CH4: Garage Kit (Kara + Yasmith)
Jun 28, 2018 21:08:18 GMT -6
Post by Captain Ameijin! on Jun 28, 2018 21:08:18 GMT -6
The hangar that bustled with activity only moments earlier had suddenly quieted. Its engineers had been given quite the workload on their plates. Significant damage to the Arlington, Kirin, and Wolfsbane had demanded their attention, while a fresh Spartan had been moved to replace the now-defunct Highlander altogether. Yasmith ordered her crew to take an extended lunch break while she grabbed her food to-go. Cinco’s work had been especially taxing on their engineers, now split between maintenance and upgrades. She lacked the raw creative potential of the young engineer, and had taken it upon herself to keep the machines up and running while he took over upgrades.
There was one exception, however: the Neu Alma.
Kara Qureshi seemed to share her enthusiasm for engineering and was one of the few pilots who took an active interest in maintaining their machine. The two sat close to the DAGGER as they chowed down on lunch, plastic bowls resting on a foldable metal table that sat by its feet. Chinese food had been this week’s special, meant to help alleviate cabin fever for crewmembers who were stuck at port while pilots infiltrated Shanghai. Now it was a grim (yet delicious) reminder of their failure. Yaz didn’t give much thought to the irony of the situation as she slurped sauce-covered noodles into her mouth.
“What a machine, huh? Still amazes me that they nailed it on the second try. Nothing they’ve made since even comes close, even with all the added bells and whistles.” She carefully grabbed another bundle of noodles with her chopsticks, mechanical hand inching closed. “Well, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration.”
“Hm,” Kara hummed before swallowing her own food. “Only slight, really. It’s a really good machine; much more accessible to modifications than the others. Ah, I’d say the Peltast is quite admirable itself, though. Would be interesting to see what kind of alterations can be done on that...”
“From a design standpoint, the Peltast has more in common with the Hoplite than anything else. The addition of a tailfin works magic for its maneuverability, but it’s nowhere near as modular as the DAGGER. We could radically change the design of a DAGGER in half the time it takes us to make a simple limb replacement for a Peltast.”
Yaz swallowed the noodles still twirled around her chopsticks before using one of the sticks to stab a chunk of pork that sat near the bottom of the bowl, dunking it in pooled-up sauce. “Which brings us to the reason you’re here… said you’re having issues with weight distribution, huh? Not surprising. With all that heat you’re packing you may as well be using a Spartan or a Hoplite.”
“Haha I know, right?” Kara replied. She looked at her machine nearby; it’s typically fielded with several rifles, a shield, and even a fairly heavy sword. “It’s very top-heavy, right now. Still maneuverable, but not quite ideal. I was thinking of having the legs get buffed up some. What do you think?”
“Not a bad idea,” Yaz admitted, chewing the pork thoroughly before gulping it down. “...but I can do you one better. That internal frame is saddling the Neu Alma with tons of unnecessary weight. Could replace it with a lighter, more durable alloy and add reinforcements around the joints to tighten its connection to the limbs. The metal has a lower melting point than what’s currently installed, but either way you slice it a DAGGER won’t hold up well to a heat sword.”
“If it's not too much trouble, I'd like that actually. I'm not too concerned about the armour. As long as it can withstand standard ammo, it's fine. As you say, trying to protect it against anything more than that would be counterproductive, or…”
She thought back to Cain's report about the white machine.
“...or highly experimental.”
“So long as we’re still operating within the realm of practicality, there’s not much point in talking about something like that,” Yasmith demurred. The machine was a sore subject for her, something that occupied her mind when it was better suited for the here and now. “In any case, I’ll hand off the requisition forms for you to sign later today. Should have a stack of them back in my office.”
There was one exception, however: the Neu Alma.
Kara Qureshi seemed to share her enthusiasm for engineering and was one of the few pilots who took an active interest in maintaining their machine. The two sat close to the DAGGER as they chowed down on lunch, plastic bowls resting on a foldable metal table that sat by its feet. Chinese food had been this week’s special, meant to help alleviate cabin fever for crewmembers who were stuck at port while pilots infiltrated Shanghai. Now it was a grim (yet delicious) reminder of their failure. Yaz didn’t give much thought to the irony of the situation as she slurped sauce-covered noodles into her mouth.
“What a machine, huh? Still amazes me that they nailed it on the second try. Nothing they’ve made since even comes close, even with all the added bells and whistles.” She carefully grabbed another bundle of noodles with her chopsticks, mechanical hand inching closed. “Well, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration.”
“Hm,” Kara hummed before swallowing her own food. “Only slight, really. It’s a really good machine; much more accessible to modifications than the others. Ah, I’d say the Peltast is quite admirable itself, though. Would be interesting to see what kind of alterations can be done on that...”
“From a design standpoint, the Peltast has more in common with the Hoplite than anything else. The addition of a tailfin works magic for its maneuverability, but it’s nowhere near as modular as the DAGGER. We could radically change the design of a DAGGER in half the time it takes us to make a simple limb replacement for a Peltast.”
Yaz swallowed the noodles still twirled around her chopsticks before using one of the sticks to stab a chunk of pork that sat near the bottom of the bowl, dunking it in pooled-up sauce. “Which brings us to the reason you’re here… said you’re having issues with weight distribution, huh? Not surprising. With all that heat you’re packing you may as well be using a Spartan or a Hoplite.”
“Haha I know, right?” Kara replied. She looked at her machine nearby; it’s typically fielded with several rifles, a shield, and even a fairly heavy sword. “It’s very top-heavy, right now. Still maneuverable, but not quite ideal. I was thinking of having the legs get buffed up some. What do you think?”
“Not a bad idea,” Yaz admitted, chewing the pork thoroughly before gulping it down. “...but I can do you one better. That internal frame is saddling the Neu Alma with tons of unnecessary weight. Could replace it with a lighter, more durable alloy and add reinforcements around the joints to tighten its connection to the limbs. The metal has a lower melting point than what’s currently installed, but either way you slice it a DAGGER won’t hold up well to a heat sword.”
“If it's not too much trouble, I'd like that actually. I'm not too concerned about the armour. As long as it can withstand standard ammo, it's fine. As you say, trying to protect it against anything more than that would be counterproductive, or…”
She thought back to Cain's report about the white machine.
“...or highly experimental.”
“So long as we’re still operating within the realm of practicality, there’s not much point in talking about something like that,” Yasmith demurred. The machine was a sore subject for her, something that occupied her mind when it was better suited for the here and now. “In any case, I’ll hand off the requisition forms for you to sign later today. Should have a stack of them back in my office.”