the Rattler

The Rattler, a powerful aircraft based on, and highly modified from an A-10 Thunderbolt, was designed by Destro and his M.A.R.S. corporation to serve as a dangerous air to air and/or air to ground combatant for the Cobra organization. The rattler was issued in a brass color for 2002, and it has these vehicular capabilities:

AEA-56 Quick-Thrust Short-Range Missiles: these four missiles are primarily meant for air to air combat, but don't necessarily need to be used in such a fashion. Designed to track heat sources and eliminate them, these potent explosive devices have the following vehicular statistics:

Armor Plating: the Rattler is built from an aluminum/carbon composite frame, has titanium plating around its engine covers, gunner's turret, and cockpit (an 'armored bathtub'), and has molded, shell-proof turrets, all of which contribute to its high Body and Protection scores.

Cobra-band Radio: Cobra gear uses a communication system of its own, not beholden to conventional broadcast standards. The Rattler in particular has comm gear with a Good (10) range (2,500 miles), and benefits from Excellent (20) ranked signal encryption as well.

EO-118 Renegade Electro-Optical Missiles: these two missiles are suitable for tracking any target that emits radio waves, especially those that have an active radar system. Functional as both air to air and air to surface assault missiles, these rockets have the following vehicular statistics:

Flight: the hallmark feature of the Rattler, this describes the Ground Attack Jet's ability to soar above the opposition. Functioning at Monstrous (75) rank, this vehicular power allows the Rattler to zip about at 450 miles per hour, with an ultimate combat radius of 300 miles (1.5 hours over target).

Infra-red Air Defense Jamming System: useful for deflecting those nasty heat-seeking missiles, this system consists of heat-emitting flares dropped from the back of the Rattler to confuse projectiles that track warmth. The system functions at Excellent (20) rank, making heat seekers unreliable if used in time.

Kerry CDV-9B 'Jawbreaker' Nose Cannon: the primary non-missile armament on the Rattler, this front-pointing chin turret can inflict devastating damage. This gun barrel can fire a short burst to inflict Excellent (20) Armor Piercing Shooting damage, +1 CS in a high-speed stream of lead.

L.O.R.A.D.S. Constant-Scan Ion-Seeking Missile: these two missiles, armed with a L.O.R.A.D.S. (long range radar and display system), can easily track and destroy moving targets by means of a powerful radar lock, and are blessed with the following vehicular statistics:

Levitation: the primary departure from the basic A-10 model Destro 'borrowed' to make it, the Rattler has the ability to take off and land vertically. This V.T.O.L. capacity consumes lots of fuel, but this effective Feeble (2) levitation allows a lot of Rattlers to be launched from a very small space.

PL-MK48 Wave-Sensor Cluster Bombs: being a primarily air to surface attack vessel, the Rattler is naturally equipped with bombs. Six 750 lb cluster bombs, in fact, launched from two triple ejector bomb racks are carried on the Rattler, which detonate to inflict Monstrous (75) Edged Attack damage.

This damage being the combined result of three bombs being dropped at once, of course. Furthermore, this damage, as is the damage caused by all of the Rattler's missiles, has a splash effect, affecting everybody within their detonation area equally if they are not under cover.

Radar-Guided Autopilot: the Rattler has a powerful, flight-enhancing mechanism that can automatically guide it around obstacles, which is great for nap-of-the-earth flying. This function works at Excellent (20) rank, and acts at that rank to Control the Rattler when it is activated.

Twin 40mm Multiple-Fire Cannons: mounted in the Rattler's gun-booth, these twinned machine guns can be fired to lethal effect. They can fire a short, controlled burst of ammunition to inflict Excellent (20) Shooting damage, or a full-auto spread to inflict Remarkable (30) Shooting damage.

Xenon Stun-Spot Search Lights: the Rattler is equipped with these powerful, twin light emitters in order to spot hard to see targets when flying at night. Able to illuminate an area with Remarkable (30) intensity light, the Rattler nonetheless can't really make good use of these at really high speeds...

Extra Goodies:

Cobra directories featuring a version of the Rattler:

Gi Joe directories featuring a version of the Rattler: