetics an implant had been created to allow somepony to connect with a machine and control it like it was their own body. This experimental implant was called the Synaptic Link. A pony with such an implant could connect with the Krogoth and this would allow the machine to move its body as freely as if it was the pony connected to it but we didn't have anypony with the implant as it was a dangerous operation with where the implant is to be installed in the body. Surrounding the spinal column at the base of the skull. I've heard that a couple of ponies have been paralyzed from getting the implant from damage suffered to the spinal column. Applejack through it would be worth it for future use if the war continued to drag on even with the Krogoth out there.

The Krogoth has many spells incorporated into its systems like that of a Steel Ranger. For example a self repair spell. The machine has and upgraded version to speed up recovery due to its sheer size. A new version of this spell was adapted for a different purpose. Since the machine uses project weapons and would need reloading at some point this new spell was created for that since there won't be any facilities out on the battlefield for resupplying it. This spell enables the Krogoth to absorb the raw materials needed, like that of the repair spell, to regenerate the ammunition that it has used so as long as the Krogoth can acquire the materials it needs the machine can effectively have infinite ammunition. The Railguns on the other hoof, since they are tied directly into the power supply of the reactor they can never run out of power. For as long as the reactor is online the Railguns will always be able to fire but I have discovered a draw back to which I was unable to bring to Applejack's attention as she was away from the Hanger when the call came out to get to our assigned Stables. The draw back was that if the Krogoth launched a full or over chargned Railgun shot the Reactor's power would be drained to such a point that the Krogoth will be forced into a state of hibernation until the Reactor can replenish itself.

Applejack told me about a meeting she had with Twilight sometime ago in the Braytish city of Manechester far in the Northwest and outside the Equestrian border. She told me about a spell that Twilight wanted to test with the Krogoth and she had convinced Applejack to let her install it. The spell in question was something called the Assimilation Spell. Twilight had said that it was something to help the Krogoth to better itself. I don't know what the machine would need to better itself considering it would be the most powerful machine ever made. So, this spell, its purpose was to allow the Krogoth to absorb technology that it could use, like weapons or armour, etc. That's actually a scary idea cause the machine could just keep getting better and more powerful for as long as its reactor could power it. Ugh, I should of voiced my concern when I heard about that.

We suspected that some of the Krogoth's enemies would hide in bunkers or whatever the Zebras have, holes maybe so we decided to give the machine a means to find such places and that's a Hologram Projection System. Mr Horse developed the technology along with Stable-Tec and the result was something that is called the Light Bee. This Light Bee is a small device that will detach itself from the Krogoth and then generate the hologram. It allows the hologram to be projected in areas a normal projector wouldn't be able to so it was perfect for the Krogoth to be able to explore underground places or inside buildings if its scanners can't penetrate the walls. Downsides to this would be that Unicorns would be able to sense the Hologram due to the arcane energy that would project the image and if it got too close to anypony as the hologram is something known as Soft-Light which would make it effectively a real life ghost as ponies would be able to pass right through it as the hologram has no mass. But the biggest draw back is that all the Krogoth's sensory equipment would be going through the hologram so the machine itself would be immobile and unresponsive until the hologram returned to it, good thing its armour can or should I say, should, stop most ammunition.

Speaking of armour, the armour is the same type and thickness of that used on the battleships, HMS Luna and HMS Celestia. This gives the Krogoth great protection against project weapons but I fear that if our enemies use magical weapons that armour won't be effective at all. Magic affects armour in different ways depending on the type of magical weapons used. For and example, the Railguns on the Krogoth, if it wasn't for the Celestia Tier Shield, that railgun blast would of melted directly through the huge blast door like a super heated cosmic knife through butter and that bucking door was suppose to withstand a megaspell detonation.

The machine has several weaknesses from my point of view. The easiest to identify is its size. Its a huge target. There are others, like its weapon lay out. All its primary weapons face forward, the machinegun, the railguns and missile pods. This leaves the machine open to attack from all sides but the front. With is limited number of weapons and I suspect the machine won't be that fast so it will also be vulnerable to being swarmed by large groups of infantry. I would of said something about its legs being a weakness but that was something Applejack had looked into so the legs are thick and sturdy and a tactic as simple as trying to trip the machine won't work with its advanced joints luckily as if it did fall, its weight of cause some serious damage. The Spark Reactor is a biggy too, if what I've learned about it is correct, if a reactor of this calibre was to go critical, its explosive yield would be on par with the biggest megaspell or balefire bomb which means the Krogoth could actually be a ticking time bomb that could wipe out an entire city if it was to blow.

The Krogoth may have been finished and in action by now if not for the fatalities we've had. The first was a young mare by the name of Short Circuit. She was one of the convicts brought in, infact, all the fatalities were convicts. Short Circuit had been imprisoned for hacking into Equestria's Military Network which in a time of war was a crime punishable by death. She was recruited for this secret work force as the main programmer as with her knowledge of computer systems she seemed ideal but when she was to test the Mind Transfer Module of the Crusader she was electrocuted. She survived but the electric shot straight to head must of fried her brain as she became a senseless vegetable, poor girl. After that, every so often a convict worker would suffer a horrible and fatal accident. Most were falling from the highest platforms but the more gruesome ones were those working on the advanced joints as the legs would end up moving, catching the victim inside and crushing them. There had been over ten of these fatalities over the last year and none of us could work out how they were happening as we constantly went over the health and safety procedures of the Hanger and found them to be acceptable if not a little more. Somepony actually thought the machine was choosing who would die, but that's absurd as its a machine.

All the none important work force lived in the Hanger as it had a Stable like living area where there were spaces for all the ponies brought in. These were the convicts and normal ponies that nopony would miss. This was one of the things that Applejack had done to make sure the machine was kept a secret as as long as they stayed in the Hanger they wouldn't talk to anypony about it. For important ponies like myself were had been threatened of imprisonment or worse. We were able to leave the Hanger too as we had other jobs to attend to but we always went to and left the Hanger in the same way. In a carriage that had blacked out windows so we couldn't see, can't understand why we were also made to wear a blindfold since we couldn't see out the windows anyway, and we had to wear earmuffs so we couldn't hear. The idea behind that was genius cause if we couldn't hear nor see we couldn't work out where we were from sights or sounds along the way so this would of made it impossible for us to find the Hanger and if someone got us to talk about it then we couldn't even tell them where it was.

Krogoth and Art (c)