Editing Marco

{{InfoBoxBattleMech
| image = Marco.jpg
| name = ''Marco''
| model = MR-8C
| manufacturer = [[StarCorps Industries]]
| Use = Long Range Exploration
----
Scout
|Tech Base =Inner Sphere
|mech type =IndustrialMech
|feet=2
| cost = 1,701,245 [[C-bill]]s<ref>''Record Sheets: Operation Klondike'', p. 70</ref>
| introduced = [[2712]]<ref name=TROVA>''Technical Readout: Vehicle Annex'', p. 218</ref><ref name=TROVAR>''Technical Readout: Vehicle Annex Revised Edition'', p. 216</ref>
| mass = 30
| chassis = [[StarCorps HD-5]]
| engine = [[GM 120 Fusion]]
| comsys = [[Astar 5]]
| T&T = None
| speed = 64
| jump jets = [[HildCo L5]]
| armament = 
* 1x [[Small laser]]
| heat sinks = 10 [[single heat sink]]s
| armor = [[ArcShield CHIL]]
| Equipment = 
* 1x [[Salvage arm]]
* 1x [[Cargo bay]]
* 1x [[Searchlight]]
* 1x [[Environmental sealing]]
| BV (1.0) = 
| BV (2.0) = 304<ref>''Record Sheets: Operation Klondike'', p. 70</ref><ref>''Record Sheets: Vehicle Annex, IndustrialMechs & Exoskeletons'', p. 76 - BV2 Listing from Record Sheets for MR-8C Marco"</ref><ref>[http://www.masterunitlist.info/Unit/Details/4596/marco-mr-8c MUL Profile for MR-8C Marco ExploreMEch - BV2 aand Introduction Year]</ref>
}}

==Description==
The '''''Marco''''' was the first true jack-of-all trade ExplorerMech, outside of unique retrofitted [[BattleMech]]s that had previously served in such a role<ref name=TROVAR/>. Created as the ultimate expeditionary vehicle, the ''Marco'' was built with military-grade technology to meet the needs of explorers. It was described as a customizable BattleMech frame without weapons,<ref name=TROVA/><ref name=TROVAR/> albeit it was still created and rated as an [[IndustrialMech]] and not to proper BattleMech standards.

The ''Marco'' has environmental sealing in all its locations to keep hazardous environments out. It features a collapsible two-man cabin mounted on its rear torso which can only be used when the 'Mech is stationary, and a small observation platform bridging across its shoulders. 

Although the ''Marco'' is a solid design, [[StarCorps Industries]]' whole ExplorerMech project was deemed a grand failure in retrospect. Development was difficult, and before finally succeeding with the letter "M", many prototype designs, dating back to [[2666]], including the ''[[Amundsen]]'', ''[[Burton]]'', ''[[Cook]]'', and ''[[DaGama]]'' turned out to be failures, some of them catastrophically so; the unnamed functional precursors of the ''Marco'' from the program were specialized machines for specific environments.<ref name=TROVA/><ref name=TROVAR/> As it turned out, after the ''Marco'' debuted in [[2712]], there had never been a large market for ExplorerMechs to begin with, and production was discontinued in [[2720]] after only eight years; StarCorps managed to sell two production runs of mostly -6 and -7 series models to the SLDF in what seems to have been a not-so-clean deal.<ref name=TROVA/><ref name=TROVAR/> By [[3070]], only few ''Marco''s were still known to exist, all of them of the -6 and -7 series.<ref name=TROVA/><ref name=TROVAR/>

==Weapons and Equipment==
The ''Marco'' features a [[salvage arm]] in its right arm, a [[searchlight]] mounted in its center torso, and a military-grade [[small laser]] mounted in its left arm, while its hull is protected by four tons of [[heavy industrial armor]].<ref name=TROVA/><ref name=TROVAR/><ref>''Record Sheets: Vehicle Annex, IndustrialMechs & Exoskeletons'', pp. 74-74 - MR-6, MR-7 and MR-8C ''Marco'' record sheets</ref>

With the collapse of the [[Star League]], [[General]] [[Aleksandr Kerensky]] took a number of ''Marco''s with him on the [[Operation EXODUS|Exodus]]. After the establishment of the [[Star League in Exile]] and the death of General Kerensky, the [[Pentagon Cluster]] colonies fragmented into warring factions known as the [[Pentagon Powers]] and these groups would create armed refits from the ''Marco''s they had available; the most common of these refits became known as the MR-8D, a less common as MR-8E.<ref name=HOK>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', pp. 146, 158</ref> It was noted that the -6 and -7 series models produced for the SLDF featured an integrated satellite uplink, remote-controlled floodlights, and a modular tool mount on the right arm.<ref name=TROVA/><ref name=TROVAR/> Although the MR-8D and -8E are said to derive from the limited number of -8C models that Kerensky's Exodus fleet had brought, the fact that neither refit retains the [[jump jet]]s suggests that they could well have been -6 or -7 models.

The final -8C production model, which was only introduced in [[2719]], featured three [[jump jet]]s in the left torso for a total jump range of 90 meters, and two and a half tons of cargo space in the right torso; the previous -6 and -7 models had no [[jump jet]]s and used the tonnage for communications equipment.

==Variants==
*; MR-6 : The first known production version of the ''Marco'' lacks the [[jump jet]]s and cargo capacity of the later MR-8C. Instead, the MR-6 features four tons of [[communication equipment]] in the right torso. BV(2.0)=295<ref>''Record Sheets: Vehicle Annex, IndustrialMechs & Exoskeletons'', p. 74</ref><ref>[http://www.masterunitlist.info/Unit/Details/4594/marco-mr-6 MUL Profile for the MR-6 ''Marco'' ExplorerMech]</ref>

*; MR-7 : Introduced three years after the MR-6 in [[2715]],<ref>[http://www.masterunitlist.info/Unit/Details/4595/marco-mr-7 MUL Profile for the MR-7 ''Marco'' ExplorerMech]</ref> the MR-7 is similar to the earlier version, but reduces the [[communication equipment]] carried by two tons to make way for a one and a half ton cargo hold and a [[remote sensor dispenser]] which was added to the left torso to expand the explorer team's sensor radius. BV(2.0)=295<ref>''Record Sheets: Vehicle Annex, IndustrialMechs & Exoskeletons'', p. 75 - MR-7 ''Marco'' record sheet</ref>

*; MR-8D : Introduced in [[2801]], this field refit of the standard MR-8C removes all the standard equipment, including the [[jump jet]]s, retaining only the [[environmental sealing]]. In the place of this equipment, the MR-8D carries a [[large laser]] in the left arm and an [[SRM-4]] with one ton of ammunition in the right torso. 10 [[single heat sink]]s cool the weapons. BV (2.0) = 436<ref>''Record Sheets: Operation Klondike'', p. 71</ref><ref>[http://www.masterunitlist.info/Unit/Details/2073/marco-mr-8d MUL Profile for MR-8D ''Marco'']</ref>

*; MR-8E : This refit version, introduced at the same time as the -8D, removes the same equipment and sports 12 [[single heat sink]]s to disperse the heat from two [[medium pulse laser]]s in the right torso and two [[medium laser]]s in the left arm. BV (2.0) = 476<ref>''Record Sheets: Operation Klondike'', p. 72</ref><ref>[http://www.masterunitlist.info/Unit/Details/2074/marco-mr-8e MUL Profile for MR-8E ''Marco'']</ref>

==Design Quirks==
The ''MR-8C Marco'' features the following [[Design Quirk]]s:<ref name=TROVAR/>
* [[Extended Torso Twist]]
* [[Bad Reputation]]
* [[Obsolete|Obsolete (2720)]]

==Notes==
* In the story ''[[Trial of Faith]]'' at least three ''Marco''s are mentioned, from which one functional unit was cobbled together as of [[3050]]. Despite being described as an "older model" it has [[jump jet]]s, suggesting that there was perhaps a model with jump jets preceding the -6 series.

* When the ''Marco'' was introduced in ''Technical Readout: Vehicle Annex'', the write-up mentioned the [[jump jet]]s (which would amount to one and a half tons), but they were omitted in the stat sheet and a four ton cargo hold was given. This was corrected in ''Technical Readout: Vehicle Annex Revised'' where the jump jets are included in the stats and the cargo bay is reduced to two and a half tons.

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Historical: Operation Klondike]]''
* ''[[Master Unit List]]''
* ''[[Record Sheets: Operation Klondike]]''
* ''[[Record Sheets: Vehicle Annex, IndustrialMechs & Exoskeletons]]''
* ''[[Technical Readout: Vehicle Annex]]''
* ''[[Technical Readout: Vehicle Annex Revised Edition]]''


[[Category:Star League BattleMechs]]