Bristling with Firepower

The Sabre System

One of the products of the urbanicide of Maia is the lightspeed development of defensive weaponry and technology. One of the first products of Maia was the Sabre system. Sabre is nothing more that a cluster of self feeding machine guns, all hot linked to a single SmartGun system. This allows for a single gun to control an entire battery of weaponry, offering a degree of accuracy as well as a massive amount of firepower. Most cities have dozens, even hundreds of Sabres installed around them and inside of them. A single militiaman can man and control a dozen sabres with relative ease, with the burden of manpower going to keeping the guns supplied with ammo.

The Arrow System

The Arrow system is the logical upgrade from the Sabre. The Arrow system is a block like device that houses a large number of small, short range missiles. These missiles trade range for payload, allowing them to take out armored targets at close range. Arrows are passive in nature, and aren't controlled, but rather fire when a target comes into range. Most cities enact curfews and order mandatory shelter in place when Arrow systems are powered up. Less considerate city leaders turn the systems on and let intruders and residents find out at the same time, in a hail of missiles and gunfire.

The Lancer System

The Lancer system is a twin emitter laser weapon. The twin emitters allow for the Lancer to generate a machine gun style of coverage, rather than generating a cutting beam. Lancers are effective against most targets with less than heavy armor, and have a very high rate of fire. The twin emitters can work together to create a higher temperature beam, swapping scatter for more punishment. This makes the Lancer effective against mecha and tanks.

The Dagger System

The Dagger system is a large pod that is concealed in a variety of locations. The pod contains a number of mobile mines. When the system detects a hostile target, it releases it's mines, which go running towards the target. At close range, the mines self destruct, generally causing both destruction and terror in the enemy forces. Most mines are disguised to look like women, children, injured 'friendly' soldiers, or other non-combatants. The typical mobile mine is a droidette or mabu-ren style machine with a twenty to fifty kilo high explosive satchel charge. Improvised Dagger mines might have artillery shells with remote triggers on them instead.

The Dogs of War

The armies of Maia are by far and large composed of tanks, infantry, and a small number of mecha.

Infantry

The Militia - almost all denizens of Maia have been psychotronically implanted with basic combat training, for most, it is the only way they survive longer than weeks or days. These militia tend to just fight defensively to protect their homes and cities. The average Maian militiaman is easily a match in terms of skill and training with the regular infantry of the Petroleum Era, and are usually equipped with weapons of their own preference, typically shotguns, long rifles, and a variety of pistols. They fight as an irregular force, have the home advantage, and the support of the local populace.

Rangers are the active infantry of Maia, and have basic armor, an assault magnetic rifle, and the same psychotronic training. Unlike the militia, rangers are actively employed in patrolling, carrying out missions, and acting as basic expeditionary forces.

Silver Berets - the Hanse created the Silver Berets as a way to perfect the typical ranger. Silver Berets have basic cybernetic implants, access to basic drones, reflex suits under their armor, and access to better weapons, like high power magnetic rifles, pulse rifles, and various explosives and concussive weapons.

Centurions - entirely cybernetic in nature, centurions are robot troopers in the auton pattern. They carry the basic weaponry of rangers and silver berets, as well as having a shoulder mount for a grenade launcher, flamethrower, or a large variety of one shot weaponry.

Goliaths - large robots, Goliaths have treads instead of legs, a blocky body, and gun arms. The normal load out for the Goliath is a pair of 12mm magnetic rifles and 30mm magnetic cannons. These large auton/small vehicle war fighters blur the line between infantry and vehicle, and are a common sight in almost all Maian cities. While very powerful in combat, Goliaths typically function better as targets to draw out enemies, and to soak up hostile fire. Council of Maia Goliaths have plasma and beam weapons, while Hanse Goliaths favors magnetic weapons, while brutalists have conventional cannons, pipe bomb launchers, and flamethrowers.

Blessed with Armor

The three Maian factions are wealthy with tanks, having great numbers of them. Much of the global economy is geared towards resource acquisition and refining for the production of these fighting machines.

Boom Buggies, IFVs, and SPGs

Boom buggies are light open bodied vehicles that have been commandeered for military purposes, they are fast and lightly armed. IFVs are a step up from the common APC, giving the infantry transport a supporting role and better firepower to carry on the fight. SPGs, or self propelled guns, are as close to a gun on wheels as you can get. The Brutalists favor SPGs like the 200 mm magnetic mortar armed Snapdragon, while the Hanse and the Council favor more sophisticated SPGs like the Fennec and Dervish, armed with lasers and coilguns, respectively.

The Kraken and the Rhinoceros

Both the Kraken and the Rhino are similar vehicles, both being missile carriers with conventional wheeled chasses. The Kraken is a larger very lightly armored vehicle and is armed with a pair of Kraken (hence it's name) anti-ship missiles. These missiles, each close to 30 feet long, have medium range, high speed, and are designed to deal serious damage to mag-rail craft or even the exploration ships turned warlord ships, the Infinity class class ships. Different factions have access to different warheads, ranging from the Brutalist's atomics to the Council's austerhagen device warheads. Krakens are also used to destroy errant cities, army groups, and so forth. The Rhino is smaller, armored, and carries 4 much smaller missiles, typically direct fire armor busters, bunker busters, or specialized missiles.

Bulldog, Headhunter, and Leopard MBT

These three vehicles represent the Main Battle Tanks of the three respective Maian factions. In terms of armor, endurance, and combat prowess, they are very similar. The Brutalist's fusion powered plasma cannon armed Bulldog is given the lead position in damage potential. It is marked by having a small turret and a large 6 man crew to operate, as well as generally dangerous conditions for the crew. The Council Headhunter is also fusion powered but mounts a mundane 90mm magnetic cannon, and is considered the most reliable of the MBTs. The Headhunter is used as a skirmisher by the Council, who use their Minister and Knight X mecha for main combat. The Hanse Leopard has a conventional engine and a conventional gun and while the weakest of the three MBTs, it is by far the most common, and can carry battles through sheer numbers.

Mammoth Heavy tank - A Hanse copy of the Council Minister, the Mammoth is a destroyer type tank with twin linked magnetic cannons and heavy armor. It lacks the Council automation and tech, but has a mine plow and a conventional engine, making it cheaper to produce, if less powerful. Mammoths are second only the Leopards in Hanse weapon sales.

The Storm - The Storm is a an ultra-heavy combat vehicle deployed by the Hanse, and is functionally the biggest armored personnel carrier ever made. It is fusion powered, and has six sponson gun mounts where power armor infantry can act as gunners. The vehicle has a hull mounted 200mm magnetic mortar for artillery support, and good mobility. Modified Storms can launch aerial drones, act as supply vehicles, MASH vehicles, or replace the sponson guns with a pair of Whirlwind 100mm rocket tubes and act as a self contained rocket battery assault vehicle. It is heavily armored and in dire situations, they are used as shields for more valuable vehicles or troops.

The Minister - The largest Council tank, the Minister is a powerful destroyer type tank, mounting a pair of magnetic cannons in a side by side configuration. These weapons are twin linked and fire with the pull of one trigger, putting two 120mm magnetic rounds into whatever target the commander desires. These fusion powered tanks have exceptional range and when used in groups are able to decimate enemy armor formations. Being Council tech, they have cutting edge communications and targeting equipment, top flight armor, and extensive automation, allowing a crew of just 3 to drive the 98 ton tank.

Relatively few in number, Maia has pioneered it's own mecha programs. They blend existing standard templates with stolen tech and Maian innovation to create new war machines.

The Judge - a titan pioneered by the Hanse, the Judge is a large mecha, with redundant systems, heavy armor, and even internally armored components. The machine can take a beating that would send other mecha to the scrap yard, and the Judge just walks back to the mechadrome. This durability is the hallmark of the machine, and has cemented it's place in a battlefield largely dominated by high power low cost tanks. The Judge has a demi-sentient AI core, a fusion reactor power plant, a digital gyroscope, and a seven barrel linear gatling gun. This 40mm weapon fired magnetic projectiles at hypersonic velocity and is effective as shredding tanks, enemy mecha, and even dropping aircraft.

The Knight X - A weapon of the Council, stolen by the Hanse, the Knight series mecha have good armor, average mobility, and heavy firepower. The machine has a crab like torso and a pair of quad barrel gun arms. Each arm has a pair of heavy lasers and a pair of 75mm linear guns, giving it long range and a hard punch. When used in groups and supported by tanks and infantry, a Knight cadre can smash most defenses with ease. Without support, they can be flanked, and lacking infantry suppression weaponry, easily taken out by commandos or by being flanked by fast moving vehicles.

The Priest - blurring the line between small mecha and large power armor, the Priest can use weapons from both categories. Typically deployed in large numbers as tank busters, Priests work in groups. One group carries direct fire energy weapons and laser designators, while the second group is armed with anti-tank rockets and recoilless artillery weapons. The mech bazooka is a popular weapon for the Priest.