VSDC VEP-Infantry Cohorts
"One of the more prominent lines of convergent evolution in Parime were the VEPs: Vehicular External Prosthetic - referred as a 'Vex' for short by Vaduzians - the local flavor of mechanises chassis which, as the name suggests, were the logical conclusion of military cybernetic hardware, as opposed to Union mechs evolving out of hardsuit tech [...] the quality-over-quantity approach to VSDC production meant that VEPs are a massive investment in time and resources and needed an extensively modified pilot to get the most from it. This led to the modern Vaduzian's perception of such pilots as belonging to an ersatz-Samurai class, granted privilege and autonomy for their dedication to their craft."
"Vaduz and the FCA both have mechanised chassis units, but that's where the similarities end between the two in terms of mechs and their pilots. Your typical FCA Jockeys brought in from the general recruitment pool and trained in a variety of skills aside from their main trade, a Vaduzian pilot is trained from their teens exclusively to pilot a VEP. Sure, they'll learn how to maintain it, as well as the basics of firearm-use, first-aid and dueling-etiquette, but they're still an order of magnitude more specialised in their craft, and it shows. the mechs themselves are fragile things but they know how to out-run and out-maneuver everyone short of other Vaduzian mechs, particularly in zero-G. Makes them awful buggers in ship-to-ship combat if they close in."
Composition
Manpower
Each Cohort currently consists of 60 VEP pilots, along with a 24-person dedicated support-unit and varied numbers of supporting staff from local stations.
Equipment
Much like other elements of the VSDC, VEP pilots enjoy a great deal of agency in choosing and modifying their mechs and equipment to suit their individual needs, up to and including purely aesthetic modifications to establish individual or group presence on a battlefield. VEP pilots prioritise low-mass, low-heat systems to optimise combat effectiveness in the vacuum of space, with a tendency to bring along only what's necessary for the mission ahead with little margin for overuse to maximize delta-V.
Weaponry
Modern VEP loadouts generally favor a mixture of conventional ballistic and missile/micromissile-based weaponry over direct-energy armaments. Ballistic arms remain the primary weaponry of choice, but while Vaduzian chemistry and materials-sciences allow for impressive power/weight ratios in caseless munitions, the high heat-generation necessitates open-cycle supercooling solutions to ensure manageable temperatures in extended combat engagements. Missiles meanwhie, are growing in popularity as low heat-transfer, low-recoil weapons capable of functioning equally well in atmospheric and vacuum enviroments despite their individual expense, while energy weapons tend to be relegated to defensive and special-use loadouts, owing to their massive heat-output and energy draw. Melee weaponry designed for VEP use tend to be lightweight, skeletonised blades that use propellant-thrusters to apply needed force when used in zero-g/microgravity, with combat-axes being
Vehicles
Even before the adoption of SSC design-schema, Vaduzian VEPs had a strong tendancy towards ultra-lightweight, high-accelleration mechs optimised for fighting in high-orbit and space over ground-engagements. Being developed from cybernetics in lieu of hardsuits, VEPs don't so much have a cockpit as they do a designated space or creche to store a pilot's body while their brain connects and interfaces with the VEP itself, and skeletal structures are designed to mimic that of the pilot as much as possible to minimize training-time and feelings of disconnection/dysphoria within the pilot.
Structure
VEPs are organised into three-person flights, which are in turn grouped into twelve-person squadrons. Chain-of-command in flights are determined on an ad-hoc basis before each operation, based on veterancy and suitability for the task at hand, while Squadrons and Cohorts are led by flight lieutenants and flight lieutenant colonels, respectively.
Tactics
VEP operations commonly focus on fast strikes intended to overwhelm enemy forces before they have an opportunity to respond or set up a defence, prioritising elimination of key elements and maintaining 'momentum' of assault while minimizing collateral damage. As with most VSDC forces, VEP pilots follow 'Psychological Deterrence' doctrines of maximizing panic and demoralization among enemy forces, and have been known to delay exfiltration to deliberately antagonise and attack remaining forces after completion of objectives to further disrupt enemy morale.
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