BumbleBee, on 09 December 2016 - 02:32 PM, said:
The closest you will find is the Dark Caste, which are basically pirate groups consisting of disgraced former Clansmen, and they were hunted, definitely not hired (at least not by the Warrior Caste)
The IS cant really use Clan Mechs at this point in the timeline anyway as they cant repair them. There are no spare parts, no infrastructure to manufacture said parts and they do not really understand much of the tech or techniques needed to make them.
The only ones you might find are captured Mechs, often sent straight to R&D, or to Royal Guard units
i was under the impression that a couple clans used the dark caste every now and then, and they just dont let people know since its such a taboo for them. i recall one of the clans was annihilated for having dealings with them, but it was kind of a quite assumption that the dark caste was used by some higher ups in variaus clans. i dont remeber to well since im not a clanner fan (aiden pryde and horse dont count as clan to me, im their fanboi forever). i wouldnt put it past elias critchell to use dark caste every now and then. plus theres also the red corsair, who was kinda a dark caste member (it was hella secret squirelly stuff, they didnt make it too clear). so mercs that work for clans could be dark cast, and maybe the dark caste includes some spheroids now that the clans have returned to the IS. the whole existence of the dark caste is the only selling point for allowing mercs to switch to clan lorewise, so i think pgi should play around with that title a bit more, it would help it make more sense.