Naga

Specifications
Use	Rapid deployment assault Strider
Production Code	OWCS-01AS
Manufacturer	Republican Heavy Industries
Height	6.4 meters (7.1 meters w/sensors)
Speed	Walker: 42 kph SMS: 72 kph

The Naga has been designed primarily as a high firepower, rapid intervention unit designed to exploit breakthroughs in the line and lend medium range heavy support to friendly units in trouble. Though a strider may seem an odd choice for such mission requirements, only a large chassis could handle the packs of guided missiles. The Naga is fast enough and carries enough armor to get to the hot zone in time to relieve beleaguered friendlies, and its powerful anti-tank missiles ensure that at least eight of the enemy vehicles will likely not survive the battle. The Naga is crewed by two persons, with the pilot/commander in the back and the gunner/system operator in the front, just above the autocannon mounts. The higher position of the pilot gives him a better view of his surrounding. In a pinch, the pilot can double as a gunner, though the overall combat performances of the unit will be reduced.

The Naga is surprisingly maneuverable for a walker of its size. Like a smaller Heavy Gear, it can use both its legs and feet-mounted wheels to move about faster than it can walk. Its legs have been designed to fold backward underneath the main chassis, turning the unit into a slightly squatter “urban tank”. While not strictly a transformation, since no component changes place or function, the ground mode does lower the profile and place lower wear on the machine’s gyroscopes and actuators.

Three tiny arms bear sensor pods, allowing the Naga to look over corners and walls without exposing itself. Its weapon systems are centered around the twin Pilum guided missile launchers placed on each shoulder. Each quad-launcher is a fully independent unit with its own fire control director and databus. Early prototypes had only one central launcher with eight missiles to save on production costs, but the current redundant configuration is less likely to be knocked out by a single hit. A single chin-mounted, twin-barrel rotating autocannon, belt-fed from a large, armored drum mounted underneath the torso, is available for use against soft and lightly-armored targets. Its ample supply of 30 mm caliber ammunition means that suppressive fire can be used more effectively, and the drum can be replaced by a fresh one in minutes by an engineering Gear or even a forklift.

Usage

The Naga is the main Strider unit of the Republican forces, and is the basis for many current specialized vehicles. It is not very strongly armored for its size, and as such is rarely seen locked in close combat. A cornered Naga crew will likely prefer to flee rather than fight a frontal battle. The most often used Naga tactic is to team it up with a squad of Gears, at least one of which can designate for the strider’s anti-tank missiles. The strider then relies on its mobility and sensor booms to escape the attention of enemy units while using its missiles to eliminate as many opponents as possible, taking out problematic targets before they can become a threat to the Gears.

Once its missile bins run dry, the Naga speeds to base for resupplying. Naga crews are trained not to waste their expensive missiles on “unworthy” targets — better to use the autocannon instead. In the heat of battle, the training is sometimes forgotten and a spectacular overkill explosion will be seen by all. Pilots who prove to be repeatedly trigger-happy with the strider’s expensive missiles will likely find themselves piloting a desk before long — or worse.

The Naga is the best-known strider produced by Republican Heavy Industries. It is widely associated with the Republic itself, its ostrichlike form being featured quite often in Republican propaganda works. Everyone remembers the famous advertisement campaign of TN 1930, with the holovision ads that featured a darting Naga, surrounded by Gears, skipping a desert dune while letting loose two of its eight guided missiles. The wide desert shark grin painted on the snout of the machine’s hull had been reprinted in many recruitment posters afterward, though it has since faded from view (no doubt because of the popularity of the Gears themselves).

The Naga is currently in service in all southern forces, though each army has its own specific variants. Most of the latter involve simply switching many of the components to locally-produced ones, reducing the Naga overall cost and maintenance requirements while retaining the same levels of performance. This procedure also increases the chance of production defects, since not all manufacturers are as careful with quality control as Republican Heavy Industries is (RHI still assembles all of the basic Naga chassis in one of its three plants located in the Republic).

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