VR-046 Dancer Cyclone

A dedicated special operations mecha, the **VR-046 Dancer Cyclone** is an advanced Cyclone variant used by the UEEF.

## Background

The destruction of the First Recapture Force over Earth in 2038 prompted an extensive review into the UEEF's tactics and equipment, including the VR Series Cyclones. With the acceptance that the UEEF had underestimated the size of the Invid presence on Earth, planning called for the use of special operations units to be inserted alongside any future reclamation efforts. These units would serve two purposes. The first being to disrupt Invid activities while gathering intelligence ahead of an assault on the Invid headquarters at Reflex Point. The second was to act as a contingency plan in the advent of a second Recapture mission failing in order to pave the way for a third.

These reviews prompted the development of the VR-046 Dancer Cyclone, intended for use by the planned covert operations and recon units. Derived from the successful VR-041 Saber Cyclone series, the VR-046 featured a number of refinements and modifications specifically for its role, including new weapons and equipment. The high cost per unit limited production, which was not seen as a downside both due to its specialised nature as well as the UEEF's decision to switch to the VR-052 series as the standard infantry and pilot survival mecha.

While the Second Recapture Force was also destroyed, a number of special forces units were able to make it to Earth's surface. A number of these were equipped with the VR-046, and put them to use in operations across the world against Invid forces and installations. Furthermore, VR-046 teams were used in operations against other targets, such as the 'retreival' of the rogue Doctor Osmund and his Destabiliser prototypes.

In the field, the VR-046's performance proved to be decidedly mixed due to a number of factors. The Cyclone was a powerful weapon, and capable in the hands of a skilled operator. However, at the same time, it suffered from the same problems of the VR-041 that it was based on (such as the lack of sensors) while only offering limited advantages. Furthermore, it suffered from technical problems with its new weapons systems that made it unreliable in the field. Added to this, like all other Cyclones, it was limited by its Protoculture power system which the Invid were able to track as soon as it was activated.

Despite these issues, the UEEF still saw the potential in the design and its use as a special forces weapon. The Dancer underwent further refinement in an effort to resolve its technical and operational issues. Key to this overhaul was the installation of a miniaturised version of the new Shadow Device, allowing the Cyclone to become completely invisible to all forms of detection, including the Invid Protoculture Sensor. The addition of an OSS-44 Battle Data Acquisition Unit both aided the Dancer in its reconnaissance role while also going some way to offset its lacklustre sensory systems. However, the new model, dubbed VR-046X, was far more expensive to build than any other Cyclone.

Small numbers of VR-046X units were deployed to Earth ahead of the Third Reclamation Force and were used in intelligence gathering and disruptive strikes ahead of the main assault. This model proved to be highly effective, although the revelation of the compromised nature of the Shadow Device technology has put a cloud over its future. For the moment, the production of new examples has been halted, while those remaining in service have had their Shadow systems disabled.

## Capabilities

Based directly on the VR-041, the VR-046 Dancer Cyclone shares largely the same components and similar performance. While weighing more than its predecessor due to the additional weapons systems, refinements to the power system ensured that it maintained the same performance with only a minimal reduction in endurance. The VR-046 has a maximum on-road speed of 220 km/h in motorcycle mode, while flight speed is 185 km/h. However, like all Cyclones, flight can only be maintained for a few minutes at a time.

Unlike other Cyclones, the VR-046 was not built with a modular weapons system; instead, its weaponry and equipment were integrated into a complete package. The VR-046P replaced the GR-103 system with an EP-50 beam cannon built into the right side of the chest (the left side was equipped with support equipment fitted under a dummy cover based on the existing design for ease of production). This allowed the Dancer to retain the anti-armour capabilities of its predecessor, but with added precision and battlefield endurance. The EP-50 was easier to use than the GR-103, but had issues with reliability and overheating of its own, and prone to shutting down during intense use. This flaw was mostly resolved in the later VR-046X production runs, but the weapon was never entirely reliable.

Building on experience with the VR-041H, the VR-046P was also equipped with a pair of CADS-1 blades for use in close combat. The weapons were especially effective in the covert operations role as a way to quietly dispatch targets, while also serving a secondary combat engineering use. Each CADS unit was also equipped with a pair of smoke GR-97S Smoke Grenade launchers to provide mobile cover for the unit. The effectiveness of these weapons was mixed at best; while they provided excellent visual cover, they also were useless against Invid Protoculture sensors.

The addition of a Shadow Device on the VR-046X radically overhauled the Cyclone's abilities and effectiveness in its role, and represents the smallest-scale implementation of the technology to date. While active, the Shadow Device allowed it to become effectively invisible to all forms of detection save for visual. When combined with its small size and smoke launchers, the VR-046X was became a very elusive target and a master of covert infiltrations. Use of the Shadow Device would increase drain on the Protoculture power cell, and as such it was recommended for only short-term use. However, the compromising of the Shadow Device technology by the Haydonites has resulted in all examples being disabled for the moment.

As with the VR-038 and VR-041 Cyclones, the VR-046 featured a somewhat lacklustre sensory fit that was limited by the scale of the mecha. Detection was largely limited to passive means through infra-red and laser detection, but lacked any real tracking or target-scanning capabilities. Additional optics consisted of comparatively simple low-light and thermal systems. Unlike the other Cyclones, the VR-046 did not use a pop-up targeting reticule. Rather, the device was built into a purpose-modified version of the CVR-3 helmet (Designated CVR-3D) worn by the rider that was directly tied to the Cyclone's electronics. The goal of this system was to allow better weapons targeting in Cycle mode. The addition of the OSS-44 unit on the VR-046X offered a considerable improvement in the Cyclone's electronics and detection capabilities.

The armor of the Cyclone-series is composed of an advanced titanium-steel alloy. The armor on the VR-046 stops all small arms fire, provides fair protection against heavier infantry weapons, such as a 12.7mm machinegun round, and poor resistance to light mecha-mounted weaponry, such as the Zentraedi 22.3mm HE autocannon round (though the pilot will be badly concussed). Field tests show that a Cyclone can sometimes withstand two or more blasts from Invid plasma guns. Vulnerable areas of the pilot are part of the upper arms, which are unarmored. The thighs and helmet are not protected by the Cyclone, but are covered by the CVR armor. Nuclear, biological, and chemical protection is limited to that provided by the CVR armor.

## Weapons and Equipment

(All)

* **EP-50 Particle Cannon:** Mounted in the chest in Battloid Mode and front in motorcycle mode. A rapid-fire particle beam cannon drawing power from a dedicated Protoculture Cell. Fully automatic with a rate of fire of approx 250 shots/minute. Effective against most Mecha armour. The weapon was considered unreliable, and prone to overheating during battle; typically would require several minutes of cooldown before being operational again..

* 2 **CADS-1 Ceramic Vibroblades:** long ceramic swords that extend from round shields mounted on the forearms (front wheel covers). The swords vibrate at an extremely high frequency and can cut through most armors. The shields are covered in an advanced Chobham armor for additional protection against slow-moving explosive rounds and Invid annihilation disks.

* 2 **GR-97S Missile Launchers:** Dual 45mm x 220mm **Scorpion** mini-missile tube mounted on the forearm plates (front wheel covers). These variant Scorpions had smoke warheads and were shorter than the regular version due to the removal of the guidance systems.

(X only)

* **Shadow Cloaking Device:** four-dimensional distortion field generator (downshifts and dampens Protoculture radiation). Note that all Shadow Devices were considered compromised and deactivated after 2044.

* **OSS-44 Data Acquisition Unit:** Military recording camera, for archival and reconnaissance in battlefield environments. Camera set includes IR-illuminator, and night-vision capability on a high-resolution wide-bandwidth CCD chip and six low-resolution narrow-band CCDs for full optical, near- and far-IR, and UV color imaging. Camera is capable of digitally storing thirty minutes of footage at highest resolution, or twelve hours at the lowest. Unit is also capable of three-color hard-copy production of single frames. Camera mounts to the right shoulder hardpoint in all modes.

Additionally, the Cyclone could also use conventional small arms as handheld weapons. The Gallant H-90 modular weapons system was the most commonly issued, although other weapons could be employed if needed. Furthermore, a variety of specialised hand-held weapons were devised for the Cyclone series; see Cyclone main file for more details.

## Variants

* **VR-046P 'Puma':** Initial production model.
* **VR-046X 'Shadow Dancer':** Improved model with Shadow Device and OSS-44 unit

## Notes

* Design Notes
* Cyclone Main File
* CVR-3 Personal Combat Armour