Art of Domination Thread 04

Post updated! Also…

I don't think we can just ignore Rainhar's disappearance. What if an assassin was sent for him or something? Or this was a test of some seriously dangerous enemy tech?

We should figure out who we can spare to investigate. Now. If this is a threat, we don't want it striking again at an even worse moment for us.

That said, you have a point, I'm sure we can scramble some of our human spies on the case, its not like they're very usefull aganst an outright invasion. Jsut to make sure they'll have one stealth team if it turns out something need shooting and Kudora can be called as teach support if necessary.

As far as Rainhar goes... we should contact his command ship and his adjutants, assuming it is still there. Rainhar is important, but we need to focus on the immediate threat at hand. We can focus on looking for him when those incoming birds are knocked down or, worst case, have deployed their payload and we're dealing with an infestation. It is concerning that he is gone, but it isn't a thing we should be focusing on. We should delegate, and send a message out to Linesman to 'hunt' for Rainhar for us. He'll be able to scour the planet's security cameras and planetary sensors for him while we're focusing on keeping out people safe.

Ghulls: Vora, we can’t find any of Rainhar’s staff either!

You: WHAT?

Ghulls: I’ve also been trying to find out what’s going on with his starship, the Deathman, but it’s missing too!

You: HOW DID WE LOSE A WHOLE SHIP?

Linesman: Commander, me and Kuroda might have a lead on where he is. He flew down here, planet-side at around 2 AM.

You: What was he doing?

Linesman: Rented a luxury car along with a couple of CWS troopers. Good money says he’s somewhere in Region 3.

You: Why?

Linesman: Don’t know, ma’am. We’re still trying to figure that out. The car rental manager doesn’t know anything either.

You: Ghulls, I want ALL our Human Spies to find out where Rainhar has gone!

Ghulls: On it, Vora! Attention all Human Spy assets, Commander Rainhar has gone missing and we have reason to believe he’s down planet-side. I’m relaying co-ordinates of his last known location along with intel of the last vehicle he used. Find out where he is, and what he’s doing!

(Please continue to make suggestions on what to build)

If you think I'm spending too much... maybe I am, but I'm taking this threat seriously.

So am I.
10 minutes is not that much time to react so while trying to shoot as many transports as we can is good, we should keep a strategic reserve to be able to produce things to counter whatever may be in those that will manage to land, something we can't know at the moment..

For awhile now, we've been lacking in a good Anti-air option... so spending on Swatters that we can spread out (we have a lot more territory to hold) is a thing I'd advocate, even if we weren't already facing an aerial threat.

I fully agree on our lack of good anti air.
However while I a for buying some ar swatters (ten in my proposal),the thing is air swatters ae vehicles,they can't be transported by portals and while skyshadows might be able to transport them, it'll be only a few at a time. having anti air vehicles is not going to do us uch good if we can't deploy them in time.
And yes they can be used as anti buildings, Mayu confirmed it from the first time they were introduced but since we alway try to minimize casualties, we don't reallyhave much use for them. And most of region 1 stuff is underground so they won't do much good there.

That's why I'd rather buy a mix of swatters and bloodprinces. Bloodpricnes are supersonic air superiority fighters with both light and heavy anti air armements, they're much much more mobile than sonic swatters and I think they'll be the key to air superiority. And to destroy as many transports here.

I'm afraid this going to be our first point of contention.
I can understand not wanting to rely entirely on Portal Wagon, fair enough but APCs are a terrible purchase.
Aas you mentioned yourself it takes hundreds jsut to move /one batailon and we have dozens of bataillons at our command now.
Skyshadow pretty much outclass APCs on every front They are more mobile, much faster, can transport a lot more and stealthy. i'm okay on more skyshadows but 100 APCs seems a useless expense.

And even on ground at only 10, 12 people at most transported, they are just NOT worth their 1800 rp when 2 Sahela-9 Rapid Combat Vehicle can transport the same amount of people for less, do it faster and have anti tank and anti infantry weaponry on them. Yes they aren't as well armored but speed and numbers are a key factors for deployement.

The only advantage I see to the APC is that they can evacuate wounded troops, so thaat's good but not worth the 180 000 rp of a 100 APC

I'm willing to compromise to 30/40 ish APCS, mostly as ambulances/emergency extraction purposes, and some Sahela-9 Rapid Combat Vehicles for land mobility and 8 more skyshadows for general mobility
I insist on another portal wagon.

I think Void Spheres will be invaluable in dealing with Author/Region 1 beasties because they create a black hole that'll suck them up.

I fully agree on void spheres actually. My proposal had only 2 of them but I'm willing to bump it to 4/5

A sentinel orb is useful and could accompany a Spec Ops, Spy, or one of our agents.

Definitively.

Phantomic Repeaters are obviously useful... 1 per Spec Ops and then 1 for Vora, Rainhar, and Lagaan means I'd want at least 10... preferably more. Honestly... I'm not opposed to, and seriously considered, spending all 400 of our AS on 200 PRs. They counter pretty much everything that Region 1 could send at us.

That's where I feel I have to disagree again. Only thirty meter range is crippling for a warfare weapon.
In covert ops or close quarters, as defensive weapons, they might be king but for a large scale invasion like that ? I'm afraid they'd be useless Besides at their cost you'll be able to arm like what one out of hundreds if not thousands of soldiers ?

Besides they aren't that great a counter against all of Smith abominations simply because a number of the most dangerous one, brainbeasts and psychic commanders can mind control at way more than thirty meters as far we can tell from previous encounters. An we just can't buy enough overmind armors to counteract that.

That said if you're willing to compromise, Mayu said that on top of the 400 AS we have, there'll be 500 more to harvest. And who know how much more there might be when this whole transport thing is done ?
So if you don't mind only a few phantomic repeater to arm our usurper knights for now and we can buy the rest later ?

Also, I prioritized Usurper Knights because... anti-psychic and they're a shock troop we can throw at the front lines to increase our pushing power.

I see the more as hard counter for psychic troops.
I mean I rally fear what a great number of brain beasts could do to our troops so dropping a couple of usurper knight per portal with a couple of phantomic repeater and letting the hnt season beggin, I can get behind that. But as frontline troops I don't think they'd be that great simply due to their scarcity.

So here’s an amended proposal, which I think can kind of workout as a compromise:

Starting with 363,670 RP

4 Blood princes fighter craft
(4*10800 =43200)
20 sonic swaters
(20*1800=36000) (we already have 10, that put us to 30)
8 skyshadows
(8*4500=36 000) (we already have 2 s that put us at 10)
32 APCs
(32*1800= 57 600) (on top of 8 that puts us at 40 total)
30 Sahela-9 Rapid Combat Vehicle
(30*450=13500) (put us a 40 total)
30 sonic mechs
(30*600 = 18000) (remember we have 50 of them already, so that tops at 80)
2 reaver gunships
(2*7200 = 14 500) (we have 3 of them, that give us five)
5 hunter drones
3 laser drones
(5*2700=13 200) (3* 3800=11 400) (we already have 5 Hunter Drones and 3 Laser Drones already, that put us a 10 and 6)
10 seekers drones
(10*900=9000) (we had 10 we go to 20)
10 bataillons
(10*1000 = 10 000)
+Hire 2 BOTAS PMC
(2*5000= 10 000)


(43200+36000+36000+57600+13500+18000+14500+13200+11400+9000+10000+10000 = 272400 RP spending )

remains: 91270 rp

still enough for a decent strategic reserve.

5 void spheres (5*30= 150 AS)
2 vigilance orbs (2*20 = 40 AS)
1 portal wagon (1*20= 20 AS)
5 phantomatic repeater (5*2 =10 AS)
4 usurper knights (4* 20=80 AS)
1 Truth extractor (1*5 AS)
1 Overmind armor (1*15 AS)

(150+40+20+10+80+5+15=400 AS)
Remains 0 AS

EDIT: after checking, I screwed up my math. It's 320 AS change things a bit.
Remains 80 AS

So I'll add:
Two abyssal artilleries to the mix at 24 AS

Remains 56 AS

But with 500 AS to extract fromthe field, I'm okay with this.

Acceptable, ladies, gents and gloomynotsomorrons ?

AaaalRIGHT, then! Glad to see I wasn't mistaken. Anyways, even if these assholes are pushing an assault and making us dig in, I'm not going to let that dissuade me from putting resources into all currently available non-Rainhar projects. Sure, this'll take a decent chunk out of our resources and won't produce immediate results, but I want every single one of those units sooner rather than later. Something tells me if they're sending highly-optimized aircraft like that out, then we can't afford to slack off on research, either!

SpoilerShow

Yes, this means we'll be down the 263670 RP, though we also still have 400 AS to spend as well. Going by our current situation... I agree with smuch's unit investments, though I want to make two small modifications. The first of which being 2 more Laser Drones, if only to bring our numbers up to a full compliment of 10. Secondly, ah... I don't see the Airblob in the list of Aerial Units that can be acquired. Figuring that's another oversight, and once that's resolved, I'd like to get a second one, so as to split the drone workload between them. And perhaps two more as backups, just in case one of them happens to go down. That aside, I've no objections to also hiring a pair of BOTA-5s as well, because I have a feeling they're going to be invaluable for this.

As for the AS expenditures... while I don't see much objectionable with what you're throwing out, I feel like we should send out another Abyssal Artillery, while also getting two more Phantomic Repeaters, so as to equip the U-Knights with them as well, as I feel it's important that we maximize their deadliness.

This would leave us at 69,570 RP, before factoring the cost of the additional Airblob(s), and 111 AS, respectively. Leaves us a good amount to drop in case we need to hurl something out as an 'aw fuck' button of sorts

EDIT: I see I was slow enough that I missed another post happen. Just gonna sweep the rest of that under a spoiler tag and say... I honestly kinda liked the original proposal better, if only because it left room for the new research projects. That, and I'm not feeling the whole 'putting all our eggs' in one basket deal as far as Forgestuff goes, even if there is going to be more AS on the way, if only because of the 'aw fuck' button reasoning, along with the general lack of artillery, but it's not going to be a dealbreaker.

EDIT: I see I was slow enough that I missed another post happen. Just gonna sweep the [QUOTE]rest of that under a spoiler tag and say... I honestly kinda liked the original proposal better, if only because it left room for the new research projects. That, and I'm not feeling the whole 'putting all our eggs' in one basket deal as far as Forgestuff goes, even if there is going to be more AS on the way, if only because of the 'aw fuck' button reasoning, along with the general lack of artillery, but it's not going to be a dealbreaker.

Well the reserve left is still more than 60 000 rp which might allow two/three research projects or big infrastructure work (like say working on restauting region 4 ndustrial output)
that said since I edited my proposal to buy a full on 20 swatters instead of 10, I could content myself with the 4 original Blood princes. that'd spare 21600 rp, putting our reserve at 91 270 rp left, which is fairly decent I think.

As of AS, I'm willing to drop the overmind armor for now an maybe one void sphere and put instead the original Abyssal artillery instead (because we really need some artiillery, our only option are the needlefishes and they are entirely water based or monster like the thousand nightmare, tht's jsut not practical) and even double down on it.
So we'd have 4 void spheres, 2 abyssal artllery and 21 As left.

EDIT: Nevrmind, I'm a morron. Turns out I screwed up my AS math on the list above and we still had 80 AS to spare so I added the two abyssal artilleries to the mix without removing anything and we still have 56 AS to spare

Aahh. I see, I see. That could work. As far as projects go, while I'd want to do all of them, my main focuses would be on the Bionic Brigade, Mk 2 Swarm Intelligence Drones, and the Laser Tank. The Laser Urchin I don't mind putting off, and while I'd like the Titanium Allies, something tells me it may be wise not to drop 40k on researching those right now.

The reason I'm so insistent on APCs has a lot to do with their usefulness. They're useful, even in a modern (real-world today) military. We probably should be developing specialized variants (such as an IFV or an IMV variant) to further increase their usefulness. There are even APCs that can be turned into mobile mortar/artillery/anti-vehicle variants. However one of the uses of an APC is an armored ambulance. APCs are really, really versatile and are more than just troop transport. Yes. They're, primarily, support vehicles. However, that isn't all they can do. Just take a read of the Stryker for an idea of how versatile the design can be. Skyshadows are good, but they suffer from a problem that a lot of non-land-based transports suffer from and that'd be load time. The Skyshadows need to land (or hover) in a vulnerable position while troops load into it (which may be as fast as a minute but probably longer and closer to 5 minutes), whereas a dedicated land-based APC takes, maybe, 20 seconds to load and roll out. Also, any aerial craft, no matter how advanced, will, by necessity, be less durable than a land based equivalent. It makes up for that by being faster and, well, aerial.

But I guess I'd be fine with going down to 40 (total, 32 bought). It is more than we have now and serves to bolster our response and lets troops redeploy quicker and more securely on a battlefield. I don't, however, really like the S9-RCVs as much. They may be, objectively, the faster and "better" transport unit but they're much more focused in scope and usage. They're just less versatile. SASAPCs are a workhorse, S9-RCVs are a race horse. Sure, the race horse may run fast but a workhorse is vastly more useful in day-to-day situations. So... if we go down to 40 SASAPCs, we don't have to get more S9-RCVs to compensate as I don't think they're much compensation and would rather put that money elsewhere.

40 K is really expensive I agree, but those titanium allies sound pretty wortwhile. Quck hit and run attack and artllery all rolled into one with lots of speed.
I assume they could have other use like transporting stuff or evacuatng wounded soldie too ? They sorta remind me of the famous Boston dynamics big dog except actualy armored and caapble of a strong attack.

I think I'd take them over the bionic brigade as research alongside the advanced SID, laser urchins and laser tank research (80 K of research, oof, expensive, but damn if it wouldn't be worthwhile)

But we can think of that once we repealed this attack and see how much we have left.

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I'm aware mechanized infantry is a huge part of modern combat but.. I'm not sure for this the way this adventure work should alway be compared to real combat tactics.
.
Like, we started this adventure with something like what 4 bataillons. we were supposed to start a planetary insasion (small planet admitedly but still) with 4000 people or even now we have like a grand total of 8 tanks as an armored division and so far it has been enough.

So 40 APCs by this adventure standarts is actualy kind of a huge lot. I'm sure we could and should use more but for now it's definitvely a good number.

I'm not sure about the S9-RCVs.
I agree i may be seriously overselling them as transport, especialy given that given how cheap they are, they likely are extremely fragile to anything bove small arm fire. And all things considere I would rather have more skyshadows or APCs if we had the money

But on the other hands there's a couple reasons I think they can still be wortwhile purchasse:
-First because they are dirt cheap, I mean for 30 of them we only spend 13 000 Rp, that.. really not a lot. Even if I removed the 30 S9-RCVs we couldn't buy 10 40 SASAPCs with what we regain.
I suppose we could buy with this either 20 more Sonic Mechs (I'd like to wait for the Mk 2 to roll in, tho), the laser tank and/or laser urchin research or 2 volcano tanks (We really don't have many taks, do we ?)

-However there is another reason I want these S9-RCVs rather than just transport: hit and run harrasement attaks and, more importantly, Patrols.
While we have plenty of eyes on the sky with seekers drones, we'll soon have our sights mainly on region 2 and number 1. After this attack is over I'd like to hand some of our remaining S9-RCVs to our human cadets and have them patrol region 4 and 5. That way if North force try something sneaky similar to the braintrees spores or something like that, we have higher chance to detect somethng amiss on our own ground.
While Apcs can be kept for support and transport of our main attack forces where they'll be muh more usefull.

-Also in the comming attack, with their machine gun and three anti tank rockets they should be nice cheap force multipliers for our bataillons

I'm open for suggestion for something else to buy instead tho, if you think there's something that'd be really much better to get instead.

APCs are not useful in comparison to a pair of portal wagons and a sentinel sphere, as a sentinel sphere would provide just as if not more protection to soldiers breaching said portal (for a much larger total area and number protected) and with each wagon working in tandem transportation is instantaneous. Since the sphere is sentient it should be "living" and therefore portal-able or at worst carried by the first to breach and activated at the other end.

This removes worries about the time costs associated with mobilizing and using vanilla APCs - though I like the idea of making more useful versions.

I'd like to request 1 more portal wagon and a sentinel sphere, and if possible 7 portal wagons and 4 sentinel spheres such that we could relocate troops from 4 locations instantly, or get 4 times as many troops to any point as fast as possible.

EDIT: to clarify how the portaling becomes instantaneous between any 2 locations rather than just the portal wagon and its location:

Wagon A and Wagon B and sentinel sphere are in the same room, Wagon A and wagon B are situation such that their local portals touch (or nearly touch, or have a protective corridor between them if any distance is required), and then wagon A points his portal to the front line which the sentinel sphere enters and activates projectile slowing (alternately each base needs a sentinel sphere for portaling purpose if they cannot portal without being carried), and wagon B points his portal to our military base.

Now soldiers enter wagon B's portal at the base and instantly are stepping to the front line through wagon A's with the protection of the sentinel sphere.

(The thing is that Gloomy want not to rely on Portal Wagons too much and to a point I can understand that.
It is author tech after all and that mean editors can nullify it (and we know we have at least one of those working against us) ad there's a possibility Authors might be able to sort of 'hack' our author tech in some way we can't understand. Also if they're biological they miht be controlled or vulneralle to pyschic stuff, who knows.
Also th longer we cna keep the existence of author tech on our side secret the better.)

For now 2 portal wagons are enough for 'instantaenous' transport and scramble bataillons twice as fast, but we can add another nd another sentinel sphere.
That's make us a total of 3 wagons, 3 spheres and 16 AS remaning. given the huge reserve of As that can be gathered still, i'm much more willing to spend AS than RP

So the list so far after adding one portal wagon, 1 vigilance sphere, and removing 10 S9 RCVs

4 Blood princes fighter craft
(4*10800 =43200)
20 sonic swaters
(20*1800=36000) (we already have 10, that put us to 30)
8 skyshadows
(8*4500=36 000) (we already have 2 s that put us at 10)
32 APCs
(32*1800= 57 600) (on top of 8 that puts us at 40 total)
20 Sahela-9 Rapid Combat Vehicle
(20*450=9000) (put us a 30 total)
[B]30 sonic mechs
(30*600 = 18000) (remember we have 50 of them already, so that tops at 80)
2 reaver gunships
(2*7200 = 14 500) (we have 3 of them, that give us five)
5 hunter drones
3 laser drones
(5*2700=13 200) (3* 3800=11 400) (we already have 5 Hunter Drones and 3 Laser Drones already, that put us a 10 and 6)
10 seekers drones
(10*900=9000) (we had 10 we go to 20)
10 bataillons
(10*1000 = 10 000)
+Hire 2 BOTAS PMC
(2*5000= 10 000)

(43200+36000+36000+57600+9000+18000+14500+13200+11400+9000+10000+10000 = 267900 RP spending )

remains: 95770 rp

5 void spheres (5*30= 150 AS)
3 vigilance orbs (2*20 = 40 AS)
2 portal wagon (1*20= 20 AS)
(puts us at 3)
5 phantomatic repeater (5*2 =10 AS)
4 usurper knights (4* 20=80 AS)
1 Truth extractor (1*5 AS)
1 Overmind armor (1*15 AS)
Two abyssal artilleries to the mix at 24 AS

Remains 16 AS

Since these are troop transports all personnel should be advised that this is a Biological Weapon Scenario. It may be a decoy, but I think the biohazard caution simple on the ships should be paid attention.
As transport ships they seem to lack and and all methods of defense except for evasion.
Void Spheres will be operating to take out as many optics as they can, and all other aircraft will be sweeping up those who have been blinded. Start from the back or the weakest angle. Assume that a blinded ship can still be given evasive guidance by other nearby ships.
In addition we're going to need airblob and relevant seeker drones to deploy so that we have visuals.
They are to follow a single Void Sphere that will be first given an objective of opening up a hole in one of the carrier ships without downing it, at which point seekers will gather as much intel as they can on the contents of these ships from a safe distance.
If further possible a savior drone will extract one of the bioweapons (more likely than soldiers at this point) and Keymaster will lock in to the coordinates and transport it to a location where Battalion 21 will be instructed to shoot it first, and have a team of four sonic drones coordinating retrieval of corpses for dissection and analysis purposes.
Feathers and Francoise are going to be running as much intel gathering and analysis as possible. We need to know as much as we can about these fleets before they can start unloading on our shores.
Savior Drone 1, 4 Seeker Drones, Air Blob 1, Battalion 21, and 4 Sonic Drones will continue this operation until it is determined that we have recovered enough enemy corpses to know what the enemy is trying.
Furthermore I want it noted that we should be looking into avenues to give them better accomodations, such as a dedicated supercomputer setup for them. R&D and cyberwarfare can figure out at a later point how best to set them up with coolant similar to a thinktank and a reactor.

I want our scientists to start work on the Laser Urchin, Tank, and SIDm2 yesterday. Not literally, but those projects need to be started soon. All ongoing projects take a temporary backburn however until we know what we are up against.

EDIT:
Furthermore I think we need to consider how best to deploy all of our forces for this threat, or at least, who what when where and all that.
The building plans are gr8 tho, loving this.

EDIT2:
Miscellaneous Plans.
-Look into having the brain training adapted to Portal Tanks for the purpose of training them with regards to strategy like our battalion commanders. They need to know where is best to place portals. Furthermore reflex training, and examples of portal usage in mixed media throughout sentient history.
-I know I'm fairly focused on Keymaster, but it eats meat, and is a living weapon. I want to figure out what methods are being used by the enemy to farm tissue cultures for usage in creating biological weapons (we've just been besieged by two fleets carrying large amounts of troops). The goal is to mix sabotage with rescue. If they are trying to mass farm people we can rescue and recruit the survivors. Otherwise it'd still be a big blow to their resources. I've got suspicions also due to what we already know they do to their citizens.
-Investigate means through which we can create new Author Forge weapons. If we can get it running more efficiently, with ideas we come up with, we could be unstoppable.
-Anti-AoD measures. If there is a way we can detect individuals who have read it from a distance similar to radar, and create an anti-memetic response we could create the means to prevent further corruption in the Saramis Alliance and Earth's Forces.
-Contagion Containment Measures. Whether these are the old bio weapons we've seen or entirely new ones, we need to consider that they may be trying to create a serious longterm threat, and we'll want to look into cleanup the second it becomes possible.

I can't quite put my finger on it but yeah - the sudden appearance of all these ships raises a lot of red flags. I keep thinking we're going to find a perfected Comma somewhere that can make realistic illusions.

A lot of the other shiz going on makes them sound desperate, not clever. Being able to send a fleet with no warning is more clever than desperate, especially a two pronged one like this.

I want someone looking for Commas. It'd be far smarter of the enemy to send in decoys to make us waste our resources than to send in huge fleets of units that might not even - oh lord I think they might be filled with bodyjackers, so any of them landing would be a Bad Thing. Have flamethrowers on hand.

I'd put some airblobs on the list but uh.. they aren't among the list of units that can be build in the last post. i think Mayu forgot to put them in.

As well as for that matter he Cover blob we unlocked by nanotech research

Oh hey, rereading the thread. Mayu, you forgot among the research project:

Battery technology based on The Polluted organs could be done. R&D will add a new project on Week 7.

Airblob is the Drone Carrier/Control Drone.

Thanks. Looking at the unit we alredy have list they are described as (Drone Command Center)
But I don't see them on the omnifactory production list. So I don't remember exactly what they do (do they carry their own drones or do they cordinate and esuply our other drones like hunters and seekers ?) or how much they cost.

I think they're not able to be built right now because they were being redesigned or something. There was some sort of flaw to them that caused them to be temporarily removed... I think... I have vague recollections of that. If I remember right, they serve to link and control various drones together and sort of come with 3 mini-drones? It is more just a coordinator to 'automate' the use of our drones. It makes them semi-autonomous. Again, if I recall correctly.

Ah. Yes I can see how a few of them could be usefull seeing that we do relly on quite a few drones. In fact if tey could be mad so things like sonic mechs and titanium ally were also coordinated, that'd be great. But if we can't build or do anything with them right now, the point is moot right now.

And yeah, I gotta second LoverIan idea of setting some kind of dedicated cybernetic research lab/network for Feather and Francoise as there is a lot of way thi could proft, weither for our drones, our mechs and bionic troops, our drones or genral Ai research since Ai are protected against the art of domination. But that's something for another time.

Hoooowever, right now:
Feather and Francoise just said the transport are pilotd by AI being created by 'that bitch', hmm I wonder maybe we should pull Linesman and Kudora from the Rheynar investigation for a minute (our regular CWS can take the relayfor a moment, it's the rjob after all) and see if maybe it wouldn't be possible to send some jaming signal (they have to be able to comunicate between each other to coordinate their flight pathes) to sort of confuse, misguide or just sort of dstract their AI ?
Kudora is a com specialist, Linesman knows 'that bitch' style and feather and francoise being AI can probaly code pretty darn fast, if it's possiblein less that ten minutes it these gys who could fine how to do it.
To be clear I don't expect it will miraculously make the transports self destruct or fly into each others or a silly things like that but it might slow them down and make them a lot more vulnerable to our anti air defenses and fighter planes, allowing us to destroy more before they reach their destination.

Edited post, Airblob added to list. Thank you again, and sorry. The chat thread has a bit of insight as to why I keep making these errors.

Sorrry but you haven't added the improved batteries based on Polluted organs autopsy research project tho, is it that they aren' t available yet ?

I'm gonna add one airblob to the list of thing to build, given we're buying hunters drones and 2 saviors, they can move our usurper knights around if we have a problem with the portal wagons.

Btw weird theory, but is it possible that Rainhar is trying to pull some sort of undercover op? I want surveillance in case he's deserting or has been kidnapped or something, but in case he's pulling something on our side and can't tell us I want our spies to not get too close...

Also weird thought, but in the event that our enemies develop portal wagon tech we may want to consider a way to detect portals being opened, and furthermore detect various of our enemy's forces. Mainly because I'm having paranoia about what could happen if they teleported a bodyjacker into the barracks on our bases, or the Enderfist.

Sorrry but you haven't added the improved batteries based on Polluted organs autopsy research project tho, is it that they aren' t available yet ?

They'll be ready after this invasion is dealt with.

SpoilerShow

Hey everyone, still working on a proper recap, glossary of terms, character profiles etc.

Also, if you have the cash to spare, please support me on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/mayuzane

4 Blood princes fighter craft
(4*10800 =43200)
20 sonic swaters
(20*1800=36000) (we already have 10, that put us to 30)
8 skyshadows
(8*4500=36 000) (we already have 2 s that put us at 10)
32 APCs
(32*1800= 57 600) (on top of 8 that puts us at 40 total)
20 Sahela-9 Rapid Combat Vehicle
(20*450=9000) (put us a 30 total)
30 sonic mechs
(30*600 = 18000) (remember we have 50 of them already, so that tops at 80)
2 reaver gunships
(2*7200 = 14 500) (we have 3 of them, that give us five)
5 hunter drones
3 laser drones
(5*2700=13 200) (3* 3800=11 400) (we already have 5 Hunter Drones and 3 Laser Drones already, that put us a 10 and 6)
10 seekers drones
(10*900=9000) (we had 10 we go to 20)
10 bataillons
(10*1000 = 10 000)
+Hire 2 BOTAS PMC
(2*5000= 10 000)

(43200+36000+36000+57600+9000+18000+14500+13200+11400+9000+10000+10000 = 267900 RP spending )

remains: 95770 rp

5 void spheres (5*30= 150 AS)
3 vigilance orbs (2*20 = 40 AS)
2 portal wagon (1*20= 20 AS)
(puts us at 3)
5 phantomatic repeater (5*2 =10 AS)
4 usurper knights (4* 20=80 AS)
1 Truth extractor (1*5 AS)
1 Overmind armor (1*15 AS)
Two abyssal artilleries to the mix at 24 AS

Remains 16 AS

You quickly transmit your orders to the Omni-Factory while Ghulls contacts the PMCs. BOTA-4 gunships quickly move to Planet-117. Ghulls pulls up a display of Region 3’s map for your use.



The Phantomic Repeaters are assigned to Battalion 5, who easily adjust to it. It’s very light, and the grip is comfortable, able to shapeshift to better fit the user’s hand. The Overmind Armor waits in storage.

Void Spheres manifest themselves, and your pilots are surprisingly eager to try them out. Their control system is almost magical: It reads the pilot’s thoughts, instantly. They can fly these strange vehicles as effortlessly as moving their own bodies.

The new Portal Wagons take up residence inside different rooms at HQ. They are just as compliant as Keymaster.

Four Usurper Knights are almost-instantly manufactured from the Author’s Forge, walking with more grace than anybody could expect. They pledge their allegiance to you, and stand ready for orders.

The Sentinel Orbs gravitate towards your personnel, eager to protect your forces from any harm.

Your soldiers posted at Region 3’s western coast report that they, along with the newly-reinforced air units have managed to shoot down 12 of the enemy planes before getting over land, leaving 42 still active. Troops over in the east report ten have been shot down. 45 of them are still coming.

HQ reports that the enemy transports from the east have landed just outside their perimeter. The others from the west them have landed in Cadrow City in Region 3, a city of 180,000 people.

HQ: Commander, this is HQ, there’s a lot of smoke coming out of those transports! We can’t see anything!

Ghulls: What about the scanners? Are they picking anything up?

HQ: Negative, Adjutant Ghulls. There’s something in the smoke that’s blocking our scanners. According to the sensors, it’s just… empty space. Whatever is in the smoke, it’s completely hidden. All 800 of our security personnel are already preparing to open fire, watching for movement. There’s been no sign of the enemy yet.

This smoke is unwelcome news.

The City Guards at Cadrow City in Region 3 call in. Captain Rodriguez, leading the organized defense and digging in at the mall, is reporting.

Cpt. Rodriguez: Commander! Ma’am! The whole city is covered in some kind of gas! There’s no smell and it’s not poisonous, but we can’t get visual on any enemies!

Ghulls: Captain Rodriguez, can you tell us where the transports landed?

Cpt. Rodriguez: We don’t have an exact fix on their positions, but I can give you our best guess based on what civilians have told us. Wait, Commander, I’m getting reports that there are creatures moving around the city… hang on.

Rodriguez speaks to another guard.

Cpt. Rodriguez: Bodyjackers? BODYJACKERS?! Frigo are you serious?! Okay okay I’ll tell the Commander! Commander Vorador, we have a situation here! We are getting incoming reports from civilians that there are walking crabs with glowing eyes breaking into people’s homes and putting eggs inside them!

Ghulls: How many, Captain?!

Cpt. Rodriguez: I- hang on, FRIGO! HOW MANY! Damn it, we can’t confirm exact numbers, but from the sounds of it there must be hundreds out there! What, Frigo? WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE HOTEL’S GONE QUIET?! Uh, Commander? What do we do?

Suddenly, another militia member interrupts him.

Sgt. Roswell: Captain, we’re getting word that enemy soldiers are also on the move at the prison. Looks like those planes didn’t just bring Bodyjackers with them. They’re all packin’ laser guns and wearing some kind of goggles. They’re putting up metal barricades and building something. People say it looks like some kind of cannon.

Cpt. Rodriguez: A cannon? Is it an artillery piece?

Sgt. Roswell: Could be, captain, but we just can’t get any of us to even look at it since everything’s covered in this damn smoke. That intel came from the warden himself.

Cpt. Rodriguez: Are the enemy soldiers attacking the prison staff?

Sgt. Roswell: They’re not hurting anyone, just… working on their project. Wait, we’re also getting intel from south of us… Shadow Company?

Cpt. Rodriguez: What?

Sgt. Roswell: Captain, we’re intercepting radio chatter.

Ghulls: Sergeant, send us the feed.

You listen to the chatter. All of the voices sound totally monotone, as if they were machine-generated.

???: Shadow Company. Four. Twenty. Nineteen. Six.

???: Shadow Company. Twelve. Fifty. Centaur. Abandon.

???: Shadow Company. Tango. Three. Zero. Zero. Four.

???: Shadow Company. Micro. Five. Zero. One. Sacrifice.

You: This sounds like some kind of code.

Ghulls: We’ll keep tabs on them, Vora.

Ghulls brings up the map of Cadrow, along with intel on where the transports may have landed.



Cadrow City is in immediate danger. There is very little intel and visibility is extremely poor. Seeker drones are nigh-useless. All of the transports landed in heavily-populated areas, meaning that launching artillery strikes without confirmation could lead to catastrophic collateral damage.

Which of your forces will you send to defend Cadrow? What will you do?

- Send in Spec Ops and the Swarm Intelligence Drones, priority is to gather intel!
- Raid the prison! Whatever it is they’re assembling must be a powerful weapon.
- Evacuate the Hotel District with the Portal Wagons and send in the Usurper Knights!
- Something else!

>_

Units available:

SpoilerShow

Special Agents

Hawkeyes: Explosives expert and adept at trap detection.
Talbat: Assassin.
Linesman: Cyberwarfare Specialist.
Kuroda: Cyberwarfare Specialist.
Grenda: Doomcat, cat in mobile combat suit. Excellent at sudden strikes and assassinations. Shock Unit.
Lt. Hayes: Diplomat with division of former Robert North soldiers. Currently searching and detaining Servants of Saramis cultists.

7 Human Spies

Ventica - Monitoring Cobalt City
Leon - Monitoring Cobalt City
Geoff Prowers
Robert Jones
Scooblazone ‘Scooby’ Mingle
Michael Thorn
Edita Dudek

= Saramis Alliance Regular Army Troops =

Each battalion, saramis and human alike is provided with rapid combat vehicles (Sahela-9). The Sahela-9 has room for 6 people; 5 soldiers per squad and 1 passenger.

All infantry is equipped with EMP-proof radios and Automatic Medkits. 40% of troops are armed with laser rifles.

34 Battalions

Battalion 1 - Lt. Malino (960 out of 1000 troops active) - In Region 3, west coast
Battalion 2 - Lt. Fadar - In Region 3, west coast
Battalion 3 - Lt. Kassar - Region 4, border with Region 3
Battalion 4 - Lt. Jagal - Region 4, border with Region 3
Battalion 5 - Lt. Marad - Armed with 5 Phantomic Repeaters
Battalion 6 - Lt. Hatak
Battalion 7 - Lt. Lais
Battalion 8 - Lt. Zoko
Battalion 9 - Lt. Sivo
Battalion 10 - Lt. Varas
Battalion 11 - Lt. Magaro
Battalion 12 - Lt. Habruk
Battalion 13 - Lt. Veris
Battalion 14 - Lt. Kando
Battalion 15 - Lt. Milvero
Battalion 16 - Lt. Hildevar
Battalion 17 - Lt. Merig
Battalion 18 - Lt. Ganzo
Battalion 19 - Lt. Haska
Battalion 20 - Lt. Mirsh
Battalion 21 - Lt. Ovov
Battalion 22 - Lt. Gaetfri
Battalion 23 - Lt. Milsok
Battalion 24 - Lt. Jongo
Battalion 25 - Lt. Meriff
Battalion 26 - Lt. Sikburr
Battalion 27 - Lt. Agrans
Battalion 28 - Lt. Nikfel
Battalion 29 - Lt. Lagbos
Battalion 30 - Lt. Veranos
Battalion 31 - Lt. Kinaski
Battalion 32 - Lt. Skappal
Battalion 33 - Lt. Densum
Battalion 34 - Lt. Weerm

7 Spec Ops Teams

Spec Ops 1 - Cpt. Selev
Spec Ops 2 - Cpt. Krad
Spec Ops 3 - Cpt. Filis
Spec Ops 4 - Cpt. Orol
Spec Ops 5 - Cpt. Wolka
Spec Ops 6 - Cpt. Inviz
Spec Ops 7 - Cpt. Jagan

3 Commander’s Vanguard

Commander’s Vanguard - Maj. Gordov
Commander’s Vanguard - Maj. Haras
Commander’s Vanguard - Maj. Laudey

Saramis Alliance Human Army Troops

Human Battalion 1 - Lt. Mirrorsmith
Human Battalion 2 - Lt. Carve
Human Militia 1 - Sgt. Saval

Saramis Alliance Ground Vehicles

30 Sahela-9 Rapid Combat Vehicles

6 Volcano Tanks

Sunshine
Lollipops
Rainbows
Screamer
Polisher
Beast

30 Sonic Swatters

Gaoler
Basher
Whirlwind
Harrier
Kettle
Pilfer
Cauldron
Jank
Flayer
Imp
Granny
Jingler
Clutter
Deleter
Citrus
Lockdown
Cymbal
Clang
Woodsman
Downhill
Smokestack
Sweeper
Skids
Lamplight
Loudmouth
Screecher
Junkpile
Big Tone
Houseboy
Warsong


40 SASAPC-12

Boxcars
Ferryman
Taxi Cab
Butler
Splinter
Caravan
Caboose
Caramel
Gourmet
Hotpot
Klaxon
Typewriter
Handlebar
Glovebox
Speedy
Blacklist
Townie
Pepper Flash
Oven-top
Nitrous
Railroad
Homesick
Squire
Basket
Big Chair
Sender
Extra Fresh
Seedling
Eggbox
Smackdown
Little Man
Blanket
Lifeboat
Auctioneer
Ranter
Old Bumpy
Carriage
Spokes
Bitter Candy
Pillowcase

== Author’s Notes Units ==

3 Portal Wagons

Keymaster
Doorman
Portalier

3 Sentinel Orbs

Oathkeeper
Promises
Silent Dad

5 Void Spheres

Neverland
Banishment
Chainlink
Death Egg
Single Point

2 Abyssal Artillery

Gundark
Night Owl

1 Truth Extractor

4 Usurper Knights

Gallivant
Cervantes
Downfall
Galactic

Overmind Armor

5 Phantomic Repeaters


PMCs

(Millatech Corporation)
MillaTech Cyborg Sniper Team 1 - Slender
MillaTech Cyborg Sniper Team 2 - Shuriken

(Solaria)
Solaria Artillery 1 - Monago
Solaria Artillery 2 - Evvas
Solaria Artillery 3 - Yonko

(Aflong Legion)
Aflong Vine Brigade 1 - Gerund
Aflong Vine Brigade 2 - Tempo

Aflong Grenadier Platoon 1 - Blaster
Aflong Grenadier Platoon 2 - Popcorn

(Birds of the Apocalypse)

BOTA-4 Gunship 1 - Crackerbox
BOTA-4 Gunship 2 - Thunderpain

Drones

(Intel Drones)
20 Seeker Drones

(Supply and Extraction Drones)

3 Savior Drones

(Aerial Combat Drones)

10Hunter Drones
6 Laser Drones

(Ground Combat Drones)

80 Sonic Mechs
1 Swarm Intelligence Drone Cluster

(Drone Command Center)

Airblob-1 (Co-ordinates drones and boosts their abilities)


Naval Units

4 Armored Amphibious Carriers

Madhouse
Swordvan
Castle
Pinhead

4 Needlefish Submarines

Dreamer
Trophy
Goalpost
Burrow

Manned Air Units

5 Reaver Gunships

Lovebird
Blender
Bolt
House Call
Slurry


4 Jester Fighter Craft

Cyclops
Talon
Moonbeam
Raindust

4 Bloodprince Fighter Craft

Streaker
Slasher
Gunhold
Frigid


10 Skyshadows (Aerial Troop Carrier, can carry 1 battalion each, armed with gatling guns)

Highwind
Blimper
Mountaineer
Stilts
Rattler
Silver
Air Horn
Big Surprise

=======

RESEARCH PROJECTS COMPLETED:

Automated First Aid Device
A first aid pack attached to armor that will automatically activate if its wearer is injured. Administers painkillers, disinfectants and wound sealants in an instant, reduces the number of deaths and allows wounded troops to continue fighting. Can also be used to deliver sedatives in the event of a Brainbeast attack.

Brain Radios
Altered and cloned cat brains are now used as standard equipment. All tests show no loss of data between the Brain Radios, as long as the radios remain undamaged. EMP and other forms of interference have no effect.

Alliance Laser Rifle, ALR-01
All squads will be supplied with two ALR-01 weapons each. In a squad of five, three will continue to use conventional firearms with a pair in the rear to provide fire support if the target is impervious to bullets. ALR-01 will be given to those assigned as marksmen and heavy weapons specialists.

Tumorhide Armor project complete! All base buildings now very resistant to laser fire and extreme heat.

Psi-Combat
Research data from the Brainbeast and other psychic enemies has opened up a fascinating possibility: What if Alliance troops could use psychic powers? Researching Psi-Combat will allow us to invent devices that can give saramis troops the ability to use minor psychic attacks. Of course, only a few special individuals would be able to wield such powers without frying their own skulls.
Leads to: Psychic Commando, Psycho Tank (Psychic Commando screening in progress)

Brainbeast Radiation Reverser
A portable device that bounces back Brainbeast radiation, temporarily confusing the creature and immobilizing it. Every infantry unit is fitted with one.

Modern Bionic Warfare

RESEARCH PROJECTS IN PROGRESS:
Organic Signal Jammers (Week 7, Day 5)

western front, Cadrow city:

- Send in Spec Ops and the Swarm Intelligence Drones, priority is to gather intel!
- Raid the prison! Whatever it is they’re assembling must be a powerful weapon.
- Evacuate the Hotel District with the Portal Wagons and send in the Usurper Knights!

Prety much all of those and more.
Allright plan of deployement to retake control of the city as soon as possble

1)The left side of the city is much more clear than the right side. There is only one transport near the university, if we send the local police force now, they can take care of that one and they can imadiatly work on reiinforcing securing the zone between the recycling facility and the university as a 'safe zone'

The same goes for the top right side, between the Mall and the Stadium

Any of our troops near the site are to make their way to help as fast as they can.
We will also send our laser drones (that's 3 per location) and 4 reaver gunship to help (as those are likely to arrive quicker than the rest.)

2)Simultaneously:
I don't think we can not should we take the risk to retake the Hotel district intact, I think we will have to enderstrike BUT we can try to evacuate as many civilians as we can first and keep the bodyjaker contained.

We spend 10 16 AS to build 5 phantomatic repeater and immediatly arm our Phantom knights with them and give the last one to one of our spec ops team.

(While I maintain their prices (which mean they can't be deployed in great numbers) and range make them a bad choice for our bataillons, they should however be a geat weapon for a few shock troops troops in close urban combat. So this situation in Cadrow city is exactly what the kind of situation where they will shine.)

By portal we can send the four knights, Grenda and a spec op team

Grenda first and the phantom knights to clear followed by one of our clocked spec ops team.
Their mission:
-Evacuate as many civilians as they can and retreat
-Cull as may bodyjacker as possible, to limit spread and propagation
They have twenty minutes (or untill new repport come in) before retreat.



edit:
Just remembered. Savior drones are made to evacuate up to four people by air, deploy them to assist with the evacuation. Our spec ops can help the civilians with that.

We have 95770 Rp
For 27 000 we can produce 10 savor drones on top of the three we already have.
68770 rp left

We will also produce a lot of SID, 30 clusters, and send them in the city in front of our troops to have a bettr idea of what's going on.

68 770 Rp
each SID cluster is 1000 RP
38 770 Rp left

20 will be deployed it he city, 10 ar kept for the prison.

(this is exactly for that kind of thing I wanted to have a strategic reserve left)

3)We have plenty of skyshadows and APCs so let's use them.

We send five skyshadow to Cadlrow. Three have a standart bataillon, the other two are loaded with sonich mechs and one spec ops team.
(if they can be transported by skyshadows. But seeing as skyshadows can transport up to a full bataillon, which is up to a 1000 people (for the reccord, the biggest modern passenger airplane the airbus A 380 tops around 850 for comparaison) i'm gonna ay it can likely at least oad a dozens robots)
It depends on howmany mechs we can transport per skyshadow but I'd like at least 10 to 20 per skyshadow

A) Drop Bottom Right side of the city
Two bataillons and one group of sonich mechs are unloaded near the Hotel district.

One bataillon with half of the sonich mechs surround and contain the hotel district,
Their job is to make sure no bodyjacker gets out and nay unifected civlilian brought by the agents already dropped inside are safely evacuated to the stadium

The other bataillon imediatly move to eliminate the transports between the hotel end the university

B) Drop on the Up Left Side

The remaining bataillon and mech group are dropped to engage the zone between the Mall and the recycling station

C) The prison
The spec ops team will be dropped there.With two more teams sent by portal as reinforcement.

edit: First let's them have deploy SID in there. 10 of the 30 produced above.

68 770 Rp
each SID clsuter is 1000 RP
28 770 Rp left

the skyshadows are imediatly sent back to HQ to bring back five more bataillon that will be dropped as reinforcements.



4) A column of 20 APCs and 2 tanks is sent to the city and try to take back the main roads that cut the city, allowing to make sure bodyjackers don't cross from zone to zone

5)
Enderfist strike on the (hopefully mostly evacuated by then) hotel district followed by hunter drones an rever napalm strikes jsut to make sure.
We keep pouring reinforcement as needed.



Honnesty hard to tell how it'll go beause we don't know how the Eastern sfront will devellop and how much troops will be needed there.

-------------------------------------------------------------


Eastern front

Send more bataillons with the 5 remaining skyshadows.
Order our batallon to prepare defensive positions, do no engage in the smoke
Send the two void artilleries to deploy as support and most of gunships as soon as they are rearmed.

We lack info for now

Doesn't smoke and/or fog fuck with our Stealth fields? I have no real suggestions (because this feels like a We're Fucked scenario), except that maybe we should rely more on SIDs and work on getting as many people out as possible. Basically go into Quarantine mode, too, I guess. So people who are evacuated are kept isolated and away from population centers until they're checked thoroughly for contagions. Basically, I think we should siege our own cities. My first instinct here is to A) get information and B) fall back to a safe position... which I acknowledge may not be the best idea... which is why I'm content for letting others handle this one.

Sure it's a bad situation. No doub about it.
even if we plan this perfectly and miracles happen, we're talking thousands of civilian death (with a generously conservative estimate) and dozens if not hundreds of our troops.

But here's the thing, Bodyjackers in a heavily populated aera is one problem that really can't be waited out. The more we wait the worse it gets.

And if we just wait it out and and then bombard the whole city... funy, normaly I'm the first one to advocate pragmatic solution but here the hit we'd take woud be huge. Like I would seriously understand if our aprooval in region 3 droped buckets.

I am worried about this 'shadow compagny stuff tho. that they have some sort of stealth, hidden units and this is a trap but I see no way to plan for that at he moment short of jsut sending stuff ina nd making sure all our troops are alert.

...And really more on SID, it is a good sugestion, thanks.

(Besides, hey, i kept complaining the enemy was acting stupidely and not taking dvantage of their weapons and troops efficiently.
Now that they finaly do i'm not gona back up from the chalenge.)

---------------------------------------

Water and vapor do interfere with our coaking devices if memory serves and this smoke somehow interfere with drone sensors so likely that 'll screw with our clocking as well, true.

However The spec ops sent in the hotel district are here mostly to direct the civilians to the portal or outside of the district. The real firepower and frontliners here will be Grenda (who has a diffrent kind of cloaking and lots of armor and raillguns anyway) and phantomic repeater armed knights who won't be looking at all. so that part of the plan still works

(Also I forgot but we can send our savior drones as well to help evacuate the Hotel district, it's the kind of stuff they're made for and bodyjackers can't attack air.
edited myplan to produce 10 savior drones which will be sent to help with the evacuation)

For the prison, yes I guess we can produce 2 more SID swarms and send them in before any spec ops, but I'd at least would like to have spec ops near the prison.

Edited my plan above to have us produce 30 SIDS clusers.
10 will be for the prison, 20 for the city in front of our troops to prevent eventual traps or hddeb shadow squads

however even if the smoke uses weird chemicals and is produced by the transports, it can' last forever. I mean smoke disipate eventualy (quite quickly in fact) and even if the transprts keep producing it continualy, it'll can only reliably affect only small aeras around said transports

... Also.
DON't we have a weather machine ?
Whatever happened to it, cause it was kind of a big deal for a while and it was supposed to be ready to use about the day after and then chaos bed happened and we seem to have complelty forgot about it.
Can't we raise the winds localy or make it rain to counteract the smoke ?

DON't we have a weather machine ?
Whatever happened to it, cause it was kind of a big deal for a while and it was supposed to be ready to use about the day after and then chaos bed happened and we seem to have complelty forgot about it.
Can't we raise the winds localy or make it rain to counteract the smoke ?

The weather machine is still in your arsenal. It costs no additional power to affect Region 4, but for Region 3, and to generate winds to affect the entire city, you will need to consume 10,000 RP per minute.

You currently have 95,770 RP. You can definitely clear everything out for about nine minutes, but after that, the enemy transports will keep pumping out the strange smoke. If you decide to use it, make the most of this window.