Name: Rain of Chaos
Cost: $15,000
Weight: 8 Tons
Function: Heavy Air-to-Ground Support
Mounts On: All Aerial Zoids
Mount Location:
--On the Dragonfly Stinger, one pod will mount to either side of the aircraft.. This modification cannot be used with AAM pods or ASM pods.
--On all other Zoids, a single pack mounts to the underbelly of the aircraft. Two missiles mount to the underside of either wing. This modification cannot be used with AAM pods or ASM pods.
In Brief: The Rain of Chaos is a pair of modified missile packs, each carrying two special fragmentation, which splinter into twelve armor-piercing spikes at an altitude of 50 meters.

Weapon Type: IR-Guided Air-to-Surface Missile (ASM) Launcher
Ammunition: 4 Fragmentation Missiles
Rate of Fire: Pilot's Discretion

Description: Just as with the standard Anti-Ground Missile, the standard Air-to-Surface Missile predates the colonization of Zi by humankind. After all, airplanes were not at all new to the human race. If you want to be extremely broad, there are three types of aircraft (or at least, loadouts for aircraft). Bombers are generally slower and less maneuverable aircraft that carry large amounts of unguided ordnance and are tasked with destroying large numbers of stationary targets (facilities) or slow-moving targets. Saturation bombing is another common function of bombers: just destroy everything you fly over. To counter the threat of bombers, humankind invented fighters. Fighters are smaller, faster, more agile aircraft generally tasked with destroying bombers or defending bombers: tasks that often result in also destroying other fighters. They generally carry only one or two people and are equipped with guns and missiles, but not bombs. The idea of a third kind of aircraft, a strike fighter, is a fighter design carrying the weapons necessary to perform fast, surgical strikes against enemy targets. In the days of yore, the same guns that tear apart enemy fighters and bombers would be sufficient for strike missions. However, in this modern age of missiles, even with the boom in advances in ECM technology, it is dubious that a strike fighter will be able to down a target with guns alone.

However, the ASM pods aren't enough for some. No one knows quite who, but many years ago, a more devestating weapon was invented to wreak havoc against the armed forces of Zi. The Rain of Chaos missiles themselves, not the pod, warrant discussion. The standard ASM missile pod contains two IR-Guided AZ missiles, and the tracking system that the missiles utilize can make or break a battle. Infrared guidance and tracking allows the ASMs to lock onto powerful heat sources, such as a Zoid. In standard conditions, this takes 3 seconds -- usually no fewer than 2 seconds in optimal conditions or 4 seconds in terrible conditions. More good news about the missile pod is that its design allows it to lock onto any target within 45 degree to either side of the front of the launching Zoid. However, despite impressive coverage, this still means that an enemy behind or to the sides of the launching Zoid is unthreatened.

These missiles have the same guidance system as the aforementioned ASMs. As a matter of the fact, they have almost the same launcher, and almost the same explosive charge. It's the construction that makes them different. You see, once these missiles lock on and let fly, they'll home in on their target and detonate at just 50 meter's altitude directly above it. This detonation will cause the the missile casing itself to splinter into 12 armor-piercing spikes, most of which will be propelled downwards by the force of the blast, others of which will fall on their own. Those that fall directly from the force of the blast can easily pierce Zoid armor and mangle a Zoid. Those that fall are still quite power, and are very much deadly. The aerial pilot who fires these missile should be careful to do so not while above the target, or within about 50 meter's altitude of the ground as the aerial Zoid is not immune to flying spikes. Furthermore, this is a fragmentation effect, and other nearby Zoids may be skewered.

That's the damage they can wreak, but how do they get to the target? Once fired, a missile that has locked onto a target will pursue it relentlessly, using in-flight trajectory corrections to hunt down the target. Either the missile hits the target, misses it and explodes, or is shot down. (Missiles have almost never been known to run out of fuel before one of those three occurs.) However, a pilot need not use a missile as a guided weapon. Dumbfiring is a possible and commonly used tactic. If one does this, the airburst trigger is still in effect, the missile just isn't guided. Either way, a missile is armed the moment the pilot presses the trigger, but not necessarily before it leaves the pack. An armed missile tends to have slightly more explosive power than a rocket (if you happen to, say, be jumping in the air and be within the range of the detonation, not just the shrapnel). An unarmed missile, such as that found before the pilot presses the trigger, has considerably less explosive force, but the volatile fuel mixture the weapon uses may detonate. (Not petroleum, for the record.) The number of missiles that fire at a single given time is completely up to the pilot, and can be changed by means of a dial next to the trigger. As a side note, if you happen to be in an Hybrid Zoid, you do need to be in the air to obtain a lock with the Rain of Chaos.

In both ancient and more modern times, the Rain of Chaos has found itself strapped to strike fighters and even bombers all across Zi. Bombs will get the job done, but when precision is an issue, it's ASMs that you should depend on. For the Frag effect, however, the Rain of Chaos is the weapon of choice. It's expensive, but it's effective. Your call.