KalMalog, or ″Striders″ as they have been dubbed by their brethren, are a marvel of fubarnii ingenuity and Delgon manufacturing.
Following Plutom’s creation of legs for the crippled Enarii, Malog, he was instructed to provide such legs for the troops. The KalMalog were driven into existence under close scrutiny of the gods themselves, regardless of the huge costs involved.
The KalMalog tower over other Delgon soldiers, their powerful artificial legs propelling them at great speeds towards their enemies. Once engaged they cause great casualties, trampling their enemies beneath their metal hooves as plumes of acrid smoke follow in their wake.
The birth of a KalMalog:
Young KalGarkii that show good potential but an unhealthy disregard for authority are sometimes selected to serve in the ranks of the KalMalog. The unfortunate fubarnii goes through several months of long, painful surgery as her legs are removed and the mechanical limbs are grafted in place. The success rate is low, but those that survive the initial process there follows a long rehabilitation period as they learn once again how to walk and fight.
During that period they are tutored in the language of the gods so that they may serve them directly and they also form a strong camaraderie with the other fubarnii within their cadre.
The KalMalog are lucky enough to get blessed with the leg upgrades. They essentially get their legs mangled, extracting the core muscle/tendon equivalents and grafting them onto and through the mechanical interface. The fubarnii heal very rapidly so can grow around the mechanisms. The neural pathways that would trigger the leg muscles to contract remain, but connected to other parts of the mechanism. Once the grafts have taken the engineers can rebuild the legs, connecting the correct sections together and hoping that the strider can learn to walk again.
It is in theory possible (but difficult) to move the ‘pilot’ between two chassis.
KalMalog command structures:
Within the Delgon armies there is a strong structure of priests who are responsible for relaying the orders of the Gods. The doctrine states that all soldiers are equal and that they must follow the authority of the Enarii and the priests with unquestioning loyalty.The KalMalog present a challenge to this structure. They are selected from soldiers who show an unhealthy disregard for authority, but who have nevertheless demonstrated their worth and competence on the battlefield. Those soldiers are blessed with the opportunity to be upgraded with KalMalog legs, going through long painful surgery followed by slow rehabilitation. During rehabilitation they spend their time within small close-knit cadres overseen and trained by acolytes. They are trained to work together as a team, following orders, but expected to show unusual levels of autonomy given the speed and endurance they are capable of that their priests cannot match. In keeping with the Delgon doctrine, the KalMalog are all deemed as equals, bowing only to the authority of the Enarii (and the priests as their mouthpieces). In practice, the KalMalog see themselves as superior to the lowly acolytes but generally reach an unspoken understanding that on the battlefield they operate independently. Although very effective on occasion, the life expectancy of the KalMalog proved to be relatively short during the initial confrontations with the Empire, with many overstretching themselves and finding their engines running slow at critical times. The priests recovered a large number of the legs and reworked them to be used again. The factories have also continued their production. The priests have no difficulties finding new Delgon to serve as KalMalog.Those KalMalog who survived the initial conflicts learned to manage their engines, knowing when to use their fuel most efficiently. Some were brought back to support the new cadres, speeding up their training to create a second wave of KalMalog. These veterans serve as equals within the cadres although the new KalMalog look upon them with respect.
