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[NUKE9.13]

Battle Report for SY104

You know, running an Arms Race makes me feel like a terrible GM. On the other hand, my terrible decisions have been divided fairly among both sides, I think.

I wonder if all AR GMs feel this way?

I mean, uh, obviously I am flawless. Yes. Clearly.


Orbital Combat

A: The Quillian ITC retrieves a unit from the surface and makes its way towards D.

---

D: Once again, the orbit of D experiences the clash of both colony's main fleets. Ertex's fleet, consisting of seven Armoured Cuttlefish, once again experience a sudden bombardment from just outside of their sensor range. A few hits does nothing to dissuade them, and they surge forwards. Quillus's fleet comes into view- no larger than before, three Odins and two Lokis. Athena guides the fleet in a spiralling dance, all whilst training twenty-one AX4s on the lead Odin. Invisible beams of light converge on the vessel, and Athena confirms nineteen hits.
However, sensors indicate no damage. As the fleets enter Medium range, it becomes apparent that Quillus has added yet more armour to the Odin. They move ever so slightly slower than before, but the initial volley of lasers seem to do almost no damage. Undettered, Athena continues to fire on the ship.
The Quillian crew cheer as their systems indicate that the majority of Ertex's laser fire is successfully being redirected away from the ship. The QS-OM3-04 'Mirage Plating' is doing its job. Thinking themselves invulnerable, the Quillian fleet hammers the Ertexites, as Huginn compensates for Athena's evasive efforts, and 17 Mjolnirs gradually begin to pound Ertex into submission.
All hope is not lost for Ertex, however. Mirage Plating does not redirect 100% of incoming fire, and that which slips through starts to damage the delicate nanostructure. Eventually, the plating fails, and burns away completely- although, of course, at that point two more layers of armour remain. The effective strength of the Odin versus lasers has been more than doubled, which buys them enough time to thoroughly trounce the Ertexites- not without scars, with the lead Odin (the titular Odin, in this case) taking heavy damage (the Lokis choosing to hang back and fire from range, rather than close and get shot down- they may also have Mirage Plating, but remain far more puny than the Odin). But as Cuttlefish begin to break apart under the sustained Mjolnir barrage, Ertex must concede the field, retreating with their surviving vessels.

Having- at last- won a substantial victory, Quillus is free to hunt down Ertex's ITCs. The battle did give them enough time to put some distance between them and the Quillians, and the Ertexite fleet was not completely destroyed, but this is only enough to provide enough time for the one carrying cargo to unload half, before a Loki sights it and summons the fleet to help destroy it. The second ITC, not busy trying to unload, manages to evade detection.
Meanwhile, both of Quillus's ITCs have all the time in the world to unload.

Results: 1 Odin heavily damaged. 2 Armoured Cuttlefish destroyed, 4 damaged, 1 Ertexite ITC destroyed (along with 50% of cargo).

Analysis: This time, it is Quillus who doubled their endurance, and Ertex who brought extra ships. But a 40% increase in hulls and guns is not enough to overwhelm a 100% increase in armour. It was not a complete rout, but neiher was it a close fight, and this gave Quillus the chance to interdict Ertexite transports.

---

E: An Ertexite ITC arrives, and extracts a unit from the freezing wastes below.

---

F: Both sides withdraw their ITCs, leaving the troops below to duke it out.


Ground Combat

A: Despite being down a unit, Quillus still outnumbers Ertex 2:1. The X100-I helps a little, but not enough to stop Quillus from pushing the front lines, and securing more of the unstable world.
  Q:4/6, E:1/6
 
D: Reinforcements rain down on D, although Ertex's are cut short after a while. Nevertheless, their commanders believe that now is the time to make the final push, before Quillus can get their act together. They command their forces forwards, into the vertiginous verdant vistas.

An Ertexite patrol marches along a path high in the mountains, keeping a close eye on their surroundings. There is nothing to be seen, except for some haze on the next ridge over.
Aforementioned haze subsequently opens fire. A rocket lands in the middle of the patrol, the explosion killing several, and blowing more off of the side of the mountain. Then dozens of tiny slugs start ripping through the survivors, before half a dozen Quillian soldiers emerge from their hiding places to finish things off. Within minutes, it is over- the patrol having fallen victim to a Mirage-Plated Hrungnir equipped with QS-MAMG-04 'Ullr' CIWS.

A column of tanks rumbles down a jungle road, headed towards one of Ertex's forts. They have been spotted by the Ertexites, their position and heading radio'd back to Sarissa positions. Hark; a missile streaks across the sky now.
To which the Ullr system mounted on some of the tanks responds. The mini-Mjolnir fires at the oncoming threat. Nuclear fire blossoms high in the sky, and the trees groan as the blast passes over them. More missiles approach, and more Ullr slugs fill the sky. The column is bathed in alternating green and red light*, which is all jolly festive until a single nuke manages to slip through the defences and takes out a pair of tanks. However, it is the only one to make it through; 15 others intercepted, turning complete destruction into a minor loss.

Micromissiles and lasers fill the air, the smoke canisters launched by Fog Machines serving to reveal their passage (and slightly reduce their efficacy). The Quillian commander wipes his brow; despite their new tanks running roughshod over Ertex, they are facing greater resistance than anticipated. Ertex just seems to have more soldiers in the field than Quillus- despite intelligence suggesting their numbers are the same. Also, some of the Ertexites appear to be wearing armour, which affords them great protection against Hayk rounds- they can take literally dozens of conventional shots without going down. Fortunately, the armour appears to be relatively cumbersome, as the wearers seem to stumble occasionally, and their aim isn't so great. Also, some of them apparently have nothing better to do than carry around a big black box with antenna on it?
The Ertexite commander, meanwhile, is having lunch back in his tent, content that the EAF-ACD1 "Aegis" drones will hold the line until the afternoon.

Anecdotes aside, Quillus's tanks are back in action, their newer models 90% invisible (in the visible spectrum), and equipped with CIWS that serves both as anti-missile and (less effective) anti-personnel. Mixed patrols of these and the older models are much less likely to get (successfully) nuked, and are able to cause the Ertexites serious hurt- especially given the Mirage Plating's ability to greatly reduce laser damage, making their penetration even harder. When it gets down to infantry warfare, Ertex has the upper hand, as their Aegis drones are well armoured (compared to the otherwise entirely unarmoured regular infantry), entirely fearless, and also provide a slight advantage in numbers. However, their infantry advantage is less than Quillus's tank advantage, and they are unable to stop Quillus from finally managing to fortify the mountains and jungles they have been skulking about in for years. It is by no means a complete rout, however- D is not lost yet.
  Q:1/6, E:5/6

F: Nothing changes on F, which means nothing changes in terms of territory either.
  Q:4/6, E:0/6
 

New Tech (Spotted)

Ertex most visibly rolled out the EAF-ACD1 "Aegis" this year. A humanoid droid with an Insalloy shell, it has a (mediocre) sensor suite and Athena node in its head. It is slightly unstable, has slightly wobbly aim, and without the presence of a nearby Aegis Commander (essentially just a big Athena node with antenna on it) the on-board processing power is not enough to handle anything beyond basic tasks. It does not say "Roger roger" incessantly. They cost 1.5GPP for 100 drones, which take up 0.2TC.
They have also clearly made the production of Insulanium cheaper, through the Hephaestus Mk2 process.

Quillus revealed- although perhaps that is the wrong word, given its nature- QS-OM3-04 'Mirage Plating'. Known as an Optical Metamaterial, it uses some fancy properties of magnetism and light to do things conventional physics would suggest is impossible, like having a negative refraction index. Specifically, they are using it to redirect light in two main ways- the first redirecting high-frequency laser fire away from their ships, the second redirecting light around their tanks so as to render them invisible (and resistant to visible-light lasers, like Ertex's rifles use). Mirage Plating is not perfect; it has a limited range of wavelengths it can be attuned to- low X-ray to low Microwave-, can only affect a certain band of wavelengths at a time- meaning, for example, that it cannot redirect X-rays and visible light at the same time-, and only redirects 90% of incoming light anyway. It costs 0.5SPP to equip an Odin with Mirage Plating, and 1GPP to equip a Hrungnir.
They have also revealed the QS-MAMG-04 'Ullr'. A well-performing 6mm coilgun in a fast-tracking turret, which, with the assistance of Huginn aiming, can take out both incoming missiles, and nearby infantry (though it is not optimised for the latter). These can be attached to essentially any vehicle, which they have taken advantage of, installing them on not only their Hrungnir tanks, but also on the Odin and Loki. Against the Sarissa's slow, clumsy, unarmoured missiles, they are extremely effective.


Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[NUKE9.13]

Battle Report for 105

This interesting year/boring year combat dynamic is an unintentional- and to my mind undesirable- side effect of the game mechanics. I'm probably not going to change it now, though.


Orbital Combat

B: Two ships converge on planet B. A lone Ertex ITC is joined by one of the Odins from D. Alas, but an unescorted ITC is a vulnerable thing, and after a brief game of cat and mouse, the Odin catches the ITC, hammering it with Mjolnir slugs until it breaks apart. The unit it was carrying is, of course, toast.

D: Ertex bravely turns their tail and flee, whilst Quillus sends their damaged Odin back home, and one towards planet B (see above). The Loki-carrying Quillian ITC extracts outdated tanks from the surface, and moves towards F, the other heads back to Quillus. Later, another Quillian ITC arrives and deposits new equipment on the planet below.

F: Quillus's ITC arrives unopposed, and quickly delivers its cargo to the forces below.


Ground Combat

A: Nothing changes on A. Quillus continues to advance, and whilst Ertex has "fortified" (read: dug a few trenches and reinforced their inflatable tents) the rest of the planet, without aid, the outnumbered Ertexites are liable to be overrun.
  Q:5/6, E:1/6

 
D: Dove shuttles rain down from on high, delivering new toys to Quillus's forces. Where once half their forces were equipped with outdated, un-Mirage-Plated Hrungnirs, now both units are fully equipped with cutting edge, semi-invisible tanks. What's more, some get to awkwardly clamber in to new suits of the QS-PIA-05 'Heimdallr' powered infantry armour.
This is bad news for Ertex.
With twice the Ullrs providing point defence and anti-infantry ability, they are consistently overrun by Hrungnirs. The Sarissa's slow, unarmoured, clumsy missiles can only very rarely get through, and the one or two tanks destroyed this way are nowhere near enough.
The situation does not improve in infantry combat. Quillus appears to have developed some sort of psychological warfare tool, as their Heimdallr troopers march into battle in suits that flicker wildly, constantly changing colour and brightness, making them very easy to see, but unfortunately hard to kill, as this lightshow is a side effect of poorly-designed Mirage Plating armour, which despite being fragile provides each section of armour with one extra laser shot's worth of durability. Further shots to the same area have to deal with the regular armour beneath, which in turn takes two-three shots to destroy, depending on accuracy. In other words, it takes at least four shots to the exact same section of armour to kill(slash seriously injure) the wearer. And Ertex's soldiers are nowhere near accurate enough to consistently target the same section of armour at any sort of range. It can take up to two dozen shots before a Heimdallr trooper goes down. Fortunately, Heimdallr troopers are by no means fast, and can find themselves tryin to move in ways their armour cannot, which combined with the aforementioned lightshow makes them easier to hit. Still, the Heimdallr provides a decisive advantage in melee combat, even though no more than a sixth of their soldiers are wearing it.

One piece of good news for Ertex could also be called an abscence of bad news; the verdant planet provides plenty of food, and they don't exactly burn through ammunition- NQ Cells being rechargable at base camps- so a lack of supplies due to the blockade is not a major issue yet.

Overall, Quillus crushes Ertex, who are practically helpless against their tanks, and outclassed in infantry combat. Their makeshift fortifications do little to alleviate the issue, and Quillus blazes ahead, capturing swathes of the planet for themselves- the first time in the war that a side has claimed territory previously claimed by the other. If nothing changes, the same progress may be expected next year.
  Q:3/6, E:3/6
 
 
F: Well, Quillus has tanks now. The tanks lack any anti-infantry capability, but they can still scatter Ertexite formations, letting the infantry close in for the kill. Ertex is driven back to a sliver of land- barring a miracle, they will be wiped out next year.
  Q:5/6, E:0/6
 

New Tech (Spotted)

Quillus has revealed the QS-PIA-05 'Heimdallr' powered infantry armour. It has a 3-4 hour charge, but can be recharged by plugging into Hrungnirs. For more description, see ground combat on D.


Other Stuff

Sorry for the delay. And the brevity. Still alive, though.
Start-of-year posts in both colonies' threads will come later. Feel free to start designing, though.

[The Just Writer]

Despicable Neutral here, ready and willing to laugh at all your failures.

[NUKE9.13]

Battle Report for 106

Oh, here it goes, here it goes, here it goes again.


Orbital Combat
Lolnope. Quillus pulls back all their ships. Ertex goes uncontested.

A: 3 Cuttlefish escort an ITC towards the planet, encountering no resistance.

D: 2 Cuttlefish escort an ITC towards the planet, encountering no resistance.

F: 0 Cuttlefish escort an ITC towards the planet, encountering no resistance.


Ground Combat

A: The toxic, roiling clouds that cover the surface of A are pierced by a handful of Ertex's new 2a Shuttles. They are certainly a more inspiring sight than the old shuttles- delta-shaped, with a large cargo hold, sort of like this (image found by Draignean).
They deliver unto Ertex's beleagured soldiers new EAF-PX4 Raiders. Not only are these upgraded laser rifles twice as powerful as the old ones, not only do they weigh a third less (making them a lot easier to wield), not only do they have a little switch letting the user select one of three frequencies to fire in, but they also have some bitchin' holographic sights.
Unfortunately, they do not deliver more soldiers, so Ertex is still outnumbered. The improved strength and sights of their rifles help to pick off more of Quillus's troops at range, but at closer ranges, without any Athena nodes to provide targeting data, the sights aren't much better than the old ones, and against the shitty X100 suits Quillus is using, the PX3 was a one-hit kill anyway. Still, combined with the X100-I, their rifle advantage lets them hold the Quillians at bay, for now- no territory changes hands. However, it is a tenuous situation- the slightest thing could easily tip the scales in Quillus's favour.
  Q:5/6, E:1/6

 
D: Here again, Ertex's soldiers are relieved to see 2a Shuttles glide down from on high- and this time, they are actually carrying more than just new firearms. As the shuttles set down, brand new EAF-HDW1 "Alke" Spider Tanks crawl out the back, and the Ertexite commanders cry tears of joy to finally have some armour support.
I should mention, before anyone gets the wrong idea, that the Alke Spider Tank is supported on six legs. To be fair, living on their barren planet, Ertexites have probably forgotten what a lot of animals look like.
Anatomical inaccuracies aside, the Alke is a powerful weapon. It scuttles into battle against the Quillians with cold, calculating gusto, as befits its entirely Athena-controlled nature. The first contact between a trio of Alkes and a trio of Hrungnirs ends in disaster for the Quillians- the powerful laser that takes up the majority of the tank burns through the Quillian's Mirage Plating quickly, even more so when it is adjusted to fire in a frequency the plating does not protect against, whilst the Mjolnir cannons on the Hrungnirs cause substantially less damage to the Alke's Insalloy armour. The Hrungnir's smokescreens help a little to alleviate the beatdown, but nowhere near enough to turn the tide.
However, the Quillian tanks outnumber the Ertexite ones, and in a two-on-one fight, things are a lot more even. Also, Insalloy armour is not impenetrable, the Hrungnir is noticeably faster than the Alke, and the Alke is utterly incapable of indirect fire. In all, though the Hrungnirs are outclassed, their greater numbers leave Quillus in the lead, armoured combat wise.
However, this lead is not as dominating as before, and so the clash of infantry is likewise a more even affair. The more powerful PX4 Raiders make Heimdallr armour easier to deal with- as do the sights, which combined with nearby Aegis Commanders provide basic targeting data to soldiers, increasing their accuracy at all ranges. This more than halves the average number of shots it takes to take down a Heimdallr user. Mind you, it still takes a fair few shots- at least two, on average ~8. Aegis droids serve a similar role to Heimdallr troopers, being hard to kill and clumsy. Perhaps more importantly, they offer Ertex a numerical advantage, which combined with their new rifles is enough to put a halt to the Quillian advance- though not enough to make advances of their own.
  Q:3/6, E:3/6
 
 
F: The tide turns again on F, as tanks and rifles are delivered to bolster Ertex's forces. The older model Hrungnirs are that little bit more vulnerable to the Alke's main weapon, and unlike the Alke they do not possess anti-infantry weapons. Also, unlike on D, Ertex's tanks are not outnumbered here. Marching alongside the Alke, Ertex's troops finally manage to secure a section of the planet.
  Q:5/6, E:1/6
 

New Tech (Spotted)

Needless to say, Quillus had nothing new to show off this year. Ertex did. First off, their EAF-PX4 Raiders. It integrates the new Vasarely Pattern laser emitters, which in addition to being more powerful are capable of switching between frequencies on the fly- one of three preset frequencies can be chosen by adjusting a switch. A more optimised design has also reduced the weight by a third, leaving it still quite heavy, but no longer cumbersome. Also, they installed some radical holographic sights, which in addition to providing regular magnification can, with the assistance of nearby Athena nodes, provide basic targeting data.
Their second invention to take the field was the EAF-HDW1 "Alke" Spider Tank. A six-legged walking tank, armoured with Insalloy plating, powered by a Caduceus reactor, armed with a very big laser, with two regular Raiders serving as anti-infantry weapons. It scuttles along at a Moderate speed, and its legged nature grants it a reasonable degree of agility. It is controlled by Athena, who is a... competent pilot. A basic sensor suite is included- nothing fancy.


Other Stuff

Next turn, I'll think of something to put here, promise.

[Rockeater]

I guess it's dead but just in case.

[Jilladilla]

I guess it's dead but just in case.

There have been extended delays in Arms Races before. I don't think it's quite dead yet. Although, NUKE? It would be a nice Birthday Present to hear that this get started again, at least somewhat. (:

[NUKE9.13]

Battle Report for SY107

What's that? I took several months to update? Your face took several months to update.
Ah, but seriously. I am humbled by the fact that even after several months, I've still had people poking me every day. Anyway, I hope I haven't made too many mistakes/forgotten stuff. I might need to make some changes to this report when someone reminds me I forgot their new death ray or whatever. Or their old death ray, for that matter.

Orbital Combat

A: All but one of Ertex's ships pulls back, leaving a lone Cuttlefish to stand watch. This lone Cuttlefish is absolutely no use whatsoever against the six fully-outfitted Odins that cruise into orbit; before they even show up on the Ertexite vessel's radar, a hail of coilgun slugs descend upon the solitary sentinel. An Ertexite ITC, arriving from elsewhere, observes this slaughter and wisely decides to hang back.
With the competition dealt with, the Quillian vessels arrange themselves in orbit, as an ITC launches shuttles to provide supplies to the troops below. Some time later, aforementioned shuttles return, bearing not equipment but information. In response, several Odins spend a considerable amount of time manoeuvring into precisely the right positions, whereupon they open fire on the planet below. The new Gjallarhorn coilguns fire tungsten-coated slugs, capable of punching through the atmosphere and striking ground targets. Not with what you might call 'pin-point' accuracy, but it's better than nothing, right?
Meanwhile, that Ertexite ITC from earlier is hanging back, but not sitting idle. For the 2a Shuttle is not only capable of transporting materiel between ground and orbit, but is also capable of limited spaceflight. Whilst the ITC sits safely out of range, the nimble shuttles work their way through the Quillian blockade, delivering their own supplies to the planet. They do not all make it; on occasion one will fly within range of an Odin's guns, and fail to avoid the subsequent barrage. But at least two thirds of the supplies make it through.

D: Like at A, all but one of Ertex's ships retreats. The ITC heads for A after extracting some equipment from the planet (see above) whilst the Cuttlefish heads home. Unlike A, no Odins show up to cause problems. Later, a different Ertexite ITC arrives and delivers fresh supplies.

G: Seemingly remembering this planet exists for the first time in the war, an Ertexite ITC shows up to disgorge soldiers upon the dessicated wastes.

Ground Combat

A: Shuttles descend; contents are disgorged. Ertex's troops are slightly disappointed to only get a few Sarissa missile launchers and Aegis droids, but at least this should give them the edge they need to push Quillus back, right?
The Quillians, meanwhile, step into their Heimdallr armour, and- somewhat unsteadily- get ready to finish capturing this planet. But not before providing the coordinates of Ertex's positions to the Odins above.
Ertex begins the fighting by launching a bunch of missiles at Quillus. With no CIWS, the Quillians can't do much but run around dying of radiation. Ertex pushes on, their assault led by Aegis droids... but Quillus's superior numbers and power armour make advancing difficult, especially considering that not all their supplies made it through the blockade. To make matters worse, the newly delivered Heimdallr armour has had an upgrade- the new OM4 Mirage Plating takes more damage to burn out, and automatically adapts the redirected wavelength to maximise protection against incoming laser fire. Ertex is aided somewhat by the presence of Aegis Commanders, which enable their holographic sights to display targeting data, but it still takes many shots to take out Heimdallr troopers.
At this point, the orbital bombardment begins. Quillians cheer as shells rain down upon Ertex's makeshift defences. And, yes, the ones that hit do considerable damage- equivalent, if not greater than Sarissa missiles. But it doesn't really provide an awe-inspiring advantage, due to the low accuracy and the fact that only stationary positions can be targeted- Ertex quickly learns to stay on the move rather than attempt to hold their ground.
Quillus advances slowly, Ertex's superior (in that they have some) artillery making large-scale operations risky, but there are only so many Sarissas- and they are stymied by a lack of mobility, as the shitty civilian truck base struggles to handle the rough terrain. Room to retreat is running out fast, but well-placed missiles manage to hold Quillus back for just long enough to make the prospect of evacuation plausible... however, if nothing changes, they will be overrun next year.
  Q:5/6, E:0/6

D: Ertex's shuttles deliver more Alke tanks to their forces, evening the numbers with Quillus's Hrungnirs. A factor I failed to mention last year in combat between the two tanks is that an experienced human crew are somewhat better at operating a tank than Athena is, who can at times be predictable, not having a human's mental flexibility. This is a relatively minor factor, however, compared to the Alke's superior armour & armament, which now that they are not outnumbered, gives them a notable advantage over the Hrungnir.
The loss of half of Ertex's Sarissa artillery is no major hardship, as the primitive missiles were rendered fairly ineffective by Quillus's CIWS. The loss of a third of their droids is more keenly felt, as they spearheaded most infantry engagements, unarmoured as the rest of their foot soldiers are. However, the support of Alke tanks more than makes up for this loss.
The so far all but useless Fog Machine is now... slightly more useful than before. It gives Quillian infantry a way of fighting back against Alke tanks, albeit not an extremely effective one- the Insalloy armour on the Alke is capable of withstanding serious punishment, which the comparitively mundane Fog Machine doesn't really dish out. Direct hits are needed, and even against Alke-sized targets, that's not a given. Still, in an ambush, a squad of soldiers armed with Fog Machines can take down an Alke, a feat Ertex cannot really match with their infantry.
Fighting rages on. Where last year Quillus had the upper hand- barely-, this year Ertex has the upper hand, although not by a huge margin... but their superior tanks tip the scales, and Ertex slowly advances, recapturing lost ground.
  Q:2/6, E:4/6
 
F: With no changes, Ertex continues to advance, albeit slowly.
  Q:4/6, E:2/6

G: This planet is just wet enough to be dry. Like, a planet with no water is just a rock. You need something to contrast it with, and ideally a breathable atmosphere so you can breath in the dry, dry air, and taste the water leaving your body. Ertex's soldiers certainly do, marching for days through the desert to get from one oasis to another and stick a flag in them. But with no Quillian interference, they do so successfully, with only minimal casualties to dehydration, heatstroke (in the hotter parts of the planet), and sandworms.
  E:2/6
 
New Tech (Spotted)
It occurs that I forgot to talk about Ertex's 2a Shuttle last time. These exceptionally well-made shuttles are capable of carrying a whopping 4TC, and for remarkable distances- not interplanetary, but most intra-orbit travel is quite possible, enabling their mothership to hang back whilst they run blockades, as seen above. They have an Insalloy frame and heat shield, and are propelled by Caduceus-fed Hermes thrusters.
New this year is something not seen in combat, but visible to Quillian telescopes- ships that Ertex refers to as "Mining Macrites" drift about in Ertex-controlled space. As the first part of the name suggests, they mine asteroids for minerals which get sent back to Ertex to fuel its industry. So far, so normal. However, the Macrites are also capable of crude self-replication- furnaces and fabricators on board are used to assemble a copy attached to the hull of the original, a process which takes a while, and is not without flaws (second generation Macrites are slightly less effective, third generation Macrites are 'sterile'), but still, self-replicating machines! This has increased their industrial output, and will continue to (slowly) increase it over time. There is no way that this can go wrong.
They also revised a Macrite designed solely for fabricating things, to serve as mobile factories for their space industry, although the more stringent quality requirements mean only first-generation Fabrites can be used.

Quillus revealed the Gjallarhorn, which is still a coilgun and not a railgun, and uses their newly developed room-temperature superconductor Lorfium, making it lighter and more effective. It also fires specialised tungsten-coated slugs containng a Lorfium core, which are charged with electricity before being fired, increasing projectile velocity considerably due to the Meissner effect. The tungsten coating and an improved control system enable crude orbital bombardment, though the level of precise manoeuvring required means total orbital control is needed to pull this off. All Mjolnir-armed items are now armed with Gjallarhorns instead, increasing their damage and accuracy.
OM4 also made a showing, the latest and greatest iteration of their Optical Metamaterials. Most notably, OM4 is 'tunable', meaning that by adjusting the current applied to the material, the band of wavelengths that it redirects can be changed. This can be done both manually or automatically. There is still a limit on the width of affected wavelengths, so having multiple lasers set to different frequencies firing at the same spot will result in only one or two being 'blocked'. Additionally, OM4 is just plain better, taking more damage to burn out than OM3.

Other Stuff

As the war for D intensifies, some have wondered about the effects of the fighting on the local ecosystem. I mean, it's not exactly an epic conflict that is liable to leave half the world uninhabitable, since we're only talking about a few thousand soldiers, but still, the planet isn't getting off scot-free. Especially Ertex's nuclear antics risk causing lasting damage to whereever fighting takes place.
And both sides have a vested interest in preserving D's ecological diversity. Quillus dreads a repeat of their own homeworld's devastation- and/or the punishment the EPA might hand down as a result- whilst Ertex dreams of repopulating their own barren planet with a wider variety of life than they brought with them from Earth.
To this end, both sides issue orders to their commanders to acquire samples of the local flora and fauna, to be transported back home. Both sides' commanders consider this a stupid waste of time, but orders are orders.
As it happens, there is a secondary reason for acquiring said samples. Though they have not been extensively studied, early reports indicate some intriguing properties that could potentially have military applications. And since the engineering teams clearly don't have enough to do, they have been tasked with writing reports on the lifeforms and their applications.

Worldbuilding Contest: Write a (short) description of a native lifeform (flora, fauna, or other) of D, and the potential military applications. One submission per player. Post in core thread.
Note that, for inexplicable reasons (best guess is that life on Earth and life on D came from the same extraterrestrial source), the native life of D is remarkably similar to Earth life on a fundamental level, right down to having DNA. However, on a larger scale, things are not so similar, and indeed may stray into the bizarre. If you're not sure whether something is acceptable, feel free to ask.
The best entry- judged primarily on originality and coolness-  will win a minor advantage (design) for their side. Also, both sides will gain experience towards a project involving their best entry.

[Blood_Librarian]

1 Entry into the the contest, which consists of two parts; The narrative hunt and finding of the first Wormling Specimen, and the species report.

Note: While I did put in multiple points where we could gain a design knowledge gain from the creature, I do not expect multiple experience gains, I just thought it was cool to include them.

Spoiler: Bepko's Hunt (click to show/hide)

Bilbo “Rumba” Bepko is perhaps the strangest soldier that ever exists on the Ertexite Front on Aljadid.

He had been accused by his superiors of being insubordinate no less than three times, too which he took about as gracefully as any other soldier with both a deathwish and a bloodlust;

Bepko liked to hunt. Always had, always will; It was so disappointing that the world of Ertex was filled with only the life they brought. The same animal hunted down a hundred times was not enjoyable anymore. He enjoyed hunting in his time on Aljadid, even if his superiors would balk at the thought, killing for sport rather then duty. They never spoke about it, but they pursed their lips, putting a slight frown with a hardness in their eyes. The meat he got was too good to not catch anyways and he often caught too much not to share with the rest of his crew. A twinge of guilt arced through Rumba, and the man thought back to his hunts of men rather then animals.

Bepko trotted through the jungle, his rifle at an almost ready state as he moved forward deeper into the jungle. He looked up to see the birds up high above, flitting between the thicket, the Maaws screeched as they flew through the air. Although he would take a shot at them just for kicks, they were not good eating, and his laser rifle is not maneuverable to kill more than one at a time. He couldn’t kill all of them at once; They fly too fast, their wings help them dive through the thicker-then-earth air, almost like a jet just before it broke the sound barrier. It was their mating season; they would stick to packs. They hunted heavier prey this time of the year to sustain their young, and sometimes for teaching their young as well, he certainly seen these monsters pick at Quillians and Ertexite in his tour.

He was crouching down low now, the trees were thick here. He decided not to dare get near any of blackened ones--

He glanced down towards his wrist, and a hologram representation of Athena came to existence in front of his eyes.

“Bepko, Enemy movement has been detected approximately three hours ago up ahead--.”

Bepko, sensing movement, silenced his commune. Even now, he could see the bushes stomped down by Quillian power armor. The Quillians themselves were long dead, judging from the pieces of bent, broken metal below the meaty vines of the tree. Even now, as he stared at their twisting vines, he swore he saw that it was slick red, even though the tree should have long ago cleaned itself, lickking every chunk and piece for its own existence.

Bepko gaped at the trees, staring intently as his vision swarmed before it came to focus again. For a couple moments, he saw the tree vigorously dining on the flesh of dead soldiers, before he caught himself reminiscing. He shook his head, It was just a memory, putting a stranglehold on him here and now.

The thick jungle rustled ahead of him, and his rifle was brought to bear, ready to burn out whatever predator was ahead of him. His ears strained for a couple seconds, and inbetween the din of birds screeching and the rustle of the trees, he heard something that was neither a Quillian armored soldier, nor a predator he had fought.

The jingle of metal plates was freely intermingling with a wild skitter (pitter patter tick-tick) of bug feet in the trees.

In the half second he had to react, Bilbo twisted his body, dodging to the right as the twisting, chaotic thing of metal and chitin lunged forward, with a bayoneted Gjallarhorn accelerator rifle mere inches away from slaughtering him.

He gasped involuntarily in shock, looking behind him as he realized he was mere inches from disturbing one of the vines of the Blackened Tree, and he rolled in the muddy grass towards his original position, the laser weapon abandoned as he slid out his knife from its holster in one smooth motion, cursing his lack of a side-arm.

He stood up from his position, keeping his head straight as the abomination in front of him finally recovered, it had slipped on the wet mud below and slid six feet away, but it was coming back for another chance to disembowel him. This time, it came slightly slower, with both the Gjallarhorn and several sharpened bones it had grasped in its upper manipulator legs/arms.

Even as he stared down this thing, he knew he had an advantage, as it could not control its movement as well as he could on the wet, slippery mud, such was life in the clearing between trees. Still, it moved to him with a chaotic gait, and he could barely keep track of its head as it somersaulted and scrambled towards him.

On its sunken flesh, was plates of cracked chitin intermingling with plates of metal that clearly came from a set of powered armor, most of which was spattered in old and new blood of a wide variety of species.

Bilbo, swung his knife, cutting along the casing of the monsters stolen Gjallarhorn and sliding into the flesh of what passes for its arm, and narrowly avoided being speared by it’s secondary implements. As it passed by him, it yellow ichor spattered the ground as the pain stuttered its rolling, chaotic movement and Bepko gripped two of its appendages and spun, tossing it against the gravel.

It began making some sort of whooping sound, and thrashed around, seemingly spreading its ichor all over itself like some sort of demented tanning oil. After a few moments of this, which he happily took advantage of by picking up his discarded rifle, it turned towards Bilbo again, with the Gjallarhorn raised. The Quillian weapon was pointed dead center at Bilbo, and the thing held as still as a statue, and mimicry a Quillian stance.

It took aim.

Unsurprisingly, the weapon cackled once, and the end of the gun exploded as the compromised coils exploded, and leaving the weapon a husk.

Bilbo himself fell to the ground, as the weapon had done its job in a twisted fashion; a plastic spine a foot long was sticking out of his chest, pinning his laser rifle to it.

It began twisting, and it leaped up high and skittered across the branches of trees as it quickly closed the distance to make a killing blow. It had recovered from the explosion first.

Thinking on instinct, the man lept up, and landed a stunning kick into the things skull by sheer value of luck (and barely missing tiny mawstill spewing out a small, concise flame, like a blow torch). The plated creature recoiled long enough for him to wrap his feet around it’s head, and use it as leverage to bring it closer. He moved his body into a ball-like position and , and shucked his readied knife into its neck, in between two plates of sheared metal that were still slick with fresh human blood. He bit back a scream as the plastic spine dug a little deeper into his body, while uncomfortably aware of how close it's flaming gout was to his abdomen.

It thrashed around and surprisingly, it brought the broken husk of the Gjallarhorn to bear, trying to stab the broken piece of plastic into his thigh. It’s other limbs were inneffectual, twitching in agony. After a few moments of struggling, the knife finally cracked into what was presumably it’s spine with a sharp crack, and the thing suddenly became still.

It’s hateful, beady and black eyes  was allowed to look up, at Bilbos own.  Blood gushed from its mouth as a sharp, acrid smell came to air, and Bepko’s sense of self preservation kicked in. Bepko yelled out a primordial scream, half terror and half adrenal bliss, and the rush in his veins began to subside.

Without even sliding the knife out of the things pale, ichor stained flesh, Bepko stood up, and slowly backed away from the corpse-like thing He waited out the monsters glare, and for the presumably flammable gas to disperse, desperately wishing he had taken his knife with him.

Watching the still body, he realized that the thing looked more like a centipede than anything else, and it was massive. At three meters long, with four separate sections similar to an ants abdomen that is the width of a small trash can in places. On its body was a mish-mash of chitinous, and metal plates attached with a thrown up adhesive. He could even identify a couple pieces of metal that appears to belong on a tank at one point. It’s ichor spattered flesh surprisingly was surprisingly odorless-- He couldn’t smell anything, come to think of it.

He approached the body once he could no longer smell the gas, and neatly shucked out his knife out of the corpse.

As he attempted to crouch down, he was sharply reminded of the fact that he had multiple things embedded in him, which he promptly met with by slicing off the pieces exposed to the elements, leaving the shrapnel that was in his torso and thigh for surgeons to remove; He would operate without risk of jostling his internal organs with the shrapnel while simultaneously freeing his (now broken) laser rifle. After he began the process of butchering the alien, he contemplated its sullen, rage-filled eyes, and the fact that it tried to kill him with a Quillian weapon. He gouged them out, just to be safe.

He gladly drank from the fluid sacs that sat in its innards, he trusted it was like all others animals on this world; a concentrated nutrient-rich substance with the consistency and taste of a sports drink, if warm as meat. Of the water skins he had carried, both were pierced by the plastic thorn that went through. It took him ten minutes to finish carving the creatures flesh, with a flourish, he swiped his knife over it’s pallid skin and then stuck it back into its sheath.

With a bag full of meat, he stood once more, and saw something glisten in the distance, presumably it’s last kill.

He could easily identify the ruined, butchered remains of a Quillian powered armor soldier, almost all the plates, save the helmet was ripped off, and scattered about or sheared to bits; presumably the rest had been attached into the things own skin. What was most surprising was the other thing staring at him; some inferior animal that he himself had lost the joy in hunting to the point where he had forgotten its name, as it was cowardly. It’s hooved limbs had been torn off, and the wounds were cauterized, and the thing was still alive, making noises of quiet, intense agony.

It's jaw, and by extension, its sarcophagus was expertly ruined in a careful manner as to silence screams to a whisper

Bepko was disgusted at this, and quickly took to slaying the animal, and leaving its body for the Maaws, as he contemplated at why the unnamed thing would commit such acts of depravity, before a moment of comprehension dawned on him.

 He turned base-words, and began walking home. He passed by the corpse of the creature once more, and spat on the gutted carcass.

It had caught the cowardly thing, ripped chunks of flesh off, and then tended to its wounds, bit it with its toxins to settle its heart down from going into shock, and then waited for its prey (of humanity) to come to it.

He was done for today, he decided. Bepko packed up his things, slid his muddied up laser rifle to a carried position and put the sack of flesh over his shoulder and began trudging towards base, while flagging to Athena his wounds from the fight. It was likely that Athena was watching the fight the entire time, so it already knew how fucked he was, but you can’t too careful.




Bilbo “Rumba” Bepko was put into trauma surgery mere hours later, for the removal of several pieces of shrapnel in his thigh and abdomen and chest; the doctors proclaimed it a miracle that he did not keel over from blood toxicity by the time he had arrived at the tents.

The samples of the creature he had slain had been seized due to the potential biohazard concerns. A follow up search party for more specimens of this species has resulted in a completed species report.

Spoiler: Species Report "Wyrmling" (click to show/hide)

Name:
 Aljadidum Surmil tentos metallum  (Wyrmling)

Description:
 With a long and segmented body, it takes plates from the carrion it scavenges or the prey it catches. There have been several documented examples of Tentos Metallum collecting plates from Ertex and Quillian infantry and military equipment. Typical specimens of the Wymling species are typically 2-3 meters, long, but especially ancient specimens can theoretically be as long as five meters with evidence backing this up from genetic resequencing and Point-men reports. it does not naturally create armor, rather, it harvests it off slain prey. The method by which it harvests the "armoring" for self-plating is completed by a complicated metabolic process that results in a chamber of volatile gas in a sealed, airtight chamber in its throat and upper body, which it can release in a tight and consistent venting pattern that is ignited by a pizo-electric bio-igniter. the resulting stream of fire can melt through metal with some difficulty, and easily cut apart chitinous plates with little problem, when augmented with its secondary and primary manipulators that are powered by high-yield muscle fiber. In cases of especially belligerent prey or other Wyrmlings vying for territory, they utilize cutting torches to harm others or fend off pursuers. The jet can get to three-foot spurts of fire if conditions are favorable.

examination of the plates reveals that the metal plates are bonded to the skin via a complex immuno-biological process that allows for complex layers of interlocking plates that replace the function of skin processes. Its primary manipulators has been measured to be able to rip apart complex meta-molecular metal constructions with ease, while its secondary manipulators are shown to be delicate enough to wield and make weapons of its own volition, such as knives, clubs, or self-appropriated weapons of Ertex/Quill make.

It is theorized that there is a tribal structure in some communities of Wyrmlings, due to evidence of abandoned communal structures and tribal functions in certain parts of the Aljadidian jungle. Wyrmlings will get together, and raise their young in these dens, until they leave adolescence. At other times, they are intensely territorial, and three separate corpses stripped of their plates has been evidence of this.

Its intelligence is as of yet untested, due to the fact that no living specimens have been found, as they are notoriously elusive and resistant to nonlethal measures. We believe that they may be re-organizing themselves into a(n) cohesive group(s), due to the uptick of soldiers being attacked by packs of Wyrmlings in a manner similar to that of Earthbound “history” fiction describing gorilla warfare. We believe Quillians are the more targeted group, due to them being the sole source of power armor-rated plates. Countermeasures have already been recommended, including a safety system on Ertexian weapons that prevent unfamiliar users from operating the weapon.

Advancement Possibilities:
One particularly notable character of the Wyrmling is their method of locomotion; They constantly tumble over themselves, coming somersaults, twists and turns as they navigate equally on the trees and the ground, which makes them incredibly hard to track, and hit, and very, very fast at navigating through jungle thicket. Suit sensor and camera footage fed through Athena has already resulted in dozens of optimized leg configurations that are dozens of times more efficient than currently deployed designs, and the possibilities of no-bipedal leg-driven automatons become possible.

Analyzation of their metabolic processes and how stolen chitin/metal plates meld with the Wyrmlings skin gives us the possibility of pharmaceutical agents that can be used in augmentative procedures to create full functioning neurally connected augmentations that are not rejected by the body.

The numbing toxins and coagulates it has in its poison sacs is a clear liquid, and although it is described as tasting like sugar water or a sports drink when digested, a full pouch of toxin has the full potential to paralyze a fully grown person 4 times over if injected into a major artery.

EDIT: I have updated it to be a little better.

[FallacyofUrist]

Spoiler: The Hive Vine (click to show/hide)

The extremely rare and dangerous Hive Vine quite frankly terrifies almost everyone in our army.

The Hive Vine is a "plant" in the sense that it shares many traits with plants. On the other hand, it's also an ambush predator.

The Vine is capable of brief bursts of movement. It can't kill someone with these bursts, but what it can do is implant a seed. The Vine strikes, piercing the flesh of its victim, and leaves behind a seed when it retracts.

Here's the terrifying part. The seed slowly secretes extremely addictive chemicals, and the Hive Vine can use a sort of chemical pheromone to adjust how much the seed secretes. The Hive Vine is intelligent enough to use this to conditions its victims to serve it. The Vine's victims willingly feed themselves to it, and also capture other organisms for the Vine to take over and consume.

To make matters worse, the implanted seeds grow over time, and when they get to a certain state, the victim will be forced to travel some distance away and lie down, awaiting death. The seed will then consume the corpse and grow into the ground, forming a new Hive Vine.

Thank goodness these abominations only grow in a specific region of Planet D. Something about the nutrients in the soil, we suspect.

[Rockeater]

Waiting for better name, it called after the obsolete Spontaneous generation theory of how some life rise, but this thing have a boring name too

Spoiler: Tree of spontaneous generation (click to show/hide)

Part of one of the most dependent symbiotic relationship on planet D.
Calling it a tree is over simplified as it looks like a tree only at first look, first off all, the pollens grow on the “tree trunk” and the seeds themselves grow in a Sockets in it, which is where the interesting part.
The other part of this relationship is a mouse size animals which specialises in pack hunting and digging, surprisingly they can’t digest meat and his prey is buried beer the tree roots, there Enzymes are released from the roots with bacteria in the ground break the creature down into more basic molecules the tree take.
One of the most surprising things is that when one of those creatures get sick or injured he enter some specific kind of downward hole in the tree, where the chamber is filled with liquid containing anti bacterial and anti viral materials with platelets like material.
Most importantly the tree function as artificial womb and accelerate growth of the mouse, the female drop fertilised egg into one of the aforementioned holes and with a combination of nutrients and hormones an adult mouse come out in a incredibly shorter time then would be expected from a creature this size and this features.

[Thanatos Russ]

So it's not dead still?

[Blood_Librarian]

I updated my contest entry, so I hope it is not dead.

[Detoxicated]

Mountainside Husloth
A gigantic 10m tall sloth with Meter Long claws. IT has six eyes, There in each Side, a Long snouts and Grey fur. IT has alot of saliva that ist quite stickY. IT moves slowly Unless IT IS provoked. IT Lives at cliffs.