Overview:       The Fulcrum is the interesting result of one of the Commonwealth's luckiest events, that began as a deep-penetrating raid into TOG space, in the Darak sector. Two corvettes with their four fighters were on a hit-and-run mission that went wrong. Dropping out of T-Space, and burning towards the system they found themselves encountering a squadron of TOG fighters. But what started out as a disaster turned to good fortune. As the Commonwealth fighters rushed into the fray, the corvettes moved to cut off angles of attack. It wasn't long before the Commonwealth pilots noticed something odd about two of the fighters they were fighting against, for they seemed to be a bit hesitant on attack, and were being shielded by their companions. Seizing the moment, and with increadible luck, the Commonwealth disabled the ships, destroyed their escort, and was able to bring them to the corvettes for a quick scuttle and transport back to Commonweath space.       The prize was two examples of the TOG's new cone lasers. A team of top engineers descended on them, working feverishly to reverse-engineer them, and in short order, had managed to do just that, sending them off to a few capable weapons manufacturers.       And the world seemed not to care a whit. Not a single interceptor manufacturer was willing at the time to use them, either in a new design or in a design in development or production. In the end, it was a grav tank manufacturer that approached and took possession of the newly manufactured CLs, and the Fulcrum was born. Capabilities:       The Fulcrum uses two of the CLs to provide itself with an excellent set of armour undercutters. They are mounted in the turret for full traverse capability. Tests have shown no loss of effectiveness in the athmosphere, and the CLs can reach out as far as regular lasers. These weapons, however, only begin the Fulcrum's direct-fire capability. A sturdy 200mm gauss is also mounted in the turret, giving the Fulcrum a heavy punch. A standard 1.5/4 laser rides alongside the gauss, installed for its usual penetrating capabilities.       Mounted in the hull, another 1.5/5 laser gives the Fulcrum more capacity for 'in depth' damage, while a class 15 GMDC's high velocity slugs provide extra softening up of hard targets and a potent weapon against softs. Two TVLG 6 launchers are also mounted along the sides, about midway back along the tank. With it's mix of weapons, the Fulcrum can cause serious harm against opponents, using the GMDC to spall off the outer layer, the 1.5s to cut a hole or two, and following it up with the CLs with a chance to undercut the rest of the armour right off. That mission accomplished, the 200mm and the TVLGs can make short work of a tank's innards.       On the defensive front, the Fulcrum mounts both good shields and armour. 80-90 flicker ratings protect the tank, with 10 tons of armour protecting all major facings. A VulcanIV system sits atop the turret to strike down any incomming missiles. As can be expected, the Fulcrum tips the scales heavy, at 400 tons, and it's huge 2500 rated engine can only accelerate the tank at a rating of 4. This is, however, on par with most other heavy tanks, allowing the Fulcrum to keep up with the group. Deployment:       While not cheap by any means, the Fulcrum is not to greatly out of line with other tanks to price itself out of procurement. Several testbeds have been completed, and the first delivery to an active army is now taking place. The tests are in, now it remains to be seen if the Fulcrum can stand up in combat, the product of a lucky break and a most unlikely use of the spoils of luck.

Type: Heavy Grav Tank Mass: 400 tons Cost: $2,869,150 Rating Power Mass Cost Engine 2500 2500 68 625000 Thrust: 4 Shields Rating Power Mass Cost Front 90 182 2 45000 Right 80 96 2 40000 Left 80 96 2 40000 Stern 90 182 2 45000 Bottom 60 24 2 30000 Armour Points Power Mass Cost Front 100 0 10 500 Right 100 0 10 500 Left 100 0 10 500 Stern 100 0 10 500 Bottom 70 0 7 350 Turret 100 0 10 500 Hull Weapons Hull # Power Mass Cost TVLG 6 1 0 9 30000 1.5/5 1 8 8 96000 GMDC 15 2 7 24 165000 TVLG 6 2 0 9 30000 Turret Weapons Power Mass Cost Cone Laser 35 35 420000 Cone Laser 35 35 420000 200 mm 9 106 528000 Vulcan IV 15 15 60000 1.5/4 7 7 84000 Turret 1 10 10000 Crew and Targeting Power Mass Cost Crew 1 3 3 300 Infantry 0 0 0 0 Digging Cannons Power Mass Cost # Of Charges 0 0 0 0 Anti-Grav Drive Power Mass Cost For Grav Tanks Only 396 4 198000 Power Mass Cost Totals: 1096 400 $2,869,150 Excess Power: 1404------------------------

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