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[Aranzor]

I found the Hero Lore and Mech Notes so interesting I thought I'd give it a shot as well. I asked Blackthornes Dragoons for 3 chassis and builds that were designed in house, rather than just copy/pasted from another site. All three will be combined into an overlapping story but each with a highlight for that particular chassis. Originally I intended to limit myself on the length of the story...but I failed this miserably.

Anyway, all that said, here's part 1.


Hamilcar’s Tangle

New Barcelona Region, Payvand
Free Worlds League
23 July 2991

“Thing...Repeat, Thing. Warlord in view. You're up.”

Moments ago, little Satomi was sitting in her father's chair for a late night movie. Anxious, she practically bounced despite the straps tightly holding her against the pilot's couch. The pitch-dark interior was lit only by the single active display, just like the old holovid in her old home.
Before the new warlord and his duke. Before the fires and horrors that drove her from her home in the Combine.

As the crackle of the comms ended, a grin slid slowly across her face, memory turning on its head to suit her orders. No longer did it comfort and hold her. Now it pushed her, nipping at her heels with her helplessness back then.

And how she would never be again.

Activation of the modified VOX '350' fusion engine and the release of thousands of startled birds about it announced the Atlas ‘Blunderbuss's’ awakening to all. The titan, crouched to blend against the side of an ancient rock flow, now rose up with each step as it used the sharp decline to further enhance its momentum. Wood and rock trembled and shattered beneath the pounding assault of each footfall, joining in the landslide she now dragged along all around her, the sound like a screaming torrent racing down the slope.

Yet all she cared about were her own screams. The screams of a child-grown-warrior Satomi Thresher now finding her target at long last. That this wasn’t the real warlord made little difference to her at this point.

Beneath her now, she could see the convoy. Most were cargo trucks and hover vehicles to supply a pirate operation that wasn’t supposed to even exist on this planet. Three battlemechs actively guarded the group while a fourth should have been well ahead, checking the trail just to be safe. Not much it could do to warn them now. For the Battlemaster in her sights, any warning the scout could make would do little to save this ‘warlord.’ Satomi licked her lips as her hands tightened about the throttle, urging for still more speed despite already up to 60 kph. Her eyes boring holes into the frame of the monster she was going to put down.

600 meters. 500 meters.

As one storm of chaos descended, another exploded. Battlemechs turning to meet the angry giant bearing down on them stumbled and fought for their ground around scattering trucks and growing debris. The Battlemaster was the first to respond, its PPC erupting in a massive gout of azure flame that punched the Atlas square in the chest as hard as any autocannon could, and yet still ineffective in even slowing down the charging mech. From the Battlemaster’s right, a Wolverine now emerged into Satomi’s view, its large laser scoring an arc from her left arm on into her shoulder. From each hit armor sloughed away, falling to the side like puddles of blood in her wake. A Centurion’s AC-10 managed to wring her bell as it glanced along the side of the mech’s head in a near-miss, startling her and forcing her to twist her torso about prematurely to catch view of the third combatant. She would have to twist again in the opposite direction just as fast to avoid the full onslaught of its LRMs, as if to answer her fears. They battered and pocked the abused mechs right torso, then shoulder and back.

350 meters.

A second wave of abuse now had the mech stumbling over its footing, fighting both the writhing wake behind her and the destructive power before her. The onslaught, emboldened by the lack of return fire, now hammered more directly on the hurtling berserker’s exposed right arm and torso, leaving gaping wounds and threatening to tear past even the Atlas’s vaunted defenses with a third volley. Worse still, the danger of the fire and the landslide seemed to have finally taken their toll on the mech’s momentum, as the Atlas now began to slow in its pace. However, in their enthusiasm to tear into such an easy target though, no thought had been given to maintaining their advantage.

And the Wolverine was now in range.

Unified explosions of twin LB 10-Xs, SRM-6 ignitions, and even medium pulse laser fire exposed this folly as the close range now lent even greater impact to the detonations into the Wolverine’s center torso, scattering thousands of armored shrapnel into to the wind and staggering the mech onto its heels, its pilot struggling to maintain control of the sudden impact.

“Knight’s knocked, Warlord next!”

The stunning return of fire seemed to have shocked all three mechs out of their bloodlust, as too late they remembered why the Atlas had its reputation. That point was all the more driven home as the final steps of the Atlas took its shoulder into the left torso of the Battlemaster, as the transfer of momentum picked even the 85-ton machine up off of its feet, defying both gyro and pilot as the twisting mass collapsed backward awkwardly with a bone-rattling clatter. In a motion almost as graceful as it had been destructive, the Atlas pivoted counter clockwise as it bent forward against its own backpedal, killing the remaining momentum from both her charge and the jarring impact with the Battlemaster.

She had to wonder, as she slowly pulled herself forward and brought that massive frame up from its bowing performance, just what the Centurion’s pilot had to be feeling, having borne witness to what she couldn’t tell anymore was either skill or luck or some combination of both. Then again, she didn’t have to wonder for long as she flipped on the open speaker for all to hear.

After all, the Atlas now loomed just before and over the Centurion, fully exposed and daring for more.



“Warlord down, Guard in sight…”



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AS7-D ( B ) Blunderbuss
BTD Technicians were perplexed over just what to do with a stripped Atlas located in one of the Oriente depots supplied by Duke Halas. Rather than tossing the mech aside, it became a pet project for a tech student who wanted desperately to show off her skill. After locating a VOX 340 from an unusable Battlemaster, the tech worked tirelessly adapt it to the Atlas's chassis. To overcome the weight difference, she supercharged the engine from its original 340 rating to as close to 350 as manageable. The added heatsinks and other modifications, however, took more than a significant amount of the machine's weight. Two LBX-10s were used in place of the single AC-20, which was harder to locate, and the LRM-20 and ammunition was entirely removed to make room for another SRM-6 and more ammunition to accommodate the usage. Lastly two medium pulse lasers were mounted for use as a last resort or to finish off opponents while conserving valuable ammo. The intention was to make an assault that moved like a lighter class mech, but the “Blunderbuss” became a prime choice for brawlers who charged head-long into the fray.

[Thorium]

Nice read thank you!