Beyond the Spozak

View Original

The John-Henry industrial battleoid

Specs

Height: 10 meters(32'9")

Width at shoulders: 4 meters(13'1")

Length (cockpit):  3 meters(9'10")

Operating mass: 60 metric tons (66 tons)

Maximum walking speed: 40kph (25mph)

Power system:  Two hot-swappable graphene-glucose hypercapacitors (mounted on either side of the cockpit)

Power system output: 10000kw

 

History

The ironically named John-Henry (named after the folk hero ) was built and sold by Ares Systems during Era-1, primarily as a piece of heavy construction equipment.  The relatively simple, modular design led to a host of modified versions for specific tasks.  The John Henry was a top-seller, and Ares Systems reliably redesigned it with new features and improvements about once a decade throughout its manufacturing lifespan.

The popular shipyard variant was outfitted with maneuvering jets, a fully environmentally-sealed cockpit (with storage for enough consumables to supply one pilot for 24 hours), and two heavy-duty electromagnets in the soles of the feet.

The versatility of its design, and heavy-duty construction also made the John-Henry a useful (if slow-moving) improvised defensive unit in combat situations.  Many of the small states that sprung up around the fringes of the Planetary League included John-Henries in their armed forces.  John-Henries were also a common armament for various the pockets of resistance and rebellion that opposed the Holy Empire of Man during Era-2.