Stooping Hawk (55t)
Model by Primus
When the OmniMech was introduced in 2854, Clan Blood Spirit simply assumed its perennial lack of resources with which to bargain or fight would prevent it from obtaining this superior technology. However, Clan Fire Mandrill, seeking to increase its land holdings, offered the Blood Spirits the new technology in exchange for territory. Clan Blood Spirit scientists were eager to design their own OmniMech, and got their chance when Clan Ghost Bear phased out its OmniMech Prototype A in favor of the Mad Dog. The Blood Spirits won the Bear prototype in a Trial of Possession, developed it to its fullest and christened it the Stooping Hawk. The frame of the Stooping Hawk is constructed with an extralight endo steel skeleton, advanced Compound Alpha ferro-fibrous armor and double heat sinks. The Blood Spirit scientists caste recognized that Khan Boques would not approve of the extralight engine, and used a standard engine for the Stooping Hawk. The XL power plant, with its comparative lack of durability on the battlefield. would have defied Khan Boques' order for low-cost, rugged 'Mech designs. The materials used in the Stooping Hawk were considered excessive by Blood Spirit standards, and the weaponry the designers managed to load into its four initial configurations was likewise extreme. Massive autocannons, particle projector cannons, advanced missile tracking systems and an advanced targeting computer appear in versions of this design. Other Clans mount these systems in their Omnis as a matter of course, but the Blood Spirit Khans regularly review the Stooping Hawk performance records to determine if the results continue to justify the cost. If not for its ongoing battlefield success, this atypical Spirit 'Mech would have been decommissioned long ago.