The eldest son of two veteran MechWarriors, Jackson Cole cashiered out of the 2nd Detroit Guards when his parents retired from the Detroit Free Volunteer Militia and passed him one of the two family BattleMechs. Having become owner-operators, Jackson and his younger brother Tyson decided to take the opportunity to leave Detroit and see the greater galaxy and signed on with the Dust Devils in 3064.
MRBC Dossier - 3065[]
BattleMech[]
Redwing is a venerable machine, passed down as a Cole family heirloom for generations, since at least the Second Succession War. Repaired and rebuilt innumerable times, the old SHD-2K Shadow Hawk was finally passed to Jackson by his father when both his parents retired from the Detroit Free Volunteer Militia after decades of service, with his mother passing her HBK-4P Hunchback to Jackson's brother Tyson. When Jackson and his brother signed on with the Devils, both were eager to take advantage of the unit's generous refit program for their aging (and somewhat patchwork) machines.
The upgrade Redwing received provided a fairly significant increase to all of the 'Mech's capabilities. The engine was upgraded to a extralight version with the same power output, freeing up weight while increasing mobility with an additional Jump Jet and triple-strength myomer. The upgrade of the standard PPC to a ClanTech extended-range model and the LRM-5 to a more flexible and powerful nine-tube Multi-Missile Launcher provide a relatively dramatic increase in reach and power over a stock 2K Shadow Hawk. To shore up its close-in capabilities, Virtanen's team replaced the stock right arm with one taken from an SHD-2H, further modified with the addition of a second energy hardpoint, mounting ClanTech ER medium lasers to both.
To increase Redwing's survivability, the Devils' replaced the 'Mech's original ammo storage with expanded, CASE-protected bins supporting both long- and short-range missiles, and added an additional two tons of armor. Finally, the replacement of the standard heat sinks for double-strength ClanTech models compensates for the much hotter weapons loadout, allowing Redwing to keep cool through sustained firing.