Combat Report: Cycle 0.25 ENDHis voice was hoarse, muffled by the gas mask integrated into a heavy helmet, “This is Broadsword to High command, Affirm on orders.”
Cheriq Xor’Turing was buried in trash, sitting next to a window that watched over an open street in the Arcology sector. It had a perfect overwatch for when a Elorius officer decided to lower their guard down enough to peak out of their APC and get their head blown off. Such missions were always a one-shot and bug out type of a deal, as the street was abandoned for another safer road.
At least, until the killing machine of Elorius's finest walked in with its bellowing stomps, and spoke as clear as it could into its radio. Cherig was sure he was after him in particular, and while he wasn't sure how they figured it out, but he knew exactly where the angry exosuit wielding maniac was, searching and clearing with a methodical efficiency of the building he was in, along with one, maybe two squadmates who were not in powered armor.
Glancing to the right, over at his shock still spotter, Cherig was alone in tactical thinking. The newbie didn't have any idea of what to do and was frozen with shock evident on her face.
Slowly, purposely, Cherig lifted his arm that was clutching his Thunderer to his mouth, making a gesture to be very, very quiet.
A few heartbeats later, when he was sure that the newbie saw his gesture and processed it, Cherig looked to his left, looking at the doorway to the bedroom they made their nest in through a broken shard of a mirror. The newbie was watching as well, and they both got to see the show of the Exo walking into the room they were in.
He scanned right to left, looking at the corner with a half shattered nightstand, the rotted bed, then the kicked indoor to the bathroom. Finally, he saw the pile of trash, two feet in height. The face of disgust wasn’t visible, but he knew it was there.
The two goons he had with him were smaller, wearing the new and odd camouflaged uniforms along with some light plates in their webbing carriers. New soldiers, he surmised, judging from the uncomfortable stance in the armor they wore. Taking a moment to breathe as slow as he could bear, he noticed his partner was pale, holding her breath as if she would die, her Thunderer ready to go.
The one in powered armor stomped his way to the bathroom, stepping on the bones of one of the owners of the apartment. He peered into the bathroom and apparently saw enough that he wanted to leave.
Or at least, he hoped. He didn’t exactly set up a second mirror to look at the bathroom.
“Qeirup. Look over there.” said the plainer looking of the two regulars, pointing to somewhere besides the pile of trash he was hiding in.
“Stars. They were here, and they left quickly too.” spoke to the other.
They walked over to Cherigs left, if they looked over they might see the glint of his scope or his face. He didn’t dare peek at what they were examining, just detachedly listening with every ounce of professional calm he had. They all piled up around whatever was interesting to the trio, but they spoke too quietly for him to hear, at least at first.
The resounding voice of the exosuit was almost deafening in comparison to the murmuring, “It’s not every day you find a perfectly good AR set. Guiliv, leave it here and come with me and Xurien, stick with me. We need to check out the rest of the building, then we can play with our new toy.”
Cherigs blood boiled. The newbie left her AR goggle set out in the open.
“This is Broadsword to High Command, we spotted evidence of Elorius activity on Blue-6, Northern Corridor. We believe they have evacuated before we arrived.”
Elorius’s language was hard to understand for the Phoziris, just as it was in reverse, but he understood enough to get an idea of what was going on. When did their infantry talk to their superiors like this? Intel shows that Phoziris never has that kind of communication with their troops. What changed?
The three soldiers left the room, leaving him to brood quietly in his trash-filled sniper's nest.
A minute passes. Then another, before Cherig sends a message to the newbie, and they act to quietly remove the urban camouflage from around them. Cherig knew that if he was sore from sitting there, the newbie probably couldn’t walk straight from lying down in that nest for the two days they had stayed still.
His gun readied, he knew that it wouldn’t be enough to take on that heavy suit of armor alone, and he opted to set up a trap.
There was a hole in the concrete ceiling above him, and he had planned for something like this, and put a chunk of concrete that weighed half as much as he did up there to drop on power armor. A few moments later, he had shimmied his way up with his maneuvering gear, while the Newby took her place underneath the bed, probably regretting that she that ed to do the heavy work of lifting that boulder up, as that was the deal to have that perch
When they returned a short while later, they didn’t see the disturbed pile of trash until they entered the room, and by then it was too late as Qeirup promptly had a boulder dropped on one wearing powerarmor, hitting him in the shoulder and then the gun on his ready strap. The impact was fierce, knocking the suit of fine armor to the side.
Newbie shot four rounds down range at the same stroke, taking out the knee of the Elorius to the armors left and peppering a distant wall with three rounds.
The powered armor was a veteran, judging from the fact that he didn’t move to pick up his mauled weapon from the carry strap, but instead opted to stomp forward at the bed.
The two rounds that impacted the T-24 exosuits left leg slowed down the machine, but then she was out of charge, and needed a new battery for the gun.
The other two elorius recovered from the shock and lifted their railguns up to shoot upwards at the hole in the ceiling, but ducked instead, seeing a Thunderer pointed their way.
One of them slumped to the side, an exit spray six feet long from the back of their neck.
Cherig didn't see it, but he felt the building shake as the powered soldier stomped heavily on the bed, and a loud cry, lingering and haunting for as long as the mangled partner of his had breath in her lungs.
Shimmying his way back from the hole in the ground, Cherig felt around in the cob-webs for an object he had stashed earlier, then he twisted the cap of the top of the backpack sized bomb and threw at the hole in his “floor”, before quickly turning off his HUD and gun.
A moment later, the air filled with crackling pops, and the bomb went off. The smell of ozone filled the air, as well as the smell of burning flesh. He let out a cry as his knees had gotten burns from the microwaves heating the metal grate his legs were on top of.
Peeking out from the hole in the ceiling, the other non-armored Yaerian was stuck to one of the walls, a metal shard a foot long pinned his arm to the wall, his gun dropped to the side as he stared forward in shock.
Motors ground against each other as the one in powered armor, Qeirup or something, shakily stood up, his right side covered in soot from the explosion. A loud, high pitched beeping sound echoed throughout the halls as the machine signaled the wearer of its dire condition, occasionally twitching violently as the suit wielder fought to keep it stable.
The Anti-Material Coil Accelerator was in his hands, but he was wielding it by the barrel sheath. It was bent by the weight of a Yaerian in power armor falling on it, and a part of its loader was crushed in by the boulder that fell on it. Its user had gave it one final purpose as a club.
They both looked at each other, it was doubtless that they were waiting for the tinnitus to wear off from the explosion, or perhaps for some other unknowable reason as the man in the machine stood despite the cataclysmic damage that was plainly etched onto the armor
His gun made a little whine that let him know it was ready to shoot again, if he stuck another speed load of rounds in. He did fire 6 rounds, after all.
Cherig glanced down where the bed would be, his heart ached with a tinge of guilt, before he spoke. “Hey. Are you listening?”
“Are we finished yet?” said the Qeirup. It was a joke, or at least one that only made sense to the enemy.
Cherig spoke slowly, in an attempt to make sure that the enemy would understand “I, I won't shoot. Get out, go with your ally, and we leave.”
Five seconds passed as the enemy finally wrestled a semblance of control from his suit, and it stood stony still, like a cracked statue on the precipice of collapsing.
And then, wordlessly, it stepped forward, keeping its front-facing Cherig as it stepped around the collapsed doorway. The Exosuit moved to his still-living ally, spoke some quiet words to the shaking, pale figure as it removed its gloves to do the careful, delicate work of removing the shrapnel and dressing the bleeding wound. When the Yaerian was gonna live, it then picked up a table, a sturdy metal one that hasn't rusted from the years and put the corpse onto it. It pulled a coil of rope off of its chassis and used the table as a makeshift toboggan, it left without any fanfare.
A short while later, Cherrig left with his own makeshift carrying device, carrying the hopefully unconscious form of his partner.
Stars, he hoped she would live.
The patrol was simple, head through a tunnel in Metro, and then return with a job well done. The heavy squadron “Rolands Scourge” was a group of three heavy T-24 Exos, of course equipped with Seers.
The patrol was short, a path between an outpost on the front and a supply depot. They expended over 300 rounds and disarmed 7 different EM explosives in their path towards clearing the re-entrenched enemy, and returned, all of them alive, but one of the exosuits had to be scrapped, the others refurbished as half the electronics were fried.
High command has deemed the T-24s a very effective asset for the Metro. It’s a shame that didn’t help the Arcology forces very much.
As the product, the awe-inspiring jewel of an entire world, the Arcology was a project that was in the works from the moment Yaerians first saw the wide plains and mostly flat landscapes of Niria. The fruit of their labor, the Arcology, is estimated by archaeologists could of held millions of people when it was not abandoned for an era. Nonetheless, it seems the designers had built it to withstand orbital bombardment, as well as insertions through aerial or ground orientations. This manifests in the labyrinthian layout, carefully engineered chokepoints, and logistical nightmares as the prime points in which resources can be ferreted are too risky for fear of intervention by the enemy or the MCA.
Thus, the role of the Elorius Cargoloader is cemented. The one that Celinth Ferrick and her Type-24 Light variant Exo was a poster child for the over the top methods in which just enough armor is added so that the machines motor (Stars knows what it maybe this time around.) can barely push it forward. It was some sort of elevator cart for space-craft, the ones that moved small amounts of cargo or perhaps some passengers. The motors to push the elevator up and down were cut off, the elevator is set all the way to the top and welded there with a framework with a ladder to get to a nest for a machinegun to be mounted, a crude one that might fire. Underneath the elevator, was Officer Celinth, her second in command and finally three squadmates, who had to all be transported in the same truck as a dozen other soldiers of the Phoziris Shard, concealed by a patchwork plastic tarp over a latticed framework.
They were headed into the brink. A crossroads that marked the center of the Arcology when someone yelled out in alarm, the driver instinctively veering to the right. Bullets panged off the plates of the vehicle, not quite spearing the engine compartment or the pilot as it steered into a side road, just barely tall enough for the tower.
The turn was too much, too fast.
The vehicle flopped to its side, violently knocking its occupants around, the machine gunner at the top of the net was thrown violently off hte craft and sailed neatly into the window of an abandoned building-within-a building of the Arcology.
Darkness was not omnipresent, the light that came into this world was sporadic, but in this particular moment, the district was lit with baleful suns, intense spotlights that were mounted on the ceiling a half kilometer up.
Under these stars, Celinth and her squad dug themselves from the tipped over craft, guns ready, her HUD pinged, and the light exosuit wielder ducked down low towards the ground, suit quickly running its boot sequence into a hardened state. A round fro the Thunderer had impacted her chest, and it was necessary else the entire system would die. A short while, the heavy armor came to life again, and under the command of its operator, it lifted its Anti-Material Coil Accelerator up, a slug left the chamber and promptly cut through the chest of some Phoziris infantrymen. Rather than sticking around for return fire, Ferrick ordered her squad to take cover and went to do the same thing.
It was gonna be a long retreat back home.
Summary:
The Elorius deploys the
“Seer” Tactical Communications Platform. This is a head-mounted platform with a built-in HUD that allows a user communications between individuals, squadrons, and unit elements such as between Local Command and squadrons of infantry. This doesn't have the incredibly advanced locational navigation hardware that the Phoziris have, and it shows. In addition, the radio signals it emits are picked up by Battleframes, often with dire consequences. Infantry do like the very basic virtual vision augmentations, but prefer to stay silent over attracting machines with large anti-infantry weapons.
In addition, their uniforms are replaced with the
Standard Combat Uniform. The SCU is simply a very dependable set of webbings, clothing, along with a grab bag of unified goodies. They abandoned their purple color scheme in favor of urban camouflage. The webbing can support the insertion of steel trauma plates on their front, rear and sides, though few do so due to the weight from the scavenged metals, typically those with makeshift explosive weapons would opt for it. It is a very functional set of gear for such a oddly shoestring budget.
The Phoziris has managed to seriously upscale the industrial production of several key resources and as a result they field several pieces of equipment in larger numbers. The most significant being the Thunderer, which their factories can put a functional system into the hands of every infantryman who warrants one. The Thunderer’s EMP pulse is also marginally more effective due to a greater burst of microwave radiation.
Anything electronics that is not electromagnetically hardened has a chance of failing when in proximity to a Thunderers impact. Most military grade equipment is at least partially resistant to the point where if hit with an EMP it would have a significant chance of staying online or sustain minor damage. The heavier examples of the TYpe-24 Exosuit are the most resistant pieces of kit for action against the Phoziris, but they still suffer.
SEER equipped type-24 mechatronic infantry are at the forefront of every engagement though they are relatively few in number, they make the difference in between a retreat and a gritted hold out for the Elorius in the
Metro.
This does not hold for the
Arcology. Where the Iona II CA used to kill on a solid hit to the torso, CRC vests and helmets are widely distributed to the whole of the Phozirian forces. Utilizing incredibly powerful carbon nanotubes, rumors circulate of the vest allowing its wearers to occasionally survive a shot from a 14mm A-M Coil accelerators, military planners do not seriously consider this. The Thunderer is a very effective weapon against infantry who rely on electronic systems. CRC vests are able to reduce blows from the Iona from a death sentence to a wound that a soldier can return into service with. The armor, in combination with their effective EMP weaponry & AR/radio systems means that the Phoziris makes a territorial
gain in the Arcology. Infantry of the Phoziris are compelled to make daring and advanced maneuvers that put them at advantage, this was only somewhat stymied by the lethal Iona II, which the Arcology is a perfect place for operating in.
Below is the list of Intelligence on enemy equipment. Due to the ruthless nature and competence of both sides intelligence gathering forces, both sides may open the tabs below to figure out what your enemy knows you have, and what the enemies themselves looted from the dead world to wield.
Weapons
Salvaged Weaponry: Rarely used, only examples of pre-collapse weaponry scavenged from forgotten armories and makeshift machineguns are fielded, and in few numbers.
Iona II ICA:
A large, boxy and rugged weapon more in line with the A-M_CA, the Iona ICA is capable of launching 60 70mmx3mm flechette needles into a target at 700 rounds a minute with a fully mechanically operated 5 coil system. It fires with enough power to directly pierce most examples of scavenged armor with a direct hit. Powered by external battery systems with a cable port in the stock that also accept stick batteries.
Lethal. Commonly issued. The standard weapon.
18mmx1.V(Variable) Anti-Material Coil Accelerator- Breech Loader:
an Antitank Rifle with an unparalleled ruggedness. Using a coiled magnetic system to fire, it is able to be fielded with munitions prepared in the field, requires a tripod or an exoskeleton to wield. Standard loadout is 30-40 shots worth of fire. After each shot, it requires about 3 seconds to reload the weapon unless its breech-loader fails, then it is a frustrating time to reload it.
A sniper rifle. Lethal. Freely issued where the Iona fails to deliver.
Mechatronics
Type-24 Exosuit:
Exosuits deployed by the Elorious mimic the ghosts of the past, the powered infantry of the Directorate with breathtaking similarities in durability as well as sub-models with varying levels of armor. Each unit has hermetically sealed parts as well as well made and enduring sub-systems that allow for the equipment to survive engagements in the battlefield with the reliability expected of military hardware. Resistant against biological and chemical hazards, it allows for minor Black Zone Access. Lighter examples of the Type-24 are equipped with Grappling hooks which are used with sub-optimal effect.
Misc. Equipment
SCU Standard Combat Uniform:
A logistically complete set of equipment, all of Elorious troops are equipped with a very functional grey uniform complete with webbing and along with it the standard issuing of Knives, camouflage nettings, gas masks, backpacks. Scavenged Trauma plates are available to those who can bear the weight. Intelligence projections indicate that this project also resulted in something else.
IFF Ping Emitter:
A system by which Battle-Frame IFF signals are captured and reproduced at the call of another Battle-Frame, sometimes tricking it into not opening fire and moving on with its bizarre programming.
While always deployed against oncoming Battle-Frames, the device does not always work. Very curious.
'Seer' Tactical Communications Platform:
A light visor system that allows communications of images and voice between Elorious military forces, with a special focus on our command element becoming knowing what our troops know. Mainly used for its AR systems and nothing else.
Infrastructure
Type-11 Exosuit:
Scouts report sightings of rear echelon personnel utilizing exoskeletons for logistical and scavenging duties. Spends more time in workshops than out of it.
RESU:
An evolution of the previous battery systems with no particular specialization towards discharge ability or power storage, an all rounder.
Sky-Thread Base:
One of the “lesser” achievements of our species exists in Elorius territory, the amputated space-elevator is in the center of what was once the world's largest mercantile sector. Although the miracle of the thread is long gone, it’s surrounded by dozens of armatures and cargo unloading hardware that has been jury-rigged into transportation in between the jagged buildings of the Elorious.
PressGanged Cargo Loaders:
Heavy, disposable vehicles designed to move cargo to the front, these vehicles are descendants of Thread-Base hardware for moving heavy goods, and use their bulk and armor plating to make rubbled areas traversable. Sometimes deployed on the front lines as an unauthorized Armored Personnel Carrier. + 2 LAND TC
Weapons
Salvaged Weaponry:
Rarely used, only makeshift heavy weaponry and pre-collapse hardware is used.
Thunderer:
A bull-pup rifle that magnetically accelerated up to six rounds in succession. Has enough electricity for each battery to fire 18 times before battery replacement. Lethal, EMP effect that damages or disrupts electronics on enemy forces that it hits. An improved version was deployed on Cycle 0.25
Issued to all front-line personnel.
EM Warp Mine
Phoziris is known to deploy large scale devices that when detonated cause a large electromagnetic pulse and small detonation, usually resulting in severe casualties. It is large, bulky and crude, but is commonly used in high debris areas for maximum effect.
Misc. Equipment
Survivalist uniform:
No known differences from standard. They wear Green uniforms.
AR Goggles:
Phozirian forces utilize a overarching hierarchical command system that lets soldiers in the command room to give orders to soldiers in the field as well as soldiers in the field to coordinate together using augmented reality systems without exposing themselves to Battle-Frame systems through the usage of high-yield emission towers that act as false flags for the battleframes. Utilizes a grid of lasers to project information upon the users goggles. Very powerful and functional terrain navigation sensors allow for a serious advantage over the Elorius when combined with previously mentioned abilities.
CRC Armor:
A set of whole-body Carbon derived armor. Encumbering, but very protective. When pierced, it bleeds softly glittering black gel. Appears to be made out of carbon nanotubes, and is issued to only their special forces.
CRC Vest
Almost all of Phoziris forces are equipped with only a chest piece and helmet of CRC. It helps even out the casualties.
3D Maneuver Gear:
A set of light maneuvering gear that allows a specially trained soldier to quickly maneuver vertical urban environments quickly. Complicated and Energy-intensive to produce, used by special forces to access the blackzone at opportune moments. uses bladed hooks to attach to the environment and pull the user into place with high yield motors and high tensile strength rope, sometimes allowing users to escape Battle-Frames. The ease of use & relative ubiquity of the weapon means a martial art based upon balancing the enemy and finishing the fight has developed..
Infrastructure
Magnetics Alloyed Batteries:
Batteries utilizing a unique method of electrical storage using a magnetic configuration. Superior electrical storage, slightly below average discharge rate.
Mag-Lev Station:
A concentrated effort to activate all Mag-Lev Stations to supply active combat zones allows the deployment of mothballed trains with a simplified magnetic propulsion system to service the front. Unstable and prone to derailing, they are not applicable for combat scenarios at the moment. +1 UNDERGROUND TC
[E: 2/2; P: 0/2]
District 7: The Unyielding Bunkers of Elorius[E: 4/4; P: 0/4]
Elevator Base (1)The base of one of two Space Elevators that were on this world. Its cord has long since rotted, but impact scar crater is one of the larger craters that lead all the way to the Sea. Surrounding it is razed cityscapes and looted spaceports, tarnished only by intense infighting and neglect as the centuries went on.
[E: 4/4; P: 0/4]
Scraper Kill Hills (2)Heavy city development, the ruins of which have only been recently cleared. Unlike the Arcology, this is many, many buildings that all amalgamate against each other as wreckage that has compacted into something like hills and valleys. Watch your step.
[E: 4/4; P: 0/4]
Collapsed V. Farms (3)What was once a burgeoning vertical farm now lies as a massive mound of soil, mutated crops, and strange intoxicating monsters set in a bog. Raider gangs live here, with an eclectic set of gear they terrorize the countryside and are renowned for their accuracy with their war-bows, strung with materials long lost.
[E: 1/4; P: 3/4]
Deteriorating Arcology (4)The center of our world, The largest Arcology of the planet. Its name has been forgotten, and the only reason it stands was that the Hated Enemy coveted it. Inside it is miles of corridors and unscavenged loot, as well as ticking machines. Sometimes the dying reactor inside the Arcology manages to power some of the sub-systems inside, including internal and external defenses.
+1 Energy[E: 3/4; P: 1/4]
The Metro (5)A dozen tunnels go directly underneath the Arcology, allowing for truly horrific tunnel fights between both factions as well as the active menace of Battle-Frames directed by the equivalent of an autonomous sub-way and construction authority. It’s already dying, but its dreams dictate when its legions will march
+1 Minerals[E: 0/4; P: 4/4]
Ruined Park (6)Massive fields of gardens, forests, and microbiomes grow un phased here. One of the few places on the planet without city development. A rebellion from the Phozirus Shard had arrived here after a mutiny a long time ago, and they have appeared to now be ruled by the Metro’s Construction Authority. They are vicious and cunning about doing their masters bidding, which often makes no sense whatsoever.
[E: 0/4 P: 4/4]
Glass Crater (7)What was once a massive stretch of the city has been obliterated to the foundations by a particularly devastating hydrogen bomb. Nothing grows here, and nothing stirs besides interloping Yaerians, for it is a hollowed grave of millions of the dead. In the center of the crater is a monumental pile of corpses stacked up by the Battle Frames. Sometimes they visit, but unlike other areas, they seemingly do so to mourn rather than to patrol. This is one of the few places where Battle-Frames do not open fire upon Yaerian forces upon detection, and it is perhaps one of the most terrifying places to be in. If you die here, your body is added to the pile.
[E: 0/4 P: 4/4]
Cleared Metropolis(
This part of the city was spared by the wide-spread bombardment th most of the world was hit with, and the vast majority of buildings are still intact. People might actually live here in the coming years, were it not for the unsettlingly close Black Zone.
[E: 0/2; P: 2/2]
District 6: The Shining Spires of Phoziris Black Zone (9)The Black Zone is a hellish city-scape of active Battle-Frames, malfunctioning nano hives, radioactive craters, and other equally horrible things. Only Special forces equipped with defense against chemical, biological, radiological and nano-scale threats (CBRN-S) can traverse this zone safely and a semblance of control over this zone will provide a bonus towards attacking Sectors 3, 4, and 7.
The Shining Sea(10)Generations ago, the local Battleframes used a series of what was later discovered to be thermonuclear charges to turn this area into a basin, which the sea now resides. No one knows why, but the Frames had a planet shaking conflict with each other in what was once Sector 8. This conflict ended when the Zone had been terraformed, the area was sunken down and entirely flooded. The conflict ultimately leads to the formation of an inland sea as vast amounts of material were cratered into the surrounding area as well as a concerted effort by the Battleframes themselves. The water is unsafe to drink and is sterile, but it is incredibly convenient that the vast majority of nuclear materials have sunk to the floor of the seabed, and only requires minor filtration to become drinkable. Most of our water is projected to come from the Shining Sea as it is easier to filter water than to reclaim it. Control over this zone will provide a bonus towards controlling Sectors 2, 5, and 6.
Author
Topic: Desolation: Arms Race Against Extinction - Core Thread: Cycle 0.75: Design (Read 2242 times)