Originally designed by Dynamic Systems for the 1st SRA Heavy Gear Regiment, “Pride of the Republic,” to showcase the superiority of Southern engineering, each Fer de Lance was precision-crafted one at a time for the honor guard regiment. Throughout its service, this Gear has been limited by law to the 1st HG Regiment, but after the civil war, the Estates General and Prime Minster deRouen authorized the Gear for use by members of the Legion of the Republic and its auxiliary regiments in the MILICIA. As the legions were active duty regiments and in need of new equipment, Dynamic Systems created a mass-production version of the Fer de Lance to meet the new demand.
Largely based on the Sidewinder chassis, the mass production Fer de Lance made a number of internal changes by borrowing the actuator and combat computer from the Diamondback design. Using their Sidewinder production line in Timbuktu, the company managed to get hundreds of Fer de Lance Gears out to the Legion Republic regiments. In a marketing coup, Dynamic Systems capitalized on the adoption of the Fer de Lance as the signature Gear of the Legion. The campaign was so effective that when the Legion Republic requested a basic trooper model, the Sidewinder was chosen rather than the Territorial-Arms-produced Jäger.
Sporting a wide array of lethal precision weapons, the current model of the Fer de Lance is equipped with a Rucker RF-12 Rifle, SRWILATM 22 Missile Launcher, and its signature VU-14 Vibrosabre, an elegant weapon produced by Escrime, a company renowned for the quality of its blades. This all serves to make the Gear incredibly popular with pilots fortunate enough to be assigned to one. With its simplified internal components and interchangeability of many of its core components with the Sidewinder, the Fer de Lance is a favorite of the Legion Republic mechanics.
Usage
Though the designers never expected the Fer de Lance to be deployed beyond the garrisons in Port Oasis, the Gear has seen active combat throughout the South and the Badlands. In particular, the War for Terra Nova has been a showcase of how lethal the Fer de Lance can be in the hands of the Legion Republic pilots. In the first weeks of the war, Fer de Lance pilots racked up an impressive number of kills against CEF Frames and Prowler-class hover tanks.
The Legion Republic’s reputation for lethality on the battlefield can be directly linked to the Fer de Lance and its elite pilots. The famed Lieutenant Laura Pestre, who defeated the Legion Noire’s duelist at the conclusion of the civil war, was among the first to receive a Fer de Lance for the service she rendered to the Republic.
