Turn 3 Design Phase ResultsProposal: Mining Utility Levitating Excavator (uses Alien Credit) (maybe research credit too, but we can vote on that)
Who- or whatever occupied these deserts before The Displacement was keen on pulling resources and materials from the desiccated lands we now inhabit. Or, at least, it's been made to look that way. Littering the Dunescape, and one of the few things that saved us from early demise, are a number of abandoned mining facilities. As with the REEE, we were able to study and scavenge a number of mining vehicles left abandoned and time-worn, and have been able to repurpose them for our needs in the inevitable Water Wars. (How dare they suggest trade for as vital a resource as water? That's extortion!)
The MULE, as far as we can tell, was designed to hover over the sand and utilized a pair of large manipulable arms with a variety of detachable ends (scoops, borers, etc.) to uncover and extract materials practically at the surface and store them in it's open-topped cargo hold. The effectiveness of the MULE at it's designated purpose must have been great, as a number of strip mining operations have been discovered absolutely littered with the vehicles.
Our experimentation shows most of the "magic" happens in the engine and propulsion system, and therefore these parts are the only parts that remain unchanged (and are the focus of this proposal). The engine is a miracle in and of itself, capable of running on a combination of standard liquid fuel (oil) as well as flammable minerals (ore) or, in desperate, cases biomass. Water (and urine) can also be used in extreme circumstances, but are much less potent than other fuel sources. One just need to fill the fuel hatch with what they have on-hand and the engine breaks it down into workable energy.
The engine converts fuel into electrical energy used to provide power to the bottom plate of the MULE. This plate provides stable vertical lift as well as the ability to move horizontally. It is important to note that the MULE always maintains a steady consistent distance over the surface based on driver inputs, with additional weight automatically compensated for by the engine-plate assembly.
The MULE we field is slightly different from the ones we've scavenged though. For one, we've removed everything from the frame save for the engine, plate, and a single arm (using a hook or claw to load/unload goods). Instead of trying to maintain every single vehicle to perfect standards, we've bolted on whatever armor we have available on hand and give the crews (driver, engineer, passenger-gunman) free reign on vehicle upkeep. The cargo area (similar in appearance to a dump truck) has had small less-than-comfortable metal seats for up to twelve fully armed and armored Freemen soldiers. The seats are little more than small plates jutting from the sides of the interior of the cargo area so as to minimize impact on actual cargo capacity. Another six hand- and footholds are present around the exterior of the MULE to allow extra cargo to be hooked on or let a few extra people catch a ride in the open air. A canvas-like top can be thrown over the cargo area to protect the interior from the elements.
While the MULEs may not be the most consistent in regard to defensiveness, they're largely meant for use as fast transport for men and material and not for outright combat.
Observer's Note: Crews of MULEs tend to take an extreme level of pride in their vehicles. Each one has a name and, as many can attest to, personality of their own.
Very Difficult (3
+ 3 + 7) -2 = 8
Below Average (Uses Alien Credit)
A hover craft! or, as properly called, Mining Utility Levitating Excavator, MULE for short. MULE is not capable of proper flight, but it does maintain a distance over the ground that could easily be mistaken for it. As cargo vehicles go, they're scrappy, with personalized armor and little touches and battle scars that make them stand out from each other.
The two most exciting parts of the vehicle, the vertical life plates, and the engine, are mysteries. Reverse engineered technology, that is somewhat understood by it's creators, but so much more efficient than the understanding of physics gives them any right to be. First off, the plates. It's probable that the Sujium alloy used in it's construction, and the form of energy used to alternatively deactivate it and re-excite it, has something to do with it. Just how this alloy works this way, actually putting energy back into the Sujium instead of deactivating it's physics reversing properties temporarily, is unknown still; but that's how the aliens did it, and it works, so we're going with it. It seems to fire the ship upwards, without pushing anything underneath it downwards; the air under the MULE is perfectly still. And the craft regulates the oscillation of the two forms of energy that bring out this effect so smoothly that even when dumping a full load of rocks directly into the cargo space, it only causes a little wobbling in the MULE that levels out quickly.
Then the engine. It utilizes some sort of fission process, breaking practically any matter down into little more than helium gas with traces of hydrogen. For some reason, breaking elements down past helium actually uses more energy than the engine produces that way, so only small amounts of hydrogen are produced. Combustible materials are the most effective, as the oxygenation reaction to burn the materials heats them up and makes the process easier; meaning less energy lost by the engine trying to break them down. Heavy radioactive metals are actually less efficient; but much longer lasting.
Unfortunately, MULES are not naturally quick (though, keep reading). The alien models must have used their many arms in some means to "swim" quickly through the air, while normally the best our vertical lift plates can manage is puttering forward at a speed best described as meandering. It does move under it's own power, which is nice, even under a full load it's still capable of it's top speed of a walking pace. But, with some exceptions, many MULE crews opt to hook their craft up with something a bit faster to give it some extra oomph - by attaching a Silicalisk to a harness, it becomes very quick indeed; some teams instead use fuel hungry rocket jets, or rewire the vertical lift plates to angle forwards a bit to sacrifice just how high it can hover for a lot more speed. Some crazy guy actually swings a REEE around on top of the MULE to provide sudden kicks of acceleration that can actually keep up with each and every other solution. Over all, with each MULE produced having someone on it's team with some ingenious hacked together solution to give it more speed, the slow nature of the MULE is made up for and surpassed by almost every MULE we produce. Most of them actually move at a decently fast pace, even if they didn't right when they were built. Of course, some of the solutions are dangerous, but the Sujia way is to embrace this danger, look it in the eyes, and laugh. Laugh the name of your MULE, and scream into the wind whipping in your face as you blaze down the rocky canyons and sizzling sand dunes.
The single arm with a hook, scoop, claw, or other, customization hauling solution holds up under stress. Some teams do armor the arm up so much so as to be cumbersome, but they are durable enough in their own right. Any faults they may have are hardly worth a mention, since the model used is almost entirely human in construction.
MULES use a lot of material to construct, especially the fission engine, taking
4 Ore,
2 Sujium, and
2 oil. They are
Expensive, but provide 1 TC now, and one more when they become Cheap. They also extend your mining range in areas C and D, so as long as you hold those areas you have access to one more
Ore. They are also effective troop transports, assuming you're willing to put up with each one's personality and it's crew.
Design:Shattershell Grenade
The Shattershell is nothing special really. It's a grenade, plain and simple. A small, hand-holdable casing filled with explosives is the main payload of the weapon. The pin holds the striker lever in place> when the pin is pulled, the spring loaded striker is let loose, allowing it to ignite the percussion cap, which starts a small fuse, that ends in the detonator exploding, and thus exploding the rest of the payload. Additionally, the casing is segmented and perforated, this means that when the payload explodes, the shell shatters more evenly, launching shrapnel in all directions at deadly speeds. From what we remember from Earth, grenades tend to go well with mounted forces.
Let's have us some Silicalisk Grenadiers.
Very Easy (5 + 6) + 2 = 13
Above AverageIs there any weapon simpler to use than a grenade? Pull a pin, count to 5, and throw. Or throw faster if you think the enemy wouldn't be able to dodge. Or count to 10 if you're feeling lucky. Don't feel lucky, please; while mid-air detonation can be useful, it could still explode too close for comfort. Count to 15 if you want to lose your arm, and likely your life.
You could make the matter more complex by introducing a launcher before even designing the grenade, but you felt it was more straight forward to design something that exploded right the first time. And oh boy did it explode right. Our grenades are simple explosives and shrapnel, but the shrapnel is effective.
Arming our soldiers with grenades costs
1 ore and
3 oil. The explosives could be cheaper, but they wouldn't be as effective; there's a lot of boom in those small packages.
Transport Capacity: 0/1 General + 1/2 Sujium (
1 Ore,
1 Oil available,
1/1 Sujium transported)
Resources: 3 Ore (0/1 imported),
1 Oil (0/1 imported),
2 Sujium (1/1 imported)Credits: None right now.
Weapons- Makeshift Earth Rifle (Cheap): Based on designs from home, cobbled together from native materials with remaining architecture. Mediocre accuracy at Long Range, good Accuracy at Medium. 1 Ore
- AK-10 Jezail (Cheap): Accurate out to Long range, devastating up close. Durable, dependable, although quirky. Lower capacity magazine, but quiet and sighted. 2 Ore
- Standard Issue Pulse Pistol (Cheap): Moderately understood alien tech in the shape of a pistol. Variable energy controls range from starting small fires to stopping a heart. It's battery powered, but its maximum energy pulses still use a lot of their juice; stun level shots are recommended as the battery life is exceptional. Very accurate up to short range, somewhat accurate at medium range. 2 Ore, 1 Oil
- Shattershell Grenades (Expensive): Simple fragmentation grenades that pack a lot of bang for the buck. 1 ore,3 oil[/b]
Vehicles- MULE - Mining Utility Levitating Excavator (Expensive): Hovercraft cargo vehicle, with a scoop arm to load and unload it. Naturally slow but each one has been sped up to acceptable speeds for quick material and man transport with some crazy means - rocket engines, silicalisk chariot, "all power to forward thrusters", or even crazier. Each one has a personality to fit it's crew, and it provides 1 TC now (1 more when made Cheap), and access to 1 remote ore. 4 Ore, 2 Sujium, 2 oil
OtherStandard Uniform: A plain uniform with very little decoration or utility. There is a space for rank insignia, and some colored markings but it's rather plain.- Infantry Armor//Grade L: Armored protection up to modern standards, made from PETA-provoking live-harvested Silicalisk leather (Sleather) instead of Kevlar; the bowl helmets have the unfortunate name of MISTACE, but the uniform will stand up to live fire and strong acids, and the MISTACE will easily stick in the craw of a rampaging beasty.
- Reverse-Engineered Extraction Equipment (Expensive): A mining hammer, using alien minerals and tech to multiply it's momentum drastically; power hungry to control, but allows for very rapid mining expansion, and once out of power, goes out of control. Provides 1 Ore and 1 Sujium. 4 Ore, 2 Sujium
- Oobleck Storage Crates: Exploits starches in water to safely transport Sujium long distances. Be very very careful on unpacking. Provides 2 Sujium specific TC, and 1 importable Sujium.
Creatures- Battle Silicalisk (Cheap): Silicon based animals somewhere in shape between a horse and a mole with rocky hides and sharp claws, bred and trained for the purposes of fighting. Very aggressive and will turn on trainers if not fed rocks and ores. Acidic saliva, ability to spit it removed at young age to control it. 4-1 Ore
- Acid Muzzle: Keeps the mouth clamped shut when acid spit isn't needed. Reduces the cost of Silicalisks by 1 ore, and lets them spit acid.
Author
Topic: Absolutely Absurd Abductee Arms Race: F. Cities of Sujia (Turn 4 Revision Phase) (Read 10202 times)