Name: Matrix Dragon
Alignment: Helic Republic
Family: Dragon
Registration Number: BZ-013
Crew: 2-4
Height: 13.7 Meters
Length: 10.8 Meters
Weight: 66.5 Tons
Top Speed: 240kph (Ground), Mach 2 / 2450kph (Air), 100 knots / 185.2kph (Water)
Weapons: Rifle Cluster, Dual 30mm Cannons, Twin 35mm Machineguns, Twin 30mm Machineguns, All-Terrain Missile Array, Flamethrower, Strike Laser Claws, Hardened Alloy Teeth and Talons, Tail Saw
Special Abilities: Frontal E-Shield, Sensor Array, Flight, Swimming, De-Fusion
Level: 5

During the era of warfare on Zi, technology barriers were commonly regarded as temporary problems at best. Throw enough money at a problem and somewhere, somebody will find a solution. Both the Republic and the Empire were great proponents of this idea, which resulted in innovations like the super-agile Konig Wolf and the extremely disruptive Charged Particle Gun.

Of course, sometimes money is irrelevent. Sometimes, it's sheer dumb luck that manages to shatter all expectations. Such is the case with the Blox units: a tiny company, then known for nothing and now still known for nothing, managed to devise the necessary pieces of technology to create the complex Zoids. This technology was promptly sold to both parties of the war, and the company dissolved with everybody involved very, very rich.

While the Imperial technicians used this new technology to build the hellish fiend that is the Chimera Dragon, Republican designers focused on the deadly, elegant Matrix Dragon. The Matrix Dragon was a quintessential piece of Blox technology in that the Zoid wasn't an independant unit, but rather a fusion of four seperate Zoids: Leoblaze, Unenlagia, Nightwise, and Mosasledge.

Each of those four Zoids has their own place on the battlefield. The Leoblaze and Unenlagia can fuse together to form the Double Arms Lizard, a respectable Zoid that in turn helped spearhead a Republican offensive as a portion of the Griffin Zoids that so vexed Imperial forces. Yet, above all, when one speaks of the mighty Republican BLOX there is one, and only one, name that people remember.

Matrix Dragon. Fearsome and deadly, fast and heavily armed, the Matrix Dragon is a battlefield terror with few rivals. Its abilities are legendary simply because of the staggering number of areas in which it can compete. In the skies, under the seas, on land, there is truely no place to hide from the mighty Matrix Dragon.

And hiding just might be the most viable tactic when faced with such a Zoid. Its true strength comes not from its own power, but from its abilities to take on nearly any enemy and hit them where they are lacking. Which is not to say that the Zoid itself is lacking. Its armor is on par with the Dark Horn's, even as it maintains Dark Spiner grade maneuverability on the ground. In the skies it can keep up with a Redler, while in the seas it can match the Sinker maneuver for maneuver. In every area, it manages to combine armor and mobility in a way that virtually nothing else can match.

Of course, the Matrix Dragon's weapons are nothing to laugh at either. Though its ranged arsenal is somewhat under par in terms of raw power, any melee fight is a very dangerous place to be for enemies of the Matrix Dragon. Though the Zoid is physically small, it has the ability to pick up twice its weight (though it won't be flying with anything that heavy). This means that yes, the Zoid is physically about as strong as an Iron Kong, and stronger than a Gojulas. Four Zoid Cores have made this a Zoid to be feared, no matter who you are.

Weapons:

Rifle Cluster:
On the back of the Matrix Dragon is its main battery, the Rifle Cluster. Composed of the Unenlagia's AZ80mm Laser Assault Rifle and the Leoblaze's Twin AZ20mm Beam Rifles, the weapons gain much from the fusion. First and foremost, all three of them gain a boost from the extra power of the Matrix Dragon, turning them into AZ100mm and AZ40mm, respectively. On top of that, all three are semiautomatic and quite accurate, capable of landing reasonable hits out to a kilometer. They have also been specially programmed to fire in unision, meaning that the three rounds will always fire simultaneously at the same target.

Notably, when another pilot is present, they will take the second cockpit (located on the back, in front of and below the rifle) and control the rifle. The lack of need to do anything else and specialized equipment in that cockpit means the weapons' accuracy increases, rivaling a Gunsniper's main gun in accuracy. The only real downside to the Cluster is that it cannot pivot, and so the Matrix Dragon has to hunch over to aim it while on the ground. In the water or the air, this is not a problem.

Dual 30mm Cannons:
The Matrix Dragon's most obvious support weapons are these, mounted to its shoulders (in a mount that allows them to face forward at all times, even in the air or underwater). The cannons are 30mm and fire 12 shots per second each, and thus are not the most impressive, but they're still far better than nothing and can easily inflict pain on unsuspecting foes.

Twin 35mm Machineguns:
These two Machineguns are mounted on either side of the Matrix Dragon's head. Well suited for all types of combat, these are excellent support weapons due to their combined firing rate of 20 rounds/second. On top of that, their mount means that while they're fixed in position they point wherever the head does.

Twin 30mm Machineguns:
Mounted right above the 35mm Machineguns are a pair of slightly smaller weapons. Other than their reduced caliber they're identical to the 35mms: twenty rounds per second between them, fixed in position, and taking full advantage of the Matrix's large field of fire.

All-Terrain Missile Array:
The Mosasledge boasts a quartet of torpedoes. The Nightwise a group of six missiles. The Matrix Dragon? Combines them, upgrades them, and calls them the All-Terrain Missile Array. There are ten of them, in two four-shot pods on each flank and a two-shot pod on the chest. Each of them requires three seconds to aquire a target lock, which they do through a combination of visuals, IR, and radar in three seconds. Then they fire, and when they hit they explode, with half again the force of a standard missile. Now, perhaps most notable here is the "All-Terrain" part of the designation. You see, these missiles can lock onto anything-- ground, air, or water. And they can lock on from anywhere-- ground, air, or water. They're tenacious, deadly, and not something anybody wants to be on the wrong end of. The only real upside for the Matrix Dragon's opponents is that these missiles cannot be reloaded mid-battle, as the process takes several minutes.

Flamethrower:
The only new weapon of the Matrix Dragon is is flamethrower. A reasonably standard affair, it... well, it shoots flames at things. Sadly its maximum range is limited to 75 meters, and its fixed in the mouth. Happily, it makes the Matrix Dragon awesome at parties. Notably, using this in the air is akin to suicide via burnt face and underwater it won't do anything more than make a nice cloud of steam.

Strike Laser Claws:
It's amazing what four Zoid Cores can do. In this case, they took the humble, downgraded Strike Laser Claws of the Leoblaze and turned them into full-power versions, capable of matching the Dark Spiner or Shadow Fox blow for blow. Unfortunately, only the clawed hands of the Matrix can use these weapons.

Hardened Alloy Teeth and Talons:
The Matrix Dragon's claws are Strike Laser Claws, but it still boasts Hardened Alloy teeth in its maw and talons on its feet. Both are excellent for shredding, ripping, and tearing away nasty, unwanted armor.

Tail Saw:
The Mosasledge proved that chainsaws are awesome, and the Matrix Dragon continues to prove it with its own Tail Saw. Exactly what it sounds like, this weapon can shred through armor like...well, like a chainsaw. Or a chainsaw that happens to be seven meters long. Ripped pretty much wholesale from the Spinosapper, the saw is even capable of charging with energy, drastically increasing its cutting power. To facilitate its use, the Tail Saw can be rotated about 45 degrees in any direction. 'Course, using it at speed in the air still gets dangerous.

Special Abilities:

Frontal E-Shield:
The Matrix Dragon wields a tough Energy Shield that is on par with the one the Blade Liger is armed with. Raising the E-Shield takes a mere moment, and doesn't require the vulnerable panels of most shields. Once the shield is up, it protects the Dragon from the head all the way to the tail. The E-Shield itself is almost as good of protection as the Blade Liger's armor, as far as conventional weapons go. It can also be used in melee as a high-speed battering ram, allowing it to be used offensively as well. Explosives (mortars, missiles, rockets, grenades, ect.) and special shield-piercing rounds can quickly compromise the E-Shield, though, so know thine opponent before bringing the E-Shield up. It takes 18 seconds to regenerate after being downed. While the E-Shield can form just fine underwater, note that doing so in the air is impossible.

Sensor Array:
The Matrix Dragon carries two sensor systems in its head. First, it has enhanced visual sensors that automatically adapt to low-light conditions, allowing the pilots to see just fine even in the darkest night. Additionally, the Dragon has IR Sensors, allowing it to track Zoids by their heat signature. These two sensors are overlaid on the pilots' displays, allowing them to see just about anything that's worth seeing.

Flight:
Thanks to the wings it received from Nightwise, the Matrix Dragon can take to the air. While it's not all that fast, it does have VTOL capabilities, allowing it to hover, and it maintains excellent stability at even the lowest altitudes as long as it stays below Mach .5. Above that speed, it handles just like any other aerial at low-altitude: risky at best.

Swimming:
The Matrix Dragon can fly, walk, and even swim. It operates underwater just fine, with all of its weapons and systems fully functional-- even the sensors and E-Shield. While it's no Hammerhead, the Matrix Dragon does have a crush depth of 600 meters, making it no slouch.

De-Fusion:
The Matrix Dragon may de-fuse into Nightwise, Mosasledge, Leoblaze, and Unenlagia at will. Alternately, the D. A. Lizard can take the place of the Leoblaze and Unenlagia.

Cupholders:
Being highly acrobatic, the Matrix Dragon led to a lot of spilled drinks in the testing stage. Rather than not bring their coffee with them, the engineers opted for special gyroscopic cupholders, designed to keep whatever beverage you place in them mysteriously upright through any...interesting maneuvers. Whether your lunch will stay as stable in your stomach at the same time is debatable, but at least you won't have coffee on your pants.

Available Modifications: