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[Chiefwaffles]

Skill Revision: Tactical Retreat, Advanced Protocol (TRAP)
[1]

TRAP represents a logistical and organizational nightmare for our soldiers on the field.

In the event of a retreat, our agents are not going to be in places we can reliably predict. In one scenario, a marksman may be right next to the person spotting us. In another, they may be on the other side of a compound. So we can't reliably designate specific operatives to cover the other's retreat before the mission, which is our only point of contact.
Organizing this on the fly is understandably chaotic. Operatives don't have any reliable method of communication between them - they're restricted to basic hand signs and yelling. Attempting to coordinate people to hold their ground to cover a retreat while the retreat is happening is nearly impossible.

We have the details of the basic idea - covering the retreat - written down. But we can't reliably use these tactics without an improvement in the organization/logistical department.


Tech Revision: Special Operations Detachment Official Firearm Fixes (SODOFF)
[4]

Merkan luckily made limited use of a basic suppressor for special operations during the war. Though its status under the Disarmament Law means that even for us, it requires some political and bureaucratic maneuvering to gain use and adapt these suppressors for widespread use. After several classified government meetings and paperwork filed, we finally get access and are able to restart production of the suppressors in question.
The suppressors are basic, but they work. Luckily, we were able to use the Disarmament meetings to ensure increased production. Meaning that supplying these suppressors for the Subduer won't be a problem.

All Merkan Subduers are now suppressed. While still quite notable, a Subduer should be able to be fired off without alerting the entire facility. Just some of it. Though we can't say the same for other firearms, ours or theirs. This should prove useful for the more populated areas and perhaps even higher-security compounds such as those under the Global League.


It is now the Operations Phase. Last chance to vote on an agency name.

[Madman198237]

Ouch, low roll.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased. I think we ought to be ready to fix that grenade next turn, though. No need to suffocate everyone just to cover ourselves.

[Chiefwaffles]

Operations Phase, 1954

We finalize our name, MOLE, this year. Astria's agency also gains the name KOSMIC.


The first notable operation of the year goes poorly for us, unfortunately. A Human Power Inc. office is successfully raided by KOSMIC.

After a local office in one of our cities intercepted a call to the police, a MOLE team was quickly assembled and sent to intercept the KOSMIC operatives before they could escape along with whatever they came to the city for.

By the time our team arrived at the site, we're told that KOSMIC had already fought their way through the building's security and local police forces with extreme use of force. Their operatives were all wearing a very heavy body armor that rendered our pistols almost useless.
Our team were unable to use a smoke grenade due to the relatively closed-in street spaces they were fighting in, and were forced to engage without it. Predictably, it went awfully. Every Astrian had an assault rifle, while far fewer of our own agents had an assault rifle (which was at least practical for penetrating their armor). But the team leader realized the fate of the battle before it was too late, and retreated using a Blackout grenade to cover their retreat.

It was a short but decisive battle. Later that year, a Merkane executive of Human Power Inc. suddenly turned a cold shoulder to us in favor of Astria, severely impacting our sway with the company.
Astria gains further control of Human Power Inc. [A: 3/4; M: 1/4]



The other notable company, Singleton Arms, unfortunately also went fairly poorly for us. But not nearly as poorly.

Our operatives sent to sabotage the innards of a company factory in Astrian territory quickly encountered KOSMIC guards posted. Again in the same armor and equipped with the same rifles. The MOLE team leader elected to have a Blackout grenade placed at the side of the factory to draw out the guards.
It partially worked. About half of the KOSMIC team left to investigate the disturbance. We'd still have to fight, but it would be much more favorable for us.

Initially, the skirmish was in our favor. With only half of the guards there, even our limited supply of reliably-penetrating rifles was enough. The more rural surroundings were perfect for the Blackout, allowing its effective use in combat. But the sound of the gunfire quickly drew back the split KOSMIC team, which switched the advantage as quickly as we had arrived.

Our team was forced to retreat - again under the cover of a Blackout grenade. It was very close, but still not quite enough.

With continued control of the factory, Astrian politicians were able to get much closer with the company.
Astria gains further control of Singleton Arms [A: 3/4; M; 1/4]



However, we did excel at the Global League this year. A MOLE team was sent to retrieve intelligence valuable for our representatives to the league.

Entering the facility was fairly easy. MOLE agents used a simple distraction along with some delivery men entering to get in. A single operative was given a Merkan Subduer, to decrease chances of being spotted with a gun in a League compound. All the way from the entrance to the room reportedly holding the intelligence went smoothly, but once at the room there was a complication.

We saw the same delivery men that we had used to mask our entrance grabbing the intelligence. Our agents quickly realized that these were actually disguised KOSMIC operatives. Our agents took cover and the operative with the Subduer opened fire, killing several KOSMIC agents. The rest fled the scene without retaliating as we grabbed the intelligence and ran.
The suppressed pistol was vital here. If it was any louder, the facility would have been immediately put at maximum alert, sending all security down on our location. But with the quieter pistol we made it out before security arrived.

With the intelligence, our representatives to the League have been able to make numerous allies within the organization against Astria, tightening our control over it.
Merkan gains further control of Global League [A: 1/4; M; 3/4]


It is now the Design Phase of 1954. Vote for a single Tech or Skill proposal to be worked on as this year's design.

Spoiler: Theatres (click to show/hide)

Companies
- Human Power Inc. [A: 3/4; M: 1/4] (Gain bonus to Skill Bugs)
- Singleton Arms [A: 3/4; M: 1/4] (Gain bonus to Tech Bugs)

Governments
- Astria [A: 5/5; M: 0/5]
- Merkan [A: 0/5; M: 5/5]

Global League [A: 1/4; M: 3/4] (Gain bonus to Expense rolls)

Spoiler: Skills (click to show/hide)

• Distraction - Operatives will team up to get past security via some Operatives throwing rocks and making noises and whatnot while the others sneak through. Cheap.
• Flee - Operatives will immediately (and temporarily) abort their mission and sneak out if they're spotted, to avoid unnecessary casualties. Cheap.
• Memorized Orders - Operatives are given their mission in person at HQ, and are expected to remember the specifics of their mission until they report back (again in person) for debriefing and a new assignment. Cheap.

Spoiler: Tech (click to show/hide)

• A-R1942 - A simple yet functional assault rifle stolen developed during the war, roughly on par with the weapons of other world powers developed around the same time. Very obvious, but quite versatile. Expensive.
• Merkan Subduer - A 5-round low-caliber semi-automatic pistol originally developed for special operatives in the early years of the war. Can be somewhat concealed with enough effort, but is very easily located if anyone cares about the holder carrying weaponry. Suppressed, so it won't alert the entire facility but while quiet for a gun, it's still quite loud and notable. Cheap.
• "Blackout" Smoke Grenade - A smoke grenade that unleashes very large amounts of thick black smoke to completely obscure an area. Can completely disrupt a building and suffocate operatives if used indoors, and attracts large amounts of attention. Cheap.

[FallacyofUrist]

Tech Design: "Raven" Tactical Mask:
It's occurred to us that not being able to effectively operate inside Blackout smoke hinders our operations. To combat this difficulty, we created the "Raven" Tactical Mask.

The Raven's function is to filter out toxic compounds(especially Blackout smoke) from the wearer's breathing, and to protect the wearer's face's eyes and skin from the smoke. This should allow our operatives to operate fully or near so inside Blackout smoke.

The Raven gets its name from the fact that the part of the mask that covers the mouth resembles a raven's beak.

While the Raven may seem expensive, this is not actually the case. The Raven can be adapted from wartime masks with ease, by simply modifying the filters. Wartime masks require weeks and even months worth of reliability. Cheaper filters that only work for days or hours can be substituted for the wartime ones(for missions in smoke don't last weeks, do they?).
~~~
The idea is that we do this, then for our tech revision, revise a Blackout that makes even more smoke. Mwahahaha.

[Madman198237]

Alright, they've revised their body armor, designed disguises, and probably also cheapened their assault rifles with a revision.

Time to nullify their advantages.

This took a LONG time to write. I'm going to have to recommend NOT making more thick black smoke, it's pretty obvious as-is.

Merkan Arms MA-DMR-01 Night Owl
Named for the silent yet deadly predator of the night, this noise-and-flash suppressed semiautomatic rifle will take care of even the most heavily armored Astrian thug. Firing a 7.62 rifle cartridge at high velocity, the built-in suppressor is precisely engineered for maximum effectiveness but minimum impact on ballistic characteristics.

[Shadowclaw777]

Tech Design: "Visionary" Portable Cardiac Sensor: A complicated design utilized the most cunning-edge of electronics and computing allow this device to exist. This device is a handheld square tablet that has a computer high-resolution display screen attached to the front for the user to be able to see recognized targets. By a method of detecting heartbeats through radio wave and other auditory waves that pass through walls and objects to determine rough outlining of potential targets. This will be effective as a counter-mounter for detecting where stealthy agents are, and also a negotiations/torture tool as the device can determine a targets intensity of their heartbeat, and therefore their stress levels to act as a pseudo-lie detector. It should work in short proximity, but more importantly through solid objects

I really think a ability to detect an enemy though walls is the best bet, we can understand where they are hiding and walking from with a fellow spotter, and shoot them behind the back.

Here's what it looks like simple; And here what it looks like when held.

[Madman198237]

They've got body armor, you've got to get REALLY close to hit them in the head.

Anyway, we need the ability to kill them, first, and a suppressed DMR is our best bet for quiet removals right now.

[FallacyofUrist]

You know, it doesn't matter if they have body armor if they can't breathe but we can.

When designing, keep in mind the time period. Complex computing electronics like the "Visionary" aren't likely to succeed until we develop better computing technology.

[Madman198237]

Well, if we're using the smoke we've given up on concealment, which is our best ally.

I figure that if we revise ourselves a nice AR suppressor and adapt our tactics to work with the rifle, we'll be able to make ground in the companies, which is where it counts right now.

[Shadowclaw777]

You know what we need a better gun that can penetrate their light body armor much more readily, I think we should spend a tech revision on reducing the price of the traditional assault rifle so that we can penetrate their body armor and light cover much more easily

Tech Design: "Raven" Tactical Mask: (1) FallacyofUrist
Tech Design: Merkan Arms MA-DMR-01 Night Owl: (2) Shadowclaw, Madman198237

[FallacyofUrist]

Well if you want a weapon...

Tech Design: "Lights Out" Tranquilizer Rifle:

We've adapted the tranquilizer guns often used to deal with hazardous wildlife to deal with people. A higher pressure shot, a sharper dart, and a scope adapt the Lights Out for combat use and allow the dart to penetrate armor. If you can't shoot through armor, you can always aim for the neck. Expected use of this new weapon is sniping.

[Madman198237]

If you can punch through armor, you've got a sabot round, not a dart.

It'll be immediately lethal if punched through the neck, and probably lethal if punched through body armor.


Other than that, tranq weapons are usually not fast-acting enough, the victim will have FAR too much time to raise the alarm before he or she actually drops.

[FallacyofUrist]

Shadow Race should be a bit cheesy! Think James Bond. While more realistic Tech & Skills are certainly useful and have their places, creating more interesting things that you'd likely see in a James Bond novel/movie or other Spy Fiction is encouraged.

We can get away with it.

[Madman198237]

Cheesy, not fundamentally illogical and STUPID.

[Shadowclaw777]

That's why my electronicall heartbeat sensor would work, we have fully functional version of these machines since the 90s for medical use. Just make the display screen look more like a Apple II display and then it's thematic for the theme. It's basically using sonar technology to detect heart beats which can plausible for our agents, it will also be effective with the soldiers with the semi-autos since a spotter will tell them where they are through a wall, and the rounds through the rifle will penetrate and shoot them through their unprovoked chest. A more effective use to have a heart-beat sensor to detect where they are, and than the people with semi-autos flank them and shoot them in the backs