Soldadera

*"..."*

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## Tactical Analysis

* **Going Tank Hunting:** Women who decide to aid the world revolution in any way they can, the Soldaderas provide anti-armor weaponry for the People's Unit with their anti-tank rifle.

* **Wrench Wench:** They can even lay down their weapons temporarily to do some repairs on a vehicle of your choosing.

* **Men are Pigs:** Even with their heavy weaponry, Soldaderas are only equipped for engaging armoured ground targets: their unwieldy rifles are prone to entirely missing infantry or aircraft. As with the rest of the MIR, their light nature makes them better off when in hordes rather than alone.

* **De*rail*ment:** Experienced Soldaderas typically loot railgun weaponry from the Legion troops they kill, enabling them to attack multiple targets at once, and spare parts, increasing the amount they repair per second.

## Background

*"Popular among the troop was Adelita,*

*the woman that the sergeant idolized,*

*and besides being brave she was pretty,*

*so that even the colonel respected her."*

- "La Adelita"
Nearly every women in Mexico knew who Petra Herrera was. One of the greatest female soldiers in the coup against Porfirio Diaz of the early '10s, she had her first stint in the military in the guise of a man, a tactic shared by many women serving at the time due to Villa's noted prejudice towards female soldiers. However, she did prove her excellent marksmanship and leadership skills many times over; it was said that "repairmen can blame Herrera for all the ruined bridges they have to rebuild". She kept solidifying her reputation with the revolutionaries where it reached a point that she did not need to hid her true gender from the rest of them as they have began to accept her more as a soldier. Her greatest feat in service was in fact when she led the successful sacking of the town of Torreon, essentially giving Villa access to heavy artillery, a half million rounds of ammunition, armored rail cars, the works. Even then, her achievements were for naught: Villa still refused to promote her.

Frustrated at this turn of events, Herrera immediately left Villa's forces and formed an independent brigade along with her female comrades that joined her. The brigade, under the title of "La Adelitas", comprised of 300-1000 trained female soldiers who sympathized with her views about the welfare and security of women everywhere in Mexico. They quickly ingrained themselves within various military arms of the revolution, though their goals were more than just a new dawn for Mexico.

The soldaderas were tasked to inform Herrera of situations where female soldiers were being abused emotionally or physically by their male counterparts, and to both extract them safely into friendly hands and punish the offenders as a sign to others. This task, though daunting, was aided by their ability to blend into the mass of assorted camp followers that surrounded the revolutionary armies: without their uniforms, the soldaderas could act as if they were noncombatants instead of actual soldiers: cooking meals, transporting goods, treating wounded soldiers and the like. Their efforts and actions were rewarded with results: the ranks of "La Adelitas" grew steadily over time, and many a squad would wake up in the morning to find one of their members laid out bound and unconscious in the middle of their encampment with "CERDO" painted across them...or worse, depending on the nature of the abuse in question.

Such was the effectiveness and severity of their actions that soldiers during the Revolution slowly changed their attitudes with regards to female soldiers. As the 20th century progressed and social norms shifted it would prove to be the start of something more: when Mexico declared war on the Soviet Union in 1940s, both women and men were freely conscripted and served together openly in the Second World War. By the time the United Technate came into being, people of all genders filled the ranks of the Humanitarian Guard, militias, and mercenary units under one ideology promoting justice for all peoples. The Adelitas grew and changed too, adopting more peaceful methods to bring about change while still retaining their original focus and purpose. They reached out to widows and retirees where other governments would not, taught basic self-defense and safety preparation inside the home, and encouraged the growth of informal safety networks in areas where official telecommunications and connections to authority were few. Most of all, their reach spread from a single state to all across the region, as north as the Southwest United States and as far south as Argentina and Chile.

Which means that in the many, *many*, ***many*** revolutionary wars in the Southern Cone, the Adelitas had many disillusioned and embittered women in their front door one day. Coming from different economic and national backgrounds, these widows, companions, loved ones and friends of many fallen soldiers believe that those who killed them must be brought to justice. By legal means, or *other* means. They continued to talk about their plans for vengeance until an opportunity presented itself to them. After the "disappearance" of the three Mirabal sisters, Bélgica Mirabal, also known as Dedé personally went to the Adelitas and said that she would be responsible for the training of these women to ensure their "self-defense". When a group of MIR guerrillas got ambushed by a company of Legion AFVs, a group of female soldiers led by Dedé aided them in fighting back as their rocket launchers proved too strong against the AFVs who were forced to retreat after many of them are lost.

This did not stop the MIR higher-ups in cynically using their desires for revenge for their own benefits, however. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned indeed. While not shooting at vehicles of the bourgeoisie, many of these **Soldaderas** are found constantly fixing up the rebels' getaway and combat vehicles as "they will bring the hammer of justice upon your [insert male loved one here]'s killers." The soldaderas themselves do not care much about the gospel of communism though. Let the rest of the MIR attempt to bring about the workers' revolution in the continent. They are only in to avenge their fallen men.