ABAP MKIII -final-

As conflict in the middle east ground to a halt thanks to the introduction of the ABAP and MP class mecha, other nations began producing their own walking war machines. It was becoming more and more obvious what sort of combat would most likely dominate future battlefields. As satellite surveillance and ground sensory equipment advanced to the point that standard stealth technology was becoming useless, and as ground based vehicles gained the ability to defend against air born attacks, the primary fight was on the ground, beneath the huge walkers now serving in more than eight of the earth's militaries.

With the threat of war coming from other superpowers and their advanced platforms, the US military decided it was time to up their anty. So they turned once again to Applied Robotics, the nation's leader in mechanized war-machines. Once again, Atsushi was put at the head of the project, and he reluctantly put his current project (A highly advanced unmanned assault robot) to work on the latest request from the upper brass.

The call now, was for something truly impressive. They demanded more firepower to combat the machines that could very easily be their future enemies. Atsushi had developed quite a love for firepower, and took the challenge with gusto.

The first task was to upgrade from the aging ABAPII frame. More firepower also meant more weight, so a reinforced skeleton would be required. The new frame would be made from high grade titanium alloys and would feature twice the support and cross bracing of the two previous AP designs.

The new frame was significantly bulkier and taller than the previous ABAPs', and allowed for heavier bundles of the current high grade electro-reactive muscle, allowing for a greater subsequent weight and strength.

The old washtub design was updated as well. The new washtub would be larger, and reinforced with ceramic and titanium plating, with an inner layer of ceramic scale mesh similar to the dragon scale armor that was experimented with in the late 20th century. Lastly the innermost pilot compartment was shielded against NBC and given its own self contained life support system.

Atsushi ordered a much larger reactor than the old compact fusion unit to power the new beast. The new, heavier reactor had an output of 3gw. It was a bit wasteful as it would only power the 1000 horsepower electric motors that would operate the actuators and servos operating the arms, waist, and hip joints.

For the weaponry, Atushi decided a combination of accuracy and saturation was needed, so he mounted two ten barrel launchers on either shoulder. These would mount the new mech-buster class Wire guided missiles. Additionally, on specially designed turrets built into the left and right torso he built in two of the trusty Avenger II gatlings.

For the arm mounted weapons, however, Atsushi resorted to his usual desire for innovation. He contacted Mr Peter Faulkner, the General Manager of Metal Storm Inc, who was eager for the opportunity to mount one of their revolutionary weapon systems on a bipedal assault platform. Metal Storm had already gained fame through their 3GL grenade launchers which were in use in most UN militaries. Metal storm technology utilized a non-mechanical firing mechanism that was purely digital. Rounds were stacked one on top of another, and each had their own individual charge. Atsushi contracted Faulkner and the Metal storm team to come up with something that would be useful on the changing battlefield.

It took them almost two years to finish development of the new weapon system, but it was well worth the wait. The weapon was of four barrel design, and each barrel held a tube containing 40 high explosive AP rounds. This wasn't too different from their earlier experimental designs, except that this design had two unique features. First was the rotating design of the array. It could be fired in one of several modes. First was single fire, for accurate shots, second was a rapid, but fairly accurate burst. But it was the third that was the bread winner. The four barreled array could spin rapidly, much like a chain gun, which gave the rounds a bit more of an erratic and wide-spread trajectory due to the centrifugal force put on the rounds as they escaped the barrels. This made for excellent saturation of a widespread area. When the ammo tubes were spent, they would be ejected, and an auto loading mechanism would load one spare tube into each barrel.

The new weapon system was fitted into a modular housing, and an under slung scatter shot, similar to that found on the JBAP was added to the completed unit.

The finalized MkIII prototype walked out of the design facility on 21 July, 2050. Though it was slower than its predecessors, it outperformed them in its ability to stop enemy mechs. In fact, in field tests the MkIII was pitted against the earlier ABAP models and was able to wipe the field with them. The Metal Storm weapon system designed for the machine, nicknamed the hellfire-gun, was extremely effective and reliable. Even if a round failed to fire, the next round would simply push it out with it, and subsequently detonate with the explosion of the live round.

HABP-22A Heavy Assault Bipedal Platform

"MkIII Prime"

Manufacturer: General Robotics INC
Mass: 45 tons
Height: 6.5 meters
Power Plant: 1 Corwin Heavy Industries Heavy Duty Fusion Reactor
Drive: Corwin Heavy Industries High Output Power Converter.
Running Speed: 100kph
Sprinting Speed: 125kph

Armament:

x2 GAU-10A Avenger2 Gatling
x2 Hellfire Metal Storm Array
x2 Anti-armor scattershot
x2 10 round wire guided anti-mecha missile racks

Extras: Thermal, Magnetic, and Low-light imagining. Omnisight Active Probe. Thermal absorbent Exhaust Grid.

Variants:

HABP-22C command variant with Eagle Eye satellite up-link, multi target designator, and Mastercom command suite with multi-unit order capability.

HABP-22B Guncannon variant with x8 144mm auto-loading cannon, and x2 anti-infantry/light armor minigun turrets.

HABP-22R light recon variant. Half the weight, three times the speed. Advanced ECM, and long range, multi-spectrum sensor sweep capabilities.