Raijin X Ground Striker

**Key Features** | »» Miniaturized supercapacitor (x6)»» *"Dengeki"* fire control system»» Plasma drivetrain»» Nano-steel frame»» 虞 (Fear) kanji printed on wings

*"I strike with the swiftness of lightning."*

- Raijin X Ground Striker pilot
## Tactical Analysis

* **When Lightning Strikes**: Lightning fast and fairly well armoured to boot, the Raijin X Ground Striker is designed to fulfil the role of dedicated ground attack plane, one of several aircraft designed to operate from the Incredible Mobile Fortress Tatsu.

* **Feel the Thunder**: The Raijin's weapon of choice is a Wave-Force cannon, one which can release destructive pulses at its targets and pulverise armour as though it was putty. The Raijin's wave force cannon also has an alternate fire mode; where it can dump all its power reserves into a huge blast of Wave Force energy, providing that its capacitors are at full power and it has not fired yet.

* **In a Flash**: The Raijin has a limited power reserve, and can at most loose off a couple of shots before it drains its capacitors; this means that it must return to the Incredible Mobile Fortress Tatsu or a Support Airfield to recharge. Also, keep an eye out for enemy interceptors; the Raijin's targeting systems are unable to track aircraft.

* **Joint Strike**: Experienced Raijin pilots are well versed when it comes to operating in tandem with Fujins, and will do whatever they can to support their fellow pilots, so that Fujin pilots can fight more effectively.

## Operational History

The ***"VB-12 Raijin X Ground Striker"***, named after the Japanese god of thunder, is the result of many who had dreamed of flying Wave-Force Artillery pieces. Although not the Raijin's final design was not what the designers at Go Raikou Arms Inc. fantasized of initially, it is still capable of carrying out its role, as a strike bomber. However unlike strike bombers, the Raijin strikes as hard as lightning, due to Imperial technology allowing it to surpass what the international meaning of 'strike bomber' is.

The Raijin is fast and durable, due to it's Nano-steel framework and the plasma drivetrain derived from the Tengu, and is armed with six supercapacitors scaled down from the Wave-Force Artillery. Due to the inability to stabilize and plot a targeting solution on something flying so fast as well as mount something so heavy like a Wave-Force generator on the Raijin, the minds at Go Raikou Arms Inc. looked back at the theory papers of Dr. Kumiko and Dr. Unmei from the University of Kanegawa, and proceeded to contact them.

With the advice of the two professors, the engineers at Go Raikou Arms Inc. instead built scaled down versions of the supercapacitors from the Wave-Force Artillery, and outfitted the Raijin's finalized frame with them. They also engineered a new fire control system that optimizes amount of power drawn from the supercapacitors for optimal efficiency when destroying hostile objects. The fire control system also comes with two firing modes. The first allows the Raijin to fire short bursts of Wave-Force energy due to the lack of a barrel; instead of Wave-Force beams, the Raijin fires Wave-Force pulses.

The second firing mode allows the Raijin to completely empty the supercapacitors at once to create a massive Wave-Force blast that is extremely destructive, devastating whatever target it was fired at. However this massive blast requires fully charged capacitor, any lower and the 'Wave-Force Blast' will not be usable.

The Raijin is limited by the fact that it cannot trap its own Minofusuki particles, preventing recharge of its supercapacitors. The miniaturized supercapacitors also mean they have lower capacity than the Wave-Force Artillery, and it results in the Raijin having a 'small payload'. However the Incredible Mobile Fortress Tatsu has the necessary hardware to recharge the Raijin, allowing it to keep up its bombing runs without too much delay.

Go Raikou Arms Inc. designed the Raijin and Fujin in a way that they complement each other perfectly, due to their respective attributes: The Fujin is a dedicated air-to-air fighter that can clear the way and protect the Raijin from enemy aircraft while it is on its way to its target, and the Raijin can obliterate surface units and defences threatening Fujins on airspace/fleet defence duty.

Fujin and Raijin pilots are on extremely friendly terms with each other, it is not uncommon to find Fujin and Raijin pilots that have bonded together or are attached to one another after flying together and saving each other from pinches, in and out of the cockpit. There exists a similar bond between Tengu and VX pilots, however it is less noted compared to the Fujin-Raijin pilots due to how Tengu and VXes can fulfill each others' roles.