Assassination Targets (Paradox)

## Allied Falcon Command Helicopter

 **Key Features** | »Mk. 1970 Advanced C4ISR Suite»FHG-30 .50 cal Door Gun (x2)»RFA-BURST Missile Launcher (x2)»*"Athena"* Equipment Enhancer Array»All-terrain rugged landing gear

*"Let's show them who's boss!"*

- Allied Officer, commanding from a Falcon
### Tactical Analysis

* **Who's in charge here?**: The Falcon Command Helicopter is one of the most advanced machine to ever take to the skies. Bursting with advanced communication and simulation systems and with enough room for the pilot, the commander and his or her full battle staff, the Falcon enables the commander to relay instructions to his troops while remaining near the frontlines.
* **All guns ablazing**: Naturally, with such precious cargo aboard, the Falcon is bristling with weapons. It is armed with 2 .50 cal door guns that tear right through infantry formations, as well as a pair of burst firing missile launchers which can wreck armoured columns with ease. It is also equipped with an *"Athena"* Equipment Enhancer Array, which enhances the capabilities of nearby Allied troops.
* **VTOAL**: Additionally, the Falcon also has extremely rugged landing gear, enabling all terrain landing when the enemy's AA count gets dangerously high. Do note that all its guns remain functioning when landed, but it is unable to move. Naturally, this ability lends a great deal of flexibility to the Falcon, so use it to your advantage.
* **Just...keep me alive please**: However, with the Falcon rated at the highest priority target on the "MUST KILL" list of the enemy, you can be assured that they will send everything they can at you to take it down. Additionally, it also has one of the weakest armour among Assassination Targets, coming in a close second after the Himmelhammer Van. Hence, protection is key to its survival.

### Operational History

During the Third World War the Allies realized a need of improving communications between the forces on the field and the commanders. The standard was to rely on radio communications, with most forces and vehicles equipped with a radio, but sometimes signal disturbancies would interrupt communications, with heavy losses as a result; the most prominent example being the Battle of Reims, where half a tank division was lost due to the commander's radio malfunctioning.
Usually, the commander would be located in the nearest Allied base, and in a mobile command post (usually a converted half track or APC) if the nearest military base would be too far away. Allied operational research, based on existing Allied statistics, had shown that communication problems were reduced by a whopping 60% if the commander was less than a mile away from the battlefield. However, Mobile Command Posts had their own problems. Both the Allies and the Soviets had various methods of locating the enemy command post.
While such command posts were invariably well protected, with static ones usually well within a well fortified base and mobile ones protected by air defence vehicles and armoured vehicles, both sides still took their toll of commanders. The converted half tracks the Allies used, while boasting more radios, greater speed and less distractions, had less space, less armour and less firepower than the converted superheavy tanks the Soviets preferred. Following an incident where an entire elite French division was annihilated after they were thrown into disarray following the death of their division commander at the hands of a squadron of the dreaded Soviet Twinblades, the Allies resolved to solve the problem.
The French commander, who was one of the Allies' best generals, was only the latest in a long list of dead generals, colonels and majors killed while fighting against the unstoppable Soviet juggernaut, then pushing its way across Europe. The dreaded Soviet Twinblades proved to be most effective at hunting down mobile command posts, and the Soviets were only getting better at pinpointing the location of Allied command vehicles.
The Allies were taking a heavy toll of commanders, and many inexperienced deputies and surbordinates found themselves suddenly promoted into the unfamilar positions of their superiors, only to be killed shortly after in action. Hoping to end the vicious cycle or at least slow it, the Allies poured more increasing amounts of funding into improving communication systems, whie simultaneously putting out a contract for a dedicated and survivable mobile command post.
The contract was eventually given to New Zealand-based Apteryx Aircraft, who proposed a heavy helicopter for the purpose. By December 1968, the **"Falcon" Mobile Command Helicopter** was in production, equipped with a state of the art C4ISR suite, large transport capacity and multiple weapon systems.
By the time it was completed, however, the war was nearing its end, and the helicopter never saw much use in the war. It was, however, deemed a success in the Allied retaking of Iberia, where it was used most oftenly; both the battles of Madrid and Valencia were commanded from Falcons. Currently, the Falcon has been distributed to about a third of all the Allied field officers, to be used if deemed necessary. With the end of the war and advances in long range communication, the need for a dedicated mobile command post has lessened considerably, and the expense of such helicopters means that the Allies have stopped production while their operational research division reviews the effectiveness of the Falcon.
The helicopter is armed with both guns and missile launchers for fending off enemy combatants, who would obviously prioritize the Falcon if present as its destruction would send the force into chaos. The Allies have also developed a new equipment enhancer array based on the Athena Network System, which is connected with most weapons and armours that the Allies use, improving their capabilities when close, proving its worth even more.
However, even though it is filled to the brim with measures for combat, it still needs to be covered due to the absolute need of survival. If the Falcon is lost, so is the battle. In order to avoid enemy anti-air, which it is vulnerable against, the helicopter can also land at will if the threat from anti aircraft weaponry is too high.

## Soviet Elephant Tank

 **Key Features** | »Two 10000 hp engines»330mm cannon (x2)»*"Katyusha"* rocket launcher»Command area w/ planning table»Inbuilt toilet (x2; very cramped)

*"Mother Russia is like an Elephant. She is big, grey and never forgets anything."*

- Elephant Tank Driver
### Tactical Analysis

* **Are you ready?**: The Elephant Tank dates back to the Second World War, and now serves the Soviets once more, in the role of a mobile command post. With extremely thick armour, the Elephant can withstand quite a bit of damage.

* **Nothing in our way**: Despite its age, the Elephant is still a monster on the battlefield, capable of laying waste to anything within range, with old but still mighty twin 350mm cannons. In a pinch, the Elephant can switch from its 350mm cannons to its many Katyusha rocket launchers, allowing to better deal with those pesky smaller enemies.

* **It won't be long**: The Elephant has a horrendously slow top speed, and without a turret, it can be easily flanked. Also, without modern explosive shells, it's best kept behind the front lines.

* **Make it worth my time**: The Elephant is a rare sight on the battlefield, as the Soviets rarely ever deploy without these tanks carrying important Soviet commanders. Should one of these behemoths be destroyed, Soviet Command will consider whatever battle it was participating in to be a complete loss, as their command structure has just been decapitated and it's best to cut their losses.

### Operational History

Premier Stalin was not a large man. Standing at five foot five inches, he, like many historical dictators, had something of a disparity between the size of their ambitions and the size of their bodies. And, like these dictators that preceded him, Stalin made an effort to surround himself with the very large by way of compensation.

He could not turn down any project grand enough in scale; massive monuments, huge skyscrapers, and endless military parades. Thus, it was not surprising that Stalin pushed through the T-39 Superheavy project, which he carefully named after himself. Going by the old truism "Bigger is Better" (a motto that now graces the front entrance to Arkhangelsk Tank Plant) the designers of the new Josef Stalin tank aimed to build the largest and most powerful design in the world.

Beginning with a more modest aim of 900 tons, demands from Stalin and access to battleship-grade weaponry led to the final design weighing in at 2100 tons tons. Equipped with twin 330mm cannons, each set deep into the hull and extending twenty feet in front of the tank, the **JS-1 "Elephant"** was big enough to crush lesser tanks under its tracks and armoured enough to resist even the largest of anti-tank or even naval guns.

Crewed by twenty-one men (Commander, sub-commander, three drivers, eight gunners, four point defense gunners, two engineers and two rocket operators) the Elephant served as a mobile command post as well as an artillery piece, battle tank and rolling fortress. Though a gas-guzzling, slow monster of a vehicle, the Elephant was impenetrable to the best anti-tank weapons of the time and could destroy even the robust British Armadillo in a single shot; along with every Armadillo in its company. However, it was marred by a great many restrictions; pathetic range, lack of speed and lack of turret being the main concerns, not to mention difficulty maintaining the beasts. a hundred and twenty eight vehicles were manufactured between 1941 and 1946, until newer vehicles better suited for the roles it took replaced it.

Nearly 20 years later, the Elephants sat mothballed, useless in modern war as a mobile fortress. However, during WWIII, a breakthrough with Soviet computers meant the smaller ones could be fit into a two story house, or indeed, a superheavy tank. Removing the machine gun posts left room inside for computers, radio equipment, and other modern features needed to command a battle on the field, though the old map system was still the favoured way. The 350mm cannons could still crush a lesser tank like an egg, no matter how modern, and even Peacekeepers fall to Katyusha rockets. Whenever the next war comes, everyone is sure the mighty Elephant, back from retirement, will lead the many tank columns of the Soviet Union.

### Behind the Scenes

The Elephant Tank was a suggestion from Psychotic Loner, based on lore earlier written by Open Sketchbook. It is probably based on the proposed Nazi P1000 Ratte tank, a similar tank proposed as a warwinner that Hitler fell in love with in World War II.

## Imperial Sentai Command Mecha

 **Key Features** | »Custom Made Imperial Vehicles»Wave Force Engines (x4)»Tsukumogami style Nanotech assembly system to copy weapons»The combined power of the Imperial military»Full season of Super Morphing Sentai From Outer Space

### Tactical Analysis

* **Time to Combine**: Formed from the combination of seven custom vehicles, the Sentai Command Mech allows the Imperial commander to honorably lead from the front.

* **Sentai Mecha Activated**: Aside from being able to step on infantry and light units, the Sentai Command Mech can fire upon its foes with its arm mounted tank cannon. If the commander requires more firepower....

* **Certain Kill**:..the Sentai Command Mech can charge at a chosen opponent and release a point blank blast that is not only almost certain to destroy it but also allows the Sentai to copy its weapon for itself.

* **Season Cancelled**: For all its power, the Sentai Command Mech is not unstoppable and a rather obvious target. If defeated, the Empire will have suffered a massive blow to both their coordination and their moral and be forced to withdraw from the battlefield.

### Operational History

The origins of the **Sentai Command Mecha** can be traced back to the early forties. With the new mechanized warfare units slowly coming in, the scientists attempted to find a way to combine these new mecha into a whole new unit: The Mega mecha. The plans would have called for it to be even more powerful than the sum of its parts allowing it to crush almost any opposition that came across it. However, this plan was eventually scrapped as the technology needed to do such a thing was simply too advanced at the time.

However, that didn’t stop the Anime writers in Japan from making something that was similar. The show was called Super Morphing Sentai From Outer Space. The show, originally made for kids, only lasted for 12 episodes before it was cancelled due to lack of viewers. Eventually, an Imperial engineer who was babysitting his neighbour’s kids tuned in to the show and was instantly intrigued by the premise.

An advanced fighting force from outer space turning into spandex-clad warriors who fought monsters and towards the end of the episode, they called on massive machines called Super Robots to help them take down the tougher monsters. The key thing the engineer oversaw however was that the Super Robots only really existed to become the Turbo Ultra Bot; an even more powerful humanoid robot that could crush all before it. Fascinated by this show, he watched all the episodes and returned to work the next day with plans for Japan’s newest and most powerful mech yet (aside from the Shogun Executioner)

The Sentai was to be made out of several existing Empire vehicles which were slightly modified to fit onto the frame. The legs would be made from a King Oni. A stabilizer would be made from the Tanuki Vector Assault and would provide a platform for the other vehicles to come and form onto. The torso was made from the Tedate Projector which would supply power to the whole Mecha and provide a layer of protection for when the Mech unleashed it’s finishing move.

A chest plate was created from a modified Mecha tengu and would serve as a vantage point for the pilots. Its left arm was created from a modified Tsunami tank and equipped with the same technology used to create the Tsukumogami Proto-Suit allowing it to take weapons from its enemies. The right arm would have the most amount of articulation and was made out of a Striker VX.

The only thing missing from the technological masterpiece was the head. Engineers debated for a long time as to what the head would be, but eventually it was reluctantly decided that the head would be a scaled down Giga Fortress that could still fire the powerful God’s Breath, however due to the power limitations, this could be done rarely.

Eventually, all the problems with the vehicles combining and powering the Sentai were solved and it was time to face another problem: mobility. In order to allow the Mecha to defend all of Japan, the vehicles in their combined form would use Wave Force thrusters similar to those found on the Mushai to hover from point to point along the islands of Japan.

Initially combined and armed with a tank cannon from the tsunami on the battlefield, the Sentai can also acquire new weapons in a spectacular way. After targeting an opponent, the Sentai charges forward, activating the shield from the Tedate to protect it. Smashing into the enemy unit, it scans its foe for new weapons and after it's done, it uses the Giga Fortress head to blast the enemy at point blank range. With all the technical problems solved, the final version of the Sentai was presented to the Emperor and his son. While the Emperor was sceptical of the design until he saw its combat effectiveness, Prince Tatsu instantly fell in love with the Sentai because of him being a long-time fan of Super Morphing Sentai From Outer Space.

Finally, the Sentai was accepted, however, because of the complex nature of the Sentai, only a handful of the custom made units that transformed into it could be built. As a result, only the best commanders are allowed to have such a machine and despite commanding safely from the communications suites at headquarters, most Commanders typically take to the battle personally inside the Sentai, leading from the front and charging in to do battle with the new heavy mech.

### Behind the Scenes

* The Sentai Command Mech is an accepted unit suggestion by Yellow 13, with help from V.Metallic who originally suggested something like Devastator from the Transformers series.
* The Sentai was based on the Megazord from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and other seasons.

## Continental Himmelhammer Van

 **Key Features** | »Retrofitted PAWI array»10 cylinder engine»Improvised armour»Paint job (psychedelic)»Packets of snacks (for munchies)

*"And I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for those meddling vans!"*

- Allied Mirage Tank Commander after his attack was foiled.
### Tactical Analysis

* **You Kids Stay Out of This** At first glance the Himmelhammer Van, also known as the *"Mystery Machine"*, may appear non-threatening, harmless or, thanks to its (extremely groovy) paint job; plain ridiculous. All is not what meets the eye however; under the exterior of the Himmelhammer lies an array of advanced communication equipment used by Continental commanders to control their forces.

* **Like, Wow!** The Himmelhammer Van is equipped with a mobile PAWI generator capable of concealing friendly troops in a sizable radius. The van itself is cloaked with another advanced PAWI generator that can keep it stealthed even when moving or even attacking its opponents

* **Zikes!** Even with the communication equipment and the PAWI generators, there is still enough room for 4 Continental loyalists to shoot out of the firing ports (AKA windows). Many enemies that have underestimated the Himmelhammer Van have been gunned down by precision fire, blown up by a flurry of rockets from inside the Van or worse, crushed under its immense weight. And in the evnt its surrounded the Himmelhammer can fire a powerful EMP pulse that completely shuts down all vehicles and battlesuits in a large radius, even giants like the Apocalypse, giving it time to escape or for the infantry to attack.

* **Relp!** However, several very crucial weaknesses must also be taken into consideration. With the Himmelhammer ranked at the highest priority possible, being exposed and having only 1/4" steel plating standing between you and the projectiles from an entire army, recklessly attacking with the Van is generally not a good idea. Additionally, several larger vehicles can crush the Van, so care is needed while operating around them.

### Background

The **Himmelhammer Van** has had a unique history, going through many stages before the vehicle it has become today. Originally designed in Germany as a supply carrier during the Second World War, it was quickly noted for its efficiency, and adapted to various roles. Initially, the vans were repurposed for surveillance, used to spy on the enemy and provide valuable information. As the war went on, however, the Soviets became wise to this use, and so the Himmelhammer had its surveillance equipment swapped for communication arrays, in order to give battlefield orders to soldiers in the field.

This was found to be a better use for the Himmelhammer; sturdy, relatively fast and reliable, the Van was immensely useful for Allied tactics. Alas, this too did not last; the Soviets, soon realising the further increased importance of these Vans, targeted them first, and disrupted communications and battlefield command. Even the addition of a newly developed *"GAP generator"* was not enough to protect the Van. It has been said that this vehicle was behind the massive advances in communication technology, in order to overcome its weakness.

The Himmelhammer was made obsolete by these advances. No longer necessary for communication, they were again relegated to supply duty. However, near the end of the war, groups of soldiers often modified the Himmelhammer into emergency transports. The Himmelhammer fitted this role well, and the addition of firing slits made it even more effective. However, it was not considered as effective as other transports in the Allied arsenal, and so even this role did not see a mass resurgence of the Himmelhammer. Shortly after production stopped completely, the war ended. Without a battle, the Himmelhammer had little purpose, and so was stored in scrapyards across Germany.

The period after the war saw a large amount of construction required to repair Germany. Thus, for the next five years, the Himmelhammer was used again, this time to transport building materials. Once the construction had finished, the Himmelhammers had served their purpose; many of them were auctioned off to support the funds Germany still required. Prohibitively expensive, however, few were bought, and so Germany salvaged any useful parts from the vans and sold them separately, and sold the gutted van as a cheap vehicle.

These vans became surprisingly popular not in Germany, but in America. The growing *"hippie"* culture took them up in the dozens; they fitted this group perfectly. Cheap, reliable, salvaged, and with room enough to live in if you wished, there could be fewer better alternatives. The new owners of the vans painted them in bright and psychedelic colours, and outfitted them with decorations, which earned these Vans the nickname of *"Mystery Machines"*, as you never knew what an individual van would look like. When the Continentals rose up, the owners of these vans pledged their support against the *"war-mongering"* Allies, and the Continentals took notice.

Replacing the obsolete remains of the GAP generator with a more effective PAWI field, salvaging the rusted communications equipment, and adding more internal armour, the *"modern"* Himmelhammer was soon in action. Able to cloak huge areas, hold many soldiers who fire through firing slits, and able to masquerade as *"another van of damn hippies"* between battles, the Himmelhammer continues its proud legacy as a tried and tested battle vehicle; ironically in a manner of *"revenge"* against those who left it to rust.

### Behind the Scenes

* The Himmelhammer is based on a suggestion by TLhikan. It also appears to be based on the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo.

## Chinese Bǎozàng Voyager

 **Dev. Status** | Conceptual

Template:China Vehicle Header

### Tactical Analyis

* **Imperial Class**: The Bǎozàng Star Voyager is a powerful, heavily armoured Atomic Kingdom command unit. An immense starship, the Bǎozàng has extremely powerful shield generators and massive engines which allow it to fly above the battlefield. Going behind these engines is NOT recommended, as the last thing seen by pilots who attempt such stupidity is usually a massive gout of fire incinerating them and their aircraft. Luckily, these units are an extraordinarily rare sight over the battlefield, but be prepared for a major battle if you do see them.

* **Star Destroyer**: The Bǎozàng is very well-armed. While it can't literally destroy stars, it is capable of lifting up helpless enemy units with its tractor beams and putting more holes in them than a piece of Swiss cheese, with its heavy ray gun batteries. This way, it can shred units over time, although the tractor beams are ineffective against superheavies and infantry. In addition, it can release a massive JADE shockwave on command, which heavily damages everything within the large blast radius.

* **Priority Target**: Note that should a Bǎozàng show up on the battlefield, enemies tend to make it their top priority target. Add this to the fact that Chinese Command considers these ships to be irreplacable and will choose to cut their losses rather than continue the fight if one is destroyed, and you can see the importance of protecting an Bǎozàng.

* **Going Supernova**: Worse still, the Bǎozàng's core tends to explode very violently in an extremely destructive annihilation reaction, in the event of critical damage. The effects of this are something that one really should try not to think about. On the bright side this explosion can ensure mutually assured destruction if the opponents assassination is frail/wounded and unable to get out of the blast radius.

### Operational History

With the ever expanding Star Fleet, more and more powerful ships are needed. Chief among these are the *"Dǒumǔ"*-class escort ships, the larger ***"Bǎozàng"*-class Star Voyagers** and the immense *"Yudi"*-class starships. Originally designed to literally destroy stars, the Viceroy pointed out that the design was too complex and would take too long to produce. The designer, a certain Lian Wexeng, was repeatedly ordered to scale down the size of the ship. The final size was eventually arrived at and the first of two Bǎozàng-class ships left the Xua Tu Drive Yards more than four years after the plans had been laid down and finalized. While work has begun on a third one, both the size of the starship and the astonishing complexity of construction mean that it will not be expected to reach completion anytime soon. Apart from that, there are also the logistical nightmares of supporting and supplying even one of these ships.

The Bǎozàng is designed to be a heavy command ship. Larger than the Soviet Zhukov War Zeppelin, the Bǎozàng is bird-shaped, and radically different from other Chinese starship designs. Perched high atop the ship is a large command bridge where the commander and all other high-ranking staff reside. Due to the position and wide view screens, the Bridge team can easily monitor all aspects of the battlefield while still remaining relatively safe from ground-based fire. In theory, the weakest part of any starship is directly behind it; however, this is not the case for the Bǎozàng. While there are indeed no armaments behind it, the engines radiate massive amounts of heat behind them when active, enough to utterly incinerate anything foolish enough to approach it from the rear.

Initially, the designers wanted to use a network of powerful tractor beams to pull enemies toward it and smash them against the Bǎozàng's powerful shields. However they soon realized that no shield generator in the Kingdom's arsenal would be able to withstand repeated hits without compromising shield integrity. So they came up with a compromised system; while the tractor beams drag targets towards the ship, a large array of point defense ray guns will tear enemies apart, piece by piece, until the target has been completely destroyed.

Despite the effectiveness of the tractor beam system, the system only works against main battle tanks and heavy infantry like the Tesla Trooper. Superheavy units like the Soviet JS-1 Elephant Tank or Talon Cataphract Walker are immune to the effect because of their sheer weight and units like the Falcon Command Helicopter and Himmelhammer Van are immune because the tractor beams aren't calibrated for use on such targets, though in the former case they can simply shoot it while its in flight. Infantry are also immune to the effect because they are too small for the tractor beams to lock on to.

The secret to all this power is a revolutionary Anti-Matter Power Core. The first core designed to power a ship, the Anti-Matter Power Core produces more energy in one hour then the entire city of Las Vegas consumes in 4 months. In an extreme emergency, the Bǎozàng can divert all the ship's power to a special device hidd%n deep in the bowels of the ship.

One word from the commander and a massive shockwave of Jade energy is released, severely damaging all attackers in a wide area. However, the ship has yet to use this device, because it has yet to be called into action against surface targets. In the extremely unlikely event that the ship is catastrophically damaged, there is a distinct possibility that the Anti-Matter Power Core's containment system will suffer a catastrophic failure, resulting in an uncontrolled matter/anti-matter reaction. The effects of this are best left to the imagination.

Following a successful test on a Communist Chinese city and the commencement of full scale production of the Bǎozàng-class, Lian Wexeng began drawing up plans for the largest project in the history of the Atomic Kingdom of China and possibly mankind, called the *"Hundun Cannon"*, a colossal space station with a mass rivalling that of the Asian continent, where the Atomic Kingdom would relocate. With a network of massive ray guns powered by a Jade Hyper Reactor, the Hundun Cannon would be capable of annihilating all life on Earth. However, after looking at the first concepts the Viceroy rejected the plans, reasoning; *"The monumental undertaking to construct such a monstrosity would take several generations, and our revenge cannot wait that long."*

### Known Ships

* *NCC Bǎozàng (Treasure) (NCC-001)* - The first ship and namesake.

* *NCC Shí (Eclipse) (NCC-002)* - Fleet Admiral Yuming Oshang's flagship.

### Behind the Scenes

* The Bǎozàng Star Voyager is an accepted suggestion by Yellow 13, loosely based on the *"Eclipse"*, a Super Star Destroyer but changed to fit an atmospheric command ship.

## Syndicate Classics Limo

 **Key Features** | »Advanced AURA linkup»Stylishly concealed armour»Tactical Screen of Battle (usually ignored)»Bodyguards/Attendants w/ Beretta M8 submachine guns»Fully Stocked mini-bar

*"I am not concerned with us all, just myself. And believe me, I shall be perfectly fine."*

- Apollo Fowl on why he has the only armoured seat.
### Tactical Analysis

* **Riding in Style**: The name of the Classics Limo says it all. With more luxuries than your average 5 star hotel, the Classics Limo serves as a personal transport and mobile command centre for Syndicate commanders. If you should ever see one on the field of battle, it means the Syndicate really means business.

* **Now that's a Limo**: The Classics Limo does have some other features, besides the extravagant luxuries, to recommend it. The entire body of the Limo is actually rather well armoured and can take a beating. In addition, an AURA Relay system boosts all friendly units in the vicinity.

* **Not Just for Show**: The Classics Limo is hardly unarmed, as the attendants/bodyguards inside are armed with submachine guns, and have been extensively trained in their usage. If necessary, the Classics Limo can perform a drive by shooting, winding down the windows just long enough for the bodyguards to gun down a target of your choice.

* **Just a Fancy Car**: Unfortunately, the Classics Limo has no other weapons, and as such can only rely on its wheels and armour to protect it if it gets in trouble. Make it your top target if it isn't on your side; otherwise, protect it with every weapon in your arsenal. Should one be destroyed, the Syndicate would rather cut their losses than continue the battle.

### Background

What's the point of commanding if you can't do it in style?

To some extent, this is seen in all factions, with their elaborate and powerful assassination targets. But the Syndicate once again take this to a new level. The **Classics Limo** itself is so incredibly stylish, that each individual vehicle has been apparaised as being on the same level as a five-and-a-half star hotel. No expense has been spared on these vehicles, and affluent Syndicate commanders often outfit their vehicles with modifications paid from their own pocket. Some estimate the value of these luxuries on wheels to be slightly higher than several small countries.

The outside of the vehicle is itself worthy of awe. The vehicle's exterior is finished off with a coat of shining black paint and teal trim (though the owners of the vehicles have been known to change the paint scheme of their rides; garish full-body teal paint jobs are surprisingly popular). On the hood of the limo is a customized small statue of a Greek god, hand crafted out of marble and gold, and worth more alone than a normal person will ever earn in their entire lifetime. Each of the Limo's six wheels are made from a specially designed synthetic plastic, that never lose their shine, rarely run down, give a silent and bumpless ride, and are supported with carbon nanotubes to make them capable of withstanding even bullets. Top this off, the car sports tinted windows, which, to the chagrin of many a jealous sprawl dweller, are bulletproof and simply bounce thrown bricks back at the thrower. Add to this rumours that the hubcaps are themselves made of polished silver, and you can understand the luxury that motivates people to move up the Syndicate corporate ladder.

The inside of this Limo is even more spectacular. With heated seats made of the finest leather, Peruvian rainforest wood panelling, luxurious sofa bed, and polished marble decoration, the interior resembles a mansion more than a car. The inside has been AI-designed for maximum comfort; a chauffeur drives up the front, with a world-class chef behind him. The chef is supported by a couple of friendly waiting staff. While the chefs have been chosen for their cooking skill, the staff have been chosen from the most attractive men and women in Syndicate controlled areas; and considering how the five-figure paycheck motivates volunteers, there is a lot of competition. These people are not just looks though; anyone stupid enough to try and make trouble for your ride will be taken out by their top-notch weapons training. Near the back is a hot tub, filled with mountain spring water and with an embedded A.I. designed for the sole purpose of keeping water temperature perfect. The limo's windows also serve as television screens, each capable of projecting incredibly high quality footage. At the flick of a remote, they can seamlessly switch from displaying battlefield intel to showing the status of the limo's built in AURA uplink. Each TV window can display a different image, allowing you to monitor the situation on the battlefield while simultaneously enjoying your favourite movie. And, because nothing spoils a nice ride like bullets, the whole vehicle is surprisingly resilient to damage. In a limo like this, outside problems just seem to fade away...

Oh, and there's that whole *"battle"* thing. You probably shouldn't forget about that.

### Behind the Scenes

The Classics Limo was suggested by TLhikan.

## Talon Eden Superheavy Track

 **Key Features** | »Stained Glass Windows»High Tempreture Furnace»Table for planning»Triple Ambiaric Cannons»Hand written copies of the Dead Sea Scrolls

*"Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed."*

- Genesis 2:8
### Tactical Analysis

* **Where crusades happen:** If an Eden Track is present on the battlefield, then one of the Order's Crusaders is directing the battle personally. The chance to capture or slay one of the elusive commanders of the Talon is one that no enemy will pass up: the Crusader knows that the enemy will stop at nothing to destroy the command vehicle. Equally, the enemy knows that the Crusader will look to their own defence with the utmost care.

* **Untouchable:** Although built primarily as a mobile command center, the Eden is no easy prey for the enemy. As heavily armoured as the Crusader Crawler itself, an Eden is a tough nut indeed to crack (how the Talon has protected the stained glass windows of these machines is a closely kept secret of the Order). Its ambiaric cannons utterly annihilate infantry foolish enough to approach while devastating vehicles and completely leaving armoured assaults disabled and impotent.

* **Baptism by fire:** Far more devastating than the failed Soviet "Grinder" could have hoped to be, when an Eden opens its maw, a hellish inferno is unleashed and the vehicle surges forth like a destroying angel. While this tactic does damage the Eden itself and disable its cannons, even mighty foes like a landed Allied Assault Destroyer only become raw material for the furnace.

* **Heaven's revenge:** The only true limitation of the Eden is a classic one for the Order: like so many other of the Order's war machines, it was designed in an age before enemy aircraft were a significant concern, and cannot strike against them.

### Background

If the Master Crawler is the cathedral to the many warriors of the Talon, then the **Eden Superheavy Track** is the Crusader’s personal sanctuary. Containing a library of scriptures and hand written copies of several religious writings, including the legendary Dead Sea Scolls, the Eden Superheavy Track possesses everything a crusader needs to protect and serve the faith of a crusader and his brothers.

While the Master Crawler provides countless advantages to the Talon Crusader and his tacticians, It lacks many things necessary to facilitate the tactical and strategic operations of the commander inside. It also sticks out like a sore thumb and is often too crowded and chaotic for any commander that is inside to think, let alone come up with an effective battle plan. For these reasons, The Eden was made to facilitate the operations of the crusader and allow them to somewhat safely enter and exit the battlefield at will.

The Eden Superheavy Track, despite its size, may not look like much at first glance, but it is heavily armed with a triple barrelled Ambiaric Cannon, which instantly smites infantry and shuts down vehicles and is protected by the same amount of Talon Steel as the Cataphact and Master Crawler.

The greatest asset available to the Eden (aside from its ability to serve as the commander’s tactical command post) is its furnace. Built on the front end of the vehicle, the colossal furnace (Which is maintained by some of the order's best craftsmen) used to power the Eden burns with such fury that it can melt the armor of an Apocalypse Tank, given enough time. Under normal circumstances, this Furnace is kept shut, but on occasion the Talon Crusaders have opened up this furnace, revealing an all consuming inferno. This allows the Eden Superheavy track the bonuses of increased speed and the ability to supposedly crush much larger entities and vehicles than it could do so with the furnace closed off at the cost of overheating and thus damaging the vehicle and also rendering the Eden’s Ambiaric Cannons inoperable. On several occasions, useful material has been discovered inside the furnace and has been put to good use by the Talon to fuel their ageing war machines.

### Behind the Scenes

* The Eden Superheavy Track is based off of the GDI MARV from Kane's Wrath.
* Based off an accepted sugestion from MetalKing.

## Protectorate Tripod

 **Dev. Status** | Conceptual

 **Key Features** | »Fractal Ray (w/ Built-In Tracking Device)»*"Black Gas"* Tubes»40mm Armour (Unknown material, coated in red dirt)»Housing for Command A.I. Core»Top priority targets (A. Clarke, R. Heinlein, I. Asimov)

*"Night, the mother of fear and mystery."*

- H.G. Wells, *War of the Worlds*
### Tactical Analysis

* **The Martians are here!**: The Protectorate Tripod is a towering, massive, three legged walker that dwarfs most other vehicles. Armed with powerful Fractal Rays, Tripods can waste foes they encounter on the battlefield.

* **Cough, Cough...Argh!**: In addition to the Fractal Rays, Tripods have launchers that disperse tubular canisters filled with deadly *"Black Gas"*. These tubes release copious amounts of Black Gas, which envelops an area in a thick black fog, making it impossible to see inside. The chemical composition of this gas is unknown, but what is known is that any unprotected person who finds themselves inside a cloud of Black Gas is as good as dead.

* **War of the Worlds**: Hopefully, you will never encounter one of these things on the battlefield. Tripods house Protectorate Command Node A.I.s, so if you do see one, that means that a massive horde of Protectorate robots is somewhere nearby.

* **They aren't invincible**: Ultimately, however, Protectorate Tripods can still be destroyed. These things should be made your priority target. While it remains, you can be sure the Protectorate will continue to pour resources into the battle. However, if you do manage to topple one of these things, Protectorate forces will be forced to retreat, as destruction of the Tripod will knock out communications between the Protectorate Command Node and its forces, at least temporarily.

### Signal Received

**Preparing for Transit to Surface**

**Analyzing audio-visual transmissions, converting to most-common lingua... done**

**Uploading Simulation: Arrival**

**Simulation: Start**

*"... In One World News, countries across the world were stunned as dark objects of unknown origin landed in various nations, causing a number of small earthquakes around the world, particularly around the Antarctic regions. Thankfully, however, human loss of life was minimal, and the crashes were far from most inhabited regions. Top scientists have warned civilians not to attempt to visit any crash sites, and current theories seem to indicate they originated from Mars. In other news, the American Uprising has been quelled today..."*

**Simulation: 10%**

*"... One World News, reporting on the update of the strange alien objects... They are unlike any nation's space equipment on Earth, and a man in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic spoke out in a public speech today that these represented '*"The Coming of the Messiah"*. Scientists are divided on whether they are alien craft, loose Martian rocks, or merely the remains of a comet or some other object. Meanwhile, a few rogue pseudoscientists argued in an international conference that the earthquakes reported earlier were not, in fact, caused by the objects hitting the earth, but were laughed out of the building. In other news, Disney's animation company has announced plans to release a new film for public view, called "The ..."*

**Simulation: 20%**

*"... One World News here again! A particularly large object that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean today gave off a sound signal of unidentifiable nature; scientists are puzzled over its unclear nature, giving it the nickname of* "bloop" *from its sped-up sound. Whatever it is, a probe was sent down to find it, and should report back within a week or so. The same scientists laughed out of last week's international conference have released a public statement to the deaf ears of the scientific community, claiming that the earthquakes were caused by strange machinery under the earth, and that the objects, now thought by some to be alien transports, were merely diversions. In other news, Premier Davidova today stood in front of the Berlin Wall and shouted for the Allies to end the division and give Germany fully to the Soviets. From a recording of the event:* **"Field Marshal Bingham, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!..."''**

**Simulation: 30%**

*"... One World News, reporting live... Crash sites seem a focal point for increased hostile activity, as teams across the globe have been found slaughtered and the objects found hollow, prompting rumours that they were alien landing craft of some sort. The probe sent down to the Atlantic object malfunctioned of some unknown engineering problem, but the scientists believe they can have another one down there in several days. The pseudoscientists from earlier have now disappeared, after making public the fact that they would descend into the supposed "underground tunnels" unveiled by the quakes and reveal the truth. Any information should be reported to One World News. In other news, malfunctions in space as part of the Athena Network came down, and the Chinese Star Fleet reportedly* "vanished"*, leaving many of their kin stuck on Earth..."*

**Simulation: 40%**

*"... Armies flooding out of the sea! Reported outbreaks of robots and monsters, all over: Allied, Soviet, Chinese areas under siege!... The Assault Destroyer ANV Wells is leading the defence of Britain from an amphibious attack... Soviets are in an uproar as Ukraine's entire population killed by some strange* "thing"*... Empire reporting widespread power shortages... Satellite City destroyed after Satellite deorbited itself into the city...Sites of quakes and now thought spaceship crashes seem to be the focal points of the robot monster sightings..."*

**Simulation: 50%**

*"... Attack reports flooding in from all over the globe... San Fransisco under siege by flying screaming airplanes, streets running red... Soviets losing almost all of Siberia, outlying states decimated by horrific being... Empire desperately defending home islands from assault... British RAF picked off by suicide fighters... Leading the robot armies are enormous **Tripods**, monstrosities standing taller than even the Chinese War Walkers....Allied officials claiming these are aliens, true identity unknown...."*

**Simulation: 60%**

*"... All contact with Australia lost... Britain facing land invasion... Soviet Union offering Mir as international refugee bay... West Coast of United States overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers... Tanya, Natasha, and Mingxia found dead of identical attacks... Reported Tripod use of* "fractal rays" *thought possible... ANV Wells destroyed by incredible numbers..."*

**Simulation: 70%**

*"Africa is lost... Middle Europe is lost... Alaska, Hawaii, Half of US lost... Japanese Islands lost... Massive Evacuation Centre overwhelmed by Tripods, thousands dead of* "Black Gas"*... Yuriko's death scream shatters much of Southeast Asia... Greenland Lost... Syndicate collapses with international markets... Lovecraftian Horror rampages through Leningrad..."*

**Simulation: 80%**

*"... Mir station... downed... All contact with America... lost... Russia... lost... own country... sieged... Britain... lost... nearly... lost... Mir station... destroyed... Chinese... launch... nuclear stockpile... Black Gas... spreading... abandon... all... hope... nobody... left... it was the spaceships... the spaceships... the spaceships..."*

**Simulation: 90%**

*"They... aren't... affected... by nuclear weapons... they... close... in... night... comes... night... comes... nobody... left... night... comes... last... man... on... Earth... die... soon.......... this... is... Paddy... Bates... of... Sealand... One... World... News... night... closes... on... humanity... goodnight..."*

**Simulation: 100%**

**Stop Simulation: Arrival**

**Chance of Simulation Accuracy: 93%**

**Prepare for entry onto surface of planet**

## See Also

* Assassination Targets (Echoes)

* Assassination Targets (Quantum)

* Assassination Targets (Annihilation)

* Assassination Targets (Null)

* Assassination Targets (Pandemonium)

* Assassination Targets (Insanity)

* Assassination Targets (Extremis)

* Assassination Targets (Silentium)