One of M.A.R.S's specialty soldiers during a operation.
M.A.R.S isn't an extremely militant faction, and as such, they have relatively few active forces. Their standing security and defense troops, however, are nothing to trifle with. As a scientific faction, their technological capacity is comparable to the Celestial Guardians and other highly advanced groups. The small size of their military, however, means they are, however, typically are able to equip all of their troops with the best training and equipment in their possession. Furthermore, they tend to primarily employ artificial lifeforms with above-human capabilities and pre-programed training. Their commanders tend to be highly competent and efficient as well, such as Malik Caesars, Serina or the Uber Ethereal.
Overall, while they'd eventually lose a war against military organizations like the Celestial Guardians or the Lords of Midnight, they are likely inflict disproportionate casualties as they do.
Followers[]
Pascal[]
Sophie[]
M.A.R.S's receptionist. Like the previous 'receptionist' that worked during Fade's time running the facility before M.A.R.S., she is not to be underestimated in a fight. While not the best with paper work, her beauty and sweet personality has given many visitors a good first impression of the faction.
Malik[]
Malik acts as an assistant to Pascal where social issues and PR is concerned; however, he also serves as one of the higher ranking officers in M.A.R.S's security forces, although not as high-ranked as the Uber Ethereal.
Uber Ethereal[]
Thin Man[]
Similar to Malik, the Thin Man largely acts as an assistant to the Uber Ethereal regarding negotiations and communication. When the Ethereal is busy with the science and management of the faction and the Akashic Center, or his own experiments, the Thin Man will be sent in his steed to deliver messages and carry out discussions. He also doubles as one of M.A.R.S.'s top operatives if a combat or espionage situation were to crop up.
Berserker[]
Possessing neither the desire nor the true capacity to do much other than fighting, Berserker acts as the muscle of the Ethereal's crew. Occasionally, he keeps an eye on what's going on in the Akashic Center, but otherwise does little more than offer to test out various tech that could be useful to himself, such as armor or melee weapons created by the faction's scientists. His use of M.A.R.S. created armor, however, constantly displays the faction's capabilities, and he is by far one of the strongest people associated with the faction in terms of sheer might.
Mechtoid[]
Perhaps surprisingly, Mechtoid has also taken a sort of negotiator role in the faction, able to simmer his rudeness down to get business done if need be. These skills are only called upon if the Ethereal is stretched thing, however, and otherwise, his role in M.A.R.S. mimics Berserker's.
Elgyem[]
Mostly known as a bright and cheerful face that occasionally graces members of the faction, Elgyem is largely kept out of faction affairs, due to his youth. However, there is one secret role that he's volunteered for by his own violation: Infiltrator. If M.A.R.S. ever has reason to resort to such methods, he wishes to be the one to carry out the sneaky missions, citing his small size, flying, and savvy in both tech and psychic powers as invaluable for such operations.
Common Troops[]
Humanoids[]
Humanoids are Pascal's contribution to M.A.R.S. force. While not formally trained in it, she's already exceeded the abilities of the Fodrans who initially learned how to create it, with the exception that she has been unable to create troops on par with Sophie. Unlike their Fodran counterparts, Pascal's humanoids tend to have emotions and free will, though they tend to be good and believe in M.A.R.S's mission. Their pay tends to be reasonable, and M.A.R.S. tends to treat them as being fully human. As a result, it's typically impossible to prey on their mistrust for mankind based on past abuses.
Humanoids have magical circuitry, but they are are created of nova eleth. This means they are essentially a hybrid of robot and light elemental. There are several classes of humanoids that Pascal can create.
Lambda-Class Humanoids[]
Named after the humanoid Lambda. These humanoids have minimal combat abilities, and mostly serve as workers and assistants, with the child-like ones tending to be assistants, while the adult-like ones being workers. As the workers are expensive to create, they typically are used where above-human strength is very much helpful. They typically keep either Ethereal plasma pistols or Poisson pistols, a pistol variant of the Fourier nova rifle, on their person for self-defense, although as their not primarily combat units, even the newest Multiversal hero should be able to dispatch them without real trouble, although they may have difficulty if their in numbers.
Lambda-Class Heart Hunter[]
Not so much an entirely different model as a humanoid with different training and gear meant to allow them to take on Heartless more efficiently. They wield a Fourier-H Nova Rifle, which varies from it's base model in that it's meant to better focus it's particles on canceling on the darkness of heartless, and their armor tends to be 'tweaked' to focus on nova eleth over elerium power in their shields to better protect themselves from the Heartless. This is at the cost of being less effective against regular troops.
It should be noted, however, it is relatively difficult to take a Heart Hunter by surprise, as they are trained against Heartless ambush tactics. This also means it's not unheard of for a Heart Hunter to be taken along as officers and tactical aides when guerilla warfare is expected, although they tend to be reequipped with a more standard loadout for these missions.
Bessel-Class Humanoids[]
Bessel Humanoids in Unity Armor
Named after Kurt Bessel, a deceased old friend of Malik's, these are what make up the bulk of M.A.R.S's humanoid troops, typically wearing Pascal's Unity armor that combines UNSC, Amarcian, and Ethereal technology, they by and large tend to wield either Fourier nova rifles, which shoot light magic, or what Pascal has dubbed star swords, which are simply blades made of alien alloy that channel nova eleth. It is not, however, uncommon to see Bessel-Class humanoids wielding plasma rifles or even UNSC small arms because they think it's a better fit for them.
Cornell-Class Humanoid[]
Named after a kindly scientist from ancient Fodra, the Cornell-Class is less common, and serve by and large as light mages. They tend to carry a mix of attack and healing magic, although most are better with the later, and are among the best medics in M.A.R.S.'s security forces. Like Lambda-class humanoids, they can be issued pistols upon request, but most don't due to having faith in their nova artes.
Protos Heis-Class Humanoid[]
All female,and often violet-haired, the Protos Heis class are named for Sophie's original name, and are essentially a variation of her that's easier to produce, though not as strong. They are produced by using Sophie's DNA as a template. They are the rarest type of humanoid as well as the most powerful. Like their template, they tend to be agile fighters who mix light magic with short-ranged martial arts. Neither Sophie nor the Protos Heis class tend to consider each other family, though Sophie does have a slight fondness for them, and the Protos Heis-class have been know to jokingly refer to her as 'Mom' from time to time.
Robots[]
The Uber Ethereal's star contribution to M.A.R.S. limited military is purely for defense. These robots litter the Big Empty facility in the Wasteland, and dozens have been shipped over from there to the Akashic Center. Some roam the facility freely, while others are hidden in Harkin's old robot deployment systems.
Mr. Handies[]
A model developed before the Great War, Mr. Handies are essentially floating spheres with three arms. Mr. Handies were designed to act as servants, and so many have been brought to the Akashic Center to act as assistants for the scientists and researchers that visit, and they can be taken away from the facility freely. While they can use a flamethrower and a buzzsaw if an intruder is detected, their combat usefulness is very limited.
Robo-Scorpions[]
These little buggers mimic the radscorpions of the Wasteland. The pride and joy of Dr. Mobius, they range in size from the size of a toy dog all the way to the size of larger breeds. All Robo-Scorpions are armed with wrench-like pincers and the ability to shoot lasers from their tails. They are fairly durable, and tend to explode when destroyed. While not too dangerous on their own, a swarm can quickly fill the area, spraying intruders with a rain of laser fire.
They also constantly emit adorable pre-recorded messages from the kind old Mobius. Want a Mentat, younin'?
Sentry Bots[]
The strongest robots from Big MT, and arguably the most dangerous models ever designed in the Wasteland, Sentry Bots are death on three wheels. Equipped with advanced sensors, wheels that make them very speedy, and a missile launcher and either a minigun or gatling laser in either arm, the Sentry Bots make formidable foes. Advanced armor plating and hardened electronics makes them difficult to punch through and resistant to EMPs.
Irregular Troops[]
As a non-standard military force, M.A.R.S's security forces often incorporate irregular elements. These have great variation, and are occasionally more powerful than regular forces, though these units tend to be rare.
Guardians[]
Easily the most powerful and most rare of M.A.R.S's creations, and born out of a collaborative effort between Pascal and the Uber Ethereal to create a trump card against the New Valorian menace. The Guardians are an upgrade of the Uber Ethereals Outsiders that use nova eleth as their energy, and incorporates derrus metal into the design. While stripped of their capacity to pilot ships and transmit signals, they far make up for it with enhanced physical strength and speed, as well as healing, self-buff, and even a few artes derived not only from Sophie's artes, but Pascal's as well.
Their weapons, however, are far and away the most dangerous thing about them, typically wielding one of two powerful heavy weapons. The first is the Heavy Nova Plasma, a major upgrade over traditional designs than infuses the plasma with nova eleth to increase the damage dealt. Second is the mini-fusion lance, which has a far longer range to the point of almost being a sharpshooter's rifle. It's power is made possible by using elerium to generate the energy, but using fire eleth to focus it.
Mercenaries[]
Mercenaries before Deployment
Being a faction with good goals, mercenary work for M.A.R.S. by and large tends to be guilt-free. Other times, less scrupulous mercenaries show up, hoping to earn some of M.A.R.S's weapons for a particularly daunting job well-done payment. Mercenaries are armed with whatever they come with. They are particularly often seen in the operations of less scrupulous members of the faction, where they aren't required to report back to the Deans or Malik.
Researchers[]
Having come to study rather than fight, M.A.R.S's researchers by and large tend to leave other troops to fight for them. Desperate times, however, may call for desperate measures and few survive in the multiverse with no combat ability. As a result, it certainly isn't an impossible scenario for an enemy to back a researcher into a corner, only for the tides to be turned as the 'researcher' casts a powerful combat spell or shoot them with a prototype giant laser.
Individual Creations[]
While not the main focus of the faction, weapons research does happen, as well as the types of biological, magical, and robotics research that could create combat units. These units tend to be unpredictable, and tend not to be in mass production.
Vehicles[]
Tanks[]
Polar Bear Main Battle Tank[]
A variation of the UNSC's M850 "Grizzly" Main Battle Tank, these represent an merging of Ethereal and UNSC technology. Using the design of the UNSC tank as a base, the main battle tanks is armored with alien alloy as a base, uses an elerium generator for power, and attacks with a miniaturized fusion lance.
Aerospace[]
Fodran Shuttles[]
A Standard Shuttle
While not as advanced as their Shy Guy counterparts, these shuttles are useful for getting people to and from worlds in the Multiverse safely. They don't tend to have weapons aside from point defenses, although transport variations tend to have better armor. That being said, there are exceptions, although they tend towards light nova weapons or plasma weapons meant to get the enemy of their tail.
Ethereal Scouts[]
Frequently called UFOs by those in and out alike, these craft are the creation of the Ethereals. They tend to be armed like their prime counterparts, using plasma cannons to rain down fire on the enemy. They are usually piloted by a Lambda-class humanoid. These represent the bulk of M.A.R.S's aerospace fleet.