Name: Dark Spiner
Alignment: Guylos Empire
Family: Spinosaurus
Registration Number: EZ-060
Crew: 1
Height: 16.6 Meters
Length: 22.3 Meters
Weight: 118 Tons
Top Speed: 240 kph
Weapons: Dual 144mm Machineguns, Quad Defensive Cannons, Electron Bite Fangs, Strike Laser Claws.
Special Abilities: Communications Jamming, Spinal Array Deployment, Jamming Blade.
Level: 5
The Dark Spiner was actually originally a high-end Guylos frontline infantry Zoid, spearheading charges and rushing blindly into enemy fire. It’s extremely pricey, but many would say that its worth every penny. With armor as tough as the Geno Saurer’s, the Dark Spiner can take quite a bit of punishment and keep right on ticking. It’s weaponry is also no joke, boasting an array of melee and ranged weaponry, including two fearsome 144mm Machineguns.
While it was definitely a high-end and high performance Zoid, having plenty of firepower, speed, and even maneuverability, the Dark Spiner was really one-function. Though they had the potential to do crowd-control work, both the Red Horn and Dark Spiner could do the same just as or more effectively for less money. Really, the Dark Spiner was outfitted with and almost designed around a Jamming Blade for one purpose: to make it an assassin.
Of course, that doesn’t mean the sneaky, stealthy assassin. The kind of assassin who kicks down your front door. The Dark Sniper was designed to fight one enemy Zoid -- just one -- and destroy it. Of course, it can fight in any number of configurations, but a 1v1 is what its best at; the Dark Spiner is deadly against a single opponent in both ranged and close-quarters combat situations. This has made it less popular in the armed forces, but has also created a certain appeal in sanctioned Zoid battles, where such battles are more common.
Weapons:
Dual 144mm Machineguns:
The Dual 144mm Machineguns are the Dark Spiner’s main weapons, prominently displayed sitting on the Zoid’s shoulders. It should be noted that their caliber is 144mm and they’re fully automatic machineguns, practically the largest weapons around with their rate of fire. Spewing out a ridiculous 15 shells per second each, these are what gives the Dark Spiner most of its stopping power. Unfortunately, high rate of fire comes at a price; both cannons are ridiculously inaccurate while the ‘Spiner is moving (and not much better when its stationary). They can pivot 45 degrees up or down, but must pivot together. Also, the pilot can flip these weapons into semiautomatic mode, if he or she wants to regain accuracy while losing the massive stopping power. As a final note, the machineguns themselves are less armored than the rest of the body, but are an extremely small target to try to hit.
Quad Defensive Cannons:
This is a unique and interesting weapon, originally added to the Dark Spiner as an experiment in a new alternatives to projectile and energy cannons. Though it was only an experiment in the beginning, the weapon quickly earned its keep on the Dark Spiner, and is now standard on the stock models. Basically, these are four radiation cannons, all mounted to the backmost spine on the ‘Spiner. They’re rear-facing (when the spinal array is down, they’re forward-facing when the spinal array is up) and semiautomatic, but their real power comes from the radiation bolts they fire. Each shot that lands bypasses armor (though its power declines the more armor it has to go through) and strikes at the internals directly, frying them and affecting Zoid performance. Several solid hits on exposed internals can actually stun a Zoid, but only at close range. This weapon becomes impotent at ranges over 250 meters and is really most effective at ranges under 150 meters. Note that these cannons can pivot up to 90 degrees up no matter the position of the spinal array.
Electron Bite Fangs:
On occasion, the Dark Spiner will find its main guns insufficient to stop an enemy from reaching melee. That’s where these come in. The Dark Spiner’s fangs -- that is, teeth -- can siphon to energy from the Zoid Core to pseudo-charge themselves, increasing their cutting power almost as much as if they’d been charged with a system similar to the Strike Laser Claw. This makes the jaws excellent for downing an opponent quickly in melee combat; attempting to bite through the enemy Zoid Control Conduit is an old favorite of soldiers.
Strike Laser Claws:
The Dark Spiner’s claws look deceptively small and stumpy, but they’re actually among the most dangerous weapons it possesses. Using the same Strike Laser Claw system as the famous Shadow Fox, the Dark Spiner’s front claws can be charged with energy, drastically increasing their cutting power and allowing them to inflict massive damage with swipes and sustained pressure.
Special Abilities:
Communications Jamming:
The Dark Spiner’s spinal array isn’t just there for show. One of its main purposes is actually to jam enemy communications. And we mean all, we mean all. It disrupts not only the ability to communicate between Zoids, but also the ability to communicate between Zoid and transport, and certain sensors that rely on communications to function. Unmanned units (if any are present) will also be unable to receive commands. Above and beyond that, the radius of effect is a full 2 kilometers. However, the Dark Spiner’s teammates are completely unaffected. Nifty, no? However, if more than four out of the Dark Spiner’s eight spines have been destroyed, the jamming will cease to function.
Spinal Array Deployment:
The Dark Spiner’s spinal array is, interestingly enough, fully capable of flipping off its back and pivoting up like a blade, above its head (“deployed”). This entire process only takes a little under a second. This process is necessary for usage of the Jamming Blade attack. It also allows the Quad Defensive Cannons to face and fire forwards. Note that this process still works just fine if one or more spines have been destroyed, as long as the backbone is still intact.
Jamming Blade:
The Dark Spiner’s ultimate attack is called the Jamming Blade. The prerequisites are simple: there must be at least 4 spines intact on the Dark Spiner, and the spinal array must be deployed. Then, the Dark Spiner has to spend one second charging the attack, creating an electrostatic ion field around itself. After that, the Jamming Blade is ready. Any Zoid that ventures comes within 50 meters of the 45 degree arc in front of the Dark Spiner will be blown back with incredible force, dealing bludgeoning damage. However, this is only the start of the attack. The enemy Zoid was blown back by the Dark Spiner’s electrostatic field, and the entire force of that field has discharged itself into the intruder. This will stun the Zoid for 6 seconds, and deal 6 seconds worth of shocking damage. However, the Dark Spiner itself is stunned for 2 seconds after the attack, and can’t use its Communications Jamming or Quad Defensive Cannons for three rounds afterwards.
There are a few interesting notes about this attack, as well. The Dark Spiner, unlike other Zoids performing an attack of this magnitude, is fully capable of moving about with a charged Jamming Blade. However, after being charged, the Jamming Blade field will only hold up for a few seconds before blowing out the Spinal Array itself. Also, the Jamming Blade field will absorb and deflect bullets, mortars, grenades, missiles, and the like. (Beam and laser weapons are unaffected.) Therefore, it can sometimes be used as an impromptu shield. However, the Dark Spiner really shouldn’t fire its own weapons while the Jamming Blade field is up. As a last note, for every spine the Dark Spiner has lost, the duration of the shock to the enemy Zoid is reduced by 1 second.
Available Modifications:
