Wallaby

Specifications
Use	All-Terrain Vehicle
Production Code	Various
Manufacturer	Various
Height	1.6 meters

With the increase in the deployment range of armies, infantry became more than before that “force we have to tug,” thought by some to be the main reason why armies could not move so fast. With faster infantry, it might be possible to break the inertia barrier and move an army above a hundred kilometers a day. One of the steps that was considered essential was to provide infantry with vehicles that could move fast and cost little. While this premise was mocked by all serious officers and proven wrong in the end, the Wallaby was born from researches in that area and is one of the few arguments in favor of mobile infantry.

While it never helped a regiment move faster than its daily standard, it allowed for faster reconnaissance of potentially hostile terrain and gave strike infantry the mobility they required to perform quick surgical strikes or raids on enemy camps.

Vehicles such as the Wallaby had often been considered in the past, but the level of technology never allowed the price to drop below 25,000 marks and it was deemed too expensive to produce. With the constant warfare which plagued the 19th century, technological leaps allowed the miniaturization of engines required to make the Wallaby a reality. The Wallaby is one of the many all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) designed to carry heavily equipped infantry troops in difficult battlefield conditions.

The vehicle’s large wheels are powered by two independent V-engines placed in tandem in the main body, each engine supplying torque to the four wheels. The computer-controlled transmissions, one for each wheel, are protected by the armored hub of the wheel itself. The Wallaby’s low price and standard parts make it easily available to all northern forces, and is found in abundance in most infantry regiments. Some Wallabies can be modified to accept a special parafoil package that makes them airdroppable. The parafoil’s design, along with the bike’s suspension, allows the driver to be dropped with his vehicle and be operational almost as soon as he touches the ground. Some other Wallabies, such as the Sneak Wallaby, were designed to perform stealth or black operations, and while they are more expensive, they often give an advantage of surprise which is not negligible.

Usage

The first Wallaby entered service in TN 1899, during the Sandstorm Strikes, and was quickly established as an essential part of Northern infantry forces by the time the Colonial Expeditionary Forces from Earth first appeared in TN 1913. During the last cycles of the Sandstorm Strikes, the available Wallabies were assigned to veterans so they could have the mobility necessary to properly coordinate the inexperienced recruits which were spread over too large an area. The Wallaby, which at the time only had two-wheel traction, broke down regularly because of the harsh Badlands conditions and sand in the gears and was modified to support four-wheel traction with the addition of a second engine to the rear axle.

Wallabies became more durable and unit commanders greatly relied upon them for ground communications when the CEF’s ECM proved too hard to break. A solid network of Wallabies was established, allowing the northern segment of the Alliance to stay in touch with units near the front and convey appropriate orders. After the War, nearly half the Wallabies were too damaged to repair; since they were no longer needed anyway, many of them were sold or sometimes even given to Badlanders to thank them for their services and contribution to the Terranovan defense effort.