Auxiliary PFrL-MA MK 02

The work horse of the Imperial Union during the opening years of the Charon war, this Mech is as big a symbol of the Imperial Union military might as was their opening blitzkrieg through the Allied Commonwealth and U.S.A territories. The first ever mass produced Mechanised armour, and the first ever Mech to use the Gemini frame and EXCEL Gyro technology it was a model years ahead of its time, and it is said to have had 3 million of these mechs were constructed both before and during the war, before their construction was suddenly cut short. As a result it was the most common mech seen during the war and its stable yet advanced lead to an explosion of mechanised armour designs to be created during and following the war. Earning its reputation in the fires of war it became a symbol both for its faction and the whole conflict, signalling a new age of armoured warfare.

Appearance
While its colour scheme was modular the rather squat form of the Auxiliary was made to maximise protection to the user and protect its key operating systems buried inside its chest, as well as its arms and legs which were crucial to the mechs combat practices.

The bulky sholder pieces were noted to be at their thickest said to be 20 cm thick, while the highly stylised chest piece domed out away from the body slightly to allow its angular neck guard to better protect its vulnerable neck joint. While it did look cumbersome, the segmented design of the armour both maximised movement but at the same time was designed to cover and protect the suits rather fragile interior frame. And as proven by to its high survival rate among its pilots the armour does its job.

Combat capabilities
The Auxiliary was the culmination of ten years of testing a new form of mechanised vehicle, one that used its own manipulators, or hands, as its primary means of firing a weapon, rather than using inbuilt weapon systems, used in Mechanised Tanks, that typically built up huge amounts of heat in combat. It was also built with the idea of mass deployment, tactical flexibility, modulability and durability in mind. While it sacrificed its own individual firepower, its exclusion of inbuilt weapons in the base design and the fact that it could carry a weapon externally in its own hands meant that it could move faster, use less fuel and move more internal systems towards heat management and extra armour plating. Still many systems were left untouched to allow pilots to better modify the base factory model to their own hearts content, giving a pilot plenty of rooms to make adjustments. In addition the Healion Industrial Workshop built hundreds of variations on the standard design for specific combat rolls, meaning a pilot had 'his' choice of what he piloted as modifications could be made during the transfer of his new machine or once it arrived with little to no fuss.

In combat it was designed to work in squads of four at the minimum, with one squad member acting as a squad leader with signal boosting and tactical equipment and another squad member possessing a heavy weapons variation or 'canon' variation, using shoulder mounted auto canons. While each unit lacked individual firepower, the advanced communication computers in the command mech allowing the mechs to swap tactical data, coordinate fire with lightning efficiency and know each squads mates position, regardless of Imperial Union electromagnetic interference. The squads usual tactic was to rush the enemy, using their high speed and firepower to dodge or absorb an incoming attack allowing them to get on top of their opponents and outflank mechanised tanks which had much slower turning speeds than the Auxiliary.

However in one on one combat the Auxiliary was noted to be somewhat inferior, although skilled pilots were know to use hit and run tactics during the rare occasion in the early war they were outnumbered, which the Auxiliary unintentionally excelled in.

In addition the fact that the mech was easy to build, easy to maintain and easy to replace meant that even when one was taken out in combat it usually 70% of its material could be salvaged and repurposed for a new Auxiliary unit. Thus Auxiliary's were always able to enter combat even when damaged. Thus the Auxiliary epitomised the Imperial Union military ideology of high speed, well coordinated attacks and outflanking and overrunning an opponent, and keeping up that attack no matter what.

Trivia

 * Its angular mono visor and Stalhlhelm inspired headpiece won it the infamous derogatory nickname of 'Storm trooper mech' after the dreaded Storm trooper core from World War II. However due to the commonality of the mech many soldiers on both sides called the mech an Aux for short.
 * Due to the widespread use during the Charon war many Democratic Federation soldiers usually called the Imperial Union Auxer's because of their preference for the vehicle. In fact even when the mechs were not being deployed in combat soldiers and pilots still called anyone from the I.U and Auxer.
 * The mech was highly inspired by the base grunt units commonly found in other mecha fiction, and was heavily inspired by the Zaku II from Gundam.