They are a poor Clan and such expense on a third line piece of equipment seems odd if not insane.
See, the idea of the Scorpions as a 'poor' clan are one the things I don't understand. They control roughly one-third of Dagda, 86% of Roche, 36% of Marshall, and sizable portions of Tokasha and Strany Mechy. Admittedly, most of these aren't the nicest places to live (except SM and perhaps Marshall), but all these worlds are known for their mineral wealth. Indeed, on Dagda, the Scorpions have pioneered under-sea colonies and mineral extration operations, as well as controlling two of the continents (Riva and Tenno) both of which have rich deposits of natural resources.
Warriors of Kerensky, Field Manual: Warden Clans, and Operation Klondike all make clear that the Scorpions utilize those resources; yet, one line in FM:WC says that the Scorpion worlds are "under-developed" in relation to the other Clans. Under-developed how? In population? In agriculture? In industrial capacity? I seriously doubt it is in mining and mineral extraction.
According to WoK, the Scorpions have a total population of 67,238,000 and are 91% self-sufficent. By the same sourcebook, the typical entry-level Clanner earns 20 Kerensky's a month in work credits, while the most skillful Clanner earns as much as 145 a month (20 base + 5 per grade to a max of 25 grades). Let's say the average Clansman has a skill level of grade 3. That is an average of 35 Kerensky's per month for 67,238,000 people in total; or 28.23996 billion Kerensky's a year. Let us futher assume that the Clan governing council receives from that sum the equivilent of 20% as its annual budget: 5.647992 billion Kerensky's.
since the Clans are militaristic societies, lets then say that 15% of that budget is dedicated to the Scorpion toumen (a VERY low number for a caste society in which the military caste is the top dog; given the society and culture I was actually tempted to say 25% or even 30%, but I digress): 847,198,800 Kerensky;s. And let us further say that 60% of those funds are spent to maintain their current forces, feed and house the troops, overhaul and refit military shipping, purchase munitions, etc., etc. and another 20% is spent on R&D. That leaves 20% of the budget (169,439,760 Kerensky's) available to purchase new 'Mechs, fighters, vehicles, battle-armor, or otherwise expand the toumen.
Now, remember that 1 Kerensky is approximately equal to 5 C-bills. That means the Scorpions have an ANNUAL budget of roughly 847 million c-bills to buy new military equipment, in addition to maintaining their existing equipment. EACH YEAR. That's a lot of 'Mechs, fighters, Elementals, and vehicles, paw-paw.
Admittedly, these are assumptions piled upon assumptions. However, given the numbers cited in WoK, and our own present day taxation rates, our current budgets and how much (or how little, depending on your point of view) is allocated to defense, I think it holds water.
The percentage allocated for expansion of the toumen could easily be larger by an order of magnitude, depending upon how much the Scorpions make by selling off those valuable natural resources they extract from the mountains and seas. We just found out that Afghanistan has at least ONE TRILLION US dollars (in current exchange rates) of untapped natural resources. How much more does the continents of Riva and Tenna on Dagda (or the oceans on Dagda) have? How much more does Roche have? Or Tokasha? Or Marshall? Or even the Scorpion enclaves on Strany Mecha?
Just because the Scorpions hold themselves aloof from Clan society as a whole; just because they do not over-extend themselves by having a dozen or so enclaves that must be defended; just because they are students of history and have a tradition of 'vision-quests through the use of necrosia' DOES NOT MEAN that the Clan is penniless and destitute.
They might not earn income the way the Sharks and Wolfs do (through a strong merchant arm and many colonial enclaves) or the way the Falcons do (via an aggressive banking and money-lending operation), but does that invalidate the manner in which they do earn their living?
Does it?
Now, the other Clans might easily have far larger sums of money and resources (hence the term relative in that above-listed quote for under-developed), but having less does not make one poor.
Sorry, didn't mean to go on and on with the rant, guys. Just a few rambling thoughts on the subject. Let me know if you disagree, and if so how please tell me where I have gone astray.
MA
