Guardian (BattleMech)

This article is about the 15-ton BattleMech. For other uses, see Guardian.
Guardian (BattleMech)
Guardian
(Image apocryphal)[1]
Production information
Manufacturer Silver Shield Security[1]
Model GRD-1N[1]
Class Ultralight
Technical specifications
'Mech type Inner Sphere BattleMech
Mass 15 tons
Chassis Shield 1[1]
Armor Durallex Light[1]
Engine Leenex 60[1]
Communications System Unspecified
Targeting Tracking System Unspecified
Heat Sinks 10 single
Speed 64.8[1] km/h
Armament

5x machine gun[1]


Description

The Guardian is an ultralight design, implicitly a SecurityMech. Notably, it was built as a BattleMech and not to IndustrialMech specs. In 2914 the Guard, a cheap 15-ton IndustrialMech, was introduced as a SecurityMech design to replace the Guardian, suggesting that the Guardian had been designed for, or at least previously served in, a similar role.[2]

Canonicity

The Guardian was canonically mentioned as an ultralight BattleMech, with no further canonical information available at this time.[2]

It is obviously a nod to an apocryphal design that was described in BattleTechnology, Issue #13. Since this magazine is not currently counted among the canonical sources for BattleTech, the 'Mech as described there is not currently considered canonical either. (An earlier ruling by Randall Bills declaring all BattleTechnology 'Mechs as present in the BattleTech Universe, if only as unique 'Mechs, was expressly rescinded by his successor as Line Developer, Herbert A. Beas II.)

Apocryphal Data

Apocryphal Content Starts

The information after this notice comes from apocryphal sources; the canonicity of such information is uncertain.
Please view the reference page for information regarding their canonicity.

Although a BattleMech by design (and not an IndustrialMech, like most SecurityMechs), the ultralight Guardian was not made for the military. Instead, it was marketed as a SecurityMech and sold to large corporations and law enforcement agencies. Its relatively small size and low weight allows it to go where other 'Mechs could not, giving it somewhat better mobility in urban environments. However, its relatively slow speed means that almost all other 'Mechs can run it down.[1]

The Guardian is armed with five Sperry Browning machine guns, one mounted in each arm, in each torso side and in the center torso, respectively. Two and a half tons of ammunition in the right torso provide an ample supply of ammunition.[1]

A frequent field refit for Guardians is to drop half a ton of ammunition to replace one machine gun with a medium laser, to give it at least a chance to stand against other 'Mechs. It remains a poor fighting machine when compared to virtually any other BattleMech.[1]

Apocryphal Content Ends

Notes

  • The BattleCorps short story Feather Vs Mountain narrates the demise of one "Guardian Company" on the sidelines, a company of unspecified machine-gun toting 15-ton PoliceMechs. The setting and outcome match the fluff for the Guardian in BattleTechnology magazine. The author expressly described the story as a homage to the Guardian write-up, but at the time the Guardian was considered apocryphal and the story therefore stepped around the question of the Guardian's canonicity by not actually mentioning the Guardian by name nor featuring its visual description, leaving the nature of "Guardian Company" open to speculation.
  • Also in Feather vs. Mountain there is a reference[3] to two 'Mechs from Guardian Company that were lost when the Ryuken's First Battalion's field command camp was attacked and destroyed on 11 January 3028. The situation is mentioned in the novel Wolves on the Border[4]; this in turn establishes that the two "light guard 'Mechs" featuring only as shattered remains in the novel were from Guardian Company, and thus may have been Guardians.

References

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 BattleTechnology #13, p. 52
  2. 2.0 2.1 Technical Readout: Irregulars, p. 18
  3. Feather vs. Mountain, p. 8
  4. Wolves on the Border, p. 272

Bibliography