#system11

Wasn't *quite* happy with the initial fairy design so I've been iterating on it a little, this is what I've settled with at the moment, making the Choke launchers and arm lasers more clearly visible, and adding a little asymmetry with the IRST on the nose.

So much for regularity, took a bit longer than I thought.

Bandit-piloted revolutionary era P-Man A model. Over half a century old, the machine was discovered in a forgotten weapons cache and restored to functionality by cannibalising other machines for replacement parts. While formidable back during its introduction, with its impressive terrain traversal abilities and long range, the A model is sorely lacking in the modern battlefield.

Of course, Bandits would avoid pitched battles anyway, and the machine is tooled more for intimidation and raiding. Thick ERA bricks help provide some supplemental defence to the already decently thick plating on the 'Man, while the flamethrower makes the machine a terrifying prospect to any lightly defended villages it comes across.

'Fairy' Light Mech. A design originating from the more piracy inclined spacer tribes of System-11. It pulls double duty as the favoured mech of spacer mercenaries operating on Sond and a means of amping up muscle on ship and station raids. The ground and space types vary in propulsion systems, with one of the more noticeable changes being the swapping of the wings for large radiator elements, but otherwise the variants have enough commonality between them that one can be converted to the other without the need for sophisticated maintenance facilities.

'Tresspasser' Gunship, workhorse of the System-11 rebels. A good deal smaller than the scorpion, but slower and less agile. These are old school rotary wings, dug out from colonial caches or sold on the cheap by spacer black marketeers. The designs predates ubiquitous pd lasers on vehicles, so the rebels had to jury rig a bulky unit on the right side, and an accompanying cooling system on the left. The modifications make handling awful, but it beats getting nailed by smart-munitions.

The 20mm cannon on the bottom is only really effective at shooting soft targets and unarmoured vehicles, which the laser can also pull double duty on. Later in the conflict, they ended up being filled with choke rounds instead to break up sightlines and blind targets in preperation for rocket strikes.

Edward South's Vagabond MBT, used against S-11 rebels and his own allies during the revolutionary war. Modern at the time, it was still fairly practical, mounting a tried and tested 120mm smoothbore gun for anti-surface use. South's model was a solo-tank conversion, featuring additional automation and a Brain Interface System, allowing it to be controlled by only a single person.

In his re-emergence as a mercenary, he's now behind the wheel of a jury-rigged civilian crawler. Such a vehicle is slow, and not nearly as well suited to receiving weapons fire, however it makes up for it with its truly eye-watering armament of a huge laser cannon, fitted with three separate hybrid cooling/power cells, each of which can only squeeze out a single shot from the weapon.

Lohan-Scott 'Dope' Light Mech refitted for operations within the rainforests of Sond's Southern Tropics. The lower legs are sheathed in thick, waterproof waders to help keep the muddy water from degrading the leg servos. A translucent covering of a similar material rests atop the head to keep the delicate electronics within out of the worst of the moisture, too.

Weaponry errs on the side of practical, as is often the case with L-S machinery, and those who use it: A high fire rate, 20mm autocannon in a bullpup configuration for better close-quarters capability is the main armament. Underslung are a pair of boxes holding anti-tank guided missiles. An IR laser sits in the chest-turret for anti-personnel and point-defence duties and a set of 12 grenade tubes sit on the shoulders for additional utility.