Panzer Soldat

Panzer Soldat
Kanji	機甲兵 (パンツァーゾルダ)
Rōmanji	Pantsuaa Zoruda
Profile
Type	Mass-Production Knights
Developed from	Reinford Group
Manufactured from	Reinford Group
Affiliation	Noble Alliance
General Characteristics
Armor	Sachsen Alloy
Armaments	Various Weapons
Special Equipment and Features
Arts-Resistance
Media
Main Game Appearances	Trails of Cold Steel Trails of Cold Steel II

The Panzer Soldats are pivotable humanoid weapons used for mechanical warfare, that are introduced in the Trails of Cold Steel trilogy.

First introduced in the finale of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, these units were first deployed to re-dominate the Erebonian Empire, with occupying Heimdallr as the igniting spark of the Imperial Civil War. Their advanced technology makes combatting them with traditional armaments difficult.

In Trails of Cold Steel II they feature heavily as the primary enemies faced during Divine Knight battles.

Background

The Panzer Soldats are Humanoid combat units developed by Reinford’s 5th Development Division in secrecy per Duke Cayenne's request. Professor G. Schmidt, one of the renowned pupils of Professor C. Epstein was responsible for the development project. By referencing the Azure Knight, Ordine and the Thirteen Workshops Archaisms as a central basis, the frame schematics were designed for feasible mass-production even with the Reinford Group’s technological capabilities.

A few months before the Civil War outbreak, Professor G. Schmidt trialled with various blueprints for several models until he oversaw the completion of a Drakkhen prototype.

Characteristics

Prior to its armor-soldier name, the Soldats are metallically-framed at every mechanical limb with highly-refined alloy from the Sachsen mountains. Its design presence on the battlefield makes a tremendous psychological impact to the human opponents, as they are easily captivated by fear of humanoid-reosmbling giants. What they may lack in firepower and armor compared to tanks, they make up for in mobility and versatility.

It was initially suggested the metal to be Zemurian Ore for it was the same alloy material to create the Divine Knights, but was substituted to the current metal due to being incredibly rare and hard to locate. The alloy was designed with integrated arts resistance to shield them from all Orbal Arts attacks. New model engines were implemented for mobility, articulation, and maneuverability to balance the weight of the refined metal, while improving strength to escape all sorts of restriction, especially steel wires.

Its only weaknesses are in terms of defense. Its physical weakness is the pivotal joints where its vulnerable enough even for over-capable humans with strength and skill can take one unit down. Its other weakness is special defense if htier art-shielding capabilities are nullified, then Orbal Arts can deal damage.

Specifications

• Reactive Armor: - A protective field to defend all attacks stronger than tank-fire, and coated with arts-resistance features to reflect all Orbal Arts.
• Mobile Movement: They are equipped with roller-wheel traction heels for faster mobility to outmaneuver tanks and ground vehicles. 
• Cockpit Compartment: Located in the front of the chest-plate, it is where the pilot accesses the manual controls through switches, panels & screen display in front of them.
• Control System: From its initial development, the Soldat units appeared to be still advanced for manual control, despite instructional documentation for pilots who pass the test run. Capable humans with suited fighting styles and an able mind were to pilot however, the pace can picked quite swiftly. These capable people to-be proficient pilots can have their units customized to match their tailored specifications to match their trained bodies of the same sense.

Development

After Heimdallr was conquered by the Noble Alliance with most of the Imperial Provinces soon followed, the Soldat production was advanced to further implementation for new upgraded models to cover most combat backgrounds. Some of the original Speigel units are personalized to be commander-types for the Army commanders while still equipped with its default armaments.

Personalized Custom units are differentiated either being an overhauled existing unit or a newly upgraded model with certain color schemes. Each is given a different weapon of choice to match the tailored specifications of its corresponding pilot, and calibrated Orbal Engines adjusted to fit parameters for greater output.

Armaments:

Many different weaponries were developed for different usage depending on the model & the skill of the user.

• Knight Sword: A metallic claymore sword.
• Great Knight Sword: A metallic great-sword which is an advance & stronger model of the Knight Sword.
• Thin Knight Sword: A thin-sword with two edge points, a faster & stronger model then the Knight Sword & possible equal to a Great Knight Sword.
• Templar Sword: A dark-grey separate sword-whip, for long-range distant attacks.
• Orbal Beam Rifle: A dark grey machine rifle gun.
• Gigantic Lance: A metallic drill lance.
• Hammer: A red metallic hammers within wheel edges off the side.
• Spear: A grapple handle with the top looking like a metallic three-side spear.

Models:

Soldat units produced in varying specifications tailored to meet the military needs of their pilots. There are some models that when piloted by professionally skilled users can become challenging opponents.

Unit	Model Product	Combat Function	Pilot Users
Drakkhen		Sword, Rifle, Drill Lance, Motor Hammer	Military Soldiers
Spiegel		Great Sword, Drill Lance, Motor Hammer	Commanders
Hector	Heavy-Armored Soldat	Back Orbal Cannons, Ankle Missiles, Shoulder Orbal Cannons	Military Soldiers & High Ranking Pilots
Goliath	Giant Soldat	Gatling Cannons, Missile Launchers X2	Military Soldiers & High Ranking Pilots
Kestrel	High-Speed Soldat	Knight Templar Sword, Great Sword	Military Soldiers & High Ranking Pilots

Notes/Trivia

• The name etymology is "Panzer" which is German for armored unit, and 'Soldat' for 'soldier'.
• The units are described by the metaphor as 'Knights for the modern age', for they are modeled after the Divine Knights constructed of hardened steel from toe to crown.