'Know your mech!'

Those were the words that had been drilled into Lieutenant Ashe McAuliffe ever since she had first entered the Academy. They had followed her ever since, across a half-dozen battlefields, until the concept was as instinctual as breathing. And she certainly did know her mech, and she loved every inch of its squat, ugly bulk. The T-81 Hammerhead was an older model, a generation out of date and no longer one of the most cutting-edge Mechanised Prime Movers. Ashe's Hammerhead though had undergone considerable retrofitting in control systems, powerplant tech, and weaponry. And it remained a stubborn beast when it came to the amount of damage the thickly-armoured mech could take.

"Fibre-bundle motivators: check...control pathways: check...servo systems: check..."

Ashe's fingers flew over the insubstantial but touch-sensitive holo display projected from the mech's primary control terminal as she surveyed and checked off each system in turn as she confirmed the current status for each of them. Though her technical expertise might not equal those grizzled veteran repair and service technicians that took care of her ugly baby during down-time, Ashe's expertise in diagnostics and field repair remained impressive.

And she knew that one day, it would save her life.

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This is another amazing piece of artwork from tales_foxdale who may actually hold the record as the most-commissioned artist for me now and his talents continue to shine in this awesome mech-themed picture. Tales has done an amazing job with both the mech and my mech pilot tiger shark OC, Ashe, and as always he brought to life the scene I saw in my head and skillfully so. Love the detail on the camo-patterns, and the myriad of other little details present, and well, this piccy in general!

Ashe McAuliffe and fluff text © Me

Artwork ©