I've been waiting for this for a while.
Sorry to make ya wait so long. ^^;
I guess the TSAB now knows exactly where the Suvota got Pluto from (and I was expecting flying nuclear death-crowbars
).
They have a strong suspicion, yes. It was sort of a three-way development. The Russians had mostly developed it based off the old American Project Pluto, then after the JS Incident, a rogue officer contacted the Suvota and offered 'Pluto, in exchange for technical assistance' - said technical assistance being the contracted-out Argene work that brought Pluto's secondary and tertiary systems up to interdim standards.
What I want to know is, where did the Americans get Stonehenge? It seems unlikely that the TSAB would not only give them the AeC, but an experimental/prototype/upgraded version that isn't in general deployment. Has Earth found a way to get off planet and go collecting souvenirs without anybody else noticing, I wonder? I'm recalling those M-16s that the guards were using in Force...
Ah, to clarify, Stonehenge never actually fired. #2 was ready to go around when the ships left. The 'AeC' fired from directly under the blast point.
Stonehenge actually
does involve bits of TSAB technology - nothing on the level of the AeC, more materials and electronics. The TSAB didn't give them
those either, they picked it up during a bit of off-the-books fuckery - the 'nine years ago' events the fic's referred to occasionally. (It's a side story I've got plotted out in this timeline - fills in a couple of the holes, such as 'hey, when did Fate meet Jail Scaglietti?')
There is no problem that cannot be solved through the proper application of immense levels of firepower.
- Finally promoted to Spammaster Indeterminate Rank as of June 18, by Stratagemini
<Stratagemini> My Titanium Anus Armour will repel all challengers!
Would you believe this is one of the more tame bits of dirt I've got for him?