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[Man of Paper]

I have a feeling we were raided for information regarding the weird shit going on. That's why I figure we investigate said weird shit further - beat them to the knowledge they're after, and maybe next turn, if Chief says it's a thing we can do, we could take steps to encrypt and hide (from both physical and astral eyes) whatever info we gather.

[Blood_Librarian]

I could make an alternative where we don't help the merethians keep control of their murder robots.

[Man of Paper]

I don't think we should feed into the image of an authoritarian state with severe in-fighting. Risking a raid on a likely heavily guarded enemy facility just to gain advantage over our own countrymen? That's committing some light treason. Add helping the Merethians to that and it's straight up super-treason on top of everything else and we've got ourselves full-blown Supertreason.

[Maxinum McDreich]

You mean our own countrymen that just raid THEIR OWN COUNTRYMEN? Can't say I agree with you on making it anything like treason on our end if we responded. . I get that maybe helping the merethians stop a robot revolt before it happens could make us seem the good guys and helping the merethian people, but it's not something I feel we should risk doing until we KNOW rather than guess.

In terms of trying to find out the information we THINK BEO are after first, I can't say that I necessarily agree with that logic, and it's a bit of a shot in the dark in that regards. However, whether that's right or wrong, we'll still gain information, so it's a win/win. I do worry that the BEO will turn more hostile the more we know, but I guess we'll deal with that as it arrives.

Going to vote for Fun in the Sun (added bonus for the name), because there's also a lot less risk. Depending on what happens, maybe a raid on ORACLE might be an idea next turn though. Might aswell use their greatest asset if we can .

Fun in the sun:(4) MoP, The Ensorceler, Rockeater, McDreich
They can't be bargained with (1) : Blood_Librarian

[Man of Paper]

Right, upon rereading I definitely didn't illustrate my point as clearly as I intended. Just for clarity of where my head's at in regard to things (and to convince anyone else who hasn't voted yet):

I'm looking at the BEO as analogous to the Gestapo or KGB, agencies with very close, very deep ties to the state, whereas we're akin to a bunch of technicians in the Wehrmacht or Soviet Army. It's their job to raid their own countrymen under the guise of protecting the state, whether that's their actual motive or not. If we act against them, and therefore the state, it could be seen as an attempted coup. I dunno how deep Chief's going with things, but it's a possibility I'd rather avoid (for now), even if it's only going to have narrative effects. Acting around them, at least until we have some leverage, is the smarter play in my own opinion.

[Maxinum McDreich]

mmm, I can see where you're coming from, thanks for clearing it up. I personally see the BEO as a young organisation that exists because of the Astral. As a result, it's young and volatile as an organisation, and not necessarily state driven. The reason I say that is I've not read anything to say anyone in the political side of things is Astrally orientated, much less trained. Possible, and we don't know, so also a risk I guess. But I'd still say that the BEO's power is separate from the state, almost more powerful even.


Point remains though, that Fun in the Sun has less risk, though also I think, a little less reward, but still the better option.

[The Ensorceler]

It's possible I've got some of this wrong, but this is the history of the BEO as I remember it:

Aratam's original government is reformed after the invention of the cryopod, solidifying power within the necrostate. 1st gen Goldeneyes are deployed to the front lines. Some are withheld to form the new Bureau of Enhanced Operatives, an internal counterintelligence and investigative service.

The Necrostate strengthens the BEO, using it as an arm of general control over the populace. The head of the BEO is now a powerful political figure in their own right, and Necropoliticians engage in constant power struggles.

The Cryostate breaks the back of the Necrostate, and individual Necropoliticians have significantly less to set them apart from the average citizen. Individual power is lessened, but so is infighting. The BEO on the other hand gains first SEEMs, then Guardians as operatives, infiltrates governments around the world, and is by far the strongest single actor remaining in Aratam.


Ahem. We're in rather deeper than I thought. The BEO is much further along than Mereth's computer overlord problem is. The Unnamed Cult is *not* in fact our equivalent. It's easy enough to just align ourselves with the BEO, but then... so too is it easy enough for Mereth R&D to submit to a machine intelligence.

[Maxinum McDreich]

Good analysis, though I have a feeling we have a far more complicated situation .

BEO is one side of the equation. The cult a dangerous unknown as another. Fact is, we don't know much about the Astral, but I remember reading that it FELT like something was watching us when we first ventured into the void, think it was with the SEEMS. So, there's also that. Whether the cult or the BEO are puppets to this or know the threat, we don't know. I mean, I'm focussing on the arms race of this game more than anything, but this possible internal situation has been on my mind aswell . At this point, we have only enough info to speculate. Doing MoP's intrigue has a chance of us finding out more about the Astral itself, which MAY force either the cult or BEO to reveal their hand as to their own intentions.

[Chiefwaffles]

Combat Report: Spring 1965

Our new technology deployed this season was both useful and full of promise. Command is optimistic for the future.


Intrigue

Investigate the significance of 8. Look for any similarities in environment, circumstances, objects, and observers that could link the phenomena past the appearance of the number 8 itself.

This was...
interesting.

Our investigation took us on quite a journey. It started with Guardians focused on this occurrence being put in trances in Black Chamber CryoStat tanks.

First, a quick recap of what we know regarding an important property of the Astral. It is the realm of consciousness. Everyone has a presence there. Even those who could never be Astral operatives, the Astral is still an important part of them. So while the Astral is of course much more than just this, it's very... mercurial. It has patterns. Anomalies. Appearances.

And one of these patterns?
"8".
But there's more to it. More than just that number. That number represents much more than just... well, a number.

Further investigation shows it as unlike anything else we've ever seen in the Astral. We had our exploring Guardians poke and prod at the concept and number and try to think their way around it. We've researched it in the real world. Based on how it "reacted" to our Guardians trying to mess with it, we determined it's not actually a solid part of the Astral. But more-so a reflection of human consciousness.
And again, wrench thrown into the works. We've dealt with consciousness in the Astral plenty, and based on those dealings we should know how to basically follow this reflection to its origin. But it has none. In fact, it feels all so unnatural. Like the strings around it have been cut. But it keeps appearing everywhere. And through its appearances in the Astral, it seems it can appear in humans too.

So what we (think we) determined is that the number "8" is some reflection of what we think is consciousness (or something mimicking one) that no longer exists, or never existed. And that this reflection would have had to be unnaturally strong originally (if there is an "originally" here) and pervasive in order to manifest the way it is.
So for whatever reason, "8" is embedded in the Astral. It definitely means more than just that number, but whatever it means we have yet to figure out.

Spoiler: Designs (click to show/hide)

Transport Capacity: 2/3 (2/2 Oil Imported)
Space Transport Capacity: 0/0 (Nothing Imported) (Aratamite STC is the sum of its designs' STCs, multiplied by two thanks to the ANGEL Project.)
Resources: 3 Ore, 4 Oil, 2 Rare Chemicals

Moon Region Rating: 0
Moon Resources: Nothing (Succesfully imported Moon Resources are included in "Resources" as well)

Weapons

• Heavy Plasma Rifle "Albatross": A heavy recombinated weapon based on the plasma-creating principles of the GM-BP Reactor. Uses a Tesla-derived containment beam to fire a continuous beam of SynthOil-created-plasma at the target, where the beam maintains a building-up convection cell of heat and plasma until it collapses and/or the beam stops, when it detonates inwards towards any gashes or cavities on the target. SynthOil cells are inserted like magazines and with range configured by the operator, last for 1s Long range, 15s Medium range, 60s Short range (where it's more like a blast wave than a beam). Overheats after 4 seconds of continuous usage, needing 8 seconds to cooldown -- 2s or less shots recommended. Massive amounts of heat are dumped into an arc-shaped radiator on the front-bottom edge that can be used as an effective melee weapon when heated.
  [Cheap] 2 Ore, 4 Oil
• HMKR-59 'Osprey': Hybrid Magnetic Kinetic Rifle; a variant of the Pursuit rifle that houses coilgun components to increase the velocity of bullets after conventional firing. Has a slot in the back for a single SynthOil battery, which has enough charge for 10 powered shots (soldiers carry 2 batteries total). Powered shots are accurate to Medium range (unpowered shots to Short range) and have increased lethality and armor piercing capabilities.
  [Cheap] 1 Ore, 1 Oil
• Tesla Rifle: A "rifle" that fires bolts of ARC lightning at Medium range. Using an inner "Lightning Rod" chamber, it gradually charges from a backpack SynthOil battery - it has four levels of charge, with Level 3 being the optimum Medium range + good lethality and Level 4 being overkill with a chance of explosive backfiring. It takes about 40s to charge to Level 3 (charging can be paused but the charge decays slightly over time), and the battery has enough juice for 5 Lvl3 shots. Extremely lethal against anything conductive, and has a modest area-of-effect as the electricity arcs to other conductors in close proximity. Can be hooked up to external SynthOil batteries as well. Soldiers pre-charge to Level 3 when aware of hostile situations, but are still vulnerable to ambushes.
  [Cheap] 2 Ore, 2 Oil
• "Chelsea" SMILE: Single-use rocket launcher with Red Skies incendiary (useful v. COMBAT armor) or Tesla (useful with area of effect and v. electronics) payloads. Effective to long-range (still useful but unreliable beyond), and has a flip-out glass targeting visor with a crosshair predicting impact site based on wind and fall.
  [Cheap] 1 Ore, 3 Oil
• "Storm" GMRL-ECP-61S: A 250lb active radar homing missile with a 6km range and 5m effective blast radius. Fired from 4-rail trucks (with radar) and aircraft mounts. It has a poor resolution, greatly decreasing the reliability of locking onto non-huge aerial targets and making locking onto surface targets next-to-impossible, though large ships prove easy targets. Equipped with an HE or ARC warhead, with the ARC warhead using a chain SynthOil reaction to generate arcing electricity frying electronics and melting metal as it jumps from conductor to conductor.
  [Cheap] 3 Ore, 4 Oil
  
  • ION-Storm: Variant with a second stage, improved tracking, reduced payload, and it's only able to be launched from a truck. Designed to intercept Merethan air(space?)craft re-entering the atmosphere.
    Expensive] 3 Ore, 5 Oil
• "Red Skies" Multiple Missile Launcher: A 300 lb version of the Storm missile using Inertial guidance and adapted entirely for surface-to-surface use. Has a SynthOil-based incendiary payload that's capable of effectively burning through armor, but is less immediately destructive. Has a range of 15 km. Its guidance allows it to easily and effectively target any ground point, but it can't change course mid-flight and can't actively track any targets; its effectiveness in accuracy mostly is based on what intelligence the operator has when firing. Intended for use as surface-to-surface artillery.
  [Cheap] 3 Ore, 4 Oil

Land Vehicles

• M3T1A1 Raider: The Raider is a Diesel-Electric tracked APC designed to serve as a base platform for many roles. It has light RHA armor with a sloped front, plus slats. It holds ten passengers and three crew. It has an interchangeable turret, which is very wide and flat with medium armor. Default armament is a Can shredder, plus 6 external Thumper barrels for smoke grenades and an RPG, these can only be reloaded from the outside. It's also chemical warfare protected, and amphibious, with a trim vane and two electric powered propellers. Exits are on large rear hatch and one small top hatch, only latter can be used while afloat.
  [Cheap] 3 Ore 2 Oil
• Privateer 1 1/2 Ton Truck: An antique Cannalan truck somehow still being used for cargo transport.
  [Cheap] 2 Ore, 2 Oil, Provides 1 TC
• "Glaive"-Electromagnetic Coil Cannon Battletank ECCB-72: A large silent tank armed with a 120mm coilgun and a Reactor-charged coaxial-mounted Tesla Rifle (capable of firing a steady stream of L1/L2 shots). Has a respectable speed for its size, and the Coilgun turret is powered but manually aimed. Powered by a GMBP Reactor, allowing for unlimited movement and power for Coilgun shots, making the only main logistical concerns for the tank being Coilgun ammunition and crew supplies.
  [Expensive] 5 Ore, 4 Oil
• "Ettin" Electric-Motor Flak Tank EMFT-61-B: A "tank" where the turret is an unarmored cage on top of the squat chassis where the gunner sits; two self-loading automatic cannons fire automatically in consecutive fashion flak shells to shoot down aircraft and infantry. The turret can be angled downwards effectively to shoot at infantry; limited ammo supply means the gunner has to be somewhat conservative with his firing patterns and can't just fill the sky with flak. Electric computer & radar guidance overlays a digital crosshair on a small sheet of "glass" in front of the gunner that is overlaid on top of the physical crosshair to maximize accuracy, allowing for decent accuracy as long as the aircraft isn't too fast or evasive. The commander and driver reside in the cramped interior and exit/enter largely via a door to the side, with the front of the tank being heavily angled downward for firing angle reasons. The turret is armored, but has poor visibility. Can travel for 10 hours on a full SynthOil battery, and the gun doesn't require power to operate.
  [Expensive] 5 Ore, 4 Oil

Spacecraft

• Slug-Throwing Orbital Platform (STOP): A small "spacecraft" with an extremely cramped 2-crew compartment, 24 hour life support, and a Reactor with enough fuel to keep it running for a week. Tiny plasma thrusters dot the platform for great turning and very slow movement. Small radio allows contact with ANGEL Complex, small radar allows detection of nearby enemies and display of their blips + predicted trajectory and where to shoot to hit them on the HUD. Gunner controls turning and targets enemies via just the canopy/HUD, their sight, and radar blips. Controller manages moving and maintaining systems. Large gauss cannon lining underside (30 seconds to load in a new shell, 20 seconds to charge to max once a shell is loaded) can fire up to 10 shells at enemies, with extreme damage at 100% charge and exponentially less but still very good damage at 50% charge. Each 100%-charged shot takes about 9% of SynthOil fuel, leaving a STOP that fired 10 100%-charged shots with only a few hours of operation. Crew compartment and life support can be explosively detached, where crew enter stasis to slow breathing (surviving for about a month on a full tank of oxygen), a beacon starts pinging for retrieval, and solar panels just barely power life support + beacon. Can be easily brought to geostationary orbit on board ANGEL shuttle.
  [Cheap] 3 Ore, 2 Oil
  
  • STOP-IT Orbital Bombardment Beacon: Large beacon that must be carried by >=2 baseline troopers and has about 1min chargeup time. Once charged, sends a signal to orbit so any STOP relatively above can fire at the ground near the beacon. Somewhat innacurate and the beacon must be protected for its chargeup time and STOP firing/charging time, but STOP orbital bombardment is extremely devastating. Allied troops must evacuate area to avoid friendly fire, generally.

Air Vehicles

• 'Lantern' A-7 Armored Jet: A large jet built with metal-recombinated materials, giving it good structural integrity and relatively good durability. Massive amounts of recombinated armor are present all across the aircraft. Direct hits by Shrike missiles can be survived with only moderate damage, and air-bursts/lasers are much less effective. An integrated Gel-Matrix Bio-Paste Reactor is used to power electrical systems and SynthOil tanks are used to fuel both the reactor and the combustion Ramjets. The heavy weight of the armor give the Lantern a great speed but not quite matching Mereth's Blizzard jet craft. Different systems provide the Torch with great relative agility, but only SEEM Operatives are capable of properly operating the complex controls in the airplane (though their enhanced abilities are a huge boon with speed and agility). 2 always-powered Ospreys are mounted on the front, with no other weapon capacity.
  [Expensive] 5 Ore, 4 Oil (Expense can only be as low as current SEEM expense)
• 'Meteor' Air Frigate: A gigantic flying vessel, more akin to a boat than any traditional aircraft. Foregoing aerodynamics, it's propelled by 6 (4 on bottom, 2 on back) thrust-vectoring plasma GM-BP Thrusters (based on expelling plasma generated by the GM-BP process seen in Reactors for large thrust) that also produce its power. It can move quickly and isn't too sluggish, being able to easily outpace any kind of ground force yet being much slower than Merethan aircraft. Four Tesla cannon turrets -- 3 on top, 1 on bottom -- with greater range and rate of fire to their counter parts powered by the Meteor's capacitors provide an excellent anti-air screen, being able to fire once per few seconds and being able to intercept missiles and bombs when operated by SEEMs. A coilcannon array on the bottom largely mechanized allows for slow yet respectfully-paced terrific bombarding of ground targets, with mediocre targeting. A full radar suite and command center/bridge inside the hull give excellent battlefield intelligence and this information is distributed via radio to nearby forces, and to turrets on the frigate. Very heavily armored and able to resist constant Shrike bombardment for a relatively long time, yet limited internal space forces any non-essential for short-term operation facilities outside on the hull where they're more akin to fancy camps, providing a convenient target to greatly decrease combat effectiveness of everything but minimal radar operation and Coilcannon operation. Constant firing of more than one Tesla turret fairly quickly drains capacitors, quintupling tesla charge times. Thrust vectoring allows the Meteor to stay in the air with multiple missing thrusters. An internal bridge serves as an excellent mobile field command center.
  [National Effort] [8 Ore], [7 Oil]

Navy

• Corsair Destroyer: The Corsair is a moderate sized ship with light (for a ship) steel hull armor. It has a light cannon armament of two hydraulic-equipped Nightwind cannons and four Can Shredders. However, its main armament is its Shark Torpedo launchers (it has a couple on each side) and newly-invented Seahorse mines, which use the same warheads as Shark torpedoes but rest on the sea surface, detonating on cpntact with ships.
  [Expensive] 4 Ore, 3 Oil
• Santos-Class Naval Aircraft Support Vessel: The Santos is a large aircraft carrier. It is about the size of the Khorne but not armored. It's powered by four oil-burning steam turbines. The hangar deck stores two dozen fighters, moved to the flight deck by a hydraulic lift. On deck is an Eagle Eye Radar system, con tower, a few Firecracker AA guns and a miscellaneous autocannons wherever there's spare room. It also has a decent sized flight deck, with an arrester cable for landing aircraft, and two overlapping runways with room for ready aircraft on deck. [5 Ore, 4 Oil]
  [Expensive] 5 Ore, 4 Oil
• SLS-61 Magpie: A basic landing ship with a bow able to open up with a ramp to allow vehicles and troops onto the shore, and has extremely basic treads to de-beach itself. Has Thin armor and a few mounts for infantry rifles on the top to provide basic covering fire. Powered by Gen 1 SynthOil engines, which requires it to use the majority of its cargo space to hold enough SynthOil to make it across the sea without running out of fuel. Normally has a modest capacity for soldiers (and capable of holding a few moderate-sized vehicles), but the fuel requirement limits it to only a small amount of soldiers and/or perhaps one tank at best.
  [Cheap] 3 Ore, 3 Oil
• Atlas-class Cargo Ship: A Santos-class with the weaponry and aircraft equipment and just about everything else stripped off. Utilizes SynthOil batteries for general powering of ship, though oil-burning steam turbines from the Santos still power most of it. Uses a system derived from Cryostats to cryogenically freeze perishable cargo as well as people for maximum storage efficiency.
  Provides 2 TC

Chemicals & Drugs

• Spice: An extremely potent manufactured drug resulting in extreme schizophrenia, delusions of power, frequent seizures, and eventually death. Extremely addictive. Those who undergo the week-long "Goldeneye" treatment in a CryoStat tank become accustomed (and permanently addicted) to low dosages of Spice, enabling very high awareness of surroundings and mildly increased reaction and thinking speeds when under the influence of the drug.
  [Expensive] 5 Rare Chemicals.
  
  • SEEM: Systemic Elimination of the Entropic Mind. An extremely intensive and long procedure where top-ranked veterans are subjected to week-long bouts of sensory deprivation in CryoStat tanks, and have their mind essentially transformed into a new form via the combined use of modified Metal Recombinators and Spice. Experienced SEEM Guides facilitate this Journey across the barrier into the Astral Realm. For now, this allows survivors of the treatment to exhibit extreme (much higher than Goldeneyes) awareness of surroundings, visible or not. This awareness manifests itself in many ways, from avoiding traps/bombardments to knowing where to shoot at to knowing when one's being shot at, and more.
    [Expensive] 5 Rare Chemicals,
• Combat Drug 'Fury': A Spice-based drug that massively decreases reaction time, and lasts for ~2 hours. Also incites rage, decreasing soldier effectiveness at range and chances of occasional friendly fire. Mild hallucinations are common, preventing users from being effective at recon/espionage/etc. roles. Makes veins much more apparent and red. Addictive, and takes effect >5 minutes after injection.
  [Expensive] 3 Rare Chemicals
• Metal Recombinators: A special mixture that separates pure metal from ore, obsoleting a large part of Aratam's refining industry. A variant can also be used to fuse metal with (likely) any other matter.
  Provides 1 Ore.

Astral

• BioForged Guardians: Recruited as children or younger teenagers, these candidates are subjected to long and incremental SEEM/light organic recombination treatments in addition to intensive training. Gradual welcoming of their mind to the Astral along with minor recombination enhancement of the brain allows for greater Astral abilities and full awareness of the Astral, along with conscious control of many brain functions. Superior memory and much stronger/tougher/quick-healing than even Military Baseline. They are consciously aware of events about to happen in the near-immediate future, and have "insane" reaction times in addition to greater smarts. Generally better than SEEMs in every way. Can shunt their awareness to the Astral realm, where they can perform mental combat with others and sense the consciousness of other humans a notable distance away.
  [Very Expensive] 1 Ore, 6 Rare Chemicals, Complex
• Blackwell Technique: Through channeling Astral Energy into a specific area, an Astral-trained operative can create a reflection of the Astral Realm coded for the astral connection of one specific person (targeted via line of sight or accurate recreation). This person will suffer severe symptoms ranging from death to severe brain damage to memory loss to seizures to full-blown hallucinations to extreme paranoia and more. But permanent affects are rare for those without long exposure times. Non-targeted and non-Astral-trained individuals will suffer milder, all-short-term symptoms only when looking at the Reflection. Looking at a recreation (i.e. television screen) of the Reflection will only affect people who've already seen that exact Reflection, recreating their prior symptoms.
  All Astral-trained operatives can invoke this. But it requires intense concentration and 10 seconds to create the reflection, and continued intense concentration to maintain the reflection.
• Wadjet Branding: Tactile symbols of the Eye of Horus printed on the exterior of the hands in uniforms for our Astral-enhanced individuals. For some currently unknown reason, focusing on this symbol notably improves Astral effectiveness and safety for the focusing individual. Useful for newbies to practice Astral techniques by feeling the symbol in different ways through extravagant hand motions, apparently.

Other

• R.A./M.P. Suit: A metal/ceramic/rubber recombinated suit of armor with heating/cooling capabilities and a quick-inject system where any single one of 6 vials stored in a back compartment can be instantly injected w/ instant effects by a series of buttons on the wrist. Contains a default adrenaline mix, but vials can be filled with FURY, SEEM, or other drugs. A particle filter and visor (w/ internal red lighting) covered by a recombinated hood sit on the head, and a jacket covers the rest of the suit for appearance/morale sake. Light, yet surprisingly durable: survival rates of soldiers are increased greatly across the board, with soldiers oftentimes being able to shrug off light-caliber shots from Merethan rifles. Looks like this, but with a slightly-red-glowing visor instead.
  [Cheap] 2 Ore
  
  • R.A./M.P. Space Suit: Variant of the RA/MP suit that is very bulky and cumbersome, but lets the occupant survive for an hour in a vacuum before suffocating/suffering drug withdrawal.
• CryoStat Tank: A large three-meter tall "coffin" with a small glass vertical slit inside showing a tank. A single "set" of machinery required for operation, taking up ~36 square meters of space total, can manage roughly a dozen CryoStat tanks at a time. Basic automation assists technicians, allowing for a single technician to manage many CryoStat tanks. Subjects are put into "stasis" via a numbing solution they're submersed in, and medical drugs in the solution naturally infuse into the bloodstream through the skin. Once taken out. Use is tracked through a computer-assisted bureaucracy dubbed the "CryoState". A day stabilizes minor life-threatening wounds, and a week stabilizes near all wounds. A month starts completely healing scars and generally brings up health status to pristine, and a year can restore lost limbs. Also used for life-extending "rejuvenation" processes by important people.
  [Cheap] 2 Rare Chemicals
• SynthOil: SMRO-58 "SynthOil" is an advanced form of oil - it's made using a combination of oil and other chemicals, making a much more stable and energy-dense solution. Has a peculiar property - with the right tools, it can directly produce electricity.
  Provides 1 Oil
• Gel-Matrix Bio-Paste Reactor: A 1m-radius spherical "nuclear-ish" reactor that uses gamma radiation to break down SynthOil into electrical energy. Rather efficient and good at making energy, especially compared with anything else in the world comparable in size/expense, but hard to miniaturize and has a notable radiation poisoning issue with anyone spending a notable amount of time in proximity.
• Stormcaller Circle: A shift-based group of the top SEEMs in Aratam, "bonded" with tendrils of Tesla energy embedded throughout the atmosphere surrounding the continent. They can use their tremendous amounts of Astral energy at store to manipulate these tendrils and thus weather. Every season, the Bureau may vote on a single theatre and single weather phenomenon to invoke there. Our troops will be prepared (with the equipment that they already have, that is) ahead of time, but we can't micromanage the phenomenon to further aid our troops.

Infrastructure

• The Refinery: An extremely secretive facility hidden under the canopy in a remote part of the rainforest, identifiable only by its smoke. Contains large liquid storage tanks and refineries for the production of chemicals, well-equipped laboratories, cells for test subjects, a steady supply of test subjects from Aratam's prisoners, and more. Useful as a base for chemical research.
  Provides 1 Rare Chemical
• The Militarized Baseline: Our soldiers are enhanced above regular humans (in notable, but not major ways) in many categories; namely strength, reflexes, and intelligence. All soldiers now have implanted ports for quick drug infusion, and a logistical structure is in place to facilitate the drug infusion and treatments of the entire Aratamite military.
• The Black Chamber: A giant facility built beneath the Refinery full of specially-modified CryoStat tanks, training areas, niche laboratories, and subjects attempting to reach the world beyond ours: the Astral Realm.

• Embassy "The Brewery": An embassy for Cannalan diplomats that doubles as a highly advanced brewery of Aratam's signature drink, Arachaca. The Cannalans can see the brewing process below through their glass flooring and taps straight form the brewery are available for Arachaca straight from the source. Uses basic electronic systems for very limited automation in conjunction with its general advanced brewing systems.

Wonder

• ANGEL Project: A space elevator, comprised of the Complex, Shuttle, and Station. The Complex is a huge facility anchored to the sea floor north of Aratam's coast, and holds a large number of docks and warehouses. Training facilities. Orbital command center. Logistics centers. Worker residences. Security posts. "Mini" embassies for other nations to coordinate their usage of it. And more. Three massive struts going up 100km to the end of the atmosphere hold up electromagnetic-propelling rings to acccelerate a large shuttle hooked to four recombinated Graphene tethers to maximum safe speeds. It cruises from left-over speed to the Station.
  The Shuttle has two decks -- a top deck with space for 30 comfortable people, and an unpressurized much taller bottom deck for cargo. Movement between decks is impossible without an external structure to maximize cargo space. The shuttle's top deck reaches the station, with the buttom deck having access to space.
  The Station is one moderately-sized pressurized room in Geostationary orbit with primitive life support reliant on constant resupply, fitting a 24/7 rotated 4 crew and 6 other people (3 guaranteed to Aratam for research/tourism/development, 3 given to other nations).
  International use of the ANGEL Project is authorized, though limited to non-military use and analyzed for security risks.
  
  Doubles STC, Gives +1 STC to Mereth.
  Can be used to easily send people, prefabs, supplies, materials, station parts, ships, ship parts, etc. etc. into Geostationary orbit. Can be used to improve R&D of space assets. Can assist construction of anything in space.
  Both sides can use it for civilian/non-military use and R&D, but Aratam will know of Merethan activity if they do use the ANGEL Project in an action (after that action is processed). Only Aratam can use this for military purposes/R&D.

The Design Phase of Spring 1965 has begun.

[Blood_Librarian]

I think we should put down a revision exchanging some our crafts weaponry with heavy plasma weapons,  just enough so we can determine combat effectiveness of the theoritical weapons without sacrificing the Tesla gun's. another option, we could do a revision to copy the fuselage of their Skyrangers, replace the engines with plasma vector systems and reactors,  strip any capacity for re-entry and go from there.

The mountains are a tricky, tricky situation. Tanks with tracks aren't effective at all there,  and the enemy has already proven that mechatronic equipment works there, but I'm all for going for a different philosophy than heavy, heavy walking tank if we want to go for that. In the meantime, I'm gonna propose an astral design.

Design: Force Screens

Force Screens are the first result coming from trials for defensive measures that utilize Astral projection. Although the original design could theoritically be "powered" through non-humanoid means, the lack of access to such resources outside of test environments means it is a moot point.

The Force Screen is a system of conduits, a quas-capacitor, ventilatory systems and other support equipment designed to be retroactively attached to our field equipment to generate a spherical "anomaly" of high-energy Electromagnetic forces.

This Anomaly effectively catches high energy particles (such as laser weaponry) and ballistic projectiles and then begins shearing it apart, layer by layer, until it ejects out as a stream of plasma or a low-energy emission of infrared light depending on what collided with it, (in addition to a small, concentrated blip of Astral Energy). If an object is going too fast or an oncoming stream of energy is too strong, some of it may get through, this is by design to prevent situations where the capacitor is instantly filled up. HEDP or HEAT rounds will lose the majority of their effect here, as they will penetrate the shield and then splash our tank with their molten metal instead of the cabin.  The generated field is referred to as an anomaly until such a time when the design team can put a name to it without breaking down into violence. We know how to generate it, how to shut it down, and the physics behind it, and that is all that matters. The term "Force Screen" is a soldier-oriented term that is the most accurate considering circumstances. Due to how the screen is layered, it cannot intersect with another screen, and fire coming from inside the screen will not be deflected to create some sort of hellish pinball machine from hell. Slow objects going under 50 miles an hour are not caught.

Not only does this generate waste heat, but also a sort of entropic energy. It cannot be vented into the air fast, but it can be re-routed into the "quasi-capacitor" fore storage until our ventilatory systems can catch up. The capacitor essentially a giant brick of specially treated metal the size of a small engine block, and it is recommended to shut the shield down before it "overloads" and detonates.

While one psionic individual may not be enough for the entire system, it uses a series of emission and broadcast fields to essentially "siphon" off of other individuals in play, allowing the shield to be engaged when sufficient persons are nearby (typically 8.)

This system was designed with the Ettin in mind, but it can also be deployed to other tanks, and possibly any other vehicle, although two or three individual systems converting sections may be required.

[Rockeater]

"Furnace"-Plasma interseptor:(1)Rockeater

[Blood_Librarian]

After a small discussion with Rockeater (he stated we should have aircraft), I designed an aircraft. Another one. I think it'll be alright.

A-(9) ILLUMINANT

The Illuminant is a less a revolution or an entirely new project than an ultimate refinement of our aircraft technology centered around recent breakthroughs in bio-computational engines.

It contains a Synth Oil reactor system, that spans the majority of the crafts core systems, and is engineered so that a singular, massive core provides for the demands of the entire craft while keeping a low maintenance profile. This creation is referred to as a GM-BP-S (Gel-Matrix, Bio-Paste Singular) Turbine. This thrust is then fed through an array of thrusting systems that allow an incredible speed, and allows it to fly in the atmosphere with damaged or destroyed maneuvering systems as well as precariously attempt to hover down onto a flat surface like a rocket. (it is not explicitly designed to do so, but none the less possible as demonstrated by the now Deceased
 Lieutenant Chuck Whimsy.)

Plasma diversion feeds are funneled into an electromagnetic Plasma accelerator cannon. Relying on 12 banks of solid-state quick-charge capacitors to deliver the energy required to launch the plasma as a bolt that is electromagnetically contained enough to be viable for aircraft combat while also allowing it to rapidly fire. The Main weapon achieves a 20-40 degree gimbal by pre-guiding the path with an under-barrel tesla that “paints” the path for the bolt to follow in both atmospheric and orbital conditions.  It is also designed to mitigate a Talon Laser Pulse: FireStorms emit a unique energy signature when they are charging up their main weapon, and simple predictive analyzation allows the  EPAC to fire a bolt of plasma that bursts into a cloud that refracts the TALON shot, effectively intercepting the explosive laser with an explosive bolt of plasma. The computational prowess of this task means that it can also shoot down Bird-Brain powered Shrikes through a similar process with roughly equivalent efficiency.

Two primary systems are designed with it to achieve this: the sensor system, and the previously mentioned Bio-Computational Engines.

The sensors require a large amount of space, the entire aircraft’s forward-swept wing is dedicated to this purpose, and effectively creates an antenna that is adept at receiving the infrared/Ultraviolet emissions that the enemy craft emit while utilizing GO-FAST fuel. (our craft emits the opposite range of emissions, whatever it may be, damn Merethians don't know true power.) As noted, the aircraft's wings are forward-swept to survive the incredible G-forces that the thrust vectoring equipment can create.

Outside of the upscaled plasma weapons platform and craft shape, the single largest divergence from other craft is the inclusion of a modified CryoStat tank with a semi-organic computer instead of a traditional avionics package & cockpit window. The Illuminated is connected to the plane through a series of radical bio-augmentations that allow neural fibers to access the pilot's brain. The user’s thoughts, dreams and fantasies are realities in this system, systemic sensory shifts or even wholesale illusions are now able to be invoked on the Illuminated by pre-generated computer “User elements” referred to in the lab as UE’s. The computational engines themselves translate mechanical and electrical signals into organic-friendly information bubbles and manipulatable hallucinations. This is possible due to the components of the electronic circuit boards, they integrate organic compounds such as amino acids into their structure. This grants a limited degree of latent autonomy into the aircraft. The central “brain” of the system monitors and adjusts the Plasma and electrical channels of the Illuminant and optimizes it by opening and closing routes that are the most efficient. Not only does this create a more efficient aircraft, but one that can re-route information, electricity, and energy around damaged components and continue functioning under battle-conditions.

Due to the relatively loose requirements for the augmentation process, anyone can become a pilot, and no longer are we logistically tied to Astral individuals for augmented pilots, yet we can still hold the edge of precognition in the skies upon our hated foe. A non-astral Illuminant Pilot is referred to as a Candle-Bearer, and an Astrally awakened Pilot is referred to as a Torch-Bearer. an Ace is a Bonfire Invoker.

The armor is thinner than previous iterations. This should mean roughly equivalent durability to the craft, due to its limited self-repair nature. Physically, it has two wings, forward set with sensors dotting its entire frame, as well as tuned recombinant-metallic rods on the surface that act as an antenna. Life support systems are simplified by the Cryo-stat to the point where they can reach a far higher up-time than an equivalent system.  It is notable for being the first spacecraft entirely assembled orbit (so it can fit in the elevator), and it is designed such that it never touches the ground outside of a crash landing, and mundane exercises such as landing equipment are forgone in place of an escape pod.

Each aircraft is deployed from the Elevator with a small “runway” consisting of an attachable set of systems that allow for an extended period in orbit before and after it is deployed on the Earth and must be towed with the Illuminated after each mission.

"Furnace"-Plasma interceptor:(1)Rockeater
A-(9) "Illuminant" Interceptor:(1) Blood_Librarian

[Man of Paper]

Proposal: A-8 "Azazel" Medium Fighter Craft

As with it's namesake, the Azazel is intended to bring fire to man - though somewhat more forcefully. The Azazel is a slender aircraft with forward-swept wings and propelled by two GMBP-based vector thrusters. Armor is relatively light and constructed of recombinated materials meant for reducing the impact of laser-based weaponry.

For armament the Azazel has two pairs of modified plasma cannons installed on each wing as well as a gimballed quad-linked Osprey turret at the nose. A pair of hardpoints on the fuselage allow a small degree of variance in an individual aircraft's armament, even though our air-based armory is currently limited in that department. The plasma cannons themselves are based largely on the Albatross with one major change: instead of firing beams of plasma, each individual shot is completely self-contained. While the additional mechanisms to induce a stable containment field are, at the moment, unfeasable for an infantry-sized weapon, inclusion of the magnets, devices, and emitters necessary for such a feat should be possible in our aircraft. 

The aircraft has a pilot and copilot. The pilot is primarily responsible for control of the aircraft, weapons, and countermeasures while the copilot's responsibilities largely include communications as well as observing and relaying information acquired from the aircraft's sensor systems based largely on the STOP's radar and HUD (scaled down from spaceborne to airborne combat ranges). The pilot is capable of passing off control of individual systems to the copilot if they need to focus more on specific tasks. Biometric monitoring devices are used to pass off total control of the aircraft in the event of the pilot being incapacitated or killed.

Both pilot and copilot seats have built-in reservoirs for our currently limited array of stimulants with a small hose that plugs into the nearest available port. This allows any Astrally-trained pilot to utilize Spice in-flight, and can be filled with other chemicals for our standard Baseline pilots should we concoct any. Notably, Fury usage is banned after preliminary testing resulted in an intense, inescapable desire for the pilot to engage targets at, ah, melee ranges.


------------

Throwing my hat into the aircraft ring. This should be a solid aircraft while also making it so that we're not in endless beamslapping contests with the Merethians once the tech is applied to something on the ground. Like a hovertank. Not sure what aircraft I'd go for though, they're all doing something slightly different from one-another.

[Blood_Librarian]

I might be a tad biased, but I think mine is pretty good. the FUrnace seems a little too short description wise for our aircraft.

The enemy FIRESTORM has a craft that can enter into orbital situations as well as bomb surface targets..  Our STOPs are okay at defending themselves, but if we have an interceptor that can go to orbit as well, then there comes the possibility of us intercepting their craft.

We have a tonnage advantage with how much stuff we can put into orbit. There is no reason why we shouldn't have a space-based craft that can enter the atmosphere for "mundane" situations like bombing grounders as well as other situations like intercepting the baddies..

[Man of Paper]

But we have a small advantage in orbit now. Until they put actions towards more space combat or we develop infrastructure for the moon then there isn't really a point in tacking additional difficulty onto an aircraft we should really want to go well. Hell, I'm half tempted to propose a straight vanilla MiG-like aircraft just so we can avoid difficulty issues mucking things up. I have a feeling reliable air support will be pivotal in defending the Desert, moreso if the Merethians tackle their heat issues.