Braxis
19 January, 2530
1 week since perimeter breach
What museum did they pull this thing out of? thought Major Gutierrez as he beheld the two hundred year old machine parked just outside the Alpha Site footprint.
The gargantuan vehicle was fifteen meters tall and wide, with twelve thirty meter long segments. Each one was held together by a giant gimbal joint, and with black webbing strung between the gaps to allow the crew to switch cars without being exposed to the elements. With the exception of the leading car which had an extra ten meters of length and additional axle, each trailing segment was suspended by four five meter tall wheels. The lead car itself had a full glass cockpit like the bridge of a ship. Emblazoned on its side were the faded, flaking colors of the Terran Confederacy's stars and bars, accompanied by the name "Chau Sara Sweetheart."
"Chief," said the Major. "What exactly am I looking at?"
The Chief Warrant Officer in charge of retrofitting the ancient machine was grinning like a kid on Christmas morning.
"This, sir, is a Mark IV star Modular Expeditionary Vehicle, the most widely produced model of its class. She's got coordinated steering, full NBC protection, all wheel drive, and once we finish the retrofits, a one hundred megawatt cold-fusion power plant..."
"Chief,
"It's a train.
"A giant train with monster truck wheels."
"It's not just a train!" the chief cried, indignant. "It's an MXV! The colonial pioneers used to ride these babies for miles, and it's in great shape!"
"I ask for something that can carry my marines over any terrain for extended periods without support, and they send me something built in the same century as the Long Sleep!"
"Don't you worry none, sir. Once the demo teams finish up cuttin' through the ice sheet and get us in that warp gate, we'll have the ol' girl goin' over mountains, desert, and hell, even rivers. And you better believe we'll be riding in style!"