Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Jairus Recovery Vehicle

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The Jairus Recovery Vehicle is the for the Grey Steel Order. This unit is planned to be voiced by

History
"Grab the hose. It's messy in there."

-Jairus artificer, preparing to clean out the interior of a tank shredded by a Colossus

The Jairus Recovery Vehicle owes its origins to the heady days of the GVAW in Eorzea, when the various nations that made up the Alliance had not yet standardized equipment across the board. So long as two vehicles produced by different nations had roughly similar performance characteristics, they were dubbed the same machine on the organizational chart: Pershings, Panzers, and Churchills were all deemed medium tanks.

As the war dragged on and the Alliance continued to lose ground, however, many of these national designs were scrapped as the Alliance grew more authoritative and introduced sweeping international military reforms. In a single stroke, the Patton tank became the medium tank of every Allied nation, and all countries were ordered to switch to producing them.

While there was a very good reason behind this in that such standardization would greatly simplify logistics and maximize efficiency, the ensuing chaos in the military-industrial complex throughout the western world had far-reaching repercussions, and one of them reached the Grey Steel Order. GIAT Industries, formerly the premier military manufacturing corporation in Orlais, took particularly severe losses as Orlais-designed weapons and equipment were quickly phased out of service among the Alliance military, which favored Aquilan, Fereldan, and Aselian designs.

The concessions to minor Alliance nations to spur their military industries, such as Finland, Gilneas, and Hyboria, further rankled the collapsing Orlais military-industrial complex, which had only won acceptance with a scant two military designs--and one had been produced in cooperation with AseliaTech, a corporation that more than a few Alliance military contractors had grown to resent. Orlais, the Allied Nations had apparently decided, would base its economy on things other than its proud military tradition and efficient home-grown equipment for the sake of benefiting the global economy.

Traditionally, the only recourse for corporations shut out by the Alliance was joining the Lumeris Syndicate or colluding with the Katsuragi Protectorate. GIAT Industries was extremely reluctant to abandon its heritage and history of service, and publicly shot down a proposal by the CEO of the corporation to establish offices in Antivan.

This uncharacteristic display of principles brought GIAT Industries salvation from a very unexpected source, not that the board of directors has ever learned who their benefactors are. Hiding in plain sight, GIAT Industries, formerly Orlais's premier military-industrial corporation, has been co-opted by the Grey Steel Order to supplement that organization's capabilities.

The most common GIAT Industries vehicle to serve with the Order is the AMX-30D armored recovery vehicle, known to the Order as the Jairus. Manned by Aquilan National Guards who believe themselves to be involved with a secret branch of the Alliance employing particularly unusual technology and methods, these engineering support crews have found themselves unwittingly supporting Order operations around the globe, repairing Order vehicles and equipment, and even restoring burned-out hulks to fighting shape.

Surprisingly, Jairus crews have not proven a significant security risk. All are carefully vetted and selected by Order personnel before deploying and are convinced that Alliance black operations demand a great deal of secrecy. Perhaps unsurprisingly, once a man or woman has been chosen for service with a Jairus unit, they are very unlikely to ever see their home or family again. Some actually do die in service to the Order, but most are eventually indoctrinated and brought into the Order proper. In particular, the artificers of the Order draw most of their new recruits from Jairus veterans.