Galaxy Eye Weapon Review

The Galaxy Eye was the first laser weapon on the market that contained not only Crit-kill but slow as well. The Galaxy Eye very quickly became a popular weapon among Mech Pilots, in fact it became so popular that mech pilots were limited to only buy 20 of these weapons.

The Galaxy Eye is a powerful laser weapon that is powered by niodes. Whith built in bioptic lenses the Galaxy Eye has an increased firing distance but it also give the weapon a 10 % change for Crit-kill. The slow effect is produced by the Ion-vortices’s that is inside the laser beam.

The Galaxy Eye can be bought at any weapon store around the galaxy if they have stock , it has a set price of 28 Niodes, 217 Bioptics and 465 Ferrite’s. Currently there are only 95 left of 500.













By Molliere Daffue# ID 599258

Mech Review Smilodon

Since it was a feature award in CW XVII for a good number of divisions and reviewed as a crit killer, I have a different take on our favorite big kitty...

At my level of experience (lvl 44), the beasty has 16 weapon slots, 3 cockpit slots, 2 chassis slots, 4 engine slots, and 2 shield slots.

What did I put in those slots? Well, looking at the options and it's 65t weight class, there was many. Enough Niodes ye can get a pretty nasty crit critter as mentioned earlier, but if ye shift yer focus to say, trample? Well let me show ye some numbers ye can drool at.

Consider the CAL9000 coupled with Shrieker MK 2 engines using aforementioned Galaxy Eyes and F. Spears; not only ye have a crit critter (albeit not as good as having gear to support crit kill %) but still decent percentage, ye gain Fork and Trample plus x3 and x2 damage %.

At my level these are it's combat statistics (not counting weapons mind ye!):

Level: 44 / 44
Armor: 384

Speed + 40
2X Damage 24%
3X Damage 22%
Trample 62%
Dodge (32)
Precision (12)
Fork 15%
Proj. Damage + 36%
Ice Damage + 30%
Crit-Kill 6%
Laser Damage + 6%
Missile Damage + 6%
Fire Damage + 6%

Class: Smilodon
Weapons: 16

Notice the 62% Trample (Think Ferrite Storm = 77% trample damage) and ye have a 2 mech killer with trample, taking out a foe's back up mecha who, waiting his/her turn, picking daisies but now instead pushing up tulips!

Now look at the 15% Fork (yea, not high) but couple it with Tesla or the Plutocracy, ye have a very reasonable chance to kill a foe's buddy who picking his nose while standing next to him.

With Galaxy Eyes or F. Spear, ye have a decent crit kill % (16 or 21). Not a number to sneeze at but good enough to take down some foolish mecha non-the-less.

Then equipped with Proj. and Ice weapons, ye have a significant damage boost for them!

Also note, finally the x2 and x3 damage percentages, equipped with some weapons that further inflates either or both number (Duboce, x3 dmg 18%) and ye now have something folks will fear because it will make trample all that much better! Imagine a Forked, Trampled x2 x3 Shot! Yes I have seen this many, many times; Triple Kill! Crit Kill good and all, but taking out 3 mechas at once even better!!








Submitted by Brian Kelley#697898

After The Raid

Looking for a bay to put my newly acquired Ballista in and finally finding one, I moved forward only to be blocked by the old timer. No one go's near here till morning! he said (a rule of the fallen) as I looked for another bay, he pulled a piece of metal about as long as his hand and two figures wide, out of his pocket. Before I could ask,he put up to his lips and blew. The resulting noise had everyone coming to investigate. He continued, not missing a beat as the men shouted things like “truly amazing” and “primitive but I kind of like it” Many stayed to listen while others slipped off to play a game of Whist or Mech's High (like a old earth game called Poker but with higher stakes of Mech's and salvage) and so it went until the wee hours of the morning.

Submitted by Marianne Stewig# 687261(and Mark Stewig)

After Clan Wars

Another clan war came and went, as mech pilots sat at repair bays telling stories. Some of the bays would not receive anyone tonight, a grim reminder that more than metal and ribbon was lost here tonight. Heads hung low as one pilot looks at a sign over the bay that reads 'Die Trying' as he shakes his head, a tear streamed down his face. Left out in the cold to be picked apart by renegade smugglers, pirates and death merchants the fallen would be scattered to the four winds with hardly a trace. Shaken to their senses by a alarm bell sounding, all pilots rush to their war torn mech's while a speaker screams ( ongoing raid location to be given in route.) one pilot gives a slight smile as he looks at his fellow clan mate and says here we go again!

Submitted by Marianne Stewig# 687261(and Mark Stewig)

NoRunners And A Mirror Universe Part VI

“Here goes nothing pal, I haven’t told you the best thing about Claymore yet either; let me have his weapons do the talking.  Claymore, help your brother!” I shout over the commlink as searing light lances out from his Flavian Spear and every mod I have made to my Skriag demonstrates that yes, it can pull off an almost (but not quite) 30% crit-kill… or would, if everything on the shot had been calibrated correctly, which it wasn’t, so I curse a bit and pull some switches letting the Rocket Rolls and Ursa Strike roar, conveying in their way my own frustration at the laser weaponry having not been set up properly.  If nothing else, the howl of the vaporized ozone kinetic impacts might push those… things… back towards the gate even if it didn’t damage them much.  Of that handful of Mecha, two had holes sliced through them from grazing shots which had connected…

“The good news is these jackasses aren’t invincible; the weird news is that” I say, referring to how the exposed circuitry seems to be grafted together cybernetics on an organic seeming circulatory system which is doing its own version of auto repair by seeping goo around the “wounds” while the severed cable fibrilles twist and crimp themselves back together into bundles before our very eyes.
The other 3 of the five had dodged every shot.

“They’re nimble Drake, prolly want to use something with high precision!”
It becomes evident that if we are going to make any headway against these scouts, that we’ll need some kind of a solvent to burn through their auto repairing goo.  Something like a Chem Thrower...

Meanwhile: (From Patrick’s perspective):
I stood by in Apocalyptor waiting for the pickup. Mycobacter had called me and my Jadoon in for help and Niodes. Apocalyptor was rather restless and was doing more buzzing than usual in my head through the interface pickups.

“Eldritch mecha you said, I remember those. Ancient enemies of all they were, stormed across the galaxy bringing mutation and death to all who encountered them.” Apocalytor told me. “Creations of the so called Negaverse, mecha that should never have been. They move like lightning, having to do with antigrav and dark matter engines for the speed and versatility. More than a match for most common mech as we know them.”

“Do they have a weakness or some means of knocking them out?” I had to ask just in case we actually encountered one of these things, and from the sounds of it there was a good chance.

“Yes of course, everything has a weakness,” was his reply. “Aim for the central eye where some are concerned, joint clusters should they be of the multi-limbed kind, and as close to down the barrel of the main cannons as you can should they be heavily shielded. In each case you will hit the central nerve system of them by striking the brain or motherboard, motivators and nervous system, or in the case of shooting down the barrel, direct ammo overload which should blow the whole thing wide open.”

I couldn’t help but notice the smug tone in my insect mechs “voice”, he was looking forward to this. “You realize there will in all probability be beast machines involved and on our side to boot, I want them left alone…Understood?” I had to make sure Apocalyptor knew that he wouldn’t be dropping into a free for all zone and knew in advance to keep his weapons cool around his ancient enemies.

“Understood Writer”, he answered. “I will do my best to make sure you and your companions; yes and their mechs as well come out as unscathed as possible.”
Well it was the best I could ask for given the circumstances, so I made sure to have everything he just told me recorded and ready for transmission when we got going on this mission. Wouldn’t you know it just in time as our ride was showing up. I put the Jadoon into motion and wondered what the hell I was getting myself into.

Submitted by Mycobacter, Drake Noum Scvientist, Pat Willis # 712744, 706289, 224534

NoRunners And A Mirror Universe Part V

As I wait for the Exile's Children drop ship to pull into port at the nearest civilized world to the wild one Drake and I have been exploring, to pick up my Skriag, I'd decided to talk to Patrick in-spite of Drake's reservations. I didn't have to give him the exact skinny on where this lost world was but I figured he and that wise historian bug of his would know a thing or two about what the hell a NoRunner might be.

"These Eldritch Mecha Pat, they're weird and I was wondering if your Jadoon had ever encountered one.  I'm thinking they may predate human civilization.  My Gigus says they belonged to a buncha guys he calls the NoRunners and they've got all sorts of strange sound and chemical bioweapons on 'em, stuff that'll mess with your and a beast mecha's mind.  I figured there may be something to that.  I also got you this..." I say, handing Patrick a syringe of the serum Drake and I had developed in his immunological facility to counteract the effects of the gas, at the same time sliding over a larger canister of the stuff about the size of a thermos that has been designed with a living mecha as the intended recipient rather than the pilot.

"I may end up needing help from you two if it turns out he and I have gotten in over our heads."

"I'll be running two beast mecha that have been treated for protection against the nerve agents that these artifact weapons employ, I hope Apocalyptor will be okay with that."

“Also, here’s a special emergency transponder that Drake and I developed which will let you find us if we send out a help signal but will keep the coordinates from reading publicly, since we’re still staking a claim over the site and don’t want to have to deal with opportunistic jumpers; the situation is delicate.”

Drake was happy when the drop ship delivered Myco’s mecha to the site. Now they could start the unearthing of the gateway and hopefully find some niodes to be able to activate it otherwise they would have to hope something comes through and “persuade” it to give them a niode or four from the traveler’s niode matrix.

I wait until I’m inside Claymore (my Skriag)’s cockpit before telling Drake what I know he probably isn’t going to be too pleased to hear.

“I called in a favor from a friend Drake.  My editor at Galaxy Gathering, Patrick Willis.  I know you guys aren’t on the best terms but I’m having him use one of those masked transponders like you gave the dig crews we’d hired where it’ll let ‘em travel to us via Gate but keeps the coordinate data read as scrambled the whole time so they can’t be publicly broadcast on any channels.  Figured whatever is on the other side of that Gate is likely going to be pretty ferocious and we could probably use the extra firepower.”  The transponder is formed to look like a highly stylized E about the size of a coat button, which I’d assumed stands for Exiles and is yet one of a number of rather nifty pieces of tech Drake had developed for his clan.  The ability to send for help stealthily while keeping the coordinate data masked the entire time and giving scrambled output on rebroadcast was of all sorts of tactical advantage in plenty of situations; you had to admire the doctor’s mind even if it was a little warped at times.  “Pat could probably spot us the Niode.  Got him to agree not to run press on our find ‘til you were alright with it.  Journalism ethics, y’know.  Waiting for us at the nearest port that’s an excuse for civilization in this system, in that funny Jadoon of his.”

“Well as long as he can’t track me to the base.” Drake smiles, “Lets go see the good Patrick. Do you think he’d be interested in meeting his clones?” A laugh escapes Drake as he heads towards “civilization”.

“Hell if I'd know.  Threw me a warning when I’d started interviewing ya that you might end up having me fight an army of myself someday;  Something I wouldn’t mind terribly much though, seein’ as I already know my own weaknesses.” I have Claymore project an image out from his augmented eye of me sticking my tongue out so Drake can see I’m taking the whole business in stride.

The port was bustling, at least that’s how Drake imagined it, truthfully the citizens were fleeing in panic at the site of Drake’s Antithesis and squadron of mismatched clone mechs. Must have been one of the worlds his clone raids had happened on,  well too late now. The calls will be going out about another raid and clans would be arriving to fight. We’ll have to hurriedly grab Patrick and get back through the gate before any of them arrive. “Myco, we might want to hurry this up my good man.”

They returned to the excavation site and got to work, Drake pointed out the data from the carbon readings. “4.4 Billion years this gate has been buried. No way any civilization we’ve ever encountered before built it. It’s absolutely amazing, and the gate seems to be fully functional. I can’t wait for it to be fully uncovered.”

“Sure thing Drake.  Giga Rex, Claymore, you two ready to dig and drill, like we went over?!”
The two beast Mecha nod and get to work, the Skriag directing the Gigus as needed.
From what can be made of it, the gate seems to be in sort of a sleep or hibernation mode that is much more a standby than an “off.”

The clones help the mechs move the debris from around the gate, as the more skilled excavation members handled the delicate extracting of the rock encasing the gate from its vital functions.  At last the gate was fully revealed and was even more impressive to behold. The metal seemed to pulse with a translucent gold and silver sheen in the light of the sun. Drake was captivated with it’s beauty, a thing that he thought never to experience.

The gate roared to life suddenly and out poured five black twisted mecha, shooting blackish green acid and arcs of electricity from what appeared to be modified Tesla coils. several clones perished as they ran toward the safety of the camp where their mechs lie. Drake almost joined them, but a clone inadvertently stepped between him and the weapon discharge. Drake dodged towards his Antithesis and quickly got inside, the mech’s AI already bringing weapons online and targeting the attacking mechs. 

Several strikes had the Antithesis’s auto-repair working overtime to try and keep up. A sheen of perspiration coated Drake as he worked the controls, these things were excellent pilots and if he survived this he would definitely collect many samples, plus examining their mechs might prove useful too, once they managed to destroy one. So far they were having zero luck with the destroying of these aggressors. Their mechs were more agile than any mech Drake had seen and the few hits they did receive was reduced by shields, armor, and auto repair.

“Myco, we may be forced to flee these guys if we don’t get a lucky shot.”

Giga Rex is trying his best to throw a protective flame wall with his Smelters to attempt and put some distance between us and these NoRunner Mechs.










Submitted by Mycobacter & Drake novum Scientist # 712744, 706289

Sever Mech Review

Where to start with this mech. It's an upper mid level monster. If an Anzu had a 'HULK' side, this would be it. Dropping in at level 43 the Sever will set you back 18500 ferrite, 18500 bioptics, and a cool 130 niodes. This ice-white maiden is principally geared towards Ice and Laser load-outs. She weighs in at 75 tons and, tbh, can be a bit of a wallowy old 'Hector' as far as speed goes. Herein lies the big down side to this machine. It is a relatively sluggish mech with a thirst for ice and laser, so the smart money says 'load up with laser' otherwise you'll struggle to get your shots off.

Now the plus sides to the old girl; She can take some punishment before she falls. In the upper reaches (levels 60 - 70) you can stack the beast up with 5 shield units. This gives a lovely spread for damage reduction in every weapon class.

Additionally, the Sever, being a 75 ton machine, straddles the level requirements for quite a lot of the available equipment, so it is a good piece of kit if you have to swap gear around as you work your formations. Performs well with Delta shielding, but will tickle along quite happily with Gamma tech on board.

Overall, a tidy bit of kit that will hold it's own against the better mid level weaponry. Not a super-fit machine re' speed, but a great laser base that will shore up your ranks right up into the higher levels. Not expensive and not to be sniffed at.

Submitted by Steve Ross#162076

Fiscal Satisfaction

Times were hard for the mercenary outfit. There had been little work since the trans-nebula freight routes had been closed. Piracy was deemed to be a great source of income for mercenary escorts, but this was not exactly true to measure. The truth was; Piracy CLOSED freight routes until such activity was remedied. The 'threat' of piracy was the real money spinner. Merchants would pay well for reputable sell-cannons to aid their cargo ships from point A to point B. A clear trade route meant pirates were always a possibility. A trade route considered 'hostile' meant piracy was in effect, and such routes would be closed down until the federation Security Division could deal with the lawless bandits.

For the mercenary commander this was not good news. The FSD did not hire sell-cannons to do the job of eliminating any threat. It meant they would be admitting, albeit without words, that they needed assistance, and that meant losing face with the trade council as it displayed a short-coming in the FSD's abilities to maintain control.

The commander sat in his rented hanger in Cogwerk port and counted the losses as his crew required payment and his coffers slowly ebbed away. He needed a contract, and fast. As he considered his options, mulling over the idea of entering his squad into one of the numerous pit-fight contests that ran across the system, he caught the edge of a conversation between a black-matter trader and a retired FSD officer at the neighboring table. Such people would come to mercenary compounds for the cheap booze and confidentiality that the less-than-stringent residences offered.

The conversation went something like this: "I need to get my goods out to the rim-planets. With this route embargo in place I am spending niodium hand over fist to my haulers who are forced to wait, doing nothing, and earning me no currency. You 'must' be able to come up with something Jarrekson". The former FSD officer tilted his head to one side and sighed. "There is only the Vupan wreck-lands in the inner ring. Only the most foolhardy pirates ever attempt to enter them because of the volatile waste and ever-present Federal mine-barriers there. Some merchants will risk this zone in order to make their runs, but if the wreck-lands don't take out their fleet then the occasional band of experienced pirates are sure to do so. How badly do you need to make the run"? The merchant gave a desperate gesture with his hands. "If I don't make a successful run in the coming 3 anim's then I will be forced to let half my freighter pilots go. My men are loyal, but they can't live on prayer and empty FSD promises", he said.

The commander smiled. He had hidden in the Vupan wreck-lands many times in his earlier years from marauders and Federal hunters alike. He knew those fields as well as he knew his own mech. He knew the danger zones there, and knew that the real hazard lay not in the navigation of the zone itself, but in the landing points dotted throughout as they re-fueled. Given the options of such a possible paycheck, or the alternative of pit-fights (which would cost half the winning stake in patch ups and re-fits) it was a chance he could not turn down.

The commander ambled across to the merchant and the officer and sat down slowly on the one spare seat. "Gentlemen. I can get you through those fields", he said meaningfully. The two prospective clients looked at him. The merchant's eyes brightened a little. "You know this zone my good man"? he inquired. The commander gave a wry smile, "Indeed I do sir. I can map the area from memory almost. It's not the knowing of the terrain that you need worry over though. It's the handling of the vermin you will find within. I'm not referring to common place hijackers here. The scum you will find in that place are hardened monsters who make their living in the most inhospitable shit-hole ever traversed by traders and clans alike. You can make your run and your money, but if you take my squad with you, you'll also make it alive and with all your fleet intact".

The merchant narrowed his eyes slightly and lowered his tone. "How do I know you're as good as you say"? He said. "If I wanted guaranteed security at under the table prices and methods, why would I choose you rather than enlisting the Zeon clan. They have the reputation of such ventures and the renown to back their claims up. So why you"?

The commander straightened his back and held out a hand. "Commander Ross, Zeon Vice-Admiral and sell-cannon extraordinaire. Shall we discuss fees, or would you rather find a cheaper way to lose revenue and lives"? he grinned. The merchant slowly took the commander's hand and shook it eagerly. "Shall we say N50,000"? he said hopefully. The commander nodded. "You just bought yourself safe passage sir", he answered. PAYDAY.

Submitted by  Steve Ross#: 162076 

Mecha Spotlight Let there be Fireworks! Bastion the Rook

Armed with 5 Death Heads, 4 Magnet Missiles, 4 Plutocracy, 2 Rocket Rolls, a pair of Stratos Sprays, twin T9 Berserkers, a T10 Tsunami, Ahi Missile and a Tandem Bomb Bastion's launchers and silos whistle in combat.  This fully automated (two Betrus Processors and a Battle AI) Rook holds the rear line of Mycobacter's formation.

Enhanced Senses and Long Range Sensors help it do a visual sweep while the computers and piloting algorithms help it determine what to fire on by distinguishing friend from foe.  Thanks to Wheeled Feet and Untiam Actuators in the chassis coupled with a Caged Singularity, Indefinite Singularity and Shrieker Mark 2 for engines this big guy lumbers along at the decent speed of 45.  Shear Thickening Fluid and Reactive Joints improve the mobility by upping Bastion's dodge ability and 3 Delta Shields provide some nice defense.

Submitted by Mycobacter#712744

Cyclops Stare Weapon Review

Cyclops Stare Level 20 limited drop Laser 52 Damage, 104 Speed, 2x Damage 6%, Precision (3)

A higher than normal damage is available to lower level players, this laser packs a punch. Added precision will help make sure you hit your mark. It has great speed at 104, always a plus. The Cyclops Stare will do more than stare down your opponent. Shoot with confidence when you add this to your arsenal.

Just 31 niodes, 445 Ferrite and 335 Bioptics will put this in your hangar. The 5 pack reduces the cost for each, 125 niodes will bring home a great deal. In case the 52 damage isn't enough, there is also 2x damage. When this kicks in, the enemy is sure to feel that kick. Don't miss this opportunity, once they sell out-they are gone.





  





Submitted by Blake Moon # 374569

Norunners

There was a Forerunner named Kellek who was an enemy of Roah.  He got exiled deep in the Earth's past and spent those days trying to construct gates to get back and exact revenge against his rivals who were back in the present he was from.  Some of the Niode Gates he made using those primitive materials and what he could salvage from his wreck were not exactly right so in his trial and error a few of Kellek's gates took him across space but on alternate timelines instead of a linear manner.

One such universe was what is referred to by some people as the Negaverse.  It is a foul and twisted dark dimension that is a mirror of our universe.  The Forerunners there are a rather evil and warped version of the Forerunners from our universe and well, some way or other they ended up worshiping Kellek as a God.  Horrific mutations and ceremonies of transmogrification became fixtures of religion and of cultures in this poor unfortunate dimension. It evolved separately in parallel from our own home universe but the two exhibit certain striking similarities between them.  For example, these NoRunners possessed Kaiju mecha too but instead of beast mecha they are classified as Eldritch mecha... Trundling legged tanks with missile platforms, swift tentacled bizarre ice mecha and freakish armored crustaceanoid laser based mecha that have claws.

Submitted by Mycobacter#712744