Name: Helcat
Alignment: Guylos Empire
Family: Panther
Registration Number: EZ-023
Crew: 1-2
Height: 5 Meters
Length: 13.2 Meters
Weight: 24 Tons
Top Speed: 190 kph
Weapons: Dual 20mm Laser Machineguns, Twin AZ20mm Beam Cannons, Hardened Alloy Claws.
Special Abilities: Optic Stealth Shield, IR Sensors, Stealth Systems.
Level: 2
The Helcat is a Panther-Typed Zoid, originally developed by the Guylos Empire for surgical strikes and stealth operations. While its the smaller cousin of the Death Cat, the two Zoids are very different. While the Death Cat uses unmatched agility and speed to effectively deliver a single shot, the Helcat has no superweapon. It does, however, have the ability to cloak or “shield” itself from plain sight. This capacity to disappear allows it to stalk and slowly whittle away enemy Zoids, often without letting them know where it is for most of that time.
As far as performance goes, though, the Helcat is pretty good. It can be handled like a Command Wolf, except just a bit slower and more sluggish. For armor, the Helcat is just a step below the Command Wolf. It’s real gripe is with weapons, or lack thereof. Both of its 20mm cannons aren’t likely to impress many.
Weapons:
Dual 20mm Laser Machineguns:
Mounted and fixed to the Helcat’s undercarriage is a pair of 20mm Laser Machineguns. They’re effectively its main gun, firing roughly 10 rounds per second each. Though the rate of fire isn’t what it could be, they can chip away at armor faster than you think.
Twin AZ20mm Beam Cannons:
Mounted to the Helcat’s back is a pair of AZ20mm Beam Cannons. They can pivot 360 degrees on the horizontal axis, and 20 degrees up or down. Otherwise, they’re just standard semiautomatic anti-zoid weaponry, for when the machineguns lack the penetration to do significant damage.
Hardened Alloy Claws:
The Helcat is a panther, and the claws of one. When it needs to make the silent takedown, these are the tools for it, plain and simple. They’re reasonably sharp, and pretty much like all the other claws out there. Great for ripping, slashing, and tearing in melee. Nothing particularly special. They are unique, however, in that their use doesn’t cause the Helcat’s Optic Stealth Shield to deactivate.
Special Abilities:
Optic Stealth Shield:
Firstly, this is not an E-Shield. The Helcat’s Optic Stealth Shield allows it to vanish at will, plain and simple. Poof. Gone. The only thing that’s left is a very slight optical blurring effect which is difficult to notice, and breaks up when the Helcat is moving. There are a few other items of note: 1) The Helcat cannot actually see visually while the Optic Stealth Shield is up. The IR Sensors automatically activate when it does bring up the Stealth Shield, however, so this shouldn’t be a problem. 2) Whenever the Helcat fires a ranged weapon, it decloaks for a fraction of a second. 3) If the Helcat is hit with enough firepower to any one spot on its body, it will decloak for a fraction of a second. However, since the Stealth Shield is a combination of internal systems and special paint, it’s difficult to outright destroy. Also note that the Stealth Shield can block some forms of radar, like basic radar, but not 3D Doppler Radar.
IR Sensors:
These sensors were originally introduced to the Helcat design out of necessity, to let it see through its own Optic Stealth Shield. Like all IR Sensors, this system allows the Zoid to track enemies and allies alike by their heat signatures. It’s very standard stuff, no special quirks in particular.
Stealth Systems:
The Helcat has a number of Stealth Systems to keep it as the undetectable stealth Panther Zoid it is. This encompasses a wide variety of various trinkets, all of which combine to make it worthy of the term “nifty”.
Stealth Paint:
The Helcat is coated with a coat of paint similar to the stuff found on the Triple S, but a little more primitive. It disperses IR waves, as good or better than IR Suppression, making it almost invisible to the heat-detecting sensors. However, it only scatters radar, preventing the Helcat from being pinpointed by any radar system. Between the Stealth Shield and the Stealth Paint, there are few forms of radar that can track the Helcat down, but 3D Doppler Radar can still give the Zoid that uses it a general idea of the Helcat’s position.
Noise Suppression:
The Helcat is coated with noise bafflers and other noise suppression equipment, which it makes it nearly silent. Even the guns on the Helcat are silenced (though by no means invisible). Essentially, you can’t hear the Helcat. However, for reasons that aren’t entirely clear, the Noise Suppression won’t stop a Heartbeat Sensor from finding the pilot.
Footprint Scrubbers:
There is, unfortunately, still one obvious way to locate the Helcat: by its footprints. No problem. It can get rid of them. The Footprint Scrubbers wipe away the indentations of the Helcat’s tracks, but don’t get everything. Generally speaking only 95% get wiped on normal ground, and only 75% get wiped in mud or snow. In long grass, the Footprint Scrubbers will --yes, you guessed it -- try to unbend the blades of grass the Helcat steps on, but only roughly 50-60% of them. Not necessarily a piece of equipment to rely on, but useful nonetheless.
Available Modifications:
