HAUNTER:
Design: HAUNTER(Very Hard) (4+4)-2 = 6: Above Average
We've tried entering the laboratories to see what our scientists our up to, but the doors are always locked and we just hear what appears to be incoherent crying with the occasional sob-yell of "THIS HAS A LOGICAL EXPLANATION!!"
For now we're leaving them alone. We trust them, but the proposal to keep them away from anything explosive was deemed a prudent choice for now.
The GATE itself was, according to our engineers, a "cool challenge". They're taking this project better than the scientists. A ring-shaped large device, lined with Magmagel chambers around some scary technology on the inside. Something our scientists discovered before their
fit was that Dimension N does not correlate to conventional space time. The
nerve. Instead of respecting this entirely new set of rules like the Aratamite hippies, we've decided to tell our engineers to just go crazy in enforcing our own rules on Dimension N.
To that end, the GATE requires a large team of experienced technicians, direct connection to ORACLE-A for processing power, as well as a rare N-Tuned individual hooked up to the computer to provide a mental imprint. Dimension N is not conventional in any means, and appears to change based on the minds "nearby". So in order to stabilize the variables enough for our equipment to do its work, we need the mind of a trained N-Tuned volunteer. By hooking up their mind to the equipment, we can create a N-landscape just stable enough with enough known variables that it can be vaguely mapped through the power of ORACLE-A.
The next step is the placement. Even with this "map" the N-Scape is a very volatile and mercurial place that cares not for physics or euclidean geometry. We also need to figure out where this map is in our geography. The GATE is estimated to have a fairly decent range (more than a mile, but that's the extent of what we've been able to test to without incurring even more major potential risks). To exploit this range, it has to lock onto coordinates in our reality. To create a lock between R-Coordinates (for Real or Reality coordinates) and N-Coordinates, the gate has to continuously create mini-tears in spacetime in a coordinated matter until it stumbles across a section of N-Scape with properties consistent to our created local map. This "lock-on phase" manifests in seemingly random patches of Magmagel in the translucent chambers surrounding the GATE glowing and what look like "purple sparks" being created inside the ring along with the standard terrifying noises. Eventually a lock is found, the entire Magmagel chamber lights up as the rest of the machinery is put into play, and the purple sparks turn into a hole in reality.
No one is to look at the hole in reality. Whether through camera footage, pictures, or anything. And definitely not one's eyes. That tends to drive them
very insane. We lost some good people testing this. So until/unless we can find a way to improve this aspect, we have no idea what the N-Dimension or the tear in the fabric of reality to get there looks like. The succesful activation of a GATE leads to the creation of the N/R-Locked coordinates. We theorize that normally the N-Dimension and Reality aren't "linked" geographically or statically like this, so by locking in these coordinates we're essentially forcing two planes of existence to become adjacent and linked with each other in very specific places for the duration of the activation.
In what's probably a smart move, we have not tested anything with humans in N-Scape yet. We've tried some testing with pigs and other animals, and that usually results in everyone near the GATE's locked N/R-Coordinates getting a strange headache and the animal never being seen again.
Any N-Sensitive individuals near the gate seem to become very
very faintly aware of sapients near the N/R-Locked coordinates, and vice versa for anyone on the other side. Everyone gets a mild constant headache. We've also noticed large amounts of "trash" data being filtered by the computers managing the GATE. Some theorize that this data is relevant information from the N-Scape side of the lock. But for now, nothing can be done with it.
So we have a gate creating an insanity-inducing hole in reality to another dimension. Cool. How do we go inside?
Enter the HAUNTER. A vaguely humanoid drone based on the SERF. Once the lock is created, the Volunteer who helped in creating it is tasked with controlling the HAUNTER via a wired CAT connection and very large amounts of sensors on the HAUNTER in the hope of catching anything relevant to N-Dimension navigation.
The first tests were problematic. Test number one resulted in Control receiving
multiple HAUNTER signals with identical IDs and protocols; the volunteer developed a strange variant of schizophrenia and was deemed unfit for service. Test number two immediately ended up in the sudden appearance of a mangled HAUNTER split in half near the locked coordinates in our dimension, and disappearance of the HAUNTER in the N-Dimension. Test number three ended up with us accidentally merging the personality of the volunteer (whose original body became braindead) into an unfortunate observer at the N/R-Locked coordinates, and the disappearance of the HAUNTER. Test four resulted in an accidental hijacking of a nearby SERF by the volunteer. The volunteer and SERF are still somehow merged wirelessly, and attempts to replicate this have failed. Tests five through fifteen all resulted in fairly mundane (relatively mundane, that is) failures. Test sixteen resulted in the volunteer "dying", and the HAUNTER appearing at the locked coordinates sans cable, with the personality and memories of the former volunteer. Attempts to replicate this too have failed.
Text seventeen finally gave us something to work with. A
single HAUNTER signature with proper protocols, and a non-braindead volunteer. Telemetrics on the HAUNTER immediately went dark, but brain activity of the Volunteer suggested non-disastrous operations. After about an hour, ORACLE-A received unexpected usage and processing with its connection to the systems. The GATE's tear then closed severing the cable and the volunteer woke up. They were debriefed and ultimately deemed fit for continued service. The HAUNTER remains missing in action.
The volunteer told the debriefing officers that that the sensors employed in the HAUNTER just aren't fit for the otherworldly things one may need to sense that are present in the N-Dimension, so we can't get a good picture of it. The volunteer reportedly felt that she could have exploited some quirk of the CAT to offload their consciousness to the N-Dimension to get a better view. Correlating her description of this theoretical technique with some of the test logs suggests that this is what happened to some of the previous volunteers.
Eventually the volunteer managed to get something tangible from the sensors with some fairly ingenious (and confusing) mid-operation tweaks. Our engineers say that these tweaks shouldn't have been possible to do from the CAT and seem fairly annoyed when ordered to replicate the changes in future versions of HAUNTER.
Volunteer 17 reports that the N-Dimension is
nothing like our own reality. It's a miracle that we were able to enter it with a robot and not just a mind like the Aratamites do.
Locomotion is possible, albeit difficult. The N-Scape shares a dream-like resemblance with the locked R-Coordinates -- "land" is more of a suggestion. Thrusters were required to move HAUNTER, and seemed to experience a form of inertia much stronger than she expected. Ranged weapons were nonfunctional. We hope this is fixable, but we cannot be sure without the diagnostic data that went missing with the HAUNTER. Volunteer 17 stated that she was able to use the sword just fine, encountering unpredictable patches of strange resistance. Almost like it was clearing a path through some unseen obstacle.
With formalizing of Seventeen's tweaks, the rest of the tests were successful and all debriefed similarly, though none of the volunteers seemed to be as skilled or knowledgeable as Volunteer 17.
Seventeen has somehow ended up as head of the Volunteer program, with their identity kept secret for security reasons. But in their limited time with her, the debriefers can't help but report that she seemed...
different. Off. Seventeen's personality seemed to match her prior profiles, yet acted differently and maybe knew differently. The debriefers didn't have any concrete evidence for these claims, but did mention that she felt strangely familiar with them.
The GATE and HAUNTER program is considered a conditional success. The N-Dimension is nowhere near as immediately exploitable or predictable as we had originally hoped. HAUNTERs, while essential for useful operations, have yet to be succesfully recovered. It seems that re-emerging through the tear from the other end is impossible with our current equipment.
Time spent in the N-Dimension lasts from 15 minutes to 1 hour. After some time, the N-Dimension has naturally changed enough that the map is no longer accurate enough to keep the N-Scape and R-Scape locked, forcing the tear to close. Skilled Volunteers can subconsciously "update" the map, but the strain of doing both this and piloting the HAUNTER makes it only a way to buy time up to the 1 hour mark.
The N/R-Locked coordinates do not have to be at the gate. Once the HAUNTER enters the tear it emerges at the N/R-Locked coordinates, which can be up to a mile away from the gate in real-world distance.
It takes about 15 minutes to lock coordinates adjacent to the gates, and 2 hours to lock coordinates a mile away. We either need comprehensive ORACLE-A coverage of the area to lock, or the Volunteer needs to have been there within about 10 minutes of starting the locking process.
One GATE can only support one HAUNTER deployment at a time, as we need the same Volunteer to create the lock and to pilot the HAUNTER.
As for combat usage, we're not
quite sure without testing this in actual live scenarios. Which we can't do without field testing (which we plan on doing this season). But with the help of Volunteer 17 we just barely managed to modify our sensors to the point where they can see "N-Stress", caused most notably by the presence of Aratamite astral users. The most effective thing to do now is "swing blindly as if you were hitting a pinata at any stress"; at the
very least that should disrupt active Aratamite astral activity.
Telemetry for the technicians managing the gate is still broken, but Volunteers can terminate the connection at will (by forcing an early breaking of the Lock) allowing for reporting of Aratamite astral activity at their discretion.
GATEs have to be constructed and dismantled on site, but we can pre-make some of the essential parts. It's estimated to take 2 days to bring one up on the field. We believe that Aratamite SEEMs will easily recognize an active gate from a far greater distance compared to their sensing of our soldiers and assets, but until it's activated with a Volunteer and everything it shouldn't be any more noticeable to a SEEM than any other piece of machinery.
3 Ore,
2 Oil, and
4 Magmatite. It does require a large support staff but the fact that we don't need a GATE for every HAUNTER deployed and just don't need many in general, makes this a nonissue. However, the fact that every HAUNTER deployed is a HAUNTER lost makes the logistics and resource cost worthy of a
Complex tag.
Overall, the GATE/HAUNTER is a
National Effort.Brass is excited for this one. Even
if it isn't immediately insanely useful, it has huge potential.
Transport Capacity: 2/3 (2/2 Oil, 0/0 Ore Imported)
Resources: 4 Ore,
3 Oil,
1 MagmatiteWeapons- ME-CLAW-63: A Magmagel-using laser gun. Bit unwieldy for regular soldiers, but easy to carry (and can be duel-wielded) by Bear soldiers. Uses Magmagel canisters inserted into the barrel to fire. Has a beam mode and pulse mode, with the beam capable of cutting unarmored people in half. Can easily melt through current Aratamite infantry armor, though not instantly. Damage is precise; it can do a lot of damage in very small areas -- it's best used against vital organs. Beam mode, when concentrated on the exact same spot of a Tank/heavy armor for a few seconds, can melt through the armor and damage whatever's directly behind it. Has a(n unused) port to pump in/out Magmagel for continuous use. Terrific accuracy at any range, though damage scales with distance (making it Long-ranged). Comes with 3x scope for sniping.
[Expensive] 2 Ore, 1 Oil, 2 Magmatite - ME-GWS-63 'TALON': A variant of the ME-CLAW-63 with expanded Magmagel tanks and capacitor arrays, that works on a controlled overload. Takes 5 seconds to charge a laser pulse which turns everything in its path to plasma, then a large chunk of its target to plasma. Needs a 30 second cooldown period between shots, and has an extensive STABIL-ICE cooling system. If cooling is damaged or overheated otherwise, weapon explodes violently. Can shoot 10 times before recharge (which can be done in-field by external connection or by using its host's power supply) Very heavy, and currently only fit for deployment as the primary weapon of a Grizzly.
[Very Expensive] 3 Ore, 1 Oil, 4 Magmatite - "Stalwart" Rifle: A semi-automatic rifle with mediocre accuracy at Long range and good accuracy at Medium (and useless accuracy further).
[Cheap] 1 Ore - UF-AC-41 Velociraptor: This autocannon is a revision of AC18, with several improvements. The gun is a little more tolerant of different ammo weights and the shells have been modified so that mixed ammo belts are possible. The use of more advanced materials has allowed some parts to become lighter, while a heavier bolt and stronger spring allows a rate of fire of 750 RPM, with a final gun weight of 48kg. In infantry use, it has noticeably more recoil, but this is less of a concern on vehicles.
[Cheap] 3 Ore
- AS-AC18: An advanced primer ignition autocannon, which ignites cartridge primers before the round is fully chambered. It fires the new, large, 20x100mm round, fed from a top-mounted 25 round C-shaped magazine with a powerful spring, usually armor piercing, about 600 times per minute. The weapon is quite large with a simple action but heavy barrel, weighing over 40 kilograms, and it requires being mounted to a carriage, foundation, or vehicle to fire with accuracy, although recoil is reduced by the nature of its action. It is dependent on a careful balance between the force of the shell and the force of the action, which means that different ammo types cannot be interchanged without recalibrating the gun. It has a terrifying ability to punch through armor and emplacements. Lighter materials have slightly decreased the weight from the previous 40kg.
[Cheap] 3 Ore
- UF-MRL-40 'SARUKH': The Sarukh is a multiple rocket launcher, which fires rockets one meter long to deliver 6kg warheads at a maximum range of 12000 meters. The rockets have impressive destructive power, compared to shells they do not need thick metal casings, so most of the weight of the rocket is either warhead or propellant. The rockets are launched electrically off of rails, and the rails are in a 4x2 array. The rockets can be fired all at once, but it takes about four minutes to reload the whole launcher, so the sustained rate of fire is not better than regular artillery. However, a rocket array is extremely light compared to a cannon, and can move very quickly, firing all at once and retreating before fire is returned from the enemy. Accuracy is poor compared to shells; to reliably hit a single target with a volley they should be used within 8km. Currently available as a truck trailer.
[Cheap] 1 Ore, 3 Oil
- ICE Rocket: A rocket for the Sarukh equipped with an ICE non-explosive warhead. Instant lethalities within 5m, very high fatalities within 10m, serious injuries (and occasional fatality) along with (usually temporary) vehicle non-operation to 50m. The cold dissipates quickly outdoors.
- ICE Thrower: A 20m-ranged pressurized ICE thrower that can rapidly cool an area in front of the operator to (eventually) lethal levels or outright kill/severely harm those directly hit by ICE. The ICE doesn't naturally react until roughly 10m out from the barrel, though it can hit other things in its way and react with whatever it hits. Prolonged use is discouraged, due to close proximity with ICE and ICE-affected areas being very dangerous even with the extensive insulation operators wear.
[Cheap] 2 Ore, 3 Oil - AS-RPG28 A: A rocket-propelled grenade, fired out of a launch tube. The grenade itself consists of a conical shape with a narrow tube of propellent out the back, and twisted fins in the middle of the tube. The launch tube is 3cm wide, a meter long and the rocket fits in up to the fins, and is just a metal tube with a handle. To ignite the propellant, soldiers remove a pin, on the rocket, which is first clipped by a short chain to a trigger on the handle. The tube itself and each grenade each weigh 3kg. It is accurate enough to hit a tank out to almost 100 meters, after which it drops quickly. Rockets are available with warheads based on each type of grenade, including a HEAT conical shaped charge.
[Cheap] 2 Ore, 1 Oil - ME-GVM-61 "Penguin": A 500 kg 33cm diameter 3.5m long black and white missile with long and stubby wings. Controlled remotely via an embedded television camera, and contains basic onboard transistor-based guidance allowing for a relatively straight course when jammed. Two missiles are carried in basic launcher trucks. Has a range of 50 km and a lethal radius of 50m; it can fit an ICE warhead or a HE warhead.
[Cheap] 3 Ore, 3 Oil - M3 Sorraia GPMG: A 7.62mm machine gun fed from a belt. 50-round belts can be strung together for extended fire or stored in a belt box attached to the Sorraia, which for practical purposes is similar to a magazine. It uses a recoil action, and is configured to fire around 800 rounds per minute, achieved with the help of a muzzle booster (which looks like a flared end on the barrel). Weighs 22 pounds. Comes with a bipod, or tripod for emplacements. It uses copper heat sinks, which are now shrouded. It has a changeable barrel, which is necessary for emplacement use. It is effective to about 800 yards when mounted.
[Cheap] 2 Ore - ME-MO-62 "Nameless Death": A large mortar that uses rocket-propelled ammunition to give it a more than respectable range, with the ability for ICE or HE warheads. Its advantage lies in its versatility and ease-of-use: it can be mounted on Bear Armor's rear mount, deployed on the ground, and an automatic version exists for mounting on the Grizzly. Though the infantry version is somewhat hard to use without Bear Armor. Bear Troopers can fire their rear-mounted mortar at any time, without deployment, using a button on the suit's arm, though they have to aim through their posture, and the mortar has to be manually reloaded by another person. Grizzly mech versions are fired via the CAT interface, but are harder to aim and the CAT interface can't do anything other than "fire".
[Cheap] 2 Ore - ME-AEM-63 'Shrike': A 100kg missile with a 15kg ICE/HE warhead. Its associated "Birdbrain" computing pod allows for real-time target detection/analyzing, giving pilots a simple holographic reticule overlay in the cockpit and allowing effective tracking of any kind of target. Its warhead can be adjusted in real time by the computer for optimum damage against the selected target (air-bursting, shaped charge, etc.) and it has high-res sensors with a relatively-thin viewing angle to find targets. On-board missile computer is simple and enacts out orders given by Birdbrain pre-launch, but can wirelessly receive new orders/communicate intel. Not specifically long-range.
[Cheap] 2 Ore, 2 Oil
Armor- Standard Uniform: A plain blue featureless uniform. The blue's mild enough that it doesn't really stick out.
- ME-PA-59 'Bear Armour': "Infantry" armor based off of the now-obsolete Tiger suit. Boasts full body coverage, albeit with fairly frequent gaps in the joints; the breastplate/taces can block rifle bullets at nearly all ranges and most of the armor can stop pistol bullets at point black. It has insulating fur inner lining. Armor plating is semi-manually removed from the outside through a series of switches to enter/exit/perform maintenance. Lasts 8 hours of consistent high-power use, and charge is monitored by a dial in the helmet. Embarking/disembarking from the outside takes about 30 seconds, and disembarking without assistance takes a few minutes. It stands at [~7 ft/~2m] tall, and uses a smallish bulletproof glass visor for limited visibility. Pilots boast slightly increased speed and slightly decreased agility (but same strength) over regular unarmored individuals while in the Armour, twice the strength of average soldiers, and have their skin dyed blue from the Electrogel. Has mounts for a WALK-TALK and larger ICE Thrower tank, and a velcro strip in the helmet for maximum pilot comfort. Contains advanced shock/recoil-dampening capabilities in gauntlets. Fit with Magmagel, and equipped with a charging port that can finish charging in one minute.
Equipped with COMBAT plating.
[Cheap] 4 Ore, 2 Oil, 1 Magmatite - Bear Armour Shield: A
slab of metal shield roughly the size of a riot shield, made out of thick metal, for wielding in one hand. Limits visibility and two-hand operations' effectiveness (like reloading), but doesn't restrict mobility and can be used with one-hand weapons. - "Drop Bear" Armor: A suit of Bear Armor with two relatively large fuel tanks attached to the back, with nozzles places around the suit. Can launch a Bear Trooper high into the air 50 meters forward, where they land with a noticeable (albeit minor) shockwave and no harm to themselves. Single-use, and prohibits use of heavy weaponry and especially the ICE Thrower.
[Expensive] 4 Ore, 3+1 Oil, 1 Magmatite
- ME-MAS-62 'Grizzly Armor' v2: A ~4m-tall mechanized combat suit, based vaguely on Bear Armor. Heavy COMBAT plating covering the chest - where the pilot resides nearly integrated in the armor connected via a Cerebral Action Translator looking at a fiberscope connected to the head - protects the pilot, and that COMBAT plating is covered by further Mangalloy plating to protect more effectively against small arms. Faster than most/all soldiers, but still relatively slow in vehicle standards. Pilot has basic sense of "touch" from the suit, allowing for a good degree of coordination. Can generally tank a single Hydra cannon shell with no internal damage -- just a moderately-sized patch of damaged COMBAT plating. A second shell in the same spot would pierce front armor and embed itself in the back, potentially causing internal damage (most notably severing of Electrogel conduits to some motors), and a third shell - also in the same spot - would destroy the suit. Has 8 hr of charge using Rechargeable Electrogel, and a backup battery providing another 8 hr of charge but that has to spend time charging the Electrogel while not moving. Can equip any vehicle-suited or heavy weapon held by Mereth, an upscaled Bear Shield, or a 6-rocket Sarukh pod in either(/both) of its two arm modules. Fit with Magmagel, and a charging port that allows charging in five minutes. Charge monitored by dials in the cockpit.
Equipped with COMBAT Plating.
[Expensive] 6 Ore, 3 Oil, 1 Magmatite
Underground Vehicles- UT-60 Excavator: A tracked medium-sized heavily-modified tunnel boring machine, most notably using GOFAST-fuel. Can go down to Moderate and Shallow depths, moves at Very Slow speeds while underground and at Moderate speeds aboveground. Possesses limited (but notable) agility underground. Contains space for 6 soldiers and small amounts of equipment of the equivalent amount of cargo in the back, in addition to the 2 crew in its cockpit. Light armor. Equipped with the ME-SM-57 'Earth Ear' for basic subterranean navigation.
[Cheap] 3 Ore, 3 Oil; Provides 1 Ore.
- ME-CM-56 'Instant Roads': A very fast-acting sprayable concrete mixture very useful for reinforcing tunnels when sprayed by trailers hooked to a Burrower. Allows use of Burrower tunnels for logistics.
Provides 1 TC.
Air Vehicles- ME-LRMA-60 "Blizzard": A two-engine jet "Long-Range Multi-Role-Aircraft" based off of the Lightning Streak that uses a 4 "X"-shaped wing configuration via the "Tereshkova Effect" for slightly increased aerodynamics, improved redundancy, and greatly improved coolness. Its two aT-J60gi ICE "freezing stovepipe" ramjet engines allows it to be a fair bit faster than the Lightning Streak. Has one large GOFAST tank and a small STABIL-ICE tank allowing for Long range. Equipped with a single 15° rudimentary CLAW turret integrated with Birdbrain (and a small amount of Magmagel "ammo"), and 8 Shrike missiles.
[Expensive] 5 Ore, 4 Oil, 1 Magmatite - ME-EAP-63 "Skyranger": A two-multimodal-propulsion-unit suborbital transport craft. With four wings. It can propel itself out of the atmosphere and "fall" towards its destination at extremely fast speeds, making it a practical fireball (the heat of which is mostly countered through ICE circulation cooling). It can hold a full Bear squad or the equivalent weight in cargo/personnel, and using its suborbital travel method it can arrive anywhere on the continent in ~30 minutes. Its landing is extremely obvious and it requires heavy maintenance, and unless handling very light loads it has to take the long way back home, not using suborbital travel. Uses Magmagel-powered fans mostly in the atmosphere, and Magmatite-GOFAST Rockets/Ramjets at higher speeds and to get sufficient suborbital velocity. Has a CLAW hardpoint that cannot be used if suborbital travel is expected.
[Very Expensive] 6 Ore, 2 Oil, 3 Magmatite
Navy- UFN-CA-41 Catraphract: The Cataphract is a cruiser built to rival Cannala's ships. It is armed with 3x3 150mm gun turrets, each using a fully electrified loading system. Each gun can fire 8 times a minute. It has an armored citadel with 300mm of nickel-steel armor (Heavy), and a torpedo belt. The deck is heavily armored, at 120mm (Light) to defend against plunging fire, plus an extra splinter deck. The turrets are similarly armored. Additionally there are three turrets with two bumblebees on each side of the ship, capable of firing on aircraft or ships. It is powered by oil-burning steam turbines yielding a moderate speed.
[Expensive] 5 Ore, 4 Oil
- ME-MV-61 "Makeshift": A modification of the Cataphract with shooty-bits and unnecessary "crew livability" components removed.
Provides 2 TC
- ME-DDG-61 "Chillwind": A Guided Missile Destroyer equipped with a 2x-Bumblebee turret, eight Velociraptors divided amongst both sides of the hulls, all slaved to a 150km aircraft/30km ships radar system. Uses a Mostly Vertical Launch system to house 40 Penguin missile launch tubes - 20 each side - angled 30 degrees down vertically. Crew and equipment requirements mean that only four missiles can be launched and guided at a time. Has a very thin metal hull covered by Pykrete and crisscrossing pipes of STABIL-ICE to keep the Pykrete layer cool and supposedly repair any damage, though it proves ineffective at damage repair and the STABIL-ICE often runs out quickly enough such that a Chillwind's first engagement is usually without any Pykrete armor still intact.
[Cheap] 3 Ore, 3 Oil
Other- GATE/HAUNTER: The GATE is a large ring-shaped device with a surrounding outer transparent chamber of Magmagel that, with the assistance of a specially-skilled Volunteer, can create a tear in the fabric of reality (that induces insanity if looked at in any way) leading to the "N-Dimension" (or "Astral" to filthy aratamites). It must spend a certain amount of time "Locking" coordinates, where the Volunteer is used to force a section of the N-Dimension to be stable and known enough to lock it to a position in our dimension where we can enter it. The emerging point in N-Dimension can be up to a mile away from the gate, with instant travel time. Complete ORACLE-A coverage of or very recent Volunteer visit to the target area required. 15 minutes required for a lock to an adjacent position, 2 hours for a mile away. A SERF-based remote-cable-controlled drone equipped with a sword and thrusters pilotted by the Volunteer, the "HAUNTER", is used to travel into the N-Dimension where Aratamite astral activity can be located and potentially an attempt can be made to stop or disrupt them. The GATE's tear remains open for anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on how good the Volunteer is at keeping the local landscape of the N-Dimension stable, though the Volunteer can break the lock prematurely if needed. GATEs have to be constructed on site, through premade parts can be shipped to site beforehand allowing construction in two days. HAUNTERs can not be recovered after deployment, making the design Complex.
[National Effor]t 3 Ore, 2 Oil, 4 Magmatite, [Complex] - GOFAST-Fuel: A special type of more energy-dense and stable fuel. Greatly increases fuel efficiency of anything it's in, doesn't require an oxidizer, and can rarely leak out of compromised containers.
Adds 1 Oil to cost. - WALK-TALK: The Wireless Audio Local Kommunicator-Transistor Assistance Lowers Kost Radio. A small hand-held two-way transistor radio..
[Cheap] 1 Ore - Electrogel: A very thick blue gel that creates and transmits electrical current corresponding to the amount of pressure applied to it. Comes with the "Electrogel Motor" - a very small motor with embedded Electrogel that works with power corresponding to Electrogel pressure. A patch of Electrogel can last roughly 8 hours when powering its corresponding motor nonstop at max power.
- Rechargeable Electrogel: A variant of Electrogel that can be charged with very precise pressure applied. As a general rule, the time needed to charge is 3x of how long it was used at max power usage.
- Magmagel: Electrogel enhanced with specially-ground Magmatite that allows very-fast charging.
- UF-SM-57 'Earth Ear' Mk. IV: A set of small attachments to be put on all available sides of a subterranean vehicle. The use of precise vibrations sent through the earth and analyzed by an onboard computer allow for identifying of earth and entities in a 20km area. A basic Cube-contained 3D-projected interface in red and blue shows the layout of the land and distinguishes between earth, buildings, vehicles, and infantry (all allied and enemy). Magnetic disks store gathered data to also be fed back to the ORACLE.
- GASOLINE: The Great Acoustic/Seismic Oil Location Initiative and Extraction device, which fits onto an Earth Ear systems allowing for relative easy surveying of underground oil deposits. Merethan regulation forbids surveying underneath Mereth for alleged safety reasons, meaning oil found as a result of GASOLINE has to be imported using our transport capacity.
Provides 1 Oil (Import)
- ICE: A chemical that very quickly reacts with the air to massively reduce heat in the surrounding area, often to the point where nearby things are frozen (ones in the epicenter frozen brittle), vehicles disabled or destroyed, and people killed.
- STABIL-ICE: A variant of ICE that relies on an added catalyst to only react when it's above a target temperature, specified during synthesization of the STABIL-ICE. Useful for ice cream and also maybe cooling of machinery and the like. Tends to slowly decay over time in storage, making it unsuitable for anything that can't expect routine maintenance.
- C.O.M.B.A.T. Plating: Composite armor plating using a thin manganese layer and a ceramic layer sandwiching a Tungsten-Bronze/Molybdenum-Bronze layer arranged to, in layman's terms, convert kinetic and electric energy into heat. The outer layers easily melt when tanking particularly impactful hits such as coilgun shots and Lvl3 Tesla blasts, but prevent death or (usually) injury in the process.
Adds +0 Ore to cost. (+1 cost nullified by ME-RID-61 'SERF") - Cerebral Action Translator A system wherein a series of jacks are implanted into the upper spine and lower brain -- roughly the neck and lower half of the back head, from the outside -- to allow for communication between computers/machinery and the human brain. Use of Electrogel as very-primitive "neurons" allows a bridge between the Electrogel and actual neuron growths, providing a channel to receive input from the neural system and a channel to send information to the neural system. It has low bandwidth, meaning it can't do a huge number of things at once, but what it does do, it does nearly seamlessly.
- ME-RID-61 'SERF': An unmanned thinner skeletal suit derived from Bear Armor, with near-human dexterity and a camera-like head. Remote controlled via cable connection to a pilot elsewhere hooked up via CAT, seeing via a television monitor and hearing via speakers. Focused on reducing the cost of COMBAT plating from 1 Ore to 0.
Infrastructure- Division of Unusual Chemistry: A fully funded department & lab under the Design Division specializing in more unusual chemistry.
- M.A.G.M.A.: A giant borehole made and maintained using Excavators, Bear Armour, Earth Ears, and many more instances of our tech. Uses ad-hoc STABIL-ICE cooling systems fitted onto Bear Armour and excavators to maintain suitable temperatures. The deepest borehole in the world, and brings up notable amounts of ore from existing land.
Provides +1 Ore - ORACLE-A: A microprocessor-based STABIL-ICE-cooled supercomputer with >100 MB of RAM and >1,000 MB of storage space using magnetic disks, and relatively blazing fast speeds using a generally advanced CPU with other cores handling peripheral tasks. Input is primarily via keyboards, and output is via vector-drawn screen graphics. When given adequate intelligence regarding known enemy activity in an area, the ORACLE-A can compile a prediction of future enemy activity over a set time period up to a week. However, we must have really good intelligence in an area for the best predictions, and the ORACLE-A can only handle a relatively few areas at a time (that must be chosen in advance by humans) due to processing power limitations. Despite this, its predictions are (when given adequate intelligence) very effective.
- Embassy "Vast Underground Forenian Embassy": An extensive and mildly luxurious underground Forenian embassy dug underneath around the center of Mereth using improvements in excavation technology designed 100% solely for civilian use and definitely nothing else.
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Topic: Mad Arms Race - Mereth Design Division (Fall 1965 - Final Design Phase) (Read 83461 times)