Exalted Mother

Exalted Mothers

Exalted Mothers are autonomous robots build to resemble important and influential women in the history of both humanity and specifically New Themyscira. Each unit stands 18 to 24 feet tall, and range in mass from fifteen tons to forty. Extra care has gone into the specifics of their appearance, and unless activated, the Exalted Mothers resemble statues, nothing more. The outer sections of the carapace are covered in a synthetic stone material, and the robotic features are either buried by or concealed within artwork or detailing on the unit.

Venus is one of the largest Exalted Mothers on the island and stands sentinel over the southern Baby Beach, her defiantly naked female form facing the hostile United States of South America, as if daring the Latin League to come and attack her. Venus is unarmed, but is equipped with a large seashell shaped shield, and is part of the area rapid response force. The unit is supported by local naval assets, both aerial and aquatic, a bunker complex, and fixed weapon installations. While almost useless in actual combat, the morale and propaganda value of the unit is simply iconic.

Holloway Light Industries

An offshoot of the original Holloway Securities Commission, Holloway Light Industries was chartered to function as the prime supplier of weapons and equipment for the New Themysciran military. This was limited to the resources and small size of New Themyscira (formerly Aruba) and rather than full support, the corporation was intended to reduce the need for importing daily and regular use items. After a few decades of building light watercraft, helocraft, kazes, personal autons, sidearms, and such, the corporation branched out into heavier military hardware.

Quantity Versus Quality, unable to match any of the other nations around them for quantity, Holloway Light Industries went for making quite simply the best equipment. Leveraging contacts with other tech savvy and friendly allies, Holloway was able to pull itself up into the military gear market. They now produce mecha, power armor, and robots like the Exalted Mothers. These units are head and shoulders above the performance of their contemporaries, but they come with a price tag to match, and most actually have short range, or short combat endurance since they are used in defensive rolls, and are seldom deployed away from the island. For mecha and vehicles over fifty tons, or any sort of aerial ship, the Amazons have to import them from another country. The Atlantic Federation has had no issue with selling air and space capable destroyers and frigates to the island, while mecha and weapon sales have fallen to groups like the Great Lakes Republic's OmniCorp, the Commonwealth of New England's Union Aerospace, or the New Hanseatic Technocratic League' Earthwerks

Origins

The Exalted Mothers started as actual statues, laser cut and sculpted from stone by robotic artisans. The statues were moving and inspirational to those who viewed them, but hostilities from the USSA saw a number of them destroyed or defaced, which was equally devastating to morale on the island. The idea of replacing the stonework with autonomous troopers was floated, and faced serious opposition. Once concessions were made, changing the outer appearance, removing heavy weaponry, and giving them the appearance of stone and precious metals, the first handful were accepted.

Group 1 Exalted Mothers are all drawn from Greek mythology. Venus, Aphrodite, Demeter, Persephone, and Hera are twenty ton Exalted Mothers, found around the island. Venus is on Baby Beach, facing the USSA, Hera stands vigil in front of HERA (Homeland Espionage and Reconnaissance Agency) Aphrodite stands proud at the spaceport, and so forth.

Group 1 Exalted Mothers are drawn from human history and include well known and respected women, such as leaders of nations, scientists, humanists, and other women who have made great advanced for humanity or women. These seldom resemble the women they are named after, and instead represent idealized icons of women from the time when the namesake women actually lived. Marie Curie doesn't look like a frazzle haired sensible woman, her 22 foot tall Exalted Mother more resembles a Grecco-Victorian princess.

Group 3 Exalted Mothers are drawn specifically from New Themysciran history and are the smallest group. Holloway is the smallest Exalted Mother built, just under 18 feet tall and 15 tons in mass. This is no great concern as she is built from the most cutting edge tech available, and has capabilities that her builders will knowingly smirk over. Should something provoke Holloway, the machine will demonstrate it's recessed weapon systems, composite ablative armor, and arcanotech surprises.

Specifics:

The Exalted Mothers are functionally large autobots, lacking sentience or freewill, or the ability to transform. They look like giant statues but should the need arise, they can mobilize. The two main causes for this are natural disaster, and military attack. In the case of a disaster, the Mothers are part of search and rescue efforts. Their presence at large public venues means that these locations have immediate aid. The visuals of twenty foot tall stone women lifting debris, stabilizing walls, helping with evacuations, building levees or fire breaks is both awesome and awe inspiring. In the case of military incident, the Mothers are tough, and while very few are armed, they are good for providing protection for civilians, responding to damage sites, and stopping small scale operations or rogue agents.

Game Use: Exalted Mothers are large, but technically non-combatant, robots. They have high end cortices and exceptional abilities. They are linked to the island's computer network and resident AISCs, meaning that talking to one of the Exalted Mothers is functionally talking to the Island Nation itself.