Data packet received: [Finding origin]: ./. [origin found]: [Mechanicus Enclave MC-117343 'Seekers of Lost Grace']:... [DATA CLEARANCE LEVEL?]:... [SANCTION; OMEGA]:... [Access granted, Omnissiah blesses you]
Adeptus Mechanius Analysis: M808D Scorpion Tank
Greetings, this data packet is to be given to relevant military officials, Mechanicum Adepts and those of sufficient Imperial ranking. Any unauthorized data leaks will be punished with Servitorization.
This data packet will be a in depth analysis of the weapon system used by the 'First' what they have named the 'Scorpion Tank'.
To begin the Scorpion is a 66 ton armored vehicle that follow what we in the Imperium and the Mechanicus consider a tank, a heavy armed and armored vehicle designed to provide fire support and to destroy other armored enemies and fortifications. To this end, the vehicle fits the in the 'tank' categorize firmly.
The design however, does break the mold on what we in the Imperium on what we consider 'common' tank design. firstly using a uncommonly used quad track design and equipping its turret on the rear of the platform, giving it its look that gives it it namesake. However it is not the look of the tank that makes this vehicle a particular interest to us and the Imperium, but a number of its features and history.
First is its weapon system, whilst commonly equipped with either a 90mm auto-loading cannon or alas-cannon. This can quickly change, you see this tank has a very interesting feature that allows its cannon to be changed quite rapidly only requiring a small crew of enginseers equivalents to do so (and from our understanding, sometime only one is needed if given the right tools). This has allowed a larger number of variants to be used including AAA, Missile carriers and even plasma. This versatility is shocking to many a commander in the field as they could have a report saying that they fighting two scorpions of the 'stinger' verity (90mm cannon equipped) and call for prepare air support only for it to fail because one of them changed to its 'Sun Devil' (AAA) systems before the battle, nightmare for battle planning. It is also of note that the Scorpion is considered 'easy to repair and replace' by the First with its treads, Cannon and even its main body being able to be replaced if damaged. to quote the strangest of quotes from the major xeno's intelligence known as tide, 'it's Lego for tanks' we have no idea what a leg-o is but we believe its meant to describe it ease of manufacturer and repair.
Second interesting fact of this tank is that it only needs one pilot to use fully. Unlike our own Tank systems that needs at least a crew of three to operate at minimum, the Scorpion need only a single pilot to operate. With the pilot using a neural interface the user is able to drive and shoot the tanks weapons with no detriment to the machines performance, nor to the users surprisingly. This gives the First a shocking amount of manpower-to-armor ratio when on the field, so much so that a number of organizations have started to capture their own scorpions for use. Which leads to the final subject of analysis, it history.
When the first scorpions were captured or recovered, we were allowed to study its machine spirit and in doing so we learn the age of the machines design. The machines origin is that of 3rd millennium, to be more specific the 23rd century, making it the oldest know tank used by humanity. As the Scorpion's machine spirit allowed us to learn its history, designed after what was called the 'Interplanetary War' for a tank that was easy to transport in space in a age where space travel was difficult, the design was used for hundreds of year after its development. Surviving where many other designs were dropped for being either too expensive for humanity to use, or too old for it purpose. The Scorpion survived thanks to it ease of modification and later cheap nature to manufacturer. Although the spirits refuses to tell us when the design stopped being used, as it seems to be blow to its collective pride.
This tank has been sanctioned by the Adeptus Mechanicus as 'facta per hominem' and thus, is legal for the Imperium and Mechanicus to use and manufacture. Omnissiah has blessed this machine!
Data packet End:... [God-Emperor protects]
Peoples thoughts? A couple of people asked about how'd the Imperium would react to halo weapons and other things so made this little thing for fun. And before people say that the Scorpion is a bad design remember that the Leman Russ tank is basically a MK4 with a turret and other vehicles are just as bad if not more impractical, let's not bicker about tanks and have fun!