LM43 Canopis
Nicknamed the "Zombie" by its riders, some claim the LM43 Canopis got its moniker due to being a veritible dead mech walking as soon as it entered combat, others claim the polar opposite in that the name came from the mech's ability to keep on going after recieving what appeared to be crippling amounts of damage, while yet others claim it simply came from the vehicle's somewhat slow and shambling pace. Whatever it was that inspired the epithet has long been lost to the winds of time, and yet still these mechs shamble across battfields centuries after their conception, thier collective kill count surely begining to rival the number of stars in the galaxy.
Power Generation
The Canopis is equiped with an IES MNR-265 (intersolar energy solutions micro nuclear reactor) capablenof producing 295 kw/h located in the mech's torso under the rider's seat. lead composite radiation shielding prevents the rider from being harmed, with a liquid hydrogen internal cooling system keeping the reactor's heat levels in check.
Propulsion
Powerful electric motors located in each joint are assisted by various internal metal chain and metal cable pully systems. The Canopis was not fast, espically for its small size, but its reliability and reputation for outliving its riders makes up for its sluggishness in the eyes of most.
Weapons & Armament
The Canopis has a symetrical weapons system, with the right arm being a mirror image of the left. Each arm has a triple barreled 30mm rotary autocannon, with a small laser and targeting system located side by side, directly above the cannon. The 25mm guns have a variable firetate of 800 rpm to 2,500 and an integrated drum of 1,000 rounds each. Last, an indirect fire small missile pod is affixed just above the cockpit at a roughly 45° angle. The pod holds 23 90mm missiles capable of penetrating 750mm of armor. Canopis riders must be wary of firing the 25mm cannons on their higher firerates, especially in tandom, as the immense recoil can be enough to topple the mech under sustained fire. For this reason, riders typically keep their firerates set to around 1,000 rpm, saving the more extreme rates for extreme circumstances.
Armor and defense
Multiple 150mm composite armor plates are affixed around various parts of the mech, most noteably on the midsection of the torso as well as upper and lower legs. Several reactive armor panels can also often be seen placed around the mech, usually concentrated around the torso and cockpit region, although many hundreds of years after the introduction of the Canopis, seeing one with intact reactive armor panels becomes increasingly more rare. The "glass" of the cockpit (layered ceramic-plastic compisite in reality), is around 215mm thick and is even capable of resisting shoulder fired anti-armor rockets in addition to being impervious to small arms fire. It is worth noting that while the specialized clear composite material is excedingly resiliant for what it is, the Canopis as well as many other mechs that utilize the material for view panes suffer from the fogging of the material as it ages, acclerating greatly under the stress of combat, necessitating its replacment every 5-10 years if proper visiblity is to be maintianed. The mech aslo has 4 auxiliary smoke launcher tubes affixed near the top of the mech around the cockpit, which can be deployed and reloaded from internal magazines or even exchanged for IR dazzelers.
Communication Tools & Systems
Standard radio comms are integrated into the cockpit for inter-mech comunication, with a loudspeaker and IR code flasher mounted on top of the cockpit when enemy combatants begin jamming transmissions. IR code recievers and microphone systems are themselves also, of course, integrated onboard. The Canopis itself is not equiped with any serious jammers, instead relying on other auxiliary or larger mechs to do the job.
Sensors
Located directly above the cockpit is a triple view lense which can cycle between 3 different view modes, each for an increasingly superior zoom ratio lenses (up to 110x magnification) which the rider can swap between at the click of a button. Immediatly to the left of the lenses is a digital thermal sensor, which can also be viewed by the rider upon command, although not to the same magnification of the regular optics.
Additional & auxiliary systems
Heat sinks and radiators are located on the back of both main weapon arms, as well as on the rear of the torso chasis, groin, and lower legs. These cooling systems do quite an adequate job at keeping the mech from overheating, even when firing all weapons simultainiously. Additionally, a docking port on the rear torso of the mech can be interfaced with the machine to recharge batteries, exchange reactor coolant, and program onboard processing units.
Cockpit
Canopis cockpits are not spacious by any means, while not exactly cramped. The rider rests in a web of canvass straps that hold the man in place while still providing enough give to lessen otherwise detrimental impacts. Movement is controlled a left handed throttle, speed being linked to forward and backward tilting. Steering is accomplished via pedals at the rider’s feet, the left pedal steering right and vice versa. On the left is the weapons control joystick, made of hard polymer and coated in rubber with a finger operated trigger to fire the weapons. Two buttons on the top of the joystick cycle between laser only fire, rotary canon fire, and both combined. The last top button, operated with the thumb, creates a missile lock with one press and fires missiles with a second. The number of missiles fired can be adjusted via a control panel to the side. This same button swivels as well, and doing so moves the torso left or right in relation to the hips. An additional thumb button on the throttle launches smoke grenades, 2 at a time, in the direction the torso is facing. Canopis Rider attire consists of a suit with clips to hook into the canvas webbing of the cockpit. A helmet helps bad against impacts inside the cockpit, with a microphone mouth piece strapped over the mouth to broadcast outside when needed.
Nickname
“Zombie”
Manufacturer
Price
$228,500
Rarity
18,247,450 built
Weight
5.13 tons
Speed
20 mph
Complement / Crew
1 rider
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