Designed in YE 44 and completed later in YE 45; The Highwayman is a versatile medium mech known for its agility firepower in various combat scenarios. Manufactured by Shasta No Sekai, it has become a popular choice for the Strays of the Terror Wolf Project. The Highwayman is the other side of the coin from its sister mech, the SnS Skirmisher Class Mech; Trading defensive capabilities for instead increased firepower.

❦Highwayman❦
Class:	Medium
Role:	General Combat
Faction:
Tier:	Medium Mecha
Nomenclature:	SW-M11-1A
Price:	Not For Sale1)
Contract Price:	7,000 DA2) per week3)

The Highwayman is designed for versatility and adaptability, capable of excelling in a wide range of combat situations. Its key features a multitude of weapons, a powerful SnS Mech Power Core which provides energy for its various systems, allowing the mech to engage in prolonged combat without relying on traditional fuels. The Highwayman is equipped with a formidable arsenal, including four medium weapons for long-range precision strikes and close-quarters combat. It also features two small weapon banks, perfect for engaging infantry and light armor, and a medium missile hardpoint, enabling it to launch devastating missiles.

Small and agile the Highwayman is designed to provide more dedicated medium-tier firepower consistently. While it is not as mobile as a suit of dedicated powered armor and has few of the advantages it makes up for the lack of utility with a lower cost to manufacture, field, and maintain as a cheaper alternative to an expensive suit of armor with increased firepower.

• Agile and maneuverable weapons platform.
• High firepower
• low-cost alternative to conventional mechanized warfare.

The Highwayman was originally developed as a cost-effective alternative to more advanced mecha, focusing on a balance of performance and affordability. Shasta No Sekai Corporation aimed to offset the defensive capabilities of the SnS Skirmisher Class Mech to take the oposite route from defense by adding more firepower capability to counter any need for defense.

A sleek and compact medium mech with a design. The Highwayman features a distinct color scheme, with the corporation's logo emblazoned on its fuselage plates. The Mirage Camouflage System creates a shimmering effect, making it blend seamlessly with its surroundings. It often comes in the corporation's camouflage-tan pattern but can be painted differently depending on environment.

The Highwayman is manufactured by Shastas' World Corporation and is explicitly manufactured for use by the Terror Wolves of Freehold. Any actual purchase requests should be made via correspondence with the corporation.

• Organization: Shasta No Sekai
• Type: Medium skirmisher
• Class: Medium
• Designer: Terror Wolf Project
• Manufacturer: Shasta No Sekai
• Nomenclature: SW-M11-1A
• Contract Price: 7,000 DA per week.⁴⁾

• Crew: One pilot
• Maximum Capacity: One
• Passenger Capacity: Zero

• Width: 3.2m (11 foot at its widest point)
• Height: 6.8m (25 feet tall)

The Highwayman is a ground-based bipedal platform. It can walk, stride, and even jog to a degree and is culpable in most uneven terrains. The frame has several jump-jet style thrusters that allow it to momentarily boost itself over obstacles or terrain.

• Ground speed: 101.3 km/h.
• Air speed: 22m/s (50 mph)

• Range: 320 km (198 miles).
• Lifespan: One deployment before refit/repair.

See Damage Rating (Version 3)

• Body: T-8 Medium Mecha⁵⁾

The mech contains a standard Shastas' World Mech Cockpit with everything it entails from terminals to the in-house Fairy AI assistant. The rest of the interior of the mech is practically non-existent for its size. Because of this the entry and exit of the mech are fairly simple.

Like a fighter cockpit the armored Transparent Durandium can be opened from either side of the mech after first scaling the mechs default crouch when inactive through readily available steps and handholds built into the armored legs and fuselage. From there the process simply involves sealing the usually airtight seals of the cockpit and securing oneself into the pilots' seat.

Exiting is just as simple with the added option of an ejection system that blows the transparent durrandium away from the fuselage with exploding bolts before ejecting the seat skyward.

The startup process is also easy. Requiring only the company issued Fairy to be inserted into the electronics of the cockpit much like a simple key-fob where it will then manually startup the mech remotely and begin diagnostic procedures and simulated testing in a matter of nanoseconds before she gives the all-clear or advising of any detected issues. In which case the mechs navigation, controls, and weapons will unlock and be released to the pilot.

Shutting down is just the same with requiring the mech to be in a stationary position where the AI can safely stop all systems and cut power from the battery banks and weapons until the mech is safely inset and will usually not allow the remote unlocking of the fuselage until the AI has been removed to ensure the mech can not be too easily stolen.

The Highwayman has a good array of weapons at its disposal for its class. The mech has four medium and two light weapon hardpoints that can be swapped out to any other corporation or compatible weapons of those types. It also has two bunkers built in for light or medium missile weapons.

The mech boasts a standard Durandium Alloy armored frame protects the mechs main armor in its entirety with the exception of the cockpits Transparent Durandium which is significantly more vulnerable than the rest of the armor and the interior joins semi-exposed under the thigh and shin armor. The exposed joint, however, is still reinforced to significant small arms damage and fire and is complemented by not only these segments of armor but the entire mech being coated in an anti-beam coating to give it limited defense under fire against beam, laser, energy, and even aetheric damage until the coating is worn off by damage in those areas.

The mech is, however, still susceptible to high damage kinetic and explosive-based damage that penetrates its armor and still lacks any form of shielding.

The mechs armor is treated with specialized functions to shield the mech and its systems from electromagnetic pulses or weapons that would otherwise shut it down. Such functions include using a faraday lining of conduction to shield electronic systems from damage or shutdown, connecting electronic systems to a ground in the feet of the mech in order to dissipate EMP energy, installing filters on power and data lines to block high-frequency electromagnetic energy, upgrading electrical devices to divert and suppress high-voltage transients surges caused by EMPs, and hardening the energy cell container core to protected against emp pulses.

The mech has layers of reactive armor plates across its surface that when detecting incoming large projectiles such as missiles, rockets, plasma gouts, aether pulses, large caliber weapons, etc. detonate outwards a charge that can be detonated to absorb energy from incoming attacks. The reactive armor also releases a cloud of micro-filament reflective durrandium flakes reminiscent of glitter that while not easily distinguishable at a distance lower the damage of energy weapons by absorbing the energy and diverting it somewhat, breaking laser-based locking systems targetting the mech, and break its profile in IR and FLIR systems to confuse followup attacks by missile or energy lock-on systems.

The mech has an outer layer of ablative armor that is designed to wear away under attack, absorbing energy and protecting the underlying structure. It consists of a layer of Durandium Alloy that is treated to burn away and erode when hit by a projectile at a controlled rate. The ablative armor can protect the underlying structure by dissipating the energy of an incoming projectile over a larger area, reducing the amount of damage that can be inflicted.

The mech contains a Fairy Ai artificial intelligence assistant.

The mech contains a Shastas' World born and raised Fairy AI. The AI itself is housed deep within the core of the mech and draws negligible power from its batteries. The fairy itself controls many of the sub-systems of the mech while also helping its pilot with:

• minute adjustments to the aim of the weapons
• reading of digital maps
• monitoring of radio signals and communications
• monitoring the position of the mech
• communicating with other fairies in other mechs
• controlling swift drones
• deploying and controlling the mirage system

A simple, if not effective jump jet system is installed on the mech to help it move up or along difficult terrain. While not capable of true flight they are more than enough to lift the mech off the ground for a few seconds at a time and enough for them to clear obstacles or scale terrain. They are also good for clearing around the feet of the mech of hostile infantry or pesky shrubs.

The jets are activated by the pilot but flown directionally by the AI to ensure the mech does not end up landing sideways or on its own cockpit.

Deep within the mech and under the cockpit seat houses a massive battery bank of Hyper Cells that power the mech without the need of combustion-based fuels. These batteries, linked to alternators to keep them holding their charge through the movement of the mech itself only power the mech and its most basic systems by default but can be drawn from to power weaponry on-demand in an emergency at the risk of cutting operation time from the mech through their usage or by powering related energy-dependent systems.

The mech has a backup rack of hyper cells that come online and can power the mech for its final hour of operation time. But have a secondary use that they can be ejected from the mech above and behind it and detonated to create a kind of dangerous flashbang effect around it with a massive and bright explosion that can also severely damage or kill individuals or armor near the mech but risks damage to the mech as well.

Basic scanning is capable by the mech with a built in package for discovering distant signatures of vehicles, armor, aircraft, powered armor, starships, aether signatures, etc. at a significant range and detail and can be viewed on any of the mech's cockpit screens.

An inline GPS system is also installed coupled with the radar and ladar and the mechs optics can easily mark enemies and landmarks alike and keep them tracked. But is also capable of expanding even further when paired with the mechs drones to create an incredibly detailed area map.

Likewise for electronic defense, electronic defense system is installed that contains passive Radar Warning Receivers, Laser Warning Receivers, and infrared warning sensors to alert the pilot to incoming threats. Active defenses include two Laser Dazzlers, anti-radar chaff, thermal flares, as well as radar-jamming equipment to complement the sensor suite to allow the fairy or pilot to deploy active countermeasures on demand.

An optical package is mounted on the side of the hyper lasers and has a range of utilities from infrared heat-sensing cameras and IR detection to night vision aetheric detection filters and sound-wave microphone setting to detect audio from even from extreme distance to the point that even spoken conversation can be somewhat interpreted from several miles away with the Fairy AI assisting in its operation to lip-sync and attempt audio correction as with significant distance the sound deterioration is often too distorted for normal human hearing to comprehend.

All this is topped with impressive high-definition clarity and zoom function allowing any of those features or just simple long-distance zoom to be used and even linked to any of the cockpits consoles for viewing.

The mech contains a Shastas' world Mirage camouflage System. This system, much like the Fairy Ai's nanites that make up its avatar and clothing the Mirage is a camouflage system of the very same AI-controlled nanites in six large twenty-gallon tanks. Each tank, when deployed, ejects all of its nanites to create a cloud of optical camouflage around the mech that mimics closely to Yamatais' common volumetric capabilities. When stationary it can mimic things such as scenery, bushes, flora, debris, etc. And even more advanced projections such as fire, plasma, light, and so forth and can project from the inside of the cloud an outside perspective or holes in it to allow optics to see through.

The Mirage system can also be used semi-offensively as a faux-weapon by mimicking things such as fire, projectiles, and even people like infantry or weapons. The system is controlled by the AI and can be used within 100 feet of the mech for other vehicles or actions as well. The short life of the nanites, however, means when they aren't linked together with others to create optical camouflage they will quickly die within less than a minute.

When in less than ideal conditions the mech has basic heating and cooling systems as well as recyclable air exceeding twelve hours of reserved oxygen. Fire extinguishing systems are included with a small personal scale fire extinguisher in the cockpit that is sometimes even fully charged.

An emergency escape system is also linked to the cockpit in the form of the cockpits bolts exploding outwards and ejecting the pilots' seat much like a standard aircraft ejection seat. This system also saves the fairy AI which is housed in the pilots' seat but may not save the pilot from hazardous conditions such as a lack of air or extreme heat.

Charmaylarg created this article on 2023/07/31 13:49.

This was approved by Andrew on 2023/08/26⁶⁾.