Ostscout IIC

Fighting against the powers of the Inner Sphere brought several harsh realities to light for Clan Jade Falcon, with one of the most glaring being their lack of effective reconnaissance and electronic warfare units in their touman. In an effort to rectify this issue, Jade Falcon engineers were tasked with upgrading the venerable Ostscout to Clan standards in 3063. Their prototype, dubbed the Ostscout IIC, displayed several excellent qualities for a scouting unit. These included being able to outpace even the infamous Fire Moth despite weighing 15 tons more, as well as a nearly 400 meter jump distance thanks to the coupling of a high volume of eleven Jump Jets with a Partial Wing. Despite this (or, more likely, because of it), the 'Mech also had several glaring flaws that wound up dooming the Ostscout IIC.

The armor protection was never expected to be remarkable, but Clan leadership was especially disappointed that the Ostscout IIC did not even match the protection of a Succession Wars era Stinger. Bulky components forced the unbalanced placement of the jump jets, causing the 'Mech to reportedly spin counter-clockwise during testing. The Inner Sphere-developed Small Cockpit lacked an ejection system, but even without one it was uncomfortably cramped. Lastly, there was the complete lack of offensive armament. While this loadout may have been palatable for an Inner Sphere military, Clan MechWarriors were outraged at the thought of piloting a BattleMech with no way to actually damage the enemy. Only the TAG laser allowed the MechWarrior to participate in battle, though with artillery support still rare in Clan toumans, it was unlikely that a MechWarrior would have many opportunities to contribute directly to a battle. Compounding all of these problems was another poor decision on the part of the designers. In an attempt to reduce the ballooning per-unit cost, single heat sinks were chosen for the design. While more than sufficient for ground movement, the extremely hot (and expensive) extra-extralight engine - coupled with the eleven jump jets - rapidly overwhelmed the prototypes, forcing shutdowns after a mere three consecutive jumps. While most of these oversights could have been corrected with further development, Khan Samantha Clees chose to cancel the project, transferring the staff to other projects.

Reportedly, the prototypes were sold to Clan Diamond Shark in an attempt to recoup some of the development costs. It is, perhaps, the most damning evidence against the Ostscout IIC that even the Sharks have been unable to sell them.

Weapons and Equipment
The Ostscout IIC carries no offensive weapons, acting as a dedicated spotter for friendly units and fire support using its Clan TAG. The Ostscout IIC is also well-equipped for electronic warfare and scouting duties, carrying an Inner Sphere-built Bloodhound Active Probe and an Angel ECM Suite.

Design Quirks
The Ostscout IIC is subject to the following Design Quirks:
 * Bad Reputation
 * No Ejection Mechanism
 * Obsolete/3073
 * Prototype
 * Unbalanced