Combat Report: Summer 1964A popular television program pops up in Mereth, telling the serial stories of an eccentric and "paint-outside-the-lines" Grizzly pilot fighting the evil Aratamites that want to turn the entire world into the Astral World. However, he's in for a
twist when he finds out his new handler is ORACLE-A themselves!! Together, the odd pair must work together and teach each other. The pilot learns about the proper consequences of his actions, and proper morales. With ORACLE-A learning
humanity in the process. It already is hinting at a love triangle between ORACLE-A, the pilot, and a sentient SERF that used to be a human, before a terrible disaster with the "DRAWBRIDGE project" put him inside the robot's body. Showrunners claim it's "based off of real footage from the war!"
The public loves it. The military tolerates its inaccuracies for the good PR. But something seems off about it.
A government program -- especially rare in this time of war -- gives SERF drones to citizens of lower MAGMA in exchange for shutting down cooling to large swathes of commercial, communal, and industrial areas. People seem largely happy given the circumstances, as this means more ICE to the residential areas. Many people end up spending weeks and months in their home, hooked up to a CAT interface going into the vast data conduits of MAGMA where they control their SERF to perform errands, work, and pretty much everything else. Many drones are even customized and painted in different colors and symbols, with companies making offers to pay for advertisements on SERFs. Mereth's government experiments with temporary hijacking of SERF datastreams for public safety.
The "lifepilots" participating in this program area found to be happier than before, but legitimate concerns are raised as to excercise and health. The people must queue through relatively small tunnels, now one of the rare instances of ICE-cooled areas in lower magma, to get themselves out of their residence once in a while.
The secretive Black Chamber, Aratam's department of military R&D regarding the Astral, finds itself recovering after what those in the know are calling the "Black Raid". A cult, its name forbidden to be mentioned by the B.E.O., somehow managed to locate and perform a full-scale assault on the complex where they made serious damage in both object and personnel matters, and made away with almost every bit of research on the Astral held by Aratam. B.E.O. operatives and military forces eventually arrived and repelled the raiders inflicting serious losses, but analysts believe that the cult had already gotten what they wanted.
The Bureau of Enhanced Operations maintains that the raid was an anomaly from the norm, and that the cult is not a threat. Yet from policies forbidding the true name of the Unnamed Cult, some realize that the Bureau is actually
afraid of an adversary, for once in its existence.
Also in Aratamite news is the Necrostate officially recognizing "Astral Insanity" as a mental condition caused from unprepared and unsafe exposure to Astral activities. Already unofficially known in the areas where the realm is researched, many scientists were forced out of the Black Chamber due to increasingly distorted behavior. It's also believed to be a cause of combat stress in Astral operatives.
A token effort is dedicated to ways of increasing safety, preventing the disorder's onset, and potentially curing it to any degree. It's unlikely that they'll make any progress as-is, but the fact that an organized effort exists is worth a lot of hope to a lot of people.
The SkiesNot much changes in the skies in general this season. The SEEM pilots of Aratam's Lanterns find themselves more effective Astral-wise with Wadjet Branding, yet it's not enough of a change to do anything when their biggest limiter is still their aircraft and the sheer scope of things in air combat. Lanterns are able to dodge a few more Shrike missiles now, but not enough to make a serious dent in the existing balance of power. Air strikes still pose a problem for Aratam.
Aratam's meteor also exists, but as it's only present in one theatre, its effect will be considered only in that theatre's report.
Mereth has a Minor Aerial Advantage.MountainsIn the night at an ORACLE-A Node, a convoy of Excavators is loaded with strange and interesting technology. Scientists and technicians, used to their laboratories in MAGMA and the Tundra, look around nervously while loitering outside the vehicles and making the occasional token effort in helping the loading. They're not used to being out here.
Inside the Node is Volunteer 17 -- the first Volunteer to succesfully use the gate and now, through a series of strangely quick promotions, head of the GATE Program. She has requested to spend time alone in the Node's main network room where ORACLE-A most "resides", in order to prepare for the upcoming operation. Though the supercomputer is truly located deep in Mereth territory where it cannot be harmed and is just connected here via large and redundant underground data cables.
She emerges from the chamber, her face flush with concern.
"The ORACLE's worried. Aratamites are planning something big here; ORACLE just can't tell what yet."The technicians waiting outside and those operating their stations look at the woman with mild confusion, not used to such personification of the supercomputer they used to help strategy. They don't have much time to stare, though, as Seventeen rushes towards outside as soon as she delivered her news to the technicians.
Loading is finished just as she jumps into the back of the front Excavator in the convoy. She stares outside, lacking expression save for the position of her brow, until the door fully closes. She gives the signal, and the Excavators plow into the formerly untouched ground. Their journey expected to take most of the night, and their destination chosen by ORACLE-A. The depth of their target site is expected to draw Aratamite attention. And if that doesn't, what they'll do next definitely will. Right under the front lines in what ORACLE-A considered to be a very tactically important area.
No one knows why this area is so tactically important, not even ORACLE-A. It just know that it was. Even as they travel, the ORACLE still processes data to determine more about the relevance of the target site.
...
Triarch Dranus Orlock stands at the forward edge of the deck on the
A.S.V. Hour of Relentless Intent. The large airborne vessel starting on its voyage towards the mountains, he has some time to appreciate his new post. The first Meteor-class air frigate. The only Meteor-class. He was the first of his rank, and practically had authority over every asset Aratam had in the region. The Triarch was chosen for his experience in air combat against Mereth while flying a Torch combined with his prior stint in the navy before he was transferred due to SEEM eligibility. Wind started to blow the hair under his hat back as the bottom plasma thrusters rotated to provide greater forward thrust, shooting the Meteor forward with a great lurch.
He makes his way to the bridge below deck, passing by the surface facilities where the crew resided most of the time. The red insignias on his uniform as well as his already legendary appearance has every person saluting the passing officer. He observed the gunners. Even with no incoming threat, SEEMs lazily man the Tesla turrets in case their faster than quick thinking is needed without prior warning.
Crewmen shivered even through their RA/MP armor as the Meteor raised in altitude to pass through the mountains, though altitude was kept lower in order to prevent it from becoming a shooting gallery. As confident as the Triarch was in their armor, he'd rather not test it out until necessary.
In the bridge, Orlock begins making the preparation for when the vessel reaches its destination. Not expecting immediate combat, it would serve to reinforce and coordinates both ground and air operations in the area, turning the entire region of the mountains into a staging area for Aratamite troops. Aircraft wouldn't be able to get past the tesla turrets to attack ground troops, and any significant Mereth presence on the ground can be solved with a liberal yet simple application of coilcannon bombardment. The military could easily advance forward without fear, and the
Hour of Relentless Intent would render assistance wherever needed.
"Have the crew prepare for combat. Mereth's going to see us coming, and we don't want to disappoint." He smiles.
...
Seventeen watches the soldiers unload and assemble the pieces from the excavator in the freshly-dug tunnel underneath the mountains, the smell of freshly-applied Instant Roads lingering in the non-ventilated air. Technicians manage to make themselves look busy overseeing the assembly, avoiding any heavy work. Near the top of the tunnel, men in Bear armor stand on top of an Excavator (much to the dismay of its driver) expanding the top of the tunnel to make space. In unusual fits of nervousness, the Volunteer's eyes frequently gaze over at the holocube display for an Excavator's Earth Ear (removed from the cockpit to the back of the cabin for easier reading; the drivers aren't huge fans of Seventeen). She awaits with something akin to desperation for a report on the radio.
Then something happens. Voice is transmitted from an Excavator over wires across the ground to a small set of communication equipment lying adjacent to where Seventeen sits in her observation
"THIS IS NODE FOXTROT FIVE FIVE, ORACLE REPORTS SIGNIFICANT EXPECTED ARATAM GROUND PRESENCE AND UNKNOWN AERIAL TECHNOLOGY AT YOUR SITE WITHIN ROUGHLY FIFTEEN MINUTES; CONFIRM STATUS, OVER"Most of the people at the site hear it, and see a... relieved? Seventeen scramble for the microphone.
"ROGER Node Foxtrot Five Five, Operation Foxtrot Hotel proceeding as planned, please advice other forces, OUT."Volunteer 17's former quiet observation interrupted by the communication, she jumps into a much more active role. Within three minutes, assembly is complete. Within twenty, the device is ready for operation.
The GATE.
Already, the ORACLE-A's prediction bears fruit just as it always does. Seventeen already begins tuning out the panic in the radio of a full Aratamite offensive and a
"gigantic [expletive] thing in the sky shooting at us!", focused on finishing preparations. The rest of the crew on site are worried and discuss the situation on the surface in hushed voices away from Seventeen. Is it too late? Will it be enough? Can Aratam's psychics already see where they are? They definitely could, but talking about it as if it wasn't a given helps the men and women relax somewhat.
Volunteer 31 is already fitted into the CAT neural interface, and the first HAUNTER is brought out of its Excavator, wheeled towards the GATE. Its Magmagel conduits lighting up in synchronization with strain on Thirty-One's face, as they attempt to bring the two dimensions closer together. Alarms ring out and everyone gathers behind assembled barriers and excavators, wearing complete black-out eye gear just to be sure. Seventeen seems to engrossed in the many controls and diagnostic displays for the GATE to apparently care about what was about to occur.
A resounding noise fills and echoes throughout the freshly-dug-out caverns. Indescribable to most, it represented the fabric that comprised reality being torn apart to make a pathway into another dimension forcibly brought into adjacency with the local area. Strange mesmerizing light comes next, failing to tempt anyone to ignore their very stern training and look at the GATE in any way shape or form.
..
"Ensign, why has the port bow turret stopped firing?!" yells the enraged Triarch. The battle is going well, and he knows that, but a single failure in their anti-air screen against the already relentless fighters -- no doubt scrambled before Mereth troops saw the
Relentless Intent, damn Oracle -- could result in their entire defense falling apart with it. Triarch Orlock knows that this battle will represent the fate of the entire theatre, and does not want a --
ugh.The world seemed to shake and fade around him. Dranus Orlock holds his hand against his forehead briefly, before collapsing onto the hard Recombinated-Metal deck. His eyes jolt open seconds later and he jumps back on his feet, ignoring the concerned officers and crewmen. Still afflicted by a severe headache, the Triarch is about to talk when he's interrupted by the explosion of a Shrike missile against the side of the Meteor, shaking almost causing him to lose his footing once more.
"SEEMs reporting Astral disturbance!""Where the hell did our anti-air go?!""Thruster three damaged, operating at seventy percent effectiveness with multiple containment breaches!"Another bang.
"Get that air screen back up! If SEEMs are nonresponsive, get the first person seen to operate in their stead! Get those damn Blizzards off us!""We just suffered a hit to port side armor, integrity holding well!""We've got on--two turrets, now three, back up! Mereth aircraft are drawing back. All turrets are manned again!"Nursing his forehead, the Triarch knows something is wrong. He may not be an active SEEM operative any more, but he knows that the Astral doesn't just
do that.
"I want someone who isn't Astral-sensitive at every turret, ready to take over immediately if this happens again, he firmly instructs the nearest officer while hiding the pain in his voice. Leaving the bridge officers and brass to their tactics and furthered operation of the ship, Orlock rushes to the surface deck's sickbay where he knows a couple SEEMs will be recovering from the event.
Something was not right. Mereth is up to something. Underground.
Directly underground. That much is obvious to anyone with Astral-sensivity; it's just difficult to conclude while dealing with a massive Astral-related headache. Not that the headache stopped. Just lessened enough to think somewhat straight.
Triarch Dranus Orlock begins discussing what the hell is going on with the two SEEMs in the sickbay while theorizing a plan in his head to deal with the new problem before Mereth could continue whatever they had wrought upon the area. They had bought enough of an advantage for their ground forces to leave them hanging for a bit if need be. Mereth cannot be allowed to finish this.
...
"Vitals look good, and HAUNTER seems to be intact." The technician overseeing the main status of the GATE/HAUNTER is thrilled that they haven't died horribly yet; Seventeen can determine this despite the man's best attempt to maintain a calm facade. She looked at Thirty-One. Her face contorting into all kind of different shapes and expressions, obviously strained in keeping the dimensions locked even with the help of ORACLE-A, just now connected via dataconduit from a late-arriving Excavator. Good thing, too. The GATE can't be used without the ORACLE-A.
Seventeen's "own" radio (technically the ripped-out radio of one of the Excavators) now simply broadcasts the monotone machine muttering of ORACLE-A as it processed data and made and dismissed predictions at stunning speeds. Not useful for humans, but soothing for Volunteer 17. The radio set up next to the GATE control station continues broadcasting the confusion and panic of Mereth's surface forces. Grizzlies cover the retreat of their compatriots, making quick tactical decision with the help of their individual handlers back at the nearest Node working off of the latest ORACLE-A data and television feeds from the mech suits. The entirety of the region's air assets dedicated to taking down what was now confirmed
as a gigantic flying heavily-armored air frigate with anti-air and ground bombardment capabilities. Reported sightings of Blackwell signs, probably one pilot driven mad for a bit, and the confirmation from the rest of the Grizzly pilots that they are switching to screen-display only.
Some of the operation's personnel find light in knowing that the psychics are probably confused why Blackwell isn't working as well. Others in their relative safety underground.
The roof of the tunnel rumbles. Flakes of Instant Road slowly fall down, settling on the ground and in the hair of anyone not under something other than the tunnel roof.
It rumbles again. This time, a very distant bang is heard.
It continues rumbling, with the distant explosions growing closer at a slow yet still extremely alarming rate.
Worried if they'll be able to have the operation succeed, Seventeen decides something has to be done. Based on continued radio reports from the surface as well as minor official ORACLE reports, Aratam's vessel is clearly attempting to shell the ground directly above the site. Coilcannons, while very destructive at that scale (or any scale really), aren't great digger tools but given enough time, Volunteer 17 knows that they will breach the tunnel. They were already closer to the surface than most Excavator tunnels to expand the GATE's range.
The Volunteer grabs the microphone formerly of the radio and now connected to ORACLE-A and brings it into her Excavator's empty cabin.
"Woah! ORACLE-A usage just spiked on the GATE," yells one of the monitoring technicians,
"...and rising! This really shouldn't happen! We need to stop before ORACLE-A wastes its entire processing power on this!""Belay that. Keep it running." Seventeen's firm voice emerges from the cabin with her. She sits on the ramp from the cabin to the tunnel's floor, almost tired. She looks up at the tunnel roof, now visibly shaking from bombardment, being tended to by several soldiers with hoses connected to a tank trailed by the last Excavator. The Head of the GATE program was never this grateful for Instant Road. It's probably buying them about a minute, which is as one could ask for in this situation.
..
Reaching the dark hours once more, the Aratamite vessel hovers over the battlefield in the mountains.
Dranus stands at the edge of the
Hour of Relentless Intent, looking down at the chaos below. Only a small metal barrier stood between him and falling, though he wasn't worried. One advantage of being Enhanced like this is generally finding it harder to lose your footing. When you anticipate events -- even subconsciously -- it's harder to be literally knocked off guard from them. The Triarch is trying not to think too hard about this, though, attempting to save their Astral "strength" in case something happens again.
"Is the bombardment going as planned?" he asked the soldier, obviously sent to check on him by the rest of the command staff. The soldier was clad in RA/MP armor with his hood on. Dranus doesn't look away from the battle as he wonders what the soldier is feeling beneath the red-glowing visor.
"Yes, Triarch. Based on information from SEEM Operatives, it is expected that the breach into Mereth's operation site will occur soon." He stood still, starting at the Triarch. Probably expectantly. Dranus couldn't tell. Only when dismissed does the soldier give him the traditional praise, salute him, and depart.
The advantage bought by their earlier bombardment and continued air screening remains apparent. Orlock makes out Mereth's mech troopers covering plentiful miniscule tactical retreats as they attempt to desperately regain footing. Surprisingly smart for actions taken in such chaos, the bridge concluded earlier. According to reports from the ground, Mereth developed something to make them more resistant to Blackwell. Oh well. A shot from the solitary bottom AA Tesla turret is quite effective at eliminating the tougher ones.
Sighing, Dranus Orlock starts walking towards the bridge to continue coordinating strategy. Especially with the bombardment of Mereth's little impromptu anti-Astral(?) bunker almost reaching comple--
Oh, not again.Wait.
This isn't right.
The Astral?
He's in the Astral?
Dranus looked around, his awareness unexpectedly shunted to the Astral. He saw the strange dimension harboring the strings of reality and minds before, when he was in the CryoStat tanks undergoing SEEM treatment. He never expected to see it again, but here he is.
But why? And why was it...
off? The Astral wasn't like this. It wasn't this... similar? to reality? Is he looking at it a different way now? Is his mind tainted? Or is this what it actually looks like?
His confusion couldn't be hidden, as it was the Astral. But that doesn't stop Dranus from trying.
Until he sees something.
Something...
Merethan.
Goddamnit.He was in the Astral. Or at least, aware of his presence in the Astral. And he was staring at a robot. A damn robot. In the goddamn Astral Realm. An Astral Realm which is also unusual even for the Astral. Dranus would take a second to ponder these circumstances more, but then he sees the robot has a sword. A. Sword.
Really, Mereth? he thinks. Then the sword is slashed at him.
It's a clumsy slash, but Dranus isn't experienced with dodging swords in a place where swords literally
should not exist.He does dodge the first slash, though.
Wait.
Dranus ponders how he dodged a sword without having a body to dodge with? This entire thing was confusing. His head hurts from confusion. His "vision" of the Astral grows distorted. He just barely sees the next slash, far too late to dodge. A sharp pain pierces through his entire... being. Starting to see the Astral warp as well as starting to see bits of the real world hidden under this veil, he knows he has to make an attempt at an offensive before he's killed, or worse.
The Blackwell technique. Ostensibly something of a window into the Astral dedicated at a specific person's consciousness (some call it "soul", but those people are dismissed as loons who have no right deciding anything Astral-related). He could... He could...
Everything hurts. Everything is strange. Everything is warped.
Everything hurts.A window into someone's consciousness. Could he use that here? In the Astral? To disorient if not at least figure out who or what he's fighting?
Acting as quickly as he can, he grips the nonexistent Wadjet Branding on his nonexistent gauntlets with his nonexistent hands and focuses.
He focuses.
He sees everything. The movement of Aratamite troops through the mountains. Merethan forces deployed to counter them. Artillery targets. Where the Meteor
will be tomorrow. He sees Aratamite troops chasing him. Being shot with heavy lasers, their body and armor turning into plasma. Vibrations in the ground. Panicked reports of the
Hour of Relentless Intent coming from now deceased Merethans. A person. Two people. Three people? Are they people? They're connected somehow, and this thing is one of them.
Something gives.
His vision turns back towards a strange cross between the Astral and Reality, and he hears SEEMs on the
Relentless Intent screaming. He hears a report that Operation Foxtrot Hotel is no longer experiencing bombardment. He feels the Meteor move. He sees meters and electronic and holographic displays, all alerting of something. Catastrophic, and reality?
Something tears.
Dranus sees only reality. Or not. He's not sure. It seems dark, but something is loud. Very loud.
Extremely loud. Strange dancing light floods the night, and suddenly everything grows silent.
Something breaks.
The Triarch slowly drifts into unconsciousness with the sound of the vessel's alarms and people running. The night has been replaced by day. Everyone screams.
..
..
A tear in reality expands rapidly across the area. Swallowing people and things alike, like they never existed. People look into it and are driven insane. They fight their fellow soldiers. People run. Many don't make it, but some do. Blinding light swarms every inch of the rock and snow. Incomprehensible sounds from the destruction of separation. Desperation.
Generals and officers at their home cities simply see a ring of darkness spread out from the center of the region. Any outpost or base, anything, that the expanding circle touches is gone into the void between realities.
It's only days later that the tear stops expanding, still in the mountains, and the survivors can finally rest. They eventually report in, and slowly the nations piece things together. Of course, not the entire picture, but something that may be a part of it. Then days later, just like it happened, the circle was consumed by blinding light as it suddenly collapsed to its original point. Scientists end up referring to what happened here as a
Cascading Reality Failure, a self-feeding and growing tear in reality.
Where it started, and if there's still anything there, is unknown. Everything it touched is unknown. Changed, like it was rebuilt by someone who only ever heard stories about it. The only evidence that humans ever existed where the ring covered is the wreckage and debris at the site of the Battle of the Tear. Superstition builds easily.
Mereth's team headed by Volunteer 17 eventually reports back, the personnel telling a grand story on how Seventeen managed to macguyver a self-destruct function on the GATE to buy them time. Volunteer 31 is missing, lost when the tear opened, yet strangely unmissed by Seventeen. Notes are taken from recovered data, and the GATE rebuilt.
The
A.S.V. Hour of Relentless Intent's crew eventually find their way back to friendly places, where they describe the desperate escape of their ship, crashing at the edge of the ring when a fourth of it was consumed by the ring. The crew is much smaller in number than before, yet still lead by Triarch Dranus Orlock -- who they thank for his quick thinking and for their lives. Aratamite forces arrive at the wrecked vessel to begin repairs and meet with the marines who stood behind, beginning the securing of the area.
Despite little survivors on both sides, Aratam ended up with the better half of the lose-lose thanks to inflicting heavy losses against Mereth before the incident. The marines from the
Relentless Intent rally with reinforcements to quickly secure the area before Mereth can put a resistance up, effectively gaining territory.
Aratam advances in the Mountains.
[M: 1/4; A: 3/4]The Plains (Weather: Tornadoes)Rides in the Skyranger tend to be a bit more bumpy with
tornadoes being a way-too-frequent-sight. Fortunately for everyone in Skyrangers, their engines are powerful enough to avoid being caught in anything particularly bad unless they end up going straight into a tornado from a sub-orbital trip. Which doesn't happen, thanks to ORACLE-A being able to effectively predict tornado weather patterns. This prediction comes into play many times in the Plains, too.
Regular air support from Mereth is of course rare despite the predictions. Blizzards are not meant to fly in or near tornadoes and don't have the advantage of just going over the atmosphere like Skyrangers can. While they can avoid tornadoes, their caution means their supporting of infantry is rare. Much to Aratam's delight.
ORACLE-A works... okay. Tornadoes do wreck a bit of havoc on data gathering, but as it happens they're fairly different from troop movements. Predicting enemies strategies isn't as effective, but still useful. And while Stormcaller-summoned weather is strange, somewhat unpredictable, and unusual, it's still weather. And a military prescient strategy supercomputer can do pretty well at predicting weather. Tornadoes can't be tracked exactly and precisely, and the prediction time before a tornado forms is always in flux, but Aratam can't track tornadoes at all. And raincoats on their armor won't help there.
Grizzlies rule the battlefield. With their handlers giving them constant tactical advice and Ursine Vision reducing the effectiveness of Blackwell, stopping them is pretty much impossible. Aratam often needs to rely on very well-armed ambushes to eliminate Grizzlies, and that's still a tough endeavour. Blackwell can be used on a handful of Grizzlies before the entire platoon deploys Ursine Vision screens. Often times they can destroy/disable anywhere from one to a few grizzlies in ambushes, but have to run away before retribution. And even those originall affected by Blackwell still occasionally have the ability to deploy their screens and recover from their temporary mental issues without further harm.
The TALON continues to be a menace against Aratamite tanks, and the occasional succesful hit by Aratamite tanks against TALON coolant tubes still continues to be a pretty yet annoying-for-Mereth explosion. But the tanks just aren't durable, agile, or offensive enough. They put up a good fight in the end. Accompanied by Bear troopers, Mereth does well here. Aratam's Wadjet Branding does help their SEEMs, but not enough to make the disparity; prescience hasn't improved enough for significant additional effectiveness, and techniques like Blackwell are still impractical for anything but Grizzlies using their fibrescope. With poor air support and worse ORACLE-A predictions along with Aratam's better Astral usage, Mereth does have a significantly smaller advantage against Aratam this season. But still very much an advantage.
Grizzly pilots learn to dread ambushes, even in the plains where hiding spots aren't in surplus. SEEMs seem to manage to hide just about anywhere and do serious damage via Blackwell and Tesla rifles (usually they're accompanied by regular military baseline soldiers to do the Tesla shooting). But despite the damage done, the ambushes just aren't enough. Grizzlies still take multiple Tesla shots for serious damage, and the Blackwell technique only works when they're caught off guard and even then isn't a guaranteed crippling or downing.
This strategy ends up forcing Grizzlies to travel together, affectionately referred to as "Packs" by soldiers. If one is alone for even a second, then one SEEM can easily disable or destroy the mech. It's quite paranoia-inducing.
Mereth's Grizzlies lead the way to the end of the plains. They meet plenty of resistance, but in the end they fight through.
Mereth advances in the plains
Plains: [M: 3/4; A: 1/4]
[M: 2/2; A: 0/2]
MAGMA: The majority of Mereth's population lives in its capital city: A giant,
deep underground hole in the ground housing thousands of structures and housing built into the side of the rock walls, as well as structures hanging down from the center of the hole, connected to the center by skywalks. As one gets further down, the temperature becomes lethally hot, and is fought with a complex ICE coolant system constantly pumping the material through closed structures and into the mechanized suits many citizens use to traverse lower MAGMA.
2 Ore 1 Oil[M: 4/4; A: 0/4]
Tundra: A frozen landscape with few features. The more northern land starts to be more populated with features facilitating human life, allowing the development of a bustling civilization.
[M: 4/4; A: 0/4]
Taiga: A large snowy forest. Cold, but full of life.
[M: 3/4; A: 1/4]
Plains: Largely flat terrain full of grass and the occasional hill.
[M: 0/4; A: 4/4]
Sea: Relatively shallow water with beaches next to the Plains and Swamp perfect for ports. Control over this region allows ship-based support (not cargo or troop landing) to be rendered to your forces everywhere but the
Taiga and
Desert.
1 Oil[M: 1/4; A: 3/4]
Mountains: Treacherous (and often narrow) mountain paths with extreme height differences, the coldest weather on the continent, and only the rare passage viable for anything above small-scale movements.
1 Ore[M: 0/4; A: 4/4]
Desert: Desert terrain facing little rain and fairly hot temperatures.
[M: 0/4; A: 4/4]
Swamp: A swamp, filled with large stretches of shallow still water, lots of bugs, and lots of swamp-y plants and fauna.
[M: 0/4; A: 4/4]
Jungle: A hot and humid jungle (and rainforest) filled with trees obscuring the sky from the ground. The northern land begins seeing a few clearings, perfect for human habitation.
[M: 0/2; A: 2/2]
Aratam: A giant metropolitian city centered around a gigantic pyramidal metal
"Hub" (the closest thing Aratam has to a Capitol). The streets are quiet and subdued as they're patrolled by Aratamite Keepers, feared and respected by its citizens. The city is constantly dark due to the shadow of the rainforest canopy and skyscrapers, with rain being a constant factor of life. Yet at night, the citizens find ways to unwind in bars and pubs and similar establishments, kept safe by the Keepers.
2 Ore 1 Oil
Author
Topic: Mad Arms Race - Core Thread (Fall 1965: Final Design Phase) (Read 18927 times)