Overview 
Immediately ollowing the collapse of the Federated 
Commonwealth back into the Federated Suns and Lyran 
Alliance, Archon Katrina Steiner had one main source of 
irritation - the so-called "Arc-Royal Defence Cordon", 
under the rule of the disloyal Morgan Kell. Why, Kell had 
even accepted a major chunk of an enemy Clan - the 
Wolves in Exile - into his territory. And worst of all, Kell not 
only refused to recognise the Archon’s legitemate authority 
- he and his positively traitorous son Phelan began 
producing their own ‘Mechs! This was clearly intolerable - 
something had to be done. 

Using her contacts with Thomas Marik and the Free 
Worlds League, Archon Steiner expressed interest in a 
FWL design to match the WiE’s Arctic Wolf mech - the 
Basilisk. 

Capabilities 
The Basilisk was named after a small lizard native to the 
Atreus, who spat poisonous saliva to slay its prey. The 
‘Mech Basilisk is a small, speedy design capable of firing 
24 short-range missiles in a single salvo. The torso design 
is dominated by four Sureshot SRM-6 launchers. Six tons 
of ferro-fibrous armor provide near-maximum for a ‘Mech in 
this weight range, and integral CASE is provided to protect 
the launchers’ ammunition supply. 

In order to make the Basilisk’s "hit and run" style effective, 
a large and bulky Magna 245 XL engine was selected, 
providing a top speed of almost 120 kph. It was not 
possible to fit jump-jets as well, which limits the Basilisk’s 
maneuverabilty. 

In the balance of firepower to defence, the loser was in 
this case ammunition. Each launcher has but 7 shots 
before running dry, leaving the ‘Mech defenceless. 

Deployment: 
Some 150 Basilisks were duly produced by Irian, and 
shipped to the Lyran Alliance. Unfortunately, the LAAF 
were not impressed with the design - it was outside the 
Lyran standard light mech weights (55-70 tons), and while 
24 SRMs represented reasonable crit-seeking ability, the 
LAAF preferred more traditional weapons like the LB-20X 
autocannon in this role. Accordingly, the Basilisks were 
made available for sale to mercenary units in the LAAF’s 
employ. 

And there, the Basilisk was gladly accepted. Simple, 
uncomplicated, fast, and with a massive sucker-punch, 
the Basilisk became the aim for every Locust-driver keen 
to move up in the world (and maybe survive the next 
battle). Unit commanders were happy to receive a 
popwerful, fast unit - the Zeus being a Lyran’s idea of a 
pursuit mech. All 150 were soon in use, and enquiries 
flowed back to Irian for the supply of spare parts and 
replacements. Basilisks have since spread throughout the 
Inner Sphere as the Merc units move around, and can be 
found in most major units to have served in Lyran space. 

It should be noted, however, that in the limited battles 
between Basilisks and Arctic Foxes, the WiE design has 
almost uniformly proven victorious - the lighter Clan-tech 
launchers, with their longer range than their IS 
equivelants, proving a significant advantage. 

Variants: 
Some Merc units, like the Fighting Urukhai and Smithsons 
Chinese Bandits, have approached Irian with respect to 
producing a Basilisk II. The Mark II design drops the 
engine to a Magna 210XL, reducing top speed to just 
under 100 kph. The resulting weight savings are used to 
add another half-ton of SRM ammo to each torso, and to 
put a standard medium laser underslung each arm. This 
would improve the Basilisk’s combat endurance, without 
overly reducing it’s speed. Irian is currently considering the 
proposal.

(Fluff by WorkTroll)