DZ-50 T.U.S.K.

“Enemy aircraft huh, All I see is flaming weapons grade aluminum titanium and steel falling to earth…what was it you were worried about again?”

Overview

The DZ-50 got its name from the swaying motion of it’s almost outsized-guns when walking at a ready stance. This odd swaying reminded the first prime who was overseeing early trials of a Asian-Indian or African war elephant’s swaying motion to kill infantry and the name stuck. Despite this it is theorized the name TUSK is actually a acronym, and yet no one seems to know what it means and certainly the core design time at DZ is unwilling to talk. That said the mech fills an unexpected role as it is at heart a battery-support unit with aggressive tenancies and that can defend itself. Overall the mech is a tough contender, that seems to flatly defy preconceptions of a support unit.

Capabilities

The DZ-50 TUSK is one of the few designs that comes along that seems to have found a perfect balance between its design and its working model where most of the logical flaws have been worked out before deployment. The design is centered on a kallon fusion power plant, that allows a walking and running speed equal to that of the Archon and Knight class land-mechs with which it shares a production tonnage weight of 50 base tons. 25 tons of applique armor are added as a a factory standard raising the TUSK’s combat weight to 75 tons. Despite this the mech still moves at a brisk pace for its weight in part due to its up-rated musculature, hydraulics and, actuators which are rated for a unit weighing 100 tons. This said, the TUSK mech is quite well protected by the combination of twenty eight tons of armor, and a fortified internal framework which makes it exceptionally resilient. This toughness is a logical expense to the design as it by existing serves as a serious threat to infantry, armor and air assets meaning it is liable to be one of the first priorities for destruction. But the thick hide of a mech is just a fraction of its staying power, as its weapons and sensors must be discussed also.

The TUSK land-mech sees by way of a powerful AA/T advanced sensor unit that is integrated into the mech’s chassis across its body. The sensor system can read a variety of spectra and use it to calculate likely enemy approaches and attack vectors while its battle computer can provide appropriate fire solutions, movement profiles and even suggest positioning for maximized accuracy and unit protection. On top of this the Pilot is utilizing the neural gyro technology which puts him or her in control of the mech as if it were their own body minus the risk of feedback from damage. The system also includes a coordination module that connects TUSK units into a network allowing groups of them to coordinate fire against targets with deadly efficiency. It is often said that it is not the TUSK units you see that are liable to kill you but the others in the network you do not see that will murder you. Battles in South Africa confirm this fact as most Anarch aircraft were shot down by TUSK units they failed to notice.

With that said it would be remiss of the author of this document to not include what makes the TUSK so deadly. The design’s main firepower is based around six AV/LB-24 type guns with three in each arm. The guns are extremely long barreled versions of Aircraft grade legacy guns with additional capacitors and particle accelerators to give greater ranged effect. Each gun is fed by seven tons of ammunition, four of anti-air type, two of anti-armor and a single ton of anti-personnel. Over all this dispersion of munitions are a curse and a blessing as the tusk can deliver a lot of anti-air chaos but is ultimately tied to supply lines and can indeed run its munitions dry very rapidly. Yet the ability to utterly annihilate infantry, and demolish armor as well as erase air borne threats at ranges that put all but opposing artillery units at a disadvantage is no significant factor. Supporting the main six guns is a pair of 25 mm Coil energy weapons tied into coolant systems to reduce but not nullify their heat production during prolonged firing. The coil weapons p[presence lead to a secondary flaw in the form of the TUSK units tending to overheat if their energy weapons are used over much. Some operators have removed a ton or two of ammunition to add additional cooling systems. As a seeming afterthought, the TUSL land-mech is also armed with four torso mounted V-A/18 legacy guns for anti-personnel use each pair is provided with a modest amount of munitions for their role but not too much as no TUSK is expected to be so far forward as to risk being infantry-swarmed.

Variants

Variants of the T.U.S.K platform are largely limited to various long bore gun sizes in the series, however the primary version discussed here is the most common. It has bene rumored a version exists that mounts a pair or a single mount weapons package that can threaten dropships and starships even in extreme elliptical orbits with a clear line of sight however no evidence supports this rumor.

Deployment

The TUSK first saw major deployment as a defensive unit during the evacuation of allied and SSC portions of Africa. Several coordinated companies of these units were used with great effect against Anarch airborne units. While inflicting some thirty to one losses the Tusk Units did not lose a single pilot and not a single disabled unit was left behind.


[Author's note: The TUSK mech is 24 Meters tall, it's main guns are 30 meters long. Look at the original TUSK here gratefulreflex.deviantart.com/… both inspired byt the Fleetwood Mac song of the same name.]