Valkyrie

The battles for New Avalon must suck. We don't get much of that news here on Irian, but from what I've seen, neither the Davions nor the Blakists are backing down. I feel for those boys and girls. First a Civil War, and now this. At least I can say with some certainty that the Davions aren't giving up an inch. I just got a juicy tidbit that shows what lengths they're prepared to go to.

We know Valkyries. The Federated Commonwealth was alive long enough for us to face those 'Mechs along the Lyran frontier with some regularity, and we put a lot of that experience into the Hammer. What the Davions are doing now with that puppy is thinking way outside the box. They've taken the missile bay out and replaced it with a pair of the new Snipehunter light autocannons.

The Snipehunters are a work of art. Lighter than a standard cannon but without the ammunition limitations of more advanced guns, the light AC allows Davion pilots to load up with whatever stocks are available, making it almost the perfect weapon for a long siege like New Avalon has turned into. These guns also benefit from the inclusion of the Federated Suns' new targeting computer, which the NAIS managed to copy from the Clans before that institution was vaporized. We've heard that much—the Robes crow that "victory" every chance they get.

Part of the packet I intercepted was gun-camera footage of an engagement, presumable on New Avalon. This Valkyrie was facing a bone-white Blakist Nexus, and it shredded the light 'Mech with concentrated fire from its laser and cannons. From the splash damage I could see, I suspect the 'Mech was loaded with armor-piercing ammunition, but I can't be sure. What I can tell you is that this Valkyrie destroyed that Nexus in under a minute, but left enough of the Blakist 'Mech intact that it must have yielded some excellent salvage.

The Davions are not the only ones upgrading their Valkyries, however. The Lyran Allaince, left with an abundance of discarded and abandoned Valkyries in the wake of the Civil War, is sending their VLKs to the refit yards of Arcturus, where the 'Mech is being slightly modified to make a more flexible impression on the battlefield. The Devastator LRM battery is being replaced with a Doombud multi-missile launcher. This MML is supported by two separate ammunition magazines, capable of carrying a mix of missiles for maximum flexibility.

We can only hope that these new Valkyries help turn the tide against the Word.

The record sheets for the Valkyrie VLK-QD2 and VLK-QS5 designs, along with five other previously-published variants, are included in Record Sheets: Phoenix Upgrades (available from the BattleShop).