So, tell me what the hell I'm looking at.
It's a mech.
Yah, I know. That's obvious. Tell me why you've dragged me all the way down here. You know I can't be late for my date with Bek.
You're always thinking with your gonads, Jack.
If you weren't such a greasy little gearhead, your gonads might get some more exercise. Quit wasting my time. What the hell is this thing?
This, dear Jack, is the fruit of my months of labor. This tiny beaut is the project I was telling you about.
I'm sorry, Wieder, you've always got so many projects going on. Which one is this?
The micro assault mech.
Ah. Micro assault mech… so?
OK. So let me tell you about it… again.
Don't tell me you don't love this. Wait. Let me get a beer first. I'll bet this is going to take a while.
If you'll recall, the Clans are looking for a solution…
Not listening! No beer yet!
The Clans are always looking for something to put them ahead of their competition. It's always been about more armor and bigger guns.
More armor means greater survivability, bigger guns mean more kill-ability.
Yeah. That's been the mantra for the last 300 years or so. Every time anyone's tried to challenge the orthodoxy, they've been spanked. Remember the Kirov SpiderMechs?
You mean the Kirov Turkey Shoot?
Heh. Yeah, well, that's what you get when you ask too much of a small reactor. Once you get down to certain size, there's no way to provide enough surface area for cooling. I mean, what's the point of a 2-ton reactor if you need 14 tons of heat sink or your fans hogging all your power?
Yeah. What's the point?
Exactly! So you end up with an arms race where the Clan that fields the burliest hunk of junk wins.
And this… thing of yours is going to change all that?
Well, not the frame, the systems, or the weapons. They're all standard.
So what's left?
What's going to change the balance of power in this half of the Outer Sphere is this… uh… this!
If you can get it open.
Hey, it's new… hasn't … been broken in… yet! There! See?
OK. So. It's so sort of magnetic… emitting thingy?
Good guess! The arrangement of the cylinders does look a little like a phased array coil… or a orbital railgun motor element… or a…
My beer is running out, Wieder.
Huh?
Get on with it.
Oh! Yeah. It's an internal combustion engine.
A what?
It's a old, old technology. Pre-Diaspora.
You're kidding.
Nope. In fact, it's a Pratt and Whitney R-4360.
Is that suppose to mean anything to me?
Nope. Doesn't to me either. I just reproduced the manufacturer's nameplate for the fun of it. See?
You are strange, Wieder.
Some people would call me an artist or even a craftsman.
Yes. I agree that it's pretty. You're not spending my money for pretty. You're spending my money to mix things up in this slice of the Sphere. So we can make more money.
Yes, Jack, I understand. I'll boil it down for you.
Please.
I came across the original one of these from a raider/trader a couple of years ago. He said he bought it from a guy who ripped off a museum or something. Anyway, I'm familiar with these combustion engines. I'd just never conceived of 28 pistons all moving up and down, reciprocating in their four-cycle dance.
You make it sound positively kinky.
It is… beautiful.
OK, Wieder, keep your hands out of your pockets.
I could hear those ancient engineers calling out to me, kindred spirits from another age.
Wieder, you're worrying me.
So I reproduced it. I used our methods and materials to improve on it. Those poor primitives hadn't even dreamed about about L-CNC or beam deposition.
What's the fuel?
A custom mix of hydrocarbons and oxidizers. Easy to produce.
Power?
According to my sims, the original put out around 2.6 mega-joules. This one pumps out 20.2 as tested.
Wow.
Yeah. The one limitation is at least a class 6A atmosphere, for cooling.
No problem there. You're after the homeworlds, not the colonies. Performance?
This is the prototype transmission, so I've only been able to get 50 klicks-per-hour out of it, but that's with an all-out range of 1200 klicks. With the next transmission, I expect better power transfer, maybe 80 klicks-per-hour with the same range.
That's all-out, for the whole 1200 klicks?
Yep.
This is going to change everything.
Exactly. One question though.
Uh-huh?
What's a turkey?
Pakeha