Adapt or Die

We have been on this exploration mission for more than 4 Tau'CYR. In that time we have charted over 2457 star systems of which 51 were inhabited. Out of that 51, 21 with space faring ability, 5 of them had agreed to join our quest for the greater good and are currently negotiating terms of alliance. 6 agreed to establish trade and wish to maintain neutral status. The remaining 10, 5 were under the Imperial control and the other 5 were under contest between Ork, Human and some creatures of unnatural origin.

The Imperium, this empire of human is such an intolerance race. The usual first contact would be a warning shot at our scout vessels. However on some occasions, where the central control of the Imperial government over the planet was weaker. The humans welcomed us, and were eager to trade with us. We give them some of our domestic appliances and in return we get information, raw material and fuel for our journey. These humans are capable of using advanced technology and weapons, yet few to none know the inner working of the equipment they use. When we asked them how their laser technology operate, they talked about how the tech priest perform some ritual and blessed the weapon with the power of the machine god. It appears the knowledge of technology is very well guarded and maintained with the veil of religious rituals and believes. It is hard to imagine that human civilization existed long before ours.

We have fought countless battles during our journey, mostly against the Imperium and sometimes their genetically enhanced solders. We managed to drive off their attack so far, but we suffered a great loss when our mothership suffered a blow to it's manufacturing section, killing many of our Earth caste brothers and sisters. The constant conflicts had been very taxing on us; repairs, replacement of combat gears and such. That was a crippling blow, and we were deep into the Imperial controlled territory. It was a dire situation indeed.

An emergency conference between the castes was called by our Ethereal to discuss our options. The first order was of course to repair the manufacturing facility on the mothership. The next was to maintain our self-defense ability. Valor of the fire warrior would not save us from our enemies; we need weapons. The representatives of the Earth Caste had came up with a radical proposal. They suggested salvaging and modifying the equipment of our enemies. According to them their equipment and weapons, although crude in design and was supposed to be infused with the supernatural power of their machine god, were based on the simple physical laws of the universe that they can be modified for us to use. My fellow Water Caste members and I were delighted to hear this, as this would widen the choices of goods we could trade for and possibly reduce our own resource usage. However our Fire and Air Caste brothers were not amused, they question the usage of inferior equipment may compromise their safety and combat effectiveness. Chaos ensured, until the Ethereal commanded a trial be commenced to test the effectiveness of the adapted equipment. For without them, we may not make it out of Imperial space alive.

Two KAI'ROTAA were given to manufacture and train a force of fire warriors to use the new equipment. Trials were to be commenced at the end of Two KAI'ROTAA pitting the new equipment to the standards.

The first time the new equipment unveiled caused much controversy. There were little changes to the small arms, I was told, however, it now includes an adapter so it can use the imperial standard energy packs for laser small arms. Vehicles were not changed because the three months allowed was too short a time for major changes. The Battlesuit is a completely different story.

It looks nothing like the standard battlesuit. It towers over the old one, nearly twice its size. Questions I didn't understand were raised. About power consummation, larger radar shadow and combat cross-section…

Here is a direct quote from the Earth Caste team leader who designed the new suit, as I do not know how to explain it to you.

"Let me explain. The main focus of the design was extended combat operation. From our data, we discovered that our battlesuit normal operation time from deployment to return to dock was 6 DEC. In the old suit, the operator remains standing for the whole time, causing fatigue. Although our Fire caste brethren were trained to endure extreme conditions, but I think they would agree that fatigue could reduce combat readiness. The new suit allows the pilot to sit, hence reduce fatigue.

"As for power consummation, yes it requires high power output during combat condition. However the increased size allows us to install energy packs, storing energy needed. Most of them are located in the leg which the energy pack weights help to lower the center of gravity of the battlesuit and make it more stable. It can use the new energy pack developed for the suit, adapters to use standard pulse weapon energy packs and the Imperial laser weapon packs are also present for maximum versatility. We have also installed a new power management program to the power plant operation. It recharges the energy pack when the suit is inactive.

"To further lower power consummation, we have developed a new weapon for it. It is based upon the human's heavy bolt weapon. The only power draw is the targeting system, which is minimal. It actually uses the ammo of the human's heavy bolt weapon, as statistic shows it to be one of the most common heavy weapons the human army carries. We can manufacture these shells ourselves as well. All other weapons will start utilize energy or ammo pack as well. This allows quick weapon changes. The only exception is the rail gun, which is still powered internally.

"Its larger size does not create a larger radar shadow, its radar signature is virtually identical to the standard battlesuit. It does provide a larger targeting cross section, but at times the sight of the battlesuit was enough to make our enemy retreat."

Then a 20 ROTAA long combat trial began.
[ To be continue ]