Overview:
In the aftermath of the first Inner Sphere encounter with an
omnimech, the obvious resemblance between the
mysterious new machine and the ancient Marauder had
spiked the sales of the already-popular GM battlemech.
General Motors --hoping to capitalize to the utmost on the
sudden boon-- began two parallel projects that attempted
to copy the powerful enemy design, nicknamed "Mad
Cat". Project Rakshasa operated in the clear, with the full
support and supervision of the New Avalon Institute of
Science. Project Amaunet (literally, "hidden one") , GM's
own attempt at reverse-engineering the superior
omnimech, operated in complete secrecy --after all, it
wouldn't do to have the NAIS discover GM's duplicity and
violation of non-disclosure agreements.
While the Rakshasa went on to a reasonable success
with NAIS, Project Amaunet was led by the unique Alexis
Karisen. Erratic and sometimes unpredictable in her work,
GM considered Karisen to be something of a wildcard
more than an ace in the hole. Operating under the
principle that insanity and genius are separated only by
one's level of success --and recognizing that
unpredictability and a fresh outlook were certainly needed
for tackling the complex technical issues presented by
combining Marauder with Catapult-- GM assigned Alexis to
head the design staff.
Capabilities:
At first, Karisen set about her duties with an admirable
attention to detail, leaping hurdle after hurdle with seeming
effortlessness. Her attention soon became obsession,
however, and the project ran into its first major difficulty
when some of the design staff challenged their project
leader on the matter of employing a standard engine.
Several felt that duplicating the Rakshasa team's use of
an XL engine would produce the best results, but Alexis
was adamant. The extra vulnerability, she reasoned, was
far too expensive a price to pay for the enhanced mobility.
The team was deadlocked, but this situation was resolved
when Ms. Karisen brutally assaulted one of the detractors,
leaving him hospitalized.
Curiously, from that date onward there were no serious
disagreements with the project leader. Karisen made all
further design decisions almost unilaterally, but always had
the full support of her team, even on such potentially
divisive matters as the reuse of ancient Magna Hellstar
PPCs and Mk II medium lasers. Indeed, even her decision
against the use of the new CASE ammunition storage
systems, which flew in the face of her earlier "survivability"
arguments, went completely unchallenged by her loyal and
supportive colleagues.
Deployment:
As Project Amaunet reached the prototype phase, Alexis'
eccentricity manifested itself in new forms. Security staff
and night janitors frequently reported seeing the woman
staying up late with her brainchild, though when queried
she responded that she was "personally ensuring there
would be no last-minute glitches in the test model". She
was repeatedly caught speaking to and doting upon the
inactive behemoth; polishing spotless launch tubes,
refocusing perfectly calibrated laser arrays, even painting
the beginnings of a camouflage scheme in the wee hours
of the morning, immediately respraying the original dull
grey.
These reports were largely dismissed as exaggerated, or
completely fabricated as "conspiracy" against the
company's "unique" new rising star. It was not until the
day of the prototype's test run that the rumors of her slight
insanity were proven to be, if anything, understated.
Having arranged for her baby's first showing to be a
fully-armed live-fire exercise --and with fingers broken just
minutes before on the jaw of the would-be test pilot--
Project Leader Alexis Karisen personally marched her
creation before an appreciative group of high-level GM
executives. She immediately opened fire on the
spectators, using the mech's public address system to
launch into a warped but impassioned account of the
virtues of the design.
In the chaos that followed, a hodgepodge collection of
GM's own battlemechs scrambled to the defense. Karisen
deliberately moved to engage a factory-new Rakshasa,
weathering its novice mechwarrior's panicky return fire
while extolling the superiority of her Amaunet. The
Rakshasa was disabled with an expert PPC hit through
the side torso --just as massed fire from a trio of Marauders
finally silenced the berzerker Amaunet. The wreckage was
rapidly dismantled and a very curious Federated
Commonwealth garrison commander was sent packing
with the nervous assertion that a GM prototype had
suffered "a slight weapons malfunction".
Three more prototypes were produced on basis of the
design's ghoulishly proven viability, but the design has not
seen widespread production. Whether this is due to the
company's embarassment over the "incident" or simple
paranoia about the slightly illicit nature of Project
Amaunet is uncertain.
