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+--- Thread: Stat me for your favorite system: BN-1 & BN-2 RABITCS (/showthread.php?tid=14165)
Stat me for your favorite system: BN-1 & BN-2 RABITCS - classicdrogn - 07-16-2021
It's an issekai-protagonist power fantasy mecha that's been bouncing around the hutch for a while, so I'm interested to see how other folks' takes on the concept align with my own ideas. (Pretty sure I mentioned an earlier take in the context of a wreck-the-Battletech SI, actually) Presenting the latest in rabbit-technology, the BN-1 "Bunny" and BN-2 "Bun-Bun" Rapid Action Binary Interface Tactical Combat System!
A plain, boxy design with a stubby chest cockpit and and a slender optics-turret head, the BN-1's main external distinguishing features under field conditions are its tail mounted "fanny pack" for passengers or cargo and a pair of oblong multi-function drones that may dock to its shoulders in an upward V position or hover nearby, or if closer inspection is possible the saw tooth pattern of large bay doors on its chest and the outer faces of its arms and legs. Its built in armament is light, limited to a single bay on the inside of each forearm, typically fitted with a medium beam projector that can pup up and extend its barrel past the wrist and hand. Along with those hands the BN-1 is also equipped with mounting points on its upper back for various heavier weapons and mission-specific equipment, and combined with an impressive jump-jet system its quick yet exceptionally powerful actuators and heavily reinforced bunker-breaker rams on the feet allow for utterly devastating physical attacks in close combat. More dangerous are the disintegration and reconstruction functions of its drones, which while short ranged can tear an enemy to pieces in moments, or just as quickly build, repair, or fortify structures and ally units or designs from an extensive library of weaponry and equipment using the scavenged material, or augment the BN-1's already formidable self-repair function.
For heavy duty operations or more compact transport, a pair BN-1 units are also capable of combining into a BN-2. The waist, elbows, and knees extend to allow more clearance at the joints, and the limb and chest hatches open up. On the unit that will form the core the cockpit flips up to a head position and the existing head splits into a pair of top-mounted booms, while the head of the secondary unit splits to the sides to be out of the way as the two torsos interlock front-to-front, its cockpit slipping into the space opened by the relocation of the core's. Flexible interface cables extend from the opened limb hatches and pull the secondary unit's arms and legs into position on the outside of the core's as they detach, again interlocking at the edges of the hatch doors. The secondary unit's hands tuck into the interstitial space and link actuators with the core's while the feet latch together directly side by side for the sake of stability and ground pressure, shifting to a longer form only about 50% wider than the single-unit configuration. The secondary units tail and pelvic module also shift to a flatter configuration to avoid compromising mobility. In binary mode the unit's mechanical output and close combat potential are drastically increased, and the combined output of its thrusters allows for limited but sustained flight, along with allowing one operator to concentrate solely on commanding drones without needing to spare attention for piloting the unit directly.
The true danger of the BN series is not its direct combat ability, however, or even its high utility in a combat engineering role, but the ability to self-replicate in the field using scavenged material or dismembered enemy mecha. When suitable materials present themselves a BN-1 can use its interface cables to grab and pull it into position at its binary ports, rapidly breaking down and restructuring the salvage to upgrade itself to a BN-2 before separating and allowing an allied pilot to board or taking the new unit under remote control to provide oversight for the onboard AI. With sufficient materials a BN force is theoretically capable of exponential growth in this manner, though in actual application the limitations of AI with only minimal direction and of material availability impose practical limits. The system has also proven usable for field-expedient cargo transport and the operation of scavenged weapons.
Block-0 test squadron BN-1s had even more extensive AI support and the core unit of the repair system integrated with an independently mobile escape pod cockpit capable of rebuilding a complete unit from scrap if required, but the added cost and complexity was judged to be unnecessary for normal operations and all production models have a simpler escape pod with only the standard survival tools and supplies. Block-5 and later units or those upgraded with refit kits replace the ejection seat with interface lugs for Exo-Gear Extra-Vehicular Armor in couch mode, and the addition of a rack capable of securing a light motorcycle or zero-G maneuver pack in the auxiliary mission electronics bay is a common field modification when not otherwise in use.