From Anno Astra...

Skeggox, fully-equipped

A continuation of [link]

This particular example, from the 56th Expeditionary Regiment on Morwood, is very well-equipped, having been fitted with heavy armour and weaponry suitable for action at the forefront. It appears to have seen much action, judging from the dirt and wear, but does not appear to have taken any substantial hits.

One benefit of the Skeggox's large size is its ability to use the smaller weapons packages designed for light mobile suits, such as the five-round hypervelocity missile launcher mounted on its shoulder. Properly used, this gives the Skeggox a potent anti-MS capability, especially from ambush or in terrain unfavourable to mobile suits.

Mounted on the left forearm is a 7mm twin repeater coilgun. It is capable of sustained, fully automatic fire, and usually serves as an infantry suppression and anti-mine weapon.

The appliqué armor panels protecting torso, groin and upper legs are constructed out of metal foam layers with a low-density ablative foaming agent sandwiched with polyamide/fullerene matrices and held within a rigid cermet composite shell with iridium alloy backing. These can be selectively jettisoned in the event of an emergency, such as the need to lighten weight, loss of power to the hatch mechanism or severe damage to specific panels. The armour panels protecting the groin are quite substantial—they also house a pair of Active Defense Arrays. Some of the armour panels are also fitted with MFO sensor pick-ups, to compensate for any sensors on the Skeggox blocked by the armour.

The Active Defense Arrays/Close-In Weapons System mounted in the groin armour and the legs are functionally similar to the present-day 'MetalStorm' system. They are controlled by the demi-suit’s onboard AI and, at its command, will unleash a volley of mimetic-alloy ring airfoil projectiles at high velocities to defeat incoming threats such as rockets, guided missiles and hostile infantry.

Also mounted on the legs are a pair of 70mm missile launchers. Each launcher can hold six of the LOH standard 70mm modular warhead type, and can salvo-fire three missiles at a time. They also mount their own target acquisition systems in lieu of the Skeggox’s own.

The PAGS unit is an integrated passive-active ground sensor suite, the hardpoint-mounted equivalent of the standard equipment found in most front-line mobile suits. It uses seismic detectors, ultrasonic & infrasonic emitters and magnetometers combined with dedicated computing hardware & software to map the immediate terrain and detect underground anomalies such as buried landmines. This can be done with satisfactory accuracy during normal walking movement.

The Skeggox sports a pair of extra 'feet,' with contour-following functions. This serves to reduce its ground pressure and increase its overall stability.

Mounted on the left hip is a spare magazine holder for the Skeggox's Bofors SG-45R coilgun. This is actually standard equipment for the baseline Skeggox.


Sorry for the lack of a painted skull-face, MS Gio, I've been busy with a lot of other projects lately...

Edit: the operator wasn't to scale.