Stargazers

Codex 001: Gigas Armors

Taken from War Machine Monthly, Author Anonymous...

"Many historians say that the modern era truly began with the invention of the Gigas Armor. Created from retro-fitted Guide technology, the Gigas Armor advanced military exoskeleton was first envisioned as an anti-extraterrestrial military weapon, the reasoning behind which was that if the Guides were out here before us using such technology, then likely anyone else we found would be doing the same.

There were differences, however, between the Gigas Armors we 'created' and those which we found in the Guide ruins. Guide Gigas Armors are nearly half-again as big as those which we use and somehow run on half the power. The reason for our armors being so much smaller, in fact, is the difficulty in finding a power supply large enough and efficient enough to run one adequately while still allowing the flexibility and versatility required to make them useful.

Since their creation, however, the Gigas Armors have become a standard among all three major military forces in space. In fact, following the signing of the Three-Party Accord, Guide technology became freely traded and understood. This gave easy access to military contractors and manufacturers to begin building their own models, selling them to each military which they worked for and making agreements with those same military bodies to test their prototypes both in the field and off of it.

These private contractors brought diversity to the field. Building not only the bulk of the military armors now in use today, they have also recently begun turning to the private sector to build domestic Gigas Armors for things such as architecture, policing, etc. Soon, we may not be able to walk down the street without seeing medical armors flying overhead, carrying supplies to people in need.

This is an interesting shift in public opinion, however, following the Centurion Incident only a few decades ago. At the time, the appearance of massive, mechanical armors drifting through our sky was something which frightened or even traumatized the people of Mt. Olympus, capitol of the Olympic Repubic, and subsequently led to the breaking of the Republic and the birth of the Federation. Now, however, Gigas Armors are hailed by economists to be one of the fastest growing businesses in our intergalactic society.

Why is this? Much of the blame can fall to the shoulders of a single figure and the company which follows him. The young CEO Eril Haze, founder and public face of Haze Industries, is often attributed with not only demystifying the modern military Gigas Armor for the public but also taking the fear out of them despite their terrifying forms. Following the Great Exodus, he and his company sunk trillions of dollars into marketing and research to build and sell Gigas Armors without losing their public face.

Of course, our Olympic hero is not the only face in the field of Gigas engineering. He has many contemporaries, each of them providing armors to competing governments and creating their own private monopolies. Martinson Mechanics is the largest provider of military armors in the Federation for five years now, starting with their famed and resilient Hunter armor, the lightest and smallest found in modern warfare.

Meanwhile, the Unified Militia of the Alliance enjoys the work of Mahmoud Engineering. Founded by Dr. Mahmoud out of the planet Uruk, some people sometimes argue that Dr. Mahmoud gives his government an unfair advantage as the founder and so-called inventor of the Gigas Armors to begin with. A fourth is rising in the business, Asimov Inventions, though there is little known of them or their business model save for the new frames that they are producing and selling to whoever shows interest.

Following Project Centurion, some people enjoy the seeming transparency of the Gigas industry and the way it projects itself into the public eye. However, nothing else could be done after Mt. Olympus' streets shook with gunfire as massive, metal men rocketed through by, displacing entire buildings in their carnage. Others call for a return to form, prioritizing people and not machines as the face—and cost—of war. I, however, believe this: the Gigas Armor is here, and now that we have the technology we cannot, realistically, lose it again."