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> Proteus, Working the beast.
Lieutenant Commander Marcus Braddock
post Aug 27 2007, 03:49 AM
Post #1



Legionnares II Benefactor
Rank: Lieutenant



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Group: LEGIONNAIRES
Posts: 68
Joined: 10-June 07
Member No.: 218





You wander along the catwalks of the mechbay. It is well into the night hours. Your boots making a dull thunk every time they make contact with the girded steel surface. You walk leisurely past rows of jetties branching off the arterial catwalk, each leading to one of the Legionnaire's metallic behemoths.
You stop. You aren't the only one in the silent shadows of the mechbay.
Down the end of one jetty, you see a man wrestling a large crate off a pallet of several containers. He looks up as you turn off the arterial and approach him.
You recognise him now; it is Talus, one of the newer Legionnaire's. You heard he signed up just before the latest shennanigry with Crayven corporation, fresh out of some hoo-hah on the fringe worlds.

"Hey, padre'. Out late tonight?"
His grin is stark white against his oil streaked skin. He's wearing standard uniform boots and combat pants, but has stripped down a plain white singlet on his upper body. His hair is hidden under a navy-blue rag, tied into a bandana.
"Mind giving me a hand with this next refill?"
You oblige, taking one end of the crate, while wondering what it is he is doing. Obviously working on his mech, but at this late hour, it seems rather obsessive. Then again, you too were wondering the mechbay aimlessly. Between the two of you, you haul the crate to the end of the jetty, where it branches out to encircle the head and shoulders of Talus' mech. Talus drops his end and you follow suit. Now you get a good view of his machine. A low slung head atop a peaking, predatory torso, flanked by LRM launchers and two gun-mounted arms, packing various laser cannon barrels.
Proteus. His 'Mad Cat' mark two.
You've heard he works on this thing extensively, and you turn to Talus again to ask him about.
You are suprised to see him opening the pallet and loading several canisters into a large spraygun. It is paint. He grins at you when he sees you staring.

"Well, after each scrap I have to do at least some touch up work! Lasers tend to burn the stuff right off the hull!"
He jerks a thumb towards Proteus' canopy and nose, and for the first time you notice the paint. The nose and upper torso of his mech is white, streaked with swirling patterns of cyan. A nice look, you decide, if not particulalry useful in battle. On the side of the nose you see a wolf's head surrounded by feathers, painted by hand. You are about to ask about it, when Talus starts speaking.

"So, padre', want to see how she works?"
You nod, and make to step towards the cockpit. Talus laughs.
"Not a chance. No one touches my baby but me. Sorry."
You can understand that. So you step back as Talus explains it to you.
"I run her through a sensor control set-up. Not many switches and controls, she does what I do. My legs sit over a sensor pad that responds to my movements, which controls Proteus' gait and speed. My head and torso and covered by similar sensors, and my arms rest in arm control units, which contain basic controls for comms, sensors and status checks. Piloting her is an imprecise art, but I wouldn't have it any other way."
You ask about the weaponry Proteus packs. Talus seems pleased you asked, judging again by the stark white grin.
"Her big punch is those hefty LRM-10 launchers on her shoulders. I have manual triggers situated above my torso, corresponding to the launchers' positions on the old girl. By flexing my shoulders, depending to strength and the depth I depress the triggers, that fires a volley of several LRM's at anything stupid enough to get locked by me.
'Course, they run out of ammo soon enough. After that, I'm down to my lasers. Not that that's a bad thing. Check these ER Large cannons. I just had them... requisitioned... from the quartermaster. I had to replace my Mediums with them, but the trade-off is worth it. These puppies are linked to thumb studs on the stick in each arm control unit. Under them, see those smaller barrels? Yeah, that's a small and two micro's on each arm. I link all the smaller lasers on each arm to a single trigger in each arm unit, since firing them together is so much more satisfying..."

He reaches up and scratches his head through the bandana. You thank him for the 'tour' and he laughs yet again. Making your excuses, you retreat up the catwalk, as the very driven man behind you takes up the spraygun and starts singing under his breath as he begins painting...

This post has been edited by Talus: Sep 7 2007, 05:09 AM


--------------------
Position: Lieutenant Commander | Legionnaires
Current Battlemech: Catapult - "Jackal."
Loadout: - 2x Holly LRM 15 launchers (shoulder mounted).
- 4x Martell Medium Lasers (torso mounted).
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