THIRD INVID WAR: NEW INVID EXPERIMENTS Next Previous Top Index
The following material is from THE THIRD INVID WAR, a fan supplement by Dave Deitrich and Chris Meadows. Please feel free to use, copy, and distribute it as you see fit. All we ask is that you give proper credit to us and do not claim that it is your own work. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Mecha design and illustration by AMY BORDEN (borden@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu).

THE LEVIATHAN INORGANIC

BACKGROUND

Prior to the Third Invid War the high seas had traditionally been a safe haven and refuge for resistance fighters. Since the flower of life will not grow underwater the Invid have had little interest in the Earth's seas and failed to patrol them with any great frequency. Therefore any resistance group who was lucky enough to find a stable base in the ocean or a large lake could escape pursuit and detection by fleeing out to sea. A number of resistance factions operated this way during the Second and early Third Invid Wars, working from abandoned oil rigs, old supertankers or even the occasional submersible military ship. Such groups were extremely successful even though they were limited to attacking targets not far inland from the shoreline.

In late 2044 this changed with the introduction of the Leviathan Inorganic into Earth's oceans. Initially little was known about this new Invid weapon, except that it was seaborne and VERY powerful. Entire resistance bases on the ocean were destroyed in minutes with no survivors, giving the resistance and the REF very little information to go on regarding this new threat. It wasn't until 2045 when a Leviathan was successfully destroyed and the wreckage examined did the resistance finally learn about the new inorganic.

The Leviathan is a monstrous creation. Over 350 ft (106.7 m) long, the inorganic resembles a giant segmented worm with fins and a large, flat tail. When preparing to attack, however, the "fins" extend into large vibro-blade scythes, and numerous tentacles extend around an ultra-sharp beak-like mouth concealing a large torpedo launcher in the center of the beast. In combat the Leviathan acts like an enraged whale, constantly slamming into its target while using its scythes and tail to tear the ship or base apart. The tentacles and beak are primarily used for grabbing smaller boats and mecha, which are dragged underwater and quickly torn to pieces. If distance attacks are necessary, the Leviathan can respond with a trio of blue-green laser cannons (attuned for underwater firing) surrounding the beak of the mecha, or by firing torpedoes out of its mouth. If attacked by multiple enemies underwater, the inorganic has one final attack it can rely on. The tail of the mecha can generate an extremely powerful electric shock that can overload and disable mecha underwater, as well as possibly killing the pilots.

The Leviathan is propelled by a magneto-hydrodynamic drive that uses superconducting materials to propel water through itself, thus being able to achieve impressive speeds while being virtually silent underwater. The tail and body styling of the mecha is designed to create perfect laminar flow around the Leviathan's body, allowing it to reduce water resistance against its body when travelling at high speeds. The inorganic is equipped with both active and passive sonar for tracking targets, as well as normal vision and protoculture sensors for combat. Like all of the second generation inorganics, the Leviathan does not rely on an Invid brain for direction. In fact, the monstrous creation was designed specifically to operate for extended periods of time in large bodies of water without any communication or direction from an Invid base. The Leviathan possesses a moderate degree of intelligence, and if it encounters an ocean-borne force that it feels is superior to itself it will stalk the prey and look for signs of weakness, while calling out for other Leviathans to help it destory the target. Leviathans will also follow orders given by Stage 6 Invid and are occasionally called in to help in assaults against ocean targets.

Leviathans were first introduced by the Stage 6 Invid in late 2044 in the South Pacific, where they proved very effective and were quickly put into action in other locations as well. By 2045 they were found in all the oceans of the world, as well as in other large bodies of water such as the Great Lakes in North America. Most of the time the monsters operated alone, occasionally joining together in packs for brief periods of time or returning to base for repair and resupply after long battles. Leviathans can operate for years without support, and several surviving inorganics continued to strike at ships years after the Third Invid War ended. The last known Leviathan on Earth was destroyed by a USNA naval fleet with RGF assistance in 2057.

RPG STATS

Invid Name: "Gorstanna" REF Nickname: "Leviathan"
Vehicle Type: Submersible Anti-Naval Robot
Crew: None.

M.D.C. BY LOCATION 

     Front Beak Blade (3)             100 each
     Front Tentacles (21)              35 each
     Blue-Green Laser Cannons (3)      75 each
[1]  Torpedo Launcher                 120
[2]  Main Body Segment                750
     Forward 1/2 Tail                 550
     Rear 1/2 Tail                    350
[3]  Flat Tail End                    500
     Vibro-Scythes (3)                350 each
     Scythe Arms (3)                  150 each

NOTES:

[1]
Destroying the Torpedo Launcher signifies that the exit port for the torpedoes has been sufficiently damaged to the point where the Leviathan can no longer launch torpedoes. The actual torpedo mechanism and the torpedoes themselves are in the center of the inorganic and cannot be attacked without destroying the main body of the mecha.
[2]
This is the main body for the Leviathan, which contains the brain, engines, sensors, and most of the weapons of the inorganic. Depleting the MDC of the main body segment will cause the Leviathan to self- destruct, doing 5D6x10 M.D. to everyone in a 400 ft (120 m) radius around the mecha.
[3]
Destroying the flat tail end of the Leviathan will deprive it of its shock attack and reduce the overall speed of the creature by 35% due to problems with stability. Destroying the front or rear halves of the tail of the Leviathan will reduce the mecha's speed by 55%.

SPECIFICATIONS

Swimming:
The Leviathan can propel itself under water at speeds up to 70 knots (81 mph/130 kmph) and can dive up to 10 miles below the surface.
Land/Air/Space:
The Leviathan is specifically designed for underwater operation and cannot perform effectively in any other environment. On land the inorganic will be unable to move, and in space it will merely flail about with no means of propulsion.
Width:
40 ft (12 m) with fins/scythes retracted into main body. 150 ft (45 m) with scythes at maximum extension.
Length:
365 ft (109.5 m) from beak to tail.
Weight:
350 tons
Cargo:
None, though the Leviathan can capture and tow over 350 tons of weight if necessary.

Abilities:

WEAPON SYSTEMS

  1. VIBRO-SCYTHES: The main weapon of the Leviathan are the three huge vibro-blade scythes that are connected to the main body of the inorganic. In travel mode the scythes are drawn into the body, but in combat they can extend up to 50 feet away from the inorganic in order to swipe at attackers.

  2. BLUE-GREEN LASER CANNONS (3): Arranged around the central mouth of the Leviathan are three large laser cannons for energy attacks above or under water. The cannons are limited in range under water, but are still powerful enough to provide effective weapons in a fight. Above water the laser cannons are devastating, and the Leviathan will often surface during a raid to fire at ships or mecha trying to attack from above. The beams generated by these lasers are tuned to the blue-green area of the spectrum to increase their range and effectiveness underwater.

  3. TORPEDO LAUNCHER: For underwater attacks the Leviathan is armed with a torpedo launcher mounted along the center of its body. The torpedo launcher fires underwater missiles guided by a sophisticated sonar and protoculture targeting system, making them difficult to avoid once a lock-on has been achieved. Fortunately the missiles are only moderately fast and can be shot out of the water if the target is lucky. Furthermore the Leviathan carries only a limited number of missiles, and once depleted must return to base for resupply.

  4. ELECTRIC SHOCK: If desperate the Leviathan can generate a strong electric shock from its body that can damage and incapacitate mecha and other attackers around the inorganic. The shock causes damage to mecha by overloading electrical systems and burning out sensors and computers, and can occasionally even penetrate armor and devliver a nasty shock to the pilot. Unprotected persons in the water are usually killed instantly by the shock. Due to the drain this attack causes on the Leviathan's own systems, it will use this ability only in desperation.

  5. HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT. The Leviathan has a number of physical "hand-to-hand" attacks available to it for use in close combat. In addition to the three vibro-scythes, the inorganic may use its tentacles and beak to capture and tear apart mecha and small boats, or it may use its body as a weapon to ram a target. Resistance fighters who are foolish enough to engage a Leviathan in close combat rarely survive. The smaller tentacles have an effective P.S. of 55, and the beak has a P.S. of 75.

THIRD INVID WAR: NEW INVID EXPERIMENTS Next Previous Top Index
DAVE DEITRICH
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deitrich@mcs.net		 Last Updated: Friday, 18-Jan-08 02:59:13 PST