Rimankyu
The Rimankyu ("small bow") is Eblan's first wholly indigenously-developed mecha, produced by Aichotomo Applied Technologies, building on their experience producing a localized variant of the Esperian-designed KN-Series.
The Rimankyu is a response to the demands of the Coalition-Merge War for an armed scout mecha. Although the Kuat-made Moongoose's in the Eblanese Mobile Corps inventory were satisfactory, commanders longed for something with more "teeth". Eblanese Pilots also preferred a machine with a more humanoid form factor over Kuat's "chicken walker". Coupled with strong desire by many to see Eblan produce its own mecha, the Rimankyu was born.
The most important design decision was to make the Rimankyu a "humanoid" mecha, with arms and hands. Aside from the increased tactical options of manipulating the environment, Eblanese pilots tended to prefer seeing the mecha as an extension of their bodies, unlike the "walking tanks" produced by Kuat. Another key point was the addition of two anti-tank missile launchers concealed in a chest panel; Eblanese commanders wanted their scout to have the ability to attack "targets of opportunity". Initially, these missiles were wire-guided, but this required too much "facetime" for such a fragile mecha, so Aichitomo developed a "fire-and-forget" anti-armor missile based on semi-active laser-tracking. This new missile (code-named Isshi, "Arrow"), allows the Rimmankyu so "shoot and scoot", firing from surprise and moving to avoid fire.
In addition to the chest-mounted anti-armor missiles, each arm has a forearm mounted light machine gun, for anti-infantry work. The Eblanese, through their cooperation with Guardia, experimented with Wondershot weapons, and though they were pleased with the result, they were concerned about the long-term availability of Sunstone and opted for a more traditional Needle Weapons system.
However, the addition of arms added significant weight, complexity, and expense. Most damningly for a light scout, it impacts the mecha's speed; although capable of keeping pace with Kuat's first-gen Mongoose walkers, it is left in the dust by the improved Mongoose II. Nonetheless, at 100 kph it is still pretty damned fast, and unlike the Mongoose it incorporates jumpjet capability.
Like other light mecha, speed is life. Heavy ordinance poses a serious danger to the Rimankyu. Although in theory the Rimankyu's speed and missiles would allow it to "get the drop" on another mecha, the Rimankyu only a few missile reloads and poor armor protection make it a poor choice for mech-on-mech combat. This is, after all, an armed scout, and standing toe-to-toe with a monster like a Dracoform is simply not what it is built for.
In theory the Rimankyu can use the handheld weaponry used by KN-Series mecha, but in practice, the scout mecha does not have the size and strength to use it properly. This hasn't stopped a few pilots from trying, particularly in desperate situations.
Well aware that they were making Eblan's first homegrown mecha, Aichitomo created the mecha with distinctive Eblanese armor styling, giving it a wide-brimmed "staw hat" to complement the samurai helmet of the KN Kabuto. Not merely decorative, the hat contains all-around cameras and sensors to give the pilot a 360 field of vision, essential for a fast-moving recon unit.
Nonetheless, the Rimankyu has been the source of some controversy, despite its excellent battlefield performance. Some groused that Eblan's first mecha should really be a mainline combat mecha or even an "ace" machine; AATCo announced the Hatamoto in order to mollify these people (despite not really having much of a design for it.) Additionally, stories of the Rimankyu's success have led some other countries to tender purchase offers. This has led to a debate over whether or not Eblan should export the mecha (and its associated missile technology). On the one hand, the mecha is arguably Eblan's first major weapons system developed entirely at home, and some view it as a source of national pride. On the other hand, the development of a new mecha was extremely expensive, and export sales could help recoup costs and fund further development.
