M E A T B A G
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: To update an ancient design employed by the first First Order utilizing modern technology.
Image Source:[ Image I ] [ Image II ]
Canon Link: All Terrain MegaCaliber Six.
Restricted Missions: N/A
Primary Source: All Terrain Armoured Transport, Repurposed Canon Articles.
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Manufacturer: First Order Corps of Imperial Engineers.
Model: AT-HAT/FO MK. II (All Terrain - Heavy Assault Transport Mk. II.)
Affiliation: The First Order, The First Order Central Command, and the First Order Military.
Modularity: Yes; Modular Artillery Weapon Mount(s) (Variants listed below.)
Production: Minor.
Material: Quadanium-Impregnated Durasteel Ablative Hull, Titanium-reinforced Alusteel Skeletal Frame, Turadium Blast Doors and Shutters, Glasteel Viewports.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Classification: Heavy Assault Walker.
Role: Self-Propelled Artillery Walker, Armoured Military Assault Walker, Troop Transport, Mechanized Infantry.
Size: Large Classification Imperial Walker.
Length: 30 Metres.
Width: 14 Metres.
Height: 35 Metres.
Weight: 75 Metric Tonnes, Or 82 Short Tonnes.
Minimum Crew:
- One Pilot.
- One Co-Pilot.
- One Walker Commander.
- One Pilot.
- One Co-Pilot.
- One Walker Commander.
- Four Deck Officers.
Maximum Speed: 50 KM/h [Slow.]
Maneuverability: [Low.]
Armaments:
- Twin Heavy Laser Cannons (Chin Mounted.) [Fire-Linked]
- Four Heavy Repeating Laser Cannons (Two Mounted per side of the Command Module.) [Fire Linked; Fast-Track Mountings.]
- One Heavy Turbolaser, Or; One Heavy Particle Cannon. (Capacity for One Mounted Weapon.)
- Four Armoured Footpads with Retractable Stability Spikes.
- Four Retractable Antimissile Octets [Fire Linked; Fast-Track Mountings.]
Defenses:
- Ablative and Reinforced Armour Plating.
- Reinforced and Armoured Joints.
- Serrated Leggings with Remote Degaussing Module(s).
Squadron Count: One Walker Per Squadron. (Standard Imperial Army Section/Squadron.)
Passenger Capacity: 60 (Two Imperial Military Platoons.)
Cargo Capacity: 3,500 Metric Tonnes. (No Vehicle Carrying Capacity.)
STANDARD FEATURES
- Walker Classification, Military-Grade Servomotors.
- Walker Classification, Military-Grade Fusion Drive System(s).
- Walker Classification, Military-Grade Primary Fusion Power Plant.
- Fusion Reactor Core (For Primary Artillery Cannon.) [Military-Grade.]
- Hazard and Damage Control Systems [Military-Grade.]
- Life Support System(s) [Military-Grade.]
- Navigational System(s) [Military-Grade.]
- Ground-Penetrating Sensors and Targeting System(s) [Military-Grade.]
- Communications System, Holonet Transceiver with Encryption/Decryption Networks [First Order Military Encryption Keys.]
- Environmental Control System(s) [Military-Grade.]
- Reinforced, Ablative Armour Plating.
- Extended Quadanium-lined Durasteel Carapace (Additional Neck Protection.)
- Heavy Weapons Loadout.
- Cockpit Gyro-Stabilization Module(s).
- Armoured Personnel Carrier: Much like the spiritual predecessor, the AT-HAT/FO MK. II can safely transport Two full Platoons of Imperial Soldiers across the tumult of the modern battlefield. With much of the interior compartments given over to the operation of the primary artillery cannon affixed to the central, and uppermost section of the walker, the drawback when comparing this model against its former variants is that it’s unable to host a wide array of smaller transports and speeder bikes.
- Self-Propelled Artillery: A natural strength of the AT-HAT/FO MK. II lies within its massive, dorsal mounted artillery piece. While the worthy emplacement weapon is powerful within its own right, affixing it to the exterior hull of a massive walker and coating it in armour, adds an entirely new level of danger that the Imperial Walker poses. This significantly increases the First Order’s ability to dominate the field with their advanced armoured units, by permitting their artillery pieces to be fitted atop gargantuan, lumbering bunkers - bringing death and dread wherever they tread.
- Reinforced Armour Plating: Building on their predecessor's nigh-impenetrable design, the AT-HAT/FO MK. II is adorned in a shroud of metallic hide that would turn away the most lethal of blows. Every material that comprises the exterior plating was specifically chosen due to their intrinsic, and innate ability to shrug off small arms fire, and resist the deadly force of heavy and anti-vehicular weapons. While this was not the perfect defense in any respect, it allowed the AT-HAT/FO MK. II to continue operating when other vehicles would’ve been struck down, or slain by the oppressive array of firepower amassed against them.
- Serrated Legplates with Degaussing Module(s): Having learned of the grievous flaws that presided over the ancient and modern day walker’s that were in service to the First Order and their Imperial cousins, the Corps of Imperial Engineers went about devising ways to counteract the primary method of disabling these potent armoured vehicles. The first was serrated edges that dominated every critical angle along the length of the armoured behemoth’s legs. This was meant to sever the constricting bonds of a tow cable as it made its passes around the Imperial Walker. Also, four degaussing modules were integrated into the armoured legs, which upon activation, would reverse the magnetic polarity of the metallic surface and deny a modern tow cable the ability to adhere to the surface.
- Slow and Purposeful: Often outpaced by it’s lighter, and less armoured cousins within the First Order, the AT-HAT/FO MK. II willingly trades its speed and maneuverability for heavy armour and raw firepower. This means that the armoured divisions comprising these ponderous beasts are usually deployed alongside smaller escorts that can intercept any fast moving targets, whilst the larger beasts lumber towards their intended destination. However, it has been noted that hunting packs of lesser Imperial walkers have been notorious for leaving their charges at the mercy of swifter foes - often resulting in entire squadrons being besieged by venomous gnats.
- Vulnerable Underbelly and Neck Cabling: Though the exterior plating can shrug off the most lethal of hits, sadly it was ineffectual for the First Order Corps of Imperial Engineers to place the same protection on the underbelly, as to do so would be to restrict the movements of the ponderous metallic beast more than they already have. Thus, while it would take precise aim to cripple the hunchbacked machine by penetrating through its defenses, and sundering the soft underbelly with plasmatic weapons, Central Command deemed that the integrated flaw was acceptable for the advantageous trade-offs it would garner. As well, even though the carapace was extended to protect the neck sheath, that connected the command module to the rest of the AT-HAT/FO MK. II, the vulnerabilities that afflicted the Imperial Walker’s predecessor were still relevant in modern days, albeit marginally reduced thanks to the reinforcing metallic shroud.
- Artillery Stabilizing Mechanism(s): As the AT-HAT/FO MK. II lays claim to being the latest in the All-Terrain series, once widely produced and spread across the galaxy by Kuat Drive Yards, the First Order recognized one of the largest flaws in mounting an emplacement-grade artillery piece on the back of a lumbering metallic beast. The accuracy of the heavy weapon would suffer greatly if the machine were bestriding the battlefield at its maximum speed, often missing its target as it barreled towards it. Thus, if the Walker Commander seeks to fire the primary cannon with an increased margin of accuracy, he would have to deploy the forward stabilizers and adopt a hunched position - thereby presenting an immobile target for an ambitious foe, and a stationary weapons platform to strengthen any Imperial advance.
- Forward Firing Arc's: With all of its weapons either fixed in the forward firing arc or given a minimal range of motion entire dependant on the command module’s positioning and axial tilt, the AT-HAT/FO MK. II suffers from the inability to counter fast-moving threats that have managed to flank the ponderous beast. Should that eventuality ever come to pass, the Imperial Walker will have to rely on its smaller kin to engage the enemy while the lumbering behemoth slowly repositions itself to bring its impressive armament to bear. Such a weakness was often countered by deploying these gargantuan transports in siege battles, or stronghold assaults where their target was a fixed feature adorning the landscape, or a slow moving target that would quickly fall prey to the AT-HAT/FO MK. II’s heavy forward mounted cannons.
DESCRIPTION
As the War with the Galactic Alliance had come to a close, the victorious First Order had elected not to rest on their laurels, but to harness their momentum and continue building new weapons of war to combat whatever threats awaited them in the future. Thus, to secure their manifested destiny, the Imperial Corps of Engineers had looked into their organization’s past to find inspiration for the newest iteration of the iconic Imperial Walkers. Within their meticulously kept records, sealed away from the technological regression brought out by the Gulag Plague, those Imperial Engineers had found themselves clutching the ancient schematics of the AT-M6 - a self-propelled artillery piece. Utilizing their incredible ingenuity, the technicians within the First Order have taken the old design of the AT-M6 and revolutionized it so that the Walker would be brought into compliance with the modern Imperial Army standards.
The thick Durasteel hide of old was insufficient to comply with the current armament deployed by the enemies of the First Order and required some modern reinforcement to deny the enemy the ability to overcome its considerable defenses easily. Therefore the upgraded gradient of durasteel was impregnated with Quadanium steel, which allowed the Walker to shrug off all but the deadliest of weapons. While that was enough, several flaws were made known during the tumultuous Battle of Hoth, as Agents of the Galactic Alliance concentrated their firepower on the neck ‘tunnel’ that connected the command module with the enormous pachyderm. The first and most notable flaw was in turn countered by the addition of extended armour plating that covered the vulnerable neck section, at the cost of limiting the tunnel’s rotational axis. A worthy sacrifice to ensure the durability of their assets in the field.
Amidst a myriad of technological marvels and setbacks, the newly recreated AT-M6, now dubbed as AT-HAT/FO Mk. II (All Terrain - Heavy Assault Transport/First Order Mk. II) was pressed into service by Imperial Central Command. Though the Engineers of the First Order were diligent record keepers, there were drawbacks in preserving such valuable information for lengthy periods of time, which in turn had brought about the inevitable degradation of their servers - losing dozens of their records. In this era of regression, the primary weapon system of the AT-M6 was lost, forcing the Imperial Technicians to look towards various weapons that would be a suitable replacement. Therefore, they were forced to look towards the Navy in the act of procuring a Heavy Turbolaser, or a Heavy Particle Cannon, both of which were rated for Capital Ships. A powerful weapon indeed, but such a boon came at a price. Due in part to the simian-like propulsion systems, covered with serrated edges, the massive artillery piece of the AT-HAT/FO Mk. II was unable to pinpoint its targets utilizing any forward momentum precisely. To accurately remove the hostile target from existence, the self-propelled artillery piece would be required to stop and slam it’s immobility spikes into the surface of whatever world they were deployed on. That act would grant the stability needed for the AT-HAT/FO Mk. II to fire it’s back-mounted weapon with little worry of collateral damage.
Like it’s predecessors, the AT-HAT/FO Mk. II was designed to be a siege platform from which Imperial Soldiers could deploy, allowing the machine and it’s supporting assets to hold ground while the Imperial Army began establishing their foothold. However, as a trade-off for the artillery piece mounted atop its metallic carapace, the AT-HAT/FO Mk. II was unable to ferry anything other than the Stormtroopers, for wasted cargo space would prove to be detrimental to both the passengers and the structural integrity of the Walker itself.
