Kalran: Tales of the four nations/Anvil

"Will I get to play master?"

-An anvil tank exiting the Waypoint

History
During the Reclaimers effort to rebuild their vehicle fleet many of them had chose to modify the old tanks from the 3rd age. While most were simple, replacing old materials with either stronger or cheaper alternatives or increasing the guns power as much as it can take, the one remade by Josef was one of the exceptions.

Being the commander of the Reclaimers defense he based his tank off the old breakthrough tanks, project anvil, but with the vehicle, a prototype built nearing the war end, struggled in its inability to go over rough terrain, its archaic tracks and engine ill suited to go over a mole hill, before trying multiple designs until he found it. Just make the tank walk.

While it was strange, and impractical as many would say, the legs would allow the tank to go over the rough terrain of the frontier and be quicker then a regular tank, and there's enough room for an aether forcefield to protect it from anti-tank weaponry. But another snag came.

While was already on the idea of placing a persons brain in the tank to control it with the help of an ai, since putting in the forcefield would mean having no room for even a single person, the problem came when when many of these "drivers", from bystanders to tank aces, died within the first hour of upon insertion into the tank due to their brain rejecting the cheap, invasive, implant needed and shutting down or worse, and the alternative using the more compatible but incredibility expensive implants reserve for the chosen, until it was found that younger, less cluttered minds accepted the implanting better than an adult. Though they also noted that a childs brain still rejects the implants but it takes a few years rather then a few seconds before they must be disposed, theories are either the brain matures to the point it began resisting the implants invasiveness or the strain of the implants causing brain damage, upon which they are thrown into the grinder with a new "pilot" inserted inside, like changing a battery.

Thus almost all Anvil "drivers" now consist of children, the perfect range being three to six but can extend to ten, which are either found by them, dying or not, in their attacks on the world or from clones who show a higher then average aptitude, leading to them trying to cripple said clone since the other cells won't accept giving away a potentially powerful tool. What follows is them cutting out the child's brain, disposing the rest to the grinder, and plugging it to a specialized jar that holds all the essentials to keep it alive, then the implants to control the Anvil, with a small percentage of them dying from the strain while most of then just snap from the trauma, followed by a lobotomy to wipe out any memories that could jeopardize their role.

In order to ensure these walking tanks stay loyal to them they also planted a timer system that would cut off their life support in five days unless reset back at base. For those captured, there is little hope of anyone but the Reclaimers knowing how to reset the timer, and thus they are pressed into the Anvil ranks without hope of escape. This is not an uncommon origin among Anvil "drivers". With many of them, due to their traumatic connection to the tank and lobotomy, developing an unhealth codependency to their controllers, likening them to a parent. Fighting for masters in the hopes of being praised, but sadly to the Reclaimers they are nothing but a means to an end. A child robbed of their life before it started and forced to serve an uncaring master until death. Where upon their brain, if it wasn’t destroyed, is sent to the grinder while their “body” is either repaired, to be piloted by another child, or broken down for parts. The Reclaimers, who they look up to, disregarding them like a soldier disregarding spent bullets.

Weapon modules

 * Anti-infantry: gains gatling guns arms
 * Anti-armor: gains gatling cannon arms
 * Anti-air: gains anti-air mortars
 * Assault: gains a laser cannon and can hold up to 6 squads and becomes a bunker when deployed
 * Demolition: gains a nanite cannon, which creates a field that deals damage to units in field and refunds a quarter of their cost to the commander
 * Support: gains a repair and vehicle restoration kit that allows it to revive vehicle wrecks