Zheng

The Zheng is a new frame in IPS-N's line and is unusual in that its development can be attributed almost completely to a single mech pilot – Xiong Xiaoli, a Mirrorsmoke mercenary operating in the Long Rim, protecting heavy freight/low crew shipments to the early Dawnline Shore colonies. A relative unknown before the incident, MSMC documentation from the time indicates that her convoy was attacked by the White Tiger pirate conglomerate, and her entire company killed in action. Xiong's personal logbook, recovered posthumously, expounds on MSMC's report.

In her logbook, Xiong noted that her chassis, a factory-standard IPS-N Raleigh, was almost totally ripped apart in the chaos of the White Tiger's attack. Thrown free of her billeted freighter after it collided with a White Tiger crashboat, Xiong managed to survive the next 45 days by scavenging across the drifting, derelict wreck of the MSMC-S Say No More, the escort cruiser attached to the supply colony. Outnumbered and hunted by the White Tiger pirates prowling the ruined convoy, Xiong took dramatic steps to modify her Raleigh for close-quarters combat. In the dark, claustrophobic environments of the Say No More and ruined freighters leashed to it by the White Tigers, Xiong turned her chassis into a machine of tumbling death.

Xiong likely did not survive the long engagement. She is presumed to have perished mere days before an IPS-N Trunk Security patrol arrived, responding to the convoy's initial distress signal. Trunk Security found that Xiong had eliminated every White Tiger pirate assigned to the convoy; her chassis, logbook, and trace elements of her body were discovered in the White Tiger's cored-out gunboat and recovered by IPS-N. Thanks to her efforts, Trunk Security and MSMC were able to hunt down the remaining White Tiger gang and eliminate them. IPS-N and MSMC then engaged in a lengthy negotiation over the modified Raleigh's plans, eventually settling on a mixed licensing fee that benefits both IPS-N and MSMC. The resulting pattern, the Zheng, is now a popular choice among MSMC and Trunk Security pilots operating across the Rim.

Xiong Xiaoli is widely regarded as a bodhisattva across the Long Rim; MSMC mercenaries have created several drinking games named after her, and MSMC pilots on combat contracts often compete to hit the "Xiong Limit" of 45+ confirmed kills.

Destructive Swings

At the end of the Zheng’s turn, if it made at least one melee attack against a hostile character, the force of its swings creates a SIZE 1 piece of terrain that grants hard cover in a free, adjacent space. It has 10 HP and EVASION 5.

Weak Computer

The Zheng takes +1 Difficulty on all systems saves and checks

Core System: Xiong-Type CQB Suite

Surviving mostly on colonial rations and an increasingly radioactive air supply, Xiaoli scavenged materials from a dying ship to create modifications that gave her mech unprecedented unarmed striking power.

Passive- Xiaoli's Tenacity

1/turn as a free action, you may move up to 3 spaces then deal 2 Kinetic to any adjacent character or 10 Kinetic AP to an object or piece of terrain. This movement prompts engagement and does not ignore reactions.

If this damage destroys an object or piece of terrain, it explodes, dealing 1d6 Kinetic to all adjacent characters other than you and knocking them back 1 space.

ACTIVE - Xiaoli's Ingenuity

For the rest of the scene, this system gains 6 charges (you can use a die to track this). Expend a charge to use XIAOLI’S TENACITY again, ignoring the 1/Turn limit. You may spend any number of charges a turn. At the end of each turn, you regain a charge for each unique target (character, object, or piece of terrain) you damaged with this action, to a maximum of 6.

License Level 1:

Tiger Hunter Combat Sheathe//Main Melee

Theat: 1
Damage: 1d3+2 Kinetic

This weapon can attack two targets at a time, and can be used even while JAMMED.

Total Strength Suite I//System

1 SP

You rip up a piece of the environment and hurl it at a character within Range 5 and line of sight. Your target must pass an Agility save or take 1d6 kinetic damage and be knocked back 1 space directly away from you. After you take this action, place a Size 1 piece of terrain that grants hard cover in a free space adjacent to your target, even if they passed the save. The terrain has 10 HP and Evasion 5.

If there is a Size 1 object or piece of cover adjacent to you, you can move it as part of this action; otherwise, your projectile is ripped out of the ground or environment. If there's nothing to grab nearby or you're not on the ground you can't take this action

License Level 2:

Molten Wreathe//Weapon Mod

2 SP
- Melee
- Auxiliary
- Main
- Heavy
- Superheavy

Choose one MELEE weapon: 1/round, after you hit a character with this weapon, you take 1 Heat and it projects a superheated Cone 3 cloud oriented away from your target in a direction of your choice. Your target and any characters caught in this cloud each take 2 Explosive Damage.

Total Strength Sutie II//System

2 SP

Deal 1d6 kinetic damage to a character you are grappling.

Unique

Protocol

Zheng Frame

License Level 3:

D/D 288//Superheavy Melee

Threat: 1
Damage: 1d6 Kinetic (3d6+8 Explosive Charged)

Unlike other Superheavy weapons, this weapon can be used with the basic profile to Skirmish.

You may charge this weapon as a quick action. While charged, you benefit from soft cover, but you are SLOWED, take 2 Heat at the start of your turn, and can no longer use the D/D 288 with SKIRMISH. At the start of any of your turns while it is charged, it has the Charged profile.

Charge the D/D 288. At the start of any of your turns while the D/D 288 is Charged, it uses the "Charged" profile. You become SLOWED, and benefit from soft cover. Additionally, gain 2 Heat at the start of your turn.

The "Charged" profile cannot be used to Skirmish.

Charged

On hit while charged, this weapon deals 30 AP Kinetic Damage when it hits objects or pieces of terrain. If this destroys objects and pieces of terrain, they explode, dealing 1d6 Kinetic Damage to all adjacent characters other than you and knocking them back 1 space.

This weapon loses its charge when you hit a target, when you disperse its charge as a free action, or when you become STUNNED or SHUT DOWN.

Reliable 3 (8 Charged)

Knockback 8

Total Strength Suite III//System

3 SP

You end a Grapple, pushing the other character 5 spaces in any direction and knocking them Prone. This movement may pass through spaces occupied by other characters but must end in a free space. All characters they pass through must pass a Hull save or be knocked Prone. If your target collides with an object or piece of terrain, they stop, take 1d6 kinetic damage, and must pass a Hull save or become STUNNED until the end of their next turn.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse