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[ConscriptFive]

GM wanna go fast:

Hearing his mother's wake-up call, Johnny Jr Murphy changes out of his cowboy pajamas and comes downstairs for breakfast.  Doris Murphy had hoped to have some bacon for her son this morning, breakfast being the most important meal of the day and all, but the butcher again didn't have any in stock.  (Probably something to do with politics, a world far beyond comprehension of women.)  Instead, she poured out a bowl of iron-fortified Wheat-ums for her little Johnny.  The cereal box is decorated by a muscular gold medalist swimmer with the UNSA flag flying in the background.  With a glass of citrus juice, rich in victory vitamin c, she knows her son will grow up strong.

Aboard the school bus, little Johnny trades comic books with his seatmate.  He happily skims the newest issue of Captain Endicar.  At the very last minute, Captain Endicar thwarts a craven Red plot to kidnap the President.  On the final page, the President awards Captain Endicar the Medal of Honor for his heroism against the Reds.

After reciting the UNSA Pledge of Allegiance to begin the day, the class discusses the upcoming Pilgrim Day holiday.  They learn that the Pilgrims were a group of settlers who came to the New World to escape religious persecution from the Old World.  When a child asks if the Pilgrims were the first settlers, the teacher begrudgingly clarifies that they weren't, but "we celebrate them for what they've overcome and accomplished."  The teacher explains that Freedom of Religion is a foremost principal of the UNSA, and not all countries in the world enjoy that freedom.  The children are gently prodded to think of countries that don't have Freedom of Religion, and many of the children eagerly raise their hand with the answer.

At lunch, Johnny turns up his nose at his tuna salad sandwich.  "Why does mom feed me so much canned fish?" he thinks to himself.  His teacher notices his lack of appetite and admonishes him, "There are kids starving in Salvios you know."

After school, he joins his Boy Scout troop.  After finally reciting the Boy Scout Code of Ethics from memory, he is promoted to Leopard Scout.  Code of Ethics lays out how a Scout is loyal to "God, Country, and Family" and of course finishes with the Boy Scout Motto: "Always be Self-Reliant."  His troop leader reminds his Scouts that a Scout does what is right, because they know it is right.  That's why freedom works so well in the UNSA.  But "some people" in "other countries" need an "iron fist" to make them do the right thing.

Once home, little Johnny Jr. can't wait to tell his parents that he's now a Leopard Scout.  John Murphy Sr. claps his son on the shoulder in congratulations, and tell him they'll spend some time together once he finishes his homework.  Sitting in his easy chair, he savors the lit cigarette in his hand, "Tastes good like a cigarette should."

As Doris works on dinner and Johnny does his homework, John Sr. finishes his cigarette and turns on the afternoon news on the television.  He idly watches the local crime blotter, then a feel good piece a 9-year-old collecting scrap metal to build his disabled veteran father a new wheelchair.  The entire second half of the news is sports, and John Sr. leans in.  The Abberan Aces beat the Plainfield Pipers in extra innings 3-2.  Hank Forester, with his .220 batting average, is on track for a season high of RBI's.  In a press conference, he expressed his hopes to take the Aces to the World Series again.  John makes a note to get some tickets for the next Aces game.  Johnny needs to learn to appreciate Endicar's National Pastime before he gets hooked on some foreign garbage like soccer.

Having finished his homework, John Sr. begrudgingly lets Johnny change the channel.  Naturally, he puts on a cartoon.  Cartoon criminals in black and white striped shirts are trying to rob a bank.  With thick Southern accents, they decry hard work and claim the bank should just give them money.  When everyone in the bank lobby laughs at them, they draw a pistol to fire into the air.  When the pistol clicks, the sidekick robber apologizes to the other that he needed vodka, and planned to buy bullets with the money from the bank afterwards.  A laughing police officer claps the two Red imbeciles into handcuffs.

Up next, a lantern-jawed cowboy hip fires a lever-action shotgun on the intro to "The Shotgunner."  A heroic good-guy with a gun, the Shotgunner traverses the Old West on his horse, making the New World safe for honest hard-working folk.  The first scene alludes to the over-arching plot of the season.  Indians are horseback whoop and hollar as the titular Shotgunner narrates, "The tribes of the red people are unifying to drive us from this land.  These backwards savages only understand war.  They must be stopped to make the New World safe again."

After dinner, father and son tune in to a featured sci-fi movie, "They Came From the Sea."  A reckless mad scientist with a thick Southern accent exposes salamanders to atomic radiation.  To his bewilderment, they grow to epic proportions and escape from the lab.  Special effects show the giant salamanders crossing the Scar and stomping down Northern streets.  But UNSA troops rally, and after a spectacular battle sequence UNSA men & material triumph.  To international dismay, the mad scientist escapes justice by fleeing in a submarine.  The last shot of a movie is a traumatized damsel pleading to a UNSA Captain, "But he's still out there!?!  What about next time!?!"  The UNSA Captain winks, "Ma'am, don't worry.  We whooped them last time, and we'll whoop them again."

As Doris puts Johnny to bed, John lights himself another cigarette and switches to a late night variety show.  It's edgier content with comedians mugging for the camera with timeless catchphrases like "What a dish!" as they gawk at girls in short skirts.  Between musical numbers is a sketch about Endicar POW's in a Red prison camp.  A short red-faced Red Army guard barks at the prisoners to snap to attention, as the Commisar had come to speak to them.  (The guard then takes a long swig from a hip flask while eying the camera).  Wire thin with a monocle and a pencil mustache, the Commisar over-enthusiastically extols the virtues of Communism.  "I own nothing, because the Party gives me everything I need!  Defect to the South, and you too can own nothing!"  The brave Endicar soldiers laugh at him, and the Commisar erupts into a comedic temper tauntrum.  As punishment, the Commisar declares the the propaganda speakers will now play 24 hours a day.  The prisoners groan in response and the Commisar storms out of the room slamming the door behind them.  Left to their own devices, the soldiers form a football huddle and mutter secret plans.  The lights cut out, and in the next scene, the room is empty.  The guards walks into the room and panics.  He takes out his hip flask and drains it down his throat before summoning the wherewithal to call for help.  The Commisar arrives and yells in impotent rage.  The guard sheepish reveals that over the sound of the propaganda speakers, they couldn't hear the escape tunnel being dug.  The sketch ends with a sad trombone as the Commisar looks into the camera.

John Sr. wakes up in his easy chair.  It's late at night, and national anthem is playing on the television as they sign off from broadcasting.  He must've fallen asleep watching television ...again.  After shutting off the television, he goes to brush his teeth for the night.  In idle thought, he smiles as he remembers the Commisar sketch from earlier.  To think, those poor Red bastards to the South had Commisars in their face constantly.  John was glad he raised his family in a free country without propaganda.

Ore in the Frosty Mountains: (6)Powder Miner, Quarque, Kashyyk , Funk, Andrea, ConscriptFive

Take Abbera Central Allied Banking: (6) Powder Miner, Quarque, Kashyyk , Funk, Andrea, ConscriptFive
Purge Loz and Sons Law Firm: (6) Powder Miner, Quarque, Kashyyk , Funk, Andrea, ConscriptFive
Perpetual Conference & Medical Committee:
Yay (5) Quarque, Kashyyk , Funk, Andrea, ConscriptFive
Nay

[Man of Paper]

Strategy Phase

This season saw a mine for Ore dug out in the Frosty Mountains, resulting in the following armory changes:

UNSA Model 1941 "Combine" Machine Gun becomes (CHEAP).
M2 Lawless 120mm becomes (EXPENSIVE).
Herring-Class Destroyer becomes (EXPENSIVE).
Eve-Class Coast Guard Cutter becomes (EXPENSIVE).
PC-46 "Firefly SPIE" becomes (VERY EXPENSIVE).

After-Action Report

With a little finesse and a lot of money (turns out people always want more), ACAB and its access to different money has been pulled under the UNSA intelligence umbrella and will begin to provide the alliance with whatever it can siphon off.

----

"God damn, I hate flying."

William Porter was muttering to himself as he held tightly to the harness securing him to his seat. He'd figured flying feet from the surface of the channel would make the trip easier. Not for the first time, and certainly not the last, William realized he was mistaken.

"What'd you say, Bill?" the pilot called back.

"I said 'God damn, I hate flying'!" William shouted back honestly.

The pilot laughed dismissively, "Yeah, me too! Anyway, I'm cutting engines in ten. Get ready to hop out!"

Ten...what? Ten seconds? Minutes? Nautical miles? Couldn't be seconds, that's not enough time to be ready to hop out and go before they have to take back-

Before Will could finish his thoughts the SPIE's engine sputtered and stopped, leaving the three people inside alone in the silence save for the whistling wind. He could see the lights on the southern shoreline past the pilot's shoulder - and the water inching even closer to the plane. Will squeezed the straps of his harness and felt every sphincter in his body clench for what felt like an hour before the soft splash and shudder of the aircraft clipping the tops of the relatively calm waves added to the noise in the night.

The aircraft slowed and stopped atop the water, and the pilot and co-pilot both looked back at William expectantly.

Expecting what? Nobody knows, but it certainly wasn't this. They both watched a man frantically undressing and shoving all of his belongings in a fairly small waterproof bag strapped to his ankle, dignity maintained only by the barest of swimming garments. Once he was ready, Will walked toward the side door and prepared to leap into the cold waters below. The swim wasn't long, but it wasn't like it'd been done before, not like this, or under these circumstances, or with this amount of pressure, or...

William took a deep breath and silenced his thoughts. As he flung himself from the plane he heard the pilot call out, "What, no goodbye?" This drew an audible "huh?" from Will as he half-twisted in midair out of reflex to face the source of the noise. He sloppily splashed into the channel and swallowed a mouthful of water for his efforts. The copilot closed the sliding door, giving Will a quiet smile and thumbs up before disappearing back into the cockpit.

After a couple minutes of swimming to shore, Will heard the SPIE engine cough to life and turned to watch it begin to turn, gain speed, and...

Bang!

The loud snap of one of the pontoon struts breaking off carried over the water and the aircraft quickly listed to it's port side. Will kept swimming, but looked back a few times to make sure the pilot and co-pilot had gotten out until the aircraft disappeared into the inky night. Will otherwise managed to wash up onto the shore without incident, landing in some fisherman's backyard. He stole some clothes left hanging absentmindedly outside overnight, took the documents he'd need out of the bag and buried the rest near a lone tree next to the fisherman's house, and snuck off to enter the city proper.

Hopefully those two guys would be alright, Uil'yam, yeah that was right, Uil'yam thought to himself.

----

William Porter was able to successfully infiltrate South Harren upon the decision to initiate in covert action against the SFS, and will regularly leave fairly vague reports in dead drops regarding intelligence he gathers within South Harren. Improved means of transferring intel (and keeping the enemy from using his reports to locate him through interception or otherwise) will lead to increased detail in enemy advancements as your intelligence assets can safely divulge more without blowing their cover.

----

Jacques Favreau held his arms up while two Selicate soldiers patted him down. They determined he was unarmed, found nothing suspicious in his briefcase, and gestured him toward a small awning no larger than a street vendor's stall, except it was made of steel and you were the one trying to sell something. In Jaques case, he was trying to sell his identity.

"Papers, please," a squat, bespectacled woman said flatly in Oxian-accented Selicate, separated from Jacques by a glass panel. A small drawer shot out and nearly struck him in the gut. Jacques saw no ring.

"Of course, ma'am," Jacques spoke in Selicate, switching to Oxian and using the noble form of their word best translated as "attractive or desirable older female". She did not take offense. She did take his papers.

"Name?"

"Fedor Petrov."

"Mhm," the woman grunted as she looked at Jacques' ID then at him, "Reason for travel?"

"Returning home," he responded, "I got stuck over-"

"Didn't ask," she interrupted, "Related to Luka?"

The woman pulled her glassed down her nose and looked Jacques in the eye.

"One of them," Jacques chuckled nonchalantly.

"Mhm."

The woman stamped his papers and handed them back through the bin.

"Enjoy your return to South Harren."


Jacques had made it into South Harren without raising suspicion in large part thanks to the relatively lax security on this side of the wall. He wasted no time in getting an apartment near the building housing Loz and Sons Law Firm, and even managed to get himself a secretarial job within the Law Firm itself. Jacques' charisma carried him far, and fast. Within a couple weeks he'd been invited out for drinks with a number of the lawyers in the firm - including one of the Sons, Aleks.

Aleks, it seemed, had some questions regarding some recent dealings his father had had with a few shady individuals, and his lips got very loose after a few drinks. Jacques made a point to cozy up to Aleks and before long found himself alone at a table with him.

"I just don't understand, yeah? If we're in someone's pocket can we really be impartial? Is - will justice be blind to us getting pocketfuls of money from big, bad people? Isn't that a conflict of interest?"

Jacques poured another shot of vodka for his drinking buddy. The man was too sloshed to notice Jacques hadn't filled his own glass for the last four or five shots.

"That's what I'm trying to say! Look, I'm not some big city lawyer, but I feel like the state shouldn't be so directly involved with a group that could be representing people opposed to them or their system."

"You're smarter than most of my coworkers," Aleks downed his shot, gave his head a quick shake, and continued, "Hell, maybe even my brothers. But what can we do about it? My dad runs the firm, my brothers outrank me, I've got little to my own name. Fuck, I wish I could get paid not to be a corrupt mudak..."

Jacques leaned in close, his intensity almost magnetically drawing Aleks likewise forward, "What if I knew a way you could?"

The ice was broken, and over the next couple of hours they discussed what, exactly, Aleks would have to do in order to get "paid not to be corrupt". It was well past 1 AM by the time they'd finished, and Jacques had Aleks wrapped around his little finger. Unfortunately, Aleks refused to let Jacques drive him home and tripped into his car while Jacques made the smart decision to not be hauled around by a drunk fumbling with the lights on his car and hailed a cab instead.

Jacques told the cabbie where to go and began plotting his next moves as he watched buildings and streetlamps pass by. This was the first rung on the ladder, and he was certain any disturbance he'd cause within the Firm would receive a response, and then, well, then the game has begun.

"Here you are," the cabbie pulled over along the sidewalk.

"Oh this isn't it," Jacques said as he looked around at relatively unfamiliar buildings. As he leaned forward between the driver and passenger seat he came face to face with a suppressed handgun, felt a spike of fear and adrenaline, and then nothing at all as his brains decorated the back of the cab.

----

Contact with Jacques has been lost, and it can be assumed he has been Killed In Action. It seems, unfortunately, that he wasn't quite equipped to Purge a Point of Interest being watched by an SFS operative.

----

The "circus" is in town, and the performers are splendid. Their current tour tells the story of some thief and the thoughts he stole, but the thoughts are also portrayed by dancers and acrobats. It's beautiful and impressive, even if sometimes it makes no sense. They are not suspicious at all and haven't acted in any way that'd be deemed suspect. They could actually just be some sort of goodwill gesture. Either way, their paperwork is always legitimate and there is, again, no reason to doubt the intentions of the Circus of the Stranger. They've been around since the Imperial days, why would they even work with the Communists? They hate those guys!

The Coast Guard is also picking up strange signals transmitting text, but have so far been unable to crack the encryption scrambling the messages.

It is now the Design Phase. You have two designs to create once again. I'll continue providing estimates and feedback until I feel you've gotten the hang of things.

Remember, now that the Perpetual Conference is in place, you can come up with treaties and the like for teams to adhere to. Make sure your opponents can see proposals by posting them in the core thread, and every Strategy Phase I'll check to see which resolutions pass for the following turns.

While you lost the contest, you still got something for your efforts.

That something is one SECRET PROJECT "CREDIT"! Unlike your other designs and revisions, proposals with a Secret Project credit prevent details from leaking out passively either through civilian eyes and ears or enemy infiltration. These credits are best used on proposals for things you want to keep secret for a bit before you actually use them. While some more covert options may receive this treatment without the need for a Secret Project Credit, this also prevents details getting out about your massive space elevator, or your metal gear, or whatever other megaproject you may want to keep secret no matter how big (within somewhat reasonable limits - a Death Star would be noticed). Secret Projects do not affect World Tension. Designs and revisions meant to solely impact the Secret Project itself will also remain undetected (unless I state otherwise), but variants (like revising Metal Gear REX into RAY as a bad example) will not be provided with the same protections. I'll chime in if an addition to a project would threaten secrecy. Secret Projects will be labeled as such in their armory entry. There will be more "contests" for both sides to receive more of these credits from in the future.

Spoiler: UNSA Armory (click to show/hide)

Land
UNSA Model 1936A "Median" Self-Loading Rifle: A 4.5 kg, meter long semiautomatic rifle. It fires 7.92x57mm rounds fed into the weapon by a 20-round box magazine. It has variable sights and is effective to 600 meters. Costs 2 Ore and 2 Wood. (CHEAP)
-"Dallas" Sportsman Carbine: A 4kg, 900cm long semiautomatic rifle. It fires 7.92x57mm rounds fed into the weapon by a 5-round box magazine. It comes with a 2x scope with mildot markings. Effective to 600 meters. Susceptible to jamming in unfavorable conditions. Costs 2 Ore and 2 Wood. (CHEAP)
M1 Hand Grenade: A baseball-shaped hand grenade. Causes a lethal blast within 5m, and injures those within 15m. The shape allows for improved accuracy and distance with throwing, but is prone to rolling around until it detonates. Costs 2 Ore. (CHEAP)

UNSA Model 1941 "Combine" Machine Gun: Utilizes 7.92x57mm rounds on 60-round belts that can be linked together for sustained fire. The barrel rarely overheats even at it's 650 rpm fire rate, but effectiveness drops past 1000m. Costs 4 Ore. (CHEAP)
M2 Lawless 120mm: A 120mm artillery piece capable of HE shells. Requires significant maintenance for the uncommon-but-not-uncommon-enough event of a jam, but otherwise works well enough. Can fire shells out to 15km. Costs 6 Ore. (EXPENSIVE)


Sea
Herring-Class Destroyer: A 115m long ship with 120mm belt armor and 100mm elsewhere. Travels at 35 knots. Armed with a triple torpedo mount and 3x2 120mm rapid firing guns capable of firing AP and APHE. Costs 5 Ore and 3 Oil. (EXPENSIVE)
-Eve-Class Coast Guard Cutter: A Herring minus the two rear guns. A crane and open rear deck allow it to carry a Firefly SPIE as well as provide other utility. Large fuel stores and well-stocked mechanics means the aircraft can be in the air very often. Has a comms. suite useful for interception. Firefighting gear, axes, and firearms along with a raft and hooked ladder provide the highly trained boarding parties with their...capabilities. Costs 3 Ore and 5 Oil. (EXPENSIVE)


Air
PC-46 Private Aircraft 'Firefly': A three-seat, single-engine, high wing, fixed-wing aircraft civilian aircraft made almost entirely out of Levisteel intended for civilian use. A four-cylinder engine gives the aircraft a 260kmh top speed in conjunction with the "Gravitic Effect" created by the wings. Fuel efficiency is solid and gives it an operational range of around 900km. Fitted with a thermite theft prevention device. Costs 4 Ore, 2 Oil, and 5 Caelium. (VERY EXPENSIVE)
-PC-46 "Firefly SPIE": A Firefly with illuminated controls for night flight and pontoon floats for seaworthiness. Can maintain altitude at lower speeds and silently glide along once engines are cut. Costs 5 Ore, 2 Oil, and 5 Caelium. (VERY EXPENSIVE)

F-42 "Daedalus" Fighter: A three-bladed propeller aircraft capable of reaching speeds of 600km/h. Has a low rate of climb, but is incredibly agile. Armed with four 23mm cannons. Costs 3 Ore and 3 Oil. (EXPENSIVE)

B-43 "Barragan" Strategic Bomber: A large high-altitude bomber powered by four propellers for a maximum speed of 558 km/h. Can protect itself with 10 23mm cannons paired in four turrets and the tail barbette to provide almost total coverage. Can haul up to 6000kg of bombs or a nuclear device. Costs 4 Ore and 5 Oil. (VERY EXPENSIVE)


Other
Fabricated Papers: False identification papers that should allow relatively easy access to enemy territory across The Wall. Costs 2 Wood. (CHEAP)

"Gutenberg" Ruggedized Mimeograph and Typewriter: A standard mimeograph and typewriter used to push pro-UNSA agendas among just about anything else. Improves local cooperation in UNSA territory but lacks supporting infrastructure to impact the SFS directly or indirectly. Packs away in a footlocker. Costs 5 Ore and 3 Wood. (EXPENSIVE)

Visas, Permits, and Biometrics: Color-coded paperwork denoting a person's time permitted within the city and to what ends. Visas also include hair and eye color and a fingerprint code Checkpoints at borders and throughout the Fortress-City, as well as important government facilities, provide stamps for people's visas, allowing law enforcement and military police to trace someones route to that point and more easily identify discrepancies. If issues are discovered, people will be held until they are either corrected or confirmed fraudulent. This process can take a little bit of time, but is very reliable. Deportation occurs soon after fraudulent papers are identified. Costs 2 Wood. (CHEAP)

Briefcase Full of Money: A briefcase with a hidden compartment full of money. Agents and operatives are given these as emergency funds and bribes for targets. Money is a little expensive, but access to the full range of worldwide currencies means the target's preferred cash will be of little issue. Costs 4 Wood. (CHEAP)

Enriched Uranium Bomb: A fission bomb utilizing 64kg of Uranium-235 in order to achieve an explosive blast equivalent to 15 kilotons of TNT. Can be deployed via Strategic Bomber. Two Available [Availability based on available Fissile resources].


Special Resource
Levisteel: A metal-intensive costly alloy of Caelium that reduces and resists the effects of the planet's gravitational pull. Shaping of the alloy can alter the direction of gravity's pull on the object. Costs Ore and Caelium in amounts likely to be more expensive than an equivalent design using only Ore-based metals.

Spoiler: Resources (click to show/hide)

Ore: 3
Wood: 3
Oil: 2
Fissiles: 2
Caelium: 2

Spoiler: Resource Nodes (click to show/hide)

Frosty Mountains: Ore x1, None x2
Coniferous Forest: Wood x1, None x2
Pine Barrens: None x3
Icy Peaks: None x3
Swamp: None x3
Farmlands: None x3
Northern Range: None x3
Northern Scar: None x3
Cratered Fields: None x3

Spoiler: Harren PoIs (click to show/hide)

UNSA
Abbera Central Allied Banking: A bank in the walled upper-class community in the east of the Fortress-City with ties to the defunct monarchy that ran the northern island for a few years. Provides and Expense Credit each turn. AFFILIATED
Westlan Broadcast Center: A tall building used for both radio and television broadcasts locally. Provides an Advantage Credit each turn. AFFILIATED
North Point Observatory: A building used to study the skies. Provides a Research Credit each turn. AFFILIATED
Tri-Dream Telecoms: A telecommunications business that provides service to the (northern half of the) Harren Islands. Provides a Sabotage Credit each turn. NEUTRAL

SFS
Tonngaza Refinery: A fuel refinery built on the southernmost tip of the Fortress-City. Provides an Expense Credit each turn. AFFILIATED
Loz and Sons Law Firm: A building housing all the knowledge of law (and peoples secrets) that one might need. Provides an Advantage Credit each turn. AFFILIATED
Harren University of the Sciences: The most prestigious education center on the island. Provides a Research Credit each turn. AFFILIATED
Glaza Private Detective Agency: A popular investigative service among locals. Provides a Sabotage Credit each turn. NEUTRAL

Spoiler: Credits (click to show/hide)

Expense Credit x1
Advantage Credit x1
Research Credit x2
Secret Project Credit x1

Spoiler: World Map (click to show/hide)

Key:
Red=SFS Territory
Green=UNSA Territory
Grey=Neutral Nations
Orange=Old World

Spoiler: Islands Map (click to show/hide)

Key:
Red=SFS Territory
Green=UNSA Territory
Dark Grey=The Wall
Blue=Ocean

TURNTURNTURN

[ConscriptFive]

Well our cross-border op didn't go too well...

Postwar reconstruction from years of industrialized and mechanized warfare is an ongoing process; a process that continues to be hampered by discovery of unexploded ordnance.  Altogether, billions of rounds were fired, mines laid, and bombs dropped.  Seemingly no corner of the New World was spared from conflict either.

Ideally, the militaries of both the North and South could attend to this.  Alas, under Old World imposed demilitarization, the manpower just isn't there.  Institutionally, they also seem disinterested in this mission as well.  Perhaps the "glory" of defuzing a 200 lb bomb half-buried in a pig sty isn't worth the imminent lethal peril?

To address this grave societal ill, a group of old retired Aberran sappers stepped forward.  Old men with their children fully grown, they put their technical know-how to make the New World safe again.  Originally a nameless informal group, their selfless heroism drew the attention of the Aberran Royal Family.  The group became the pet project of the Princess herself, and she immediately dubbed the group Civilian Ordnance Removal Group International (CORGI).  Their fame grew to even international audiences, and today CORGI is a reknown well-funded non-profit NGO with an international staff that operates freely on both sides of the Scar.  Even in the countryside, CORGI techs regularly attend to the latest "Iron Harvest."

CORGI is a world treasure, and something we can be proud started right here in Aberra.  That kind of selfless service is exactly what makes the UNSA great.  While we respect the stated neutrality of CORGI in these moments of postwar tranquility, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."  An Iron Curtain has fallen across the New World, and our Red neighbors are hellbent on dragging us back to the horrors of total warfare.  If CORGI truly wants to save the civilians of the New World from weapons of war, they're going to have to pick a side (namely ours.)

"Engaging is silent war, to prevent the shooting war," our REDACTED will pitch to REDACTED, a CORGI executive we have assessed as susceptible to approach.  REDACTED will explain themselves a positive force in the New World, that seeks to stabilize the current conflict and avoid total warfare at all costs.  "Both you and I have dedicated ourselves to saving lives, and now it's time to take the next step."  Given the history and psychological profile of REDACTED, we anticipate his full cooperation.

With the assistance of CORGI's HR Department, our agents will be placed under cover as CORGI personnel, eventually on assignment in Federation territory.  During the course of their CORGI duties, they will conduct Clandestine HUMINT Ops as conditions permit.  While limited firsthand Special Reconnaissance may be performed, emphasis shall be placed on developing clandestine HUMINT networks.  Compartmentalized clandestine networks should be developed with appropriate training and equipment as stay behind assets should hostilities escalate and/or CORGI be forced to withdraw from Federation territories.

Got alittle carried away there, but we need a cross-border cover activity like the Reds have with their circus.  (I mean, what else would that circus be for?)  CORGI is maybe a bit too thematically serious in comparison, but GM can always spin it however they want.  Also, I don't know how deep you all want to get with the spycraft, but here's the wikihole you can fall down: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clandestine_human_intelligence

Based heavily on a firewatch lookout tower from the Forestry Service, the "Moore" is a 10m tall wooden lookout tower ideal for 24hrs of static defense.  Atop the tower is a modest sized guardshack, enough to provide basic shelter and amenities during cold winter nights for a radioman and guards on break.

Outside the cabin is where the modifications come in.  Mounted along the railing of the deck are four large searchlights (one at each corner for full coverage and overlap should a lamp get shattered.)  Visibly blacked out when covered with a removeable black lens, invisible infrared light still filters through.  An "image converter" (resembling an oversized set of binoculars) can see this invisible infrared light, observing the shadows and silhouettes cast by the searchlights.  With teamwork between the observer and the searchlight operators, the "Barn Owl" Active IRNV system can invisibly surveil the night for intruders several hundred meters away.  (The image converter isn't sensitive enough to effectively pick up ambient infrared light at practical ranges, and requires "actively" illuminating the target with an IR lightsource.)  A loudspeaker system is included to verbally challenge contacts.

Of note, as a static position, the Moore includes a diesel generator to power the radio, lights, and image converter, circumventing the need for juggling heavy lead-acid batteries.  And of course, these towers are purely for static defense.  By no means would we use our invisible searchlights to unduly reconnoiter South Harren over the wall.  And even if we did, we certainly wouldn't commmunicate South Harren guard movements to cross-border smugglers.

10m should be tall enough to see over the wall, and it would make sense to augment/replace whatever existing guard towers we have there.  I know we've probably overkilled border security at this point, but designing IRNV as a defensive system seems like a good way to avoid spiking World Tension.  Obviously, this design paves the way for early "night fighting systems" to be rolled out on new war machines.

The secret project is an interesting mechanic.  My first instinct is codebreaking, but we could also use it to get away with developing something super aggressive without spiking World Tension.  I'll have to think about that some more.

[Kashyyk]

Resharing these (for reminders and hopeful diff checks), minus the pseudoscience one which needs rewriting. Also, have another idea about getting things over the border.

So long as at least two people are separated, they'll want to exchange something between each other, and with the Iron Curtain down that need is going unmet. Via official Diplomatic work anc proper licensing, we will open up a limited trade link with South Harren, and thus the wider SFS.

Whilst they wil look doubt be lax enough to allow just anything through (just like their passport control) we will naturally have a few containers of varying size modified to allow us to smuggle through useful items. On the receiving side, prospective cargo will naturally be subject to all the stringent paperwork any person would need to cross the border.

This should be a way to get mimeographs, weapons, and maybe even small contortionist agents through the border along with anything else we may design.

Spoiler: Project Proactive Patriotism (click to show/hide)

Despite the clear superiority of Capitalism, there are individuals within the UNSA who have questionable sympathies. Some may have familial or economic ties, others have been cruelly ensnared by communist rhetoric. All of them are risks to national security.

This project comes in two parts. The first is the assembly of a registery of all SFS sympathisers, rated from highest to lowest risk. These individuals will be watched in case of unpatriotic action, allowing us to quickly halt any destabilising actions they may perform.

The second part is the creation of "gated communities" (much more pleasant than the internment camps of old) where these individuals will be moved to in the case of open war. This will provide the dual benefit of protecting national security and ensuring no unnecessary retaliation is meted out on them by vigilante groups.

Spoiler: The Alphabet Station (click to show/hide)

A curiosity amongst amateur radio enthusiasts is the Alphabet Station. With no music, no talk shows or news, instead this unknown broadcaster recites a seemingly random string of phonetic alphanumerics in a flat monotone at all times of day. Whilst the contents is utterly indecipherable, the motive has been deduced. It is a one way transmission to provide instruction for intelligence officers on foreign soil.

Agents instructed to use the Alphabet Station are assigned a One Time Pad and a schedule of when to tune in to the Alphabet Station for commands. The segment of the transmission they are interested in will be bookended with an encrypted passphrase, and the string within will be their message. Any airtime not assigned to an agent will be filled with nonsense to further obfuscate the truth.

Spoiler: Echo Tango Observation Device (click to show/hide)

In this age of paranoia and threat, it is not uncommon for unexplained phenomena to be blamed on the SFS, or even Aliens. Obviously SFS citizens won't blame their own government for weird stuff, so we have decided to imitate an extraterrestrial intelligence.

This Echo Tango is a roughly disc-shaped single seater aircraft, designed to top out at a redord-breaking 800 km/h. Maneuverability leaves much to be desired, as the focus is on making this aircraft completely uncatchable as it streaks across SFS airspace at an unprecedented altitude. Mounted to its underbelly is a wide array of antennae for collecting radio communications across the EM spectrum and a number of high powered, high definition cameras. Completely unarmed, the Echo Tango's final trumpcard is a solid-fuel booster rocket, enabling it to come within spitting distance of Mach 1 to ensure that SFS assets will be unable to intercept.

[andrea]

Since they have a circus, I thought I would try writing a competitor. I settled on a "Tomorrowland" format, with showcasing future techs. Mostly bogus like most such exhibits, but in addition to the exhibits there are also actual tech developments to run the place.

Namely, I was thinking about a nuclear reactor powering the thing (it is at least building sized so maybe not impossible?) and a computer. The proposal as written as both, but both would definitely be too much.
Mostly, I just liked the idea of a UNSA tomorrowland.

Spoiler:  Futuredome (click to show/hide)

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Futurdome

This is a window to the future, as it is imagined and actually being designed by the brightest minds in the World*. Scientists, engineers and scholars of all kinds came together to imagine the wonders that the next decades will bring to us and it is all here to see.

The first thing you will notice is the structure, a majestic steel and glass dome bigger than you would think possible. And indeed it isn’t possible – except for the amazing properties of Levisteel, which makes up the frame. Strong as steel and light as feathers this is the building material of the future, allowing for taller, sleeker, more luminous buildings than ever before. Gone are the days of dull concrete buildings and before you, you can see its replacement.

Inside you will be welcomed by an exhibit of a new kind of city. With the great advances in mobility in modern times, in the future people will no longer have to live in cramped dense cities, but will instead spread out each able to live on an independent home complete with a lush garden. A car in each driveway and an airstrip in each neighbourhood will make people closer than ever before while having more space and freedom that ever before. And with great luxury as well! Enter the homes to see the appliances and furniture that will be common in every house straight from the research departments of the finest industries in the World**. New ways to cook, to eat, to spend your leisure time.

Traveling past this area you will find many other exhibits showing what the world of 20 years from now will look like outside your homes. The new crops that will find our ways to our tables, the vehicles we will drive, the many wonders of science we will discover and a depiction of humankind’s first forays in the oceans and even beyond the atmosphere!

But if those concepts of the future are not enough for you, there is one last surprise in stock: a tour behind the scenes to the inner works of the Futurdome. You might think that the Levisteel dome is already a great showcase of the first seeds of the future, but have you noticed that everything is electric and yet no smoke stacks are in sight? That is right! In the future, and now even in the present, energy will be provided by a more powerful force than coal: the very atom. With war becoming a thing of the past in the age of abundance, the forces that in the present threaten our lives will be harnessed to power every aspect of our lives: cooking, heating, powering vehicles and factories!  And at the centre of the Futuredome you will be able to visit one of the first devices of this kind, a nuclear reactor powering the entire building.

And you might even have noticed that very little staff can actually be seen to manage the exhibits. This is thanks to the marvellous transistor calculator making sure that all exhibits perform on schedule and runs the visitor cars on time.

And if you think this is an unique wonder, think twice! Before the exit you will see a list of all the great cities in the World*** hosting existing or under construction Futuredomes.

*UNSA
**UNSA
***Actually not just UNSA

[m1895]

Caelium Instrumentality Project
At a black site operating under the cover of ecological research on the effects of the superweapon detonation, a bioreactive form of Caelium, Ethyl Caelium, has been developed.
Volunteers injected with the substance have shown a limited ability to perceive and manipulate gravitational phenomena, with particular ease when it comes to caelium itself. Volunteer 6 has showed the most promise so far, able to bring a human-sized volume to near weightlessness, or accelerate an orange-sized volume by 8Gs (a caelium object could be accelerated by 12Gs,) volume being the primary limitation as gravity is a factor of weight and mass being irrelevant. The other main limitations are the inherent "fuzziness" of a subjects gravity sense meaning trying to affect a below orange-sized volume is exponentially less efficient and the range of Volunteer 6's active powers only extends 20 meters.

Briefcase full of Contraband
Turns out briefcases can carry more than just money.
While cigars, liqueurs, and nose candy can be worth more than money to the right mark, we believe medicine is better to bring people onside long term. By working with pharmaceutical companies across UNSA territory, we can supply agents with a wide variety of Antibiotics, Analgesics, and the nitrogen mustard based cancer treatment we had under development during the war (we had originally planned to release the formula publically after the war but we can keep this a secret for now hehe.) With this set of medicines our agents should be able to nab more than a few informants over the wall.

This is a design
Chez-30 Machinepistol
The Chez-30 is a discrete looking black select-fire pistol chambered in 7×28mm Valkria, a surprisingly powerful round common in North Harren. When set to automatic it fires at 600 rpm and comes with 20 and 30 round magazines.
Primarily intended for issue to guards and plainclothes officers, it will make its way into military service sooner rather than later.

[Quarque]

The Harren University of the Sciences has always attracted students from far and wide. It's only natural that talented young people from North Harren still apply.
The most talented and motivated students are approached with the offer of a free special extracurricular course at home. Lessons in the ways of infiltration and propaganda.

Once their study abroad has started, they are to start a secretive and elite student club to serve as a spy ring and a way to recruit free thinking individuals from South Harren for the cause.

The oldest profession in the world knows no boundaries. The Red Velvet Escort Services is an enterprise with a long history of operation on both sides of the wall. They naturally understand the language of money. So it is not too difficult to entice them to promote the good cause of UNSA as a job on the side. Besides, communism is bad for bussiness, you know?
High profile figures in the SFS will find it difficult to resist being seduced by the most experienced escorts and gigolos in North or South Harren, especially when they offer their services for free. Some of them might be directly lured into releasing information; others may be blackmailed after the fact with compromising pictures that some jerk took during their little escapade.

[Quarque]

Our Eve Coastguard gathered signals, but they seem to be encoded.

A team of mathematicians, engineers, and cryptoanalysts is called together to break the cipher. They will be tasked to find patterns in the messages we picked up, or using statistical analysis to identify likely words or phrases. To aid in the decryption process, the team might build mechanical aids, such as early computers. These machines would use complex electrical circuits and rotating drums to rapidly test different decryption methods.

[Man of Paper]

CORGI is Hard to do now, and will only get harder to pull off as relations sour between UNSA and SFS. Difficulty at the moment comes from setting up (successful) a spy network.

Lookout Towers are Hard because of the step into IRNV tech.

Import/Export is Very Hard and will only get harder. Open trade across that border and using it for smuggling is going to be even harder to push through diplomatically. It's a bit different than permitting an "established" cultural event or philanthropic organization.

P3 is Very Hard, largely due to the "gated communities" aspect, and not more difficult because this timeline doesn't have a history involving, uh, less good "gated communities".

Alphabet Station is Normal. Nothing too out of the ordinary or demanding, but you still gotta have people come up with the means of encryption and training agents in its use.

ETOD is Theoretical thanks to the solid rocket booster, cameras, and departure from typical aircraft design requiring some experimentation.

Futuredome is Impossible. While the proposal doesn't mention being used as a means of infiltration, the comment above it about competing with the circus, which definitely does not help spies, heavily suggests that it's meant to be used for intrigue in some way. And then you're adding a nuclear reactor on top of that. And computer stuff. This is at least two designs being crammed into one and then being sold as totally legit.

CIP is Theoretical. It's best viewed as a potential multiaction project that could produce immediate results but will require a lot of intense experimentation. Introducing something that tends to fuck with gravity into a human body is almost guaranteed to have kinks to work out.

Briefcase Full of Contraband is Hard. You have the briefcases at the ready, you just have to make the contacts or produce the pharmaceuticals meant to replace the cash money. And also produce a cancer treatment.

Chez-30 is Normal. It's a machine pistol with no bells and whistles.

Student Exchange is Hard, with the same warning about future difficulty and reasoning as CORGI.

Red Velvet is Theoretical. Nothing is truly free and everybody knows that, even communists. Having this project successfully convince people there's no ulterior motives enough to let their guard down is going to be extremely difficult. It might trap the occasional schlep, but it's going to need some luck to see wider successes.

Project Oculus is Hard due to the small step into computers, and is not guaranteed to be able to actually assist in breaking the present encryption used depending on the method in use. It could still prove useful otherwise though, and may manage to break into encryptions it's failed to crack before as time goes on (especially if it receives improvements of its own).

[Quarque]

Ok, so how about:

Doing either CORGI or the Student Exchange project, spending a Research credit to lower the difficulty to Normal. CORGI is well written, Student Exchange should synergise well with the Gutenberg press.

And doing the Oculus project, spending a research credit, an advantage credit and the secret credit?

The machine pistol would be my next most preferred option, if we want to preserve one research credit for later. But please for the love of god, let's not sit on more than one of them. Getting a bonus and not using it is the worst play.

CORGI: (1) Quarque
  spend research credit?
    Yes: (1) Quarque
    No:
Lookout Towers
Import/Export
P3
Alphabet Station
ETOD
Futuredome
CIP
Briefcase Full of Contraband
Chez-30
Student Exchange
Red Velvet
Project Oculus: (1) Quarque
  spend research credit?
    Yes: (1) Quarque
  spend advantage credit?
    Yes: (1) Quarque
  spend secret credit?
    Yes: (1) Quarque

[m1895]

CORGI: (1) Quarque
  spend research credit?
    Yes: (1) Quarque
    No:
Lookout Towers
Import/Export
P3
Alphabet Station
ETOD
Futuredome
CIP: (1) m1895
 spend research credit?
  Yes: (1) m1895
 spend advantage credit?
  Yes: (1) m1895
Briefcase Full of Contraband
Chez-30
Student Exchange
Red Velvet
Project Oculus: (2) Quarque, m1895
  spend research credit?
    Yes: (2) Quarque, m1895
  spend advantage credit?
    Yes: (1) Quarque
    No: (1) m1895
  spend secret credit?
    Yes: (2) Quarque, m1895

[andrea]

Not voting yet, but this votebox needs some readability improvements.

CORGI: (1) Quarque
  spend research credit?
    Yes: (1) Quarque
    No:

Lookout Towers :

Import/Export :

P3 :

Alphabet Station :

ETOD :

Futuredome :

CIP: (1) m1895
 spend research credit?
  Yes: (1) m1895
 spend advantage credit?
  Yes: (1) m1895

Briefcase Full of Contraband :

Chez-30 :

Student Exchange :

Red Velvet :

Project Oculus: (2) Quarque, m1895
  spend research credit?
    Yes: (2) Quarque, m1895
  spend advantage credit?
    Yes: (1) Quarque
    No: (1) m1895
  spend secret credit?
    Yes: (2) Quarque, m1895

[andrea]

Adding even more proposals, but more serious than the futurdome.

Those follow Kashyyk's spyplane concept.

Spoiler: Albatross fast spyplane (click to show/hide)

The Albatross is a next generation single seat plane, the first to fully incorporate Levisteel in its design rather than just changing the material in an existing design.

With the need for lift greatly reduced, this single seat plane only needs very short and stubby wings, with a visible sweep. The pressurized cockpit is also rounded and made more aerodynamically efficient. Combining those 2 factors (with the low wing and low lift the most significant), this plane has greatly reduced drag and can reach high speeds easily, nearing what is known to be the speed of sound . High speed and low weight also give it an high flight ceiling, to the point that it Is very hard to detect unless you are looking for it.

But what is the role of this aircraft? Spying, of course! Devoid of weapons, this craft hosts a specialized camera facing downward able to take detailed photos of enemy installations beyond the borders while being high enough and fast enough to avoid interception.

Spoiler: Condor loitering spyplane (click to show/hide)

The Condor is a next generation single seat plane, the first to fully incorporate Levisteel in its design rather than just changing the material in an existing design.

With the need for lift greatly reduced, this single seat plane uses long straight wings to greatly increase gliding performance at the cost of speed. Its flight ceiling is also much higher than other current planes as available engines combined are enough, combined with large wings and low weight, to produce sufficient lift even in the rarefied air. It has a pressurized cockpit to help the pilot operate at those altitudes. Able to climb rapidly to great altitudes and take off and land on a dime (not literal), it generally operates by loitering on the desired objectives out of sight and only rarely turning on the engines relying on slow gliding to avoid noise and visual disturbances in the sky.

But what is the role of this aircraft? Spying, of course! Devoid of weapons, this craft hosts a specialized camera facing downward able to take detailed photos of enemy installations beyond the borders while being high enough and fast enough to avoid interception.

[ConscriptFive]

Spend all the credits!

CORGI: (2) Quarque, ConscriptFive
  spend research credit?
    Yes: (2) Quarque, ConscriptFive
    No:

Lookout Towers :

Import/Export :

P3 :

Alphabet Station :

ETOD :

Futuredome :

CIP: (1) m1895
 spend research credit?
  Yes: (1) m1895
 spend advantage credit?
  Yes: (1) m1895

Briefcase Full of Contraband :

Chez-30 :

Student Exchange :

Red Velvet :

Project Oculus: (3) Quarque, m1895, ConscriptFive
  spend research credit?
    Yes: (3) Quarque, m1895, ConscriptFive
  spend advantage credit?
    Yes: (2) Quarque, ConscriptFive
    No: (1) m1895
  spend secret credit?
    Yes: (3) Quarque, m1895, ConscriptFive

Both of those are something immediately relevant we need to do sooner rather than later.  If we're going to throw three credits at something, breaking into the field of computers is probably the best use for it.

[Kashyyk]

Standing at 7.5m tall, the Armoured Urban Weapons Platform is a bipedal vehicle, with a crew of three (Commander, Gunner, Pilot). It cuts an imposing figure with a bulbous torso/cockpit above two jointed legs. Flanking the cockpit are two separately aimable  weapons (with electric motors giving pitch and yaw), on the left an interlocked pair of 20mm autocannons for soft targets, and a 120mm QF cannon on the right for hard targets. All three cannons are augmented with auto-loaders to reduce the need for tricky reloading mid-combat. Finally, a Combine machine gun is embedded in the nose.

This whole assembly rests on two digitigrade legs that allow the Platform a degree of freedom to crouch behind obstacles, stretch up over or lean around, them, and move the whole platform at a blistering 30 km/h. The legs themselves are driven with electric-hydraulic pistons.

The whole thing is built with structural Levisteel to reduce weight, and Armoured with case-hardened plates of the same, giving Heavy protection to the front torso, Medium protection to the rest of the front and the torso, and Light everywhere else. The whole thing is powered by a compact nuclear Fission reactor. If we had one. For now a large space is left in the schematics, and is instead filled with some weights and reinforced power cables that connect the Platform to the National Grid.

Naturally, this paradigm shifting weapon is a cutting edge prototype, and should recieve a Research,  Advantage and Secret Project credit.