Willey

“My introduction to Clan Motron territory? One of the cans of oil on my truck sprung a drip-leak. Didn’t know it until I looked back and found a pack of them feral jeeps honking hot on my trail.”

---Molly Edson, Free Trader

“’Not a serious Warmount?’ Sister, have you ever seen a pack of little Willeys take on a Kreelo Walking Death? Natural enemies they are, and the Willeys don’t back down. Oh, they break off and regroup, but they’ll come back to nip and rip, burn and run, circle back and harry an Infernal back to hell!”

---Sister-Tinker Marian Clutchpop, Motron Tinker, in conversation with a Clan Motron WarChief.

“You don’t consider the Willey a ‘serious’ warmount? Sister Octane, your clan drives cyborged EDSELS as your biggest cavalry unit, at least as far as I’ve seen! What’s serious about your whole tribe?”

---Wayfinder observer, to a Clan Motron Warrior.

“Okay, I admit, using the grapple launchers and the winches to effectively cable-car ourselves across that gorge was genius on your part...the part about getting attacked by the gromek while we were suspended in the middle kinda dims my appreciation for your thinking. Our jeep screaming the whole time doesn’t help my opinion any.”

---Wayfinder Male Scout to his Clan Motron travel companion, after an encounter during a ‘road trip’ in the New West.

“You have to remember that the Shemarrians have a cultural heritage of MOUNTED combat, so you won’t be suddenly surprised if one of their jeeps runs by you and you find yourself impaled on a lance, or undercut by a halberd. Those bastards are STRONG and having the added momentum of their ride just adds to the hurt.”

---Blasto ‘Bookworm’Amerson, Bandit, of the late Concrete Pirates gang, Old Michigan region.

## EcoS-K-82 ‘Willey’ Warmount

aka ‘Baldlander’, ‘Tonkatrekker’, ‘Roborover’

The ‘Willey’ is a Clan Motron Warmount that makes no pretense of being a cyborged animal, but is instead an ‘animalized’ version of a pre-Rifts vehicle, in this case a 1940s-vintage Willys 4x4 jeep.

The ‘Willey’ is regarded by many as an upscaled EcoS-K-74 Crazelle, and is seen more as a ‘whimsical’ creation of the Motrons’ Tinkers than anything else. Many see the influence of the Black Market ‘Romper-Stomper’ ATV (see Rifts Black Market, pg.154-155) on the ‘Willey’ but straight line development from the Crazelle is the more likely theory of the design’s evolution. In any event, the ‘Willey’ is a light-framed, if simple, vehicle body mounted atop articulated legs featuring the dual leg-and-wheel drive system that has become Clan Motron’s signature. The open-topped design, with its fold-down front windshield, affords little protection to the riders (although this is not really relevant, given that most Shemarrian Warmounts are open-saddle). It is considered too light to be used by the serious Warriors of the clan, but is typically seconded to NeShemar and N’R’Mar followers, and was developed to be produced ‘on the cheap’ to provide for a recent and unexpected expansion of Clan Motron numbers. This hasn’t deterred some of those assigned Willeys from engaging in great daring-do, much to the consternation of the aforementioned selfsame ‘serious’ warriors when the ‘tonka-riders’ steal a coup (and battle honors) out from under the noses of the heavy iron.

That having been said, the Willey is a spirited and energetic cyberbeast, often cavorting, with or without drivers or riders, along the edges of Clan Motron caravans.

The Willey is used primarily by Clan Motron, but examples have also appeared with the Steel Gaians and the Wayfinders.

## Abilities

#### Cargo

Glove compartment-sized space in the front dashboard, and if not carrying passengers, up to 600 lbs can be carried in the back area. Assorted duffle bags, tools, and containers can be attached to the sides, back, top of the mudguards, or even slung across the hood.

#### Water Operations

Unless fitted for amphibious operations, the Willey is limited to driving along the bottom at about 6 MPH. Maximum depth tolerance of 800 ft, but not really considered to be suited for anything more than basic fording.

### Special Systems

#### Powered Winch w/ 100 ft of cable

A simple electric winch with high-strength braided monofilament cable. It can be fitted with a grappling hook and launched with a simple pneumatic launcher (100 ft range). The winch can be fitted to the front or back (and sometimes two are mounted).

### Weapons Systems

#### Laser Headlight Eyes (2)

 Damage
 Rate of Fire
 Payload

Standard robotic eye lasers, common in the Shemarrian arsenal.

#### Fender-Jaw

 Damage

The front bumper-fender is an articulated jaw lined with small razor-sharp teeth, able to deliver a nasty bite. Willeys have a reputation for clamping on bulldog-style to larger vehicles or monsters, often being dragged along (but giving passengers to stage boarding attacks onto the larger vehicle).

#### Claws

 Damage

The Willey mounts rotary wheels and claws similar to those of the Crazelles’, only slightly larger in diameter. They do the same damage, however.

Smokescreen

The Willey can spew a thick obscuring cloud of smoke from its rear exhausts.

* Range: Each blast covers a 100 ft area.

* Damage: Anyone caught in the cloud of thick, obscuring smoke is unable to see, except with thermal optics. Inhaling, or exposure through unprotected soft tissues like the eyes, the vapor does 1d6 SDC/Hit Points per melee of exposure, and victims are -4 to dodge, strike, and parry, even for 1d4 melees after being removed from the cloud.

Smoke persists for 1d4+3 melee rounds.

* Rate of Fire: ECHH

* Payload: Has enough smoke-matrix for 12 clouds. Regenerates them at a rate of 1 every six hours (1 hour if fed petrochemicals).

#### Optional Powered Pintle Appendage

In place of the manned pintle mounted on many Willeys, the warmount can be fitted with a powered and retractable mount similar to the Crazelle’s tail gun fixture. The appendage cannot be used as a melee weapon, but it does allow the Willey to mount and use a dorsal weapon. During the Minion War, the Motrons managed to get hold of some Pall Bringer heavy rocket launchers, and used the tactical nuclear/WMD launchers to wreak sudden havoc on massed Infernal forces.

#### Optional Mudguard Hardpoints (2)

Mounted atop the front wheel mudguards are two hardpoints, typically used to mount fixed-position rifles accessible by the front seat passengers, but can also be used to mount Monstrex-standard weapons packages.

### Programming

The Ecotroz have installed robotic AIs (it is suspected from defective or modified production line Shemarrian Wolves), then infected the matrix with a low-level Ecotroz sentience.

Typically has the basic Monstrex programming.

The Ecotroz entity can also pick up one Secondary skill at levels 2, 6, and 12 of experience, though the nature of the Willey intelligence and design is such that it is limited to skill selections from Technical: Language (understanding) and Lore (Cattle & Animals, Indians, Juicers, Magic, Demons & Monsters, D-Bees, Faerie---at least with regards to identifying their relative threat level), and Wilderness (Hunting).

### Combat

 Dodge
 Parry
 Auto Dodge
 Roll
 Pull Punch
 Bite
 Mule Kick (Rear Legs)
 Power Claw
 Ram

The Willey works well in groups, favouring hit and run strikes, weakening large targets until they can deliver the final killing blow. They have been known to bite and latch onto the legs or parts of large targets, slowing them down for others to attack or let riders board.

Mule Kick and ram attacks both have 60% chance of knocking down human-sized opponents

## Ecotroz Fragment

The Ecotroz intelligence fragment inhabiting the ‘bot gives the Willey an aura and behavior more befitting a sentient being than a robot. Willeys have personalities and dispositions similar to dogs; friendly, spirited, cooperative, even playful, but they can be vicious in combat, and work well in packs.

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 (most Warmounts, unless otherwise noted, have an effective IQ rating of 8), but will have to go dormant for 4d6 hours after such exertion.

Susceptible to Exorcism and Banish spells, but are +6 to save against such spells, +1 at levels 4, 8, and 12 of experience, and becoming IMMUNE at level 14 and up. Such Banishment causes the ‘bot to revert to its default robot programming. (OPTION: Ecotroz may become IMMUNE to Exorcism and Banishment with experience, and NEW BUILT EShemar constructs are immune to this).

Note also that the Ecotroz-possessed ‘bot can infect other bots with the Ecotroz viral-entity, by bite or sustained touch (takes 3 attacks).

## Options

### Fabric Top

While the robotic EShemar and cyborg NeShemar aren’t particularly affected by the mundane elements, nor do they care to be pelted with rain, sleet, snow, or sand all the time. For those occasions, a folding fabric canopy can be erected over the open top of the Willey. The fabric has a scant 30 MDC, but keeps the elements off.

### Roll Bars

Reinforced framework giving the Warmount a +1 to Roll.

### Water Wheelies

These are copies of Northern Gun’s ‘aquawalker’ ties (see Rifts Northern Gun, Book 2, pg. 182-183). Most Shemarrians, especially the Tinkers, consider the tires ridiculous, preferring properly amphibious Warmounts for fording, but Clan Motron, with their particular interest in all things automotive, have copied them for their own use. These extra-wide tires can be fitted with Warmounts like the Crazelle and Willey can be fitted with ‘grouser’-style extensions to their tires (this prevents axle-mounted weaponry from being used), increasing the ‘mounts’ ‘footprint’. Over calm water, as long as the vehicle/warmount maintains a speed of 35 MPH or greater, and doesn’t stop, they can effectively skim across the top of the water. The tires do reduce maximum ground speed by 20% however, and they wear out quickly when used on dry land. Even with the more advanced materials available from Shemarrian nanomanufacturies and Assembly Forges, the wheels still wear out after 1d6 hours of continuous usage on land. Thus, most Motrons expecting to use them carry them as spares until the reach the waters’ edge and fit them, if they have time (and if anybody has resurrected the ‘pit-stop quick-fit’, it’s the Motrons) before venturing out onto the water, then removing them and re-stowing them on the other end. Still, enough over-enthusiastic Clan Motron members forget to remove the water-wheelies after water crossings that tribal Tinkers have been known to throw fits over keeping the articles in stock when the small tribe’s resources could be better spent on other things.

### Amphibious Operation

This fits the Willey with flotation compartments attached to the main body, twin rudder flaps and a power take-off in the rear powering a propeller. This allows the Warmount to float and putter along the surface of the water at leisurely 12 MPH.