MungFuSensei, on 08 June 2012 - 01:26 PM, said:
It would be really neat to have some kind of ability/equipment where you have a squad of Battle Armor riding on your hull, and they hop off and annoy the crap out of your enemy. They wouldn't really be "pets" in that you have to control them. Just point and "shoot" (order them to attack) at close range. Then they hop off and swarm, shooting with small lasers/SRMs. Once the enemy is destroyed, any surviving members hop back onto your mech.
Now, this could either be equipment, taking up tonnage/slots, or it could be a commander ability, having them hot drop into an area. They would basically patrol a square on the map and harass any enemies that walk in there.
Of course, battle armor takes an Omnimech to act as a "taxi" for them, so even if they existed now, none of the 12 current 'Mechs could carry them. I wouldn't mind seeing them show up later as a "commander" option, but honestly BA squads are a little outside the reach of what a player should have direct control of.
(plus, they serve as very cheap extra armor for many designs...by taking hits if you're carrying one and a gun manages to shoot that location. Oops!)