OSTROC
Type/Model: OSR-5W Ostroc
Mass: 60 tons
Chassis: Ceresplex Ostroc Lite Endo Steel
Power Plant: Defiance 300 Light Fusion
Walking Speed: 54 km/h
Maximum Speed: 86 km/h
Jump Jets: HildCo Model 13
Jump Capacity: 180 meters
Armor Type: Kallon Unity Weave Ferro-Fibrous
Armament: 2 Ceres Arms Thrasher Snub-Nose PPC
2 Diverse Optics ER Medium Lasers
Manufacturer: Kressly Warworks
Primary Factory: Epsilon Eridani
Communications System: Ceres Metals Model 667 with C3i
Targeting & Tracking System: Ceres Bullseye
Petty thieves. All of them. Simple petty thieves. I had to check the data three times in comparison, but there’s no denying it. The Word has stolen the plans for the Ostroc from the Capellans and built another production line on Epsilon Eridani to build their own. But unlike the stealth-armored Capellan version, the Blakist version is an in-fighter, taking full advantage of the integral C3i communications computers built into the frame.
A pair of Ceres Arms Thrasher snub-nose particle cannons replaces the Liao variant’s large lasers, and the readily available Diverse Optics ER Medium Lasers fit nicely into the housings for the Ceres version. Key to this new weaponry, however, is the Hesperus-built light fusion engine. It frees the mass needed to mount the PPCs and put in a super-dense compact gyro. This combination makes this Blakist Ostroc incredibly hard to kill, which means its unit-mates and PPCs are going to cost us dearly before it falls.
I managed to acquire an after-action report from a skirmish with mercenaries on New Home. A Level II equipped with a pair of new Ostrocs ambushed a pair of lances of medium and heavy BattleMechs in a box canyon. While the missile-equipped vehicles that made up the rest of the II waited on the canyons’ lip, the Ostrocs charged.
Concentrating their fire, the pair of Blakist ’Mechs took down the mercenary leader’s Catapult with their opening salvo. In the tight confines of the canyon, the Thrasher snub-nose PPCs were especially deadly. As the rest of the mercenaries turned to avenge their leader, the missile boats opened fire. Granddad told me once about a bombardment he faced on Wing. I can imagine what happened to the mercenaries.
The data I recovered was from one of the mercenary’s battle ROM. The final image it recorded was of the Blakist Ostroc leaning over him after it fell, sparks dancing around the overcharged capacitors of the Thrasher cannons. There was flash, and then the ROM ended in static.
I’m starting to run out of ideas here. The Word just keeps coming up with more and more variants of these machines, and each one is a killer. Grandad says it takes more than a good machine to make a soldier, but the Blakists seem to be hedging their bets.
I keep thinking of rousing phrases like “the turn of the tide,” and all that… but for now, the tide runs red with the blood of patriots, and the Word of Blake sits like a king on his throne, watching the tide roll in with satisfaction.