Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Wakizashi Sea Transport

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The Wakizashi Sea Transport is the Katsuragi Protectorate's Transport vessel. Planned to be voiced by *TBA*

Tactical analysis

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History
"Not hiding from anyone!"

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While the Protectorate transforming mecha and vector jet technologies allow unprecedented mobility for armoured systems, vehicles like the King Oni are limited by their inability to cross bodies of water larger and deeper than a creek. Creating additional mecha forces would put the Protectorates forces at a disadvantage in terms of systems designed to excel at specific battlefield roles, and the addition of vector jets would mean armour too light to stand up to many enemy systems, so it was decided by the Shogunate to simply scale-up the Sudden Transport, and ensure the Protectorate would remain the most mobile military in modern times, dubbed the Wakizashi Sea Transport.

While it seems simple to merely scale up a transport to carry a tank instead of an infantry squad, weight considerations meant that the transport would have to make a trade-off between armour or stealth, as the "Shinobu" holoprojection system would need to be recalibrated; put simply, it could not easily disguise itself as a vehicle the size of a Ranger. So, it was decided that, along with armour, weapons systems would be added to the Wakizashi. Where the design would come from was the question.

Fortunately, a small Ulthuan start-up company in Los Santos provided the answer. Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems was one of the primary foundations of the Katsuragi community in Los Santos, and the Protectorate decided that it would be the perfect company to produce such a low-technology solution to their problems. Yoyodyne's board also liked the solution, as their increase in business would mean a chance to move their offices and employees far away from Aquila, and the growing Minutemen raids.

The Wakizashi is not a subtle vehicle; it's designed to transport vehicles, and it is dedicated towards this purpose. Since it was designed to either be protected by other Protectorate Navy ships or transported through "secured" areas, the decision was made to mount a surface-to-air missile battery on a rotating turret on the roof of the craft.

So far, the Wakizashi has demonstrated exceptional speed in getting cargo from point to point, though losses in the waters around Encantadia have been uncomfortably high due to the constant and surprisingly effective raids being conducted by Encantadian strike craft. Despite this, the Wakizashi is seen as a valuable addition to the Protectorate Navy.