4 June 2787 (Scheat)
Colonel Mitchell looked up from his desk as knock came on his door.
"Come" He said, actually glad for the break from reviewing all the reports.
The door swung open slowly and his Chief Tech entered the office.
"Sir, I got some ideas to run by you if you got a few minutes." Warrant Officer Connor Hamilton said.
Colonel Mitchell noted he carried a large binder tucked under his left arm.
"Please tell me that is not more reports Chief."
"No sir, me and the other senior techs have been tinkering with some ideas, but we need to run them by you before they go any further."
"What are these idea's and what is it gonna cost me?" Colonel Mitchell warily stated.
"Well sir, we captured a fair amount of equipment that last fight, most will not be combat ready until after this campaign is over, but we think we have some workable upgrades to some of the captured Mechs, for when we have the spare parts anyway, I don't want to use up what parts and supplies we have while a fight looms, except for some of the smaller weapons refits." Chief Hamilton stated.
"Well Chief, let's here the proposal's." Colonel Mitchell said as he leaned back in his chair.
Chief Tech Hamilton laid the binder on the Colonel's desk as he said "These are rough drafts, but it might help you follow along with me as I talk sir."
Colonel Mitchell flipped the binder open and the first page said "BMD-12D "Spec" Bombardier" across the top. "Whoa Chief, I thought you wanted to salvage those Mechs for the parts since they run out of ammo so damn fast and are basically useless from that moment on?"
"Well the base model, yes sir. I love it's speed and all, but it's current combat profile sucks, but me and the gang think we can make this a premier fire support Mech." Chief Hamilton said as he moved to the chalkboard.
"What we propose is strip the current weapons out of it, we can downgrade the LRM launchers to LRM-15 and gain a bunch of tonnage. We give it 2 LRM-15, we can add 2 medium pulse lasers, and medium laser. That gives it some firepower up close. We can then slap 6 tons of LRM ammo in it. Now she is a credible fire support Mech. We keep the AMS and everything else the same. We don't use Artemis IV so we can shoot different ammo loads. Mainly Swarm ammo. Nothing else changes, a simple weapons swap. Now we would have fast moving heavy fire support Mech." Chief Hamilton said.
"Okay, you have my interest Chief, what would we need to make this happen?" Colonel Mitchell asked, his note pad close at hand.
"Nothing Colonel, nothing but the time to do the refit. We got everything we need in our stocks right now." Chief Hamilton confidently stated.
"Alright Chief, you have my blessing for this modification. When you decide to do it, is up to you. What else you folks been cooking up?" Colonel Mitchell asked flipping to the next section. On it he saw the heading "ARC-2R "Spec" Archer" printed.
"Sir, as you can see, I want to modify that ARC-2R Archer we have on the roster. I cannot make her a Royal, but I sure can boost her firepower overall. First we once again strip the weapons down, out goes the LRM20's and the rear firing medium lasers. We slap in 2 LRM15's and add 3 more medium lasers to the front." Chief Hamilton was about to go on when the Colonel raised his hand.
"Chief, the Archer will not handle that kind of heat load."
"Sir, let me finish please, next we upgrade the heat sinks to double sinks. We got a fair amount in storage and have been stripping them from captured salvage quality Mechs. I want to put 11 of them in her, that and the weapons changes leaves us with enough spare tonnage to boost LRM15 ammo to 8 tons total, 4 tons per launcher. Once again we don't add Artemis IV so we can fire special ammunition. 32 volleys per launcher. I would add CASE if we had the time or facilities but we don't. Now she can run and gun all day long, and if anyone gets too close, well they got 5 medium lasers to deal with and the sinks to use them all and then return to full rate of fire on the missiles. No more staggering launchers to cool down." Chief Hamilton seemed to really like this design.
"And I guess we have the items in stock to do this refit." Colonel Mitchell half asked.
"Yes Sir, we do, it would only take time. But as I said, I am loathe to make these changes while a fight looms."
Chief Hamilton continued "Next we have the Lancelot LNC25-01 Spec, this refit will give us a fast raider. I want to strip the weapons down, slap in 2 Large Pulse Lasers and a Medium Pulse Laser and boost the armor across the board on her. She will be able to do running Alpha Strikes all day long and need no ammo resupply. This is a easy refit to do and yes, we have the items in stock."
Colonel Mitchell kept studying the binder and waved the Chief to continue.
"Next up we have the Longbow LBG-7Q Spec (stands for special). I want to change her to double heat sinks and take them down to 14 of them. That frees up 8 tons of space right there. We change the weapons layout to 2 LRM20 with 8 tons of ammo, once again no Artemis IV so we can shoot different ammo types. Now as a bonus, I want to beef up the close in armaments. I heard how our light Mechs caused all sorts of problems for them in the last fight, so I want to add a Large Pulse Laser in the Center Torso and a Medium Pulse Laser in each arm. Now any speed light Mechs get too close, well she can have a fair chance of making them regret that choice. Again, a simple refit we can do in house."
Colonel Mitchell looked at his Chief Tech, a man he had known for 15 years, thru peace and war. He trusted this man's judgement without question. "Connor, you know I will accept just about anything you want to do, I never question your side of the house, why are you suddenly asking my permission?"
"Sir, one, your the CO, two, I never want it said I don't consult with you on things of this nature. Making jerry rigged repairs for battle is one thing, doing all out refits are another. I know you gave me carte blanche on refitting Thug's, Crab's and other easy Mechs to Royals, but these changes, well they change the actual Mech itself to something much better I believe." Chief Hamilton watched his long time friend for a reaction.
"Well what else you got for me Connor." Colonel Mitchell asked.
"Wyvern WVE-5N "Spec", once again we swap to double heat sinks, and take it to 10, that gains us some tonnage to play with, I want to swap around the weapons. Out got the normal energy weapons, in goes a ER Large Laser in the Center Torso, we then boost the ammo count to 2 tons of SRM6 and 3 tons of LRM10. She is a fire support Mech, so we allow her to long range shoot all day long. Again a pretty easy refit."
"Next, we don't have one, but we have run the numbers and it should work out. The Panther PNT-9R "Spec", I want to once again go double heat sinks, we slap 10 of them in there. We remove the weapons and replace them with a ERPPC in the right arm, 2 Medium Pulse Lasers in the Left Torso and a Small Pulse Laser in the head for anti infantry work. She can by no means Alpha Strike, but she can jump and fire her big gun all day long and switch to the Pulse Lasers if something faster gets too close. Then we max out her armor. Again, a fairly straight forward refit we can do ourselves if we get our hands on any."
"We got a ton of ideas sir, but my big request, is I think we need some CRB-27sl Crabs. I know we have spoken before about stuff like this and you always mentioned wanting to form a Close Combat unit, one that gets in close but has to be able to jump. Well the CRB-27sl fits that bill. Sure the XL engine makes her not as durable, but it allows us to maximize other features. I got ideas for Excalibur version where we strip a heat sink, swap the armor to Ferro Fibrous to beef that paper armor up, remove the AMS and it's ammo, add another ton of either LRM20 ammo or Gauss ammo and add a ton and half of additional armor for 9 tons of the good stuff."
"I even have a version of the Guillotine GLT-3N "Spec" where we swap to double heat sinks, but put 18 of them in, that gains us some tons to play with, we rip all the weapons out, slap a ERPPC in the right arm, and cram 6 Medium Pulse Lasers in the torso's, 3 each in the left and right. She can engage at range and once things get close rip things to shreds with the Pulse Laser's. If she Alpha Strikes and jumps, well that is going to tax the crap out her heat sinks. But otherwise it is a refit we can do in house."
"A Catapult design where we go double heat sinks, 12 of them, swap to Ferro Fibrous armor, and add 3 more tons of LRM15 ammo to her. If we remove 1 Medium Laser I can outfit her with 6 tons of LRM15 ammo and still leave her with 3 Medium lasers as close defense weapons."
"All of these designs are refits we can do in house. No need to ship the Mechs for a factory level upgrade. Average time is 2 weeks start to finish on each Mech. Not counting any problems we did not account for, but me and the gang have studied these plans pretty close and we do not forsee any issues." Chief Hamilton finally walked back to stand in front of his commander.
"Connor, I love these idea's, but as you said we got a major fight looming and we cannot spare the parts. But, I am going to give you the okay to pick 1 Mech of your choosing but not on any active roster and you and the gang can refit it in your spare time. I do not want it taking away from any other maintenance issues, battle recovery etc. Work out the kinks of refitting a design to your new specifications. Keep up the great work and pass along my kudo's to your gang. See what other designs you folks can come up with."