Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Rata Tank

The Rata Tank is the. This unit is planned to be voiced by

History
"Tis death! 'tis death! 'Tis life! 'tis life!

'Tis death! ‘tis death! ’Tis life! ‘tis life!

This is the hairy man

Who brought the sun and caused it to shine

A step upward, another step upward!

A step upward, another... the Sun shines!"

-"Ka Mate", a Maori haka done by Rata crews in the battlefield.

The Maori people of New Zealand are proud of who they are. Possessing a culture stretching back for centuries, the Maori are everything from proud warriors to master artisans. In an impressive display of cultural equality, the British were actually willing to extend full rights and citizenship to the Maori people, though full rights and citizenship doesn't always translate to full equality. Even today, the Maori struggle to find equal employment and education when compared to the rest of the population. The newly-formed Community realized this could be dangerous to their long-term plans, as everyone needed to be aboard to accomplish their goals. Though starting with a media push recognizing the roles the Maori played in repelling the (insert) invasion from both islands such as the battle of Auckland, the Community also started a recruiting drive to bring in many young Maori men who needed work into the Island Defense Forces.

Simultaneously, the Community had created one of their own indigenous designs not based on an Allied prototype, though many commented the design was more than similar to the Patriot armored car utilized by the Unionists. Made to act as a more mobile armored scout that could observe ahead of the slow-moving Community armor, the vehicle still suffered from a lack of speed when compared to other light vehicles. Made in New Zealand, the Community noticed that a majority of crews in the vehicle were in fact Maori. Letting the men inside name the vehicle, the men named the vehicle the Rata, after the warrior of Maori legend who did everything from kill the man-eating ogre Matuku to defeat the Ponaturi tribe that stole his father's bones. Capitalizing on the name, the Community rallied the Maori community around the image, and many families now proud to point out that their sons and daughters were the crews on the vehicles protecting their islands.

The Rata is heavily armored compared to other light scouts, though there are drawbacks aside from the relatively slow speed. To start, the vehicle is still not a tank when compared to the guardian, or even the Beagle. Aircraft can also take the tank down quickly, considering it has no means to train its guns high enough. Despite these drawbacks, the crews prefer the Rata over the Bushmaster or other vehicles, since it matches the Maori ancestral fighting style of rolling hard and fast into battle like a massive storm. Crews will often even take the chance to exit their Ratas and perform a haka, a Maori war dance most often seen on the rugby field thanks to the All Blacks team. Foes who face these Maori crews often think they're going up against dancing amateurs. Instead, these enemies are often the first sent running from the sheer force of the Maori attacks.