Battle Hawk

*“Irensar Leader to patrol. Report.”*

*“Irensar Two actual, no sign of enemy activity.”*

*“Irensar Three actual, nothing approaching, nothing paralleling, transport is holding true.”*

*“Irensar Four actual, nothing but clouds, clouds, and more clouds...oh, and sea, let’s not forget the gray-black sea.”*

*“Irensar Four, this is Irensar Leader. Your report is highly irregular and your wit unappreciated. Stick to the facts and proper protocol or you will be reported for negligence.”*

*“Irensar Four actual to Irensar Leader; when did you get promoted to Upov, Krenslew? You’re still a zobi like the rest of us, cadet badge. You’ve been reporting the same thing on the half-xin...we’re alone up here with the transport. Not a sign of feral stock roaming around out here-”*

*“Irensar Leader to Four; you may be a five-badge zobi, and I defer to your experience, but protocol must be followed! We are ALWAYS at ris-(SHRAkkkzaaatttt---)”*

*“Irensar Four to Leader, what was that again, Krenslew? Repeat that-(FORNICATION WITH A -DECEREBATE-!) WE’RE UNDER ATTACK! BANDITS ON MY RHO, QUA, AND ZIN! THREE, NO FIV----(PATRON SPLUGORTH DAMN THEM!)....BREAKING LEFT!....(ZJJJRUUUMMMM\*ZUPHT!\*)”*

*Allia Sunwing banked her Battle Hawk away from the impact, watching the Kittani Flying Fox flutter down towards the ocean below, the decapitated head arcing away separately. Taking out two of the formidable power armors within the first seconds of their attack had been a stroke of luck as much as careful tactics, but the remaining two power armors were not so easily taken out. She could see the light glinting off the dancing combatants, and see their spiraling contrails as the Kittani aerial fighters engaged their Hawkmoon attackers in deadly airborne combat.*

*As much as she wanted to go to her battle sisters’ aide in dealing with their foes, she had her own responsibilities. Already she could see the flash of ionization around the lumbering Spluggorth air transport as its defensive weapons began probing for the attackers the demise of half its escort had told were around it. Checking the readouts on her jammer pods again, then re-checking what she knew of the arcs of fire on similar target transports, Sunwing commanded Sira, her Battle Hawk, to come in at an angle under the stern of the Splugorth craft. The enemy gunners would still be able to target her with their eyes, but if she moved fast enough, she would be within their blind spots before they could land a shot on her. And from there she could cripple the engines, or shoot out the guns. If she shot well, she thought as she readied her rail-carbine on its firing brace, she might be able to claim one of the turrets on her way in. If not, they’d have to take the thing apart piecemeal as they forced it down into the Canadian wilds looming on the horizon ahead.*

*Either way, the Eshemar would have this enemy vessel down, as they would more of the enemy craft in the days to come. No longer would the despised Splugorth have the skies to themselves over the lands claimed by the Shemarrian Nation!*

## Ecos-K-06 Battle Hawk Aerial Warsteed

The Battle Hawk was a necessary development of the Ecotroz Shemar Hawkmoon Tribe to give their forces much-needed air superiority. Based originally on the frame of a Monst-Crane fitted with bionic wings, the Battle Hawk has since been refined into a more compact, lighter, agile air combat entity. The design has also borrowed extensively from the Steel Phoenix Elite Conversion, but is scaled down down in many respects to facilitate easier production, and is empowered by a robotic AI/Ecotroz animal intelligence, rather than a transferred EShemar intelligence.

### Description

The Battle Hawk looks like a giant cybernetic cross between a hawk, a crested bluejay, and a swallow-tail. Streamlined and elegant, the Battle Hawk’s wings are longer and articulated, the neck shorter, the head smaller and more compact, with a curved raptor beak in place of the original long sharp bill, though the head sensor crest is retained (all the more important for aerial radar). The legs are redesigned less for running and more as shock-absorbing landing gear (though they retain their sickle-like claws for aerial melee). The high tail has been replaced with a combination of tail control surfaces and ducted fan thruster. For weaponry, the Battle Hawk has eye-lasers in its head, an array of slashing blades, possible missiles and bombs, and the weapons of the rider. Between its vectored jets and variable geometry wings, the Battle Hawk is incredibly agile, able to manuever like a power armor (indeed, aerial combats between the Hawkmoon Battle Hawks and Kittani Flying Foxes have become the stuff of martial legend around the Eastern Seaboard).

EcoS-K-6s have thus far appeared exclusively in the ranks of the Hawkmoon Tribe. No other Tribe is known to use them.

## Abilities

Destroying the Tail Assembly will reduce maneuvering bonuses by HALF.

Destroying the Tail Fanjet reduces speed by 75%, reduces maximum operating altitude to 500 ft, and reduces manuevering bonuses by 25% (NO bonuses remaining if the Tail Assembly has also been destroyed). The Battle Hawk is essentially gliding and vectoring using the secondary jets.

### Weapons Systems

#### Eye Lasers (2)

 Damage
 Rate of Fire
 Payload

The BattleHawk is fitted with powerful lasers in its eyes.

#### Wing Blades

 Range2
 Damage
Max +30 MD

Concealed among the flaps and pinions of the wings are a set of wing blades that can be used to deliver a flying slash.

#### Foot Claws

 Damage

Like the Monst-Crane’s, the Battle Hawk’s feet are fully equipped with long curved claws that can deliver a flying kick or landing stab.

#### Ripper Beak

 Damage
 Damage2

The viciously curved beak of the Battle Hawk can rip open the side of an aircraft or flying monster, or stab into the roof of a ground-bound vehicle.

#### Optional Weapons Hardpoint (1)

A single weapons module, similar to those available to the Monst-Crane, can be fitted to the back of the Battle Hawk.

#### Optional Wing Hardpoints (2)

If available, the BattleHawk’s wings can be fitted with expendable ordnance, though such will add drag (reduce bonuses to Dodge by -2) until the missiles/bombs have been ejected/deployed.

##### Flare/Chaff Launcher

* Range: Close Defense
* Damage: None; similar to Triax-style chaff
* 01-50 Enemy Missile or volley detonates in chaff and threat is neutralized
* 51-75 Missile/Volley diverts and may pursue/lock on to other targets
* 76-00 No Effect! Missile(s) still on target!
* Will also temporarily blind and impede flying monsters who fly into it.
* Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
* Payload: 12 per launcher

##### Jammer Pod

Electronic jamming system that gives radar-guided weaponry a -4 to strike the aircraft. Or it can be used offensively, to foil ALL radar-guided weaponry in a 10 mile radius (-2 to strike). Additional pods DO NOT add cumultative bonuses, but do provide system redundancy.

##### Missiles

* Mini-Missiles---10 shot pod
* Short Range Missiles---3 per hardpoint
* Medium Range Missiles---1 per hardpoint

#### Optional Bombs

The Battle Hawk can carry a single bomb, mine, or torpedo between its legs, but the extra drag will cut the Warsteed’s maximum speed by 1/3 until the ordnance is deployed/ejected.

Damage: Varies by weapon carried;

* 250-lb Bomb----2d4x10 MD to 50 ft blast radius
* 500-lb Bomb----4d4x10 MD to 60 ft blast radius
* 750-lb Bomb----4d6x10 MD to 65 ft blast radius
* Medium Torpedo----2d6x10 MD

Payload: One bomb (up to 750 lbs) or a single torpedo (up to Medium class)

Note: The Battle Hawk can engage in divebombing maneuvers; doing so means that the Warsteed approaches the target in a dive (45-degrees or better), releases its bomb (at 5,000 ft or less distance from the target), and then pulls out. A successful dive-bombing attack requires a Piloting roll at -10%, but the dropped ordnance is +2 to strike, and gets a +2d4 MD for the extra speed assist in penetration.

#### Optional Spear Rack

The saddle can be fitted with a spear rack with 20 MDC and holding 4-6 spears. Thrown from the air, the spears get an extra +1 to damage, +1d4 if thrown as part of a dive-bomb, due to the extra speed behind the throw.

### Programming

The Ecotroz have upgraded robotic drone AIs as best they can, then infected the matrix with a low-level Ecotroz sentience. The Battle Hawk has a high animal intelligence of 9.

The Battle Hawk has all the same standard programing as the Monst-Crane, but is configured for aerial movement and combat.

Has the equivalent of the following (for aerial maneuvering purposes):

Pilot Jet Fighter 70% (+5% per level of experience).

The Ecotroz entity can also pick up one Secondary skill at levels 2, 6, and 12 of experience, though the nature of the Battle Hawk intelligence and design is such that it is limited to skill selections from Technical: Language (understanding) and Lore, Espionage (Detect Ambush, Detect Concealment), Wilderness (Track Humanoids, Track Animals, Hunting, Identify Plants and Fruits)

### Combat

 Dodge
 Parry
 Auto Dodge
 Roll
 Pull Punch

Battle Hawks are fierce combatants, usually operating in small to large flocks, 2 to 6 patrol, 12 squadron, or larger. When loaded with bombs or torpedoes, they love diving down from incredible heights to release their payloads or to rake targets with their claws.

The bonuses are for the Battle Hawk alone; remember, the rider can cybernetically/psionically link to her ride.

### Psionics

The Ecotroc intelligence fragment inhabiting the ‘bot gives the Battle Hawk an aura and behavior more befitting a sentient being than a robot.

The Battle Hawk has the following Natural Psionic Abilities (no ISP Cost), all equivalent to 6th level with regards to range and proficiency.

Sixth Sense/Danger Sense

## Ecotroz Fragment

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, 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)

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

## Variants

EcoS-K-6Hm-S

This variant appears in the Shemarrian Star Nation, and is essentially the Battle Hawk refitted for space combat. It features multiple maneuvering verniers and a contra-gravity drive, boosting it to speeds of Mach 6 in space, and allowing it to enter and leave atmospheres without the need of assistance from larger craft. The EcoS-K-6Hm-S also features a 400 MDC forcefield, a scrambler field that reduces ion, plasma, and particle beam weapons fire by HALF and has a 40% chance of deflecting missiles, and molecular adhesion pads on the feet to allow the Battle Hawk to latch onto asteroids and spacecraft. The EcoS-K-6Hm-S has been known to ‘surf’ into a planetary atmosphere using a disposable heat shield (typically 300-400 MDC) held locked in its claws. Rumors of EcoS-K-6Hm-S’s fitted with laser reflective mirror armor or stealth plating remain unconfirmed.

Though not the equivalent of faster and better armed aerospace fighters in space combat, the EcoS-K-6Hm-S has been seen in planetary assaults and boarding actions with the Hawkmoons, and appears to remain a favorite with the rank and file warriors.