The Macchi VF-14A is an Aerospace Variable F in use, rarely, by the Houses of Reservoir.

• Aero Frame Mode
• Gestalt Mode
• Battle Frame Mode

The Macchi VF-14A is a machine from the era of war, before the creation of the Vendetta system. The Macchi represents the first successful attempt to create a Variable Frame; a transformable aerospace fighter capable of filling a ground combat role when necessary. Based upon the ancient, and very much obsolete F-14D Super Tomcat, the Macchi is huge for its mass; easily taller than all frontline Battle Frames presently in service, but only around the mass of an Urbano.

The Macchi is quite old. With the advent of the Vendetta system, the need for long range, independent combat units with a broad range of capabilities to face the unknown in any environment, such as the Macchi, became unnecessary. Orders for the VF quickly dried up, and the company that produced it shuttered its doors permanently barely two years later. All examples of the machine that exist today stand testament to how well designed the Macchi is, though Fiat does own the rights to produce parts for a premium.

The VF-14A looks like an F-14D in fighter form, but with the addition of vertically vectored thrust main exhaust ports.

In Gestalt form, the main engine pods swing down to form legs, and the shoulders of the mech swing out to the sides to reveal humanlike arms ending in hands. The arms are normally hidden between the engines in fighter mode. A small pod with secondary engines flips up onto the back of the machine, while the vertical stabilizers retract under it. This shift is rather complex for the relatively simple looking physical change that results from it.

As a Battle Frame, the body shifts to stand vertically while the nose of the fighter folds down, and an armored cowl extends to cover the cockpit. The head of the machine, previously hidden in a cavity within the chassis, is pushed up at the point where the nose and body folds, resulting in a strikingly humanoid appearance. The main wings just swing together, and remain folded upon the machine’s back to stay out of the way. It is a relatively simple change.

Organization: -
Type: Variable Frame
Class: VF-14A
Designer: Jason A. Leonard (Deceased)
Manufacturer: Leonard Aeromacchi (Defunct)
Production: Many (Obsolete)
Price: 3,880,000 W

Crew: 1
Maximum Capacity: 1
Passenger Capacity: 0

Aerospace Fighter Dimensions
Length: 14.25 Meters
Wingspan: 14.75 Meters
Height: 3.5 Meters

Gestalt Dimensions
Length: 11.25 Meters
Wingspan: 14.75 Meters
Height: 8.75 Meters

Battleframe Dimensions
Width: 7.25 Meters (shoulder width)
Height: 14.25 Meters (head height)
Mass: 35 Tons, 75 Tons Max (with external pods)

Ground speed: 162 Kph
Jumping speed: 243 Kph
Ground effect speed: 648 Kph
Air speed: 3,705 Kph
Stellar Accel: 7 Gravities

Range: Interplanetary (with attachments)

Chassis Size: Large
Frame Class: Light Mecha
Armor Rating: Virtually None, More with attachments
Weapon Pods: Extra Heavy

* Head: 2x Point Defense Laser (3R/S/-)
* Cockpit: Targeting and Fire Control, Computer System
* Center Torso: 50mm Vulcan Gunpod (15R/M/24)
* Left Torso: Heatsink
* Right Torso: Heatsink
* Left Wing: 2x Empty Hardpoints (Size 1)
* Right Wing: 2x Empty Hardpoints (Size 1)
* Left Shoulder: Empty Hardpoint (Special)
* Right Shoulder: Empty Hardpoint (Special)
* Left Arm: Heatsink, Empty Hardpoint (Special)
* Right Arm: Heatsink, Empty Hardpoint (Special)
* Left Leg: Empty Hardpoint (Special)
* Right Leg: Empty Hardpoint (Special)

Standard Ejection System (Cockpit)
Armored Cowl (Cockpit)
VF Actuators (Everywhere)
EMS Suite (Head)
2 Fusion Turbines (legs)
12 Heatsinks (fusion turbines)
12 Radiators (Wings, Tails)
18 Thrusters (legs, torso, shoulders)
4 Aux Thrusters (wings, legs)
3 Secondary Thrusters (torso)
2 Main Thrusters (legs)

The Macchi has a rather complex internal skeleton designed for transformation between modes. It is composed of lightweight aerospace alloys, ceramics, and polymers, and the honeycombed architecture is filled with Aerogel. The resulting frame is much tougher than any you will find on an aerospace craft, and is a match for any modern Battle Frame skeleton. The downside is that the low density of the frame leaves the Macchi at a disadvantage in melee combat, where packing in as much force into as small an area as possible is more ideal.

On a positive note: the overall lighter materials the frame is made out of are abundant, and thus dirt cheap. Even with the complex manufacturing process, the cost comes out lower than a standard battle frame skeleton, much less a high end one.

The Macchi uses the same standard Myomere found in ground based Battle Frames. It even uses them in place of hydraulic shocks.

The Macchi has no armor to speak of. The hull is made of lightweight aerospace alloys, and provides no real protection against weapons fire. Armor, instead, has to be bolted on with external modules.

The cockpit of this machine is a standard aerospace fighter cockpit, complete with an ejection system. It is, of course, rated for space.

The Macchi is equipped with 2 Fusion Turbines, one in each lower leg. This provides more than enough power for anything the Macchi could need, and an excessive amount of thrust compared to anything a Battle Frame could ever want or need.

The Cockpit is powered by a single RTG mounted in a shielded box behind the pilot seat.

The Macchi is equipped with a single quantum processor, and a pair of multicore binary processors. It has an AI support slot, and requires an AI to be installed to even start the engines as a safety feature. At the time of construction, this was the most advanced onboard computing setup in Reservoir. The fact that it holds up relatively well when compared to the Battle Frames in use as of 2320 speaks volumes of its performance.

The Macchi is outfitted with an impressive array of sensors, with a bias towards aerospace.

• High Power RADAR
• IR
• LIDAR (+UV)
• Neutrino
• Visual
• ‘Cyclops’ High Powered Mono Eye Scope (Battle Frame Mode Only)

The Macchi is equipped with a powerful, if venerable, targeting system. No expense was spared when creating it, and it shows. The suite is easily able to track upwards of 500 point sources, and generate target locks on scores of them at once. This is because the lack of armoring means a need for heightened situational awareness, a need to intercept or avoid threats, and a similar need to engage as many enemies as possible with the maximum amount of firepower available to reduce those threats, thus increasing survival odds. The best defense for the Macchi is a lightning fast, decisive offense, though the machine performs admirably in the evasion and interception department as well, even considering its age.

Beware, the targeting and fire control systems of the Macchi are fine tuned to dispense a truly devastating barrage of missiles at dozens of targets at once, almost at will. Fear of this capability led to the infamous, frantic, and ongoing-to-this-day anti-missile system arms race to somehow deal with it. And, while modern Reservoir AMS is impressive, nobody has yet managed to quite find the cure for the dreaded Macchi Missile Massacre. You have been warned.

The Macchi is outfitted with a high powered communications system that you will not normally see on a Battle Frame. This is because the Macchi was designed for use in a time before the ritualized forms of Vendetta combat came into being, and operation far from any command hub was not only expected, it was the norm. As such, the radio communication system is excessively overpowered compared to modern frames in 2320, so much so that it is largely immune to the paltry efforts of modern jamming and can blow out receivers just by broadcasting at max power within a kilometer of modern ground units. They have no problem whatsoever communicating over interplanetary distances, though the signal lag is certainly an issue. The machines are also equipped with four whisker laser emitters, which is unheard of today. It should be noted, however, that these installations are old, bulky, and weigh several times what a modern installation would. This is not a problem for the Macchi, however.

The Macchi features a carefully designed aerospace control scheme, paired with a neural interface. Both are a little dated, however, and it shows.

The Macchi does not have mass to spare for a heavy gyro stabilizer, and instead relies on flight control surfaces and shifting the mass of articulated components around to maintain balance and orientation. This is known as AMBAC. Weirdly, it is more intuitive, more natural feeling, to control than gyro stabilized battle frames, but the trade off is in mass and volume expended to make it work. The Macchi cheats this caveat by utilizing the very systems that allow it to fly, transform, walk around, interact with the world around it to do all the heavy lifting in this regard, and since those are all necessary anyway, it’s basically doing away with an extra 4 tons of unnecessary weight adding a gyro would bring. An AI is necessary to make it all work properly for lower skilled pilots, but higher skilled ones leave their virtual assistants with very little to do except track threats and lock targets.