OBT Forum

The Dhoondna reminds me of that low tech Enforcer you spoke about in the other contest.

Can't wait to see your 3050 era mods!

I had another one in mind. I really need to dig in my archives.

Sarparast SPT-2MK
Level: Custom Level 2 / 3050
Technology: Inner Sphere Biped
Tonnage: 50 Tons
Designer: Ice Hellion
Armory: Canopian Retrofitted Designs
DBM (The Drawing Board) File

Faction Availability
House Marik Inner Sphere

BATTLEROM IMAGE OCTOBER 22, 3052
** FOR ISF USE ONLY **

SOLARIS7: BATTLEMECH TECHNICAL READOUT
Equipment Mass
Cockpit: Standard 3T
Engine: Fusion 200 8.5T
Gyro: Standard 2T
  Walk: 4 MP
  Run: 6 MP
  Jump: 3 MP
Standard Heat Sinks: 10  0T
8 in Engine

Internal Structure Armor
Endo-Steel Standard
Tons 2.5 11
Head 3 9
Center Torso 16 24/8
L/R Torso 12 18/6
L/R Arm 8 16
L/R Leg 12 24

Standard
Battle Value: 873
C-Bill Cost: 3,942,250
Qty Weapons and Equipment Location Critical Tonnage
1 Autocannon/10 LA 7 12
1 Small Pulse Laser LA 1 1
2 Ammo (Autocannon/10) 10 LT 2 2
1 Beagle Active Probe LT 2 1.5
1 CASE LT 1 0.5
1 Jump Jets LL 1 0.5
1 Heat Sink LL 1 1
1 Jump Jets CT 1 0.5
1 Jump Jets RL 1 0.5
1 Heat Sink RL 1 1
2 Ammo (SRM-2) 50 RT 2 2
1 CASE RT 1 0.5
1 SRM-2 RA 1 1
1 Flamer RA 1 1
  Totals
37 23

Overview:
Always eager to accept new challenges, Ana Bileygr agreed, at the end of 3051, to answer to the call of the 8th Orloff Grenadiers. They wanted a ‘Mech able to support the Bashi-Bazook, their infantry, in urban environments or during the destruction of fortified positions. However, it should also be useful in open grounds (something the UrbanMechs and Hunchbacks assigned to the unit could not do) as the 8th felt that it could not afford to have a really specialised ‘Mech and a last important thing was that it had to keep a low price as the unit was acting out of the official supply channel (mostly because they did not trust the LCCC to give them the needed ‘Mech) and as such had little money to invest into the project.

Although this ‘Mech would be clearly outside of the usual range of ‘Mechs produced by Canopian Retrofitted Designs, everyone agreed that if approved, this design would be a royal entry to securing the new market of the Free Worlds League.

While the designers were working on the yet to be named ‘Mech, one of the technicians, having heard of the project, told during one coffee break that "this ‘Mech’s gonna be the big bro’ of the little men, guarding ‘hem against anyone". One engineer hearing him decided that guardian would perfectly fit this new ‘Mech and as such it was christened the Sarparast (guardian in Urdu).


Capabilities:
Since they had no real experience in designing such ‘Mechs, the engineers watched hours of holovids from battles fought by the former Bileygr’s Kampgruppen and by the 8th Orloff Grenadiers to find out what were the needed features of such ‘Mechs. Of peculiar interest to them were the battles fought with or against an UrbanMech or a Hunchback. Discarding the UrbanMech as being too light and slow for doing any good, they decided to use the Hunchback as their starting point.

However the final result does not look anything like its parent as even the internal structure was changed for a lighter Crucis-II Delux Endo Steel, the Durallex Tensile-4 armour was increased to its maximum and it was reshaped to work better against modern weapons (thus the new lighter look). Both measures were needed as the SPT-2MK was likely to be at the forefront of heavy fighting.

Seeing no real problem with the speed and the Nissan 200 (and knowledgeable of the impact on price this could have), the engineers decided to keep the maximum speed of 63.5 kph as this would allow the Sarparast to still be quicker than the infantry it was supposed to protect. However 3 Rawlings 50 were added to increase its mobility by allowing it to jump 90 meters.

Now came one of the most important parts for the ‘Mech: the weapons. What was needed was a primary weapon with some range and able to deal with ‘Mechs and fortified strongholds. After a lot of trials and after looking at ‘Mechs of similar weight, they decided to use a Autocannon 10 like in the Enforcer (and no one would say that this ‘Mech was not dangerous). However the Free Worlds League was not producing this weapon but this problem was quickly solved by slightly increasing the imports of Pontiac 50 from the Taurian Concordat and the truth was hidden by saying that this was due to an increased demand on BDQ-1MC Bandooq. The Autocannon was placed in the left arm and supplied by two tons of ammo to ensure it would not have to leave quickly the battlefield. The ammo was further secured by adding a CASE system to further protect the pilot for explosions.

With the main weapon secured, the engineers turned out to the secondary ones. Keeping in mind the missions it was going to perform, they made the choice of two proven weapons against infantry and vehicles and of a new one. Together with the Pontiac 50, they put in the left arm the Sunglow Prism-Optic Small Pulse Laser having heard that it did wonders against infantry. The next weapon was an Irian Weapons Works Class 2 SRM-2, already used on the Wasp. To increase its efficiency, it was provided with two tons of Inferno ammo carefully packed within another CASE system in the right torso. The last weapon chosen was the flamer from Flame Tech already used on the Vulcan and that was feared by any infantry.

The final step was to add an Alexis Photon Target Acquisition System with Beagle Active Probe (used in the Hermes, a well-known scout ‘Mech) in order to allow the Saparast to better prevent traps for the infantry.

Since all those weapons did not produce a lot of heat, 10 normal heat sinks were used but two of them were put into the legs, allowing the traditional tactic of increasing the cooling down thanks to any body of water.

However, it was felt that this would not be enough if the Clans were to push in the Free Worlds League as according to all reports, their Elementals were much more resistant and annoying than normal infantry. This problem was addressed in two different ways. The first one was to give the SPT-2MK two heavy battle fists to allow it to punch the battle-armor. The second one was to experiment with a new system diverting some of the energy produced by the fusion engine into a small device activated on command. When activated, this would electrify the whole external armour of the ‘Mech with a high voltage field that is supposed to be high enough to knock down the Elementals (for now, it is pure speculation as no real test was ever done). However, this is not a really popular measure as it usually completely disconnect the whole electronics of the ‘Mech, shutting it down. But since desperate times call for desperate measures, the device was left on the final prototypes.


Configuration / Variants:
One variant is being produced at a rate of one per lance. This variant labelled SPT-21MK replaces the Beagle Active Probe with a Guardian ECM system linked to the Corean Transband-J9 communication system.


Battle History:
So far, the main fight involving the Sarparast SPT-2MK was on Alphard on July 3052 against the Prima Auxilia Alphardensis. In answer to Caesar Sean’s building power, the LCCC decided to plan a raid on its main planet. The objective was not to destroy but rather to scare him and to prevent him from trying to launch his armies at the Free Worlds League.

The raid went quite smoothly until the Bashi-Bazook, on their way back, had to attack heavily fortified positions defended by the fanatical Prima Auxilia Alphardensis. Unable to break through them and with the First Legion on their kneels, they asked for support by Senior Lieutenant Eric "Pontiac" Pontious.

Moving quickly and with the enemy closing in, he decided to go straight ahead on the main fortification and to blow it away with massed fire of autocannons. When this happened, the infantry went forward only to be repulsed by heavy firepower from the remaining survivors.

Having no time to find another way of dealing with this unexpected resistance, Senior Lieutenant Eric "Pontiac" Pontious decided to lead the way with his ‘Mechs and to suppress any resistance. Using all their weapons, the lance promptly and without any second thought destroyed the main body of survivors, making the other pockets flee in fear.

Thanks to this action and to the further rear guard actions of the Sarparast, the Bashi-Bazook were able to escape from the planet. Facing an impressive number of heavy ‘Mechs, two of the four SPT-2MK were destroyed and the pilots of the remaining two were severely injured but the test was considered a success just because of the dealing of the fortified positions.

The next task assigned to Senior Lieutenant Eric "Pontiac" Pontious once he was out of the hospital was to train more with the infantry to perfect their teamwork and prevent unnecessary casualties.


Deployment:
Only two lances worth have been produced so far and they were all sent to the 8th Orloff Grenadiers that because of its success (which costed nearly two of the 8 'Mechs produced so far and sent to heavy repair two more) asked the League Central Coordination and Command to buy more of this ‘Mech.

So far, this request has received no answers and many feel that the continuous shows of independence from the Grenadiers are beginning to make Thomas Marik and the LCCC angry.

A more modern couple of designs.

Yes. Those coming now are the more modern ones with the armoury going up and down.

Ceithernach CH-MC
Level:
Custom Level 2 / 3075
Era [Rules]:
Clan Invasion [Tournament Legal]
Technology:
Inner Sphere  Biped
Tonnage:
50 Tons

Designer:
Ice Hellion
Armory:
Canopian Retrofitted Designs

Ceithernach SSW (Solaris Skunk Werks) File

Faction Availability
Magistracy of Canopus

Ceithernach CH-MC
                                                 
Rules Level: Tournament Legal
Technology Base: Inner Sphere
Chassis Config: Biped
Production Year: 3070
Extinct By: Never
                                                                                                                                                     
Chassis: Star League M-ES Endo-Steel
Power Plant: Nissan 200 Fusion XL Engine
Cruising Speed: 43,2 km/h
Maximum Speed: 64,8 km/h
Jump Jets: HildCo LFT 9-X
     Jump Capacity: 120 meters
Armor: Grumman-3 Standard Armor w/ CASE
Armament:
     1 Norse-Storm M-7D Gauss Rifle
     1 Krupp Model 7 MML-7
     2 Martell Model 5 Medium Lasers
Manufacturer: Canopian Retrofitted Designs
     Primary Factory: Unknown
Communications System: Hector VII
Targeting and Tracking System: Starlight LX-1
A cell in a Solaris VII jail

- Karl? Wake up Karl! Sleeping time is over
- ...
- Karl! Stop sleeping. We have a job to do.
- Stop shouting Estrella, it is too early in the morning and I have a major headache.
- Too early? It is 2 in the afternoon and the headache is the result of you drinking too much.
- Drinking? Come on Estrella, you know I don't drink alcohol.
- Well, you did... yesterday, you got into a bar fight and now I have to get you out of jail.
- Serious?
- Do you remember the last time you saw me joking with you? I don't and just look around you, does this look like anything you know?

Karl sits down on his bed and looks around.

- True. So what do we do now?
- First, I have to pay to get you out of jail and then I will bring you back to the drawing board so that you can work on the next design for the contest...
A voice comes out of a second bed.
- Contest? What are you two talking about?
- Who are you?
- Me?
- Yes, you.
- Just ask your man. I ended here because of him.
- Karl?
- I don't remember really well.
[...]
I was in a bar, drinking to forget the poor results of my latest designs and then I was hit by something and then I don't remember anything.
- I can complete the whole picture if you want.
Your friend here decided to defend the colours of the Magistracy in a bar full of Andurien 'MechWarriors.
- And you?
- I always disliked uneven fights and even if I think that both the Magistracy and the Free Worlds League aren't worth a drop of my sweat, I decided to side with your man and here we are.
- Not worth a drop of your sweat? According to the police files, both of you took down 4 men before the cops came in and as I know Karl, I guess you took them down on your own.
- Perhaps but for what it is worth.
- Can I at least know your name?
- Helen Campbell.
- And what do you do for a living?
- I just arrived here after being kicked out of the Sanglamore Academy for so called pro Free Skye activism.
- And?
- And nothing. Now, just let me and get out of here.
 
Hotel room

- Thanks for letting me out of jail but don't think I own you anything for that.
- I didn't expect much from you so I guess a thank you is more than enough.
- Really funny. Where is our little friend?
- You mean Karl? He is already working on a new design for you.
- For me?
- Yes. I did tell you I would give you a job, didn't I?
- Yes but I thought you were joking.
- Me? My last good joke was a long time ago.
- And since then?
- I lost too many good friends.
...
- I guess you don't want to talk about it, do you?

Last Name: Campbell
First Name: Helen
Callsign: Rob
Born: 01/23/3050 on Skye
Military education:
First two years at the Sanglamore Academy.
Kicked out for pro Free Ske activism.

Evaluation:
Among the top twenty percent of her class.
Top student in close combat.
Lack of attention in theoretical classes.
Daredevil attitude in combat situations.


- You should rather go with Karl to help him design the 'Mech that suits your needs.
- My needs?
- I prefer to have you fighting in a 'Mech that suits you rather than a standardized one.

Later, in another room

- So are you rather light or heavy?
- Karl! This is not a question to ask to a lady.
- I was talking about your 'Mech, not you my dear.
- I only got the chance of training on a Chameleon before getting kicked out.
- So, let's go for a 'Mech weighing 50 tons.
- Slow or quick?
- In between but mobile enough.
- 64.8 km/h with a jumping capacity of 120m? Like the good old Enforcer?
- If you say so.
- And for your weapons?
- Allow me to fire at all ranges.
- Too much Chameleon, I guess.
- Sorry?
- Nevermind. So good firepower at all ranges?
- You got it right.
- What about a good old Lyran favorite? The Norse Strom M-7D Gauss Rifle?
- Maximum firepower and range?
- Exactly. I will put it into the Left Arm to increase the firing arc.
Now, for your secondary weapons, what about a brand new MML-7 straight out of Krupp factories on Earth?
- A MML? The Missile Launcher that can be used as a LRM or a SRM?
- That one exactly. I will put it into the Right Torso together with one ton of LRM and SRM ammo.
- But this is dangerous.
- Yes but we will pack them into a CASE to protect your life.
- You're too kind.
- And to complete this, two good old Martell Medium Lasers, one in the Right Arm and the other in the Left Torso.
- And protection?
- You already have the CASE, no?
- And armour? You know the little thing that protects me from harm?

With a smile

- I will give your 'Mech the maximum amount its skeleton can bear or near it.
 
With a sudden burst of rage

- No way.
- What?
- I can't do it, we are trying to pack too much thing on it.
But I have a solution although the price will skyrocket.
- Yes?
- I will use extra-light materials like a XL engine and an Endo-Steel structure.
- Will it work?
- Yes, provided you don't try to fire everything at once as this 'Mech is not designed to do this.
- You know what you did Karl?
- Not a clue.
- You designed a smaller Highlander.
- Wrong. This is a Ceithernach.
- A what?
- A light infantry unit that accompanied mercenary heavy infantry units from the Highlands.
- To me, it is still a smaller Highlander. 
- Did you listen to what I told you?
- Of course.
With a big smile
- It is a smaller Highlander.

The merciless Macdonwald--
Worthy to be a rebel, for to that
The multiplying villanies of nature
Do swarm upon him--from the western isles
Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied;
Began a fresh assault.
Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 1

Dharaaona DAA-2MK
Level: Custom Level 2 / 3050
Technology: Inner Sphere Quad
Tonnage: 20 Tons
Designer: Ice Hellion
Armory: Canopian Retrofitted Designs
DBM (The Drawing Board) File

Faction Availability
House Marik Inner Sphere
Tags
No Tags posted

BATTLEROM IMAGE MAY 10, 3052
** FOR COMSTAR USE ONLY **

SOLARIS7: BATTLEMECH TECHNICAL READOUT
Equipment Mass
Cockpit: Standard 3T
Engine: Fusion 120 4T
Gyro: Standard 2T
  Walk: 6 MP
  Run: 9 MP
  Jump: 0 MP
Standard Heat Sinks: 10  0T
4 in Engine

Internal Structure Armor
Standard Ferro-Fibrous
Tons 2 3.5
Head 3 9
Center Torso 6 9/3
L/R Torso 5 6/3
L/R Arm 3 6
L/R Leg 4 6

Standard
Battle Value: 368
C-Bill Cost: 1,765,440
Qty Weapons and Equipment Location Critical Tonnage
1 Heat Sink LA 1 1
1 SRM-2 LT 1 1
1 Ammo (SRM-2) 50 LT 1 1
1 Beagle Active Probe LT 2 1.5
1 Heat Sink LL 1 1
1 Heat Sink CT 1 1
1 Heat Sink H 1 1
1 Heat Sink RT 1 1
1 Medium Laser RT 1 1
1 Small Pulse Laser RT 1 1
1 Heat Sink RA 1 1
  Totals
26 5.5
Overview:
At the beginning of the 3050s, the staff of the 8th Orloff Grenadiers was becoming increasingly worried with what they see as the logical evolution for the Scourge of the Periphery, the split of their regiments into battalions assigned to garrison or to bring peace to one specific world.

Seeing that this would prevent them to efficiently support the Bashi-Bazook as the Sarparast were assigned to the 'Mech regiment and since it was out of question to split the forces below the battalion level, they asked in mid 3052 through their chain of command, the Chief Armorer Admiral Adam Tam the authorisation to launch a contract with Canopian Retrofitted Designs for what they called a cheap light infantry support 'Mech that would be assigned directly to the Bashi-Bazook and piloted not by true 'MechWarriors but by soldiers from the unit.

Once granted the authorisation and under the express order that unlike the Sarparast this design if successful would be shared with the other units, the unit contacted Ana Bileygr to see if Canopian Retrofitted Designs could work on such a design.

Seeing this as the golden opportunity to officially get a foot within the Free Worlds League (her strategy from the beginning), she gathered a team and they immediately began to work on it.


Capabilities:
Since it was meant to be cheap, the weight was set up at 20 tons and only the minimal amount of new technology was used.


Looking at the mobility aspect, it was decided not to put any jump jets as most opponents would be infantry and vehicles and as such a pure ground mobility would be more than enough to deal with most of them. However not willing to take any risk, the engineering team set up the walking speed at 64.8 kph similar to the one found in the Wasp and the Stinger, classical light 'Mechs of the same weight. Thus, the 'Mech received a Magna 120 produced by Irian Battlemechs Unlimited for the Wasp.


The next step was to decide the trade-off between armor and firepower. For the same reason as the elution of jump jets, it was decided to provide priority to the second one. However willing to decrease the weigh burden of the prototype, the engineering team at Canopian Retrofitted Designs decided to use Ferro Fibrous armor (this choice was made as much because of a desire to experiment with something new than because of the difficulties faced with the Sarparast). But even then, with 3.5 tons of Jolassa-328 Ferro-Fibrous (the same found in the WSP-3M), it is more armored than any 20 tons 'Mech produced in the Inner Sphere.


The set of weapons was thought to be efficient and intimidating at the same time. A Sunglow Prism-Optic Small Pulse Laser used on the Hunchback was selected for the right torso to knock down any infantry or mob assault. To strike fear in their hearts, the Irian Weapons Works Class 2 of the Wasp was used on the left side but was loaded with Inferno ammunitions.

Although this last one is partially efficient against vehicles, Ana Bileygr felt that this 'Mech was still missing some fire power against heavier vehicles and a few occasional 'Mechs. This came in the form of a Hellion-V Medium Laser another proven design used in the Hermes. This weapon was put in the right torso above the Small Pulse Laser.

With some weight left, the choice had to be made between putting a Beagle Active Probe and a Guardian ECM, both of which could prove useful. However, one of the engineers said that if this 'Mech is to intimidate people, it shall find them even when they are hidden and when another added that against the low technology available to the rebels, an ECM would be wasted. As such, a Alexis Photon Target Acquisition System with Beagle Active Probe used in the Hermes was used as targeting system. To keep things simple, the Irian Telstar communication system also used on the Hermes was installed on the 'Mech.


Special care was given to the piloting system as the pilots would all be green. The inspiration came from the Chameleon and its easy to use system. Also, a special computer was added in order to gather the information available in the different sensors and displays and present them in a clear way to the 'MechWarrior.

The last part was the general aspect of the 'Mech. As it was designed also to make people still just by looking at it, it was decided to make it a quad (even if it would prove more difficult to pilot for the 'MechWarriors) and to make it look like a giant spider with sharpened angles and a higher and menacing medium laser that looks like it is on a turret.


When the first Bashi-Bazook came to give their advice, one of them said that this 'Mech was dharaaona or scary in urdu. Everybody agreed that this name would reinforce this impression and as such the 'Mech was christened the DAA-2MK Dharaaona.


Configuration / Variants:
Since this is as a brand new design, no variants have been spotted so far.


Battle History:
So far the Dharaaona has seen battle only once on the planet of Ghaziabad.

As rumours were spreading of a small group of religious rebels pretending that the end of time was near, the FWL decided that it was time to bring civil peace to Ghaziabad and as such in late 3052 dispatched the Bashi-Bazook with their lance of new Dharaaona.

At that time, it was expected that one DAA-2MK would provide support for one infantry company. As the 1st company of the 2nd Battalion was patrolling a secure area and had left its Dharaaona at the base camp, they felt into a massive ambush supported by a pair of light tanks.

When he received news from that coward act, Corporal John Hook, the pilot of their DAA-2MK, went completely berserk and disobeying direct orders, he rushed towards the site of the ambush managing to flank the light tanks and to destroy them. Seeing that the rebels decided to withdraw into hiding. However thanks to its superior speed and to the Beagle Active Probe, John Hook was able to track them efficiently using its inferno ammunitions on them to make them burn in Hell for what they had done.

When reinforcements reached the site, there were no survivors and Corporal John Hook was still shouting out loud about how he had failed to his former comrades. He was immediately send to an asylum (had he not, he would have been sent to court-martial for disobeying direct orders and improper use of force).

The positive news is that the green light was given for producing the Dharaaona. However officers are expected to watch over the pilots and to move them to another company if they become too deeply involved with the infantry they are supposed to protect.


Deployment:
So far only a lance has been deployed with the 8th Orloff Grenadiers and Canopian Retrofitted Designs is busy trying to produce more (at an estimated rate of a lance every 6 months). However, the next months should see an increase in the availability of the DAA-2MK as Irian BattleMechs Unlimited has received the blueprints for producing the Dharaaona for the other units of the Free Worlds League.

Cricket KA-1
Level: Custom Level 2 / 3060
Technology: Inner Sphere Biped
Tonnage: 30 Tons
Designer: Ice Hellion
Armory: Canopian Retrofitted Designs
DBM (The Drawing Board) File

Faction Availability
Magistracy of Canopus Periphery
Tags
No Tags posted

BATTLEROM IMAGE OCTOBER 22, 3063
** FOR ISF USE ONLY **

SOLARIS7: BATTLEMECH TECHNICAL READOUT
Equipment Mass
Cockpit: Standard 3T
Engine: Fusion 240 11.5T
Gyro: Standard 3T
Walk: 8 MP
Run: 12 MP
Jump: 0 MP
Standard Heat Sinks: 10 0T
9 in Engine

Internal Structure Armor
Standard Ferro-Fibrous
Tons 3 4
Head 3 9
Center Torso 10 10/3
L/R Torso 7 8/3
L/R Arm 5 6
L/R Leg 7 8

Standard
Battle Value: 508
C-Bill Cost: 2,685,800
Qty Weapons and Equipment Location Critical Tonnage
1 SRM-4 LA 1 2
1 Ammo (SRM-4) 25 LT 1 1
1 CASE LT 1 0.5
1 Heat Sink H 1 1
1 SRM-4 RA 1 2
Totals
19 5.5
Overview:

10/13/3063

I hate Senior Engineer Randolf Gomes, the only guy chewing a wet cigar on all Solaris VII. Senior engineer... I think he is jealous of me being directly “contracted” by Caleb Justusson, boos of Gaunt Wolf Stables for building his new 'Mech. This is probably why he refused to give me this work and "allowed" me to create the new ride of Kailynn Jaeger, our boss' niece.

I can only think now of unpacking my things in the tidy room he assigned me. I will begin to see what I have at hands and what she would like tomorrow morning.


10/14/3063

After a day like this, I do wonder why I graduated from college and more importantly why I was sent on a loan by Canopian Retrofitted Designs..

The young lady refused to meet me, saying that I was a mere manual worker and that it would be improper of her to see me. According to the others, she is nothing but a spoiled kid. It seems that her parents died and that her uncle took her under his custody but he must have been too gentle to her.

After that, I found out that in spite of my initial contract, I have only access to a limited amount of spare parts. The most important restriction is that I can only use an old version of the Pitban 240. It does not even carry double heat sinks. I thought this was standard equipment by now.

Enough of this, I only have two ways of this: do it or leave it. And since I am not planning on leaving before getting my revenge on "Wet Cigar" I should better beginning working on it.


10/15/3063

I worked all night on it but I have managed to create the first draft of Kailynn Jaeger's new custom 'Mech. It should be a fast little bugger, mostly like her from what the others told me.

I need a little more time to clean up some details.


10/16/3063

I was trying to rest a little after two full days of work when she showed up, entering my room without asking for any authorisation and she kept on asking me silly questions about her 'Mech. These are the times that make me wish I was deaf.

When she left, I began to work on a specific feature based on wind-powered sirens, that I call for now the "song". When moving at full speed, it should make a frightening noise, the perfect psychological weapon for a little brat like her.


10/20/3063

If anyone had told me back at college that engineering 'Mech was going like this I might have considered doing something else.

4 days without sleep with always somebody on my back, taunting me (Senior Engineer Randolf Gomes) or annoying me (Kailynn Jaeger). I do wonder if it is the same in all companies on Solaris VII because back at home, we are more the kind of cooperative people than teasing ones.

But I managed to finish the plans for it: the KA-1 Cricket (KA is for Kailynn Jaeger, 1 is because it is her first 'Mech and Cricket is because it is small and makes that "song" when charging towards the opponent).

At least, "Wet Cigar" did not disapprove of my initial blueprints. I think over the past days he made me rework the leg actuators over a dozen times, arguing that they would not be able to bear the combination of speed and weight or else saying that my design was not innovative that it was only the bastardised son of a Locust and a Jenner.

I think I am going to sleep a full day before beginning to build my Cricket with the pieces of junk available to me.


Capabilities:

I began to look for a suitable skeleton for the Cricket. Since I am only allowed normal internal structure, I have two options: find the right 'Mech and rebuild it or find a slightly under or overweight 'Mech and rework it a little.

I was beginning to feel that I was quite unlucky when I found a Koto, a 25 tons little bugger, based on the Locust but used mostly on Solaris and in mercenary units. It is a bit too light but since I found nothing else, I will have to work with it.

Luckily for me, I managed to put my hands on a little stock of internal structure alloy but I guess it will take at least one week to rework it and to increase the resistance of the internal structure of the Koto to bear the 5 tons more needed for the Cricket.


11/02/3063

It took me a bit longer than expected mostly because of a strange sabotage of our installations. Everyone agrees on who are the criminals: our rivals of Black Stables.

They are the only ones that would go to such extents as trying to blow away our ammunitions warehouse in the middle of a resupply run. Luckily for us, our security team found out about this plot before they made it a reality but we had to evacuate everything to allow a special team hired at the last minute to perform a complete check-up.

In spite of this lose of time, I think I managed to achieve a satisfactory result. The internal structure should be able to support the total weight of the Cricket. I will test this theory tomorrow.


11/03/3063

I do not know if it will ever be able to work but I managed to put the good old 240 Pitban engine. With it, the 'Mech should be able to reach a maximum speed of nearly 130 kph. This is not bad for such an old engine.

Unfortunately, it should not be able to do so more than a couple of minutes at one time. Doing it for longer periods of time, might create an explosion. I tried to find a way around that problem but working with second hand parts has its drawbacks.

My luck is that most fights on Solaris VII do not last long enough for the engine to be overridden by the energy needed to maintain the speed.

However, maybe I should change the weapons for something allowing shorter fights.


11/04/3063

I had a little more time to think about the weapons as I worked on the armour.

I managed to find a couple of Jenner JR7-K in a corner of the warehouse. They had probably seen better times but most of their precious New Samarkand Royal Ferro-Fibrous armour was still intact. I managed to salvage 4 tons of it. This is not even 70% of the maximal armour that can be carried but since this 'Mech is designed for short battle arena, it should be enough. Since I am planning on using an ammo-dependent weapon, the CASE system of one of the

I also begin working on the wind-powered sirens. I think the legs are the perfect place for them but I will need to rework the armour a little bit and I could not find it a good metallurgist to help me. I guess I will have to work on it alone.


11/07/3063

I nearly managed to finish it.

Those last days were horrible. Reworking the armour was not that easy at all. It is really a full-time job. However the trials in the blower worked perfectly. I do not know if it will make any good

More annoying was "Wet Cigar" always sneaking around to wonder why I was losing so much time on reworking part of armour Obviously I did not tell him anything, this way, it will be as surprised as the others.

To add to this load of work, I have just been advised that her first match in a Class Two secondary arena will be in two days. The "Old Man" is not crazy enough to throw her in the jaws of the wolves for her first match.

The good news is that my Cricket might survive a little longer. The bad news is that I only have two days left to work on the weapons and electronical systems.

Well, I guess I can say goodbye to my sleep for those two days.


11/09/3063

I think I will know sleep for at least a week.

I managed to finish everything right on time (if one minute before sending the 'Mech to the arena is right on time) but I had no time to test it and Kailynn Jaeger did not train into it (but I managed to warn her about the Ť song ť).

The chosen weapons were quickly found. Two Coventry SRM-4 from two old Commando COM-2D that were going to be thrown in the garbage. I had only room for one ton of ammo but once again this is arena combat so it should be enough. I was lucky to incorporate the CASE earlier. Having to do so right now with the time limit would be impossible.

I also took the TharHes Star Shark, the Targeting and Tracking System from one of the Commando. Since, SRM are the main weapons of the Commando, it is already configured for them and this will save me time by avoiding me to rewrite the code for it.

Since I was working on Commando, I also took the TharHes Crystal Flower RG-2, its Communication System. While not outstanding it does its job well enough.

I also managed to paint it according to her specification in a flashy black with flame effects on it.


I did my best, now it is up to her.


Configuration / Variants:

11/05/3063

One day I might rework it (probably after a couple of battles in the arena) but for now, there are no versions.

I have already plans for this KA-2, including a lighter engine rumoured to be available in the Lyran Alliance, a little more armour, one ER Medium Laser to increase its range and some Double Heat Sinks to deal with the increased heat.

This one might be interesting for the Magistracy and for Canopian Retrofitted Designs as it will be more solid and more powerful. However, since I do not have access to all the needed component, I think that for now those plans will remain a dream.


Battle History:

I was invited to witness the fight by Caleb Justusson himself. At that time, I did not know if it was a good or a bad omen. I thought that it all depended on the result of the fight.


The Cricket was assigned to fight a Thorn THE-N1S from the Black Stables. This little monster was 10 tons lighter, 25% slower (with no jump jets), packed the same armour but with an PPC and a Small Laser, it was more than a match for the thin armour of the KA-1 (luckily for us, it was not a N1 with its ER PPC).

The arena was a variant of King of the Mountain, with one high mountain and one road to climb on it. One of the opponent was allowed to deploy on top of the mountain and the other had to climb there.


Not surprisingly (since we knew with the Black Stables that the match was not going to be a fair one), Kailynn was assigned to climb. I think their Stablemaster, the infamous Duke Dark (known among us as Double Deck for his heavy weight) knew fairly well that the Cricket was designed with short range combat in mind. By forcing it to climb through the road (since none of the models involved had jump jets), he hoped to get a clean kill on the niece of his arch-enemy Caleb Justusson.

However, this was not meant to be. As the Cricket was beginning the climb along the road and the Thorn was moving to the highest point of the road to get a clear view, Kailynn pushed her Cricket to full speed and the “song” began to be heard. It started as little more than a whisper but as the 'Mech was increasing its speed, it became more and more powerful. The wind-powered sirens were doing their part of the job.

Unable to understand what this noise was, the pilot of the Thorn misfired several times as the Cricket was closing the gap within them and he seemed lost, unable to move his 'Mech.

Kaylinn displayed a fire discipline that I never expected from her (at least from her behaviour outside of the 'Mech). She retained her fire until she was under the minimal range of the PPC and then she fired several precise shots of SRM that completely disabled the Thorn.

Not having a clue about what was going on and unwilling to face more of it, the pilot of the Thorn ejected whereas he could have fought longer.


We celebrated our victory all night long and I was even thanked by "Wet Cigar" himself for making such a tremendous job. However, he warned me that now it was only the beginning.


Deployment:

11/10/3063

After its performance in the arena, several buyers came to Caleb Justusson in order to get their hands on the Cricket. He throw them away saying that this is was one of a kind and that no one would be have it as long as he lived.

Therefore, "Jericho" Kailynn's Cricket is so far a stand alone 'Mech.

And with this ends the journey of Bileygr's Kampfgruppen, that rose and fell with Bileygr and his death.