Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/KA-65 Twinblade

Note: For the Ascalian version, see here.

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The Twinblade is an attack/transport helicopter used by Voshkod's Vieran Reserves, replacing the Mi-26 Halo. This unit is planned to be voiced by Lucy Doyle.

History
The Voshkod is internationally reviled for its "zero-tolerance" policy toward battlefield deserters, in what many critics deride as an unethically ruthless attitude toward warfare. This policy is widely enforced by the Voshkod' emblematic combat helicopter, the KA-65 Twinblade, due to its ability to hover over the battlefield in an optimal position to quickly identify and deal with those attempting to flee from the front lines. In a recent release, however, the Voshkod Military Affairs Bureau announced that battlefield desertions recently dropped to a record-low zero percent, and thanked the Voshkod people for their unwavering devotion to the elimination of their nation's enemies. Nevertheless, the Twinblade is expected to continue to see heavy use in ongoing conflicts between Voshkod and Aquila forces.

This sturdy, well-armored mainline combat helicopter features swivel-mounted dual heavy-duty machine guns, capable of firing upon ground forces and at helicopters and flying infantry, in addition to four rocket launchers slung under the wings carrying S-7A "Siegebreaker", which are tipped with the shaped explosive caps from Schardin mines, which are extremely effective at breaking through bunkers or walls, and can quickly turn occupied civilian structures into rubble and clear the way for landing troop. Further, its three-rotor design (two main rotors with one in the tail) gives this gunship unparalleled stability among similar aircraft. It bears mentioning that the Twinblade's machine guns, which pack more than enough punch to chew through an enemy squad in no time, are ill-suited against armored vehicles an their rockets are significantly less effective against armored vehicles.

This is a deliberate trade-off to reduce the mass of the Twinblade, which helps make the gunship remarkably quick, yet muscular enough to transport a Tesla Trooper fire team or even a V3/V4 rocket launcher to and from the front, but after a series of disastrous crashes that resulted in the loss of several Twinblades and vehicles, which were caused by complete engine failures due to mechanical stress, a directive was sent out mandating that Apocalypse tanks and similarly large vehicles were no longer to be carried by Twinblades. Because of all this, Voshkod battlefield commanders often quip that the Twinblade is "very, very Garlean", in the sense that this helicopter is considered to be direct and uncompromising. Even still, it is not without vulnerabilities.

All that ammunition carried on board, and the relatively delicate engineering needed to make the thing somehow fly straight means the Twinblade is quite susceptible to anti-aircraft fire. In one incident, an entire Twinblade squadron carrying a Voshkod Kodiak tank platoon was ambushed and decimated by a wing of Alliance Stormchild fighters, causing the Socialist Union of Voshkod to fervently re-declare war against the Alliance of Hawke in a harshly-worded announcement 2 months after invasion of Aquila. Considering the Twinblade may be carrying precious cargo, the loss of even one can put a heavy toll even on the vast riches of the Voshkod. This, along with the Twinblade's ability to hover watchfully over a battle, gives the aircraft a uniquely important and authoritative role within the Voshkod military.

Today, Twinblades are considered rather obsolete, having replaced by Mi-24 Hinds, Mi-40 Hunchbacks and later modernized versions of the popular Mi-8 Hip helicopters, but their cheapness and ease of manufacture mean that it's still used and exported by other friendly Pro-Voshkod nations with Ascalia being the most export user of the Twinblades which latter given modern upgrades, and carry Voshkod commissars on board as copilots, men well-versed in the Voshkod doctrine who do not hesitate to goad their enemies or motivate their brethren by any means necessary.

Trivia