Gatar

The beach was a slice of hell; in the flickering flames and blowing sand, eldritch forms lurched and lunged and murdered one another. The hulking forms of Gatars lunged bellowing across the wash and into the dunes, the stilt-shapes of dolphin- and shark-drones darting in amongst them to deal death at close range. Here a dolphin-abomination burned through the body of a Warmount, the latter screaming like a punctured steamboiler as superheated armor melted and collapsed. Over there a pair of shark-stilters had their heads blown off by converging streams of grenade- and railgun-fire. Another shark-drone clawed and flailed as dark shapes jumped from its intended target and leaped onto it, cutting it apart. Still others swept the air with their railgun staffs, blasting dunes apart and the Horune who’d been standing on them. The headless body of a Shemarrian warrior staggered and swayed across the torn sands before it finally registered it was dead, collapsed, and burst into thermite flames and acrid smoke. But despite their superior numbers, the Horune were not carrying the fight, and their numerical edge was quickly dwindling. Three pirates simultaneously disappeared into the maw of a Warmount that appeared out of the darkness and chomped them into fractions of themselves. Another screamed as it clutched useless eyes burnt blind by an eye-laser. A bird-like scream and a loud metallic buzz converged as as the top of a Horune soldier’s head was sliced off a buzzsawing propellor-tail. Others sprayed great volumes of ichor and gore on the sands as several different calibers of projectiles tore into Horune flesh. More Warmouts churned up out of the surf to join the combat, adding more warriors to the beachhead and more firepower to the barrages sweeping the dunes. 

And while the barrier islands burned with combat, unseen other dark shapes crept through the waters towards the slaver Whaleship anchored in the cove beyond. Dorsal hatches slid open as heavy launchers raised into firing position.... 

EcoS-K-71 Gatar Amphibious Warmount

aka ‘Whaledozer’ 

The ‘Gatar’ is another ‘cyborg’ produced by the Steel Gaian tribe dwelling within Greater New England. Like the previous EcoS-K-70, the EcoS-K-71 combines Shemarrian cyborg elements with components from locally available (mainly Paladin Steel-manufactured) technologies and equipment. In this case, the Steel Gaians claim to have crossed the hull and components of a readily-available PS-made LVTP700 ‘Platypus’ AAAV (itself an adaptation of the pre-Rifts USMC’s LVTP7) with an alien beast of burden known as a ‘bontu’, creating a cyborg chimera. This is, of course, pure fabrication on the part of the Shemarrians; the Warmount is a robot, albeit one ‘Awakened’ with an Ecotroz essence-fragment, and more than a few GNErs suspect the cyborgs are anything but, but the bontu story is what the Steel Gaians are selling.

In any case, the Gatar resembles a cross between an amphibious APC and a squat, bull-nosed, four-legged animal. Each leg sports adjustable treads, and a set of retractable claws. The mouth is large and scoop like, with powerful actuators that allow it to close tight, like a hydraulic crusher. Like the Sistrus, the Gatar has two small head mini-turrets, eye lasers, and a rear option slot that can be used to hold additional cargo or a weapons mount. 

The Steel Gaians are one of only a small percentage of Shemarrian tribes (the Darkwaters, Clan Motron, and to a lesser extent the Skullcrushers being the notable others) that make regular use of Warmounts with enclosed cockpits, thus blurring the line between animals and vehicles . In the case of the Gatar, the riders can sit in an enclosed bay up behind the shoulders, just behind the head. The cockpit features dorsal doors that can open outwards, leaving the riders able to ride with their upper bodies exposed to the elements, or the cockpit can be closed up for full protection. A second, smaller, compartment in the rear is mainly used to carry cargo and additional weapons, and is not recommended for passenger use. 

Compared to other Warmounts, the Gatar is slow, lumbering, and only lightly armed, but it is well armored and amphibious. It is notably slower and less well-armored than its cousin, the Sistrus, but is apparently easier to build and maintain, and has better deep water handling characteristics. The Steel Gaians mainly use it as a utility warmount and transport, especially on scavenging missions along the many drowned coastal sites of the American coast. It is often used as a tug, hauling small boats and barges about coastal and riverine areas. 

The Darkwaters have traded with the Steel Gaians for the design templates of the Gatar, so the warmount is expected to begin appearing throughout the Darkwater domains.

Abilities

Gatar
Type	EciS-K-71
Class	Warmount, Utility
Crew	Robotic AI Ecotroz Fragment
Number of Riders	1
Number of Passengers	1-3
Original Tribe	Steel Gaians
MDC By Location
Head	90
Main Body	260
Legs	100 (4)
Reinforced Crew Compartment	100
Turrets (2)	90
Rear Compartment	80
Treads (4)	60
Physical Size
Height	10.7 ft
Length	26 ft
Width	10.73 ft
Weight	52,200 lbs
Physical Attributes
IQ	8
PS	30 Robotic
SPD	30 mph
Land Speed2	50 mph treads
Swim Speed	3 mph, 35 mph hydrojets 20 mph underwater crawling 15 mph
Maximum Depth	800 ft
Cargo	Small space in cockpit up to 5000 lbs in rear compartment
Power System	Nuclear 20 year
Other Attributes
Sensors
Standard Sensors	Yes
Addition Sensor1	Sonar
Additional Sensor2	Extendable Sensor Periscope
Special Systems
Cybernanite Repair	Unknown
Weapon Systems
Primary Weapon	Eye Lasers (2)
Secondary Weapon	Light Turrets (2)

Sensor Systems

Sonar

A 7 mile range sonar is installed.

Extendable Sensor Periscope 

Attached to the top of the passenger compartment, this sensor mast can extend up to 5 ft up, for visibility in rough waters or dense foliage. 

Variants

EcoS-K-71Dw ‘Speedy’

Regarded as an Upgrade, developed at the behest of the Darkwaters, meant to distinguish the Gatar from being simply a weaker Sistrus, the EcoS-K-71Dw variant adds a large blade-like spur to each leg, and adds a short bulbous ending in a contra-rotating eight-bladed propeller appendage. On land, the spurs can be lowered to act as slicer blades, typically for clearing brush, and the tail can be swing side to side, the megadamage props buzzsawing into opponents. Once in water, though, the tail is lowered into the water and becomes a high speed marine propulsion unit, and the spurs are lowered further to become hydrofoil vanes, allowing the Gatar to ‘stand up’ on the water to hit high speeds. The EcoS-K-71Dw is most commonly found with the Darkwaters Tribe, but several examples have been seen with the Steel Gaians. 

MDC/Armor By Location

• Tail 100 
• Vane-Spurs (4) 70 each 

Length

Tail adds 7 ft to length

Weight

+2 tons

Speed

• Water-Hydrofoil 95 MPH

Weapons Systems

Same as for the Gatar, plus:

Spur-Blades (4)

Range	Melee
Damage	2d6 MD

Propeller Tail

Range	Melee
Damage	2d6 MD lash
Damage2	1d4x10 MD buzzsaw cut

The tail can be swung side to side, up, and down 60 degrees. 

Note: If the TW Generator Upgrade is also taken, the tail prop is often enchanted with the Spinning Blades spell, turning the tail into an even more lethal weapon.

• Range: Melee (typically 3-4 ft ahead of the props, and up to half the prop radius out. If used to fire mystic projectiles, in volleys of 1-2, the range is 600 ft.

• Damage: Does 2d6 MD per blade (so the EcoS-K-71Dw‘s eight-blade set does 16d6 MDC on a strike!). 2d6 MD per blade if fired as projectiles.

• Duration: 10 melee rounds (2.5 minutes per activation)

• Bonus: Also has a +6 to parry rail gun rounds, autocannon shells, and other projectiles aimed at the tail.

• PPE Activation Cost: 20 PPE per activation