Model number: HVRJ-2
Code name: Thor Prototype
Nickname: Marilyn
Classification: prototype V/STOL attack aircraft
Manufacturer: Seed Corporation
Operator: EGE
First deployment: CY -1
Crew: 1 pilot/1 pilot and 1 navigator in two-seat cockpit
Length: 17 meters
Weight: dry weight 36 metric tons, full weight 60 metric tons
Powerplant: x2 afterburning turbojets: 151,000 kg thrust each, top speed 3348kph; maneuvering thrusters: x4 vectored thrust nozzles, main afterburners are hinged to assist takeoff/hovering.
Sensors: radar, thermal, optical array, targeting laser, and main camera mounted in nose
Fixed armaments: x2 20mm Vulcan cannon, mounted in nose; Mjolnir prototype electrolaser, output rated at 900 KW
Optional hand armaments: x2 heat sword, stored in tactical pods folded under wings
Renowned for combat frames, Seed Corporation began as a manufacturer of farming equipment for the space colonies. The company’s interests didn’t stop there. Seed and its subsidiaries produced everything from military grade hardware to snack foods. Many prototypes were built as test beds for experimental design concepts never intended for mass production, let alone sale.
One such experimental design was the HVRJ-2, a prototype attack aircraft dubbed the Thor by Seed Corp personnel. The Thor Prototype began life under the aegis of a military research project attempting to develop practical energy weapons. The project stalled when the electrolaser prototype devised as the weapon system’s main component performed below reliability parameters.
The HVRJ-2 design was rescued from the dustbin when Tesla Browning searched the archives for a platform to test combat frame armaments at ultra-high speeds unattainable by standard CFs. Browning and his software design team lead Maximus Darving modified the Thor Prototype to incorporate combat frame technology, mostly as an engineering exercise. To manage the aircraft’s highly complex systems, Darving wrote a new A.I. he named Marilyn, a refinement of his previous NORMA navigating application.
Unknown to the project’s Coalition backers, Darving had been in contact with EGE Naval Intelligence officer Li Wen. Over the course of several conversations, Lieutenant Li turned Darving from his already shaky Seed Corp loyalties to make him an EGE asset. He resolved to defect and saw his chance on the day of the Thor Prototype’s first test flight. Under the guise of performing a last-minute software check, Darving stole the aircraft and set course for the EGE fleet. He narrowly avoided being shot down by CSC forces and crash-landed on the deck of the EGE flagship Yamamoto.
For his impressive technical expertise and the immense wealth of intelligence he provided to the EGE–not to mention adding a powerful new aircraft to the carrier wing–Darving received a commission as an EGE Air Corps captain. He went on to command the Thor Prototype throughout the Coalition incursions of CY 1 and into the start of the Kazoku War.
See the Thor Prototype in action in my hit mecha/Mil-SF novel Combat Frame XSeed!
Optional Hand Armaments? Is this a transformer?
And I am amused at the Marilyn upgrade to NORMA.
I wonder…where does XSeed history diverge from ours?
Hillary wins the 2016 election and the world immediately goes to shit. The economy crashes, our freedoms are stripped, and war breaks out with both Russia and NK
"Is this a transformer?"
Not quite. But it does offer a glimpse of what's coming in CY 40.
"I wonder…where does XSeed history diverge from ours?"
It doesn't.
So you could have people who watched Gundam or played Battletech in-universe designing these things.
Are you allowed to mention IRL franchises, brands, and products in stories for purposes of verisimilitude or is that a breach of copyright?
@D.J. Because the mid-21st century was the last time there was anything like a mass pop culture, and IPs from then & the 20th century remain popular, many XSeed characters probably have seen a few Gundam episodes. There's even a scene in the book wherein NORMA quizzes some space marines about Mr. Belvedere during an in-flight trivia contest.
@Harrison: Disclaimer – I am not a lawyer, and nothing that follows should be taken as legal advice.
Copyright refers to ownership of content. It's what makes it illegal for me to slap a new cover and title on Gone with the Wind and sell it as my own work.
You cannot copyright a title or a word. You can, however, trademark a particular business use of a word. Trademark law is what makes it illegal for me to bottle my own homemade soda, slap "Coca Cola" on the the side, and offer it for sale.
I mention Mr. Belvedere, Magnum, P.I., and titles of other works in Combat Frame XSeed. I didn't steal a Mr. Belvedere teleplay and repackage it as my own work. That would violate copyright. Nor did I title my original novel Magnum, P.I., even though there's a legal argument to be made that I could do the latter without violating a trademark. Mainly, I didn't want to. Go on Amazon and see how many different books there are with the exact same title. Two wholly different novels by different authors called "The Blade Itself" spring to mind.
As for brands and products, the main reason I don't mention brands like SONY or Coca Cola (though sharp-eyed readers will spot a blink-and-you-miss-it reference to the latter in Nethereal) is because doing so would be rendering advertising services to those brands, which I'm not going to do for free.
@Brian: I wasn't protesting. Was just amazed/astounded. And it's rather neat. I bet there are some people who are living their childhood Sci-Fi dreams in this setting.
Just explaining why you were correct 😉
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