Organic Cruise Missile

[slappy]

Re-post of my lost Organic Cruise Missile with a little more detail about the personality of these psychotic War Mounts.

Kamikaze Organic Cruise Missile
The Librarians of the Resistance have achieved amazing results through bio-technology. They have created weapons, vehicles, living suits of power armor, and even missiles, but they have never been able to match the sheer destructive power of the Machine’s nuclear armaments. An option has existed for centuries, but it took the Resistance years to develop a way to safely harness it.

When the Librarians were first trying to perfect the Omega Blaster, a serious design flaw would occasional cause the power cells to destabilize and explode in a fiery blast that completely consumed the Host Armor and anyone within one hundred feet. This defect was eventually discovered and eliminated from the design, but all Librarians held on to this “flaw” in order to see if it could be exploited for some other purpose.
Eventually, a Librarian from one of the smaller Great Houses came up with a use for these defective omega cells. He was inspired by tales of the Kamikaze pilots from ancient Earth, and created a War Mount that was, in essence, a thinking cruise missile. Kamikaze War Mounts can live for years without ever detonating prematurely (the energy cells are stable), but when the beast finds a suitable target, it destabilizes its power cells and rockets towards its target at Mach speed.

All Kamikaze Cruise Missiles have a rudimentary animal intelligence, a genetic memory programmed with over a dozen different robot designs, and a pathological hatred for the Machine. This programming was necessary to make the Kamikaze willing to sacrifice itself to destroy the enemy, but it also limits its overall effectiveness. The War Mount is designed to primarily seek out large targets like Sentry Towers, Land Dominators, Assault Slayers, and Battle Tracks, but its aggression and hatred for the Machine means that in the absence of these high profile targets, it will attack the first robot it sees, no matter how small. If the Kamikaze could show a little discretion, the Resistance could unleash thousands of these War Mounts upon the world to seek out and destroy the Machine’s heaviest hitters. Unfortunately, their ingrained instincts would lead to a tremendous waste of resources as these psychotic War Mounts would just hunt down and obliterate Labor Drones, Skitter Pods, and any other robot that crossed their path. However, if they are let loose when a high profile target is nearby, they will ignore thousands of robots in their way as they race towards their target. In fact, it is impossible to command a Kamikaze to attack a smaller target like a Steel Trooper, Sky Fighter, or even an Assault Slayer if a Land Dominator is nearby.

A Kamikaze Cruise Missile looks like an armored worm covered in segmented bone plating. Its triangular shaped head tapers towards a single razor sharp horn. Even without the explosive charge, the Kamikaze could do some significant damage with just a ramming attack (if it ever tried that). Its forward mounted eyes are usually covered with a leather strap, and its leathery wings are tied to its body with another thick strap. To deploy Kamikazes effectively, they must be bound and blindfolded until they can be pointed at a proper target. While restrained, the Kamikaze can move about on its own on twelve articulated spines (they fold up into its underbelly when it does take flight), but it is mainly just carried around by other War Mounts.

They are usually transported into combat by a Dracos or carried on the back of a Behemoth. Once a suitable target is found, the Kamikaze’s restraints are removed and the War Mount rockets towards its prey in an insane fury. Some Splicers feel uncomfortable using these psychotic, suicidal War Mounts. Unfortunately, desperate times have led to desperate measures, and more and more Great Houses are adding Kamikaze Cruise Missiles to their defenses.

Class: Organic Cruise Missile
Crew: None
M.D.C. by Location:
• Organic Thruster (rear one third of the rocket): 170
• Articulated Spines (12): 10 each
• Wings (2): 78 each
• Head: 210
• Main Body: 280*
• Bio-Force Field: 300

*Depleting the M.D.C. of the Main Body kills the Kamikaze. Unless the Kamikaze destabilized its power cells before hand, it will not detonate when killed.

Speed:
Running: Crawl 15 mph
Leaping: Not possible.
Swimming: 100 mph
Underwater Depth: 400 feet
Flying: Cruising speed is typically Mach 1.1, but the Kamikaze will accelerate to Mach 2 when making its “final run.”

Statistical Data:
Height: 4-5 feet
Width: 4 feet with a 10-foot wingspan
Length: 11-13 feet
Weight: 800-1000 lbs.
Cargo: None
Physical Strength: 21-24
Production Cycle: 4 month gestation period plus 1 year growth cycle
Operational Lifetime: 10 years
Bio-Regeneration Rate: 2D6 per hour
Horror Factor: 10
Feeding: The Kamikaze is an Omnivorous War Mount. It needs to eat 10 pounds of organic matter a day.
Color: The segmented bone plating is light tan in color and the skin beneath is black.
Sleep Requirements: As an artificially created organism, the Kamikaze only requires 4 hours of sleep per day.

Other Data:
Kamikaze Cruise Missiles are psychotic little creatures. They are fidgety and in a constant state of agitation. They were intentionally programmed to nip and bite at humans so that their handlers would not become emotionally attached to the angry little beasts. These War Mounts will never do any real damage to a human, but they will draw blood if given a chance. As long as they are bound and blindfolded, they can be led around by any human, but once they see a robot, they are completely uncontrollable.
Alignment: Anarchist. Their only goal in life is to find a robot and crash into it at Mach speed. Every other activity in life is just annoying and aggravating. Some handlers cannot stand watching these War Mounts writhe about in anger all day and will sedate them until needed, but most people just lock them away in tiny corrals where they cannot hurt themselves or others.
War Mount Attributes: I.Q.: 1D4, M.E.: 1D6+10, M.A.: 2D6, P.S.: 20+1D4, P.P.: 1D6+15, P.E.: 3D6+3, P.B.: 1D4+1, Spd.: 10 mph. on the ground, up to Mach 2.5 in the air
Number of Attacks per Melee: 3
Combat Bonuses: +6 on initiative, +7 to strike, +1 to parry, +4 to dodge, +3 to roll with punch, impervious to horror factor, disease, and poison.
Equivalent (Instinctive) Skills of Note: Climb 85%/80%, Land Navigation 90%, and Swim 90%
Combat Capabilities:
• Restrained Bite (used against humans): 1D8 S.D.C.
• Bite: 1D8
• Body Block/Ram: 9D6

Senses and Features:
• Advanced Sight: Can see clearly at distances up to two miles, also possesses passive nightvision 6000 feet, and polarized vision.
• Thermal Vision: Can see heat patterns emanating off of organic beings and machines. Thermal vision can see through smoke and even through walls. Range is 4000 feet.
• The War Mount automatically can sense magnetic north.
• Reinforced Exoskeleton

Bio-Weapon Systems:
• Omega Overload: In order to detonate, the Kamikaze must spend two melee attacks to destabilize its internal omega energy cell. Once the cells are destabilized, they cannot be reset. A destabilized Kamikaze has a 1-25% chance of accidental detonation each melee (roll at the end of each subsequent melee round). Damage: 1D4x1000 with a blast radius of 100 feet. Range: Can travel 1000 miles before needing to rest, but they will come across a robot and attack it long before then.

Targeting Preferences: The Kamikaze will attack any robot in range, but it will select targets in a specific order. Once it spots a higher priority target, it will completely disregard previous prey even if it was about to strike. This is its genetically ingrained priority system:
• Land Dominators
• Sentry Towers
• Assault Slayers
• Battle Tracks
• Transport Platforms
• All other robots (in this case it will chose its target solely based on size)