BattleMech Technical Readout
Name/Model: Caracal CAR-9WT
Designer: Loki1789
Source(s): Custom Mordel.Net Units
Technology: Inner Sphere (Mixed)
Technology Rating: F
Tonnage: 55
Role: Brawler
Configuration: Biped BattleMech
Era/Year: Dark Age / 3150
Rules (Current): Standard
Rules (Era): Standard
Rules (Year): Standard
Total Cost: 8,127,244 C-Bills
Battle Value: 2,137
Chassis: Caracal Endo Steel
Power Plant: CoreTek 275
Walking Speed: 54 kph
Maximum Speed: 86.4 kph
Jump Jets: Rawlings 55
Jump Capacity: 150 meters
Armor: Starshield A
Armament:
1 Large Pulse Laser (C)
4 ER Medium Lasers (C)
1 ER Small Laser (C)
Manufacturer: Unknown
Primary Factory: Unknown
Communications: Neil 8000
Targeting & Tracking: RCA Instatrac Mark X
================================================================================================
Overview:
David heard the hatch chime and looked up as his chief MechTech entered the stateroom, a
carafe in one hand as she wiped grease from her face with a rag in the other. She crossed
the room in a few strides and sat down on the edge of his desk.
"Coffee?" she asked, as she poured some into her own mug. She had many, scattered around the
DropShip, and one lived on the desk of the captain's stateroom, for meetings just like this.
David cracked a smile as the fragrance of a fresh brew filled the room.
"Sure, Sofia, thanks," he said, leaning back from his workstation and stretching. He took
the cup she filled for him and raised it to her, and she tapped her own against it with a
little shake of the head. They spent a moment silently sipping their coffee, then she put
down the cup.
"We have taken delivery of the shipment of Caracals," she said. "They seem fine. New off the
production line. You said that you wanted to talk to me once they got here, right?"
"Right," David said, setting down his own cup and leaning forward again. "I've got a few
refurbishments I'd like you to do on them."
"Refurbishments? On brand-new mechs? I will get somebody to paint them up, of course, but
what do you possibly have in mind?"
"Take a look at this," David replied, keying in a command on the workstation. A moment
later, a rough blueprint was projected into the space above the desk. Sofia glanced at it as
she reached for her mug again.
"Those are the Caracals, all right," she said, eyes narrowed. "I have not opened them up
yet, but since you worked with the reps from Defiance on that for a long time, I do not
imagine that they will look any different on the inside than we expected."
"Look closer," he urged, smiling and steepling his fingers. "Those down in the hold aren't
quite the finished product, not yet. This blueprint isn't quite finished either, really. I
needed your input on that."
She squinted at the design for a few seconds. Eventually, her lips started to move as she
read component specifications under her breath, and suddenly she froze. Her eyebrows rose
from suspicion, to confusion, to intrigue, to astonishment, then settled back down into an
almost wolfish look of glee.
"You bastard," she laughed. "So THAT is why one of my mechbays is full of Sea Fox lasers
that fit nothing else in inventory. There is just one small problem with your little scheme,
though - these Mechs will be overweight."
David gestured broadly to the blueprints.
"That's what you're here for, love. This design overcools, but getting rid of a heat sink is
going to throw off the balance of the internals --"
"Which plays merry Hell with the gyro, you're right," Sofia agreed, favoring him with a
sarcastic flutter of the eyelids at his familiar form of address. "I will want some time to
tinker with it, but I think that I catch your drift." She slid off the desk and leaned over
to kiss his cheek. "I like it."
He smiled.
"I've been trying to find a better solution to our medium 'Mech problem for months," he
said. "Ordinary fusion engines are just... not very popular anymore, at least not in medium
'Mechs, and that makes the Griffins just too hard to replace."
"So you came up with the love child of a Griffin and a Wolfhound," Sofia scoffed. "What
exactly is a 'caracal,' anyway?"
"A hunting cat from Terra," David explained. "They sometimes catch birds in flight by
leaping, and they have long ear-tufts that look a bit like the sensor aerials..." His voice
trailed off as he gestured toward the head of the blueprint, very similar to the head of the
Wolfhound that had indeed served as one of the primary design models.
"Huh." She shrugged, then stood there for a moment beside him, still studying the blueprints
as they slowly turned in place in the air before the couple.
"For this idea to pay off, though," David went on, "the base design - the CAR-9S - needs to
see enough production to stay available and affordable, else there won't be anything to
upgrade from."
"Then you'd better hope that your friend at Defiance can do some of your Lyran marketing
magic," Sofia said, patting him on the shoulder and stepping away. She collected her carafe
and headed for the stateroom hatch.
"Supper tonight?" she asked, stopping at the threshold. "I will probably - no, definitely be
late, getting the work orders started."
"Sure," he agreed readily. "I'll bring some down at, say, 2100, and we can find a place to
eat in the mechbay."
She smiled at her husband and nodded, then stepped out and closed the hatch behind her.
David sat for a moment, smiling absently at where she had been, then turned back and keyed
in a command to release the blueprints to Engineering. He had a little more work to do, but
he wouldn't need to go visit the galley for another half-hour or so. Enough time to at
finish reviewing the month's purchasing budget.
Capabilities:
The CAR-9WT is the brainchild of Captain David Allen Scheer as implemented by Sofia Scheer,
the co-owners of the Wraiths of Twycross mercenary company. Initially born out of a desire
to replace aging-to-collapse GRF-1S's in service with something similarly rugged but more
modern in capability, it uses an Inner Sphere frame to carry the most accessible pieces of
Clan battlemech innovation - their weapons. It is slightly better armored than the GRF-1S,
exchanges the flexibility of the LRM-5 for the safety and performance of a laser, and uses
double heat sinks and endo steel to accommodate a larger battery of lasers. It is
intentionally designed to be a "zombie" mech, capable of continuing to fight with all of its
limbs and outer torsos substantially destroyed. With its full-head ejection, it further
emphasizes the importance of preserving a skilled MechWarrior to fight again another day, in
a new, affordable Caracal to replace the one that was lost. Functional with Inner Sphere
weapons, it becomes a true menace when equipped with the Clan-grade armaments for which it
was conceived, capable of rapidly repositioning to flank its enemies and deliver a
devastating alpha strike that can reduce an enemy very quickly.
Deployment:
An ad-hoc variant, the CAR-9WT is primarily fielded by the Wraiths of Twycross, a mercenary
company loosely affiliated with the Lyran Commonwealth and engaged in regular fighting along
the borders with Clan Jade Falcon, as part of the broader effort to recapture territory lost
in the disastrous events of Archon Melissa Steiner's rule. How many exactly of these
modified Caracals the Wraiths possess is not currently known.
================================================================================================
Equipment Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Endo Steel 3.00
Engine: 275 Fusion 15.50
Walking MP: 5
Running MP: 8
Jumping MP: 5
Heat Sinks (Double): 17 [34] 7.00
Gyro: Standard 3.00
Cockpit: Standard 3.00
Armor Factor: 168 10.50
Type: Standard
Internal Armor
Structure Value
Head: 3 9
Center Torso: 18 22
Center Torso (rear): 5
R/L Torso: 13 21
R/L Torso (rear): 5
R/L Arm: 9 18
R/L Leg: 13 22
================================================================================================
Weapons and Ammo Location Critical Tonnage
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ER Small Laser (C) H 1 0.50
2 ER Medium Lasers (C) CT 2 2.00
Jump Jet RT 1 0.50
2 Jump Jets LT 2 1.00
Large Pulse Laser (C) RA 2 6.00
2 ER Medium Lasers (C) LA 2 2.00
Jump Jet RL 1 0.50
Jump Jet LL 1 0.50
Note: Equipped with Full-Head Ejection System
================================================================================================
Alpha Strike Statistics
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point Value (PV): 45
TP: BM, SZ: 2, TMM: 2, MV: 10"j
Damage: (S) 5 / (M) 5 / (L) 2, OV: 0
Armor (A): 6, Structure (S): 5
Specials: ENE
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