Carrier Tortoise

The RPZ-05 Carrier Tortoise is one of the main medium transport Zoids after the formation of the Zoid Battle Commission. Today it used alongside older RPZ-02 Gustav Transport Zoids by many Zoid Battle Teams thanks to its rugged and ease of use nature.

General Overview
Soon after the formation of the Zoid Battle Commission, it was found that there was a need for a lightweight Zoid transport to be used by the Zoids teams to transport their zoids to their battles. While the older Gustav Transport Zoid, which had been in use since even before the last Great War, would be a good basic transport for the Zoid teams it still could only carry two to three zoids. Therefore there was a need for a slightly larger transport to carry more zoids for those teams that had a need to carry more than three zoids without upgrading to a larger Whale King or Hammer Kaiser which were a bit too expensive and large for some teams just starting out. Therefore the Zoid Battle Commission would ask a variety of different companies to look into developing a new zoid transport something that wasn’t done since the development of the new shrunken Hammer Kaiser a few years after the end of Hiltz’s Rebellion.

The top two transports from this little competition would be the ZCDX-03 Hover Cargo from the Helic Republic’s Helic Zoid Crafts and the RPZ-05 Carrier Tortoise from the newcomer Champ Industries. These two would become the perfect Medium-class zoid transports alongside the flying Cargo Hammer a slightly larger version of the earlier passenger/cargo-model Transport Hammerheads developed by the Helic Republic during the last Great War. However, of the two new zoid transports the Carrier Tortoise would become quite well known and just as wide-spread as the older Gustav with many teams upgrading to the Tortoise after the Gustav. Sadly the other new transport the Hover Cargo would not commonly be found in Zoid Battles and over time it would disappear entirely. Instead, it would find a better niche in the civilian market as a general cargo hauler.

The Carrier Tortoise is said to be just a larger version of other tortoise-type Zoids like the well-known Cannon Tortoise and lesser-known Missile Tortoise. It sports a small Zoid hanger underneath its hardened shell with a pair of side panels that can open to act as ramps for the Zoids stored inside. In the transport zoid hanger it has enough room to store five smaller zoid or three larger-scale zoids. Thanks to the modular nature of the hanger it could be easily configured to carry any zoid even one as large as a Gojulas or Gordos.

In front of the hanger and the smaller front section of the shell is a two-level living section where the crew of the transport can stay in comfort when away from a larger base. Then in front of the large shell is the transport cockpit which looks somewhat like a Gustav’s cockpit just with a higher ceiling and the rear seats removed to make room for a hatch leading to the rest of the transport. The front half of the cockpit sports the piloting station along with a second control station next to it which controls the transports weapons along with the sensors systems. The rear of the cockpit sports a section of fold-down passenger jump seats for the rest of the crew if they are not in the living section.

Above the cockpit section and in front of the forward part of the shell is one of the small Laser Repeaters. While above the two side doors in a single duel-barrel AZ Shock Cannon Turret each, with the last two Laser Repeaters bellow them. However, like any zoid these weapons could easily be modified or replaced with another weapon or custom part. One common modification is the mounting of the regular RZA-013 Artillery Cannon commonly found on the Cannon Tortoise on top of the shell. This provides the Carrier Tortoise to support its deployed zoids while in combat but this is generally frowned upon by the Zoid Battle Commission due to Zoid Battles between regular Zoids, not Zoid transports.

Overall the Carrier Tortoise has become quite common throughout the continent of Europa and the Zoid Battle Commission Zoid Teams. It is the second-most-common used of Zoid Team Transport on Europa alongside the small Gustav and the slightly smaller Cargo Hammer. Also, it is not just used by Zoid Teams but several civilian-run companies use the Carrier Tortoise for other needs like general cargo hauling or several other minor jobs.

Design Overview
The Carrier Tortoise basically likes a vastly enlarged version of a tortoise-type Zoid like the Cannon Tortoise. Inside its enlarged shell is a distant sized zoid hanger which sports a pair of side panels that can be used to disembark its carried zoids as well as personal or cargo if needed. However like similar-sized zoid transports the Carrier Tortoise doesn’t sport the needed facilities to fully maintain its carried zoids therefore often only used to carry zoids to a target before unleashing its load of combat zoids. Therefore, for this reason, it is more often used by Zoid Battle Teams than any military, though a few smaller militaries still use it thanks to its sheer adaptability and rugged nature. Also thanks to this adaptability and rugged nature it also is found in the hands of civilian junk collectors and cargo runners which convert a part of its hanger bay into a cargo bay with only a smaller portion remaining as a zoid hanger.

RZA-013 Artillery Cannon
Commonly found on the smaller Cannon Tortoise it can be mounted on top of the Carrier Tortoise where it can be used for the support it’s deployed Zoids. However not commonly used by Zoid Teams thanks to ZBC rules on Zoid Transports participating in Zoid Battles, but still in use by others like the Helic Republic Military.

CP-13 Wild Weasel Advanced Fire Control Radar
The Carrier Tortoise can mount the Wild Weasel unit to better use its dual Shock Cannon Turrets. As well as supporting the sub-par sensor unit that it comes equipped with. It is the second most common customization. Therefore like the Artillery Cannon upgrade, this custom modification is not often found on the Zoid Battle Team operated Carrier Tortoises instead used by military-operated units.

CP-16 Heavy Cargo Crane
A more civilian-use custom option this heavy-duty cargo crane can be equipped to the back of the Carrier Tortoise and be used for carrying heavy cargo. This is often found on cargo-carrying customized Carrier Tortoise and rarely on Carrier Tortoises used by Zoid Battle Teams for recovering disabled Zoids far easily than the Carrier Tortoise’s own equipped light cranes.

RPZ-010 Great Tortoise
The newer RPZ-010 Great Tortoise is an expanded variant of the basic Carrier Tortoise that had been introduced by Champ Industries for both Military and Zoid Battle Teams. This new variant sports a larger hanger that can carry eight heavy zoids or twelve light zoids which can be either unloaded via a new rear-mounted ramp or a dedicated top-side catapult similar to those on modified Hover Cargos. It also sports a larger living section and adds a heavy cargo bay above the rear ramp both of which allow these transports to be used for long-range combat patrols. For weapons, the transport sports heavier weapons included a pair of large 300mm Shock Cannons and a couple more Laser Repeaters.

Overall the Great Tortoise was a flop and never really was sold to any military customers thanks to its sluggish controls and very slow ground speed. It still was in general use by a few Class-S Zoid Teams thanks to its large hanger allowing it to carry some of the larger teams of Class-S far easily than smaller transports. Not to mention cheaper to maintain than the larger Whale King or Hammer Kaiser Transport Zoids which are often the major transports for Class-S teams. However, upon the introduction of the large Hover Vector Transport by HoverCraft Limited it is said these slow transport would finally be retired from service and replaced by faster Hover Vectors.

Appearances
Currently, the Carrier Tortoise is not included in any story, though there are some plans to include it in a new Zoid story based around the designer’s old story the Sabers. It can be used in other stories if asked which shall be included in this section in its own sub-section of this one.

Disclaimer
I like to mention that this Zoid is designed by myself, deathzealotzero, therefore I own the design and I will like no one to use it without my permission. I will allow it to be used in other stories only with my permission, therefore, please ask before using it in a story. Thank you.

Designer Note
I was kind of tired not having a Medium-class Zoid Transports with transports jumping from the small Gustav to the far-larger Whale King with only the Hover Cargo in between them. Even then the Hover Cargo looked to be not commonly used due to some comments made in the anime. Every other team besides the Blitz used either Gustavs or Whale Kings which made no real sense to me, therefore, decided to make a small number of Medium-class Zoid Transports with the Carrier Tortoise being the main alongside the slightly smaller Cargo Hammer.