Description
Poopysuit Griffin 'Special? MotR 4.1
What with making the real 4th one a Patreon piece, needed to whip up something for the GenPop (and still need to do one for tomorrow, after running to town).
During the Third Succession War, resources were scarce, knowledge and technical skill on the road to extinction. Even premiere units in the Inner Sphere lived a scavenger mentality, hoarding parts and techs, with on average a third or more of most TO&E fielding damaged machines, at any given time.
As bleak as the outlook was in the Inner Sphere, it was still an absolute paradise compared to what befell most of the Periphery, especially in places like the former Rims World Republic, and neighboring systems. A situation exacerbated by the number of Merc Units shattered during the hell of the First and Second Succession Wars, that limped out to the Periphery to lick their wounds, and as oft as not, die. Some became protectors of their new homes, some gave up soldiering all together and others became the very Bandits and Pirates that plague the Periphery Border worlds to this day.
King's Kommandos are an example of the first group. Formerly part of a larger Merc Unit that was crushed under the millstone of the late 2nd Succession War. Their jumpship blew it's helium seals in the Gwynedd system, forcing the survivors to make it their emergency destination. The plan was to hail a passing Jumpship and make it back home.
In the meantime, Colonel King availed himself of the locals and offered to trade protection from the increasing pirate raids for support and sustenance. Months turned to years, years to decades and no commercial jumpship ever came. But more pirates did. And eventually King's Kommanddos became King's Konstabulary, serving as sheriffs and local law enforcement for the tiny remaining population, and Gwynedd became home.
Fast forward to 3010, and the Constabulary was made up of King's ancient Thunderbolt (by this time the Colonel King in question is the great grandson of the original Colonel King, all the mechs passed as hereditary possessions and responsibilities) and 3 equally dilapidated Griffins.
Gwynedd would find itself facing more and more Pirate raids, specifically slave raids. But instead of standing to fight, these Pirates, who fielded equally poorly maintained machines (a Phoenix Hawk, Wasp and 2 Stingers) relied on speed and stealth, and would simply leave the meager defense force in the dust, an issue made worse by the jump jets on the Griffins having long run out of reaction mass.
After multiple raids, King, his warriors and Techs went to desperate measures.
Taking all three of their Griffins, they put them on a serious "diet". The "Backpacks" and Jump Jets were removed, as were the two "extra heatsinks". One ton of LRM ammo would also be removed.
Lastly the removed 6.5 tons worth of armor plates were removed. This was less an issue than one might think as on two of the three had major armor damage anyhow. The remaining armor was placed to give maximum protection to their vital components. Over this they would drape a "tracksuit" of ballistic kevlar mesh, to further protect the actuators, but also to confuse the enemy as to where any weak spots were.
This freed up enough weight that the actuators could be tuned to allow higher speeds, reaching 97 kph. The tech realized this will accelerate wear, but virtually any engagement might be the last for these decrepit machines anyhow.
As an oddity, 50 some years before the Lyrans would "invent" them, these mechs each mounted a prototype Small Shield on their left arm, providing a further modicum of protection. Our Blessed Order has posited (though not proven) that the Lyrans learned about these designs and it inspired them to explore the concept further.
While they only carried similar armor to their foes now, they had more than twice the firepower and range. Plus a single PPC hit could disable one of the Wasps or Stingers. And now they had the speed to match them and keep them from disengaging.
The Pirates would return, but this time, the Kommandos were ready. Operating out of an ambush, the Pirates again attempted to break off, only to be horrified to find the three Griffins could keep pace. A running battle broke out with PPCs mowing down the Wasp and a Stinger pretty quickly. A hit from the Phoenix Hawk's Large Laser gutted the cockpit of one of the Griffins, while the Stinger helped the Hawk disable the second Griffin, touching off it's LRM ammo.
But this gave time for King's Thunderbolt to get into range and it's massive Sunglow Large Laser and LRMs would chop of the Hawk's leg at the knee. Knowing they could expect no mercy the Stinger pilot fought until he was killed, and after the Phoenix Hawk overheated, the pilot unalived himself.
The Battle Cost the Kommandos one pilot, and two machines, but they were able to salvage the Phoenix Hawk, and had enough spare Griffin Parts to mostly refurbish the remaining one. Most importantly, the Pirates were killed, AND they had not had time to inform their Drop or Jumpship crews. This allowed King to lead a force of Infantry to overtake the Leopard, and used it to run a ruse and capture the jumpship intact.
King and the local Mayor have determined to use the Jumpship to visit the Inner Sphere and see about re-establishing trade, letting the Galaxy know for the first time in a Century that Gwynedd still exists. This information is being forwarded to Precentor Tharkad, to determine if it's in our best interest to allow, or if we should make "first contact", or simply arrange for an "accident".
GRF-1N Griffin Special
Weight: 45 tons
Internal Structure: 91 pts standard 5.5 tons
Engine: 275 Fusion 15.5 tons
move: 6/9/0
Heatsinks: 10
Gyro and Cockpit: 6 tons
Armor: 48 pts standard 3 tons
Critical Location Internal Structure Armor Value
Head 3 6
Center Torso 18 6
Center Torso Rear 2
Left Torso 13 6
Left Torso Rear 2
Right Torso 13 6
Right Torso Rear 2
Left Arm 9 4
Right Arm 9 4
Left Leg 13 5
Right Leg 13 5
Weapons and Equipment
-PPC (RA) 7 tons
-LRM10 (RT) 5 tons
- LRM Ammo (RT) 1 ton
-Small Shield (prototype) 2 tons.
Quirks: Standard for Griffin, plus Illegal Design.
*Justin King requested the "special" Light Armor Roundfacer design that was used to ambush and try to match the Dougram's speed. Since I wouldn't have a computer with out Justin's help, I was more than happy to comply with this very odd design.
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