Fenrir

A Leopard-Class dropship which serves as both transportation and home to Able Company's First Lance. The old "brick" is kept in passable working condition through the efforts of its crew despite being manufactured almost five centuries ago. Externally the armor plating is kept welded tight but internally ducts and wires are periodically exposed as part of the never ending war against ship maintenance requests.

Service History
The Fenrir was bought at auction by the Wolf's Dragoons to help rearm their Epsilon Regiment. Presumably the previous mercs had gone bankrupt and the banks collected their ship as collateral. The ship itself was mainly a hulk destined for a life of scrap parts in a warhouse somewhere. Wayland convinced Elizabeth Nicole the old ship was worth the time and effort to restore. So far the low operating costs of the Leopard class have enabled Fenrir to make good on Wayland's promise, even if his workweek is 50 standard hours.

The Fenrir was assigned to the First Lance of the new Able Company in the hopes that a little travel would net valuable experience for the newer recruits and demonstrate to other Mechwarriors that Able Company was a worthwhile unit on the rebound from Misery.

Production
A simple and easy-to-maintain design, the Leopard quickly became the standard lance-sized 'Mech carrier for the original Star League and the Great Houses. Its relatively low operating costs and abundant existing replacement parts (with the exception of the drive system) has allowed it to not only survive the Succession Wars as a ship class, but become the predominant entry vehicle for 'Mech recon, objective raid, and special operations missions.

Four 'Mechs and two aerospace fighters constitute a so-called AirLance under SLDF doctrine, where one in three lances was an AirLance. The fighter cubicles are often repurposed for cargo storage or other uses instead. In the case of the Fenrir the two aerospace hangars in the forward section serve as both cargo bay and machine shop.

In reference to its layout and allegedly also to its atmospheric handling, the Leopard is widely known by its nickname, "Brick".

Armament
The Fenrir has an impressive weapons loadout for such a small DropShip, most useful to defend against aerospace fighters. It can be easily overwhelmed, however, if swarmed. While it does count on three Long Range Missile racks for heavy hitting, two PPCs, five Large Lasers, and seven Medium Lasers give it more than enough combat capability when its munitions run out.

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