Thread: The Rebellion (Pazzo x Xana)

Lady Aurelia was apparently not the fat out of shape whiny rich girl who hid in an armored bunker and gave out commands for her people to die... She was willing to take the fight to the enemy herself to defend her people. That was admirable... Caleb did not think of her point defense system as selfish, If anything it was utterly brilliant... Take a high priority target like a royal family member, put her in a well protected mech with a state of the art Aegis-Type point defense, and then let her run around soaking up enemy fire, making them expend their munitions and give away their positions... It was very similar to a strategy employed by an ancient table top role playing game, where you have the heavily armored warrior going toe to toe with a powerful enemy, soaking up the blows, while the thief snuck around behind to stab the foe in the back, the Wizard blasted the target with magic, and the priest kept healing him to keep him alive... A delicate balance was achieved, and through that teamwork the enemy was brought low... Caleb loved astronomy, and practiced it as a side hobby. For many sleepless nights he had used the on board telescope to look up at the heavens when he was not on duty. The merc had nicknamed that chassis Regulus after an interesting multiple star system he loved to look at from time to time... It was a very interesting coincidence that Aurelia's mech had a similar name... Antares, named after a fabled star, a massive red hypergiant, and when seen from earth was in the constellation Scorpios... Often referred to as The Heart of the Scorpion... It was a good name for such a big, heavily armed mech meant to protect others... Very similar to how Ivan used to pilot his Ajax, before that damned battle at Allheind had claimed his eyes, his legs, and his sanity... He shook the unpleasant memories away... Ivan had also used a point defense system, but nothing as tough as what Aurelia had described. Caleb watched as the pretty young noblewoman walked away, and could not help but admire the way her legs swayed when she walked... There was no harm in looking Her comment about being good enough to be at the lower ranks of the 227th? That made him arch an eyebrow. Caleb had yet to fully review her dossier, but from the looks of her flawless skin, impeccable uniform, perfectly manicured nails, and wispy perfumed hair, she had not seen real combat yet... Still she was enthusiastic, and that mattered. Combat training would be fun... Caleb looked over the stores of support parts available at the Hyperion facility, and he smiled. Everything he needed to upgrade the Mark 3 Archnova to a Mark 7 competent chassis was available, though some jury rigging would have to happen... the machine could be ready in a week viewing the repair crews numbers, especially with Ivan helping... The Merc uploaded a series of modifications and parts replacements to the maintenance board from his datapad. The engine upgrade was the most crucial... The stock Grimsar Phoenix 4 reactor was very underpowered for its weight, which made the Archnova very unpopular. Caleb hated them at first, but it was all he had available at the time. Caleb had once sustained a crippling engine hit, and the crew jury rigged a Margitech 7 into the chassis, just to get it moble... Caleb found that with a few adjustments performance could be almost four times normal... Caleb favored speed of most everything else, and the Archnova's heavy duty Mark 3 chassis was perfect with solid construction but light armor... The joints would need to be reinforced, but Ivan could do that in his sleep... While no one was looking, he ordered a crate of Pharoh Beer for the repair crew as an added bonus... Off the record... The stock auto cannons would be replaced with series 7 particle cannons, and the cooling system would likewise be retrofitted with quad link heat exchangers... Caleb thought for a moment... Then he smiled as he quickly walked to the briefing room to attend the officers meeting... He would call this new Archnova Rigel