Hobkin HB-K1N
Mass: 25 tons
Chassis: HB Custom
Power Plant: Nissan 200
Cruising Speed: 86.4 kph
Maximum Speed: 129.6 kph
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: Starshield
Armament:
2 Small Laser
1 Medium Laser
4 Machine Gun
Manufacturer: Kelly Machine Works
Primary Factory: Unknown
Communication System: Datacom 26
Targeting & Tracking System: Dynatec 990
Introduction Year: 2743
Tech Rating/Availability: D/C-E-D-D
Cost: 1,812,917 C-bills
Named for a mischevious spirit from pre-spaceflight North American legend, the Hobkin has always represented something of a mystery of the Periphery Uprising and Amaris Coup. The design originated on Manassas in the Federated Suns, built as a military grade version of the industrialmechs being manufactured onworld to support Prince Richard Davion's revitalization programs. Though marketed to the AFFS as a fast raider and scout mech, the Hobkin had no success, mostly due to its relatively humble origins and the belief that the small Kelly Machine Works wouldn't be able to meet the demands of a large production contract, and at the time it was believed only a couple prototypes had ever actually been built.
That belief would be shattered by the periphery uprising, however, as hundreds of these strange, unfamiliar mechs would appear among periphery forces during the conflict, sowing confusion among the SLDF forces that found themselves subjected to their lighting raids. As the Hobkin had never made it to production with an Inner Sphere military and was all but unknown to the SLDF, the identity of the design wasn't even determined until well into the conflict, leaving them branded with the reporting name "Thin Man" by SLDF troops due to their lanky, long limbed design. While the vast majority of these machines seemed to be concentrated on the Taurian front of the uprising, by all accounts no manufacturing facility was ever located for the machines, and no link could be found between the by then defunct Kelly Machine Works and any groups that may have been affiliated with supplying the Secret Army.
Reflecting its origins, the Hobkin has a rather strange yet utilitarian look, with little interests put on aesthetics. A squat ball shaped body with an expanded rotation ring and long, multijointed limbs give the Hobkin a vastly greater range of movement than almost any other mech on the field, making it all but impossible for an enemy to get out from under its guns as well as giving it an almost unsettling alien movement profile that wouldn't be matched until some of the more unique designs of the 3050s and 3060s. Fairly unique among battlemechs, the Hobkin is designed to essentially fold in on itself during its standard shutdown cycle, pulling its arms and legs in tight to its torso, apparently in order to minimize the amount of space it takes up in storage, as well as shorten the distance the pilot needed to travel to board or disembark from the mech. On the battlefields of the Periphery Uprising, this design trait could actually work against the machine, as Hobkins forced into shutdown by overheating would sometimes partially initiate this "storage mode", only to tumble to the ground as the mech lost power before it could complete the crouch. Software patches on surviving machines have since solved this defect, allowing pilots to decide whether or not to activate this mode.
As a fast light raider, the Hobkin is armed primarily with an abundance of light weaponry sufficient for dealing with other fast units that might seek to pursue it, but primarily geared towards engaging soft targets such as infantry, support personnel, or soft skinned vehicles. While the single medium laser might be thought of as a "main weapon", the two smaller lasers and four machine guns provide not inconsiderable firepower at close range, even against other battlemechs, and the Hobkin's armor protection is adequate enough to stand up to most opponents actually able to catch it on the battlefield. The weapons, armor, and computer systems are all intended to be simple, off the shelf gear, and generous tolerances in the fittings allow for easy compatibility with different makes and models of the same basic weapons and system, even if this capability does not quite match the modularity of designs like the Mercury. Even though there is currently no evidence of new Hobkins being built anywhere, this ability to simply accept whatever parts are available with little fuss has kept a surprising number of the mechs in service long after the dust of the Periphery Uprising had settled.
As the production facility for the Hobkin was never located, it is unknown exactly how many of these mechs may have seen service during the Periphery Uprising or how many might have been built after the war. SLDF records account for slightly more than three hundred Hobkins destroyed during the conflict, the majority of them on the Taurian Front as well as some small number on the Canopean front. A small number are reported to have been seen in the brief Taurian-Canopean War that followed. Maybe half a dozen are believed to be currently in service with the TDF today, while other examples have seemingly spread around the periphery in the centuries since the fall of the Star League. The real allure of the Hobkin, of course, is the tantalizing possibility that additional caches of the mech, or even a fully intact production facility, might just be out there somewhere waiting to be found. However, so far little to no evidence of either has ever been located, and those Hobkins encountered in the periphery are invariable centuries old patched and re-patched machines.
Variants:
Despite its ability to easily accept a wide variety of components from any number of manufacturers, the Hobkin has had very few significant variants during its service life. The only notable exception removed the machine guns and ammunition for another five small lasers, and appears to have been created to make the Hobkin a more effective ammunition independent raider. In the 3060s, the historian Clover Santiago in the Taurian Concordat made the claim that the performance of this variant so shocked and impressed the SLDF that it would later lead to the creation of the Locust IIC among their descendants. However there is no evidence for this particular narrative and most scholars agree that this is at best nationalist bluster on Santiago's part.
Type: Hobkin
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Introductory)
Tonnage: 25
Battle Value: 546
Equipment Mass
Internal Structure 2.5
Engine 200 Fusion 8.5
Walking MP: 8
Running MP: 12
Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sink 10 0
Gyro 2
Cockpit 3
Armor Factor 72 4.5
Internal Armor
Structure Value
Head 3 7
Center Torso 8 10
Center Torso (rear) 3
R/L Torso 6 8
R/L Torso (rear) 2
R/L Arm 4 6
R/L Leg 6 10
Right Arm Actuators: Shoulder, Upper Arm, Lower Arm, Hand
Left Arm Actuators: Shoulder, Upper Arm, Lower Arm, Hand
Weapons
and Ammo Location Critical Heat Tonnage
Medium Laser CT 1 3 1.0
Half Machine Gun Ammo (100) CT 1 - 0.5
Heat Sink RT 1 - 1.0
2 Machine Gun LA 2 0 1.0
Small Laser LA 1 1 0.5
Heat Sink LT 1 - 1.0
2 Machine Gun RA 2 0 1.0
Small Laser RA 1 1 0.5
Features the following design quirks: Compact Mek, Extended Torso Twist, Hyper-Extending Actuators, Exposed Actuators
author note: The name Hobkin is derived from a corruption of Hopskinville, and is a reference to the Kelly-Hopskinville encounter of 1955, where local residents reported encountering, and shooting at, small aliens that had been attacking their farmhouse (investigators would later attribute this incident to jittery and possibly intoxicated locals misidentifying great horned owls). While the details of the encounter would be basically unknown in the greater inner sphere centuries later, the legend would live on as the Hobkin, a small malicious spirit that was said to plague rural communities.
