| QUOTE |
RPZ-20 King Baron Type: Lion Length: 19.8m Height: 8.6m Weight: 73 tons Maximum land speed: 270 km/hr 75 meters per second Equipment: Mega-Vulcan Cannon x2 40mm Pulse Balkan Cannon x2 AMD 30mm Beam Cannon x2 AZ Rotary Missile Pod x2 Flame Beam Cannon AP-Needle Cannon Gas Discharger x4 Energy Management System Laser Blade x4 Beam Needle x2 Active RADAR Antenna x2 Power Connector E-shield Generator x4 Armour Description: The King Baron, being an upgraded variant of the King Liger, sports even greater armour coverage than the King Liger, and the armour is about 10% tougher than that of the King Liger as well. The only real gaps now are on the back where the Power Connector is located and a small area on the rear of the Zoid. All in all, the King Baron’s a tough bastard to take down. Mobility and Power Source: The King Baron builds on some aspects of the King Liger, whilst some other aspects suffer. The main aspect of the Baron that suffers in the upgrade is the agility, which is reduced slightly from that of the King Liger, to roughly match the Shield Liger. However, the structure gets some new myomers inserted, increasing the strength of the King Baron even more than that of the King Liger, making it brutally effective in combat. The Baron retains the impressive endurance of the King Liger, but it sports a whole new range of energy-consuming weapons, so it tends to tire more easily than its smaller brother. The other noticeable thing is the loss of speed, due to the inferior aerodynamics all the guns create, and the slightly increased weight of the Baron. Weapons Mega-Vulcan Cannon x2 The trademark weapons of the King Liger are retained for the Baron, fitted just beside the face on either side and slightly lower on the chest, still able to fire 30 rounds a second each. However, the projectiles they fire aren't standard bullets, like nearly all rapid fire weaponry, but actual 40mm cannon shells, propelled at a high velocity to penetrate armor more effectively. Due to the recoil involved, their sturdy mounts only allow them to incline 30 degrees up or down, and not at all to the sides. 40mm Pulse Balkan Cannon x2 Mounted just above the Mega-Vulcan Cannons on either side of the face is a single long-barrelled weapon, the 40mm Pulse Balkan Cannon. The cannons are of an archaic design, but still quite effective, as they fire a flurry of around seventy five bolts in a burst when you squeeze the trigger, appearing as a single slightly longer than average beam. Because of this method of firing, the Pulse Balkans can deal a lot of damage, but tend to have a high cooling time, requiring a 2:1 cool-to-fire ratio. The cannons will only fire for a maximum of a second before shutting down to cool. AMD 30mm Beam Cannon x2 Mounted on top of the Baron’s head are a pair of small beam cannons that are calibrated specifically for missile duty. They fire very fast, roughly fifteen times per second each, but the beams are high-penetration, meaning they do little damage but punch through weaker material like missiles with ease. Being fixed in a forward position, they rely on the movement of the Baron’s head to shoot down incoming missiles. AZ Rotary Missile Pod x2 Found on either side of the Baron, between the front and back legs, is a device that looks like a stubby gatling cannon with huge barrels. These are actually the Rotary Missile Pods. They lock using a visual sensor in the middle of the pod, meaning that the Baron can only fire them at enemies to the side, but once locked, the missiles are fired very rapidly, the pod actually spinning like a gatling gun and hurling the missiles some distance before they begin ignition. Because of this they can be dumbfired like a big explosive Vulcan if you’re keen. Each pod contains eight missiles, two per tube, and they are incredibly fast to reload, being capable of firing all eight missiles in a single second. Flame Beam Cannon Mounted onto the chest of the King Baron are two cannons, a larger one mounted over a smaller one. This is the big one. It’s basically a Republican attempt to shrink the Charged Particle Gun and stick it on a common enough Zoid. Once every round, the Flame Beam Cannon can fire a beam of super-hot plasma, contained within a magnetic field, with a calibre roughly equivalent to 60mm, though that is only in diameter. The beam itself can punch through most armour with ease, being like a scaled up version of the Plasma Lance Emitter. The beam lasts for about 2 seconds, and requires about three more seconds to cool and recharge. AP-Needle Cannon Mounted just below the Flame Beam Cannon is this smaller weapon that operates in much the same way as the Beam Needleguns, firing over 150 laser bolts per second. The aperture is tiny, but the laser encapsulation makes them armour piercing, all the better for chewing up armour like nothing else. The aggregate effect takes a little while to become noticeable, but it’s exponentially effective as time passes. Laser Blade x4 Again, the King Baron retains the weapons of the King Liger. It has two metal blades welded directly to its "mane" area, behind the head, with another set on the tail. The head blades are approximately seven meters off the ground. Both point slightly upward from an otherwise horizontal mount, and can be charged with laser energy identical to the Blade Liger's blades. The blades are the same as those on the King Liger, but the energy system has been altered, to funnel more energy to the blades. The end result is that these blades, whilst maintaining the same length and physical cutting power as the blades of a King Liger, impart a slightly more effective slash than the King Liger's against such things as energy shields. The increase is marginal, being around 10%, but every bit helps. Beam Needlegun x2 Two small, rear-facing beam guns are located in the tip of the Baron's tail, next to the tail blades. The beams are nothing more than standard laser bolts, but the weapon's been given the name "beam needlegun" because it builds up damage much like getting hit with a flurry of tiny needles. Combined, the twin Beam Needleguns emit between one and two hundred tiny laser bolts per second. While the effect on Zoid armor isn't a whole lot, the aggregate effect can amount to a decent bit of damage. They also excel at downing missiles. Gas Discharger x4 On either flank of the King Baron is a capsule containing two gas dischargers. When the dischargers are used they spew a thick olive green gas the Baron can use to hide in. The gas is actually heavily audio-absorbant, so radar, audio sensors and a few other similar sensors won’t function within the gas. This leaves the King Baron effectively blinded while hiding in the gas, but it puts the Baron on an even footing with most other Zoids inside the cloud. E-shield Generator x4 The E-Shield Generators buried under the shoulder and hip armour of the Baron has been slightly reformatted, taking into account the increased energy needs of the Zoid. All four generators have been linked to a purifier that essentially filters the energy, making the shield generators more efficient. However, this has a strange side effect on the shield itself. When created, it maintains the same zeppelin shape, but it’s much shorter, only extending just past the front legs. However, the shield itself is concentrated to 135% strength within the area it covers, for added defense. Active RADAR Antenna x2 The King Baron appears to have four blades on its mane, behind the head. The upper two, stubbier than the lower ones, are actually heavy-duty radar antennae. They're just as strong as the blades, but instead of charging with laser energy, they employ sensitive omnidirectional surveillance radar to map out a 3D image of the battlefield for the pilot. Technology gleaned from salvaged Imperial Molgas, the King Baron employs a holographic heads-up display in the cockpit, which is nearly impossible to see out of otherwise. It works via standard light sensory as well as the radar antennae, and appears much like a wireframe model of the battlefield. Think Battlezone and you're on the right track. Energy Management System The King Baron utilizes the famous Energy Management System in much the same way its bretheren does, namely, it allows power from systems to be shunted away to other systems. For the sake of not having to completely rewire the internals of the Baron, the system is identical to that of the King Liger, with not one notable change. This means of course that when utilizing this system, the guns that were added to the Baron in the upgrade can continue to run. However, damage to the Baron's structure can sometimes cause power from the EMS to surge to parts of the system that were not designed for it, namely the new weapons, causing them to be destroyed. This is a rare occurance, but has been known to happen, on occasion. Power Connector The King Baron's unarmored back provides ample mounting space for specially designed "grade-up" units. Numerous aftermarket modifications making use of this specially designed port are available for purchase. In addition, certain Zoids, such as the Gorgolauncher, are designed to fit onto this slot, becoming weapon packs for the King Baron. |