The Viper's Maw Assault Scout is a new development by RAM. Designed to fill the perceived gap between the fighter Krait and the various cruiser classes, it is designed to be able to outfight - at least on the design holos - any so-called "Scout" class ship. As such, it packs quite a punch for a scout cruiser.

Designed by famous designer Wilson Kandori (head of R&D at RAM-Space), the Viper's Maw incorporates many advances in both engine design and weaponry potential. The most unusual feature of the Viper's Maw class of scout cruiser, is the unique Howler-mode, where the cruiser utilizes the upper layers of an atmosphere to achieve truly astounding speeds over shorter periods of time - a flight mode not wholly dissimilar to the ancient jet fighter afterburner mode. However, this flight mode also induces tremendous wear and tear on the engines, thereby reserving this for emergencies and suchlike.

Unusual among RAM-Space projects, this project was developed on Out Station Adam, the RAM military base located on Vesta in the Belt. Although most of the design work was done back on Mars, the actual assembly and shakedown cruises were done on Out Station Adam. Even a recaltricant dr. Kandori had to travel to Out Station Adam in order to oversee the more technically challenging aspects of assembling the prototype Viper's Maw scout cruiser.

dr. Wilson Kandori

17th level Oberon Sidhe Male Scientist

Str 7 Dex 9 Con 8 Int 21 Wis 19 Cha 11 Tech 18

Saving Throw Modifiers: None racial, +5 level

Special Abilities: Armor Class bonus 5

AC 1 (-4), THAC0 12, HP 26

Career Skills:

Gadgeteering 98, General Knowledge 34, Library Search 64, Memorize 92, Notice 65, Mathematics 68, Metallurgy 100, Physics 100

General Skills:

Drive Jetcar 21, Maneuver in 0-G 18, Repair Electrical 38, Repair Mechanical 51, Repair Nuclear Engine 67, Repair Weapon 87, Programming 82, Design Engineering 78

Commonly carried equipment: Mercurian Smart Suit, ECM pack, Power Pack, wrist computer, tech scanner (can scan equipment worth up to 25kcreds), Kandori prototype laser pistol (cost: prototype, sz 6" long, wt 1, rng 750, dmg 2d6, rof 3/2, shots 5)

Appearance: Dr. Kandori is about as common as they come. Completely bald, he is a middle-aged, slightly overweight man of slight African appearance. Usually clad in a very fine quality black jumpsuit and discreetly armed (with a prototype design of one of his own laser weapons, of course), he is fairly nondescript (though somewhat martial) even in his taste of clothes. Seemingly slightly embarassed by the RAM-Space insignia on his chest, he often "forgets" to put it on.

Behaviour: Dr. Kandori is a friendly, mellow man. He rarely gets excited, and tries to keep himself to himself most of the time. Though he prefers to work on his theorems and prototypes alone, he is a far cry from the "archetypical" social but brilliant nerd. Somewhat calculating, he seldom engages in chit-chat with what he (rightly) perceives as his intellectual inferiors. Of course, he is quite capable of putting on a show of "normalcy" when he is required - he is far to intelligent to not avoid the usual pit-traps in behaving like an irrational genius. He prefers not to talk about his work, as he is quite tired of having to try and explain his advanced work in laser technology to someone having just a slight grasp of physics.

True self: Dr. Kandori is an Oberon Sidhe a long way from home. As the Oberon Sidhe are experimental gennies capable of amazing mental capacity, and even slightly bending the laws of physics by being able to utilize telekinesis to a limited degree, they are kept in extreme secrecy. Dr. Kandori's greatest failure is to not reach Alpha level, the top school for Oberon Sidhe, where the students engage in paranormal research. Embittered, he joined RAM to work in his second fields of interest - physics, as pertaining to laser technology. As he failed to enter Alpha, Dr. Kandori is somewhat bitter on Oberon as a world, but not to the point of trying to destroy them - that would be irrational. He enjoys testing his elegant theories in the real world by building prototypes, but doesn't share his RAM supervisers' love of weaponry. As he is slightly embarassed of being a part of RAM (he is far too intelligent to be deceived by the RAM propaganda), he nevertheless has no real desire to leave RAM as it is one of the few organizations that can provide him with the funding he needs to investigate his theories. He is quite happy with the Viper's Maw cruiser, especially the successful engine modification he implemented.