"What if someone decided to feed General Rain a plastique sandwich and the Shigu Empire broke into a bunch of successor states? Let's venture into the far realms of noncanonicity!"

The Vayu River Republic was among the many warlord-run countries resulting from the collapse of the Shigu Empire after the assassination of General Rain. There were quite a few grudges and grievances left over from the Imperial Era, and without the threat of Rain The Fluffy to keep them unified, the now-infamous Gang of Seven turned on each other. The VRR (not to be confused with the Vayu River People's Republic) was about average for post-breakup states, sporting a tech level akin to a battered, semi-industrialized 1930s Terran country. From Ori's experience, non-Sergals in the VRR were second class citizens on a good day...They're horrible sophonts, but the Rhinos aren't being paid to kill them, so they'll live to see another sunrise. Such is the nature of this universe.

Motorized and Mechanized Infantry units have several advantages over non-mounted units. Motorized units ride in unarmored trucks while mechanized units utilize armored personnel carriers and armored cars. The latter are somewhat resistant to artillery shell bursts and small arms fire, and can provide limited cover and fire support for their mounted troops. In addition, not having to march for extended periods of time makes the use of steel plate body protectors practical, although they're only effective against some pistol-caliber rounds and shell fragments. (I'm sorry, but Mick simply doesn't understand the principles behind ceramic armor and plate carriers. Not only is it hard to fabricate increasingly large plates, but they do their job by shattering!) VRR standard equipment included bolt-action rifles, SMGs, light machineguns, mortars, and the cutting-edge anti-armor rocket projector.

The Riverland Heavy Industries Type 2 Mobile Infantry Carrier was a drastic improvement over the APCs inherited from Shigu forces. It incorporates a hard roof capable of providing protection against artillery fragments and 8mm of rolled homogenous armor. The machine gun mount was moved to a sponson, and firing ports were provided for use by mounted infantry. It's still a tin can, but somewhat less of a rolling coffin. Improvements in engine design allow the vehicle to reach speeds of up to 40 km/h without throwing the track...or a connecting rod. (By comparison, the Gold Ring Vigilance Committee Army (GRVCA) fields an APC comparable to the US M75 for its mechanized infantry.)

Why do they look like IJA troops? It seemed like a good idea at the time. The critters and some other aspects of the setting are pretty cool, but I don't really agree with the overall canon or geology.

Artwork © of me
Sergals and Vilous setting © of Mick39
APC inspired by IJA Type 1 Ho-Ki

"I didn't get the chance to learn their names so I just gave them all witty nicknames. We'll see them again if my knowledge of genre conventions holds true..."