Designed in YE 40 and completed later in YE 41, the Pathfinder is the first manufactured battle oriented mech fielded by the Shasta No Sekai corporation to enforce its claim over the spacer outpost of Freehold Factory from rival salvage corporations and trespassers. The Pathfinder, specializing in long-range anti-armor and anti-mecha operations and scouting is primarily fielded by the corporation for hired mercenary work alongside its other sister mechs and drones operated by the corporation.

🐺Pathfinder🐺
Class:	Light
Role:	Scouting, Sniper, Anti-armor/mecha
Faction:	Shasta No Sekai Terror Wolf Project/Independent
Tier:	Light Mecha
Nomenclature:	Sw-Tw-1L
Price:	Not For Sale1)
Contract Price:	7,000 DA2) per week3)

Not to be confused with:

• 17th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron "Pathfinder Squadron"
• Conclave Pathfinder Unit
• Pathfinder Camp
• Pathfinder

The Pathfinder is the first in a long line of battle oriented mechs fielded by the Shasta's World corporation operating out of the freehold factory system. The barren world of rolling desert and glass tundra of the planets shattered surface requiring a modular and mobile weapons platform to evict the various squatters and vultures attempting to mine the planet of its buried treasures in the form of underground spacer factories and tech vaults.

The original, precursor platform; The Sumeria Class Mecha proved a good first step towards this goal but ultimately fell short in the long run. The first answer to this was the Pathfinder that tested the waters of light but feasible weapons platform for extended use before attempting to move onto other, larger, mechs.

Taller, better armored and armed, and significantly more mobile than its progenitor; The pathfinder was an instrumental tool in crossing the barren and airless wastelands of the planet to combat those the corporation saw as unlawful trespassers and squatters upon their rightful claim. As well as the dangerous and abundant Deathcrawler Auto-Tank tanks and random but abundant large and mad automata that roam the surface of the planet.

• Agile and maneuverable weapons platform.
• Powerful, far-reaching optics and weapons
• Light, low-cost alternative to conventional mechanized warfare.
• Unquie stealth capable concealment system

A simple if not effective design the Pathfinder is visibly armored and armed with the exception of its inner leggings where hydraulics are visible but still well-armored enough to survive small arms fire. Two rocket bays are visible in the fuselage behind openable bay doors and a massive cannon protrudes from its fuselage. The mech itself has usually painted a common khaki and black to match the desert sands of its barren home but can be painted any scheme to match its missions or surroundings.

• Organization: Shasta No Sekai
• Type: Recon/Sniper
• Class: Light
• Designer: Terror Wolf Project
• Manufacturer: Shasta No Sekai
• Contract Price: 7,000 DA per week.⁴⁾

• Crew: One pilot
• Maximum Capacity: One
• Passenger Capacity: Zero

• Width: 2.5m (8 foot at its widest point)
• Height: 6.5m (21 feet tall)

• Ground speed: 117.6 km/h. (72 m/ph)
• Air speed: 13m/s (30 mph)

• Range: 426 km (264.5 miles).
• Lifespan: One deployment before refit/repair.

See Damage Rating (Version 3)

• Body: T-7 Light Mecha⁵⁾
• Shields: Zero, no Shields.

The Pathfinder contains a standard Shastas' World Mech Cockpit with everything it entails from terminals to the in-house Fairy AI assistant. The rest of the interior of the mech is practically non-existent for its size. Because of this the entry and exit of the mech are fairly simple.

Like a fighter cockpit the armored Transparent Durandium can be opened from either side of the mech after first scaling the mechs default crouch when inactive through readily available steps and handholds built into the armored legs and fuselage. From there the process simply involves sealing the usually airtight seals of the cockpit and securing oneself into the pilots' seat. Exiting is just as simple with the added option of an ejection system that blows the transparent durrandium away from the fuselage with exploding bolts before ejecting the seat skyward.

The startup process is also fairly simple requiring only the company issued Fairy to be inserted into the electronics of the cockpit much like a simple key-fob where it will then manually startup the mech remotely and begin diagnostic procedures and simulated testing before she gives the all-clear or advising of any detected issues. In which case the mechs navigation, controls, and weapons will unlock and be released to the pilot.

Shutting down is just the same with requiring the mech to be in a stationary position where the AI can safely stop all systems and cut power from the battery banks and weapons until the mech is safely inset and will usually not allow the remote unlocking of the fuselage until the AI has been removed to ensure the mech can not be too easily stolen.

The Pathfinder has three powerful built-in weapons located on its fuselage in the form of the massive Glassmaker laser for destroying armored tanks and armor, The Macro Laser for lighter vehicles and infantry, And the highly radioactive Devils Doorbell for an area of effect weapon.

The two former weapons being powered by built-in energy cells that the weapons draw from or must charge in turn before firing with the Devils Doorbell being pre-loaded munitions.

The Pathfinder boasts a standard Durandium Alloy armored frame protects the mechs main armor in its entirety with the exception of the cockpits Transparent Durandium which is significantly more vulnerable than the rest of the armor and the interior joins semi-exposed under the thigh and shin armor. The exposed jointage, however, is still reinforced to significant small arms damage and fire and is complemented by not only these segments of armor but the entire mech being coated in an antibeamcoating to give it temporary defense under fire against beam, laser, energy, and even aetheric damage until the coating is worn off by damage in those areas.

The mech is, however, still susceptible to high damage kinetic and explosive based damage that penetrates its armor.

The mech contains a Fairy Ai artificial intelligence assistant.

The Pathfinder contains a Shastas' World born and raised Fairy AI. The AI itself is housed deep within the core of the mech and draws negligible power from its batteries. The fairy itself controls many of the sub-systems of the mech while also helping its pilot with:

• minute adjustments to the aim of the weapons
• reading of digital maps
• monitoring of radio signals and communications
• monitoring the position of the mech
• communicating with other fairies in other mechs
• controlling swift drones
• deploying and controlling the mirage system

A simple, if not effective jump jet system is installed on the pathfinder to help it move up or along difficult terrain. While not capable of true flight they are more than enough to lift the pathfinder off the ground for a few seconds at a time and enough for them to clear obstacles or scale terrain. They are also good for clearing around the feet of the mech of hostile infantry or pesky shrubs.

The jets are activated by the pilot but flown directionally by the AI to ensure the mech doesn't end up landing sideways or on its own cockpit.

Deep within the mech and under the cockpit seat houses a massive battery bank of Hyper Cells that power the mech without the need of combustion-based fuels. These batteries, linked to alternators to keep them holding their charge through the movement of the mech itself only power the mech and its most basic systems by default but can be drawn from to power weaponry on-demand in an emergency at the risk of cutting operation time from the mech through their usage or by powering related energy-dependent systems.

The Pathfinder has a backup rack of hyper cells that come online and can power the mech for its final hour of operation time. But have a secondary use that they can be ejected from the mech above and behind it and detonated to create a kind of dangerous flashbang effect around it with a massive and bright explosion that can also severely damage or kill individuals or armor near the mech but risks damage to the pathfinder as well.

A powerful Axis Optical Package is installed above the cockpit itself and has a range of utility from infrared heat-sensing cameras and IR detection and night vision to aetheric detection filters and sound-wave microphone setting to detect audio from even from extreme distance to the point that even spoken conversation can be somewhat interpreted from several miles away with the Fairy AI assisting in its operation to lip-sync and attempt audio correction as with significant distance the sound deterioration is often too distorted for normal human hearing to comprehend.

All this is topped with impressive high-definition clarity and zoom function allowing any of those features or just simple long-distance zoom to be used and even linked to any of the cockpits consoles for viewing.

Basic scanning is capable by the mech with a Built In] package for discovering distant signatures of vehicles, armor, aircraft, powered armor, starships, aether signatures, etc. at a significant range and detail and can be viewed on any of the mech's cockpit screens. An inline GPS system is also installed coupled with the radar and ladar and the mechs optics can easily mark enemies and landmarks alike and keep them tracked. But is also capable of expanding even further when paired with the mechs drones to create an incredibly detailed area map.

Likewise for electronic defense, an Electronic Defense is installed to complement the sensor suite to allow the fairy or pilot to deploy active countermeasures on demand.

When in less than ideal conditions the Pathfinder has basic heating and cooling systems as well as recyclable air exceeding twelve hours of reserved oxygen. Fire extinguishing systems are included with a small personal scale Fire Extinguisher 🧯 in the cockpit that is sometimes even fully charged.

An emergency escape system is also linked to the cockpit in the form of the cockpits bolts exploding outwards and ejecting the pilots' seat much like a standard aircraft ejection seat. This system also saves the fairy which is housed in the pilots' seat but may not save the pilot from hazardous conditions such as a lack of air or extreme heat.

The Pathfinder contains a Shastas' world Mirage camouflage System. This system, much like the Fairy Ai's nanites that make up its avatar and clothing the Mirage is a camouflage system of the very same AI-controlled nanites in six large twenty-gallon tanks. Each tank, when deployed, ejects all of its nanites to create a cloud of optical camouflage around the mech that mimics closely to Yamatais' common volumetric capabilities. When stationary it can mimic things such as scenery, bushes, flora, debris, etc. And even more advanced projections such as fire, plasma, light, and so forth and can project from the inside of the cloud an outside perspective or holes in it to allow optics to see through.

The Mirage system can also be used semi-offensively as a faux-weapon by mimicking things such as fire, projectiles, and even people like infantry or weapons. The system is controlled by the AI and can be used within 100 feet of the mech for other vehicles or actions as well. The short life of the nanites, however, means when they aren't linked together with others to create optical camouflage they will quickly die within less than a minute.

On the back of the pathfinder are two nodes that connect to a small internal hive containing twenty Wasp Drones. These drones aid in anti-infantry and basic scouting operations as well as security for the mech by attacking anyone under or approaching it from a blind spot and are primarily controlled by the AI unless the pilot wants to directly control them via the interface of one of the consoles. When fully deployed and linked to the AI the wasp drones can accurately create a local map for the pilot and update it in real-time.

Due to the quality of materials and labor shortages on assemblies from high fatalities, the Pathfinder is often subject to a constant need for repair and maintenance after each engagement and without such is liable to break down from minor system failure to a catastrophic machine and weapons failure. It recommended to never run the mech past its detailed operations time and never to avoid pre-flighting the mech or performing the necessary preventative maintenance on it to avoid unnecessary loss of life.

Charmaylarg created this article on 2019/08/24 08:25.

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