The military arm of the Maidens is called the
Cybernetica Guard. Each of the covens of the Maidens of Steel is responsible for the recruitment through their temple forge or Cybernetica Guard. Those new recruits more attuned toward violence will be taken from nomadic tribes of the wasteland. Only those of great physical and mental strength of will are recruited, and during recruitment, candidates have their "weaknesses" purged from them. Only a few of the Cybernetica Guard are in fact living, members. As the Order has made up for its small size by using Combat Automatons. The Cybernetica Guard are broken into easily manageable fire-teams called Covenants numbering only twenty strong. Often a single Covenant will have an individual walker assigned to it. It takes four such Covenants to make a single War Host which will often number eighty guards. The armaments of such are often widely varied due to the cybernetic nature of augmented weaponry on both guardsmen and combat automatons. These allow even a single Covenant an incredible amount of flexibility. Thanks in part to their smaller size to some of the larger super powers of the wasteland. The Cybran military is composed of guerrilla fighters, assassins, skirmishers and light units who hide in the shadows. They wait for the precise moment to attack, and then unleash small surgical strikes that leave their enemies reeling. Cybran tactics rely not on out-and-out battle, but stealthily destroying as much as possible before their walkers move in for the kill. The appearance of Cybran design bespeaks their enhanced cognitive processing powers, and their critical perspective and their units and structures are efficient and not bound by structural orthogonality.
Infantry-
Assaultrons; The assaultron's body seems to be modeled after that of a female figure. They are highly aggressive, fast, and are specialized in close quarters combat as their arms are equipped with retractable dual combat blades. The assaultron's face can charge with red electric energy when it is preparing its laser beam attack often used right before closing in on the enemy. The dominator variant is also equipped with a stealth field. Assaultrons' weak points are their legs. However, when these are destroyed, the assaultron will continue to pursue the target by crawling on the ground.
Securiton; The Security is a powerhouse, equipped with sturdy armor plating, powerful weapons integrated into its chassis and high mobility thanks to mecanum wheels mounted on its three legs. They are armed with dual arm-mounted miniguns or much more rarely a Gatling laser on the right arm, and a missile launcher on the left arm for anti-armor. They have thick armor plating and are possess surprising amounts of mobility.
Model-1P3X; Among the most fielded and numerous of automatons the Model-1P3X or, Light Assault Bot (LAB’s for short). LAB’s are among the most flexible of the automatons built and fielded by the Cybernetica Guard. They are often tasked on patrol scavenger missions and have become notorious throughout the wasteland as ‘Iron Locusts.’ In their early days of exclusiveness the Maidens often sent out entire squads of these bots to harvest and salvage entire junk yards, or in many cases ‘cleanse’ a area of by driving off living inhabitants in order to take what they needed. Being machines with very crude and simple V.I’s they saw no distinction between a wastelander local and more dangerous fauna or predators. Modern models are slightly more advanced in terms of processing but still require a Iron Priest for more complex tasks.They are unique in that they often field small arms rather than having these grafted into them. Though several models can be configured with arm blades or mounted arm weapons that use galvanic rounds.
Cybran Guard; These men and women who have chosen the path of the warrior to safeguard Novahome make up the main body of
cyborg soldiers. They tend to have basic iron breastplates often surgically attached, along with optical sensor augments. Many have also received emotional-suppression surgery.
R-T17 Recon Drone; The Cybran air scout sports an older design and is pretty typical in its functionality. It has a great scan radius, high speed, no weapons and light armor. The R-T17 uses a sonic resonance scanner that is capable of bridging the gap between conventional radar and sonar. In addition, the R-T17 can be set to fly in stealth mode.
Cybran Pioneer; Originally created to discover new suitable locations to set up smaller outpost settlements. Cybran Pioneers later were further specialized to work alongside Electro Rangers and Recon Drones. As automaton’s go they have some of the most advanced V.I among the Cybran machines of war. Many even given vocal communicative capabilities. Pioneers are the main scouting infantry forces for the Cybernetica Guard of the Illuminated Cybran. As light reconnaissance units, Pioneers Teams are the eyes and ears of their Cybernetica Commander in a way no simple Recon Drone can yet emulate. A Pioneers role is not to engage the enemy, but instead to maximise the efficiency of the rest of their Covenants with their light markers which designate priority enemy targets and guide the fire of their comrades.
Ruststalkers; Ruststalkers are the brutal Cybran scout troops of the Maidens of Steel, renowned as perhaps the most sinister warriors of the Cybernetica Guard. They are feared throughout the entire wasteland as heartless killing machines. Heavily augmented into more machine than man, the Ruststalker are a hideous, frightening strike force - the height of The Illuminated Cybran posthuman engineering. When hunting, they emit from the domed section of their helmets a white noise that fills all sensory spectrum's with static, leaving their foe disoriented and helpless. Enemies fall, deafened and blinded by the scree of a brutally disruptive audiovisual assault; battles are often decided before even a single kill is confirmed. Infiltrator covenants can bypass enemy defenses with ease, though not because of their stealth but rather their disruptive wavelengths they broadcast when on the move. The white noise used by these units tends to last only a few secounds, coupled with a short range. These scout squads are led by Electro Rangers. Regular Cybran warriors sent to fight alongside Infiltrators are given null-codes that can transmute their disorientated wavelength frequencies, allowing for efficient combined-arms assaults. However, most of the time automatons are used alongside Ruststalkers as they are immune to these wavelengths. As with their Symborg brothers, every Ruststalker was once a Cybran Guard who was grievously injured in battle. If these fallen are judged still fit to serve the Deus Machina, they are not incinerated but instead taken back to be augmented into lethal killing machines. This process can take place as long as a Iron Priest possesses a head, torso, and some limb-stumps. This makes Ruststalkers exceptionally rare.
Steel Huntress; Steel Huntresses are a type of Cybran infantry used by the Cybernetica Guard. Relentless hunter-killer infantry, they’re religious zealous dedication causes them to hunt their prey across the wasteland for weeks if need be. Mindful of the harsh terrain of the wasteland, their legs have been removed from the knees down, replaced by cybernetic augmentations. This has made their stamina legendary, and they are known to hunt a foe until it exhausts itself. They are primarily used to recover stolen pieces of technology from raiders or bandits.
Mechanite Assassins; First inspired by seekers of the Librarios-- Mechanite Assassins were first deployed to hunt and assassinate rogue iron priest who stole valuable research. Their battlefield role is killing important enemy individuals such as commanders. Working from concealed locations, the risk of retaliation against the sniper by the enemy is relatively low. Both of their eyes are replaced with the "Hawkeye" implant, a prosthetic eye that interfaces with scope optics to allow for shots of incredible accuracy.
Vehicles-
Crab Walker; The Crab Walker is based on the Mobile Universal Land Engine (or M.U.L.E.); itself inspired by the bad-tempered beasts of burden that transported their masters across old Nabushan in ancient times. It is among the few vehicles discovered within a Space Hulk's hanger bay and was originally based off the chassis of a large dune crawler used for mining. The M.U.L.E. was discovered by famed techno-archaeologist Celine Land as a transport for miners but was soon modified into a weapon of war. It was renamed, equipped with armor plating and replicated a couple dozen times. The Crab Walker, rather than being a mere carrier, is absolutely brimming with pre-calamity advanced weaponry that can include a Turret Beamer as a main gun, and a coaxial Heavy MGC mounted for anti infantry duties. It can also be equipped with an Air Sensor Array (ASA), a powerful anti-air package compromising twin Autocannons, a Gatling Flak Launcher and Missile Launchers for use as an anti-air walker.
Longstrider Walker; The Longstriders are used as mobile artillery platforms, they are Gyroscopically balanced. Their mechanized mounts are able to walk on the most hostile terrain. Their plating tends to be lighter due to their walker chassis. However, they possess incredible range in their 155 mm Self-propelled Gun with their 45-caliber gun and automatic loader for loading of both projectile and charge. They're also armed with a heavy MGC mounted the turret.
All Terrain Recon Walker Gear; The all-terrain recon walker gear, or ATR-WG, is a quadrupedal, small arms equipped, manned transport designed for far range patrolling. The Sentinel achieves movement with a two pairs of articulated legs, which allow for both maneuverabilities in dense environments and bursts of speed on open terrain. They are fitted with advanced gyro-stabilizers to improve their balance, and their powerplants include noise-reduction technology for clandestine operation. Though it can't move with the speed of the wheeled vehicle, the Sentinel can run - faster than a horse.
Scout Walker; The Scout Walker is a quadrupedal war walker used primarily for long range travel. They are electric hydraulic ridable quadruped vehicles which by design make excellent scout vehicles despite their lack of armor and heavy weapons. Walker Scouts can also be fitted for more conventional anti-infantry/anti-vehicle combat use. They are capable of quadrupedal movement for greater maneuverability on rough terrain or can fold up and move on wheels for greater speeds on flat terrain. Every model of Scout Walker has two front-facing headlights for greater visibility during night patrols or operations. Scout Walker also can come with two small arms, hidden in the front of their chassis, that wield pistols as backup weapons. Scout Walkers can be well armored enough to withstand small arms fire for an extended amount of time. However, too much damage would eventually pierce the armor and damage the critical components within. The scout walker is also built with speed and flexabilty in mind, it's top speed while in walking mode is roughly that of a race horse at 44mph. It's wheeled mode is almost thrice that at 224 mph at tope speed.
Other:
Armaments; The Cybrans’ have managed to rediscover many once lost weapons and wargear over the millennia. Even reconstructing from scratch using Nova Prime's fabrication facilities. Due to their knowledge, the Cybernetica Guard have more advanced weaponry and equipment than their wasteland equivalents due to the technological expertise of their Iron priestesses and Forgemasters. Bionics are quite common and devices such as weapon links and sensory feeds are also common amongst them. Some of these weapons are as follows.
Nova Rifle- The Nova rifle or designated RSPN-101( nicknamed Raspen), is the main rifle of the Cybran Cybernetica Guard. The RSPN-101 represents an out-of-the-box approach to assault rifle design due to improvements made upon it by the Cybran Iron Priest over the years. Like many of the Cybran weapons the RSPN-101 are built from an ergonomic point of view. One of the main advantages of the RSPN is it’s highly modular design, allowing numerous modifications and customization's. The RSPN-101, is chambered for 5.56mm rounds, fired using an advanced galvanic chambering device that allows electro-galvanically driven projectiles that can damage both enemy infantry and armor, with an optimal range of 800 meters. Being easy to disassemble and upgrade with tactical gear, it also supports a 40mm underbarrel GL1 grenade launcher.
Nova Pistol- This advanced galvanic pistol was a favorite among Cybran guards, and is designated R-B4. It possess acute safety features and onboard lockouts that make modern commercial pistols reliable, but weak. This baby still packs a punch, while retaining finesse and precision of pre-calamity builds. It’s electro charged ammunition allowing it to deal significant damage to lightly armored targets.
329-M21 Rocket Launcher- The M21 Surface-to-Surface Rocket Medium Anti-Vehicle/Anti-Air. The M21 CG fires 102mm HEAT shaped charged rockets. The launcher sports a 2x scope and can fire rockets over long distances with devastating accuracy, thanks to its fire and forget missiles. The mechanisms built into the weapon allow it to interface with optical cybernetics, allowing it even greater accuracy in the hands of a Cybran soldier.
Gauss Panther Rifle- The Asymmetric Recoilless Carbine-2000, also known as the ARC-2000 or simply the Panther, is a compact-channel linear accelerator that fires a high-explosive round at incredible speed. The charge time is approximately two seconds and can be fired with only a partial charge at the cost of lesser damage. A direct hit will cut through the thickest armor plates in a single shot after a full charge. This makes them very effective anti-armor weapons. The ARC-2000 is the next step in the evolution of Illuminated Cybran Railgun tech. It is widely considered the best out of all limited production rifles they have managed to reverse engineer, though compared to other weapons, it is still quite cumbersome and requires an augmented body or power armor to use effectively. The followed-on explosive charge in its M645 ferric-tungsten projectile helped keep the ARC-2000 in its high position as a deadly tool of destruction. The weapon is exceptionally rare due to its expensive and complex inner workings. Leaving it as a weapon for more seasoned and elite Cybran units.
Ash Petal Anti-Tank Mine- The Ash Petal Anti-Tank Mine (or Ash Petals for short) is a type of Illuminated Cybran area-denial ordnance that can be described as "flowerlike". It is a disk a quarter meter across with spikes along the rim to stabilize it when buried. The shaped charge may be triggered in a number of ways. A proximity sensor makes the Ash-petal effective against lower hovering vehicles. The sensor may also be enabled remotely and its sensitivity altered for use against infantry. The Lotus anti-tank mine also has a countdown mode. The charge itself is powerful enough to penetrate the armor of a heavy Main Battle Tank like the MT 4a4.
Reckoner NR-4-The Reckoner fires a .416 round which packs a hell of a punch with a very long range. Semi-automatic, the rapidity of firing makes up for the fact that the heavy rifle cannot be silenced, allowing a couple of kill shots to be fired off in quick succession before the sniper needs to change locations. They capable of firing over tremendous distances thanks to an advanced telescopic sight. Utilizing specialized ammunition constructed from heavy-gravity alloys with galvanic chambering, the Reckoner Rifle is capable of penetrating nearly all forms of known armor and can even pierce light armored vehicles.
Micro Galvanic Cannon - A 5.56 ‘micro-gun’ with multiple barrels the MGC can lay down withering suppression fire though it is sluggish to wind up. It has a rotary autocannon, with 6 barrels cycled by an electric motor past a single chamber. The weapon was developed after the sixth Hulk Rush as a replacement for the mini-gun and Heavy Turret Cannon, which had been a common heavy weapon on Crab carriers until then.
Optical Camo- Making use of optical camo cloaks, camo cloaks are hooded cloaks composed of a mesh backing, woven with thousands of ribbons of color shifting and light-absorbing material, weaved for its durability and ability to help hide the wearer.
Battle Armor Implants- Cybernetic Plates is a type of battle armour used by The Illuminated Cybran. These armoured plates are designed to be worn for several years at a time. Secreted under a dermal layer of steel alloy are recombinant cells that harness moisture from the wearer and recycle it. This liquid is transmuted into a gelatinous unguent that coats the inside of the suit, preventing the slow abrasion of the wearer's body. They are designed to protect against both kinetic and energy weaponry thanks to the layering approach used in their construction.
Dermal Armour – Dermal Armour implants thin plates, protective weaves and impact distributors throughout the vital areas of the body, protecting them from harm with less great aesthetic or sense-deadening side effects unlike Cyber plates. As it upgrades the armour implants become more reactive, able to adapt to different attacks.
