Kelly's Lad

## Tactical Analysis

* **I'll take that jumbuck:** Former rustlers and poachers, the Kelly's lads are now the Contingent's assult troopers. Armed with a metalstorm shotgun, gravity hammer, and ridiculously heavy armour (lightened via an anti-gravity generator), Kelly's lads spearheads the infantry assault.

* **Let me lift you up:** To ensure the enemies stay put Kelly Lads are also equipped with "lift grenades" which temporarily remove gravity in the surrounding area, lifting anything within for a short amount of time, leaving them floating helplessly.

* **Not so fast:** Even with their generator lightening their armour, to the point that they can swim, the Kelly Lad are still slow for an infantry, and all that heavy armour is useless against autocannon and grenades.

* **What I Can with What I Have:** Kelly Lads who have proven themselves reliable, and willling to cooperate, would be given special, prototype, personal ERA armour. Not only does this reduces the damage they take, particularly from their counters like autocannons, but also enemies who attacks too close, or tanks dumb enough to try and crush them, will receive explosive shrapnels to the face.

## Background

*"I'm robbin' people with a six-gun*

*I fought the law and the law won"*

- "I Fought The Law", Bobby Fuller Four
The cattle and sheep trade has been a major part of life in Australia for over a century. Using hardy horses and creating their own culture of cowhands, the stockmen, Australia had their own share of trouble like the American West did when facing down the kind of criminals that would steal the cattle and fly into the night, selling the cattle off or using it to try and start their own lives and ranches, and within Australia's new ruins, a new band of rustlers rose, calling themselves "**Kelly's Lad**", after the (in)famous Australian outlaw, who became the worst outlaws in the outback. Bedecked in heavy steel armour, giving them their name, these rustlers would openly march into the farms (or what's left of it) and demand the farmers to give up their livestock via a shotgun, often their armour proved effective in stopping any return fire from the small arms these farmers wield. As far as the Contingent was concerned, these rustlers couldn't be allowed to run free anymore if their people were to eat without fear of shortages. Over a three-month period, the Contingent utilized their best lawmen to round up and capture these Kelly's Lad, which in turn gave them the insights to round up the rest that they could find. Their offer was simple; join up and help us, or say hello to your new cell.

Most of the Kelly's Lad graciously accepted the new offer, but the challenges of how to use them were different from the Bushranger. Unlike the majority of Bushrangers, the Kelly's Lad were actual outlaws who chose the criminal lifestyle. Giving them the same "freedoms" that the Bushrangers were given would have only armed them with even better weapons and tools against their jailers. Instead, the Contingent decided that the best use of these rustler gangs was to send them deep into the outback on long, arduous patrols, earning their pardons by bringing in the people that used to be what they considered partners. Along with discovering a lot of trails leading back to the city of Roanapur, the patrols were soon moved closer to the coasts to defend against incursions into the interior, given with the suicidal task of charging at the enemy to break them apart at close range with their weapons thanks to their armour, with their deaths both clearing their names and removing them without issue. In terms of tracking them, the Contingent's only solution was that they attach a primitive biometric reader to the convicts. If the device can't pick up a pulse, a team is immediately sent to the rustlers to check up on what happened.

For these former rustlers, working with the Contingent is a better deal than living on their own and stealing from others for a living. But they aren't happy about these new working conditions. Even with the assurance of three meals a day and a full pardon when the Contingent is ready for their final plan, they don't appreciate being someone's errand boy. The Contingent isn't stupid enough to not see this, and Atmospheric Command has decided to give them a choice when the time comes; stay behind with your freedom, or come with us and start anew.