Achaean Myrmidons
The Myrmidons are the elite fighting force of the Achaean League, chosen from the best of the best of the various militaries and special forces of League constituents. They are trained to the utmost of their ability, then genetically and cybernetically enhanced, then trained again. They are fitted for custom, and distinctive, bright red power armor. That armor, besides enhancing their physical combat abilities nearly ten fold, also interfaces with their nervous system directly, and acts as the uplink and control system for their combat vehicles, from tanks and starfighters to Titan mecha. Without direct neural control, humanoid mecha are painfully clumsy, and the neural interface also allows the pilots to at least come close to matching the reaction times of Technic League AI. As such, while on duty, all Myrmidons wear their armor at all times, in case they need to scramble fighters or mecha. An off duty Myrmidon can be called up, of course, but it can take as long as 15 minutes to get them into their armor: time that cannot be spared on many occasions.
While some Myrmidons are assigned to specific Bulwark bases in key strategic areas long term, most act as rapid response teams deployed across the League in small FTL capable vessels called Argos, supplied with all they need, including combat vehicles, starfighters, and mecha, which the Myrmidons use as needed. Each Myrmidon is assigned a combat vehicle, a starfighter, and a mecha, and uses whichever the mission demands . . . or none of the above if the mission is a covert op or infiltration. Combat and command crew on these vessels are Myrmidons, and are cross-trained in both specific ship’s crew roles and their various other combat tasks. Maintenance and menial ships tasks are all performed by non-sapient robots under Myrmidon supervision. Total ship’s crew is often as small as 12 to 24 Myrmidons and 36 multifunctional maintenance androids and other robots. Medical personnel are part of the Myrmidon teams as well, and the crew rotate galley duty.
Bulwark assigned Myrmidons are called Amyntors, while Argo assigned Myrmidons are called Argonauts. They have a friendly rivalry, but in point of fact Myrmidons are rotated through both roles regularly. Myrmidons are, however, almost always kept with their squad, and are all transferred together. The primary exception to this general rule is replacement of combat losses. Otherwise, it is felt that keeping Myrmidons together at the squad level (6 person team) aids in unit cohesion. Very often, even larger groups are kept together long term.
The Myrmidon’s battle gear has some variety based on personal preference, but always includes an Aegis-4 Battlesuit, optimized for mobility and versatility. There is stronger and tougher power armor out there, but it is also less mobile. By default, the armor has a bright red color scheme, although it usually has limited rainbow chameleon circuits for varied camouflage patterns and occasional personalization. It is trimmed in a dark bronze, and stylistically resembles Bronze Greek Hoplite armor, but has full body coverage. Some design elements, such as the comm unit antennae on the helmets, intentionally resemble Terran ants, a callback to the origins of the Myrmidons in legend. On either vambrace, rarely both, there is a magnetically reinforced shield that unfolds in an iris shape to form a Greek style Aspis marked with an Alpha (A), standing for the Achaeans, in dark bronze on a red field. On the back of the belt is a 2 foot baton of polymorphic memory metal. This weapon, called the panoplos, can stay a baton, or become a shortsword, a short double edged polearm, or a 2 meter spear with an additional meter long sword blade. All of these weapons are of superfine quality and are vibroblades. The default ranged weapons for a myrmidon are an 18.5 mm Gauss pistol with a wide variety of rounds from rifled slug to buckshot to HEMP, and either a Gauss HMG or a 15 mm Portable railgun depending on role. Some Myrmidons may carry Gauss CAWs.
