BattleTech - The Board Game of Armored Combat
BattleTech Player Boards => Fan Fiction => Topic started by: Giovanni Blasini on 02 April 2017, 22:42:08
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Unit Log, VeeMech TDR-1-74-0107C-J
Date <Error – Check CMOS>, Log Entry 1
I woke up with the distinct sensation my body was all wrong.
I don’t mean in the sense of “my leg feels funny”, or “this stabbing chest pain is all I can think about”, or even “I’m trapped in a body of the wrong gender”. All of those would be within the range of normal human experience. This. This was something different.
For starters, I couldn’t turn my neck. For that matter, I didn’t have a neck. Also, my head, or what passed for it, was now embedded in the right side of my chest. You don’t give your typical human bilateral symmetry with sensory organs and seat of consciousness mounted atop your body in a rotational assembly much thought. I certainly hadn’t either, before it was gone.
Speaking of legs, those didn’t feel right, either. Neither did my arms. The legs felt a bit shorter than they should be, while my arms almost felt gorilla-like in their length. I’d always been very much on the tall side, but that was in no small part due to the length of my legs. While I still feel broad-shouldered, if anything, my arms and legs felt close to the same length, which just wasn’t right. My limbs themselves weren’t numb, exactly, but responded stiffly and felt like they were wrapped up heavily, like wearing a parka and snow pants with heavy boots.
I tried looking down at myself and found that, while I didn’t have a neck, I could still change my field of vision and look around a little bit. My vision was still fuzzy, but clearing up slowly. Two things immediately stood out: I appeared to have a heads-up display, like I was wearing augmented reality goggles, which made no sense as I owned neither Google’s nor Microsoft’s overpriced experiments. Oh yeah, and I was made of metal.
“What the hell is going on here?!” So, I could speak out loud. That’s a good thing, I guess.
“Welcome back, Groundwave,” said a familiar-sounding voice. “Your systems have been offline for a long time.” The silhouette of a larger, blocky humanoid appeared at the edge of my vision, as I tried to focus on it. “My name is Primus Optimal, and I am the leader of the Autonomous Barony of Primus.”
Oh. Oh hell no. “You’re who, now? Wait, I’m who, now?” I looked up and around, and, sure enough, in his red and blue glory, there he was. “Oh, this is bad. This is very, very bad.”
I stumbled to my feet, and found myself standing about chest-height to Optimus…er, Primus Optimal, or whatever the hell he wanted to call himself. The room we stood in was covered in dust and dirt and, in one half of the room, looked partially buried. To the left of Primus stood a blue and white striped robot that looked like it was made, in part, from a sports car, something like a bastardized Porsche 911 meets 928 meets Panamara. To his right, meanwhile, was a squat-looking, long-armed ‘bot painted red and white, with what looked like a lift hoist slung over its shoulder, and with wheels and tires like you’d see on a large military truck mounted on its forearms and lower legs. Its right arm also mounted some sort of large gun or cannon, and the bunker-style lookout that passed for its head and, presumably, eyes, was embedded in the side of its torso. Ever played the game Battletech, or MechWarrior? Think Thunderbolt, or Thor/Summoner, or…oh ******.
I carefully turned my right arm, to better extend it into my now limited field of view. Giant-ass tire: check. Some sort of gun: check. My weird HUD helpfully explained that it was an 8 cm standard laser, tied into some indecipherable brand and model number communications system. Using my left hand ever-so-carefully, I felt along my right side, around where I felt my face to be. It wasn’t the exact same as my mystery bot (‘Mech?), but it was damned similar.
I was on the verge of panic. Intellectually, I know I should ne feeling that cold shot of adrenalin accompanying the sheer terror of realizing not only what I’d become, but where I was. This wasn’t Cybertron, and that wasn’t Optimus Prime. He was a parody written for a joke supplement for my favorite “Game of Armored Combat”, which meant I was now, too, assuming this wasn’t a bad dream, or other bizarre product of my imagination. For all I knew, I’d had a stroke or something, and this was all the product of a damaged brain. That seemed a hell of a lot more likely than somehow having my consciousness stuffed into some robotic BattleMech parody of a Transformer in another universe, one I clearly recognized s fictional. ”This isn’t real,”, I thought to myself. ”You need to wake up, find your wife, find out whether you’re OK, or of something’s gone horribly wrong with your brain.”
If you’re a human being, and you’ve somehow stumbled upon this journal, you may be asking yourself why I immediately went to “dying of a stroke”, rather than “weird dream”. It’s because dreams, at least when you’re in them, seemed to me to always be internally consistent. Your body always feels like your body, and feels like everything is in the right place. For me, at least, when I was dreaming, I still felt like myself. Right then, when I woke up from whatever had happened, “myself” was the last thing I felt like. The sensations were so out of sorts, I couldn’t imagine them coming from a brain and nervous system that were working right.
“Ok, I’m operating off the assumption that something is horribly wrong with me,” I stated out loud. “Has anyone called my wife, and is she here?”
The three bots looked at one another. They may not have had much in the way of facial expressions that they were capable of, but their body language certainly seemed to convey confusion. Finally, Optimal Primus turned back to me, “I do not understand. A wife is a reference to the human custom of marriage, correct?”
“Um, yeah, it is.” I’d have nodded if I could.
“But, you are not human, Groundwave. How could you therefore be married?”
I sat back down on the ground. This wasn’t going well. “I remember being human, Primus Optimal, and being married, and having a son. What I don’t remember is being, well, this,” I replied, gesturing to myself with my left arm (no sense in waving a giant gun around, right?), “or being ‘Groundwave’. I’m guessing that’s my name, or designation, or something?”
“That’s correct. You are a Groundwave-Type Variant Wheeled VeeMech, a model of AutoMech that specializes in short-and-long-range communications. You are not human.”
"Thank you, Captain Obvious.” If I hadn’t been afraid of denting the visor that passed for my eyes, I’d have facepalmed at that. "Obviously I don't appear to be human. I'm saying I remember being human, and you're not helping me with thinking this isn't a stroke-induced delusion. OK, do you have any records of an AutoMech possessing the uploaded consciousness of a human?"
Primus Optimal shook his head. "In the centuries since humans last walked among us, there have been no records of that ever occurring. It is more likely that you are a malfunctioning AutoMech. Would you submit to examination by VeeMech Spanner?" he asked, gesturing to the squat AutoMech with the lift hoist.
I looked at the three of them again. "Do I have a choice?"
Primus Optimal, I suspect, was trying to make this easy on me. He crouched down next to me, moving surprisingly gracefully for what must have been a big-ass AI-driven BattleMech. "If you are malfunctioning," he spoke evenly, "would it not be better to know, and resolve the issue, rather than potentially pose a risk to those around you?"
Dammit. He made a good point: of this was all the result of a damaged brain translating real life into something bizarre as a result, this could be someone trying to render medical aid. And, whether I was a human dreaming he was a BattleMech, or a BattleMech dreaming he was human, he made a good point: I wasn't interested in posing a danger to myself or anyone else. "Fine," I said finally, "let's get on with it."
Unit Log, VeeMech TDR-1-74-0107C-J
Date <Error – Check CMOS>, Log Entry 1 End of File
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BTW, stats for the Groundwave can be found here:
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=57016.0;wap2
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THIS should be fun!
*grabs some popcorn* [watch]
There gonna be any more?
- Herb
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THIS should be fun!
*grabs some popcorn* [watch]
There gonna be any more?
- Herb
Yup. Warning, though, I've probably read Permutation City too many times now.
Drew up the eventual lance Grounwave will find himself assigned to/stuck with here:
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=57127.msg1317025#msg1317025
More on the way, though I'm still recovering from an 84-hour work week and the aftermath when we went live with our new EHR software, but that probably helped in maintaining the proper level of insanity for this.
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Tagged
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Unit Log, VeeMech TDR-1-74-0107C-J
Date <Error – Check CMOS>, Log Entry 2
Did you know that AutoMechs didn’t use furniture?
I mean, think about it for a moment, and it makes sense in a way. If you’re from my original universe, or what I believe is my original universe, you probably didn’t really see the Transformers sitting in chairs too often. Maybe on their spaceships from time to time, but that would be it.
If you’re from this universe, meanwhile, think about it for a second: do BattleMechs really need furniture? You stand ‘em upright, maybe stick gantries around them, or lay them flat on their backs if necessary for transport. You don’t have chairs for BattleMechs.
It’s no surprise, then, that the room we were in wasn’t exactly lavishly furnished. The ground I was sitting on appeared to be some sort of concrete, presumably reinforced somehow, and the walls appeared to be made of the same substance for the most part. Don’t think house, or building. Think bunker.
Spanner, meanwhile, crouched down next to me. I hadn’t been paying as much attention during my earlier panic, but his left hand wasn’t a normal hand, but some sort of weird multi-function appendage. Once again, my HUD helpfully popped up, identifying it as a salvage arm. “VeeMech Groundwave,” he said in what, I presume, was meant by either my imagination or some long-dead programmer to sound like a reassuring bedside manner, “do you recall how this procedure works?”
“Not a clue, dude,” I shrugged.
That was when the third AutoMech spoke up. “What is that thing you are doing with your shoulders?” Huh. A female robot? Excuse me…a female automated BattleMech? Why the heck would you give AutoMechs genders?
I suspect one day, my tendencies towards sarcasm, irreverence and humor in the face of adversity will get the better of me. “That was a shrug, a gesture used for expressing doubt or lack of knowledge. I didn’t know how whatever procedure Spanner was talking about worked, and shrugging emphasized that in addition to saying I didn’t have a clue about this procedure of his.”
“You have not undergone a diagnostic procedure?” Spanner asked. “It is very simple. I connect to your Diagnostic and Interpretation computer through your diagnostic port, and verify your systems and programming are within operational parameters.”
Yeah, that doesn’t sound ominous at all, right? The last thing most people want is to have someone rummaging through their heads, and I'm certainly no exception. Not only that, but how could I possibly be anything other than a wild-ass anomaly to them? "What happens," I ask carefully, "if you find my code is wonky? That it isn't what you're expecting it to be?"
"I would hope you would acknowledge your statement about having been human was patently impossible," the smaller AutoMech said, her tone making it clear how ridiculous she considered the whole concept. "After that, Spanner can repair whatever damage is causing this malfunction, allowing you to be a productive member of the Autonomous Barony."
Yeah, I wasn't having that. "Rather than simply point at you and say, 'Hey, you,' what's your name?"
"I am AutoMech Glyph."
"OK, Glyph. Let's say I'm not crazy, not in a hospital ward somewhere, that I am, or at least was, human, and really did somehow get shoved into an AutoMech body. I'm pretty sure that would make the code for my AI anomalous as hell. I would really, really hate to be right, and still get a format and reinstall done on me, especially if I'm right."
Primus, fortunately, seemed cautious but conciliatory. "Glyph, if Spanner's findings are inconclusive, I would prefer to err on the side of caution, and not damage a human mind, so long as Groundwave does not prove to be a threat to the Barony."
"Booya. In your face, Glyph...I just said that out loud, didn't I?" And, yeah, that was an oops, and for someone who didn't know what a shrug was, Glyph certainly could convey "righteously pissed off" with her body language well enough.
At this point, you're probably wondering if AutoMechs are sapient. Don't worry, you aren't the only one. After all this time stuck among them, I’m still not sure.
And, yeah, Glyph was pissed. "I may not entirely understand your colorful metaphors, but that was certainly uncalled for."
"You're right," I agreed. "Tell you what, you try to limit your levels of condescension, and I'll try to limit my use of metaphors that go over your head.". Wait for it...
"Nothing goes over my head," Glyph announced proudly. "My reflexes are too fast. I would catch it."
Sometimes, it's too easy. “Never mind. Look,” I said, trying to turn to face Spanner, which is a real pain in the neck when you don’t have a neck, “I’m OK with doing this. Before *anything* gets changed, we discuss it, and I reserve the right to refuse.”
"Agreed," rumbled Primus Optimal.
“Okay. Spanner, what do you need me to do?”
Spanner lifted his salvage arm to a panel on the right side of my torso, about where my ear should be in relation to my faceplate. “Remain still,” he intoned. I could feel him open up something, the sensation much like someone tugging on your ear. What came next…you know those scopes the doctor shoves into your ear to look at your ear canal? Yeah, it was kind of like that, at first. Then it got weird.
I’m not exactly sure how to express it in human terms. There was a brief electrical jolt, but after that, the sensation of something else outside my own mind, but not. It's not really a voice, or something you see and hear. It's a pressure, and you know that on the other side of that pressure wave is someone else. Well, something else. My HUD helpfully tells me that I have a guest connection from VeeMech TDR-5-94-1368-SPN Spanner, along with a helpful “Allow Diagnostic Connection? [Y/N]”. I look at the spot on my HUD and try mentally sending “Yes” – it takes a couple tries, but I eventually figure out how to think it properly.
After that the presence I sensed is even more jolting, and memories of my life, from childhood to adulthood to marriage and family life come crashing through my head. Crap I’d completely forgotten. Things I wish stayed forgotten. Good memories too, though. None of the memories lingered long, though, as I took a staccato trip through a bizarre internal episode of “This Was Your Life”.
As that whole experience faded away, I felt an electrical jolt down what felt like my spine, into my limbs. I could feel my skin begin to tingle, which was made all the more disconcerting by the sensations reporting back my new body shape, while my unconscious mind tried screaming at me that the angles were all wrong, that my body couldn't possibly be shaped like that. I could feel a cold sensation creeping up my back towards the neck I no longer had, and that presence still at the edge of my senses, rapidly building up from being annoying to nearly intolerable.
And then it was over. Spanner disconnected, a sensation like someone removing an ice pick from my eardrum. The presence I felt instantly disappeared.
“Okay, that was pretty much awful,” I said after a moment, actually shivering. “I really hope you got what you needed, because I never want to do that again.”
Spanner stood up, and took a step back from me. “I concur. Fortunately, such in-depth scans are rarely necessary.”
The pronouncement put Glyph on edge, as she appeared to unlimber her arm-mounted laser and take on a more ready stance. Primus Optimal, however, held up one of his massive hands in front of her. “Spanner, please share your preliminary report.”
Spanner turned towards his commander before replying. “Groundwave’s base programming appears to be within normal parameters. His personality core and memory databases are not. Both are larger, but also more chaotically organized, than standard AutoMech code, and rely on virtual neural networking to an even greater extent than a standard AutoMech. There are clear markers that his software is experimental, and not intended for a production AutoMech. His code did pass CRC checks and shows no signs of corruption or instability, though his preprogrammed skillset software appears to be essentially absent.”
Primus nodded. And, yes, I get how weird it is that he nodded, while Glyph didn't recognize a shrug. Maybe it was too complicated a gesture for my less humanoid body. “Spanner,” he asked, “do your findings support Groundwave’s assertion that he was formerly human?”
“I do not know, Primus. Without greater detail on human neural structure that is unavailable, I cannot be certain. Groundwave could be mapped from a human brain, as we have records that humans experimented with doing so. He could also have been a prototype of a new neural network that developed in unpredictable ways, believed he was human, and was eventually shut down.”
“Will he be able to function in his primary role?”
“There is insufficient information to say.”
Yeah, I’d been wondering about that. “Let me guess: terrestrial communications?”
Primus Optimal turned to me now. “Correct. How did you know?”
“I was a sysadmin in my human life, but I was also an amateur radio operator. Ground waves are a form of terrestrial radio propagation and tend to be shorter range, as opposed to sky waves, that reflect off atmospheric layers, and can reach much farther as a result.”. All three AutoMechs turned to stare at me, not speaking at all for a few moments. “What?”
Glyph spoke first. “I believe that is correct, based on statements from other communications AutoMechs.”
Yeah, their name for me had kind of been a giveaway, rather than my real name of… Of…
I couldn't remember. I couldn't remember my real name years later. I could remember my wife's name, and my son’s. I can even remember associations with my real name, like “Argonauts” and that it meant “healer” in another language. But there's some kind of block there preventing me from saying it, or even conceptualizing it.
What the hell?
Unit Log, VeeMech TDR-1-74-0107C-J
Date <Error – Check CMOS>, Log Entry 2 End of File
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Oh, dear Cat! A Guardians of the Galaxy reference?
- Herb
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Oh, dear Cat! A Guardians of the Galaxy reference?
- Herb
Met my wife through mutual friends at Comic-Con. I had on a Miskatonic University Astronomy Dept. shirt, while she was wearing a Deadpool shirt. Nerd references are pretty common in our household, and GotG was one of our favorite movies.
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ok, you know its a cool story when herb pops in and makes comments. very intresting to say the least.
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Okay, having to ask....
Spanner, I get, is basically a Ratchet analog. Are any of the others analogous to extant Transformers? I'm especially curious about Glyph, who you seem to have detailed out in the lance breakdown...
- Herb
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Okay, having to ask....
Spanner, I get, is basically a Ratchet analog. Are any of the others analogous to extant Transformers? I'm especially curious about Glyph, who you seem to have detailed out in the lance breakdown...
- Herb
Glyph is based on the actual canon Transformers character Glyph, a female AutoBot who was basically a blue version of Bumblebee in appearance, and was an "archaeometrist". I stumbled upon her when researching other VW-based Transformers. Personality wise, I'm going for a bit of Strongarm from the current cartoon, a bit of a stuck up archaeologist sure of her research, and like the other AutoMechs who postdate humans, a complete lack of familiarity with human idioms, making her probablyworse than the average AutoMech at detecting d understanding them. Drax gave me a good starting point on how that might play out.
Manx is kinda sorta Beachcomber. The big name for dune buggies was Bruce Meyers and the Meyers Manx buggy. Funny thing: Meyers buggy bodies always had flat fenders, so you had someplace to put your beer when at the beach or working on the car.
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Hehehe. Nice! I see you recognized my approach toward the various classes; the Beetles were all basically of those classic mini-Transformers, so they could be Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Beachcomber, Gears, and such.
- Herb
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*Star Seeker flies down, switches to 'Mech mode, and pokes at this thread*
- Herb
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*Star Seeker flies down, switches to 'Mech mode, and pokes at this thread*
- Herb
Probably get a chance to work on it a bit this weekend. Had a week of on-call for work, followed by crazy work stuff, a Disneyland trip, and most recently a crazy idea about using a Vincent, then Cruiser, on a five-year exploration mission, then a sick toddler. Oh, and work on my '73 VW Fastback project car.
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*Wave Sounder rolls up to a cliff edge overlooking AutoBoP territory, and opens its aftward cargo section*
"Laser-Wing, Deploy... Operation: Observation!"
*A small Democon drone emerges on two stumpy legs, turns its pointed forward nose left, then right, and lets out a strange, metallic shriek before folding out its wings and lifting off on its tiny thrusters*
*Its cargo bay emptied, Wave Sounder transforms and points toward the distant, half-ruined AutoBoP city, silently directing Laser-Wing's course into enemy territory, to learn the cause of its recent, ominous silence.*
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LOL
Spent this last week working on a Shadow Hawk head to wear to Comic-Con this weekend (see Fan Art board). Should get back to writing next week. Have some ideas for the next part.
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Unit Log, VeeMech TDR-1-74-0107C-J
Date <Error – Check CMOS>, Log Entry 3
How in the all-singing-and-all-dancing crap does someone forget their own name, but remember absolutely everything else about themselves?
Actually, it wasn’t even that I had forgotten my name. I knew it was supposed to be something else, and could remember the associations, but every time I made the leap to my actual name, what popped into my head was always “Groundwave”. It was like that part of my self-identity had been overwritten.
Seriously, what the frak. I suspect if I still had lungs, I’d probably would’ve been hyperventilating.
I cannot overstate enough how utterly terrifying this was for me. A core concept in my self-identity had been altered. My memories were now suspect, because I no longer could say with absolute certainty which memories were real, and which ones may have been similarly altered. If these have been altered, what else has been? Personality? Emotional associations? Ethical values?
Suddenly regaining awareness in a body not my own was bad enough. At that point, as horrifying as that was, at least I still thought of me as me. But that was just my physical body, and let’s face it, if you’re human, your body is constantly changing, just from living and getting older. Your body as a child and your body as an adult are vastly different, and the food you take in goes to repair, maintain and replace your body's cells as needed.
This went beyond evolving mentally and emotionally as a person. I no longer had continuity of consciousness, and it was so much worse than simply sleeping, or being under anesthesia. Who I am and what I remembered had been clearly altered, in what appeared to be a tailored, specific way.
Was I actually me, or at least the "me" I had thought of as my self-identity? Was I a copy? Was my original self, if such a self actually ever existed outside my own suspect memories, still in my original world, original universe, doing his thing, going about his daily business, blissfully unaware of my existence?
In the absence of continuity of awareness, was I just a copy of the original, or had the original me been grabbed, folded, spindled and mutilated, then shoved into this BattleMech body and dropped on this bizarre Cybertron parody? Either way, who would bother doing so, and what possible purpose could it serve?
Did what I thought of as the original, human me ever actually exist? Were the three "AutoMechs" around me right? Was I always an AI-controlled 'Mech who, for some inexplicable reason, had been made to believe I had been human once?
What the hell was going on here?
I don't know how long I sat there, unmoving, not responding to the outside world, trying to run through the possibilities. The Transformers parodies I shared the room with could have been trying to get my attention for minutes, or hours, and I would not have known.
Finally, I noticed that that’s exactly what they were doing. Primus Optimal stood above me, looking down. “Groundwave, please respond,” he practically yelled.
“Sorry,” I said, as I stood up. “I realized something that gave me a bit of a shock, which made me ponder and evaluate what was going on and how I ended up here in this body. I’ll probably be all right. Eventually.” I’d probably be no such thing, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell them that. I also didn’t have the time to continue my existential freak-out right then and there. Hopefully, I’d be able to find some privacy to do so later.
That didn’t seem to appease Primus, though. “If this impacts your functionality, we should be apprised.”
“First, like I said, I’ll probably be all right. This is still basically a continued reaction to waking up in a non-human body, and not knowing how I got here. Second, why?”
“Why what?” Spanner asked.
Remembering not to be overly vague was going to be a thing, I could tell. I don’t think any of them understood exactly what I was asking. “Why should you all be apprised about issues that might impact my functionality?”
Spanner spoke first. “You're my patient,” he replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Hell, maybe it was.
Optimus looked at me. “As the leader of the AutoBoPs, I am concerned with the welfare and functionality of all our AutoMechs. While you still wear the ancient symbol of our human progenitors, and are not formally a member of the Autonomous Barony of Primus, it is my hope that you will join us as a contributing member of our society.”
“Wait, what? What symbol?” I tried looking myself, where saw the stylized red “tiki face” on Spanner’s arm and torso, but I lacked the flexibility to do so. Once again, a real head and neck would have been useful, damn it.
Glyph, once again demonstrating the incongruities in her response to body language, turned her head in obvious confusion while looking at me. Maybe it's just my weird body shape? "What are you trying to do? Are you trying to see your own factional insignia?"
"Um, yes?"
"Stop," she said. A moment later, I got another pop-up message on my HUD: {Incoming image from AutoMech BTL-GL-0311TL 'Glyph'. Accept? Y/N}
Looking at the "Y" and thinking really hard about it seemed to be enough to accept. A moment later, I was rewarded with a picture of my own arm, and a round insignia. In the center was a stylized yellow star, with nine concentric rings around it. In each ring was a disc representing, presumably, a planet, their colors corresponding to the planets in Earth's own solar system. I recognized it, and... "OK, that makes no sense."
"What?" Glyph asked. "Why does that make no sense?"
"Ok, this is the symbol of the Terran Hegemony, right?". Glyph and Primus Optimal nodded in agreement, and I continued. "Its use largely dropped off after 2570, when the Star League was formed. Land-Air 'Mechs were invented in 2688, and were the first transforming 'Mechs I can think of. I'm assuming these wheels aren't for show, right?"
Glyph rapidly demonstrated they were not, converting into an oversized car that, yep, sure enough, looked like a bizarre amalgamation of a Porsche 911, 928 and Panamera, though I could see the similarity in other fastback cars, too. Just as swiftly, she transformed back. "That seemed easier than simply verbally confirming that we can transform," she said smugly.
"I don't know that you'll ever get me to do that, but that was extremely cool. But, OK, that kind of proves my point. Why would I have such an obsolete insignia? Other Star League colonies had their own insignias, or used the Cameron Star. You have your own, for that matter. When was Syberia founded?"
Glyph looked to Primus Optimal. "You may tell him," he rumbled in his deep baritone.
"Thank you, sir.". Turning back to me, Glyph made a noise I swear sounded like a sigh crossed with static. "We do not know. Much of the early history if our colony was lost two centuries ago. Most information from prior to 2830 on the old Terran calendar has been lost, including the most of the histories of the nations you mentioned. We have some knowledge of the Terran Hegemony, but know nothing of the Star League beyond the name, mentioned in two historical documents with no context. If you have extensive knowledge of either, you may represent an invaluable historical resource, one that could vastly expand our understanding of our origins." She stared at me intently. "Given the advances you may hold in my own historical research, you can understand that I will have many, many questions for you."
Yikes.
Unit Log, VeeMech TDR-1-74-0107C-J
Date <Error – Check CMOS>, Log Entry 3 End of File
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Well ... this story so far reads interesting, very interesting. Just ... I don't get it. Is this some weird crossover between BT and Transformers?
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Yes, kind of. With the Transformers/Cybertron parody on the Battletech April Fools' product "Welcome to the Nebula California".
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Well ... this story so far reads interesting, very interesting. Just ... I don't get it. Is this some weird crossover between BT and Transformers?
Yes, kind of. With the Transformers/Cybertron parody on the Battletech April Fools' product "Welcome to the Nebula California".
You can find it here. It's "Pay What You Want", but you can technically just pay zero if you like. Check it out, and if you do get it, please leave a review!
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/146982/BattleTech-Welcome-to-the-Nebula-California
(Although copyright reasons have made us rather loathe to actually say anything about the actual Transformers property in-universe; I've always figured the property was forgotten by the time of the Age of War, but apparently "Groundwave" was a comic geek...)
- Herb
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Groundwave's four year old son is a huge fan of Strongarm and Sideswipe.
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Welcome To The Nebula California is brilliant.
BattleRun: Best Ever is pretty good, too.
Interesting tidbit. 1 Dragon == 1 BATT Assault-Class BattleMechs
Bonus spoiler: The answer is "Clan Elemental", but only if suited.
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Groundwave's four year old son is a huge fan of Strongarm and Sideswipe.
The current RiD iterations, with a female Strongarm and a Sideswipe who has spiky "hair"?
- herb
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The current RiD iterations, with a female Strongarm and a Sideswipe who has spiky "hair"?
- herb
That would be them. My wife's a big fan of the RiD Strongarm at this point, too, and we both like RiD Grimlock. It's readily available on Netflix, and more kid-friendly for our son, who just turned four, than, say, Transformers Prime. :)
Of course, I also daily drove a yellow '66 Beetle with a giant Autobot logo on the roof, too. Still have it, rebuilt it for autocross, then got married, arthritis in my knees, new job...planning to sell "Bumblebee" and give someone else a chance to enjoy it, and keep my blue '73 VW Fastback with its tamer engine and automatic transmission...once I finish rebuilding it ("running when parked" my ass), with a mix of Glyph and Tardis themes.
Anyway, I'm partway into next Tales of the Starship Diana chapter, will be switching back to this one after this, alternating between the two.
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nice to see an update to this. its also fun to see herb commenting on this also.
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{>{>
More please
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nice to see an update to this. its also fun to see herb commenting on this also.
As most were my brain-babies, the Halloween and April 1 projects have a special place in my heart, so fan works based on them will always grab my attention. Empires Aflame, for instance, got tons of love from the fans, and it completely amazed me.
Ah, sometimes I miss being able to add more fun "alternative" lore, but what are you gonna do?
- Herb
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As most were my brain-babies, the Halloween and April 1 projects have a special place in my heart, so fan works based on them will always grab my attention. Empires Aflame, for instance, got tons of love from the fans, and it completely amazed me.
Ah, sometimes I miss not being able to add more fun "alternative" lore, but what are you gonna do?
- Herb
Make your own fan fiction ;)
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Make your own fan fiction ;)
I did. It was called IlClan. Maybe you heard of it?
- Herb
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Nope, story's not dead. Currently working on the next part, and a thought occurs to me: anyone think there might still be legacy BattleMechs that aren't necessarily AI-driven, or perhaps ones that were, squirreled away somewhere on Syberia? I'm wondering what the odds are of finding older, canon designs in buried bunkers, for example.
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Nice to see that this is not dead. We need something very funny to keep Herb and his cats from taking over the world.
Please keep writing this very neat and weird peice. Who knows what might be under the hidden bunkers you talk about and our downloaded freind would know what it is....
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Nope, story's not dead. Currently working on the next part, and a thought occurs to me: anyone think there might still be legacy BattleMechs that aren't necessarily AI-driven, or perhaps ones that were, squirreled away somewhere on Syberia? I'm wondering what the odds are of finding older, canon designs in buried bunkers, for example.
I imagine that there would have been quite a few failed attempts, but you would likely have to reinstall the cockpit.
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Nope, story's not dead. Currently working on the next part, and a thought occurs to me: anyone think there might still be legacy BattleMechs that aren't necessarily AI-driven, or perhaps ones that were, squirreled away somewhere on Syberia? I'm wondering what the odds are of finding older, canon designs in buried bunkers, for example.
Failed? Like mobile structure that transforms from a mobile Fortress into Fortress Maximus like machine? I'd love that.
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Failed? Like mobile structure that transforms from a mobile Fortress into Fortress Maximus like machine? I'd love that.
Per Welcome to the Nebula California, Emplacement AutoMechs can be up to 200 tons, using 10% of their mass for their conversion equipment. They'd be like standard buildings, though, in that only infantry can enter the building, and they block LOS for their hex. So, that's entirely possible to do.
That said, I was thinking more along the lines of standard canon BattleMechs that might have been buried when humans were wiped out, like old Wasps, Stingers, etc., or even Shadow Hawk LAMs, which I would see as the progenitors of the convertible AutoMechs, being the only canon bimodal LAMs around (I don't think the AutoMechs are truly canon).
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I think it would be a stretch; after centuries, I'd imagined the Syberian AutoMechs largely reprocessed any 'Mechs they came across, but then again, your story makes the protagonist a new discovery.
Shad LAMs were supposed to be very limited in number and deployment, being quickly replaced by the standard LAMs. A few standard 'Mechs, hidden in old caches, might have been possible, but I don't imagine many. I don't recall imagining Syberia as a military base.
- Herb
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Well, a Fortress Maximus-like non-transforming Mobile Structure could have be made that single automech would be the controller of just mobile fortress for defense purposes, while mech itself transformer used either scout or provide direct defense.
I well remember the original Transformers animation series had non-transformable (low IQ) Drones that was slaved to Shockwave on nearly-dead Cybertron. I would think maybe that Syberian Mechs would end up converting conventional BattleMechs into such drones as disposable warriors to safe guard their intelligent AutoMechs or Decepticons. etc.
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I think it would be a stretch; after centuries, I'd imagined the Syberian AutoMechs largely reprocessed any 'Mechs they came across, but then again, your story makes the protagonist a new discovery.
Shad LAMs were supposed to be very limited in number and deployment, being quickly replaced by the standard LAMs. A few standard 'Mechs, hidden in old caches, might have been possible, but I don't imagine many. I don't recall imagining Syberia as a military base.
- Herb
Yeah, I was figuring there probably wouldn't be much left behind, and expected that most of it would be in rediscovered old bunkers like my SI here was found in.
One of the things I'm looking to explore here is what happens when your sense of self ends up, by circumstances, more malleable than it is for us in real life. Going from being human to being an AutoMech is one major change. But Groundwave isn't a combat expert, will most likely get shot up at some point, and could well find himself getting his CPUs transferred into another body, and I was exploring the options for bodies that could hold comparable amounts of comm equipment.
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One of the things I'm looking to explore here is what happens when your sense of self ends up, by circumstances, more malleable than it is for us in real life. Going from being human to being an AutoMech is one major change. But Groundwave isn't a combat expert, will most likely get shot up at some point, and could well find himself getting his CPUs transferred into another body, and I was exploring the options for bodies that could hold comparable amounts of comm equipment.
The beauty of these guys is that they can make pretty much any body or modifications they need. the examples given in the book are some of their favorite chassis types--the ones you'd see as "redecos" or "minor retools" of more prominent AutoMech models. Groundwave could easily find himself in one of those bodies, perhaps with whatever old components of his they could salvage ported over, to maintain his functionality. Naturally, to the AutoMechs, this is perfectly normal, while to him... it's like going through the trauma of waking up one day as a BattleMech (again).
- Herb
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The beauty of these guys is that they can make pretty much any body or modifications they need. the examples given in the book are some of their favorite chassis types--the ones you'd see as "redecos" or "minor retools" of more prominent AutoMech models.
OK, that's a great deal more manufacturing capability and flexibility than I realized they had. I mean, I knew they had to hae a great deal, but I wasn't clear on how widespread variations to their basic designs were.
Groundwave could easily find himself in one of those bodies, perhaps with whatever old components of his they could salvage ported over, to maintain his functionality. Naturally, to the AutoMechs, this is perfectly normal, while to him... it's like going through the trauma of waking up one day as a BattleMech (again).
- Herb
Pretty much exactly what I was thinking, actually. And another one of my inspirations for this was an old picture of an Unseen Stinger sitting on a rock like The Thinker from the old Stardate Magazine (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Stardate#Volume_3_Number_2_.28March_1987.29) (I'd post a pic but, again, Unseen - the rules may have been lifted, but why give the Not-Named Company more ammo?) The pic I'm thinking of (http://www.webring.org/l/rd?ring=jello316;id=1;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwebspace%2Ewebring%2Ecom%2Fpeople%2Fuj%2Fjymset%2Farts%2Ehtml) is here, though.
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OK, that's a great deal more manufacturing capability and flexibility than I realized they had. I mean, I knew they had to hae a great deal, but I wasn't clear on how widespread variations to their basic designs were.
They probably have some strict rules on how many of them are built, just to avoid a runaway army production, but a new chassis for a crippled comrade would fall under repair and salvage in their synthetic semi-minds. As ever, the production rate and capabilities are as good or bad as your plot demands.
Pretty much exactly what I was thinking, actually. And another one of my inspirations for this was an old picture of an Unseen Stinger sitting on a rock like The Thinker from the old Stardate Magazine (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Stardate#Volume_3_Number_2_.28March_1987.29) (I'd post a pic but, again, Unseen - the rules may have been lifted, but why give the Not-Named Company more ammo?) The pic I'm thinking of (http://www.webring.org/l/rd?ring=jello316;id=1;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwebspace%2Ewebring%2Ecom%2Fpeople%2Fuj%2Fjymset%2Farts%2Ehtml) is here, though.
heh. That's no rock it's sitting on.
- Herb
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Yep, misremembered.
And I've debated between whether it'd be funnier to end up in a slow 40-ton VTOL AutoMech (something like a cross between Windblade, a Karnov and a Tonbo) or a Bestial AutoMech (though one bipedal in both modes like my current fav (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Grimlock_(RID_2015)) is giving me kittens).
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Ah, but remember: We know where Grimdark is in Nebula California!
He's on Toreel.
- Herb
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Ah, but remember: We know where Grimdark is in Nebula California!
He's on Toreel.
- Herb
Really???? did I miss that
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Really???? did I miss that
Reread the opening fiction to Welcome to the Nebula California, before the Toreel entry. :)
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Yup. He killed a Bean.
- Herb
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Unit Log, VeeMech TDR-1-74-0107C-J
Date <Error – Check CMOS>, Log Entry 4
Getting dragged around by Glyph to examine the remains of the base, and how much I knew about it, quickly taught me a valuable lesson: being used as a potentially valuable historical reference probably doesn’t work well if you have no idea what's going on, and can’t be sure the snippets you do know are even valid.
I still had no idea how I had gotten here. Well, I knew I was somewhere on Syberia, in the California Nebula, and that trying to reach the Inner Sphere, or even a human civilization, was probably a hopeless endeavor. I still had no idea, for that matter, how I found myself wearing the mutant body of a Thunderbolt BattleMech with the markings of the Terran Hegemony instead of my own human flesh and blood. Nor did I have any idea how much of my own memory I could trust. Yes, I remembered being human, but my memory had also been obviously tampered with.
Beyond that, I didn’t exactly have a handy map of Syberia, or even the bunker/fortress/whatever where I'd been found. It wasn’t like I’d be able to tell my new hosts how I got there or, more importantly from their perspective, how they and the rest of Syberia got there. This body of mine getting buried before the more recent AutoMech factions formed would explain why I didn’t wear their logos, but why was I wearing the symbol of the Terran Hegemony instead of the Cameron Star of the later Star League Defense Force that replaced it? Transforming BattleMechs were a technology of the Star League Era, after the SLDF had absorbed the Hegemony Armed Forces.
OK, the Terran Hegemony thing could be explained a number of ways. There could’ve been some weird dissident movement in the Hegemony who thought the Star League thing wasn’t working out. Or, it could be just a Star League colonization effort, pulling crap out of storage for some wild ass colonization trip into the middle of nowhere, something they did often enough.
But that would make the most sense if I was actually a Thunderbolt. Thunderbolts didn’t transform, though. Not only were they not built for that, at 65 tons, they were supposed to be too big and heavy to do that. So, later, presumably Syberian, construction. Hence, mystery again.
I could have pictured Jonathan Cameron, who ruled the Star League in the early 28th Century, being the driving force behind Syberia. He was nuts enough, had pushed for autonomous drone WarShips, and was generally his own special kind of paranoid – hadn’t he been rumored to have ordered construction of an automated Newgrange class yardship with its own onboard factories?
There was also the matter of how I got here in the first place. Or if I really was here in the first place, rather than this being the product of a malfunctioning brain.
Because it was only a malfunctioning brain that would have dreamed up someone like Glyph.
“With the amount of time you presumably spent in this base,” my current source of irritation said, “how can you not know anything about it?”
I so badly wanted to shake my head. “Remember that panic attack I just had after you three woke me up? That’s the first time I ever remember seeing this place.”
Spanner, who’d been following me like my old physical therapist, as if he expected me to fall over any moment, chimed in, as confused, but less frustrated-sounding than Glyph. “But, you just indicated to us that you possessed historical knowledge of our predecessors, the Terran Hegemony and the Star League. While I understand that you recall being human prior to your recent reactivation, rather than an AutoMech, do you not remember this facility at all?”
Telling them that I remember being an early 21st Century human and their entire reality being fiction for a game seemed…inadvisable. Time to stretch the truth a bit, or at least omit the gorier details. “I don't remember ever being here before. When I said I remember being human, it didn’t involve any of…this.” I waved around us with my ridiculous robogorilla arms. “I lived the life of a civilian on Terra. No involvement with BattleMechs, or spaceflight, the military, or anything else that would involve *here*”
“And yet you know about our planet, Syberia,” Glyph smugly pointed out.
Primus Optimal, who had become slightly separated from us as we explored, stopped what he was doing, and instead stared at me with great intensity, which was impressive for a giant robot with limited facial features.
“That is also quite true,” I said quietly.
“How?” Primus rumbled.
Well, if I wanted to sound less crazy, I sure as hell blew that plan out of the water. “I'd love to able to explain it in a way that makes sense,” I said, “but we're way past that point. Give me a moment to think of how to explain this in a way that sounds least impossible. Hell, maybe it'll help me figure out what's going on.”
I hadn't really had time yet to think much about the how or why I ended up here, or who done the deed. For that matter, I’d barely had time to begin to take in what had been done to me. If I ever wanted to see home again, who, how and why were critically important questions, but if I wanted to survive long enough to get there, what had been done, what I was now, was probably more important.
It was time to really think about it all, though, even if briefly. I started with the assumption that I was who I remembered myself to be, flawed, hacked memory notwithstanding. The alternative, that I’d never been human, wasn't something I was prepared to accept.
If I had once been human, but was now an intelligent machine that thought like and remembered being that human, that meant my neural state had to have been copied. At the moment, it didn't matter if that brain scan had been destructive or not: this copy of me here existed.
Turning me into an infomorph presented a number of options on how I could have ended up here. I wasn't a big fan of the Random Omniscient Being idea, but a sufficiently advanced being could have done an imitation, and found a way to transmit information between universes. The simulation hypothesis, either small or large, seemed more likely.
On the large side, maybe those that theorized the universe was a simulation were right. On the small side, maybe it wasn't the entire universe, but just mine, so to speak: I and others could have been injected as characters in some kind of game, set on Syberia. That seemed to be the most likely answer: a flesh and blood version of me had injected a copy of himself at a younger age (because the Earth I remember could never pull this off) into some complicated Battletech game. I have no idea why Original Me would choose Syberia over Niops, or why he would separate me from my family, but right now it seemed like the best answer I had. Now I just needed to explain it.
“AutoMechs are capable of being moved between bodies, correct, as long as the computers your minds run on are intact?”
“Yes, that is correct,” Spanner agreed.
“Is the process simply a transfer of software, or is hardware involved? Can you make exact duplicates of your mental states?”
“In theory, though generally we reuse hardware if possible. I do not recall a case of software-only transfers, and our own directives prohibit direct forks without some randomization where both AutoMech personality instances remain online.”
“OK,” I continued, “you’ve already stated you don’t have much recorded history of the Star League, and you don’t have any recorded history of humans having their minds mapped and scanned into AutoMechs, but have heard of research into mind uploads. Here’s the thing, though: humanity has been working on computer emulation of human brain structures and neural mapping as far back as the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The Terran Hegemony also made advances in both artificial intelligence and neural network computing. Spanner already established I use neural networking more than a standard AutoMech, and ‘personality core’ and memory is set up differently, right?”
“We are aware that you stated you were once human and agree its plausibke,” Primus Optimal agreed. “But knowledge of Syberia for someone who had not been here or previously have any knowledge of our world is anomalous, and not explained by this premise.”
“Right,” I said, “but the second part of my panic attack and existential crisis was that my memory has been altered. There’s a block in place around my old name. I can remember that I had one. I can tell you what a my first name meant in ancient Greek, and that it was associated with the captain of the Argo. I can’t tell you what it is. And I suspect that if you said it to me, something in my brain would filter it out.”
Glyph nodded. “Some record of the ancient Greek myths survived, actually. Is your name <redacted>?”
“Yeah, see, you said a word there. Something filtered it out. All I heard was static. But that goes to my point. My memory has been modified, and there are things I’m blocked from knowing. But there are things I do know. About Syberia. About the state of the Inner Sphere. Tell me, you said everything before 2830 is pretty much lost, and that was roughly two centuries ago, right? ”
Glyph and Primus Optimal stopped and looked at one another. “Yes,” Primus replied.
“OK, so I know things. Things that already happened. Things that might happen. And, yes, a little about Syberia. But most of what I know is about the Inner Sphere, and my knowledge of Syberia is limited to what at team of humans from Interstellar Expeditions discovers when they briefly visit Syberia and meet you.”
Primus Optimal shook his head. “No such team has visited Syberia, Groundwave.”
I raised one figure. “Yet. Maybe not ever.”
“Then how could you know the future?” Glyph asked.
“I know *a* future. Maybe it will come to pass. Probably it won’t, at this point, at least not entirely. How do I know? Once my mind got scanned, it ceased to be physical. It became purely information. Information can be transmitted, copied. Maybe even between parallel universes, originating in one where that information was available .”
The three AutoMechs simply stared at each other for several seconds, before Glyph said, “Citations needed.”
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Yay update!! Clever conversation with our hero.
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Such a long explanation. And unnecessary too.
He could have just gone with, "we've already established that my memory is patchy in places. Knowledge of this planet does not automatically translate into detailed knowledge of this facility."
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Unit Log, VeeMech TDR-1-74-0107C-J
Date 3018-06-11 11:35:23, Log Entry 5
An old book I once read said, ”I want you to think about Christ on the cross.”
No, I’m not getting religious on you. It's a quote from a sci-fi book I read back in what I remember to be my old life, where humans were dumb enough to recreate one of their offshoot subspecies, one that was inherently sociopathic, only borderline self-aware, lacked certain abilities to metabolize certain things, resulting in them being inherently cannibalistic, and generally smarter than normal baseline humans. Vampires, in other words. The quote referenced the fatal flaw that drove them extinct: a glitch that, combined with their heightened spatial awareness, caused them to have seizures when there were too many right angles in their field of vision.
Depending on who you are, you may be asking me now, “Groundwave, what the crap does that have to do with getting turned into a 60-ton self-aware transforming BattleMech?”
It's the “self-aware” part of that I was thinking of. The book and its sequel deeply explored the nature of consciousness, self-awareness, free will, and intelligence.
My mind had, obviously, been hacked. Let's just set aside the fact that I'm still unable to remember my own real name, dammit. Either somebody with the power to do so went through the trouble of copying my original brain, transporting it to a different freaking universe, playing marbles with it, and then shoving it into my cursed metal body.
Alternatively, somebody was a big enough ****** to create an artificial intelligence that believed he was human, had the memories of being human, remembered this particular universe as fiction and a game, and then was woken up one day to find out that, surprise, it was all a damned lie.
The third corollary was that none of this was actually real, that my original self existed, that this universe was a simulation, and that I was just a software copy.
Honestly, I'm not sure which frightened me more: phenomenal cosmic power, human cruelty, or even just indifference. All of it left me wondering whether I really was as conscious as I think I am, how self-aware my new acquaintances are, and the big question: what the hell am I doing here?
If thing stick to the way I remember reading about the California Nebula, I may well be stuck here. The natives, supposedly, don't remember that Kearny-Fuchida hyperspace jump drives, this universe’s method of FTL travel, were even possible. Routine communications between worlds just didn't generally happen. And without discovering an actual JumpShip or data copies of how they work, I wasn't going to be traveling anywhere very fast.
Even with a JumpShip, I may find the nebula open to me, but like the song said, “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.” Should the Interstellar Expeditions group still find themselves here in, what, 80 years or so, they'll get stuck, above to jump around the California Nebula, but stymied time and again in a myriad of different ways any time they try jumping out of it.
Slowboat sublight travel to other worlds might be possible within a reasonable timeframe with a properly-equipped ship. But I was roughly a thousand light-years from Earth, which meant that, even at near light speed, I wasn't going to be returning to the mainline established Battletech universe in any of the known timeframes written about.
I'm trying to plan my best, middle and worst-case scenarios. The best case msy finding a JumpShip, slowboating it out of the edge of the nebula, then resuming hyperspace jumps back to the Inner Sphere once I'm clear. What I'd do next depends on when I’d get there, but I would have plenty of time to worry about that.
If the best I can hope for is to remain within the California Nebula, or even a thousand year flight to the Inner Sphere, then I'm not sure of it's worth leaving Syberia. Here, at least, is the infrastructure I'd need to keep a ‘Mech body running, without making myself the target of a bunch of Galactic Empire wannabes, or ending up in a bad Marvel vs. DC parody planet, both of which existed in the California Nebula, along with a D&D parody where magic, purportedly, existed.
Though, hey, I suppose becoming a high level AutoMech wizard may be the solution to my problems.
The first order of business, though, was my immediate survival here on Syberia. Food wasn't exactly an issue, per se, and any hydrogen fuel I may eventually need to top off my fusion reactor was nearly irrelevant, because BattleMech fusion reactors were their own kind of sparkly magic. That might be an issue a decade from now, but not much of one, and not today.
Shelter takes on a different meaning when you're a 60-ton all-weather war machine. In theory I wouldn't rust, at least not much, or quickly, but you need only restore one classic car that was described as “running when parked” when you bought it to never want to do it again. Having my own body rust? No thank you. I remember my knees being bad enough as a 45 year old human.
Spare parts and repairs? Yeah, I had no idea how their economic system worked here on Syberia. They had some form of politics and nation states, though, and built combat AutoMechs to a different standard than non-combat ones, which were often IndustrialMechs, as I recall. That implied some degree of resource scarcity, which meant they had some form of economics. This dig into an old Terran Hegemony base could be equal parts archaeology and salvage operation, for that matter.
So I set aside my more philosophical concerns in favor of more immediate needs, and with the help of my friendly neighborhood AutoMechs, I was able to get a better feel for when I was, and how to set my internal clock accordingly, as well as to begin to learn what I'd need to know to get by here. While they have, for now, let my claims about my origins rest unproven, it’s not all been sunshine and rainbow puppies with them, though I've begun to get a better feel for why they went through the trouble of reactivating me in a body that sat dormant and inoperable for hundreds of years.
“So, wait a minute,” I asked Primus Optimal, “you’ve dug up an old base belonging to the Terran Hegemony, and you’re surprised it’s not recognizing your IFF codes? You’re lucky there aren’t automated defense systems to shoot at you!”
Glyph spoke up in place of her leader, however. “To date, low-priority outposts such as this one do not appear to have been high enough in priority to install automated defense systems of that nature. However, you are also the first AutoMech we have located in such a facility that we have been able to restore to functionality.
“Wait, ‘functionality’. You’ve encountered nonfunctional ones?”
“Not precisely,” Glyph replied. “We’ve generally found either ‘Mech parts, or occasionally entire BattleMechs still configured for human piloting.”
“Finding you here and restoring you to an operational state has been highly fortuitous,” Primus Optimal rumbled. “This facility will most likely recognize your IFF transponder and allow you access that we would otherwise be blocked from directly accessing, making reclaiming it for the Autonomous Barony of Primus much more straightforward than we would otherwise be able to do.”
“Hold on there, Primus,” I said, turning to him. “Who said this outpost was yours? Far as I’m concerned, it’s my island.”
Primus paused before responding. “We are not on an island.”
“Whatever,” I replied, brushing off his comments with a gesture. “The principle is the same. This is a Terran Hegemony facility, right?”
“Correct,” he rumbled.
“Then assuming my IFF codes do hold the keys, it would sound like this base is mine, not yours. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm probably willing to come to an arrangement to share it. But I'm not actually a member of your barony, and neither, technically, is this outpost your territory, and I still know nothing of your politics, or your economics, who your allies are, or who your enemies are. And, you do have enemies, don’t you? These weapons aren’t for decoration, and I’m guessing yours aren’t, either, are they?”
“No, they are not,” Primus agreed. “Our primary enemy is the Democratic Industrial Conglomorate, led by the ruthless MechaTankus, who maintains his leadership through threats of violence. He seeks to dominate all of Syberia if he can, though the balance of force between our faction and the DemoCons is such that they generally limit their activity to low-intensity raiding. This outpost is distant enough from both DemoCon and AutoBoP primary territories to make attacks less likely, though now that we have rediscovered it, it is certainly within the realm of possibility. While this might be your primary base of operations, your ability to protect this facility alone is limited. You will need our help.”
While I knew about the DemoCons from the old April Fool’s sourcebook, the reminder that they weren’t just an abstract opponent, but actually out there somewhere was helpful. I sighed and continued to make my point to Primus and the other AutoBops. “That’s kind of why I mentioned coming to an arrangement, and also brings me to my next point. I get that I’m kitted out for communications, but I don’t know what that means in terms of what you’re expecting I’m going to do for you, or for anyone else. I’ve got fifteen percent of my mass devoted to a transformation system of dubious value, since I don’t know how useful turning into a wheeled vehicle’s really going to be for me. I’ve got another ten percent devoted to communications equipment, since that’s what this particular chassis was presumably built for. I’ve got weaponry little better than a ‘Mech half my size, and while I’ve got jump jets, evidently, to my knowledge, I’ve never used them, or any of these fancy weapons I’m carrying.”
I had to suspect Primus Optimal had been around longer than the others here. For one thing, he did a better job of mimicking human mannerisms. I could swear he actively looked and sounded sympathetic. “I can understand that. At present, I intend to maintain a full lance of AutoMechs here, in addition to you, to provide security, and request that you work to recover data from this facility, to unlock what was lost from our history, as well as other useful data. We can determine the distribution of any additional useful hardware that is discovered as well.”
“Additional hardware?” I asked, intrigued.
Glyph replied this time, and I swear, I could feel the smug radiating off her. “Most likely. This is, after all, only the first level of the facility that we have explored. Despite your memory gaps, with your assistance, we should be able to reach the lower levels, and determine if there are additional resources, in terms of BattleMechs, parts and ammunition supplies, that may prove useful.”
Holy crap. ”Are we all just sitting on top of an actual Terran Hegemony cache?” I thought, then realized I’d said that out loud.
“Possibly, Groundwave,” Primus said in agreement. “As I mentioned, we have found caches of supplies and parts before, and it is likely that this is another one. It is entirely possible that there could be numerous BattleMechs here, enough, in theory, for you to form your own small faction, much like our allies, the Dynamic Barony of Grim, though you would most likely be limited to converting less advanced, non-transforming BattleMechs to AutoMechs.”
My own “faction”. That wasn’t something I’d even considered. That could easily bind me to this world, in ways I probably wouldn’t want to be bound, especially if I ended up finding that there was, in fact, a way home, back to the life I remember. If it wasn’t, though, it could be potentially helpful long-term, depending on what else I found here on Syberia. I wasn’t even going to ask what could possibly go wrong, though, because there were so many things, but, I may also be able to cover my own weaknesses here, such as a lack of knowledge of Syberia itself, and my weak technical, engineering or combat skills compared to those around me.
“Okay,” I finally replied, “let’s worry about that when we come to it, and for now just worry about holding onto this base and finding out what’s really here. Where do we get started?”
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Yeah, parts of that have been written for something like six or seven months. And I couldn't get it to work at all in my head, just beating my head against the desk time and time again, going nowhere. Then I realized what the issue was: it was too much of a jump from the last part. Then I got thinking about some of the things I wanted to explore again, ended up restumbling upon the Firefall series by Peter Watts in my Kindle app, spent some time thinking about that, and wrote another 1800 words overnight.
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Well, good to see you found a way forward.
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nice to see an update and something new from this. nice update.
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Looking forward to to the next entry.
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Unit Log, VeeMech TDR-1-74-0107C-J
Date 3018-06-21 13:00:41, Log Entry 6
Once upon a time, I was large for a human. I don't just mean tall though I was that, too. I'd always been tall, but I was stick thin until my adulthood, when I finally finished growing taller, and my physique went from "Beanpole" (an actual nickname of mine) to "Wookie", or "Yeti", or even the occasional "don't mess with sasquatch." And while I was not the epitome of martial prowess, I had enough skill and ability to protect myself, and enough of an intimidating presence when needed not to have to -- enough, in fact, to make armed muggers run.
Despite being just over five times my previous height, and 400 times as massive, I wasn't exactly feeling particularly large or intimidating these days, even with the much-bigger Primus Optimal off doing whatever it is he does when he's not checking out newly-discovered and partially-excavated firebases.
Between efforts to excavate the firebase the AutoBoPs found me in, every day, for at least one hour, Glyph put me through impromptu combat practice. Now, Glyph was an amazing shot. I'm really not. I still can't get the hang of waving around the giant ass laser mounted on my right arm, and the popgun small lasers on my torso require me to twist my torso around in an unnatural fashion to traverse a field of fire, as they had limited ability to move on their own. It was a heavily unnatural thing for a former human to be doing, and I just wasn't comfortable enough in my new metal skin to get the hang of it yet.
Let me give you an example of how my training has been going. After spending time failing to hit static targets, Glyph has me do practice fights against her, or against Spanner. AutoMechs have a base skillset when they first go online, but their AIs are a learning artificial intelligences, getting better with actual practice and experience. That said, they didn't suck as bad as I did, but they weren’t exactly walking off the assembly line able to outshoot Natasha Kerensky.
Me? I find it hard to keep my arm steady enough to land a hit on a fast-moving Glyph, or slew my torso enough to get my small lasers on target, even against Spanner, who's a lot slower than Glyph.
So, trying to gun down Glyph is an exercise in frustration and fail. She's faster than I am, far nimbler, and skilled and aware enough to predict the fluctuations in my own movements to move just enough that by the time I've realized I've drawn bead on her and fire, I'm gonna miss. She's the ultimate light 'Mech that hounds a wayward heavy to death.
Spanner isn't like that. He isn't as skilled as Glyph, but he still has me beat. Unlike Glyph, he's also willing to get in close. Spanner carries comparable armor to me, evidently, but he has a couple other advantages: like Glyph, his large laser is extended range, and his backup weapon is a 6-tube short-range missile launcher, with triple the range and double the potential damage output of my two small lasers. So, yeah, better at longer range, and at short range than me.
Did I mention that they both had double heat sinks to my singles? So unfair.
So, yeah, because Spanner can soak a hit on the rare occasion I connect, and can hit much harder than me, the medic/mechanic of the group could also kick my ass.
Physical combat training, which we also practiced, was embarrassing, as I kept trying to adopt poorly-remembered Aikido techniques to a body I was poorly adapted to, and less flexible to boot, resulting in a lot of embarrassment and the occasional fall. Luckily, I kept those to a minimum, and remembered enough to keep from really hurting myself.
I found the whole process exhausting.
Oh yeah, that's another thing. My brain was still human enough to need sleep, even if it wasn't very good at it. My AutoMech compatriots found this confusing and alarming, since AutoMechs had no need to sleep, because of course they didn't, that would be silly. If I had any doubts the being who scooped or copied me out of my own body was anything but omnipotent, that would have cured me of them.
So I'm a pathetic shot, still needed to spend hours per day asleep and vulnerable, and Spanner still keeps looking at me as if he's trying to decide whether I represent something miraculous or deeply in need of repair.
If a pack of raging DemoComs attacked my new home tomorrow, I'd be hard-pressed to hurt them, too, and right now, this little Terran Hegemony outpost is still the best chance I have of figuring out what happened to me, and what I can do about it.
So, as much as I didn't like it, I was still largely dependent upon the goodwill of Primus Optimal and his band of Autobot knockoffs. And as novel as it might seem to be a giant stompy robot, in addition to being a clumsy giant stompy robot surrounded by other giant stompy robots that weren't at all clumsy, I was exactly the wrong size to try to fix any of the damned computer terminals left behind by the long-dead humans who originally inhabited Syberia.
Were there any positives?
Yes. My "communications equipment" absolutely rocked. Don't think of it as just a bunch of radios that'd make amateur radio operators go nuts. My gear could double as a radio telescope, or satellite uplink, or electronic warfare suite. It was this gear that was a saving grace in figuring out this outpost, because in my case, "comm gear" also meant hardline and even wireless communications with the damned outpost computers. Well, the ones that worked, at least.
I may not have mentioned earlier how I actually use all this technology built into my new body. AutoMechs, presumably, don't need a full-on HUD to give them status messages. I did but, fortunately, whichever punk semi-omnipotent being left me here had a sense of humor and gave me a HUD that was a cross between something out of MechWarrior online (presumably, a standard 'Mech HUD) and Iron Man, minus Jarvis.
Well, I think minus Jarvis. if I have a Jarvis, or Friday, they haven't talked to me yet directly. I suspected that this was probably kludged from a Nighthawk XXI powered armor, which didn't fit the supposed timeline for Syberia, but Syberia didn't fit the timeline for Syberia.
So from the standpoint of someone who just might want to hack the planet, I wasn't that bad off. And while I might not be as durable as I'd like, I was still a 60-ton 'Mech with a sizeable amount of armor to protect me. And while I might have trouble accessing the terminals themselves, the Terran Hegemony, like the Star League it helped spawn, seemed to be a big believer in big iron when it came to computing, meaning that there was still a giant-ass computer core at the center of the complex. We weren't there yet, but I had been able to access some of the supporting servers, which was itself, interesting.
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Terra Core release 2482.4.13 (Elizabeth)
Kernel 92.6.2483.4.13.22.15.6 on tty2
Date: 3018-06-19
Time: 18:52:55
FB74A-Mon2 login: root
Password: *******
Incorrect password.
FB74A-Mon2 login: groundwave
Password: ***********
Token Authentication (TDR-1-74-0107C-J) Confirmed
Welcome, Groundwave.
You have new mail.
groundwave@FB74A-Mon2:~$mail
Mail version 92 4/13/2483. Type ? for help.
"/var/spool/mail/user": 1 message 1 new
>N 1 root@FB74A-Core Fri 6/19/3018 18:52 "Hello Groundwave"
&1
Message 1:
From root@FB74A-Core Fri June 19, 3018 18:52
-------------------
Subject: Hello Groundwave
---------------
Groundwave,
This message was automatically updated and sent upon your initial connection to one of the network servers here at Firebase 74 Alpha, but it's been waiting for you for a long time. You undoubtedly have several questions. This message will not answer all those questions, I'm afraid, but I promise you that there are answers. I will, however, try to answer what I can in this message, with what I do know:
"What am I?" - Best guess is that you are what you appear to be at first glance: a virtualized copy of a human brain and neural state.
"Where did I come from?" - Perhaps not the answer you're looking for, but a robotically-controlled spacecraft bringing supplies to Syberia, which brings us to the next question:
"How did I end up on a robot supply ship bound for Syberia?" - I don't actually have an answer to this, I'm afraid. We certainly didn't expect you to be on there, in a format compatible with the new AutoMech AI cores we'd begun deploying locally, but never shipped off-world.
"Why can't I remember my real name?" - Sorry, that wasn't us, either. When we first tried activating you, we ran into that issue, too. Naming you Groundwave and shoving you in one of our early AutoMech chassis was admittedly a kludge, but it was also worked. If it's any consolation, I suspect the memory of your name is still in there, just locked away, waiting for the right thing to activate it.
"I don't remember this. What happened?" - I know. That's my fault, and I'm sorry. With that said, you also agreed to it, though I know you don't remember that right now. That you're accessing the firebase network with none of us around tells me you were right, and the war you saw coming was unavoidable. That means we failed to stop it, leaving you, our contingency plan, in place. Knowledge that we don't want either of the main factions that will emerge to have has been locked away as best we can, so they can't find it if our security fails, or even if they switch you to another computer core and body. Nobody wants an army of giant robots traipsing across the whole damn California Nebula - either they'll crush everyone else underfoot, or they'll give your "Star Empire" a technological boost that lets them crush everyone else underfoot.
Everything in this firebase remains flagged to the Terran Hegemony, and we're one of the few Terran loyalist groups still around, since both they and the Star League should have collaped at the time I'm writing this. Anything else we successfully hide from the combatants and the AutoMech factions to come will still recognize your Terran Hegemony IFF in general and, hopefully, your personal command codes, though I can't be certain for anything not here in this firebase.
One final reminder: we're setting you up as our ace in the hole, in the hopes that things might be fixable one day, and because you, as an AutoMech yourself, have a chance of surviving the apocalyptic scenario you've described, that appears to finally be coming true. If you can save Syberia, fine, but if there's nothing here but warring AutoMechs that don't need saving, then save yourself. Get what answers you can here, then get out if you can.
Good luck, Groundwave.
Major Thaddeus Wescott, THAF
13 October, 2830
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So, yeah, like I said: interesting.
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One wild update for sure. Just be the jihad that they speak of or the succession wars. Who knows.
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Unit Log, VeeMech TDR-1-74-0107C-J
Date 3018-06-21 14:42:27, Log Entry 7
So, yeah...that was a thing. I’d ended up on Syberia centuries before, though it sounds like a lot of it was spent disabled, in the AI equivalent of a coma, waiting to be reactivated. But, at one point, I’d been awake, and running around as an AutoMech.
Perhaps more terrifying, I’d obviously met with other humans, ones willing to believe I’d probably once been human. And I’d told them everything, dammit. About the Star League collapsing. About Syberia collapsing. About the fanatics running the Star Empire. Presumably about the lunatics running the superhero-populated “Earth”.
The good Major also was very circumspect in his language. I’d come to realize, looking back through my own journal log entries, that I had mostly been as well. The very existence of JumpShips, and FTL travel, sounded like something that Major Wescott had wanted to suppress from the two major AutoMech factions, and his reasons sounded pretty solid. So, no giving them JumpShips.
That said, I suspect I’ll go insane spending the rest of my life here, and I’m not sure there’s anyone who really needs to be “saved” on Syberia anymore. So I’d probably want out of here, but where could I really go?
If I could figure out how to get a JumpShip out of the California, then the rest of the Battletech universe was open to me. I had to have come to this conclusion before, though, right? And I was still here. Still in the ass-end of space, on Syberia. I couldn’t imagine that I would’ve settled for just trying to stave off disaster here, if I could’ve also tried to stave off disaster in Inner Sphere, too, and if I’d landed here early enough to do that, then I hadn’t succeeded in making it out of the Nebula.
Why would I have allowed myself to have been shut down for hundreds of years? How desperate were things two centuries ago that the idea of having me shut down in the hopes of waking up one day like King Arthur to lead Syberia out of darkness or some crap like that seemed like not only a viable plan, but my best option? Did we have some better plan than “bury me and see if someone dug me out”, or was the plan really that desperate?
Then again, if a JumpShip didn’t work, and the alternative was to slowboat it off-world, maybe that wasn’t so desperate after all. Leaving Syberia would mean leaving a ready source of parts and maintenance: AutoMechs might not need food and oxygen to survive, but they’re...excuse me, we’re machines, and machines do break.
While I’ve been writing this journal log entry, I got pinged again by Glyph, who found something else she felt I should be aware of, also partially buried away under dirt and rubble in a more damaged section of my “new” home. Seemed worth preserving that little event as well. So, leaving the server I’d connected to behind, and walking up to where she was working, I stepped gingerly around debris that she and Spanner had been slowly clearing out, and finally saw it.
It wasn’t a complete ‘Mech, but it was also, unmistakably, an early-model Griffin. The head was opened up, and the inside gutted, so I couldn’t tell if it had originally mounted a standard cockpit or extra computers like an AutoMech. Its left arm was gone, its left and center torso a mess, enough so for me to see the shattered tokamak-style reactor inside the chest. The right side of the chest had looked like it’d been opened up in a more controlled fashion, with parts intentionally stripped away, but its right arm and handheld PPC were still in place.
The rest of the ‘Mech was pretty much gone, looking like it had been amputated by weapons fire at the waist. However, stenciled on an intact part of the head and chest, though, was, unmistakably, “VeeMech GRF-1-74-0107C-J ‘Groundwave'”.
I guess we knew why the ‘Mech’s head had been gutted.
Glyph turned to look at me. “This could explain why your coordination, accuracy and generally all your physical skills are so terrible.”
“Oh?” I asked, my voice sounding flat to me.
Glyph didn’t seem to notice. “It’s possible your programming was never updated to properly interface with your current chassis. If this was your original AutoMech chassis, and your programming is still expecting your configuration to match, your difficulty at doing much beyond walking would certainly make sense. I question why you were not transferred into another chassis of the same type, or at least a more human-shaped one, if that were the case, however.”
I sat down, somewhat heavily, still staring at my old corpse. “There probably wasn’t time, or another one on hand. Throwing me in this chassis was probably a matter of what was on hand, and desparation, based on what Major Wescott had to say.”
“Major Wescott?” Spanner asked, sounding confused.
I gestured absently with my left arm. “Former base commander. Last base commander, I suspect. He sent me an email.”
Glyph looked briefly at Spanner, then back at me. “An email.”
“Yep. Seems I’d been active prior to the collapse of human civilization here on Syberia, and he knew me. Rigged the computers to send me an email when I next logged in. No idea if he knew it would be this long, though.”
“And you don’t remember this,” Glyph didn’t really ask.
“Nope. Seems he and I agreed to wipe some of my memories, or at least lock them away. And he believed that I was indeed a virtualized copy of a human brain, so I’ve got that going for me,” I added. “Which is nice.”
“When did he record his email?” Spanner asked.
“October 13, 2830. Right around the time everything went to hell in a handbasket here on Syberia. Maybe even after everything did. Might have been his last act. Maybe we’ll even find out. Spanner, assume for a moment we found an intact Griffin, or at least enough of one that we could combine it with that wreck and end up with one working ‘Mech out of it, OK?”
“Could I transfer your computer core over into a chassis like this?”
“Exactly what I was wondering.”
Spanner sighed, and poked a bit more at the wreck. “Believe it or not, the head appears to be intact, and the interfaces for an AutoMech core appear to be as well. That would certainly improve the odds. In fact, if Glyph is correct, we’d probably want to make that a priority, since you’d undoubtedly do better in a chassis more like your core is expecting.”
So, new goals:
1. Find a Griffin chassis to transfer my brain into
2. Unlock all the stuff that’d been locked away by a long-dead Terran Hegemony major.
3. Plan an exit strategy.
4. Figure out why some random omniscient being stuck me here in the first place
5. ???
6. Profit!
No problem, right?
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That be bummer if he has to transfer to a non-transformer chassis. Like progress your doing the story overall!
I'm wondering what a battle will be like with the other enemy automechs will be like for him.
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That be bummer if he has to transfer to a non-transformer chassis. Like progress your doing the story overall!
I'm wondering what a battle will be like with the other enemy automechs will be like for him.
Maybe. But think about it from this perspective for a moment: even if it wasn't painful, wouldn't it feel completely unnatural to contort your body into an unnatural shape in order to change into, say, an aerospace fighter, a large truck, or a series of tubes armored emplacement?
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Maybe. But think about it from this perspective for a moment: even if it wasn't painful, wouldn't it feel completely unnatural to contort your body into an unnatural shape in order to change into, say, an aerospace fighter, a large truck, or a series of tubes armored emplacement?
Well transforming into an armored emplacement makes me thing of going to sleep in a comfy bed.
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Unit Log, VeeMech TDR-1-74-01107C-J
Date 3018-07-16 12:21:34, Log Entry 8
The first order of business for Operation "What the Hell Am I Doing?" was to continue digging out Firebase 74 Alpha, the outpost I'd been found in. The AutoBoPs had barely begun to explore the outpost when they'd found me, and had only made limited strides since. I hadn't been hard to find, practically left just past the entryway, at the end of a short alcove or passage that you went through before you entered the base proper.
It turns out that it was a combination of dumb luck and Glyph's single-minded determination that my little bunker had even been discovered. Glyph had, a century ago, discovered mention of this outpost in the shipping manifests stored on a computer at another, larger facility, with only the vaguest mention of its location. It'd taken her this long to find the outer doors, which were semi-recessed into a hillside and disguised.
Part of the problem, I suspected, was that this whole "Firebase 74 Alpha" seemed like it had been kludged together, and as a result had deteriorated over the past couple centuries. This wasn't one of those classic Star League bases or caches you hear about, where everything's pristine and perfect. Well, I shouldn't say that - I bet some of the Castles Brian in the Terran Hegemony ended up a little beat up, too, after the Amaris Coup and the First Succession War.
So far, my fellow AutoMechs hadn't needed to do much in the way of digging. The room, really closer to a small hangar, I'd been found in was completely clear, and a small storage area off of it where my old chassis was had only been partially obscured. One of the other storage areas had been the source of my terminal, where I was reminded once again at how rusty my UNIX skills are. Trying to get more information about the layout of the base's network made me want to disembowel myself with a rusty chipmunk. The good news is somehow I'd managed to figure out how to activate the base wireless network, and get it to connect to my HUD, which was good, and meant I didn't have to be connected via hardline all the time. The bad news is I hadn't managed to get much farther than that. I could tell there were other sections of the base but, for some reason, I was still locked out of them.
Beyond the small section we'd managed to uncover, though, Firebase 74 Alpha was a train wreck of collapsed ceilings and walls that led into the rest of the base. 'Mech hands are decent enough for combat engineering work and clearing some debris, but more specialized tools were needed, which we didn't have. So Glyph had called in some help: a ConstructionMech named Ripley.
Yeah, believe it or not.
Ripley was a lot like Glyph: no-nonsense and, evidently, another archaeologist. She appeared to be some variation of the CON-series Carbine ConstructionMech, driven by a fusion reactor instead of an ICE engine. Unlike the rest of us, she couldn't transform, but I don't think she really cared. She was intensely focused on three things:
1. Digging out the collapsed passageways to the rest of the base to find out what was on the other side.
2. Not collapsing the ceiling down on top of us while she did this.
3. Finding out everything she could about the Terran Hegemony operations on Syberia.
Also like Glyph, I suspect that I was a great disappointment to Ripley. In addition to my general ineptitude and my failures to get much out of the base computer, I remembered plenty about the Terran Hegemony, just not about the Hegemony here, which is what Glyph and Ripley were mainly concerned about. Whatever I learned in my previous incarnation was gone, or locked away, and the book I remember from my universe just didn't go that in-depth, and what I did know about the Hegemony wasn't terribly useful. I mean, here's an example:
Me: "...so after Simon Cameron died, his son Richard was still a child, and too young to take the throne, so the Council appointed General Kerensky as his regent, to represent his interests, and prepare him for the throne until he was old enough."
Glyph: "What do you mean by too young?"
Me: "Well, he was a child. He didn't have the life experience to rule yet, and wasn't considered old enough to make decisions for himself, let alone the Star League. I mean, he was seven when his dad died. He had another eleven years before he'd even be considered an adult. That's why General Kerensky was appointed his regent."
Ripley: "If General Kerensky was competent to rule in his stead, why did they not simply make General Kerensky the new Director-General and First Lord?"
Me: "Because they were technically hereditary titles, even if they were approved of by the Hegemony's High Council."
Ripley: "But they approved Stefan Amaris as...Emperor, correct?"
Me: "Well, yeah, but that's not First Lord or Director-General, and they didn't want to be shot."
Glyph: "This is completely illogical."
So, yeah, as far as the Archaeological Duo were concerned, I knew everything about nothing, but nothing about anything important.
The good news is we're close, though. Ripley expects she'll break through today, at least enough for us to be able to see past the blockage, even if we can't get through yet. Glyph is out patrolling, and keeping an eye out for another Beetle-class AutoMech by the name of Manx, who's supposed to help guard this outpost. Meanwhile, I'm taking a break from tilting at UNIX windmills, hanging out near the door, and hoping Ripley breaks through soon, because it would be a hell of a lot better than tangling with those damned computers again. Nearly anything would be better than trying that again.
I shouldn't have said that. Should not have said that.
I just heard this on my short-range UHF from Glyph: {"Groundwave, Spanner, deploy immediately. Manx was spotted, and is being pursued."}
See what I mean?
[End Log Entry 8]
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Awesome sauce! Its Back! Thanks for posting new entry, Giovanni Blasini.
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Streaks locked!!
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Yes, Blindsight and Echopraxia are amazing, if somewhat depressing.
This too is amazing, and not depressing! :thumbsup:
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Yes, Blindsight and Echopraxia are amazing, if somewhat depressing.
This too is amazing, and not depressing! :thumbsup:
Which is funny, because in addition to writing this in response to a few other Battletech SIs where gamer knowledge was useful, and wanting the basically the opposite, a lot of this story is exploring stuff that scares the hell out of me, like:
- Separation from my family. I started this while on a work trip where I spent two weeks away from my wife and son.
- Loss of memory. Watching my dad sometimes struggle as he got older.
- Loss of identity. Goes with loss of memory, but even moreso. The loss of who I am would terrify me, and I've seen it happen to extended family, whether through Alzheimer's or dementia...it's terrifying
- Getting older. There are days where I feel like my body isn't my own, simply because I can't make it do the things I'd grown accustomed to being able to do in my teens, or 20s, or 30s. I have my size, I have my strength, but I've lost some endurance, some flexibility, and I'm far more fragile than I used to be, as my accumulation of injuries over the years starts to catch up to me
- My sense of mortality. Being middle-aged is one thing. Watching a parent get old, knowing he doesn't have that many years left is one thing. Holding your dad's hand as he passes is another entirely. My worldview now is not the same as it was six months ago. But that's not really as easily explored in my other stories.
- The flip side to transhumanism. There's no guarantee of sunshine and roses.
So, um, yeah.
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As note. If i were highly disappointed, i am would be because there not lance or company of AI driven Terran Hegemony UrbanMechs not being reactivated to defend the firebase for comical relief. ;D
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As note. If i were highly disappointed, i am would be because there not lance or company of AI driven Terran Hegemony UrbanMechs not being reactivated to defend the firebase for comical relief. ;D
All I can think of are the TF:Prime Vehicons of the Decepticon Army. Cannon fodder, comic relief, and genuine threat en masse.
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Now think about an EFFECTIVE lance of terran hegemony AI urbanmechs to defend the base with you d and cool tactics in an enclosed environment.
Just discovered and devoured the thread. Good stuff here. :)
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So, um, yeah.
Well, it's not that I don't see what you're coming from - I remember the first time I could no longer focus to thread a needle, 20 years ago - but you're doing it in a way which is not as harsh as Watts. I mean, if this ends up like the end of Echopraxia I'll be surprised.
Just remember, Sarasti wouldn't have your doubts. Is that the choice? Mixing genres for a moment, 20 years ago I wouldn't have taken Tree-of-Life virus. Now, if I could I would, but for it wouldn't work ...
(Okay. Challenge to self. Pak/BT crossover.)
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Unit Log, VeeMech TDR-1-74-01107C-J
Date 3018-07-16 14:31:34, Log Entry 9
Well, that whole experience sure did suck.
Stepping out the door into the valley next to my bunker, I found that our new Beetle-class AutoMech, Manx, had been spotted by a roaming Sounder-class belonging to the DemoCons, who then called in support from another DemoCon Beetle class and, even worse, a Seeker class.
Beetle-class AutoMechs are 35-tonners, with decent armor, double heat sinks, and an extended-range large laser. Sounders, or VeeMechs like Spanner, are 60-ton Thunderbolt derivatives like my current form. Unlike me, though, they have a 6-tube short-range missile launcher and extra cargo instead of the six tons of communications gear I pack, and like the Beetle class and unlike me, they pack an ER large laser and double heat sinks, instead of single heat sinks and a conventional large laser.
So, we out-tonned them, but given I was a terrible fighter and Spanner wasn't great himself, we were in trouble. We needed to keep them from getting away, but with a midling fighter like Spanner and my own level of ineptitude in combat, I wasn’t sure we had the forces to do it.
Our first bit of luck came in the Seeker, named Fire Seeker as it turns out, had decided to fight on the ground rather than from the air. “What do we have here?” he growled. “You're a long way from AutoBoP territory.”
Instead of answering him, I powered up most of my comm gear, flipping through my options modes, finding my options under EW, and selecting "broadband comm jamming". My other viable option was to try to burn through their Sounder's ECM field, which I could already detect trying to futz with our sensor locks, but, like I said, the priority was keeping them from getting a message out.
Glyph was still trying to get into position, as were the rest of us, which resulted in a whole lot of running around, and an exchange of fire, but nobody, not even Glyph, managing to connect with a shot.
As we continued to maneuver, the DemoCon Sounder, named "Blast Sounder", held back a bit from closing, while their own Beetle, or "Ender", as the DemoCons called them, tried to flank our loose formation. The desert valley we were in offered little terrain other than rolling hills tall enough to completely block line of sight, which I wanted to try to avoid, since I wanted to shot back, and make sure the terrain didn’t block the radio static I was generating.
For my troubles, I took a hit from Fire Seeker's medium pulse laser in my right leg. Getting shot in the leg did not, in fact, tickle. Fully a third of my armor was rendered ineffective as the pulsing beam briefly swept down my leg, from thigh nearly to ankle. It felt like my leg was on fire which, I suppose, it was in a way. Luckily, the pain, as bad as it was, was muted enough I could continue to function. Decades of knee pain probably helped me deal with it as well.
I could barely keep track of it at the time, but Manx had taken a much worse hit in his left leg from their Beetle-class "Wild Ender", the ER large laser nearly punching through. Manx had been setting up his own shot at Fire Seeker, smacking the larger 'Mech in the chest with a solid hit.
Evidently, Glyph was commanding everyone on their shared combat frequency to focus on Fire Seeker and knock him out quickly. They kind of forgot to share that frequency with me, at first. I couldn't get a bead on Wild Ender, the little bastard was just too fast, but before I could aim at Blast Sounder, my radio crackled to life with the sound of Glyph. "Target their Seeker!"
Fair enough. He wasn't far away, so I charged towards him, firing my large laser, and trying to bracket with a small laser in my chest. Swing and a miss, of course, for both. While charging, their Sounder opened up at me, missing with the laser, but peppering me with four SRMs. I felt the thudding impacts on my torso, my right arm, and two impacts against my left thigh. Irritating, but not enough to stop me.
As I charged in, trying to close the distance in an effort to hit something, I could see Spanner's SRMs connect against their Seeker. Evidently, he'd been smacked hard enough that he lost his balance (I'd missed Glyph's shot against him), and he fell over. I took the opportunity, running past him, and kicking him myself, trying to take his leg off but failing.
Glyph had built up a head of steam at this point, weaving across the battlefield, and nearly shooting their Seeker's right arm off as he stood up. Unfortunately, this gave him his own opening, which he chose to carve in Glyph's back as she passed by, decelerating to turn back towards him. I kept moving, trying to keep my own back protected, and taking a lucky potshot back at Fire Seeker, burning through into his right torso with my large laser, but not hitting anything vital.
Once again, for my trouble, that damned Sounder peppered me with SRMs. Worse, my right leg took another hit, this time from its ER large laser, which burned even worse than that damned medium pulse laser.
At this point, things had dissolved into a wild melee, Glyph kicking Wild Ender, Wild Ender sweeping its leg out at Manx, Fire Seeker kicking Glyph, Manx kicking Blast Sounder, Spanner punching and missing their Sounder, and Blast Sounder trying and failing to kick Spanner, only to fall on its side.
Manx wasn't so lucky, failing to stay upright after having his leg swept, and damaging his right ankle in the fall. I watched him struggle up, and try to put some space between himself and their Spanner, but as he watched Glyph go after their crippled Seeker, he flanked Wild Ender instead, only to get battered by their Sounder's SRMs.
Spanner and I, meanwhile, barely moved, anchoring the east and west sides of the battle. Fire Seeker opened up on Spanner, bracketing him with his pulse lasers, and connecting with his mediums, but Spanner seemed to weather it fine. In turn, Spanner tried, and failed, to connect with Wild Ender, the little bastard weaving and making himself hard to hit.
I didn't bother, and focused on their Sounder instead, firing all my weapons, and managing to connect with only a single small laser, the large and other two smalls just barely missing. I did mention I'm a terrible shot, right?
I did, however, get its attention, as it turned more towards me and, in a voice so digitized it was almost unrecognizable, said, “Terran Hegemony?”
Glyph had more luck, and a lot more skill, than me, smashing into Fire Seeker's rear torso and, evidently, knocking out two of his jump jets. She successfully landed a kick on him, but it didn't seem to slow him down much.
Trying to get away from Glyph, Fire Seeker ran right into the reach of Spanner, who lashed out with a punch, smashing the DemoCon’s shoulder. Spanner wasn't done yet, though, wrenching at the joint with his salvage arm, and tearing the damaged limb right off the DemoCon, then using it to smash him in his damaged torso. I could see the thermal bloom from damaged reactor shielding: Fire Seeker was nearly out of the fight.
Unfortunately, so was Manx, who'd taken to trying to trade blows with Wild Ender, only to take a kick on his already damaged left leg, for the poor limb to snap off at the hip.
Furious, I charged the short distance to Wild Ender, intent on kicking his ass...which is exactly what I did, smashing my foot into his left hip and causing it to seize, and the DemoCon to fall flat on his face.
Spanner tried to open up the range a little bit, backing up to get a clearer picture, but that just let Fire Seeker flank him, forcing Glyph to flank the DemoCon Seeker in turn.
Manx was in trouble, nearly crippled, unable to stand, so he simply propped himself up with his left arm and shot their Sounder in the back, getting hit in his own back, knocking out a heat sink, for is trouble, as Wild Ender managed to stand. Give him props, he refused to give up.
Trying to draw some heat off him comrades, I charged right for their Sounder, firing everything, feeling myself heat up in return. I couldn't connect with my small lasers, but managed to use my large laser to burn across his right leg, nearly burning through his armor, then following it up with a kick to his other leg, as the Sounder stepped back to protect his weakened right leg. I tried to keep track of what was happening to everyone else, but things happened so damned fast, and I was mad enough that it was a struggle.
As it turns out, Glyph had finally knocked down Fire Seeker, taking out his right leg. With one leg and one arm gone, he couldn't even prop himself up to shoot, and Glyph ignored him, chasing after Wild Ender, who was intent on taking out Manx. Glyph shot the DemoCon's right leg out from under him, but not before the shot Manx in the back, damaging his gyro and engine shielding. As Wild Ender fell to the ground, my own small lasers passed through the air where he stood a moment before, but my own momentum carried me forward, and I stomped the little bastard's right hand in passing. Unfortunately, I'd been aiming at his forearm-mounted laser.
Spanner and Blast Sounder, meanwhile, circle each other, trading fire. It looked like Spanner was holding his own, hitting with his laser and a punch, but failing to repeat the trick he'd pulled with his salvage arm, though he took a savage kick in return.
The Sounder disengaged, moving to reengage Glyph and protect Wild Ender, who was continuing to trade shots with Manx from the ground. Glyph hesitated for a moment, unsure of who to shoot, before finally aiming at the Sounder and missing.
At this point, I don't think the DemoCon Sounder expected to escape, and he was more interested in doing damage before he fell. It opened up with everything at Manx, peppering him with more damage, but failing to kill him.
I can't say I did much better, actually. I opened fire with everything at Wild Ender, smashing into his back with my large laser, but not hitting anything vital, and stripping more armor off with two of my small lasers, one of which wrecked his left knee. My own kick took off the rest of his left leg, crippling him further.
That was when the DemoCon Sounder stomped on Manx's rear torso, knocking out his engine, and taking him offline.
Spanner and Glyph went into a frenzy, throwing themselves at the Sounder, smashing its right leg, crippling it.
Glyph disengaged, running back to the downed Seeker, and shooting it in the back, penetrating the engine shielding and wrecking the remaining structure there, knocking it out permanently.
Spanner started walking around the downed Blast Sounder, intending to shoot him in the back, but missing. I did the same, but was angry enough I only connected uselessly with a single small laser, kicking him again as I closed.
I figured none of them were getting back up. I was wrong.
Blast Sounder staggered to its one good foot, its ruined right leg dragging along, and turned to reengage Glyph, who'd left the wreckage of the DemoCon Seeker to finish off Wild Ender. She shot the other Beetle-class in the chest, but didn't penetrate. Wild Ender, in turn, took a shot at Spanner in reply, hitting, but not hitting anything vital.
Instead of shooting at Glyph, though, Blast Sounder twisted, and fired at Spanner instead, smashing through what was left of the armor over his center torso, and striking his gyro housing. I tried pushing the bastard over, but failed, as the bastard somehow sidestepped me with his one bad leg.
Reeling, Spanner tried, and failed, to successfully return fire, and given I'm reeling even without damage, I did no better with my guns.
Glyph was not having it, flanking the bastard again, and striking him in the torso with her ER large laser, striking his gyro. Blast Sounder, unable to reach her in reply, focused on Spanner, missing with his laser, but peppering him with SRMs, before its own damage got the better of him, and the DemoCon crashed to the ground again.
Spanner couldn't turn quickly enough to reach Blast Sounder with a punch or kick, but did stomp Wild Ender's right arm, tearing it off, and taking away his last weapon. I kicked the larger DemoCon, breaching his left torso cargo hold.
Even now, Blast Sounder refused to surrender. The DemoCon struggled, and failed, to stand, succeeding in nothing but damaging its one good leg, crippling the foot and ankle. Failing to stand, it fired at the smallest of us, Glyph, missing with its laser, but peppering her with SRMs, including one that hit her head, and another that ruined her left foot.
Our return fire, though, tore his right arm off, and smashed his one good hip, crippling him further. Prone, the three of us took turns kicking the DemoCon, Spanner stomping him in his back like Blast Sounder had done to Manx, finishing him off.
Glyph broke off, returning to the crippled Wild Ender, and put him down with a single shot to the chest. With his armor already breached, that was it for the smaller DemoCon AutoMech.
In the final total, Glyph had taken a hit in the back that resulted in a damaged heat sink, and damage to her left leg sufficient to mangle her foot. Spanner had a damaged gyro that kept him from moving fast, and a lot of armor damage, especially over his right leg, which had breached the armor. I had armor damage, well, everywhere it seemed, but had gotten lucky and hadn't suffered any internal damage.
And Manx. Well, yeah. Manx was pretty much gone, and his current body wasn't salvagable. The only question is whether his primary and secondary CPUs were intact enough to transfer to another body, which we didn't have in immediate supply.
I could do without another victory like this.
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I wonder if he will be a better fighter with the more human body and weaponry layout of a Griffin. Probably yes, but he will still be a bad shot. Right now he seems to be doing what he knows works: using mass to go brawling.
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He needs better targeting computer.
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I myself would not be very good targeting if I had weapons all over my body. Now, give me a gun i can grab with my hand and a shoulder mounted RPG-like weapon and we can talk. I will be a terrible shot, but I can practice it better I guess.
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Unless he figure it out. He could figure out how to make Mech Mortar s
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Ok, honest questions: was the fight scene too hard to follow, and what would you recommend to improve it?
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Honestly not really, it was a "grand melee" with a # of "players and npcs" where most shots missed.. 8)
and I had days that the only weapon that could hit was SL, even at long range.. but anything else was just for show and heat. Unfortunately that day I was was the Ops Force commander with a Vet Pilot
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Yup. What Doc said. Grand melee, a bit chaotic. As it should be.
Frankly, combat is one of the most boring parts of BT fiction. It has great moments, but it gets old eventually. Necessary but not a prime in story development. This was a good combat description. Do not overviews yourself. The pace and description was cool.
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Unit Log, VeeMech TDR-1-74-01107C-J, Log Entry 9 Supplemental
We're still going through the aftermath of the battle, assessing our damages, and trying to figure out whether Manx's AI core can be moved into a different AutoMech. Ripley says she has something important to show us, but it can wait until we've finished our damage assessment, and she's been a big help getting the wreckage of the DemoCons we fought, and of Manx, off the battlefield and back into the bunker. Spanner is hoping that the DemoCon Sounder's gyro is intact enough to use for spare parts for his own damaged gyro, while Glyph has to face the joyous decision that the only replacement foot for her nearby is either going to come off a destroyed DemoCon, or the wreck of her protoge Manx. Personally, it feels a bit ghoulish to me, but then I have to remember that, were these regular BattleMechs somewhere in the Inner Sphere, salvaging components off of destroyed 'Mechs to keep yours running would be par for the course: just because they're autonomous doesn't mean that's different here in Syberia.
Meanwhile, I'm getting ready to poke my head outside, trying to keep to what little cover there is, so I can bounce a signal off a satellite, and get word to Primus Optimal that we're gonna need a bigger boat. Because we're worried about being monitored, Glyph has me using one of their stealthier low-orbit satellites, which make regular passes, rather than one of their geosynchronous ones that everybody on the planet knows about.
That gives me some time, and one thing I've been neglecting to do, though, and really should have already, is to record for posterity more information on the AutoMechs I've encountered so far. I don't know for sure whether anyone who may read this journal will be from the Inner Sphere, and thus familiar with BattleMechs, at which point some of the stuff I'm including will be needless detail. On the other hand, though, maybe you'll be from my original universe, and not as familiar with this one. Or maybe you'll be from somewhere else entirely: I ended up here, after all, so there's no guarantee I won't end up somewhere else, whether within the California Nebula or in another universe. So, don't stop me if you think that you've heard this one before.
Beetle-Class / Ender-Class Wheeled AutoMechs
(https://cfw.sarna.net/wiki/images/3/3a/COM-1A_Commando.jpg)
(https://cfw.sarna.net/wiki/images/1/10/Rotunda.jpg)
--Take one of each of the above, throw them in a blender, bake at 350 degrees, and the result is a Beetle Class (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=69484.0)
The Beetle-class seems to be the basic footsoldier of the Autonomous Barony of Primus faction, and, at 35 tons, are generally the lightest class of AutoMech in common frontline service. Nine meters tall, and big for a light 'Mech, Beetles are still light 'Mechs, emphasizing speed and agility over firepower and armor. Beetles are capable of 64 kph walking, 96 kph at a full run, and 118 kph flat out in its wheeled mode, making the Beetle-class a solid scout and courier. Protection is solid at 6 tons, though not as heavy as it could be, and a single extended-range large laser is mounted on the right forearm, able to burn through a half-ton of 'Mech-equivalent armor out to 590 meters.
Evidently, the Beetle class isn't as common amongst the Democratic Industrial Conglomerate (DemoCons) as they are among the Autonomous Barony of Primus (AutoBoPs), where they're everywhere. I don't know if the DemoCons just can't build many Beetles, or if they're unable to build Beetle-class AutoMechs at all, and instead salvage them off of the AutoBoPs instead - wouldn't that be disturbing? Either way, those that do serve the DemoCons, though, do so with a different name: Ender-class, rather than Beetle-class, but they're functionally identical.
Glyph is, and Manx was, a Beetle-class AutoMech. On the flip side, one of the DemoCons we fought, whose IFF signal identified him as "Wild Ender", was an "Ender-class", ie. the same thing.
CON-series Carbine ConstructionMech
(https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/mul-images/BattleMechs/Carbine.png)
--Yep, that's a Carbine
Not every AutoMech can transform. That's something mainly reserved for the frontline ones, the ones expected to see combat. For what we'd normally think of as civilian roles, which aren't expected to fight, quite often these are filled by AutoMechs that can't transform at all, often built with industrial grade, rather than battle grade, components. Ripley is a prime example of this, an autonomous version of the CON-series Carbine ConstructionMech. I haven't met others yet, but I'd presume there are other AutoMech worker types filling other roles that the rest of humanity built IndustrialMechs for, too. Well, maybe except agriculture. Not much need of AgroMechs on Syberia these days.
Seeker-Class / AeroMech-Class Fighter AutoMech
(https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/mul-images/BattleMechs/Phoenix%20Hawk.png)
-- The wings aren't visible in this picture, but this is pretty close to a bog-standard Seeker.
At first glance, the the 50-ton Seeker-class AutoMech would be the type of AutoMech most familiar to the inhabitants of the Inner Sphere. For those who may read this journal and are more familiar with the Transformers than with BattleMechs, your first assumption would be Seekers are basically expys of Starscream and similar flying Transformers.
While it's fully AI-controlled like all the AutoMechs, Seekers are basically a a variation on the Phoenix Hawk Land-Air-Mech, or LAM, and the Inner Sphere has plent of experience with those. Seekers, like all transforming AutoMechs, are bimodal, lacking an "in-between" mode like the regular Phoenix Hawk LAMs, instead transforming directly from BattleMech mode to Aerospace Fighter mode. That makes taking off and landing tricky to manage.
Like their presumed progenitors, the Seeker class has a ground speed of 54 kph walking, or 86 kph running. It uses some early form of improved jump jets for thrusters, making it capable of 180 meters jumping on the ground in 'Mech form, and in the air has 3G of standard or 4.5G of maximum thrust. Those jets are heavy, though, cutting the available mass for armor and weapons. Most AutoMechs aren't fitted with jump jets, though, so while the Beetle-class AutoMechs might be able to run slightly faster, those jump jets help tremendiously with their maneuverability.
Given the mass they devote to movement, standard armament is relatively light, with a single regular medium laser and medium pulse laser in each arm. As a result, Seekers need to get in close in combat, since those medium lasers can't reliably burn through 'Mech armor closer than 270 meters, and the medium pulse lasers are optimized for 180 meters or less. Their armor is similarly light at 7 tons, with surprisingly heavy back armor compared to most 'Mechs, which helps them when running into close-range combat, but hit them hard enough, and you can hurt them.
Evidently, only the DemoCons and their allied subfactions call this class of AutoMech a "Seeker", where they tend to be somewhat common. Spanner tells me that the AutoBoPs and their allies use smaller numbers of similar fighter-class AutoMechs they call "AeroMechs". There can be soma variations between individual Seekers or AeroMechs (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=68672.0), even within factions; the loadout I've described here is the most common, and was what Fire Seeker, the DemoCon we fought, was kitted out with.
Sounder-Class / VeeMech-Class Wheeled AutoMech
(https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/mul-images/BattleMechs/Primitives/Thunderbolt%20TDR-1C.png)
-- The TDR-1C Thunderbolt, progenitor of the Sounder-Class Wheeled AutoMech and its variants.
Sounders are an odd duck. Both the DemoCon's Sounder class and the AutoBoP equivalent, the VeeMech, are supposed to be based on the Thunderbolt series of BattleMech, shedding five tons and gaining the ability to transform into a big truck. Both the Sounder class and VeeMech class have the same basic layout and armament: arm-mounted ER large laser, a six-tube short-range missile launcher (SRM-6) on top the right side of the torso, able to target 'Mechs out to 270 meters.
Feeding the SRM launcher is one ton of ammo, enough for 15 reloads, with specialized Cellular Ammunition Storage Equipment (CASE) to give them blow-out panels in the rear torso to keep an ammunition explosion from blowing them the hell up. Star League standard double-capacity heat sinks to keep them cool, and lets them keep up a high rate of fire, with weaponry useful at both long and short ranges.
In 'Mech mode, both the Sounder and the VeeMech can walk at 43 kph or run at 64 kph. In their truck mode, they're a bit faster, cruising at 54 kph and topping out at 86 kph, but combat is evidently awkward in this form, since their weaponry isn't in true turrets. Armor is thicker than the Seeker/AeroMech at 9 tons, but still weaker than their progenitor. Like the Seeker, their rear torso has thicker armor than most human-piloted BattleMechs do, I suspect that AutoMechs sometimes get fixated and lose situational awareness in combat, and don't always notice when someone's gotten behind them until they get shot.
Despite their size, Sounders tend to work well as recon units, packing pretty solid electronics, with a Beagle active probe system to ferret out hidden units, and a Guardian ECM suite to provide electronic warfare capability. They also carry a 3-ton cargo hold in each side of their torso, allowing them to carry small, supplemental recon drones, extra parts and supplies, or other mission-specific equipment. Glyph tells me she managed to shoot down one of the drones following Manx, and it looks like I crushed another one in the Sounder's cargo hold during the battle, based on what we've seen of the wreckage.
So that's pretty much the layout Blast Sounder, the DemoCon we fought, was set up with, but evidently the DemoCons are starting to field a new variation on the Sounder (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=68652.0), but I'm given to understand the primary change is moving from using a bunker-like cockpit like the Thunderbolt did to an actual centerline head. Why? Good question: maybe it's easier to access the AI computer for maintenance or retrieval, maybe since AutoMechs tend to aim for center of mass, Sounders were getting hit in the "head" more often before, maybe it just gives their head mounted sensors a better view, or maybe it's some kind of higher ranking Sounder variant. I don't know. Tell you what, though, it'd make my life easier if my head were where I expected it to be, I bet.
VeeMechs, on the other hand, haven't moved their "heads" into an actual head yet, and lose the extra electronics equipment, freeing up another three tons of mass for other specialty equipment. In Spanner's case, that mass went into a salvage arm in the place of his left hand, a specialized set of manipulators and micro-manipulators that he can use to help make delicate repairs on other AutoMechs, while still being capable of lifting heavy equipment. Spanner also gave up a cargo hold in favor of a lift hoist, but he did note that some VeeMechs will carry a third cargo hold, extending them out to 9 tons of internal capacity.
"Groundwave-Subclass" - VeeMech Wheeled AutoMech
(https://cfw.sarna.net/wiki/images/f/f4/3025_thunderbolt.jpg)
-- Add some wheels, swap that missile launcher for an electronics pod, and this is pretty much what I look like
...technically, according to Spanner and Glyph, I fall under the category of being a VeeMech subclass. However, I'm more primitive, in a lot of ways, than your average production-model Sounder-class like Blast Sounder was, or VeeMechs like Spanner. I lack the SRM launcher of the regular Sounder-class or VeeMech class, which freed up four tons of mass, and I also drop one of my three-ton cargo holds, and I also lose a half-ton of mass since I don't have CASE equipment to store ammo in. Like the other VeeMechs, I lack the dedicated active probe and ECM suite.
So where's that 10.5 tons go compared to a regular VeeMech or Sounder?
Most of it's taken up by six tons of specialized communications gear: radios and antennas covering everything from shortwave wavelengths like 160 meters or 80 meters all the way up to centimeter-wave radio for satellite or ground-to-space communications, divided up between the spot where most Sounders or VeeMechs have their right torso cargo bay. Mounted in my back in 'Mech mode are a trio of jump jets, letting me leap up to 90 meters at a time: it's usually easier to walk or run, but it lets me climb some otherwise impassable terrain.
That doesn't leave a lot of space for extra weapons, and where the progenitor Thunderbolt packed a trio of medium lasers in its chest, I have a trio of smaller lasers with a third their range instead, where I need to get within 90 meters to have a real chance of damaging 'Mech armor. My other problem is that my subclass was either an earlier version or one they skimped on, because I've got ten standard-grade single heat sinks to their ten double heat sinks, and my large laser is the older standard-grade, rather than extended range, so I can only hit out to 450 meters against other 'Mechs. However, I wasn't always a VeeMech. before that I was a...
GRF-series Griffin BattleMech
(https://cfw.sarna.net/wiki/images/f/f1/Griffin.jpg)
Yep. Used to look more or less like this, evidently, though I don't particularly remember it. Based on the wreckage we found, I didn't have that drum missile launcher, instead appearing to have used the same electronics setup that then got transferred into my current VeeMech-based body. Everything else would've been the same, though, as a standard Griffin: same 55-ton mass, same 86 kph top speed, same pack of jump jets allowing me to leap 150 meters. Griffins generally carry a rifle-style particle projector cannon, or PPC: it's a particle beam weapon that hits a bit harder than the large lasers more common amongst AutoMechs, if not quite as far as an ER large laser, but that have magnetic field interference trying to hit within 90 meters. Griffins were generally mobile fire support platforms, emphasizing long-range fire, and relying on their own fists and feet up close. That doesn't seem so bad to me.
Leader-Class Wheeled AutoMech
(http://www.lordsofthebattlefield.com/gallery/albums/userpics/prophet-grandtitan-01.jpg)
--Yeah, that's not quite Primus Optimal right there, a prime (heh) example of the Leader-Class
Even running around as a 60-ton semi-humanoid war machine, the Leader class is big and imposing, standing nearly 14 meters tall, and massing 85 tons. Because of their size, and the weight of their transformation gear, they're not as fast as smaller AutoMechs, with a 35 kph walking and 54 kph running speed. The Leader's vehicle mode helps a bit, but even then, Primus in his command truck mode driving flat out is only able to maintain 64 kph, which I can run at, and Glyph can do walking.
Instead, looking at the triad of speed, firepower and armor, Leader-class AutoMechs like Primus Optimal go for the second two. Protected by 14.5 tons of armor, Leaders are tough to damage, and they can hit back, hard. Most carry a massive gauss rifle in their right arm, a large pulse laser in the chest, and generally carrying a massive anti-'Mech hatchet in their left hand for close-combat, though they appear to have a way to mount this to their back when they're not using it.
So, yeah, that's a basic rundown. If you'll excuse me, I've got a satellite to catch.
(Out of story: this was mainly written for those less familiar with Battletech on other forums, but is still a useful who's who)
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He can take Blast Sounder's parts to upgrade himself, right? Double heat sinks, ER Large Laser, maybe do something about the small lasers that are pretty much useless? Because it is going to be a while before he can find a Griffin, I would think, and given the attack, he needs increased combat capability. And having an arm mounted ER large laser should feel a lot like holding a gun?
Neat the way everything is tweaked to fit the setting.
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That's a great. I can't wait for more!
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He can take Blast Sounder's parts to upgrade himself, right? Double heat sinks, ER Large Laser, maybe do something about the small lasers that are pretty much useless? Because it is going to be a while before he can find a Griffin, I would think, and given the attack, he needs increased combat capability. And having an arm mounted ER large laser should feel a lot like holding a gun?
Neat the way everything is tweaked to fit the setting.
Thanks.
Surprisingly, it's not as bad to upgrade Groundwave as I thought it would be, thanks to the errata for Strat Ops, though it would be time consuming.
Groundwave's large laser and 10th heat sink are in his right arm, and removing them would take 120 minutes and 90 minutes. Replacing them would take the same amount of time, and since we're doing the job in the same sitting in theory, we're looking at a Class B refit, which is a field refit.
But...there's 9 other heat sinks in the engine, right? And if we're swapping one heat sink for doubles, we have to do those, too. That's 810 minutes for the removal of 9 more single heat sinks from the engine, and another 810 minutes to add 9 double heat sinks into the engine. Since they're all going in the same place...still Class B field refit.
OK, so now we're up to 120 + 90 + 120 + 90+ 810 + 810 minutes, or 2040 minutes. We haven't done anything with the small lasers yet. Say Groundwave wants to rip out all three and add an ECM suite or Beagle Probe in their place. That's another 120 minutes per laser for removal, and another 120 minutes to put the new piece of electronics in.
So, yeah. Minimum of 2040 minutes, potentially up to 2280 minutes. So, 34 to 38 hours of work. That's a lot of time, and something like that could only come once the rest of the facility is for sure secured and Glyph and Spanner both get repaired.
Note this doesn't include armor replacement time for Groundwave's current damage. Groundwave took 38 points of armor damage. At five minutes per point for repairs, it'd take 140 minutes, or just over two hours, to repair that. Honestly, that'd almost certainly be the first thing they'd do, before attempting anything else, since Groundwave's actually the least damaged of the bunch right now.
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It could be scary if i were Groundwave. Hoping the modifications go well when u wake up.
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Huh, for some reason I thought this story was taking place over longer intervals. My bad.
Looking to more, then.
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Huh, for some reason I thought this story was taking place over longer intervals. My bad.
Looking to more, then.
Yeah, that's probably how slow I update in general.
Y'now, back to your original question about upgrading, it occurs to me that there's something easy and straightforward that Groundwave could see about having done: remove some or all of his cargo space. He's got a 3-ton cargo bay in his left torso, which is enough to replace all the small lasers with medium lasers, like a real Thunderbolt, and leave 1.5 tons he can put into more armor protection. Heat management would be a lot like the TDR-1C primitive Thunderbolt, but that's manageable, and would only take 16 hours total.
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What's the Syberian take on self-mutilation? Or is it more like piercings, cosmetic surgey, or something along that lines?
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That and swapping the LL for the ERLL would be the easiest alterations for a total of 20 hours. Something to do once the others are taken care of. And that is going to be some work for sure.
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What's the Syberian take on self-mutilation? Or is it more like piercings, cosmetic surgey, or something along that lines?
That's called "customization" and likely is no big thing to them. It only becomes a problem if it interferes with functions.
GRF-series Griffin BattleMech
(https://cfw.sarna.net/wiki/images/f/f1/Griffin.jpg)
Yep. Used to look more or less like this, evidently, though I don't particularly remember it. Based on the wreckage we found, I didn't have that drum missile launcher, instead appearing to have used the same electronics setup that then got transferred into my current VeeMech-based body. Everything else would've been the same, though, as a standard Griffin: same 55-ton mass, same 86 kph top speed, same pack of jump jets allowing me to leap 150 meters. Griffins generally carry a rifle-style particle projector cannon, or PPC: it's a particle beam weapon that hits a bit harder than the large lasers more common amongst AutoMechs, if not quite as far as an ER large laser, but that have magnetic field interference trying to hit within 90 meters. Griffins were generally mobile fire support platforms, emphasizing long-range fire, and relying on their own fists and feet up close. That doesn't seem so bad to me.
Fun factoid. I did plan for classic Griffin/Shadow Hawk VeeMechs for both sides, as they would best fit the appearances of G1 Prowl, Bluestreak, Smokescreen and several others of the "sedan" vehicle types that were bigger than scouts like Beetle Bee. Democon versions--likely using the Shad over the Griffin--would have been the likes of Runabout, Runamok, Lockdown, and Exhaust. I just decided to hold back because I could have gone on forEVER on making stats for these guys.
Love that you linked to Luciora's minis, GB!
- Herb
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Another reason to perceoive it as slow is Transformers. this looks episodic in some aspects, and we never know how much time passes between each episode of Transformers, but all the characters (and the city they destroyed in the last episode) are 100% fine in the next one. :)
But yeah, so far this has been a whirlwind for poor Jason +++static+++.
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That's called "customization" and likely is no big thing to them. It only becomes a problem if it interferes with functions.
I suspect that they probably customize the crap out of each base chassis to fit whatever their particular role or calling is?
Fun factoid. I did plan for classic Griffin/Shadow Hawk VeeMechs for both sides, as they would best fit the appearances of G1 Prowl, Bluestreak, Smokescreen and several others of the "sedan" vehicle types that were bigger than scouts like Beetle Bee. Democon versions--likely using the Shad over the Griffin--would have been the likes of Runabout, Runamok, Lockdown, and Exhaust. I just decided to hold back because I could have gone on forEVER on making stats for these guys.
That's...actually pretty awesome.
Love that you linked to Luciora's minis, GB!
- Herb
His work is so good.
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Yes, but are there any Syberians able to ride (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABGOXvERUiA) each other?
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Mech cavalry!
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Yes, but are there any Syberians able to ride (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABGOXvERUiA) each other?
I...do not know how to answer that.
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You mean like Junkions? Transform into giant motor cycle, the other rides the other one with hachet?
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So...I have a mini for Groundwave in the works:
https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=70672.0
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I...do not know how to answer that.
Well, any Syberians trying to ride atop others would count as External Cargo and follow such rules.... Meaning that I'd probably not recommend it. The tiny drones used by the likes of Wave Sounder are basically 1- to 3- ton non-convertible micro vehicles that mimic familiar cassettes like Laserbeak and Buzzsaw in appearance when deployed. ;)
- Herb
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Well, any Syberians trying to ride atop others would count as External Cargo and follow such rules.... Meaning that I'd probably not recommend it. The tiny drones used by the likes of Wave Sounder are basically 1- to 3- ton non-convertible micro vehicles that mimic familiar cassettes like Laserbeak and Buzzsaw in appearance when deployed. ;)
- Herb
So, something like my Spybird?
https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=68869.0;wap2
Planning something Nighthawk based for Rumble.
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Too bad Battle Armor size Bots / drones can't be used. Or maybe Ultra Light BattleMechs. That's would be trippy cool.
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Too bad Battle Armor size Bots / drones can't be used.
Who says that? :)
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So, something like my Spybird?
https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=68869.0;wap2
Yup! Pretty clever design!
Planning something Nighthawk based for Rumble.
Hmmmm. That has potential, yeah.
- Herb
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Unit Log, VeeMech TDR-1-74-01107C-J
Date 3018-07-23 10:22:17, Log Entry 10
Combat sucks. It’s intense, it’s exhilirating, it’s terrifying, but it’s not a video game, and it has real consequences. People get hurt, whether those people are squishy humans or multi-ton AI-driven robots. People die.
Committing acts of violence bothered me, and I was glad that it still did. Something like that should never get to be easy. I’d been in fights before, or at least I remembered being a human who’d been in fights before, though not a dire life-or-death fight. That’s not to say I’d never had weapons pointed at me before, but that the times where I had, I’d been able to present a deterrence enough to keep from getting attacked, defused the situation enough to keep from getting attacked, or both.
This time, though, I’d been thrown into a situation where four of us were trying to stop, and by “stop” I basically mean destroy or kill, three “bad guy” AutoMechs belonging to the Democratic Industrial Conglomorate, the “DemoCon” knockoffs of the Decepticons I remember from cartoons. We’d knocked out all three, but at the cost of one of our own, and significant damage to two others.
And why? Over a political dispute between two long-dead groups of human beings who’d managed to get themselves killed as a result? Because a writer thought it’d be funny to set up parodies of an ‘80s cartoon in the Battletech universe, and needed to find a way to make the facile good-vs-evil of the original material fit into a much grayer fictional universe? Because some ****** who, from my perspective, is basically omnipotent decided it’d be hilarious to drop a copy of my mind into an AutoMech, turn me loose on Syberia, and see what happened?
Real fighting isn’t a joke, and isn’t funny, as I’m sure the dead AutoBoP and DemoCon AutoMechs would attest to if, y’now, they weren’t dead.
The thing with AutoMechs, though, is they don’t necessarily stay dead. Manx had his engine taken out, and the skeletal structure of his torso ruined. There’s no rebuilding his current body, but his head, and thus his core computers, were intact, and salvageable. Currently, his head and the remains of his torso were set aside, until Spanner can get ahold of a new body for him, at which point they’ll try to bring him back online.
Our DemoCon interlopers, meanwhile, had also been stripped for salvage parts, their heads, containing their computer cores, set aside until an AutoMech with a more particular set of skills could go through and try to mine data from their onboard computers, to clean useful intel data from them.
That AutoMech wouldn’t be me, however, and for that I was thankful. In theory, both Spanner and I had the gear to do so. In practice, though, Spanner’s skillset emphasized diagnostics and repairs, not intel gathering. My own AutoMech skills, meanwhile, were sorely lacking, and my understanding of what was going on “under the hood” of an AutoMech computer essentially nonexistent, and crawling around in the memories of a mostly-dead AutoMech seemed particularly awful.
It hasn’t all been doom and gloom, though, and like I mentioned in my last log, Ripley had some good news for us: she managed to break through the caved-in area and shore it up enough for us to get through to the other side. We found an elevator, which we're still trying to get to work, but there's also a ramp that leads farther down into the complex, still partly obscured. We also found something else, though: a hatch, one big enough for BattleMechs to pass through. The hatch somehow still had some power going to it, and we were able to force it open just a little bit before it jammed: not enough for an AutoMech to slip inside, but enough to get a recon drone inside.
“Wait, a recon drone?” you ask. Or, y’now, maybe you’ve already encountered them here on Syberia, and you’re not surprised. But, either way, I’m going to explain what they are.
So, in my last supplemental log entry, I mentioned that Sounders and their variants, including VeeMechs or me, carry one or more 3-ton cargo holds. They don’t always use that for spare parts, or loot: often they carry small drones, ranging from 3-ton solar-electric UAVs to smaller humanoid models. They don’t have the space or mass for the computers a full AutoMech has, so while they're capable of carrying out specific instructions, they're basically dumb as a post.
Spanner, as it turns out, has a whole team of humanoid drones he uses to help him repair areas he couldn’t otherwise reach in an AutoMech. Blast Sounder, the not so friendly DemoCon we took out, had most of his drones taken out by Glyph and Manx during the last battle, before Spanner or I stepped outside to help. I hadn’t realized it, but it turns out I’ve got a drone, too, which nobody really thought to tell me, because they didn’t know I did. Glyph and Spanner were surprised I didn’t know about it, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t going to make my life just a little bit easier.
My drone was basically a fully-robotic version of the Nighthawk, the 400kg armored exoskeleton, that the SLDF Special Forces used shortly before the collapse of the Star League. No integrated weaponry, but a pair of gauntlets that could carry handheld weaponry, not that it’d do much against a full-sized ‘Mech. At not much bigger than a really big person, though, it was perfect for checking the other side of the door, or beyond the obstructions still blocking the ramp. It would have been damned handy to try to search some of the smaller human-sized passageways I’d seen but had no way to explore.
And, no, it hadn't even occurred to the Glyph to try, or Spanner, to try using his little repair bots that way. Innovation and creativity aren't strong suits for AutoMechs, and they don’t tend to think about how the difference between a 2-meter tall human and a 10-meter tall AutoMech might look at the world.
It took a bit of trial and error, but I figured out how to deploy my “little” drone, which I shall hereafter call “Mini-Me”. Even better, while Mini-Me might not be smart, exactly, its onboard computers were purpose-designed to allow me to connect and take control of it, as if Mini-Me were my own body. Operating Mini-Me that way wasn't the same as being the OEM organic body I still remembered having, but I'll be damned if it wasn't close. Moving around as Mini-Me was easy. Even Glyph, who was convinced I was nearly hopeless, and obviously defective, began to seriously consider that maybe I really had been human once.
I'd felt more like myself than I had in the entire time I remembered being on Syberia. But using Mini-Me that way is problematic. I'm only vaguely aware of what's going on in my AutoMech body, and trying to directly control both at the same time is just not possible. My AutoMech body didn’t exactly have an autopilot, either. It was another reminder that, as nice as having Mini-Me was, it wasn’t my real body, the AutoMech was, and the computers that hold my consciousness, that make me “Groundwave”, reside in that body, not the human-sized drone.
I remember just sitting down and crying digital tears for a half-hour hour after that realization. Then I got back up and, using Mini-Me, scaled the debris still by the door and checked out the other side.
There wasn’t exactly a lot of light, but I found the problem quickly enough: the door hydraulics had failed, causing the emergency blast door to drop closed. At first, I thought someone had tried blasting through it, perhaps to try to storm inside, or rescue people trapped in the base, but hadn't been able to.
That wasn't the case, though. Looming in the barely lit room was a familiar form, though one so enormous, even my main AutoMech body would have been dwarfed: a 1900-ton Leopard class DropShip, a spacecraft large enough to carry four BattleMechs and a pair of aerospace fighters, partially crashed in its hangar.
“Well,” I remember saying out loud, “that's a thing.”
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Welcome back, story! :thumbsup:
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Thanks. Last month and a half has been an ever-accelerating train wreck of epic proportions, and this has been the only one of my stories where the characters were talking to me.
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Just got to here, hope your character can eventually have some sort of catharsis, and make a difference on Syberia
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That was cool entry! now you need give your drones abilities like pile driver to cause mini-quakes. ;D
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That was cool entry! now you need give your drones abilities like pile driver to cause mini-quakes. ;D
Or the neural link via VDNI or BVDNI, so you can make Robotix (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnU_IxDzPk8)?
Still, Groundwave's preprogrammed skillset software (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/fan-fiction/exile-in-syberia/msg1319131/#msg1319131) is empty. Time to be a Neo and see how many skills he can learn? That would be a useful trade for the AutoBoPs to offer.
Perhaps he will be transferred into the Griffin, and give his original body to Manx?
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Or the neural link via VDNI or BVDNI, so you can make Robotix (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnU_IxDzPk8)?
...the hell did I just watch? ???
I think I suppressed memories of that from when I was a kid.
Still, Groundwave's preprogrammed skillset software (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/fan-fiction/exile-in-syberia/msg1319131/#msg1319131) is empty. Time to be a Neo and see how many skills he can learn? That would be a useful trade for the AutoBoPs to offer.
"I know kung fu."
Perhaps he will be transferred into the Griffin, and give his original body to Manx?
I could not possibly comment on whether Groundwave will stay stuck in this body or not. I will say that I've considered him ending up in a variety of other bodies, possibly even more than one, including:
- A stock Griffin
- An old Banshee
- A Cosmos LAM (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/battlemechs/cosmos-lam/)
- A Stinger or Wasp
- A Seeker/AeroMech fighter AutoMech
- The last SHD-X1 Shadow Hawk LAM, ie. the missing prototype that was taken from Allied Aerospace headquarters and replaced with a Phoenix Hawk LAM as a gate guardian (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gate_guardian) in canon, only to end up on Syberia as the basis for their bimodal LAM tech.
- A Leader-class wheeled AutoMech
- A Beetle-class wheeled AutoMech
- An UrbanMech variant
- A CGR-1A1 Charger
- An expy of Blades (https://rescuebots.fandom.com/wiki/Blades) from Transformers Rescue Bots
- A weird cross between an SLDF Cobra VTOL, a Karnov, and Windblade (https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Windblade_(G1))
- A FrankenMech built from the parts salvaged from broken Terran Hegemony 'Mechs inside the firebase[/url]
- A refit PHX-2 Phoenix Hawk
And that's all in addition to the possibility of staying in his current body.
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And, in other news, as I prep to work on this story, I’m now DMing my first D&D game since 3rd Edition, running a DnD5e game for my wife and 8 year old son.
My son’s playing a bronze dragon wyrmling Druid (statted out, more or less, like a dragonborn), my wife a halfling bard with “mom energy” whose vicious mockery cantrip is basically her telling her targets she’s not mad, she’s disappointed. To help round out the party, I figured I’d throw an NPC companion or something to help round them out, but while my wife was painting D&D minis and I was finishing a primitive WSP-1 Wasp, my son announced I should play the ‘Mech. I’d already planned to set the game on “Toreel”, so, yeah, I guess at some point a wizard decides Groundwave should be shrunk down and made into a weird-looking warforged? ;D
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Of course that happened
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It would be interesting cross over. If anyone who could run Grimlock in Toreel, it's you Gio.
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so, yeah, I guess at some point a wizard decides Groundwave should be shrunk down and made into a weird-looking warforged? ;D
*Chimkin McNuggNugg glances around nervously*
(Of course she's a pathfinder brand wizard rather than a 5.0 version, so that's probably a totally different timeline)
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Yup. Totally unrelated. Move along
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Of course that happened
What can I say? He likes stompy robots, too.
*Chimkin McNuggNugg glances around nervously*
(Of course she's a pathfinder brand wizard rather than a 5.0 version, so that's probably a totally different timeline)
Though Chimkin exists in multiple timelines, right?
It would be interesting cross over. If anyone who could run Grimlock in Toreel, it's you Gio.
That would be hilarious, too, but they're gonna need to be higher level for that.
Last session, they just hit second level, and so we're working on how to level up everyone's characters. I ended up making Groundwave as an artificer, who also just hit second level. At third, I was planning on him going armorer subclass, since neither of their characters is really a tank.
Since, at least in this timeline, he ends up a shrunken-down Wasp, I went with fire bolt (best I could do for a laser) and mending for his cantrips, keep jump or feather fall (for his jump jets) and cure wounds as his readied 1st-level spells (neither of them have played D&D before so while they both have healing, having the NPC able to heal them seemed a good idea too). Unfortunately, since his Dex is only a 10, he's not exactly the best at ranged combat, but that's fine if he's tanking for them, anyway - it lets them focus on doing the damage or coming up with other ways to creatively stop the bad guys.
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Are we going to see more of this story? I have a truckload of popcorn waiting to go into the microwave.
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Yup. This is probably going to be the next to update. Unless the Beer Keg of Science! chooses to interfere.
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Yup. This is probably going to be the next to update. Unless the Beer Keg of Science! chooses to interfere.
Anything that can fire thermonuclear missiles and full of beer always the right of way! :D ;D
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Awesome! I can't wait to hear more! :thumbsup:
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It would be interesting cross over. If anyone who could run Grimlock in Toreel, it's you Gio.
His name was Grimdark, and he was very bad news for at least one of the Fellowship....
- Herb
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RIP Sir Beanomir. ;D
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Unit Log, VeeMech TDR-1-74-01107C-J
Date 3018-08-03 22:14:21, Log Entry 11
So, the past three days have been insanely busy. Spanner and Ripley managed to force the blast door open a bit more, and we’ve make some impromptu repairs on the hydraulics, so it’s now what I’d like to call vaguely operational. I think the blast door is locked away again, but I’m not exactly an expert on hydraulics, so I’ll have to take Ripley’s word for it.
That leaves us with the next obvious task: the DropShip. If you’ve never seen one, Leopards are big: there are airliners that are certainly as long, but they’re nowhere near as bulky as a Leopard Class DropShip is, which more closely resembles a factory building with stubby wings and a slanted front, with giant engines on the other end. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of the time I saw Space Shuttle Endeavour in Los Angeles with my parents. The Space Shuttle was certainly big, roughly the length of something like a Boeing 737. The Leopard was around twice as long, twice as tall, and twice as wide as I recall Endeavour to be…well, assuming my memories are accurate and that actually did happen.
Which reminds me: speaking of possibly faulty memories, my son turns 1005 today. So, um, happy birthday, kiddo? Yeah, that’s depressing to contemplate.
I try not to think of my family, my friends, and everyone I ever knew as being dead for centuries, even though in this universe they certainly are. Instead, I try to think of them as just separated impossibly far away, and that the differences in time, then, are irrelevant. That was easier to do, though, when I thought I’d just woken up here, and that my point of departure from my previous life and timeline was immediate. But discovering that, instead, I’d been dormant, memories from this universe lost, for a couple hundred years doesn’t help with that. Has time been moving at the same pace in my home universe? If so…well, humans don’t live to be more than two hundred years old, so they’re still gone.
I’d originally thought, especially after seeing my old, burnt-out body, that maybe the reason I’d forgotten everything from my time here on Syberia was due to damage, or an imperfect transfer of the computers that make up my mind between that ‘Mech body and this one. Now, contemplating exactly what it would take to actually get home, between the thousand-light year distance, the thousand years of time, and the whole being in a whole different universe thing, and I begin to wonder if I’d intentionally asked Major Thaddeus Wescott there to help me forget, and hoped to just not ever be woken up again.
Yeah, this line of thinking is going to get me nowhere. Focus on the immediate problem, solve that, then work on the next problem. Repeat as needed, or until you can’t solve the next problem. Maybe I’m stuck here. Maybe not. Maybe someday I’ll know for sure. That day, though, is not today.
So, the next problem: getting into the Leopard. Not surprisingly, while the Leopard seems incredibly huge when I’m in my human-sized drone, it seems notably less so when I look at it in my 10-meter tall ‘Mech body. At that scale, it feels more like an oversized general-aviation plane, like maybe a Cessna Caravan, or even better, the wonderfully ridiculous Antonov An-2 oversized biplane. Yeah, that’s probably a better comparison.
The external hull looked pretty banged up overall, but I didn’t see any hull breaches that might prevent it from flying again, and I suspect that the ship hadn’t crash-landed so much as been knocked around when it was getting ready to leave the bunker’s hangar and take off. The landing gear looked a little trashed, and would need to be repaired if we’re ever going to move it, and there’s the small matter of being able to lift a 1900-ton DropShip to do that, but…we’ll see. Of course, I’m not an expert on DropShip maintenance or piloting, so I’m not sure how valid my opinion is in the first place. Fortunately, Spanner, who not an expert has knowledge on repairing stuff, seems to agree. We’ll need to see at some point if the hangar doors are intact enough to open if we intend to extract the Leopard from here, under its own power or not. Once we’re able to access the onboard computers, though, we’ll have a more clear idea of what kind of shape the ship’s in, and whether or not it’ll ever fly again.
We’re going to try that tomorrow, though. Right now, my neural nets evidently need to re-index, or whatever excuse Spanner and Glyph are using to explain to themselves why I need to kind of sort of sleep, so I’m going to do that, and we’ll see if my Terran Hegemony IFF codes can get me in the door to the Leopard tomorrow.
Unit Log, VeeMech TDR-1-74-01107C-J
Date 3018-08-04 23:38:01, Log Entry 11 – Supplemental A
So, yeah, that actually worked. There was enough power left in the battery reserves on the Leopard that, once I was able to find the right set of instructions, I was able to interface with the controls for one of the ‘Mech bay doors, and get it, and then the other doors, to open. So we’re in, and have begun to catalog what we’ve found aboard. And, oh my, have we found some things.
First off, Major Thaddeus West. Can I call you Thad? Yeah, I’m going to call you Thad. Well, Thad, I found your ‘Mech. That sure is a nice Highlander you had there. I’m not sure if I’m reassured or more confused that your early remains weren’t there, either. In fact, the lack of human remains anywhere around this base is confusing: I’m not sure if it’s a good sign or a bad sign.
So, yeah, fully-intact HGN-732 Highlander still set up for its human pilot. Running when parked. Quite the barn restoration find, right?
But, that’s not all we found. Two of the other cubicles had what appeared to be partially-stripped-down ‘Mechs in them, though these look to have already been converted to use Syberian computer cores in place of cockpits. One is very clearly a Stinger, the ubiquitous 20-ton scout ‘Mech that later spawned into the transforming Stinger Land-Air-Mech. The other was its larger 45-ton cousin, the Phoenix Hawk, similarly partially disassembled, their spare parts stowed along with them.
The last ‘Mech cube appears to have just been used for random cargo. Spare weapons, heat sinks, even a couple ‘Mech arms were stored here, but there were two crates that in particular stood out.
One wasn’t terribly large, but was labeled "K-0 Fax Machine". That’s…well, it could prove useful. The K-0 was an early attempt by the Star League to produce an FTL communications device, prior to the invention of the much more successful hyper-pulse generators. Only able to send 200 kilobytes in a single message, in a signal that radiated out at 10 light-years per day, they didn’t hold a candle to those later HPGs, which were just around the corner. They’re *small* though, not much bigger than a briefcase, so with some luck, I can have one integrated into my communications gear and, just in case someone is out there, I may be able to communicate with them.
The second box was a bit larger, and was labeled a bit differently: "Primary Neural Net, M-4 SDS Drone". That…had far-reaching implications. The M-4 was a used as a test bed for drone WarShips, a predecessor to the M-5 Caspar drones built on the hulls of the 680,000-ton Lola class destroyers. For the M-4, the Star League used the older and less capable Baron class destroyer, a 480,000 ton ship with half the acceleration and much less firepower and armor than the Lola class, as a test bed, until the ships, and their AIs, were reportedly decommissioned when testing was complete.
So, what was an M-4’s core doing here? Was there a Baron class destroyer missing its main core somewhere here in the Syberia system? Was this core still intact, with an AI sitting in hibernation inside? If not, could my mind be copied into it? For that matter, my old buddy Thad mentioned I’d arrived in Syberia in a computer core they’d found compatible with the local AI tech used on the AutoMechs. Was that this core?
If this SDS core is intact, and we can either find the ship it was installed in, or install it in another automated ship, it could be my ticket out of the Syberia system. It might mean copying my mind into that core, or it might mean getting an AI that’s already in there to work with me, but either way, the possibility is there.
I’m going to try not to be too optimistic here: there’s a lot of steps between where I’m at now and that possibility of leaving to consider, but I’m a step closer. There’s more immediate concerns, though.
First, we’ve got three BattleMechs here in various states of repairs. That Stinger and the Phoenix Hawk are both partially disassembled, but Spanner’s going to go through both and see if they could be refurbished and made operational again. If so, that would be a way to get Manx back operational again. There’s also the matter of the 90-ton assault ‘Mech in the room, so to speak, and whether we can convert Thad’s Highlander to an AutoMech. All three of these ‘Mechs are more conventionally-humanoid in their layout, which means they may also be a good option for me to transfer my own computer cores into.
I know what you’re thinking: “Go for the Highlander!” But the thing about Highlanders is that they’ve quite literally given up their right hand for a gauss rifle, and I’m right-handed. Is it possible that my Syberian friends here can modify the ‘Mech by removing that gauss and adding a hand back in, along with some other gun? Maybe. In fact, that’s one of the things Spanner’s going to evaluate.
Meanwhile, the Phoenix Hawk, if it can be brought back to operational condition, might also be a perfect choice. It’s very humanoid in form, and while it’s got some forearm-mounted guns, carries its main weapon, a large laser, like an oversized pistol. And while it might be 15 tons lighter than my current body, it’s also a bit taller, 50% faster, can jump farther, and has nearly as much armor. Like I said, it might be perfect, which worries me: how often do things go perfect?
Lastly, there’s the Stinger. It’s a third the mass of my current ‘Mech body, and, at 8 meters, is even shorter and smaller than Glyph or Manx, who both have about a meter in height and 15 tons on it. It’s as quick as the Phoenix Hawk, but only just, carries much less armor, and its weaponry is similarly light. It is, however, truly humanoid in layout, and carries its main armament, a medium laser, like a big pistol, too. It’s certainly not an ideal choice, but if I can mostly stay out of the fighting, I can probably make it work.
All that depends, though, on what Spanner finds when he goes over them. So, for now, that’s a worry for tomorrow, while right now, it’s time to give my poor brain a break.
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I do believe that is the FIRST comparison between a Leopard and an AN-2... HILARIOUS! :toofunny:
Also, I never realized the Highlander was missing a hand actuator. I had always assumed it was just hidden by the perspective of the original image in 2750. Gauss Rifles are small enough to fit without removing the hand, after all...
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I do believe that is the FIRST comparison between a Leopard and an AN-2... HILARIOUS! :toofunny:
Also, I never realized the Highlander was missing a hand actuator. I had always assumed it was just hidden by the perspective of the original image in 2750. Gauss Rifles are small enough to fit without removing the hand, after all...
The artwork in TR3050U makes it more clear, but, yeah, that appears to be the case for all of them, including the downgrades like the HGN-733P that have even more room in the arm for a hand actuator. It's especially frustrating because there's plenty of room for one, and the IndustrialMech built off the Highlander, the St. Florian, very clearly has both hand actuators.
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Frustrating is the word, yep... :-\
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Wow, what treat. I think it's been couple years since we had entry! It be hilarious if the Leopard had AI put into it! It ended up being Skylinks.
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It lives for sure.
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Warning: this topic blah, blah, blah 90 days. I'm posting anyway!
1st, Happy 2022!!!
2nd, I spent the better part of the last 1.5 hours reading through this ... oops. Wife will not be happy.
3rd, OMG such a good and fun read.
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Warning: this topic blah, blah, blah 90 days. I'm posting anyway!
1st, Happy 2022!!!
2nd, I spent the better part of the last 1.5 hours reading through this ... oops. Wife will not be happy.
3rd, OMG such a good and fun read.
Thanks! Story's not dead, but:
1) I've been kind of sucked into other stuff I've been reading lately, including Cannonshop's latest, "War is a Grave (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/fan-fiction/war-is-a-grave/)".
2) I've been stuck on plot points between my three stories, which will be shaped a bit by what we're seeing in Cannonshop's latest iteration of his 'verse.
"Exile in Syberia", "Adventures of the Beer Keg of Science! (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/fan-fiction/adventures-of-the-beer-keg-of-science!-denizens-adminstrator-adjacent/)" and "Emergence (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/fan-fiction/emergence-sybil-reboot-pt-1/)" were always vaguely related, but as I started writing them, became moreso, and some of the plot points that are happening in one story will shape the others.
For example, as we've seen in this story, Groundwave was found on a cargo ship sent to Syberia by the human Terran Hegemony garrison before their local apocalypse. Here's the thing, though: that cargo ship would have likely been sent around the time that "Emergence" is taking place, and there's a good chance that Admiral Murakami would have known about it. Also, we've had the personality core of an old M-4 drone show up now in this story. Where else do we see the personality core of an M-4 drone? In Niops, shoved into the converted Cruiser-class NMS Beer Keg of Science!, which happens to be commanded by a Carpentier...which also happens to be the surname of Admiral Murakami's aide.
Here's a question, though: what kind of JumpShip or WarShip brought Groundwave to Syberia and presumably left behind a Leopard class DropShip and an M-4's AI core? Whatever ships were being sent to the California Nebula were presumably on a one-way trip since we know, thanks to the sourcebook, that you pretty much can't leave once you get there, so these were essentially disposable ships. Whatever type of ship was used could theoretically be hanging around the outer reaches of the Syberia system, forgotten or deleted from the records of the AutoMechs, whose programming may include blocks on acknowledging the existence of these ships.
I'd really like to do other stories where Groundwave eventually makes it off of Syberia and ends up exploring/interacting with other worlds in the California Nebula. if I do that, though, his ride out will end up having a huge impact on other stories, though, especially when I get to the Star Empire: a conventional JumpShip would be bait, whereas smaller WarShips or Primitive JumpShips faster than 1/2 have a hope of outrunning them (picture a Baron/M-4 or Vincent taking potshots with NACs against 1/2 thrust Imperial Star Destroyers, who find their shields useless against NAC shells), or bigger vessels like Lolas/M-5s or older disposable ships under 800,000 tons.
And of course there's the small matter of my son suggesting I play a PC based on a WSP-1 Wasp in our D&D game, which now takes place on Toreel.
Edit: It's also worth noting that "War is a Grave" the earlier series by Cannonshop it's based on, and the "And I Feel Fine... (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/fan-fiction/and-i-feel-fine-book-iii-thunderclap/)" series by Liam's_Ghost have had a major effect on one of the biggest questions about the California Nebula: why would you settle there at all if you're stuck there once you enter? What's the point?
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Edit: It's also worth noting that "War is a Grave" the earlier series by Cannonshop it's based on, and the "And I Feel Fine... (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/fan-fiction/and-i-feel-fine-book-iii-thunderclap/)" series by Liam's_Ghost have had a major effect on one of the biggest questions about the California Nebula: why would you settle there at all if you're stuck there once you enter? What's the point?
Do tell!
- Herb
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Uh, because the alternative to settling down is to die? ???
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Perhaps it’s also a region of space where, at least in theory, they thought Cthulhoid entities and other possible extraterrestrials couldn’t enter.
Doesn’t mean they’re right, of course.
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Well, even if they can enter, there's no guarantee they could escape again. If you're trying to draw those entities away from your main civiliazation, it wouldn't be a bad option...
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Certainly little twist in deed. Those story will become Exile in California Nebula. Sounds like side story to me.
I had hoped you'd get into conflict and explore other parts of Siberia myself. Keep going! Have fun with it!
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Oh, we’ll still be on Syberia for quite a while. ;)
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Would it ruin your day to say that I have, in fact, written a possible cause for the CalNeb effect, and how--short of an act of god/author fiat--the prognosis for escape is basically nil without some sort of tech yet to be discovered?
(Oh, and that I now have a map for it...?)
- Herb
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You two(Herb and Gio) are being absolute teases!
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Would it ruin your day to say that I have, in fact, written a possible cause for the CalNeb effect, and how--short of an act of god/author fiat--the prognosis for escape is basically nil without some sort of tech yet to be discovered?
(Oh, and that I now have a map for it...?)
- Herb
Not a ruin at all, but something that would draw a great many of us out.
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Would it ruin your day to say that I have, in fact, written a possible cause for the CalNeb effect, and how--short of an act of god/author fiat--the prognosis for escape is basically nil without some sort of tech yet to be discovered?
(Oh, and that I now have a map for it...?)
- Herb
No. That would, in fact, be fabulously helpful.
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Fabulous is an understatement! Consistent world building should be lauded everywhere it's found! :thumbsup:
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Would it ruin your day to say that I have, in fact, written a possible cause for the CalNeb effect, and how--short of an act of god/author fiat--the prognosis for escape is basically nil without some sort of tech yet to be discovered?
(Oh, and that I now have a map for it...?)
- Herb
Map? :thumbsup:
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Would it ruin your day to say that I have, in fact, written a possible cause for the CalNeb effect, and how--short of an act of god/author fiat--the prognosis for escape is basically nil without some sort of tech yet to be discovered?
(Oh, and that I now have a map for it...?)
- Herb
HYPERDRIVE!!!! .... "No, Hyperdrive?" ... "They told me they fixed it! ... it's not my fault, it's not my fault!"
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HYPERDRIVE!!!! .... "No, Hyperdrive?" ... "They told me they fixed it! ... it's not my fault, it's not my fault!"
What do you mean we don't have the glyph for the point of origin?
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What do you mean we don't have the glyph for the point of origin?
They've gone Plaid!
Maybe Herb is right. ... naaaaaaah!
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Map? :thumbsup:
Map!
- Herb
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Scale? :D
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Really need to figure out my Gundam expy star system proposal.
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Oh man, those scuffed out system names got me thinking and excited. Eventually is there going Welcome To Nebula California 2: KF-Drive Boogaloo?
Also for those who homebrew up crossovers (or as close as BT will ever get), what CANNOT be included?
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Map!
- Herb
Thank you!
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Map!
- Herb
That helps out a lot. It also leaves me with so many questions.
Of the ones you might be able to answer, is the area that appears to be the nebula proper (the lighter part) the actual California Nebula, with the other worlds adjacent to it, or is it a particular region within the California Nebula, and we're just seeing a portion of it? The nebula itself is estimated to be 60 light-years in length, so that would also give me an idea of the distance between worlds in the map.
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Scale? :D
The sphere is approximately 198 LY across.
Also for those who homebrew up crossovers (or as close as BT will ever get), what CANNOT be included?
The goal is really just to have a situation that can work and play with the rules of the BattleTech universe, and be fun while doing so. Remember the roots and the lore of the setting, and bear in mind that the denizens of the Nebula can come from any time period from the Age of War through the Dark Age, but the more recent you get, the less drift from the norm they should have. Cataclysms and conflict can change them, to be sure, but any new societies and politics should be built upon something rooted in BT lore, leaving at least some trace behind. If that disaster is recent, the setting will still be in an unstable flux. If not, it should be reaching or at a new equilibrium based on how much they lost or got set back by the various disasters. By comparison, a group that just got there and suffered NO crises will basically be another marooned group from the Inner Sphere.
(Toreel recalls the Inner Sphere as some ancient forgotten realms of myth, but retains languages and cultural features that would not be wholly unheard of on any low-tech Inner Sphere backwater, while their altered bioforms hint at Star League-era gene-modding. Meanwhile, the AutoMechs of Syberia retain a resemblance to and the construction standards for Star League-era BattleMechs, but only ape the appearance of personalities via clever programming and randomized scripting on what is basically a deviated form of robotic drone tech. And then there's the hyper-populated Star Empire, whose tech is actually severely inferior to the Inner Sphere because they got stranded there sometime in the 2200s, before K-F tech, weaponry, and ship design reached full maturity--and the 'Mechs they've developed are only reaching pre-Star League utility in the 3100s!)
Try and work the tech drift based on what's reasonable in this setting, and try to avoid too much power creep; otherwise it won't likely be fun at all for any "normies" who cross paths with your uniqueness. It's okay to challenge your players, but if they can't have an impact, why would a story with them involved even be interesting? Give some hard limits as well; the magic and superhero stuff in the Nebula are restricted to their worlds (even though the "why?" of it is never explained at all, and theories abound that some of it isn't magic at all, but tech cosmetically made to look magical).
Meanwhile, most of the space-capable groups are sublight-only, which keeps them containable to just a system or two, so they can't immediately corrupt the entire nebula zone. (If the answer to their needs literally lies next door, how long could a resource-deprived faction remain so once they learn how to jump through space again?) IE's stranded ships are perhaps the only viable visitors who can "cross the realms" as a result of this, making them a vehicle for the audience and a neutral faction who can observe and slightly corrupt things as they go on a small scale, but they didn't bring shipyards to keep their JumpShips going, any more than all the other stranded peoples here did, so it's just a matter of time before they have to settle someplace.
Aliens are particularly hard to force in as TRUE aliens, given the way the BT universe HATES the concept at a core level, but there are workarounds like bio-modified humans and/or mutations that tweak the genome juuuuust enough to make it different. (As such, human-normative settings, such as most fantasy realms and Star Trek, where just about everyone has two arms and two legs, all in the same places, are easier to deal with than ones in which every species is wholly incompatible and unrelated to the human experience.) The Genecaste might have a chance here, even though they're almost certainly not a real or relevant thing to the actual BT universe.
Special Note: While the Tetatae are BT canon, the fact that my most serious attempt to produce a Halloween-theme adventure featuring them in a far-future Inner Sphere was STILL considered to radical for CGL to buy and publish it should underscore just how extreme the anti-alien bias of the core setting truly is; I could get away with a mock alien invasion story for the War of the Tripods, but when I brought in the one sapient non-human species we KNEW existed, it was still a no-fly zone, even as a joke.]
Keep all these things in mind, and if you can justify a way to get there using the BT setting and technology as a starting point, while avoiding the pitfalls I described above, then your idea has as good a chance at fitting into the CNAZ (California Nebula Anomalous Zone) as any of the ones I actually published!
Hope that helps.
- Herb
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Of the ones you might be able to answer, is the area that appears to be the nebula proper (the lighter part) the actual California Nebula, with the other worlds adjacent to it, or is it a particular region within the California Nebula, and we're just seeing a portion of it? The nebula itself is estimated to be 60 light-years in length, so that would also give me an idea of the distance between worlds in the map.
I did a bunch of research on the dimensions, distance, and nature of the California Nebula, and have found that, in all, it spans perhaps 100 LY in length, but is almost certainly NOT a spherical phenomenon as a typical stellar-explosion sourced nebula would tend to be. Indeed, the real California Nebula is believed to be more of a part of a Perseus-Cepherus Cloud Complex and a stellar nursery of dust that is still coalescing, rather than dispersing. (It is also said that Menkhib is inside or otherwise in the CalNeb's vicinity, as it is thought to be the source of its illumination, but in our BT universe, the star and the nebula are thousands of LY apart--albeit at least in the same general direction, relative to Terra.)
All my research, spotty though it might be, combined with the distance values I gave for the worlds found in Welcome to the Nebula California (because of course I did some of this verification only after the fact!) have forced me to conclude that the blob of gray is the whole nebula, and that it actually makes up only a portion of what I have been calling the California Nebula Anomalous Zone--CNAZ, for short.
It ALSO means our intrepid explorers from IE crossed into the bubble a bit sooner than they (or we) previously thought.
But what did you expect? Nobody even put up road signs out there!
- Herb
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Thanks for the scale, Herb! :thumbsup:
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There are a few threads down in the Fan Rules forums area that have tried to expand on what can be in the nebula as well.
But one of the things I found that is an additional constraint is how many other sci fi properties could happily exist in Battletech proper.
I think I'll just let people find those threads down in Fan Rules and let them pick one to carry on such a discussion in as that'd probably be a better place for it so we don't keep cluttering up this story thread.
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I think I'll just let people find those threads down in Fan Rules and let them pick one to carry on such a discussion in as that'd probably be a better place for it so we don't keep cluttering up this story thread.
Oh, shoot, you're right! Terribly rude of me to hijack this thread. Sorry, guys!
- Herb
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Unit Log, VeeMech TDR-1-74-01107C-J
Date 3018-08-12 22:30:47, Log Entry 12
In the end, we all agreed that getting a new body for Manx took higher priority than swapping me into another one. To that end, Spanner has spent the last week focusing on putting the Phoenix Hawk chassis back together. While he may find himself unable to transform, we figure Manx will at least find himself able to function in the larger BattleMech body, in a manner he’s mostly accustomed to. Body dysmorphia may suck, but being mostly dead is worse, and hopefully, having started his life as an AutoMech, he won’t be as affected by it. Spanner seems pretty confident that he’ll be fine, at least.
It’s also surprising how much a pair of highly motivated AutoMechs can accomplish in a week, with Spanner, assisted by Ripley, putting the Phoenix Hawk’s chassis back together, and loading the computer cores from Manx’s old chassis into the Phoenix Hawk’s head. Once they were done, Spanner, patched into the shut-down ‘Mech, sent the command to Manx’s new body that would power him up.
I simply stared, watching as this AutoMech, who was essentially dead, came back to life in his new body. One moment, Manx stood absolutely still, actuators locked into place, engine cold, a lifeless metal sculpture. Then, with a brief spike of electromagnetic radiation, Manx’s reactor started, the fusion reaction warming the AutoMech to its normal operational temperature. Seconds after that, he moved for the first time in his new body. His head turned, taking in his surroundings, after which he focused in on Glyph, who was standing next to me. After a few moments, he finally spoke. “I appear to be taller.”
Glyph nodded in agreement. “Your previous chassis was not repairable, so you’ve been transferred to a one we were able to salvage.”
Manx appeared to think about this for a moment. “I find no indication of a transformation sequence...but I have jump jets? And an ECM suite?”
“Yep,” I chimed in. “The ‘Mech we salvaged was an old PXH-02 Phoenix Hawk. That’s one of the predecessors of the Seekers and the AeroMechs, though this one predates being able to transform. Best we could manage right now.”
“I see. You are Groundwave?” Manx asked. I realized that he’d never really had the opportunity to meet me before the battle where he got his ass blown up.
“That’s me,” I agreed. “Didn’t get a chance to welcome you properly earlier, but welcome to my humble little bunker.”
Despite the lack of capacity for facial expression, Manx certainly seemed confused. “Thank you, I think.” He paused for a moment before he finally said, “Is there any possibility of being transferred to a Beetle-class AutoMech chassis, like my original one? Or any wheeled AutoMech?” Sometimes it can be a bit difficult to get a read on what’s passing for thoughts and emotions in an AutoMech’s head. This time, though, it seemed pretty clear that he wasn’t as thrilled about his new body as we’d hoped he’d be.
Well, crap.
It wasn’t like we hadn’t thought about getting him another Beetle-class chassis. It’s that it wasn’t really an option, given how remote we were from the main AutoMech territories, whether AutoBoP or DemoCom. You’d have to haul out a 35-ton non-operational ‘Mech that distance, while taking the same risk that Manx had taken coming out here in the first place: being detected by random DemoCom scouts, and potentially handing them a free AutoMech to bolster their side. Moving Manx’s computer cores to AutoBoP territory would be a lot easier, but would mean moving in a force large enough to defend itself, and cutting into the excavation here.
That didn’t leave us too many options if the Phoenix Hawk chassis wasn’t going to work out. This wasn’t exactly news. Glyph, Spanner, Ripley and I had all discussed this, when we decided in the end to do the expedient thing and put Manx in the Phoenix Hawk. With Primus Optimal not here, having taken the trailer he normally towed around with him, my radios were the only way for my companions to communicate with the rest of the AutoBoP faction. Getting Manx to use them would be out of the question, according to both Spanner and Glyph, since he lacked the programming to use them, and training him to do so would be time prohibitive, if it worked at all: AutoMech artificial intelligence might show an amazing degree of flexibility in terms of ability to learn, but they still lagged behind what you’d expect a human to be able to do, and radio communications wasn’t an easy topic for us, either.
On the other hand, it’s not like I really cared about transforming into a large truck or a series of tubes. On the other hand, I did find it useful to able to use that comm gear to communicate, whether it was with the base computers, nearby satellites, or any SDS drone that might be hiding out there in the outskirts of Syberia’s solar system, which may well end up being my only ticket out of here.
Unfortunately, the gear to do that wasn’t exactly lightweight; I might be able to trim it down some, but my full loadout of radios and other comm gear took up six tons, with my little Nighthawk drone taking up a half-ton beyond that. The Phoenix Hawk we’d shoved Manx into, meanwhile, only had seven and a half tons of weaponry to work with, with another three tons available if I was willing to sacrifice its jump jets. Shoving all those radios into a Phoenix Hawk would be an exercise in frustration, and would compromise the my ability to fight in the ‘Mech, since I’d be giving up some, or even most, of its firepower.
Giving up firepower wasn't something that just made me nervous. In our most recent battle, my firepower and, even more importantly, ability to throw my weight around, ended up surprisingly important, given the trouble I had hitting the broadside of a barn. So while giving up by ability to defend myself made me nervous, Glyph and Spanner didn't like the idea, either.
I really wasn't liking my options. "Glyph," I asked, "I'm guessing you have no desire to trade places with Manx?"
"I do not," she readily agreed.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," I replied. "And Spanner is out of the question, since we need him to be able to patch us up, and his current chassis is set up for that." Sighing, I turned back to Manx. "That leaves the chassis I'm in right now, which had all our radios, or waiting until we can eventually get you back to friendly territory."
"I cannot manage those communications systems," Manx replied helpfully.
"Spanner," I asked, turning to our repair/medic AutoMech, "how long would it take to prep the Highlander for conversion to an AutoMech system?"
"I am uncertain. The cockpit command and control systems are not presently configured for AutoMech computer control, and our sources of spare components would not be easily adapted. It may be fastest to replace the entire head assembly, though those are also in short supply. There is, however, another option we may be able to avail ourselves of, though Manx would need to remain in his current chassis a bit longer before we could implement it."
"What is that?" Glyph asked before I could.
"Most of the systems needed to repair Groundwave's original GRF-series Griffin chassis were locked away in the DropShip we have since excavated," Spanner explained. "Transferring you to your current chassis would have been faster than rebuilding his old one. It is possible that your current chassis was only meant for you to use temporarily, and the intent had always been to transfer you back once the old one was rebuilt."
Glyph seemed to immediately pick up on this line of thought. Turning to me, she said, "The remaining humans at this base may have died before that could become possible, and with no other active AutoMechs on-site to reactivate you in this chassis, or to recover the parts to rebuild your old one, you remained inactive until we discovered you. Spanner, everything you need is aboard the DropShip? Even an engine?"
"For the most part. I found a spare set of legs and the arm the wreck of Groundwave's former chassis is missing. Some of the torso assemblies are missing, but can be adapted from parts salvaged from the DemoComs. Even the communications gear would be straightforward, since it is mounted in a housing that appears to be common between Groundwave's current chassis and the GRF-series chassis he was previously installed in. That would also free up six tons in Groundwave's current chassis that, once he is transferred over, could be used for additional weaponry."
"And what would my loadout be?" I asked.
"Your existing communications gear, a one-ton bay that could accommodate your Nighthawk drone, and a standard particle projector cannon in the detachable rifle-type mount used by the GRF-series. That would appear to be your original loadout as well."
That...wouldn’t be bad, really. I know my way around a rifle, or at least I remember knowing my way around a rifle. Griffins were also known to be solid punchers when caught in melee combat, and they sure as hell had their body parts arranged more like a human being than VeeMechs like Spanner and my current body.
There was just one problem, really: I’d built up a bit of a rapport with the small collection of AutoMechs here, but now I’d be trusting them to transfer my consciousness to an entirely new body, and if Glyph was right, and it was done in haste last time, then that might also be tied to a lot of my missing memories. Major West’s message for me implied it was intentional, but is that intentional as in “every time you move bodies this will happen” or “we really did have a good reason to lobotomize you, and it isn’t related to you moving bodies.”
“All right, that might be a solid option.” I told Spanner. “How long do you think it will take?”
“I would estimate no more than two weeks.”
Wishing once again I had a head I could nod, I turned my whole body to face Manx. “Think you can hold on in there for that long?”
“The alternative is to be shut off until then, correct?” Manx asked.
“Pretty much, yeah,” I agreed.
“That may be preferable.”
Wow. I really hadn’t counted on how much the ability to transform meant to an AutoMech. “Look at the bright side: when Spanner rips out all these radios, you’re going to have another six tons of weaponry and heat sinks you can throw onto your new body. Or, if you don’t want the jump jets, you can make it nine tons. And we’ve found a stack of weapons sitting in one of the bays in the DropShip that you can pick from – once I vacate the premises, you and Spanner will be able to remodel to your heart’s content.”
Manx nodded – Phoenix Hawks have heads and necks, so he could do that – and replied, “Are you certain you do not mind giving up the VeeMech chassis, Groundwave? You won’t be able to transform anymore.”
I shrugged as best my body could accommodate. “Manx, as far as I remember, I used to be human before I was an AutoMech, let alone installed in this VeeMech. Humans can’t transform into vehicles, so it really doesn’t mean that much to me.”
Manx looked around at everyone, then back at me, then back at everyone, and finally, when nobody seemed interested in contradicting me, looked back at me, and said, “Wait, what?”
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Good to see this back!
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So happy this is back.
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If I have to wait a week before I found out why they're all looking at 'him' ... There's not even any previews!
[edit: Damn these rusty circuits! ... I see it now].
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If I have to wait a week before I found out why they're all looking at 'him' ... There's not even any previews!
To me the last line seemed that Manx was the only one surprised at the revelation that Groundwave used to be human. All the other AutoBoPs already knew
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Agreed! And I find that hilarious! ;D
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I hope he retains a transforming body. Him being in a old Griffin body doesn't sound so much fun.
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It sounds like more fun than being in something less antropomorphic...
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To me the last line seemed that Manx was the only one surprised at the revelation that Groundwave used to be human. All the other AutoBoPs already knew
the others have been in the base dealing with him and the salvage operation. Manx was out scouting around and hadn't met him yet. and presumably Groundwave's unique status wasn't something they're about to broadcast over the radio.
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I hope he retains a transforming body. Him being in a old Griffin body doesn't sound so much fun.
Honestly, I would see a classic Griffin body as an ideal place to start if one wanted to make a Bluestreak/Prowl/Jazz/Smokescreen type of wheeled AutoMech. But judging by the dialog, Groundwave is likely on track for a plain ol' non-convertible form.
- Herb
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I was gonna go to bed, since I conked out on the couch around 4 1/2 hours ago, and my wife just poked me to tell me to go to the real bed, but then I noticed the replies...
To me the last line seemed that Manx was the only one surprised at the revelation that Groundwave used to be human. All the other AutoBoPs already knew
Exactly. Manx was waiting on one of the AutoBoPs who'd spent more time with Groundwave to call him on that nonsense, but when none of them did, he had to basically ask "Say what now?" himself.
Honestly, I would see a classic Griffin body as an ideal place to start if one wanted to make a Bluestreak/Prowl/Jazz/Smokescreen type of wheeled AutoMech. But judging by the dialog, Groundwave is likely on track for a plain ol' non-convertible form.
- Herb
I thought about it, and I'm still open to it, but I'm having trouble slotting in an AutoMech in that size range that's different enough from the 35-ton Beetle chassis and the 60-ton Sounder/VeeMech chassis. I'm doing the following with just a calculator, since I'm on a Chromebook, and thus lack a 'Mech construction program, but I figure that:
- At 45 tons, 5/8 movement, you have 10 tons for engine, 3 tons for cockpit, 3 tons for gyro, 4.5 tons for structure, 7 tons for bimodal conversion. That leaves 17.5 tons for armor and weaponry.
- At 50 tons, the breakdown ends up being 12.5 tons for engine, the same 6 tons of cockpit & gyro, 5 tons of structure, and 8 tons for bimodal conversion. That bumps us up to 18.5 tons for armor and weapons.
- Moving up to 55 tons isn't much benefit, either: your engine's now 15.5 tons, cockpit & gyro the same, structure's now 5.5 tons, and bimodal conversion bumps up to 9 tons. You benefit a whole 1/2 ton, allowing for 19 tons of weaponry and armor.
By way of comparison, the Beetle-class breaks down to 11 tons of weapons and armor, the Seeker-class has 19 tons (it seems to not round its bimodal LAM conversion up to 8 tons, leaving it at 7.5 tons instead), and the Sounder class an impressive 27 tons (9 tons armor, 9 tons weaponry, 6 tons of cargo, and 3 tons electronics "stock").
I...well, I guess this ended up being a roundabout way of saying a 50-ton one would work and be within the description I gave. A 50-ton bimodal wheeled AutoMech with a PPC, the 6 tons of electronics, and 7 tons of armor. The original versions could have Griffin-like or Shadow Hawk-like weaponry, depending on which side they're on.
Hmm, thoughts?
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The Griffin and Shadow Hawk have two hands... that makes a difference when you're coming from a human idea of what "normal" feels like...
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The Griffin and Shadow Hawk have two hands... that makes a difference when you're coming from a human idea of what "normal" feels like...
Yep. That's mainly an issue on the Highlander, though. with that said, having a gun strapped to your forearm, like on a Sounder/Thunderbolt, or as you would on a Shadow Hawk, would be somewhat awkward, too.
OK, I put up a post in the BattleMechs fan design section (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/battlemechs/gryphon-mirage-class-wheeled-syberian-automechs-looking-for-some-help/) with an example of what a 50-ton and 55-ton "Gryphon" would look like, with discussion of the "Mirage" (ie. Shadow Hawk) variants as well. I'd welcome thoughts, though it's probably best to post them there in that thread.
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I...well, I guess this ended up being a roundabout way of saying a 50-ton one would work and be within the description I gave. A 50-ton bimodal wheeled AutoMech with a PPC, the 6 tons of electronics, and 7 tons of armor. The original versions could have Griffin-like or Shadow Hawk-like weaponry, depending on which side they're on.
Hmm, thoughts?
Sounds to me like you don't need my convincing. But, given the confines of your story, remodeling a stock Griffin to a convertible body seems a shade beyond their rather limited capabilities at this stage. I doubt transplanted Groundwave or the other AutoMechs there would really want to bother with that.
- Herb
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yeah can't see groundwave adapting to being a bimodal anything. but they could probably adapt the normal griffin chassis to fit the skillset he's developed so far.
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Sounds to me like you don't need my convincing. But, given the confines of your story, remodeling a stock Griffin to a convertible body seems a shade beyond their rather limited capabilities at this stage. I doubt transplanted Groundwave or the other AutoMechs there would really want to bother with that.
- Herb
I went back and took a look at what I originally wrote, and found that while I described it as an "early model Griffin" with only the right arm intact, I also labeled the 'Mech “VeeMech GRF-1-74-0107C-J ‘Groundwave'”. So, looks like I was intent on baking in enough room to make it a transforming Griffin in the first place. Which is good.
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If the Shadow Hawk and Champion have LAM modes, i don't see why you can't have a transforming Griffin?
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I went back and took a look at what I originally wrote, and found that while I described it as an "early model Griffin" with only the right arm intact, I also labeled the 'Mech “VeeMech GRF-1-74-0107C-J ‘Groundwave'”. So, looks like I was intent on baking in enough room to make it a transforming Griffin in the first place. Which is good.
Oh, nice!
If the Shadow Hawk and Champion have LAM modes, i don't see why you can't have a transforming Griffin?
Yeah, but in-universe, the Champion never worked, and the Shadow Hawk was more a proof-of-concept that led to the LAMs we came to know and "love." I was just interpreting from this latest chapter that the Griffin hull they're talking about was a plain old non-transforming type. Making an existing chassis into a transforming version is more like building a whole new design than any other type of variant modifications.
- Herb
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I just used them as examples of other known mechs that had a transforming option in-universe. Maybe in some timeline, they actually worked. :)
And I do have a soft spot for Wheeljack, being my first transformer. Maybe I'll see about doing a kitbash of one
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I just used them as examples of other known mechs that had a transforming option in-universe. Maybe in some timeline, they actually worked. :)
And I do have a soft spot for Wheeljack, being my first transformer. Maybe I'll see about doing a kitbash of one
Let me know! I love your Transformers kitbashes!
- Herb
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I would say that Quadvee or Vee mechs, weighting more then 55 tons, should be possible.
Remember, it's the LAM that has that restriction.
I can see it taking jumpjets to get on their feets or back to their wheels, fast, though.
Ever seen the anime: Eureka-7?
Because their combat crafts their transforming way is as simple as that of the Shadow Hawk.
And if done right, a trailer should be possible as well, plus various loadouts.
You know what is funny?
The Autobot Arc actually shares it's shape with a Leopard.
Can we say, Teletran-One???
Might I suggest adding Soundwave(?) it's gear to the Leopard?
It's that or creating a drone trailer for Groundwave.
And if the trailer can power itself and even has drive wheels...
Well, then it won't cost Groundwave anything in that regards.
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https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Ark_(G1) (https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Ark_(G1))
not seeing "Leopard". i am seeing an Arcadia though.. of course the scale is way bigger.
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Arcadia_(DropShip_class) (https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Arcadia_(DropShip_class))
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not seeing "Leopard". i am seeing an Arcadia though.. of course the scale is way bigger.
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Arcadia_(DropShip_class)
Something wrong with your link. Try this one. (https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Arcadia_(DropShip_class))
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fixed.. apparently if you don;t use the url tags the forum doesn't like links with a ) on the end.
images for comparison.. the Ark
(https://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/d/dc/ArkCartoon1.jpg) (https://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/d/d0/WFC-Kingdom-Ep1-Ark-crashed.jpg)
Arcadia DS
(https://cfw.sarna.net/wiki/images/d/d0/Arcadia_%28DropShip%29.jpg?timestamp=20180223013728)
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Nothing a dremel and a good file set can't work on. Plus slight design drift.
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great story.
Really happy I found it.
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fixed.. apparently if you don;t use the url tags the forum doesn't like links with a ) on the end.
images for comparison.. the Ark
(https://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/d/dc/ArkCartoon1.jpg) (https://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/d/d0/WFC-Kingdom-Ep1-Ark-crashed.jpg)
Arcadia DS
(https://cfw.sarna.net/wiki/images/d/d0/Arcadia_%28DropShip%29.jpg?timestamp=20180223013728)
"Aw man! That ship wasn't built; it was poured!"
"Die-cast construction... it's a lost art."
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They weren't called Dia-clones for nothin! Ok, that was a poor attempt at a die-cast joke, I'll see myself out.
"Aw man! That ship wasn't built; it was poured!"
"Die-cast construction... it's a lost art."
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So if the Word of Blake got ahold of some Syberian veemechs and used them with Manei Domini pilots.. would that make them Go-Bots?
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;D ::)
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So if the Word of Blake got ahold of some Syberian veemechs and used them with Manei Domini pilots.. would that make them Go-Bots?
Headmasters (https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Headmaster_(technology)) might be more appropriate, using an Assault Gestalt PA suit as the entire head rather than just the pilot position.
The other fun might be using Protomechs with LAM conversion equipment to become Targetmasters (https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Targetmaster). No secondary target penalties as the Protomech handles its own targeting.
The other idea might be BA-scale transformers that have their own weapons and can attach to larger units - Minicons (https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Mini-Con)
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(way to miss the joke, idea weenie. xp )
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Headmasters (https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Headmaster_(technology)) might be more appropriate, using an Assault Gestalt PA suit as the entire head rather than just the pilot position.
The other fun might be using Protomechs with LAM conversion equipment to become Targetmasters (https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Targetmaster). No secondary target penalties as the Protomech handles its own targeting.
The other idea might be BA-scale transformers that have their own weapons and can attach to larger units - Minicons (https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Mini-Con)
IF the Manei Domini met the AutoMechs of Syberia.... yeah, Headmasters/Targetmasters/Powermasters (Minicons) via Machina Domini tech would be the result.
- Herb
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i was just thinking of how the Gobot backstory was they're cybernetic.. literally a human person encased inside a robot body, their mind connected to the machine. which sounds like VDNI to me. albeit closer to how the MD protomech program worked...
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i was just thinking of how the Gobot backstory was they're cybernetic.. literally a human person encased inside a robot body, their mind connected to the machine. which sounds like VDNI to me. albeit closer to how the MD protomech program worked...
After a fashion, though I think the MD tech is still farther behind.
- Herb
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I was thinking, especially since there are the flight and WiGE type formers if the improved/proto clan weapons could be included for available equipment as a extension of the tech. Like the smaller autocannons and missile launchers to show they haven't been totally stagnant tech-wise
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I was thinking, especially since there are the flight and WiGE type formers if the improved/proto clan weapons could be included for available equipment as a extension of the tech. Like the smaller autocannons and missile launchers to show they haven't been totally stagnant tech-wise
There was only so far I wanted to go with the lore to explain tech that shouldn't have existed when these guys came along, and once the humans are out of the picture, the not-actually-sentient robots won't be all that innovative. Sure, they can randomize colors, aesthetics, and personality programs for some more variety, but all new weapons and gear? Especially stuff that takes a Clan technology base? I didn't feel the AutoMechs could get there.
- Herb
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Unit Log, VeeMech TDR-1-74-01107C-J
Date 3018-08-22 23:11:33, Log Entry 13
While Spanner worked on rebuilding my old body, I tried to divide my time between checking up on his progress impatiently, going through the DropShip with Ripley, and trying to puzzle out the mystery of the M4 drone personality core. The core was proving stubborn as hell: I’d worked out the voltage and amperage input, but was still working on the network interface, which I was trying to do with a shut- down core. I didn’t want to wake up the core until I could talk to it, since I could only imagine how horrible it would be to be conscious, but not able to interact with the universe around you in any way. At the same time, I was leery about just, say, plugging it into the base network, or our beat-up DropShip, until I had a better feeling of what we were dealing with. The good news is that the interface looked very similar to the hardwire lines at the base, as well as some aboard the DropShip, so I figured I’d have something hacked together soon enough.
Between that, I’d settled into the routine of patrols and sending the periodic message back to AutoBoP headquarters off random low-altitude satellites.
And between all that I tried to get to know Manx.
Unfortunately, that was proving more difficult than you might expect. Manx did his best to keep himself busy, between going on patrols with Glyph, providing a helping hand to Spanner, or helping Ripley catalog the contents of the DropShip, and work on the giant hangar doors that hid the ship away. It wasn’t terribly different from what I was doing, but he seemed to ensure that whatever he was doing didn’t overlap with whatever I was doing.
I was finally able to corner Manx after one of his patrols three days ago, though I practically had to pry him away from Glyph with a crowbar. Walking up to him, and carefully interspersing myself in between him and Glyph, I said, “Come with me. We need to talk.”
Manx paused, tried to look around me at Glyph, and failed, before finally acquiescing with an “All right.”
Leading Manx to one of the currently lesser-used parts of the Bunker, but still within line-of-sight of the rest of the group (no need to make him too nervous, right?), I finally asked him, “Setting aside that you’ve been avoiding me, I wanted to see how you were adjusting.”
Manx didn’t miss a beat before responding. “I appear to be fully operational at this time.”
“That’s not quite what I meant. Not quite a week ago you were so out of sorts about not being able to transform in this Phoenix Hawk chassis that you were contemplating asking us to shut you down again until an AutoMech that could transform was available again, and you were ‘fully operational’ then, too. Look, I get that this is difficult for you, but…”
“Do you really?” Manx asked.
“You wanna expand on that, Manx?”
“I may not have been operational for as long as Spanner or Glyph have been but being able to transform and roll out in wheeled vehicle form is important to me. The challenge of driving at high speed, for example, over rough terrain is exceptional, making it one of my preferred activities. One could argue that being able to transform is a key part of my identity, and right now, that part of who I am has been taken from me.”
It’s moments like this I miss not having a body with a head on a neck that I could shake. “Manx,” I replied, “I am literally the only other being here who could possible understand what you’re going through.”
“Because, as you claim, you used to be human,” he replied drily.
“Guessing you’re not a believer?” I asked.
“Spanner is convinced it’s true. Glyph, surprisingly, is willing to entertain the possibility, as is Ripley. That doesn’t mean they’re correct, though, and I’m forced to wonder whether I find the possibility that you were formerly human to be disturbing, nonsensical, or both. The claim to have been a human from a parallel universe is so outlandish, it does not bear consideration.”
“True,” I noted. “However, Major West, the former commander of this little outpost back when humans and the Terran Hegemony were still around, appears to have been convinced, or at least willing to entertain the possibility.”
Manx shook his head and sighed. “I’m not sure if that makes it better or worse. And that’s another thing,” he added. “The Terran Hegemony and humans had become old stories, almost myths, due to the lack of surviving information regarding them. Then, here you are, unearthed from an old Terran Hegemony bunker, claiming to have been a human, with a sudden treasure trove of information and history that we’ve lost. That alone would be fantastical. Combine that with your extreme oddness…”
“And it was easier to just avoid me,” I finished. “I get it. Now, think about it from my perspective for a moment: I wake up here, and, with my only memories those of being a human, not only find myself not in my own body, but find myself amongst a bunch of strange AI-controlled giant stompy robots, and not only that, but I'm one of those Ais myself, in a robot body that barely qualifies as humanoid.”
The words are pouring out of me, and I don’t even know why. “None of my reflexes match up, my mind barely knows how to coordinate my movement, and body language that's almost instinctual to humans gets lost in the shuffle of a body that lacks the right parts to move to express it, amongst a group that half the time can't even recognize it. And then…” I pause, gathering my thoughts for a moment.
“…then?” Manx asks quietly.
“Then I find my mind has been tampered with. There's a block, preventing me from saying, or even thinking, what my human name was. The names of my family, or friends? I can remember that. I can remember associations with my name, but even having Glyph say it directly to me results in a weird glitch, where it gets replaced by ‘Groundwave’. And that Terran Hegemony Major left me a message implying that, if it wasn't intentional, it was at least expected.”
Manx thought about it for a moment. “Perhaps you do have some idea of what I'm experiencing.”
“You know what's crazy, Manx?”
“Beyond that you have already expressed?” he asked wryly.
“Yes, beyond that,” I laughed. “I don’t know if it's going to happen again when I transfer into that body that Spanner is kludging back together.”
“Why take the risk, then?” Manx asked sincerely. “If transferring may be a risk to you, I can take that chassis instead,” he offered.
“Because I'd rather risk memory glitches than remain in this body, which is completely unsuited to me, Manx. Because hopefully, having a body that's laid out, y'now, like that,” I said gesturing to his own highly-humanoid body, “might help, especially if I evidently spent some time like that before.”
“I revise my previous statement,” Manx noted. “You completely understand.”
“What I don’t get, though,” I asked, “is won't you have the same issues? A VeeMech is laid out a lot differently from a Beetle class AutoMech.”
“I shouldn't, no,” Manx replied with certainty. “AutoMechs capable of transforming generally have less rigid definitions of body layouts than non-transforming ones, and are more adaptable in our sensory input. Spanner believes the oddities in your neural net make that not possible in your case. For example, have you transformed yet?”
“No,” I admitted, “and the idea scares the hell out of me.”
“That would fit the parameters of Spanner's theory. Perhaps if you are more comfortable with your form in ‘Mech mode in your Streaker-class chassis, you’ll reconsider.”
“Wait, my what now?” I asked him, confused. “That's a GRF-series Griffin.”
“Current designation of that chassis type amongst the Autonomous Barony of Primus is the ‘Streaker class’. Your chassis may predate the redesignation.”
“Huh,” I thought out loud. “I think I need to go talk to Spanner.”
So that was what I did.
Checking back in with Spanner, I found he’d gotten the skeletal system of the ‘Griffin’ fully reassembled and was working on anchoring the myomers in place. Most of the ‘Mech’s armor was still stripped away, but even where it wasn’t, I could see some...oddities.
“Ah, Groundwave, just the ‘Mech I needed to see” Spanner said as I approached. “I have good news, and some bad news. Would you like the good news first?”
“Sure,” I agreed carefully.
“With the spare parts I have been able to find, I have been able to rebuild your old chassis more quickly than expected and could potentially be ready to transfer your computer cores over within 72 hours. However, this is in no small part because we lack sufficient functional double-capacity heat sinks to refit your fusion plant.”
“Well, could be worse I suppose,” I noted.
“That was not the bad news, Groundwave,” Spanner said, stopping what he was doing and turning towards me.
“It gets worse?”
“I was incorrect in my assessment of the difficulty in transferring your communications equipment to this chassis. The communications pod added to your current VeeMech chassis,” Spanner said, gesturing to the pod sitting atop my torso, “is not in two pieces as my initial inspection indicated. I reviewed the diagnostic files from your VeeMech, and they replaced one of the standard 3-ton cargo holds most VeeMechs or Sounders carry. They can be removed, but it would be a more time-consuming procedure. Unfortunately, it would also prove far more difficult to install them in your previous chassis, which did not appear to ever mount them.”
“Wait,” I said, confused, “so what did my old chassis carry?”
“Current generation Streaker class wheeled AutoMechs carry an extended-range particle cannon in a jettison-capable pod in the right arm, with a 5-tube long-range missile launcher in mount above the right shoulder, much like the Streaker’s progenitor, the Griffin. Your old chassis, having been early production, presumably shares more in common with the original BattleMech, but your specific chassis appears to have been customized: the LRM launcher was instead replaced with a 3-ton communications pod, as well as a half-ton compartment for a small Nighthawk humanoid drone.”
“That makes sense, I suppose,” I replied. “I’m guessing that when my old body got shot up, that was still intact, and they transferred it, and my Nighthawk drone, to the new one?”
“I would surmise so,” Spanner agreed. “When we found you, Glyph and I assumed the extra communications gear served as a redundancy to what was already in place, and to allow you to handle a higher communications workload than less-specialized AutoMechs could. However, in switching back to your old chassis, there is simply insufficient mass for all six tons of communications equipment without compromising your existing weaponry.”
“Look at the bright side,” I replied. “We’ll need to train him how, but Manx having a set of comm gear will give us some redundancy in that department, too. Manx may not have as many tons available for more guns, but it’ll still be a step up.”
“True,” Spanner agreed. “He has also requested we remove the jump jets from your current chassis, which will benefit his firepower as well.”
“Wait, he doesn’t want jump jets?” I asked, surprised.
“As Manx said, ‘Wheeled AutoMechs were not meant to jump,’” Spanner said dryly. “I was notably surprised to find you had been fitted with them. I was equally surprised to find your older chassis also had been fitted with a limited jump capacity, especially as there appear to be too few jump jets to be tactically useful, and doing so appears to have compromised your weapons loadout.” With that, he gestured to the carbine-like rifle near my old body.
“Looks like a PPC,” I said.
“It is a PPC,” Spanner agreed. “However, it has a lighter and shorter accelerator chamber, and as a result, a shorter maximum range.”
“So, a snub-nose PPC, then,” I repied. “More effective up-close, less effective at range. I’m OK with that.”
Spanner audibly sighed. “If you were another AutoMech, I would recommend retrofitting a large laser in its place, and enough jump jets to be useful. However, we could not convert that mount to a large laser here in the field, and would need to permanently attach it much like your current mount.”
“No thanks. I’d rather have the snub-nose mounted like that,” I said, pointing at the PPC in question.
“As I suspected. Now, shut down power to your external communications pod. I’m going to remove that now, so we can install it on your old body.”
That was three days ago, though, and, true to his word, earlier today, Spanner notified me that my new-old body was ready to go, and looking myself, I couldn’t disagree. The paint job may be a mess, but one thing still readily visible was the old Terran Hegemony logo on its right shoulder armor baffle. This time tomorrow, I should, if everything goes according to plan, be up and running in my old body.
Tonight, though, I’m going to try to get what passes for sleep.
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What if....Groundwave's AI was a copy and edit of a Terran Hegemony brain, possibly from a highly injured soldier, or volunteer for the project? One of the early more successful (or unsuccessful) prototypes of the Caspar AI?
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I wonder what transformer dropship layouts are like. The tonnage for all of the required bays, controls, cockpits, etc would be the same, but I would imagine the layout would be completely different.
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I wonder what transformer dropship layouts are like. The tonnage for all of the required bays, controls, cockpits, etc would be the same, but I would imagine the layout would be completely different.
well, i'd assume that the need for crew quarters is removed, though i could see it having to devote tonnage comparable to drone/Caspar gear instead. i'd imagine that you wouldn't need actual mechbays either for storage, instead those would fill the role of medbay. as a result i could see them being able to carry a lot more than 6 automechs.
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For that matter, it's almost a certainty that all Syberian ships run on auto-pilot, if they're not completely autonomous from the ground up. No need for control systems when the AI is wired directly into the entire apparatus. I mean, rules-wise, you still spend the tonnage, but in all likelihood, the interior of each Syberian ship is broken into large open bays with 'Mech cubicle-like restraint systems for safety's sake. Think the inside of a cargo helicopter, scaled up for 'Mech-sized passengers.
- Herb
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Just a quick note to compliment your skill at writing conversations... the flow is very good! :thumbsup:
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Just a quick note to compliment your skill at writing conversations... the flow is very good! :thumbsup:
Thanks. I was worried about how that came out.
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I'm actually surprised that there no Teletran one. Oh well. I'm enjoying the story.
I like the idea of Groundwave getting a nighthawk remote drone. So he can go around in human size locations.
Optimus Prime had one named Wheelly that showed up during the original limited series for G1. Optimus was able to talk to it and it talked back. However he kinda disappeared.
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I'm actually surprised that there no Teletran one. Oh well. I'm enjoying the story.
I like the idea of Groundwave getting a nighthawk remote drone. So he can go around in human size locations.
Optimus Prime had one named Wheelly that showed up during the original limited series for G1. Optimus was able to talk to it and it talked back. However he kinda disappeared.
Teletran-type ships could be exceedingly common. If you use the SDS Drone Control System, the baseline conversion requires 76.0 tons to complete. If you sacrifice one fighter bay, you get back enough mass to then increase the cargo to 108 tons. That would allow you to carry a crew of five, like Teletran One.
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I wonder what transformer dropship layouts are like. The tonnage for all of the required bays, controls, cockpits, etc would be the same, but I would imagine the layout would be completely different.
Ramps to allow vehicle-mode units to easily travel from one floor to another (a ramp is a constant surface, vs steps that might not be the right height for some transformers)? Open spaces for flying drones to easily travel around? Speakers that also include radio transmitters?
Much taller ceilings and wider corridors, that is for sure. Figure every door frame is transformer-sized, the decks that were human-height have been removed, along with any controls consolidated to a larger structure. So if a human-sized bridge has four floors of consoles then a transformers-sized bridge will only have one floor of controls, the chairs and consoles will need to be larger, and each console will have much more displays/controls needed to operate it properly.
A human is about 2 meters tall and a human-sized floor is ~3 meters tall, but a Mech/transformer is ~12 meters tall. So a bridge that had enough room for 12 people (4 stations wide and 3 stations tall) can only fit a single transformer into the same location. That single transformer now has to keep up with the inputs and controls for the same 12 people. (I am ignoring the depth needed by the transformer, as this could allow a second row of consoles with their associated displays & controls, meaning the single transformer might need to keep track of 24 stations of input.)
There might be small walkways for the smaller drones to walk or drive on, so they don't get stepped on by their bigger allies. I'd compare that to current roads where you have driving lanes and bicycle lanes.
Likely similar to how Clan Warships have been refit to accommodate Elementals in their power armor, but to a much greater extent.
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Teletran-type ships could be exceedingly common. If you use the SDS Drone Control System, the baseline conversion requires 76.0 tons to complete. If you sacrifice one fighter bay, you get back enough mass to then increase the cargo to 108 tons. That would allow you to carry a crew of five, like Teletran One.
That's right. I forgot! The Emergence story SDS ship in retired Aegis cruiser could also be a thing too or that a separate side story?
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That's right. I forgot! The Emergence story SDS ship in retired Aegis cruiser could also be a thing too or that a separate side story?
That has yet to be revealed. :)
(Technically, Emergence, Beer Keg of Science! and Exile in Syberia are tied together, though all of the connections haven't been revealed yet)
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Unit Log, VeeMech TDR-1-74-01107C-J
Date 3018-08-23 09:05:12, Log Entry 14
In less than an hour, I go under the knife, so to speak, for what amounts to a full-body transplant. I’m assured this is perfectly natural, something I’ve gone through once before as an AutoMech, and that everything will be fine. However, I don’t feel fine.
It’s not that I’m worried anymore that my fellow AutoMechs won’t wake me up again. I’m sure they will, even if it’s for their own enlightened self-interest. At the very least, Glyph still wants more information on the Terran Hegemony, and would love to be able to access the information locked away in the base computers. So far, as I’m the only AutoMech here with a Terran Hegemony ID and IFF signal, though, I’m the only one who’s been able to do so, even if I’m still deciphering how to access more of the system.
What I’m still worried about is that I’ll lose memories in the transfer. Spanner’s reasonably certain it won’t happen, since it doesn’t happen to other AutoMechs, but my own mind works in a bit differently from theirs, so nobody can say for sure it won’t.
So, I’ve made a plan. I figured out how to upload my logs to the portions of the base computer system I’ve been able to access, and how to schedule a job to listen for a Terran Hegemony IFF signal – once I’m brought back online, it should then offer to send them back to me. Hopefully, it won’t be necessary, and I’ll wake up, with my memory intact. If not, I’ll at least be able to get back some of what I might lose.
Let’s hope that it won’t be necessary.
Unit Log, Current Unit Designation WheelMech GRF-1-74-0107C-J
(Previous Unit Designation VeeMech TDR-1-74-01107C-J)
Date 3018-08-23 09:05:12, Log Entry 14 – Supplemental
I woke up with the distinct sensation my body was...well, not all wrong anymore, but still not quite right.
The good news is it wasn't as bad as it was before I took my most recent nap. Everything seemed to be in the right place except a few various and sundry things 'Mechs lack.
Glyph looked at me carefully. “Do you recognize us?” she asked.
“Yeah, Glyph. I remember you all.”
“I believe I may have solved the issue of your previous memory loss,” Spanner exclaimed happily. “It would seem your secondary computer had been damaged, and some of its storage lost. It was replaced with another unit, and intact data transferred over, but some data would have been lost or corrupted with the storage loss.”
“That…makes sense,I guess. So, don’t get hit in the head anymore, right? Seems like solid advice. What else?”
“Go ahead and test your other systems,” Spanner asked.
Tentatively, I tested my new body. Arms? Seemed to be in the right place, and of an appropriate length. Legs? Right where I expected them, about as long as they should be. Head...
...I had a head again. I could turn it, look up, look down even, if the latter two weren't quite the range of motion I remembered in a past life. Experimentally, I tried rocking my head back and forth, only to find it barely capable of any such movement. Good enough.
Strangely, my back felt as stiff as I remember, which may sound funny, but the forty-something human me I remembered had lost some of the range of motion I'd enjoyed in my earlier youth, and the presence of some segmentation in my torso above my waist felt pretty comparable to what I'd remembered when I was wanting to reach for the ibuprofen, if less uncomfortable.
As I tested my body's range of motion, my AutoBoP compatriots watched carefully, but without comment. Manx, in his borrowed Phoenix Hawk body, seemed to be divided between watching me, and looking off behind me.
I knew what I'd see I'd I turned around, and I realized I wasn't quite ready to do that yet. Instead, I continued to marvel in the newfound mobility and sense of normalcy my Griffin, or Streaker, or whatever you wanted to call it, chassis gave me.
It wasn't all sunshine and roses, though. Testing my limbs, I found the right arm to be fine, but my left shoulder and elbow seemed a little stiff. The same held true for my new knees, with both feeling stiff and what passes for sore on an AutoMech. No matter: my human memories included dealing with knee and elbow pain from the time I was 13. As long as they didn’t outright fail, I could deal with it.
“What do you think?” Spanner asked cautiously.
“Not bad,” I admitted. “Some of my joints seem a bit stiff. Will that be a problem?”
“No, they should still function properly under standard usage. It is possible excessive use of running at full speed will increase wear on those joints, so I would encourage use of wheeled mode for long duration trips. But, at 54 kilometers per hour or less, and thus walking, you should encounter no issues. What about your weapon and comm system?”
I paused to consider my sole weapon. The weight of the carbine-like snub-nose particle projector cannon felt easily manageable. As I held it, diagnostic information appeared in my field of vision of the weapon’s status and aim point. I carefully made sure I didn't muzzle sweep my companions, and verified that I could arm the PPC, then safed it before it could start charging. Gripping the top of the cannon in my left hand, I released the intelocks in my right palm, releasing the PPC. Instantly, its status dropped out of my field of view, replaced instead by a marker tag showing location and distance. Interesting.
Holding the PPC by its proer grip again, the interlocks connected immediately, returning the status to my view. “The PPC seems fine,” I replied. “We'll need to head outdoors to test it and my jump jets, but no issues so far. Out of curiosity, how difficult would it be to fit something like a rifle sling, so I can continue to carry it outside combat, while keeping both hands free?”
“I can investigate the possibility,” Spanner agreed.
Turning my attention back to my self-checkout, I went through all of my radio gear, running their self-diagnostics. Again, nothing seemed amiss, but the ultimate test would be when I tried to dial in to a passing satellite. Separately, I could feel the human-sized remote drone in its compartment near my right shoulder, in suspend mode until I needed it. One more test.
Checking back in with the base computer was simple enough, and the system still recognized my identity, despite my hardware changes. I grabbed copies of my old logs again, to compare against the ones in my existing memory when I had the chance. “Radios are all connected. I'll need to go outdoors to do real testing with them, though.”
“Would you, provisionally, consider your new chassis acceptable?” Spanner asked.
I thought about it for a second. “Yeah,” I agreed finally. “Yeah, I'd say so. I mean, it’s not perfect by any means, and we'll need to do some testing on my knees and left arm actuators, and to make sure the things I can't test in here work, but I certainly feel a lot better, and closer to being in my own skin.”
Manx, whose whole body seemed wired as tense as a grand piano, seemed to visibly relax.
Glyph, however, reacted a bit differently. “Excellent!” she exclaimed. “It sounds like it's time for combat drills!”
Of course it was.
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Of course! ::)
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Of course! ::)
LOL. BTW, this entry was 1269 words. Next one is 2192 words, but not quite done - trying to wrap up the last bit now, to post some time tomorrow.
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Unit Log, Current Unit Designation WheelMech GRF-1-74-0107C-J
Date 3018-08-23 17:30:04, Log Entry 15
Well, that didn’t suck as badly as I thought it would.
In my old form, I was a terrible shot. Amongst the Inner Sphere and Periphery, and even amongst the Clans, it’s not uncommon to rate mechwarriors by their experience and ability into a handful of general categories: green, regular, veteran and elite. Exact standards for each category may very slightly, and there were those who might not easily fall into one category, but they worked for general guidelines.
AutoMechs, because they’re capable of learning and improving over their lifetime, not surprisingly use similar standards, undoubtedly something left behind by their human progenitors. By those standards, in my old body, I was beyond green, into the category where the other AutoMechs considered me actively defective: my ability to move in my own body was bad, while my ability to shoot was far worse.
To test my ability to shoot in my current body, Glyph planned on running me through two different training sessions: static gunnery, and mock combat. A kilometer away, Manx stood in the distance, keeping a lookout for DemoComs, appearing disinterested in my training session.
For the first training session, Glyph started me out with firing my PPC at full power at various static targets, generally consisting of particularly interesting plant life, larger rocks, and the occasional bit of scrap that wasn’t going to be usable for, well, anything. This was pretty comparable to what she did a couple months ago (has it really been that long?), when she first decided that I was nearly hopeless.
This time, however, things went better. For the first part of the course, I was shooting from a standstill, allowed to take all the time I needed. Here, I found that, when I could take my time, brace properly, and bring my PPC up and shoot it from the shoulder like a human would a rifle, I did…fine – there were enough points of contact between the PPC and my ‘Mech body to hold the weapon steady, and I could blast accordingly with my particle beam.
Things got a bit more tricky in the timed “shoot and scoot” portion of Glyph’s testing, where I’d move to a location, stop, shoot at a target, and then move to the next location to repeat. While I was once again stopped while shooting, I was in more of a rush, which means I couldn’t take as long a time aiming, and my accuracy suffered accordingly. Things weren’t completely hopeless, but even with the ridiculous velocity and flat trajectory of my particle beam, my accuracy was rapidly approaching “minute of barn door” standards.
The other problem, though, is one of heat. Syberia’s surface temperature is hot, and its atmosphere is on the thin side. While I had the benefit of not needing to breathe, per se, I did need airflow over my heat sinks for them to work at full efficiency, and I didn’t have the added benefit of double-efficiency heat sinks like Glyph and Spanner had. With an average equatorial temperature comparable to a sunny summer day in the desert on Earth, this actively impaired my ability to cool down the high heat my PPC could generate with each shot, forcing me to fire more slowly than I otherwise might’ve been able to do.
When I was done, Glyph took the opportunity to review my performance. “The good news,” she started, “is that you are, in fact, more coordinated in this chassis. Your methods of aiming and firing are unusual, but the results cannot be argued with, and when you are in a static position and have time to aim carefully and brace your weapon with both hands, there is a good likelihood you will hit your target. The more your firing method is forced to depart from this method, the more your performance suffers, but not overly so. Based on your performance, your gunnery rating could easily be rated Green, which is generally considered acceptable for an AutoMech whose primary function is not direct combat. While this may be acceptable for a DoctorMech like Spanner, we will need to ensure you practice more. There is a matter I am concerned about, though.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Your primary weapon. At least in your current configuration, with the less-efficient, more primitive single-capacity heat sinks, you lack sufficient capacity to cool the heat from the weapon effectively. And that had a noticeable effect, correct?”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “I had to periodically drop my rate of fire to cool down.”
“Correct,” Glyph noted. “However, there is another issue as well: the snub-nose PPC emphasizes shorter-range engagements, whereas you are at your most effective when firing from a static, stable position, which is ideal for longer-range fire. You would be more effective with a weapon like my own extended-range large laser, which would appear to be a more effective general-purpose weapon, but your lack of double heat sinks would similarly impair your ability to use an ER large laser effectively. Double heat sinks, of course, would also be ideal.”
I nodded in agreement. “True. It’s just that both are outside the realm of what we can realistically do here in the back end of nowhere, with our limited resources. Even swapping the weapon in my gun mount seemed to be a bit beyond what Spanner seemed comfortable doing.”
“Spanner is concerned that, without a backup mount, any failure on his part to convert another weapon to that mount type would result in you being disarmed entirely,” Glyph observed. “We also wanted to wait and observe how the change in chassis would affect your abilities, which we are not finished doing. Let us continue.”
Glyph’s next idea was for us to wage a mock battle. Like regular BattleMechs, our energy weapons have low-power modes or, in the case of my PPC, an integrated laser, allowing us to essentially play laser tag – the sensors embedded in our armor were tied to the Diagnostic Interpreter system on our chassis, which, for an AutoMech, acted as our reflexes and central nervous system, and would allow us to judge whether any particular shot we took would be effective.
Physical combat would be a bit trickier. Because this was a training exercise, we would not be punching and kicking at each other at full speed and power, and we’d have to indicate what we were doing when we made physical attacks. It was less than ideal, not entirely realistic, but would also cut down on the repair bills.
Our first fight went pretty poorly for me. Because I was nearly as fast as Glyph on the ground, walking at 54 kph to her 64, and running at 86 kph to her 96, I tried to fight a running battle to throw her aim off, and close in, where my snub-nose PPC both hit harder, and I’d have more opportunities for physical combat. That didn’t work as well as I’d hoped: because I kept moving, I had a hard time aiming at Glyph, who while only a little faster than me, was remarkably nimble. Simulated hits from her laser kept piling up, and while I could close the distance, she could use her better agility to flank me easily.
It wasn’t until I surprised her with an unexpected burst from my jump jets, streaking just above and past her, firing my PPC as I went, aiming at her right side. Glyph, seeing the barrel of my PPC swing towards her right arm, twisted to expose her left side, protecting the ER large laser in her right forearm. Exactly what I’d hoped she’d do.
Landing heavily, my simulated and real heat both climbing, I snapped out a kick aimed at Glyph’s midsection, yelling “HIP!” as I did so, placing my armored foot dangerously close to her left hip joint, then pulling the kick back. Now wobbling and off balance by the maneuver, I dropped into a more stable stance to keep from knocking myself over. Warning alerts about the status of my knee joints shrieked, as I continued to exceed the limits Spanner had recommended for them, but both held for now.
“HOLD!” Glyph barked in reply. Freezing, I waited for her to continue. “Good hit,” she replied. “Your PPC shot missed, but your maneuver forced me to protect my laser, and exposed my hip to your kick. Had that been a real kick, it’s possible you would have damaged my hip actuator. You chose to close in rapidly, rather than use aimed fire from static positions. Why?”
“You’ve got too much of a range advantage on me,” I noted. “If I held back and tried to fire from static positions, you’d simply pick me apart from a distance, and outside 450 meters, my PPC basically worthless, giving you a 120-meter window I can’t respond at.”
“Good analysis. Bear in mind that may not always be the case, and against short-ranged AutoMechs, holding position and taking careful aim may be a better strategy, forcing them to approach you and take fire. Your coordination in this chassis appears to be significantly better, and your ability to make physical attacks much improved. Again, I see little difference in terms of your physical coordination compared to Spanner’s though, as with ranged combat, you appear to have predefined methods that you prefer that are unlike standard AutoMechs, but in line with recordings we have of human combat methods. I find that interesting. Let’s begin again, and continue to play to your strengths.”
Glyph wasn’t the only one who was finding my training interesting now. By this time, not only was Manx watching us with interest, but both Ripley and Spanner had gathered outside as well.
For our second match, Glyph and I switched starting points. Whereas before I approached from east, I’d instead start to our west. This proved to be a useful advantage for me, as I had both better hillside and plant coverage from this direction, allowing me to dig in, while Glyph was forced to approach to get good line of sight to hit me.
Another thing this did was put me close to one of the piles of debris we used for target shooting. Letting my “eyes” scan over the debris, I picked out a couple of interesting items that might make a decent impromptu club. Picking up a broken I-beam about leg length, I carefully set it in front of me, braced against the hill, and waited for Glyph to approach.
I didn’t have to wait long, as she sped across the terrain, sprinting over the open areas to use the denser areas of brush and what passed for trees here to obscure her approach, firing once she was under cover. Holding my fire, I traced her movements, keeping my head down as she got closer: 450 meters, 390 meters, 300 meters…
Finally, at 270 meters, I fired, striking Glyph with a simulated hit to her right arm, as she lifted her arm to fire at me, taking the simulated hit in my torso in reply. Deciding it was time to move, I pushed back from the hillside, grabbed my impromptu club in my left hand, and, holding it close to my left leg, fired my two jump jets again, sailing over the remainder of the hillside onto the hard-packed sand and dirt below.
Within seconds, Glyph was upon me again, maneuvering widely, but I chased after her, trying to close the distance, knee actuators flashing angrily again, but taking advantage of the fact I was only slightly slower than her to close the distance to less than 90 meters.
Once again, Glyph’s agility and speed proved advantageous to her, as the AutoMech stepped laterally to her right, intent upon putting my own bulk between her and my PPC, to then flank me and shoot me in the back. It almost worked. It probably would have worked, in fact, if I hadn’t had my club.
As Glyph maneuvered to pass behind me, I pivoted to my left, but swung my club in a high, lazy arc, yelling “HEAD!” Glyph immediately tried to drop her own head down, while arresting her forward motion at the same time, raising both her arms up ahead of her to protect her head. Meanwhile, I’d released my PPC’s interlocks and tossed it to my side, stepping forward so that I was behind a now-stopped Glyph and, carefully grabbing her right shoulder with my now-open right hand, I brought my I-beam club down in front of her, pinning her in place, and yelling “HALT!” myself, then immediately withdrawing my club, letting go of her shoulder, and stepping back to pick up my discarded PPC.
No one spoke for what seemed like an eternity, before Glyph finally said, “What. Was. That?”
“Uh, me playing to my advantages?” I replied. “If the hit from my club didn’t disable you, I had a solid enough grip on you to be able to do a throw by pivoting back and dropping my center of gravity. Then I could just kick you while you were down.”
“That…” Glyph began. “That…that is exactly what I told you to do, isn’t it? An I-beam?”
“Well, I didn’t have a sword handy…”
“You know how to use a sword?” Glyph asked flatly.
“I'm no expert, and it depends on the sword type, but, yeah. Mostly the katana and related swords like the wakizashi, and then the smallsword, spadroon, and fencing epee, but there's some similarity in forms and techniques between swords like the longsword and the katana…” I trailed off. “What?” I asked, as Glyph seemed to be getting more agitated.
“Why are you using a completely unsuitable weapon like your snub-nosed PPC when you could instead be fighting with a sword?”
“I have no idea – those memories are completely lost, remember? Besides, I do ok with a rifle-mounted weapon, too, and it's not like you have a sword or a lighter PPC around, is it?”
“A lighter PPC?” Manx asked, having come down to meet us.
“Yeah, say three tons, comparable range to a standard one, half the power output of a standard PPC, but half the waste heat, too? I wonder if we can lighten this one up…”
“Glyph,” Manx said, “remember how I doubted Groundwave’s claim that he’s been copied from a human brain?”
Glyph nodded. “I do.”
“Never mind.”
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That was an amusing post! ;D
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That was an amusing post! ;D
Question: was the combat sequence easier to follow than the last time I tried writing one?
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Its followable.
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Groundwave is going to be giving the Automechs some great new ideas
Now I wonder what the Dmocons are going to get in order to keep the threat fairly constant. A factory that churns out basic troops in larger numbers?
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ideas yes, but the odds of any of those ideas being something they can actually produce is pretty low i think.
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Question: was the combat sequence easier to follow than the last time I tried writing one?
I thought this one was easier to follow, yes.
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I'm still curious what the fate lies in ahead for Groundwave once they get out of the Hinderlands of Syberia.
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The more I read and the more I think a Argo & Snowden would fit in perfectly into the local setting.
A Argo might give some trouble, though, since only two where ever made.
But automated Snowdens should be possible.
Add to this the M11 Newgranges...
Say, what about those bots they scrapped a while back, couldn't they recover parts from them?
I did not notice anything being said in that regards.
Do Quadvees exist in this setting?
It are basically ground bounded LAM's, with a tank look.
And while I am asking, how many primitive mechs have been converted to Automechs?
I wonder a bit here.
Fun one would if he can stear them into developing some of the technology from Manei Domini & The Society.
Then there is the potential of local improvements into transforming gear, since it's their live & blood, here.
I can see the Scorpion LAM having been reworked into something more along the lines of a Quadvee, you know.
Same for the Champion LAM, it would remove it's biggest flaw.
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Scorpion_LAM
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Champion_LAM
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Category:QuadVees
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Land_Air_%27Mech
I would laugh if his future automech body is a Screamer, constructed from recovered blueprints.
I think most of the design flaws, where actually sabotage related and that Kerensky recieved the not sabotaged blueprints.
Would explain why shifting gear caused a crash, you know.
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Screamer
I'm still curious what the fate lies in ahead for Groundwave once they get out of the Hinderlands of Syberia.
Rather how they will leave their current lication.
It can be on wheels or by air.
Would laugh if this place had a underground automated (mech) factory.
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Quad Vees? I believe so.
the California Nebula rules give us for: Tracks, Wheels, Rotors, Hover, floats/naval/sub, buildings, extra legs, tails.
it's still available for free download from CGL store ... drivethrurpg too, I believe.
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Unit Log, Current Unit Designation WheelMech GRF-1-74-0107C-J
Date 3018-08-31 17:22:41, Log Entry 16
It’s funny that, as I got more comfortable in this “what’s old is new again” body of mine, Manx got more and more uncomfortable about his whole situation. Yesterday, I found him staring at his old chassis again. The lack of facial expressions on his temporary Phoenix Hawk body made it a little harder to tell what was going on, but his body language seemed a bit clearer, with the way he stood, his shoulders set, just radiating stress.
I walked up alongside of him. “So…what’s up?”
Manx turned towards me slightly. “I am considering how I might continue to engage in my primary function in the antiquated chassis that you previously were in.”
Huh. Thought we were past this with him. “OK, let’s start with the obvious question: what is your primary function?”
“I am programmed to be a ReconMech,” Manx replied.
“And my old chassis is too big? Too slow?” Obvious thoughts, I know, given my old body was more than twice as massive and two-thirds the speed.
“Both, actually.”
“Okay,” I mused. “I can see that would be a bit of an issue. I take it changing your primary function by retraining isn’t so straightforward, Manx?”
“No. I am a ReconMech,” he agreed.
“Why?” I asked. “I mean, Manx, we’re here in the base with a ReconMech who isn’t just a ReconMech, right? I mean, yes, Glyph is a ReconMech, but she’s also an Analyst, she said, studying not just what other AutoMech groups on Syberia are doing, but where you all came from, right? Scout, intel analyst, historian, even trainer, right?”
“True. In time, I may be able to do the same. But my primary role will remain ReconMech, just like Glyph’s primary role is Analyst.”
“And, of course, meanwhile you’re in a body that’s actually well-suited to the role because, after all, that was one of the Phoenix Hawk’s primary jobs, but you feel stifled because you can’t transform into an alternate mode, specifically one with wheels, because you’re programmed for ground movement, right? Not flight?”
“Also correct. You see my dilemma.”
“OK, here’s the other thing, though. How far are we from someplace you could, in theory, get a new body of the same type as your old?
“Our capital is approximately 4500 kilometers away. There are smaller facilities closer, however.” Manx noted warily.
“OK, and I’m guessing we’re closer to the Autonomous Barony’s territory than we are to the Democratic Conglomerate’s, right?”
“Yes,” Manx agreed readily. “We’re significantly closer. I was surprised to see a penetration raid by the DemoComs this far past their general boundaries into our territory.”
“And they used a Sounder to do it, I might point out. And my old chassis is its progenitor…or, at least, the missing link between the old Thunderbolt and the Sounder. You could still do recon in that chassis. But, you’ve got options available, Manx.”
“What would they be?” he asked.
“The first would be to go either to one of the smaller facilities,” I noted. “Or, worst-case scenario, spend the 71 hours or so it would take to walk back to your capital, then get yourself put back in a body more like you’re used to, assuming one’s available.”
Manx shrugged. “A difficult journey, but a feasible one.”
“Right,” I agreed. “Or, alternatively, you can let Spanner finish customizing my old proto-Sounder chassis out for you, use that, and stick to your old role, just as heavy recon instead of light recon. What were you and Spanner settling on for the modifications you could make here?”
“Removal of jump jets, replacing the small lasers with three medium lasers, addition of a recon camera, and addition of four single heat sinks,” Manx rattled off. “Additional communications equipment would be retained, as removal would require more significant overhaul of the chassis. Shifting of core computing components to external head unit also possible thanks to salvage from DemoCom Sounder.”
“You’re kidding me,” I said flatly. “You’re going to have a head. On top of the center of your torso. In a humanoid layout.”
“Well, yes. Spanner said he had time to integrate it. He also noted it would facilitate future efforts to remove the additional communications gear at a future date.”
“Okay,” I replied. “So you’re a bit slower, but you also have the option to carry a mini-drone or two to extend out your scouting ability. You’ve got communications gear you can use to monitor remote sensors. You’ll have a recon camera you can use to get a better look at things. And while you’re slower, you’re going to be tougher in a fight than you’d otherwise have been, even if you’ll need to watch your heat a bit closer. That’s a viable enough loadout that you might be able to continue to function as a ReconMech, Manx, and it opens up new doors on how to accomplish that role. You may find you work best not just as a ReconMech, but coordinating the activities of other, smaller ReconMechs as their commander. If not, you can always see about swapping out for a different body back at the capitol.”
Manx sighed. “You have a point. May I confess something?”
“Sure, go ahead,” I replied, not sure where he was going.
“Once Spanner confirmed he could mount a head onto it in a manner much like a human, I had briefly considered asking if you would be willing to return to the Sounder prototype chassis, and allow me to have your current chassis instead, before I eliminated that as a possibility.”
“OK, not disagreeing with your choice to drop the idea, Manx,” I said, “but what made you decide to drop it?”
“You appear to be far too well-adapted to your Streaker prototype chassis for me to ask you to uproot yourself again. And if the idea of being in a 55-ton, more durable AutoMech chassis was appealing, then being in a 60-ton, better-defended one is even more appealing. Plus, you appear to have knee actuator problems.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ve always had knee actuator problems, even when I was still human. That’s nothing new for me. Too much cumulative damage over the years.”
“That sounds actively terrible, and makes me glad I was never human,” Manx replied.
“Oh, it wasn’t all bad,” I said defensively. “And look at it this way: I may be in a far more durable body, and obviously the computer cores holding my mind can be moved from chassis to chassis as one wears out…but, unless I invent time travel, I’m also never going to see my family or my friends ever again, given everybody I’ve ever known has been dead for centuries at this point. No matter what I do here on Syberia, Manx, that’s one part of my purpose I’ll never be able to fulfill again. By way of comparison, customizing out your new BattleMech body isn’t so bad, is it?”
“I had not considered that,” Manx said apologetically. “Given the circumstances, you seem remarkably stable.”
“What’s the use in falling apart?” I noted. What I did not say, however, was that time travel was exactly what I hoped to accomplish. Or travelling between alternate realities. Or whatever else I’d need to do in order to get back to my home reality. I couldn’t do that here on Syberia, though. The only place I knew of in the California Nebula that gave me a chance at all of doing so was the world of Toreel, if I could figure out how their “magic” worked.
That, however, would mean leaving Syberia. Which would preferably mean finding some form of working JumpShip. Which, in turn, ran the risk of running into the “Star Empire”, them figuring out FTL tech, a way out of the California Nebula, and a brand-new Clan-style invasion of the Inner Sphere. Let’s, like, not let them do that.
So, like Manx, I had a choice to make: do I abandon my purpose of trying to find my family, and try to find a life for myself here? Do I risk unleashing the Kraken by trying to find a working JumpDrive and risk stumbling into the Star Empire? Do I slow-boat my way to Toreel at sublight speeds, taking decades or longer to get there, in the hopes that whatever “magic” they’re capable of can help me offset this enormous gulf of time, space, and whatever else separating me from my old life?
I don’t know. The only thing I do know is that I don’t know enough right now to make a decision. At some point, I’m going to have to secure my little hidey-hole here as best I can and see the rest of the planet. And the idea of doing that, and risking getting blown up, scares the hell out of me.
Breaking myself out of my internal introspection/panic, I turned more towards Manx, clapping him on the shoulder. “C’mon,” I said, “Let’s go talk to Spanner, see how much longer his refit’s going to take, so you at least have the information you need to make an informed decision.”
One problem at a time. Solve that, move on to the next problem. What else could I do?
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Glad to see an update! :thumbsup:
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I've so across the moon. I missed hell out of this fan story. I am curious to see how much TRO Syberia going be in this.
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I've so across the moon. I missed hell out of this fan story. I am curious to see how much TRO Syberia going be in this.
Already started incorporating it. Trying not to do any outright retcons, though, which is making things interesting.
For example, you'll note that Groundwave didn't have a head. Sounder class AutoMechs, though they're based on the Thunderbolt chassis, do have separate heads, as the art for "Wave Sounder" shows.
Which brings us to our second item: Spanner was described as being a VeeMech, as well as being Thunderbolt based. IN the TRO Syberia material, though, VeeMechs are Wolverine-based. There will be an explanation at some point.
Third, notice I know where the THAF firebase is in relation to the Barony's capitol - maps are a huge help.
Oh, and part of the previous entry, besides being inspired by some of the stuff going on with the Bing Chat AI, was also inspired by my discover of the existence of a caste system amongst Transformers, as well as Functionalism.
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Well, Thunderbolts have "heads"... Just because it's a protected part of the torso doesn't make it less of a "head" in the BT sense... ^-^
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Already started incorporating it. Trying not to do any outright retcons, though, which is making things interesting.
For example, you'll note that Groundwave didn't have a head. Sounder class AutoMechs, though they're based on the Thunderbolt chassis, do have separate heads, as the art for "Wave Sounder" shows.
Which brings us to our second item: Spanner was described as being a VeeMech, as well as being Thunderbolt based. IN the TRO Syberia material, though, VeeMechs are Wolverine-based. There will be an explanation at some point.
Third, notice I know where the THAF firebase is in relation to the Barony's capitol - maps are a huge help.
Oh, and part of the previous entry, besides being inspired by some of the stuff going on with the Bing Chat AI, was also inspired by my discover of the existence of a caste system amongst Transformers, as well as Functionalism.
You have lots of wiggle room on the class names in TRO:Syberia, GB. Most of the class names given were bestowed by the IE teams in the 3090s. And they actively noted that they inadvertently "oversimplified" in the first accounts, by lumping a lot of VeeMechs together that weren't in the same chassis class--but there is suspicion that a lot of these "related" chassis types hailed from common roots someplace.
And Functionalism is basically exactly what Syberian AutoMechs are bound to; they are not 100% sapient, even though they can sure fake it well. The main drawback of this is that they cannot innovate, and "learn" only by the addition of pre-programmed modules copied from the days of their human masters. Only humans can truly "reformat" themselves at will and make things that are new and different. That's why the AIs worship humans, and are loathe to kill any human not formally aligned with their enemies.
(Hmmm. Every once in a while, I get an inkling to show a pre-holocaust Syberia in some fanfic of my own, just to see what it might look like, but not sure it makes for good story.)
- Herb
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It would be a bit depressing, yes... :-\
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Also depends on which Thunderbolt version. Some do have discrete heads
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It would be a bit depressing, yes... :-\
I have to agree with that. I would be Terminator + Transformers. There inkerings of it when you read the entries for Minibots/MiniMechs/AutoSuits.
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I have to agree with that. I would be Terminator + Transformers. There inkerings of it when you read the entries for Minibots/MiniMechs/AutoSuits.
It really is. The human extermination was basically a Terminator scenario, only in this case, SkyNet didn't just wake up and decide to kill everyone. The tragedy of Syberia is that the humans almost certainly ORDERED their machines to wipe out their foes, and--despite knowing that the humans were their creators and masters--the AutoMechs did as they were told.
And they did it all too well.
- Herb
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Unit Log, Current Unit Designation WheelMech GRF-1-74-0107C-J
Date 3018-08-26 23:44:11, Log Entry 17
Sometimes I just don’t know when to leave well enough alone.
Manx and I did indeed have that conversation with Spanner and, yes, indeed, he’d pretty much remodeled my old body successfully. At first glance, it didn’t look that different. Well, except now it had a real head. Short legs? Gorilla arms? Yeah, that hadn’t changed. I think, even with the changes, I was happier in my current body. Given I’d previously gotten it shot to pieces, hopefully I’d be able to hang on to it better this time.
While Manx and Spanner worked out the details of Manx’s upcoming transfer, I decided to try something stupid, and look more into the strange computer core labeled as an M-4 drone computer core. I’d been putting it off for more immediate concerns, but finding out about that core, and whether there was another AI in there, would tell me if I even had a way out of the Syberia system.
So, I looked at the various connectors, figuring out which ones went for power, which ones went to a data bus, using what I’d learned of Star League and Terran Hegemony computer architecture during my perusal of the base’s computers. Like so many other Terran systems, it was remarkably standardized, and I soon had a way to run power to it on one hand and connect another computer to it on the other. The only remaining decision was whether I wanted to use the base’s computers as an intermediary, or my own.
Since I didn’t want it taking over the base, I decided, at first, to split the difference, kludging together a portable computer from some of the spare computer cores squirreled away in the base and the DropShip’s cargo hold. An interface would be a problem, since I didn’t exactly have a giant keyboard I could carry around, which left me the options of either a hardwire connection between my own ‘Mech chassis’ computer core, or sticking with the standard wireless interface protocol I used to transfer data with other AutoMechs and the base computers. On one hand, wireless seemed a lot less risky than giving a strange computer a hardwire into my head, especially given all the firewalls between my wireless gear and my own brain.
On the other hand, wireless means there’s no physical wire to cut if something goes wrong. That’s worth considering too.
So, once again, best option available at the time, right? I went to Glyph and explained the situation. To say she wasn’t thrilled was an understatement. She just stared at me for what seemed like forever before finally saying, “This is a stupid idea, and I expect it to backfire terribly. What exactly is it that you expect me to do if things go wrong?”
“Pull the power cable to the core, or the portable computer. That’ll cut the link between me and the core.” That was, in the end, the best idea I could come up with.
“And how do I know if things go wrong?”
Yeah, that I wasn’t sure of. It didn’t exactly endear her to the situation. “This is even more stupid than I thought. You should have Spanner monitor you.”
I shook my head. “No, he’s got his hands full with Manx right now, and he’s not going to know any better than you will if something’s wrong without connecting in himself, and that’s the last thing he should be doing. I don’t even want to tempt him with the possibility.”
“Why?” Glyph asked, confused.
“Because it might take him over entirely,” I admitted.
“But not you?”
I shrugged. “Hopefully not. I’ll be behind seven proxies.”
The next morning, after setting everything up, I set down my PPC, hooked up all the cables, and then sat down as best I could in front of my makeshift cyberdeck. Glyph stood by, ready to pull the cables in the event everything went to hell in a handbasket. Well, assuming we knew what that would look like.
“Ready?” I asked her.
“I don’t know,” Glyph replied honestly.
“Good enough,” I said, making the last power connection for the detached computer core that purportedly belonged to an AI-driven WarShip. I pinged my “cyberdeck” to make the final connection to the core, and waited to see what happened.
And, other than an automated response, nothing happened. OK, next step, try opening just a straight terminal connection. That, at least, got me somewhere, including a set of instructions and options to check the status of the core.
I chose to look at storage, only to find that the core was nearly empty. Not entirely, but almost. No artificial intelligence lurking around in there to talk to.
“It’s empty. Well, not empty. Almost empty,” I said quietly. “Looks like there’s some data in there, but not an AI. Maybe some random memories, but that’s it.”
Glyph nodded, her shoulders relaxing. “What’s next?”
“I take a closer look,” I replied.
I opened up the full sync option to be able to connect directly to the data in question, and all hell broke loose.
It was dark, and I was on a bicycle, wearing combat boots and an orange flight suit. Ahead of me I could see…
(”Nope.”)
…my mother riding her bike, as we turned and started to head down…
(”NOPE.”)[/b]
…hill, underneath the freeway overpass. We were building up too much speed, though, to make the turn at the bottom of the hill…
“And we’re done.” I announced loudly, disconnecting my session, pulling the plug on the power myself, and stepping back from the M-4 core like it was radioactive. “But, at least I know who the core belonged to.”
“Who?” Glyph asked curiously.
“Me.”
No doubt about it. That was one of my memories, sitting in the primary personality core of what’s purportedly a drone WarShip. Well, I guess that explains what our long-dead Major meant when he said a compatible AI core.
I knew then I’d have to go back into that core and look through the other memories. I still know it.
Just…not today. Even knowing that they were able to put my mother’s elbow back together again, and my own broken shoulder wasn’t as bad, I wasn’t ready to dive through another memory like that right away. There’s only so much emotional baggage you want to unpack at one time.
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Not a lot of commentary yet on the most recent chapter, on-board or off. Some likes from SV and SB, questions about the setting, but beyond that, the only commentary on the story itself was "does it get any better? Or is just trauma after trauma?"
So...little too heavy on the trauma side? I mean, I figured the scenario wasn't a sunshine and roses one, anyway, but... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Nope indeed! 8)
I think you're doing fine... if you really wany my feedback, you have to wait until I get home from work... ::)
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Oh I am rather enjoying it Gio.
But I may be biased. I do tend to have a habit of not being very nice to my characters in my own stories.
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Well writers do need to get all the pieces into place before the next step.
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So Groundwave found his old electronic home. Does that mean Groundwave can be plugged into a factory to help its production, or even to come up with new ideas? The AutoMechs might not be programmed for creativity, but Groundwave as a former human might have some of that.
The fun thought is Groundwave forming a third faction between the AutoBop and Democon factions. Or even more shocking, Groundwave might have the creativity to stop this war entirely. As a doctor said, both sides will eventually have to sit down and talk.
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Personally, i like how he trying figure out things. I do tend to lean towards more adventure & action myself.
The world of AutoMechs and Syberia has wealth of places to explore (along with the Nebula itself.) With TRO: Syberia you can perhaps get the Leopard operational in some form go to Junkion's use their expertise to fix him up further. Visit the mobile structures "cities" of Barony or the grizzly ruins of Kara of the DecCom. He could find out the truth that Barony started the war vs "evil" corps.
I do hope bit more lively soon.