Mars Artillery Armour

**Key Features** | »» Hydraulic leg suspension»» *"Lancea"* Railgun (x4)»» Recoil dampener (x2)»» Curtain airbags»» Hard Hat (optional but highly recommended)

*"Perseverance is irresistable."*

- Quintus Sertorius
## Tactical Analysis

* **God of war**: Once deployed, the Mars Artillery Armour is able to brace itself against the immense recoil of its *"Lancea"* Railguns, which it can then begin firing. These railguns possess extreme range, and are so powerful they can pass through any obstacle to get to their target.

* **On the move**: When packed up, however, the Mars Artillery Armour is defenceless, as the recoil of its railguns prevents it from moving while firing. This means that the Mars is extremely vulnerable while moving, since it has no other weapons.

* **Kinetic spear**: The weakness of the railguns, apart from the fact that they cannot be fired while moving, is that they have somewhat lacklustre damage compared to other artillery, although they possess a decent rate of fire thanks to the cycling of the railguns.

* **Kinetic flyswatter**: Nike Steelworks has just released their new "*Sagittarii*" flechette missile enhancements, able to shred infantry squads and tank crews alike. The steep price, however, limits access to only the highest-earning Mars operators.

## Background

**From a Nike Steelworks advertisement for the Mars**

*"How are YOU at your job?*

*With new Sprawls being built faster than ever, the construction industry can be a very lucrative business indeed. But have you ever thought about how to get ahead?*

*Many factors could cost you your rightful share of these profits. Cheap, unskilled workers seek to undercut you. Gangs seek to ensure only their members get jobs. And even the Lifters seek to supercede you with a technological advantage. With these groups all vying for their own interests, how can you ensure that you get ahead?*

*Introducing the new 'Mars' Construction Suit!*

*With some of the most advanced cybernetics available to civilian consumers, the Mars upgrade is well worth the price! With the muscular enhancements this suit provides, you will soon be able to carry steel girders by hand, and the leg stabilisation equipment allows structures to be steadied by simply holding them at the ground level. With four railguns, the Mars can rapidly fire rivets into construction beams, securing them in place. And the advantages of being a battlesuit allow you to work twice as long and ten times as efficiently as any 'human' worker. What employer could resist! And with the enhanced strength, armour, and railguns, you never need to worry about criminal retaliation for your success!*

*Not only this, but if you upgrade yourself now, you can get a bonus to this amazing offer: For a limited time only, Legion Security themselves are hiring Mars Construction Suits for several lucrative contracts. Why wait? Get ahead with the Mars!"*

Originally designed as a competing system for the Construction Lifter, the Mars was fantastic at its job: efficient, powerful, and effective. Once Lifters began cornering the market on construction in Sprawls, local businesses began to suffer. Many small businesses were bankrupted: after all, who would hire them when a Lifter could do it twice as fast, and for half the price? Soon, however, this began to impact on larger businesses as well, who simply could not keep up with this new development. One of these businesses was Nike Steelworks. Despite having a near monopoly in Peru, they could not keep Lifters out forever... unless they themselves could supercede them. With this in mind, Nike comissioned a new design: a cybernetic system that they hoped would allow them to dominate the market once again. The product of this design was the Mars Construction Suit, and there was no doubt: it was more effective than the Lifter in every way. Faster, stronger, and better suited to precision work, there seemed no doubt about it: the Mars was the future of construction!

One year later, the Mars had failed to take off. There was a simple reason for this: cost. The cost of producing a single Mars were nearly four times that of producing a single Lifter. Not only this, a Lifter could be piloted by virtually any person, even without training, making costs of the operator trivial. For the Mars, however, the hiring costs were huge: being the 'cutting edge' of construction, the pilot of the Mars could (and would) charge whatever outrageous wage they wanted. If you had money to burn, the Mars was better, but otherwise a Lifter would be the only affordable option.

Desperate to recoup their losses, Nike Steelworks sold their design to Legion Security. Hoping to act as a base building element, the Mars once again lost out... to the Lifter again. In anger, one Francisco Gamarra, a Mars pilot, shredded the entire local supply of Lifters in protest. Instead of being reprimanded, however, he was offered a contract. Upscaling the rivet railguns to full railguns, the Mars was unexpectedly picked up as an artillery piece: after all, if a civilian model could fight past Legion Security and destroy military approved hardware out of jealousy, just how well could a battle ready model potentially do?

Nowdays, most Mars pilots are construction workers, drawn in by the promise of being unparalled in their work, and thus irreplaceable in the high-stakes job markets of the Sprawls. To encourage combat duty, the Mars is purposely priced higher than most people wanting to upgrade could afford, but not quite high enough to arouse supicion. This forces most people to take a contract with Legion Security to afford the upgrade, and then fight to fulfil their contract. Despite this, there is no shortage of volunteers: in the right construction site in the right part of a Sprawl, away from those with only the funds to pay for Lifters, the Mars still reigns supreme.

## Behind the Scenes

The Mars Artillery Armour is probably based or just coincidentally similar to Tau's XV88 Broadside Battlesuit from Warhammer 40,000, which also carries railguns.