Tengu (Battle Armor)

This article is about the Battle Armor suit. For the Achilles-class DropShip, see Tengu (Achilles).

Tengu
Production information
Manufacturer	Gibson Federated BattleMechs
Production Year	3070
Use	Line Unit
Weight Class	Heavy
Tech Base	Inner Sphere
Cost	??? C-bills
Introduced
Technical specifications
Mass	1,500 kg
Top Speed	21.6 km/h
Armament	1x Modular Weapon Mount 1x Anti-Personnel Weapon Mount
Armor Type	Advanced
BV (2.0)	48<

Description

The second of the Demon Series of battle armor to be spotted, the Tengu also appears to feature the most experimentation. Named after Japanese demons, the Tengu is unique for boasting both an enhanced ground speed and jump jets allowing it to leap sixty meters at a time in what some observers call "an overworked motive system arraignment." This runs counter to the conventional wisdom of battle armor design, which seeks to save as much weight as possible by emphasizing only one mode of travel above another. Another unique feature of the Tengu compared to other Demon designs is it's modular layout whereas the others employed fixed systems.

The prevailing theory is that the Tengu was a testbed design made by Dr. Devon Cortland to see if he could build a battle suit with the same flexibility as the Celestial series of OmniMechs. While Dr. Cortland switched to using hard-wired systems in other suits, the Tengu nevertheless went on to become a fixture in the Shadow Divisions of the Manei Domini, serving in a variety of roles. It's 520kg of advanced armor is enough to stop two Medium Pulse Laser blasts and still have a little left, and though it has four primary configurations the nature of the Tengu allows for a wide array of variants, including several unconfirmed variations such as a weaponless electronic warfare suit and a Rocket Launcher-equipped anti-infantry suit.

Weapons and Equipment

The Tengu's weapons are completely configurable as it has a Modular Weapon Mount in the left arm and an Anti-Personnel Weapon Mount in the right, with both arms using Basic Manipulators to grasp objects. In the standard configuration a Man-Portable Plasma Rifle is the most common weapon system, while the AP mount can carry any infantry-scale weapon weighing 35kg or less.

Variants

• Support 

  This version came into service at the same time as the standard configuration and instead of the plasma rifle it carries a smaller Light Recoilless Rifle. The mass saved by using this lighter weapon goes towards a One-Shot SRM-3 in a Detachable Missile Pack, though the launcher prevents the Tengu from jumping until it is jettisoned. It's AP mount has a capacity of 25kg. BV (2.0) = 52

• Small VSP Laser 

  A third version introduced after the first two configurations, this one carries only 480kg of armor and replaces the Modular Weapon Mount with a Detachable Weapon Mount which is used to carry a Small Variable-Speed Laser. The bulk of this mount prevents the suit from jumping and cut's its speed in half unless it is jettisoned, while the AP mount can only carry weapons 5kg or less. BV (2.0) = 52

• Medium Laser 

  A slight variation on the “Small VSP Laser” variant, this version swaps out the small VSP laser for a Medium Laser. It too cannot jump and has it's speed cut in half until the laser is jettisoned, though it's AP mount can carry weapons up to 10kg in weight. BV (2.0) = 67

• C3i 

  This version has a single Inner Sphere Light TAG system and an experimental Battle Armor C3i system. While it still has two basic manipulators for the use of conventional infantry weapons, this suit is mostly used as a spotting unit for other Word of Blake forces. BV (2.0) = 37

• Rocket Launcher 

  This version carries a Machine Gun, two Battle Claws, and a pair of four tube Rocket Launchers. BV (2.0) = 50

Bibliography

• Master Unit List
• Record Sheets: 3075 Unabridged - The Cutting Edge
• Technical Readout: 3075