Name: Light mechs Description: Light mechs are the smaller of the three, being at maximum thirteen feet tall and weighing at maximum thirty-five-thousand pounds. Light mechs are bipedal and come in a wide array of loadouts and customizations. Infact due to them being so light and small, they are very versatile, capable of being refitted at ease for any task. As a drawback of their small sizes however, they can only have a very limited fuel and energy storage, and the pilot will, more often than not, have to cram themselves into a very tight compartment at the center of the mechs main body. Abilities: -The light branch are, well, light, and are both flexible, fast and deadly. -Light mechs can be used for anything from mining and construction to specialized frontline combat. Conditional abilities: -Light mechs are capable of being equipped with nearly any weapon in existence, apart from railguns. Limitations: -The mech has a very limited fuel and/or energy and ammo reserves. -The pilot will not have much room to maneuver inside the mech. -Due to the rather low maximum weight capacity the light branch cannot be very heavily armoured. This also applies if you want it to be mobile. This can often leave certain weak spots fairly under armoured, such as joints, generators or even the pilot. -Emps sure do ruin everything, don't they? Conditional limitations: -The more energy, fuel and ammo storage necessary the more cramped the pilot will be. -Mechas are large, intricate machines. And as anyone with a basic understanding of machines will know, the more parts a machine has, the more parts it has that can break. -Due to the sheer size of mechas, they can be fairly unwieldy, and difficult to bring places (Incapable of being brought to civilian colonies outside of specific events). This includes the task of piloting, as most mechs are immensely intricate and require a lot of professional training. -Mechs are incapable of being in the air for extended periods of time without the application of jump-jets. Digitigrade legs can however get around this in a way due to their springy nature, leading them to the ability of performing mostly horizontal leaps over short distances. This is often used to increase their speed. How does it work?: Light mechs usually maneuver on two legs. The feet are generally pretty wide and flat to spread out the weight of the mech over a greater area so it doesn't sink into the ground as much (although mechs designed to run a lot can have much thinner legs and feet, these however rarely get thinner than half a foot thin for even the smallest of light mechs), but it also helps balance them. The main balancing though comes from a series of advanced sensors, accelerometers, orientation calculating VIs and gyroscopes, where the sensors provide the VIs with sensory information, and the accelerometers provide info about how the mech is moving and orienting. The VIs then calculate what is up and what is down and activate the gyroscopes if necessary when the mech tilts a bit too far in a certain direction or force the mech into taking certain steps or movements to get back on it's feet, similar to how if a person is shoved they will stumble around for a bit until they regain balance. Along with this, mecha wobble from side to side as they walk, peddling their weight over from one leg to the other. This is to also to prevent from falling over. Flavor text: Light mechs are by far the most common of the three variants. This is in part due to their open nature, but also thanks to them being so cheap to produce. Light mechs, due to their lightness, are the only ones that can be equipped with jump jets or even wings and complete flight engines. This can be used to further the mechas already fast and flexible nature. Along with this, light mecha can be equipped with anything from powerful coilguns to grenade launchers and machine guns. The only weapon a light mech cannot be equipped with are railguns, due to their immense size, weight and power requirement. In the case of certain mechs they feature VIs that can help aim and track enemies. These are however rarely good enough on their own so the mech still demands input from the pilot to provide reliable aiming. A common stereotype is the idea that most, if not all light mechs have military purposes in mind, this is not the case. While yes, they have a strong connection to war and a good chunk of models are designed with military purposes in mind, a good chunk of models focus on the industrial side of things, such as construction mechs or mining equipment. Military mecha are rarely armoured with solid metal, in fact, due to the weight of metal, mech manufacturers often try and use as little metal as possible, preferring the use of tough ceramics and polymers for armour. Metal is therefore only used where absolutely necessary, such as mechanical parts, casing or to protect very important sections. The way a mech functions along with its roles are heavily determined by what kind of legs they utilize. Here are the two main types and what they entail. Humanoid: Humanoid legs are fantastic for tougher mechs. What they lack in mobility and flexibility, they more than make up for with their ability to be quite heavily armoured. Digitigrade: Digitigrade legs are the polar opposite to humanoid legs, being much more focused on agility and dexterity. These legs are capable of running very quickly by essentially leaping forward. They are also often built like springs, giving them resistance towards high falls and the ability to jump well. Referenced technologies: None Attainability: OPEN Tags: INDUSTRIAL EVENT Category: MILITARY VEHICLES
