Rick Dias Assault

(Note: This page is still unfinished. Some information is taken from the Super Thunderbolt page I'm using as a template.

"The Star Hawk is a great machine. But I designed it for extended independant operation, and sometimes you don't need that. To combat a foe like A-LAWS, sometimes you need lots and lots of firepower. These new weapons will provide just that."

Mech Information
The Rick Dias Assault is a Rick Dias modified to serve as a testbed for powerful experimental weapons.

Origins/History
The RMS-099X Rick Dias Assault Test Type is Staren's latest project. While Staren still considers his Star Hawk to be his greatest creation, he recognizes that his design goals set 3 years ago do not exactly match his current needs. He had no idea how closely he would end up working with Orb and Katharon's militaries, and as such designed his first magnum opus for ruggedness and extended independant operation. The Star Hawk has served him admirably, but the threat of the technologically advanced foe A-LAWS finally drove him to work towards a short-operation machine with powerful weapons that can fight on a more even footing with their GN Tau-powered machines.

The first part of this project is creating powerful new weapons. The Rick Dias Assault is a testbed for Staren's creations -- once he has refined their design and proven their effectiveness on the field, he plans to more heavily customize a more advanced machine around them -- likely a Nemo, Astray, or perhaps even a new version of the Star Hawk.

Usage
Staren is fielding this machine at every appropriate opportunity to gather more test data. It has yet to see many battles, but that will change in time.

Armaments
While the purpose of the RMS-099X is to test experimental weapons, even that is secondary to reliably ensuring the pilot's survival, and so Staren's creations are supplemented by the Rick Dias's already-proven armaments including the vulcan phalanx, beam rifle, beam saber, and clay bazooka. The weapon rack that would normally hold beam pistols has been removed, replaced by a backpack containing a second minovsky reactor and a large E-cap, and on which are mounted the powerful hyper mega cannons.

Being able to engage enemies in a wide variety of situations is important, and so Staren has designed two new weapons:

Hyper Mega Cannons: Powerful beam cannons that take full advantage of the power provided by the second reactor. The name is a bit of a riff on the Zeta Gundam's armament.

Beam Spikes: These forearm-mounted, electromagnetically-driven spikes are hollow on the inside, designed to pierce a target's armor and then deliver a payload of hot plasma to reduce the enemy machine's innards to slag.