457 replies to this topic

[InnerSphereNews]

She's reached that state - where you know things are occuring but can not think about them. Even at 129 km/h, the world blurring around her, she is utterly focussed, nothing escapes her gaze. Even before she sees it she feels it - on the other side of that hill. Self-preservation trained out of her, she whips around the corner. Her shoulders hunch forward as the enemy 'Mech slides into view. She triggers the Medium lasers without thinking, a line grows from right arm across its back. A glorious hit! She abruptly halts, allowing herself a half second to line up another shot, dead centre of the Catapult (C1, she notes with a smirk) and - Yes! Beautiful hit, armour pours down as she adds her Small Laser to the mix. The Catapult pilot, realising she is seconds away from killing him, abruptly jump jets straight up, twisting his four medium lasers towards her.

She darts forward, throttle half-way, and fires up at the Catapult as it rises above her. She then full speeds forward, glancing at her HUD to assess the damage on the enemy Catapult. Not bad - not a lot, but not bad. More importantly, the Catapult is busy fending her off, It was not firing at her fellow - abruptly she is hit, impacts scorch the earth around her. While she missed her jump-jets she was most assuredly seeing the benefits of speeds this high. The distintive blue bolt of a PPC passes feet from her face, looking like a straight line of blue lighting. She pushes panic out of herself, twisting towards where the bolt came from as she zig-zags to throw off her opponents aim. Where is he? There! The silhouette of a Catapult K2 appears on a hilltop, looking down at her; she triggers her Medium Lasers, aiming for the legs of the stock-still Catapult. Now two 'Mechs were after her, and her plan came into place...

As the Catapult K2 strode into view again over a hill, and the Catapult C1 alighted on a rocky outcropping to open fire, it happens. Hah! Her plan worked perfectly, pulling them off to the south-west, too far for their friends to help, her Cicada had performed perfectly - movements so quick they panicked and focussed on her. If they didn't realise it was a trap before, they would now. Georges Commando seemingly came into existance behind the K2, firing an SRM-4, SRM-6, and Medium laser into its back. Twisting slowly to see the sudden attacker, the K2 attempted to bring it's impressive weaponry to bear, but she could almost feel George grinning as he kept pace behind it, then outright laughing as Ashley lept over it in her Jenner, firing four Medium Lasers and an SRM-4 into its already crippled back. She added her own, tracing glowing lines along it's left 'arm' and torso. Missiles imapcted around her, but the speed she kept up made her almost impossible to hit.

Everything seemed to be happening all at once, but slowly. She was leaning into her 'Mech, willing it to turn even faster as she dodged from hill to hill, advancing on the Catapult C1. All ready for battle, she nearly flew around the corner straight towards the C1, hunched forward, finger ready to fire dead-centre of the enemy 'Mechs head, when it came into view and- Jarring did not describe it. Hah! What a fool she'd been. Doing a huge hook to the left, she dodged behind a rock as she watched salvo after salvo of LRMs slamming into the C1. McCaughy, her partner, had nailed it with his NARC. She burst out from behind cover, doing tight 'S' turns as she fired at the enemy 'Mech. As the C1 pilot attempted to fly into cover, a pair of PPC bolts appeared to cut it in half, coring out the centre as the already-damaged C1 fell to the earth, limp and aflame.

"Nice work Scout, that new ride of yours treating you ok?" "Roger that."

"Glad to hear it; enemies to the North and North East of you."

"On it."

She lept off the cliff edge, landing smoothly on the ground and quickly hitting 129 km/h.

Yes, she sure did love this new ride...

[Fresh Meat]

whoop, damn that looks good!

edit: for you convenience: http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Cicada

Edited by Fresh_Meat, 09 May 2012 - 09:23 AM.

[Sean Lang]

Didn't see this coming!

[PsychoFarmer]

Great 'mech, House Marik built.

[Barantor]

Fast medium, yes yes... love it.

[Vexgrave Lars]

Better that the original, by lightyears!

heavily armored Jenner

CDA-3C - The -3C Cicada is an attempt to allow the 'Mech to have a much greater reach with devastating results. To do this, the maximum speed has been reduced to 118.8 kph and the Medium Lasers have been replaced with two Machine Guns and the Small Laser has been replaced with a PPC.

That would be nice to have.

Edited by Vexgrave Lars, 09 May 2012 - 09:15 AM.

[Garth Erlam]

I think this is my favourite so far - I love the look, and the variants are incredible.

[CoffiNail]

Nice
Not one I was thinking we would see, be good to see.

[Hayden]

OH MAN! AWESOME!!! I MEAN CICADA! CAN'T CONTROL MY EXCITEMENT, GONNA GET STARTED NOW

Edited by Hayden, 09 May 2012 - 09:14 AM.

[DarkTreader]

Description
The Cicada was introduced in 2740 by HartfordCo Industries in an attempt to capitalize on the growing need for BattleMechs. HartfordCo built the Cicada to compete directly against the Locust. The 'Mech was designed around a similar doctrine of speed and has a top speed of 129.6 km/h. The Cicada design did eventually encounter some unforeseen problems that sullied the reputation of the 'Mech. Primary among these was a critical flaw in the design of the heat sinks used that could cause severe heat management concerns and could even lead to an inadvertent shutdown in a combat situation.

Armament
The Cicada is armed with two Magna Medium Lasers and a single Magna Small Laser. These weapons give the Cicada independence from logistical support lines when necessary, in exchange for a weapons loadout that has a higher than average amount of excess heat.


Source: Sarna.net

Edited by DarkTreader, 09 May 2012 - 09:15 AM.

[Claw55]

Confession time: Did not see this coming.

How do you pronounce Cicada anyway?

Edited by Claw55, 09 May 2012 - 09:16 AM.

[Skoll]

I really like it.

[IxxxI]

Am I alone finding it ugly? (It suits well FRR though)

[Garth Erlam]

Claw55, on 09 May 2012 - 09:15 AM, said:

Confession time: Did not see this coming. How do you pronounce Cicada anyway?

Chick-ah-dah.

[Gigaton]

A ninja 'mech release! Grats for the FWL fans too (yeah, I know it's a shame it's not camoed in FWL purple).

[Motionless]

I'll be honest, I was really hoping for a Cicada. And this will make those FWL guys happy. Good stuff.

[Jazz30]

It's a good pic and an excellent example of a fast scout/light interdiction mech. The new art style goes a long way too. That said, didn't see this coming and not remotely interested in driving this walnut. I'm sure someone will love it, though.

[Atlai]

Scout hunter anyone?

[Motionless]

Garth Erlam, on 09 May 2012 - 09:17 AM, said:

Chick-ah-dah.

wat?

sə-ˈkā-də

[Hador]

Cicada, nice one indeed