Jorge Belasco
Sarna News
Jorge Balasco | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Affiliation | Federated Suns |
Dr. Jorge Belasco was a NAIS scientist who worked on several important research projects for House Davion. Between approximately 3020 and 3022 he was involved in Project Phoenix, a BattleMech development program at the Friden Aerospace Park on Hoff. Later, he was instrumental in the Federated Suns' rediscovery of double heat sink production.
Project Phoenix
Project Phoenix lasted from approximately October 3020 until the Friden Aerospace Park facility was attacked on 13 May 3022. Its results included the Super Wasp and Super Griffin 'Mech designs. Conjecture suggests that Dr. Belasco was a prominent person on the project, possibly the project leader.[1]
When the facility's test area was threatened by elements of the attacking Black Widow Company, Dr. Belasco ordered two MechWarriors to use the functional prototype 'Mechs as a last line of defense. Dr. Belasco remained behind when the test facility was evacuated. Since unreliable reports suggest that three prototype 'Mechs eventually faced off against the attackers, it can be speculated that the third 'Mech was piloted by Dr. Jorge Belasco himself (see Notes below).[1]
The defense was apparently unsuccessful. Project Phoenix did not recover from the attack, and neither of the two prototyped 'Mech designs entered production.
Double Heat Sinks
Dr. Belasco was explicitly credited with developing the "Freezers" that the NAIS recreated from information gleaned from the Helm Memory Core and which were already in production at several test factories by 3041.[2] Prototype Double Heat Sinks had already been used in Project Phoenix, but these had been of a different kind (they could be combined with regular heat sinks, and were of the same size).[1]
Notes
Although the scenario in the original sourcebook depicting the battle on Hoff explicitly states one Super Griffin and two Super Wasps as the defending lineup, the accompanying text consistently mentions only two 'Mechs and two other MechWarriors.[1] This could be explained by assuming that Dr. Belasco was addressing two MechWarriors in a 'Mech bay holding two of the prototypes, and piloted the third one himself to escape from the battle. None of the attacking 'Mechs (a Stinger, a Phoenix Hawk and a Rifleman) could match the speed of a Super Wasp.