M092
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lost star
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Lilly was off in space now, making connections and traveling to Cold Grave again. Bolt did not anticipate there being issues. The plan was mostly to go in and check a few things before returning. Minimal risk. Not no risk, but they'd identified most of the major threats on their first run. Two things killed you in salvaging, complacency and the unknown. Neither applied to that expedition.
He wanted to have one thing done before she returned. That would be the rifleman of their group. It was actually relatively good to do it now, his joint patent with Little Big Light had resulted in them sharing more than a few improvements with him. Morning Star's wings had been custom expert designed products. Creating a variation more suited for mass production had been relatively easy for the company once they'd gotten the blueprints.
The now dubbed Feather Chainmail component was both less finicky to repair and a bit less expensive. Not substantially mind you, but it wouldn't be the most expensive component on the mech now, provided he was careful with the design. Which he planned on being.
Designing the system was harder than designing it in the dream. Bolt had known that going in. The wing was naturally the point of pride. It was a essentially a quick deploy shield. With some clever work it could be fully deployed while the mech was firing, giving them a basically one-time block of something big or partial cover against return fire for a short time. That would be invaluable against most enemies.
After this came the weapons. Bolt kept with a laser rifle as the primary weapon despite the local circumstances. The next generation of MTA approved parts would be in a few years, and while the Sandmen were absolutely dangerous, the next generation stuff would all be lasers. Using one of Little Big Light's lasers would mean that when the next generation came about he'd just have to do a few part switches rather than completely revise the design. Bolt anticipated problems with locals more than sandmen as well. It'd be relatively trivial to switch out the weapon if needed anyway.
One laser rifle, medium range, moderate firepower. Basically a middle of the road rifle with few strengths but few weaknesses as well. He probably could tweak it, but he wanted to finalize most of the other things first.
Armor was relatively solid, generator also middle of the line. Really, all of the mech was going to be dead average, which was amusing enough that Bolt deliberately tried to tweak all of the specifications for it. This was harder than it sounded, because there was always a bit of variation, but making a mech dead average all across the board was a strength in itself.
This was going to be an allrounder mech. Which meant you could basically place it in any sort of team and it would add value. Alone, together, with other types and with itself. The backup shotgun on the no-wing side also helped round it all out. This mech would have an answer for anything a person could throw at it.
Of course the mix of projectile and laser rifle demanded some very careful work to be done on the arms. This was actually very tricky. Lasers needed careful precision. Ballistics typically had to deal with the recoil. Their needs had just enough overlap to make it possible rather than impossible. It just required that Bolt sacrifice some accuracy at longer ranges, which was acceptable. Riflemen like this tended to be more workhorse medium range fighters than anything else.
The hands at least didn't need much work. Just a precise trigger finger, a good grip on the trigger hand, and a firm grip on the off hand. Nothing like a melee mech. You could add more, but that added complexity and difficulty in manufacturing. One big thing about design was deciding where you could keep things simple and generic and where you couldn't.
Now all of this taken together made the mech in question average across the board. No part of it stood out statistically aside from the wing. That gave it more durability than your standard rifleman. It wasn't a killer feature though. Bolt could already tell it the mech would be considered a bit of a novelty rather than anything else. A bit too expensive for people who just wanted a rifleman and too generalist for more niche lines. You couldn't even use them as padding since the expense was just a bit higher than a standard rifleman. That wing was costly and he wasn't sure if the added value was worth it.
Bolt was nominally ok with that. He didn't want to release a failure of a mech, but this was supposed to be an internal workhorse. He also wanted to do something special with the spiritual side. That part wasn't visible and wouldn't show up on the specifications.
Before all of that the mech needed a name and a theme. This was the Wounded Angel. The base design brought to mind the older veterans and how they felt more than how they looked. This mech felt like one that had fought so long the battlefield was a second home. In light of that Bolt gave it a few cosmetic colorations that made it look scarred and adjusted the frame here and there to make it look like a grizzled old war veteran of a mech.
Then he made a little figure of it and sort of linked it spiritually with the blueprint. Bolt's examination of Ves' work had given him a lot of things to think about. This was the result of some of that thinking. The other designer had made a sort of central node, the spirit, for most of his mechs. This enforced the spiritual power once the 'scaffolding' was made so to speak. The Wounded Angel was going to have something similar using this.
To use an analogy, Ves made a central server and updated his mechs with it. Bolt was going to make a master copy and have his mechs copied from that. There were pluses and minuses to each approach. It fit Bolt's style better because he was all about refining things in a cycle. The Heart System allowed a mech to improve itself over time. This new mech would be the first one to really lean on that system if he did it right.
It wasn't finished naturally. Bolt strode out of his office and down to the more general areas. The 'local bar' so to speak was a bit more centrally located. It was technically just a mess hall with alcohol, but was really just the local bar.
In there were a few old vets drinking and talking shit with one another. They barely looked up as Bolt entered the room, and only paid him any attention when he set the figure down on their table. They looked at it and then at him. Eventually one of them spoke.
"Gussin' that's a new mech?" He asked. "Ain't sure why yer bothering us with the little toy."
"It's going to be a rifleman." Bolt gestured to the rifle it was handling. "Ya'll remember that ghost shit at Cold Grave?"
"Wasn't there, but everyone's talking about it. Bit funny that we were all told that it was specifically alien stuff that you countered with psi-on-ics." The man drawled out and gave the young designer a look. "Ain't gonna dispute that, but still funny."
"The MTA has opinions." Bolt said simply. "But this is sort of more psionics. Mind grabbing this and focusing on a few battles?" He wiggled the figure on the table with one hand. "I'm doing something special with it. Will foot the bill fer a few drinks so indulge me."
Bolt was quite aware that if he hadn't been practically holding up the mountain on his shoulders the old vets wouldn't have bothered, or they would have just humored him and not actually done it. Instead one by one they grabbed the figure and focused. To help them focus they started talking about it, and then, since the drinks continued to flow they continued talking. More than a few of the stories were ones Bolt hadn't heard before. These were old veterans, some of them had been actual military before being stranded on the planet. They had so many stories.
The day passed and the night came, and more veterans came by and got in on the free drinks in exchange for stories. The designer was more than fine with it. He could almost see the figure absorbing the atmosphere, the memories. It was exactly what he wanted. It was exactly what he needed for this to work right.
He left once everything started to wind down, little figure in hand. He had what he needed and he needed to do the last step. That required one Crystal Heart and some focus. He mirrored the two to one another and then slotted the Heart into a reader with crossed fingers. He was almost sure he did everything right, but as another designer had said, the proof was in activation.
Slowly the designer began to grin as lines started to scroll down his screen. There, in front of him, was the data that a spiritual mech would have if made. As if the mech had been built already. He'd taken another step forward. He had figured out a way to create a master copy. Now all that remained to be seen was if that copy could be used.
He wanted to have one thing done before she returned. That would be the rifleman of their group. It was actually relatively good to do it now, his joint patent with Little Big Light had resulted in them sharing more than a few improvements with him. Morning Star's wings had been custom expert designed products. Creating a variation more suited for mass production had been relatively easy for the company once they'd gotten the blueprints.
The now dubbed Feather Chainmail component was both less finicky to repair and a bit less expensive. Not substantially mind you, but it wouldn't be the most expensive component on the mech now, provided he was careful with the design. Which he planned on being.
Designing the system was harder than designing it in the dream. Bolt had known that going in. The wing was naturally the point of pride. It was a essentially a quick deploy shield. With some clever work it could be fully deployed while the mech was firing, giving them a basically one-time block of something big or partial cover against return fire for a short time. That would be invaluable against most enemies.
After this came the weapons. Bolt kept with a laser rifle as the primary weapon despite the local circumstances. The next generation of MTA approved parts would be in a few years, and while the Sandmen were absolutely dangerous, the next generation stuff would all be lasers. Using one of Little Big Light's lasers would mean that when the next generation came about he'd just have to do a few part switches rather than completely revise the design. Bolt anticipated problems with locals more than sandmen as well. It'd be relatively trivial to switch out the weapon if needed anyway.
One laser rifle, medium range, moderate firepower. Basically a middle of the road rifle with few strengths but few weaknesses as well. He probably could tweak it, but he wanted to finalize most of the other things first.
Armor was relatively solid, generator also middle of the line. Really, all of the mech was going to be dead average, which was amusing enough that Bolt deliberately tried to tweak all of the specifications for it. This was harder than it sounded, because there was always a bit of variation, but making a mech dead average all across the board was a strength in itself.
This was going to be an allrounder mech. Which meant you could basically place it in any sort of team and it would add value. Alone, together, with other types and with itself. The backup shotgun on the no-wing side also helped round it all out. This mech would have an answer for anything a person could throw at it.
Of course the mix of projectile and laser rifle demanded some very careful work to be done on the arms. This was actually very tricky. Lasers needed careful precision. Ballistics typically had to deal with the recoil. Their needs had just enough overlap to make it possible rather than impossible. It just required that Bolt sacrifice some accuracy at longer ranges, which was acceptable. Riflemen like this tended to be more workhorse medium range fighters than anything else.
The hands at least didn't need much work. Just a precise trigger finger, a good grip on the trigger hand, and a firm grip on the off hand. Nothing like a melee mech. You could add more, but that added complexity and difficulty in manufacturing. One big thing about design was deciding where you could keep things simple and generic and where you couldn't.
Now all of this taken together made the mech in question average across the board. No part of it stood out statistically aside from the wing. That gave it more durability than your standard rifleman. It wasn't a killer feature though. Bolt could already tell it the mech would be considered a bit of a novelty rather than anything else. A bit too expensive for people who just wanted a rifleman and too generalist for more niche lines. You couldn't even use them as padding since the expense was just a bit higher than a standard rifleman. That wing was costly and he wasn't sure if the added value was worth it.
Bolt was nominally ok with that. He didn't want to release a failure of a mech, but this was supposed to be an internal workhorse. He also wanted to do something special with the spiritual side. That part wasn't visible and wouldn't show up on the specifications.
Before all of that the mech needed a name and a theme. This was the Wounded Angel. The base design brought to mind the older veterans and how they felt more than how they looked. This mech felt like one that had fought so long the battlefield was a second home. In light of that Bolt gave it a few cosmetic colorations that made it look scarred and adjusted the frame here and there to make it look like a grizzled old war veteran of a mech.
Then he made a little figure of it and sort of linked it spiritually with the blueprint. Bolt's examination of Ves' work had given him a lot of things to think about. This was the result of some of that thinking. The other designer had made a sort of central node, the spirit, for most of his mechs. This enforced the spiritual power once the 'scaffolding' was made so to speak. The Wounded Angel was going to have something similar using this.
To use an analogy, Ves made a central server and updated his mechs with it. Bolt was going to make a master copy and have his mechs copied from that. There were pluses and minuses to each approach. It fit Bolt's style better because he was all about refining things in a cycle. The Heart System allowed a mech to improve itself over time. This new mech would be the first one to really lean on that system if he did it right.
It wasn't finished naturally. Bolt strode out of his office and down to the more general areas. The 'local bar' so to speak was a bit more centrally located. It was technically just a mess hall with alcohol, but was really just the local bar.
In there were a few old vets drinking and talking shit with one another. They barely looked up as Bolt entered the room, and only paid him any attention when he set the figure down on their table. They looked at it and then at him. Eventually one of them spoke.
"Gussin' that's a new mech?" He asked. "Ain't sure why yer bothering us with the little toy."
"It's going to be a rifleman." Bolt gestured to the rifle it was handling. "Ya'll remember that ghost shit at Cold Grave?"
"Wasn't there, but everyone's talking about it. Bit funny that we were all told that it was specifically alien stuff that you countered with psi-on-ics." The man drawled out and gave the young designer a look. "Ain't gonna dispute that, but still funny."
"The MTA has opinions." Bolt said simply. "But this is sort of more psionics. Mind grabbing this and focusing on a few battles?" He wiggled the figure on the table with one hand. "I'm doing something special with it. Will foot the bill fer a few drinks so indulge me."
Bolt was quite aware that if he hadn't been practically holding up the mountain on his shoulders the old vets wouldn't have bothered, or they would have just humored him and not actually done it. Instead one by one they grabbed the figure and focused. To help them focus they started talking about it, and then, since the drinks continued to flow they continued talking. More than a few of the stories were ones Bolt hadn't heard before. These were old veterans, some of them had been actual military before being stranded on the planet. They had so many stories.
The day passed and the night came, and more veterans came by and got in on the free drinks in exchange for stories. The designer was more than fine with it. He could almost see the figure absorbing the atmosphere, the memories. It was exactly what he wanted. It was exactly what he needed for this to work right.
He left once everything started to wind down, little figure in hand. He had what he needed and he needed to do the last step. That required one Crystal Heart and some focus. He mirrored the two to one another and then slotted the Heart into a reader with crossed fingers. He was almost sure he did everything right, but as another designer had said, the proof was in activation.
Slowly the designer began to grin as lines started to scroll down his screen. There, in front of him, was the data that a spiritual mech would have if made. As if the mech had been built already. He'd taken another step forward. He had figured out a way to create a master copy. Now all that remained to be seen was if that copy could be used.
