Nexus (Star Python)

(Redirected from Nexus II)
Nexus (Star Python)
Nexus
Production information
Manufacturer Imperial BattleMechs (Star Python)[1]

Skobel MechWorks[2]

Production Year 3055[3]
Model NXS1-A
Class Light
Cost 2,226,458 C-bills
Technical specifications
'Mech type Inner Sphere BattleMech
Mass 25 tons
Chassis Skobel 100-ROB Endo Steel
Armor Krupp 200 [ferro-fibrous]
Engine Nissan 175
Communications System Exeter Longscan 200 with C3i Computer
Targeting Tracking System Garret T15AJ
Heat Sinks 10 double heat sinks
Speed 118.8 km/h
Jump Jets Rawlings 55
Armament
BV (1.0) 626[4]
BV (2.0) 643[5]


Description[edit]

The Nexus was originally based on the Jackrabbit, a light scout and combined-arms support 'Mech built for the Star League Defense Force by Skobel MechWorks. The Jackrabbit ended testing two weeks before Stefan Amaris seized power on Terra and was, ironically, instead primarily used by units loyal to Amaris against the SLDF in General Kerensky's drive to liberate the Terran Hegemony. Though the SLDF captured Skobel's plant relatively intact, thanks to the stigma of being used against his forces Kerensky ordered it shut down and the unloved Jackrabbit disappeared into history outside of ComStar's records. With the Com Guards looking to recoup their grievous losses in the wake of the Battle of Tukayyid, in 3054 Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht ordered the Skobel plant reactivated, reworking the slower Jackrabbit into a fast and highly mobile recon striker 'Mech he renamed the Nexus.[3][6] [7]

Despite early promising action reports from the 366th Division,[6] [7] the brutal fighting during Operation ODYSSEUS in 3058 showed that the Nexus's light armor and short-ranged firepower led to excessive combat losses if targeted by more-mobile and longer-ranged opponents. With the Skobel line falling to the Word of Blake, the Blakist Precentor Martial Cameron St. Jamais responded to pilot complaints about these flaws by promising a complete overhaul when time allowed. Thanks to technology exchange agreements with Archon-Princess Katherine Steiner-Davion that provided access to the Lyran Alliance's new light fusion engine, a visually reworked and extensively modified version dubbed the Nexus II started rolling off the production lines and into the Word of Blake Militia in 3066 in time for the Jihad.[8] Though production ended following the Blakist defeat, a new anti-infantry variant was developed for Malcolm Buhl's Blessed Order which the New Earth Trading Company, seemingly serving as an intermediary for Skobel plant on Caph, sold widely following the fall of the Fortress Wall.[1]

In 3152, the Scorpion Empire started full-scale production of an advanced version of the Nexus using recovered blueprints from Word of Blake archives which the Hanseatic League kept on the planet Braunschweig. The blueprints were damaged but after successful data recovery the new version, designated the Star Python, was developed and put into service with the Imperio Militar del Escorpión.[9] This version uses advanced Clan weaponry and reflective armor, while its rugged Antwerp 175 engine gives it greater staying power than that of many modern light ’Mechs. Considering its connection to the old Jackrabbit of the Rim Worlds Army and later the Nexus of the ComStar, the Star Python's continued development is seen as quite surprising but also as a sign of the removal of many traditional Clan stigmas within the Empire under the specter of an external threat from the Clan Homeworlds. Named after an indigenous pack-hunting reptile on the planet Holdout, Clan Sea Fox has observed that the Empire has begun organizing the BattleMech into Trinaries trained in wolf-pack swarming tactics to offset the design's lighter durability and firepower.[1]

Weapons and Equipment[edit]

As a recon 'Mech intended to rarely engage an enemy in a pitched battle, the Nexus is armed with a Blankenburg Technologies medium laser backed up by two highly-accurate Blankenburg Technologies medium pulse lasers. As a weapon of last resort, the Nexus has two Intek small lasers. For added protection against missile attacks, the Nexus had an McArthur anti-missile system.[6] [7][10]

The Nexus has a top speed of 119 km/h and is powered by a Nissan 175 fusion engine, which is both light and rugged. To save weight without the vulnerability of an extralight engine, the Nexus is built on a Skobel 100-ROB endo steel chassis. For protection, the 'Mech carries two tons of Krupp 200 ferro-fibrous armor, relying on its speed and maneuverability, including a jumping capability of up to 120 meters. Finally, to handle the heat from the arsenal of energy weapons, the Nexus carries ten double heat sinks.[6] [7][10]

Variants[edit]

  • NXS1-B 
    Considered the progenitor of the Nexus II, the NXS1-B variant of the standard NXS1-A intended to make the 'Mech more capable as a recon unit. The B variant completely restructures the 'Mechs arsenal and reworks the Nexus into a powerful scout 'Mech. Clad in four tons of ferro-fibrous armor, the NXS1-B is capable of jumping up to 150 meters and carries two ER medium lasers as its primary weapons, backed up by an ER small laser. What makes this Nexus variant so effective as a recon 'Mech is its improved C3 unit that allows it to share targeting data with up to five allied units.[2] BV (1.0) = 671[11], BV (2.0) = 715[12][13]
  • NXS1-C 
    Developed as a striker and anti-infantry 'Mech for the Blessed Order's reborn Com Guards, the versatile NXS1-C would prove deadly against the combined-arms Republic of the Sphere forces that first encountered it on Epsilon Eridani.[1] Based off the original NXS1-A, a 175 light fusion engine and XL gyro free up weight to improve its now light ferro-fibrous armor coverage, retaining the AMS but swapping the shoulder-mounted medium laser for a medium re-engineered laser and the forearm-mounted medium pulse lasers for standard models while upgrading the small lasers for small X-pulse laser versions. BV (2.0) = 804[10]

Design Quirks[edit]

The Nexus has the following Design Quirks:[16]

The Nexus II has the following Design Quirks:[17]

Related BattleMechs[edit]

  • Jackrabbit - The Nexus was based upon the Jackrabbit, a 'Mech designed for the original SLDF that was produced in large numbers for Stefan Amaris' forces. Because of this, the design was largely shunned for centuries after the Amaris Civil War.[3]

Notable Pilots[edit]

See Category:Notable Nexus (Star Python) Pilots

Notes[edit]

  • The color plate of VMI art included in the ComStar sourcebook for the Nexus, Raijin and Grand Crusader referred to the Nexus as the Star Python and the Raijin as the Galahad (a name already elsewhere) in conflict with the rest of the written text and later Technical Readouts. When queried decades later, the Line Developer at the time would clarify the Star Python existed only in error and the correct name was the Nexus, until Moving Forward would repurpose the Star Python name for the Clan Goliath Scorpion version of the 'Mech.

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 23, p. 4-5:"Star Python (Nexus)"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Technical Readout: Jihad, pp. 48–49: "NXS2-1 Nexus II"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Technical Readout: 3075, pp. 176-177, "Jackrabbit 'Mech Profile"
  4. Combat Operations, p. 123
  5. Record Sheets: 3055 Upgrades Unabridged, p. 156
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 ComStar, p. 98 "New BattleMechs - ComStar Nexus"
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Technical Readout: 3058, p. 96 "NXS1-A Nexus"
  8. 8.0 8.1 Technical Readout: 3055 Upgrade, p. 96 "NXS2-A Nexus II"
  9. Shrapnel, Issue #6: Moving Forward
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 23, p. 14:"Nexus NXS1-A"
  11. Record Sheets: Upgrades, p. 40
  12. Record Sheets: 3055 Upgrades Unabridged, p. 157
  13. Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 23, p. 14:"Nexus NXS1-B"
  14. Record Sheets: 3055 Upgrades Unabridged, p. 158
  15. Record Sheets: 3055 Upgrades Unabridged, p. 159
  16. BattleMech Manual, p. 93 BattleMech Quirk Table - Nexus Entry.
  17. BattleMech Manual, p. 93 BattleMech Quirk Table - Nexus II Entry.

Bibliography[edit]