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Originally Posted by verity_isle
The History of the Knightmare Frame
Part 1 – The First Age : Infancy
Like many history-changing inventions, the development of the Knightmare Frame has an exceedingly humble beginning. As everyone knows, the Knightmare Frame originated from the concept of 'Emergency Survival Cockpit'. The research was for a rocket motor-equipped cockpit block meant for tanks and the like. As its name suggests, this invention is made to quickly jettison important crew members out in an emergency. In searching for ways to increase survival ability, the researchers came up with the concept of attaching a pair of legs to the cockpit.
The 'walking cockpit' was thus researched, developed, and manufactured, and became what would lead into the future 'Knightmare Frames'. At that point, however, the energy filler loading capacity was limited, and it could not be used except in extreme emergencies. The 'cockpits with legs' of this time were later called classified as 'First Age Knightmare Frames'.
But why two legs? This was a problem of internal space. Fitting a cockpit block into conventional tanks required additional storage room for the legs, and this became a limitation. Because of this, the idea of more stable cockpits with four or more legs could not be implemented. One could say that from this two-leg limitation, the road towards the humanoid-shaped weapon called 'Knightmare Frame' was opened.
Part 2 – The Second Age : Turning Point
What brought the primitive First Age Frames closer to current models is the Second Age. At the time, clearance was given to 'develop a new kind of weapon that has never been seen before', and research went ahead. There were three definite developments :
1) Loading all-purpose manipulators for various work
2) Equipping Landspinners for large scale cavalrylike movement
3) Upgradinging sensor capabilities by introducing Factspheres.
However, the Second Age experiments also came to a halt in the trial phase.
For example, the Second Age landspinners were incapable of rapid starts and stops, often tumbling over in such tests. The manipulators also were incapable of delicate work, so much that they were better called 'magic hands'. It would not be until the Third and Fourth Ages that the technologies associated with the ascent of the Knightmare Frames were made practical.
Furthermore, the technologies that would later become the basis of Knightmare Frames were divided in two approaches. The Second Age's great strides could be attributed to a blend of both. One is based on the application of concepts normally found in military-based robotics studies. This approach has since been connected to the present Special Division within the Britannian army---the 'Special Dispatch Guidance System Division'.
The other approach is based on social welfare. Backed by the Ashford Foundation, which proactively supported technologies related to training/education and welfare, the research progressed. The bipedal weapon developed then was thus far named 'Knightmare' by the military, and the civilian welfare-minded equipment was called 'Frame'. By uniting the two terms, the name 'Knightmare Frame' was born.
Part 3 – The Third Age : Archetype
From the fruits of the Second Age's research to concrete combat-capable experiments, is the Third Age Knightmare Frame. It is with this Age that research began to prioritize technologies that allow enough mobility to realistically follow battle plans and practical retention of ordnance.
The model that best represents Third Age Knightmare Frames is widely known as the Ganymede, developed under the leadership of the Ashford Foundation. Its pilot was granted knighthood, and later became a Queen of the Britannian Emperor. (Note : The Japanese clearly states that she was 'one of his queens', to settle that debate once and for all) However, shortly after the death of said pilot, the Ashford Foundation's proposal began to fall into decline, causing the line of the inventor close to said foundation to be retired. Many have purported this incident to be a secret political feud regarding the new surge of interest in Knightmare Frames, to hold the expansion of the Ashford Foundation's power in check. The truth is regardless unknown.
Knightmare Frame research in the Third Age also decided the future strategic value of Sakuradite, as the Sakuradite-rich Coalminus has proved indispensible in bringing out maximum performance in the Frames. A stable source of Sakuradite and the new era of armies composed of Knightmare Frames became a subject not dissimiliar from the problem of the chicken and the egg. It was a closely watched integral element in every Britannian foreign and political policy after this point onwards.
The Third Age Knightmare Frames were no longer merely a technological discovery, but a political force. This would later become the origin of Knightmare Frames in a later age.
Part 4 – Fourth Age : Implementation
Knightmare Frame development in the Fourth Age owes heavily to the aforementioned Ganymede. As stated before, the Third Age defined the raison d'tre of Knightmare Frames as weapons of the new age. The Fourth simply grows into an implementation of that.
From the experiment data on the Ganymede and many trials and errors came the RPI-11 Glasgow. Proving its superiority in the Japan Occupation War, it heralded 'the Age of the Knightmare Frame' to the rest of the world. Even afterwards, the Glasgow remained a staple in various Britannian military engagements, and received many modifications and upgrades. All Knightmare Frames developed afterwards still continued to use the Glasgow as the base for development and divergence. The Knightpolice used in law enforcement and the Boatman for aquatic work, as well as the Japanese remodelings Burai, Burai-kai and Raikou are all part of this Fourth Age.
The strength of the Knightmare Frame is due in no small part to its two legs, which gives it all-terrain mobility. Thanks to the bipedal design, it is possible to conduct a sequence of military movements rapidly, such as beach disembarkation followed by taking over an urban district. This is made clear with the Knightmare Frame's dominance in the Japanese War, which was composed of highly complicated terrain.
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