BLACKWELL TECHNIQUE - MIND RAIDERS
The first truly offensive technique that can be used by SEEM, developed by the Black Chamber Facility to manipulate the Astral to create physical manifestations of “anomalous events” The primary focus of this research is into its weaponization. These manifestations can be fabricated from a range of up to 20 feet and can be sustained through non-shielded materials, but the creation of Killsigns require line of site.
These anomalies are useful as anathema to thinking minds as general demoralizers, or true to its namesake, a “Kill sign”.
In layman's terms, A Kill sign occurs when the air or an object distort in such a way to be dangerous to visually process for a pre-targeted individual’s mind and can aggravate mental conditions and cause paranoia, full-sensory hallucinations or in worst cases cause serious brain damage, training has been made to specifically disable the functions of pilots and snipers. A killsign can be effective with even a split second exposure, but longer exposure is preferred for more effect. To witnesses not especially targetted, it merely manifests as a shimmer in the air or on the “engraved” object, that may cause a headache. Some individuals may have similar cognitions then the targeted individual, and it is advised for all Aratamite military personnel to not directly stare at any shimmers or Anomalies.
If a general area hazard is preferred, a generalized “kill-sign” can be created, affecting all individuals in the area who perceive the anomaly, causing visual artifacts in one's visual cortex, along with a slew of minor, but noticeable effects on the mind that decrease a soldiers effectiveness. It is to be noted that such anomalies are not targeted and effect all individuals, and long-term contact can have an equivalent effect to a Kill Sign.
These distortions can be deployed against aircraft and tank crews to a lesser effect, an observation (through sight or some cases hearing) is all that is required for its effect to occur.
It is unknown whether such anomalies can target Merethian thinking machines. However, one theorized method of preventing air superiority is to “place” a Kill-Sign of an engaged enemy Pilot onto one's own Torch, requiring the enemy pilot to not look at the aircraft for fear of mental degradation.
Care is to be taken, as anomalous effects may occur if an individual sustaining a kill-sign perishes.
All individuals trained in the utilization of this Blackwell technique will be referred to as MIND RAIDERS.
Tl;Dr: Trained soldiers who can use the astral to make "anomalous" emissions of visible light on a chosen object, in the air or otherwise in the physical world that causes mental harm on either 1 specific chosen person, or any sapient/sentient being who observes the active anomaly.
Design: Blackwell Technique - Mind Raiders(Very Hard) (7)-2 = 5: Average
The first iteration of the Blackwell Technique ended in failure. Surprisingly for Aratamite standards, this failure did not include any scientists being driven to insanity, so it was a good failure as far as failures go.
We theorized that we could short circuit the brain via an extremely specific pattern of light, and that we could create these patterns of light via distorting the air. This encountered two problems. Problem number one is that it is impossible with our current level of technology and understanding to create such specific patterns in air. Problem number two is that it turns out our theory was incorrect -- the human brain cannot be "short circuited" via light patterns.
So we took a trip down to The Black Chamber. Our top Astral Physicists looked at the initial theories and came up with one of their own: that while mundane light cannot accomplish what we seek, the Astral can. Seeing the Astral is, as we've discovered since the very beginning of our research, an extremely traumatic experience for those unprepared.
Conventional windows -- holes -- between the world outside and the Astral have yet to be created. But we think we came up with the next best thing. Through use of an Astral Operative as a conduit, enough astral energy can be channeled into a specific point in space to make something akin to a reflection of the Astral. This, plus some choice configuration of the reflection based on the target individual's
own latent Astral connection, allows for the Blackwell Technique.
Maintaining a "kill sign" is extremely hard work, as it requires continuously channeling the energy as long as the sign exists. It takes great concentration and the extent of one's Astral abilities. So anyone maintaining it could probably not do anything particularly intense (
especially not fly a plane), or otherwise be effective in combat outside of the kill sign.
Any untrained individual upon seeing a Kill Sign (or "Reflection") not meant for them can suffer a number of temporary effects, from brief hallucinations to fainting to extreme disgust to convulsion -- all of these stop as soon as the Reflection is out of the victim's sight. Observers with Astral training will get anything from an extremely severe headache to no symptoms, depending on their skill. The victim intended for by a Reflection will likely experience severe symptoms that subsist even after vision of the Reflection is lost. Death can happen in rare cases, severe brain damage rare but less-so. More likely is extreme full-sensory hallucinations, seizures, complete short-term memory loss, extreme paranoia, and other symptoms one may expect in a brain-damaged individual. Most victims end up surviving in the long run with minimal permanent damage as long as they don't look upon the Reflection for too long.
Full effects of the Blackwell Technique are experienced if a victim sees it through a direct visual feed, such as that provided by optic fiber. Seeing it artificially reproduced loses the effects of the Astral and only amounts to a headache in rare circumstances. Though anyone that has experienced the Blackwell Technique tends to go through the exact same symptoms they went through previously if they see an exact recreation (artificially reproduced, like through a television screen) of the exact Reflection they saw previously. Birdbrain pods seem to be unaffected.
All SEEMs are trained in the Blackwell Technique, but it takes seeing the intended victim (this can via line of sight or via seeing a recreation, such as an accurate drawing or on a screen) and about 10 seconds of concentration to create the Reflection, then concentration is required to maintain the Reflection.
We predict that the Blackwell Technique will be useful, but somewhat situational. Command worries that Mereth may attempt to circumvent it via redirecting images through screens and cameras in the future.
Transport Capacity: 2/3 (2/2 Oil Imported)
Resources: 3 Ore,
4 Oil,
2 Rare ChemicalsWeapons- "Machete" Pistol: A 6-round semiautomatic pistol semi-accurate up to Short range. Reliable.
[Cheap] 1 Ore - "Jumper" EMA Grenade Launcher: The Electromagnetically Assisted Grenade Launcher "Jumper" is roughly the shape of a very noticeably thicker bazooka-like assembly. It uses inefficient brick-sized SynthOil batteries that provide enough charge for one shot per battery. Once a battery is inserted, the Jumper has to "charge" for roughly thirty seconds before being able to fire, and can fire 1.5 inch specially-made grenades with "average" radii and okay accuracy, silently. It's fairly bulky. The manufacturing of the coilgun adds severe complexity.
[Expensive] 2 Ore, 1 Oil, Complex - 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 - "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 - "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
Air Vehicles- M1942 A-5B 'Spearhead-B' Air Superiority Fighter: Following Forenia's Thunderbird design, the Spearhead is an aluminum-built fighter with two turbojet engines. A heavy Can Shredder sits in the nose. Two Morei turbojets burn kerosene and take some advantage of experiences of the Bull tank's turboshaft, it includes a water-cooling system (the shared radiator creates a third intake under the body). On the other hand, when it's keeping good speed it can make impressive turns thanks to its hydraulic control system; the pilot can pull the relatively large control surfaces with ease. A hardpoint for 500lb bombs or missiles has been added under each wing.
[Expensive] 4 Ore, 4 Oil - M1948 A-6 'Torch' Jet: A large jet built with metal-recombinated materials, giving it good structural integrity and relatively good durability. 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 reactor and its shielding give the Torch a speed notably higher than the Torch but still not 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, along with two Bomb/Missile mounts on each wing.
[Expensive] 5 Ore, 4 Oil (Expense can only be as low as current SEEM expense)
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. It is powered by steam turbines and easily outpaces battleships like the Kalmar, Kraken and Kurokami.
[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- 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.
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 - 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.
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Topic: Mad Arms Race - Aratam Design Bureau (Fall 1965 - Final Design Phase) (Read 60734 times)