The Cetan ‘Mech represent a renaissance for the Hasegawa 'Mech Facility on Deiron. Up until 3059, the Facility had been used only for assembly of traditional DCMS 'Mechs - the Dragon and Ninja-To, in particular. However, the demands of fighting the Clans led to the removal of restrictions on the plant, which was able to convert an assembly line last used for the production of Urbanmechs, into the birthplace of a new generation of fighting scout 'Mechs - the Cetan.

The Cetan was designed as a fast light scout, capable of engaging Clan scouts like the Dragonfly and Uller at their own games. To that end, the base high speed of over 110 kph was supplemented with MASC gear, leading to top speeds of 150 kph+ for short periods. The Uller Clan 'Mech, in particular, served as inspiration for the Draconis engineers - mixing stability with superior maneuverability. Jump-jets were considered unnecessary due to the high base speed of the design.

A heavy load of 7 tons of Ferro-Fibrous armor provides superior protection for its class. In order to fit this, and the planned weapons load however, the weight of the design - originally meant to fall into the light class - crept up to 40 tons.

The weapons mix makes the Cetan a potent foe at any range. A standard PPC in the right torso provides a significant punch out to ranges just less than that of LRMs, and a complementary large pulse laser in the other torso can devastate at short ranges, with its mix of damage and accuracy. Following initial field-tests of the first prototype Cetans, a standard medium laser was added to the right arm as a last-ditch weapon capable of firing outside the front arc. The Cetan can fire all its weapons effectively in an alpha-strike, at ranges from 90m to 180m, with only minimal heat load.

Where Cetans are likely to be fighting in close terrain almost all the time, many pilots have attempted to replace the Cetan's standard PPC with another large pulse laser. The loss of range is seen to be less important than the improved accuracy of the pulse laser. Unfortulately, while the exchange seems easy - the LPL has the same tonnage, and heat burden, as a standard PPC - the presence of two pulse lasers on the chassis seems to lead to an increased failure rate in the locally-produced 'Freezer' heatsinks. In 86% of those Cetans so modified, up to 20% of the heat-shedding capacity of the design is lost following prolonged use.

[Game Notes: if a Cetan carries two LPLs, roll 2d6 before each combat. If you roll 5+, then add 4 heat each turn until the 'Mech has all DHSs replaced. representing a major overhaul of the coolant system)

Given its high speed, its strong armor, and its lack of ammunition-dependant weapons, the Cetan is being rushed to units along the Clan border as a scout and deep-raider. The Cetan has proved capable of handling Clan opponents of similar size, and more than once a lance of Cetans has been deployed against Clan second-line 'Mechs of comparable or greater weights. The only complaints have been that the 'Mechs' major weapons should have been arm-mounted, for greater fields of fire; however, this is beyond the capacity of a field refit, and Hasegawa are not currently interested in stopping production to perform a major redesign.

Fluff by WorkTroll.