Serpent Light Tank

**Dev. Status** | Modelled

 **Key Features** | »» *"Vengeance"* gamma ray gun»» Light steel plate armour»» All-terrain wheels»» Light atomic motor»» *"Made in China"* sign

*"Where is my next objective?"*

- Serpent driver
### Tactical Analysis

* **Serpent’s speed**: The Serpent Light Tank is a sleek, low-profiled light tank. Its armour is pitiful, though its speed is considerable, and is tougher than it looks thanks to its planar shielding.

* **Sssss...**: With its gamma ray gun, the Serpent Light Tank is highly effective against enemy infantry, who die a quick death upon their exposure to concentrated bursts of gamma rays. Vehicles also take damage, and units that survive are slowed down.

* **Sneaky**: Thanks to its low profile and equipment, the Serpent can temporarily cloak itself, allowing it to close the distance with enemy units and avoid attackers.

* **Slithering snakes!**: The Serpent is, as its name indicates, a light tank. Its thin armour is unlikely to hold up against a concentrated anti-tank barrage once its shield goes down, and like so many other units of the Atomic Kingdom, the Serpent is quite alone and quite helpless if power goes out.

### Operational History

In the aftermath of the devastating atomic holocaust, as the first few of the fledging Atomic Kingdom of China banded together, guided by the radio signals that were being broadcast across all China, it was clear that the newly formed Kingdom would need to defend itself against the threats of the wastelands; the bandits, mutated animals, warlords and various other dangers that menaced China. For such a task, they would need weapons.

Of course, some of those who joined the Atomic Kingdom--soldiers of both the Blue NRA and Red PLA, bandits, and even a few warlords--brought their resources with them. But a few barely functional tanks and machine guns and some old bolt-action weapons and rusting anti-tank rifles wouldn't do if the Atomic Kingdom was to be able to eventually stand its own against the other nations of the world; for that, it would need a military.

As the Kingdom began to stitch together the remains of the dark technologies that the NRA and PLA had employed in the last war, it began to build up its military forces. The patched-up Battlemasters and semi-automatic carbines began to give way to more outlandish weapons. One of the earliest of these new weapons and vehicles was the **Serpent Light Tank**.

Constructed with knowledge gleaned from Blue Chinese ray guns and scraps of information on Red Chinese experiments with atomic motors, the Serpent was a simple bare-bones design, using minimal armour plating to save valuable mass and employing crudely built atomic motors and ray guns. The initial design lacked planar shields, a technology not known to the Atomic Kingdom at the time. As such, the original Serpents were extremely vulnerable to damage. Despite this, they boasted considerable speed and firepower, their atomic motors propelling them at incredible speeds that made hitting them a frustrating prospect, while their ray guns proved effective against the armour of Minzu and Battlemasters. Zipping across the wastelands, these vehicles would be destroyed in head-on engagements, but their speed allowed them to outflank their slower opponents and deliver crippling blasts of high-energy radiation

These days, the Serpent Light Tanks continue to serve the Atomic Kingdom, though in a more limited capacity, now that other vehicles like the Nian have been introduced. These days, the Serpent acts in the capacity of a light tank, employing its great speed to scout ahead and skirmish with enemy forces. The basic design of the Serpent remains mostly unchanged; though planar shield generators have been added to improve protection, and while the use of duplicators to produce the components has resulted in slight refinements to the ray gun and atomic motor, otherwise, it is the same vehicle.

### Behind the Scenes

The Serpent Light Tank was the first shown Kingdom unit, showing the future designs of the Kingdom vehicles.

## Serpent Spotter

 **Dev. Status** | Modelled

 **Key Features** | »» *"Retaliation"* gamma ray gun (it’s a laser pointer)»» Radiation-treated titanium plate armour»» All-terrain wheels»» Upgraded atomic motor»» *"Made in China"* sign

*"Where should I look?"*

- Serpent Spotter driver
### Tactical Analysis

* **Sneaky scout**: The Serpent Spotter serves as an advanced scout for the Atomic Kingdom. It boasts are large sight range, detects concealed units, completely invisible (instead of temporary), and acts as officers for Serpent teams.

* **Stealthy spy**: Since the Spotter is permanently cloaked, unlike its fellow snake, the Spotter can instead overcharge its engine to give itself a boost of speed and shielding so that it can escape if spotted. The engines need to cool down afterwards, however, leaving the Spotter immobile until then.

* **Secret spotter**: As name suggests, the Serpent Spotter works best in conjunction with other units, particularly artillery, alerting them to enemies infringing on Chinese territory.

* **Snakebite**: The Serpent isn’t entirely defenseless, since it’s Ray gun can be used to mark targets like the Guardians target painter without breaking stealth, but otherwise deals no damage. Still, it is not meant to take the enemy head-on, best leave that to the other servants of the kingdom.

### Operational History

As the Atomic Kingdom shifted their priorities from recovery and defense to conquest and retribution, officers began clamoring for a more advanced scout to supplement their forces. While tigers are indeed deadly and effective, they are still flesh and blood, weak to fatigue and unable to withstand large quantities of weapon fire. What was needed was a armoured vehicle capable of traversing vast distances.

Scholars produced many fantastic designs, drawing inspiration from the Chinese zodiac from monkey cars to hen light tanks, but in the end, it was decided to take the tried and true Serpent and modify it for scouting.

## Serpent Raider

 **Dev. Status** | Modelled

 **Key Features** | »» *"Retribution"* gamma ray cannon»» Planar Shield generator»» All-terrain wheels/chassis»» Supercharged atomic motor»» *"Made in China"* sign

*"We are those who slither in the dark."*

- Serpent Raider driver
### Tactical Analysis

* **Sinister sneakers**: The Serpent Raider serves as the advance raiding team for the Atomic Kingdom, consisting of the Kingdom's Marines with an aptitude in driving. Boasting superior speed, amphibious capability, additional armour and shielding (ensuring the crew's survival), and not requiring an officer to fight at full capacity since its crews are eunuchs.

* **Snapping strike**: Armed with an overcharge ray gun. The Raiders gun vaporises infantry and slag vehicles in a single shot and can destroy tanks if they flank at their sides or rear.

* **Slippery slice**: As with its fellow snakes, the Raider can temporarily conceal itself from its foes. Notably, the Raider remains cloaked much longer and will charge up its gun while in this state, making their next attack hit even harder.

* **Sh-*\*bleep\****: The material to make the Raider, combined with the crew's extra training (and being humans, sterile or not), makes them rather expensive, and like the Marines, their lives should not be thrown away without thought.