Onyx

Ferrite:	12000
Bioptics:	10500
Niodes:	125

The Onyx project was initiated by Legionnaires of Galactic Trade in 3317 during a flare up of tensions between the Shogunate and Illyrian Hegemony.

Both major powers claimed sovereignty of a cluster of fringe worlds. While none of the worlds were heavily populated or contained large resource wealth, they did create the quickest gateway path to a major trade hub in both Hegemony and Shogunate territories.

Neither side wanted to invest the resources to protect or colonize the cluster. Instead, they sent small units or hired less-reputable and bandit clans to raid each other's lines of commerce in a proxy war.

The raiding came close to an open conflict after a minor Shogunate functionary was injured in one of the raids. The Shogunate demanded a public apology and restitution, while the Illyrians claimed ignorance of the event and conveniently disavowed the contract with the bandits involved.

To make matters worse, Evil Santa’s minions began a concentrated search in the area in mid 3318. As they did in other parts of the galaxy, they attacked anyone and everyone they encountered. The Hegemony and Shogunate each took this as an opportunity to blame the other for war crimes and atrocities, claiming that the other was behind Evil Santa’s attacks.

With neither side willing to back down, the Legionnaires stepped in to restore order. Due to the large number of forces in the region, the Legionnaires hired the Heroes clans family of mercenaries to supplement their units and provide 'advisors' for limited tonnage and rapid counter-strike missions.

Due to the highly fluid situation and the need to perform a variety of missions, Legionnaire command ordered a design that could excel using any offensive package while their advisors lobbied for solid defence and a fast moving platform to counter the inevitable BFM class mecha they would be facing.

The Legionnaire engineers constructed the Black Lotus A.I. specifically for the Onyx mecha. This A.I. contains a pair of particularly vicious mecha system viruses that it can upload to enemy forces to impede their attacks. The first, code name Cinder, overwhelms the opponent’s systems with false commands to slow their reaction time. The second, code name Ashe, attempts to shutdown the entire operating system of an enemy mech. Fully upgraded, a pilot can expect a successful Freeze of an enemy roughly one out of three attempts.

The Black Lotus also makes considerable use of a multi-targeting Wide Fork algorithm with sufficient tech upgrades, enabling the Onyx to engage every opponent in line of sight. The final A.I. component, Target scanners are included in the programming to search for any vulnerable armor plates that could be exploited for a one shot Crit-Kill. The Black Lotus carries six slots for the installation of custom equipment.

Powering the Onyx is the Daemon engine. This powerplant is designed to have an aggressive power to weight ratio at all stages of upgrade. Straight off the assembly line, the Daemon generates enough excess power to fill the 3X overload capacitors.

As it is upgraded, additional 1.5X capacitors are enabled on the Daemon, giving pilots the opportunity for a greater number of more powerful overloads. The six ports for additional engine boosters have earned this powerplant the nickname “Speed Daemon”.

Defensively, the Onyx carries a wide range of shielding. A general shield system is installed to deflect any attack. Additional shield systems are interwoven to provide greater protection from both Laser and Ice weaponry.

A pair of shoulder-mounted Black Rock ballistic defense plates comprise the third piece of the defensive package. This system will absorb a healthy percentage of all projectile weaponry fire. To supplement the Black Rock, Onyx designers installed an Obsidian Shard Cannon. This close-in weapon system will shoot down a portion of all incoming missile attacks.

Rounding out the defenses are five ports for heavy shielding modules. These allow a pilot to build a full pentagram shield to protect against all known weapon types or heavily reinforce against one specific attack, depending on mission requirements. The Chassis is also designed with five ports for custom heavy equipment, giving pilots a wide range of offensive or defensive options to complete their mission.

First deployed against Evil Santa’s minions, the Onyx has gained quick popularity among mercenary pilots, especially among the Heroes clans. By all reports, they were quite reluctant to return the mecha at the end of their mission for the Legionnaires. Disparities in the number of Onyx mecha supposedly in the Legionnaires roster is currently under investigation while those that somehow remained in Heroes squadrons appear to have completely impeccable ownership records.

Legendary Pilots

• 

  Colin Toenjes

  Having been around since Clan War III, the Heroes clan is one of the Galaxy's oldest continuously operational clans, and has built a reputation for stability and consistency over the years. This is why in 3318, the Legionnaires hired the Heroes clan to field-test their new Onyx mecha. Long known among his Heroes teammates for his exceptional preference for (and widespread use of) flames on the battlefield, Heroes XO Colin Toenjes saw great potential in the new design and immediately configured his to utilize a variety of fire-based weaponry.
  
  Colin's early production model Onyx, nicknamed CinderFall, serves as the hunter-killer slot in his Primary Fire line. It can usually be found either sweeping the field with wide swaths of flame in advance of his signature triple-Ignis formation or headhunting using the Onyx's exceptionally accurate targeting in combination with a carefully gathered and hoarded set of Craftsmen-created fire weaponry to immediately cripple and neutralize enemy commanders and other key units.
  
  It can be distinguished from the other Onyxes in service on the battlefield with the Heroes clan by the distinctive artwork painted on its shoulder pauldrons; it depicts a woman in a gold-trimmed red dress, her raven-dark hair covering one eye and the other wreathed in an aura of unimaginable power. Her seductively evil smile has been the last thing many warriors see as their systems overheat and shut down under the burning assault from Colin's Onyx.