Dai Gingo - Novella IV in the Chronicles of the 69th VXF

Dai Gingo

Galatea
3044
Lyran Commonwealth

By Kerensky, when had he become such a speed demon, Sigil wondered as he eyed a salvaged Vox 280 fusion engine. Most commonly found in the Archer and Warhammer, it wasn't a particularly rare find.

It seemed he spent the vast majority of his free time combing through the numerous 'Mech scrap yards dotting Galatea. Of course, he was always hunting for the next great discovery, preferably something he could use to repair his severely damaged Clint.

Like this Vox. The Pitban 240 that was in what was left of his Clint now weighed 11.5 tons. The Vox came in 5.5 tons heavier, at 16 tons.

But, if he could find a way to get it in, it would take the Clint's top speed from 97 kph to a blistering 120 kph. Only a tiny handful of 'Mechs could boast a higher top speed and none of them where as heavy as his Clint.

Ok, well, there was the Cicada, built by HartfordCo Industries but, come on, it was really just an oversized Locust. It ddidn't even have arms. Besides, no one was even making them anymore.

He paused a moment, reflecting. Then again, no one was making the Clint anymore either.

One and quarter million C-bills, Sigil winced. That was a lot of C-bills to drop on a project that might turn out to be an epic fail. On the surface, the entire project seemed doomed right from the start but that was before he'd delved into the Star League research facility core they'd copied back on Alshain.

Extralight fusion engines. It wasn't really all that much of a stretch from the double heatsink. It's all in the materials. In the case of the engine, specifically the radiation shielding. Replace the standard heavy tungsten carbide shielding with some of the new crystalline polymer they were using in the Freezers, and viola, XL engine. If the calculations proved out, the redesigned Vox 280 would hit the scales at a mere eight tons.

A full 3.5 tons lighter than the Pitban 240 that was in there now.

Sigil whistled. And if he shaved off just a bit of armor, he could also upgrade the current lasers to the state-of-the-art extended range and pulse models.

Of course, he'd need at least 2.5 million to get everything done. Even if it worked, if things went wonky with the radiation shielding, he probably get poisoned. And apparently the engine would be considerably more bulky as well.

Well, there was always Plan B. For another million, he could just buy an ASN-21 Assassin. After all it boasted the same weight and top speed as the upgraded Clint would. But the armor sucked, the weapons sucked and the cockpit was stuffed worse than a sardine can. It was well known that Maltex Corportion had "value engineered" the entire design and when they lost the production line in the early Succession Wars, they hadn't even bothered to rebuild it. Then again, he might be able to get one of those old chassis on the cheap.

And besides, as it was he was dispossessd, his Clint still hanging from chains in the 69th's 'Mech hangar.

Hadn't he seen an old salvaged Maltex 40 chassis somewhere?

---

Jax 'Mech Yards. More like Jax Scrap Yards, Sigil thought to himself as he entered the cavernous warehouse on the outskirts of Galatea. Burned out actuators, strings of myomer, weapon components, salvaged limbs, gyro and engine parts, along with the occasional chassis filled the arena sized building.

A seedy looking overweight man in a faded Second Marik Militia flak jacket lurched towards him on a barely functioning prosthetic leg.

He scowled at Sigil, his tone gruff. "Whatda ya want?"

"I was searching through your inventory online and it shows you've got a Maltex 40 chassis."

He snorted, then guffawed. "Ya, that's right. It's a real piece of work. Follow me and I'll show it to ya."

The man limped his way past row after row of discarded 'Mech detritus before turning and making his way towards one of the exterior walls. "I got all the chassis lined up against the wall over here. A got a coupla Bergan VIIs, an Earthwerks STG, a Republic-R, a Whitworth Type 1, a Kallon Type XII and that Maltex you're interested in." He motioned straight ahead.

To say it looked rough would be generous. Tangled myomer bundles hung from the stripped skeleton. Long streaks of rust ran down from what actuators still remained attached to the chassis. All of the weapons were gone, the armor was gone, the engine housing was obviously damaged, and it was doubtful the gyro was in any better shape. The cockpit was about all that seemed to remain intact.

Sigil grunted.

The man shrugged. "Ya, it ain't pretty to look at it. I picked it up at auction. Probably hasn't seen action since the Second Succession War. I stripped what was left of the weapons off it and sold those. The engines got a radiation leak, the gyros messed up, you could probably rebuild most of the actuators but it'll take a whole lotta love before this baby sees the battlefield again."

Sigil grimaced. As a tech he was used to seeing damaged 'Mechs and as Mechwarrior he knew what it was like to take that damage, but this thing looked more like scrap. Still.

Sigil turned to the man. "You got a lift? I want to give this thing a good once over."

"Sure. Jax is the name," he motioned all around him. "This is my little slice of paradise. There's a lift down there, just past the two Locust husks. Just don't try to fire it up. The engines trashed. Just give a yell when you're done. I'll hear ya." He winked once at Sigil, then limped off, disappearing around a pile of damaged heat sinks.

---

The thing was a complete mess. All the actuators would need to be rebuilt, and some replaced entirely. He'd have to run all new myomer bundles. The gyro would need to be fixed. The cockpit was unbelievably small and while everything looked operable in there, there was really no way to know without powering it up. He'd have to patch and reinforce the internal structure in numerous places and buy all new weapons and armor. And then there was the Vox 280 engine that needed extensive repairs.

It was perfect.