Annihilator ANH-4S
Overview
Reginald Goode created Goode Industries on Mizar in mid-3068, just weeks before the Free Worlds League Militia took the world. For four months, Goode formed relationships with the FWLM quartermasters on planet as well as Blakist personnel who brokered the return of the planet to Lyran control a year later.
Goode Industries provided customization and production of industrial ‘Mechs for a number of clients stretching across the borders of the Commonwealth, the League, and the Blakist-backed Terran Protectorate until the early 70’s.
It was then that a wave of revelations about their Blakist allies caused The Protectorate to collapse and local governments approached Goode about the production of an affordable, reliable battle ‘Mech to repel raiders and handle urban assaults. The manufacturer was at a loss to develop weapons systems, but intrigued at the profits involved with military hardware contracts so he turned to his Lyran contacts for help.
That contact was Benedict Doge, a fellow technician and veteran from the Federated Commonwealth Civil War. Doge contacted the Dragoons for their Annihilator design. Wildly popular, but jealously guarded, it took months for all four parties to work out an arrangement. The final product has fulfilled its mission across the Lyran Commonwealth and in Dragoons Pact militias for almost a decade.
Capabilities
A shortage of LBX autocannons means that the Annihilator only carries two of the signature weapons it’s known for. Instead, it carries a sextet of light autocannons backed up with a pair of reliable lasers. These all carry the range necessary to hit targets effectively in a city environment without worrying about minimum ranges.
A pair of medium lasers and an extended range small laser add to the firepower, but exacerbate the design’s existing heat problems. Many mechwarriors who’ve ridden one through combat have replaced all three with additional armor.
The upgraded Annihilator also boasts an advantage over models run by the Dragoons; intimidation. While it has less versatility and raw firepower, it’s an already feared design now bristling with additional cannons and laser muzzles. The popular “Banana Peel Black Hawk” video has shown the visceral response of mechwarriors unfamiliar with the design.
Battle History
Doge's attitudes and fortunes have changed. He once bought into Goode Industries as an equal partner, but after Mizar’s brief stint as a member of the Mercenaries Alliance, Doge took an Annihilator and threw in with the mercenaries. Doge’s Dog’s are currently renown for their eagerness to take on Lyrans, Clan Wolfhound, and the Dragoons Pact.
The Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces were happy to see the creation of an assault ‘Mech line on a domestic world. The ceremony celebrating the first Annihilator off the assembly line included Kaptain Thomas Hogarth, hero of the dirty bomb attack on Hesperus II and key broker of the deal that allowed the ‘Mech to be made. The Kaptain was eager to pilot the Annihilator for the ceremony’s demonstration, but suffered a freak neurohelmet feedback malfunction on the tarmac.
Relatively heavy armor delayed medical teams for several minutes, but the Kaptain was eventually removed from the cockpit and rushed to a local hospital. After ejecting a hero of The Commonwealth out of the LCAF, the Annihilator’s reputation was marred for years, and it's still slowly recovering.
Variants
The 2A model, which carries four LBX autocannons, still serves within the Dragoons Pact and some parts of Clan Wolfhound. Production has resumed normal levels since the loss of Outreach.
Doge’s Annihilator, Longshot, eschews the LBX autocannons found in Lyran models in favor of older, standard models with Mercenaries Alliance specialty munitions. Nineteen MML tubes replace the light autocannons and a quartet of short range missile launchers are added to the legs. TAG and advanced C3 systems dot the torso with dishes and antennae. Finally, one of the large lasers are removed to bring its armor protection closer to what one expects from an assault ‘Mech. The modifications are extensive, but fitting for a technician intimately familiar with the design.
According to a recent holovid special, Goode Doge Industries’ first Annihilator has become a cursed ‘Mech since Kaptain Hogarth’s injury. After being bartered to Clan Wolfhound, it has been linked with members of former Clan Ice Hellion, periphery pirates, the battle on Fellanin II that set off the Sandoval Skirmishes, and The Word's failed attacked on the Dragoons Pact on Lambrecht last year. Referred to as Scoresby, there's no record of it's fate as salvage in the Dragoons' records.
Annihilator ANH-4S
Mass: 100 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Chassis Config: Biped
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Equipment Type Rating Mass
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Internal Structure: Standard 152 points 10.00
Engine: Fusion Engine 200 8.50
Walking MP: 2
Running MP: 3
Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sinks: Double Heat Sink 10(20) 0.00
Heat Sink Locations: 1 LT, 1 RT
Gyro: Standard 2.00
Cockpit: Standard 3.00
Actuators: L: SH+UA+LA R: SH+UA+LA
Armor: Standard Armor AV - 176 11.00
CASE Locations: 1 LT, 1 RT 1.00
Internal Armor
Structure Factor
Head 3 9
Center Torso 31 24
Center Torso (rear) 9
L/R Torso 21 21
L/R Torso (rear) 8
L/R Arm 17 16
L/R Leg 21 22
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Equipment Location Heat Critical Mass
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ER Small Laser CT 2 1 0.50
3 Light AC/2s RT 3 3 12.00
Medium Laser RT 3 1 1.00
Large Laser RT 8 2 5.00
3 Light AC/2s LT 3 3 12.00
Medium Laser LT 3 1 1.00
Large Laser LT 8 2 5.00
LB 10-X AC RA 2 6 11.00
LB 10-X AC LA 2 6 11.00
@Light AC/2 (45) RT - 1 1.00
@LAC/2 (Precision) (22) RT - 1 1.00
@LAC/2 (Flechette) (45) LT - 1 1.00
@LB 10-X (Slug) (10) RA - 1 1.00
@LB 10-X (Slug) (10) LA - 1 1.00
@LB 10-X (Cluster) (10) LA - 1 1.00
Free Critical Slots: 10
4 comments:
That's a fun bit with Hogarth. Then also with that 'Mech being cursed.
Never saw the point of LAC/2s and /5s though.
Allegedly, they're there for specialty munitions, but for some reason the effectiveness of AC specialty munitions scales with AC size. That means that the AC/10 and AC/20 are still outperforming the lighter models so what is the point?
There are so many weapons and so many of them just crawl up an infinitesimal niche.
I wanted to do a whole "Hogarth lying trapped on a parade ground, watching the party continue without him" bit making him reverse course and use his bureaucratic knowledge and contacts to do an intelligence thing, but none of that fits in a TRO. I do like the original Hogarth. He's a jewel of The Jihad and while I try to stay away from pronouncing big-name character fates, 3087 is better off mentioning his.
I wouldn't say he's "big name," exactly. I'd put him in the category of well known but inconsequential characters, which I like to think exists specifically to be toyed with like this. It might not suit a TRO entry, but it could fit an introductory chapter or a chapter preface. (Which, granted, nobody bothers to write unless they're making an actual book.)
As tempting as it would be to do more with the incidental ideas I've had for this, after the editing pass & final .pdf, my cyborg body is putting all these notes onto a fusion-powered rocket headed directly for mankind's colony on the sun.
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