Mobile Remote Operations Base

A Mobile Remote Operations Base (abbreviated MROB) is a dieseltech vehicle the size of a small building, and is used to explore, claim, and hold remote cubes for the vehicle's owning organization. MROBs are typically deployed in pieces from the skystations at which they are constructed and assembled on the ground once landed. They cannot traverse inflection layers and commissures on their own due to their nature as hefty ground vehicles.
Once "in theatre," an MROB can become a mobile command post for expeditions exploring and colonizing the cube in which the vehicle has landed, with many of the vehicle's parts able to be re-purposed for infrastructure (i.e. the MROB's descent ballutes being re-purposed into tent materials). As many regions of the Manifold remain unexplored, even in modern times, the appearance of an MROB in a cube is a clear sign of aggression on the part of the vehicle's owning organization. Frontier skirmishes between MROBs and their crews are the frequent subject of novels, radio plays, motion pictures, and various wartime propaganda - especially in the Free Faces League, who were both the conceptual forefathers of the MROB as a concept and heavily invested in the mystique of taming the unspoiled frontiers.
The League Dieseltech Armory is the premier manufacturer and employer of MROBs under state defense contracts, though the overall number of active MROBs in the Manifold remains low as of the year 10,000. At least one MROB has fallen into the hands of Avarix privates, it's population enslaved and the vehicle turned to a powerful anti-air asset. Voxelia is the closest competitor to the League in terms of MROB production, and a few of these models have been purchased and employed by Petalcap Vale to attempt some hardscrabble homesteading in the hostile environments of the Distal Tesseract. The Rostran Archipelago Confederacy prefers to explore by air or sea, being much more trade-minded than the other factions, and therefore only has one MROB in operation as a proof-of-concept. While the Manifold Conservation Society has no MROBs as of the year 10,000, their mission statement makes them a prime potential customer for the industry.

Power Generation

MROBs are powered by massive diesel-electric engines, and most carry small bio-reactors filled with special algae to produce biodiesel from locally available resources (even human waste if necessary). MROB power plants are designed to be nigh-indestructible by the standards of modern technology and as unconcerned with the quality of fuel as possible. A sizeable proportion of an MROB's considerable mass is devoted to fuel tankage, both for the vehicle itself and it's compliment of vehicles.

Propulsion

When dropped onto a cube layer from an orbiting skystation, the MROB's descent is slowed by several large ballutes filled with lifting gas. This need only be enough gas to slow the vehicle's fall, not to lift it fully, as an MROB is not meant to be recovered from the destination cube layer. The core vehicle, it's consumables, and it's various extra equipment are dropped separately, as the fully assembled vehicle is far too heavy to be dropped from orbit as a single unit. Once the MROB and it's components have landed, the ballutes are generally stowed, later to be cut along pre-marked seams into triangular sections to provide tent fabric once the crew finds a suitable construction site.
Once landed, an MROB can propel itself along the ground with it's all-terrain track drive. MROBs destined for watery cubes are designed to be amphibious, with a sleeker, buoyant hull and pivotable thruster pods for maximum precision of movement.

Weapons & Armament

Beyond it's complement of autogyros and auto-armor suits, a fully-assembled standard MROB comes armed with an artillery cannon and at least one form of anti-air weaponry, with the thinking being that an MROB can attempt to flush opponents out of favorable construction locations while dissuading aerial scouts or bombers. An MROB is modular, however, and can equip up to four separate weapon systems at a time on structurally-supported roof platforms.

Armor and defense

The outer hull of an MROB is fortified with alloy playing engineered for lightweight protection, while the critical systems (such as the engine and CIC) are buried deep in the core of the vehicle. Many MROBs also feature camouflage, radio jamming equipment, and small caches of mining explosives which can double as traps or sapping charges in a pinch. All crew members sent out with an MROB are combat-trained and equipped with some form of small arms so that they can defend their chosen construction site.

Communication Tools & Systems

MROBs are fitted with powerful radio antennae which can send, receive, or jam communications over a broad frequency spectrum. Some sections of the descent ballutes are designed to be re-purposed into small messenger balloons to be sent up to waiting airships when radio signals are not discreet enough, though these are limited in quantity. The captain of an MROB are given code books to allow for encrypted communication with their superiors once in theater.

Sensors

The CIC of an MROB is equipped with a wide variety of environmental sensors so that the captain can make informed decisions about whether or not a given location would be a good site for base or colony construction.

Additional & auxiliary systems

The forward prow of the MROB can be lowered to serve as an oversized (if shallow) bulldozer. This feature is typically used to create flat areas for construction or to establish rough dirt roads for later use by the crew. With an incredible tow capacity, additional modules and even other MROBS can be pulled around to extend the logistical reach of the main vehicle, creating huge "land trains" that serve as mobile municipalities. No train of MROBs longer than three vehicles has ever been created in the Manifold except as a proof-of-concept exhibition put on by League Dieseltech Armory in 9993.

Hangars & docked vessels

MROBs typically carry two single-person dieseltech autogyros and two suits of dieseltech auto-armor to support construction, exploration, and defensive missions. Landing decks for autogyros are a common addition to MROBs once they are deployed in a suitable construction area.

Used by

• PVU Southern Light

Nickname

MROB

Rarity

Rare

Width

30ft

Length

30ft

Height

15ft

Weight

240 tons (fully assembled)

Speed

20 mph

Complement / Crew

12-16 operating crew members (captain, helmsman, navigator, communications officer, 2 dieseltech engineers, 2 doctors, 2 construction auto-armor pilots, 2 scout autogyro pilots, plus up to 4 gunners)

Cargo & Passenger Capacity

50 passengers (separate drop) plus baggage (stowed in side/rear cargo meshes)