And since Follower38 has given the go ahead, have an omake/sidestory.

Swords and Plowshares

Tharkad

Olympia

Tharkad University

High security research lab #5

December 18th, 3020

'Such a little thing to generate so much fuss.' Katrina Steiner, Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth thought as she looked at the ultra-light workmech being swarmed by technicians and scientists even as a man detached and moved to meet her, Nondi and her retinue. She had gotten a message indicating that preliminary analysis of the 'object' had finished and an on-site briefing was ready. Considering the sheer secrecy and security surrounding the 'Terran' artifacts acquired from the merchant Bashairu (unfortunately not all of them, he had sold a good percentage of his stock before entering the Commonwealth) nobody was going to risk giving a report in any manner but face-to-face. The researchers met her party and one motioned to a meeting room attached to the laboratory, away from the noise of the workers and equipment.

"So Dr. Shen, your communique indicated that your team has made progress in regards to the T-280?" Katrina asked, looking at the balding man even as she took her place at the meeting table while his partners stood behind him.

"Indeed lady Archon. Research is still ongoing but we have uncovered enough to give a preliminary report on the machine as a whole, along with its various subsystems." Shen said as he moved over to the projector control and began to enter some commands.

"And it's military capabilities?" Nondi interjected while Katrina held her tongue. It was a bit rude of her sister to jump in like that but Katrina could understand why Nondi was tense. If even half the stories coming out of the Periphery were true, things could get very complicated, very quickly.

Shen seemed to think for a moment, drumming his fingers before shaking his head. "Indirect at most, General. The only way the machine can fight is by using its tools as improvised melee weapons, and from our examinations of the hardware and software, there are no provisions to attach proper weapon systems. The only reason it might show up on the battlefield would be for salvage operations or repair duties."

"That is reassuring to hear, doctor. Though while industrialmechs are not built to military standards, there is always some overlap. Have you found much of note?" Katrina replied, eager to get the conversation back on track.

"Many things lady Steiner, and depending on how much better their top-grade military gear is compared to civilian equipment; I would never want the Commonwealth's forces to have to face them." As he said this, Shen made a final entry and a wireframe hologram of the T-280 appeared in the center of the table which then separated into a collage of the various systems, armor plating and underlying structural components. He then started pointing to be various parts. "Starting with the structure and armor, we have confirmed two things. First that either these people are incredibly good at storing materials to prevent any sort of degradation, or that they have the ability to manufacture these industrialmechs as needed; as the samples we have appear to have be made within the last 20 years. Second is that these machines are not constructed from standard grade structure or armor. In fact both appear to be different application of a novel alloy referred to in the machine's manual as 'civilian-grade neosteel'."

At this Nondi frowned and Katrina felt like joining her sister. Building mechs certainly wasn't impossible but it required large logistical chains and established factories, which weren't exactly mobile. Considering that the 'Terrans' weren't native to the Dumassas and were supposed to have arrived very recently, something was going on. As for the construction methods, she had been told (and shown) just how resilient the Pressurized Power Suit and more importantly the CMC-200 were to damage by anything less then mech-scale weaponry. And the latter machine had been armored with the material that the SCV was apparently made completely out of. She had presumed that 'civilian-grade' would stand for anything smaller than mechs but if they were using it on an industrial machine…..

"Dr. Shen, did you find anything while working on the T-280 that spoke of other grades of this neosteel?"

Shen nodded. "Yes m'lady. Project CUIRAS who is working on the two 'power armor' suit models actually came to us to compare notes based on the user manuals included with the equipment. The Terrans removed most of the sensitive information but they missed a couple of things. There are safety warnings about use duration and mandatory cool-down of the plasma welder to avoid damage when working with 'civilian', 'military', and 'starship' grade 'metal' but given the context we can are sure they are referring to neosteel. More importantly there are references connecting the military grade material to the CMC-200's successor design which is apparently the main-line armor when the document was written."

If she hadn't been in mixed company Katrina would had let loose with a few expletives she'd learned during her time as a mechwarrior. Even during the Star League, Endo-Steel structure and Ferro-fibrous armor weren't used for everything; mostly due to the expense of making the materials along with the facilities to produce them in the first place. So while they were present, they were only used where it was important.

The fact that these Terrans apparently considered what was the best infantry-scale armor she'd ever heard of to be unfit for military applications; she didn't want to think about how much damage their mechs and combat vehicles could potentially take.

Katrina allowed herself a small sigh, likely unnoticed by anyone but her sister. "Hopefully our people will be able to barter or acquire some information about the material or samples of the higher grade forms for comparison. So any more bombshells to drop, doctor?"

"Well these people have managed to miniaturize and lighten processors to a degree I have never seen. Samples have been sent to the electronics department to see if they can get any insights but considering their reactions? We won't have anything anytime soon. We're still untangling the power source and flight system but current speculation is that it's some sort of self-perpetuating fuel cell system recharged by the solar cells included on the chassis. How they managed to get jump jets working off this without any sort of identifiable power amplifier system is something my team has been very interested in. Also there is not a hint of myomer to be found in it; the machine uses nothing but some incredibly efficient servomotors."

Katrina shared a glance with her sister and was somewhat mollified that Nondi appeared to be just as puzzled as she was. Myomer was used everywhere aside from simpler vehicles and basic automation systems; a mech (even an ultralight) not using any was something simply unheard of. In comparison the reactor at least appeared to be nothing too odd and she understood why Shen's people were so focused on trying to parse the machine's jump jets. Even fusion-engine powered jets could only fire for a matter of seconds before the mech needed to come back down to earth to 'recharge'. But she had seen video documentation of the T-280 zipping around a testing field like a hovercraft for minutes on end. Clearly something was in play as opposed to the conventional understanding of jump jets.

Shen continued even as the sisters considered matters. "As for the machine's toolkit, I have a proper write-up of its capabilities but to sum matters up? It can do just about any job you could imagine assigning an industrial mech to with relative competence. Mining, construction, repair, battlefield salvage, the SCV can do them all."

Nondi growled, leaning back against her chair. "The minute the Terrans open up to trade, even if they don't sell military equipment; they're going to be rolling in C-bills."

Seeing the questioning looks from both individuals she elaborated. "The common trend we've seen with all this equipment is that it's new. Not refurbished materials prettied up to attract the buyer or replacement parts over an older frame; everything was probably made within this decade at most. I don't know where the Terrans are keeping their factories but at the very least they can effectively make everything they sold to us. And considering how rare and in demand industrialmechs are nowadays, they'll be able to ask for literally any price and people will pay. Hell, they'll pay extra considering everything that instead of having to buy a series of different designs, this machine can do any number of jobs."

"On that note m'lady General, the team and I have a little something we wished to show you and the lady Archon." Interjected Shen. As both looked at him he elaborated, "We might not be able to replicate the T-280 at the moment but some of the design elements inspired the crew and we think we have something that might be of interest."

Shutting down the projector, he waved for both to follow and headed through the door. Katrina glanced at her sister but received only a slight shrug in reply as Nondi apparently didn't have any idea about what Shen was talking about either. Intrigued, the sisters followed the scientist back out into the hanger holding the SCV and towards an adjoining one where Shen was standing by the door.

Stepping through and looking at the occupied mech gantry Katrina saw…well she wasn't completely sure just what she saw. The machine was certainly a mech, of approximately 20 or 25 tons unless she missed her guess but design wise? It looked like a Wasp or Stinger gone to seed with a thick and rounded torso, enlarged arms with no manipulators and heavy wide legs. If the previously mentioned mechs were athletes, this was the stereotypical lumberjack.

"I know, I know," Shen remarked seeing the two's expressions. "Not anywhere near as impressive as the HCT-3F but this isn't meant to be a combat platform. Instead it's meant to fulfill the need for light industrial mechs while being cheap enough that virtually every world in the Commonwealth that needs one will be able to afford it."

Katrina had to raise an eyebrow at that. She well knew the cost of manufacturing and maintaining mechs on any level of scale, particularly with the difficulty of setting up or even maintaining the factories the Commonwealth had. "And how has your team accomplished this doctor?"

Shen grinned and assumed a lecturing pose. "By taking advantage of existing technology whose deployment has been made easier by what we have managed to reverse engineer from the SCV. One of the most complicated and expensive individual component of any battlemech is the fusion engine. This is why in the past; so many industrialmechs were fitted with internal combustion engines to keep costs down. But that in turn causes issues if you want the machine to work outside a normal atmosphere. So instead we went with a fuel cell system."

At this he gestured to the somewhat rotund torso on the mech. "We started with a design based on the Stinger mech, but we could use lower grade structure and myomers since this machine doesn't need to survive combat at scout mech speeds. The torso did need to be reworked to fit the cell engine and associated fuel tanks but shouldn't make the machine unwieldy. This gives us a machine that can easily operate in nearly any environment while being far cheaper than a fusion-powered version."

Nondi frowned in response. "I know the engines you're talking about, and I recall multiple issues whenever someone tried to implement them in combat vehicles. You need another source of power to crack the hydrogen for them and they have shorter operational ranges than ICE for same fuel volume."

"Very true general, it's something that has kept the ICE the preferred engine when fusion is unavailable." Shen replied with a nod. "That is where the SCV's advanced solar cells come in. We can't replicate them perfectly but what we've made after analysis is far more efficient and compact than any existing photovoltaic."

At this he gestured to a large metallic crate that looked like it could fit on the back of any standard LCAF transport. Actually looking at it directly Katrina could see that its upper surfaces had the same hue as the T-280s solar cells and there were a series of connector ports along the side. "Provide this with a source of light and water, doesn't even need to be purified beforehand and you'll have all the fuel you need readily available wherever you go. Even ice or snow would be fine as the mechanisms would melt it in short order."

Katrina resisted the urge to smirk. If the unit could be easily produced, it would have potential far beyond merely fueling a single model of industrialmech. "Quite clever, doctor. Though I imagine you aren't intending to sell mechs to customers that don't have any tools or even hands?"

At this Shen's grin grew even wider. "That is the real trick to this mech m'lady Archon. Instead of building multiple types of specialized industrialmechs each tailored to what we think a potential buyer might want, we took inspiration from the T-280 along with some other bits of tech. We build the stock model to this point, the customer provides their requirements and we can quickly attach and integrate the desired components. Lumberjacking, farming, construction, mining, transport, the mech can fit any combination of equipment up to eight tons. And to give even more options we have a variant with battlemech-grade environmental sealing that can operate anywhere but it comes at the cost of only having six tons carry weight." As he said this, he gestured to the second of the two mechs in the bay.

Not wanting to give anything away, Katrina kept her face as impassive as possible. "A novel approach doctor, and from what you're telling me this machine is certainly worth considering at least. I presume you have the technical specifications and construction requirements?" To this, Shen nodded and handed her a Noteputer.

"Thank you doctor. We will review these and will give you an answer shortly."

With that Katrina and Nondi exited the facility. Glancing over at her sister picking through the reports and schematics on the 'puter Nondi broke the silence. "Your thoughts?"

The smile on Katrina's face was vaguely reminiscent of a hungry shark (or, as others might put it; a Steiner spotting a business opportunity). "If everything I'm reading here is at elast semi-accurate, Dr. Shen's team have earned their Christmas bonus for the next five years and I have some CEOs to wrangle in regards to a new and highly profitable venture.

The WorkMech

Introduced in the early 3020s to much less visible fanfare than the HCT-3F Hatchetman the aforementioned machine actually resulted in far greater profits for Lyran companies and overall improvement of planetary industrial output across bot the Commonwealth and the Federated Suns (who quickly began importing the design). While ultimately far from ground-breaking in terms of technology, the WorkMech was seen by some to be a callback to the times of plenty in the Star League, where heavy labor was performed by mechs instead of more primitive and less efficient vehicles. While being based on the Stinger design, utilizing a fuel cell engine as opposed to fusion along with cheaper industrialmech-grade components meant that the advanced and nearly-impossible-to reproduce battlemechs factories were not required to produce this machine in large quantities.

Rather slow for a mech of its weight class, the Workmech's normal speed is a mere 32 kph and while capable of moving faster; the lack of a neurohelmet in the design can make high speed movement a bit chancy. Two tons of standard-grade armor protect the machine from the hazards of the workplace while the heavyset design helps maintain stability when moving large loads about.

In a massive departure from essentially every other mech, the WorkMech was centered around an idea that (after the appearance of the Clans of Kerensky) was called 'Primitive Omnitech'. Instead of constructing the mech to fill a particular role, the machine was designed so the core components could be built followed by the addition of up to eight tones of equipment (or six for the hazardous environment variant) per the customer's requirements. While this could increase maintenance needs for the mech based on what role it was built to play, it drastically simplified production of the base unit allowing prices to remain surprising low. The other aspect that reduced construction costs while constantly confusing and/or engaging pirates who attempted to capture and use the mech for their own purposes; was the machine's operating system and electronics.

Namely that unlike the majority of mechs (combat or otherwise) the WorkMech's computers are hard-wired in regards to the equipment the buyer requests. While equipment swaps are possible, it is not something that can be down without compatible memory modules and these were not capable of being rewritten after being built in the factory. As a result, any pirate attempting to steal a WorkMech to turn into a would-be MilitiaMech would need to remove the machine's entire computer system for a new one and program that. Even worse, the mechs do not have sensors that are at all capable of active targeting or any other such military-grade duties.

As a result, any attempt by criminals or similar individuals to refit captured WorkMechs for alternative (generally combat) duties would be found to be far more expensive and time-consuming than the acquisition of a new mech could be worth. These traits unfortunately cause the machine to draw the ire of pirates who often damage or destroy it if they encounter it on raids in retaliation for it 'getting their hopes up'.

AN1: Yes, the design team purposely made this thing to be a *block for any pirates thinking to snag a cheap mech to add to their roster after a bit of kitbashing.

AN2: And yes, Solaris would be ordering some 'custom' models for melee fights in the arenas. Because Solaris.