Lambda Driver Question

[Pyrite]

Also take note that all other Lambda Driver users we've seen so far (meaning Amalgam's) were either on drugs or totally insane. While a case could be made for Sousuke in the latter... Nah. I'll take the Mithril one any time.

(Was Zayid's Shadow LD-equipped?)

[JelliCelli]

I don't remember Zaid's Shadow being equipped with a Lamda Driver. He was so tactics oriented, after all. He would probably think it silly to have one.

[Wild Goose]

Zayid's Shadow didn't have a Lambda Driver. Remember how he's going on and on about how the best AS weapon is a gatling cannon? (In this case, the 4-barrel 30mm GAU-11 derived from the 6-barrel GAU-8 Avenger, the biggest aircraft gun EVER.)

Kashmir, when I said taking LD ASes to the next level, I basically meant a great leap forward in both LD capabilities and AS ability. It's like the jump from, oh, say, an RGM-79 GM to a RX-93 Nu Gundam.

[KiLlEr]

I believe his Shadow was a production prototype of the unit to be fitted with a lambda driver (i.e. Venom) and the Cordial was the inital platform for the lambda driver.

that would explain the design similarities of the 3.

[Wild Goose]

My understanding was that the Shadow was derived from the Codarl, as a high performance AS (sans Lambda Driver) while the Codarl was an experimental design to see if Amalgram could make a a series of effective Lambda Driver-equipped Arm Slaves.

The Codarl-M/Venom, meanwhile, appears to be the "Ace" AS of Amalgram's forces: notice how all the people using the Venom are Amalgram bigwigs?

[KiLlEr]

You're basically saying what I ment to say.

Usually BigWigs of any armed force get to play with the newest toys.

[KashimArbalestAS]

I thought the Shadow was created by the Soviets as their new generation of AS and that Amalgam stole some Shadows for the island thing when Gauron gets captured.
Leonard tells Sousuke [ecs]the destruction Mithril wreaked on them by listing the Ases destroyed, by saying (insert #) of Shadows were destroyed but they were stolen.[/ecs]

[Wild Goose]

*shrugs* Maybe the Shadow's development is like that of the M9.

The USSR is still trying to get the prototypes working well, like the US ARmy, while Amalgram and Mithril have already solved most of the kinks in the system.

[KashimArbalestAS]

Yeah, and the problem for the US is that they are creating the M9 while the Soviets have the Shadows, which were stated to be more capable than the M9.

[Wild Goose]

More capable... it depends, really. The Su-27 Flanker is said to be more capable than the F-15C Eagle, but everybody puts their money on the Eagle because Eagle pilots generally have better training and maintennance of their birds than their Russo/Soviet counterparts.

I think it's been demonstarted to Malaysia (at least) that a capable fighter is one thing, but the avionics are what really helps you win. Our MiG-29 piltos are dogfightig experts because they have to deal with shitty radars.

True, Kurz was having a tough time against that twin in the Shadow, but then again, he's not in his element at close quarters. I'd give the advantage to the M9 any day. Urzu wiped the floor with the Shadows, afterall.

[Taurec]

afaik the US still had the M9 as a prototype. the Zy-98's were already operational. Yet another Gatou US bash?

[Mecha]

In TSR it was stated that normaly LD goes operational only when needed and some how heart beat effects to this althought Sousuke got boost in the TSR's final battle against Mr Gates and others from Kaname. So this shows that obiously its also about pilot as pilot is living part of every AS and if pilot has problems (like Sousuke had after being seperated from Kaname) it effects to entire AS. So LD is even more sensible system for pilot's mental problems. Clearly Sousuke didn't want to pilot Arbalest as becouse of it he was seperated from Kaname. So this might give hint that Amalgam pilots dosen't use drugs as clearly they are more aggressive than Mithril pilots.

[sj4iy]

I don't know, but it seems to me that using the drugs would make them more aggressive...but they are just not as good of pilots as the Mithril guys. And the drugs would have a detrimental effect to the pilot the more they use them (remember the kid in the first behemoth? very unstable)- that will obviously make the pilot less effective the longer it is used. It seems few people can seriously use the Lambda driver properly; Sousuke isn't even able to. It seems to me you almost have to start out being unstable to use the LD properly (hello, Gauron and Leonard...you can't tell me that they are right in the head). That's Sousuke's problem- he's too sane to use it

[Mecha]

That's Sousuke's problem- he's too sane to use it

Well I don't know about being too sane but only reason why he can use it is that he is hero of the Mithril. One that is called when normal Mithril soldiers can't handle sittuation (and his main charachter of entire series after all).

[Pyrite]

Well, it's been said that the system was locked for Sousuke's exclusive use after the first time he used the Arbalest, which might imply that (at least, as far as Mithril knew) the Arbalest could have been used by anyone. I think it might apply to the Lambda Driver as well.

And as for the drugs, who knows what they're for? They could be drugging the pilots to increase their aggression, or even to push them further beyond the point of insanity so that they can use the Lambda Driver. Or perhaps they're already nuts and need the drugs to keep kinda under control (hey Gundam Seed, here's looking at you again), although it's not that likely.

Maybe that's why the Amalgam LD isn't considered a prototype.
Mithril sees the problem, thinks, "There's a problem with the machine."
Amalgam sees the same problem, thinks, "The machine's perfect. There's a problem with the pilots."