Inath Chambers slowly emerges from an unending dream. The same memories, repeated over and over. They never did stop. But these memories are slowly replaced by the solitary droning of machines keeping him alive, and the flickering lights in his dark room. In a way, he remembers what happened before his current state. His Firestorm -- lost. But no matter how hard or how long he tries, it's always a slightly different recollection. Never completely identical, but always the same.
The injured Firestorm pilot has plenty of time to consolidate his mind between visits from the people responsible for his being alive. They don't bother hiding truth or mincing words. They tell him immediately that the military believes him dead after months in the coma that followed his Firestorm's destruction. They tell him about why they took him from the original hospital that was monitoring him. They told him why he was useful to them. They introduced themselves.
Hesitation never occurred. Chambers knows they're right. How else will it end, after all? It may be eccentric, but it's the right thing to do. This, Chambers holds certain as he stands up from his bed for the first time in months and shakes the hands of both benefactors.
They welcomed him into the PEACE Project.
The Merethan Lunarnaut program continues to be an inspiration for the country's war-weary citizens. As infinitesimally small as the number of Lunarnauts recruited is, people flock to attempt to join. Starknights without classified missions -- that have already documented their course with Orbital Control at Aratam's ANGEL complex, that will dock at its station before leaving for the moon -- bring crowds to watch their departure from GOFAST-scorched takeoff pads. People watch the Starknight rise up in the atmosphere until they disappear from sight. Lunarnauts returning from long-term assignments on Lunar WEREMINE outposts are practically celebrated as heroes. It's no time before they're the most visible men and women of Mereth, publicized on Merethan media across the country.
Aratamites enjoy the many foreigners who now find themselves in Aratam City to operate their interests' operations related to ANGEL. The newcomers are all offput by the Keepers and B.E.O. patrolling the streets as well as the unending darkness and rain. It's no secret that occasionally some just disappear. Taken by Aratam, another country, who knows -- in the end, they're not seen again. Yet with the help of the locals, the foreigners find themselves enjoying life in brightly-lit homes and pubs and other communal spaces. Laughing and cheering, as the rain relentlessly pounds against the recombinated concrete all around them.
In the outside world, something curious happens. Paris, the battered capital of Marxist France, disappears.
"Disappears" may not be the right word but, frankly, no one can prove another word or phrase is more suitable. Some clamber for news of family and friends that were last known to be in the area, and neither governments can keep their investigating a full secret. Communications, goods, people -- not a single entity seems to come out of Paris. Information does trickle down among the masses, but not much. Paris was a fierce center of fighting between forces aligned with the U.S. and the Soviets, and rumors spread that retreats were ordered across the armies before anything seems to have happened.
Combat Report: Summer 1965The MoonNot many Lunarnauts are seen outside on the moon as the logistics network set up reaches capacity. They move between the live-in portions of the WEREMINE outpost and Excavators docked underground or visiting Starknights on the pads above-ground. It's not too glamorous -- living conditions are pretty cramped and uncomfortable. SERFs have to be constantly checked and maintained to keep an acceptable flow of goods with the Starknights sitting outside on the atmosphereless lunar surface. Not that Lunarnauts complain. Much better driving Excavators, feeding data to PROSPECT, and piloting/repairing SERFs.
Construction starts and by the end of the season is finished of the second WEREMINE outpost. Skeleton frames are set up by SERFs piloted by Starknights, using the supplies brought by those spacecraft. Excavators are delivered. Wiring is carefully done by engineers in person. HOPE modules are installed. PROSPECT is booted up. By the time the first crew rotation arrives, oxygen will fill the tight corridors.
Region 3 remains untouched.
[M: 0/2, A: 0/2]OrbitSTOP crews don't find much to do with their time. Signals are detected from time to time; one person orients the STOP as per STOP-IT specifications, and the other starts weapon charging and checks system status before firing the shell. The entire platform resonates with the shell sent spinning towards its target. Otherwise, the crew nervously stare outside and at the radar for signs of a Firestorm attack. Not that it helps much -- Firestorms still engage before being seen barring the presence of a very lucky SEEM who can at least sound a general alert across the STOP group before engagement.
Yet Firestorms still don't see success often. When they do, it's with severe losses.
The overall result remains the same. Firestorm attacks can disrupt STOPs, but not to huge success. STOPs are left to largely do what they can. Which is just shooting the surface. Not as well as they could if not constantly bleeding platforms to attacks, at least.
Aratam has a minor Orbital AdvantageThe SkiesA Firestorm screams through the air. "Explodes through the air" would most likely be more accurate. It's not the most aerodynamic craft, and the rocket engines that let it ignore these particular bits of physics aren't the most subtle things. The Ravenmind inside refuses to stop alerting its pilot that
COMMUNICATIONS DISRUPTED is a bad thing. The Merethan inside the craft didn't have much time to look at the precise reasoning and diagnostics for this alert. Instead, they focus on piloting and watching the attacker behind them via the provided information on the HUD over the shuttered canopy and the persistent flashing dot in the holocube. The same attacker that appeared out of seemingly nowhere.
Globs of plasma filling the sky get worryingly closer to hitting the craft. For a while, the pilot thought he could outrun the Invictus. It worked for a while but fuel eventually runs low and
god that Aratamite refuses to give up. The Ravenmind, meanwhile, alternates between CLAWs on either side to fire at its pursuer.
Not that the pursuer was having the best of luck. Bits of the light armor on the Invictus repeatedly get marred by brief CLAW laser beams despite best efforts to keep on evasive manuevers and alternate between the blind spots of both CLAW turrets on the target. Their determination remains focused on that almost-visible Firestorm, a red dot on the transparent aluminum cockpit pointing it out. Plasma cannon firing has to be balanced between gunning for that lucky hit and keeping up acceleration. But with the Firestorm no longer able to sustain higher speeds, the Invictus was gaining.
This situation persists, the Sol Invictus growing ever closer, until plasma impacts the rear of the Firestorm. Multiple components are damaged, and the main thruster finds its form warped enough to start to prevent proper thrust. Immediately aware of this, the Ravenmind corrects the incident via manipulating other thrusters at the cost of speed. More plasma flies by, it only being a matter of time until something more important is hit.
In a desperate move after experiencing the brief shake before the Ravenmind finished compensating for the thruster, its pilot takes control. He flips the Firestorm around, the many powerful manuevering thrusters fighting directly against gravity and air resistance. More plasma glazes the craft and the Ravenmind points out every new damaged component. He lets go of the trigger for the Talon.
A blast tears through the Sol Invictus, ripping it apart in the air and rendering it scrap. The Firestorm, its communications no longer hindered, contacts command and limps back to the nearest landing site.
Engagements between the Merethan and Aratamite airforces can end in many ways. Blizzards see huge losses in effectiveness as they fight similar numbers of Sol Invictus fighters. They're now practically outdated in every aspect, and the Shrike that kept them useful is made useless by Mercury ECM. A Blizzard's Birdbrain is nothing like the Ravenmind -- it can't compensate for disrupted communication, and loses all contact with the outside world. Including airborne Shrike missiles, which happen to rely on Birdbrain guidance.
Firestorms still are the best aircraft (technically they're spacecraft but in context of their airborne operations...) around. A Sol Invictus can put up a good fight, but in the end can't reliably best them. In the sheer majority of engagements, the Firestorm leaves the victor. Albeit often damaged to varying degrees. But being Very Expensive, they can't counter every Sol Invictus there is.
Aratamite Lanterns can occasionally appear for very specific uses, but otherwise are completely obsoleted by their successors.
Merethan ground forces experience an unknown feeling: not feeling safe from the skies. Merethan aircraft can still secure openings for close air support in ground combat, but have to fend with interceptions and intercepting enemy aircraft. Aratam, finally, can have their aircraft actually provide support to their army. Like Mereth air support for Aratamites is unreliable thanks to the conflict in the air, but it's an improvement.
Overall, both sides are roughly equally-matched. They both find opportunities to support their ground counterparts, but not reliably.
No side has an Aerial Advantage.Mountains BioForged Guardians lead a group of uncomfortable-looking Aratamites clad in poorly-fitting RA/MP armor through mountain passes. The scientists and engineers inside the RA/MP suits aren't particularly enthused about their first (and, they hoped, only) deployment to the field. All of them belong to Aratam's Bureau of Design, the institution responsible for Aratam's technological advancements since 1954.
They were far from the
A.S.V. Hour of Relentless Intent that had brought them to the Mountains on its trip here from the drydock at Aratam City. While approving of the mission, the Aratam Military did not know what it was. But they, the scientists, knew what they were here to do. Equipment is set up, notes are prepared, camp is put down, and the Black Chamber scientists work with the Guardians. Some number of weeks pass before they find an opportunity. A Merethan batallion. Signaled first by WARTHOGs following small human scouting parties. Merethan Bear Troopers, in both the last-generation armor and the SPACEMARINE armor, spread through the passes. A messenger is sent to the nearby APC with a radio.
Hours later, the scientists and engineers ready, a Sol Invictus flies up overhead. Merethan RAILSTATIONs quickly pick it up despite its electronic warfare signal scrambling, and begin attempting to focus fire while ORACLE-A begins processing data of the unpredicted hostile action. There's no time for this, though. The Aratamite attack craft releases grip of its payload: the Beacon Bomb. It careens towards the ground before embedding itself in rock and dirt with a thud that resounds through the mountains.
The observers feel as if the planet itself beneath their feet shakes, like if the mountains were being shook loose of their foundation, with each STOP shell hitting the ground. While a fairly mundane piece of recombinated metal, the sheer amount of kinetic energy stored inside a shell unleashes a devastating explosion. Merethan soldiers and armor can't escape the devastation and quickly fall victim.
Guardians with the scientist maintain their focus and trances.
---
Completely unknown to the military, however, is B.E.O. Director Dobrev's presence in the area.
She speaks with her team in a seemingly very
unsubtle volume. This was intentional -- they weren't trying to prevent nearby people overhearing them, but rather they were avoiding Astral detection by the Guardians that accompanied the scientists about a kilometer away.
The scientists weren't her enemy nor were they the Director's target. But it's best if they're kept in the dark.
The agents' real quarry revealed itself only a small amount of time into the beginning of bombardment.
While the others emotions were as always undiscernible, the Director finds herself visibly smiling.
Finally. Not a single sighting since the Black Chamber, and now she knows. She knows where he is. She knows who he is. She
knows.A signal is given to a particular agent. A signal loud enough to be heard by the target, but pretenses were in the midst of being abandoned as the agent fires his Albatross rifle at the target's party.
Good start, decides Dobrev. With the first shot having gone out, the rests of the agents open fire.
But the target, as expected, was prepared. The cloaks that his escorts were wearing are shedded, revealing RA/MP armor as they fall to the ground. A motley assembly of plasma, Tesla, and Osprey rifles are brought to bear against their attackers. Seemingly satisfied with this, the target returns to a different task.
Some agents scream out as their minds are compromised Astrally by the Cultists they were attacking. Some fall to the ground, others manage to maintain focus. One in particular is clearly finding themselves hallucinating, and Dobrev remotely activates their RA/MP sedatives before they begin shooting their comrades. Another Bureau APC screeches to a halt behind cover, and agents wielding Chelsea SMILEs, the single-use rockets equipped with Tesla warheads. One small squadron have their RA/MP suits commence Fury injection; the raging agents run (while still avoiding line of sight), their plasma rifles' radiators bared outwards and glowing red, at the cultists protecting the payload.
Dobrev's focus is interrupted by something she didn't expect -- the target himself... running?
Without the payload.
She yells a few orders to the nearby Bureau agent, and some of them follow her as she pursues the target. At this point, he's running completely exposed to gunfire. She grimaces; he must know that they need him alive. Still, he couldn't run fore--
Her internal monologue was interrupted by a concussive blast wave knocking her against the ground. She groans but wastes no time in picking herself back up. The impromptu battlefield finds itself silent as agents and Cultists alike lie on the ground. The Director takes a moment to examine a downed agent to find they're still alive.
Astral, she realizes. It'll... be fine. Already a keen observer may be able to see one of the small armored capsules in every agent's RA/MP armor draining as its contents are introduced to the bloodstream. May take a while, but they'll be up before the Cultists.
But the target is gone. Not by foot.
So Dobrev makes her way to the valuable payload and inspects it.
Ostensibly, it is what the Bureau expected it to be. But now obvious is the lack of several fairly important parts to broadcast the signal as expected. Etched into the top is the Eye of Horus -- Wadjet Branding.
Director Sarita Dobrev is once again in the dark herself. The target compromised his escorts. He changed something. He's gone somehow. Maybe he was expecting this, maybe he was prepared, or maybe he was lucky. Either way, she doesn't know.
But she had a few ideas.
---
In the grand view of things on the Mountains, Aratam ends up advancing without extreme difficulty. Mereth has lost reliable air support which is (was) arguably one of their greatest advantages. They still have some support and the Mereth Air Force keeps a solid fight up against Aratam, but it's nothing like it was before.
Likely this battle would have been significantly closer if not for the Beacon Bomb being the killing blow. Aratam used some...
unique tactics in its deployment. While ORACLE-A didn't detect it in time, command concludes that Aratam sacrificed a lot of potential greater damage for this element of surprise. If that's what their intention was. In short, ORACLE-A didn't predict the Beacon Bomb because Aratam used it quite sub-optimally (and ORACLE-A is still pretty burdened).
SPACEMARINE Bear armor is what almost let Mereth keep a tie. It's hard to pinpoint a precise reason for its good performance here. One of the factors, at least, was improved armoring allowing much greater suppress-and-advance tactics. SPACEMARINE Bear armor can still be eliminated somewhat easily by Albatross plasma, but the improved armor gives it enough of a chance to allow SPACEMARINE Bear squadrons to advance forward out of cover while suppressing the area. Giving enemies the choice to risk their lives to maybe get rid of one enemy, or stay in cover. Again, though, SPACEMARINE possesses many other advantages that help here, like targeting integration with RAILSTATIONs and much more. But it's not enough to tip the scales in the end, especially being Expensive.
Without air support to ensure their victory and while also getting some particularly devastating orbital bombardment, Mereth loses ground to Aratam.
Aratam advances in the Mountains.
[M: 3/4; A: 1/4]((I swear to GOD stop flip-flopping areas before I go Sensei-ICAR-lategame on you guys))The Plains (Weather: Dry Lightning Storms)Triarch Dranus Orlock stands inside the bridge of the
A.S.V. Hour of Relentless Intent, using both arms to hold tightly onto various handholds as turbulence wracks the vessel. It was nice to finally not have to constantly fend off air attacks (instead only having to frequently fend off air attacks!) but the Triarch can't help but briefly question the wisdom of the Stormcaller Circle before stopping himself. A shame he didn't get to witness the Beacon Bomb being used, but he knows he's needed here at the plains. Orlock finds plenty of time to ponder the state of things as the Meteor frigate moves through the Plains and he makes his commands from inside.
Lightning harmlessly strikes the side of the Relentless Intent, echoing through the plains.
---
Merethans have a paradoxical view held in common perception of ORACLE-A nodes. Some shows, such as
Greater Lives, portray them to be awe-inspiring wondrous facilities that lead the war effort. While others show them to be cramped series of hastily-attached buildings constantly jury-rigged to keep up with the unrelenting march of technology. The truth is, as it is a lot, neither case. States of ORACLE-A Nodes vary heavily based on their tactical importance and location and specializations, and one could go to multiple Nodes without ever making a connection between all of them.
Adjutant Locks, however, knew many Nodes like the back of his hand at this point. Frequently moving from Node to Node to remain close to his Grizzly Pilot, Locks had time to take in the different environments. His current Node was... quite average. Bundles of wires and Datalink cabling weaves in and out indiscriminately of wall, floor, and ceiling paneling. The halls are endlessly crowded with bustling crowds different from the crowd that had been there the day before. Dot Matrix printers and punch card readers find themselves adjacent to keyboards, CAT input gear, holographics displays and monitors.
Locks sat in a different place than he did yesterday. A television screen and series of input devices all connected by comprehensive wiring messily embeds itself into the side of a hallway. The headset worn by the Adjutant for communication with his Grizzly Pilot struggles and fails to mask out the sounds of the busy hall behind where he sits. Most of his job isn't exciting. There's only so much you can do as your Pilot twiddles their thumbs patrolling in their Grizzly. Headaches are a common experience; even Locks' job was demanding in its own way. Always better to ignore them and work through the stabbing pain.
The Adjutant's contemplation is interrupted by a spontaneous blood-curdling scream. Someone drops to the floor, and the omnipresent crowd makes a hole around them.
Brief, rare, silence.
"They--did we not see them?""Wouldn't ORACLE tell--""WATCH OUT!"One of the strangers inspecting the conscious(?) body is tackled to the ground by someone.
Locks finds himself to be that person. He holds the intruder to the ground, but before any kind of proper subduing can be attempted he's pulled off by intervening people. The traitor's face makes a crude attempt at mimicking fear, but it was clear as day that he was mocking Locks. The interveners take no time in pulling his back to the flooring and keeping him restrained despite his continued thrashing. The headache is unbearable at this point, like the static from the television screen at his station. A few witnesses drop whatever they're holding and make an abrupt panicked exit in uncharacteristic fear.
The onset of alarms ringing throughout the Node accompanies Locks' descent into unconsciousness.
...
His headache isn't any better when he's awake. Nor are the alarms. Locks immediately realizes what woke him up as a squadron of SPACEMARINE Bear troopers finishes entering the room. The whining and buzzing of Magmagel Motors isn't noticeable for long before it becomes another background noise, but the stature of the troopers remains an awing sight. Like giants, covered by endless thick obsidian-black COMBAT plating. CLAWs, the
light weapon for SPACEMARINEs, feel dwarfing by themselves as they're casually wielded by the behemoths. Their voices are muffled to a recognizable sound through the filters in their helmets. The striking insignia of the Volunteer project painted in white and blue stands contrasting against the black COMBAT plating. Their Volunteer designation numbers are painted prominently below the insignia on each suit.
Without words or gestures, the group splits up. Several secure the door and, while Locks couldn't see what the others were tasked with, one approaches him. They grab their helmet; hydraulics hiss and locks release as the large helmet is lifted off of the Volunteer's head. She takes a look at Locks before turning to the nearby medic.
"Is this the one who got..." she hesitates, pointing to her head,
"..weird?"Evidently she got the answer she was looking for, as she turns back to Lock. Sounds of fighting become obvious past the doors the soldiers came through.
"Can you walk?"Extremely confused, the Adjutant only manages a simple nod.
"Great," she states in a dry yet seemingly serious tone.
"We'll... we're going to be covering your eyes." In what feels like half a second after that even-more-confusing statement, a piece of pitch-black fabric is wrapped tightly around Locks' eyes and covers the outside world.
Before Locks can ask any question, he hears the sudden shifting of metal. The familiar sound of active CLAW heatsinks enters his awareness. The less-familiar scent of ozone makes itself known as well, and the air around him rapidly rises in temperature. One of the soldiers, in that distinctive SPACEMARINE voice, shouts a warning. Likely for the benefit of those not in SPACEMARINE suits.
"BUREAU!"A rough plated hand grabs his shoulder and pulls him to his fee--no, pulls him into a position where he can feel himself get carried. The air temperature changes again, plummeting down. Just as the faint smell of ICEcream appears, small shards of frozen materials pelt Locks' body. The structure around him groans, and an unfamiliar draft of air introduces itself. Locks' body feels as if it's going to be blown away as he feels sudden acceleration from the soldier carrying him. Only a bit more than a second passes before the indoor air is replaced by the hot and dry atmosphere of the plains outside.
The sounds of fighting are only louder and more cacophonous than before. Lightning feels like it's striking every second. Explosions don't stop. People yell in Merethan and Aratamite accents. The ground shakes as what can only be a Grizzly runs by.
To Locks, it feels like hours pass before something changes, though he knows it was minutes at most. A blast of air from above; the sound of the high-powered fans used by Skyrangers. A ramp descending, then closing. The sounds of war are immediately muffled. Soon only the sound of the fans and rocket engines is heard.
---
SPACEMARINEs are of surprising use for Mereth in the plains. Attrition and trench warfare are abandoned with gusto by commanders as they use the SPACEMARINE troopers like new toys. Grizzlies -- in a tactic not great for the Grizzlies -- spearhead charges as SPACEMARINE Bear troopers advance ahead of the regular Bear troopers. SPACEMARINE speed, toughness, durability, strength, targetting -- everything -- it all helps here. Regular Aratamite soldiers can rarely hit (relatively) small targets moving multiple times as fast as humans, and the Astral-enhanced Aratamites more capable of these tasks still have their hand-eye coordination to deal with as well as the fact that succesfully hitting a SPACEMARINE with any kind of weapon that isn't extreme overkill is
very unlikely to eliminate the hostile.
In fact, Aratamite weaponry is, in the words of a Merethan SPACEMARINE Bear trooper, "pathetic at suppression". The Albatross and the Tesla, effectively the mainstays of Aratam's army at this point, are good at brief high damage output but have very poor ability to cover the area in projectiles. With SPACEMARINEs leading advances, an Aratamite still has to be accurate or else they need to wait for their weapon to charge/reload/cool down. They can't saturate an area with plasma or lightning, and Mereth knows this.
Mereth ultimately is unable to take full advantage of this particular discrepancy. Without extremely reliable and consistent air support on their side, Merethan forces are much less effective at taking entrenched Aratamite positions. And as fast as you are, running across an open field when you're practically twice the size of a regular human being will never be
safe. Grizzlies can't help make up for much as they are huge tall targets impossible to hide in the plains and while Aratam's weaponry can't take down a Grizzly in one shot, they can do serious damage with time. The SPACEMARINE troopers are still expensive as well and as much as Mereth may want them to, do not invalidate cover and fortification enough to carry the Merethan army.
The Plains lie in a stalemate. A more mobile stalemate than one may think, with plenty of territory being exchanged, but a stalemate nonetheless. If nothing major changes, Mereth will have a small advantage next season.
Nobody advances in the plains
Plains: [M: 1/4; A: 3/4]Moon[/u]
[M: 2/2; A:0/2]
Region 1: Merethan,
[UNDER CONSTRUCTION] WEREMINE/Ore (+2 Ore)[M: 2/2; A:0/2]
Region 2: Merethan, WEREMINE/Magmatite (
+2 Magmatite)
[M: 0/2; A:0/2]
Region 3: Unclaimed, No Operation
Earth[/u]
[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: 1/4; A: 3/4]
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: 3/4; A: 1/4]
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 I... will probably start being a bit more aggressive in deciding victors from now on. Nothing major/ICAR-level but I promise you guys biomes outside of the Plains and Moutnains exist.
Author
Topic: Mad Arms Race - Core Thread (Fall 1965: Final Design Phase) (Read 18930 times)