I feel that every time I check back in to the thread, there's yet another breach of civility.
This is not fun for me to deal with.
Writing this quest is my way to relax. And these disruptions also are not fun for others who just want to enjoy the quest to deal with either. Seeing this go on like this is discouraging, and I'm not having any more of this.
I have reached out to a Moderator - a dubious first for me - and I'll be pausing writing temporarily until this is sorted out to my satisfaction.
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Smith Files #2 - Intelligence, and What We Technically Did(n't) Do
Or, as I like to call it, 'don't make us come down there.'
I won't bother getting into specifics, since everything I could say is just going to get the <REDACTED> treatment (there, see, boss? Saved you the trouble using the <REDACTED> on <REDACTED>). As much as this sounds super blatantly obvious, this entry is also here as per your instructions to capture recent goings-on with our new inventories and the recent threats that have been making life too interesting. So here goes.
Our mission, as always, is to uphold the peace through means which the public will likely never know until they're declassified down the road. Conducting macro-scale monitoring via open source, electronic source and human source intelligence, we do our best to defuse situations before they even become noticed. Again, I'm not going into specifics, since I know that's going to get filtered.
I'm not making this a fluff piece. As you might have noticed, we haven't exactly been all that successful over the last decade.
George Sheol and the Westphalians are threats that were not taken seriously enough until they were too far entrenched to really remove through subtle means. This was before either of our tenures, but the Westphalians were considered a low level threat that could be removed given time and surgical measures. By the time Future Operations realized the scale of the now identified Tank-Mobiles and the strange freedom of movement they enjoy, it was too late for previous plans to be enacted. Their strength-in-being approach has also been theorized to be a self-fulfilling prophecy that draws out all of the sympathizers - many of whom are in surprisingly high places. But they also tend to be supporters and not direct assets, so we've been able to make subtle arrests.
Remember, children - winners don't do drugs. And nostalgia at the cost of reality is one hell of a drug.
No one exactly could predict George Sheol utilizing his genetic engineering thesis to create literal giant monsters, or the Kausen crashing into Earth, however, so we have that silver lining going for us. For a given definition of silver lining. But thankfully, after the confirmed mission kill of the Warlord (I'm honestly surprised another one hasn't shown up yet, but give them time), that gave us the excuse to incorporate the DFRI into our defensive network. Major Devin has proven to be a very useful anvil to our hammer, and while the Super Robots are destroying high profile targets, that gives us plenty of anonymity for maneuver.
In addition, and more pertinent to this report, we now have new assets of our own thanks to their designs. They are as follows!
I won't lie and say that I was surprised at that last metric too. Though the Steed was originally designed for use with the Intelligence Services, Major Devin's team found a significant use for them and they've really run with it. I'll refer you to the Yukimura Institute incident, but they played a significant role as both cockpit units for the recent Seeker models as well as close quarters powered armor.
On its own, the Steeds are slightly uparmored motorcycles. The armor does sacrifice a little bit of the maneuverability you see in civilian models, but that's offset by the fact that getting shot at with this thing means you can actually tank a direct and heavy hit or two before you have to start worrying (I still wouldn't recommend sitting still to test it though). It reconfigures into a humanoid armor mode, a little larger than your average male human (standing roughly at about seven feet or so fully encased in metal) and is still fairly agile.
We're already starting to see variations of the Steed. Little has to be said about our own variants - paired with the Shades (see below), the Steeds generally forego the armor in exchange for engine longevity, ability to scale higher buildings or fit through narrow spaces, and looking more like civilian models. The DFRI's modifications I've already mentioned, but the Marine Expeditionary Forces have seen what they're doing with them and are starting to ring the budget gongs about it the closer to the end of the fiscal year we get - I expect to see full infantry models of these soon, and if the Marines get them, the Ground Defense Forces won't be far behind. The Air Defense Forces are actually pretty interested too, but they're beginning to send out feelers for commissions to make an aerial version (not that this is exactly public just yet~).
CR-04 'Shade'
Frame: Various civilian SUV/Van models
Roles: Command and control; surveillance; engineering
Significant Producers: Lone Star Industries (on special order); Daehan Motors (on special order)
Widest Adopters: N/A
I won't regurgitate too much, Director, as you were there with me during the demonstration a few years ago. The Shade is our latest surveillance model, designed to be a mobile headquarters, action station and maintenance bay-in-a-pinch. It can reconfigure into mecha mode, but it's not going to be winning any prize matches for close combat. What it does allow for is to navigate rough terrain that a bulky vehicle like the Shade normally would have no business even trying, but you kind of have to be very careful in trying.
I've used this machine before, and I have no real complaints about it. I've used it for just about every function on the docket and then some, and while it might not be the best at it (the really specialized equipment would just be too heavy or make us sacrifice other functions we don't want to), its ability to do any of them on the fly makes its flexibility really nice to have on demand while also letting us blend into just about any civilian or urban population centers around. That, and everyone expects us to paint our vehicles black - no one expects purple (beyond thinking they have poor taste, which is objectively wrong).
I've also been seeing other weird experiments going on with some of the other departments. One of them is literally plugging their Shade into a larger computer network for additional processing, while another is actually trying to uparmor the thing for direct combat. I'm...not exactly sure how wise that one's going to be, but, uh, more power to them? I have it on good authority from the DFRI that they're pretty handy as indirect fire platforms, but I'm not sure I'd want to risk one of them in close quarters.
(QM NOTE: Some of the dice rolls were showing up as errors, weirdly. A quick refresh was able to fix that, but I had to update the hyperlinks - they should be showing the actual rolls now)
-<<Deployment>>
--Escort-Oil Rig Cleanup
---With SCR-01 Beowulf & Ocular
--Rapid Response - Westphalians
---Thunderbolt, Ichiro Banner, 1st Golem Wing Seekers, 3rd Reconnaissance Jackals, Pegasus
--Rapid Response - Kaiju
---Perseus, 1st Experimental Support Wing V-33s, 9th Armored Reconissance Phalanxes, Sleipnir
-<<Defense>>
--Captain Haruko Sasaki
---Liaison: Major Lenora Jenkins/Fulgur
----Tech Trade using Cape and Orion Booster.
---Liaison: General Li/GDF
----How are the Centurions Doing and is there anything else that needs to be done.
--DFAI-01 'Diana'
---Reaction Force Reports: Kaiju
---Reaction Force Reports: Westphalians
--DFAI-02 'Adrianna'
---Liaison: Galbinus-R/Legio Galbinus
----Theres a New Warship that appeared in the System got any idea what it is?
---Reaction Force Monitoring: Additional Threats
Sasaki's visit to Major Jenkins and the Fulgur Team goes quite smoothly, especially since she comes bearing gifts. Neer and Schemming are positively manic about the potential for the Pterawing sample, while Forge is quietly intrigued by the Orion Booster. Sasaki also gets a closer look at the pilots who volunteered for the job - right as they're being tapped for their very first mission.
And she's been given a front row seat invitation to observe.
Her visit to General Li, on the other hand, is a bit less productive. His main complaint is that right as the playing field was leveled, he is already starting to run into new and dangerous ways the Westphalians are trying to murder his forces - and he's been hearing similar complaints from his peer commanders in adjacent District Commands. He doesn't have any requests for the Centurions per se - but he does have a potential problem that he needs solving, if the DFRI are willing to lend unofficial help. [New Deployment Option Unlocked]
Diana
- Reaction Force Monitoring (Kaiju): 1, 6, 4
- Reaction Force Monitoring (Westphalians): 1, 1, 3
Diana's month has been very mixed. Further digging into the kaiju infiltrator reports reveals a disturbing note - there appears to be scattered reports of a 'leader' type coordinating the strikes. No further information is available, as there are precious few eye witness accounts as it is. And they seem to be going after weapons depots and manufacturing plants specifically. No clue if it's the same one you encountered at the Yukimura Institute, however.
The Westphalians, on the other hand, are eerily quiet outside of hit and run attacks. Diana has been able to compile more consistent reports of newly fielded equipment, both from various EUDF formations, but also from MSS's own reports submitted as part of their legal requirements for operating under contract. But no new developments - are they lying low after you cleared the oil rig?
It turns out that if you put someone who's incredibly nosy into monitoring details and with a vague focus statement, they're liable to come up with something. Adrianna decided that the previous reports from the FRC on organized criminal networks utilizing configuration-capable vehicles was worth pursuing - and she found more than she had expected to.
And given that she was the one who discovered the mystery warship on approach, Adrianna was given the honor to approach Galbinus about it. You just wish she had more of a subtle way to ask, but that's just not how Adrianna does things. Probably for the best in this case - but now you have more understandings of Mekaen politicking than you ever wanted to, and a rough idea of what to expect when it arrives.
- <<Engineering>>
-- The Duo
--- Seeker Super Robot Frame – 2 Turns Remaining
--- Mega Blaster Sledder – 1 Turn Remaining
-- 'Build Team'
--- Perseus Sledder Modular Upgrade – 1 Turn Remaining
--- Enemy Wrekage Analysis: 'Polyphemus' Wreckage
-- Jiro
--- Funnel Mk. IIs – 1 Turn Remaining (receive 1d6)
--- Saddle Super Robot Combiner – 2 Turns Remaining
-- EAI-01 'Lana'
--- Enemy Wrekage Analysis: Predasaur Remains
--- Experimentation: Beuwolf Fenrir Weapon "Tyrants Bane"
---- Using K-Fang Halberd as Base combine Kausen Energy Blaster, Arc Blade, K-Lung, Zirvitium, Empathic Booster, ESP Transmutation & Faedium to create a Powerful Melee Weapon suited for Beowulf Fenrir from and Strength.
-- Dr. Boris Ignatov
--- AI / Psi Guidance System – 1 Turn Remaining
--- MSS – Paging Dr. Dinym
The Duo
- Ichiro Support Unit (Mega Blaster Sledder): 6, 5, 6
- Seeker Core Super Robot Development: 4, 5, 5
Wilde and Henry experienced a breakthrough with the augmentation to the Buster Pack. The ergonomics are slightly awkward, as the original Sledder configured for the Buster Pack already takes up a lot of the logical spots this new portion would logically slot into. But they have found a way to compensate for it by adding more utility beyond just, in Wilde's words, a "biiiiiigg gun." Banner's Buster Mode is now fully capable of the upgunned firepower roughly on par with Perseus Megas.
COMPLETE
QM Note: Are you all satisfied with the name, or do you have a recommendation for Ichiro's combined form?
The Seeker Super Robot frame is also nearing completion. The internals have mostly been sealed, and at this point it's fine-tuning the K-Scale Mesh on the critical joints (very important for something with this many moving parts) and being a bit more particular on applying the Zirvitium armor plating. Henry does note that the Sledder is probably not a great combiner candidate for the Seeker, and if you want to make it a future combiner, you will need to explore more options.
He also has another question: who is going to pilot it? You'll need to make a decision on that next month before the project is complete.
One Turn Remaining. Decision pending in next Engineering vote.
Build Team
- Perseus Support Unit (Pilebunker Combo Edition): 4, 6, 2
- Enemy Wreckage Analysis (Polyphemus): 4, 3, 5
Perseus Megas's upgrades are complete, though there were some complications. The K-Lung and the Empathic Booster proved to be far trickier to install and make compatible with the rest of the components than the team was expecting. Thankfully, they were able to find a solution to the K-Lung's limited capacity through an rotary integrated canister 'cartridge,' an admittedly low-tech solution, but one that can allow some flexibility in what kind of elemental punch Perseus Megas wants to apply. The Empathic Booster, however, is...all over the place. It integrates with the pilots well enough - but readings are showing a third presence interacting with it.
COMPLETE - New Engineering Option Unlocked
The Polyphemus, on the other hand, is almost insultingly simple. It's...a giant Drone. It's incredibly basic, obviously missing a head and cranial unit, and it has a bunch of holes and structural damage in place. Aside from chunks of Zirvitium armor plating, there's nothing obviously new about it.
On the other hand, as Greg tells you, "It's still a giant robot body. We can probably patch it up." And even if you don't make use of it, this could serve as a frame for another Super Robot program on short notice for BG Peters.
COMPLETE - New Defense Force / Engineering Option Unlocked
The Predasaur, according to Lana, is incredibly well crafted. Even with the giant molten holes and the broken teeth left behind by Callaghan and the Beowulf, it's actually still quite structurally sound. 'Nothing we can't fix,' is her basic assessment. The only complication really is the 'heart' reactor - it's incredibly compact, and produces quite a bit of power, but it's also fragile enough thanks to the previous combat that she's not confident that she could take it apart and have it survive the analysis.
You could build something out of it now, or you could take a chance at disassembling the heart reactor.
COMPLETE - New Engineering Options Unlocked
For her second project...
'You want me to do what? With what?'
You last left Lana piecing everything together like a Tetromino sculpture, but aside from her initial skepticism, she isn't dismissing the idea outright. The K-Halberd works well enough, but it's fitting everything into it that's proving to be the issue. 'I might not be able to get everything in here, just as a fair warning.' She seems to be leaning on installing more of the connection ports to draw directly from the Beowulf itself rather than in the 'Tyrant's Bane' but it's going to take her some time.
Jiro has managed to produce some working prototypes - and he even managed to install his directional blaster units as a proof of concept. For what they are, they're a little slower than he'd like, and an opponent with high reflexes will probably catch onto it sooner than later. But the miniature rocket thrusters and the Pteradon directional wings means that you now have a weapon that can attack from several different angles at once.
He did have a funny idea as well - 'You could load these onto missile pods and cycle them through for refueling...'
COMPLETE - New Engineering Option Unlocked
With the Saddle...he's discovered that when you include Faedium into the mix, you can save a lot on internal space that would have taken really chunky aviation fuel engines. The fuselage and the engine blocks make for natural upsized arms, and the cockpit and the cargo space makes for natural armor slotting. He's had a bit of a brainstorm, and will have some ideas for you next month.
He also very begrudgingly thanks Lana for her notes.
One Turn Remaining.
Boris Ignatov
- AI / Psi Guidance System Feasibility Test: 5, 5, 3
- Paging Dr. Dinym (Resolved in Interlude)
Ignatov's hypothesis was correct. AI - and, by extension, Kaus - cannot interact directly with ESP energy at all. This leads to an interesting interaction where the human brain can conduct predictive targeting and navigation, but relies on the AI hardware to execute. The human pilot needs to serve as a 'translator' - otherwise, the AIs tend to have problems.
It turns out when you have a 50% turnover rate at at your section of the office, those remaining (yours truly included) suddenly get all of their work. It's not been great, but I'm still here.
I'll handle the Special Projects in their own section and write up later, but for now I mostly want to get the ball rolling again.
SCIENCE! Rolls Dr. Sam Carlson
- Empathic Booster and Transmutation (w/Max)
- Experimentation - Olympic-class Leg Sample
-- Using it to Upscale our SR
Dr. Maximiliane Brand
- Faedium C-Crystals (w/Mary)
- Empathic Booster and Transmutation (w/Max)
SCAI-01 'Ivana'
- Experimentation - K-Lung 'Supercharge' Fuel
-- Try to see how it works when Combine with with Arc Blade/Cannon Tech to upgrade our Arc Weapons.
- Pterawing-class Wing Sample
-- Effects on Constructing a Seeker Robot with it Particularly the Seeker Super Robot Core
Zulu
- Experimentation: Enhance Dispersion Charges with K-Scale
- Experimentation: Enhance Dispersion Charges with Faedeum
Dr. Mary McCullough
- Faedium C-Crystal (w/Max)
- Faedium Crystalline Structures
-- Spark Excaliber: Experiment to see if using Faedium in its construction would improve the Spark Caliber either allowing it to be last Longer than as a finishing strike or make the finishing blow even more powerful.
I think this format works better for me here, so let's get to it!
Success...with complications. New Branching Options Unlocked
"Sam here."
"Ahem."
"And Max. We've learned two things. One: intense emotions do count as a stabilizing bridge element for psychic energies such as Transmutation, and the Empathic Booster acts as a jump start option to get the ball rolling. Two: we might need to create some sort of guard rail. Unfocused but intense emotions can get really, really destructive."
"On that note, we still have budget leftover for another lab, right?"
- Experimentation - Olympic-class Leg Sample (Potential Upscaling of Super Robot construction): 6, 2, 6
Critical success! New Engineering Option Unlocked!
"In other more practical news, I can't believe I'm about to say this: Sheol's designs, if they are his, found a way to actually efficiently redistribute heavy mass. We might not have to cheat the same way that Aeon Particles do for Mercury V or with us and Anti-Gravity; the design is mechanically sound. And I should be happy about this discovery, but I'm just annoyed that hack got to it first."
SCAI-01 Ivanna
- Experimentation - K-Lung 'Supercharge' Fuel, Combine with with Arc Weapons: 3, 5, 5
Success!
"We have explored the application of the K-Lung Fuel with the Arc line of weaponry, and I think it has some potential! I think it's safe to hand this over to the Engineering department at this point, but by applying temporary 'coats' of K-Lung through attached dispensers, we can temporarily strengthen aspects of both the Blade and Cannon."
- Effects of Pterawing-class Wing Sample on Seeker Core: 6, 3, 2
Success! New additional option for Seeker Core unlocked next turn.
"The engineers also assure me that there's time to possibly sneak something in if we want to go for it. This is fortunate, because we think they might be able to spin microfiber fabrics from the Pterawing sample!...I'm not sure we want to call it the K-Wing or whatnot, but it should offer additional lift and maneuverability if the math is correct..."
Zulu
- Experimentation: Enhance Dispersion Charges with K-Scale: 4, 4, 4
...if we were playing Outgunned, this would be a good result. As it is, I'll give you Success With Complications.
"Metamaterial, designation 'K-Scale,' possesses many unique properties. Full potential not yet realized. Sought to capitalize by application of Dispersion Field. Conclusion: K-Scale capable of projecting Dispersion Field charge, but for extremely limited lifespans."
- Experimentation: Enhance Dispersion Charges with Faedeum: 1, 6, 6
This, on the other hand, is much more straightforward. Critical Success!
"Metamaterial, designation 'Faedium Crystalline Structures.' Incredibly versatile. Faedium capable of generating Dispersion Field at acceptable levels. Caution: Faedium vessel utilized for this purpose cannot also serve as conventional power source."
Ivanna's Comment: "'Acceptable' in this context, I believe, is that it's acceptable by Mekaen's standards. Make of this what you will."
Dr. Mary McCullough
- Faedium C-Crystal (w/Max): 1, 3, 2, 1
Failure.
"It seems that the C-Crystals retain their own unique microstructures that do not play nicely with Faedium crystals. While unfortunately this is not a valid avenue to approach, this does give us ideas for how they might interact indirectly."
"We can always try daisy-chaining systems together, but a C-Crystal made out of Faedium isn't in the cards unfortunately."
"...we have also found that there is a limit to how small we can make the Faedium. The Spark Caliber can be retrofitted to make use of it, but we aren't quite seeing the dramatic 1:1 effect in power that we were expecting. It's going to be up to Engineering to see how they can make use of the output."
AI-01 'Katarina' - Westphalian Waystation Wardens Wreckage
- Drone Captives
-- Use Zulu as proof that no they're not just gonna kill or torture them then see what we can learn from them and if they're willing to cooperate along.
AI-02 'Melinda'
- Experimentation: Aegis Shield
-- Combine K Scale Shield, Dispersion Zone, Emphatic Booster, Faedeum, & Zirvitum to Create a Powerful Shield for use by Beuwolf Fenrir.
- Experimentation - K-Fang
-- Templating to Increase production & Power of K-Fang based weaponry
Success! Some information of the wreckage is discerned.
"So I'm not entirely sure how else to break this news...if I want to be technical about it for the official records, this is some kind of...displacement technology? In practice, it looks for all intents and purposes like there is some kind of teleportation system in place. Unfortunately, a lot of the salvage is broken, but we have some educated guesses on how it works..."
"In other news, Zulu and I were able to talk to the Drones! There is still a lot of, for lack of a better term, 'culture shock' going on right now, so there's not a whole lot of information they're sharing that we haven't already learned from Zulu yet. But they seem receptive to working with us!"
Success! One Turn Remaining. Previous success with Faedium/Dispersion in Science Phase will provide +1 to highest roll next turn.
"Honestly? Boss? I'm really shocked this wasn't tried before. Was this too much of an obvious gimme thing or something?
"Well, regardless, the shield was the simplest most straightforward thing! K-Scale took to the shield no problem like we expected, buuuuut we're just now trying to make every other system play nice with the other. Not so sure about the Empathic Booster - do we have any idea how that's gonna work with Dispersion? Either way, I'll need another month before I can really call this good."
"We decided to try out everything we could with K-Fang beyond just the classics, and we learned what weapons it wants to conform to and what it really really doesn't. Bladed and piercing weapons are A-Okay, but bludgeoning actually doesn't really take. I've got a list set up, but I'm really proud of the boomerang concept!
"...the only problem is catching it without cutting into your hands. Ooof."
Smith Files #3: Super Robots, and How They Short-Circuited Conventional Thinking
I think this goes without saying. Nobody was expecting the development track of Super Robots.
Let's be clear, however. Everyone was expecting some other shoe to drop. It would have to, especially when the Earth Union was hit by the triple threats of Dr. Sheol's kaiju, the ad-hoc super technologies and the insidious web of the Westphalians, and the out of context problems of the Kausen (who we now can identify as the Free Brothers pirate group). Weapons technology had stagnated in development since Unification in the 2040s, and the Earth Union Defense Force was going through a lot of growing pains. In particular, you still had the constituent member states' military forces who still held the same attitudes and cockiness - and rivalry - before Unification.
Nothing quite humbles the military establishment like your carrier group getting eaten by giant sea monsters.
They were just expecting the technological developments to make more sense within the military-industrial complex's mindset. If the Westphalians were fielding walker technologies, the military councils were expecting some sort of counter to that, such as their own rudimentary walkers, or some advancement in munitions. The kaiju, probably some kind of railgun. The Free Brothers? Most governments still think we didn't catch on that they were considering floating the nuclear option. My predecessors arranged some quiet talks between them and Union Station, so thankfully that never happened.
But none of us were paying attention to the Super Robots, because they were developed from what the scientific community considered to be failed or outlandish research developments that had no hope of succeeding. I'm not smart enough to really understand the discourse that's been quietly but furiously boiling since then, but there's a lot of finger pointing and quiet transitions to sabbatical going on about how these were so badly overlooked. One of my juniors still thinks there was Westaphalian interference, but there's just as much evidence pointing to overall complacency and pig headedness.
Take Dr. Yukimura's Aeon Particle Theorem. On the face of it, it's not too hard to see why it was dismissed by the Scientific Board. Alternate Dimension. Energy Particles. Interdimensional Siphoning. And all of it was, well, theoretical. That was the point, it was a theory paper with just the maths behind it to show that there might be something to it.
Unlike Sheol, however, Dr. Yukimura decided after he was turned down by the Board to go independent. So that meant he was going to need to develop a proof of concept - and since he didn't exactly have much in practical data, that meant he had to go big. At first, that meant creating a generator the size of a building, but that almost caused a weather pattern shift in Kyoto - Aeon Particles really bring down temperatures in a hurry. So he tried to develop a smaller generator while also running a test seed program of providing power through Aeon Particles. That was right around when the kaiju began to show up. Crazily enough however, every time the kaiju came close to Kyoto, they always reacted somewhat negatively to the ambient Aeon Particles and never stayed too long. Somewhere along the way, a sleep deprived and worried Yukimura decided to try and put the Aeon Particle generator he was working on into a robot body made of Tritonium alloys and a former delinquent with more hot blood than sense.
Or Dr. Dinym's Super Magnetism theory. This one was actually proven in small scale tests - what it was dismissed for was the impracticality seen at the time. Simply put - and I mean simply put because I'm only a laywoman here - the Dinym Currents can magnetize different metals to bond to each other, and if they're fitted properly with each other then there's frictionless cohesion between them. Just as easily, it can demagnetize them and let them detach. The problem was the power consumption. For industrial purposes most businesses and factories didn't see the power cost as worth what they saw as a 'gimmick.'
That didn't stop Charles Mander from securing the rights and funding for Dinym Currents. And when Dinym Currents are employed for a combat platform like the Valiant, requiring a ridiculously large power source was not seen as an issue. Valiant mostly runs on electric battery packs (though I have seen footage of it being hooked to large industrial charger cables in emergencies) and what was seen as a gimmick is now part and parcel of Erika Drake's combat style.
The Kausen - both the Free Brothers and the Legion - are going to be the discussion of another topic entirely.
Director. I bring these up not because you aren't aware of them - I know you are - but because this brings up another point. If the establishment and conventional wisdom is already overlooking this much in technological developments, how much more did we already lose to the Westphalians? How was Devin and his command group able to find even more rejected science projects that even Intelligence overlooked?
I strongly urge that we support Brigadier General Peters' initiative that's being brought for discussion soon. If there is more of a demand by the Union for these technologies, we can at least get them in the tent throwing rocks outside rather than the other way around.
CR-05 Centurion
Frame: Stalwart Main Battle Tank
Roles: Heavy Armor
Significant Producers: Lone Star Industries, Kyiv Victory Armaments
Widest Adopters: Ground Defense Forces, Marine Expeditionary Forces
There's not much to add about this one. The Centurion takes the Stalwart frame, and gives it a really significant boost to just about everything. The biggest change is how it all gets assembled - thanks to the Variable Configuration technology, assembly is a lot more assembly line and modularity based, so there's a lot more room for modifications and mission capabilities. (I'm regurgitating words from the armor officers I contacted about this - they were able to wax a lot more lyrical about this than I ever could, I don't speak Army)
Of course, these are all mass production models as opposed to a Super Robot model (and certainly not one run by a Super AI), so it still retains the four-man crew of the Stalwart (commander, gunner, loader, driver). The only difference is that now when it Configures into mecha mode, the control capabilities are split between the gunner and the driver. If any of the crew goes down, there are methods for assuming full control, but given they don't have the benefit of an MMI, it's a LOT harder for them. Callaghan and the DFRI pilots really do make it look easier than it is.
Lone Star seems to be focusing on the 'vanilla' MBT version of the design, but Kyiv Victory have begun spinoff versions of it based on feedback from the Procurement Boards. There are now self-propelled artillery variants of the Centurion (the running name for the initial models are 'Halberds'), and there new proposals coming in for a missile launcher variant that they are doing field tests of overseen by the EUGDF.
Not bad for a test bed concept for Galbinus's Configuration mode.
