No, I'm not anti the Antithesis. Far from it in fact.
I'm anti the fact that my esteemed boss Pat just can't do justice to this marvelous piece of machinery, so I'm here to set the record straight.
Forgive him, he's obviously still suffering the effects of overindulgence from the holiday period.
I'm not going to bore you with the cost, or how many tons of engines you can bolt into it. Look that up if you need to.
I'm going to cover the important things that he missed. The things that really matter to the discerning modern day pilot.
Yes, Drake may be as mad as a British bovine of the 1990's, but boy could he build a stylish looking machine. The styling could only be more stylish if you put it in a tuxedo and called it Mr Bond.
You can buy it in any colour, as long as it's sexy black. In fact, the only thing that could make this mech more sexy is if it had a red light flashing from side to side and by it speaking to you, probably by continually mistakenly calling you Michael.
Looks aren't everything though.
At the end of that day, you need to know that when you invest in a mech you are getting your hard fought (or looted) moneys worth. So let's see what the 'Thesis is up against. And just for the record, just like Obergruppenführer Willis, I'm telling it how it is based on experience with these mechs in battle.
Well for starters, top pilots know that at present, the 90 tonners are the go-to weight for mainline mechs. Yes, you can get better armour and throw weight from the heavier mechs, but the after market add-ons have just not delivered.
Until the manufacturers wake up and realise that we pilots aren't interested in the dross that they are producing for the higher tonnage beasts, we are going to continue with the tried and trusted 90 ton and below chassis to bulk out our battle lines. So already the 'Thesis is sitting in amongst the top level of mechs for the top level pilots.
And what is it up against? OK, lets look at crystal based first, the bargain basement of the 90 ton class.
There's the Jadoon that looks like it just crawled onto the beach to try and get away from something yellow, oblong and slightly spongy. The same description in fact, that is apt for its hitting power and defensibility.
Or the Magnus, that promises so much and does indeed deliver on it, as long as you wait for it... waiting... waiting... still waiting... oops, sorry, I'm dead.
That only leaves the dino mechs. Oh, they look beautiful, especially the Ignis. But at the end of the day, they are one trick ponies. Good if you have a stupid opponent (a very rare occurrence) or good if you have geared them for a very specialized role in your line.
But at the end of the day, when your front lines have clashed and the smoke clears, the mech most likely to be left standing is the Antithesis.
I don't know why. On paper, there are other mechs that excel, but in the heat of battle they just don't deliver. It could be that in building in such a diverse range of bonuses that Drake managed to hit on the mix that turned this one into the 90 ton equivalent of the Oggun.
I have a feeling its a combination of the built in agility that make it such a dodgy geezer coupled with the veritable plethora of chassis slots that make it float like a butterfly. Add in the ability to sap away the speed of its opponent, its there for the long haul; not quite getting hit and just draining away the speed and energy of its opposite number.
Maybe Drake was watching re-runs of the Rumble in the Jungle when he designed it... so much fits when you think about it.
Maybe that's why the Snavurm love it so much....
Submitted by David McCallum #701548