The Ontos, which means "the thing" in Greek, is a copy of an obscure 20th-century vehicle that saw limited use. It is reported that the project manager for Grumman Amalgamated combat vehicle division was a history buff who was a bit lazy about coming up with new designs. When assigned the task of designing a new heavy tank, the story goes that he merely flipped through some of his old books, saw the original Ontos - and voila, a new tank was born.
         The Ontos heavy tank mounts eight medium lasers and four LRM-5s, a combination that gives it better overall firepower than would a single large system, such as the AC/ 20. This combination also effectively covers all normal engagement ranges.
         Like its Terran predecessor, the Ontos has been nicknamed "the thing with a sting" by its crews and those who have seen it in action. Its weapons can disable almost any battlefield target.

         Like many vehicles its size, the Ontos gets concentrated firepower from a single type of weapon - in this case, the medium lasers. This feature enhances its overall effectiveness on the battlefield and provides for simplified maintenance and supply. With its eight Martel Model 5 medium lasers mounted in a single turret, the Ontos can destroy almost any light 'Mech or vehicle with one salvo and can inflict heavy damage to anything else.
         There was originally a problem with the heat sink/ power amplifier interface in the turret of the Ontos. Whenever all eight lasers fired at the same time, the massive heat built up would surge through the heat sinks and fuse the power amplifier. This problem was eventually solved by adding the Laser Coordination Link, which assured that the lasers would fire in a sequence, rather than all at once.
         The two LongFire LRM racks were added to give the Ontos firepower as protection against long-range attacks on the tank. Although the eight lasers are formidable, they cannot attack at the same distances that the LRMs can. The two racks are mounted above the lasers on the right and left.
         Like all heavy vehicles, the Ontos is slow. This lack of speed means that it cannot effectively exploit a breakthrough, but in most defensive situations, commanders would be hard-pressed to find a more effective vehicle.

         House Liao launched an attack against the Marik world of Myrvoll in the year 3000. Though the reason for the attack was never released, it is assumed that Liao wanted to test the Marik forces' readiness to defend themselves against a sneak attack.
         The attack group was composed of several companies of motorized infantry and their support vehicles. After landing on Myrvoll's light side in two commercial Drop-Ships, the infantry immediately mounted up and started toward their various objectives.
         The first target was a water purification plant 20 kilometers away from the dropsite. The infantry swarmed over the plant, and destroyed it within minutes. The second target was a repair facility ten kilometers away from the purification plant. The Liao infantry destroyed it, too.
         The Marik defense forces were not at all effective during the initial stages of the raid. With the Liao forces threatening multiple targets at once, the Free Worlds League forces had to try to protect everything at once. In a lucky stroke, however, their spies managed to capture a copy of the Liao battle plan, thus discovering that Liao's next objective was a mining facility in the mountains. Not wasting any time, the Marik defenders moved to set up an ambush in the mountains.
         The Marik units set up just as the Liao troops moved into the mountain range. The defense force consisted of 18 Ontos heavy tanks and some supporting infantry, the only units that could reach the ambush site on such short notice. The Ontos units initially engaged the infantry with indirect missile fire. Believing that they were being shelled by light artillery units, the Liao forces sped up and charged the Ontos' positions. At 300 meters, the front ranks of the Liao forces ran into a barrage from 144 lasers. The front ranks of the Liao infantry broke immediately, and started to retreat to their support vehicles. In the ensuing chaos, the Marik troops destroyed or captured all the Liao troops. The Capellan DropShips were barely able to lift before the dropsite was overrun by the victorious Marik forces.

Because many people belive it is inefficient to mount so many lsers on an I.C.E. vehicle , the most popular variation replaces the heat sinks , medium lasers , and power converters   with two LRM 20s and five tons of ammunition .

John Strange
   John Strange is the gunner of the Kurita Ontos , the ''Lover's Kiss'' . He is well-known for placing all eight laser shots into the same location on an enemy 'Mech .