Nightstar NSR-XM

XL380



Standard



Standard

1x ER PPC



2x UAC/5



3x MPL



4x MG



1x BAP



2x CASE

(Demi-)Precentor Xaver Murr



Word of Blake, previously ComStar

Engine, Chassis and ArmourArmament and EquipmentPilot and AffiliationLore

Had he known of Focht’s treachery, Demi-Precentor Xaver Murr would have powered up his Nightstar and walked straight to Hilton Head, all guns blazing, as would have most of his comrades in the Second Primus Guards Division. But in the chaos of June, Anastasius Focht was still thought to be a hero – the victor of Tukayyid, slayer of the Clans – and no one really knew what was going on when word of the Primus’s death spread.

The two Guards Divisions dispersed and most of their members joined the Word of Blake on Gibson in the Free Worlds League, where they formed the bulk of the elite First Division as well as the officer cadres of the other divisions which were to be mustered soon. Despite the invitation of the Free Worlds League, the people of Gibson were openly hostile to the children of Blake and there was little choice but to fight back in order to preserve Blake’s Word. Hope was hanging by a thread these days, and the newly formed WoBM could not allow some peasants to disrupt the rebuilding of the Order.

So in 3053, a small war erupted on Gibson, too small to be noticed by the Inner Sphere, yet very real for the fledging Word. One day on patrol Demi-Precentor Murr was ambushed by a few hovercrafts luring him to a hidden infantry position where he was showered with Inferno Missiles. None of his formidable weapons were of great use. He was able to destroy a hovercraft but once the Infernos hit, he was limited to his Gauss Rifles which did very little against the well camouflaged infantry. Murr was eventually relieved but his Nightstar was a mess. Both Gauss Rifles had exploded, the armour on the torso was breached, and the engine was destroyed.

Murr’s Nightstar was recovered nonetheless, and when conversing with the Precentor Martial Trent Arian, he asked for permission to rebuild it with a much stronger focus on the asymmetrical warfare they were facing on Gibson. Arian agreed and thus the Nightstar got a larger engine for faster movement, the Gauss Rifles were replaced with multi-purpose Ultra Autocannons, and four Machine Guns were added. In his righteous fury, Murr also wanted flamers, however Arian insisted on the ability to kill armoured opponents too, and a battery of Medium Pulse Lasers completed the armament. Lastly, a Beagle Active Probe improved the sensory equipment and increased the situational awareness of the Mech to avoid further ambushes.

Once completed the NSR-XM soon became the bane of the rebel Gibson Freedom League. In the first engagement of the new Nightstar, the skirmishing hovercraft were shelled with the UACs, and then Murr had no problems of finding the infantry, run them down, and kill them all in a hail of grenades and bullets. With no survivors to tell the story, similar battles were fought and won by Murr over the next few weeks. And even after the insurgents realized what kind of opponent this Mech war, trying to avoid it at all costs, a merciless Murr continued his vengeance in the name of Blake.

The NSR-XM later proved its worth in conventional combat when the so-called Knights of the Inner Sphere arrived on Gibson in 3054. This pretentious clique of self-important pseudo-moralists in service of the false Thomas Marik initiated an unprovoked aggression against the Word, to which loyal troops had only one answer. Murr cut a bloody bath right through the enemy ranks and came within hairbreadth to destroy the Phoenix Hawk of self-proclaimed “Sir” Paul Masters. He had him in his sights, but then the enemies of the Word showed their understanding of “nobility” by detonating a nuclear bomb. They probably knew the Precentor Martial had but one flaw, his compassion, and indeed he ordered his troops to stand down hoping to avoid the further bloodshed of what he thought were innocent people.

But Xaver Murr had not forgotten the dirty deeds of the Knights. Vengeance would be his, once again.

Lore Commentary

The Primus Guards Divisions are mentioned once but never again, so I suppose they were disbanded. And considering they were the diehard ComStar loyalists, I think they mostly joined WoB.

The war on Gibson was a bloody affair, and I would not be surprised if the WoBM had modified some of their Mechs for this small war.

The final Battle of Gibson was a strange affair, but it was the first big battle of the WoBM and it included the PHX of Masters, a hero-Mech we will get soon. So why not give us one from the other side?

MWO Commentary

In MWO this would be a very powerful Mech. No less than six ballistic hardpoints and four energy hardpoints provide you with all the firepower you need, while the huge engine allows for maximum speed. It is not without drawbacks though. All the ballistics are mounted in the arms and thus easily destroyed; in fact only two hardpoints are not mounted in the arms, and one of them is a small hardpoint in the head. The rest can be regulated via quirks.[/color]