V5.00 - FirestarterFS9-iC3 xRDRDA@MM 3 2 3 2 6Jomni, c3i     Z (Unknown)Z (Unknown)f (Unknown)w (Unknown)Z (Unknown)Z (Unknown)5 (Unknown)5 (Unknown)Zfff ZZ  wwZ  55Z During the Clan War, the Great Houses of the Inner Sphere pledged to support each other with exchanges of technical information as well as with troops and munitions. As part of that agreement, the Federated Commonwealth manufacturer Coventry Metal Works gave its Draconis Combine counterpart, Luthien Armor Works, a license and the manufacturing specifications to produce the Firestarter. The fact that Coventry chose such an over-specialized Mech to exchange when it could have provided much more viable designs speaks volumes about the depth of the Inner Spheres grudging alliance. The executives at Luthien Armor Works thanked Coventry for their support and filed away the next-to-useless Firestarter designs. When the Combines turn came to reciprocate, they sent Coventry the slightly modified FS9-0 Firestarter rather than specifications for the original-design Combine OmniMechs such as the Avatar or the Sunder. The rationale for this choice provided by Luthien Armor Works stated that Coventrys production line was already set up to manufacture the Firestarter, and modifying that line would require less time than starting up a new production line. The Federated Commonwealth has officially accepted this explanation, though some people believe that the DCMS simply did not want to give their cutting-edge Mech technology to their ancient enemies. This standard BattleMech has been modified to accept modular weapon systems, though it retains fixed forward- and rear-firing flamers. Its primary configuration is equipped with a Beagle active probe, two large lasers, and two additional flamers, raising the number of flamers to four. This configuration closely matches the standard Firestarter weapons mix, making the operational transition to the new Omni technology easier for units receiving this Mech. The other known configurations show the standard situation-dependent mix of weapons. It is interesting to note that almost all of these configurations incorporate a C3 slave unit. It appears that the Draconis Combine is beginning to accept C3 as a integral part of their tactical doctrine.   l The modular Firestarter is currently being manufactured for the Federated Commonwealth, Lyran Alliance, and Free Worlds League. The Federated Commonwealth is replacing older versions of the Firestarter with the new design on a one-for-one basis at battalion and regimental headquarters. Other House militaries are beginning to deploy them in lance-sized units.?TRO: 3058 Record Sheets - 3055 & 3058 Entered by Rick Raisley [ none ]Luthien Armor WorksLuthien (Unknown) (Unknown) (Unknown) (Unknown) (Unknown) (Unknown)