MG144-HE007 Onager Super Tank

Herosine Empire
 
144th (10 or 12mm).

Please note the four AA turrets are sprued below the main hull.
 
On-I/SHT Onager/Superheavy Tank


Virtually no other power could afford to field the Onager. With a price tag over ten times greater than a "typical" super heavy tank, only the exorbitantly wealthy Herosines would even contemplate such cost. The bleeding edge technology it uses would in the hands of less affluent powers would experimental and impossibly expense to run in the field.

 

Entering service in 2328, like the Equus, the Onager has been incrementally upgraded during its service, thanks to the modular nature of Herosine technology. The current –I version is the first major upgrade, outfitted with the new advanced shield generators. Like its stablemates the Equus and Turma, it carries nano-replicators granting it a configurable main gun and considerable self-repair capabilities. It also has considerable combat endurance, thanks to both highly efficient fuel and power systems and the comfortable crew facilities. The latter are relatively luxurious due to the considerable automation that allows the Onager to function with only four crew - driver, primary and secondary gunners and the commander. The vehicle's advanced sensor system is supplemented by no less than four sockets for Psiloi Orb Scouts.

 

The Onager mounts a terrifying array of weapons, which combined with the no-expense-spared computer and crew stations means it its standard configuration, can fulfil multiple combat roles.

 

The Onager mounts four standard point-defence turrets; two on the forward hull and two on the turret. Lacking the Turma's disruptor pulses or the Equus gatlings for anti-infantry operations, the Onager instead relies on sheer volume of fire.

 

The turret is equipped with two rocket pods. These pods are the same as the Eques's rocket pod configuration, giving the Onager a smaller spread of light rockets.

 

Its main warhead firepower comes from the twenty-four vertical launch missile tubes mounted on the turret. While each tube contains only a single missile, the vertical tubes can be easily reloaded, either by conventional methods or by simply pouring a solution of nano-replication substrate into the tube.

 

The main gun had three configurations. All three are articulated at the rear and by a highly advanced telescopic support at the front granting the Onager an elevation of an astonishing 90º; with its heavy weapons. The telescopic support itself, composed for highly advanced alloys to withstand the forces, costs as much as the Eques' main turret weapons.

 

The primary configuration is a 300mm railcannon; essentially a scaled-up version of the Eques' railguns. The barrel is disproportionally thicker for the calibre to stand the dramatically increased stresses. The weapon had only a kilometre greater range than the Eques as most of the power is concentrated into a relatively short-range punch.

 

The secondary configuration is a 350mm smoothbore howitzer. It fires a single anti-matter shell up to ten kilometres. While this payload is slightly lighter than other similar sized weapons, the Onager's weapon has the advantage of speed, range and improved accuracy. And one hit from a shell can still easily destroy a bunker or super heavy tank if unshielded.

 

The final configuration is a twin disruptor cannon system, in an atypical configuration of one barrel mounted above the other. Though this lacks the short-range power of the railcannon, it has a 15km range in atmosphere and is quite capable of destroying starfighters – or even, if operated in the vacuum of space, unwary starships.

 

The Herosines wanted the Onager to be largely self-sufficient, and that required it being able to undertake some basic engineering tasks. Rather than fitting a dozer blade or cutting device in the traditional sense, the Herosines instead equipped the Onager with an “engineering array consisting of pair of automated disintegrator ball turrets at the front of the hull. Following from the inspiration of the Cybertanks, these are further supplemented by two independent micro-tractor beams attached to each turret. This, combined with a dedicated AI system to operate and process the system, allows the Onager to carve a path through a forest, demolish buildings or literally slice up the land and tractor it away to form a tank-scape. The disintegrators have a range of up to a kilometre, and can be a dangerous weapon in their own right, though their position on the hull means that most frequently, they will be occluded by terrain.

 

The Onager can thus fulfil many functions.   In addition no operating as a heavy tank, the howitzer and missiles mean the Onager can act as artillery support – complete with its own spotters in the form of the Psiloi. The Onager’s commander’s station is equipped with a full holosuite which is spacious enough to allow a second station to be nano-configured, enabling it to function as dedicated command vehicle in its own right. (Though this makes the commander’s station only just the right side of cramped.) It possesses the same anti-aircraft targeting as the Equus, so combined with the disruptor cannons, it can act as an air-defence vehicle. And finally, it is even capable of carrying out limited engineering operations with the engineering array.

 

The Onager is a formidable vehicle armed with a terrifying array of weapons. All the flexibility could not come without a price, however - the Onager's armour and shields is slightly lighter than most similar super heavy tanks, though still very larger by the standards of most main battle tanks.