M143
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When one heard that they made mechs out of wood, the mind went in strange places. It pictured big brown mechs that looked like trees. Perhaps with leaves on them. This was fairly far from the truth on this planet. It was probably far from the truth in general.
The core thing that stopped that fantasy was the fact that the wood used here looked nothing like wood most people were familiar with. The base and untreated material was an off-silver color with a rainbow hue that changed based off what sort of contaminates were in it. The core material was called Root-Steel Trees and was only really available when the war heated up.
Explaining this required some history. The Arboretians FTL was very slow but very subtle. It allowed them to land on the planet in small seed-like forms and grow mostly hidden. Their natural body was that of a green tree-like structure that grew out of the earth that grew to that size over the course of about a year or two. Ranging from the size of the average man or smaller, these small green shoots weren't particularly threatening or dangerous on the face of things. A man with an axe could kill one of these aliens with a few chops. This assumed that the alien had none of their defenses up.
Arboretians always had defenses. Most of them were instinctual. Their favorite used Root-Steels. The aliens would accelerate the growth of these trees and then harvest the plant with their own unique abilities to create new bodies. The resultant bodies were typically about the size of mechs and could be further customized to the alien's liking. It was the equivalent of walking to the aliens. So much so that it was their default action soo after birth. Seeing an Arboretian naked was therefore a very unusual occurrence. Most people just saw their pseudo-mechs.
It has to be said that Root-Steel Trees were rather interesting and relatively harmless alone. Without outside encouragement they simply a plant that grew off of metal. All forms of metal. They particularly liked exotic forms of metal that most mechs had some of. In their natural state they had a growth measured in centuries and in optimal situations were only useful after about a hundred years worth of growth. They were relatively harmless to mechs as well, because a standard maintenance cycle would remove their seeds with a simple power wash and it took years before they could root into a metal object to grow.
One didn't need to be smart to see where the problems actually lay. The aliens could accelerate plant growth substantially through some native ability. Their first few battles with humanity had therefore been them simply eating the mechs and growing more mechs for themselves! The aliens could even learn from the mechs. Each victory would substantially improve their forces through new materials and new technologies.
This was less of a problem now that humanity had adapted. Mechs used a combination of refined Root-Steel wood, sealant, and bio-mech construction to create things devoid of metal that the trees could eat. This substantially cut down down what the aliens could do against humanity. It was ultimately what had turned a long and bitter war into simple containment.
Of course this was simplifying the history and discoveries involved significantly. Wood had a lot of properties that made it extremely unsuited for mechs. You had to be very careful when using in construction. Bio-mechs, as in mechs made with organic components, required some alternative construction processes that had been further adjusted for the local sector planets. It was all custom built, and apparently shared throughout all the nation to keep things up to date.
It was all also very messy.
"I'm glad it's sap." Bolt muttered as he observed the process of a mech being constructed.
"Flesh and bone mechs are quite the sight to see, you do need ze strong stomach though." One of the techs commented.
He could see why. This was already a bit disturbing. The mech wasn't being made so much as it was being grown. Inside a pod-like structure Bolt could see a skeleton being made. The materials were being fed into the thing through root-like structures around the creation. It brought to mind a monster being born more than a mech being constructed. The scent of sap was heavy in the air, a sort of vague sweetness that wasn't unpleasant, but also wasn't oil either.
"This is an interesting example second rate construction." Bolt observed out loud.
Pure automation. Though monitored automation in this case. Mechs built like this didn't get made by hand. They didn't get repaired. They got grown and healed. There were significant plusses and minuses to it. Bolt wasn't sure if he liked the entire process really. In fact he low-key hated it. Several parts of him rebelled at watching this and knowing it existed.
It wasn't that creating a mech like this required no skill. It did most certainly. The mech itself was being monitored by a good half dozen techs right now. Ultimately Bolt felt like it lacked a certain hands-on approach that he preferred. He also liked the metal, oil, and other materials more.
"If you like we can show you the finished product." The tech offered.
"I would, but I'm wondering about something. These mechs are made from salvaged Steel-Root? How does that work with this setup?" Bolt gestured to the massive pod and the lack of ability to actually physically touch the mech.
"You have to soak it in a special solution, blend it, and then channel it through the roots. It's mostly proprietary, so I can't give you more details." The tech explained with a hint of apology.
Bolt nodded that made a lot of sense. It was a small pity, but he could deal with it. "I get it. I'll take you up on the viewing the finished mechs."
The primary mech used in battle on the planet was known as the Lumberjack. It was honestly not particularly imaginative. It was a mech with a two handed axe and a pair of projectile weapons that were smaller cannon cousins. The lack of variety might have been a problem elsewhere, here it was actually a bonus. The enemy had favored and consistent tactics. The response was to use a workhorse mech that could be mass produced and consistently supplied as a general purpose mech. The process for creating Lumberjacks had been strenuously streamlined and optimized for its purpose. The design itself was a workhorse mech that functioned as the major footman on the frontline.
Bolt had a sneaking suspicion that someone had been playing a small joke with the design honestly. The mech looked like an old-earth lumberjack. The top was red and black and the bottom was just black. The armor gave the impression of heft as well.
If had hadn't known any better he would have said it was just another mech. There wasn't much of a hint that it was a plant-based mech from the distance. Up close it was fairly apparent to his trained eye, but it still was pretty mech-like. This made sense. It was still a mech, and shared at least some of the tech base. Armor and limb shaping was pretty applicable to both styles of mech.
Shame he couldn't take it apart though. Biomechs like this were all connected organically. Again, it came with pluses and minuses. It made it less fun to examine the mech, but Bolt still did it.
The spiritual aspect was rather strange once he got into things. It was mech-like, but tinted just a bit with the scent of plants. It wasn't contamination so much as a sort of blend. This was a plant shaped into a mech, and he could feel it in his spiritual sense. It was an unusual discovery.
Examining the Lumberjack was interesting enough that Bolt decided to check out the more experimental mechs to compare them. These were the mechs new designers worked on, and had less streamlined designs. They weren't large in number, but they were other examples of biomechs.
One in particular held hints of someone familiar. Jeanne's work, but only in that someone had obviously been inspired some by here. If Bolt had to guess, it took some of the materials she'd explored as a master, but he couldn't be certain without speaking with the person who'd designed the mech.
The mech was known as Pyro-Mania. It was very technically a striker. It's primary weapon was a large sprayer that needed to be held with two hands. The technical part came with the fact that Pyro-Mania was meant to just put out flames in an area. It wasn't designed for mech combat. It was designed to protect the pilot while it burned everything around it. The thing's endurance was frankly insane, and almost half of its makeup was meant to keep alive when the everything was burning. It was an extremely specialized mech that was focused to one purpose above all else. This was fairly contrary to standard Second Rate design, but it made sense in this aspect.
It's appearance left a lot to be desired admittedly. It was a black thing with a large tank on its back. The adornment was minimal. The design was basic. Yet Bolt had to give the designer credit. This mech could create an inferno that would likely melt other mechs and walk through it with minimal damage. The armor and internals were specifically designed to handle far higher heat than most other mechs.
Bolt had to examine the thing for awhile before he figured out that half of the way the mech managed to do this was because it was a biomech. It was really quite amusing to realize that a plant mech was one of the best heat tolerant mechs he'd ever seen. If he ever met the designer he'd offer a hearty congratulation. The mech itself wasn't special, but the extremes it could handle was genuinely impressive.
The core thing that stopped that fantasy was the fact that the wood used here looked nothing like wood most people were familiar with. The base and untreated material was an off-silver color with a rainbow hue that changed based off what sort of contaminates were in it. The core material was called Root-Steel Trees and was only really available when the war heated up.
Explaining this required some history. The Arboretians FTL was very slow but very subtle. It allowed them to land on the planet in small seed-like forms and grow mostly hidden. Their natural body was that of a green tree-like structure that grew out of the earth that grew to that size over the course of about a year or two. Ranging from the size of the average man or smaller, these small green shoots weren't particularly threatening or dangerous on the face of things. A man with an axe could kill one of these aliens with a few chops. This assumed that the alien had none of their defenses up.
Arboretians always had defenses. Most of them were instinctual. Their favorite used Root-Steels. The aliens would accelerate the growth of these trees and then harvest the plant with their own unique abilities to create new bodies. The resultant bodies were typically about the size of mechs and could be further customized to the alien's liking. It was the equivalent of walking to the aliens. So much so that it was their default action soo after birth. Seeing an Arboretian naked was therefore a very unusual occurrence. Most people just saw their pseudo-mechs.
It has to be said that Root-Steel Trees were rather interesting and relatively harmless alone. Without outside encouragement they simply a plant that grew off of metal. All forms of metal. They particularly liked exotic forms of metal that most mechs had some of. In their natural state they had a growth measured in centuries and in optimal situations were only useful after about a hundred years worth of growth. They were relatively harmless to mechs as well, because a standard maintenance cycle would remove their seeds with a simple power wash and it took years before they could root into a metal object to grow.
One didn't need to be smart to see where the problems actually lay. The aliens could accelerate plant growth substantially through some native ability. Their first few battles with humanity had therefore been them simply eating the mechs and growing more mechs for themselves! The aliens could even learn from the mechs. Each victory would substantially improve their forces through new materials and new technologies.
This was less of a problem now that humanity had adapted. Mechs used a combination of refined Root-Steel wood, sealant, and bio-mech construction to create things devoid of metal that the trees could eat. This substantially cut down down what the aliens could do against humanity. It was ultimately what had turned a long and bitter war into simple containment.
Of course this was simplifying the history and discoveries involved significantly. Wood had a lot of properties that made it extremely unsuited for mechs. You had to be very careful when using in construction. Bio-mechs, as in mechs made with organic components, required some alternative construction processes that had been further adjusted for the local sector planets. It was all custom built, and apparently shared throughout all the nation to keep things up to date.
It was all also very messy.
"I'm glad it's sap." Bolt muttered as he observed the process of a mech being constructed.
"Flesh and bone mechs are quite the sight to see, you do need ze strong stomach though." One of the techs commented.
He could see why. This was already a bit disturbing. The mech wasn't being made so much as it was being grown. Inside a pod-like structure Bolt could see a skeleton being made. The materials were being fed into the thing through root-like structures around the creation. It brought to mind a monster being born more than a mech being constructed. The scent of sap was heavy in the air, a sort of vague sweetness that wasn't unpleasant, but also wasn't oil either.
"This is an interesting example second rate construction." Bolt observed out loud.
Pure automation. Though monitored automation in this case. Mechs built like this didn't get made by hand. They didn't get repaired. They got grown and healed. There were significant plusses and minuses to it. Bolt wasn't sure if he liked the entire process really. In fact he low-key hated it. Several parts of him rebelled at watching this and knowing it existed.
It wasn't that creating a mech like this required no skill. It did most certainly. The mech itself was being monitored by a good half dozen techs right now. Ultimately Bolt felt like it lacked a certain hands-on approach that he preferred. He also liked the metal, oil, and other materials more.
"If you like we can show you the finished product." The tech offered.
"I would, but I'm wondering about something. These mechs are made from salvaged Steel-Root? How does that work with this setup?" Bolt gestured to the massive pod and the lack of ability to actually physically touch the mech.
"You have to soak it in a special solution, blend it, and then channel it through the roots. It's mostly proprietary, so I can't give you more details." The tech explained with a hint of apology.
Bolt nodded that made a lot of sense. It was a small pity, but he could deal with it. "I get it. I'll take you up on the viewing the finished mechs."
The primary mech used in battle on the planet was known as the Lumberjack. It was honestly not particularly imaginative. It was a mech with a two handed axe and a pair of projectile weapons that were smaller cannon cousins. The lack of variety might have been a problem elsewhere, here it was actually a bonus. The enemy had favored and consistent tactics. The response was to use a workhorse mech that could be mass produced and consistently supplied as a general purpose mech. The process for creating Lumberjacks had been strenuously streamlined and optimized for its purpose. The design itself was a workhorse mech that functioned as the major footman on the frontline.
Bolt had a sneaking suspicion that someone had been playing a small joke with the design honestly. The mech looked like an old-earth lumberjack. The top was red and black and the bottom was just black. The armor gave the impression of heft as well.
If had hadn't known any better he would have said it was just another mech. There wasn't much of a hint that it was a plant-based mech from the distance. Up close it was fairly apparent to his trained eye, but it still was pretty mech-like. This made sense. It was still a mech, and shared at least some of the tech base. Armor and limb shaping was pretty applicable to both styles of mech.
Shame he couldn't take it apart though. Biomechs like this were all connected organically. Again, it came with pluses and minuses. It made it less fun to examine the mech, but Bolt still did it.
The spiritual aspect was rather strange once he got into things. It was mech-like, but tinted just a bit with the scent of plants. It wasn't contamination so much as a sort of blend. This was a plant shaped into a mech, and he could feel it in his spiritual sense. It was an unusual discovery.
Examining the Lumberjack was interesting enough that Bolt decided to check out the more experimental mechs to compare them. These were the mechs new designers worked on, and had less streamlined designs. They weren't large in number, but they were other examples of biomechs.
One in particular held hints of someone familiar. Jeanne's work, but only in that someone had obviously been inspired some by here. If Bolt had to guess, it took some of the materials she'd explored as a master, but he couldn't be certain without speaking with the person who'd designed the mech.
The mech was known as Pyro-Mania. It was very technically a striker. It's primary weapon was a large sprayer that needed to be held with two hands. The technical part came with the fact that Pyro-Mania was meant to just put out flames in an area. It wasn't designed for mech combat. It was designed to protect the pilot while it burned everything around it. The thing's endurance was frankly insane, and almost half of its makeup was meant to keep alive when the everything was burning. It was an extremely specialized mech that was focused to one purpose above all else. This was fairly contrary to standard Second Rate design, but it made sense in this aspect.
It's appearance left a lot to be desired admittedly. It was a black thing with a large tank on its back. The adornment was minimal. The design was basic. Yet Bolt had to give the designer credit. This mech could create an inferno that would likely melt other mechs and walk through it with minimal damage. The armor and internals were specifically designed to handle far higher heat than most other mechs.
Bolt had to examine the thing for awhile before he figured out that half of the way the mech managed to do this was because it was a biomech. It was really quite amusing to realize that a plant mech was one of the best heat tolerant mechs he'd ever seen. If he ever met the designer he'd offer a hearty congratulation. The mech itself wasn't special, but the extremes it could handle was genuinely impressive.