The Scutia Battlemech is a groundbreaking advancement in the development and production of smart weaponry. Essentially a light tank built on a simple chassis, the Scutia, or Scoots as they are referred to by the Republic's legionnaires, are the first weapons platform to feature a true artificial intelligence. This has led to concern amongst some of the Army's officer corps, but impressive results on the battlefield have quieted the platform's most vocal opponents.

"They leave nothing behind, nothing but death and ash.”

Those were the words that heralded the start of the Umbrian Republic's first intergalactic war. The vicious, cybernetically-enhanced alien race known as the Ascomanni would strike at the distant colony world of Battipaglia, slaughtering the planet's civilian populace and the first wave of rescuers sent to save them.

Confident that they would inevitably encounter alien life in the vast expanses of the greater galaxy, the Umbrian Republic saw the maintenance of a strong military as a prudent step to safeguard their society. With the sudden and unprovoked attack by the Ascomanni, that prudence would ensure that the Republic did not immediately succumb to their alien adversaries.