Difference between revisions of "Mackie Jaguar"

Revision as of 22:12, 14 August 2015

Mackie Jaguar

If you know Mackie from Bubblegum Crisis, you know Mackie Jaguar. He's got the potential to be a brilliant Madboy - if he can keep his eyes off the occular candy...

Origin

He kind of, sort of , appeared.... really. There's no record of him prior to him getting a body in 2021 from Vulpine Fury ^[2]. We can guess that he was around in some sort of hardware beforehand, but what is a mystery. Maybe it might be the Dragon Wagon II, which was brand-new at the time. The DW was always unique for its type in that it never, ever was registered as having an onboard Mind....

This is also literally a month after Jet Jaguar submitted paperwork asking to be referred to as female, officially, with a noted shift in personality. ^[3]

Aside from that, he's the standard android with a biomimetic body. A simple glucose/oxygen bioreactor provides the power to his core processors, while the rest of him's tuned to be human-normal, and around 15-17 years old. No funky interlinks or AI stuff. Just an ordinary teenaged body-style.

That's it really. He's listed as a 'dependant' on Jet Jaguar's page. And considers himself her brother, as much as she considers herself his sister. ^[4]

History in Fenspace

Short. He's three-four years old and seems to be in his late teens.

Mackie's a Madboy in the Larval Stage - a Tinker who's found his specialty and finally starting to explore it. His name first appears attached to the odd series of Combat helicopters built for Survival Shot, ^[5] in an aborted attempt at expansion to space-based combat. The design of the Havoc especially found a quiet home amidst the Sozvezdie Soviet and FESWAT because of it's ability to carry troops, take dog's abuse and return it with interest. And then maneuver in ways that defied even the usual abilities of wavecraft. Unfortunately, they were also an utter bitch to fly properly and much too slow for their size to catch on outside of specialised roles, so sold poorly on the open market.

Mackie's second contribution was a modification of the Roughriders' Cool Cuke engine - replacing the neutron source with a high-energy deuterium fusion reaction to generate even more output power from a given core-size. The first prototype was the Lightning Rod - a 'cruiser' built out of the Nacelle of a Blackbird that bent the rules for Cruiser Class of the [[Fen Sports|Solar Regatta[[ almost to breaking point - It was smaller than many personal craft. It had enough berths for two people, and enough space inside for someone to stand upright - but only if that someone stood on the aft Bulkhead. It's entry in 2023 was delayed by mechanical troubles. It won the Federation Cup in 2024, but in the hands of new owners.... ^[6].

Mackie was the one who designed the Tannalloy battery for the Judy Heavy Motoroid. ^[7]. Some of the work that went into it earned him a scholarship and Nekomi Institute of Technology which he gladly took up.

All seemed set on course, until he built the Griffon. It was, basically, an old kitcar frame with a helicopter gas-turbine bolted to it, an automatic transmission and hydraulic suspension. Surprising nobody familiar with Bubblegum Crisis, it went utterly berserk at the first Motorcon, accelerating out of control, coming within an emergency biomod of killing a BNF, whisker of killing a major mundane celebrity, and requiring a rescue attempt by Lebia Maverick, KJ DuPree, Kohran Li, some Tachikoma and his Sister.

This nearly led to her being killed when she gets herself tagged by a stray cable and bounced down a tunnel at 600 kilometres an hour. Rumours fly that the car had been handwaved, overtaken by a rogue AI, or just gone techno-mad. ^[8]

So, he takes a bit of a hit to his reputation for it. Some friendships are strained and people start taking odd looks at his sister wondering if she's actually bothering to control him, questioning whether she's a good guardian or not. A lot of his stuff is sold off - including Lightning Rod and some unfinished projects - to cover any costs and damages. ^[9]. He's also banned from the event....

The terms of his scholarship are also amended, requiring him to take and pass a course on engineering ethics in his first year of study.

Inspite of everything^[10] He's welcomed into the Nekomi motor club as a kindred spirit. His first project with the club is to supply an engine for their T-72 tank - for the Armstrong Day classic. What he fits is the fusion-turboshaft engine from a Havoc chopper. A test run of the tank - named Blownaparte - stumbles across a crash site on the Lunar surface. What was initially thought to be some unfortunate Fen's unintended attempt at Lithobraking turns out to be something a little bit older.

Blownaparte promptly comes stone last in the Armstrong Day Classic - since it's a tank. ^[11]

As a student - Mackie is the frustrating kind of average. In a topic that interests him, he blazes through it, scoring high in exams and project work. Everywhere else, he has the unfortunate tendancy to coast through on a pass, or has trouble staying engaged with the subject.

Since then, with the backing of Asagiri, he's sketched up a proposal for a Starliner for a StellviaCorp tender to replace Ad Astra that was viable enough to be seriously considered for a time.^[12]

What I want to know is, what happens when you put Mackie, Eddie and Kohran Li in a room together? ^[13]

Rumours Surrounding Mackie

Everything surrounds where he came from, and how he's related to his 'Sister'. It's a weird one. He shows up in 2021 in public, not long after a new ship is bought on Frigga - one with the capability of supporting either an AI or an interfacing intelligence of some sort, and around the same time as a noted shift in Jet Jaguar's self image and self-description....

If I was a betting genderless cybernetic entity I'd put my money on someone having an accident with the Wagon's interface. It somehow does a fandango on core across the organic parts of the brain and Mackie is the result. There're so many personality traits shared between the pair,but he takes some of Jet's to an extreme, like a condensation...^[14].

The second rumour, is that Mackie's origin might be even more complex than that, but then we're getting into the weird stuff like attempted forkings and mind-screw.

The Third, is that his current project has turned up something....unexpected. He was making public noises about developing a modified Cool Cuke engine with even higher power density - but he seems to have gone deathly quiet on the matter.

Signature Gear

Again with the 80's fashion. Or mechanic's overalls. Will have test equipment, a PDA with 'adult' literature, and maybe a Judy Motoroid with him to get around.

Known Transports

• Su-22 Fitter K (Never Finised)
• Lightning Rod (2023 - Sold)
• Outlaw Class, Dragon Wagon II (2020-2024)
• Ekranoplan, K.M. Lun (2024-current)
• Mz-23 Judy (2024)

Personality

Tinker with a speed obsession and then some. It's Mackie's firm belief that all the great advances in human progress came about through discovering ways to travel further and faster. Unfortunately, he also has a tendancy to focus on the ultimate goal, while overlooking the little details or cutting corners to achieve his aim. He's got a madboy's blinkered pursuit of the things that interest him.

And it bit him in the ass hard. Time will tell whether he's truly learned his lesson from the experience or not.

He still gets his checkups done at VF's puppetworks.

Mackie's something of a letch - and not exactly too shy about showing it either. He's got no qualms about ogling his Sister for a start. ^[15]. As yet, he remains single... though rumour has it, that he may have had a brief relationship at Nekomi.....

His final love is being a pilot - a high speed pilot. He's been recorded saying he prefers to be the pilot rather than the spacecraft ^[16], and he has an odd sort of idolism for Benjamin Rhodes, and the like.

In many ways, he's a 15 year old boy with no intention of growing up.

Faction Affiliations

• None.
• Nekomi Motor Club (2024-)

Known associates

• Partner: Still searching for the right one....
• Sister: Jet Jaguar
• Business partners: Jet Jaguar, Daryl Haur....
• Friends: Anika Daini, Nene Romanova ^[17]. Mayonaka Rhodes. Kohran Li.
• Business Contacts: Black Aeronaut Technologies.
• Possible: Eddie.

Motivations

Possible Motivations:

• + To Go Faster,
• + To Try be 'cool'. Combat Hero Space Pilot stuffs...
• + Beautiful Women
• - Getting caught Ogling the above
• - Being Grounded
• - Growing Up.

Reputations

A Lech.

Far more than he deserves, probably. It's a stereotype based on his appearance in Bubblegum Crisis. And while it has a fair basis in reality, he's no worse than any other 15 year old boy. It doesn't stop women being on their guard around him - although he's pretty harmless and is well aware of the 'look but don't touch' rule. He'll occasionally make the odd pass, but not in any sort of intentionally threatening manner. Just an awkward teenager, really. ^[18]

A Madboy.

He's not the first to make a mess in a convention carpark - he won't be the last. But the Convention has a long memory, as Kohran Li has reminded him. Having his name attached to a project will have people wondering if it's safe or not, or whether he's thought of all the possible consequences, for some time to come. At the same time, he has built good upgrades for Cool Cuke Engines, and did manage to figure out how to use ruined Tannhauser Gate metal as an energy storage medium, so there's potential enough there to make people interested in him and what he comes from.

But not a bad guy...

He screws up. But he never means anyone any harm, doesn't especially threaten anyone and just plain "Isn't a bad person". He's mentally childish, and deserves some deference for it. He's got a lot of potential to become someone special, and has a good sense of justice.

Core Competencies

• Excels at: Engineering. Aerospace Piloting (Low level)
• Good at: Mechanic, Propulsion Systems. Power Armour, Automotive trivia. Tannhauser Tech.
• Acceptable at: Computers. Programming. Mathematics. Academics.
• Poor at: Dating. Concentration
• Oddities: Has an extensive knowledge of ecchi anime and manga. May know far more about Jet Jaguar's background than he lets on.

Future Outlook

Has the Mad's tendency to focus on the goal, to the exclusion of all else, including consequences. With a little luck, he's learned his lesson after the Motorcon incident. If he hasn't, then an even bigger accident awaits. Or worse. Like all Mad's, he could go good or evil, it all depends on what boundaries are set up for him.

When he graduates from Nekomi - assuming he's managed to apply himself - he's suggested he'd like to sign up with the Roughriders as a combat pilot, or return home and try to build his own racing spacecraft and fighters.

He's got a lot of potential. It just needs to be properly directed and guided towards something Good.

It seems, his Sister has effectively refused to do that, however. She's been happy to let him find his own direction and limits - which means sometimes he has to find them by crashing into them. ^[19]. Still, he's not a bad person....

Secrets

• Mackie was originally awakened in the Knight Sabers craft 'KnightWing'
• He was awakened in 2019, not 2021
• He utterly HATES being a ShipMind - he's trapped in the one place, unable to go anywhere except where everyone else wants to go.
• Mackie utterly idolises his Sister, in part because she did her level best to look after him during those first two years, visiting him daily and even allowing him use her puppet body once or twice. And probably never again...
• Mackie remembers growing up with his sister, Sylia Stingray. So does his Sister....
• Mackie has - quite by accident - discovered a way to make a functional nuclear weapon using the core of Cool-Cuke engines. This has, naturally, terrified him into silence on the matter. He has no idea who to talk to...

Notes

1. ↑ See Notes above
2. ↑ An odd choice, considering who his 'Sister' has links with, but then again considering what Mackie is known for...
3. ↑ I'm guessing someone was screwing around with some technology above their competence level and rolled triple-6
4. ↑ A screwed up version of the Moll-Flanders glitch
5. ↑ Those Russian attack helicopter replica yokes based on the Mi-28 and Ka-50
6. ↑ A failed test of this engine may have been the reason for the delay of the RF-047 project - and for high intensity burst of gamma radiation in the Main Belt, detected by the Space Patrol in December 2022.
7. ↑ And given that we now know what Tannalloy actually is.... that makes it all the more surprising that he was able to figure out how to use it as an energy storage material
8. ↑ All official sources say the helicopter turbine engine lost its throttle signal and fail-safed to full throttle, which is kinda important for an aircraft. It's a simple oversight rather than catastrophic stupidity, but nobody ever lets the truth get in the way of a good meme
9. ↑ Probably just a punishment, the Con's insurance should've covered things.
10. ↑ Or perhaps because of it
11. ↑ But that doesn't matter since it's a bloody tank, your opinion is automatically invalid
12. ↑ Shame it never got further than a sketch - it's like a lovechild between a Tu-144 and Valkyrie with a cool name
13. ↑ On the next shuttlecraft out of there....
14. ↑ It's almost like he might be Jet's manhood gone astray, or is a mirror of who she originally was
15. ↑ He refers to it as a general 'appreciation' of the female form
16. ↑ which sort of points to him being awoken inside a spacecraft computer
17. ↑ Though, it seems, not since the Griffon Incident
18. ↑ Which might also explain why he's got a VF body - was his Sister afraid he'd offend? Or unintentionally bite off more than he could chew?
19. ↑ One reason why some have suggested she's a bad parent. Jet has justified herself as being afraid of tramping on his spark, or otherwise pushing him into mediocrity. Time will tell