Design Phase, Cold Season 1941 AC
You feel a gentle breeze blowing at your back at all times. Something unseen guides the creation of these devices.Proposal: Mea Kaua ʻAlalāDifficulty: too spooky
Result: UNEXPECTED BOONThe
Mea Kaua ʻAlalā indeed provides much-needed relief to our stressed quartermasters. Not only because they're lacking an M1 designation, but also because there's only enough of them to equip a section of 20 fighters.
The
Mea Kaua ʻAlalā is functionally a set of shaped armor plates designed to fit onto a skeletal frame meant to house a single standard human. The chestpiece hinges upward at the shoulders and the front of the legs swing out to the sides to let the wearer within after stepping into the attached boots. The chestpiece secures at the beltline on either side, and the legs at the inner thigh and calf. The spine of the frame is sturdy and somewhat stiff, but flexes on enough points to effectively simulate a human spine. The helmet and protective beaked visor are the only piece of the suit that isn't affixed to the frame. Of note, and important for later, the entire suit is built around the spine-boots assembly.
Nickel wiring runs throughout the suit thanks to the expertly designed frame including space for properly insulated internal wiring, allowing the suit to function as intended without risking accidents or getting in the way of movement. This wiring provides a connection between the armor plates, a series of capacitors, and the boots of the suit, with power generally funneled out through the boots. The plates themselves are made up of layered refocaelium-refocyte plates. The outer refocyte layer is, well...
It's the first instance of absolutely Pure Refocyte, made from raw material taken from home and worked endlessly over the years. The refocyte plates on this suit will absolutely absorb a sudden physical impact, reducing the forces applied onto the wearer to an almost imperceptible level, provided the munitions hitting the suit aren't artillery-sized. The pure refocyte plates, if overloaded to the point of detonation, do so in a directed blast that, thanks to the meticulous designs of the armor, should minimize the potential for injury among wearers of
Mea Kaua ʻAlalā armor. The inner layer of each armor plate consists of a refocaelium layer that works to effectively distribute the effects of the material's antigravitic properties across the users body, effectively reducing the weight of the armor and human to that of the human alone.
While the armor is protective against most sorts of sane equipment, extra protection is offered in the form of an oversized canvas hood and cloak to provide some level of defense against Embralish sonic weaponry. The canvas comes in a variety of camo patterns and has an internal thin "refomesh" that helps to add extra protection against impacts by diffusing it throughout the entirety of the mesh as strands discharge against one another. This leaves the cloak looking a little tattered but not beyond usefulness. Combining materials also helps to provide a little extra insurance against the ASH. Gloves and the boots also make use of refomesh to aid in withstanding falls from more extreme heights, which can be helpful considering the nature of the boots.
Zinc was also discovered to help modulate the intensity of the input and output of gravitic energy based on the operation of the battery in question. An absorbing battery, like the one behind the chestplate of the suit, will absorb
all surrounding gravitic energy and, in the case of a suit of armor, make the wearer functionally weightless. Outputting batteries, like those used in the often-mentioned but not yet discussed boots, turns the expulsion of gravitic energy into a slow, steady process, creating gravitational "contact points" in the boots and allowing them to function on all angles of surfaces. This is where the reinforced spine-boots assembly comes into play, granting the wearer immense control over their core and the rest of their body while enduring near zero-gravity conditions. A small square of armor plate on the torso and the boots can be depressed to move the zinc into contact with the battery, and again to remove it in order to toggle what combination of effects they wish to utilize.
As much as refocyte kickplates would have been cool, unfortunately there was no really good way to implement them in a manner that didn't get in the way of things or utilize in anything but an extremely measured situation and response. Instead, the pauldrons of the armor have spines protruding through holes in the Pure plate. These spines are part of an internal refocyte plate that is of a lower quality than that of the armor itself, and functions much in the same way as the kickplates would have, but don't risk interfering with our good stuff, and can be utilized without needing to connect and disconnect them whenever circumstances changed. These spines also prove immensely effective, as it reduces the point of contact to a handful of small points, focusing the energy into intense concentrations but across a more widely spread area. A spiked refocyte guard attached to the bracers can be lowered over the fists to provide a similar effect.
The
Mea Kaua ʻAlalā is and always will be a
(NATIONAL EFFORT) of 20 suits.
Proposal: M1 AnianiDifficulty: banned for using M1
Result: UNEXPECTED BOONThe military has needed something good to improve upon our communications for a long time now, and that project has finally come to fruition in the form of the M1 Aniani. Utilizing what we've learned from the
Glas Bolg Transporters, anyways.
The
M1 Aniani is a tool that represents the latest in caelofax technology. The device actually consists of a number of devices - a scanner and encoder, an antenna and transmitter, and a viewer ring. A button on the ring allows the
Glas Bolg-derived device to capture a "snapshot", as opposed to the real-time view the transporters provide. The
M1 Aniani benefits from the fact that it can "store" an image for as long as the device functions.
And all in an easy-to-store handheld device!
Like the
Glas Bolg, the
Aniani can be keyed to a wide array of frequencies, more to prevent unintentional communications than avoid enemy observation, because, well, what are the chances they
also make a similar and compatible device?
The Painter's Fellowship is a little miffed about the implications of a device that can so easy capture and transmit Colors, but they got busy teaching a new set of Colors, the Tales of Enigma, which should make any codes the enemy
does find much harder if not impossible to crack without the proper knowledge of the rotating definition of colors, shapes, and arrangements.
The
M1 Aniani is integrated into the standard uniform.
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Engineers poised to meet with the Antero Sahay Jr. were deep in debate about how to approach the future of Inithar when the air shifted, almost crackling with energy. The Initharian territories felt suddenly warmer, almost comfortably so. The Maelstrom, too, faded from the skies, and down to the south the temperatures stabilized as well. The skies above seemed to shimmer and wave, colors roiling not unlike an oil spill before, with an earth-shaking crack and blinding white flash, and suddenly the sky was
absolutely full of unidentifiable aircraft of all shapes and sizes. And they just sat there, a mass stretching out beyond the horizon in all directions. The largest of the ships was centered directly over the Fortress-City, casting a massive shadow across dozens of kilometers of land. The war, and indeed this part of the world, seemed to freeze for two days as nobody was willing to act without knowing what was happening with the looming sky fleet. Some people got scared and fled, but each was destroyed by swooping aircraft once they got a few dozen kilometers out to sea. The entire region was under siege.
Sahay managed to locate the gathered Engineers on his own, using the chaos of this unexpected arrival to sneak well into secure Initharian territory to speak to the Engineers himself.
"I've got good news and bad news," he said, out of breath, "The good news is you are definitely the first Old Worlders to contact The Pact across any timeline. Others have started coming into contact with our expeditionary forces and the process of negotiation and integration has already begun with a number of Inithars. The bad news is the Embrallish in other timelines have all come in hot, and in fact the ones you have here are some of the most tame. Regardless, Inithar will definitely live on with The Pact if nothing else. The worse news, well..."
Sahay looked around nervously at each engineer, "Damn, this isn't good. The main Tsaelinid fleet is looming overhead and their leaders have been attempting to negotiate with us to surrender. There's reasonable fears that these negotiations are going to break down without coming to anything near agreeable terms very, very soon. We need whatever help we can to hold the Fortress-City, at least long enough to pull off a fighting retreat. All unnecessary personnel have already been evacuated through the
Transdimensional Relay under Harren City, but we need to inflict as much damage as we can while we leave. If any of you wish to help, please come to the Fortre-shit!"
Sahay darted out through a side exit as the main door to the room rattled and flew open. General Arona marched through.
"The Black Fellowship has decided that the Expeditionary Fellowship will attempt to break through this blockade and return home to bolster war efforts there while reassessing the situation developing here. We're going to need whatever help we can get to save as many Initharians here as we can. You're my most trusted, and I know you all to be quite slick. I expect whatever projects you've got hidden up your sleeves will be dedicated to this purpose."
Before anyone could respond, General Arona snapped a quick salute and left as quickly as she arrived.
Sleep was difficult to get ahold of that night as each of you weighed your options. It became even more difficult when a voice echoed in your heads. Or, a set of voices.
"Eight. Eight. Eight. Connection acquired. Routing.""Don't fear what the unknown brings, Human. Embrace it, instead. Our arrival is inevitable, your utilization as cogs in a greater machine an unavoidable fate. But you can choose what kind of cog you become. Those who join us willingly have ample opportunity to bask in glory, and attain honor as a warrior of unrivaled skill and strength.""Our species has remained unmarred by legitimate defeat across millennia, but we are not just conquerors. We come as gods, as kings, but we are not without our sense of fairness or mercy. Those below us are allowed to rule themselves as they see fit, so long as they serve the greater good. We need farmers, mechanics, colonists, and more, if our subjects are to sustain themselves off the battlefield. Look to the Fortress-City. It will not remain untouched for long. Make your presence known there, and we will know if you intend to join us.""Or bloody our enemies and prove your worth. Your fate is in your hands, we've merely laid out the options.""Disconnecting...Eight. Eight. Eight."There was a small pop, then silence.
What will you do?
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We have entered the endgame of Mechanized Warfare. Each person has one personal project they've been working on since the fleet originally set sail years ago. It is time to bring that project to light!
Every person has one design to propose, as well as
a basic plan for who they side with and what actions they're taking personally. Note that if you want to pull a sneaky you can
PM me the plans you actually have so as to keep any sort of sneaky moves secret.
These designs are the culmination of everything you've aspired to as an engineer. Discuss what's needed with your teammates and work together to make a decision, or don't, it's your call. Get creative. Get wild. Go nuts.
It is now the Endgame Design Phase.