BattleMech Technical Readout

 

Type/Model:	Mercury MCY-PR1
Tech:	Mixed Tech / 3060
Config:	Biped BattleMech
Rules:	Level 3, Modified design
Mass:	20 tons
Chassis:	Bergan PR1 Standard (IS)
Power Plant:	160 LTV Fusion (IS)
Walking Speed:	86.4 km/h
Maximum Speed:	172.8 km/h
Jump Jets:	None
Jump Capacity:	0 meters
Armor Type:	Rock Hard 2 Ferro-Fibrous

Armament:

2 Farstar-C ER Medium Lasers (C)

1 Hessen IX Small Laser (IS)

Manufacturer:    Pryde Rock Industries

Communications System:    Rock Talk 10

Targeting & Tracking System: Rock Trac 10

 

 

Overview:

         Originally hailed as the dawn of a new age in Battletechnology and the successor to the aging Stinger and Wasp, the Mercury was the fastest 'Mech ever made.

Displayed first in 2742, her speed, firepower, and armor were unmatched and the Mercury was on the fast track to replace her aging ancestors. But then the Civil War and the Succession Wars reared their ugly heads and the advanced technology required to give the Mercury her speed and armor collapsed in the ruins of civilization.

In the end, only Comstar had the technology to field these speedy 'Mechs and the battlefields of the Successor States returned to her "inferior" ancestors and the neutered descendents of the Mercury, stripped of all high technology.

But in March of 3060, the first new Mercury PR1 followed the first Thug PR1 off the manufacturing lines of Pryde Rock Industries into a new generation of combat. She was a Star League 'Mech redesigned for the modern battlefield.

 

Capabilities:

For hundreds of years, the heart of the Mercury has been in the Myomer Accelerator Signal Circuitry (MASC) system. Acting as a "turbocharger" for the myomer "muscles" in the legs, the MASC system allows the 'Mech to reach speeds of up to 172 kph in short bursts. Long term use can damage the Mercury's actuators, but timely use in critical situations can mean the difference between life and death.

But now, after seeing the resurgent technology of the new Inner Sphere and the Clans, what catch people's attention are the upgrades put into the design by Pryde Rock Industries technicians. The standard medium lasers have been pulled out and replaced by the new clan-equivalent Farstar-C Extended Range Medium Laser, doubling the Mercury's firepower at range, and the small laser in her torso has been pulled out in favor of increasing the armor that centuries of use have shown was too light for true combat.

The new design still lacks the jump jets that critics railed about in the 2700s, but the advanced heatsink system that channels heat from the cockpit and reactor is still functional at full levels once found so spectacular before the advent of "freezer" heatsinks.

Another design element kept was the semi-modular housing for the small laser in the Mercury's head. Now knowing that it was this concept that the Clans and now the Successor States have used to make OmniMechs, Pryde Rock Industries is busy researching or "acquiring" the needed knowledge to make these devastating 'Mechs a reality on Pryde Rock, but for now the Mercury is the only 'Mech built with this concept on Pryde Rock.

 

Variants:

Only one variant is offered by Pryde Rock Industries. It returns the small laser to the center torso at the expense of returning the armor of the 'Mech back down to the same stats as the MCY-99.

Deployment

Like most Comstar production, the new Mercury is only sent to the Rasalhague Republic and Comstar, but is rumured to be fielded by Terra's Pryde as well.

---