Giga Fortress | |
| |
The Giga Fortress in naval mode | |
(Minor) faction(s) | Empire of the Rising Sun |
Type | Transforming Capital Ship/Airship |
Designation | Overpowered Anti-Everything |
Secondary Ability | Transform |
Mod Relevance | Uprising Unit, Lore |
The Monster Machine[]
As the Empire of the Rising Sun's ambitious plans of dominating the Western hemisphere started to crumble, the nation's leading weapons manufacturers scrambled to come up with contingency plans that would appeal to their shareholders. The result was a machine that even the Empire of the Rising Sun's best scientific and military minds previously thought impossible. No, the Giga-Fortress cannot bring back to life the Empire of the Rising Sun's late Emperor Yoshiro. However, this semi-sentient computer-controlled weapons platform is programmed to exact terrible revenge on the Empire's now-numerous enemies ... even should the day come when no Imperial men or women are left to continue to fight.
Originally thought to be two completely separate platforms, the Giga-Fortress is believed to be a single entity capable of assuming two completely different forms: a massive sea-fortress, bristling with more than half a dozen heavy-duty cannons and multiple independently-tracking missile systems; and a sky-fortress, built to resemble a monstrous face, armed with something called the "God's Breath device" located in the "mouth" of the thing.
It may be remembered as the pinnacle of military robotics as well. Shirada's advanced weapons, composite armour, and floating fortress nautical locomotors were seamlessly merged with Tenzai's most sophisticated artificial intelligence (A.I.) and dual-stage variable form systems in the construction of this weapon. Those directly responsible are anonymous, likely deceased; some Allied officials have even speculated that the computer-driven Giga-Fortress is the cynical by-product of war criminals refusing accountability for their actions.
Thankfully, as yet there are no publicly documented incidents of a Giga-Fortress attack, and this may be why the machine has no known weaknesses. It is believed to have no moral inhibitions, either, at least not by those who accept that the Giga-Fortress is self-aware to whatever extent is possible for a computer-controlled machine. Its "personality", according to this camp, has been programmed with a version of Imperial military doctrine that places the success of the mission, the ultimate victory of the Empire, and the total defeat of its enemies as top priorities, in that order.
But unlike a zealous Imperial warrior, the Giga-Fortress A.I. has no concept of morals, no ability to second-guess officers or to misinterpret its directives, and no need for rest. It exists, perhaps, in a childlike or even a primal state only to fight until either it ceases to operate or the millions of individuals it "thinks" are enemies have been eliminated.
However, when the Giga Fortress was brought to the attention to the Imperial military, it was reported that the Shogun reviewing it spit out an entire cup of tea when he saw the proposal. It was the most expensive unit the world has ever seen, and the need for it to be built "twice" was a great letdown, being vulnerable to attack while it was still under construction. Some of the more pragmatic elements of the Imperial Army also noted the absurdity of wasting resources in making the flying form look and act like a head; resources that could be spent on building more tanks or airplanes. Most notably, one of the prototypes, "Kanto", was sunk by a single bomb from a Sky Knight drone during the Battle of Pearl Harbour, showing the vulnerability of the Giga Fortress to precision strikes. After this disaster, funding for the Giga Fortress was cut completely.
But this would not be the total end of the Giga Fortress, as a scaled down version of the behemoth aircraft has been used to form the head of the Sentai Command Mecha.
Behind the Scenes[]
- The Giga Fortress, as with any Uprising Unit, will not feature in the game.
- EA apparently took inspiration from Sinistar when designing the Giga Fortress.