Welcome back, folks! It's time for another glorious installment of.....
*drum roll*
Protomech of the Month!!! Tonight I'm going to talk about the Cloud Cobra designed
Basilisk. However, this fan article will deal with the original, bipedal Proto. The quad unit bearing the name is more or less an entirely new design. So, a separate entry for that odd machine will be submitted in the future.
After the fall of the Smoked Kitties, the technology for this new concept spread amongst the Clans. The level of acceptance and deployment varied from Clan to Clan. It seems that not only resource-starved Clans fully embraced this radical new technology. Aerospace-oriented Clans, seeing the need for better ground forces, also jumped on the Proto-love bandwagon. Protomechs proved to be a "quickie" way of expanding the ground arm. And there were a ready supply of operators (failed aerospace fighter pilots who could test into the Protomech program). I guess that there was something of an urgency about this expansion, since the Aerospace-centric Clans finally figured out that air power alone cannot win wars. With things heating up in the Kerensky Cluster, such efforts would pay off.
The sky hugging Cloud Cobras were no exception to this. Thus, we come to their homegrown Protomech design: The
Basilisk.
The chosen name follows traditional naming conventions for Protomechs, with emotive names being picked from ancient mythology and legend. The mythological basilisk was a serpent that was said to be highly venomous and could kill just by looking at it's victim. The creature also appeared in so-called "bestiaries", including a work by the famous Pliny the Elder. Pliny pointed out that the beast's weakness was the scent of a weasel.
The name is also used for a lizard in a family of reptiles in nature, known as
Corytophanidae, which include both basilisks and iguanas. In fact, the head unit on this model of Proto is somewhat similar to that of the Guatemalan Helmeted Basilisk crossed with a Hernandez's Helmeted Basilisk. Though, some in my playgroup say that it's more reminiscent of a Cobra.
The
Basilisk has some decent capabilities wrapped up in it's ugly seven ton reptoid chassis, enough to scare the hell out of David Icke. Lacking jump jets, this Proto is ground bound in the base model. But it's forty five ton rated reactor allows for an average, but still respectable, clip of 4/6. It's also protected by 1,900 kilograms of Protomech armor, offering 38 points of protection.
The armor spread is pretty solid, with the torso (14 points) and legs (8 points) being the best protected (which makes a large degree of sense). The head has five points, main gun three points, and both arms have four points each.
The next-to-final variable in the equation is the loadout. The main gun of this thing is a LRM-3 "gun pod", with enough reloads in the missile bay for two volleys. But fortunately, it also sports a potent Clantech ERML in the torso area. Despite the limited ammo, the LRM/ERML combo makes the base
Basilisk a tough customer if used right. It's even better if certain factors, like terrain, are in the
Basilisk's favor.
Note: In case anybody is wondering, the final variable is the pilot.
The primary variant's features tend to confirm the fluff write-up's point of it being designed as a support unit. But the single variant of the "classic"
Basilisk is a completely different animal.
The so-called
Basilisk 2 is a mean bastard, being geared more toward close-quarters combat and mobile operations in built-up areas/annoying terrain features. Jump jets are a welcome feature here, offering a 120 meter jump capability. Another change is the swap of the ERML and LRM-3 for an ER small laser, a couple of ER micro lasers, and a SRM-2 with ten volleys. The base model's allotment of heat sinks covers the
Basilisk 2's energy weapons, so no extra tonnage was needed in that area. There is a slight reduction in armor, losing a point per leg and a couple of points on the torso (according to my record sheets). But it's still a tough Proto. I'm a fan of using this variant in urban combat, especially when executing ambush tactics.
Technical Readout 3075 mentions rumors of variants operating in the Tanite Worlds. However, knowing what we know about the genocidal Wars of Reaving, and the rise of The Society, odds are that these rumors are based on vague reports of the new quad
Basilisk operating with rouge elements, friendly to The Society.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this second installment in the reborn Protomech series of articles. All constructive criticism and corrections, as always, are welcome.
Just my Protomech-lovin' two cents worth.