Raptor Pack

“It’s sort of like riding a War Steed, only you’re in the front, not sitting on top, and you have to do all the thinking.”

“Those of our number who use jet packs, rather than sit astride WarHawks, or have wing implants, are no less warriors of the air! We all fight, we all fly, we all SOAR!”

## Hawkmoon Raptor-Pack

The Raptor-Pack is a combination jetpack/robot vehicle used by those warriors of the Hawkmoon who have not bonded to an aerial War Mount, nor earned or chosen to take bionic wings. Early Raptor-Packs were improvised from cannibalized Titan Works Flying Titan power armors found in several captured Dark One supply caches, but the lightweight Flying Titan thruster packs proved too underpowered to afford the large Shemarrians more than short hops. EShemar Tinkers instead took to studying and copying the heavier engines available to Coalition State SAMAS armors, several examples having been recovered during patrols along the Eastern Seaboard and expeditions along the former warzones around Free Quebec.

### Description

The Raptor Pack features two large folding articulated wings similar to oversized bionic wings, attached to a large thruster unit (later models would make this a contragravity propulsion pod). A folding raptor head-shaped canopy drops down over the Shemarrian’s head, providing additional protection and streamlining, while a fan-articulated rear rudder plate acts as both a ‘tail’ and to provide some additional protection to the legs from below and behind. The pilot straps it on as any jetpack, and pulls the large visor-like headpiece down over her head and shoulders, affording extra protection in flight.

Taking a cue from the Icarus Flight Pack, the Raptor can, when not being worn, be set to fly semi-autonomously on its own to act as a surveillance platform or close air support. The drone intelligence is exceedingly simple, with basic navigation and combat tactics programmed into it. The early models are believed to have been programmed from Coalition and GNE UAVs captured/acquired in Shemarrian territory, but later models benefited from young Tinkers’ experiments in programming ‘e-animals’.

### Deployment

Raptor-Packs are typically issued to younger Warriors who haven’t yet been bonded to a WarMount, NeShemar, and Male Scouts. In Hawkmoon formations, these warriors typically fill out a second-echelon or aerial line, taking out any targets that slip past the faster and heavier aerial WarMounts in the forefront, providing heavy backup for the bionic-winged warriors, and close air support for the ground forces (if any).

While originally created by the Hawkmoons, raptor-packs would later be adopted by other Tribes in the Shemarrian Nation, and later the Shemarrian Star Nation. The Hawkmoon still continues to make the most use of the design, but the Wayfinders, Blood Riders, Horrorwoods, and Skullcrushers deploy their own variants (often only cosmetically altered) of the Raptor-Pack. The Darkwaters, Silvermoons, Sapphire Cobras, Wolf’s Path, and Ghostriders have relatively few of these personal vehicles, preferring other modes of transportation.

## Abilities

Note that the robot drone intelligence of the jet pack is too limited and ‘dumb’ to be ‘Awakened’, even as a cyberanimal.

### Sensor Systems

Contains basic sensors including passive night, IR, and video.

### Weapons Systems

#### Pulse Lasers (2)

 Damage
 Damage2
 Rate of Fire
 Payload

These are pulse lasers, based on the Juicer Pulse Laser.

#### Wing Hardpoints (6)

Each wing sports three hardpoints, each of which can be fitted with ONE of the following:

##### Light Machine Gun

Similar to the Cyborg Forearm Weapon, w/ 400 rd drum.

##### Light Automatic Weapon

Essentially the Shemarrian Assault Rifle in a vehicle fire clamp, with an extra-large magazine (360 rds) attached.

##### Laser Cannon

Essentially the Shemarrian She-LPP80 Laser Pulse Rifle in a vehicle fire clamp, with an extra-large magazine-battery (160 shots) attached. Recharges from the main powerplant at 1 blast every 5 minutes.

##### Particle Beam Cannon

Essentially the Shemarrian She-PB20 Particle Beam Rifle in a vehicle fire clamp, with an extra-large magazine-battery (40 shots) attached. Recharges from the main powerplant at 1 blast every 15 minutes.

##### Plasma Cannon

Essentially the Shemarrian She-PLR25 Plasma Rifle in a vehicle fire clamp, with an extra-large magazine-battery (50 shots) attached. Recharges from the main powerplant at 1 blast every 10 minutes.

#### Wing Razors

 Damage
 Damage2

The ends of the Raptor-Pack’s wings can fan out into arrays of razor-sharp blades, allowing for vicious high speed side-swipe attacks. This feature was shamelessly copied after Hawkmoon observations of the Free Quebec Violator SAMAS in action.

### Flying Bonuses

Use the operator’s Pilot Jetpack skill for trick maneuvers (+5% from the auto-assist drone AI) and use hand to hand bonuses for dodging/rolling, due to the responsiveness of the flightpack.

### Programming

* Navigation: (air) 90%

* Read Sensory Instruments 90%

### Combat

 Dodge
 Parry
 Roll
 Pull Punch

Autonomous Combat Mode gives it the following bonuses:

The Raptor Pack has simple combat programming with fairly straight forward attacks and evasion routes.

## Variants

### EShe-CGP02

Contra-Gravity propulsion variant of same; same performance statistics but no altitude limit, and in space it can reach speeds of Mach 5.

### EShe-P03

A heavier version, based more on the ‘Super SAMAS’ flight system with 50% more armor to all locations, and 50% heavier. Speed is slightly slower (500 MPH), but the hardpoints can now carry heavier weaponry (six-shot mini-missile pods, or 2 short range missiles per hardpoint), and the pack now has articulated leg sleeves that give an additional 80 MDC each leg, add +1d6 MD to kicks from robotic strength alone, and end in large claws that can be used to grab and pick up objects (Robotic P.S. of 32 for lifting/carrying purposes), or slash with large vibro claws (3d6 MD each).

This variant earned a reputation for the daring antics of its users in darting close to ground-based enemies and flipping over vehicles, or snatching up personnel/minions/robots and dropping them from altitude (usually to their deaths/destruction). The Skullcrushers of the Shemarrian Star Nation would wholeheartedly adopt the ‘Heavy Raptor’, though the all-black variant they used would (predictably) be nicknamed the ‘Vulture’ or ‘Carrion-Flier’.