Pegasus Scout Hover Tank
The early Succession Wars period is one of the most violent periods in the history of mankind. When Kerensky took the bulk of Star League army and jumped into the unknown the last break that could be pumped on each of the remaining House Lords’ ambitions was removed. Each Great House would wage war with any weapons at their disposal, including various WMDs. Very quickly this began to take its toll on line forces. In order to replace losses in front line mech units scout mechs from various support units were moved into front line duty to prosecute the conventional war. Needing a lower cost alternative and numbers quickly to fill the numbers lost to front line regiments the Pegasus was born.
Development and proliferation.The Pegasus was conceived by the Exeter Organization as a cheap and durable scout platform. Based around an ICE engine reduced the cost significantly when compared to a fusion based design. With an eye toward either being as cost conscious as possible and/or making cash the design was ultimately licensed out to different companies throughout the various states of the Inner Sphere.
The Capellan Confederation production of the Pegasus is an exception to this rule. Whether the design was obtained through espionage, reverse engineering, or other means Hellespont Industries produces the design for the Confederation. Numerous legal attempts by Exeter to either forge a legal deal or bring suit against Hellespont Industries have been brought to a halt, in a few cases, by the direct action of the Chancellor.
Capabilities:The Pegasus matches the top speed of the more common scout mechs of the First Succession war such as the Locust and the Mongoose. With 6.5 tons of armor the design is extremely durable and a single hit from even a large caliber AC isn’t going to outright destroy the tank.
Weakness:As with all vehicles they are limitations to the terrain they can traverse and how quickly they can do it compared to the scout mechs that the Pegasus replaced. Wooded area is considered too dense and rough that damage would likely occur to the air skirt. Similarly, if subjected to a smattering of small arms or other cluster fire the air skirt is likely to be damaged and the effect speed of the designed reduced.
Loadouts:While there are 10 different versions of the Pegasus most of them don’t deviate much from the Standard model. Instead the majority of newer designs are simply slight upgrades with more recently developed weapon systems.
Standard- First developed in 2791, this version features a single medium laser powered by a power amplifier and 2 6 tube SRMs fed by 1 ton of ammo. That fire power is easily a match for any light mechs and also matches firepower for several medium mech and tank designs of the day. The limited ammunition supplied aims to keep the crew honest as the design wasn’t meant for direct combat even if its chances for survival are as good or in some cases better than other light mechs.
Sensors- developed in 2798 the SRM-6s on the original are downgraded to SRM-4s and a Remote Sensor Dispenser added. Ammunition for the SRM-4 is increased to 2 tons which allows the design to engage in longer extended patrols.
Missile- This version didn’t show up until 2854 and it removes the medium laser, heat sinks, and power amplifier to add an additional SRM-6 and an additional ton of ammunition. It still enjoys only a short combat life, but 3 6 tube SRMs makes pretty much anyone’s life hell.
Unarmed- First produced in 2873, it comes as advertised with no weapons. What it gains is 12 tons of cargo space. That’s quite a bit of space to play with for transporting supplies or troops under less than ideal conditions. The amount of cargo space is also unmatched on other designs of similar weight until a handful of designs developed right around the time of the Dark Age.
3058 Upgrade- the 3058 is the first Pegasus to be built with a fusion engine. The tonnage saved is used to update the electronics package to include recovered Star League tech (TAG, Beagle, and ECM) and update the laser to a pulse version and achieve a slightly higher top speed.
Armor protection suffers for all these improvements as the design has 2 less tons of armor. While the new armor is ferro and an improvement over the standard armor per ton, it lacks the overall protection the original design enjoyed. A large bore autocannon hit will one shot the tank to any location that doesn’t come from the front or hit the turret. In an environment where battle armor is more common and carries as much or more firepower than the Pegasus this is a drawback that is hard to ignore for a unit that costs almost 3 times as much of the original.
MRM- hitting the field in 3063 we have the MRM version. Retaining the 3058’s higher speed the SRMs are replaced with an MRM-20. A C3 slave unit replaces the TAG and Beagle is entirely dropped. The pulse laser on the 3058 is swapped for an ER which makes more sense backing up the longer range MRM launcher. The armor on the MRM version is closer to the Pegasus Standard’s levels with the exception of the rear.
I’m personally not an MRM fan so this design really doesn’t do much for me. It would do well against units that are immobile or slow moving where the +1 can be mitigated. C3 obviously helps out too, but I can probably find better C3 units around similar BV.
C3- This late Jihad refit tinkers around with different systems over the base model. Rather than mounting 2 SRM6s they are replaced by two Streak 4 launchers. 2 MPLs back the missiles up with all of them mounted together in the turrent. All this is mated with a C3 Slave to help out range.
Pegasus X/X Pulse- Prototyped in 3073 by House Kurita and primary production in 3086 it is the most expensive Pegasus to date. What it does with that extra cost though is impressive. 2 Medium X-Pulse Lasers and a Streak 6 are all placed in the turret with a C3 slave to help spot targeting data for its lance mates. Speed on this version is 38% better than the original and a super charger is included for bursts. Armor is closer to the original with rear armor being similarly week to the 3058+ versions. While it is expensive to produced, there is very little in this design that you can say was wasted in the costs paid.
Sealed- Developed in 3076 and based off the 3058 upgrade it downgrades both 6 tube launchers to smaller MML-3 launchers. What it loses in firepower it gains back in munitions flexibility and small amount of damage at ranges in excess of 270 meters. The purpose of the design is to allow it to trek through hostile environments that other tanks can’t.
Final thoughts:The Pegasus was the right design built at the right time to fill the scouting holes that opened up when mechs who previously did that work were transferred to front line units. The fact that the design was licensed in one fashion or another to essentially every army and a good portion of mercenaries guaranteed the design would have a customer somewhere for years to come. Perhaps the only surprise considering how wide spread design has been that for 200 years very little deviations from the basic design were produced.
Skulkers and J Edgars were available to do similar jobs, but never in enough numbers or the open availability that the Pegasus enjoyed. Harassers didn’t hit the combat fields of the Inner Sphere for another 20 years after the Pegasus. Saracens, Saladins, and Scimitars wouldn’t hit the field for another 141 years! That blows my mind, but the military mindset of the times were that light tanks couldn’t be trusted to do other things outside of scouting, moving infantry, or in the case of the Scorpion tank, giving the militia guys something to shoot other than a rifle.
While the speed of the Pegasus has stayed largely consistent over time, technology has largely made dealing with vehicles, even what would be considered traditionally faster designs much easier. If you are looking at buying vehicles at a low cost, the pre 3058 Pegasus are all still good for that. Post 3058 Pegasus are at least 3 times as expensive. Technology has its price and if you are going to pay for it, the fragile nature of some these newer designs would probably be something I’d avoid.