Design : Typhoon Assault Airship (Hard Difficulty)3+4-1 = 6: Above average
The Octoling's newest super-weapon, a giant airship with its own respawn pad and a stock of balloon mine adapted balloon bombs to drop upon foes. Its fairly impressive looking, with its giant balloon, main central gondola, and four large engine pods at the back. It also has a snazzy look out/navigation post on the top, but being as that part is on the top it's rarely seen except by the Typhoon's own crew. In battle, it serves as a mobile respawn point, using Superjump based technology to fire newly re-spawned Octolings back to wherever the rest of their squad is from the nose mounted respawn pad, as well as dropping balloon bombs from its central bomb bay.
All in all, observers agree, a fitting Octoweapon, great and legendary, which will hopefully bring the war to a close soon.
There's only one minor tiny teeny issue, designers warn. For in order to get all of that stuff actually floating, designers had to use just a little stolen inkling technology. It's just some applied anti-logical math equations, really, that change the lifting power of the airship's gas and maybe effect the effective general atmospheric density a bit. You know, just to get the thing actually flying, and flying high, with four heavy engine pods, a big gondola, a medium sized load of bombs, the respawn pad and associated technology needed for it to actually work... all that stuff. Nothing big, right?
Anyway, it turns out as some sort of weird side effect if a single (having more then two, maybe three at the most and even that's loosing a lot of effectiveness) happens to be insane enough to stand their ground and shoot the hell out of incoming balloon bombs instead of running for their existences, the balloon bombs are, well...
Flung skyward with immense force while being converted to the ink frequency of whomever did the shooting of the balloon, directly back at the airship.
But really, what's the chance that will happen? You'd have to be totally insane to sit around in the target zone, shooting the balloon bombs, all by yourself because if an entire squad does it it'll diffuse the effect enough that nothing will happen. Only a total moron would even get the idea! I mean, what, are we fighting Inklings or some-... oh, wait, we are fighting Inklings?
...Huh.
Well, it's still a low percentage chance that they'll figure it out, right? I'm sure we've got nothing to worry about.
Costs
2 Zapfish to operate.
Basic Resources
Plastics : 2
Super Sea Snails : 1
Advanced Resources
Zapfish : 2
Primary Weapon- Bamboozler : A compression powered ink gun that was recently invented before the Great Turf War. It charges somewhat slowly, is hard to charge on the move, can not store a charge, has limited maximum range, has low ink usage efficiency hampering repeated use before one must refill their ink tank, and can not be fired while uncharged. In other words, a revolutionary improvement over all that came before. Despite being shaped somewhat like a hammer, it is not advisable to use it in melee to hit someone over the head with. Recent advances in Ink Tank pump speed have increased the Bamboozler's charging speed by around 5%, and an additional redesign of the nozzle and front half of the gun has increased ranged by an astonishing 15%.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. - Bamboozler Mk.2b : A reconstructed version of the Bamboozler that replaces the old ink compressor and awkward trigger/plunger set up with an entirely new selection of complicated gearing and valves, using a two tank air/ink pressure system to achieve greater range, charging speed, and ink usage efficiency then the Mk.1 Bamboozler. While originally the Mk.2 was overly complicated to build and maintain, a recent redesign has dramatically simplified and 'cleaned up' the inkarm. While this results in it working a bit better in most ways, most noticeably in Ink Efficiency as it has stopped being a bit leaky, the biggest result to this is that it's far easier to build. Additionally, new generation nozzle compression technology has increased its viable range by an astonishing 15% above and beyond its original specs.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Splatling Cannon : A large crank operated automatic ink cannon. Has short range, extreme weight and size, and equally extreme inkpower. Can be operated at either a low firing speed, which actually has accuracy, or a high firing speed which can suck dry an entire ink tank in under thirty seconds using the higher pump speeds made possible by the Rotodynamic Pump but in return can barely hope to hit the broad side of a barn due to the crank and the pump knocking the weapon around as it fires as well as the increased recoil.
Expensive - Cost : 3 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Sub Weapon- Balloon Mine : A large balloon, inflated close to bursting with ink. Being sturdy enough to avoid accidental discharges means it requires some amount of focused firepower to detonate, and it takes around a minute and a full ink tank to deploy in the first place. Covers a large area with friendly ink when it does detonate, however, and has an optional automatic pump to allow for deployment without manual operation.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails. When used with the Automatic Pump, gains the Complex tag and therefor becomes Expensive. - Punt Bomb : A foot sized balloon designed to be kicked at enemies. Has a somewhat weird shape that makes it hard to throw, but easier to kick. Can be filled directly from an ink tank or with a Balloon Bomb pump. It's horizontal range is noticeably superior to its vertical range (well, you can still kick it high, but when you do it's almost impossible to aim), and it has some trouble with windows.
Cheap - Cost : 1 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
Specials- Krakenblade : A average sized blade of raw Ink and Ink Energy, stabilized by an anchoring hilt and internal spine. Takes a moment to form and is only effective at melee range, but does hold the power to splat anything you get a direct hit on. The blades lasts for around fifteen seconds before loosing cohesion, and also allows the user to rechannel the Ink Energy to power a hyperspeed dash forwards three to four yards. This dash can either be done as a blade dash, where the user swings the sword as they dash, striking everything between their starting and stopping point but also burning through the rest of the special's energy. Or it can be utilized as a normal dash that merely uses up most of the energy and allows for up to five seconds of continued use after the dash.
Expensive - Cost : 0 Plastic, 2 Super Sea Snails.
AbilityNo Abilities start out designed.
Personnel- Octoling Guardsman/Guardswoman : An Octoling member of a volunteer weekend warrior association, where they train in basic military skills and teamwork. The association consistently turns out professionalized militia with consistent if not outstanding fundamental skills as well as a well honed sense of squad wide mutual trust and teamwork. Now have improved physical conditioning from a new exercise program.
- Octoling Elite Agent : An Octoling graduate of the S.T.E.P Up Program, they are harder, faster, better, and even stronger then normal Octoling Guardsmen or Guardswoman. They also come with advanced tactical training, but their primary and greatest advantage is simply that they are all highly physically conditioned and drilled until responses and tactical calls are, if not genius, pretty much instant. The program for training them was suprisingly effective, so instead of being Rare these agents are Uncommon.
- Giant Octoling : A subspecies of Octoling which, as the name suggests, commonly reaches sizes far greater then the average Octoling. Their additional strength and endurance makes them natural heavy weapon experts, but also reduces their speed and makes them easier targets for enemy fire.
Cultural Artifacts- Octo Valley Radio Network : A popular radio broadcast station in Octo Valley that broadcasts music, news, and humor, as well as speculation. Many though not all octoling soldiers are fans, and listening to its daily broadcasts can put a spring in their step.
Other Gear- Mark 1 Ink Tank : A basic ink tank, invented by the same inventor that invented the Bamboozler, and designed to work with the Bamboozler. A quarter of its mass is taken up with the complicated gearing that connects it to a Lings primary weapon and the generator for the subweapon, limiting how much ink it can store. Still better then having to produce ink manually whenever you need a refill though.
Cheap - Cost : 2 Plastic, 0 Super Sea Snails.
- Rotodynamic Ink Pumps : A new rotational pump for the Ink Tank. It's smaller size and more efficient form allows for an increased ink reservoir as well as faster pumping, both for refilling the tank and for output to weapons. The increased tank pumping speed for refills is partially countered by the increased tank size however, and ends up only being somewhat faster.
- Octoling Home Guard Program: A volunteer training organization that meets twice a week to train with weapons and with working together. Beyond the teamwork and unity drills, each meeting addresses a different subject of military life, from weapon certification and recognition to maneuvering in Ink Form to theoretical tactical studies, with specially formatted programs meant to drill the basics into the skulls of civilians. And it works. The Home Guard may not be legends nor cutting edge professionals, but they learn the basic skills they'll need to survive a war. And more importantly, they learn to trust one another. Now has an improved exercise program derived from the S.T.E.P. program's training.
- S.T.E.P Up : The Superior Trained Enlisted Personal initiative is an upgraded training program based on the older weekend warrior program. It scopes the best of the best out of the Home Guard Program and puts them through continual and dedicated training. Afterwards, what returns are Elite Octoling Agents, skilled and drilled to the max. Unexpectedly, they've managed to put many more Octolings through the training program then originally anticipated, and parts of their exercise regime has made it to the Home Guard.
Society For Prevention of Biased Species Interaction : A group of sign waving fanatics whom are against treating any subspecies of Octoling differently in any way, shape, form, or ink. This represents a noticeable issue with any attempts to train Octolings to use their subspecies specific advantages to their, well, advantage.- "Born This Way" Initiative : An art, music, and radio based initiative designed to show SFPBSI's repressive and chilling effects on Octoling subspecies. Caused a great reducement of SFPBSI's membership rolls, and also now allows subspecies with proper training and recruitment programs designed to be, well, recruited.
Superweapons- Typhoon Assault Airship : A giant airship with four giant engines, a nose mounted respawn pad that fires respawned Octolings back to their squad, and a medium load of balloon bombs. Flies far to high to be attacked by any weapon, meaning it's only vulnerable on the ground, when it lands to reload. Or, well, to some crazy Inkling shooting its bombs out of the sky and back into the airship to send it careening down into the ground in a flaming crash, but who'd be crazy enough to do that?
Needs 2 Zapfish to be deployed.
Heroes- Dofley, Sketch Artist with a Big Gun : A Giant Octoling, equipped with a custom giant Splattling Cannon, custom giant Ink Tank, custom giant Krakenblade, and a second old style hilt only Krakenblade strapped onto his Spattling Cannon. A well trained wrecking ball of brute force, whom also does scroll art between combat missions as part of a failed PR scheme. Has unusually great control over his own personal Ink Energy, allowing him to use Krakenblades with unusual efficiency and also allowing snap activations or deactivations when needed or desired.
Author
Topic: Octoling Development Facility - Splatoon Arms Race (Spring, Year 3) (Read 26127 times)