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The Southern War MachinesOACS-01M/SU Jäger
Like almost all the internal systems, the Jäger's weaponry is a nearly-identical match to that of the Northern Hunter. The main armament is a PR-25 autocannon, supplemented by a Vogel-6 rocket pod, an HLB-16 anti-personnel grenade launcher, a load of HG-2 hand grenades and an HHVB-3 vibroknife. The internal systems of the Jäger were originally designed by the engineers of the Republican Army's Anthropomorphic Battle Vehicle Center and were purchased outright by Territorial Arms in TN 1703. The standard sensor package developed for the Alpha refit (and still in use) is a TA-StarSight integrated omnicamera system featuring automatic target tracking, layered light amplification and thermographics. The Delta refit in TN 1872 updated the Alpha's TA CommStar 500 system to the current multiband CommStar 1200 system. Service RecordDue to its long history, durability and versatility, the Jäger has seen far more action than any other Southern combat Gear model. From the beginning, it has been used as one of the most readily identifiable tools of Republican military might. In the Southern War that subjugated the member-leagues of the Allied Southern Territories, special strike teams of Jägers broke the stalemate that had stalled Republican ambitions. Soon after, the Jäger faced its first Gear to Gear combat as the AST and the United Mercantile Federation fought over influence and resources in the Westridge Range area during the so-called Merchant Wars. The tactics developed during the early deployment of the Jäger -- most notably their use in dedicated units with highly trained pilots -- remain part of standard Southern military doctrine to this day. Of course, the Jäger has faced competition from newer and more sophisticated machines over its two-and-a-half centuries of existence. The ever-increasing number of specialized models such as the Iguana or Black Adder have limited the Jäger's use in many fields where it was once the weapon of choice. None of the machines that have been designed to supplant it have been able to match its simplicity and ease of production, however, guaranteeing that the Jäger will outlast most of its "replacements." Even the elite Black Mamba is likely to remain too expensive and complex to displace the Jäger as a standard trooper. The durability of the Jäger was proven during the dark cycles of the War of the Alliance. Not only were there countless Jägers already in the field, but it was far more efficient to use the remaining factories to produce three Jägers instead of a single Sidewinder. OACS-01L/SC Iguana
The Iguana has a small cockpit surrounded by armoplast plates that cover up most of the steel-alloy frame of the torso. The design, however, manages to couple speed and armor as few other machines have been able to do. While the Iguana can achieve a running speed of 52 kph and a rolling one of over 84 kph, it nonetheless carries almost as much armored protection as the Jäger. The top-of-the-line Obelisk MERIT 1000 electronics package, designed especially for the model, includes long-range, precision sensor pods and communications equipment with a battlefield electronic counter-measures (ECM) suite. The Gear's main direct fire weapon is a simple MPGU-22 pack gun, supplemented by a Vogel-7 rocket pod and a simple vibroknife. In line with its duties as a forward observer unit, the Iguana is also equipped with an Elite-15 laser target designator. Service RecordAppreciated by its pilots for its combination of speed and armored protection, the "Iggy" can be found in all but the most disfavored front-line units. The Iguana is so popular that Territorial Arms, in order to meet production requirements, has subcontracted out many of the parts to several other corporations. The most prominent of these is Skavara Heavy Industries, which is now responsible for the lion's share of Iguana production. Over its career, the Iguana has proven itself an adept light trooper/commando machine as well, and is in use by elite forces for this purpose. Indeed, the speed of the machine, combined with its offensive and defensive punch, make it ideal for close-quarter rapid strike operations against lightly armored targets. The Iguana has also spawned a family of variants, many of which build on its strength as a commando unit. The Iguana has gone through several refits. In TN 1883, the secondary movement system's core motors were upgraded to a new and more efficient model that gave the Gear its current speed. The Obelisk Electronics MERIT has also been upgraded several times. The current package, the MERIT 1200, has increased the communications range and was designed to fit into a slightly modified armored head module that protects the main sensor array from enemy fire. This later innovation was introduced after the War of the Alliance, after many Iguana pilots installed makeshift plasteel shields to protect the sensors they felt were overly vulnerable to damage. The new head module introduced for the 1200 series is visually similar to the old one, with only a slight reduction in the size of the omnicamera. The success of the Iguana also inspired a derived model, the Chameleon stealth Gear. OACS-05M/SU Black Mamba
Using lessons learned from the Mandeers Desert Viper and the more recent Sidewinder, TA developed a whole new concept. The design incorporated a carbon composite in the Mamba's internal frame to reduce weight and increase flexibility, making paratrooper operations possible. The reduced weight also enabled the Gear to achieve the high speeds and maneuverability necessary for battle. To maintain an acceptable armor thickness, the designers reduced the plating on the WV-930TC V-engine and the rear of the Mamba's legs. An advanced Obelisk Electronics sensor suite and communication package, as well as a newly updated virtual reality control system and automated piloting computer, completed the basic package of the Black Mamba. Offensive power was provided by a PR-55 autocannon, Vogel-8 rocket pod, forward and rear mounted GL-01 grenade launchers, HG-C4 hand grenades and a VU-11 vibromachete. Service RecordThe very first production run of Black Mambas came out of the Territorial Arms factory in TN 1911. Since then, a constant stream of them has been leaving Timbuktu for units across the southern hemisphere. Damage to the factories cut production during the early cycles of the war, but since then distribution has followed standard Southern policy -- the lion's share going to the Southern Republican Army, a lesser number to the MILICIA and a very few to the peacekeeping/local defense forces of the Republic's vassal states. Even in the Republican Army, the Mamba is not universally distributed, although only disfavored units are not scheduled to receive at least a few of the machines in relatively short order. The units that have received it, however, have given the Black Mambas rave reviews. A truly advanced machine, it has proven suitable for a wide variety of mission profiles. Commando operations (including paratrooper missions) have become the Mamba's forte and it has been involved in a large number of surgical strikes carried out across the Badlands against Saragossan rebels and -- according to intelligence reports -- selected Northern targets. The basic chassis of the Mamba has become the darling of the South's military designers and has spawned several important variants. Gear pilots in both the Republican Army and the MILICIA have made quiet requests that the so-called "glass back" be fixed, but TA has only done so in the elite stealth/sniper Snakeye BM variant. OACS-01H/SU Spitting Cobra
The heavy weapons load of the Spitting Cobra requires a heavy chassis, and Territorial Arms used concepts developed by Mandeers Heavy Industries in their Desert Viper and Python Gears. Heavy armoplast armor over a massive frame are the mainstay of the Spitting Cobra. Developed in a time of concerns for pilot safety, the Cobra features a very heavily armored cockpit, allowing the Gear to shrug off most attacks. The Cobra uses a standard sensor pod arrangement, with the pilot's head within the Gear's. The Cobra's WV-1500TC/A V-engine, with its 940 hp output, provides motive power, while the half-track secondary movement system bring ground pressure down to acceptable levels. Service RecordThe Spitting Cobra was developed in the TN 1880s as part of the renaissance of Territorial Arms. The Cobra has performed very well since its introduction. The Mandeers Gears that preceded it were never extremely popular with the Southern forces, and the Spitting Cobra had relatively little trouble displacing them in most military forces. It remains an expensive machine, however, so costs did limit its distribution. By the time of the War of the Alliance, many of the units facing the initial Colonial Expeditionary Force assaults on the South could field Cobras. As the combination of speed and armor wielded by the CEF became obviously potent, many commanders pressed Cobras into assault and anti-armor units, roles they performed well but which resulted in heavy losses in the early portions of the war. In the post-war period, the "Spit" has continued to perform well and has inspired a series of useful variants. The war-time assault and fire-support specialists have been joined by anti-aircraft, anti-infantry and engineering models. The Mandeers fire-support Gears have been largely pushed to second-line duty or retirement by the Cobra, and the heavy machine is a critical part of the Territorial Arms stranglehold on the Southern Gear market. The Gear's development from Mandeers concepts occasionally comes back to haunt TA, with some analysts accusing the industrial giant of theft of intellectual property; a successful court case has never been mounted. OWCS-01AS Naga
The Naga is surprisingly maneuverable for a walker of its size. Like the smaller Gears, it can use both its legs and feet-mounted wheels to move about. Its legs have been designed to fold underneath the main chassis, turning the unit into a squatter wheeled "urban tank". Three slim arms bear sensor pods, allowing the Naga to look over corners and walls without exposing itself. Its weapon systems are centered around the twin Pilum guided missile launchers placed on its shoulders. Each quad-launcher is a fully independent unit with its own fire control director and databus. A single chin-mounted autocannon, belt-fed from a large armored drum mounted underneath the torso, is available for use against soft and lightly-armored targets. Service RecordThe Naga is the main strider unit of the Republican forces, and is the basis for many current specialized vehicles. It is not very strongly armored for its size, and as such is rarely seen locked in close combat. A cornered Naga crew will likely prefer to flee rather than fight a frontal battle. The prefered Naga tactic is to team up with a squad of Gears, at least one of which can designate for the strider's anti-tank missiles. The strider then relies on its mobility and sensor booms to escape the attention of enemy units, while using its missiles to eliminate as many opponents as possible before returning to base for resupplying. Naga crew are trained not to waste their expensive missiles on "unworthy" targets -- better to use the autocannon instead. The Naga is the best-known strider produced by Republican Heavy Industries. It is widely associated with the Republic itself, its ostrich-like form being featured quite often in Republican propaganda works. The Naga is currently in service in all Southern forces, though each army has its own specific variants. Most of the latter involve simply switching many of the components to locally-produced ones, reducing the Naga's overall cost and maintenance requirements. It also increases the chance of production defects, since not all manufacturers are as careful with quality control as Republican Heavy Industries is (RHI still assemble all of the basic Naga chassis in one of its three plants located in the Republic).
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The oldest and most basic of the Gears fielded by Southern forces, the Jäger started its existence as a shameless copy of the United Mercantile Federation's Hunter. Indeed, Republican commandos stole a Hunter prototype and the engineers created a near-exact copy toward the end of the Southern War that unified the Allied Southern Territories. Over the years, the two "cousins" have remained sign-posts of military competition between the poles, having become locked in an arms race of their own. Indeed, with every minor adjustment made to the Hunter, Southern engineers are ordered to make a matching change in the Jäger, and vice versa. All the changes since the 1850s, however, have been relatively minor and most technicians still refer to the current design as the Jäger "Alpha." 
The basic scout and reconnaissance Gear of the Southern armies, the Iguana was designed to replace the Basilisk Gears that had been pressed into these duties in the past. The Basilisk was originally a trooper Gear that ended up being deployed as a recon unit, because of the massive problems suffered by the Anolis, the South's attempt at a recon Gear. Southern commanders had gotten used to stripping some armor off Basilisks to increase their speed, but that wasn't quite enough and a new Gear was commissioned. They wanted one that could do everything the Basilisk was capable of, and more. Unlike the Northern Cheetah, which featured light armor and high maneuverability, the Iguana had to be effective as a light trooper as well as a scout vehicle. 
The current cutting edge in Southern Gear design, the Black Mamba is a relatively recent model that has nonetheless had a serious impact on the Terranovan military scene. The Mamba is the most obvious result of a modernization program that swept the Southern military just before the War of the Alliance, when it became clear the North had established a technological edge. When the allied units and their crews returned North after the war, Southern commanders knew that they could be used quite effectively against Southern targets and the Black Mamba development efforts were increased. 
The Spitting Cobra is the heaviest mass-produced Gear chassis in current use by the Southern MILICIA and Republican Army. Designed to fill the operational role of a heavy weapons platform, the "Spit" (as its crews invariably call it) wields devastating medium to long-range firepower. The Spitting Cobra's main weaponry is a massive SCRP-98 back-mounted unguided rocket pod, generally used for area saturation. The secondary fire-support weapon, a shoulder-mounted Vogel-H series guided mortar is more precise. Its guided munitions allow the Cobra to make full use of laser-designator data provided by forward observers. Short to medium-range firepower is provided by a MR60 autocannon and a shoulder-mounted FSRP-36 rocket pod. Close defense capabilities are provided by a MGU-77 minigun fixed to the Cobra's upper torso, a VU-11 vibromachete and several HG-2 hand grenades for close-combat.
The Naga has been designed primarily as a high firepower, rapid intervention unit designed to exploit breakthroughs in the line and lend medium range heavy support to friendly units in trouble with packs of guided missiles. The Naga is fast enough and carries enough armor to get to the hot zone in time to relieve beleaguered friendlies, and its powerful anti-tank missiles ensure that at least eight of the enemy vehicles will likely not survive the battle. The Naga is crewed by two people, with the pilot/commander in the back and the gunner/system operator in the front, just above the autocannon swivel mount. The higher position of the pilot gives him a better view of his surroundings. In a pinch, the pilot can double as a gunner, though the overall combat performance of the unit will be reduced.