Buccaneer (BattleMech)

Description
The Buccaneer is a product of the Word of Blake's voracious appetite for military equipment in its first few years, as the order had far more MechWarriors than they had 'Mechs. The Buccaneer was originally designed to be used by ComStar, but had not begun production. When the schism that created the Word of Blake occurred, the design was modified to accommodate equipment available to the Word of Blake in their temporary home of the Free Worlds League. The Buccaneer is built with a lightweight VOX 330 XL Engine giving the 'Mech a top speed of 97.2 km/h. It also carries an impressive ten tons of Ferro-Fibrous armor, the maximum amount of protection the chassis can carry. The Buccaneer also utilizes double heat sinks as standard.

Weapons and Equipment
Designed primarily for short range combat, the Buccaneer carries a single Diverse Optics Sunbeam ER Large Laser to give it some striking capability at long ranges. With its mostly short range arsenal, the Buccaneer excels at close combat. With the elevation of physical combat to an art in the Inner Sphere, the Buccaneer's most fearsome weapon is its four ton Hatchet. For combat at medium to close ranges, the Buccaneer has four Diverse Optics Type 18 Medium Lasers backed up by a highly accurate Starflash Medium Pulse Laser and an Irian Weapons Works 60mm SRM-6 with an Artemis IV guidance system for increased missile accuracy.

Variants

 * BCN-5W : This variant of the Buccaneer is almost completely a new 'Mech, with the exception of the Hatchet and XL Engine. The 5W is a vicious city fighter that uses a Ceres Arms Crusher Plasma Rifle to damage enemies and force heat buildup in enemy 'Mechs. It is complemented by a trio of Ceres Arms Model 8 Heavy Machine Guns linked together in a Hellespont Machine Gun Array. The 5W also includes a C3i Computer that allows it to share targeting data with other Blakist units. In order to make room for all of these enhancements, the 5W's engine has been downgraded to a 275-rated VOX (giving it a top speed of 86.4 km/h), but it adds seven improved jump jets that allow it to jump 210 meters at a time. The standard complement of double heat sinks keeps the Buccaneer cool, but space constraints necessitated the downgrading of the armor to ten tons of Light Ferro-Fibrous. BV (1.0) = ??, BV (2.0) = 1,393


 * BCN-6W : A Jihad variant of the the Buccaneer revised as a Missile Boat. All weaponry, with the exception of the signature Hatchet, has been replaced by three MML-5 Launchers, which are supplied with a two tons of ammunition. This setup requires the pilot to sit directly in front of a bin of LRMs. The 'Mech's equipment includes seven Improved Jump Jets and a C3i Computer. BV (2.0) = 1,212.

Custom Variants

 * BCN-6PX Buccaneer Pan : Debuted in 3140 on The Scrapyard Arena and piloted by Robert Driscan, Pan makes several changes that give it an entirely new look and profile. A small vibroblade styled to resemble a ’Mech-scale parrying dagger replaces the original hatchet. A collapsible partial wing assembly of Clan design featuring rounded-tip wings has been added to improve movement. These wings boost the already-impressive jump radius provided by the 'Mech’s improved jump jets, allowing Pan to clear up to 330 meters in a single bound. Even with Clan-spec components used to save space and mass, this Buccaneer trades a lot of its original firepower away for its mobility. Because of this, Pan carries only three weapons, all of them lasers: Two Medium Re-Engineered Lasers (able to cut throught virtually any armor type), and one Inner Sphere ER Medium Laser. Double Heat Sink and Clan Ferro-Fibrous Armor complete the mix. Nevertheless, the Pan’s limited firepower means that slugging it out with one’s adversary is just not an option for this ’Mech; agility and mobility are the order of the day for this machine.BV2:1,343.

Design Quirks
The Buccaneer has the following Design Quirk:
 * Improved Targeting (Short)
 * Rugged (2)