The Alterra Project

Summary: Scores are out of 10, 1 being the lowest, 10 the highest with some exceptions.

Civilian and Commercial Mechs average 1 and 2 in all scores.

Military Mechs average 3 to 6 in all scores for mass produced mechs.

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Mechs:

Phalanx MK 01 (Alterran) - The noob mech: Essentially it is a very basic model, the limbs are slightly thicker than normal, the head has two sensor suites making it look like it is wearing sunglasses. The armor is a standard composite of uncompressed armor tinted into a military shade of green. Easy and cheap to field, the standard generic soldier class mech.

Compatibility: Standard Generic and Alterran fitted weapons and utilities.

Weapon Capacity: 3

Armor: 3

Speed: 3

Agility: 3

Endurance: 6

Specialties: None

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Phalanx MK 01 CTF (Alterran) – Same as the Phalanx Mk 01, but with less armor and weapon capacity, but more speed, agility, and endurance. Also has the carry flag special that reveals it to all sensors when carrying the flag.

Compatibility: N/A (Only for CTF)

Weapon Capacity: 0 (Fixed CTF gun)

Armor: 1

Speed: 5

Agility: 5

Endurance: 7

Specialties: Flag Carrier – Reveals location on all sensors when carrying flag.

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Juniper SE (Alterran) - The Juniper SE stood about two thirds the height of the Phalanx and had fairly thin arms, but fairly thick legs. The armor was very weak overall and the thickness on the legs was due to the over-sized components in the legs to give it more speed. The two long sensor arrays on the head appeared like two rabbit ears, hence them being dubbed 'Rabbit Ears'. When they weren't activated they would fold back against the head of the mech giving it a streamlined look. As for the use of the 'Rabbit Ears', they could dramatically enhance the range of active scanners thus making it a fairly effective mech for scouting, but almost useless at other tasks.

Compatibility: Small Generic and Alterran fitted weapons, only compatible utility is the backpack for extra fuel or ammunition

Weapon Capacity: 1

Armor: 1

Speed: 8

Agility: 5

Endurance: 3

Specialties: 'Rabbit Ears' sensor suite. Dramatically boosts active sensor range.

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Cupid Mk 01 (Alterran) - The Cupid Mk 01 in the standard configuration was matte white with a body size a little smaller than the Phalanx Mk 01 and was slimmer around the waist and had longer legs making it appear more elegant. It has slightly less armor than the Phalanx, but with the longer legs its top speed was significantly higher than other mechs. The only downside was it was not very agile, but it was not meant to be fighting up close to need that agility. The head of the mech had two round passive sensor suites making it look like a pair of big blue eyes. The Cupid Mk 01 was very obviously marketed towards female gamers as it is the earliest mech with plenty of decorative accessories.

Compatibility: Standard Generic and Alterran fitted weapons, only compatible utility is the backpack for extra fuel or ammunition

Weapon Capacity: 2

Armor: 2

Speed: 7

Agility: 7

Endurance: 4

Specialties: 'Cherub Wings' sensor suite. Dramatically boosts active sensor range with improved tracking capabilities.

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Hoplite Mk 01 (Alterran) - The Hoplite mech looked like a larger Phalanx Mk 01 that worked out a lot. It had thicker limbs and thicker armor all around giving it much higher survivability at the cost of speed and agility. Equipped with a shield, the armor was still the standard uncompressed composite armor, but applied more generously to the front and sides of the mech while the back was the same thickness as the average mech. The shield was basically a rectangle slab of armor with a point in the center and self-attaching mounts that allows the shield to be attached directly to the arm if d.e.s.i.r.ed.

Compatibility: Standard Generic and Alterran fitted weapons and utilities

Weapon Capacity: 4

Armor: 5

Speed: 2

Agility: 5

Endurance: 8

Specialties: Enhanced arm strength to be able to swiftly wield a shield and weapon combination.

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Fire Hawk Mk 01 - The mech was aptly named this due to the integrated plasma throwers in the arms. Most of the mech was given an average layer of standard uncompressed composite armor, but the arms were given compressed alloy armor allowing it to handle the high heat of the plasma throwers as well as take more punishment in general. It was given a dark orange/red tint to go with the fire theme this mech was obviously designed to use. The upper arms had two axes mounted giving it the appearance of having small winglets coming out of the arms. Lastly, this mech was also fitted with a large utility mount meant for heavy weapon support.

The default setup is a large gatling cannon that is fed from a backpack in the large slot, the standard slot wasn't large enough to hold enough rounds to make it worthwhile. The mech itself was a little taller than a Phalanx but was also wider than even the Hoplite due to the need to keep the heavy weapons stable while firing. Compared to the standard mech, the Fire Hawk was slow, but it was strong and agile with a very large weapon capacity and good armor. It only had a basic sensor suite so it required information to be fed from a scout. Its biggest weakness was actually mid-range as the plasma throwers could easily be dodged at the maximum range and the Gatling Cannon was too heavy to aim reliably at anything within a few dozen meters. Still, the biggest strength of this mech was melee and short range and then long range and beyond. This mech could unleash torrents of firepower at long range but was also able to use melee weapons if the enemy came in close.

Compatibility: Standard and Heavy Generic and Alterran fitted weapons and utilities

Weapon Capacity: 6

Armor: 6

Speed: 1

Agility: 4

Endurance: 6

Specialties: Integrated Plasma Throwers, cannot be used while holding weapons.

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Blitz Mk 01 Versatile Assault Mech (Alterran) - The Blitz class Mk 01 was labelled as a versatile assault class mech designed to deliver sustained firepower without sacrificing agility allowing it to be able to dodge incoming fire better than the average mech. The mech was a little shorter than the standard mech, but its frame was slightly wider allowing it to move side to side much easier than other mechs. The smaller frame and improved internal components reduced the overall mass of the mech. The armor was still the standard cheap and light composite of uncompressed armor that was tinted dark green to match the standard for Alliance mechs.

The mech appeared much more intimidating than the standard Phalanx Mk 01 they were familiar with as the sensor suites were moved to the side of the head and attached to make it look like it was a set of pointed ears almost as they extended slightly above and behind the head. The eyes were narrow, glowed white normally, and were purely decorative, but could be dimmed if needed. The limbs had the same amount of armor as the Phalanx, but were bulkier to make more room for the improved motor control allowing it to carry larger weapons and maintain steady aim.

Internally, the redesigned engine was only marginally stronger than the standard engine found in the Phalanx, but it was significantly smaller and had vastly improved fuel efficiency. The downside of course was that it required a higher grade fuel cell that ended up being more expensive since the 80% fuel consumption reduction came with 500% cost per liter increase.

Compatibility: Heavy Generic and Alterran fitted weapons, standard utilities.

Weapon Capacity: 4

Armor: 4

Speed: 4

Agility: 5

Endurance: 8

Specialties: Mid-grade fuel, 5x fuel efficiency, 6x cost increase to fuel.

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"Footman" Knight-Class Mk 01 (Hegemony) - Compared to a person, this mech is not exactly proportional to the human body. The legs are slightly shorter and very thick, the torso and arms are fairly close to a normal proportion, but the head looks more like a capsule and the neck is not visible from the outside unless one stands under the mech at just the right angle. It is dubbed the 'Footman' because it resembled a basic soldier wearing charcoal plate armor and a steel helmet. Like most Hegemony mechs, anyone is able to pilot this one.

Compatibility: Standard Generic and Hegemony weapons and utilities

Weapon Capacity: 4

Armor: 4

Speed: 2

Agility: 1

Endurance: 8

Specialties: Hydraulic instead of electric, boosts strength dramatically at the cost of speed.