Groundrunner Gravcycle

## Tactical Analysis

* **Hovering circles around them:** Groundrunners are typically amphibious motorcycles with a twist, as they are hovering on the ground thanks to anti-gravity boosters installed in them. They are also outfitted with a single depleted uranium gun that can punch through tanks and ships with ease.

* **Speed racing:** When hard-pressed, Groundrunner pilots can switch between their bikes propulsion or anti-grav drive, the former massively boosting their speed but their turning ability and armour are affected. While the latter increases their armour and lets them crush infantry who gets too close.

* **Turtle with gravity boosters:** The Groundrunner vehicles themselves have exchanged some speed for more armor, meaning that they're slower than other cavalry when not in speed mode. Also, the Groundrunner pilots themselves are loathe to actually fire depleted uranium at them (there's the fact that they're too agile to be hit).

* **Revved up:** Groundrunner pilots eventually discover a secret method to fine-tune their engines, making their gravcycles more agile in speed mode, and creating enough gravitational force to slow vehicles who gets too close. They do need sufficient experience in piloting for this though.

## Background

A common joke in the Allied Military-Industrial Complex usually goes by "the Netherlands is the factory, Russia, Japan and Vietnam are the testing ranges, and Australia is the kitchen sink". True to the joke, Australia indeed has been the primary dumping ground for every prototypical vehicle not deemed as efficient as the rest by Allied command. Such is the fate of promising projects such as the Variable Field Projector, an experimental vehicle intended to project any unit's weaponry over a 360-degree area that was rejected for fears that it will only bring about a surge of friendly fire. Even the Newton Gravitic Tank (a tank that manipulate one of the most fundamental forces of physics) was not safe from this fate. It was actually approved by high-ranking officials of the Peacekeeping Divisions until it ended up collecting dust in a remote storage hut in Broome.

One of these novel projects was the "gravbike". A motorcycle capable of hovering at fast speeds thanks to its anti-gravity thrusters, a few prototypes of it rolled out from the assembly line before Allied command slashed their funding. The rationale for that decision was apparently due to the fact that those gravbikes would need to consume untold amounts of gasoline unlike more efficient hybrid fuel-cell cars; not to mention they tend to cause a great lot of noise pollution. Confined to the same fate like the rest of the rejected vehicles, everyone thought that they will never see again the light of day for now.

They were wrong, as the newly-formed Contingent happened to be situated near a gold mine of test vehicles waiting to be reactivated.

When the Brisbane Line Plan, where northern Australia would be conceded to the Empire should they invade (being the Empire, it is clear to them that the northern part *isn't enough*) the ANZAC forces needed a way to rout the agile tanks and versatile mecha smashing their way through the countryside. Many in the ANZAC command gave their share of ideas to the Contingent leaders, but the idea that stood out the most was pretty straightforward: run circles around the invading tanks (literally). Needing some prototypical vehicles suited for that job, the Contingent immediately requested for the gravbikes to be taken out of their storage tarps for further deliberation. They eventually came to the decision that the **Groundrunners**, or as they are now called inside Australia, would solve the problem of Imperial armor with a few depleted uranium shells thanks to a quick experiment inside the Woomera Test Range. The last problem that they needed to overcome was the manpower problem; who would be that audacious enough to ride a gravbike that can crash into anywhere when handled improperly? A Contingent officer, however, found a good solution for it: offer generous rewards for those who would pilot the Groundrunners as incentive for those interested.

Those who were quick to win the rewards were young and adventurous thrill-seekers, aiming to make a name for themselves inside the country. After a few weeks' worth of training, the first Groundunner companies quickly made short work of the paper-like armour of the Tsunami tanks before they can even activate their Kagami armour, to say less about the mecha with even more delicate armor that were quickly pierced through by their DU shells. Their ambush maneuvers, coupled with their armor more compact than those other cavalry vehicles has made many Imperial commanders consider unleashing the formidable might of the King Oni against the ANZAC defenders. They did unleash one against the ANZAC, but eventually it bit the dust due to multiple Groundunners continually firing at the back of its head, causing the circuitry inside to give out and be punched through by depleted uranium shards.

After the end of WWIII, the Groundrunner corps is currently enjoying an influx of recruits throughout the frontier, as the promises of fame and fortune was too tempting for them to ignore those opportunities. And of course, some people have to do guard duty, as there's those reports of strange green tanks suddenly appearing in the West, pirates accompanied by "rogue" battlesuits always waiting to loot coastal cities, and not to mention unconfirmed reports of curious purple automata making landfall in southern Tasmania. But until then, gravbike racing has become a popular pastime in Contingent territory, even more so in New Zealand due to its hilly terrain.