Omake Federate Suns AFFS Analysis Presentation: Raynor's Raiders 19-02-3015
February 19th, 3015
New Avalon, Federated Suns
Fox's Den
It wasn't often the highest members of the Federated Suns military were gathered in Fox Den for a meeting. But the recent string of intelligence reports on the merc company named Raynor's Raiders was considered by DMI to be of utmost importance.
After everybody took a seat the Director of DMI Nicholas Truston walked to the front with a frown on his face. After taking a moment to collect himself he spoke.
"Gentlemen, you may have questions why I requested your presence today. The reason why is a recent string of reports on a new Mercenary company that recently became active in the Periphery which warranted a deeper investigation. The results of this investigation brought to light some disturbing implications."
This statement caused everybody at the table to look at the director with a mix of interest, dismissal and confusion.
The director then grabbed a remote from the table and pressed a few buttons on it. Turning on a display screen which displayed a logo.
Then the director started speaking again. "They call themselves Raynor's Raiders. The first recorded instance we have of the Raiders appearing was when they were hired by the TDF 3 years ago. The contract they were hired for was an operation to destroy a pirate base. From acquired reports of that battle and battles afterwards it was clearly displayed that these mercenaries have access to a large amount of highly advanced technology. "
After this revelation there was mumbling across the table before one of the younger Field Marshals spoke up. "What kind of technology are we talking about? Are they like the Wolf Dragoon and have a bunch of pristine mechs?"
"No, the technology used by the Raiders is incredibly different from anything I have ever seen. I have prepared full reports for all the Raider assets that have been spotted so far. However there are 3 notable Raider assets that I want to showcase here in detail." Said Truston before pressing a button on the remote. The displayed logo then changed to show a damaged Centurion.
The Centurion was twisting its torso putting its left arm in front before it was suddenly struck by two yellow projectiles.
The effect was immediate as two holes appeared in the arms armor. The shots had seemingly caused internal damage as the arm now hung limply by its side. Then a fast moving object came into the frame. It was a tank of unknown design, it looked bulky with six sets of threads and a large cannon mounted on the top.
The tank was quickly maneuvering around the Centurion seemingly trying to get behind the mech. But the Centurion twisted, bringing its AC 10 and lasers to bear, firing on the fast moving tank. The AC 10 shots flew just over the tank but the lasers struck true, hitting one of the treads leaving molten streaks in the treads armor but overal only causing minimal damage. All the while the tank was continuing to fire hitting the Centurions left leg several times in quick succession tearing the leg apart. Finally the leg gave out causing the Centurion to fall over onto its front.
But strangely the tank didn't rush in to finish the job instead it drove a little bit behind the mech before stopping.
Then steam puffed out of the sides as the track pods split from the chassis, the barrel splitting apart with the center retracting inwards, and a pair of legs emerging from the side track pods. The feet of the legs slamming into the ground, and both tank and barrel rising into the air. The entire transformation only took a few seconds before the cannon fired.
The shot rang through as it struck the Centurion's vulnerable back while it was trying to stand up. Knocking it back onto the ground and cratering and vaporizing the centurion's back armor. Before the Centurion had another chance to stand back up a second shot was fired. Once again hitting true, an explosion bloomed across the mech's back vaporizing the remaining back armor and hitting the exposed reactor. Seconds later a chair was seen flying into the sky before the reactor went critical and erupted into a fiery explosion. Its job done, the artillery tank transformed back into a standard tank and drove off.
The room was in complete silence in awe of what they had just watched. But quickly murmuring started among the Field Marshals and generals.
"What kind of mad man design a transforming tank and a functional one at that." "What kind of ammunition and reload system could it be equipped with it to achieve such a rate of fire." "Did you see it chew through that leg." Were among the reactions.
Then the director spoke up again. "Thanks to an interview with a former slave that was rescued by Raynor's Raiders we know the Raiders classification of this type of tank. They refer to it as a Siege Tank which describes its role very well. Unfortunately the slave couldn't tell us what the Siege tanks actual name was as according to him the Raider soldiers referred to it as just siege tank. So until we learn of the actual name of the vehicle we have decided to designate it as a Razer type Siege Tank."
Truston took a couple of breaths before continuing. "However while the damage in the displayed video was impressive across multiple different reports the damage caused by the so-called "siege mode" seems to vary. In one report it is mentioned that it blasted off the arm of a Heavy mech in one shot. But in another it is mentioned it does do a noticeable damage but nowhere near as was described in the other report. We have not yet found a reason for this discrepancy but it has been speculated by our analysts in the DMCR that it may be because of different ammo types the "siege mode" of the Razer may be able to use."
"As for the weapons it uses while in its standard tank mode it seem to use some form twin linked energy weapon. Our analysts in the DMCR have unfortunately been unable to identify what kind of energy weapon it is. The most popular theory at the moment is that is a form of particle cannon. Like those of another raider asset that will be discussed later in this presentation."
These statements caused another round of murmuring before the First Prince coughed getting everyone's attention.
"You said you had two more Raider assets to show us Director please continue." Said First Prince Hanse Davion.
"Of course my Prince." Responded Truston before pressing a few buttons on the remote.
Quickly the video of the victorious tank changed to show a rocky battlefield with several mechs and tanks fighting. The mechs seemed to be winning with multiple burning wrecks of tanks strewed across the battlefield and the remaining tanks being in full retreat. Then the camera zoomed in on a damaged Wolverine as it shot its PPC, hitting a Manticore straight on blasting its turret into molten scrap. The Manticore started to quickly pull back but the Wolverine followed in hot pursuit.
Then suddenly several explosions occurred in the sky with the broken wreckage of several aerospace fighters plummeting onto the battlefield. Disorientation its combatants. Then out of nowhere something else fell out of the sky right next to the Wolverine.
It was a mech and one unlike anything most of the officers watching the video had ever seen.
Like most mechs it stood on 2 legs but it seemed to have forgone the traditional leg structure having backwards facing knees instead. The side torso of the mech seemed to be 2 folded flaps that looked as if it could be moved into different positions. On its stubby arms were 2 massive rotary cannons with what seemed to be protective flaps attached to the cannons sides. Another pair of weapons were the 5 tubed missile launcher on its shoulders.
The strange mech wasted no time, quickly spinning up its rotary cannons and unleashing a hail of bullets. The Wolverine pilot had no time to react as the bullets ripped through his mech right arm quickly destroying it. Acting quickly after its primary weapon was destroyed the wolverine turned and rushed the strange mech punching it straight in the chest denting the armor and forcing it to back up. However before the Wolverine could do anything else the strange mech performed what looked like an alpha strike.
A barrage of missiles was unleashed from its launchers along with another barrage of bullets. The missiles blasted away the remaining armor on the wolverines center torso with the rain of bullets tearing apart the now exposed gyro. With its gyro destroyed the Wolverine could no longer maintain its balance causing it to tumble forward straight into the ground.
The strange mech looked over its defeated opponent checking if it was really down. Once it seemed to have confirmed its enemy was dead the mech suddenly launched itself into the air. Then to the surprise to everyone attending it started to transform. First its cannons retracted and the arms began moving below the previously folded side torso flaps which had moved up with the flaps on the cannons extending. Then the legs moved a little bit backwards and then rotated sideways until both of the mechs feat attached to each other. The attached feat then moved up attaching to the
center torso. And to finish the 4 previously unseen flaps on the back of the mech moved over its sides forming 4 sets of wings.
The mech after its transformation was no longer a mech but a bulky looking fighter craft.
The now transformed LAM quickly took off to a different side of the battlefield, the camera following allowing for a better shot of the battlefield. The LAM was not alone as there were several more fighting the other mechs on the battlefield. Some of the battles had seemed to have been repeats of the battle that just occurred with several other broken mechs laying around. However it seemed to not be a completely flawless strike as there were also broken wrecks of these strange LAM's laying around and the remaining LAM's were taking quite heavy fire. However the battle seemed to have completely shift into the LAM's favor as the previously retreating tanks turned around to rejoin the battle seemingly having been reinvigorated by the quick destruction of several mechs. The video ended with the LAM from the start once again transforming into mech mode to support one of its allies who was fighting a Warhammer.
Once again silence perpetrated the room. Then the oldest attending general spoke up. "It isn't often you see LAM's and definitely not in these numbers. Whoever supplied these Raynor's Raiders must have found a way to fix the traditional flaws of the LAM."
"What makes you think that general Oldenbroek? We only have a limited amount of information on it. It's very possible that this LAM could still suffer from the traditional flaws of a LAM." one of the younger offers said.
"No I don't think so." General Oldenbroek said as he contemplated how he should explain his reasoning. " The transformation sequence itself was much smoother and had none of the hiccups that I have seen in the rare Draconis Combine LAM. And the weapons confirm this line of thinking too. They are far larger and likely heavier than any weapon I have ever seen on a LAM previously."
Then Hanse spoke up. "This is troubling. It's highly unlikely that these mercenaries managed to make these LAM's on their own. It also couldn't have been any of the great houses otherwise we would have seen this LAM in their armies by now. Could mean there is a nation out there that's still innovating and developing new technologies. Something that hasn't been happening for the last 300 years. Could you give us some more information
on this LAM director?"
"Unfortunately there is not much more to tell my Prince." Truston said while looking at the documents he had grabbed from the table. "As you could see in the video it's weapons are powerful but function just like the rotary cannons that were described in reports of the star league era. Its shoulder mounted missile launchers aren't anything special, functioning like most missile launchers. The missiles however do seem to have a form of inbuilt tracking system as they always home in on their target even if the target breaks line of sight. The only remaining things we know for sure is that the Raiders deploy this LAM in large numbers and its name. They call it the Viking. A strange name if you ask me."
"The scary thing is however that the Viking isn't even the most impressive Raider asset we have concrete information on." Said Truston grimly causing everybody in the room to look at him in surprise.
The director pressed a button on his remote causing the display to once again change. The screen now displays aerial footage of badly damaged Victor moving at full speed through a ruined city.
The gray and blue Victor had definitely seen better days, its right arm had been ripped off and its torso and left leg looked like they had several tons of armor blown off. Which probably was the case if the still red hot scars were any indication. The Victor was obviously running from something as it sprinted down the streets. What it was running from quickly became apparent as a lightning bolt shot past the Victor as it took a turn and sprinted down another street. The camera panned over showing two more assault mechs. An Awesome and BattleMaster with orange markings.
The BattleMaster quickly followed the Victor around the corner firing the 3 lasers on its left torso seemingly trying to hit the fleeing mech's left leg. 2 of the lasers hit their mark burning away standard armor into mist but not disabling the leg. The Victor turned left behind a skyscraper and entered a wide street with 7 story tall buildings lining both sides with side roads in between them. The Victor ran down the street for around 500 meters before coming to an abrupt stop. Seemingly tired of running, it turned around to face its pursuers.
The second the Awesome appeared from behind the previously passed skyscraper the Victor performed an alpha strike with its remaining weapons. 2 green beams and 4 missiles streaked through the air hitting the Awesomes right torso burning and blasting away its armor but causing no critical damage. Seconds later the BattleMaser moved past it's lance mate and fired its PPC with the Awesome following suit firing 2 of its own PPC's. 3 bolts of manmade lighting hit the Victor dead on. The First hitting its right torso blasting and burning away some armor into semi-molten mist. The Second hit the SRM-4 in its left torso, destroying it in a fiery explosion. The final bolt hit the already damaged left leg tearing away internal structure causing it to give out and the Victor to collapse onto its left knee.
The pair of assault mechs then started to carefully approach the nearly crippeled Victor who was struggling to get back up. Then suddenly BattleMaster turned to look to its left as several loud bangs were heard. The 100 meter area around the two assault mechs then erupted into a fiery explosion as they were seemingly hit by an artillery barrage. The explosion continued for around 5 seconds during which both assault mechs took several direct hits tearing and cracking there armor.
Once the dust from the explosion had settled, it was clear that while both mechs had suffered significant damage with cracks, craters and holes in their plating armor. But both were still in fighting shape. The same could not be said for the skyscraper behind them as it started to collapse sealing off the street they had come from and forcing the two assault mechs to sprint forward to dodge the falling debris. After the skyscraper had finished collapsing, the camera started to frantically look around trying to find where the barrage had come from. Finally settling on one of the 7 story buildings. Before long from behind the building a massive figure walked onto the side street.
It towered over the two assault mechs, it had to be easily 19 meters tall. This massive grey and blue behemoth had a unusually wide torso with a slightly protruding center torso on top of which a cockpit was mounted. This massive torso was supported by 2 bulky legs that looked like they could crush a locust into dust. Its arms each had a massive 2 barreled cannon mounted in them that looked like they could one shot a light mech. But even those were nothing compared to the 4 massive cannons mounted on the mechs back. The cannons were still smoking so they were likely the origin of the barrage that had just hit.
The massive mech then started to move down the side street towards the two frozen assault mechs at a surprising speed. Bringing its two arm cannons to bear firing both in a staggered barrage. 4 blindingly bright yellow projectiles quickly struck the Awesome in its right torso. The projectiles easily tore through the remaining armor before detonating internally tearing the right torso apart and sending the right arm flying. Seeing its lance mate take a massive hit the BattleMaster quickly started strafing the massive mech unleashing its own arsenal firing its PPC, left torso lasers and SRM-6.
The lightning bolt, missiles and green beams hitting the left leg, right torso and right arm respectively. Vaporizing, calving and melting the armor of the massive mech. However after the smoke cleared it was clear that the damage the massive mech had sustained was only minor. The hits did not even slow down the massive mech as it continued marching forward toward the BattleMaster firing its cannons as it went. 4 more projectiles flow through the air hitting their target directly in the center torso. The projectiles once again penetrated the armor before exploding, disintegrating armor and internal structure into mist around the impact sites.
Realizing its disadvantages situation the BattleMaster tried to take cover behind one of the buildings along with starting to torso twist to the left as it tried to protect its heavily damaged central torso. But it was in vain as before it could complete its torso twist the massive mech once gain fired.
The 4 yellow projectiles hit the BattleMaster dead center, coring the mech and causing it tear itself apart in a massive explosion. However the massive mech was unable to celebrate its kill for long as a lightning bolt hit in the side. Turning to its right to face its attacker, the massive mech came face to face with the heavily damaged Awesome who was rapidly closing the distance.
The Awesome had seemingly given up on fighting from long range and was now charging its enemy trying to engage it in melee combat. Acting quickly the massive mech brought its left arm back before rapidly extending it. Plunging it straight into the charging Awesomes cockpit stopping it dead in its tracks. The thin layer of armor protecting the cockpit stood no chance as the massive gun arm slammed into it. Quickly giving way allowing the arm to continue to lodge itself into the cockpit crushing the pilot in the process. Then seconds later the gun arm fired, ripping the top of the mech to pieces. The combined force of the punch and the cannons firing caused the now cockpit less Awesome to tumble backward, sending it crashing onto the ground with such force that it tore up the asphalt beneath it.
The massive mech stood over its defeated opponent for a couple of seconds before turning to its right and starting to walk to the once again standing Victor. The Victor for its part actually seemed to look better than the last time the camera had focused on it. Some of the cracks and holes in its armor seemed to be smaller compared to when it had just been hit by the 3 PPC bolts. Then the Victor looked straight into the camera before beginning to move its only remaining arm up. The camera suddenly tilted as 2 green beams passed right in front of it. Quickly the camera corrected, bringing the Victor and the massive mech into view. However now the Massive mech had 2 lids on its side torso's pointed upward revealing 2 missile launchers underneath. The last thing that could be seen before the video went black was 2 missiles being launched and heading straight for the camera.
For the third time this day complete silence perpetrated the room. Nobody could believe what they had just seen.
"A super heavy Mech" Someone in the room said with disbelief causing everyone in the room to look at them. The middle aged Field Marshal who had spoken the words spoke again. "Director, are you sure this footage is legitimate and not some form of false information campaign from one of the other houses? No one has ever been able to make a functional super heavy mech. Anyone who has tried failed. There is no way a mere mercenary company could have succeeded where even the greatest minds of the Star League failed."
"I can assure you Field Marshal Stoner all of the intelligence we have is authentic." Said Truston
General Oldenbroek spoke up again. "Then that makes the theory about these Raynor's Raiders being supplied by an unknown power even more likely. And this unknown power must be incredibly advanced to make both an effective LAM and a super heavy mech design. But whoever their supplier may be is a discussion for later. Director, would you kindly continue informing us about this super heavy mech."
"Thank you General." Said Truston before turning his attention to a document in his hands. "Thanks to the integration of another freed slave. We have been able to gather the name of this super heavy mech. It is called the Thor."
"Our analysts within DMCR have estimated its height with cannons included to be 19 meters and its weight to be between 120 and 150 tons. Even with this incredible weight it has shown to be surprisingly fast as was seen in the video. In one Battle-ROM it managed to keep up with a lance consisting of a Marauder, Archer and Warhammer. Because of this we believe the Thor to have a maximum speed of 64 km/h."
"For weapons its primary weapons seem to be the 4 arm mounted cannons. The DMCR analysts had a hard time actually deciphering what kind of weapons these cannons were. As they seemed to have traits of both ballistic and energy weapons."
The director took a moment to breathe before continuing. "In the end they came to the conclusion that there is most likely a form of particle cannon in the same vein as the PPC. However the particle cannons the Thor is equipped with, are quite different from PPC. For one the projectiles it fires function completely differently than a PPC bolt. Unlike PPC bolts which transfer all their heat and kinetic energy directly on impact, the projectiles fired by the Thor first penetrate into the armor and in the case of lighter armored targets through the armor before detonating. Vaporizing the area around the impact site, leaving molten craters in the target."
"The Thor's cannons also have a faster fire rate with it being able to fire every 4 seconds when compared to a PPC's 6 seconds.
This undoubtedly produces a lot of heat however the Thor has never been seen having heat problems even when it's constantly firing them. It's currently unknown how it deals with the heat but our analysts speculate it must have a unique heat management system. It also seems to have the same range as a PPC but does not seem to share its weakness of having a minimum range. As the Thor has been observed being able to fire its cannons even at extremely close ranges."
"For secondary weapons I would like to bring attention to 4 cannons mounted onto the back of the Thor. Even though they are smaller each of the cannon is around equal in power to a Thumper artillery piece. However these cannons have a much higher fire rate than a Thumper, with each cannon being able to fire 1 shell per second. However this rate of fire can also only be sustained for 5 seconds. After which the Thor has to go through a lengthy reload process before it can fire the cannons again. Another downside of these cannons is that the Thor is completely immobile while firing them as it has to anchor itself to withstand the massive recoil. This leaves the Thor vulnerable for a short time before and after firing the cannons."
"The final piece of weaponry the Thor is equipped with are 2, 4 tubed missile launchers, one in each side torso. If not in use these missile launchers are protected by two armored lids. The missiles fired by these launchers are more powerful than a LRM or SRM but also seem to struggle with heavy armor and are limited to only being able to fire a maximum of 4 missiles at a time. But as shown in the video they can be fired in smaller numbers if the situation calls for it. The range of the missiles seems to be in between that of the SRM and LRM. And like the missiles of the Viking they track their target even after breaking line of sight and missile lock. Another thing to note is in older reports it also seemed that these launchers could only target aerial assets. However in more recent reports that no longer seems to be the case with them now also targeting ground targets."
After finishing his presentation Truston looked around the room. Everyone had a concerned expression on their face.
"We can't let these machines fall into the hands of any of the other houses. It would undoubtedly result in them gaining a massive technological advantage if we can't secure our own access to this technology." Said Field Marshal Stoner.
"I agree with Field Marshal Stoner '' Said general Oldenbroek. "However, I also believe we should investigate where these Raiders came from and who their supplier is. The mere implication that there is a power out there in the rimward periphery where this level technology is the norm or god forbid outdated is unsettling."
"Indeed it is General," said Hanse, scratching his chin. "Director, I want you to launch a full investigation on these Raynor's Raiders. Find out where they came from and who their supplier is. From there establish contact with the Raiders and develop a friendly relationship with them. Hopefully this will prevent or at least delay the chance for them to work for our enemies. And finally prevent any of the Raiders technology from falling into the hands of the other houses. And if the situation presents itself, try to acquire some of their technology."
"Your will be done, my Prince" Said Truston with confidence.
"And with that I call this meeting adjourned." Said Hanse after which all the attending officers started getting up, grabbing the reports on other Raider assets not covered in the presentation and headed off to perform their respective duties.
AN: In the absence of any new chapters i decided to have a little fun and write a Omake. I did not expect it to become this large but hey here we are.
I am curious to see if people can spot the Easter egg i put into this.
I do have plans to write a sequel to this Omake but i will probably only post it after Follower38 next chapter.