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we-r-nomad — MASA Tech 02: Centaurmor
Published: 2011-02-26 01:11:58 +0000 UTC; Views: 9377; Favourites: 111; Downloads: 353
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Description
In the years before Earth's punitive expedition to Mars, there were a great many challenges faced in reverse engineering all of the delightful weapons of war left behind by the original 1898 raiders when they succumbed to terrestrial ailments.Chief among them, was recreating the characteristic tripedal gait utilized by Martian mobile weapons.
Refurbished war machines were able to hold their stride of course, but Earth science experienced immense difficulty in duplicating the balance required by this form of locomotion in completely man-made machines. This was a problem that would have to be solved if humanity wherever to build original war machines, in the quantities necessary to bring the battle back to the Martian's doorstep, and forever rid mankind of the accursed "red menace".
The solution proved to be quite simple--A fourth leg was added to Earth-built war machines, affecting a more natural, quadrupedal balance. The new configuration proved more stable than the three-legged, Martian design, and the machine's equine appearance appealed to Earth's military planners and personnel, who were at the time accustomed to cavalry based forces. (As stated by Captain George Orwell of the 84th Orbital Calvalry, "Three legs good...Four legs--better!
)These new war machines, dubbed Centaurmors* saw action in every field of combat in the Second Worlds' War, and distinguished themselves in battle against their three-legged counterparts.
In addition to their effective use in land campaigns, Centaurmors found a role for themselves in open space. Fitted with reaction control thrusters housed in their fuselages and hoof assemblies, they proved to be nimble, and maneuverable space weapons platforms.
While not "atmospherically amphibian" like airfoil craft, they did provide a strong small-craft point defense for the lumbering juggernauts of MASA's advanced fleet.
Today Centaurmors like the A/F**-16 Guardian pictured above are a familiar staple of human military dominance in space. It is not uncommon to see a great many of these wondrous machines flying in vast formations around MASA's proud Ships of the Line.
* I was originally going to call them "SELF's", but I just can't resist a portmanteau.
**Articulated Fighter
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Comments: 88
>.< not gonna cry over human stupidity... not gonna cry over human stupidity... if i start i'll never stop, so not gonna start....
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Great drawing. Your mechanical drawings are always a treat.
Although...I do wonder whenever you put out more FMP or MASA tech how AMAZON even stands a chance waging a war on two fronts.
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Well it's not really two fronts presently.
MASA looks upon AMAZON as a cadre of conspiracy theorists and militant kooks. They believe the Anti Maidifaction Army need to be kept tabs on, but they don't feel the need to hunt them down.
Yet.
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So they're not convinced by the mass abductions and the attacks on non-AMAZON people, like MIRAGE...
...whose side as the writer are you on, anyway?
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MASA had been planning to destroy Mirage the moment they started building space battleships like the Hegemon that are bigger and more powerful that their own flagship--the Thunderchilde.
Even though, with only one Hegemon built, the corporation was egregiously outnumbered by Earth's grand armada, MASA'a admiralty could not ignore Mirage's potential to become an ascendant interstellar power. FMP simply did MASA's dirty work for them by defeating their expedition.
And remember UCCE and FMP are more or less allies, with the later importing high quality teddy-bears to Earth on a regular basis. Earth, at large looks upon FMP as an innocuous trading partner.
One last note high ranking officers like Admiral Seth Sonoda, commander of the Thunderchilde enjoy certain benefits from Earth's close association with the robot ruled planet. Seth's second wife, a young bombshell named Sally, is actually his first wife, rejuvenated and brainwashed by FMP, in exchange for occasional assistance. (He say's his "first wife" died in a spaceship accident to hide the truth.) An he is but one of many high ranking officers who benefit from FMP being kept under wraps.
As for whose side I'm on?
That would be telling.
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So, more people that hate MIRAGE. Great.
...y'know, why haven't you just fried us or something when you had the chance?
Sorry. I've had another bad day online.
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Well Mirage no longer poses a threat, and I got to maidify many of their cute employees, so I'm all good.
Besides, in the end, they're not my characters to fry.
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One of these days I'm really going to have to stop being insecure about MIRAGE. I mean, they're a totally different creative entity than what you do, so we can do what we like, right?
I dunno. How do you avoid the same insecurity with others' characters?
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Well I guess I make up for it by having massive insecurities in pretty much every other conceivable aspect of my life.
Regarding OC's and creations? It's not a big deal so long as you remember that you can undo any damage done to your continuity by declaring it "non-canon" and keeping in mind that others can do the same.
I've seen other people do crazy things with my own OC's, and I just look at it as alternate universe hijinks--unless of course I see something really kewl.
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Indeed.
Thanks: I'llkeep this in mind.
Also, I always wonder: your user icon 'round these parts is a Chipette, verbatim, isn't it?
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"Also, I always wonder: your user icon 'round these parts is a Chipette, verbatim, isn't it?"
"Verbatim?*"
This is a really oddly worded question, but from the context I assume you are asking if my user icon is the image of an FMP mind control chip.
Yes it is. 
*"Verbatim" means "Word for word", I'm having trouble seeing how that applies here. I've never seen it used to describe similar images.
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I used it metaphorically. I meant to say that it was an exact copy, and apparently yes.
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I'd expect it to be the same side the writer/artist (or should it be artist/writer in this case?) they're always on..their own.
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No probs, it's an impressive design and I really like how you had it's origins in the Tripods but had MASA add a leg after reverse engineering the technology (especially using the 4 legs and horse like design to get it on the right side of the older military men)
What offensive and defensive capabilities does it have?
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It has laser weapons integrated into its shield assemblies, which, along with the cockpit have ceramic, ablative coats to allow them to withstand hits from medium wattage coherent light weapons.
It has hard points for missiles and rocket arrays housed in the shoulders, and along the rear thigh quarters.
Centarmours forearm shields also have recessed manipulators, that can allow them to grasp and deploy large scale construction tools, mecha scaled naval rifles, and a variety of mecha melee weapons.
The shoulder housings can also mount a variety of cannon, and CL weapons.
A lone Centarmour can deploy firepower equivalent to an entire squadron of attack jets.
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Aha I see.
They sound very very impressive and extremely well armed indeed, great job there
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Thanks. I'm going to have to design more equipment for MASA as time goes on though.
Centarmours are prodigious, but they would also likely be very expensive to deploy and maintain. I would imagine that they would be analogous to F-15 Eagles: dominating super-weapons that put a strain on the deploying force's warchest.
I have a few messy sketches of faster war mechs that resemble wildcats or cheetahs. They'd be four legged like the Centarmours (natch.) but they'd move faster over land, be lighter armored, carry less waepons, and have a lower profile.
They'd be the F-16 to the Centarmour's F-15: a lighter and cheaper to deploy mecha for a similar mission profile.
I have no idea what to name them just yet.
Oh yea, and MASA's going to need some dedicated air foil craft. These will be larger, faster and less fuel efficient than AMAZON Swans. Haven't even sketched them yet, but they're in the back of my mind.
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Looks like a reaper from C&C Tiberan Sun mixed with Ghost In the Shell army suits.
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IT'S A GUNDA.... oh wait... false alarm dont panic everyone
epic pic dude
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Gundam. Boy I miss that show. I haven't seen a version that I've really liked since 8th MS Team. I think Gundam Wing with the whole "boy band" aesthetic, pretty much killed it for me. 
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You should take a look at Gundam Unicorn.
It's a more back-to-basics approach (even based in the same timeline/technology as the original series) and less "boy band" and "EXTREEEEEEEME designs and sparkles" (beyond the usual minkovski particles)
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8th MS Team.?
i liked wing the most really (first one i saw)
i thought i t had a real depth to it and good backstory than just...
GIANT ROBOTS FIGHTING!! OMG!! LOOKY AT THAT FORGET BACKSTORY!!!!!
...
yeah... see my point?
btw nice to meet you sir nomad :3
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I think Gundam's finest moment was 0083 Stardust Memory. It's full of political intrigue, and has the tense military action of Hunt for Red October.
Best of all, ALL of the characters are over eighteen. I really am tired of seeing teen age super-soldiers.
Really you need to see any Gundam set in the Universal Century continuity. I think you'll agree it's just written on a higher level than stuff like Wing.
Now, Wing wasn't all bad. I did enjoy Endless Waltze, but the world of Universal Century is just better thought through.
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Mind you, putting billion dollar military hardware in the hands of high-school freshmen with no training ALWAYS results in superior pilots compared tho those with years of military academy and more years of training, except for their constant whining about how WRONG War is, while they just so happen to be so naturally damned good at it.
("Wah! *angst angst* Why does there have to be so much killing!" (Swears off killing for a few episodes.) "Wah! The guy I let go just killed my girlfriend with a smirk on his face!" (Flies off in murderous rage, slaughters the enemy by the thousands while the controllers marvel at his off the charts numbers.) repeat ad-infinitum.)
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You forgot about the "tough-love" slap from the no-nonsense mentor, (i.e. The guy who should actually be piloting the mech.) that snaps the hero out of his stupor in time enough to save the universe.
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If he doesn't go out in a smiling, unexpectedly self-sacrificial blaze of glory first. "I'm going to blow myself up here to hold them off, so you can go on, you can do it kid." "Nooooooo!" (And of course, strategically, it would have been better for him to NOT martyr himself and to back the kid up since invariably the bad guys regroup and almost take out the hero kid before he can "Do it".)
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But even with all that, it's still better than martial arts anime, where any battle is observed by a pair of spectators: One recounting the obvious events in the fight, and the other telling all the hidden truths.
It's like "Play-by-Play" and "Color Commentary" in a sports broadcast.
I could see the concerned bishojo girlfriend and the inscrutable mentor sitting in a press box overlooking the dual, while wearing headsets and network logo blazers.
Bishojo Chick: "It looks like the Evil Gye has come here to fight, Inscrutable Mentor Dewd. After disintegrating his obligatory nehru blazer by simply flexing his pecs, he's opened up by firing 786 rabbit punches into Hiro Boi's face. I don't think this one's going to last past the first commercial.
Insrutable Mentor Dewd: :"I wouldn't be so quick to count out Hiro Boi just yet, Bishojo Chick. Hiro is demonstrated repeatedly the ability to absorb crippling punishment--usually without injury--before unleashing a devastating counterattack. And he hasn't even called on one of his secret techniques yet. I'd say this one will last, at least until Evil Gye recounts his tragic life story.
Bishojo Chick: "Holy cow! You might have a point there Inscrutable! Hiro has just sent Evil spiraling through a concrete pillar with a single blow. That's pretty impressive when you consider Hiro's slight 96 pound build, compared against Evil's 385 pounds of solid muscle packed onto his eight foot frame."
Inscrutable Mentor Dude: "Well, Evil may have the advantage in height, weight, speed, reach, training, experience, and physical fitness, but Hiro has spirit which accounts for his presently unbroken string of victories over opponents he has no business looking at, much less fighting.
Now let us pause for station identification..."
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ok then, ill keep in mind to see that :3
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+1
Stardust Memory is the only Gundam series that I've ever been able to stand watching all the way through, and one of only three giant robot animes I've watched more than once, mostly for that very reason.
The other two being Dual! and Dai-Guard.
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i -highly- recommend MS Igloo. The first OVA series follows the 'exploits' of a Zeonic weapons testing crew during the one-year war.
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Hmmm, thanks for the heads up.
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admittedly, i am biased. Monique Cadillac has a lavender latex pilot suit, and frankly, it's me, how could i NOT be all over that?
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You are like, retardedly talented. I want your mecha-drawing skilllzzz. T^T
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