Dunebreaker Mk III

“They called it a saviour on rails. A great metal beast that emerged from the sands. Its horn blaring a signal of death before it arrived. It must have had at least a hundred cannons attached to it and a thousand soldiers that lured within its belly.   If we are to conquer these primates, we need to claim this technology for ourselves. It is far too powerful to just be left in their hands.”   -Dyskhari Trooper

 

Pride of Petrina

  The Dunebreaker is a type of train that has undergone three generations in service to the Golden Empire. The first generation consisted of ordinary transport trains that had been fitted with steel scrap and plating for extra protection, with cannons and whatever guns they could find to attach to the vehicle. The rooms were made into mobile command centers and barracks within the old supply carriages - turning the first Dunebreakers into wandering fortresses that crusaded across Petrina and the Golden Dunes. Rescuing displaced civilians, legionaries and even bandits from the Dyskhari onslaught that marked the period as a time of desperation and war.   Even as a makeshift weapon, made by a ragged contingency of miners, soldiers and guardsmen, and displaced nobles with their closest men - the first Dunebreakers proved vital during the fall of the Golden Empire. Especially as both Dominus-Legatus Mortifer Stahlmann and the Holy Imperator used them to run supplies across the borders and rapidly advance on locations invaded by their enemy.  

Current Generation

  In the current era, with the Golden Empire both reclaimed and with its borders expanded - the Dunebreaker Mk III now serves as the main rapid response vehicle for internal threats.   From the mining city of Petrina and the Golden Capitol’s national depot - these machines of war patrol the desert trade routes and the major settlements to deter raiders or other invasive forces from ravaging the regions.   Due to the heavy costs of making these trains and maintaining them, only twenty are currently active in the imperial fleet. The complex tech behind their steampower engines, weaponry and communication systems also causes fabrication to be split between the Golden Empire’s regions. In which the chassis and larger components to make a functional train are made in Petrina - to then be transported to the Golden Capitol for the finishing touches, such as installing the officers headquarters and heavy weaponry within.