"The Hunchback IIC is a Clan-tech refit of the venerable Hunchback. Its meager six tons of armor, coupled with paltry ammunition and lack of long-range weapons, led Inner Sphere observers to conclude that this 'Mech was a last-ditch effort for failed warriors to die with glory. In truth, the assignment of a Hunchback IIC was essentially a death sentence. Warriors given this machine were not expected to survive their next battle. However, despite the attrition rates expected for pilots of this BattleMech, the number of Hunchback IICs within all Clans has remained more or less constant, a surprisingly high 3% of the entire touman of each Clan.
After the actions of a star of Smoke Jaguar Warden MechWarriors, however, this 'Mech has become popular with Clan Jade Falcon sibbies during their first Trial of Position as it often allows them one quick kill, though the practice is often derided by older Clanners. Perhaps the only bright spot in this design is the inclusion of jump jets that allow it to more easily traverse difficult terrain so that it can bring its mammoth guns into play." -Sarna
I have a little story to go with the mech too;
"Pytor had (much to his commander Nicolai Malthus annoyance) to survived every fools mission he was sent on. A a relic by clan standards Pytor had won no blood name or feats of daring. What had did have was a strong sense of self preservation where others push past to die in glory he'd play the long game and see the end of them all.
He was well matched in his hunchback. Its knife edge of life of death brought out the true warrior with in him. His last mission had seemed hopeless a sole mech as a rear guard action against a merc lance. His Job was just to provide a distraction the price of which, was his life. He'd already taken down their scout a surprise attack so savagely the Osiris fell to the ground as ferros rain and a fluke shot had crippled the highlander but he had been pursed into the city by and Atlas and a catapult.
The city evened the odds as but still he faced and almost impossible task. With a soft feather of the thrusters he brought the Hunchback to gentle rest on the roof top it winced under the hunchbacks weight. He knew their route would have to take them past him to get to the bridge 2 clicks down.
Powered down he chewed gum to clam himself. Dust on the rooftop skipped as the Altas past under him. Following behind the catapult. As he watched the reflection in the building opposite he could see the tops of the Catapults LRM launchers. Pytor punched a button and the fusion reactor lit, a dance of lights ran around the cockpit the seconds slowed to hours as he waited for sequence to finish. The Atlas began to pivot around on its new sensor contact.
The hunback Jumpjets kicked into life, he sailed into the air a silvery gauss round flash past him as Pytor landed prone behind the catapult. At point blank the AC20's couldn't miss a cloud erupted from its rear to which Pytor stabbed his medium lasers. With a spout of flame the catapults LRM launcher Cart wheeled off into a building. The Atlas returned fire down the street but Pytor provided no clear target obscured by the atlas' own faltering lance mate. The catapult pilot panicked as he tried to clear the line of fire, took a few wobbly steps before he floundered into the tarmac.
His temporary cover removed Pytor lit his jump jets to lifting clear of the atlas' fire however the upward movement meant his legs took the brunt of the Atlas' deadly fire killing some of his upward momentum. His hunchback clipped the lip of the building and sprawled its self across the roof. "knee actuator destroyed, reverse disabled" the hollow voice of the computer rang out. He gathered the wounded mech under him as the building started to lunged to one side. Pytor leapt from stricken building almost as soon as he crash onto the next roof top the building lurched back and forth from the onslaught the Atlas pilot unleashed to shake its lofty prey loose. Pytor worked his way from roof top to roof top his foe cutting them down like a monstrous mechanical lumber jack. If he could get to the bridge he might find salvation.
At first he could barely catch a breath before being flushed out, but slowly the rest bites became longer and he opened a lead on his crazed foe. The bridge beckoned and with a final leap his landed at the foot of it. Too far to jump jet across it spanned a shallow yet rapid river strewn with mech sized boulders. The bridge itself was a suspended from 4 pillars which prevent using jump jets skip across. Beside it two ferrocreat reinforced petrochem pipelines that ran from the Plant 20kms east to the space-port 10kms north of town.
However mechs weren't made to fly and Pytors hap hazard trail had taken its toll. His left leg was holding on but locked up but least allowed him to remain upright. The ammo feed was jammed leaving him lots ammo but no way of delivering it. He did manage to chamber 2 rounds giving him a chance of a landing lucky shot - 'let's call that plan A' he thought to himself. His lasers were working, but worse his targeting computer was wildly out of calibration. Taking his gum he placed it in the centre of view port. Pytor smiled at his low tech solution to a high tech problem. He'd never make it across the bridge even if he did it'll be 5kms of open ground nor could he go toe to toe the atlas there had to be a way. That's when Plan B. started to form do it now or it'll be too late..
His controls felt clammy, silenced warning lights blinked in the background. From his position behind the bridge's buttress Pytor could see the cloud of debris strewn dust tracing a trail across the city and emerging from it his tormentor. Pytor could of sworn he saw the Deaths head on top of his foe sucking in breath and swelling its chest. The Atlas strode onto the crossroads hammering fire into Pytors location. The bank of the river crumbled under foot and pytor struggled to keep the Hunchback in cover. "come on you fat ugly mother of a surratt" a few more steps and the Atlas had sealed his fate. Feathering the thrusters gliding him horizontally along the bank and away from the bridge and landing like a drunken sailor he fired of his AC20 rounds wildly at the atlas before his mech toppled over. As his mech sat up a withering fire of SRMs and PPCs howled in his direction, it was obvious plan A hadn't worked The computer matter of factly stated "ammunition depleted, ammunition depleted". - "Well thats plan A out of the window now for plan B". With a long exhale Pytor steadied the make shift sight over the petrochem lines and with his medium lasers traced two emerald beams to the cluster of AC20 shells nestled just beneath.
All colour was erased from the world replace with pure white and I high pitch hiss and then a moment later the world fluttered through yellow orange red before settling on a acrid crimson brown. Computer announce "Heat critical, Shutdown imminent" he couldn't believe it he was still alive but not for long. A chemical fuelled inferno clung to every surface he held the over ride button and rolled the hunchback towards the river bank with whatever was left of its limbs. He dropped off the bank into the foaming river. The mech seemed to ease into the mud as temperatures came down and water washed over the view port.
Pytor reach up to grab his gum but stopped. What he saw shocked his very soul within the inferno was vision of Hades himself. Ablaze its arms outstretched towards the stricken hunchback. - "He couldn't of? how could he? he was right as the blast centre! Mother of Kerensky!!"
As the glowing hulk reached the river bank filling the entire sky. Pytor's body melted into the command couch, like his mech it had no flight left in it. The creature razed a fiery arm and then jerked to a stop its guts bulged and belched as the ammo stored within went critical, its shoulders dropped into its waist and fell away into the fiery hell for the final time."
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