Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Mole Minelayer

"Mine dispenser systems ready."

-...

The Mole Minelayer serves the Republic as a minelayer and anti-structure unit, capable of attacking structures from long range with its mole bombs or creating lethal minefields in seconds. Planned to be voiced by.

Tactical analysis

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History
With the ever shrinking influence of the old in a world dominated by global superpowers and influential trade blocs, warfare in the mid-21st century became increasingly vicious as many countries no longer felt obligated to respect various treaties such as the ban on clusterbombs and anti-personnel mines. Most controversially, the Andoran Reublic made no secret of its newfound interest in these weapons, arguing that the use of 'terror weapons' must always be an optional deterrent against the most ruthless, uncompromising enemies and that modern 'intelligent munitions systems' would allow for an easy and safe removal of unexploded ordnance in the aftermath of a conflict.

As such, the Galbadia Mole Minelayer became a mainstay support vehicle for the task force and one of the few weapons that strike legitimate horror into the hearts of even the most fanatical MLA fighters. In combat, the vehicle is capable of dispensing large quantities of mines with its multi-directional launchers, creating entire fields littered with explosives within seconds. Beyond that, it is armed with the infamous 'Maulwurfsbombe' (literally 'Mole Bomb'), the militarized and licensed version of an Ironforge-made, fully autonomous drilling machine that is used to cut tunnels and shafts through the Alpines. The bomb can be burrowed as a stationary explosive mine or traverse a considerable distance underground to demolish enemy structures.

Short story
"Hurry, into the tunnels!" Madyia Trueflower ordered, watching the battered remains of her tank detachment get annihilated by the Andoran Leopard 3 and Goldlion MBTs that made a rapid advance towards his position. In the skies above, the Goshawks of, commonly known and feared as 'the devil's scythe' among the guerillas, swung about for another pass, unleashing a murderous hail of depleted uranium from their four 30mm autocannons and mauling several men as they dashed for shelter in the extensive cave system that ran through the mountains. Madyiawas an eager MLA regular ever since the War against the MLA. Having fought in the grand insurrection of 2008 V.C., she just could not believe that the Andorans, these seemingly weak, decadent non-Elune would be capable of such brutal efficiency. Even by the standards of the MLA, their newfound tenacity and viciousness were downright terrifying.

After a breathless sprint and the loss of over two dozen men, Madyia finally reached the safety of the tunnels, diving into the small entrance a mere moment before the contents of a clusterbomb detonated on the surface. One of the rookie rebels got into a panic: "This is madness! They're going to wipe us out! We are all doomed!" Madyia immediately did what was expected of a proper MLA leader, raised his trusty G3 rifle and executed the 'coward'. "Do not listen to her, warriors! The tunnels will protect us! We must not allow these foul pigs to oppress our people!" Meanwhile, his people flocked into the Andoran-controlled coastal regions, desperately trying to get away from the senseless fight that the MLA insisted to continue in the countryside. Even the thousands who had previously cheered at Malfurion's 'glorious' victory over the Andorans a decade earlier had finally understood the reality of living under a number of regimes that were only interested in bloodshed and the pursuit of petty personal agendas. Now, they welcomed anyone who was able to provide vital necessities like food, clean water, medicine, and above all else stability and safety; even if that could potentially mean the submission to a foreign power.

Madyia looked around himself, taking inventory of what was left of her unit: Fifteen weary, wounded men and women, some of whom had lost their weapons in the chaos, a few crates full of old mortar shells, and a broken radio. There was not even much light in the cave beyond the sunbeams that fell through the entrance. "Their tanks and airplanes cannot touch us in here, my brothers", she explained. "They'll have to come in here and pull us out by hand. The moment we see someone coming through that entrance, we open up on them; take as many with us as we can!" Suddenly, the rebels heard a deep, rumbling noise. A distant artillery barrage out on the surface? No, this was different. It was a continuous tone that became louder every second, as if something was approaching from the darkness, behind the massive walls of centuries-old rock. The noise soon turned into an ear-grating screech. The entire cavern started to tremble and suddenly, a mass of pulverized rocks exploded out of a wall. "Dear heavens, what is that!?", one of the men screamed before he got splattered into chunks by a raging steel monstrosity that burst out of the rock.

Before anyone knew what was going on, the strange object hurtled towards the middle of the cavern, as if it was guided by a mind of its own, and detonated. Most of Madyia's men perished under the collapsing rocks while she herself was thrown against a wall, her left shoulder broken and disjointed by the blunt impact. Fear gripped her heart: "Warriors, whe... Where are you!? What was that!?" Suddenly, she heard the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps, accompanied by the angry barking and howling of wolves. Within a single moment, an entire pack of these vicious animals and their Halfling riders rushed into the cavern through the tunnel that the drilling monstrosity had created. One of them lunged towards Madyia who swung at it with her other arm, but was quickly wrestled down by the beast as it slammed its teeth into her throat. And as she laid there, bleeding and dying, she made out the shapes of Andoran soldiers, one of whom duly summarised her findings: "This is Gravedigger Six to Command; we've taken out the resistance in cave section Kilo. No friendly losses, zero enemy survivors. Moving on to cave section Lima, out."