V.V. had to admit that Steamhein had taken a very different approach when designing his Neo-Knightmares.
Aside from the obvious size difference, the standard ejectable cockpit had been entirely removed for a modified torso cockpit. He wasn't exactly certain what the terms linear seat and panoramic monitor meant but apparently, they were supposed to allow for superior visual feedback compared to standard camera technology on normal Knightmare Frames.
The specs and numbers were very precise in detail so that it would be easier to determine the amount of materials needed for construction. The overall height was to be 18.9 meters while the engines were designed to give a maximum thruster acceleration of 1.08 G. The powerplant info for this unit was left blank at the moment, most likely to be filled in later when Steamhein got what he needed from Nina Einstein's team.
The design was rather strange. While the machine looked humanoid, there were certain features that gave it a bird like look. Especially the head design and the shoulder armour which consisted of gigantic armoured plates. He could see slots in those plates which made him ponder if Steamhein would be installing Slash Harkens in there. They would probably fit better on the forearms but apparently, the good professor had some other weapons in mind to be mounted there.
Suddenly, he saw the other immortal pop up from out of nowhere near the guest workstation that Steamhein had let him use to examine the Neo-Knightmare specs more closely. "HARRO, EVERY-NYAN! HOW AH YOU? FAIN SANKYUU!!"
"What is it that you want? Can't you go bother Jeremiah or something?" With the amount of work that needed to be done to build these weapons and work with the logistics, he had no time to deal with her foolishness.
"Orange-kun's back to practicing with those wrist blades again! And I don't care about that other guy. He can go hang himself for all I care," said Ple in that carefree tone of hers.
"I'm certain that Bartley shares that mutual feeling in regards to you," muttered V.V. to himself while looking back to his work on examining those ten Frames to be built. He figured that eight would go to the active Knights of the Round so that left two machines, one which would probably be assigned to Gottwald. As for the other, V.V. assumed that he would be the one to pilot it although he would rather spend his time on running the Order's operations.
'Unless...' His thoughts briefly entertained the idea of making P.P. his replacement pilot while he worked on other projects but he quickly dismissed it. There would be no way that she would want to put any effort into getting involved in this particular conflict. After all, her 'brother' wasn't even going to be involved.
The time passed quietly as Rai continued going through the reading materials provided to him by the yellow Haro unit assigned to keep him company. "Set the combat mode selector on the right control stick to 'shooting' and release the trigger lock. A targeting reticule will then appear on your main monitor and enemy units will be tagged with target symbols. Use the control stick to move the reticule onto the desired target, get a lock-on, and pull the trigger. In close-quarters combat, set the combat mode selector to 'melee' to have your unit draw its weapon. Go a few seconds at full throttle to close the distance, then pull the trigger to make your attack." He took a moment to catch his breath and ended up sneezing.
"Are you cold?"
"No, I'm fine but thanks for asking," said the youth as he took a light break from the reading. "Wow, operating a mobile suit really sounds kinda complicated. But the concept is almost identical to operating a Knightmare Frame." To be honest, there was some odd sense of comfort reading something technical like this. This is probably a result of some of the piloting skills from his alternate lives melding with his current consciousness. His mind was already drawing similarities to piloting the Lancelot Club in that other life as a Britannian soldier.
"So does that mean you're comfortable starting simulation tests in the morning?" asked Tieria from his spot on the console not too far away from Rai's bed. He had been busy going through some of the readings taken from the experiment that took place earlier but his attention was split between keeping an eye on Rai and putting together a simulation program for the potential new Meister.
That caught the white haired young man off guard. "I... guess so? Although I'm not sure how quickly I'll adjust to running a machine that's about three times bigger than the average Knightmare Frame."
"If that expertise from those alternative lives has embedded in your memory, then you should be confident enough to handle some basic exercises in mobile suit operations."
Rai gave a little chuckle. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Great Teacher Tieria..."
The hologram merely snorted before transferring his work to another workstation where he wouldn't disturb their guest. "Get some rest. You're going to need it for tomorrow."
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(Posted Sat, 07 May 2011 03:52)
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