Machine Calibers (Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet)

Machine Calibers are a type of mecha that feature in Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet.

History
Machine Calibers were a class of mecha that were developed by the Galactic Alliance of Humankind after this branch of humanity migrated into deep space. In the far future, the Galactic Alliance migrated through space in large colony ships and waged an endless war against space based creatures known as the Hideauze. During this war, the Machine Calibers were used to battle their foe.

Unknown to either pilot, both their Machine Calibers crashed separately on the planet Earth that was not occupied by a primitive sea-faring humanity. Commander Kugel was critically wounded and seemingly left instructions to bring order to the people of Earth. He died within the cockpit of the mecha where his body was preserved in the airtight chamber. In response, his Caliber's AI proceeded to continue the directives and instructions it had been given. As a result, Striker began to evoke that the Caliber was a god and that Kugel was the deity of a number of humans that began to worship. Striker instituted martial law and a strict regime in the fleet that formed around it with a religious order whereby individuality, freedom and emotions were expunged in favor of the greater good. Elsewhere, in the six months that passed, Chamber was recovered by the crew of the fleet Gargantia where they attempted to open up the mecha but failed to do so due to its advanced construction. The human believed that the machine was a lost relic of humanity's past and completely unaware that inside was Ensign Ledo of the space based Galactic Alliance of Humankind.

Overview
In appearance, Machine Calibers were humanoid shaped mecha that stood taller than human beings and allowed their pilots to survive in deep space, underwater or other such conditions. These mecha were independent mobile weapons that supported a single pilot.

In addition, they were able to equip themselves with numerous armaments that were wielded on the arms.

Each Caliber was equipped with an artificial intelligence system designed to aid and assist its operator. These were known as a Pilot Support Enlightenment Interface System that accomplished the purpose of their existence by their operator achieving further success with increasingly greater results. Connection between pilot and the machine was achieved through neural-plus power. Maximisation of this was not permitted without medical personnel present as it led to a merger whereby the machine absorbed the pilot. If allowed, all systems connected to the pilots central nervous system and increased performance output by 153% but this could only be sustained for 482 seconds until critical failure of vital systems. It was stated that Caliber AI's were not able to reject their operators from piloting them. However, certain AI's were able to reason themselves into engaging in such scenarios if they felt it benefited their pilots potential. Malfunctioning AIs were requested to reformat themselves and reboot in order to purge themselves from any errors.

The artificial intelligence was advanced enough to learn foreign languages and serve as a translator for the pilot. Unauthorised individuals that attempted to enter the open cockpit could suffer from the machine inducing an electric shock to remove them.

Despite this being the case, it was possible for operator control to be transferred to another allowing them to command the caliber. Combat policy formation lay entirely in the hands of the pilot. However, in some cases, the artificial intelligence was able to continue operations even if the pilot was deceased. In such cases, the AI was able to masquerade as the the pilot in order to secure objectives.

Units

 * Chamber : designated as K-6821 whose pilot was Ensign Ledo.
 * Striker : designated as X-3752 whose pilot was Commander Kugel.

Appearances

 * Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet: