Names are a play on a Knights Mare.
Nightmare Frames are equipped with Landspinners, self-propelled roller skates attached to the ankles of the machines, which allow them to achieve high mobility and speeds on most terrain. Visual data is gathered through Factsphere sensors, which have thermographic capability and an array of other data-collection functions which are collated in real-time. Factspheres are commonly protected under a layer of armor upon the "head" of the unit which can be retracted to improve system sensitivity. Knightmare Frames are piloted from a cockpit set in the protruding 'hump back' in the unit. The cockpit is a self-contained control center which can be ejected in case of emergency.
Weaponry - Knightmare Frames are typically armed with rocket anchors called Slash Harkens ( a spike attached to the shoulders that fires out and remains attached via cable. The cable then retracts allowing for a continuous assault. Mass-production models usually carry handheld rifles and a number of Grenades, cylindrical air burst grenades that spray deadly shrapnel over a small area or a more powerful adaptation of the frag grenade. Less common equipment, are Maser Vibration Swords a form of vibroblade which oscillates at a high ratio to cut through almost anything, this however is still unstable technology.
Power Source
Knightmare Frames are powered by the Yggdrasil Drive a newly discovered energy source. Its centerpiece is a sakuradite device called the Core Luminous wherein a cube of unknown composition is weightlessly suspended. The cube revolves at high speeds during a state of drive activation known as Yggdrasil Resonance involved in the conduction of electricity. The technology is named after the Yggdrasil. The drive is recharged through a sakuradite energy filler.
Development
Knightmare Frames began with the creation of 'emergency survival cockpits' for conventional vehicles. The cockpits were equipped with rocket engines to propel the crew away from the wreck, followed by a pair of artificial legs to allow greater mobility. This provided the base design for Knightmare Frames. In the following years, the common Knightmare Frame technologies (Factspheres, Landspinners, etc.) were developed, but the prototypes developed from that technology performed erratically. With the results gained from the two separate programs, Knightmare Frames were developed into combat-effective platforms. Use of sakuradite became paramount in making the Knightmare Frames perform to expectations, resulting in the mineral's value increasing greatly, turning it into resource as important as fossil fuel in international politics.
Tue Jan 27, 2009 6:15 pm