Depending on the people working on them, things can take a much different direction. For example, the introduction of the Dragon DRG-1N in 2745 did not bother the Star League Defence Forces, which were relying on its more specialised and advanced designs to deal with what the Houses could be throwing against them (and the Dragon for them was a left-over of the competition for a new Shadow Hawk).
However the Amaris Coup would change that. Unable to deploy as many BattleMechs as before and fearing the times to come, General Kerensky ordered different Hegemony companies to start designing new ‘Mechs that would become the first of a new generation aimed at “defeating everything thrown at usâ€.
One of the companies that received this order was General Systems on Caph, that was recovering from the fights on this world and were trying to bring their production lines of Exterminators back to their full output. From their difficulties with coping with such a “simple†task, the company understood that now was the time to build a lower tech ‘Mech that would later (once supply chains would be fully operational and more advanced components would become once more available) be upgraded to meet the usual Star League Defence Forces standards.
No one is sure why the engineers at General Systems decided to focus on the Dragon. Perhaps because of their closeness to 3 Houses had they selected the iconic ‘Mech that seemed the most dangerous to them or because it lied in the vicinity (in terms of weight) of their own Exterminator, giving them some expertise in this field. Whatever the reasons behind it, they decided to work on the Slayer.
The first prototype was running on the field grounds on the 8th of July 2784 and the design process went through its end with delays due to the different battles involving the Great Houses that took their toll on the engineering teams and on the production facilities. By the end of 2792, a small production line had already been dedicated to the production of the SYR-1 and high hopes were placed on this design by the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns that were under pressure of the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery as worlds after worlds were falling to House Kurita.
However only one production run of 24 Slayers were produced before General Systems was destroyed and never rebuilt and was quickly taken by the AFFS that sent them to various Robinson Chevaliers units that were in dire need of reinforcements.
Thanks to its simplicity, the SYR-1 Slayer responded well in the difficult conditions faced by the AFFS as they were trying to stop the Kurita juggernaut.
Its tonnage and speed matched those of the Dragon and it was slightly more armoured than the Kuritan Heavy ‘Mech, ensuring an increased survivability. However, where it shines was in terms of raw firepower and endurance. Its all energy weapons with 2 Large Lasers and 2 Medium ones made it less vulnerable than the Dragon or other designs to ammo explosions and allowed it to stay almost forever on the battlefield. Two points are of note: first, its capacity to fire its main weapons almost without heat problems thanks to its 16 Heat Sinks and second, its rather advanced targeting and communication systems as without access to anything else, General Systems put those of the Exterminator in the Slayer, giving it a slight edge over other models as the years passed.
At the end of the Second Succession Wars, only 12 Slayers survived as no blueprints had been safeguarded from General Systems. They were evenly split in the 3 Robinson Chevaliers surviving regiments. Another interesting feature due to the nature of the Robinson Chevaliers was that once a new ‘MechWarrior in a Slayer had destroyed a Dragon, he/she would christened his/her Slayer for a mythical weapon or slayer of monster.
Over the years, the number of Slayers slowly went down as no new ones were being produced. This changed at the beginning of the 3050s when the Clans returned with their advanced designs and when Luthien Armor Works released the Grand Dragon, a clear improvement over the classical Dragon.
Unwilling to let its “supremacy†slip away, the Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth ordered (a bit like the Star League in its last days) to create new designs that would be able to tip the scales of the balance back in favour of the Federated Commonwealth.
General Motors decided to enter the “contest†with like General Systems, “a slayer for both beasts: the hydra of the Clans and the Dragonâ€. What no one knew was that General Motors had somehow found the original blueprints of the SYR-1 and would be able to be true to its words. This is how the SYR-2 Slayer came into being.
From outside, it just looked like the SYR-1 of old and a bit like the Linebacker later deployed by the Clans but from the inside, it was a totally new ‘Mech with no expenses spared to give the best ‘Mech possible to the AFFC.
Speed was increased to keep pace with the Grand Dragon and the more mobile ‘Mechs deployed by the Clans. This was only made possible through the use of a GM 360XL that the company developed and launched in record time (the only other option would have been to try to find an agreement with Kuritan companies for getting a regular access to the Hermes 360XL, something quite unlikely and that wouldn’t have suited the AFFC).
The internal structure was lightened thanks to the use of Endo-Steel and the armour was increased nearly to the maximum for a 60 tons ‘Mech with 11 tons of Ferro-Fibrous.
The weapons were also upgraded with first the use of systems in use by General Motors and with twin ER PPC replacing the Large Lasers, the twin Medium Lasers remaining where they had been for centuries and the addition of a Small Laser in the back to act as a deterrent against lesser threads like Elementals. To deal with the increased heat production, the 16 Single Heat Sinks were replaced by 16 Double Heat Sinks, making it possible once more for the Slayer to fire its main weapons without much concern about overheating.
By the end of 3052, the final prototype of the SYR-2 was given a go-ahead by the Department of the Quartermaster and a brand new production line was beginning to deliver the new incarnation of the Slayer to the Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth.
Quickly after the first ‘Mechs were delivered to front-line units, the Department of the Army and Navy issued a specific regulations forbidding the “I am going to hunt some Heavy ‘Mechs†attitude of some ‘MechWarriors. Officially, this has nothing to do with the Slayer but is more a concern about the psychological boost given to the AFFC by the arrival of so many new BattleMechs. However, some officers have pointed out that this new regulation appeared right after some Slayers were given names of mythical weapons or beast slayers after their first victory over other Heavy ‘Mechs.
