A heavy, dedicated gunship in service with the Marine Corps branch of the Star Military of the Democratic Imperium of Nepleslia.

The Viper was the Nepleslian Armed Troop Transport, able to make a quick insertion of Marines into a hot landing zone with enough weapons to defend itself with. It was also charged with providing close air support for the troops it inserted. But, the lack of a good number of weapons on the craft meant that it had to constantly expend it's munitions and re-arm itself, leaving Marines in the field alone. The Sunburn is NAM's answer to this problem. It is a helicopter gunship, and was designed for the sole purpose of destroying enemy ground forces. It is the Cobra Gunship to the Huey-inspired Viper, and would be commonly found operating in squads alongside Viper transports for an aerial assault.

Missile pods on either side of the Sunburn each hold 60 missiles of "Pufferfish" Airburst Missiles, 30 "Marlin" Penetrator Missiles, or 50 "Eel" Seeker Missiles. These pods are sized differently according to what their payload is, and must be mounted onto the struts before a mission. A majority of the helicopter is designed to be “crash friendly”, with seats designed to absorb the impact of a crash as well as other systems.

The Sunburn is primarily a heavy gunship, unlike the more “jack of all trades” Viper.

The Viper was a great jack-of-all-trades troop/supply transport. It was also armed well-enough to cover itself while inserting Marines and to provide air support to Marines. However, it was not a dedicated gunship. The Sunburn was developed to add more firepower to an airborne assault, as well as to provide heavy fire support when Vipers were not available. This craft is also to be fielded exclusively by Marines and piloted by Marines, who's experience in ground combat provides a good understanding of the needs of the Marines they ferry to and fro, and of their needs for close-in air support.

Organizations Using This Vessel: Star Military of the Democratic Imperium of Nepleslia Type: Gunship Class: Nepleslian Armed Troop Transport Designer: NAM Aerotech Manufacturer: NAM Production: Mass Production Pilots: 2, one to navigate and do the actual piloting. One to operate weapon systems and to monitor other various systems on the Viper Maximum Capacity: 2, One Gunner and One Pilot. Appearance:

Length: 16.5 meters Width : 2.5 meters Height: 4.8 meters

Speed (Atmospheric, sea level): 235 knots Range: 445 km Lifespan: 5 years Refit Cycle: Requires regular maintenance after every mission, as well as rearming after munitions have been expended.

Front: 6 Cockpit: 5 Rear: 5 Missile Compartments: 4

The entire cockpit, when the helicopter is not running, is extremely dark. This is because the cockpit is not of the conventional glass design, it is essentially a thin sheet of Nerimium that slides open to accommodate a pilot and gunner. When slid back and the craft is activated, data from the monoeyes is fed to several small screens on the inside of the cover that simulates what a regular view would be in a helicopter with a glass cockpit.

The outer armor surrounding the cockpit has a thin layer of Nerimium.

For night time operations, the monoeyes can switch to either a “white hot” or “black hot” thermal imaging, or a night vision filter.

The gray seats are very cushioned and are fashioned on springs to prevent spinal decompression during a crash.

Both seats have buttons that immediately cut fuel lines in the event of a crash, and also have devices that destroy any key internal components to prevent them from being salvaged after a crash, activating either 10 minutes after a crash automatically, or immediately by the pilot or gunner.

The pilot's area contains a joystick for tilting the helicopter forward and back to slow down or accelerate, as well as tilting to the left and right. Pedals near the pilot's feet turn the helicopter from side to side.

The front of the pilot's seat is a large piece of equipment that gives the pilot a 3D view of the terrain, pre-programmed into the Sunburn's computer before a mission, based on topographic data. There is a HUD on top of his piece of equipment that shows wind velocity, speed of the craft and it's altitude. The HUD itself has a circle made up of several small lines with a line in the middle that moves according to how the Sunburn is angled to either side. The pilot wears a helmet smaller than the Gunner's, that bears resemblance to the K-Pot of today's military. The helmet houses a radio link that is able to converse with friendly forces from squad-level to receiving orders at the batallion level. The pilot is responsible for relaying targets from squad or platoon leaders to the gunner.

The gunner of thee craft is all but encased in electronics. The pilot himself wears a specialized helmet that bears resemblance to a large motorcycle helmet. The inside of the helmet contains a radio uplink to the pilot. The HUD on the helmet contains information on the weapons systems, indicating the damage each one may have taken, if a certain weapon were overheated, and the amount of ammunition left. On the left of the cockpit, there is a “D-pad” that provides the pilot with the ability to scroll through the numerous weapons systems available, with the pull of a trigger on the joystick between the pilot's legs acting as a sort of “mouse click” that selects the weapon and fires it. On the same side, there is a manual override for the mono-eye should it be knocked off-line. In this manual override, sensors in the pilot's helmet detect his head movements, which move the Chaingun itself.

A front section of the nerimium cover is capable of magnification to longer ranges. There is a selection of filters that the screen can take, including “black hot” or “white hot” thermal vision, night vision and regular vision. Enemies are outlined with a downward-pointing, red arrow on the screen, while friendlies are outlined with a green “X” across them.

There are smaller screens that maximize to a larger size on the gunner's main screen when chosen and minimize when another screen is chosen, that gives a “wireframe” overview of the Sunburn, designating the amount of damage in terms of yellow being light damage, orange being medium damage, and red being critical damage. Another smaller screen gives information on the generators.

The Sunburn is covered in a layer of Durandium, made somewhat thick especially near the engine and cockpit.

There is a “soft” layer of Durandium under the helicopter that is meant to absorb the shock of a crash.

Specialized computer system. Thanks to the detailed trajectories data from the Monoeye sensor system, the Savtech can perform high accuracy shots. Should the Savtech determine that a shot is approaching the Sunburn; it will instantly perform evasive maneuvers. This may be quite jarring to the pilot who should be the one in control of his machine, thus practices should be in order so that the Savtech learns moves that are more preferred by the pilot, and the pilot accustoms itself to the Savtech's automatic dodging. It is recommended to save your battle data in the event of machine switching or destruction.

Placed on the right and left undersides sides of Sunburn near the struts leading to missile pods. Both give a 180* view on both sides (Therefore a full 360* total) and due to the dual positioning some degree of depth perception exists. On passive mode these sensors emit low key RADAR, LADAR and receive data on a wide spectrum. On active mode, a pair of mono-directional emitters located within the sensors will glow. These “Monoeyes” furiously emits subspace particles at a specific target, providing extremely detailed and instantaneous data on the target including things leaving it (I.e.: Projectiles and Sensor Pings). The con's of this system is that it can only lock on at one target at a time. Also, going Active mode nearly always betrays your own presence and position.

NAM Noisemaker Device The NAM “Noisemaker” excels at jamming passive sensors by constantly emitting random signals of all types and frequencies. Although this assists friendly units nearby, the Viper will be easily spotted up to 1,000 KM away when this is activated.

Encrypted Radio Antennas are internally located behind the cockpit, under where the “MARINES” is written.

2 Na-LFR-01a Light Fusion Reactors The primary power generation units on the Sunburn are 2 fusion reactors based in the middle of the chopper, which provide power to all systems. Two are required for full operation of all systems. In the event of one being damaged or inoperable, the helicopter can be flown on the power of one reactor. It is not advised to try anything fancy, though.

Quad Nerimium Rotor Blades

The quad-blades on top of the Sunburn are the primary mode of the helicopter's propulsion. They produce noise, but then, this helicopter does not have stealthiness as its main priority.

Primary Shields The Sunburn is shielded from many attacks by a relatively light shielding suite, and is mostly immune to scalar strikes thanks to a powerful anti-gravity system. DR 5

(2):"Pufferfish" Airburst Missiles

Location: Mounted in two missile pods on each side of the Sunburn. Holds 60 missles each.

(1):NAM Medium Chaingun 30MM, NAM MCG30-M1a

Location: Mounted on a rotating turret in front of the chopper.

(2): NAM Tactical Grenade Launchers

Location: Mounted on either side where the back of the cockpit meets the chopper's body.

(2): "Marlin" Penetrator Missiles

Location: Mounted in two missile pods on each side of the Sunburn. Holds 30 missiles each. Note: This replaces the Pufferfish Airbust Missiles.

(2): "Eel" Seeker Missiles

Location: Mounted in two missile pods on each side of the Sunburn. Holds 50 missiles each. Note: This replaces the Pufferfish Airbust Missiles.