Mantis War-Walker

**Dev. Status** | Textured

 **Key Features** | »Tripedal movement system»“Mantis” large heat claws (originally used for plowing)»Basket for placing crops»Unstable atomic generator»Self-Destruct sequence (up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-boost-activation-start)

*"Who said we were Martians!?"*

*"Nao said that."*

- Mantis War Walker driver and gunner
### Tactical Analysis

* **Radation level high, but not toxic**: The Mantis War Walker might look like the sort of thing out of a science fiction film. Nevertheless, its weapons are very real and very deadly. The Mantis is armed with a pair of superheated plowing claws, mantis-shaped blades that destroy all that fall under their gaze.

* **Radiation? Heh, whatever!:** Thanks to its giant size letting it be equipped with both a large planar shield generator and thick lead plating. The Mantis War-Walker is essentially a walking bunker and one of the toughest unit the Kingdom has, tough enough to survive a direct hit from an Atomic Palace nuke. While its giant height lets it simply walk across water and cliffs.

* **Explosion core!:** Mantis War Walkers can also overload their walker's atomic core, leading it to self-destruct in a giant nuclear fireball. The downside, obviously, to this is that it destroys both the walker and its crew. The second issue is that it takes some time for the core to overload, during which massive alarms are sounded and its shielding shuts down, exposing it’s relatively weaker armour, and if it's destroyed before the overload is completed then the explosives go inert, turning from a bomb into worthless wreckage.

* **No Immunity:** Even the mightiest Mantis will eventually fall, if it does not receive a sufficient supply of power. And its giant size has the unintended consequence of being able to be targeted by anti-air attacks in addition to ground attacks. And when compared to its superheavy counterparts, like the Apocalypse, its durability falls short, with only a few shots from an MBT being enough to destroy it once its shielding goes down, while also being a giant melee unit, but it can at least target aircraft.

### Martians?

*"They're coming with me!"*

- Last words of a Mantis War Walker pilot, activating the self-destruct and mutually killing themselves alongside two Hellraisers and an entire Ecumene armoured and infantry platoon
As the Atomic Kingdom of China rolled their armies out of China for the first time, they began to encounter situations for which their highly specialized armies were not suited. In the jungles of Burma, their hoop-wheeled vehicles were bogged down, their oversized ships not suited for river deltas, and their ray guns defusing in dense rains and undergrowth. The army that conquered one-third of China looked as though it might sputter and fail against a bankrupt, corrupt government barely out of the shadow of British colonization. The Kingdom put their best engineers into creating a solution, resulting in a typical Kingdom vehicle of vast scale and over-engineering with a rapid turnaround time that was becoming typical of the duplicator-fueled manufacturing base. That was *originally* meant for *farming*!

At nearly a hundred feet tall, the **Mantis War Walker** was built to stride above the jungle and cut down targets that expose themselves with its “mantis” claws, a pair of mantis-shaped claws (hence its name) heated with a low-intensity, diffused ray gun originally intended to plow the fields for crops, overcharged so that it can cut its way to a target through any sort of cover.

Consisting of a large T-shaped hull with a mantis scythe mounted on each side, the extended front of the Mantis is the cockpit for its crew of three (driver, gunner, commander), and behind the cockpit with the weapons are the atomic reactor and locomotive mechanisms, the three giant legs on which the fighting machine is perched lend many unique advantages and disadvantages to the machine; though it can walk over almost any obstacle and atttack extreme ranges thanks to its large reach, it is a very obvious target. Thanks to weight issues and overall size, the Mantis can be targeted by anti-air weaponry, so it also has to watch out for the likes of the Achilles, and to prevent from sinking from ground pressure it is made entirely out of thin aluminum sheeting, that an 88mm cannon can cause massive damage once it’s (admittedly large) shielding goes down, so it is forced to hit before being hit.

However, as a superheavy attack platform, the War Walker is without peer. The height and positioning of the mantis claws make it ideal for striking aircraft as well as ground targets, and its ability to light enemy positions on fire lends the machine to assaulting dense, built-up areas. With its large size, and giant legs, let it walk up cliffs meaning that no terrain is safe from it.

To further its ability to force the enemy out of defensive locations, made from an accidental lack of safety features, is that by pressing a certain combination of buttons the Mantis crew can overload their walker core and cause it to self-destruct in a nuclear explosion. But during the overload sequence, the Mantis shielding must shut down, exposing its extremely frail aluminium hull, and massive alarms are sounded to warn their allies (and enemies) to clear the area. And if it's destroyed while in this state the emergency shutdown activates and renders the generator inert.

Subsequent iterations of the Mantis have fixed this reactor issue since they were meant to be piloted by the less expendable Eunuchs and the indispensable human crew of the Marines. The significantly more expendable clones will have to settle for their unstable walkers.

### Behind the Scenes

Fans of Jeff Wayne's musical adaptation of HG Well's *"The War of the Worlds"* will find the original War Walker very familiar.

Its new appearance, however, is closer to the Harkonnen Devastator from *Emperor: Battle For Dune*. Since we now have actual aliens in the Ukrazol Ecumene, who will be taking the original design with its Hellraiser Battle-Walker. Who did not take the Mantis appearance "well".

## Mantis Alpha

 **Dev. Status** | Modelled

 **Key Features** | »Tripedal movement system»Large claws (only useful for plowing)»Basket for placing crops»Eye-camera»Advanced life support systems

*"The Atomic Kingdom will bring about the master race. One able to survive, or even thrive, in the wasteland. As long as there are differences, we will tear ourselves apart fighting each other. We need one race. One goal. One people to move forward to our destiny."*

- Mantis Alpha
### Tactical Analysis

* **Master of Battles:** Mantis Alphas are an advanced form of the Mantis War Walker. It can spot for other Mantises, allowing them to target faster. However, the Alpha's death confuses normal Mantises, stunning them for a while.

* **Neutron poison:** Mantis Alphas can also launch Neutron missiles, weapons that irradiate an area with neutron radiation that is lethal to life. Use the missiles to deny ground to your enemy and force soldiers out of buildings.

* **I feel sick:** (Miscellaneous capabilities)

* **(Title 4):** (Upgraded nature)

### Background

When the Heavy Assault Group is deployed, all the Mantises on the battlefield, and indeed all of the Kingdom’s forces, are graced by the presence of not some clone or Noble Officer, but an Eunuch themself. Eunuchs are those too mutated to be much use in the Kingdom’s astronomical goals, so they busy themselves making the Earth (as it is) capable of supporting the Viceroy’s goals. While most never leave their ships (or even their offices), a few have been determined to be of best use in a tactical situation. And so, these rare Combat Eunuchs are sent to the front, in towering **Mantis Alphas**.

Having such high-ranking members of the Atomic Kingdom in danger means they are put in the most secure vehicle there is. Instead of the usual crew of clones, the Eunuch is hardwired into the vehicle itself and operates the Mantis Alpha by themself. In this capacity alone, they are superior to clones, but this is not their only strength. They naturally take charge of the clones around them, specifically using their advanced scanning training to help other Mantis walkers fire their heat rays at more distant targets.

On the minus side, the Eunuch is usually instantly obeyed on the battlefield, due to the sheer amount of authority their caste carries in the Atomic Kingdom. Often, a clone will obey them rather than the reigning Commander! Eunuchs rarely contradict any military decisions, though, so most problems are a matter of esprit de corps. However, should the Mantis Alpha fall, the clones around them will suddenly be without any orders, or indeed a sense of purpose. Reports have shown that clones will literally stand still out of confusion until given orders by another, authoritative source. As battlefield communications sometimes have delays, this can be a fatal error.

To further its ability to force the enemy out of defensive locations, the Alpha can fire neutron missiles that irradiate an area in extremely intense neutron radiation, denying the enemy ground with a deadly, invisible threat. So long as the Alpha is hitting instead of being hit, it can effectively support any Kingdom advance.

## Mantis Omega

 **Dev. Status** | Textured

 **Key Features** | »Tripedal movement system»Dual heavy heat rays (useless for plowing)»Anti-Matter missile storage (formerly crop baskets)»Glowing eye-camera»Missile pods (out of place)

*"..."*

- Mantis Omega
### Tactical Analysis

* **Reactor stable:** The most advance machine within the Kingdoms arsenal only piloted by the best marines of the Kingdom to protect their people from the deadliest beasts they'll face in outer space. The Mantis Omega is completely built for combat and can both take a hit and dish it out with their supercharge heat rays, lances of energy that reduces anything to ashes (but is too powerful to be used for plowing), combined with a missile pod on top of its head that launch low-yield nuclear missiles for extra damage.

* **Devastation time!:** (Secondary)

* **All weapons, devastation imminent!:** (Miscellaneous capabilities)

* **Meltdown!:** (Upgraded nature)