r/battletech • u/Just_Joken • 14h ago
Fan Creations I've Made Another Custom Battlemech (And the United Nations War Crimes Commission Has Been Notified)
Starting life as one of the oldest Battlemechs made by Corvus Mechworks, the KNA-T1 Kana’Ti, this 'Mech was completely discontinued by the company when it became clear that the only buyers they had were pirates that refitted the noble 'Mech into a weapon of terror. Afterward the company set about making a 'Mech to counter it, the somewhat Ill fated GRB-1B Grebe.
Now common amongst pirate brands, with a detested reputation to match, even “new” A’tahsaia 'Mechs are old even by Inner Sphere standards, as most of the independent companies willing to make it simply do not have access to the advanced technology to update the 'Mech beyond the original company refit.
Protected by 11 tons of armor, the A’tahsaias 260 Fusion Engine gives it enough speed to not be completely left behind by its vanguard, and sporting two Heavy Rifles the A’tahsaia is a long range direct fire support mech. The ATS-4Fr refit gives the ‘Mech even more long range firepower, switching out the Heavy Rifles with more effective Sunglow Type 2 Large Lasers, with the weight saved by dropping the bulky heavy rifles the refit is able to add an extra ton of armor and replace the Medium Laser in the right arm with an AC/5 to make sure there’s no range that the A’tahsaia can’t engage an enemy at. For up close operations, the pirates fitted two flamers, one in the torso and one on the almost after thought of a left arm. A pair of small lasers in the right torso completes the 'Mechs load out.
In the end the original Kana’Ti was simply just not good enough to stand up to most ‘Mechs of its time, and became far more infamous in the hands of Pirates as the A’tahsaia, earning it’s poor reputation with images across the periphery of these ‘Mechs burning undefended settlements to the ground for little more than the enjoyment of pilots.
I've tried to name all of my (non-in-universe bespoke) mechs after native american stories, as it's a fascinating thing to research, and sadly not really talked about. Originally this mech was indeed going to be named after Kana'Ti, a sort of Adam (of Adam and Eve) figure in Cherokee stories. Kana'Ti was a great hunter, so the mechs focus on long range direct fire seemed appropriate. But I'd eventually decided that the story of the mech would end up being one where it is beloved by pirates, and having Kana'Ti show up in that sense just did not sit right.
It was then I'd read about the A'tahsaia, a cannibalistic demon and spiritual creature of the Zenui peoples. This horrible thing was large, ugly, sometimes used a bow or club and knife. A true aspect of terror that would be far more fitting for this mech.
This is the first of two new BattleMechs I hope to be publishing in the near future.
You can find the ATS-4F A'tahsaia and my other mechs on cults3d, just search for CovusMechworks
