Codex Entry:

The M67A3 Aegis Main Battle Tank

Born out of an EUAF desire to have a suitable replacement for their aging Leopard 3 MBT's, the Aegis's design history was concentrated around achieving the highest proficiency all across the board for any tank: mobility, firepower, and protection. The team behind it refused to accept any major compromises to any of those 3, even from the outset, and with the availability of superior quality compound steel chassis , and the next wave of composite tank armor, such dreams finally had a chance to achieve fulfillment.

They had ample reason for such ambitions, as well: the ongoing surge of the Asian Pacific Alliance ( APA )'s own mainstay tank- the Battlemaster MK2. Typical of the East Asian power bloc, the vehicle lacked the top-level sophistication of a EUAF design, but it wasn't remotely primitive, either. Its Explosive-reactive armor ( ERA ) was, granted, of an older vintage, as it was prominently displayed on the outside of the vehicle, but it still had the ability to repel direct hits from kinetic penatrators- as covert drone surveillance of APA live fire testing grounds had revealed. Faced with the reality of their most distrusted rival developing an MBT that could essentially brute-force its way through oncoming AT ( anti-tank ) weapons fire, the EUAF's combined R&D departments aggressively began tackling the problem of crafting a superior response.

It didn't end there, though. The ongoing tensions and eventual outright clashes with the " Global Liberation Army " ( GLA...which didn't actually go around liberating anyone, unless committing rampant acts of outright terrorism counted as liberating ) across the width of the African continent ( concentrated along the Sahel area, and the southern reaches of Chad ) had also highlighted how the formerly ragtag terrorist organization was narrowing the gap when it came to having armor that could go head to head with what the EUAF was currently fielding, and considering the even closer proximity of the GLA-controlled nations to EUAF home territory, it was truly the final coffin nail for the top brass to give their R and D teams carte blanche to do what needed done.

Which, thankfully, is exactly what happened. A short process, though, it wasn't.

They reasoned that sheer muzzle velocity and shell penetration would compensate for the premature detonation of the ERA, and so they prioritized the development of the Aegis' main weapon: A 120mm smoothbore cannon, capable of firing uranium-cored discarding sabot rounds.

On top of that, they employed a chemical-based propellant for the powder charge for each shell, which tremendously amplified the explosive and armor-piercing abilities of the rounds. Live fire tests of their own, conducted on captured ( and underworld market sourced ) APA tanks proved the viability of the way the Aegis' weapons development had gone, which had been the primary issue the design team had been facing.

The rest of it had already been addressed, after all- a power plant that primarily ran off fuel cells, which provided a marked superiority of power per ton compared to older designs, though it was still capable of running off of diesel oil if need be, albeit at 76 percent of its ideal performance. For a secondary weapon to handle engaging footsoldiers and lightly armored/unarmored targets, they'd armed it with a pair of machine guns contained by the turret, and a 7.62mm MG that could be remote controlled from the turret as well. Thermal-masking smoke grenade launchers , and an AT Missile launcher ( on some models ) were added to round out the MBT's arsenal..

By the end of this extensive process, the Aegis was looking to have been everything the EUAF brass was asking for- but it still needed live testing, which was carried out at the primary EUAF Proving grounds, located on the French Rivera . Said tests proved the worth of the entire sequence of design steps, especially the choice of weaponry.

That should've been the end of the development process, save for the requisite final round of field suitability tests prior to a full rollout, but...it wasn't.

Rather, two prominent EUAF flag officers began speaking out on behalf of major design changes. Specifically, Field Marshalls Egon Schuller, and Katerina Hoftstader. Both had been long living proponents of armored combat for the EUAF, and both had been lobbying hard for the Aegis' development, as two of the most prominent figures associated with it. Though, they each had considerably different views on how and where the additional model's branching development should go..

As the Commanding Officer of the EUAF's most prominent directed energy weapons field units, Schuller was a strong proponent of developing a plasma and/or laser cannon-armed model, while Hoftstader, as the EUAF's ranking specialist on electromagnetic acceleration weapons ( and the commander of the largest EUAF railgun/coilgun-equipped tank armies ) advocated for a heavy-caliber gauss cannon armed Aegis, as well as an even more powerful railgun-equipped model. On a final note...both were even promoting the concept of completely replacing the existing main weaponry of the Aegis with either/or electromagnetic and energy weapons, though this was something they were quick to add was more of a distant possibility than an immediate one.

The results of their energetic gatecrashing, so to speak, was... EUAF brass was moderately receptive to both avenues of R and D, but unsurprisingly, they didn't approve of abandoning ballistic shells for an entire line of AFVs. However , they were willing to authorize the establishment of a field army for each general comprised entirely of mass-accelerator armed/ directed energy armed Aegis tanks, along with a ( limited ) scale rollout of both direct energy and mass accelerator armed Aegis tanks.

This linked directly with the full-scale implantation of the Aegis for the entirety of the EUAF Armored units, which was immediately expanded to cover the full extent of the EUAF's global deployment. Bases and outposts worldwide had a new addition to their arsenal, as fresh contingents of Aegis tanks began to arrive-crewed by those who'd already been fully versed with the tactics and techniques required to expertly handle them- with a specific focus on shoot-and-move tactics, and flanking maneuvers. Aegis tanks were quickly formed to their own armored units, under the banner of the EUAF's existing Battlegroup command structure, and manufacturing of the new AFVs began to ramp itself across factories throughout EUAF territory.

It wasn't long, either, before the Aegis, after all its development , trialing, and training, finally got tested on a real battlefield. The resurgent GLA, already probing the edges of the EUAF's North African territories of Algeria and Egypt, eventually launched an attack from a staging point just south of the Chadian border. Among the forces they sent, were an array of the GLA's newest Marauder Main Battle Tanks-an AFV that was nowhere near the Aegis' level of technological sophistication, yet still managed to stay relevant via heaping odious amounts of ( primitive ) composite armor on top of itself. That, and its 110mm main cannon, which, again, was considerably less advanced, yet ( again ) , compensated for it with a highly volatile gunpowder mix for its shells.

The Marauder had proven its lethality against most lighter vehicles, and had even gone head to head against the Leopard 2 with a degree of success. It was also criminally cheap to manufacture, and equally as simplistic to operate. For those reasons alone, they'd been the pillar of the GLA's own armored formations.

At the engagement known as " Skirmish at Outpost Regina ", they were finally pitted against the newest and deadliest addition to the EUAF's arsenal.

Neither side had the edge of higher terrain, but the GLA did have the numbers. They actually had a 5 to 1 edge, as a full-strength battalion of Marauders hit the perimeter of Outpost Regina. Rather than counter-attack directly, though, the defending unit of Aegis tanks moved rapidly out and angles to the main path of the GLA attack, relying on their superior mobility to flank their enemy quickly. The plan succeeded, and soon, the EUAF armor was well positioned to hit the GLA from the sides. The GLA armor, even as they were barrelling ahead, did what they could to respond, but they were unable to match the Aegis' speed.

Though some shots by them were landed, by and large, it wasn't nearly enough. The return fire coming their way from the Aegis tanks quickly caused half of the Marauders to get reduced to nothing more than mangled heaps of burning metal, and the rest were left with 0 choice, but to withdraw.

The whole engagement was over within an hour. It was a resounding victory for the EUAF, and additionally, it was also the combat debut for both Schuller and Hoftstader's unique models of the Aegis- both of which performed flawlessly. Such was the lethality of the plasma cannons and railguns they carried, that several captured GLA soldiers confessed the reason why they'd literally climbed from their tanks during the battle and surrendered, was because they realized the futility of fighting on against such skewed odds.

Glowing reports of the battle flowed back to EUAF High Command , and with them, strong and fervent recommendations to post Aegis tanks on the borders with the APA-for that was the only remaining test of the new tanks. Given how many Marauders they'd destroyed, and with such a ratio of kill-to-loss skewed toward the positive, it was a considerably compelling argument- and for once, the established brass of a given military ( the EUAF's here, that is ) actually realized the merit of such a move, and fully authorized it to go ahead at the earliest opportunity.

All that remains for the now-combat-proven Aegis, is to find out how it stacks against the APA's Battlemaster MK2...


" I would hesitate to call it a " battle ". Sure, there was resistance. Sure, they gave it everything they had, and the chance of dying was always present...but...there wasn't a point during the fight where the tide was at all going their way. And that's after you realize that they were standing their ground and fighting back, even while the burning wrecks of their fellow tanks were surrounding them.

There was one Marauder out of all of them...one out of them all, that I remember most. One track was blown off, and the main gun had been snapped off at the base like a twig. It appeared fully to us that it'd been knocked out of action for good, but we kept an eye on it anyway as we drove past. It actually seemed much larger than the others as well, and we thought that the GLA had put out a newer, heavier model of the Marauder, but as we got alongside it and began to move along the length of it...that's when we realized it was actually a pair of Marauders !

We'd been fixated on the hole we'd spotted that'd been punched through the frontal plate of the " lead " tank- a total penetration from one of our rounds. It was a large hole...wide enough for your hand to fit through easily. It must have been the gutting shot that removed the Marauder from action...but as we got a better angle, it was only then that we saw that the tank just behind that one had been hit by that same round, and also taken out !

Whether that's a testament to the Aegis' main gun, or the brittle protection of the Marauder, I can't say. But, regardless, I would like to personally offer my congratulations to all members of its R and D team.

God bless superior engineering, and our country's dedication to STEM "

- Colonel Julis Maxsus, commanding officer of the Italian 4th Roman Fusilier Armored Regiment