Toro

The Toro was the Taurian Concordat's first indigenous BattleMech. First produced in 2481, the design was based on captured Firebees and developed as a collaboration between the three best arms manufacturers in the Concordat. The Toro took to the front lines against the Star League in the Reunification War, but was not enough to stop the combined might of the Inner Sphere. The League shut down and demolished all of the Toro factories by 2598 in the hope that it would crush Taurian nationalism, though there is no evidence it had the desired effect. Under the Star League aegis, the Taurian heavy industry produced League 'Mechs, a situation they pragmatically continued with following its fall. Thanks to the dissemination of the Hegemony Memory Core during the Jihad the Toro was finally revived by manufacturers in the Concordat, Calderon Protectorate, Magistracy of Canopus and ironically the Federated Suns.

The light 'Mech is slow by 31st century standards, but it was quite maneuverable for the Age of War. The design topped out at 86 km/h. It was protected by a respectable six and a half tons of armor. Its comparatively low cost allowed entire battalions to swiftly be equipped with BattleMechs.

Weapons and Equipment
The Toro was a long-range fighter. It was armed with a Taurus WarWorks PPC and two Delta Dart LRM-5 launchers. The standard allotment of heat sinks was sufficient as long as the MechWarrior managed his or her heat wisely. Two tons of ammunition kept the Toro in protracted engagements and allowed flexibility in ammo selection. Due to the lack of short-range backup, Toros were arrayed in staggered lines so as to allow them to support each other.

Variants

 * TR-A-1 : The original prototype was closer to a variant of the primitive Firebee, developed in Introduction Year::2481 . It had two SRM-2s which shared a ton of ammunition and a Large Laser. Though it could only manage 64 km/h, the A-1 had more armor protection than the Firebee, ten and a half tons of Primitive Armor. BV (2.0) = 671

Related BattleMechs

 * Firebee - The Taurian Concordat based the Toro on captured Capellan Firebee BattleMechs.

Notable Pilots

 * Colonel Roy Ferndale, using his personal Toro, led invading SLDF forces on a chase that lasted over a month, destroying five of their 'Mechs in the process. Barely gaining more than an hour's worth of sleep at a time, he was eventually caught and executed by Star League forces in 2595. His efforts within the Pleiades Cluster had branded him as a pirate, and left that area of space largely dangerous even after the Reunification War.


 * Black Bessie was considered to be one of the only surviving Toros from the Taurian Concordat's battles with the SLDF. Revered as a mascot by her unit, she participated in the battle to defend the capital of Taurus. It was during this assault that she was incapacitated when her gyro locked up. Not willing to let their beloved icon fall victim to Star League forces, several members of Black Bessie's unit carried her out of combat, sequestering the Toro from invading forces. After the liberation of the Concordat, Black Bessie was placed atop a 185-meter pillar.. Black Bessie remained a cherished figure of all Taurian citizens until the destruction of the capital in 3074.

Design Quirks
The TR-A-1 Toro variant is subject to the following Design Quirks:
 * Cramped Cockpit
 * Narrow Profile
 * Obsolete (2505)
 * Poor Cooling Jacket (Large Laser)