by M. D. Cooper
Rika pulled out a chair and settled heavily into it, grinning at the mechs hanging on her every word.
“Because we’ve been Genevia’s crutch for far too long.”
* * * * *
Niki offered.
The lift opened up, and Rika walked down a series of passages, trying not to think of the farewell she was about to have, and instead wondering how they’d get Colonel Borden’s Starcrusher on the Lance. He said that it was his compensation after his pinnace had gotten blown up.
Before long, she came to the bay where three pinnaces sat, Marauders loading them with supplies for their journey.
Orchestrating the chaos was Chase, a grin on his lips as he yelled at Kelly for trying to sneak a case of vodka onto the ship.
“Having fun?” Rika asked.
“More than I should be.” Chase grinned as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “I mean…mostly I’m just giddy to get to Dekar and shove my boot up a few asses that sorely deserve it.”
“Like Hal’s?” Rika asked.
“Oh hell no—see what I did there?”
Rika rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help a small laugh. “Yeah, Hal’s Hell. Good one.”
“Tough crowd. Anyway, I’m not gonna kick his ass, I’m gonna make sure I get a berth in his bay. Best place to dock on Dekar.”
“Just remember. We’re looking for intel, not payback.”
“Rika,” Chase brushed his lips against her ear. “Why can’t we have a bit of both?”
She pulled her head back from his, a stern look in her eyes. “Just be careful, you. You’re doing recon. That’s why every mech you’re taking served in Parsons or lived there. Blend in, find out where to hit the Niets, and then meet us at the rendezvous.”
“You got it, Rika. In short, don’t go in like you would.”
Rika opened her mouth to give Chase a stern reprimand, but then closed it and smiled, shaking her head. “Pretty much, yeah.”
Chase gently turned her head and kissed her passionately. “I love you, Rika.”
“I love you, too, Cha—”
“Whoooooo!” Kelly cried out as she walked past. “There’s a dark corner right over there, you know.”
Chase groaned and turned to reprimand Kelly, but Rika pulled him back against her.
“You’re not getting away that easily.”
THE FINAL UPGRADE
STELLAR DATE: 12.25.8949 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Fury Lance, Malta
REGION: Iberia System, Old Genevia, Nietzschean Empire
Chase had departed a few hours prior, and after dealing with a thousand pressing issues that had cropped up immediately thereafter, Rika had finally made it back to her quarters—which seemed so empty with Chase on his way out of the system.
Rika stepped up to the new ISF rack that Finaeus’s team had made, and released the clamps that held the armor on her body. Following that, she released the bolts holding her limbs in place, and the rack pulled them away, lifting up her ‘girly’ legs and arms and setting them into place.
Once they were attached, she stepped off the rack and stretched her arms up, intertwining her fingers, rather pleased at how good she’d become at managing all five—though five toes still caused her no end of trouble, if she tried to move them independently.
Satisfied that her limbs were properly attached, Rika ambled over to her bed and laid down on the sheet.
Though she trusted Chase implicitly, the fact that she’d just sent him out felt like the wrong move. They’d just finally reunited everyone in her force, and two days later, she’d sent a whole platoon’s worth away.
It’s not like that, we’ll follow in just a few days, she reminded herself. And the team isn’t under duress, or poorly supplied. They’ll be fine.
Rika chuckled.
Rika reached up and interlaced her fingers behind her head.
A giggle that a younger woman might have let out, had they not lived Rika’s life, slipped past the SMI-4’s lips.
Rika sucked in a surprised breath, her heavily lidded eyes snapping wide open.
The AI gave a rueful laugh.
Rika nodded mutely as a host of questions flooded her mind, then she latched onto one, asking it aloud.
“Why me, Niki?”
“Sure, I get that. But why did you pair with me?”
Rika thought of all the people she’d killed over the years, many of whose faces she could still see if she cared to.
“I don’t know about that. Honest, sure…. The other two are questionable.”
Rika barked a laugh, enjoying the joy that came from deep inside herself. “Are you going to throw your venerable years at me whenever I disagree now?”
“Probably not. You forgot one thing in your list: I’m a bit stubborn as well.”
THE END
* * * * *
The Parson System, where Rika fought a losing battle on the planet Naera during the war, and where she met Chase in Hal’s Hell, is next on the agenda.
The system supports a significant Nietzschean presence, the largest force Rika’s Marauders have ever taken on alone. But it also holds something that could be the key to a massive victory against the Nietzscheans.
Get Rika Conqueror, and find out what is coming ne
xt for Rika and the Marauders.
MECH TYPES & ARMAMENTS
While these are the standard builds and configurations documented by the Genevian Armed Forces (GAF), many mechs reached the field in mismatched configuration, or were altered after deployment.
Sometimes these alterations were upgrades, sometimes downgrades, as repairs were often made with whatever spare components were available at the time.
The mechs in the Marauders generally align with the stated configurations, though many have altered themselves over the years.
NOTE: The K2R and all 4th generation models were made by Finaeus Tomlinson, in concert with Rika’s Repair and Maintenance team, specifically Lieutenant Carson and Corporal Stripes.
K1R (Kill Ranger – Generation 1)
This mech is more of a two-legged tank than a mech. The K1R sports a central ‘pod’ where the human is situated. None of the limbs utilize human material.
K1Rs often had mental issues due to feeling as though they had lost all sense of humanity. When the Nietzscheans won the war, they did not release any K1Rs from their internment camps. It is not known if they kept them, or killed them all.
Until the discovery of the mechs in the Politica, there was only a single K1R in the Marauders (who had been under General Mill’s command at the end of the war). That mech has joined Rika’s company to assist the four K1Rs Rika freed from the Politica in re-integration.
K1R mechs have a variety of heavy armament, including massive chainguns, railguns, missiles (with and without tactical nuke warheads), electron beams, and proton beams. They also sport a variety of suppression devices, from pulse, to sonic, to portable grav shields.
K1R mechs were not made later in the war, due to their cost and mental instability.
There were rumors that a limited run of K2R mechs were made, but no credible reports exist.
Sub-Models:
All K1R models could be outfitted with interchangeable armament, excepting the base model, which could not carry the tactical nukes.
K1R – The base K1R model was made in the early years of the war, and lacked the coordination and reactive armor of the later models.
K1R-M – The ‘M’ K1R added in the reactive armor, and included upgraded railguns with more advanced scan and target tracking systems. These mechs carried two missiles in launcher pods in their backs. They could be (and often were) upgraded to support the tactical nuke warheads on the missiles.
K1R-T – The ‘T’ model was a similar configuration to the ‘M’, but came standard with tactical nuclear warheads. Instead of the pair of launchers the K1R-M sported, the ‘T’ model carried as many as twelve missiles.
K1R-X-4 – ‘M’ and ‘T’ models both saw upgrades from Finaeus and the ISF engineers that made them capable of functioning as AM or K1R models. None of the K1Rs opted to operate as AM’s, but their 4th generation frames had considerable upgrades to power and armor. X-4 models have the ability to swap armament with AM models as well.
K2R-MBM – Based on designs Corporal Stripes stole at the end of the war, the K2R-MBM took the idea of a tank mech and raised the bar.
The Genevian military never had the energy to power their plans for the K2R mechs, but with miniaturized critical energy modules and ISF-grade SC batteries, the dreams of the GAF came into being under Finaeus’s guidance.
The K2R-MBM is piloted by two AM-4 mechs (leveraging a part of the AM-T spec), one who manages movement and main-arm weapons, and another who controls the secondary arms, defensive systems, and secondary weapons systems.
On top of existing armament, the K2R-MBM brings to bear variable density proton beams, nanonet missiles, electron lashes, mortars (both thermite and HE), rapid-fire DPU cannons, as well as ground-hugger missiles.
The mech also functions as a re-armament center for its squad, and an attack drone deployment system.
AM (Assault Mech)
The AM mechs represented the bulk of the GAF’s mechanized infantry program. It is estimated that over ten million AMs were created during the war, and over one hundred thousand are known to have survived. Many joined mercenary outfits or the militaries of other nations.
AM model mechs were a ‘torso-only’ design, where none of the human’s arms and legs were retained. The original idea was to make their cores swappable with K1R models, but it turned out that the mechanized infantry design of the AM models was generally more effective than the ‘walking tank’ design of the K1R models.
AM models were versatile mechs which had swappable loadouts. The improvements over time were mostly centered around human-mech integration, armor, and power systems.
AM mechs were often outfitted with chainguns, shoulder-mounted railguns, and electron beams.
Without known exception, AM mechs were always male.
Sub-Models
AM-1 – The original model of AM. Fewer than 100,000 AM-1 mechs were made, and none were known to have survived the war.
AM-2 – The AM-2 mechs quickly superseded the AM-1s, with better armor, more efficient power systems, and superior human-mech integrations.
AM-3 – The third generation of AM mech had upgraded power supply systems, and an artificial epidermis to remove the need for periodic removal and cleaning. Some AM-3s were also AI capable.
AM-T – Design specs for AM-T mechs exist, but it is not known if any were made by the Genevians. The AM-T design utilized two AM-3 mechs working together in one larger body, controlling more limbs and separating motion and combat functions.
AM-4 – Designed by Finaeus Tomlinson, the AM-4 mechs are a step closer to humanity for the mechanized warriors. With stub limbs (like RR-3 and SMI models), the AM-4 mechs also utilize the MK99 chameleon armor epidermis.
AM-4s now support fully-swappable limbs with all other models, though they still possess the heaviest frames, and are capable of carrying heavier weapons, more ammunition, and heavier armor than any other mech type.
The 4th generation model now possesses internal, torso-mounted a-grav units for added mobility and stabilization.
RR (Recon/Ranger)
The RR model of mech was the precursor to the SMI model. RRs were based on both male and female humans, though smaller humans were used for RR models than AM and FR mechs.
These mechs were similar to AM models, except they were physically smaller and lighter. This allowed RRs to handle light aircraft/drop deployments.
As a compromise, they had smaller power sources, and could only operate for 2-3 days in the field.
Their loadouts were swappable with AM models, but they rarely utilized the chainguns.
Sub-Models
RR-1 – This model of mech began to appear on the battlefield around the same time as the AM-2 mechs. They utilized the power upgrade of the AM-2 mechs to have smaller power systems, but they also had a smaller power capacity. In theory, the new batteries of the AM-2 line should have worked, but they had overheating issues in the field, and more than one RR-1 had battery detonation when utilizing multiple firing systems.
RR-2 – The RR-2 mechs were rolled out around the same time as the AM-3s, and had few significant changes other than improved armor, and marginally longer-lasting power that no longer suffered from overload issues.
Second gen RR-2 mechs were also skinless, like AM-3 and SMI mechs.
RR-3 – The RR-3 mechs reached the field shortly before the end of the war, and were different in that they had partial legs, like SMI mechs. This was done as a cost/component-saving measure.
RR-4 – These mechs moved a step closer to the SMI spec, gaining the MK99 chameleon armor epidermis, and becoming lighter—even with their new stub limbs—thanks to advanced materials provided by the ISF.
The RR-4s use the same swappable weapons mounts as all mechs, but have high-output a-grav units in their thighs. These units allow them to fly at low altitudes (up to three hundred meters) and provide additional zero-g maneuvering options without using armor-based systems.
Seven of the RR-4s took the option for an additional set of arms and the brain modifications required to control the extra limbs.
FR (Force Recon)
Force Recon mechs were mechs that had the lighter drop capabilities of the RR mechs, with the additional power and armor of AM-3 models. All FR mechs were skinless.
Sub-Models
FR-1 – The first generation of FR mechs were limited run, and had both weight and power load distribution issues.
FR-2 – Second generation FR mechs solved many of the issues from the first generation, and were well regarded for their effectiveness.
XFR – The XFR model is not known to have been widely produced. This model had additional power and carrying capacity to utilize shoulder-mounted proton beams and chainguns. However, the mech’s loadout made it almost as heavy as an AM-3 without the armor.
FR-4 – Though there is no FR-3 model, Finaeus and the members of Rika’s Repair and Medical platoon decided to go with consistent generational numbering across all mechs.
The latest FR model gained the XFR’s shoulder-mounted beam weapons: one an electron beam, and the other a high-output burst laser cannon. These weapons slot onto the wearer’s back and slide up over the shoulder where they are each capable of two hundred and seventy degree motion, even with the meter-long barrel on each.
Additional changes include a-grav stabilization similar to the AM-4s, and the same universal limb and weapons mounting system, as well as the MK99 chameleon epidermis.
SMI (Scout Mech-Integrated)
The final mech model produced at the end of the war was built out of a desire for a super-light mech that could be used in place of standard infantry in sniper/recon situations, and bring extreme fire to bear if desired.
