Mercenary General

The Kingdom of Nibo realized after a while that relying on your trading partners for national rebuilding was a chancy affair. Not only were they subject to their whims, there was no way the Kingdom could hold the various Great Houses to their end of the bargain. Yet, rebuild they must, and the Kingdom once again turned towards their ridiculously successful military hardware manufacturer for an answer.

The reply, was the Vampire Medium Omnitank.

Ever since its introduction, the AFFS Manteuffel has been touted as one of the most powerful cavalry/striker tanks, its price tag notwithstanding. Blessed with a reasonably fast speed of close to 90 km/h, and encased with 11.5 tons of ferro fibrous armour plating, its various Omni kits also packed a wallop utilizing its 23.5 tons of pod space. Its tracked motive systems allowed it to traverse all but the most impossible terrain.

Deciding to borrow from the best, Nibo Heavy Industries shrunk the chassis down to a much smaller 50 tons. Speed was maintained, as was the tracked motive system. While the Vampire mounted 1 ton less of armour, the installation of NHB Type X Heavy Ferro Fibrous armour actually meant that the lighter tank had slightly more protection. CASE provided further protection to the crew, as well as making it possible to salvage the tank and keeping the crew alive in the event of an ammo explosion. The fact that the Vampire weighs in at 50 tons also meant that it would be stored in a light vehicle bay rather than the heavy bay the Manteuffel, and indeed many other heavier MBTs required.

Intended to go into direct competition with the Mantueffel, the Vampire also comes equipped with C3 networking capabilities in all its variants. Targeting the Draconis Combine as its major market, with any other party trying to put together a C3 enabled system, this move also fitted in the DCMS‘s ongoing efforts to promote the usage of C3 networks, as well as increasing use of Omni technology.

The Kingdom of Nibo pointed out that while there were field modifications of combat vehicles to make use of C3 systems - with examples like the refits of Manticore, MRM variant of the Demolisher and Tokugawa tanks, the Schiltron remained the only Omni vehicle, and factory built C3 equipped machine. The Vampire has a C3 slave unit installed in all save one of its configurations, which has a C3 Master instead.

The Prime variant of the Vampire unabashedly copies from the most popular of the Manteuffel variant. A Rotary autocannon provides devastating damage at reasonable range, backed by a pair of Extended Range Medium Lasers. A Guardian ECM Suite and an Anti-Missile System provides additional protection for a machine predicted to move into medium and close combat range against enemies.

Intended to strike fear into all opponents, the Alpha comes armed with a Plasma Rifle combined with the flexibility offered by a trio of MML-5s. Crew members are strongly encouraged to load one of the two ammo bins with Inferno missiles to add to the heat spike and stunning decapitating ability of the Plasma weapon.

Making use of what would be seen as Draconis weapons, the Bravo combines the close range firepower of a Snub-nosed PPC with the missile strike abilities of triple MRM-10‘s. It was clearly meant as a close range brawler.

Appealing to the old school in all tank crew, the Charlie variant seeks to build onto the image of the original Manticore. Armed with an old tech PPC, dual Machine Guns and a Grenade Launcher, paired Artemis enhanced MML-5‘s replaced the old Manticore‘s mix of missile launchers to give the Charlie Vampire a higher level of tactical flexibility.

Given that the Schiltron was one of the inspiration for the Vampire, it was inevitable that an Arrow IV armed version would be produced. An ER Medium Laser serves as the only close range weapon.

The next Echo variant returned to a more traditional loadout. An LB 10-X AC with two ton ammo bin, backed by a pair of Medium Pulse Lasers provide accurate and intense firepower. A single front mounted Heavy Flamer offers extra close range pain to any infantry, or any other unit that did not have particular love for a heat spike.

The Foxtrot came about after much debate among the enlisted officers and university students and engineers. While common practise calls for light and fast vehicles to act as scouts and recon units, it was eventually agreed that the Vampire and its various configurations might be employed as the sole unit in organization, and that meant that there would be a need for a more recon equipped version. A TAG and highly advanced Bloodhound Probe provide such capabilities, while a Snub-nosed PPC and a pair of Apollo FCS enhanced MRM launchers made sure that the vehicle can fight its way out of tight spots. The Foxtrot is geared towards spotting for the Arrow IV variant, as well as flushing out hidden enemy units.

The final variant, the Gamma, is the C3 Master unit. A single heavy Artemis improved LRM launcher sits in the turret to provide long range firepower both direct and indirect. A single Small X-Pulse Laser provides the anti-infantry capabilities of the standard Small Pulse Laser while gaining reach while maintaining accuracy and damage, but suffered from a dramatic increase in waste heat - the latter not affecting the Gamma variant as the X-Pulse Laser was the only energy weapon mounted.

All variants of the Vampire cost about half or less than the Mantueffel tank. The Kingdom hopes that the various variants of the Vampire will appeal to the different factions - even the Federated Suns. They have been unwilling to disclose any engineering specs of the tank however, with their bad experience from their previous &cooperation& with the Great Houses.