Territorial Arms
Territorial Arms was founded in TN 1624 as Misericord Weapon Systems, changing its name shortly after the establishment of the Allied Southern Territories. Considering its role in the formation of the Allied Southern Territories, the name was considered something of a sick joke in the other Southern leagues. Originally, Misericord was solely a weapons manufacturer, producing both small arms and vehicle weapon systems, but in TN 1656 it began producing military vehicles, mainly light tanks and armored personnel carriers. The company was contracted by the Republican Army in TN 1680 to produce the Jäger, a copy of the Northern Hunter developed by the army’s Anthropomorphic Battle Vehicle Center.
The Republican Army and government were delighted with the performance of the new machine, which played a key role at the end of the Southern War — the Republic’s bid to subjugate the other southern leagues. Since then, TA has had a monopoly in all but name in the production of military Gears in the southern hemisphere, ensuring the company’s survival and growth. It took several generations, however, for TA to establish itself as a quality producer. Its Jäger was designed as a copy and its attempts to produce its own original Gear designs produced mixed results, culminating in the flawed Anolis design. That the Republican Army purchased the Anolis despite its poor performance is seen by many as proof that Territorial Arms has undue influence with the Republican government. The development of the Rattlesnake general purpose Gear was somewhat more successful, however.
Territorial Arms also builds Gears for the civilian market, but none of their worker designs have achieved the popularity of the common Prairie Dog and Groundhog Gears. The non-military dueling and specialist Gear market is dominated by Mandeers Heavy Industries. Cynics say this is because Territorial Arms cannot (yet) manipulate the general public the way it does the Republican government.
Public interest in Gears is immense in the South and the company has taken advantage of this, licensing all manner of spin-offs — comic books, lunch boxes, bed sheets and model kits, with the Iguana plush toy line being especially popular. TA has supported movies and television shows featuring Gears by supplying vehicles and advisers. It was widely reported that TA demanded script changes in the TN 1832 movie “Duelist’s Honor” that depicted a TA Rattlesnake coming off second best to a Mandeers Python. Territorial Arms is currently busy preparing for another wave of challenges to its preeminence in the Gear marketplace. Mandeers Heavy Industries and Dynamic systems are rumored to be working together on a new Gear design and both companies still have outstanding legal disputes with TA over the Sidewinder and Spitting Cobra designs which, if TA loses, could prove very costly.