EcoS-K-49 Thunderbeetle Warmount(aka ‘Ragepede’, ‘Ragnarok Bug’, ‘Chariot-bug’)
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/taalismn/img370_zpsced3afee.jpg “If you can see the glint off their multiple eyes, it’s already too late for you. Make your peace with whatever gods you hold dear.”
“The sound...the sound of all those legs scrabbling on hard concrete or metal debris, it’s maddening, worse than fingers on slateboard or automatic metal shears. Hearing just one of those things roaming about looking for you can drive you twitchy. The sound of a whole PACK of the damn things at the charge can induce madness even in hardened men.”
Although both ‘feral’ and ‘cyborg’ Fury Beetles were seen in EShemar encampments and ranks during the Shemarrian Civil War, these were by and large captured and turned examples acquired from ARCHIE-3’s legions, rather than new construction by the rebels. The type didn’t catch on as a Warmount with the Eshemar as much as other types, and independent production of new ones assumed a low priority. Outside Tribes such as the Silvermoons and Skullcrushers, Fury Beetles were typically assigned to second echelon warriors, NeShemar, and transport/haulage duties. It wasn’t until very late in the War that the EShemar finally came out with their own major variant of the robotic Fury Beetle, the Thunderbeetle.
The Thunderbeetle has the general body shape and features of the Fury Beetle, but the head is longer and more pointed and the body longer and sleeker. The foreclaws are longer and larger, with a better reach and a ‘guillotine chop’ punch. The back shell scallops to form a sort of boat cockpit(sometimes called a ‘Shemarrian orchestra pit’ by some wags) where several Shemarrians can stand, protected by the bulk of the ‘beetle’s body. The Thunderbeetle also sports an interesting ‘turkey fantail’ of long spikes around its hindquarters that can be raised and lowered to counter attacks from the rear and offer partial cover to the riders.
Armament is heavy; the Thunderbeetle precedes close combat with its striking array of jewel-like opto-lasers, but the real heavy hitters are heavy weapons mounted on the ‘beetle’s back. Though not possessing the same arc of fire as a proper turret, the back-mounted heavy weapons can still wreak havoc as the Thunderbeetle turns and charges with surprising agility on its multiple legs. In close combat Thunderbeetles are even more deadly than their organic ancestors, able to claw, bite, and impale anybody unwise enough to attempt melee battle.
The Thunderbeetle has sometimes been confused with the EcoS-K-18 Tuin, another ‘turtleback’ Warmount carrying heavy weaponry on its back, but whereas the Tuin is a standoff artillery platform, the Thunderbeetle is more of a close-in tank-destroyer. Faster and more heavily armored than their Fury Beetle ‘ancestors’, Thunderbeetles use their ranged weaponry to shatter an enemy while the Warmounts charge in, before chasing down and dismembering individual enemy units at close range. The positioning of their main armament means they are less effective in retreat, however, and a savvy Shemarrian commander will hold a reserve of lighter units with more flexible weaponry to cover the flanks of a Thunderbeetle frontal assault, then move up to provide covering fire while the ‘beetles make a high speed retreat, rear spokes raised to cover their riders, from the battlefield.
Thunderbeetles first appeared in the ranks of the Horrorwoods Tribe, but they have since appeared in in the stables of both the Skullcrushers, Silvermoons(who have their own variant), and the Bloodriders(not normally known to favor the Fury Beetle, but apparently willing to make an exception for the Thunderbeetle).
Type: EcoS-K-49 Thunderbeetle
Class: Robotic Warmount, Ground Assault
Crew: None; robot intelligence
1 rider/pilot, and room for 1-2 passengers in the ‘cockpit’
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 1,200
Head 560
Eyes(13) 15 each
Forepaws(2) 160 each
Small Legs(32) 55 each
Spikes(60) 50 each
(Optional) Dorsal Heavy Weapons(1-2) Typically 200-300 each
Note: The Thunderbeetle does NOT have a vulnerable underbelly. In fact, the EShemar deliberately reinforced it against land mine explosions. Reduce Main Body damage from explosive attacks directly UNDER the Thunderbeetle by HALF due to the shape of the armor.
Height: 12 ft (15 ft with tail spikes fully raised)
Width: 15 ft
Length: 22 ft
Weight: 20 tons
Cargo: Small space inside/beside the saddle-seat ‘cockpit’ area for a few personal possessions and sidearms, as well as a few footlocker-sized bins for spare ammunition/ e-clips, grenades, and loose rounds of main weapons ammo.
Physical Strength: Equivalent to Robotic P.S. of 50
Powerplant: Nuclear w/ 20 year energy life
Speed: (Running) 150 MPH
(Jumping) Not a good jumper; can manage a 6 ft straight up/8 ft across leap; increase distance by 50% with a running start.
(Climbing) If the surface can accommodate the weight, the Thunderbeetle is a surprisingly effective climber, using its massive long forelimbs and many smaller legs(and sometimes its back spikes) to find purchase and haul itself up steep grades, even small cliffs and buildings, with a climbing proficiency of 75%.
(Flying) Not possible
(Space) Not possible
(Underwater) 25 MPH running on bottom; maximum effective depth of 1,000 ft(normally doesn’t like this, though)
Market Cost: Exclusive to the Ecotroz-Shemar
Systems of Note:
Full optical systems, laser targeting, passive nightvision, telescopic vision, thermal imaging, infrared, ultraviolet, and polarization filters. Also has motion and heat detection, built-in radar( 60 mile range) and other standard power armor-equivalent systems. Additional/special sensors may be built in by the creating Spinsters or at the behest of individual riders/owners.
*Bionic Cybernanite Repair Systems---ALL Thunderbeetles have the same bionic nanotech repair system that the Ecotroz Shemar have refitted themselves with, and which is becoming the standard among NeShemar as well. These systems repair 4d6 MD per hour, and can repair 100 MDC before needing material stocks to convert to MD repair material.
Weapons Systems:
1) Eye-Mounted Lasers(12)---The Thunderbeetle sports no less than TWELVE eyeball lasers(the thirteenth eye is a dedicated sensor). These are configured to produce an area of effect fan blast ahead of the ‘beetle, allowing it to clear obstacles in front of it as it charges forward. As one Male Shemarrian put it; “lightning precedes the thunder”.
Range: 1,000 ft
Damage: 2d6 MD single blast, 2d6x12 MD if all twelve eyes are firing on one target simultaneously. Typically fires in ‘fan mode’ doing 2d4 MD to everything in a 45-degree arc ahead of the Warmount.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
2) Heavy Gun Mount---Mounted on the back is a heavy weapons hardpoint that can accommodate one or two heavy weapons, typically manned by the passengers in the ‘chariot seating’. Each weapon has 45-degree arc of fire side-to-side, and 90-degree elevation. Heavy rail guns such as the ‘Longstryke’ are the most common, though other weapons, such as the Black Hammer gunpod, are also popular. The following are a few of the more popular weapons mounted on the Thunderbeetle:
a) ‘Longstryke’ Heavy Rail Gun
Weight: 2 tons each
MDC: 250
Range: 11,000 ft in atmosphere, 22,000 ft in space
Damage: 3d6x10+10 MD per single shot.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 12 shot clip, or 36 round heavy drum
Special Features:
*Laser Targeting(+1 to strike)
b)’BlackHammer’ Laser/Missile Cannon
Weight: 1.2 tons each
MDC: 300
Range:(Laser)6,000 ft(triple in space)
(Mini-Missiles) 1 mile (double in space)
Damage:(Laser) 2d6x10 MD per blast
(Mini-Missiles) Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire:(Laser) ECHH
(Mini-Missiles)Volleys of 1-4
Payload:(Laser) Effectively Unlimited linked to a nuclear power plant. Otherwise, has a 25 shot onboard battery or a 20 shot regenerating powercell that recharges at 1 shot every 30 minutes.
(Mini-Missiles)30 rd drum
Special Features:
*Laser Sighting(+1 to strike)
c) Heavy Rail Gun---Glitterboy-style rail gun.
Range: 12,000 ft in atmosphere
Damage: 3d6x10 MD per 30-rd burst, only fires bursts.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 200 rd drum
d) Heavy Particle Beam Rifle---Orbital-style
Range: 11,000 ft in atmosphere, 22,000 ft in space
Damage: 4d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 25 blasts, recharges at a rate of 1 blast per minute
e)Heavy Pulse Laser---Adapted from the Glitterboy No. 7 of South America
Range: 8,000 ft in atmosphere, 16,000 ft in space
The Silvermoon version of this weapon has a 9,600 ft base range, owing to superior Silvermoon photonics.
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
f)Slayer Quad-Laser Cannon---Copied from the PS-RFL-40.
Range: 6,000 ft(60,000 ft in space)
Damage: 4d6 MD single shot, 2d4x10 MD short burst (four shots, one from each barrel), 4d4x10 MD medium burst (eight shots, two from each barrel in sequence), 4d6x10 MD long burst (takes two attacks), or 6d6x10 MD full melee burst (takes three attacks).
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited
g)60mm Gun-Mortar--Based on the pre-Rifts designs for dual-mode smoothbore direct-and indirect-fire weapons that can be either breech or muzzle-loaded.
Weight: (Basic weapon) 165 lbs
Range:(Direct Fire Mode): 6,000 ft
(Artillery Mode) 12,700 ft
Damage:
(Riot)---Combination flash-bang and rubber pellet charge---Victims are -10 to strike, parry, and dodge, -1 to initiative, and lose 1 APM for 1d4 melees. Rubber pellets do 1d4 SDC damage, but have a 60% chance of knockdown for any human-sized, or smaller, beings, caught in a 10 ft blast radius.....lose initiative and 1 APM for that melee(cost: 80 credits)
(Fragmentation-SDC) 2d4x10 SDC to 40 ft blast radius(cost: 200 credits)
(Fragmentation-MD) 3d6 MD to 50 ft blast radius(cost: 560 credits)
(High Explosive) 6d6 MD to 20 ft blast radius(cost: 720 credits)
(Anti-Armor HEAT) Very heavy projectile( Does 3d6x10 MD to a 2 ft diameter area(shaped charge)(cost: 900 credits)
(Plasma/Micro-Fusion) 1d6x10 MD to 8 ft blast radius (cost: 800 credits)
(Incendiary) 2d6 MD flash damage to 24 ft blast radius, plus does 1d4 MD per melee for 2d6 melees(cost: 710 credits)
(Acid)---4d6 MD to a 5 ft radius, then diminishes in strength by 1d6 each melee(lasts about 4 melees)(cost: credits)
(Chemical) Effects vary, but contains enough chemical agent to cover a 15 ft radius
(Illumination) Can loft to an altitude of 600 ft, and illuminate a 500 ft radius for 4d4 melees. (cost: 15 credits)
Note: Additional grenade types, including TW munitions, are constantly in development.
Rate of Fire: Must be manually breech-reloaded; a well-trained gun crew(and Shemarrians effectively count as an automated gun system) can fire up to four times per melee
Payload: Up to 50 rounds can be carried in the ‘cockpit’.
h) Heavy Plasma Cannon---Based on copied mechanoid technology.
Range: 5,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited
i)M-Ion Cannon----A copy of the Triax TX-8841 Ion Cannon(sans MRM launchers).
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited
Options:*Ion Scatter-Shot Module---This is a barrel mod that turns the cannon into a short range shotgun with an area of effect blast. Reduce range to 2,000 ft, but does 5d6 MD to a 30 ft wide area.
*Ion Booster Module---Another mod that boosts the range of the ion bolts, albeit with a small reduction in damage capability. Reduce damage to 1d4x10 MD, but boost range to 7,000 ft.
j) ‘Goddess Hammer’ Gatling Cannon---This weapon consists of six rail gun barrels(adapted from the Shemarrian ‘carbine’) in a gatling arrangement, set for rapid-fire, trading range for sheer volume of fire. At full auto, the damage spread of this weapon is devastating and has been known to shred robot vehicles and smash down fortifications in a single melee! The devastation the ‘Goddess Hammer’ can dish out is matched only by the thundering racket it makes spitting out rounds. Supposedly, after seeing this weapon in action, the reformed SkullCrushers immediately petitioned the Wolf’s Path for its schematics as part of the post-SCW Reconciliation between the Tribes. The Wolf’s Path held off the petition for over a decade, leery of handing such a weapon to the trigger-happy SkullCrushers, even reformed ones.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per round, 4d6x10 MD for a three shot burst, 8d6x10 MD for a six shot burst(!)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 820 shot drum
k) ‘Sun-Tor’ Heavy Plasma Projector----Introduced by the Bloodriders for their Thunderbeetles, the ‘Sun-Tor’ is actually an adapted starfighter weapon, copied from the Bushido Federation’s Katana-class Starfighter. The enormous amount of damage these cannon(and two can be mounted) do is balanced by their slow rate of fire and extremely short range; the Bloodriders have to get up extremely close to cut loose with these cannon. This isn’t normally a problem for the gung-ho Bloodriders who sneer at personal danger, but wiser(and less hotheaded) Warchiefs will allow their assaulter squads to mount only ONE Sun-Tor per Thunderbeetle, pairing it with a longer-ranged weapon(like the HPC listed above), allowing the Thunderbeetle crew to keep a distant enemy under fire while closing to deliver the heavy plasma executioner’s strike at what is effectively pointblank range.
Range: 600 ft
Damage: 1d4x100 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: Twice per melee
Payload: Effectively unlimited
3) (Optional) Modular Weapons(2)---The Thunderbeetle has provision for torso-mounting two weapons similar to those standard to the Monstrex.
4)Bite----The Thunderbeetle’s jaws are larger and more beak-like than the Fury Beetle’s, and can do more damage.
Range: Melee
Damage: 6d6 MD with a bite.
5) Foreclaws(2)----Similarly, the Thunderbeetle’s foreclaws are longer and farther-reaching than the Fury Beetle’s relatively stubby ones. The Thunderbeetle loves to bring its razor-edged forearms crashing down on fleeing prey, pinning them and dragging them back into range of the sharp beak to be dismembered.
Restrained Forearm Strike 1d6 MD
Punch 3d6 MD
Power Punch(2 attacks) 1d6x10 MD
Claws(Extended)+3d6 MD
6) Tail Spikes---The ThunderBeetle sports a fan of tail spikes similar to the articulated climbing spikes of the Monstrex. These sprout from the Warmount’s sides and rear, and can be angled up and down to provide a veritable hedgerow of sharpness to impale any attackers unwisely attempting to grapple from the sides or rear. They can also be angled down into the ground to brace and anchor the Warmount against shockwaves and attempts to flip it over. They effectively count as ‘splinter armor’ protection to passengers riding in the ‘cockpit’ of the Thunderbeetle; effective Armor Rating of 14; if an attack’s ‘To-Strike’ roll exceeds that, the attack bypasses the shielding altogether and strikes the main body of the target. In ‘full tom’ mode, fully extended and swept forward, that armor protection increases to A.R. 16, however, at that point, the spikes get in the way of the riders being able to shoot at anything not directly in front of them(where the guns provide some protection) or coming at them along the curve of the shell(-3 to strike trying to fire out through the welter of spikes). However, the ‘thicket’ has some effectiveness at defeating missile attacks; on a ‘To Strike’ roll of 6-7, Armor-Piercing missiles bash themselves on the cage bars, doing only 1d4 MD, and on a 8-15, do only HALF damage due to premature detonation or redirection of their kinetic force. All other missiles do normal damage.
Programming:
The Ecotroz have installed robotic AIs, then infected the matrix with a low-level Ecotroz sentience. The Thunderbeetle has an effective animal-I.Q. of 11.
Typically has the same programming as for the Monst-rex and Monst-crane. It’s something of a smart brute, but a brute nevertheless.
The Ecotroz entity can also pick up one Secondary skill at levels 2, 6, and 12 of experience, though the nature of the ThunderBeetle intelligence and design is such that it is limited to skill selections from Technical: Language(understanding) and Lore, Espionage(Detect Ambush, Detect Concealment), Wilderness(Track Humanoids, Track Animals, Hunting, Identify Plants and Fruits)
Actions/Attacks Per Melee: 7
Initiative +2 (+1 from the Ecotroz entity for a total of +3)
Dodge +6(+7 to dodge when running in excess of 75 MPH)
Strike +2 (+2 w/ ranged weaponry)
Roll +2
Parry +6(+7 with spikes)
Pull Punch/Claw/Bite +4
Critical Strike on an Unmodified 19-20.
Bite 6d6 MD
Restrained Forearm Strike 1d6 MD
Punch 3d6 MD
Power Punch(2 attacks) 1d6x10 MD
Claws(Extended)+3d6 MD
Forearm Chop 6d6 MD plus a 60% chance of knocking down humanoid-sized targets for a pin.
Full Speed Ram(2 APMs) 1d8x10 MD
Trample 4d6 MD
Note: The Ecotroz intelligence fragment inhabiting the ‘bot gives the Thunderbeetle an aura and behavior more befitting a sentient being than a robot. Like its organic inspiration, the Thunderbeetle is normally calm and collect, unless provoked, in which case it goes berserk, running down and smashing the source of its irritation. Thunderbeetle riders must rein their mounts with a firm hand, as the temperamental beasts are prone to cause large amounts of collateral damage in mad careens across the battlefield.
The Ecotroz fragment does occasionally need sleep/rest...though they only need 2 hours of rest/meditation per 24 hours...they can push this, going without for as many days as they have I.Q. points, but will have to go dormant for 4d6 hours after such exertion.
Note also that the Ecotroz-possessed ‘bot can infect other bots with the Ecotroz viral-entity, by bite or sustained touch(takes 3 attacks).
Variants:
*EcoS-K-49Sm---(aka ‘Moonbug’) Silvermoon variant, armored in either silver or gold laser-reflective chrome(lasers do HALF damage). Furthermore, the optical lasers are improved; 1,250 ft range and each does 4d4 MD each(or 4d4x12 MD for all twelve eyes firing simultaneously).