The Jester is the oldest design from this collection. As such, its format isn't quite like the other 'Mechs here. I do plan on having an editorial phase after these are all written up. How have I missed every other week of this project while I had this one in the can? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
LKI-1A Jester
Overview
The Ghost Bears initially conceived of the Jester as a homegrown replacement for the Hellbringer and Ebon Jaguar during their early resettlement in the Inner Sphere. Years later, it was revived as a way to create a native platform cheaply using low-technology, native infrastructure. Jesters meekly flowed into freeborn forces and militias until the Take and Hold Proclamation of 3081.
Many mercenaries were unmoved by offers of land or participation in the burgeoning Ghost Bear civilian government. They wanted physical, portable rewards vice revocable deeds and titles from a stumbling state. Rasalhague civilian liaisons suggested a compromise: the last run of the Jester--always unpopular at home--would be offered to mercenaries as payment under Take and Hold.
Mercenaries from both the Dragoons Pact and Mercenaries’ Alliance liked the 'Mech's omni abilities, even if its low armor and expensive, fragile engine occasionally made it a white elephant. The ‘Mech had two more “last production” runs before orders made it a regular export of the Ghost Bears.
Capabilities
The Jester often sees action as a fire support 'Mech able to keep pace with rapid-deployment cavalry units.
It has been likened to units such as the Jagermech, Hellbringer, and Rifleman. Configurations which mimic those classic designs are common, and the Jester serves in in the fire support and anti-air roles associated with those ‘Mechs.
The most common complaint about the Jester (after its lack of armor) is the difficulty of interfacing hand actuators. This is an intentional design feature, added by Ghost Bear and Rasalhague citizens who didn't trust mercenaries not to steal everything they could carry. Its limited number of hardpoints also means that only factory configurations put its structure and power limits to effective use.
Battle History
When Ju Nair-Waite, the previous Sitting President of the Dragoons Pact, spearheaded an assault on Mars in 3086, it was a Level II of Word of Blake Jesters that brought down President Nair-Waite’s Zemus.
When the Word returned the Dragoons' deceased, they used the opportunity to release the related battle ROMs. In the Mercenaries’ Alliance, where both hatred for The Dragoons and love of the Jester run strong, the Blakist loadout became known as the Exterminator configuration, named after the Star League headhunter ‘Mech.
Variants
The Hellbringer configuration uses twin ERPPCs linked to an advanced targeting system, aping its namesake. It also utilizes advanced upgrades to both its sensor and electronics countermeasures.
The Jester City was popularized during The Battle for Luthien, when the ruined metropolis was a sprawling wasteland and playground for rogue units who faded into the chaos to even old scores, evade prosecution, or simply loot.
It carries the largest autocannon omni-pods can support, made for cleaving enemies quickly when catching them by surprise. A six-shot multi-missile launcher, the kind flooding the mercenary market in early eighties, serves as a back-up weapon. Five lasers, one large laser and a pair of two smaller classes provide long-term firepower concentrated in the 'Mech's left arm.
The final addition was the Quiet Riot 7 machine gun. In the savage battleground of Old Luthien, the Quiet Riot's loud wind-up was often used to flush out infantry, where they could be dispatched with a brutal, cost-effective footstep.
Some units still use the Jester City for urban combat--often playing up its omnious history--while others try to play it down. The capitol of the Mercenaries' Alliance has also earned the nickname of Jester City as a epithet based on their propensity to discard the rules of war.
LKI-1A Jester
Type/Model: Jester LKI-1A
Tech: Inner Sphere / 3077
Config: Biped OmniMech
Manufactured: Ghost Bears
Fielded:
Dragoons Pact (Uncommon)
Mercenaries Alliance (Common)
Ghost Bears (Uncommon)
Draconis Combine (Rare)
Word of Blake (Rare)
Mass: 65 tons
Equipment: Crits Mass
Int. Struct.: 14 3.50
104 points Endo Steel
(Endo Steel Loc: 1 HD, 1 LA, 4 RA,
3 LT, 1 RT, 2 LL, 2 RL)
Engine:325 XL Fusion 12 12.00
Walking MP: 5
Running MP: 8
Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sinks: 13 Double [26] 0 3.00
Gyro: 4 4.00
Cockpit, Life Sup., Sensors:5 3.00
Actuators: 12 0.00
L: Sh+UA R: Sh+UA
Armor Factor: 0 8.50
136 pts Standard
Internal Structure Armor Value
Head: 3 9
Center Torso: 21 19
Center Torso (Rear): 8
L/R Side Torso: 15 15/15
L/R Side Torso (Rear): 7/7
L/R Arm: 10 12/12
L/R Leg: 15 16/16
Weapons and Equipment Loc Crits Tons
---------------------------------------
TOTALS: 47 34.00
Crits & Tons Left: 31 31.00
Configuration A:
1 Light Gauss Rifle (16)
1 LB 5-X AC (40)
2 SRM 4s (25)
2 Small Pulse Lasers
2 CASE
Configuration Hellbringer:
2 ER PPCs
1 Beagle Active Probe
1 Guardian ECM
1 SRM 4 (25)
2 ER Medium Lasers
1 Anti-Missile System (12)
3 Double Heat Sinks
1 Targeting Computer (4)
1 CASE
Configuration City:
Armament:
1 ER Large Laser
2 ER Medium Lasers
2 ER Small Lasers
1 LB 20-X AC (15)
2 MML 3(SRM)s (66)
1 Machine Gun (100)
Configuration Catapult:
4 ER Medium Lasers
2 LRM 15s w/ Artemis IV (32)
1 Rocket Launcher 10 (OS)
1 Targeting Computer (1)
1 CASE
5 Jump Jets
Configuration Exterminator:
2 Anti-Missile Systems (12)
1 ER PPC
2 Improved MRM 20s* (24)
1 Improved C3 CPU
1 MRM 10 (24)
1 Double Heat Sink
1 CASE
*The Improved MRM 20 is a ton lighter than the MRM20 because the MRM tonnage is 'off.' A more canon version drops CASE, an AMS, and one of the MRM 20s with ammo in exchange for a pair of MRM 10s with ammo and switches out the remaining iMRM 20 for a standard version.
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