Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Cardinal Viper

"Viper on-comms."

-Cardinal Viper

The Cardinal Viper is a gunship variant of the Cardinal Transport Copter used by the Alliance of Hawke. This unit is set to be voiced by Seth MacFarlane.

Tactical analysis

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History
"Bummer, it’s been only 4 minutes and I'm already outta ammo!"

-A Viper gunner, after strafing an Encantadian target

A potent combat modification of the lighter Cardinal, the Viper's bite comes in the form of a pair of phosphorous rocket pods and swivel-mounted grenade launchers, capable of quickly disorienting and then eliminating most ground targets. In order to draw fire away from vulnerable transports, it can also throw out flares to draw enemy fire.

The armament (and use) of the Cardinal Helicopter by the Encantadian theatre is actually a controversy for the Alliance, and in particular many of the pacifist and humanitarian sub-groups thereof, have gone on record as to denounce the Encantadian division for 'blatant misconduct and violation of the rules of warfare'. This controversy stems from the original hospital and evacuation role of the Alliance Cardinals, when by painting white stripes on their sides they would announce themselves as being civilian medevacs and, by the rules of war, 'untouchable' by enemy guns.

The Encantadian forces, however, have no such need for the rules of warfare when it comes to the madness that is Encantadia. It is a common tactic for Cardinal Vipers to utilize the same tactic as their much beloved Alliance, but with a twist - striped in white, Vipers will fly over an enemy encampment (when such can be found) supposedly as hospital transports. When the Encantadian lets them fly onwards without firing, the Vipers will suddenly fire upon the largest enemy target, then descend to the ground and let their inhabitants jump out. This practice, known as "Wardoveing", has caused the destruction of many an opposing encampment and was an effective method of striking terror into their normally unflappable opponents.

Now, however, Wardoveing as a tactic has started to work against the Alliance. Paranoid Encantadian soldiers have seen too many of their fellow soldiers blown away by a deceptive Viper, and now many Commanders will simply order their soldiers to attack any Cardinal, Viper or otherwise, that comes in range. This has been especially frustrating for Transport Cardinals who are legitimately unarmed and carrying civilian crews - it is darkly rumored that, should the Encantadian war be won, the Alliance Humanitarian Forces will be looking for many a Viper pilot to stand trial for war crimes.