Kurma Mobile Armor

## Tactical Analysis

* **Like a turtle:** Slow moving but deadly, the Kurma Mobile Armor is a (obsolete) battlesuit that the Commonwealth bought, and reverse-engineered, from the Syndicate. Heavily armoured, theKurma can tank the damages that would have killed the regular infantry and are safe from being crushed or blown to pieces like other infantry. And can further “turtle up” by covering up their lightly armoured parts and slowing themselves but further increasing their armour and heal themself with their personal medkit, their bonus increasing with addional deployed Kumras to cover their flanks. And infantry would huddle behind them to protect themselves, increasing their defense against AOE weapons and can't be targeted until the Kurma near them is dead.

* **Break their shell open:** Carrying a massive 2-gauge shotgun with both buckshot for infantry and slugs for battlesuits and satchel charges full of explosives, the Kurma is deadly against infantry, battlsuits and tanks, as long as they can close the gap.

* **Can't beat the hare:** Unlike other battlesuits, the Kurma moves slowly, and is vulnerable to air attack. Commonwealth commanders must always be mindful of this weakness.

* **Six-million rupee turtle:** Leading kurma operators are given priority for advanced servos and motors for the joints of their suits, allowing them to move as fast as any other infantryman without losing their protection.

## Background

*"Be careful! That armor cost more than your life and everything else you have!"*

- Indian commanders warning the Kurma just how expensive their suit is
The Syndicate tests a lot of their designs in nations that really have no choice but to accept their presence. Nations too poor to refuse the Syndicate's money, or too corrupt to complain about the many, *many* deaths. India might have been such a nation, but the many Western-educated leaders provided a troubling buffer against the Syndicate's usual methods. Instead, the Syndicate offered to work hand in hand, developing their technologies in return for giving the Commonwealth a cut. The Commonwealth agreed, though it keeps a close eye on the Syndicate's actions.

This has resulted in some benefits, one being the **Kurma Mobile Armor**. Developed as the Syndicate's first attempt at a battlesuit, the Kurma was just a man in a suit of armor that had servomotors attached to the limbs and joints. Testing was slow, and many prison "volunteers" wound up with their elbows, knees, and spine bent in ways that men were never meant to bend them thanks to the early testing. The Syndicate gathered enough data to realize that it would probably be better to meld the man and machine into one, but the Commonwealth decided that the armor showed more promise as a suit than an integrated piece of a sin against nature.

Buying the concept from the Syndicate outright, the Commonwealth set to refining the suit's systems. Ensuring the motors only bend as the user moves, power supply was the biggest problem. Typically, the Kurma can run off a set of batteries for an hour and a half, though only moving as slowly as a Soviet Tesla Trooper with a half-charge. Integrated weaponry was therefore a luxury that couldn't be afforded. Instead, the Kurma operators were given a massive 2-gauge "punt gun" (bought from specilalist hunting stores and sawing off the barrel), 12 gauge buckshot, 1-pound soid slugs, a supply of satchel charges to use against enemy armor, and a repair and medical kit to patch up any damage.

The Kurma operators were also given a priority in terms of propaganda. Why focus on the harsh and unforgiving life of a sepoy when you can show the people how far India has come with film of a Kurma team surrounding and destroying an Atomic Kingdom vehicle platoon and mowing down waves of clones. The answer is that careful cinematography comes into play (though it was reported that the director had to be stopped multiple times from having the Kurma go into a massive dance number). This favoritism has led to the Kurma operators being ostracized from their fellow troops, and put at the forefront of battle by commanders who don't realize that their armor isn't an invincible shield against the enemy. Only after a massive defeat by the GLA in the sands bordering Saudi Arabia did the F.C. realize that perhaps their armor wasn't a total war winner. To compensate, new motors are being distributed which should aid in moving the Kurma around the field.

Despite being headlined as elite infantrymen, most Kurma operators are common sepoys who had some knowledge of mechanics or electronics on enlisting. Shoved into a hot (since the AC units meant to keep them cool tends to break down), cramped, awkward suit of armor and told to essentially walk straight up to the enemy, most Kurma operators have instead perfected a new tactic, of huddling close together to one another, covering their more vulnerable parts with their armoured parts and using their kit to repair themselves, and practically crawling towards the enemy. One Allied observer has termed this tactic "turtling", and other infantry would learn to huddle behind this moving mass of steel to protect themselves against enemy fire. Other have also found a new tactic where they would ride upon the Civet or Gharial (depending on terrain) and fire up top, essentially eliminating their speed weakness and becoming deadly close range raiders (only issue is that the Civet, and especially the Gharial, are practially unarmoured).

Theres also the dark fact that the Frontier Corp also issued that Kurma operators must repay the cost of their equipment before they can be discharged and/or switch divisions. Officially its because of how expensive the suit is (which is partly true), in reality it’s to keep these operators from leaving, as many would after having to charge towards a wall of guns in a slow, hot, and cramped suit and getting multiple bruises (since the armour has little padding to cut cost), due to how rare it is to find a sepoy with the education to pilot one. And desertion is punished by imprisonment (and most prisoners are sent into the K2 facility), potentially taking years to clear their debt due to the sheer cost of making a Kurma combined with the Sepoy likely impoverished status (and the Corp potentially increasing this debt whenever the Kurma sustains damage and/or exceed their use of ammo), essentially making the Kurma indentured servants in all but name (fortunately their families are paid in full).