Fire Dragon

Specifications
Use	Fire support Strider
Production Code	OWCS-04FS
Manufacturer	HA Armor Werks
Height	4.8 meters (6.3 w/HRP)
Speed	Walker: 41 kph SMS: 53 kph

The Fire Dragon close support vehicle was originally a Humanist Alliance design that was adopted by the armies of the South after the formation of the Allied Southern Territories. The Fire Dragon was conceived as a mobile support vehicle, capable of handling both civil and military missions in very different environments. The early versions of the strider used large rubber wheels for movement in urban landscapes, but the military ones have since replaced them with sturdy treads designed to carry the vehicle over the roughest ground.

Although it does not have the armor protection of a battle tank, its armoplast hide, supplemented by belts of bonded ceramite armor, can deflect many small to medium battlefield weapons.

The armament of the Fire Dragon is light but serviceable. All of its weapons were designed expressively for the vehicle, though many components were adapted from existing items in order to keep production costs to a reasonable level. A large boxy turret on the Dragon’s broad, flat back holds forty-eight launch tubes for the Dragonsclaw 90 mm anti-armor rocket, a simple yet reliable missile weapon.

The tubes are protected from accidental detonation by a large blow-away armor panel. The rocket launcher is backed up by a pair of Dragonsfang 20 mm chainguns placed on either side of the hull, each chaingun covering the entire lateral arc. Each is fed through a separate magazine mounted in the main hull. The final weapon in the Fire Dragon’s arsenal is the one that gave the vehicle its name: a wicked Dragonsbreath flamer is placed in a turreted chin mount at the front of the strider. The flamer can be used for many tasks, such as clearing a path through deep vegetation or keeping hostile infantry at bay.

The Fire Dragon can also hold its own defensively. An anti-missile system, located in a small turret mounted under the main rocket launcher, helps to reduce the odds of a missile trying to test the armor. The system can swing freely under the launcher housing, and that location affords considerable protection to the delicate actuators of the AM system, shielding them with the bulk of the rocket launcher. All of the Dragon’s weapons are well-served by an extremely sophisticated fire control computer which give the machine a deadly accuracy in combat.

Usage

The Fire Dragon is unusual for its three-man crew, all of whom are located in a large combat chamber in the center of the vehicle. The entire upper frontal armor plate is lifted off on large hydraulic jacks to permit ingress and egress. Its position, when open, makes access difficult for the rear crew station, which is at the far back of the cockpit tub and faces the rear of the vehicle. To reach it, one must step over the previous two seats and squeeze in, avoiding both controls and the heavy armored hatch looming above. It is the main gunnery station, where the missiles are directed. They can also be fired by the commander (middle station) or pilot (front), if required.

The commander generally handles at least one of the chainguns, along with the sensors and communication. Because of the cramped quarters at the rear, the smallest member of the crew is often the gunner. This had led to an inordinate number of female gunners on duty with Fire Dragon units. There are many who say that the accuracy of the Dragon’s rockets are due not to its advanced control system but the female touch that guides them. Most female gunners just smile and graciously accept the compliment.

The Fire Dragon, although not very powerful for its size, is a good, reliable machine. For this reason, many were assigned to Humanist Alliance regiments serving with the Southern MILICIA, where they provide deadly accurate fire support to the front lines. Many Fire Dragons also serve as peace-keeping units, where their immense silhouette serves them well. The brutish appearance, which recalls a monstrous beast of mythology — right down to the fiery breath — is useful to inspire a crowd to calm down. Most striders serving in that capacity have their ammunition replaced by equivalent-sized non-lethal rounds, while the flamer is turned into a powerful water cannon by the addition of a few spare parts. Unfortunately, a panicked crowd has no way of knowing which is which, since they have exactly the same general outward appearance. For some, this is a good thing, since it tend to accelerate the dispersal of the crowd at the cost of a few more casualties; other government services have a more humane view of things and have their crowd-control machines sport special identification flag above their hull. While this (slightly) reduce the fear of the rioters, it in no way reduces the machine's capacity to drown them in knock-out gases or hurl them down with a powerful water jet.

Gallery

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