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| DPZ-10 Dark Horn Type: Styracosaurus Total Length: 20.1 meters Total Height: 8.2 meters Weight: 115 metric tons Speed: 130 kilometers per hour 36.11 meters per second Equipment Crasher Horn Smash-Up Tail All-Weather 3D Radar Antenna x4 80mm surface-to-air double-barreled Beam Cannon Anti-Zoid 3-barreled Linear Cannon Surface-to-surface Missile Pod 60mm Beam Gatling Cannon 4-Shot Missile Pod 150mm Triple Grenade Launcher Composite Sensor Unit TEZ 20mm Linear Laser Gun x2 AEZ 20mm Beam Gun x2 Infra-Red Laser Searcher High-Pressure Concentrated Sulfuric Acid Spray Cannon Armor Description: Much like the original form, the Dark Horn was originally designed as a mobile fortress. It is protected by even thicker slabs of armor, but this is a horse of a different color. Rather than the simple titanium-ceramic composite most zoids are protected by, the Dark Horn has a layer of reactive armor covering the flanks, head, legs, and tail. This protects it against shells all the better and beams are decidedly ineffective, leaving high-penetration lasers as the only real means of dropping this tank of a zoid outside of melee combat. Mobility and Power Source Much like the predecessor, the Dark Horn is capable of relatively sharp turns and possesses fairly good endurance. Added to this is a more powerful and efficient energy-delivery system and more efficient myomers, resulting in a zoid that is more maneuverable than the original while being one of the heaviest zoids on the market. It’s certainly not a Liger, but it’s still got respectable maneuverability. Better yet, it can actually turn while on the move, though it still has to worry about being a little top-heavy. An interesting side-affect of the improved systems is that the Dark Horn is effectively a locomotive. Just about nothing short of extensive structural damage can slow it down, laws of physics be damned. Equipment: Crasher Horn The large crasher horn on the beak of the Dark Horn is made of hardened alloy and is good for ramming enemies and punching holes through Zoid armor. A solid ram with this baby will certainly leave them hurting, especially larger Zoids that offer more resistance to the ram. Smash-Up Tail The end of the Dark Horn's long tail is even more armored than the main body of the Dark Horn and if used properly can be a weapon itself. It can be swung with a substantial amount of force, and deals a respectable amount of damage. All-Weather 3D Radar Antenna x4 The four thick antennae on the head of the Dark Horn offer it 3D mapping and basic radar in combination. Unlike other forms of radar, the Dark Horn's is much more robust, able to function in even the harshest of weather conditions. While it doesn't assist targeting very much (a boost of 10%, if that), it's good for picking out aerial Zoids and other fast movers. The targeting data can be sent to allies. 80mm surface-to-air double-barreled Beam Cannon Mounted on the back of the Dark Horn, but not in the back mount, this cannon is best used against air Zoids but can be pivoted to face ground Zoids. It has plenty of horizontal and vertical motion to aim at nearly any target. Each beam cannon is semi-auto, but the unit is permanently fixed to chainfire mode to achieve an effect like a WWII flak cannon, firing 4 shots per second to better tag those pesky aerials. AZ60mm 3-barreled Linear Cannon Mounted on the back of the Dark Horn, to the side of the 60mm Beam Gatling Cannon, this cannon is best used against ground targets and fires packed shrapnel. It works a lot like a shotgun so it's best used in close range rather than long range. Each barrel fires once every 1.5 seconds, so if chainfired, it effectively becomes like a semi-auto shotgun. It's designed to assist the seemingly-helpless Dark Horn in close range. 3-Shot Surface-to-surface Missile Pod A simple 3-Shot missile pod that fires standard missiles. It is mounted on the 3-barreled Linear Cannon. The missiles are capable of limited heat tracking if the pilot takes the time to lock. They fly at low speeds and are thus best used against ground targets. In addition, they don't arm until they're locked and fired, so it's very hard to get them to explode prematurely. 60mm Beam Gatling Cannon This is a beam weapon with a 60mm aperture that fires bolts of hot plasma from the core, 25 per second. Each of the eight barrels holds magnets that charge while rotating, then encapsulate the plasma bolt as it travels down the barrel. This means that slicing off the barrels can severely impact the range and accuracy of this weapon, which is already fairly good considering it fires energy rather than lead. Of course, since it takes its energy from the core in a purer form than lasers, it consumes more of it, and can quickly stall your Zoid out if you fire it too long. It works most efficiently if you fire in two-second bursts with a three-second cooldown, after which it begins to heat up, and grossly extended firing will most likely melt the barrels or explode the ordnance in the other weapons. As this is the centerpiece of the Dark Horn’s armaments, you can see how this is a Very Bad Thing. Four-Shot Missile Pod An armored case on the Horn’s back, mounted behind the back mount protects four missiles that aren't particularly powerful on their own, but add a nice punch to the battle. When fired, they streak upwards at a 45-degree angle to get out of the Gatling's line of fire, then rain down on the target from above. This means that they tend to hit back-mounted components more often. In every respect, they're normal missiles, and should be fired once you get a lock. They acquire a lock through radar signatures, tracking the target with assistance from the Dark Horn’s onboard computers. 150mm Triple Grenade Launcher The burst grenade launcher is a flattish, three-barreled box mounting to one side of the Beam Gatling Cannon, opposite the linear cannon. It provides a kick in short to mid-range firepower. It houses nine grenades approximately 150mm in caliber, though that's mostly their size rather than power. Unlike cannon shells, they don't pack a focused blast, so they're not too good at getting through armor. They are, however, very large, and burst into a large, hot fireball with a twenty meter radius that severely hurts exposed components. Each barrel of the burst grenade launcher has its own individual loading chamber for maximum redundancy, but can only fire once every three seconds. This means that you can effectively fire one grenade per second if you do so in a chainlinked fashion. Its maximum range is 200 meters. Composite Sensor Unit Mounted in the chest and on the sides of the Dark Horn this sensory unit is a lot more difficult to shoot off than other sensory units. It packs standard infrared, 3D mapping, and a type of sonar to allow it to see most stealth Zoids and even burrowed Zoids. TEZ 20mm Linear Laser Gun x2 Mounted on the Dark Horn's rear end on either side of the base of the tail in a rear facing position. Neither weapon has any pivoting whatsoever, and they fire at a semi-auto rate of two shots per second. AEZ 20mm Beam Gun x2 Mounted on the tip of the tail in a rear-facing position these guns have a small amount of vertical pivoting for aiming. These fire at a repeater-like rate of eight shots per second, and can deal a respectable amount of damage considering they're beam-based. Most importantly, they're constructed of very tough alloys to withstand the abuse of the strong tail being used as a weapon. High-pressure Concentrated Sulfuric Acid Spray Cannon This bad boy is effectively a firehose of very caustic acid. It has enough corrosive sulfuric acid loaded to pump out a good six seconds' worth, and thoroughly drench the victim. While it's good at slowly eating away armor and structure, the real value of this thing is destroying internals. The acid will quickly erode wires and small pipes, and basically anything that isn't metal will get pretty nastily destroyed. Of course, the main problem is actually finding a way to get the acid inside them. Fortunately, the crasher horn's not a meter above it . . . |