Orion IIC

Verging on a Totem 'Mech for the Clan Wolf, the Orion IIC honors General Aleksandr Kerensky.

Since it was the chosen BattleMech of the "Great Father", the venerable Orion has always held a special place in the mystique of the Clans. Out of respect for General Kerensky's legacy, all the Clans maintained the design for several decades even as the development of newer and more advanced technologies increasingly left it less effective on the battlefield. Behind the scenes however, only Clan Wolf dared to think about designing an upgraded version, convinced that neither Aleksandr or Nicholas Kerensky would have approved of blindly following tradition at the expense of military progress. Debuting early during the Golden Century, the Orion IIC was quickly overshadowed as the OmniMech fast became the standard front-line 'Mechs of all the Clans. Despite this the Wolves jealously guarded their rights to the design, refusing all trade offers and successfully defeating any Trial of Possessions attempting to acquire it as they would for the Kerensky Blood heritages, seeing the Orion IIC as tied to their honor as the guardians of Kerensky's legacy.

Still produced in limited numbers during the Clan Invasion era, by this time the Wolves most notably used the Orion IIC as a visible reward for officers in second-line Galaxies who were expected to soon advance to front-line units. Each Orion IIC is sent to its recipients "with the compliments of" the Wolves Khan or saKhan, no warrior has ever refused such a gift - even if it means downgrading from an assault-class 'Mech - and no other Wolf warrior would ever dare to challenge such a recipient for right to pilot an Orion IIC. While a number of the design existed in Clan Wolf-in-Exile's own second-line forces, almost as a gesture of reconciliation to their Crusader Brothers the Exiled Wolves made no plans to manufacture the Orion IIC.

Weapons and Equipment
Not a radical reworking of the design, as some Clan upgrades are, the Orion IIC replaces much of the innards and weapons of the original, while preserving its mass and aesthetics. This IIC upgrade utilizes an Endo Steel chassis and twelve tons of Ferro-Fibrous armor, while also making use of twelve double heat sinks, freeing up weight for heavier weapons loadout. The only weapon that is preserved from the original Orion is the SRM-4, though that is upgraded to a lighter-weight Offset Pattern K4 model. The autocannon and long-range missile launcher were upgraded to an Omega 12-Coil Gauss Rifle and a Type XX "Great Bow" LRM-20, respectively. The arm-mounted lasers were replaced with a pair of ER Large Lasers, one an older Series 6W and the other a newer Series 7W, the mismatched lasers stemming from late design change with the 7W replacing a Pulse Laser. Carrying two tons of Gauss reloads, three of LRM missiles and a single ton of SRM reloads, these upgrades have transformed the Orion from a close-range brawler to a fire support 'Mech.

Variants
There are no known variants of the Orion IIC.

Custom Variants

 * Orion IIC Burton : The customized Orion IIC piloted by Knight of the Sphere Burton Davion at time of his death during the Capellan Crusades removes all weaponry save the ER Large Lasers, swapping the SRM launcher for a Streak LRM-15, the torso mounted-LRM rack for an ATM-3 and the Gauss Rifle for a HAG/20, two tons of ammunition carried for each weapon. Burton's 'Mech used a XL Engine to free up the weight for this weaponry as well four Jump Jets and a Light Active Probe.

Apocryphal Variants
From MechWarrior Online:
 * ON1-IIC-A : The Orion IIC A retains the arm mounted ER Large Lasers, but mounts a pair of SRM-4 racks in the left torso, two LRM-15 launchers in the left arm, and downgrades the Gauss Rifle with an Ultra AC/5. Four tons of LRM missiles, and two each of SRM and Ultra Autocannon reloads allow it to sustain a lengthy barrage.


 * ON1-IIC-B : Like the original Orion IIC the B retains the right torso Gauss Rifle and left torso SRM-4 rack, but swaps the LRM-20 rack for an SRM-6 launcher and mounts a pair of ER Large Lasers in each arm. Mounting seventeen double heat sinks to deal with such high heat weapons, made possible by the use of a 300-rated XL Engine, the Orion IIC carries four tons of SRM reloads and two of Guass rounds.


 * ON1-IIC-C : Similar to the previous variants, the Orion IIC C retains the SRM-4 and ER Large Lasers of the standard Orion IIC while downgrading the LRM rack for a LRM-15 and swapping the Gauss Rifle for a pair of Ultra Autocannon/10s. Built around an XL engine, the C variant mounts three extra double heat sinks and carries three tons of Ultra Autocannon rounds, two of LRM missiles and one single ton of SRM reloads.


 * ON1-IIC-SK Sköll : Reportedly piloted by Star Colonel Jaela Ward, the Orion IIC Hero 'Mech retains the right torso mounted Gauss Rifle unchanged but swaps the LRM rack for an ER PPC, upgrades the SRM-4 rack with Artemis IV FCS and downgrades the arm lasers to ER Medium Lasers. Carrying three tons of Gauss rounds and two of SRM reloads, the weight saved allows the mounting of two extra double heat sinks and MASC.

Related Designs
Orion - Because the Orion was revered by the Clans due to its status of being the personal mech of Alexander Kerensky, Clan Wolf was the only clan who sought to upgrade the venerable mech with Clan technology, thus creating the Orion IIC.

Notable Pilots

 * Star Commander Tal Sender, of the Steel Wolves group in the 32th century, and joined Jamison's Juggernauts piloted a Orion IIC, and was the one known pilot to have handed his 'Mech for another, even temporally.