TRO: 3087 - Lance

3087 is a Battletech alternate universe where The Jihad never happened. Instead, political fracturing continues in the wake of the technological and military upheavals of the 3050's. Its history is told through the pages and designs of TRO: 3087. With any luck this series will be the last anyone hears about 3087. 

RT3-K Lance
Overview
The battle over Luthien was one of the hardest fought of the Black Dragon Revolution. Nowhere was the fighting harder than around the Luthien Armor Works facility. When the last of the loyalists forces pulled off planet, the Draconis Combine’s omnimech production facilities were in ruins.
The new management quickly passed over the idea of resuming omnimech production. The encroaching Ghost Bear forces and the public’s low morale demanded a speedy return to production. 
The Lance was built from the least decimated production line of Luthien Armor Works, that of the Raptor. 

Capabilities
The Lance is primarily tasked with fire support work, using its target acquisition gear to spot for indirect missile fire. Its NARC pods also help friendly specialty munitions. Lances are also capable distractions in a smaller ‘Mech force; units like Panthers and Whitworths can strike while the faster Lance draws enemy fire.
Once its ammunition store are expended Lances are generally relegated to making physical attacks or flanking with their lasers. Some commanders have tried sending them back to friendly resupply points to reload before returning, but the Lance has proved slightly too slow return before the battle is decided.

Battle History
When the Star League Defense Forces landed on Luthien to stop the Ghost Bear advance, the Lance production line was their primary target to defend. For the next month, Lances walked off of the production line and straight into the fight. The Lance became a celebrated sight on Luthien and a respected ‘Mech inside the meager forces of the SLDF.
When the Ghost Bears returned ten years later, it was a lance of Lances that held off the Ghost Bear advance while the nuclear fail-safe under LAW was activated. The names of Hikaru Wada, Toshiyuki Fukuda, John Jeon, and Kebin Ito have since become part of the common culture of Lance mechwarriors; few assign their Lance a name that is not derived from one of those four.

Notable Variants
While it serves as a fine support ‘Mech, the Lance is often modified by the warrior assigned to it. Its chassis is no longer capable of hot-swapping omni pods, but it is still very easy to customize to suit an individual warrior’s tastes.
The most common alteration drops a NARC launcher for a four-shot short range missile rack with a ton of NARC-compatible ammunition. The additional firepower allows it to take a more active role in combat, even if the additional ammunition makes it more prone to destruction.
Other variants remove the NARC launcher to add jump jets, additional heat sinks and lasers, a small cluster of machine guns, or even addition ammunition. Though there are no production variants, it’s still hard for enemy ‘mechwarriors to know exactly what any Lance they encounter is capable of.
Some within the Combine’s leadership have suggested a variant which can expend its ammunition stores, resupply, and return to combat in a more timely manner. The suggestion of trading C3 technology for Federated Suns extralight engines has been tabled. Others are thinking of waiting for the Diamond Shark trade group to arrive within the Combine’s borders, although they have little to say on what they’d offer the Clan merchants in exchange. Yet others think that the Lance was forged perfectly from the fires of Luthien and balk at the thought of changing a thing.

RT3-K Lance
Type/Model:    Lance RT3-K
Tech:          Inner Sphere / 3071
Config:        Biped Battlemech
Manufactured:  Draconis Combine
Fielded:       
  Draconis Combine (Common)
  Star League Defense Force (Uncommon)

Mass:          30 tons
Equipment:              Crits      Mass
Int. Struct.:               0      3.00
  51 points
Engine:180    Fusion        6      7.00
   Walking MP:   6
   Running MP:   9
   Jumping MP:   0
Heat Sinks: 10 Single [10]  3      0.00
  (Loc: 1 CT, 1 LL, 1 RL)
Gyro:                       4      2.00
Cockpit, Life Sup., Sensors:5      3.00
Actuators:                 16      0.00
  L: Sh+UA+LA+LH  R: Sh+UA+RA+RH
Armor Factor:               0      5.00
   80 pts Standard

        Internal Structure  Armor Value
  Head:                  3      8      
  Center Torso:         10     11      
  Center Torso (Rear):          3
  L/R Side Torso:        7    10/10
  L/R Side Torso (Rear):       3/3 
  L/R Arm:               5     7/7 
  L/R Leg:               7     9/9
Weapons and Equipment Loc  Crits Tons
---------------------------------------
TAG                    RT    1     1.00
Narc Launcher          RT    2     3.00
Narc Launcher          LT    2     3.00
Medium Laser           RA    1     1.00
Medium Laser           LA    1     1.00
@Narc (Homing) (6)     LT    1     1.00
---------------------------------------
TOTALS:                           30.0 
Crits & Tons Left:           38    0.0