The Totenvogel is a mech with an infamous history. No other mech has such a viscerally negative reaction attached to it, it has become synonomous with a name of horror and evil, that of Stephan Aramis. Like the Stuka of pre-spaceflight Nazi-Germany, the Totenvogel cannot escape it's past or the deeds of it's users, and as such, no examples exsist outside of a few museums, and even there, their presence is controvertial at best.
         The Totenvogel was designed as a replacement for the venerable Wyvern, and the SLDF was impressed with the mech, then known as the Shrike. It had mastered the competition and Renault-Prime was waiting to ink the deal with the SLDF.
       Then, came the Aramis coup. Renault-Prime was taken with little fighting by the 19th Aramis Guards, and with it, the plans for the Shrike. Aramis, in a rare flash of insight, saw the potential of this mech, and ordered it to be produced, with a few changes, and a new name: Totenvogel, or Death Bird. It's mission changed slightly, from urban defense, to counter insurgency, and riot suppresion.  
       Inevitably, as things got harder in the Hegemony after the Aramis takeover, and more and more Hegemony citizens took up arms against their   opressors, the Totenvogel began to be more and more seen as a symbol of all that was hated about Aramis. But what made the Mech an avatar of death was one infamous act: The sack of the Vatican by the Greenhaven Gestapo in 2770. The sight of a lance of green and black Totenvogels burning out the Vatican with their flamers was broadcast by Aramis all over his occupied realm, his mad laughter providing a kind of sick narration.
       But, as the tide turned and the SLDF made it's way towards Terra, the Totenvogels became marked for destruction. SLDF units went out of their ways to kill Totenvogels, and of the 3350 known to have been produced, less than 200 survived to see Terra liberated. Kerensky took none of the mechs with him when he left the Inner Sphere and none were known to have seen action after the Aramis War.

     The Totenvogel was made to be a fast, hard hitting city figher that could hit fast at close range, and then use the city to fade away before hitting again from another direction.
       The extra-light powerplant and the Northrup jump jets gave the 'Mech the required mobility and radius of action. It allowed the mech to chose the range of engagement and act accordingly.
       The armour, communications and Target/Tracking system were all old, reliable off-the shelf systems that had been in the use by the SLDF for the better half of a century.
           The weapons fit reflected it's mission, For long range threats, a Blakenberg 25 Extended-Range Large Laser was installed into the center torso, and a pair of Aberdovey Mark III Medium llasers was installed, with one laser in each torso. These weapons were meant to handle mech and vehicle targets.
           What gave the mech it's evil reputation was it's 4 Hotshot flamers and 3 Armstrong Minigun Machine Guns. These were meant for infantry targets, but as Aramis forces discovered, could be used on rioters in a pinch.
             Most Aramis Totenvogels also were painted in shades of green, black and grey. Also, a set of wind powered sirens were installed to the legs, so as the mech jumped, it made a shrill bird like scream. It was yet another thing about the 'Mech that few liked.

As the war ground on for the Rim Worlds troops, and things began to get more desperate, many Totenvogel pilots found themselves and their machines being pressed into roles not meant for the Totenvogel.
   As such, many a Totenvogel jock would strip out a flamer in each arm to replace them with a medium laser, usally either a Martell or Aberdovey model.

       Few Totenvogels survive in any condition to this day, as the SLDF shot most of them to pieces, refusing to take any of them even as salvage. One example exsists at the NAIS museum and another at the Snord Museum on Clinton, but none have seen actual combat since 2784.