The contest has been over for a while now so I might as well post my entry for those who missed it. As usual any critiques are comments are very welcome! Thanks. Now that the Joe Canuck Lore is pretty ironed out now I guess I should mention anywhere is says Cobra Canadian Corp or something to that effect should be Cobra North. And anything with Shiver can be omitted lol. I think its time to make an ICE Queen custom.
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Avalanche Viper Shock Troopers (Or more commonly, Avalanche Viper or A.V.S.T) are the Canadian Cobra Corps's most elite unit. They are Cobra soldiers recruited from Canada's multicultural population, and are harnessed for their diversity as well as the Canadian reputation as Shock Troopers. Though they excel in cold weather combat, they are extremely well trained to fight in all of Canada's climates, be it the Tar Sands of Alberta, the Rocky mountains of BC, the frozen northern wildernesses, to the Urban jungles of Toronto and Montreal. They are utilized as a special forces unit to capture or destroy targets, punch through enemy lines, or demoralizing enemy armies by inflicting horrendous casualties in hit and run strikes. Their equipment varies trooper to trooper and is as unique as the various cultures each is from. However the common piece of equipment they share is their "Gas Mask" style headgear (which has several variants, such as the Hard Shelled Urban style, or the "Hoodie" style for cold weather). Their headgear contains highly advanced systems to aid them in combat, such as Heads up display, communications suite, thermal imaging, and hostile environment protection. The A.V.S.T's have a fearsome reputation as deadly professionals who have never failed a mission. Can anyone in Canada stop them?
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History of the Avalanche Vipers and the Canadian Cobra Corps (long version):
Like much of the world, Canada is in battle against Cobra. Its proximity to the U.S.A, always being known to produce elite soldiers and shock troopers, and its diversity (which makes any Cobra operative from there extremely valuable as they can be sent around the world) makes it extremely important for Cobra. Cobra Commander chose Black Ice to create a Canadian Cobra Corps (CCC), however Black Ice had a very small pool of soldiers to work with. Current Cobra Doctrine requires specialist Vipers to fulfill different roles, but with such a small group to start with training these in the traditional programs didn't make sense. Furthermore, these soldiers would have to be able to fight in all the different climates of Canada (which is not solely Arctic despite popular misconception), from the Moderate rainy Vancouver, to the Rockies, to the Tar Sands, to the Arctic wilderness to the Urban streets of Toronto. General run of the mill Viper or Blue shirt training wasn't going to cut it, Black Ice needed to harness the proven Canadian elite Shock Trooper reputation and streamline their training into one single training program to form an Elite unit that the CCC can be built from. The answer was to create the Avalanche Viper Shock Trooper. The A.V.S.T's are made up of only Canadian cobra soldiers and are intensively trained in all forms of combat and combat conditions, they can fight anywhere in any climate, though they still excel in the Arctic. Their equipment they use are as diverse as the cultures of the soldiers that are in the Corps, save for one thing, their "Gas Mask" style headgear. The A.V.S.T's masks are designed for hostile environments as well as house advanced HUD displays, communication equipment, and a Thermal Imaging mode for the Cold Weather. These masks come in several variations (with more being added regularly) and it is common to see several of these variants in a single squad, the most common so far are the Urban and Cold Weather Variants. This new Viper Corps quickly became one of the most terrifying forces in all of Cobra and had earned their reputation as Shock Troopers, and are regularly requested for operations around the world. With the Avalanche Vipers now forming the base of the CCC, Black Ice and Shiver can now focus on supplementing the Corps with other Viper and Trooper types, as well as creating new trooper types and equipment such as the HATE tanks and their drivers, forming one of the deadliest fighting units in the world. Can Canada produce any unit to combat them?
Notes:
-Snow serpents and Avalanche Vipers do not get along and they constantly are at odds with each other to be the premier Arctic trooper of choice by Cobra.
-Avalanche Vipers did not like the idea of other Viper units joining the Canadian Cobra Corps as they felt they could handle any job
-The A.V.S.T training centers are carefully hidden in the vast Arctic in Northern Canada.
-Though their forte is Cold Weather combat, A.V.S.T's can be used anywhere where Shock Troopers or special operations are needed.
Artistic notes:
-I wanted to allow for individuality in each trooper, every trooper could be different, yet at the same time have one similar thing in common, their gas mask style headgear, this also makes it wide open if anyone else wants to make their own custom A.V.S.Ts
-I wanted these troopers to look saturated in white. Yet retain the common Canadian Cobra color pallet of white, black and purple/blue.
