She sighed quietly as the speaker droned on from the far side of the wall. "... Do we really have to go through all of this?" she murmured.
The man standing on her shoulder smiled, turning away from the adjustments he was making to her shoulder-piece to pat her cheek gently with a small hand. "We've been working on you for a long time, kiddo. You're not really gonna begrudge us a chance to show off a little, are you?"
She managed a smile. "Nah, you guys did a great job. I mean, here I am, I'm awake... I'm alive..." She rolled her eyes. "I just don't see why letting you guys show me off means I have to sit back here in the dark and listen to this egghead go on and on about square-cubed laws and synthetic flesh and all this stuff..."
The engineer poked her cheek lightly, smiling. To him, like everyone else, it felt soft and yielding, like any normal teenage girl's cheek. "Kiddo, you're the only one here who's not an egghead. And they're the only ones the PI is talking to; what you're here for is the newspaper reporters who are waiting to see you..."
She smiled, sticking out her tongue at him. "You mean to see the walking marvel that you guys cooked up," she teased, careful to pat his head with only one finger. "They're not at all expecting to see a cute girl..."
The engineer smiled, and closed the plate with a firm slam. "All right, that's your armament set..." He hung from her finger lightly. "... Get me down?"
She giggled softly. "So... how come you guys are calling me that weird name, instead of the one you guys always use?" Her hand wrapped around the man, fingers sliding under his arms to lift him gently the dozen or so feet to the ground.
The man paused. "The men from the military and the government who funded your creation want your name kept secret, only known to us scientists." He glanced aside. "Part of the reason has to do with those things you can't remember from your first few hours of activation. If you... remember any of that, then I'll be able to explain more." He paused. "For now, just trust me that there is a good reason for it... okay, Lylia?"
The girl giggled again. "Okay, boss-man..." She squinted a bit. "... guh, stupid optics..."
The engineer shook his head. "Worst comes to worst, we can always manufacture a pair of glasses for you," he said. "No time for that now, though... sorry we didn't catch it sooner."
She smiled, and patted his head with a single soft finger, the nail perfectly manicured. "Yeah, that way you could've been sending out a cute girl with glasses to dazzle the reporters..." she teased softly. "I'll be fine. Just don't ask me to read cue-cards..."
The droning from outside suddenly picked up in volume, and the girl nodded. "That's my cue, huh?" she asked, striding carefully forward and trying to minimize the hissing sound from her joints.
On the other side of the wall, the droning man did indeed seem to be preparing for something. "Ladies and gentlemen, after long months of work, we are ready today to display the newest generation of modern technology. Ancient cultures created the concept of the centaur, the perfect fusion of man and horse, the ultimate being of both battle and wisdom. Combining both the speed and power of a horse, the pinnacle of reaction and force in battle, with the cunning and skill of the human mind, wielder and weapon and mind all acting as one." He paused. "There are some who say that modern society has forgotten the old myths, and have created in their place such entities as Area 51, Nibiru, and Bigfoot to fill this void. A 'techno-myth', if you will."
"Ladies and gentlemen, such a myth stands in our midst today." He clasped his hands behind his back, pressing the switch on a remote in his hand. The back wall of the hangar split neatly up the center and began to roll apart, nearly drowning out the speaker's words. "Though a prototype, she is fully functional and ready to act however the United States needs her. Intelligence, compassion, speed, and, for those of you in the audience who enjoy a good action movie, power."
"The first working model produced by Project Glenstorm has been realized, ladies and gentlemen; I give you, on this day, the model Yarrow-MZ9 humanoid tank!"
Yarrow stepped forward as the walls opened up far enough, raising the hand not integrated up to its elbow in a massive rifle. "... Well, he sorta said it all for me... but hi, everyone..."
The media were unsurprisingly stunned by the sight of her, and even the scientists, who had understood the droning and knew what exactly was coming out of that door, seemed taken aback. Yarrow's head nearly touched the ceiling of the hangar when standing upright. One arm was encased up to the elbow in an enormous cannon, the other left free to wave happily to the people below. Heavy metal plating wrapped around each shoulder and supported a large mechanical unit, one of which the engineer had been fixing up backstage. Both of these shoulder units bore small treads, and fixed to her left shoulder was a heavy turret, slowly revolving to focus on various windows and targets scattered around the hangar's front wall in a demonstration of her targeting capabilities.
The project leader continued, unabated. -He- had seen Yarrow thousands of times by now. "For those of you wishing to know more concrete specifications, and perhaps a few numbers for the readers waiting for word back home, Yarrow stands precisely seventeen feet tall, weighing in at upwards of twenty tons..."
Yarrow pressed lightly on his head. "And who at home needs to know or ask a lady's weight, hm?" she teased gently. "I'm carrying enough metal on my back to make two or three regular tanks, of course a silly scale is going to say I'm heavy... not that we've been able to accurately record just how heavy that is..."
The project leader smiled, patting her finger gently. "The leg units, as you can see, are armored like the rest." He indicated the heavy metal plating surrounding each of the girl's legs to just below the joint, a sturdier plate forming the bottom like a shoe. "They are also capable of assuming a more mobile form... Yarrow, will you demonstrate?"
Yarrow nodded, her legs folding neatly at the knees, until they had folded completely on top of one another. With a hiss, several safety catches unfolded, locking the two pieces together and the girl into a kneeling posture. Two panels on each unit slid up and out of the way, treads taking their place as she settled herself to the ground. "There we are."
The speaker nodded. "As you can see, Yarrow-MZ9 is capable of assuming a form more close to the traditional tank setup for better speed, though of course the bipedal form is more useful for manuevering."
He glanced at the cannon on her arm, which of course was pointing at the ground, and not even remotely towards any of the audience. "As for armament, Yarrow-MZ9 is patterned after the M1A2 Abrams tank. Her main gun is a resized version of the 120-mm smoothbore cannon, equipped with the latest prototype M829E4 shells, which are designed to pierce even the most advanced adaptive armor..."
Yarrow waved a hand. "It's the same gun that's on the regular Abrams, it's just resized so I can carry it properly. And it's got prototype shells to get through fancy reactive armor... which I'm equipped with myself, by the way." She smiled, tapping the turret on her shoulder. "And of course I've got the good old .50-cal machine gun, which can be operated by a passenger if needed. Though my computer targeters are linked into it." She paused. "That's my computer, not my optics, mind..."
The speaker cleared his throat. "Er, yes... unfortunately, it appears one of her optical lenses was warped during production, and we only learned of it yesterday when Yarrow-MZ9 herself complained that her vision was blurry in one eye. We're currently working on a fix... don't be alarmed, though, her computer targeting is in full working order."
Yarrow smiled a little, both hands folding in her lap to steady herself as the .50-cal barked out three times in quick succession, each burst shattering a target neatly into shards of styrofoam. "See? Not a problem, even if I do apparently need glasses..."
The leader cleared his throat again. "In any case... as you can see, Yarrow-MZ9 has a bit of a personality to her. This, we feel, is a vital feature of the project. She will not simply be a weapon to be pointed and fired, but capable of working as part of a unit and coordinating operations, even collecting intelligence if need be. She will be, in other words, acting as a soldier herself, despite her ability to level buildings with a few well-placed shots."
Yarrow smiled. "Hence all that stuff about me being a modern techno-centaur... thing, earlier," she said, slowly rising to her feet once more as the treads disengaged. "... okay, buddy, seriously, just ask already," she added, pointing to one reporter.
The man stammered. "Well, um... M-miss Yarrow... er..." He gulped. "Why... exactly are you only wearing a combat jacket and panties?"
The project leader cleared his throat. "... Sir, I don't believe that's an appropriate..."
Yarrow pressed on his head with a finger again. "It -is- weird... lemme field this one, Kahuna."
The reporter blinked. "Kahuna...?"
Yarrow grinned. "Eh, I've got nicknames for all these eggheads... anyway." She tapped twice on her cannon, firmly. A loud hiss sounded, metal clunking firmly as pieces moved into and out of place, and finally she withdrew her arm, holding it up. "Basically, it's a matter of necessity."
Rows of round holes dotted over her arm, delicate lines tracing over the surface between them. "All these parts are removable, for maintenance purposes. But on the flip-side, for me to be able to integrate my body properly with them, direct contact with my skin is required. So any part of me that's going to be covered by contacts has to be bare." She tapped her leg-parts lightly. "So really, there isn't a skirt short enough that I could really wear with these babies... and even if I did, I'd just be flashing everyone every time even the slightest breeze came by... so we just went with the bottom half of a bikini."
She smiled, slotting the cannon back on. "... So yeah, there you have it... the prototype new generaiton of tank you've been hearing about is me... Yarrow..."
The following information is classified "Umbra" top secret. Read at your leisure, but be aware that your character will absolutely NOT know any of it unless you're playing a member of Project Glenstorm, Yarrow's CO, or someone who knows "Lylia Falkner".
The girl saluted as she was escorted into the major's office. "Lylia Falkner, reporting for duty, sir," she said softly.
The major looked her over. "Well, your father and brother certainly seem to have taught you the right way to act around military personnel," he said with the barest hint of a smile. "Good men, both of them. They told you what you're here for?"
Lylia nodded. "The basics, anyway. You're trying to turn a human into some sort of... thinking tank, right? One that'll still be, well, me?"
The major chuckled, and drew out a sheaf of schematics. "Not... exactly." He laid one of the drawings out on the desk. "This is what the project actually is supposed to turn the candidate into."
Lylia stared at the drawing for a long moment. "... Sir, I need to find the guy who dreamed this up and shake his hand. And then beg him to let me be the candidate.
The major laughed, clapping the girl on the shoulder. "No need to beg, Miss Falkner. You were already selected, we just needed your approval. Let's get the waivers out of the way, just so you understand what you're getting yourself into, then we can go meet the team."
Lylia rolled her eyes. "Waivers, sheesh... who cares about the risk? I'm gonna be a tankgirl..."
Lylia lay on her front, naked, rolling her eyes at the knock on the door. "I keep telling you, Aniki, I'm way beyond caring whether you see my breasts or not... I'm in position anyway, so just c'mon in..."
The scientist in question slid the door open and entered, quickly closing it behind him. "Y'know, most girls would not really be okay with a bunch of guys being able to see her naked..."
Lylia rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but I'm comfortable around you guys. Besides, you need to see me to work on my structure. It's like you're all doctors doing an operation on me..."
Aniki nodded, moving up to the girl and gently touching one of the tools laying on the tray beside her to her shoulder. "We should be ready soon though. The circuitry is almost finished, and your parts have been done for a few days."
Lylia grinned, even as the pain of integration with the circuits Aniki was installing set in. "And then I'll be able to grow and become a tankgirl, huh?" She grinned. "Too bad I won't get kitty ears though, huh~?"
Aniki flushed. "... please stop teasing me about that... you'll be great just as you are..."
Lylia laughed. "Getting a crush on the hardware, Aniki~?" She winced. "... never really got how the circuits are going to grow with me though..."
Aniki shook his head. "The chemical reaction that will cause your body to grow will also stimulate the parts of the circuits to replicate themselves. They'll close up any breaks that open up as you grow."
Lylia smiled. "... see, how come Kahuna never explains things that way?"
Aniki chuckled. "Because he's an egghead, and I'm just a nut with a crazy idea that a cute, eager girl offered me a chance to realize... I honestly can't thank you enough for this, Lylia..."
Her head spun, and pain wracked her body. A single voice cut into the maelstrom of sensations. "Lylia! Oh, god... Lylia, talk to me, c'mon!"
She opened one eye, squinting down at the man shaking her leg wildly. "... Lylia... is that... my name?"
"So it's decided then. For the time being, at least, her remembering that she was formerly a human, and not simply a machine we constructed, would be too traumatic."
Aniki nodded. "That's what the team psychologist determined," he said quietly. "Lylia's completely lost her memory from before the enlargement process except for a single image... I'd wager the pain was simply too much and her brain burnt out most of its synapses."
The major nodded. "We'll give instructions to that effect to her family, of course." He paused. "... You said she does have one memory?"
Aniki folded his hands and rested his chin on them. "Just an image. She saw herself in a mirror. She thinks it's just the girl whose appearance her body was based on, though. I'm... not really inclined to tell her otherwise."
The major sighed, rubbing his brow. "... What a mess..."
Aniki shrugged. "She's in perfect working order, besides the memory loss. Which we believe may reverse itself over time. We just have to work up a new name for her to use in the meantime. You wanted her to have an official designation anyway, so whip up one of those and we'll make sure she's aware that 'Lylia' is just a pet name us eggheads have for her." He sighed. "... Her father's going to be pissed though."
The major chuckled. "I'll handle her father, don't you worry..."
Aniki raised an eyebrow. "The father that was recently promoted to major and whom you no longer outrank? Sir?" He smiled. "... but anyway. There's some snags, but they'll work out in time. She'll remember one of these days who she really is... in the meantime, she's functioning just fine believing she's a machine with a prototype AI. And her body is in perfect working order... even that converter system Jones dreamed up is working, though I don't really want to tell her about something like that when she's mentally only a few hours old." He smiled. "... But, all things considered, it's a success. America has its first working prototype tankgirl... Lylia Falkner..."
Yarrow-MZ9, the basics:
As indicated in the lengthy backstory above, Yarrow is a tankgirl, patterned after the M1A2 Abrams tank deployed by the US military. She stands at 17 feet tall and carries all the armament that would normally be found on an M1A2, most notably a resized 120-mm smoothbore cannon. She's also equipped with the "TUSK" kit, most notably including modern explosion-reactive armor. Each piece of her armor is separately detachable and removable, revealing a network of inlaid circuitry and ports in her skin that allow her to integrate with each. In addition, her leg units are capable of limited transformation, allowing her to change between treads and bipedal locomotion.
Of course, the real point you're looking for is the girl, not the tank, right? Specs are all up on Wikipedia anyway, she doesn't have any unique features besides the transforming leg parts. Yarrow is, despite her own claims, originally a normal human girl, Lylia Falkner, daughter to a career military man (and sister to an up-and-coming Air Force pilot). Physically fit and highly loyal, as well as already highly comfortable in military environments due to her family, Lylia was considered an excellent choice when the military created "Project Glenstorm", a program devoted to, well, developing a prototype American tankgirl. (The inspiration for the project is unknown, but one of the head scientists, a mechanical engineer affectionately nicknamed "Aniki" by Lylia and the rest of the team, is a fairly well-known fan of the show Strike Witches.)
The process of enlarging a human to seventeen feet of height and preparing her body to run on petroleum derivatives and interface with complex weapon technology was a... qualified success. While Yarrow's body is in perfect working order, the process severely traumatized her mind to the point of complete retrograde amnesia. The only memory she retains of her previous existence is that of the image of herself in a mirror, theorized to be due to a deep-rooted hold on her sense of identity. She therefore believes herself to be a machine driven by an AI, despite her humanoid appearance and the highly realistic feel of her skin. Her personality remains largely unchanged despite this.
Besides this, Yarrow is a pretty normal girl. She has something of the mindset of a soldier, but has thankfully never been called on to go into action so far. She enjoys lots of things you'd expect a normal girl to enjoy, and is thankfully not too embarrassed by stares. Despite not remembering who she was, and insistent on the fact that she's a machine and a tank, not a human, Yarrow still is very much Lylia inside.
Also, the mention of a "warped lens" above was obviously a fabrication. Lylia Falkner had astigmatism, and this condition carried over when she was converted. Thus, she's very likely to be found wearing a pair of glasses (sized for her of course), although in the image above she's lacking them.
Vore
To begin with, I want to note first off that Yarrow scenes don't necessarily have to have vore. It's certainly an option, just not a requirement.
Although Yarrow's internal circulatory and digestive systems now run on a specialized, highly refined petroleum derivative, her body is still mostly that of a human, and she possesses a stomach and womb, both of which can be used for vore.
Yarrow's stomach is used as a means to replenish fuel. Instead of stomach acid, her body releases a specialized chemical that converts living tissue and plastics into petroleum. Other chemicals reduce various other parts of the body into components necessary for upkeep of her organic body, calcium in particular. Any remnant are released as waste. While this can draw fuel from any organic substance, it is optimized for consumption of humans, the somewhat-cynical rationale being that she could use enemy soldiers as fuel if need be during a protracted engagement. Yarrow is understandably reluctant to use this, of course, and will not use it on anyone who does not give themselves willingly to her. Of course, her preference would be for a meal that can reform, but if she needs fuel she'll take a regular person.
Yarrow's womb has been modified to stretch and accomodate several people at once, allowing her to transport people safely in her womb. In addition, while incapable of digestion of any sort, the tankgirl's womb can, if she consciously activates the process, prepare a lone occupant for activation as a new humanoid tank, transforming them over a period of several days to enlarge them and implant the cutaneous circuits and ports necessary for interfacing with parts to be installed later. (These parts need not be M1A2 pattern, but can be any pattern supplied to her.) In other words, Yarrow is capable of turning other people into tanks, although the parts must be connected to them after birth.