Model number: HVRJ-2
Code name: Thor Prototype
Nickname: Marilyn
Classification: prototype V/STOL attack aircraft
Manufacturer: Seed Corporation
Operator: EGE
First deployment: CY -1
Crew: 1 pilot/1 pilot and 1 navigator in two-seat cockpit
Length: 17 meters
Weight: dry weight 36 metric tons, full weight 60 metric tons
Powerplant: x2 afterburning turbojets: 151,000 kg thrust each, top speed 3348kph; maneuvering thrusters: x4 vectored thrust nozzles, main afterburners are hinged to assist takeoff/hovering.
Sensors: radar, thermal, optical array, targeting laser, and main camera mounted in nose
Fixed armaments: x2 20mm Vulcan cannon, mounted in nose; Mjolnir prototype electrolaser, output rated at 900 KW
Optional hand armaments: x2 heat sword, stored in tactical pods folded under wings
Renowned for combat frames, Seed Corporation began as a manufacturer of farming equipment for the space colonies. The company’s interests didn’t stop there. Seed and its subsidiaries produced everything from military grade hardware to snack foods. Many prototypes were built as test beds for experimental design concepts never intended for mass production, let alone sale.
One such experimental design was the HVRJ-2, a prototype attack aircraft dubbed the Thor by Seed Corp personnel. The Thor Prototype began life under the aegis of a military research project attempting to develop practical energy weapons. The project stalled when the electrolaser prototype devised as the weapon system’s main component performed below reliability parameters.
The HVRJ-2 design was rescued from the dustbin when Tesla Browning searched the archives for a platform to test combat frame armaments at ultra-high speeds unattainable by standard CFs. Browning and his software design team lead Maximus Darving modified the Thor Prototype to incorporate combat frame technology, mostly as an engineering exercise. To manage the aircraft’s highly complex systems, Darving wrote a new A.I. he named Marilyn, a refinement of his previous NORMA navigating application.
Unknown to the project’s Coalition backers, Darving had been in contact with EGE Naval Intelligence officer Li Wen. Over the course of several conversations, Lieutenant Li turned Darving from his already shaky Seed Corp loyalties to make him an EGE asset. He resolved to defect and saw his chance on the day of the Thor Prototype’s first test flight. Under the guise of performing a last-minute software check, Darving stole the aircraft and set course for the EGE fleet. He narrowly avoided being shot down by CSC forces and crash-landed on the deck of the EGE flagship Yamamoto.
For his impressive technical expertise and the immense wealth of intelligence he provided to the EGE–not to mention adding a powerful new aircraft to the carrier wing–Darving received a commission as an EGE Air Corps captain. He went on to command the Thor Prototype throughout the Coalition incursions of CY 1 and into the start of the Kazoku War.
See the Thor Prototype in action in my hit mecha/Mil-SF novel Combat Frame XSeed!
