Code Geass: The Demon and The Dragon
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass. If I did, then what you see below would be the show, instead of a fanfiction on the Internet.
Third Technical File: Britannia, 6th-Generation continued and the Ganymede's relative
RCI-02A
Hafgan
Unit Type: Limited Production Rapid Assault Knightmare Frame
Manufacturer: Imperial Armories
Operator: Britannian Army (Mabinogion)
Height: 4.42 Meters
Weight: 7392 Kilograms
Armor: Titanium Carbide/Silicon Nitride composite
Power Source: 1 x Yggdrasil Drive
Propulsion: 2 x High Traction Landspinners
1 x Spinner Extension
Equipment and Design Features: 2 x Factspheres
Advanced Targeting System
Advanced Telemetry System
Co-Armament System
2 x Hip Containers
2 x Leg Containers
Fixed Armaments: 2 x Shoulder-Based lightened self-propelled monomolecular slash harkens
1 x 25mm machine gun
1 x TOW missile launcher
Hand Armaments: 35mm Assault Rifle
Knightmare Shotgun
45mm Machine Gun
Rocket Launcher
150mm Multipurpose Launcher
50mm Sniper Rifle
Chaos Grenades
High-Explosive Grenades
Bio: The Hafgan is the brain-child of Lloyd Asplund, developed before his current work in the Advanced Special Envoy Engineering Corps. The Hafgan, along with its cousins the Arawn and the Mabon, are part of the Mabinogion program, which awards skilled and loyal Knightmare Frame devicers with a limited-production frame and a high-level military position in a conquered Area. Upon an Area's capture, fifteen veterans of the campaign are selected as Mabinogis. Five are given Hafgans, five Arawns, and five Mabons.
Being based loosely off of the standard Sutherland Knightmare Frame, the Hafgan has bulkier armor arrayed in sharp angular surfaces designed to deflect rounds, and is generally colored a platinum on blue-gray. The head is more humanoid than the Sutherland's, and has a camera visor, as the Factspheres are based on the shoulders, as with all the Mabinogion Frames, as well as the Seventh-Generation Prototypes.
The Landspinners have been roughened on a molecular scale, giving them more traction as a result and thus allowed the Hafgan greater acceleration and decreasing the chances of becoming unbalanced at high speeds. Along with this is the addition of a smaller third Landspinner, called a Spinner Extension due to it being mounted on a extensible pole that extrudes from the cockpit protrusion on the Hafgan's chest.
The Hafgan is given to pilots skilled in conventional Knightmare combat, and is programmed with advanced targeting and telemetry systems, allowing the pilot to acquire and track targets from greater distances while supplying relevant data to allied forces. This greatly increases the coordination of Hafgan squadrons, allowing them to react practically instantaneously on a tactical level, further allowing a corresponding increase in efficiency and ability.
One of the most unusual features of the Hafgan is its Co-Armament System, a system that allows the devicer to aim and use a weapon in either manipulator without any loss of accuracy by using statistics from the strong hand in order to steady the aim of the weak hand, thus allowing use of two weapons in order to increase fire superiority.
The other 'unusual' feature is a third landspinner, connected to an extensible rod attached to the cockpit extrusion and just under the 25mm machine gun mount. Like the other two landspinners, the third landspinner is micro-corrugated in order to increase traction. In order to use the Extension landspinner, the Hafgan must crouch.
Basic fixed armaments include slash harkens, a torso-based machine gun, and a TOW missile launcher mounted on the right shoulder.
The Slash Harkens are a new lightweight compressed hybrid composite designed to decrease the weight of the harkens in order to allow faster flight. This also allows the gas-propulsion systems built into their structure to manipulate the direction of travel, making what had formerly been basically a moderately dangerous thrown knife into an extremely fatal homing medium-range armor penetrator.
The 25mm machine gun fires full metal jacket rounds, and is designed for use against infantry and light vehicles.
The TOW Missile Launcher fires a missile designed with a high fuel-efficiency booster and a new super-compressed high explosive compound warhead, giving it far more destructive capability for the same weight as other missiles of this type.
Hand armaments are generally advanced versions of standard Knightmare weapons, although a multipurpose launcher capable of firing various munitions, such as grendades, smoke bombs, chaff, flares, chemical weapons, and EMP ordnance, have been made available.
Assault Rifles are chambered for a 35mm High Velocity Armor Piercing round consisting of a tungsten carbide core in an aluminum alloy shell. This allows the round to travel at higher velocities and penetrate greater, thus dealing greater damage, to both the target and the surrounding environment. Different calibers of this ammunition is also used for the 45mm machine gun, and the 50mm sniper rifle.
A weapon usually not used is the Rocket Launcher, which fires a High Explosive Squash Head rocket, in which the interior plastic explosive is squashed against armor before detonation, causing the armor to fragment into dangerous spall traveling at high velocities into the crew/pilot section of a tank/Knightmare.
The Hafgan also uses the standard Chaos and High-Explosive Grenades, generally storing them in either the hip or leg-based container units. Said containers are general-purpose, capable of holding anything from grenades to spare magazines. Recently, some Hafgan pilots have also begun to use Scramble Grenades developed by the A.S.E.E.C in their operations, utilizing its stun properties to further their already formidable advantage over the Anti-Britannian Militias and Euro Universe armies.
In general, the Hafgan is a great improvement over the Sutherland and its derivatives, earning it the title of a Sixth-Generation Knightmare Frame, first of its kind in any military. Thus, it is one of the primary incentives for devicers to participate in initial invasions and to perform to the best of their abilities, serving the ideals of the Holy Britannian Empire.
RCI-02C
Mabon
Unit Type: Limited Production Special Operations Knightmare Frame
Manufacturer: Imperial Armories
Operator: Britannian Army (Mabinogion)
Height: 4.28 Meters
Weight: 6264 Kilograms
Armor: 6063 aluminum alloy, plated with Titanium Carbide
Power Source: 1 x Yggdrasil Drive
Propulsion: 2 x Landspinners
2 x Hydro-Jets
Equipment and Design Features: 2 x High-Sensitivity Factspheres
1 x Sonar System
Low-Friction Joints
Pressurized Frame
Stealth Paint Coating
Surface Cooling System
Fixed Armaments: Shoulder-Based 2 x Monomolecular Slash Harkens
2 x Arm-mounted 10x60mm Pneumatic Needle Guns
Standard Hand Armaments: 2 x Monomolecular-Edge Daggers
20 x Anti-Armor Throwing Knives
Optional Hand Armaments: Silenced 20mm Sub-Machine Gun
Silenced 50mm Sniper Rifle
Pneumatic Multipurpose Launcher
Bio: The Mabon is given to special forces pilots, and is made specifically with them in mind. The low-friction joint coatings give the Mabon a faster reaction speed, while the radar-absorbing stealth paint renders it less likely to be detected by the average low-power ground radar in current use by most Anti-Britannian forces. A series of cooling systems beneath its armor regulates surface temperature, making the infrared vision aspect of Factspheres useless.
The Mabon is much like the Arawn in appearance, only less bulky and instead of a two-color paint scheme, it has a uniform dark blue-gray color created by the combination of stealth paint and a micro-roughened cloth-like material covering it that diffuses light, allowing the Mabon to more easily hide in darkness. The Mabon's main cameras are made with polarized glass, and coated with an semi-absorbent gel that prevents light from glinting off of the glass, but also impedes standard vision. Counteracting this is the sensitivity of the Mabon's Factspheres, which are designed to be able to view a wider range of light wavelengths while also being able to selectively view any.
Aside from its Landspinners, the Mabon also utilizes two hydro-jets for underwater mobility. To make underwater operation easier, the frame is pressurized to allow the Mabon a maximum depth of 150 meters. The Mabon is equipped with a sonar system, allowing it to track underwater and necessitating its pilots to take audio-identification courses with Britannian submersible sonar operators.
All Mabons are equipped with monomolecular-edged Slash Harkens based in their shoulders just above their Factspheres, giving them impressive accuracy with the weapons. Along with this are a pair of needle guns based in the forearms that use high-pressure gases or liquids to fire 10x60mm depleted uranium-tipped tungsten carbide needles, and while these weapons are limited in range, they are deadly given that the pilot is highly accurate and stealth enough to get close to his target.
Standard non-fixed armaments are two Knightmare-scale daggers with laser-sharpened monomolecular edges, each approximately a meter long. Along with these are throwing knives made of high-density materials and also sharpened to molecular width, designed to be thrown by the Mabon. Each one has a high-explosive charge incorporated into its hilt, activated by remote from the Mabon that used it.
Silenced versions of standard Knightmare weapons are also available for used, although most Mabon pilots forgo them in order to keep weight in ammunition down. However, one weapon that is very useful is the Pneumatic Multipurpose Launcher, a larger handheld pressure-based version of the Bors' Multipurpose Magnetic Pulse Launchers. The Launcher can fire anything from adhesive explosives to grenades to electroshock rounds, making it so that every Mabon unit has at least one frame equipped with the weapon.
Original Mechanical Designer: Velshard
AAX-0
(Ashford Armaments eXperiment unit-0)
Io
Pilot: C.C
Unit Type: Prototype Assault Use Humanoid Semi-Autonomous Mechanized Knight
Manufacturer: Ashford Armaments
Operator: N/A
Accommodations: pilot only, in jet fighter style layout
Height: 5.2 Meters
Weight: 19.15 Metric Tons (base weight)
Armor: 4th Generation Laminated Chobham mixed with radar absorbent stealth material
Power Source: Hafnium based IGE battery, output rated at approximately 400 kW
Propulsion/Motive Systems: Technorganic Electroactive Musculature
zero-friction linear actuators
7 x large Milspec combat tires
2 x quantum nucleonic reaction thrusters, mounted on back
Equipment and Design Features: Prototype Decentralized Sakuradite Drive System
Internal Gyroscopic Balancer
Liquid Nitrogen cooling system
Full NBC Protection System
C3 suite (Command communications and control)
ECM(Electronic Counter Measure) suite
EW (Electronic Warfare)suite
combat use Magnetic Field Detector
all weather sensor suite
fish eye multifaceted laser designation and camera array, mounted in upper torso
Laser Designator equipped Scouting Periscope, mounted in head
jet fighter based ejection chair hard point on back for parachute drops and unspecified weapons
4 x weapon hard point, 1 on each forearm and on top of each shoulder
Slant Armor design; ammunition storage units inside hip armor and rear skirt armor; 2 x weapons hangars mounted on hips
Fixed Armaments: 1 x 12.7mm single-barrel CIWS, mounted in head, 320-rounds
2 x 40mm multipurpose grenade launchers mounted in torso, 75-rounds each
2 x "Lumeria" plasma swords, stored in forearms, hand carried in use
Optional Fixed Armaments: "Girtab" 2-shot 6x10, 60-tube Micro missile unit, fires 6.5x66cm(diameter-length) missiles, 120 missiles total, can be mounted on shoulders and forearms
"Akar" Palette Shield, can be mounted on shoulders and forearms
various uncomplete plans for Grenade Launchers, MLRS, and larger missile systems
Hand Armaments: "Sukur" 120mm Rail Gun, 8-round box magazine
"Kiza" 60mm twin-barrel smooth-bore smart rifle, 36-round magazine
"Asi" 30mm triple-barrel rotary cannon, 165-round belt fed magazine
"Theron" combined 40mm sequence cannon, 75-round magazine/8.5mm 7-barrel Gatling gun, integral drum in gun system stores 2750 rounds
"Loki" 240mm 4-round+1 loaded grenade launcher, can be mounted to Kiza and Asi
"Molga" 180mm SCRAMjet bazooka, 7-rounds +1 loaded(incomplete)
"Odin" High-Energy Particle Projection Cannon (incomplete), theorized maximum number of discharges 45-70
Bio: Due to military interest in the Ganymede's creation the Io was built shortly after the success of the Ashford's first experimental frame as a truly combat worthy system. The Io was intended to be test piloted by Marianne Vi Britannia but before the frame was fully completed, and even received it's first paint job for that matter, Empress Marianne was assassinated. With the proceeding fall of the Ashfords from power work on the Io was stopped with it 96 percent complete, perhaps as an act of defiance against the Empire Ruben Ashford had the Io mothballed and shipped to Japan where it sat for several years suffering from rust, corrosion, and vermin infestation.
The unit was all but ruined, requiring a massive overhaul if it were ever to be made operational again, however the unit's design, despite being quite different from the Royal Military's current KMFs, is for the most part vastly superior despite it's prototype status. Theoretically it has performance values equal to that of the latest 7th generation Knightmares and is unsurprisingly much more durable thanks to a higher usage of heavy metals; it is without a doubt the first 6th generation Knightmare to exist .
The Io, much like the Ganymede, has a much more effeminate design and is taller with significantly longer arms and legs than most normal KMFs, this of course also means it has a superior reach and jumping ability, though they are much thicker than the Ganymede's original limbs. Another difference is the addition of skirt armor to protect the unit's critical lower torso and hip joints, increasing weight but also increasing survivability. additionally built into the hip and rear skirt armor are magazine storage units for the Io's hand armaments, as well as hanger units on it's hips for storing said armaments. Unlike most Knightmares that either have a very blocky or rounded body the Io's armor consists of almost nothing but geometric sharply slanted shapes thereby giving the unit both a very aggressive appearance as well as a stealthy one. However this is not intended to be cosmetic but in fact followed after modern tank armor which is designed to deflect enemy fire from direct hits, partway through the design process it was realized that it's shape would naturally lend to reducing it's radar cross section so radar absorbent materials were added to the armor as well. Effectively the Io has a radar cross section equivalent to a very small car but due to the obvious problem of it's shape and the sheer number of moving parts and joints it is impossible to make a KMFs radar cross section any smaller than this with the available technology. The Armor itself is a laminate, with the exterior armor being made from a 20mm thick sheet of a Titanium MMC (Metal Matrix Composite) filled with ceramic Borides, ceramic Nitrides, and ceramic Carbides. Beneath that are 40mm laminated plates of compressed Boron Carbide and silk thin sheets of Titanium Nitride, which is backed by a 10mm thick spall liner layer made up of 80 percent Carbon Fiber reinforced polymer, Kevlar, and Dyneema, the other 20 percent consists of interwoven strands of Titanium. Sandwiched between these three layers are two 20mm thick Nickel-Alumina Oxide Aerogel Hyper-velocity shock and Infrared radiation absorption pads, because each of these Aerogel layers are 99 percent air they add virtually no excess weight to the armor but exponentially increase it's durability. This armor can effectively stop virtually all existing Anti-tank munitions and even direct hit's from the VARIS weapon developed by the Camelot project, the only know existing exception to this high durability is against the Io's own 120mm Rail gun.
The Io, like any modern KMF uses large quantities of Sakuradite all throughout it's systems, meaning that it normally would show up like a road flare on Infrared. To counter this the Io is cooled by liquid nitrogen making it very hard for infrared armaments and cameras to track it, unlike most all modern Knightmares, which are sitting ducks for these types of devices. Instead of being powered by the now standard Yggdrasil drive and Sakuradite Metal Hydride energy fillers, the Io is powered by a decentralized Drive reminiscent of the Yggdrasil drive but boasts greater reliability and survivability along with a 20 percent increase in overall power output. The unit's energy filler consists of a rather dangerous rechargeable/replaceable Hafnium isotope based Induced Gamma Emission battery that can provide power to the Io for days of continuous combat operations instead of just hours. For obvious reasons this battery is contained within a black box of near indestructible super compressed depleted Uranium, Lead, and Boron Carbide, with it's interior and exterior sealed by a Plasteel Super polymer containing a highly oxygen reactant polyurethane ceramic glue filled with very fine grains of Lead and Boron Carbide. Rather conveniently a total of four of these batteries were made for the Io, though they never see use during it's own service life.
Another unique trait of the Io was it's lack of Slash Harkens, though this isn't surprising since when the Io was built they hadn't even been invented yet, so instead of Slash Harkens for scaling objects and clearing obstacles the Io is equipped with an experimental pair of Quantum Nucleonic Reaction Thrusters. These QNR thrusters are actually powered directly by a baffle on the IGE battery which directs gamma rays into an excitement chamber in each thruster that ionizes air and/or water to create a blast of plasma similar to a pulse jet engine. As a result they have a tremendous output allowing the unit to easily boost over most any obstacle including large bodies of water, on the down side they are very energy costly and produce a great deal of waste heat meaning that they should only be used as necessary. On the upside however they don't drain so much power that they ruin the machines incredible operating time and they are very reliable due to their lack of moving parts.
To make the Io more responsive it's joints are made from zero-friction electromagnetic linear actuators unlike most KMFs which use more normal linear actuators, it's main means of movement however were Technorganic synthetic muscles which greatly improved the machines energy efficiency and power to weight ratio. With a power to weight ratio of almost 4:1 the Io is twice as 'strong' as the two prototype 7th generation KMFs developed as a part of project Camelot, however the Io is so strong that it created too much stress on it's own frame so a removable limiter was created in it's OS so it only operates at 64.5 percent of it's maximum. Most likely the unit would be as fast as modern 7th Generation KMFs but possessing superior strength, however this superiority would be weighed down slightly by the unit's inferior agility due to the design of it's feet. Unlike modern KMFs the Io's armored retractable combat tires are fixed directly into it's oversized feet meaning that it can't maneuver as agilely as they can nor keep it's balance as easily while firing on the move though this is alleviated quite a bit by it's internal Gyroscope. On the plus side it's foot design offers the unit vastly superior traction over most any terrain than today's KMFs add to that it's superior top speed of over a 112 KPH and it truly is a unit meant for the Marianne the Flash. It's incredible speed is in part credited to the Io's aerodynamic design as well the fact that each of it's combat tires is powered by a single 600 Horsepower high torque electric engine that gives the Io the ability to accelerate flawlessly with no loss in torque thanks to a carefully designed drive manager program. That being said it is still quite a bit slower than the estimated top speed of the Z-01 Lancelot of 145 KPH, standing up that is, the Io has three additional combat tires on it's body all powered by the same electric engines as those in it's feet. One near the elbow of each forearm and one on the back of it's lower torso chassis, or in Layman's terms the Io's a*s, the reason for this was that it was anticipated that the Io might be dropped out of the back of a cargo plane in flight and putting wheels on it's backside would make moving it easier. Expanding on this idea engines were added to these wheels, allowing the Io to enter a high speed aerodynamic Luge Boarding mode by simply lying in a semi upright position on it's back. The benefits of this ability are two-fold, first and foremost being able to reach an unassisted top speed of over 193 KPH and secondly the ability to squeeze under gaps of no more than 2 meters, something no other Knightmare can do. The coup de grace though is that the Io can use most of it's weapons, including it's hand armaments, even while luge-ing and if an extra burst of speed is needed the QNR thrusters can fold back far enough to give it a nitro boost, due to stability reasons however it cannot safely exceed speeds of 338 KPH.
The last truly unique part of the Io's design was the lack of a massive ejecting pilot pod, instead it's cockpit and ejection system was modeled after a fighter aircraft's, though it is still situated on the units back behind the head and neck it is by far a much smaller target than the obnoxiously huge hump on modern KMFs. The cockpit is extremely well protected by much thicker layers of armor and also incorporates a full Nuclear, Biological, & Chemical Protection system, another system virtually all modern KMFs lack. For obvious reasons the triple thick armored cockpit canopy is situated on top of the cockpit and is designed to be blasted away when the ejection system is triggered. The cockpit is also quite small by modern standards with no chance of two full grown adults, or close to it, being able to fit inside, however it still very comfortably accommodates it's single pilot with an ergonomic self adjusting command chair and intuitive layout. With a large Panoramic display along with a few strategically placed status and control screens the Io offers it's pilot a vastly superior field of view and battlefield awareness than any modern KMF. One down side of this cockpit design though is how much more vulnerable the pilot is when they eject by comparison to a modern pilot ejection pod which offers the pilot a great deal of safety and even ejects them far away from the combat area they were disabled in. Another thing to consider is how much more stressful the Io's ejection system is on it's pilot both physically and psychologically.
To counter pilot vulnerability and to further increase the effective depth of control over their Knightmare, the Ashfords R&D once again went outside the box in an intuitive way with the control interface and pilot safety system. First off was the requirement of a custom made full body environmentally controlled pilot suit with it's own full NBC protection system, for this Ashford Armaments 'borrowed' a mothballed combat survival suit. The suit was primarily made from a mixture of Quevlar(Dyneema), an ultra high molecular weight polyethylene meant to mimic the strength of spider's silk and Halo-tech, a highly durable alternative to Nomex fire retardant fabric reinforced with strands of Titanium weave. This was backed by a layer of Silica Aerogel for shock absorption, and Mylar filled with a highly unstable and viscous sealing agent meant to maintain the suits environmental integrity if it is compromised. And finally behind this is a comfort material layer filled with temperature controlling capillaries linked to a circulation system. The suit's vital areas were then covered by a scale armor of composite laminate materials similar in some aspects to the Io's own armor, over these areas the suit is rated as Type. 5A armor capable of withstanding multiple direct hits from .50 caliber AP rounds. In terms of overall survivability, the pilot could literally have a claymore go off on their chest and it would neither kill nor debilitatingly injure them.
The suit's helmet however is perhaps the most important component, made from a super compressed Plasteel with a face shield made from an ERLAIFP(electrically reactive light amplifying infrared filtering polarizing) super tektite glass. The helmet contains multiple important devices aside from the standard communication and defogging components as well as externally mounted Infrared illuminators and White LEDs. A powerful SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) meant to monitor the pilot's brain activity, hundreds of micro-maser Neuro-manipulators, and infrared eye movement detectors are also in the helmet. The Purpose of the SQUID and Neuro-manipulators is to transmit tactile sensory information acquired from the Io's own onboard computer directly to the pilots brain allowing the pilot to 'feel' what the Knightmare feels. This was accomplished by adding hundreds of high-sensitivity pressure and stress sensors to the Io's feet, frame, and joints along with interfacing the pilot's own sense of balance with the Io's own gyroscopic stabilization system. Effectively this gives the pilot a near supernatural degree of flawless control over the Knightmare since they can now experience the environment they are fighting in and how it's affecting their frame much more clearly.
Due to the sheer weight of the Io's Combat Survival suit another component to it's ejection system had to be added, specifically a combat exo-frame, this was incorporated directly into the cockpit and ejection system with the Knightmares controls at the end of each limb. The command/ejection chair itself becomes a backpack unit for the Exo-frame after ejection containing LI batteries that can power the system continuously for up to two weeks as well as the suits all important air filtration system. Other things that come standard in the backpack is a 7.62mm battle rifle and a 12mm handgun, a normal combat uniform, several changes of undergarments, and a water purifier. 1 gallon of water is held in a storage tank that feeds via drinking tube into the pilot's helmet, vitamin supplements, a medical first aid and trauma kit, as well as two weeks worth of emergency rations round out the supplies. In terms of overall performance the Exo-frame can allow the pilot to sprint at a top speed of just over 65 KPH and keep up a steady jog at about 31 KPH, it's jumping ability however is slightly more limited due to it's design allowing the pilot to jump maybe twice their own height while being able to leap across gaps up to 18 meters across. The final device equipped to the backpack is a Halon fire extinguishing system meant to extinguish Napalm, white phosphorous, and other incendiaries and petroleum based materials that might ignite on the suit.
In terms of other systems and armaments the Io was designed in part to act as a mobile C3, ECM, and EW platform though because the unit was essentially a technology demonstrator this equipment wasn't fully developed nor was it completed. But if this equipment hand been fully finished the Io could actively reek havoc on an enemy's battle net jamming communications, countering the enemy's own attempts at jamming it's own, and even transmitting false information to it's opponents. The Io could also function in virtually any and all weather conditions, even a class 3 hurricane and unlike most KMFs that are simply water resistant the Io is fully submersible up to 220 meters. Though the unit wasn't specifically designed for aquatic combat it was meant to be able to excel in amphibious operations and quite conveniently it's QNR thrusters do work even while submerged, if not better. As such mobility is not much of a problem and thanks to the Io's OS the unit can even swim to a degree, however against a devoted aquatic combat frame such as a Portman, it is still inferior in terms of speed if not agility.
The unit has placed in it's chest a wide area targeting system designed to allow the Io to light up a total of 17 active targets with laser designators(including three in it's head), this served two purposes first was to give the Io the ability to engage many targets very rapidly with it's guns and freakishly advanced Girtab micro missiles. Second was the fact it could then feed this targeting information to beyond line of sight weapons platforms such as 105mm Howitzer artillery, MLRS artillery, cruise missile stations, and or overhead strike aircraft and attack ornithopters. When not in use the targeting unit is covered by a plate of armor, additionally the targeting unit can also function as a backup camera if the head is destroyed, it should also be noted that all of the Io's optics are covered with a radar absorbent film similar to a one way mirror that changes the optics to a golden color. Another item of interest in the Io's chest is a combat use magnetic field detector that is meant to detect the unique magnetic signatures of armored vehicles and identify their make and model, though obviously it can detect KMFs as well. The device is very useful for detecting opponents who cannot be seen but it's effective range is limited to just under 1 kilometer in a 20 degree field, however this makes it almost perfectly suited for enemy detection in urban warfare. Unfortunately like many parts of the Io this was not fully finished, needing to be fully calibrated as well as given a target library and extrapolation program for both ambient environmental conditions and determining what a possible target could be.
Mounted in the Io's head is a 12.7mm CIWS designed to both shoot down anti-tank missiles and rockets as well as function as an anti-personnel and light armored vehicle weapon. Also incorporated into the back of it's head is a retractable scouting periscope equipped with a laser designator that allows the Io to watch and target things without exposing it's position or itself to enemy fire. Incorporated into the Io's mid torso are two multipurpose 40mm grenade launchers that fire both standard HE grenades (15-rounds of ammo), Flash Bang grenades(25-rounds of ammo), and Chaff-Smoke grenades(35-rounds of ammo), which it can switch between at the pilot's behest. The last fixed Armament of the Io are a pair of Lumeria plasma swords that are stored in the forearms and deployed into the hands when in use, the Lumeria are always connected to the frame via a power cable attached to the base of each sword due to their intense power requirements. The Lumeria create a blade of plasma by arcing electricity between two dagger like emitters that also generate an EM containment field, as a result they naturally possess immense cutting power but on the down side they can not be used for very long periods of time, 5 seconds at the most, due to the same problems of the QNR thrusters, waste heat and energy costs. A fantastic ability the Lumeria had was to disable enemy machines and installations with a single careless slap of the 'blade' the EM energy created by the swords is so intense that even if no serious physical harm is done to a target, the amounted of energy transferred on contact can fry virtually all on board systems. In some KMFs case it also risks setting off the liquid Sakuradite in their Yggdrasil drives, because of this certain precautions had to be taken to ground the Io and heavily insulate it's own circuitry to the extent that the unit could probably operate even after being exposed to the EMP of a Neutron-bomb. The swords were designed partly to give the unit a melee weapon but at the time the concept of a devoted anti-Knightmare weapon hadn't been truly considered so they were thought to be more than suitable for it's role. That being said, all of the Io's weapons did in fact make it very well suited for Anti-KMF combat, especially the Lumeria swords, which could likely destroy a Maser Vibration weapon if they remained in contact for more than a second, much less the more conventional jousting lances in use by Britannian KMFs.
Though a number of optional armaments were planned for the Io only a pair of the Akar Shields and a pair of Girtab Micro-missile launchers were actually completed fully, these weapons/equipment were designed to be mounted on both it's shoulders and forearms for optimal use. The Akar Shields are functionally a Plasteel palette frame covered by a triple thick layer of the Io's 4th generation chobham armor, virtually nothing but the MV weapons of Britannia and the Io's Sukur Railgun could actually penetrate these shields, even then it would be done with difficulty due to the shields composition. The shield s are relatively small so as they can be wielded and carried with ease but are designed so that when they are hanging off the shoulders they provide additional coverage to the Io's cockpit as well as protecting that flank of the torso very well. When mounted to the arms these shields perhaps see their best use, both in mobility and that they can now also function in an offensive role as a crude bludgeoning weapon for the Io.
The Girtab Micro-missile is perhaps the most advanced and flexible weapon in the Io's armaments with the missile unit itself being only 60 centimeters tall 1 meter wide and 1.5 meters long and contains 120 micro-missiles. The missiles are stacked in 6 rows of 10 missiles each inside their own launch cell with two 66cm long missiles, one stacked over the top of the other, each missile has a multi-purpose HEAT warhead so as to cut down on weight, which is only 2.4kilograms. The explosive material in the warhead is unique in that it remains a neutral agent until an electrical charge is applied to it thereby changing it's chemical composition into something more akin to C4 plastic explosives, this makes the missiles much safer to store and carry that regular explosives. To further decrease weight and save space the Girtab is a folding fin wire guided missile connected to the missile unit and thus the Io's targeting system via a monomolecular fiber optic cable that makes the tiny missile hideously accurate at ranges up to 6 kilometers. The missiles main propellant triggers after an initial charge that clears it from the launch tube, the Girtab is also perhaps one of the fastest missile systems to exist, accelerating from 0-965kph in 1.5 seconds and has a top speed of nearly Mach 3 so long as nitrogen isn't introduced into the propellant mixture to slow it down. In the Girtab's high-maneuver chase mode it's flight speed is around 414kph and can chase highly mobile target for up to 30 seconds over 3.5 kilometers, though it is unlikely the target will escape unless their defense capabilities are exceptional. In it's high velocity mode the Girtab aims for range above all else traveling at around 1020 meters a second(the muzzle velocity of a 25mm cannon) the Girtab is now also capable of delivering a tremendous kinetic impact to it's target at the loss of it's incredible agility in it's chase mode. In high-velocity mode the Girtab burns through it's fuel in a little over 4 and a half seconds to reach it's maximum speed so in order to maintain accuracy at long range the Io will lob the missile at the target and guide it to it's intended victim at ranges of just over 6 kilometer. At longer ranges of out to about 12 kilometers accuracy decreases significantly do to lack of direct guidance causing the missile to usually land some where within a 3 meter radius of it's target. Depending on what the Girtab is fired at will dictate the number of missiles launched, though it can fire up to 30 missiles at a time on either a single target or multiple targets, typically though this should only need to happen rarely. Against unarmored targets such as light vehicles and personnel only one missile will be fired at a time, but against tanks, APCs, and similar armored vehicles usually three missiles will be fired at a time each slightly trailing behind the other and impacting on the top of the armored vehicle to more easily penetrate the armor. Against airborne threats such as ornithopters and Knightmare VTOLs typically only two missiles should be needed to bring them down but against KMFs the Girtab will usually fire off a volley of 5 missiles to give itself the best chance of destroying the battle frame. The reason 5 missiles are necessary is because a KMF can use it's limbs and whatever it may be carrying in it's manipulators to block any potentially fatal direct hits on it's body, due to the lightweight materials typically used in Britannian Knightmares one single hit to the body will usually equal a kill.
The first of the Io's hand armaments is the large and unwieldy Sukur 120mm Railgun, this 4.5meter long weapon attaches directly to the Io's right or left arm and receives power by connecting it's Lumeria plasma swords directly to the rail gun. This weapon is also cooled by liquid nitrogen and also takes several minutes to fully cool and recharge between each shot but since the Sukur was primarily meant to function as a strategic anti-material weapon this is of little concern. With an output of nearly 18 Megajoules the Sukur can discharge it's projectiles at speeds in excess of Mach 6, this the equivalent energy of being hit with a 60 ton wrecking ball traveling at 300 meters a second. The Sukur fires two types of ammo, one is an Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot made from a hardened steel jacket tipped with Boron Nitride and a core of depleted Uranium. A direct hit to a KMF from this round would quite literally turn it inside out and reduce about 50 percent of it's mass to nothing more than confetti sized bits but because this round was intended to actually be able to shoot through a 2 meter thick carbon steel plate with little resistance this is not too surprising. The second is essentially a massive shot gun round made of a compressed packet of marble sized self-forging armor penetrators, this is primarily meant to be a long distance antipersonnel-antimaterial round but can also be used to destroy large groups of KMFs at long range if employed correctly and literally reducing them to Knightmare impression of Swiss cheese.
The second hand armament is the hand carried Kiza 60mm twin-barrel smart rifle that almost literally fires bullets with the enemies name on it, the barrels are mounted in an over and under configuration and instead of being rifled the bores are smooth. The prime reason for the over and under configuration is not accuracy but rather to give the weapon a higher rate of fire, the HEAP rounds it discharges actually have pop up guidance fins on them. This is because the Kiza can literally shoot around corners or over the top of obstacles, just before firing guidance information is sent to a control mechanism inside the bullet that changes it's course during flight making the Kiza's rounds impossible to dodge. As an example the Io can point and apparently shoot at a target on it's right but instead hit it's real target on it's left, or an enemy could move behind a building or suddenly take a turn down a side street, the Io could then either send the bullet over the top of the building to come down on top of them or around the corner to hit them in the rear.
The third weapon is the fairly straightforward Asi hand carried triple barreled 30mm rotary cannon, this weapon is designed for balanced use against most anything from short to long range while being in an exceedingly simple package. It's ammunition is also simple consisting of hardened steel Armor Piercing Explosive rounds that can be fired at rates varying between 750 to 3000 shots per minute depending on the situation or pilots preference.
The Theron is essentially a more specialized version of the Asi but maintains the same basic principle of being able to be used against most anything but instead mounts two weapons in one package, the first being a rapid fire low recoil 40mm sequence cannon. The second being a 8.5mm 7-barrel Gatling gun with it's 2750 round ammo drum built in to the gun system, it is mounted under the sequence cannon and is more specifically oriented for use against light armored vehicles and personnel as such it fires an incendiary tipped AP round. The sequence cannon is more focused towards superior range and high accuracy and is meant for use against everything from Knightmares to tanks or just targets that are at a greater distance than the Theron's Gatling gun can effectively reach. The 40mm sequence cannon fires a sort of scaled up version of the Gatling's 8.5mm round, possessing an incendiary tip the copper jacketed round is filled with HE but has at it's core a tungsten carbide armor penetrator that is just behind the incendiary tip.
The last functional weapon is the Loki 240mm grenade launcher, each massive grenade is actually an oversized HESH (high explosive squash head) round that uses the same electrically reactive explosive formula as the Girtab micro-missiles. The grenades it fires are incredibly destructive but the Loki's role is primarily as a shock and awe weapon due to it's limited ammo though it does admittedly function well as an anti-material weapon, especially when dealing with bunkers or anything with fortified defenses. The Loki can be mounted directly to either the Asi or the Kiza but at the down side of forcing the combined weapons to wielded by both arms in order to function effectively.
The last two incomplete weapons are the Molga 180mm SCRAMjet bazooka, which was meant to be used as a combined anti-material, anti-aircraft, and artillery weapon but was barely even built though it's design plans are safely intact. The second is the Odin, named after the Norse god of storms it is a High-Energy Particle Projection Cannon that was meant to be an anti-everything weapon capable of bringing down and destroying virtually anything at the cost of it being a tremendous energy hog. It like the Molga pretty much remained a design on paper with only a basic frame having been built for it, like the Sukur rail gun it was also designed to be fed power directly to it via the Io's Plasma swords.
D/N: the Girtab micro missiles are based off the U.S. Military's SPIKE Micro-missiles, which are officially the world's smallest guided missile platform and are apparently absolutely lethal. Aside from the obvious design changes the Io looks like a Vincent Ward minus land spinners but with feet more like the Tristan's except long like the Ganymede's, the arms are long like the Shinkirou's but keep shoulders like the Vincent Ward but unlike other KMFs the Io has skirt armor like a Mobile Suit to protect it's legs better as well as store spare magazines for it's hand armaments, the head looks like the AV-98 Ingram Unit 3 from Patlabor, except with sensor fins on both sides of it's head with the CIWS located in the center of the forehead, I already described the cockpit but the QNR thrusters are beneath it on either side, which are rather generic jet nozzles. The Akar shield looks like an oval version of the RX-79G Gundam Ground type's little shields.
- The Author -
Alright, finally stuck the Hafgan in there, and added the Mabon in before any appearance of it, mainly because I'm not really sure when it'll show up. As for Velshard's Io.....
OMIGOD MY EYES!!!!!!
Review Replies:
Alex Yamato: Ah, the next one's gonna blow all previous flat.
Maybe some Alex flirting on Kallen before he gets a glare from Learme.
I dunno, those three are kinda......er....well.....Let's say I have the same problem with them in DWG2 as I did when they were in Seed. Personally, Heero and Zechs are my favorites, although that may be bias because Gundam Wing started me on the whole Real Robot franchises.
Infinite Freedom: Majorly. That it is.
Orchamus: Not really a drug.....I think. And it's actually not intended to cure Refrain initially.
Definitely not.
00virtuezero: I did just finish watching the Anime News Network stream of Zeta Gundam, so it's possible Jerid kinda bled over into Picton's character......
Yep, although Learme's main specialty is still Knightmare Frames, as will be seen next chapter, next week.
Kay, I'll remember that for next time
Cool.
By all means.
Voltair27: It has a lot of guns.
Kojiro Kun: That it is, and for the latter, blame Velshard.
Knightmare Gundam of Ni