Name: Marder (aka “Merda”, “Marda”, or “Hellrunner”)
Alignment: Zenebas Empire
Family: Ornithomimus
Registration Number: EMZ-13
Crew: 1
Height: 12.2 Meters
Length: 16.8 Meters
Weight: 17.5 Tons
Top Speed: 450 kph
Weapons: 60mm Beam Cannon, 15-Shot Light AZ Rocket Box, Hardened Alloy Claws.
Special Abilities: Back-Mounted Weapons Swap.
Level: 2
The Marder is fastest non-boosted land Zoid there is, period, no exceptions. It’s extremely light, and can reach absolutely ludicrous speeds using powerful kicks of its legs. Though incapable of flight, the Marder is vaguely birdlike in design, resembling an ostrich. While technically an ornithomimus (and not an ostrich) its similar to both in that it can make rather incredible jumps, reaching distances that other Zoids could barely dream of. However, the Marder’s maneuverability and agility at such extremely high speeds is limited, and attempting to turn could cause it to loose its footing and trip.
Running like a bat out of hell aside, this is a reasonably high performance Zoid at lower speeds, only a notch below the Command Wolf. It’s armor is fairly light, on par with the Helcat, making it rather fragile. However, the Marder can prove and extremely hard target to hit on the field of battle, because of its high speed. While not heavily armed, the Marder has an option of one of two weapons, which can be devastating if used correctly for hit-and-run assaults.
Weapons:
60mm Beam Cannon:
The Marder has a 60mm semiautomatic Beam Cannon mounted on its back, which can pivot up to 360 degrees horizontally and up to 10 degrees up or down. They’re mounted on the Marder’s back, and if equipped, is the stock Zoid’s only ranged weapon. However, it can be powerful if used correctly.
15-Shot Light AZ Rocket Box:
The Marder has the option of mounting a 15-Shot Rocket Box on its back instead of the 60mm Beam Cannon. The rockets the box carries have the designation of “light AZ rockets” or “LAZRs” (and literally are light, so as not to weigh down the Zoid as it runs) and are each roughly half as powerful as a standard anti-ground missile. (They also happen to standard anti-Zoid infantry weapons, but that’s besides the point.) Any number of rockets can be dumbfired at once, but once all are gone, they have to be reloaded before they can be used again. The Rocket Box has the same mount as the 60mm Beam Cannon (even though both can’t be used at once) and can pivot up to 360 degrees horizontally and up to 10 degrees up or down.
Hardened Alloy Claws:
The Merda comes with the standard sharpened claws, great for melee tearing and ripping. Though the Merda itself has no business in melee combat, thanks largely in part to its stubby arms, it can theoretically fight in close-quarters.
Special Abilities:
Back-Mounted Weapons Swap:
Prior to a battle’s commencement, the Merda pilot must pick either the 60mm Beam Cannon or 15-Shot Rocket Box (60mm Beam Cannon is default) to have mounted on its back. It’s one or the other, never both. A Changing/Conversion Armor System (CAS) can swap the weapons mid-battle.
Available Modifications:
