Weapons of the Magnate War

The Magnate Continuum

Army

Series VII Replicant

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Series VII Combat Replicant, Eternal Dawn model, in experimental-type coloration. Production models would be equipped with a load-bearing vest and additional equipment pouches.

Epithets: Meatbots, Windups, Dregs
Invented by the Eternal Dawn and proliferated through most of the Magnate Continuum as a solution to the League's larger size, Series VII Replicants were barely-sapient engineered weapons given their superlative combat skill via a series of advanced computer implants. These combinations of biotechnological might and cybernetic enhancement were powerful combatants, with superlative combat skill and an instinctual mastery of small-unit tactics. Their combat chatter is clipped and rapid, with unit orders and status reports generally given in one-word answers. Series VIIs were produced in large numbers throughout the war and also given various types of equipment and armoring, although all armor had to be modified somewhat to interface with the Series VII's physiology. The most common variants in the war, however, were the Eternal Dawn "standard" and the Syntha variant.

Their initial deployment came as a severe shock to the League and ZOCU forces who, although familiar with Magnate supersoldiers, did not expect the sheer number of VIIs to be deployed, nor did they anticipate their idiot-savant battlefield ability. However, after a few battles were won at great cost in the early stages of the deployment, ZOCU and League generals quickly realized there was a fixed pattern in their movements, a lack of improvisation that was created by their inflexibility. This information, along with counterweapons for the prevalence of grossly superhuman light infantry being put into service, turned VIIs into a moderate threat instead of a war-winning superweapon, and then further analysis of VII communications and tactical patterns turned them into a joke.

The Eternal Dawn response was to create and deploy the Series VIII, or Series VII Officer Variant, a fully sapient and intelligent version which could monitor and manage the powerful but inflexible Replicas on a small-unit level. This countered the cracking of the VII tactical programming to a great degree, but the damage had already been done and the VII although still a potent force throughout the war was never the game-changing machine the Eternal Dawn freethinkers believed it would be.

Zodiac Outworld Colony Union

Craft

OMF-04 Peltast Mobile Suit

This page's version focusing more on the machine's role in fighting the magnates and the concept of humanoid combat frames in general.

The Expanse League

Misc/Unknown

OMF-04 Peltast Mobile Suit

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Peltast armed with Londenium Metals Mk-11 Railgun

Stats

Speed: 7

Agility: 8

Evasion: 6

Armor: 9

Hits: 4

Excess Power: 5

External Carriage: 12 Spaces

Fixed Equipment:

1 Plasma Lance

Standard loadout:

1 Automatic Railgun (8 spaces, 2 power)

1 Strike Missile (2 spaces)

Ge-02 Lambert Combat Frame
Stats

Speed: 7

Agility: 6

Evasion: 6

Armor: 12

Hits: 4

Excess Power: 4

External Carriage: 12 Spaces

Standard loadout:

1 Automatic Railgun (8 spaces, 2 power)

1 Strike Missile (2 spaces)

1 Alpha Edge Sword (2 spaces)

F-76 Mustang III Aerospace Fighter
[1]
Stats

Speed: 12

Agility: 10

Evasion: 7

Armor: 0

Hits: 4

Excess Power: 4

External Carriage: 8

Fixed Equipment:

Gatling CIWS (2 Space)

Standard loadout:

4 x Anti-Air Missiles (8 Space)

Ships

Canopus Class System Defense Ship

In 2101 the European Union's orbital shipyards completed work on the System Defense Ship Canopus, the first of a powerful new class of warships slated for service both in Sol and out on the frontier. The Canopus was at the time the largest warship ever built by humanity, with a for the time heavily armored two hundred meter long hull and a powerful arsenal of electromotive artillery. For more peace minded citizens of the EU it quickly became a symbol of what they saw as their Union following a dangerous path toward bringing militarism to the stars. But in spite of vocal protests from opponents in the European Parliament and elsewhere further warships were produced and the Canopus Class became the mainstay of the newly formed Deep Space Fleet for over two decades.

Following the introduction of the American MacArthur Class and even more so after the battles at Eridanus, it became clear to the DSF's leadership that the Canopus was no longer sufficient for the duties it faced. By 2120 the Canopus Class was already in the process of being phased out in favor of newly built and considerably more powerful Drake Class Battleships. The loss of the Theresa and its escorts during the disastrous First Epsilon Virginis Encounter in 2122 only served to confirm the Admiralty's misgivings about their aging first generation capital ships.

But while the Canopus Class was removed from service with the DSF, the remaining ships quickly were pressed back into service elsewhere. Although no they were longer deemed suitable for use by its own military, the EU found that the remaining Canopus Class ships were admirably suited for any number of remote frontier navies without either shipbuilding capabilities or technical knowhow. A number of EU trained local militias were sold System Defense Ships before the breakdown cut communications between the EU Arm and the far frontier. Most notably, a number of these ships were present in varying states of disrepair in the Sarreva system at the opening of the Magnate War. Refitted and sent into action against the invaders, they proved to be far more of a success for the League than they ever were for their original builders.