Pls no fatass HI in PanO. Just make it a smol TAG instead. First S5 TAG maybe? PanO's take on a Gecko class REM:Pres TAG? There is an S2 ARM6 HI with 3 real wounds, shouldn't be so hard to make that work at S5 and not having to fit a dude in there (even though the dude is an Lhost and part of why that thing is so durable).
Go for literally any other faction - including O-12, CA and Aleph who didn't get the memo about S5 HI being plebian technology. Don't want or need for PanO. Not everyone needs everything. Apply the axe to that HI bike no one asked for with N4 while we're at it, give it to JSA or something.
If they did do a S5 PanO, I'm curious to see what niche or role it's intended to fill. We can all agree it's a big departure from the lore, so I'd love to see what it brings to the table.
I agree that not everyone needs everything, but again - rule of cool :) HI bike works great for me and I hope it stays. Pushing S6 TAG tech level into S5 HI sounds pretty PanO to me. Just make it slightly underoptimized as to not encroach to YJ HI territory, and we're good. My dream is something akin to Hulkbuster armor - big, equipped for CQB and CQB only, equipped with some kind of autorepair system (which could explain the increased bulk of the armor). Still - I'm completely fine with not getting S5 in PanO.
A small TAG would indeed be interesting, and totally aligned with PanO's knack for miniaturizing technology. Whether it's HI or a TAG though, maybe it'll be ARM8
I'm not sure what the lore definition would be between a small Remote Presence TAG, or a large Remote Presence Heavy Infantry. There a lot of in-game advantages to being Remote Presence Heavy Infantry though. Going Prone, no penalty to Dodging, Immunity to certain Hacking programs, etc. are all highly valuable.
As far as background is concerned I'd imagine mostly an organisational one. TAG pilots are their own military branch. A Rem:Pres HI in PanO would probably be similar to how a artillery and main battle tanks are both track propelled armored vehicles but just different departments of the armed forces in the "behind the scenes" logistics we can ignore on the game table. REM:Pres Hi is fairly unique and the technology or fluff explanation behind them are all over the place compared to TAGs. Human Rem:Pres Tags are basically always remote controlled death robots. On the human Rem:Pres HI side, only the Su Jian works similar. Karakuri, Betatroopers and Hollow Men are different technology strands and don't share more than the ingame effects of Rem:Pres with a TAG.
I'm hoping for a small yag with a vulcan shotgun and superjump, and maybe even chest mines for that ultimate come at me bro-ness......ok i just miss my Cygnar Minuteman. Also a bike. That's a skidoo.