From: deitrich@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Dave Deitrich)
Subject: ROBOTECH MECHA: The Stinger (Malcontent Zentraedi, NOT Btech!)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 01:01:26 GMT

Hi, all!

In celebration of surviving the GRE Subject Test and not soiling my underwear
in the process, I thought I'd dig up another one of my older mecha designs
for Robotech.  If you've never heard of the "Malcontent Uprisings" then this
mecha might not make much sense to you, but hopefully you'll be able to spice
up your Macross campaigns with it.  Enjoy!

--------------------------------<Cut Here>--------------------------------

THE STINGER (MALCONTENT ZENTRAEDI COMBAT MECHA)
by Dave Deitrich (deitrich@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu)
  based on the Mecha in Eternity Comics'
  "Robotech II: the Sentinels; the Malcontent Uprisings"

Vehicle Type: Non-transformable Battloid
Crew: One (MICRONIZED Zentraedi Only!)

M.D.C. By Location
    Head                   10+1D6x10           (40 avg.)
    Shoulders (2)          20+2D6x10           (90 avg.)
    Arms (2)               20+1D6x10           (50 avg.)
    Hands (2)              1D6x5               (15 avg.)
    Upper Legs (2)         30+2D6x10           (100 avg.)
    Lower Legs (2)         30+3D6x10           (130 avg.)
*   Main Body              120+2D6x10          (190 avg.)
    Pilot's Compartment    2D6x10              (70 avg.)
**  Thruster Pack          40+1D6x10           (70 avg.)

*   Destruction of the main body will shut the mecha down completely.
**  The thruster pack contains the jet thrusters for the mecha.  Destruction
    of the thruster pack results in the loss of flight and thruster-assisted
    leaps.

Speed: 
    Running:        20+2D4 mph   (Multiply by 1.6 to get approximate kmph)
    Leap:           1D6x10 ft    (Multiply by 0.3 to get approximate meters)
    Thruster Leap:  Triple normal leaping distance
    Flying:         2D6x100 mph
    Climbing:       (1D4x10)%+4% per level of pilotUs experience.
                    Add +10% if the pilot has the climbing skill.

Note:  Multiply mph by 1.6 to get kmph.  Multiply feet by 0.3 to get meters.
       Multiply lbs by 0.45 to get kg.

Height:    30+3D6 ft
Width:     12+2D6 ft at shoulders
Weight:    10+2D6 tons
Cargo:     Additional space in cockpit for 1D6x100 lbs

Main Engine:  Varies.  Usually standard reactor-type Zentraedi engine.
Range: Average life-span of power system is 2D6 years before requiring
       replenishment of protoculture.  

Weapon Systems:

1.  MAIN AND AUXILIARY WEAPONS.  Since Stingers are built entirely from
    salvaged mecha, their armament is extremely variable.  To determine a
    Stinger's armament, roll 2D8 to determine the number of weapon systems 
    the Stinger is equipped with.  Then for each system roll 2D6 and consult 
    the table below to determine the actual weapon.  Stinger weapons may be 
    located anywhere on the mecha, but are usually built into the arms and 
    shoulders of the unit.  All reference pages refer to pages in the 
    original Robotech RPG book.  Note that some systems require two spaces 
    due to their size.

ROLL  WEAPON                      DAMAGE          RANGE     PAYLOAD  
REFERENCE
2     Raidar-X Laser Arm #        2D10/4D10/6D10  8 miles   Unl.     Page 63
3     Zentraedi P-Beam Cannon     4D10            4000 ft   Unl.     Page 85
4     Triple-Barrel Pulse Lasers  3D6             2000 ft   Unl.     Page 92
5     Zentraedi Impact Cannon     2D8             4000 ft   40       Page 91
6     Zentraedi Assault Rifle     1D6/2D6/4D6     4000 ft   200      Page 84
7     GU-11 Gun Pod               3D6/6D6/1D6x10  4000 ft   20/10/5  Page 47
8     SR Missile Launcher Pod     Varies          Varies    12       Page 60
9     SR Missile Launcher Pod     Varies          Varies    21       Page 92
10    MR Missile Launcher Pod     Varies          Varies    6        Page 58
11    MR Missile Launcher Pod     Varies          Varies    20       Page 53
12    PBC-11 P-Beam Cannon #      5D10+25         2 miles   Unl.     Page 58

#  Counts as TWO weapon systems.  Roll again if only one weapon space is
   available.

2.  OPTIONAL HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT.  Punch does 1D6 M.D., Body Block does 1D6 
    M.D., Kick does 1D6 M.D., Leap Kick does 2D4 M.D., Stomp does 1D4 M.D., 
    but is limited to targets no more than 12 feet tall.

HAND-TO-HAND BONUSES FROM STINGER COMBAT TRAINING
o 2 hand to hand attacks per melee (plus those of the pilot).
o +3 to roll with punch, fall or impact, reducing damage by half.
o +1 to strike.
o +2 to parry and dodge.
o Kick attack.
o Body block/tackle/ram.
o Critical Strike same as pilot's hand to hand.
o One additional hand to hand attack at level six.
o One additional hand to hand attack at level twelve.

Description:

     No two Stingers look exactly alike.  All Stingers are constructed from 
the remains of RDF and/or Zentraedi mecha, sometimes almost without rhyme 
or reason.  However, all Stingers do have some qualities in common.  They 
are all roughly humanoid shaped, with two arms, two legs, a head and a main 
body.  All Stingers are capable of flight, with thrusters mounted in a 
backpack-like assembly on the back of the mecha.  Almost all Stinger weapons 
are mated directly to the mecha's body.  It is extremely uncommon to see a 
Stinger with a hand-held weapon, even though most of them are equipped with 
hands or grasping units (the hands are usually used for grasping stuff
during supply raids).  Stinger cockpits are scaled for Micronized Zentraedi
only; a full-sized Zentraedi can NOT use a Stinger!  

Background:

     After Khyron's suicidal attack on New Macross and the Food Riots of 
2015, the United Earth Government made a concentrated effort to confiscate 
or destroy all remaining Zentraedi mecha on Earth.  They hoped that a lack 
of mecha combined with the Zentraedi's genetic inability to repair their own 
war machines would discourage malcontent Zentraedi from attacking, or at 
least weaken them enough to be easily defeated by RDF peacekeeping forces.  
Nevertheless, hundreds of Zentraedi mecha escaped the UEG's efforts and were 
smuggled into the Zentraedi Control Zone in South America.  After the 
Brazilia Massacre in July of 2015, bands of Malcontents used these mecha to 
strike back at RDF and Southern Cross peacekeeping forces.  Still, the UEG 
hoped that "Malcontent Uprisings" would come to a quick end as more and more 
Zentraedi mecha were destroyed by Earth forces.

     Then, in June of 2016 reports started coming in of attacks on RDF and 
Southern Cross patrols by jury-rigged suits of powered armor.  Where or how 
these mecha were produced were a complete mystery, with UEG "experts" 
blaming everyone from E.B.S.I.S. agents to "the advance forces of the 
Robotech Masters."  As the year wore on, the number and deadliness of these 
mecha (named "Stingers" by RDF Intelligence) increased at an alarming rate, 
until by December of that year they posed a clear and dangerous threat to 
all RDF forces in the region.

     An intensive undercover search by RDF Intelligence eventually revealed 
that the primary source of Stingers was a Malcontent band called the 
Scavengers.  The Scavengers constantly confounded the experts in Zentraedi 
psychology and military tactics by devoting nearly all their efforts to 
constructing mecha (a feat which up till now was considered impossible for 
Zentraedi) rather than combat which was the Zentraedi imperative.  
Apparently, the hardships of life in the South American jungles had somehow 
reawakened the Scavengers' natural inventiveness, which had beem suppressed
long ago by the Robotech Masters.  Over the course of the Uprisings the 
Scavengers built almost 2,000 Stingers for other Malcontent bands, as well 
as developed other weapons of destruction for Zentraedi.  Two other well-
known weapons produced by the Scavengers was an atomic bomb used to destroy
the Southlands city Oasis, killing approximately 53,000 people, and a 
robotic insect with an insanity-producing chemical weapon that almost 
destroyed Cavern City, the largest city and RDF base in South America.  The 
Scavengers were eventually destroyed in August of 2018 by a combined RDF/ 
Southern Cross/Loyal Zentraedi strike on their base of operations.  This 
became known as the last major battle of the Uprisings, as without support 
from the Scavengers most of the other Malcontent bands quickly collapsed.  
No other examples of Zentraedi developing inventiveness were ever discovered 
on Earth.  The few remaining RDF-Zentraedi forces finally rediscovered their 
inventiveness during the REF's mission to Tirol, where they were stationed 
on Fantoma's surface to mine monopole ore for the SDF-3.

     Due to the mandatory micronization of Zentraedi living on Earth, the 
Scavengers intentionally scaled the Stingers for use by micronized 
Zentraedi.  This also made them very popular to Black Marketeers, who 
continued to support a few of them after the fall of the Scavengers.  The 
last known sighting of a Stinger was two years after the end of the Second 
Robotech War, when a combined E.B.S.I.S./Zentraedi force tried to steal 
protoculture from an understaffed Southern Cross base in Mexico.  It is 
unknown but highly doubtful that any Stingers survived the Invid Invasions 
and still exist on present-day Earth.

G.M.'s NOTES:

     Well, this is my attempt at designing Robotech RPG rules for the 
Zentraedi "Stingers," originally designed by Eternity Comics for their
"Malcontent Uprisings" series.  For those of you unfamiliar with the comics
or the McKinney Sentinels books, the Malcontent Uprisings were a series of
battles between dissident Zentraedi and the RDF that took place between
Khyron's defeat and the launching of the SDF-3.  (If there is enough demand,
I'll type up a timeline of events from 2015 to 2018, the time of the
Malcontent Uprisings)  While I greatly enjoyed the series, I don't recommend
the comics because the art quality is fairly poor.  The story, however,
would make a GREAT basis for an RDF campaign!

     Almost all Stingers are located in South America, specifically in the 
Zentraedi Control Zone.  From there they launch hit-and-run attacks against 
RDF bases and transports.  They also stage "harassing" attacks on any RDF 
forces that enter the Zone.  Stingers never attack alone; they will always 
be found in groups of no less than four.  Large groups of Stingers are also 
uncommon, unless they are defending a Malcontent base or Stinger production 
facility.  Stinger pilots know that their mecha are no match for RDF mecha 
in a straight fight, so they will always use terrain and cover to maximum 
effect.  Stingers are quickly proving to be a major problem for RDF and 
Southern Cross peacekeeping forces.  The location and destruction of all 
Stinger production facilities is of maximum importance to all UEG forces in 
the region.

     Well, that's it for now.  As always, questions, comments, and 
observations are welcome.  I'll probably do the Centaur Hovertanks, the 
original "mecha" for the Wolff Pack, over the Christmas break.  Till then, 
Merry Christmas and good gaming everyone!

--
Dave Deitrich                             Manager, CCSO Oregon Computing Site
deitrich@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu                and One o' the Guys in charge of JACK
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