Ebony

Description
The Ebony is a light BattleMech produced jointly by the Magistracy of Canopus and the Capellan Confederation. This stealthy BattleMech first appeared in 3081, and was reportedly being built in factories on Canopus IV and Sian. The 'Mech is allegedly named for the Magistracy's secret intelligence branch, the Ebon Magistrate.

When it made its first appearance, the design's origins, including as far back to where it was built, was a mystery to intelligence agencies. Large concentrations of the design were found among Capellan forces on the border of the still forming Republic of the Sphere.

Weapons and Equipment
The Ebony ' s only offensive weapon is its right arm-mounted Ceres Arms Thrasher snub-nose PPC. Triple Strength Myomer is also installed, but a MechWarrior would need to disengage some of its 10 double heat sinks in order to quickly activate it; with the TSM engaged, the Ebony is able to reach speeds over 160 km/h. The design employs five-and-a-half tons of stealth armor, powered by a Guardian ECM suite, to both protect and allow it to move into position to attack its target.

Variants

 * MEB-10 : A Capellan variant of the Ebony introduced in Introduction Year::3081, this one swaps out its snub-nose PPC for an ER large laser, while also arming it with a dao-style sword in its left arm. The MEB-10 was given additional armor to round out its improvements. BV (2.0) = 1,003


 * MEB-11 : The -11 is a second variant produced for the Ebony, which initially was not popular with its pilots. The MEB-11 swaps out the snub-nose PPC for a plasma rifle with a single ton of ammunition. In order to make room for the rifle's ammunition, the 'Mech's cockpit was downsized to a small cockpit. BV (2.0) = 1,135


 * MEB-12 : A straightforward and early TSEMP refit developed in Introduction Year::3118, this third variant replaces the snub-nose PPC with a TSEMP cannon. BV (2.0) = 1,837


 * MEB-13 : The removal of the Guardian ECM suite and use of a downgraded 225-rated XL engine frees up enough weight to replace the snub-nose PPC with a captured large re-engineered laser. This variant, introduced in Introduction Year::3137, also mounts six tons of heat-dissipating armor to deal with hostile plasma and inferno weapons. BV (2.0) = 700 or 750

Design Quirks
The Ebony has the following Design Quirks:
 * Improved Targeting (Medium)