Model: Mm C44 ‘Bradley’
Nickname: ‘Kyuzo’
Specialty: Mass Production General Purpose HFV
History: On the 3rd of July in the 105th year of the Solar Age, the autonomous O'Neill cluster of New Copenhagen declared total war upon its neighbours, with its leader, the eccentric Governor Werribee Bradley, announcing his intention to unite the colonies of the Earth Sphere into a single entity. Backed by an existing arms manufacturing industry and wealth gained from a strong relationship with asteroid miners, the colony was able to rapidly produce significant numbers of HFVs for its war effort, and within two months had already occupied three of its closest neighbouring colonies. Of its many HFVs, the most infamous was the Mm C44, a general purpose mech that soon grew to symbolise New Copenhagen's armies. The brainchild of the governor himself, exactly eight hundred and thirteen units were produced by the Vimana Institute, and were his vanguard against those that opposed him, the relatively high performance of the machines superior to much of what the colonial militias could deploy. However, it would be the intervention of an UN coalition in the fourth month of the war that ended their advance, with the Earth-built machines managing to be achieve technological parity, or even superiority, with the C44s. Six hundred and ninety-two of the ‘Bradley’s (a moniker given to them by coalition forces) would be destroyed, and by Christmas that year, the UN had successfully expelled New Copenhagen's forces from its occupied colonies, bringing an end to Bradley's ambitions (although he would escape arrest). The surviving C44s would find their way either into the hands of UN member states or amongst mercenaries and pirates, and are still a distinctive sight throughout the space routes.
This particular ‘Bradley’ was recently captured from a pirate outfit by Rising Star of the Paper Tiger squad. The
Jannah techs have since patched it up, cleaned the previous owner’s blood out of the cockpit, and approved it for Harrison’s use. He has christened it ‘Kyuzo’, after the master swordsman of Kurosawa’s
Seven Samurai.
Appearance: The ‘Bradley’ is merely 19m in height, but due to the presence of its large backpack, which stores the secondary reactor, appears to be far bigger in size. It utilises an offensive shield, which is attached upon the forearm and can swivel around to block enemy attacks from different angles. The ‘Messer’ drone protrudes from its right shoulder, a rounded object with a gun pointing out from it. Unlike most machines produced in the Earth sphere, it lacks a signature mono-eye, with its cranial unit instead possessing a prominent, light blue visor that protects its sensors and cameras. Two miniature ‘horns’ also jut back from its head just above its Vulcans, smoothing back down in an almost 'punkish' look.
The previous owner had given this unit an orange paintjob, which Harrison has elected to keep. The techs have sprayed over the old pirate emblems and applied an OSDT insignia and serial number, but he has not yet had time to paint his own designs on.
Features:
- Long-range targeting sensors
- VI-EX02 Reactor System: each ‘Bradley’ unit possesses a secondary backup reactor that provides it with greater energy use, as well as allowing it to serve as a power source for the weapons of other HFVs if necessary, such as the GT-010's Mega Beam Cannon.
- Offensive Shield: swivel-mounted; beam-coated; contains two small missile launchers
- Rocket Anchor (2x): each arm of the C44 is equipped with a rocket anchor, which can be launched to grab onto foes or parts of the environment.
- VI-R01a Drone Control Transmitter: as a command unit, this ‘Bradley’ was equipped with a transmitter that allowed control over a single drone weapon.
Armaments:
- 60mm Vulcan Gun Pod (2x): mounted on cranial unit
- Repeating Beam Gun (1x): the ‘Bradley’ utilises a small repeating beam rifle as a standard weapon at short ranges to great effect, its high rate of fire making up for the reduced power in comparison to the more common beam rifle, and thanks to the presence of its secondary generator, is longer-lasting
- Beam Saber (6x): stored in recharge racks in its legs and in its backpack
- 3-Slot Grenade Rack
- VI-R01b ‘Messer’ Drone: this unit controls a single drone that, when not in use, is attached to its right shoulder, serving as an extra, fixed beam gun that feeds off its secondary generator; when launched however, it can be flown up to 500m away, and acts as a weak beam gun (due to reliance on internal batteries to fly) that can harry or hurt enemies. It can also be equipped with a camera or other surveillance tools.
Weaknesses: The C44 ‘Bradley’ is highly limited in regards to long-range combat, with its ‘Messer’ and its weak beam gun serving as its only source of attack beyond close proximities. While it can use its rocket anchors to reduce the distance between it and enemies, such tactics rely on being able to catch its target. It was also built entirely for space and colony-bound combat, and can barely function within atmosphere. The second reactor can be dangerous, with any damage dealt to it possessing far riskier effects upon the pilot and the machine compared to the main reactor. In addition, Harrison is not yet familiar with piloting this class of mech, so teething problems are quite possible.
