Although the Gun Griffon robot is a outstanding piece of equipment, it is also too expensive for the NGR to buy in large quantities. Several battalions have been outfitted with the Gun Griffon, but the cost was a great strain on the NGR armed forces. Despite this, the enormous firepower that these machines have has already been a great asset in actions against the Gargoyle Empire.

Thus the Army asked Triax Industries if they could come up with a cheaper robot with the same armor hunting capabilities as the Gun Griffon.

The Skorpion is the answer that Triax engineers came up with. Because most of the cost of the Gun Griffon came from the use of very expensive lightweight materials (necessary for flight), and because the mobility afforded by flight was not always needed (or even desired), it was decided that the new robot would not have flight capability.

A four legged shape was decided upon, because this would provide good stability and excellent bad terrain crossing capability. The Railgun would be fed from a magazine inside of the robot.

The Skorpion indeed looks a bit like a low walking insect, with its four high legs, in-between which the body hangs suspended. The cockpit is located well in front of the main body, and has a layout like that of a attack helicopter, with the gunner in front, and the pilot behind and slightly above him. Fitted in each leg are two powerful Jump jets, which help the robot in overcoming large obstacles. On top of the main body is the railgun, which gives it a excellent field of fire. The power plant is located in the raised part of the rear of the Skorpion.

The Skorpion is well armed, with as its main weapon the Annihalator Railgun which is also carried by the Gun Griffon. This ramjet round firing weapon has a range and power superior to that of a glitterboy`s Boom gun. For added firepower, and mainly used for self-defense, the Triax engineers mounted a triple barreled pulse laser under the "chin" of the robot. This fires a wide burst of laser pulses, which gives it short range, but a better chance to hit. For the Skorpions added defense triple mini-missile launchers were installed high in each leg. Each of these launchers has one reload.

The Skorpions armor is pretty impressive as well: it is better armored than the Gun Griffon, and it carries the same forcefield that the Gun Griffon and the Ulti-Max powered armor also carry. Finally each leg is fitted with a bolt-on shield made out of ablative armor. These shields are very expensive, and is only available in large army bases. This armor is based upon examples of ablative armor found in the abandoned Krupps factories, where the armor for the De Ruyter Destroyer was made. These shields are very useful for parrying with, as any damage done to the leg is first absorbed by the shield.

Pilot uses hand to hand but the gunner only gets his normal attacks. With a full crew (one pilot and one gunner), pilot usually only pilots vehicle, and the Weapons officer controls the Pulse laser, the Rail Gun, and the Mini Missile Launchers.

Model Type: MAH X-9000
Class: Medium Armor Hunter
Crew: one Pilot and a Weapons officer.

M.D.C. by Location:

	Annihilator Rail Gun:	220
	Chin Laser:	100
	Mini-Missile Launcher (24, 6 each leg):	30 each
	[1] Leg Shields (4):	300 each
	[1] Legs (4):	250 each
	[2] Jump Jets (8, 2 each leg):	75 each
	Spotlights (2, Right front):	50 each
	Reinforced Pilots compartment:	100
	[2] Main Body:	600
	[3] Force Field:	100

Notes:
[1] The legs are covered with a massive outer shield of ablative armor, which receives HALF damage from all beam weapons, be they lasers, Ion, or particle beams. This armor is very expensive, and is only available in large army bases (NO Black Market item!). The Pilot can PARRY with these shields, as any hits to the leg do damage to the shield First!
[2] The jump jets are fully redundant. The Skorpion can still jump to its full height with half of its jump jets disabled, as long as there are at least two jump jets on each side of the mecha. The jets can also be used to upright the Skorpion, should it ever land on its back.
[3] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will shut the mecha down completely, rendering it useless.
[4] A Forcefield like that of the Ulti-Max power armor and the Gun Griffon. Depleting the 100 MDC of the force field will automatically shut the generator down, with subsequent damage done to the body of the Skorpion.
A depleted force field needs 16 hours to recharge to full capacity. Even minor damage (25 MDC or less) requires 4 hours to fully recharge.

Speed:
Running: 120 mph (193 kph) maximum speed. Cruising speed is generally about 60 mph (97 kph).
Leaping: powerful legs allow robot to leap 20 feet (6.1 m) up and 30 feet (9.1) across from a standing position, or 25 feet (7.6 m) up and 50 feet (15.4 m) across with a short running start. All of this unassisted by the thrusters. A jet thruster assisted leap can propel the unit up to 100 feet (30.5 m) high and 200 feet (61 m) across without actually attaining flight.
Underwater Capabilities: Although not designed for underwater use, it can walk along the bottom of the sea at about 25% of its normal running speed. Using the jet thrusters, the Skorpion can travel on the surface of water at 45 mph (72 kph/38.5 knots),or underwater at 35 mph (56 kph/30 knots).
Maximum Ocean Depth: 2,400 feet (720 meters).

Statistical Data:
Height: 9 feet (2.7 meters) for main body section with cannon and 15 feet (5 meters) when standing fully raised on its legs.
Width: 7 feet (2.4 meters) for main body section and 31 feet, 6 inches (9.6 meters) with outspread legs.
Length: 31 feet (9 meters) for main body section and 33 feet, 6 inches (10.2 meters) with outspread legs.
Weight: 29 tons (26.3 metric tons) fully loaded..
Physical Strength: Equal to a P.S. 40
Cargo: A 4 x 4 x 3 foot storage bin for extra equipment and weapons.
Power System: Nuclear Fusion with average life0span of 20 years
Black Market Cost: NOT AVAILABLE ON BLACK MARKET. New Skorpions costs 22 million credits per unit! The Coalition and black market would pay many times that amount for a fully functional and armed Skorpion.

Weapon Systems:

1. Annihilator Railgun: This huge weapon (8 meters in length) fires special 3.52 inch (90 mm) ramjet ammunition. It is more powerful than even the fabled Boom Gun of the GlitterBoy powered armor, but because of the power it needs it requires almost 3 seconds to charge between shots. This is slightly faster than the Gun Griffon needs, and is due to the Skorpions larger Nuclear engine. Each Ramjet round weighs in at nearly 17 pounds AFTER terminal burn, at which time it is traveling at hypersonic speeds. Each of these rounds costs about 10,000 credits, which is why practice with this weapon is usually performed with more mundane and slightly shorter ranged solid slugs. Recoil is kept manageable by large shock absorbers in the weapon itself, and the fact that part of the ammo`s speed is build up AFTER it has left the weapon. The Gunner of the Skorpion can switch between ammo types at will, the automated magazine then feeds the selected ammunition to the Railgun. The magazine is located inside the main body of the Skorpion.
   Gun has a arc of 270 degrees (not straight backwards due to the raised part of the main body), and a elevation of 60 degrees up, and 20 degrees down. By tilting the Skorpions body the firing arc and elevation can be considerably improved upon. (Depends upon piloting skill)
   The Rail Gun has, due to its special gyro stabilization, a bonus of +2 to strike (in addition to any bonuses from the gunner).
   Mega Damage: 5D6x10 per round of ramjet ammo! Solid slug does 3D4x10, High Explosive Armor Piercing does 2D6x10 with a blast radius of 10 ft.
   Rate of Fire: Four times per melee. Bursts and sprays not possible.
   Maximum Effective Range: 14,000 feet (4,200 m) with Ramjet ammunition, 11,000 feet (3,200 meters) with solid slugs and high explosive.
   Payload: 70 round magazine. Ammo selection is usually 40 Ramjet, 15 solid and 15 High explosive. Reloading the magazine will take about fifteen minutes for those not trained, but eight minutes trained personnell
2. Chin triple barreled pulse Laser: Used mainly for defense of the Skorpion. It has 360 degree rotation and elevation changes of 45 degrees and is able to hit targets under the Skorpion. It CAN be controlled by either the gunner or the pilot. and because it fires a wide spray it is +2 to strike.
   Range: 2,000 feet (610 meters)
   Mega Damage: single pulse 2D6,
   Rate of Fire: Equal to combined hand to hand attacks of gunner. Bursts and Sprays arepossible.
3. Mini-missile Launchers (24): Six of these are mounted on the sides of each leg in groups of three, and are fitted flush with the armor. These are standard mini missile launchers, usually used for close in defense purposes. The reloads are fed to the launchers from a small magazine in each leg. If a launcher is damaged, its reloads can be directed to the other launchers.
   Missile Type: Any mini-missile can be used, but standard issue is armor piercing or plasma. Fragmentation will be used for anti-personnel operations.
   Mega-damage: Varies with mini missile type (Go to Revised bomb and missile table).
   Range: Varies with mini missile type (Go to Revised bomb and missile table).
   Rate of Fire: One at a time or in a volley of 3, 6, 12, 18 or 24.
   Payload: 1 mini-missile per launcher, with 1 reloads per launcher, for a total of 48 mini-missiles.

Special Equipment:
The Skorpion has all the systems standard to all TRIAX robots with the following modifications:

• Extended Range Radar: The Skorpion has a extended range radar system that has a range of 120 miles (192 km) and the radar system can track up to 64 targets simultaneously.. The radar system also has terrain following capacity as well for low level flight missions.
• Thermal Imager, IR detector and Image Enhancer : The Thermal Imager allows the Skorpion to see heat patterns radiated by any object. It allows the pilot to see through smoke and mist, and is completely passive, e.g. it does not radiate any kind of energy. Range: 6,000 feet (1,840 meters). The IR detector allows the pilot to see the IR spotlights of other vehicles. The Image Enhancer enhances the ambient light conditions, allowing the pilot to see through the darkness as if it were daylight, while the only available light may be that of the stars. Does not work if NO light is available. Range: 8,000 feet (2,460 meters).
• Laser Communication System: The Skorpion has a special extended range radio and laser communication system. The radio system has a range of 1,000 miles (1,600 km). The laser communication system is directional and has a range of 100 miles (160 km).

HAND TO HAND BONUSES:
For Elite combat use the listed bonuses and number of attacks, otherwise use Robot Combat basic.

• Two hand to hand attacks per melee (plus pilots)
• +2 to roll with punch, fall, or impact (explosion), reducing damage by half.
• Kick attack
• +2 to strike
• +3 to parry
• +3 to dodge
• Critical strikes same as pilots hand to hand.
• One additional hand to hand at levels Five and Ten.

Special to Long Range Combat:

• +2 to strike in Long Range Combat
• +1 to dodge (applies only to ranged combat)

[ Nurani TM, Shemarrian TM, and Coalition TM are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]
[ Rifts® is a registered trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc.]
[ Robotech® is a registered trademark owned and licensed by Harmony Gold USA, Inc. ]

Image and idea taken from the game Assault Suits Valken 2(No link available yet)

By Mischa (E-Mail Mischa ).
Minor Revisions and corrections by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

Copyright © 1999, Mischa. All rights reserved.