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Description
For NationStates; Modeled in DoGa with custom parts and a background photo taken on the beach at Lincoln City, Oregon.

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"That's 'Savage', not 'Salvage'..."

"...looks like salvage to me."

~Overheard Conversation, OSA Design Bureau...

----

Late one one night at a lonely desk, an engineer sat alone with no particular place to go and nothing particular to do with his time. To relieve the boredom - and to justify his continued effort to warm the seat - he decided to combine this favorite piece and that particular element from various OSA platforms into a single model. The first choice was - oddly - not from one of the BattleMechs that were his normal domain but from the new 'Gryphon' ground attack fighter - the interesting engine and missile launch system that supplied a good portion of its offensive punch. Next would be the leg assembly from the light 'Grey Knight' 'Mech. The odd split torso from the 'Helion' had always caught his eye and that was next, stripped of its head. That would be added again from the 'Grey Knight', though there would be some tweaking.

The design was coming together now but it still needed something more. A big gun - and his chosen candidate was the shotgun-like linear accelerator used by the 'Marauder XL' (Which stood for Xtra Light, but any sense of scale was already well out the door). With this already open he tore off one of that 'Mech's particle cannon and stuck it between the two box launchers that were now mounted on the thing's shoulders. A medium pulsed laser on the head, a couple high volume rotary cannon on either side of the chest, and a chopping blade under the barrel of the double-accelerator. And a yawn - time to call it a night.

But he didn't close the file.

The next morning, he made his bleary way into the office to find his desk surrounded by a small crowd of colleagues. Some were dismissive, others were interested. He shrugged it off as 'piecemeal salvage'. But someone else higher up the chain had already seen it and whether he'd wanted it or not, the newly dubbed 'Savage' was soon headed for test production. That same year the 'Savage' - piloted by one Warden Stillwell - would defeat all opposition at the inaugural 'Warlord's Tournament' on the planet Sakaldale to be awarded the accolade of Grand Champion.

He, of course, was back at his desk.

----

The Warlord's Tournament would be the 'Savage's big debut and it was big. A design conceived over a cold cup of coffee would plow through the assembled ranks of the competition on Sakaldale's sand marshes - with one caveat. The DawnStar Particle Cannon that was one of his favorite elements would end up being blown away and replaced over ten times over the course of the event. Some saw this as a particular design fault but the pilot Stillwell embraced it, using the exposed weapon as bait while he closed to deliver the killing blow. Only once was it fired in anger - a clean miss caused by the poor angle of the attachment pivot.

With that performance under its belt and production ramping up, the 'Savage' would quickly become one of the favorites in the OSA's growing 'Mech arsenal. Weight-wise it was on par with the 'Dragoon' and mounted an impressive array of medium-to-long range weapons that gave it a dynamic punch. More ominous to its opponents was the second portion of those odd missile pods - the 'Savage' could jump both high and deep, often using that ability to close and maneuver over terrain otherwise impassable. This allowed the 'Mech to bring its weight to bear quickly and Stillwell as well as later pilots were famous for engaging in brutal close-range slugging matches that more than once ended with that bayonet through the pilot's compartment of an enemy 'Mech.

Some variants remove the particle cannon as superfluous, substituting in additional heat sinks. Others double-down on the design's surprising close-range abilities by removing the right arm and hand and adding in another double-accelerator and bayonet. This variant would be used by Stillwell to defend his title - successfully - against several other 'Savages' during the next 'Tournament.

Description
For NationStates; Modeled in DoGa with custom parts and a background photo taken on the beach at Lincoln City, Oregon.

----

"That's 'Savage', not 'Salvage'..."

"...looks like salvage to me."

~Overheard Conversation, OSA Design Bureau...

----

Late one one night at a lonely desk, an engineer sat alone with no particular place to go and nothing particular to do with his time. To relieve the boredom - and to justify his continued effort to warm the seat - he decided to combine this favorite piece and that particular element from various OSA platforms into a single model. The first choice was - oddly - not from one of the BattleMechs that were his normal domain but from the new 'Gryphon' ground attack fighter - the interesting engine and missile launch system that supplied a good portion of its offensive punch. Next would be the leg assembly from the light 'Grey Knight' 'Mech. The odd split torso from the 'Helion' had always caught his eye and that was next, stripped of its head. That would be added again from the 'Grey Knight', though there would be some tweaking.

The design was coming together now but it still needed something more. A big gun - and his chosen candidate was the shotgun-like linear accelerator used by the 'Marauder XL' (Which stood for Xtra Light, but any sense of scale was already well out the door). With this already open he tore off one of that 'Mech's particle cannon and stuck it between the two box launchers that were now mounted on the thing's shoulders. A medium pulsed laser on the head, a couple high volume rotary cannon on either side of the chest, and a chopping blade under the barrel of the double-accelerator. And a yawn - time to call it a night.

But he didn't close the file.

The next morning, he made his bleary way into the office to find his desk surrounded by a small crowd of colleagues. Some were dismissive, others were interested. He shrugged it off as 'piecemeal salvage'. But someone else higher up the chain had already seen it and whether he'd wanted it or not, the newly dubbed 'Savage' was soon headed for test production. That same year the 'Savage' - piloted by one Warden Stillwell - would defeat all opposition at the inaugural 'Warlord's Tournament' on the planet Sakaldale to be awarded the accolade of Grand Champion.

He, of course, was back at his desk.

----

The Warlord's Tournament would be the 'Savage's big debut and it was big. A design conceived over a cold cup of coffee would plow through the assembled ranks of the competition on Sakaldale's sand marshes - with one caveat. The DawnStar Particle Cannon that was one of his favorite elements would end up being blown away and replaced over ten times over the course of the event. Some saw this as a particular design fault but the pilot Stillwell embraced it, using the exposed weapon as bait while he closed to deliver the killing blow. Only once was it fired in anger - a clean miss caused by the poor angle of the attachment pivot.

With that performance under its belt and production ramping up, the 'Savage' would quickly become one of the favorites in the OSA's growing 'Mech arsenal. Weight-wise it was on par with the 'Dragoon' and mounted an impressive array of medium-to-long range weapons that gave it a dynamic punch. More ominous to its opponents was the second portion of those odd missile pods - the 'Savage' could jump both high and deep, often using that ability to close and maneuver over terrain otherwise impassable. This allowed the 'Mech to bring its weight to bear quickly and Stillwell as well as later pilots were famous for engaging in brutal close-range slugging matches that more than once ended with that bayonet through the pilot's compartment of an enemy 'Mech.

Some variants remove the particle cannon as superfluous, substituting in additional heat sinks. Others double-down on the design's surprising close-range abilities by removing the right arm and hand and adding in another double-accelerator and bayonet. This variant would be used by Stillwell to defend his title - successfully - against several other 'Savages' during the next 'Tournament.