Heavy Vectors
GUTS AND GEARS — THE BEASTS AND MACHINES OF THE IRON KINGDOMS
CIPHER, INVERTER , MONITOR
From the Archive of Iterative Design, Volume LXXXVII
The Maiden of Gears directs us toward mechanikal purity in all things, and paramount among these directives is the fundamental concept that sentience and the immortal soul are intrinsically amalgamated. This is the guiding principal of the Eighth Harmonic: False shadows of consciousness mock the divine equation. Our vectors share superficial similarities with the constructs employed by the nations of the Iron Kingdoms, but a vector is a true extension of its master’s consciousness, a truer embodiment of harmonious machine-craft.
A more perfect synthesis between human mind and machine of war is achieved through the interface node, which allows our gifted warcasters to attune vectors under their control, infusing the machines with their personal skills, experience, and tactical acumen. Thus, the vector is unburdened by the imperfect directives of an artificial consciousness and is guided in all things by a truly awakened mind.
Mechanikal perfection must be relentlessly pursued and can be achieved only through diligent research and iterative refinement, not isochronally but as the spark of genius strikes. Each vector, from recent innovations to ancient designs, must be analyzed, so flaws can be identified and removed. This archive charts the trajectory of each of our vectors, from initial designs to the sometimes dozens of iterations that followed. This work represents the efforts of hundreds, over centuries, each focused unwaveringly on improving our machines of war.
— Fluxion Garren di Luca
INVERTER
Designation: Inverter
Iteration: 1
Lead Innovator: Forge Master Meridian
Design Approved: 399 AR
Inception Date: 402 AR
It has become apparent that the most widely employed heavy vector chassis, designation Aggregator, is unsatisfactorily armed and insufficiently resilient to meet present demands. Recent clashes have shown the Aggregator’s difficulty in penetrating heavy armor, and a single Aggregator is rarely sufficient to neutralize a comparable warjack.
Although the Aggregator is capable of serving in a combat role and has done so with moderate efficacy, this was not intended to be its primary function. As the threats we face escalate, a more forcible weapon platform is needed, one dedicated to protracted combat against the most resilient enemies. Recent breakthroughs in weapon design, coupled with innumerable parallel advances, have made it possible to construct a new vector to replace the Aggregator, one better suited to our current and future offensive needs. The proposed vector, designation Inverter, shares some similarities with the Aggregator, primarily its base motive design and optical array. However, we have upgraded these systems with current technology, improving ambulatory stability and target acquisition speed.
The Inverter departs from the Aggregator in its armament, making use of our newest and most destructive innovations. First among these new armaments is the macropummeler, which is based partly on the design of the piston spike. However, the macropummeler employs an efficient system of gears and ratchet drives rather than the high tensile springs used by the piston spike. This new system can store nearly 60 percent more kinetic energy than older designs. In addition, the macropummeler’s striking arm is more robust and fitted with a concussive impact hammer tipped with a hardened point. This striking arm can deliver a blow strong enough to sunder armor and drive even a heavy warjack to a supine position.
As pleased as we are with the macropummeler, it does have one significant drawback. After firing, the striking arm must be reset by internal cogs connected to the ratchet drive, rendering the weapon inoperative during this process. Reliance on this weapon as a sole means of offense is untenable. Therefore, the Inverter will be fitted with a secondary weapon system. The proposed design for the secondary weapon system, called a meteor hammer, consists of a spiked striking head attached to a flexible steel chain. This weapon can be swung at great speeds, using angular momentum to deliver the inertial force of the weapon’s head to a target’s armor plating, crushing not only the plating but transferring the force to more vulnerable systems beneath.
The Inverter’s innovative design makes retrofitting existing Aggregators impossible, although raw materials can be obtained from the older chassis. I realize this proposal requires a large investment of time and resources, but we cannot sit idle and trust the defenses of our temples to archaic designs when advancement is well within our grasp.
— Forge Master Meridian, AR 397
Designation: Inverter
Iteration: 19
Lead Innovator: Optifex Uther Korran
Design Approved: 497 AR
Inception Date: 500 AR
Forge Master Meridian has entrusted me with identifying opportunities for improvement in the heavy vector chassis designated Inverter. While the forge master’s initial designs are both elegant and inspired, minor adjustments to the Inverter’s macropummeler would undoubtedly increase its battlefield utility.
We have recently synthesized a sturdier brass alloy that can withstand higher levels of heat and stress. The retraction gears within the macropummeler’s arm housing are currently constructed of an inferior alloy that necessitates a slower retraction speed lest the gears overheat and fail. If we replace the main helical wheel within the arm housing with the new alloy, we can increase rotational velocity, resulting in a 19 percent increase in retraction speed and reducing the time necessary to reset the striking arm. This would allow a controlling warcaster access to the Inverter’s most potent armament on a more frequent basis, increasing his or her ability to neutralize enemy targets.
This upgrade would require little in the way of labor or resources, and I believe we could retrofit the majority of existing Inverters within a matter of months.
— Optifex Uther Korran, AR 495
Designation: Inverter
Iteration: 39
Lead Innovator: Fluxion Uther Korran
Design Approved: 600 AR
Inception Date: 601 AR
In the century I have served the Maiden, I have immersed myself in her mysteries, seeking ways to strive for mechanikal purity in myself and the machines I create. Oddly enough, the simplest solutions are often the most elusive, and the allure of complexity for complexity’s sake is a trap we all must actively circumvent. Case in point is my proposed improvement to the Inverter’s meteor hammer.
I have thoroughly examined this weapon, and a simple alteration will increase its battlefield functionality significantly. If we exchange the meteor hammer’s current torus link chain for a multi-dimensional pivot chain, it will facilitate increasing the chain length with no loss of precision control. In addition to granting the Inverter increased reach, the increased control will more fully enable the Inverter to strike around barriers, negating certain defenses.
The cost and labor required to make this improvement is negligible, and even the least experienced optifex among us could swap the older style of chain for the new in less than an hour.
— Fluxion Uther Korran, AR 599
CIPHER
Designation: Cipher
Iteration: 1
Lead Innovator: Forge Master Meridian
Design Approved: 401 AR
Inception Date: 405 AR
Although my previous vector design, designation Inverter, fills a required role as a primary close-combat vector, I believe there exists a need to further enhance our vector arsenal. Our existing heavy vector chassis lack ranged armament, making it difficult for our warcasters to neutralize certain threats. With that in mind, I have designed a new heavy vector, designation Cipher, which offers a more versatile weapons platform, one that is effective in close combat but can also engage enemies at range.
My proposal for the Cipher’s close-combat armament is to utilize the simplistic yet effective piston spike. Although the now outmoded Aggregator makes use of this weapon, and in its present form it is inadequate for out needs, I believe it can be improved significantly with little effort. We have made great strides in improving the tensile strength of high-tension springs, and the proposed Cipher features a pair of piston spikes that can store up to 15 percent more potential energy, increasing the weapon’s armor piercing capabilities when converted to kinetic energy in combat.
The Cipher’s potential ranged armament is limited, as its close-combat weapons and heavily armored hull already push the maximum weight its displacement field generator can handle. Therefore, ranged armament must be lightweight. A shoulder-mounted ripspike launcher is the best choice for this design. The firing assembly and ammunition are light enough they will not overtax the Cipher’s motive systems, and the weapon has proven effective against a variety of targets, from infantry to light warjacks.
Like the Inverter, the Cipher is based on the Aggregator chassis. However, unlike the Inverter, the new Ciphers can be created from existing Aggregators with a significant retrofit. This will allow us to upgrade all Aggregators in service in the most efficient way possible. Subsequently, we can begin fabricating new Ciphers as required.
— Forge Master Meridian, AR 399
Designation: Cipher
Iteration: 27
Facilitator: Forge Master Meridian
Design Approved: 444 AR
Inception Date: 446 AR
An annual review of the Cipher’s utility on the field of battle has revealed opportunities for improvement. Warcasters controlling Ciphers in battle laud the devastating power of its twin piston spikes, but have expressed dissatisfaction with its ripspike launcher. Primarily intended for close-combat, the vector’s range weaponry does little to support its role on the battlefield. Recent innovations in servitor technology may provide an answer to the Cipher’s perceived shortcoming.
Success in the miniaturization of servitor units has allowed us to convert these incredibly useful automatons into a type of intelligent ammunition. The proposed servipod mortar would posses the capability to fire a group of miniature servitors with spring-driven metal components that fly apart on impact, becoming deadly piercing shrapnel. These explosive servipods would be most effective against groups of lightly armored infantry, which have the potential to swamp our vectors and hamper their ability to close with more serious threats.
Replacing ripspike launchers with servipod mortars is a fairly complex retrofit, but the weapons possess sufficiently comparable size and weight that the upgrade is possible. Our warcasters will no doubt be in need of this versatility in the battles to come, and this upgrade will increase the Cipher’s effectiveness by a significant degree.
— Forge Master Meridian, 443 AR
Designation: Cipher
Iteration: 51
Facilitator: Optifex Kalias Renald
Design Approved: 511 AR
Inception Date: 512 AR
In an effort to improve the hull integrity of existing vectors, we have recently perfected a higher-grade carbon steel alloy that is both stronger and lighter than those currently used in vector construction. The reduced weight would not provide additional speed to the Cipher, but would allow us to upgrade other systems with more robust components. If the outer hull of the Cipher were lightened by 10 percent, we could improve the displacement field generator by increasing the size of the gyroscopic stabilizer. The primary benefit to this adjustment would be vastly increased stability for the vector.
Retrofitting existing Ciphers with the new hulls would be prohibitively expensive and extraordinarily time consuming; therefore, I propose these designs be implemented in the construction of all new Ciphers.
— Optifex Kalias Renald, 510 AR
Designation: Cipher
Iteration: 75
Facilitator: Enumerator Ivan Drasko
Design Approved: 594 AR
Inception Date: 595 AR
Battlefield demands have made it imperative that existing Ciphers continue to evolve their functional versatility, posing a threat both at range and in close combat. Although effective, the servipod mortar provides one-dimensional ranged capability. The Cipher would be more effective and versatile if additional types of servipod ammunition were made available.
The proposed upgrade to the servipod mortar would allow the warcasters controlling Ciphers to make use of two new types of servipod ammunition. The first are lumichem servipods that carry the same compounds used by attunement servitors. The second are tunneling servipods that burrow into the earth before releasing a controlled charge to create craters and sinkholes. These two new ammunition types will grant our warcasters greater versatility when engaging targets at range, hindering their movements and making them more vulnerable to attack by supporting vectors and clockwork soldiers.
Upgrading existing servipod mortars to accept the new ammunition types requires the installation of a variable selector module within the mortar assembly. Due to the space requirements of the additional servipod ammunition variants as well as the selector module, this will also require replacing the shoulder-mounted launcher to a centrally located head-mounted servipod mortar. This is not a particularly complicated process, however.
— Enumerator Ivan Drasko, 593 AR
Monitor
Designation: Monitor
Iteration: 1
Lead Innovator: Forge Master Meridian
Design Approved: 451 AR
Inception Date: 453 AR
The Inverter and Cipher have increased our destructive potential in close combat, but we lack a heavy vector with the ability to engage enemies at range with comparable destructive potential. The Cipher’s servipod mortar is better utilized against fragile targets, such as living soldiers, and protracted ranged combat is neither the Cipher’s strength nor its intended role.
I propose a new heavy vector chassis with primary armament designed to neutralize targets at range, while maintaining utility in a close combat role. This is a philosophical inverse of the Cipher’s design, which is primarily a close-combat vector but possesses ranged utility as a secondary priority. The newvector, designation Monitor, will be armed with the latest ranged innovations from our arsenal.
The best choice for the Monitor’s primary armament is the ellipsaw flinger, a devastating ranged weapon that fires spinning blades capable of penetrating armor even at extreme distances. Each blade also includes internal microactuator-driven accelerator wheels that allow it to change the angle of impact in midflight, exploiting enemy vulnerabilities. This weapon would comprise the vector’s right arm.
It is my intention to equip the Monitor’s left arm with a grasping claw. Although simple, this claw could be used to strike blows powerful enough to neutralize light warjacks and heavy infantry. In addition, the grasping claw would allow the Monitor to manipulate objects, an undeniable utilitarian feature.
Although the Monitor will be based on the Cipher chassis, retrofitting existing Ciphers is not an efficient use of resources. I suggest implementing dedicated production for this chassis, and have attached a list of recommended temple foundries where this could be done.
— Forge Master Meridian, 450 AR
Designation: Monitor
Iteration: 30
Lead Innovator: Fluxion Athos DeVeer
Design Approved: 514 AR
Inception Date: 515 AR
I have analyzed data gathered from various conflicts over the past fifty years, focusing on those where the vector designated Monitor was the primary means of hostile pacification. My analysis confirms it performed adequately at range but struggled in close combat when faced with heavily armored foes.
When forced into close combat, the Monitor’s primary means of offense is a grasping claw, which it can use to pummel its targets or, if the enemy is small enough, grapple it and fling it bodily away. We can improve the Monitor’s close combat capabilities by focusing on that which it does well — taking hold of an enemy with its grasping claw. Utilizing the high-tension spring technology developed for the Cipher’s piston spikes, I propose adding a similar weapon to the Monitor’s grasping claw. This “spring-spike fist” would trigger each time the Monitor strikes a blow, propelling a retractable hardened-steel spike into its target. In addition, the mechanism controlling the spring-spike could be triggered by servo-gears in the grasping claw itself, so that when the Monitor grapples an opponent, the spring-spike is triggered, striking the target repeatedly without need of additional targeting.
This improvement would increase the Monitor’s close-combat destructive potential by an estimated 47 percent. Retrofitting existing Monitors with the new spring-spike assembly would require 3.6 man-hours per vector, a reasonable expenditure for such increased combat ability.
— Fluxion Athos DeVeer, 513 AR
Designation: Monitor
Iteration: 38
Lead Innovator: Enumerator Silas Geir
Design Approved: 579 AR
Inception Date: 580 AR
I have recently been given charge of increasing the size of the gyroscopic stabilizer within the Monitor’s displacement field generator, granting it increased stability similar to that of the Cipher. Although the primary motivation for this upgrade is an increase in the Monitor’s stability, my calculations indicate an enhanced gyroscopic stabilizer would improve the accuracy of the Monitor’s ellipsaw flinger.
Additionally, I have had the good fortune to work beside Father Lucant, aiding him in his work on the alchemical treatment of optic lenses. To ensure the Monitor can strike enemies with certainty, I propose it be fitted with an optical array that includes alchemically treated, rotating lenses designed to penetrate both mundane and arcane obfuscation. Although this technology does not currently exist, Father Lucant has made significant strides in this area and assures me the lenses I require could be available within the year.
My calculations indicate the improvement in accuracy of the Monitor›s ellipsaw flinger from the upgraded gyroscopic stabilizer would be small. However, when coupled with the proposed alchemical optics array, the increase in accuracy against targets benefitting from arcane obfuscation would be incalculable, rendering inviolable targets vulnerable to the Monitor’s attacks.
— Enumerator Silas Geir, 578 AR
Fonte: No Quarter 48
