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taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sun Dec 13, 2020 8:30 pm

Paths of Citizenship:

*Sponsorship
“Yeah, I’ve adopted these kids. Even the thirty year old, ESPECIALLY the thirty year old. I’ve always wanted an older sister, and I’ve wanted to surprise me dear old mum, so there we are.”

Sponsorship or legal adoption by a GNE citizen is a common(and easy) way to become a GNE citizen, especially when compounded with factors such as economic hardship or refugee status. It’s become common practice for GNE military personnel to come back from campaigning with a foreign-born spouse or new family member in tow. Of course, even then, such new aditions to the citizenship rolls must be vetted first, and checked for infiltrators(the GNE has learned how clever and insidious some of their enemies can be), but in general, most sponsorships go smoothly.

*Military Service
“The opposition press makes it out like the citizenship-applicants get assigned as cannonfodder and thrown in the deep end of whatever hot war the GNE is currently fighting. Actually, that’s rarely the case. A lot of us wind up serving long tedious terms doing garrison duty on some backwater, fighting nothing more deadly than boredom...actually the boredom can be more dangerous than being shot at. Combat duty’s a quick path to full cit-rights. Some of us, though, get a nice look at some promising real estate and go straight from being garrison troops to being homesteaders.”

Joining the Greater New England Armed Services is a surefire path to earn citizenship in the GNE(and by extension, the United Systems Alliance). Many recruits have gained themselves and their families favored status as citizens, by helping defend the GNE. A five year hitch after Basic is the usual tour of duty, but honorable discharge can occur sooner, depending on circumstances. Most recruits serve 1-3 tours and/or join the reserves after discharge, earning extra citizenship credits for their service.

*Civil Service
“There’s no better way of understanding and appreciating how a society works, than working in the infrastructure that keeps that society working. My appreciation for garbagemen went up considerably when I worked for three years in a recycling plant while awaiting my naturalization. Then I got into an industrial chemistry program and went from moving garbage to analyzing garbage and eventually to reusing garbage as raw material. You would not believe how many trace materials are needed to keep modern technological civilization going on a daily basis, and how much can be recovered from its wastes.”

Joining the Civil Labor Battalions that help keep the infrastructure of the GNE up and running is another assured pathway to citizenship. Besides providing a training ground for (future) citizens, it also provides ample opportunity for those with skills to demonstrate them. Depending on the sort of work, enlistment in the CLBs takes 4-8 years’ work to earn citizenship.

*The Three-Body Path(aka The Salvaged)
#ding-ding#
“Hold on...I’m coming, I’m coming....Hello? Can I help you ladies?”
“Areus Melson? THE Areus Melson?”
“That’s my name, yes?”
“Civil Service Cyborg Labor Battalion Junior Lieutenant Areus Melson? Greater New England Civil Works and Combat Engineering Reserve Company Eight-Oh-Six-Five-Nine? The Whitewall Winds? You were a heavy full-conversion body frame?”
“I WAS, but I got my re-sleeving when I mustered out. I just got released from hospital rehab. What is this about? And, you two look familiar?”
“Helubra, Odeefore? About two years ago you volunteered to assist in a liberation raid on an organ bank farm-”
“Yeah, I remember that,...wait, you...”
“You rescued me and Atsa from being cut up for transplant tissue. Pulled us off the pre-op strap-downs and carried us to the landing ship. You mentioned on the way up you were earning extra credits for a new cell-cloned biosystem body the usans could make without raising a full-brained clone. We were in the area, heard you were just released and wanted to come say thank you-”
“Ah, hey, that was line of duty and happy to do it for you-Wait, where are your clothes-”
“We’re here to help you break in your new body and make sure EVERYTHING works. Where’s your bedroom? Never mind, we’ll start on the couch-”

This is a surprisingly common citizen-lifepath for many d-bees who come through a rift and wind up becoming terminally ill or critically injured before they can be rescued by the GNE’s patrols. Many wind up being partially or fully cyborged and assigned to Civil Service Cyborg Labor Battalions, which give them something to do while learning about their new world(s) and awaiting a slot for a new cloned/biosystemed flesh body. These CSCLBs can earn bonus credits towards accelerated development or special features in their new bodies(or, if they choose to remain a cyborg, extra elective bionics). Ways to gain extra credits include military service, hazardous environment duty, and colonial service on developing worlds. Though critics and opponents of the GNE have decried this practice as ‘body blackmail’ and in the worst cases have repeated rumors of the GNE reneging on promised bio-reconstruction after dangling it as a carrot to cyborged workers, there have been few real complaints about the ‘three-body path’.
Most CSLCs will work 5-15 years before decanting back into a flesh and blood body. Many who volunteer for continued military service often get upgraded with a bio-modded body.
The program has been in existence just long enough that some of the first ‘triple-bods’ who have reached old age in their second (un-auged)biological ones, have taken geriatric cyborg conversion to continue plugging away. This has raised jokes, hopes, and concerns about ‘wigwag immortality’, with individuals going from bio-body to cyborg to bio-body and back to cyborg, supposedly ad infinitum. Medical professionals in the GNE are watching this emerging pattern with interest and concern, as nobody is yet sure of how such repeated procedures affect the nervous system in the long term.

*Liberty-Rehab Programs
The wave of escapees who descended upon Greater New England in the wake of The Zot’s Shriving of Atlantis, the actions of the Odessa Battalions(before they were absorbed back into the GNEAS), and the consequences of the many abolitionist actions of the United Systems Alliance exposed the GNE/USA to a new problem; rehabilitating thousands, if not millions, of traumatized, brainwashed, or generational slaves who needed to be reintroduced to society.

-Civil Labor Battalions---
“More small businesses have had their genesis in the minds of CLB rehabs than almost any other venue in the GNE. Having gotten a taste of freedom, many ex-slaves want to make the most of it. And they often hire other ex-slaves, former indentures, and Labor Battalion members. After all, they’ve often gotten to see firsthand how those people work with others.”

For most repatriated ex-slaves, assignment to a CLB gives them the opportunity to be be reeducated and work towards establishing lives of their own. Socialization, reeducation, and the chance to do meaningful work and get a head start on earning a stake of one’s own has worked out well for most participants in this program.

-Assigned Personal Adjutant--
“Hey, Daro, what’s with the terrified look plastered all over your face?”
“It’s...Ashi, she’s back.”
“Ashi? That cute little brunette you rescued from the narco-lords on that job we did for the Testoszzaronians? Totally fixated on you before you could hand her off to the rehab docs? The one in the maid’s lace and black bikini?”
“She traded it for a gold bikini and ecto-lace. She found some sort of government-sponsored sidekick program and got herself assigned to me as a ‘personal life adjutant’.”
“Surely you jest.”
“Colonel and the senior HR coordinator weren’t when they told me the news. She’s my new paid live-in personal assistant. And get this; she’s been bio-modded with some code-package I don’t recognize.”
“Wow...just wow...”
“Yeah, freaky scary, no?”
“No, it means that somebody thought you were interesting enough to merit being assigned a rehabbed, reformatted, bio-modded ex-dusthead as a helper when you’re off-duty. I don’t know if I should congratulate you on being destined for great things and chum up to you in hopes I may share in your good fortune, or back away from you and hope I don’t get splashed as collateral when it drops on you.”

For many second/third/multigenerational and eugenic slaves, a lifetime of servitude and deference to others is difficult to break. Some mindwipe procedures in use by slavers also have the effect of leaving the victims unable to function without an anchor. The GNE Human Resources office will give many of these individuals the chance to serve as an APA, a paid position as a personal assistant to government or service personnel who are deemed a good fit for providing the ex-slave with a stable emotional and mental anchor. Sometimes, if the assignee’s career/life is considered ‘interesting’(i.e. dangerous) enough, the APA may receive special training and may even be bio-modded to suit the circumstances. The APA’s role may be as an assistant, bodyguard, or simply a companion to help shoulder the stresses and burdens of the day.
Given the fairly flexible social structure of the GNE culture, while some APAs become independent enough to leave adjutant service and strike out on their own, many APAs become part of their assignees’ families, becoming an extra non-related uncle/aunt or spouse/co-spouse.

Revenant Protocols

They found the bodies in what had to have been the central assembly hall of the rebel bunker complex.
“Orders, sir?” The ranger asked, trying to be clinical, and failing to completely stifle the tremble in his voice, about the gutted bodies hanging from overhead pipes like slaughtered livestock carcasses.
The ranger officer, having seen this sort of thing before, didn’t show a moment’s hesitation. “ Cut them down, stasis bag the lot of them. Those who can’t be revived by the mages or the cyberdocs, the DNA catalogers can use later. The rest of you; search this place; any survivors, I want to know. Any material about who these people were fighting, what they were fighting with, and how they lost, we want! And if you find anything on who -specifically- did THIS, secure it! We’ll be wanting names to go after! Mark my words, Wolfsons, we’ll get the ones responsible for this! Now move, clock’s ticking!”

Given the state of medicine and magic in the GNE, death ain’t what it used to be. Oft times, cybernetics and bionics have brought people back from clinical death, advanced nanotech has sustained them and even rebuilt them, and increasingly magic and metapowers can even bring back those thought, by earlier standards, to be well and truly dead and unrevivable. The policies governing the application(or withholding) of these methods have, in the more extreme cases, come to be known collectively as Revenant Protocols.

Increasingly, bodies(and parts of bodies) are stowed in stasis systems to await later efforts at revival and reconstruction. The ‘rez trifecta’, where a critically injured/fresh-killed sophont is cyborged, spends time with a cyborg rehab group and/or civil labor battalion, and then is offered the chance to decant back into a vat-gtown biological body is a familiar one to many GNE inductees. Increasingly, magic revival, resurrection, and restoration is also taking the field, allowing for more rapid ‘dead to alive’ recoveries. And even if resurrection is impossible(via failure of the technology or magic, or lack of the brain and spine), a dead sophont’s DNA can be used to clone them. These clones are often adopted by families in the GNE/USA and raised in the usual manner. However, ‘revenant’ clones are most often decanted as infants, and grow up in the usual fashion, and do not necessarily come to share the exact same looks as their progenitors, nor do they share the personalities or memories of the DNA donors. In many cases the GNE has defended these clonings with the philosophy that such actions ‘give futures to the lost’ or that cloning future generations from the dead ‘denies tyrants and murderers their prizes’.

Of course, rumors persist of clones being given special treatments to resurrect/reinstall the memories of their source-donors. There are also plenty of rumors of adult bioborg creation using 3d-printed bioceramic skeletons wrapped in cloned tissues, often augmented, and cloned brains implanted with BINAS systems with preprogrammed skill sets, to produce what are essentially organic A.I. robots, often employed as ‘super-operatives’. Though this gossip has been largely dismissed as tale-spinning, to others, it’s more telling that the GNE has neither confirmed nor denied these rumors.

Balancing this is the hard-earned experience with handling the dead in metapowered and magic-rich environs. All too often the dead have risen of their own accord and the results have not been pretty, so the GNE Armed Services makes sure to secure dead bodies as expediently as possible, and tries to account for all corpses on a battlefield. If it can’t be safely recovered, sealed away for proper disposal(whatever that may be), then GNEAS personnel have training in field-cremating or otherwise safely and thoroughly dealing with corpses. For the same reasons, GNE morgues are well-secured, warded, and protected against trespass and invasion by malign entities that might seek to use dead bodies and death energies for malicious purposes. Whether housing bodies for more dignified funerary services or for revival, the GNE’s morgues share much in common with bank vaults, and personnel assigned to them receive special training(often by religious orders) in maintaining the safety and sanctity of them. Nobody wants to ruin potential miracles...or be responsible for slipping up and unleashing an outbreak of undead.

It’s also the reason why executions by GNE personnel, military or judiciary, are almost always accompanied by special procedures to remove the possibility of a criminal’s body being revived, or their personas coming back to haunt the living. Though derided as ‘soul-killers’ by some, the GNE authorities point out that their recidivist rate of criminals coming back from the dead to further torment the living has dropped virtually to zero since the protocols have been set in place.

Not everybody agrees with the Revenant Protocols, and many social and religious minority groups take exception to the idea of being revived as a cyborg or having their DNA used to create post-mortem clones, or even of death sentenced criminals being denied the chance to redemption in the afterlife. Some have even gone so far as to register ‘do not revive’ clauses in their social or professional/military IDs to prevent Revenant Protocol application to them. The GNE attempts to respect these clauses, but mistakes have happened in mass casualty events, zombie outbreaks, or case of miscommunication(often dealing with new or outside groups who later learn that members thought dead have been revived or cloned).

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Wed Dec 16, 2020 2:54 pm

Here's part 1 of 2 for my work on the Warlords of Russia. The next part covers the Romanov Treaty members. The Sovietski are waiting until taalism finalizes a side campaign-setting he's working on. Its best to think of the lore sections being phrase as though they were in 109 PA, while the descriptions of the Cyborgs is post-Minion War.

Russia as of Late 109 PA in the Paladin Steel Continuity
Eastern Europe has taken a substantially different turn than in canon Rifts Earth, with the Neo-Vikings and the Azhur serving as a major technological threat those in or nearby the arctic regions. The hammer has so far fallen on Seriyev, Burgasov, and Alekseyevna, pushing their Warcamps severely. Seriyev has seen the most attention of the Neo-Vikings, and was thus physically unable to attempt his canon plan during the first invasion of General Goll. However, his efforts into aviation have proven to be pertinent, with a number of simple but effective fighter craft emerging from his factories to help ward off intruders. Burgasov has come under even more pressure, with the Azhur focusing their efforts in Europe at St Peter’s Spine, and ever increasing numbers of their techno-wizard aircraft intruding upon his skies. Their ground offensives came as no surprise, but the addition of Gargoyles and other supernatural beings and complicated matters, and Orloff has constantly tried to take advantage of things. Thus, the Bear of Moskva was forced to accept that his current strategic situation was untenable for long, and began looking for options.

The Bear Roars
Delving into the history books to see how previous Russian leaders had dealt with such situations, Burgasov was surprised to learn that getting foreign aid was relatively common. Starting with Peter the Great and continuing all the way to the Second Sovietski, Russian rulers may preach their superiority, but have always been willing to take what they can from outsiders. Most often done to drag their constantly backwards nation kicking and screaming towards modern science, most if not all of the Motherlands industrial and scientific achievements had their roots in work first done abroad and acquired by whatever means available. He took the most inspiration from the industrialization efforts of the 1930s, where forign experts were brought in to establish key industries despite their ideological differences, for as long as payment was prompt and/or guaranteed most capitalists saw little problem at the time. Knowing that his word and honor were beyond reproach, he started thinking of potential allies, and one immediately came to mind; Greater New England and Paladin Steel.

Paladin Steel had already started trying to make entries into the Russian market, and he was familiar with the broad strokes of the company and its host nation. They were also in a state of conflict with the Azhur, had far more pressing territorial concerns than issues on the other side of the world, and at minimum rivaled Triax in technological sophistication. Combined with their willingness to establish local factories they were the ideal partners, although the field was essentially barren without them. Thus, in late 107 PA Burgasov accepted their diplomatic efforts and went down to business.

Паладин стали Европа (Paladin Steel Europe)
The exact details of the agreement are considered state secrets, but as of early 109 PA Paladin Steel has established a European branch in the outskirts of Novgorod. It is staffed by ethnic Russians that the GNE has acquired through their dimensional exploration efforts into 'Shatterworlds’, which does much to diffuse accusations of foreign taint. Many of said dimensional refugees have at least some level of patriotic attachment to their Motherland, and are flexible enough in what qualifies as sovereignty that they are willing to work with a brutal warlord. In many ways Burgasov embodies a particular Russian ideal of what strong rulers should be, and for the time being can be relied upon to not turn his sword to the more civilized parts of Russia. A Dimensional Pyramid has been raised at the Nexus Point close to the Pre-Rifts city on Onega, and while Burgasov is not overjoyed by the GNE having near instant transport to his territory he appreciates that the Ley Lines have been tamed.

The Sovietski are naturally less than enthused by both an American company becoming so involved in Russia and Warlord Burgasov gaining in technology, but their current concerns mean that he is a distinctly lesser priority. Orloff has made the expected claims of betrayal of the Motherland and witch taint, but his credibility is at such a deficit it serves to boost Paladin Steel’s image. Alekseyevna is also not enthused, but the Azhur have been putting such pressure on him that he has been forced to return to actually ruling his territory, and his vulnerable holdings over the Urals have become a massive liability. Once again engaged with the world, he has been forced to think of possibilities and scenarios, and he does not like what he’s come up with. He half expects that Burgasov has promised the Americans payment in the form of resource deposits in his territory, and is looking for an excuse to acquire them.

Being newly established, the branch’s overall production is ‘relatively’ low, but this promises to change in short order. Their expertise has been used to increase the productivity and quality of the Burgasov Sphere, and the use of less pollutive technologies disguises the fact that Novgorod and the surrounding industrial towns are catching up with Alekseyevna. Beyond aircraft construction, the most significant change is that production of nuclear power plants has doubled, allowing more Cyborgs and high end vehicles to be fielded. Burgasov is taking pains to disguise this fact, hoping to lure Orloff into trying to exploit a non-existent vulnerability with his split focus. The Warlord still fears he has made a devil’s bargain of some sort, but does not think that any grief that will result from this can be attributed to deliberate malice, so he is preparing to deal with the likely problematic influx of ideas.

Combat Aircraft/Vehicles
The nature of the conflict against the Neo Vikings and Azhur demands that Burgasov field his own air force, and so he has seen fit to produce cost effective designs that can operate in the Russian Arctic. While he is formulating plans for how to attack what facilities they have in the northern reaches, he knows that at the very least he must be able to contest local airspace, so these primarily liquid powered designs have so far been used defensively. Seriyev has managed to get his hands on the technical packages for the Kingbird and the Fang, resulting in his expanding factories producing equivalents for use by the rest of the Council of Warlords. Kolondenko is taking notes to improve the Wingrider, which has a number of problems due to it being his first major endeavor into aviation.

Spoiler:

Civilian/Non-Combat Aircraft
While distinctly secondary compared to the combat designs, Paladin Steel hopes to have a commanding lead in the larger scale transports in the future. Novyet has decided to respond by resurrecting a number of Antonov designs, but has reached an agreement to jointly produce the Rarog for the intermediate future. Like the combat craft, Seriyev has knocked off the smaller models.

Spoiler:

Civilian/Non-Combat Vehicles
This is where Paladin Steel Europe hope to make their money for the intermediate term, with logistical assets having been long under-represented in the Russian Warcamps. This has put pressure on Novyet to up their game and improve their offerings, but Warlord Romanov does not see this as a bad thing.

Spoiler:

Jeep Warrior ATV-40V and AVA Camper Van: While there are local equivalents, these are noticeably cheaper and are very easy to modify. After some winterization, they serve all the same tasks as they always do, and no end of ‘innovative’ field repairs have cropped up.

Colter Rover: The Russian sense of ascetics sees the Colter as a brutalist focus on utility and reliability, and as such consider it to be at least passable. Those produced in Burgasov’s territory are putting up fierce competition with the Novyet Bear, with the currently 80,000 Credit price tag for an unarmed unit being seen as quite fair. The inclusion of a pair of turret rings by default makes it reasonably attractive to adventurers and Reavers, and the pre-existing options list enhance this even further.

DL-500 ‘Arabian’ All Terrain Multi-Purpose Vehicle: While not being quite as well arctic specialized as the Explorer-Sku, the Arabian shaping up to be a major competitor. Burgasov’s forces are starting to use up armored versions as a substitute for the War Chariot, particularly those that are less unhinged than its usual operators.

UV-07 ‘Hinney’ Series Walking Trucks: Said to have resulted in the smacking of foreheads upon its debut, the Hinney has become very popular in the heavily forested regions of Russia, and trains of electrically powered versions escorted by nuclear powered ones have become a reasonably common sight in the more civilized parts of Russia. Mass production has brought the base price down to a more reasonable 2 million, and the flatbed version half that.

DL-600 ‘Clysdale’ Heavy 8x8 Multi-Purpose Vehicle: While not cheap, the endless versatility has made it the other substitute for the War Chariot, and is a much more practical design in general. The nuclear powered version is the most popular due to the relative expense and capabilities over the base model, and its ability to serve as a decent IFV makes it a distinct rarity in Eastern Europe.

GAAB-01 Bus: Burgasov’s plans to strike at the Azhur across St Peter’s Spine demand that he transport large numbers of personnel, and the GAAB is the most reliable way to do so. Many have been fitted as mobile barracks and machine shops to support the effort.

HT-Series Heavy Trucks: Much more effective than the cludge of heavy transports previously used to move raw material, Novyet and the Sovietski have begun to offer equivalents. The fact that it is dramatically undercutting the expensive Triax Super-Hauler is a bonus to the Russians, as it forces the German giant to pay some semblance of fairness to their pricing.

Ion Weapons
Burgasov was distrustful of Paladin Steel’s laser weapons, thinking them too fragile to survive Russian use, but the fundamentally more durable nature of Ion weapons made them much more able to withstand abuse. Local production started in the last months of 109 PA, and once in the hands of Russian soldiers their popularity skyrocketed.

Spoiler:

PSIP-17/2098 ‘Kepper’ Heavy Ion Pistol: By far the most desired pistol in Russia, the Kepper grants an incredible amount of short range firepower. Local production only started 3 months into the Minion War, and those produced have flown into the hands of Burgasov’s officers and elite soldiers. In terms of the outer shell, it looks like the post-1st Cold War PP-2000.

PSIP-2 ‘Smasher’ Rapid Fire Ion Submachine Pistol: Burgasov initially intended to have the Smasher replace the older pistols in his Warcamp, but the new addon features have led to it starting to replace most of the human scale rifles. The default appearance is close to that of the post-1st Cold War 9A-91.

PSIR-9 ‘Murchison’ Ion Rifle: The Murchinson is fast replacing the G-294Rs and -295Rs in Burgasov’s territory, being longer ranged than the later, having the hitting power and payload of the former, and being cheaper than the lesser Homesteader. It’s impressive durability serves it in good stead in Russian hands, and it has served well against Neo-Viking and Arzhur raids. Naturally, the local models look like the timeless Mosin-Nagant bolt action rifle.

PSIR-17 ‘Zonn’ Ion Rifle: While heavy and loud for a rifle, the Zonn has endeared itself to the Soldati that have managed to acquire them, being far more effective than the various Servo-Rig needing heavy energy weapons and only a fraction of the weight. Most use it with an E-Pack, overcoming the payload issues. They are styled to look like a Mosin-Nagant crossed with an early AK.

PSIC-03 ‘Scheffer’ Ion Cannon: Strangely, there were no heavy Ion weapons of Russian make, so this had little local president. Its relatively low cost and ability to be used as a long range ‘shotgun’ make it reasonably popular, and its relatively modest energy requirements see it becoming an increasingly common cyborg arm or shoulder mount. While not having a historical item to pattern the shell off of, a more general 'rugidized box' with with the general ascetics of Russian heavy energy weapons.

Plasma Weapons
It should come as no surprise that Burgasov has made improving his plasma based weapons a priority in the face of the elemental Azhur. While the Neo-Vikings have a preference for fire magic, they have not yet shown a major interest in applying it to their infantry, so it is not expected to be a serious liability. Additionally, they are just as effective against conventional forces as ever, and Burgasov is looking forward to melting Orloff’s forces in a hail of fire and lightning.

Spoiler:

Projectile Weapons
Burgasov was interested to find Paladin Steel offering a number of M-Factor non-EM projectile weapons, and found several of them to be of utility. Their low cost makes them easy to hand out to village militias if need be, and the need for special ammunition makes them easier to track than energy weapons. The lack of relative stopping power in the human usable ones is not seen as a major drawback, as it limits how much damage they can do in an uprising.

Spoiler:

Explosive Weapons
Those that are aware of such things are aware than Paladin Steel was the party initially responsible for the Micro-Missile, and have made great strides in making effective grenade launchers. Thus, their various explosive launchers were met with a warmer than normal reception, and they have since become very popular across the more civilized parts of Russia.

Spoiler:

PSAGL-30B 30mm ‘Banger’ Grenade Launcher: The Banger has become reasonably popular among Reivers, with its relatively lightweight allowing them to use it mounted. Much to the company's dismay, a local equivalent to the ‘Chunka-Gun’ has already cropped up. Overall styling is that of an oversized Saiga-12.

PS-TGL40E Pump Action Grenade Launcher: The aggressive simplicity of this weapon makes it popular among wilderness folk, although the Warlords normally take a dim few of heavy weapons being in the hands of vagabonds. However, the limited pump action nature makes it much more acceptable than most, with most Warcamps considering it below their notice. The 6000 credits asking price is near chump change, but the munitions are a different story. PSE has the luxury of having a local historical equivalent, the GM-94, to base their model off of.

PSAGL-40B ‘Hammertime’ Automatic Grenade Launcher: This has become very popular among Heavy Machines and Cyborgs, being just small enough to fit as a shoulder mount and having truly exceptional range. The knock-offs that have been produced so far are identical in performance to the WI-GL20 AGL. The improved shells are still relatively rare outside of PSE, but the Sovietski have already switched production. In terms of styling, it looks quite similar to the AGS-40 of the post-1st Cold War era.

PSAGL-50A 50mm Projectile Gun: For all of its limitations, this grenade revolver is an inexpensive and effective way to deliver modest anti-cyborg firepower in a light package. The more brutal Warcamps have declared it contraband, but do not consider it a true threat compared to the other weapons that have been released in recent years. The more liberal areas allow it so long as the owner does not have ‘excessive’ amounts of ammunition, although they can define that as whatever they deem appropriate. Stylistickly, the Russian model looks like a modified RGS-50M.

PSHM-40 ‘Crusher’ 40mm SuperHeavy Automatic Pistol: Burgasov needed only to see it to decide that his Warcamp needed them, but demands for more practical weapons pushed the line’s opening back to early 110 PA. The local styling is that of the classic Makarov pistol inflated to a comedic degree.

80mm ‘Pulverizer’ Super-Heavy Shotgun: There are more effective weapons, but Heavy Machines and Shocktroopers have fallen in love with this small artillery piece. The simple ‘giggle factor’ ensures that it will be a favorite for decades, and heavier (250 lbs) knockoffs have already been spotted. Like the smaller -40E, it looks like the GM-94, although greatly increased in size.

PSTT-M19 ‘Slammer’ Mini-Missile Launcher: While more fragile than the AR-M50, this cheap launcher is almost disposable in comparison, and once fitted with a servo-rig mount works just as well. The Russian version has been styled to look like a B-8V20A Rocket Pod.

Superzooka/MAULER: While Burgasov has been introduced to these weapons, he is holding off on deploying them so not to give Orloff ideas. It will certainly be useful in finishing the mad dog and the old fool off, but until then he is keeping this simple concept under-wraps. It see's some limited use in engagements over St. Peter's Spine, but he is working on keeping knowledge of it limited for the time being. It'll be good for one major surprise offensive, but afterwards he will have to face them as well.

Body Armor
While the Russian Warlords don’t usually give much thought to human infantry armor, Burgasov has noted that casualties amongst his forces have reached unacceptable levels, and thus decided that some improvements were in order. Despite being a distinctly secondary priority, his existing production lines have been switched over to improved models. Additionally, the expansion of the Warcamp’s logistics elements demands that they be given some form of defense that doesn’t compromise their effectiveness, resulting in the light and comfortable Urban Warrior making its way to Europe.

Spoiler:

Urban Warrior EBA: While not considered sufficient for actual battlefield use, this armor is very attractive to support personnel, and the environmental features have proven to be often necessary with the weather magic of the Azhur. The effective market price is around 20,000 credits due to a variety of factors, and each costs 11,000 credits fresh from the auto-looms. A version with an integrated cooling suit is issued to the Klia that have sworn themselves to Burgasov’s service, while Seriyev is so far making do with something close to the Plastic Man for the trained workers he has to expose. It is known that the Sovietski are working on an equivalent for their Tankers.

Battleforge II EBA: An improvement of the Bushman Trooper, the overall design has been heavily winterized, and now cosmetically looks like the Battleforge. The effective weight is around 20 pounds, and overall mobility has been increased to that of the original Bushman, leading to it being a very capable design. Novyet has begun producing it as well.

Bear II Combat Exoskeleton: Paladin Steel had acquired several Bears for study, and refinements to the design were easily possible. The improved Bear II is a cross between the original and the Coalition’s CA-6EX, which is likely a downgrade of NEMA’s Roscoe light power armor. Attachment points on the rear and shoulders allow for it to quickly mount any of the standard Russian heavy weapons and their power sources/ammunition supplies. As it is far better suited for use against the perpetual arctic conditions that the Azhur generate as a matter of course, Burgasov is outfitting an increasing percentage of his forces with this exoskeleton, and Seriyev has started fielding the heavy and restrictive suit in uncharacteristic quantities. Romanov would also become interested in during the Minion War, and is pondering about using them as a bulwark against Orloff’s Shocktroopers in the inevitable conflict.

Brugasov Light/Heavy Machines
While the overall design has not significantly changed, what has changed is the quality. Brugasov’s Cybernetic-Factories can now consistently reach the upper limits of the theoretical parameters, resulting in maximized performance. His Cyberdocs have also been able to restore a number of automated robot surgical systems, and combined with data from Paladin Steel are certain they could manufacture them if desired. As conversion rates are restricted by bionic construction rather than the conversion itself this is not deemed worthwhile as of yet. The Warlord signatories of the Romanov treaties are seeing similar gains.

Brugasov Butcher Shocktrooper Upgrade
“There’s a serious push to rename the new Butcher. It looks similar, but having such an aggressive name is now rubbing too many people like something Orloff or gods forbid Sokalov would do, and that’s not a good thing. Some of the prospects are quite interesting, and I am seriously entertaining the prospect. Savagery is one thing, but aimless slaughter is the work of beasts with no intellect. And I am no mindless beast.”
--- Warlord Brugasov

Brugasov’s Cyberdocs have taken advantage of Paladin Steel provided material to improve the Warcamp’s Shocktrooper designs. Beyond improvements in the internal systems (now up to Triax standards) and reducing the overall weight, the most significant change is in the weapons. The right weapon arm copied on the left, and the retractable vibro-blades have been split for improved parrying ability. The old heavy laser has been replaced with a version of the PSIR-17 Zonn in a semi-experimental compact configuration, which has far greater range and hitting power than the old Laser. That there are two of them does somewhat tax the reactor, but it has been boosted to compensate. While it does require more maintenance than the normal configuration, the mounting is fully modular and can be swapped out in less than 30 seconds.

Additional firepower is now provided the default inclusion of shoulder hardpoints, with Paladin Steel’s various heavy infantry weapons being much more effective than what Russian designs could be mounted in these locations. Finally, the arms now also feature UEL cables, although most weapons worth using would interfere with the launchers to some degree. A custom version of the PSPPR-20 ‘Supernova has been developed to solve this, and it has become very popular due to it’s ‘Shotgun’ capabilities.

Spoiler:

Brugasov Ripper Shocktrooper Upgrade
“Of all the revisions from the Warlord’s Camps, the new version of the Ripper is by far the biggest. It's now simply so much more effective in everything it's asked to do, and it’s almost completely replaced it’s previous weapons suite. Brugasov has to be thinking about how to airdrop these things now that he has the tools to do it with, and I do not want our men to be on the receiving end. Orloff is going to have a few bad days though, and which is something to relish.”
--- Marshall of the Sovietski Konstantin Gustonon

The Ripper has seen extensive revisions, drawing cues from the PS-FC-40 ‘Reaper’ and PS-FC-50 ‘Hexar’. Now with four arms, the Tri-Bladed Buzz Saw has been replaced with a smaller plasma based one, which have been modified to produce eerie sounds when active. The old munition launchers were also replaced with ones that granted substantially greater endurance, helping address the second biggest problem of the original. But the most important change is a significant increase in the cyborg’s speed, with Paladin Steel sourced articulators being able to bring the heavily armored machine up to that of the Butcher, and as with that upgrade a set of Cyberjet Nodes have been incorporated into the default setup. Overall weight remains the same for reasons, but as it was lighter than the Butcher to begin with this is not a major concern.

Spoiler:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Wed Dec 16, 2020 2:57 pm

And here's the second part. taalismn says I have an annoying tendency to read his notes, which is impressive considering we're on the opposite sides of the US, he hasn't shown them to me (often), and I'm not psycic (I think).

The Angel of Kiev
Warlord Romanov is in a somewhat better position than in canon, although she still trusts Seriyev. The Sovietski intervention was more effective, and the GNE embassy was able to detect the infiltrating Brodkil during the Night of Unseen Fire, greatly limiting casualties and gaining a degree of favor. Paladin Steel would use this to expand their relationship if Novyet, introducing a number of their low end products that were ideal for the Russian market, and their effectiveness combined with their reasonable costs quickly made them more favored than Triax. Triax being forced to compete was always seen as a good thing by the Russians, and Romanov becoming a personal friend of Helmut Mayer, the dual President of the NGR and the CEO of Triax, has put the two companies in a head to head competition that the German giant never expected to see in Europe. Mayer has come to realize that Triax has been caught in a state of complacency regarding its own technology, and sees the Greater New England company as a whetstone to regain its edge with.

Interestingly, a small but extremely well equipped mission of Shemarian Wayfinders and Silvermoons have set up shop in the GNE Embassy, and have had extensive interaction with the abnormally large number of Mystic Kuznya that have been in the vicinity of Kiev in recent months.

Romanov Avenging Angel Shocktrooper Upgrade
“I’ve worked with the upgraded Angels against some Infernal packs, and you definitely notice the improvements. They’re a lot lighter on their feet, and the firepower increase is dramatic. They’ve only become more fanatic since Romanov got her new body, but they’re pointed at the right targets so there’s not too much to complain about there.”
--- Anonymous Red Army Firebird Heavy Machine

The friendship between three female leaders of Europe has seen a substantial increase in the technology available in Kiev, and Greater New England’s contributions have only furthered it. This has resulted in notable improvements of the Avenging Angel, although the relatively light weight design will always lag behind the other Shocktroopers in terms of raw durability and firepower. The latest version is notably lighter, with many now regard it to be an overgrown Heavy Machine, and Novyet producing an array of powerful energy weapons to arm them with. Triax has also upgraded her cybernetic-factories, as Romanov is firmly considered to be a key ally against the Brodkil and a civilizing influence in Eastern Europe. Paladin Steel’s influence on Kiev’s industry is felt in the upgraded weapons and sensors. These combine to make the Avenging Angel even more dangerous than ever, but it still has a trick up its sleeve.

During the Minion War, Romanov made a covert agreement to acquire Naruni style Force Fields from Paladin Steel at only twice the manufacturing price. For understandable reasons, Paladin Steel does not consider her territory sufficiently secure from infiltration to build a factory for them, but the devices are easily shipped by their sub-orbital transports. Additionally, the orbital quarantine net has become near defunct in the northern hemisphere, so the GNE Void Navy can make deliveries of all sorts if need be, but this is being concealed until an opportune moment. Romanov hopes that these shields will close much of the gap between her and Orloff’s forces, although she needs a good opportunity to strike.

Spoiler:

MDC:

Statistics

Weight:

Cost:

Systems and Bonuses

*Bonuses:

*Psionic Electro-Magnetic Dampers:

*Combat Computer:

*PPE Sensor:

*Cyber-Nano-Robot Repair Systems:

*Hardened Circuits:

*(Optional) Super-Heavy Shield System:

Weapons:

1. Combat Polearm

MD:

Range:

Payload:

2. Wing Missile Hardpoints (8):

3. Concealed Forearm Lasers (2):

4. Retractable Vibro-Bladed (2):

5. Vibro-Blade Feet (2):

6. Hand Weapons:

7. Melee Combat:

Halls of the Mountain King
Kolodenko started doing notable business with Paladin Steel in late 106 PA, and was aware that they were in negotiation with Brugasov soon after they started. A substantial number of his latest generation of engineers and cyber-docs have been educated in GNE universities, and he has a keen understanding of its culture and values. He also has a shallow understanding of its true dimensional reach, and is hopeful that a trickle of that potentially interstellar knowledge will come back to him. The GNE’s efforts to industrialize Techno-Wizardry has opened his eyes to the possibilities of the still developing field, and hopes to one day use the Dimensional Triangle at Lake Adyar to fuel his own efforts. Simply capping the Nexus points would almost certainly do some good in cutting down the number of Rift spawned monsters that the Crossaks have to deal with, and if what he has heard about Stone Pyramids is true then it will do far more.

His relationships with the other players in Russia remain mostly as canon, with some exceptions. Firstly, while he remains distrustful of Seriyev, he has realized that the con man is facing an enemy that he can’t blackmail, so he believes that his interests will not notably diverge from that of other Romanov Treaty signatories. But his fortunes against Sokolov have taken a notable change, with his previous psychological campaign being augmented by his growing airpower, increasing the pressure on the brutal thug tremendously. He estimates that he is on the verge of engaging in open war with his neighbor, and has cunningly devised a plan to pin down most of the Demonfist’s assets while having enough of his own still free to strike at his enemy’s handful of strategically important locations. With a bit of assistance from several groups of freelance ex-Tolkeen Technowizards, he plans on hitting two of Sokolov’s four Cybernetic-Factories, using mystic stealth and tunneling methods to quickly overrun the defenses before they can respond. On a more humanitarian note, he hopes to use the opportunity to evacuate as many of Sokolov’s abused serfs as possible, and expects to be able to pull out a third of them. The unexpected support of the Crossaks will allow him to do far more, and hurt Sokolov far deeper.

Kolodenko Super-Wingrider Flying Wing
“I want to say the new Russian Wing-Board is roughly equivalent to the Coalition Warbird Rocket Cycle, but that glances over some complexities. I see a lot of components that are more or less straight off the Bat, particularly the control systems, and I’m sure that there’s some form of arrangement there. I’ve heard some rumors about a few groups of Crazies riding along on something like them around Merctown, so I give it 50/50 odds Kolondenko has licensed them out to PS for the American market. God knows the knob heads and Juicers will be all over it.”
--- Anonymous, Paladin Steel Aviation.

In early 109 PA, Warlord Kolodenko introduced an improved version of his Wingrider, keeping up with the just introduced Paladin Steel Bat Hover Jet. The new model is very much not a refit of the original, as the fundamental parameters have been increased quite substantially. Beyond gaining in width and length, the overall mass has been doubled, almost all of it invested into improved engines and avionics. The twin jet engines have been separated ever so slightly to provide room for an aircraft grade sensor suite and a notably more effective nuclear reactor, and the mini-missile launcher on top has been flattened and widened to improve aerodynamics. The protruding harness system has been radically altered, now being based on a servo-’stem’ from the fuselage without the large fixed poles. The former system’s control surfaces have been replaced with a number of small thrusters taken from the bionic cyberjet node system, resulting in what is considered substantially improved control.

The most curious change was the replacement of the strafing lasers with ion weapons. An unusual choice to be sure, these weapons are close matches for the PSIR-17 ‘Zonn’. Considering Kolondenko’s propensities, he has likely come to an agreement with Paladin Steel. If need be, they can be replaced with doubled copies of the PSLR-17 ‘Priene’ Laser Rifle for use against electric immune enemies. The greatly extended range can be tricky to use, but Wingrider pilots have naturally fallen over themselves to adjust before their peers. The former wing tip hardpoints have become conventional undermounts, and can take a variety of equipment. Material improvements have also resulted in modest gains in durability.

Spoiler:

MDC:

Speed:

Flying:

Gliding:

Dive:

Statistics

Height:

Width:

Length:

Weight:

Warlord Cost:

Systems and Bonuses

*Bonuses:

*Jet Boosters:

*Pilot Exoskeleton:

Weapons:

1. Chulki Hooks (4):

2. Strafing Ions (2):

3. Mini-Missile Launcher:

4. Wing Hardpoints (2):

Kolodenko White Tiger Shocktrooper Upgrade
“That ponce is stealing my shtick.”
--- Warlord Seriyev

Kolondenko has made his own arrangements with foreign sources, and has improved his material fabrication capabilities quite significantly. His negotiations with Triax and Paladin Steel have led to substantial improvements in the effectiveness of his White Tiger, most notably decreasing the weight by a forth without any meaningful downside. It would have been even lighter, but he felt improving the other systems was valuable, and has dramatically increased the integral firepower and melee capability. He is currently working on adding stealth systems, but expects this to take years to finalize.

The new design would make its debut when Kolondenko overran Sokolov’s western Cybernetic-Factories in their abortive conflict in late 109 PA, using their lighter mass to deploy large numbers of them from stealth aircraft. It is believed that they used some form of mystical concealment to get to striking range without being detected, which explains why they were able to take so much of it intact. The follow up heavy lift assets were able to extract both them and the majority of the valuable production equipment, crippling Sokolov’s ability to replenish his forces and serving as a cap stone to the humiliations inflicted upon him over the previous months. Only the Minion War stopped the war from greatly expanding, and the interruption is thought to be the deciding factor in his final breakdown in mid 111 PA.

Spoiler:

MDC: Values unchanged, but some weapon items have been removed or increased.

Speed: Unchanged, but now includes Cyberjet Nodes by default, and can be further boosted by a Cyborg Jetpack if a read ammo-drum is not equipped.

Statistics

Weight:

HF:

Cost:

Systems and Bonuses

*Bonuses:

*Cyberjet Nodes:

*Psionic Electro-Magnetic Dampers:

*Combat Computer:

*Cyber-Nano-Robot Repair Systems:

*Hardened Circuits:

*Laser Illuminator:

*ECM/ECCM Systems:

*Sound Suppression System:

*Thermal Stealth:

*(Optional) Stealth Skin:

*(Optional) Expanded Sensors:

Weapons:

1. Micro-Missile Chest Launchers (2):

2. Chemical Spray:

3. Retractable Vibro-Blade Fingers (2):

4. Shoulder Hardpoints (2):

5. Forearm Lasers (2):

5. Forearm Electro-Tentacle Clusters (2):

7. Hand Weapons:

8. Melee Combat:

The Rat of Minsk
As noted before, Seriyev had his hands full dealing with the Neo-Vikings and Azhur, and had been openly expanding with Warcamp to try to deal with them. The General Goll’s first invasion in 106 PA came at a horrific time for him, and he was obviously committed to defending his coasts, leading to Romanov not expecting any effective help from him. This made the intervention of the Red Army all the more potent, and Seriyev would later admit that he had not lost anything by not trying to take advantage of the opportunity. This means that he was in a stronger diplomatic position than previously, but he would ultimately turn over his former Sovietski holdings for assistance from their Air Force, both militarily and technologically. While Nikoforov considers him to be a rat, he was a rat with his back slowly approaching the wall, and a degree of ‘trust’ could thus be extended to him.

Since then, Seriyev would stay good to his various promises and has made every effort to try to ward off the airborne hostiles, but lacks the striking power to hit the Neo-Viking fleets. But the Azhur are a different story, with his fleet of nuclear powered submarine transports allowing him to conduct commando operations against their facilities in the deep arctic. Since learning of the nature of the Klia, he believes them to be a priceless resource key to solving several of his problems, and his forces have become expert in retrieving them from their apathetic Azhur masters. The large numbers of skilled technicians these raids have brought back have become vital in expanding Seriyev’s aviation industry, and that this also results in the Azhur’s own being degraded to a degree is a bonus. While he has his prizes work 16 hour days, their lack of needing to sleep gives them 8 hours of leisure, and Seriyev is above all else an expert in using vices to buy loyalty.

Their overall living conditions may be a distant second compared to those that now belong to Tundra Rangers and Greater New England, they are substantially above that of many Russian peasants once you discount a number of physiologically irrelevant comfort factors. Those not skilled in technical fields are employed in doing the ‘office work’ that comes with running Seriyev’s criminal empire, and have developed a level of amoral efficiency that is rarely combined with loyalty. In his mind, once they have been given a good carrot these ‘turncoats’ can be relied on to STAY bought, which is a true rarity in his field. Having to work around their physiological limitations is a trivial expense for such dedication, and he is growing to legitimately trust some of the most capable.

Additionally, he has instructed his Soldati Dimiye to train the rare suitable candidate to serve as agents in the Azhur’s midst, and an astonishingly large number have been found (almost 20!). While still in training, they promise to feed Seriyev a seedy stream of intelligence that he can use to prompt others into delivering the hammer blows. He expects the first to be ready by early 111 PA, and as this is a purely espionage focused project it will not be disrupted by the Minion War. He will not have to deal with substantial Infernal activity, but his current enemies will be all too happy to compensate with increased pressure.

Seriyev Mantis Shocktrooper Upgrade
“Our real long range scouts in the Antarctic have seen Seriyev conduct a lot of deep raids on the Azhur, and most of them result in notable prisoner counts with the Klia being stacked like sardines to haul back. This has given us a decent look at his new version of the Mantis, and you can tell where he’s ripping PS off. If you can find them, which is a bit harder now with the stealth systems. He still has a ways to go to fully match, but he’s probably doing better than Triax at the moment due to his experience.”
--- Anonymous, GNE Intelligence

While he constantly kicks himself that he missed it the first time, Seriyev readily admits that Kolodenko has the right idea to include Paladin Steel inspired stealth systems, and incorporating the simpler ones was one of the key goals of the redesign. The other goal was to substantially reduce the weight, as the one ton displacement had proven to be well above what was desired on several occasions. As Seriyev’s overall doctrine has shifted to air transported strike squads, this would also allow smaller and less detectable craft to be used, which simplified the demands on his still growing aviation industry. Overall protection was considered sufficient for what was asked of it, but specially designed sets of over-armor have been created to add protection to the abnormal arms and legs as well as the torso.

The lower arms have a new feature in that they can be rotated 90 degrees either direction, allowing the long blades to be moved out of the way of operating hand weapons, which was always a problem even when they were in their retracted position. The various vibro-weapons have gained a silver coating for anti-supernatural work, and the laser arrays have been replaced with a knock-off of the popular Smasher. Seriyev laments that he does not yet have access to Plasma Blade technology, but knows that it is only a matter of time before his agents manage to tickle them out of Romanov’s camp. Optical stealth will take substantially longer, as even Triax has trouble replicating Paladin Steel’s sophisticated methods. That Kolodenko is making any progress at all is a sign of his personal genius, and Seriyev has come to respect both that and the noble-scientist’s ability to play the game.

Refit efforts started in late 108 PA, and were completed in time for the Minion War. Beyond sensor changes, the most common addition is a gas dispenser to knock out Klia before they can cause trouble or get themselves killed before they change ownership.

Spoiler:

Speed: Now matches the White Tiger, and includes Cyberjet Nodes by default.

Statistics

Weight:

PP:

Cost:

Systems and Bonuses

*Bonuses:

*Cyberjet Nodes:

*Psionic Electro-Magnetic Dampers:

*Combat Computer:

*Cyber-Nano-Robot Repair Systems:

*Hardened Circuits:

*Camera Antenna (2):

*Laser Illuminator:

*ECM/ECCM Systems:

*Sound Suppression System:

*Thermal Stealth:

*(Optional) Expanded Sensors:

Weapons:

1. Long Vibro-Blades (2):

2. Forearm Vibroblades:

3. Forearm Laser Batteries:

6. Hand Weapons:

7. Melee Combat:

Seriyev Assassin Shocktrooper Upgrade
“What we have on Seriyev’s new version of the Assassin is that he’s focusing on it being a stealth version of the Heavy Machine, reducing the weight to something near the Sovietski’s Red Nova and adding a bunch of stealth systems that he first used on the Mantis. That’s what you want for a Cyborg Commando, so it gets a solid pass.”
--- Anonymous, GNE Intelligence

Seriyev’s efforts to upgrade the Assassin would take longer, with the Mantis having a higher priority. The overall changes are nearly identical, other than the static weapon systems. The weapons are almost certain to change in the future though, as Seriyev gets his hands on more of Paladin Steel’s espionage tool set.

Spoiler:

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 1:30 am

Dedek(Independent World)(Out-Dimension)
“Dedek’s a regualr planet turned upside down. The oceans are trapped in the air, the lakes are on mountains and plateaus, and the ocean beds are all dry. Yet, there’s water, there;s arable land, and there’s plenty of life, including intelligent, tool-using, life, and it’s at least halfway friendly to us.”
----Early assessment scout report on Dedek, Greater New England OUTSTEP service.

“Koltektown is launching their new Steam Dreadnaught for the WarGames, so expect at least a couple of days of hard celebrating and traffic jams. The Koltekians are REALLY proud of their new war-rig, so they’re going to party HARD. If we aren’t wiped out by partying in Koltektown by the end of the week, we can take the TransBlancoPrairie line over to Molsgo, at the other end of the Deprivo Basin. THEY’re launching their new Thunderbarge, so there’s going to be a week of festivities to compensate for the fact that they didn’t launch before Koltektown got theirs on the sands. If we’re in the area in another six months, we’ll probably see the two go at each other and see which one’s superior; Koltektown and Molsgo have a rivalry going back the better part of a century and they’ve been building for a contest for decades.”

“This has been the fifth raid this month. The bandits are hitting the rail lines on the other side of the BlackTooth Ridge where we can’t get response teams out there fast enough to catch them, and the winds in that sector prevent us from mounting dirigible patrols. But it’s the recent trend in what the bandits are taking now...in the beginning it was food and fuel. Of late it’s been munitions; the last convoy hit was carrying rifled secondary cannon and shells for the Whitestorm Bruisers’ new gun-barge. Now I’ve heard of the black market gangs dealing in war-fort parts, but these latest thefts are big hauls and of material that can’t be sold easily. And they can’t possibly be thinking of fielding Game-forts of their own; they’d be immediately disqualified for illegal construction! Question is, what are they planning on doing with all the stuff?”

Dedek is a world that is, as far as anybody knows, NOT in the same region as the Three Galaxies. The planet is huge in diameter for a terrestrial world, but its gravity is roughly equal to that of Earth’s, and the atmosphere is breathable, despite a lack of large oceans to support marine plant life. The planet furthermore is wrapped in a ‘ceiling’ of turbulent energy that hinders high altitude and long range air travel, let alone space travel offworld*. The planet is inhabited by a human-variant sept who have been on the world for as long as their history has recorded(with reliable records going back some 7,000 years, and dateable evidence looking back 10,000 years) though it is obvious that they did not originate on Dedek.
Dedek is characterized by large flat-bottomed dry sea beds and salt-flats, flanked by steep mountainous highlands. The natives live in the highlands and mountain tops, where water-ice falls as snow from the atmosphere and can be collected in the many mountain lakes and streams. The planet apparently was much wetter at some time in the past, though planetologists can find little explanation for what could have caused such an extreme loss of surface water and desertification on the planet. Further evidence of a wetter and ocean-covered world exists in a layer of rich, but dry, sentiment covering much of the lowlnds. This mineral-rich dust(known locally as ‘dhas’), presumably the decomposed remains of Dedek’s ancient and extinct ocean life, is prized for its fertility, once water is added, and many communities along the high-rimmed plateaus mine(surface-scrape) and import the material to fertilize their mountainside and plateau-top agriculture. Particularly powerful dust storms also carry the dhas up onto the mountainsides. But many parts of the lowlands are given over to the Gate Lanes and the Warlands.
Dedek has the distinction of being a minor dimensional crossroads, with regular and predictable dimensional rift activity. Thus, the planet is no stranger to extradimensional visitors who frequently use the planet as a stopover point and stepping stone to other universes. This has led to some trade and several attempts to get the Dedekans to become part of a polity network or corporate organization, with the apple of outsider technology being waved as an an incentive. However, the Dedekans have little truck with outsiders, and prefer to amiably, but staunchly, stick to their own practices. Most offworlder enclaves are restricted to low-lying ‘islands’ in the great dead sea beds, and travel roads and railroad lines cutting over the dry basins and river-lanes, segregated by distance, for the most part, from the highland commuities. The Dedekans have no problems, though, with outsiders joining in the betting on the outcome of the Warland Games, as long as they don’t interfere with them(and given that the outsider enclaves are within range of the warforts’ weapons, that’s an incentive to behave).
The unique environment of Dedek discourages air travel, so global transportation is surface-based. Air travel tends to be low altitude and slow compared to that available on other worlds, with zeppelin-style airships being the norm. Trains are big, both in popularity and size, on Dedek.
The most unique aspect of Dedekan culture is their way of making war. Large tracts of the uninhabitable dead sea bottoms are set aside as ‘Warlands’ where national and professional mercenary armies are allowed to fight it out, using large mobile ‘landships’ more akin to motorized seige engines. These armed forces are not allowed to leave the designated Warlands to threaten the bordering communities, though they may, on occasion, blockade the trade roads that cut through the sea bottoms.
By shirking or violating these tenents, communities and nations can lose honor and, more seriously, support. Allies have been known to abandon partners who have broken the martial codes of conduct, and joined with former enemies and neutrals to punish the offending parties.
Paladin Steel has established an offworld trading outpost, seeking to take advantage of access to the dimensional gate cluster. Paladin Steel had established peaceful contact with the Dedakians and initially attempted to sell them military equipment, but the Dedekians laughed at the puny and unimposing small tanks and vehicles, though they did take an interest in various component and support systems and technologies. They also allowed PS to set up a large transshipping and mechanical servicing depot in one of the unclaimed highland ridges, where PS collected a large inventory of vehicles and spare parts for shipment elsewhere. Aside from watching the Dedekians blast away at each other in their ‘war cakes’(as one observer described them), the facility on Dedek looks to be a quiet assignment.

Note: The local human Dedekans possess normal human stats, but are characterized by having larger chests/rib cages, and a greater tolerance for thin air and lower oxygen content.

Note 2: The Future(?)----Unbeknownst to most of the complacent highlanders, Dedek is about to enter tumultous times; the Minion War is coming to Dedek. Apparently -something- interests the Infernals about Dedek and they reach out to several of the disenfranchised and embittered groups on the fringes of Dedekian society. These groups effectively become cult-controled and start preparing the way for an invasion. Then, one day the regular dimensional portals servicing Dedek collapse, and a number of new ones open, disgorging hordes of monstrous demons. Together with well-organized local cultists and corrupted armored legions, the demons first overwhelm the surprised Dedekian Warland armies, and then began to lay siege to communities on the borders of the Warlands, and cutting off the rail lines and highways serving many of the plateau communities. The offworlder ‘islands’ in the great dry sea bottoms become isolated points of resistance, as all-out war breaks out across Dedek. Even the highlands come under attack as cultist forces and their Infernal allies stage terror raids and storm the normally peaceful(and armed only for policing) plateau and mountain communities.

*(For the truly curious, Dedek is one of nine planets---4 gas giants, 3 rocky besides Dedek, and one dwarf planet--- orbiting binary blue and red dwarf stars. Little is known of the other planets, save what can be learned through telescopic observationm which has revealed that Dedek is the only inhabitable/inhabited planet in the system Tracking the other planets is often used to figure out when particular dimensional rifts are going to open, or alter the periodic opening schedule of others. )

Planet(Dedek)
Type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 90,000 km
Gravity: 1.03 g
Temperature: Temperate
Unusual/Special Features:
-Unusual Energy Field. Dedek has a ‘ceiling’ of approximately 12,000 ft, that prevents effective air travel. While airships can still slowly make their way below the turbulence layer, faster and higher-flying aircraft will find it increasingly difficult to operate high in the planet’s atmosphere bfore being damaged, and ultimately torn apart, by high altitude turbulence.
-Frequent Dimensional Rift Activity: Dedek has some 40 -known- dimensional rifts that open regularly/predictably to fixed destinations.
Atmosphere: Thin, but breathable. Offworlders typically find the lower basin air to be dry, but more comfortable, while the native Dedekians find the sea bottom atmosphere thick and muggy.
Terrain:
Large, high, multi-tiered plateaus(many of them large enough to support large lakes or small seas on their tops), with angled sides, descending to large open, dry lake and ocean beds. Dedek features ‘island chains’ of high mesas and plateaus sprinkled across vast desert basins and flatlands.

Notable Mineral Concentrations:
- Copper
- Tin
- Iron
- Amethyst
- Nickel
- Emerald
- Calcite
- Quartz
Hydrosphere:
Balanced---There’s plenty of evidence that Dedek had much more water in the past, as evidenced by its giant open dry lowlands, but nowadays the water is found in the highlands. Some of the plateaus are virtually ‘sky swamps’ covered with large bodies of open water. Most water evaporates or drains away into subterranean aquifers before it reaches the lowlands.
Biosphere:
Sparse, mostly concentrated on the mountains where the plants and animals catch the water that condenses and rains on the plateaus. Dedek notably has a large number of bird species and flying mammals. The basin bed species tend to be a tough lot, with cacti being common.
Still, there are rumors of monsters, some big enough to take on war-barges, in the more remote canyons, dry basins, and cave systems.
Civilization:
Dedekian society consists of a number of separate kingdoms and nation states
Population:
Roughly 6 billion, but Dedek’s large surface area means the population is more spread out.
Technology:
Roughly equal to pre-Golden Age Earth; their larger structures are effectively megadamage, and they have nuclear (albeit of a type not known to Earth) and solar- electric power.
Economy:
Industrial, with a ‘steampunk’ bent.
Wealth:
Well-to-do, bordering on Utopia; the people have plenty of money, part of which they lavish on the elaborate War Games.
Government:
Most Dedekian nation-states are democracies, followed by a few constitutional monarchies. There is no one world government, unless one counts theWarland Games oversight councils and their roving proctors.
Law Level:
Was effectively Lawful, but recently has begun slipping to Moderate, as a number of fringe groups, feeling disenfranchised, have been raiding transportation routes and robbing convoys.
Popularity: Popular; most Dedekians love the bread and circuses spectacle of the Games, and regularly root for war and their home teams, as long as it’s distant and at a remove from them, but there are segments of the population who are increasingly dissatisfied with the status quo.

Stability: Unrest. Dedek has normally rated as Stable, owing to the moderating influence of the Games of the Warlands, but of late, there’s been rising rumbles of discontent, especially in the poorer communities and fringe-states, many of who feel that the Games eat up resources better shared amongst themselves, and that the more wealthy states that can field ever-bigger landships either waste more resources, or else consistantly hog resources with their victories.
This may be justified, as there are also rumors that some of the more decadent cultures on Dedek have become increasingly unscrupulous in their pursuit of power, and have been using unethical means to rig the Games, or have been going outside the agreed-upon parameters of conflict resolution, with rumored assassinations, bombings, and terrorism.

Dedekian WarBarge
Dedekian Landships are massive dryland vehicles with the mass of a wet-navy warship, the appearance of a landbound ocean-bed drilling rig, and the bling of a parade float. The massive landships are carried on combinations of massive treads and giant wheels, occasionally by robotic legs, and carry heavy skinning of armor. By their sheer mass they count as light- to medium- megadamage structures.
Heavy projectile cannon are the weapons of choice, followed by massed batteries of lighter caliber rapid-fire guns and rocket launchers. Some ‘teams’ will mount experimental energy weapons, but these tend to be novelty items, much liked by the audiences for the spectacle, but dismissed as impractical by the serious war-planners.
Smaller vehicles can be carried by the Landships, but these are usually used only for spotting, scouting, and harassing attacks. Aircraft are rare, being too small and light to be able to much damage against a landship, so they’re generally used for reconnaissance and hunting enemy scouts.
Dedekians deploy these landships like traditional wet navy warships on the flat bottoms of the Warlands, maneuvering them to attack enemy units in almost ritualized tactics(one Deland employee compared them to bullfighting). Combat units are forbidden from tapping the civilian newsfeeds for intelligence, and even victorious units can lose their wars if found guilty of using the War Games newsfeeds to acquire and track their opponents.
A typical mid-sized War Barge is roughly 45,000 tons in mass, 450 ft long, 300 ft wide, and 130 ft tall, moves across land on wheels or treads at 30 MPH, has a complement of 1,000, carries an armament of 8 13-in cannons(with a range of roughly 9-13 miles, and doing roughly 4d6x10 MD to 50 ft blast radius, ROF once per melee), 16 4-inch(102mm) rapid fire guns(generally falling in the 3-5 mile range and doing 1d4x10 MD to 10 ft blast radius, ROF 4 times per melee), and 8 aerial torpedo launchers(15-40 miles, and roughly equal to a medium range missile in warhead yield).
MDC is generally light to medium MDC, but affected by SDC weapons; the aforementioned War Barge would have roughly 3,000 MDC(300,000 SDC, A.R. 18).

During the Minion War’s incursion on Dedek, the Infernal-cultists’ demonic patrons will supply them with the means to create ‘corrupted’ war barges with +x1d4 extra damage resilience, +1d4x10% increases in speed, and both improved MDC weaponry and crewmen. One Infernal warbarge even carried a teleport gate that allowed demonic vehicles to be teleported from their beachhead gate to the interior of the war barge up to 1,000 miles away, allowing a seemingly endless stream of reinforcements to pour from the landship’s garage deck ramps.

Paladin Steel Dedek Outpost(Deland Depot)
“Welcome to Deland Depot! Not exactly the most luxurious of assignments, but the sand’s not in the food, the cots are comfy, the work is steady, and the locals provide enough entertainment that you won’t be entirely bored out of your wits during your stay here. You got a couple of days yet before your Gate to the Sobel Sequence is able to open, so once you get your temp billet assignment, feel free to scoot on over to the leisure center and get acquainted! We’ll look over your vehicles and fix anything that needs fixing, and maybe join you in a beer later if you’re willing to tell us where you all have been in your travels! We’re kinda starving for news of the world outside this dead sea bottom!”
----Randcis Drake, Foreman, Deland Depot, to a newly arrived convoy, a day before the Minion War came to Dedek.

Paladin Steel maintains a substantially-sized outpost on Dedek that serves as a warehouse depot for a number of lower-tech world regions farther down the dimensional corridor network. The outpost sits on a rocky outcropping or minor sea mount surrounded by dhas-covered flatland and ‘shoals’ of rocky outcroppings, with several causeway roads leading to it. The warehouse complex consists of a number of tiered buildings built into the old seamount, and several underground garages capable of holding tens of hundreds of vehicles, and thousands of cargo pallets. The upper parts of the seamount sport greenhouses, communications, and a small airport/heliport. Though only a few hundred employees could do the work of managing the highly automated warehousing and transshipping work that receives landtrain-transported cargo pallets and flatbeds, then sends them off to the next dimensional gates as scheduled, Deland has a near-permanent staff of over a thousand, as the facility also sports a number of workshops and a munitions factory for producing custom spare parts and filling out adjustments to munitions orders(rather than wait for the orders to be kicked back farther up the line at filled by a more distant facility).

Size: Large; there’s normally about 1,300 permanent staffers moving inventory, repairing vehicles, and manning the spare parts/munitions workshops.

Type: Transport--- The Deland complex serves to warehouse and transship goods moving up and down the extradimensional lanes. It also does some repair and manufacturing.

Security: Heavy; Dedek being a dimensional crossroads means that the potential for imported trouble from other worlds is always a real possibility, so PS/ASI has fortified the Deland complex like an old-time coastal fort, able to at least hold off one of the local armed land-barges. A dedicated security force equal to 25% of the employee population, well-trained(at least 6th level of experience, often a line unit being rotated through garrison duty as part of stand-down) armed and equipped for action, stands guard. Furthermore, there’s often one or more security escort forces(which can range from a squad to a company) staying over while either waiting for the next dimensional gate to open to allow their convoy to move along or arrive.

Contact: Weekly---Under normal conditions, Deland gets visited by convoys 1d4 times a week.

Products:
Deland handles and houses both military and civilian/commercial cargoes, as well as stockpiles emergency rations and infrastructure recovery tooling kits for quick-response distribution in event of crisis. At any given time there’s likely to be 4d6x100 vehicles of various types sitting awaiting transport(or repair), more if a big shipment is being shifted, and thousands of transport containers of equipment and supplies.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 2:22 am

WB 36 has no end of problems, most of them revolving around acting as if the weapons and vehicles from WB 17 and 18 are actually good. If you actually look at their non-cyborg items, you’d think that their kit was made by Northern Gun but somehow worse, and gets clobbered by main book Coalition. The most obvious is the AK-247LL, which is objectively worse than the Lynx Laser Rifle on page 183 of WB 17, and the AK-247HL which is a heavier and more power hungry verison of the CP-40. The Groza II is outshined by the NG Ion Pulse Rifle, and there is no reason to use the Super-Dragunov when it would be lighter and cheaper to take two fully loaded AR-M36s. Then there’s the armor values for the limbs of their body armors (they downgraded the Red Star from the GMG values) and the myriad failings of their aircraft. And let's not even go into the ‘tanks’, which are abominations against armored combat vehicle design, but basically fall right in with the other monstrosities that Palladium has forced on us to try to make party transports. Anyway, here's part 1 of 2 for my attempt at a saving throw for them.

Sovietski 110 PA Update for the Paladin Steel Continuity
Diplomatic and espionage efforts have resulted in a notable increase in the Sovietski’s manufacturing ability, allowing them to produce far more of their higher end materials. This coincided with the death of General Goll in early 110 PA, which greatly relieved the pressure on both the Sovietski and its allies. The Red Army is using this opportunity to phase in a new generation of equipment with notably better performance than their old standbys, and hopes to use them to push back the forces of Warlords Orloff and Sokolov. Additionally, 4 Divisions have been raised from the Red Star Reserve, and while their equipment is composed of older vintages it is more than sufficient to handle the lower level territorial control duties that will be asked of them. It is known that the laboratories of Kaliningrad are hard at work at further improvements, and the rare credible witness of the Spetsnaz have seen them using different equipment, but details remain non-existent. Many people suspect that the goal is to duplicate the various offerings of Paladin Steel, which remain a rare sight outside of the arsenal of Warlords Brugasov, Kolondenko, and Romanov, and even they have only equipped a small portion of their forces with them.

(The Minion War would change things, with all of the Russian powers having their attention diverted to dealing with supernatural incursions over the 18 months that were thought of as its peak, be they Infernal or not. While the Moscow Nexus would prove a constant problem, as seen by the displacement of the entire 4th Reserve Division along some accompanying units to the strange world of Dedek, the Sovietski would find themselves in surprisingly good shape afterwards. The story of the 4th Reserve was at first a major problem, but later an unimaginable boon, as the depleted but victorious unit would return home in mid 111 PA with vast data banks regarding the lower level products of Paladin Steel and inter-dimensional trade partners who had the resources to make use of them. Further upgrade kits would be designed and distributed, allowing the Red Army to catch up with what was considered the mid range of Triax equipment.)

110 PA Sovietski Weapon Upgrades
As of early 110 PA, the Sovietski have caught up with the Coalition States in terms of human use equipment, although this is thought to be a stop gap until better weapons can be made available. The refit efforts have focused on the Red Army Regulars, with the Red Star Reserve not expected to receive the new weapons until early 111 PA at current rates.

Spoiler:

110 PA Sovietski Export Weapons
As wide spectrum as the Sovietski’s development efforts are, it is inevitable that they also be met with partial failures and low order successes. Still, these new weapons are notably improved over their common Warlord counterparts, so the Directorate and Production Bureau have found it practical to export them to the aligned factions to improve their capabilities and send a stream of resources back home. Beyond the Warcamps of Romanov and Kolodenko, they have also begun to crop up in the smaller functionally independent towns across the region.

Spoiler:

110 PA Sovietski Body Armor Improvements
The recent improvements in the Sovietski’s various manufacturing centers have allowed them to make further use of pre-Cataclysm materials, and the use of better engineering techniques allows them to push overall durability further. While still falling short of the apex of the most advanced Golden Age nations, they now stand above what was considered the upper end of average.

Spoiler:

SA-302EBA Proletariat Upgrade
Careful analysis of the Proletariat showed that it’s limb protection was unacceptable for completely human soldiers, with the original acceptance seeming to be based on use for partial conversion troops. Disciplinary measures have been undertaken and the design has been rectified, with several breakthroughs in material fabrication allowing the flaw to be overcome without adding additional mass.

Weight:

MDC by Location

Mobility:

Cost:

Spetsnaz SSA-220 Grand Star Exoskeleton Armor
The Grand Star can be considered a combination of the Shooting Star and the various near-power armors that are called War-Knight Armor. While not having the built in weapons of the latter, the Grand Star can have them installed later, and it’s overall capabilities are considered notably better. Warlord Romanov has begun acquiring a stream of them for her most trusted officers, which naturally see extensive aesthetic modification.

Weight:

MDC by Location

Mobility:

Cost:

Exoskeleton:

Red Star Upgrade Light/Medium Cyborg Armor
As with the Proletariat armor, the Red Star was found to be quite lacking in limb protection, and the helmet could easily be uparmored. The styling has also been changed to match the new EBA, allowing the shell game of soldier types to continue.

Weight:

MDC by Location

Mobility:

Cost:

Red Nova Upgrade Heavy Cyborg Armor
While the Red Nova was not considered lacking in the least, it did use moderately dated armor compositions and there were the usual complaints over the lack of helmet protection on the lighter models. The revision rectifies these, moderately increasing total protection.

Weight:

MDC by Location

Mobility:

Cost:

Firebird Upgrade Heavy Cyborg Armor
As with the Red Nova, the Firebird specific armor has become more protective overall.

Weight:

MDC by Location

Mobility:

Cost:

Thunderhammer Upgrade Superheavy Cyborg Armor
Naturally, the iconic Thunderhammer would also be part of the upgrade process, shaking many of the legacy inefficiencies that came with its complicated production history.

Weight:

MDC by Location

Mobility:

Cost:

110 PA Sovietski Light Machine Upgrade
The Red Army has made some notable improvements to their Light and Heavy Machine cyborgs, increasing durability, strength, and agility. Additionally, a few more features come pre-installed thanks to various savings in production, particularly those that have been near ubiquitous in their field requests.

Spoiler:

110 PA Sovietski Heavy Machine Upgrade
The upgraded ‘Red Nova’ chassis now matches or surpasses the Warlord’s ‘Heavy Machines’ in nearly all areas, which is an impressive feat considering it weighs a good forth less and is far less massive.

Spoiler:

110 PA Firebird Heavy Machine Upgrade
The Firebird composes an increasing proportion of the Red Army’s overall force numbers, so upgrades were thought to be in order. Being based on the ‘Red Nova’, the process was quite simple.

Spoiler:

110 PA Thunderhammer Upgrade
While the Thunderhammer was a marvel of Pre-Rifts engineering, the Sovietski in truth did not have that many of them when they first emerged from the Medvedev Complex, which resulted in them making do with a downgraded version that could be produced with the industries established in New Moscow, prioritising maintaining its durability above all else. The most notable drawback was the cyborg’s immense weight, which made it slower, less agile, and difficult to transport long distances. However, New Moscow’s industrial capabilities have advanced to the point where they can not only return the design to its original specifications, they can also add a number of improvements, some of them based on the less bad ideas that the Warlords had come up with over the years. Combined with similarly improved over-armor, a fully loaded Thunderhammer now weighs less than an unloaded one a few years ago.

Spoiler:

110 PA Tsar Superheavy Machine Upgrade
Beyond material and equipment improvements, the largest change to the Tsar is doctrinal, with it being reserved for the now much larger body of former Tankers due to their superior ability to handle the psychological effects. Overall effectiveness has increased with the widespread adoption of a Mass Driver as the default weapon, gaining an over-barrel coaxial energy mount for general utility in the process.

Spoiler:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 2:28 am

And here's my salvage attempts at their ground vehicles. I'm pretending the SU-45 Earthquake and SU-56 Shockwave don't exist, because they simple make absolutely no sense from the Russian design perspective. Naturally, I've called on Kitsune's creations to fill in for them, and am twisting the Tunguska into something else entirely.

Revised Sovietski Tank Shells
Let’s be frank here, the shells presented in WB 36 are straight up neft balls. While the Russians were generally behind the curve technological, them being THAT far behind would mean that they wouldn’t have managed to make energy weapons. There’s also the not-so-minor issue that Russia has NEVER USED 120mm cannons (they’re 125mm), but we can fudge things a bit to make ammo loads work. I won’t even go into the ammo pricing. I’m fluffing it that the Soviets use electrothermal propulsion methods to cut down on shell size and cost.

Spoiler:

Revised Sovietski Vehicle Equipment
Multi-Option “Shtora-8A/B” Jammers

Spoiler:

Revised ZSU-14 ‘Bulldog’ Tracked APC
The simple and utilitarian ZSU-14 is the most common troop transport of the Sovietski for a number of reasons. While the BMP-8 is more capable as a direct combatant, it is much more expensive, has less general utility, and carries less troops overall. As a pure ‘battle taxi’, the ZSU-14 is much more economical, and can be used as an all weather truck.

Spoiler:

BMP-8 Infantry Fighting Vehicle
The companion vehicle to the T-255, the BMP-8 was a continuation of the famous IFV lineage, and was not found to be overly lacking all the way up to the Great Cataclysm. Compared to its predecessors, its gains in firepower arguably cause it to be a Light Tank, but doctrine has them as being IFVs first and foremost. The Soviet’s widespread adoption of Cyborg technology changed things however, and the BMP-8 had trouble transporting them in substantial numbers. The solution was to transport Heavy Machines in open topped vehicles, which were likely the precursors for the ‘War Wagons’ of the Warlord Camps. Still, the vehicle was produced in such massive numbers that many survived the years, and they are frequently found in caches. Despite its problems, it remains a very popular design, and a number of small factories have started making battery powered knock-offs.

As the primary IFV of the old Russian Empire, the BMP-8 featured quite heavily in the early expansion of the New Sovietski, but it has fallen out of favor as of late. Its role of frontline transport has been supplanted by the larger SU-95 ‘Thundersword’, and secondary roles are increasingly dominated by the far less expensive ZSU-14. Additionally, it is seeing competition from the amphibious SM-451, although it is considered a distinctly niche vehicle. Efforts to develop a proper squad level replacement are ongoing.

Spoiler:

Revised SU-52 ‘Groundthunder’ Light Support Tank
The SU-53 is a greatly misunderstood vehicle, with no end of strange and outlandish speculation about it. In Pre-Rifts doctrine, it was to be used to provide direct fire support to infantry and cyborg formations, carrying weapons that were simply too large to be effectively used by the Motherland’s new walking tanks. The New Sovietski have been forced to push them into service as one of their primary armored vehicles due to resource constraints, but the relatively small scale of Russian Warlord warfare means that it is not considered severely lacking. If given the option, the Sovietski would gladly replace it with larger and more powerful vehicles such as the T-284, but strategic requirements ensure that it remains in service for the foreseeable future.

From its inception, the SU-52 was thought of something as an enlarged equivalent to the 20th century Weasel AFV, with a two man crew being sufficient to operate a combat support vehicle. However, it was acknowledged that there would likely be reason to use it as the primary armored platform in counter-insurgency campaigns, so provisions were given for a third crew member to act as a dedicated gunner if need be. The New Sovietski Tank Corps generally uses the full 3 man crew for a variety of tactical reasons, but they are well versed in the reduced 2 man configuration should the need arise. While the Tank Corps is mired in traditions, one of its traditions is to complain about the SU-52’s generally lackluster capabilities, with Komkor Bakhunin having been a renowned critic of the design and spending much of his later life bemoaning the fact that so few of the ‘proper’ T-284 and HT-281 were stored in the Medvedev Complex. Protection was always considered relatively modest, and it is always encouraged to avoid close ranged fights with Heavy Machines. Its greatest strength is its relative mobility, being almost as mobile as contemporary cyborgs while being far less complex and maintenance intensive than a hover vehicle.

The primary weapons of the SU-52 are an autoloading 85mm and a retractable MRM launcher in the rear of the turret. Prototype used a fixed roof mounted version, but this was always thought to be non-viable due to its increase in the overall profile. Similarly, early prototypes used a fixed forward mounted Mini-Missile Launcher, but these were quickly replaced in favor of a pair of dismountable AR-M50 Heavy Cyborg Launchers for logistical simplicity and to improve the strength of the forward glacis. The final weapons are a pair of remote mini-turrets, one on the forward glacis and folding version inplace of the traditional commander’s cupola mount, which may be equipped with either an AK-347CR Rail Gun or an S-500 Cyclone Pulse Laser Rifle. The defensive smoke launchers are not considered offensive weapons.

Spoiler:

Revised SU-40 ‘Thunderspear’ AA Platform
The one major alternative configuration to the Thunderspear replaces the bursting Flak cannons with a pair of dual Triax models with the same ammunition load. This version is as much a direct fire support vehicle as an AA platform, but there are times when that is more appropriate. A lesser modification is replacing the old mini-laser turret with an S-500, which is so ubiquitous that only the dedicated bureaucrats care to keep track of it.

Revised SU-95 ‘Thundersword’ Heavy IFV
While several early examples of the SU-95 showed a flirtation with the always problematic concept of multi-turrets, the primary production model uses a conventional dual arrangement which also saved room in the interior. The forward railgun has been made semi-retractable to clear its forward line of fire.

Spoiler:

T-255 Main Battle Tank
An older tank design predating the SU-52, the T-255 was the first Russian armored vehicle to use a nuclear reactor by default. This was primarily done to maximize operation endurance, with the lack of high energy systems allowing the use of a low cost short endurance power plant, greatly reducing costs and allowing it to be produced in vast numbers. Much of the old Russian Empire’s tank formations consisted of these vehicles, and enough of them survived the Cataclysm to form much of the initial core of what would become the Warlords. Those vehicles were slowly reduced by attrition over the course of a century, but handfuls of new examples show up in caches with some regularity. Naturally, the only party that currently uses them in significant numbers is the New Sovietski Red Army, which still produces a handful of them every year.

While having the form of a traditional Main Battle Tank, the T-255 is an usual combination of features. To start with, it is equipped with a small troop bay, making it something of an IFV, but it is usually used to store additional ammunition and spare parts. The second is that the tank is mildly amphibious, able to paddle over rivers with its treads without modification. Finally and most significantly is the unusual gun, which is a Smoothbore Cannon and Medium Range Missile Launcher. The cannon fires unusual short shells with electrothermal propulsion, with similar performance to 125mm shells, but it can also load cut down MRMs for truely long range striking power. Additional weaponry consists of a pair of dedicated MRM tubes on the sides, a pair of AR-M50s on the sides of the turret, and a remote operated mini-turret on top.

Ultimately, while the Red Army made heavy use of the T-255 after its return to the surface, it would prove to be a frustrating combination of too much and not enough. While more capable than the cheaper SU-52, it did not offer enough additional capability to warrant the additional cost, with the higher end T-284 and HT-281 stealing what thunder it had. Additionally, the unique shells it used would prove to be a logistical headache, prompting most commands to load them solely with MRMs when they used them at all. Still, the Red Army chose to retain them of potential future use, and they have been broken out for use against General Goll and the Butcher Twins. Serious thought is going into upgrading the vehicles to the much renowned T-284 variant, but such a complete rebuild is resource intensive and time consuming.

Spoiler:

T-284 Main Battle Tank
A comprehensive upgrade of the T-255, the T-284 was the cutting edge of Russian Empire tacked tank design. Using weapons and armor developed for the groundbreaking HT-281, the T-284 was a vast improvement in most aspects. The Great Cataclysm ended refit efforts, and only the New Sovietski now have the capability to produce the high end components needed. Even they find it difficult, as refits compete with production of the more prized HT-281, and only a slow trickle could be fabricated with the legacy production equipment of the Medvedev Complex. It is only recently that New Moscow’s industry has developed to the point where producing such high end items is economical, but they may not have the time to do so.

Spoiler:

Revised SU-58 ‘Tunguska’ Superheavy Tank
From what has been gathered, the SU-58 project is heavily derived from reclaimed data from remote Russian Empire testing facilities, with a group of New Sovietski aligned adventurers managing to recover the documentation and a working demonstration model (Canon design) from somewhere in former Kazakhstan. The details of their trip back are naturally classified, but it is known that the ‘Butcher Twins’ were not pleased by the group’s romp through their territory. As a demonstrator, the model was not completely suited to proper military use, but the development notes were more than sufficient for the researchers at Kaliningrad to finish the project. It was found that the demonstrator was substantially undersized and was horrifically crude in terms of electronics, but this made improvements simple. Even when upscaled, the tracked vehicle is remarkably fast for its mass, which solved one of the primary problems of such large designs. Additionally, the Sovietski’s current and historical territory is remarkably good tank country, and the sheer size of Tunguska’s tracks and suspension allow it to waide through even the worst of Rasputitsa.

Compared to the demonstrator, the most obvious change is that it is far larger. While a substantial chunk of its volume is eaten up by maintenance spaces, it is thought that the relative loss of potential durability is compensated by the increased ability to keep the vehicle operational, and the use of less low end Golden-Age material still results in a massive increase in protection. Pointless and/or counterproductive surface elements (such as the observation windows) have been removed to free up volume, and the Su-52 derived ‘Bogies’ have been replaced with much more capable ones based on the T-255. Weapons have also been swapped with those in production, with the secondary turrets coming off of the latest version of the Maelstrom and the missile launchers being replaced by larger and/or more common models. Finally, the electronics have seen an extensive overhaul, with the most notable gain being the inclusion of no less than eight point defense systems from the T-284 to control the close range defensive turrets.

The finalized Tunguska weighs a bit less than a 10 tank company of T-255s, and the pros and cons are being debated endlessly. It is known however that the vehicle does not yet represent the true cutting edge of Sovietski military technology, with the primary weapons still being electro-thermal propelled rather than mass-drivers, and the secondary turrets only having half of the HT-281’s weapon suite. Additionally, constant rumors say that the Sovietski are working to equip them with energy weapons of exotic origin, and that there’s a space in the main hull that’s extremely well suited to holding something like a theoretical force field. Naturally, the official response is ‘no comment’, which naturally fuels speculation even further.

Spoiler:

Revised SUH-86 ‘Hailstorm’ Hover IFV
While something between a cross of an IFV and an assault helicopter in operation, the Hailstorm is remarkably simple in broad strokes. The only difference from the early test models and the production versions was the simplification of the crew and replacing the forward defensive laser with a copy of the popular S-500 Cyclone Pulse Laser Rifle.

Spoiler:

Revised SUH-88 ‘Maelstorm’ Hover Tank
The Maelstrom was developed during the Sovietski’s emergence after the 80 Years Winter, as a substitute for the more capable HT-281 that was outside of their immediate production capability, primarily drawing from the SUH-86. As such, it is something of a bodge, and is far less capable in all respects. However, it can be produced with much less advanced manufacturing equipment, allowing the Sovietski to use them far more freely than the relative handful of HT-281s that they can fabricate. The early models were infamous for the poor cooling on their plasma cannons, but this was sorted out within a few decades. Its greatest remaining problem is the cost of it’s powerplant, but as it can usually be salvaged mostly intact even when the rest of the vehicle has been reduced to scrap this is a low priority issue.

Over the last decade New Moscow’s industry has finally reached the point where their expansion factories can begin switching over, but it is still a work in progress. The current inventory of Maelstorms is being severely depleted with the campaign against General Goll and constant skirmishing with the War Camps of the ‘Butcher Twins’, and the remaining hulls will likely be withdrawn from frontline service within a decade. The Tank Corps plans on retaining them as training vehicles however.

Spoiler:

HT-281 Fast Attack Tank
The pride and joy of the old Russian Empire Tank Corps, the HT-281 was revolutionary in many aspects. Beyond being the first practical hover tank, it would for many years be the best, with true competition only appearing in the last few months before the Cataclysm from the American Empire. Unfortunately, they were also in high demand in frontline units leading to few being in the Medvedev Complex, and the facilities’s fabrication systems are only able to produce a few new vehicles a year with sufficient resources. To solve this shortfall, the SUH-88 was developed from the less sophisticated SUH-86, and would serve the Red Army admirably for more than a century. This has started to change however, with the average sophistication of the above ground New Moscow industry having reached the point where it can begin to produce the powerful machines without ruinous expense, and the demands of war seeing that more capable vehicles start being fielded in numbers.

The only variant of the original design is the HT-285, which replaces the turret with a battery of 12 LRMs (320 MDC), and costs 3 million less to produce. Created to serve as a support vehicle, its natural problem is the lack of ammunition endurance. It was intended that a pair would be added to every full 10 vehicle company of HT-281s, and post-Rifts actions have shown that the intended tactics work reasonably well.

Spoiler:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 2:55 am

Aspects and numbers subject to change. Cyborg number are going to decrease significantly.

The Dedek Campaign
Call it fate or fortune, but the Deland Depot was far above its normal occupation when the Infernals arrived on Dedak. A notable USA colonization push was being organized down their dimensional chain, and a great deal of colonization and related industrial startup equipment had been stockpiled in its vicinity. Several major convoys of personal were also present, bringing the total population to well over quadruple its normal head count. As a long term depot, Deland found itself hosting more than a Corps worth of militia grade equipment from the various inter-dimensional Paladin Steel factories, which was immediately put to use the moment the dimension become isolated and Infernal Cults began openly attacking and conquering the local powers. Even with the groups of refuges that found their way there, they had far more equipment then they could possibly use, and would likely soon be overwhelmed as the cults consolidated their power and finished liquidating the other pockets of resistance. Their only hope was that either the Demon and Deevil backed cults turned on each other or by some miracle they received a massive increase in trained manpower.

They got the Red Army 4th Reserve Division.

Red Army 4th Reserve Motorized Rifle Division
The 4th Reserve was called up/mustered for the war against General Goll in late 109 PA, with existing forces being greatly stressed between dealing with the Brodkil and warding off the forces of Warlords Orloff and Sokalov. Consisting of a bit over two thirds reservists, the average age is well above what would normally be considered acceptable in a standing infantry formation, but as nearly all of those that fall into the upper third consist of partial for full conversion cyborgs the effective age is within acceptable limits. Much of the leadership consists of members of the various Administrative Bureaus, with a good representation of all of them except the Naval and Air Corps.

The Demonic attack that drew them to Dedek occurred at the western Nexus of the Old Moscow cluster. A nascent Hell Lord was attempting to form a bridgehead in a region less congested with potential rivals, and dramatically underestimated the native resistance as is often the case. The Sovietski dropped no less than three Divisions on him, interrupting him in the middle of the construction of his Hell Pit. The resulting mystic backlash drew nearly the entirety of the 4th Reserve, a Tank Regiment from the 4th Tank Division, and half of a mixed Heavy/Superheavy Cyborg Regiment. Deposited within a few days' travel of the Deland Depot, they picked up the radio communications and understood enough of the unencrypted transmissions that the Americans were also engaging with infernal hostiles, and Major General Semenov decided that making contact was as good a course of action as any.

New Moscow is naturally quite alarmed by the disappearance of so many of its soldiers, and made use of their limited mystic assets to find out what has happened to them. While the answers gained were naturally unclear and lacking in specifics, the overall interpretation of the results is that the 4th is still alive and has a working plan on how to return, although it requires them to make unilateral diplomatic and strategic decisions. Thus, they were not entirely surprised when the GNE made contact and informed them that they had found their missing Division. The fait accompli presented by Semenov was also quite persuasive and drew heavily on the history and philosophy of Russian Communism, and the more realpolitik based addendum based on the potential access to key strategic resources which were in short supply in Western Russia sealed the matter.

Makism’s overall plan is to have his forces serve as a combination of spear point and cadre, handling the major strong points of M-Factor Infernals and training up local forces in how to fight an actual war. This has the side effect of heavily influencing the future leadership of many of the small highridge nations, with the wealthiest having been priority targets of the early attacks and having their existing administrations systematically annihilated by both the cultist forces and their fell patrons. This has resulted in an inevitable post-war power vacuum, and Semenov is keen to stack the deck as much as practical. As such, he is engaging in a political dance with the Deland Depot to provide the material support needed, and must balance the various strategic requirements and interests to best benefit the Motherland. Fortunately, this is a game he is quite familiar with, having served nearly a decade in the upper echelons of the New Moscow Police and managing to be both a fair dispenser of justice and having gained no (still relevant/living) long term enemies in the larger political apparatus. But as they say, if you’re scared of wolves, don’t go in the woods, and without hard work, one wouldn’t even get a fish out of a pond.

Roster as of their arrival on Dedek
All told, the heavy weight of numbers that the Red Army brought down on the nascent Hell Pit greatly limited the overall casualties, with the 4th Reserve only suffering 192 fatalities. The most severe losses are composed of those that were simply not displaced by the dimensional event, with 16th Armored Assault Cyborg Regiment being only half brought over. With the accompanying units, the 4th Reserve Division is actually above its paper strength, although it had expended a great deal of its ammunition.

Total Personnel: 9966 paper, 8703 effective, 401 casualties, 200 recoverable, 806 not present

Infantry/LM:

Heavy Machines:

Superheavy Machines:

Tankers:

Logistics:

Spetsnaz:

Spoiler:

4th Reserve Motorized Rifle Division: 7695 paper, 7193 effective, 352 casualties, 160 recoverable, 150 not present

Additional Units: 2305 paper, 1510 effective, 50 casualties, 706 not present

4th Reserve Cast
Below is a list of the more notable figures in the Red Army 4th Reserve. The typical member of the Division is an experienced soldier, with almost all of them seeing service against Ward Orloff’s invasion all those years ago. While not used to using the equipment that is currently in their hands, generally have no idea how to work with foreign nationals, and are stuck in a world they know very little of, they accept that doing so is their only valid way home, and General Semonov has gained their trust. This strange war they find themselves fighting is at the very least morally justifiable, and strangely less brutal than the ‘Butcher Twins’ despite being against Infernals.

Spoiler:

Major General Makism Semenov, CO of the 4th Reserve Motorized Rifle Division, Sovietski Military Police, Red Nova Heavy Machine
The ranking officer, Semenov rose to the position of Colonel based on both his skill and long family connections, but was retired on psychological grounds due to trauma from experiences fighting against the advancing Warlord Orloff. Joining the Military Police, he has had many high profile cases attached to his name, and has seen some the best and worst that Soviet society can offer. Among the New Moscow Police, is famous for getting in the way of the KSSI and winning repeatedly, and is widely suspected to have been responsible for the ‘retirement’ of several of their ranking officials. He was reactivated due to the need for experienced officers during the campaign against General Goll, and has recently been promoted to Major General. The frantic review of his complete and unredacted record has been closely examined by the Politburo after the Division’s disappearance, and they have come to the conclusion that there are vanishingly few individuals in the Sovietski that could plausibly do a better job in his current position.

While Semenov would love for Communism to spread across Dedek, such an undertaking is simply out of the question due to political and logistical realities. Beyond the potential offense of the GNE, he simply lacks Zampolit specialists who are able to work with such foreign nationalities, and he has sufficient historical awareness of the First Soviet Union’s failings to understand that a premature push could easily be counter productive. As such, he will settle for influencing the post-war leadership, ensuring that the Communist concepts do not acquire a negative reputation, and that the core principles of socialist ideals have fertile ground to work with. So long as he does not make the Directorate’s work any harder than it has to be, he believes he has a free hand from them, and if all else fails he will open trade relations with suppliers of strategic materials the Sovetski have not had in meaningful quantities since the Cataclysm, which will allow them to greatly increase production of their most advanced technologies.

Colonel Valeriy Nikolaev, CO of the 13th Reserve Motorized Rifle Regiment, Production Bureau/Red Star Reserve, Human
The senior Colonel in the 4th, Nikolaev served under Semenov in the years leading up to Warlord Orloffs assault. Afterwards, the then Major became part of the Production Bureau and ended up an Inspector in the New Moscow Division, which resulted in him crossing path’s with Semonov on many occasions. He did not expect to get much farther, lacking the connections to advance into the higher echelons and being barely able to tolerate the level of corruption he was already exposed too. Thus, he was quite surprised when he was reactivated and promoted, but he suspects it was at least partially to get him and Semenov out of the city for a few years. He is the one responsible for the various logistical arrangements with the GNE enclave, and finds them to be refreshingly straightforward to work with.

Colonel Borislava Fedoro, CO of the 14th Reserve Motorized Rifle Regiment, Labor Bureau/Red Star Reserve, Human
Fedoro mustered out at Major, and she had gone on the serve in the Labor Bureau for more than 20 years. She had risen to the level of senior leadership of the New Leningrad branch, and was considered fit to lead a Regiment when the 4th Reserve Division was mustered. While not an inspired tactician, she makes good use of her personnel management experience to assign the right people to the right job, and has a notable eye for talent. The post-arrival personnel reorganization has made it so that she has very little to do with direct combat, but she is heavily involved with the administrative burden that has resulted in being cut off from the rest of the Red Army. She has not left the depot since she arrived, and it is likely that she will only do so when the front extends too far to manage over the comm links.

Colonel Pasha Egorov, CO of the 15th Reserve Cyborg Regiment, Transportation Bureau/Red Star Reserve, Thunderhammer Superheavy
Egorov had only been part of the Reserve for a few years before he was called back up, and has much of the aggression that characterized him in his earlier years. This is most obviously shown by him using a Thunderhammer chassis, although he has managed to get some modifications done to increase the firepower of the built in energy weapons and make it a bit more responsive. While he has always had a reasonable mind for theater logistics, his time in the Transportation Bureau has greatly sharpened and tempered it, resulting in the worst of his aggressive impulses being kept in check. He is pushing to replace the older forearm mounts of the Division’s cyborgs with more effective models drawn from the depot, and under his direction techs have found ways to mount the guts of the PSIP-2 ‘ Smasher’ and PSLR-5 ‘Partisan’ on the Red Nova.

Colonel Ioann Vlasov, CO of the 16th Reserve Cyborg Regiment, Planning Bureau/Red Star Reserve, Red Nova Heavy Machine
Vlasov has spent 7 years as part of the Planning Bureau, and works closely with Nikolaev in managing relations with the GNE. His sense of caution counter balances Egorov’s aggression, and the two had been paired together in their early years in the Armored Assault Corps. Ironically, his civilian experiences are now pushing him to be more immediate, with the post-war prospects on Dedek being more in favor of the GNE than the Sovietski the longer the conflict drags on. The irony is not lost on him.

Colonel Yaroslav Pushkin, CO of the 20th Tank Regiment, Red Army Tank Corps, Human
Pushkin embodies many of the stereotypes associated with the Red Army Tank Corps, but it is at least partially a mask, and he has demonstrated unusually keen insights. His time is split between organizing the greatly expanded vehicle forces and overseeing the training of local recruits. Luckily, one of his Tanker obsessions was being well versed in the intricacies of the measures done to train conscripts during the Great Patriotic War, and his data stash contained his extensive reference library. His formal command is sufficiently well trained and has enough initiative to function without his direct presence, so he spends far more time looking over the shoulder of the former infantry.

Colonel Ozelka Fedorov, CO of the 27th Field Medical Company, Red Army Medical Corps, Full Conversion Vedmak Light Machine
A Vedmak, Colonel Fedorov is one of the more sane thanks to his immense mental endurance, and only has 3 coping measures (Cybernetics/Augmentation obsession, Non-human obsession, Cybernetics/Augmentation evangelist) despite his long experience (14th level). His current body is the near peak of what can be achieved with Sovietski science, and he is always on the lookout for new opportunities to advance it further. He is fascinated by the few biomoded individuals that are part of the GNE garrison, and is contemplating such alterations as possible equivalents to a full cybernetic conversion. He would fully agree with the underlying logic to Slate Four, but would view the enhancement itself as a stepping stone to more extensive work.

Colonel Goga Borisov, CO of the 14th Tank Regiment, Red Army Tank Corps, Human
Having a year less seniority than Pushkin, and being outside of the 4th’s normal chain of command, Borisov has a junior position. He is known for learning towards dogmatism in his overall tactics, and is noted as having a poor understanding of larger strategic concerns. As such, no one expects him to be promoted further, but he is considered reliable enough to entrust with simpler and less politically changed fronts.

Major Zakhar Kiselev, Ranking Officer of the 16th Armored Assault Cyborg Regiment, Red Army Assault Corps, Firebird Heavy Machine
The 16th Armored Assault had the misfortune of losing their formal CO during the assault on the Hell Pit, and the XO was not taken along with them. As such, Major Kiselev is the senior most member, and as both he and the majority of his remaining unit consist of Firebird Heavy Machines, he has been assigned the responsibility of overseeing the Division’s air-cover. His most pressing concern is the lack of spare parts for his flying bodies, and he knows it is only a matter of time before he is forced to convert to one of the Aeries chassis that are stored at the depot.

Major Inna Kuzmin, Ranking Officer of the (Redacted)th Spetsnaz Company, Main Branch GRU.
Major Kuzmin is a Commando with 20 years experience in the field, and has seen no shortage of horrors that mortals and monsters can inflict upon each other. He and his assembled company were assigned to Makism’s command to provide surgical capabilities, and they performed well and without losses in the engagement that ended up bringing them here. He has effective command over the boarding and fortress infiltration units, and is responsible for seizing two war-barges and breaking the defenses of several fortified highground regions. An unofficial and undesicused duty of his is finding out as much as possible about Greater New England and Paladin Steel, along with securing what samples of worthy technology can be appropriated.

pad300 · Unread post by **pad300** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:53 pm

So Deland has a "ceiling" at 12000 ft of dimensional energy induced turbulence. Lots of mountains on earth are taller than that. Can you tunnel up the inside of a mountain and build a spaceport on top?
Also the local tech isn't making a lot of sense, why wouldn't the locals use aircraft at 10000 ft? Why wouldn't a bomber be functional against a "warbarge" ? 10000 ft puts you well out of range of smaller AA systems, and those things aren't mobile enough to avoid a 2000lb glide bomb... Also, what is a " nuclear (albeit of a type not known to Earth)" power system; do they have different physics?

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:47 pm

pad300 wrote:So Deland has a "ceiling" at 12000 ft of dimensional energy induced turbulence. Lots of mountains on earth are taller than that. Can you tunnel up the inside of a mountain and build a spaceport on top?
Also the local tech isn't making a lot of sense, why wouldn't the locals use aircraft at 10000 ft? Why wouldn't a bomber be functional against a "warbarge" ? 10000 ft puts you well out of range of smaller AA systems, and those things aren't mobile enough to avoid a 2000lb glide bomb... Also, what is a " nuclear (albeit of a type not known to Earth)" power system; do they have different physics?

The simple answer is that they don't look very good on camera and its not a serious war.

Current Status of the 4th Reserve Motor Rifle Divisions
---Colonel Valeriy Nikolaev
Date: March 7th (Arrival +2 Weeks)

Makisim, here’s the summary of the latest officer's and quartermaster’s reports. It's about what we expected overall, which means that outline of a plan you're coming up with hasn't collapsed yet. I hope you've come up with a good way to sell it to the politburo though, because its going to go strait on the Director's desk when it arrives.

Munition Status
Long story short, we’re near spent. With a few exceptions, we’re down to 20% of our normal stock of railgun slugs, and missiles are even worse. We only shot off half of our Nuclear LRMs though, so we have a good dozen of them if need be. We’ll be stuck using the depot’s inventory for everything else though, but this isn’t a surprise.

Troop Status
As for the casualties, those that are still alive have been patched up and are either good to go or working light duties for another week. The men have been kept busy setting up the colonization kits so they have actual beds and hot showers, which is something they can easily get behind. I'd like to note that Kuzmin came up to me out of the blue and told me that the meat the depot has is 'sufficiently clean', which is curious because I have no idea where they're storing it. Overall morale is in decent shape, and while they know we're stranded here for the time being there's a definite way back that has a reasonably simple method of accomplishing. The airwaves are filled with the local population centers getting overrun and enslaved, so there's going to be a push to liberate them even if that wasn't the plan. Our ex-drill instructors are already going over the locals to see who's worth training up, so we should have a good number of garrison fodder by the time we need to station boots at the choke-points we've identified.

The most notable issue is that most of our body armor is in terrible shape, which is why we’ve been converting to the intact examples from the depot. It's simply too much effort to try to fix so many suits right now, and it's far faster to paint on a desert camo pattern and the Soviet Star to ‘Bushmans’ that were still in the original packaging. The vehicle and support elements don’t need to, but the cloth armors here are a lot less of a headache to wear when actually working. Finally, most of our human usable weapons are straight up garbage by the GNE’s standards, particularly the AK-LL, so there hasn't been any push back to converting after the first few demonstrations. It looks like most of our infantry fighting is going to be urban or boarding actions, so we’re drawing from the more compact weapons for the most part.

Cyborg Status
About a hundred of the casualties we suffered against the Infernals were just chassis losses, and Fedorov’s people were quick on recovering the brain cases. Our techs have salvaged about 150 power plants, which is rather high compared to how many went down. We’re working on what to do with them, but it's been a lower priority than everything else. Fedorov has started using the parts here to replace the various limbs that have been lost, and despite some sizing issues they work well enough. While the depot has set up cybernetic facilities they don’t have any specialists, so a good chunk of ours are familiarizing themselves with the equipment. They say it's not meant for mass casualty situations, but give them a month they'll be able to do full conversion if need be.

For the overall chassis situation, it's basically unchanged from before we were sent to Old Moskva. The only people that have any of the new upgrades is the 16th Armored Assault, and those are concentrated in the Super Heavies and Firebirds. The rest of us are using the same models as ever, although that shouldn’t be a major problem given the theater. An inventory count of the warehouses indicates that there’s almost three regiments worth of fresh chassis here for some reason, and the best answer I’ve gotten is that there was a cross shipment in progress that ended up stuck here. They were scheduled to move out a week after the problems started, so let us call it fortune. Composition wise, they’re mostly a mix of near-generic Lights and Heavies, and a large number of their Aries fliers, which are basically the Warlord Heavy Machine turned into the equivalent of a Firebird. There’s a company’s worth of their more oddball designs, but most of them need training to use so they’re not going to get pulled out unless we’re desperate.

Vehicles Status
Puskin is going over what we’re going to be keeping of the vehicles we arrive with, and I’ve attached his overview below. The long story short is that nearly all of them are being either mothballed or having the reactors ripped out to put in something more theater appropriate. There are some exceptions, but our ToE is going to be almost entirely composed of stuff PSE would offer. He also says he'd like a few more weeks to get our vehicle crews used to the new equipment, but we can see off the nearby war-barges with what we haven't mothballed yet if we need the room.

Spoiler:

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 10:47 pm

And here's the original post that launched us into Russia territory.....

PS-SHMBT01 Mastadon Superheavy Tank
(aka ‘Red Glacier’ or simply ‘the Glacier’)

“One of the most impressive and inelegant kludges I’ve ever seen our people put together. A puzzle-box bitzer of all bitzers. And only our people could have pulled it off.”

“This thing could have only moved, let alone run hard like it did, on a flat and level plain like the dead sea salt flats of Dedek. Anything more uneven, and this steel land-raft would have foundered, run aground on a curb, rut, or ril.”

The Paladin Steel ‘Mastadon’ is arguably the only known knockoff of the Sovietski SU-58 ‘Tunguska’ Super-Tank---and it was instigated by a group of Red Army soldiers.
Paladin Steel had established an offworld trading outpost on the planet Dedek. There, the locals settled their differences in almost ritualistic fashion by holding their wars on the large salt flats and dry lake bottoms that covered much of the planet. One of the signatures of Dedekian warfare was the use of giant land battleship-like combat platforms more akin to self-propelled seige towers or militarized oil drilling platforms. These gargantuan(and awkward, by the standards of other worlds’ militaries) war machines would crawl about the Warlands and hammer away at each other, or lay siege to their enemies’ encampments, while the civilian population sat on the highland sidelines and watched the martial pageantry unfold. Paladin Steel had established peaceful contact with the Dedakians and initially attempted to sell them military equipment, but the Dedekians laughed at the puny and unimposing small tanks and vehicles, though they did take an interest in various component and support systems and technologies. They also allowed PS to set up a large transshipping and mechanical servicing depot in one of the unclaimed highland ridges, where PS collected a large inventory of vehicles and spare parts for shipment elsewhere. Aside from watching the Dedekians blast away at each other in their ‘war cakes’(as one observer described them), the facility on Dedek looked to be a quiet assignment.
That all changed when the Minion War came to Dedek. Apparently -something- interested the demons about Dedek and they reached out to several of the disenfranchised and embittered groups on the fringes of Dedekian society. Then, one day the regular dimensional portals servicing Dedek collapsed, and a number of new ones opened, disgorging hordes of monstrous demons. Together with well-organized local cultists and corrupted armored legions, the demons first overwhelmed the surprised Dedekian Warland armies, and then began to lay siege to communities on the borders of the Warlands.
Cut off from home by the apparent collapse of their dimensional gate, the Paladin Steel outpost forted up against the demons coming their way. They also provided a refuge for orphaned Dedekian militia and offworlders stranded on the planet by the scrambling of the dimensional gates.
Some of those refugees came from an unexpected place; the Russia of the Paladins’ own Earth; Rifts Earth. Fighting a group of demons, a unit of the Red Army of the New Sovietski got caught when the demons opened a rift, attempting to escape and join up with their fellows on Dedek. Finding themselves stranded on an alien world, the Soviets attempted to survive as best they could, and were fortunate enough to soon make contact with friendly ‘locals’ who surprisingly could identify and speak their language.
Though the Sovietski and Greater New England had heard rather little about each other(and the Russians got most of their information through their almost equally tenuous contacts with the Coalition States, who weren’t very complimentary of the GNE), the two groups of Earthmen had reason to collaborate if they were to survive. There were differences, of course; the Russians distrusted the magic and the many non-human d-bees that seemed an integral part of the Greater New England culture, but they at least seemed to have a decent socialist system, and, more importantly, believed in big guns and cyborgs to smite demons with. For their part, the GNErs weren’t about to turn away a well-organized and disciplined group of soldiers with guns, as long as they kept them pointed at the demons and cultists.
Despite the apparent tactical awkwardness of the giant mobile fortresses the Dedekians traditionally used in their ritualized warfare, even the Paladins and the Soviets had to admit that they were tough nuts to crack, especially when enhanced by the demons supporting the local cult-armies. While a well-organized military with lighter, more mobile hardware might be able to hound a ‘war float’ to pieces, to quickly kill one required either a tactical nuclear strike or equally big guns.
It was in discussing how best to bring down the giant dark-forts crawling towards their positions that the Paladins learned from their Soviet counterparts of such designs as the giant SU-58 ‘Tunguska’ Super-Tank. The communist soldiers kept bemoaning the lack of the product of the great Motherland and how it would be perfect for teaching the cultists in their war-abominations a real lesson; the corporate-socialists listened and decided they could do the idea better. With warehouses full of spare parts and vehicles to use, PS mechanics decided to build their own Tunguska with what they had on hand.
The new ad-hoc armored war-crawler copies the general layout of the Tunguska, but uses PS-made parts. Considerably larger and heavier than the Tunguska, better in some places and lacking in others, the newly-dubbed ‘Mastadon’(for its two protruding tusk-like heavy cannon) was assembled from nearly a dozen smaller vehicles. A set of super-heavy tread units from a PS-HUC-08 Atenus SuperHeavy Utility Crawler(the Dedek depot didn’t have a complete Atenus; only a set of spare tread units) provide extra power when needed. The corner tread units of the Mastadon are four PS-MBT-07 ‘Black Bears’, complete with their turrets. The main turret is a refitted DSD-D sea dome section, mounting two 200-mm massdriver cannon. In place of the twin cargo containers on the back, PS put in two fully functional PS-HT-170/240/320/400 Heavy Multipurpose Industrial Trucks, facing backwards so their cargo compartments could be accessed from the central ‘citadel’ of the Mastadon. Their wheels, in reverse-gear, can provide the Mastadon with extra propulsive power. The rear trucks can detach from the main vehicle and go for resupply, or act as auxiliary fighting vehicles.
The crews of the smaller tanks have been retained as gunners and engineers, while the megatank is directed by a cadre of command center specialists operating out of a transplanted Grey Wolf IFV command vehicle CIC in the center hull. The Mastadon also carries a contingent of power armored and cyborged mechanized infantry who act as scouts and raiders.
Now with their own ‘war float’ to challenge the cultist armor threatening them, the combined GNE/Soviet resistance went out hunting. Though clumsy at first, the Mastadon soon proved its mettle, successfully ambushing and destroying three Infernal-conned dark-forts and damaging several others before being substantially damaged itself in return. The Alliance troops soon formulated combined arms tactics to eliminate the cultist scouts before engaging the main heavies, and also learned to capitalize on their sudden notoriety among the enemy to lure the Infernals away from the GNE refuge and into several traps, in cooperation with rallying Dedekian forces. In due time the Dedek facility would produce two more Mastadons, with one being destroyed in the course of the fighting in the Warlands, before reliable contact offworld could be established and aid sent.
The Soviet troops are currently guests of the GNE, while Alliance officials try to find a way to repatriate them back to their homeland. What effect the Soviets’ observations of the PS knockoffs of the Tunguska will have on both PS/NUSSR relations, or on the Russians’ Tunguska program are unknown as of the time of posting.

Type: PS-SHMBT01 Mastadon
Class: SuperHeavy Main Battle Tank/Weapons Platform
Crew: 30+60 troops
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 1,800
200mm Massdrivers(2) 250 each
Main Turret 500
Large Radome 200
MLRS Missile Launchers(2) 250 each
Crawler Units(4) 550 each
Treads(8 ) 100 each
Mega-Treads(4) 400 each
Plasma Turrets(4) 250 each
Reinforced Crew Compartment in plasma turrets(4) 50
Plasma Turret Cupola-mount Rail Gun(4) 60 each
Plasma Turret Main Gun(4) 120 each
Plasma Turret Missile Pods(4) each 50
Secondary Laser Turrets(8 ) 50 each
Turret Mounted Searchlight(4) each 20
Truck Main Body(2)(HT-170) 300 each
(HT-240) 350
(HT-320) 380
(HT-400) 400
Cabin 100
Blast Shield 150
Cargo Truck Turret 60
Wheels(HT-170)(8; 2x4) Each wheel unit has 80 MDC
(HT-240)(10; 2x5) Each wheel unit has 80 MDC
(HT-320)(12; 2x6) Each wheel unit has 80 MDC
(HT-400)(14; 2x7) Each wheel unit has 80 MDC
Height: 32 ft
Width: 56 ft
Length: 104 ft
Weight: 1,000 tons
Cargo:
The two cargo trucks can, depending on their configuration, hold 170-400 tons each.
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 20 year energy life
x4 auxiliary nuclear powerplants w/ 10 year energy life
Speed:(Treads): 65 MPH
Buttoned up, it can crawl underwater at 30 MPH, Maximum Depth 500 ft.
Market Cost: Estimated at some 19 +25+100 million credits
Systems of Note:
*Full NBC(Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) shielding, air filtration, and independant life support.
IR/Visible Light Headlights
*Low-Light Optics(Passive night vision and InfraRed)
*Radio----500 mile long range, 5 mile short range
*Loudspeaker(90 decibels)
*Short Range Radar-----(5 mile range)
*Long Range Radar-----(50 mile range)
*Motion Detector/Proximity Alarm-------600 ft range
*Laser Targeting System(+1 to strike)
*Combat Computer(+1 to strike)
*Auto-Fire System----This is a development of PS, based loosely on early PS’ AI work. The Auto-Shoot system is a combination limited robotic fire control and gunner-designation interface system that
reduces the workload of the crew, and allows the vehicle to make full use of its multiple weapons
systems. The secondary laser turrets can be programmed to fire on selected target-profiles/un-
ID’ed intruders, or on anything entering range. The Auto-Fire System gives each of the secondary
laser turrets 6 attacks per melee(+2 to strike). The system can be switched off and manual control
re-asserted at any time.

*Extendable Grousers----Taking advantage of new ‘memory materials’, the Black Bear trad-tank units are fitted with extendable grousers that effectively widen the treads to better handle soft ground and snow(Effectively moves across these surfaces without penalty). Morphing/de-morphing the treads
only takes one melee.

*ECM Suite--Taken off a Gray Wolf EWAFV with four distinctive erectable EW aerials on swing-out arms. Internally, the communications deck is fitted with a plug-in, add-on EW console for a dedicated EW officer. The ECM add-on provides the Mastadon with greatly enhanced EW decryption abilities, de-scrambling, and secured communications, frequency scanning, and signal locators, as well as limited range jamming and ground-level electronic cloaking.
Decryption Bonuses: +10% to Cryptography Skill
+15% to Radio skill rolls to defeat jamming
Jamming Range: 20 miles
EW Cloaking: -15% to enemy Read Sensory Instruments rolls using ground search radars(NOT optical and thermographic systems)

*C^3 Pack: C^3 stands for Command/Control/Communications. This system, an expansion on PS’s BAMSP:(Battlefield Asset Management System Package), networks specially equipped units to share real-time combat data and react to threats as if they were one command. What this does is interlinks(through a special interface module) the electronics of an entire company. It allows them to see what everyone else sees, as well as make anyone a spotter for long range attacks. Any member of the unit may use any other member's location for the purpose of range and sighting. The C^3 Master system acts as the central processor and keeps all the units linked. Slave packs cannot function without being linked to a Master.

To prevent this system from being subverted or staticed by enemy EW, the carrier vehicle is fitted with multiple laser communications nodes around the hull, that allow for point-to-point line-of-sight laser communications with the requisite number of properly equiped sub-units.
Bonuses: +4 perception, +4 init, +2 to dodge(for power armors and other highly mobile vehicles), +2 to strike with ranged weapons within 4,000 feet. All units receive the same bonuses because their systems are interlinked. The Master unit also doubles the command vehicle’s sensor and comm ranges. Multiple networks can be linked up by connecting the squad's Master Pack to a Company Master Pack. Up to five vehicle squads and one company commander (26 vehicles total) may be linked this way but no more, with the current set up.
Range: 30 miles. The pack uses an encoded radio transmitter uplink most of the time, but in cases where jamming may occur, it has a backup Laser communication system with a 5 mile Line-Of-Sight range.

Weapons Systems:
1) 200mm MB Massdriver Cannon(PS-MDJ200M)(2) ---The central dome-turret mounts two powerful 200mm massdrivers.
Range:(Direct Fire) 40,000 ft (8 miles)
(Indirect Fire) 100,000 ft( 20 miles)
Damage:High Explosive(HE)---- 5d6x10 MD to 55 ft radius
High Explosive Anti-Tank(HEAT)----6d6x10 MD to 15 ft radius
Fragmentation--- 4d6x10 MD to 75 ft radius
Plasma-----1d6x 50+15 MD to 60 ft radius
(APFSDSDU)(Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot Depleted Uranium) 8d6x10 MD out to 15,000 ft, 4d6x10+5 MD out to maximum range
Rate of Fire: Once per melee
Payload: Varies 10 ton ammunition capacity(plus what can be carried in any of the attached cargo trucks.
200 mm AP shell weighs 200 lbs( 10 shots per ton)

2) MLRS Missile Launchers(2)---The medium range missile launchers flanking the Tunguska’s main turret are replaced by modular launch boxes on the Mastadon:
a) Mini-Missiles----60 per launcher

b) Mrk 3 Mini-Missile ‘Calliope’ Launcher---A larger version of the Mrk 1, with sixty tubes as the the Mrk 2, but with ‘metalstorm-stacked’ mini-missiles similar to the PS Missile Rifle.
Range: Varies by Missile Type(Mini-Missile)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type(Mini-Missile)
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2, 4, 6, 12, 20, 30, or 60
Payload: 60 tubes, 4 missiles each tube, 240 mini-missiles total per launcher

c) Short Range Missiles----40 per launcher

d) Medium Range Missiles---16 per launcher

e)Shrike III ‘Brilliant’ anti-aircraft missile.
Range: 75 miles
Damage: 3d4x10 MD
Rate of Fire: Volley of 1-8
Payload: 16 missiles ready to fire per launcher
Bonus: +7 to strike

f) Long Range Missiles or RPVs----4 per launcher

g) ‘Katyusha’ Artillery Rockets----Basic, much-copied, free-flying solid-rocket artillery projectiles:
Range:(Short) 7 miles
(Long) 13 miles.
Damage: Both missile types use a 122mm warhead, typically the following warhead types(damage may vary as much as 50% by the quality of warhead manufacture):
(Fragmentation) 1d6x10 MD to a 60 ft blast radius
(Incendiary) 1d4x10 MD to a 50 ft blast radius, plus 01-75% chance of setting combustible materials aflame
(High Explosive) 2d6x10 MD to a 20 ft blast radius
(Plasma) 3d4x10 MD to a 40 ft blast radius
(Smoke) Covers a 100 ft area in thick obscuring smoke. Typically disperses within 1d6 melees, depending on local wind and humidity conditions.
(Chemical) Varies, but typically used to dispense CS or nerve agents(currently only the Sovietskii uses chemical munitions, though it is rumored that Warlord Sokolov has been seeking to acquire such weapons). Typically covers a 100 ft area. Like the smoke, local weather conditions determine the dispersal rate.
(Submunition)---Detonates airburst style over the target and scatters a small cloud of grenade-like sub-mines, that can be used to infilade an area with contact explosives or delayed-fuze mines. Carries over 18 submunitions, scattering over a 100 ft area, and doing 5d6 MD to a 10 ft blast radius each.
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-30
Payload: 40-tube array per launcher
Penalties: Katyushas use the standard rules for unguided artillery with regard to deviation from target. Best fired in salvoes of 4 or more rockets.
Cost: Basic Katyusha launcher costs 400,000 credits, missiles cost 5,000 credits for short range, 10,000 credits for long, plus the cost per warhead; Fragmentation costs 45,000 credits, Incendiary 60,000 credits, High Explosive 70,000 credits, plasma 100,000 credits, smoke 800 credits, sub-munitions 120,000 credits.

h) Harpoon III Missiles---Common with coastal defense batteries, Harpoon IIIs are medium-range, plasma-explosive, wave-skimming, “smart” missiles designed to close with an enemy vessel under effective radar coverage, then jink up and dive, so as to penetrate the thinner upper works armor, or else can be set to penetrate below the waterline armor belt.
Range: 40 miles
Damage: 2d6x10 MD to 40 ft blast radius
Bonuses: +5 to strike
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-4
Payload: 16 per launcher

i)ASROC---(Anti-submarine Rocket)---Another weapon common with coastal defense batteries. The Paladin Steel Asroc is the post-Rifts adaptation of the rocket-propelled torpedo commonly used by old U.S. Empire warships. It consists of a short-range torpedo mounted atop a short-range missile booster, and is compatible with most short- and medium-range missile launchers. The chief advantages of the Asroc over conventional depth charge and torpedo launch systems, are response time, stand-off range, and the fact that the sudden arrival of the torpedo from above gives the enemy little advance warning.
This option was not available to the original Mastadons, as Dedek lacked any bodies of water suitable for nautical vessels.
Range:(Booster) 5 miles(Torpedo) 5 miles
Damage:2d4x10 MD (HE) or 1d6x10 MD(Plasma)
Bonuses:+3 to strike within 1,000 ft
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-4
Payload: 16 per launcher
Cost:10,000 credits per rocket

3) Secondary Turrets(4)---These are the fully armed and equipped turrets of the PS-MBT-07 Black Bear tanks. Each turret mounts a main gun(typically a tri-barrel plasma cannon), co-axial rail gun, missile launcher pod, and a cupola with light rapid-fire gun.
Heavy Tri-Barrel Plasma Cannon---This massive turret-mounted weapon has 360-degree arc of
fire, 45 degree elevation and 30 degree depression. It’s another derivation of PS’s energy-weapons
research, and does massive amonts of damage at respectable range.
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD single barrel, 2d6x10 MD double barrelled blast, 3d6x10 MD per triple barrel
burst)counts as one attack).
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited

4) Secondary Turret Co-Axial Rail Cannon(4)----The classic PS/IH-105 railgun, mounted co-axially to the main gun.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4 MD single rd, 1d4x10 MD per 40 rd burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 8,000 rd drum(200 bursts)

5) Secondary Turret Mini-Missile Launcher Pod(4)--Located on the side of the turret is a launch-box for mini-missiles.
Range: Varies
Damage: Varies
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2, 4, 6, or 12
Payload: 24 each

6) Secondary Turret Cupola-mount Rail Gun(4)---Standard turret-mounted anti-personnel and anti-aircraft weapon.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4 MD single round, 1d4x10 MD per 40 round burst
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 8,000 round magazine(200 bursts)

OR

b) Rail Gun(PS-RFRG30)---PS copy of the C-30R Rail Gun
Range: 2 miles
Damage: 1d4 MD single rd, 6d6 MD per 30 rd burst.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 2,400 rd drum per cannon
Cost: 90,000 credits

7) Secondary Laser Turrets(8 )----These are the reliable PS-34L double-barrelled laser turret, PS copy
of the IHA IH-34L, mounted in three sub-turrets, one on each side and one in front(or back, in the case of the Mastadon’s rear tread-tanks), intended to keep enemy infantry off. These cannons can be controlled directly by a gunner, or by Auto-Track Fire systems(typically, the forward turret is operated by the driver). Each turret has a 180-degree arc of fire, and 45 degree elevation/depression.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 6d6 MD per dual blast
Rate of Fire: EGHH(6 per melee with the ATF system)
Payload: Effectively unlimited

8 ) Flamer Defense System---This system consists of four short-range flame projectors set up to surround the tank with a four-fan ring of flame. Each projector has its own fuel tank, but can also draw on a central reservoir tank. Each fuel reservoir has an emergency flush and ejection system to prevent internal fires from endangering the vehicle.
Range:(Direct-Stream Mode) 100 ft
Damage:(Direct-Stream Mode)
(Gasoline/Alcohol) 1d4x10 SDC
(Napalm) 1d6x10 SDC, plus does 5d6 SDC per melee for 1d4 minutes
(MD Fluid) 1d4 MD per blast, 1d4 MD per melee for 2d4 minutes
(Incendi-Gel)2d6 MD, 2d6 MD per melee for 1d6 minutes
(WI Napalm-P) 3d6 MD per blast, 1d4x10+10 MD per concentrated burst(counts as two attacks). 2d6 MD per melee for 1d4 minutes.
Note: The flamethrower can also be used to cover an area with fluid: up to 10 ft per attack used. Used with Super-Napalm, this does 1d4 MD, Incendi-Gel does 1d6 MD, and with Napalm-P, this does 2d6 MD.
Rate of Fire:(Direct-Stream Mode) Standard
Payload:(Direct-Stream Mode
(Gasoline/Alcohol) 20 blasts
(Napalm) 60 blasts
(MD Fluid) 100 blasts
(Incendi-Gel) 120 blasts
(WI Napalm-P) 200 blasts per tank(much more concentrated than the regular gasoline/alcohol).
Central reservoir tank has x5 the capacity of the individual projector tanks.

9)Flechette Packs----Located around the hull are special ‘reactive armor’ panels that can be also be triggered as anti-personnel grenades.This is one of several similar systems currently in service/under development by PS.
Range: 100 ft
Damage: 5d6 MD to a cone swath roughly 50 ft long, by 10 ft wide.
Used as reactive armor against plasma and armor-piercing missiles, the computerized firing system acts as a PARRY, rolling to match or better the missile’s strike roll...a successful counter means that the missile damage is HALVED, while a failure means the tank takes full damage. Note: when dealing with volleys, one reactive armor pack can match TWO missiles in a volley, so in order to effectively counter a five missile volley, the tank must expend 3 reactive armor packs...two packs would roll twice to defeat their respective missiles, the third would only roll once. If the enemy missile launcher has a line of sight on the tank, they can target a spot on the hull which has no packs covering it (a called shot), in which case the remaining reactive armor is -4 to cover the gap.
Rate of Fire: One at a time or can be simultaneously fired in volleys of 1-10
Payload: Each side of the Mastadon(sides, front, back) can be fitted with 30 flechette packs each(120 total)

10) Cargo Truck Turrets(2)---Each of the attached rear-facing cargo trucks mounts a cab-top light weapons turret for point-defense. This is typically a dual heavy machine gun, light aurocannon, light energy cannon, or heavy grenade launcher.

Options:
*Truck Modules(2)----The only substantially modular part of the original Mastadon was the twio HT trucks, which could be considered either as parasite vehicles that could detach to ferry troops or fetch additional supplies, or as part of the larger vehicle.
Late in the campaign on Dedek, some of the engineers tried something novel using several forcefield generators that were in the warehouse stock. They fitted the cargo bay of one of the attached cargo trucks with five Naruni-style superheavy forcefield generators(360 MDC each), linked in sequence. Though the engineers didn’t know enough about forcefiedl engineering to create a proper combined forcefield or variable forcefield, they were able to set up the five generators so that they would work ins sqequence; as one barrier field failed, the next in the line would cut in, with only a 5% chance of the hand-over taking place too slow to absorb the bledover damage from the strike that took down the previous shield. In this fashion, the Mastadon could tank up to 1,800 MDC.
Naturallly, post-Dedek, PS/ASI engineers feel certain they could offer up a more powerful forcefield module, or make it integral to the Mastadon.

Other module options include expanded capacity for the C^3 network system, allowing more slave units to be interlinked and managed.

Variants:
The Mastadon currently remains a one-off design deployed only on Dedek, but Paladin Steel engineers believe they can easily duplicate and improve on the design. Though GNE Armed Services analysts can debate ad infinitum the usefulness of such a large land vehicle, beyon highly specialized platforms such as the GAMILON Ground Armored Mobile Interception Laser Ordnance Network heavy carrier, with vocal zealots on both sides, the Mastadon has inspired a number of design exercises that may yet yield hardware.

*Project GORG---This revision would use heavier components, such as PS-MBT-25 Von Stueben Heavy Tanks in place of the PS-MBT-07 ‘Black Bears’, and PS-T18 Rambos replacing the HT trucks. The 200mm cannons would likely be replaced with warship- or starship-grade ordnance.

*Project HABOOB---A hover-model was also discussed, using a different assortment of PS vehicles(such as Brunos or Firedrakes as the outrigger units), but the Dedek depot lacked the necessary parts. However, with contact with the rest of GNE restored, the VR files for the hover variant could easily be realized.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 10:58 pm

pad300 wrote:So Deland has a "ceiling" at 12000 ft of dimensional energy induced turbulence. Lots of mountains on earth are taller than that. Can you tunnel up the inside of a mountain and build a spaceport on top?
Also the local tech isn't making a lot of sense, why wouldn't the locals use aircraft at 10000 ft? Why wouldn't a bomber be functional against a "warbarge" ? 10000 ft puts you well out of range of smaller AA systems, and those things aren't mobile enough to avoid a 2000lb glide bomb... Also, what is a " nuclear (albeit of a type not known to Earth)" power system; do they have different physics?

I suppose I made a mistake setting an exact altitude, and I;ll admit 'unusual dimension physics' would be a cheap way of explaining away a macguffin to keep air power from being a major thing in Dedekian warfare.
But even with the possibility of mountain-top spaceports, there's the apathy of the Dedekians with regards to space travel...they just haven't had the impetus to pursue it, what with reliable and predictable dimensional gates already on hand, exploring other worlds is easier through the Rifts if they're so inclined.
They also don't have the technology, nor are they interested in trading for it, being rather complacent with what they've got, despite what they see dimensional travelers using . And they're not about to let outsiders chew up their mountains just to see if they can fly spacecraft off them.

As for the odd tech? Unusual nukes? That could be due to their environment, or maybe there's something in the water, or maybe there's a global conspiracy to put a damper on technologies that could yield aerial bombers that could blow entire towns off the side of mountains. Or maybe it HAS been tried, and the local bird god objected. Same thing with the nuclear power....maybe the local physics, metallurgy, or magic allow things like some of the odder early experiments in nuclear power(like suspending cubes of uranium oxide and paraffin in heavy water, or freezing globes of heavy water) actually work (and maybe ONLY) on Dedek. Maybe it's a form of cold fusion that has the rest of the Megaverse scratching their heads.
Maybe it's part of what the Infernals want when they invade.
THat's part of the problem facing Dedekian society; they've gotten rather smug, complacent, and incurious....besides the rot of lacking social reform, the decay of some fields of science and technology is part of what's causing unrest that the happy war-watchers have been ignoring.

Of course, there might be some reforms after the recent troubles are over, and somebody might want to see if the atmospheric ceiling prevents radio transmissions, as satellite communications and weather forecasting might just be useful on a planet as large as Dedek...but first they have to survive the current turmoil.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 2:15 am

Another day, another low effort 'X reacts' dump. Here's the Soviets taking a gander at the toys they have access to at Deland Depot. Part 1 of 4.

An Overview of Personnel and Cyborg Use Equipment Available at GNE Dedek Depot
---Major General Makism Semenov, CO of the 4th Reserve Motorized Rifle Division

While I’ve detailed my overall strategy elsewhere, I thought it pertinent to go over the equipment that logistical realities have forced upon us. While the GNE considered these weapons militia grade for the most port, a large majority of the M-Factor weapons available are distressingly superior to what is available to the Red Army, particularly in regards to human usable equipment. The only potential area we have an edge in is in cybernetics, and I’m sure that Fedorov will dissuade me of that opinion should I inquire about it. The depot cannot produce energy weapons at this time, but in terms of munitions they can fabricate anything short of a plasma warhead, which would be a sub-optimal choice against our current opposition regardless. However, the existing stores are suitable for a Corps level force due to a number of shipping factors, so it is exceedingly unlikely that we will run out of any of our staples before this campaign is over.

While my troops have picked up Paladin Steel produced M-Factor weapons, the recruited locals for the most part have not. The GNE has made it a policy to keep M-Factor weapons out of the hands of the locals unless necessary, which is something I fully agree with. Those that we are recruiting are being armed with projectile weapons equipped with explosive and/or anti-supernatural ammo, which will hopefully reduce the longer term headaches that will crop up. We’ve also taken to replacing any vibro-bayonets with silver coated ‘normal’ versions, which are about as effective against the Infernals that are likely to engage in melee.

Human Pistols
To be perfectly frank, the Motherland’s offering in regards to single (human) hand weapons is lackluster at best, with only a handful of designs available, and most of them being Warlord grade in overall quality. The only one true weapon of note is the G-22P, and judging from the internals of mine it is essentially a reskinned Paladin Steel weapon. As such, it should come as no surprise that the company’s other offerings far exceed what we have in service.

Spoiler:

Human Rifles
Similarly, the Motherland’s human usable long arms leave much to be desired compared to what is available at the depot. Our designs were considered dated even before the Cataclysm, and the Paladins have in many ways surpassed the Western 2nd Cold War forces in regards to infantry weapons. While our lack of orbital capabilities means that we are almost certain to be unable to completely catch up, at the very least we can narrow the gap between us and the other technological powers of our homeworld.

Spoiler:

Human Heavy Weapons
While these are also commonly used by cyborgs, their mass and volume make it viable for single human infantry soldiers to be issued them. Only the Infernals and their most well equipped cultists are worth equipping the men with these, so they most often leave the depot attached to a vehicle. Even with external power and ammunition supplies, their smaller size and weight compared to effectively all of the Motherland’s equivalents makes the comparison an embarrassment.

Spoiler:

Cyborg Weapons
My lemations continue with their larger weapons, with the GNE making no small use of cyborgs and Paladin Steel producing a wide range of weapons catered to them.

Spoiler:

Armors
I know we’ve already looked at the real low end mass market stuff, so I’ll focus on the ones worth commenting on. They have some armors for their microscale personnel, but those that are here are either technicians or serving as sabotage specialists, which either don’t need much protection or get in the way of infiltration.

Spoiler:

Larger Weapons and Ordnance
Then we have the various vehicle scale pieces of equipment.

Spoiler:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 2:19 am

And now for the vehicles.

Overview of Vehicles Present at GNE Dedek Depot
---Colonel Yaroslav Pushkin, Commanding Officer of the 20th Tank Regiment, Red Army Tank Corps

For logistical reasons, the 4th Reserve MRD has almost entirely switched to what can be provided by the GNE Dedek Depot. While we have a partially redacted catalogue of Paladin Steel’s terrestrial offerings, Dedek Depot has a relatively limited selection due to logistical concerns, focusing on the lower end offerings that are best suited to the overall situation of both this dimension and those downstream of it. As such, the near entirety of its inventory consists of what the GNE considered to be militia grade, being below the top end of what is permitted for export. While I would normally be concerned that this would leave us under-equipped to handle the opposition, the locals are effectively pre-M-Factor Revolution in terms of technological development, which means we are actually far ahead of them. Add in their lack of proper tactical ability, I have no doubt as to the overall conclusion of this campaign, although it is the details that are open to debate. That is General Semenov’s department, and he is a true professional at that particular dance.

Wheeled Non-Combat Vehicles
Mostly the same the world over, these civilian vehicles are what keep civilization running. The complex has no shortage of their cargo haulers, and there’s also a few shipments worth of their all purpose utility cars and trucks. If need be, the depot can start making them within 6-12 month depending on the complexity. I’ve had some catalogues from Brugasov’s turf show up in my office, so I know a good number of these are being offered on the market back home.

Spoiler:

Wheeled Combat Vehicles
The salt flats out there are a good place to use wheels, and we have no shortage of replacement hulls. Best guesstimate given to me by the depot techs is that it’ll take a few years to work up to sufficient materials to make the right quality armor, but with the existing stock we have no real worries about running out of spares.

Spoiler:

Tracked Non-Combat Vehicles
While the reasons for them are the same as always, we have much less need for them considering the local terrain. Interestingly PSE doesn’t offer any of them, so they either have a very limited number of production lines (likely) or they don’t want to go all in with competing with Novyet (also likely).

Spoiler:

Tracked Combat Vehicles
My normal bread and butter, the availability of worthwhile hover designs means that the actual Tank Corps personnel aren’t manning these. We have enough experienced APC drivers to make due however, and it's not too hard to keep an eye over their shoulder with the level of command systems available.

Spoiler:

Hover Non-Combat Vehicles
While not suitable for city use (normally), terrain ignoring cargo and people haulers are always useful. They have a number of even older designs on file if they need to resort to making them, but the existing stock is more than sufficient.

Spoiler:

‘Nor’Easter’ Contra-Gravity Hovervehicle
We only have a few dozen of these, and as you’d expect Kuzmin’s boys are hoarding them for their own use. They’ve had the garrison techs fully trick them out as well, and I swear I’ve seen a few of them with a really big missile in the front.

‘Grenser’ Hover-APC
A small ‘Metal Box’ that hovers. It’s honestly too small for us to bother with, so we pass it off to the locals. The Gravesnake is much better for our purposes.

‘Megabago’ Medium Utility Hover Vehicle
While nearly all of the ones we have are of the utility flatbed configuration, we have a company that are of the original ‘RV’ configuration, which has an absolutely ludicrous PBC for some reason. Kuzmin has taken them for long range recon operations, and they're all still intact despite the fights they’ve ended up in. I would be surprised if he hasn’t had the depot techs go over them with a fine utensil to give them every feature they can think of. These are what’s used to provide company level logistical support for our hover tanks, and a few of them have been converted to mobile charging stations for our battery powered vehicles.

‘Drom’ Heavy Duty Hover Utility Platform
The older and smaller of the two big cargo blowers, we have a dozen of them on hand for high level cargo transport. They can carry a full tank or two, so they’re most often used to bring out spare vehicles and haul away damaged ones. Fedorov has appropriated a train version to serve as a more mobile version of his Ironforge.

‘Alpaca’ Heavy Hover Carrier
A very large hover-barge that can move quite fast. We have a pair that were in transit to elsewhere, and we use them to haul the really big pieces of equipment to where we need them.

GMR Hoverplate
I will be blunt and say that this simple vehicle changes everything. If you want a more comprehensive explanation, I am sure that the engineering and production staff around the State House will go into vast detail for how big a deal it is. We have a great many of these despite cutting up a few hundred to convert to hover tanks, so they’re used to haul material in the secured areas.

Hover Combat Vehicles
I admit to being jealous of the amount of hover platforms that are available, and this isn’t even what they consider to be the ‘decent’ stuff. The actual front line designs are said to be two grades better. For the actual Tanks, we have enough Mass Drivers on hand that they can be standard issue and still have a good stock of spares. It's going to take a few years for the depot to work their way up to GMR manufacture, so the material we have is all we’re going to get before the campaign is over.

Spoiler:

‘Asateague’ Light Hovercraft
They call it the ‘beer coaster’, and I can see why. Its greatest advantages are that it’s quite fast, extremely simple, and extremely cheap, so we have several thousand of the things on hand. It is better than a suit of basic EBA, and can hold a lot of firepower for a single soldier, so a good half of the straight leg human infantry with us have become pilots for the duration. It would be near useless back in the motherland due to freezing up, but that’s not a concern here. The preferred hardpoint option for the electric ones are various ordinance launchers, with the ammo being plentiful and more than effective against whatever M-Factor forces the Infernals decide to send out or provide their cultists, while those fortunate enough to have a nuke plant go with massed ion cannons. There's also a company of an ‘adventurous’ tank destroyer variant with a 120mm cannon, and we’ve found enough experienced hovercraft pilots who are willing to use the things.

‘Vader’ Hovercraft
Squad level hover jeep with a surprising amount of firepower. Said to be an update of a NEMA design, and it matches up with what I remember from the historical briefings. We only have a dozen, and Kuzmin has claimed them for his company’s use. The depot techs have rigged up a way to let the RV Megabago’s move them around without a major hit to their cargo capacity.

‘Zerkat’ Light Armored Vehicle Family
While they’re nominally under the tracked section, we’ve converted all of them to the hover configuration due to its higher utility out on the salt flats, particularly once given nuke plants. Beyond being intermediate scouts, they’re primarily ambushers. Armament consists of whatever’s the pilot’s preference, with most either going with the 60mm Mass Driver for the range or massed 20mm autocannons with enlarged magazines for the burst damage potential. Those that have concerns with ammunition endurance take the triple pulse lasers.

‘Shaw’ and ‘Cossack’ Medium Hovertank
Likely the simplest hover tanks in existence, their GMR material lets them make a mockery of the usual problems with hover vehicles. We have about 3 regiments of them all told, and I’ve had all of my tank crews switch over to them for the duration. The techs have figured out a way to strap some MRM pods to the sides, so they're notably more effective than the SU-52’s we have left. We’re working on upping the thrust using the nuke plants we’ve taken out of less useful vehicles, and results are promising.

‘Bruno’ Heavy Hovertank
As silly looking as it is, we’re using the four we have as regimental command platforms. I’ve had the bigger turrets fitted so they can hold Mass Drivers, so we don’t have to get within direct fire range to start hurting those war floats.

Aerial Vehicles
Subject to revision barring current discussion
This dimension’s oddities make jets not very useful, so the GNE only stationed zeppelins, cargo helios, and small civilian propeller craft. I THINK that there’s also a few covert insertion craft that Kuzmin is making use of, but he can give you a first hand account of them.

Spoiler:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 2:25 am

Russians care about cybernetics, so their doc takes good look at what he can find. A good chunk of the no data ones are due to being introduced after the stated time. I've also messed with some of the design headers to have them make a little more sense.

Surface Overview of GNE Augmentations Available at Dedek Depot
---Colonel Ozelka Fedorov, Commanding Officer of the 27th Field Medical Company

The GNE is far more accepting of Cybernetic Augmentation than the rest of those outside of Russia, and have less sigmatta attached to them than even in the NGR. They have also taken the step of augmenting animals, although they have taken it in a notably different direction that us. Additionally, they have already become renowned for their functional biological augmentation processes, the upper end of which match a full conversion cyborg in many aspects. This requires further study, but I do not have the connections required to study those present at the depot without unacceptable blowback, so I must restrain my curiosity for the time being. My knowledge of bio-systems is also sadly lacking, so it is unlikely that I would have learned much regardless.

Standardized Cyborg Chassis's
The GNE has produced an astonishing number of wildly different production chassis, with the current and still in development number being more than 60. Many of them revolve around odd concepts or technologies, and are unsuitable for wide scale deployment, but could make sense for individually wealthy adventurers with odd tastes. The depot’s data banks are surprisingly scattershot as to the data they contain, with a number of older designs not being listed and newer ones being a coin toss as to if they have been included. Additionally, some of the mid number designations seem to have been reserved for quite some time, indicating a prolonged development process or some sort of political fight over them. I have included what I have access to below.

Spoiler:

Animal Augmentation
Interestingly, these seem to be completely unrelated to our efforts. They primarily consist of clone bread stock, and incorporate a number of magic devices. The only ones present are of their lighter canine variant, and they have their own medical staff to look after them. They are used for much the same reasons ours are, with their supernatural sensing abilities being their strongest asset.

Power Armor
We don’t use Power Armor, making Semenov’s expertise not that useful, and Kuzmin has his arms full with what he already has to deal with, so these have fallen under my purview. Apparently, most nations primarily use Power Armor with Cybernetics being the less popular alternative. I don’t really understand it either. Theoretically, Robot Vehicles would also fall under my aspects, but the only ones present are civilian labor designs which are almost entirely unsuited for combat, and can thus be ignored for the time being.

Spoiler:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 2:33 am

And to cap it off, Suddenly Spetsnaz

Preliminary GRU Analysis of Items Present at the GNE Dedak Depot
---Major Inna Kuzmin, Main Branch GRU

I have gone over the various documents prepared by the other senior officers of the 4th Reserve, and deem it pertinent to add my own observations. As the leader of the attached Spetsnaz company, I have familiarized myself with all of the items that my command has picked up during our presence here, and these are my overall thoughts on them.

Previously Mentioned Items
Semenov notes that their militia grade weapons outperform our best, but this is not a surprise to those that have been exposed to Triax’s military grade products. These are what the company has found to be the most useful for our purposes.

Spoiler:

Previously Mentioned Armor
While our Black Stars and Shooting Stars remain fully functional, they have been put in storage for the time being to save on maintenance. The depot offerings are generally as capable, and have less issues due to the more advanced construction methods.

Spoiler:

Vehicles
While the garrison is naturally husbanding their GME platforms, they respect us enough to trust that we will use them to the best effect. A number of their wizards are also spending time to enchant a number of our vehicles, greatly increasing their infiltration capabilities.

Spoiler:

‘Nor’Easter’ Contra-Gravity Hovervehicle
Beyond the insanity of its drive system, this hoverbike is extremely capable and comes with a cyberlink by default. Ours have been fitted with nuke plants and have had all the possible features added. They have enough contact with their homeland to have heard of a new Special Operations variant, which replaces the central headlight and hardpoint with a MAULER missile, which makes it a very capable ‘door knocker’.

‘Vader’ Hovercraft
Beyond insertion craft, we use these as sniping platforms due to their shear stability. While not incredibly fast by itself, the depot techs have fitted mounting brackets to our Megabagos to allow them to be carried, with the GMR compensating for the weight. It's only slow by hovercraft standards, but it's enough of an issue we need a work around.

‘Megabago’ Medium Utility Hover Vehicle
When in the field, the company essentially lives in these, and they are most satisfactory. The ones we have are apparently intended for use in orbit, and I’ve seen where they’ve removed the unnecessary features. Beyond livability factors, additions include holo-diguises and a working force field. We’ve worked with the techs to develop a hook up system where it can host up to four Nor’Easters for long duration travel, which also compensates for the minor problems of attaching a Vader to the roof.

AH-204 Penetrator Light Stealth Helo
A flight of four of these are available, and as they are a mass market design the garrison was perfectly happy to part with them. A few of the wizards have agreed to convert them to the primary enchanted model, which makes them our best insertion craft in the absence of Infernal mystic detection capabilities.

‘PixieHawk’ Stealth Aerodyne
One of our many strokes of luck is that a pair of these advanced vehicles were on site when contact was lost, granting us access to their capabilities. While we need to make use of their crews, they have been critical in infiltrating the better protected locations.

Covert Operations Equipment
Their ‘Micro-Scale’ equipment are extremely well suited toward espionage tasks, and my company has become quite familiar with them as a result.

Spoiler:

Other Personal Items
Most people don’t think to include melee weapons beyond saying ‘its a vibro-blade’, but Paladin Steel has a selection of more novel designs. They also have a number of more unusual devices that are hard to categorize, as well as a number of interesting drugs.

Spoiler:

Ordinance
Semenov didn’t mention these for the most part, but the depot has a good selection of their somewhat more complex munitions available. Most of them are most useful to engineers or infiltrators, but a few are general purpose.

Spoiler:

Magic Items
The GNE’s extensive use of mystic knowledge makes it pertinent that this be covered. We have several squads of the OVPUP and several members of the OPI on hand, so I have deemed it fit to begin a survey of the items available. To the best of our knowledge, none of them show any signs of potential dark magic, beyond being using PPE in the first place.

Spoiler:

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 3:07 am

Omegasgundam wrote:
80mm ‘Maginol’ Mortar Cannon
Our Tsars have replaced their main cannons with these, and they consider it to be a major improvement. It's also used as a support mount for vehicles.
(btw T, this lacks a data entry that isn't part of a vehicle. The 81mm Townsend has an interdependent entry, why not this?)

Because the Maginol was originally meant only as a vehicle-mounted weapon, based on a pre-Rifts Spanish weapon. After the Spanish kingdom of Dantegard traded the specs and license for this weapon(in return for assistance on their adapted version of the Gargoyle G- Power Armor. It wasn't until fairly recently that somebody realized that it could be cyborg- or power-armor carried.
I'll have to cook up a free-standing list-posting for it for whatever the customer wants to use it as.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 9:14 pm

Okay, and here it is:
‘Mangonel-80’ 80-mm Gun Mortar---- A PS license-copy of a New Dantegard(Spanish) weapon, based on pre-Rifts French Brandt LR gun-mortar designs. This weapon, named for an ancient low-trajectory catapult, has a higher rate of fire and capability in BOTH the direct- and indirect-fire roles. It has been improved from its original design with lighter and stronger materials, and recoil control systems. Depending on its mounting, the Mangonel-80 can be loaded manually or fitted with an auto-loader. It is most commonly used as a vehicle-mount weapon, and was designed as such, but has been seeing some configuration for use on the larger power armors and full conversion cyborgs, and robot vehicles. The main selling points of the Mangonel-80 are its long ballistic range, simple operation, and low cost.
Weight: 290 lbs, 1,400 lbs for a towed artillery mounting.
Bombs/shells weigh from 7-14 lbs.
Range:(Direct Fire) 3,200 ft
(Indirect Fire) 26,000 ft (5 miles!)
Damage:(Fragmentation)1d4x10 +5 MD to 25 ft blast area
(Armor-Piercing High Explosive) 2d4x10 MD to 6 ft blast area
Rate of Fire: Four times per melee
Payload: Varies by carriage platform
Cost: 80,000 credits (cost has been brought down from its original 190,000 credits due to both its vehicle mounting and mass production)

Variants:
*’Mangonel-80C’----This is the Mangonel configured as a power armor or assault cyborg weapon, typically shoulder-mounted and feeding from a 6-shot revolving cassette similar to the 81mm Townshend cannon. Weight has been further reduced to 260 lbs. Cost is 180,000 credits due to additional special recoil-reduction gear and the autoloader.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 9:15 pm

PS-TWillu-02 Mystic Hologram Projector
(aka “Willow’, ‘Willu’, ‘Freak-Cam’)
“It helps to have a vivid imagination when using one of these, though it can get rather gnarly distinguishing what‘s the result of the embedded spells and what’s been pulled up from somebody’s subconsciousness. During our last mission, we had to pull a substitution swap using a transpole, a willu, and a few dozen-weight of transfigured rock-meat. Our holo-decoy operator did such a good job choreographing what looked like a person being burnt at the stake, complete with sound effects, I had to worry for a moment if we’d managed to pull off the rescue at all,...then I had to wonder how our mild-mannered effects operator knew so much about what living burning people acted like. That execution looked so real it scared the **** out of my team, let alone convinced the crowd of onlookers they were watching a living cremation.”
-Sergeant Lowell Hansen, ‘Black Ghost’, GNE Armed Services.

The ‘Willow’ is a TW holographic illusion-effect projector refined and ruggedized for combat. The device looks like an old-style handheld camera with a complicated lens array barrel, and can project a variety of visual and auditory illusion spells. It is typically used as a psych-ops weapon, or part of a deception operation.
The ‘Willu’ can use preprogrammed effects, or it can take a feed from the operator’s mind, via a modified Memory Bank spell(said to have been the result of the study of Splugorth interrogation gear). Thus the operator can overlay specific imagery onto the template of a spell. This is a good reason for the operators ideally having artistic talents, really good imaginations, or good visual memories.

Weight: 3 lbs
MDC: 35
Range:
(Horrific Illusion) 300 ft
(Illusion Manipulation) 5,000 ft and can cover a 3,000 sq. ft area
(Illusion Booster)Piggybacks on the other spells, enhancing them.
(Playback) 200 ft w/ regards to range of playback
Damage:
(Horrific Illusion) Creates a moving horrific illusion of the device-holder’s choice. Onlookers must save versus magic or be subjected to Horror Factor 14.
(Illusion Manipulation)Allows for the creation and manipulation of simple to fairly complex visual illusions.
(Illusion Booster) Extends the duration of illusion(including audio) life, DOUBLING its run-time.
(Playback) Can record and playback audio for 30 minutes.
(Memory Bank) Lifts image/audio block from the holder’s mind and can store it in crystal memory for up to 30 months.
Rate of Fire: ECHH; the illusions can continue playing even if the operators aren’t paying attention
Payload:
(Horrific Illusion) 5 PPE for 20 minutes
(Illusion Manipulation)18-30 PPE for 300 minutes
(Illusion Booster) 8 PPE
(Playback) 6 PPE for 30 minutes
(Memory Bank) 3 PPE to lift a specific image/audio block from the holder’s mind and can store it in crystal memory for up to 30 months.

Special Features:
*TW Headjack---For those lacking psionics, spells, or PPE to make use of the Memory Bank spell, this device allows a cybernetic headjack to link up and provide silent feed-in and operation.
* Range Booster--- Lens barrel extension/TW booster holding a set of aligned crystals inside its length that DOUBLES the effective range of shots/spells.

PPE Capacity:(Light)----100 PPE battery-clip capacity; recharges at 5 PPE per hour, 10 PPE/hour at a leyline, 20 PPE/hour on a nexus or in a dimensional pyramid.
Note: Heavier PPE batteries can be substituted.
Note: The user can pump his or her own PPE or ISP into the device to recharge it an emergency, but at DOUBLE the above listed PPE cost(x4 if ISP; so 10 PPE battery shot takes 20 PPE/40 ISP to manually recharge)
Cost: 101,000 credits+ 12,000 credits for the ‘light’ Rgenerator PPE clip.
Options:
*Multiple Image(5 PPE and lasts 7 minutes)---This spell causes the power crystal to act like a holographic projector, producing up to three identical images of the person holding the device. This gives the operator +2 to initiative, +2 dodge, and +1 to strike, while viewers are -4 to save and see through the illusion. Cost: 7,000 credits

*Shadowmeld(5 PPE and lasts 14 minutes)---Works just like the spell; the person holding the device can disappear into any 5 ft-large shadow and vanish. Cost: 7,000 credits

*House of Glass(6 PPE, 7 minutes). The holder of the device takes on a glassy appearance that renders them under the protection of a Reciprocity spell; attacks on them reflect back on the attacker(see Rifts Book of Magic, pg. 107). Cost: 12,000 credits

*Sense Evil---The PPE crystal can flash red if supernatural evil entities approach within a 90 ft radius. Cost: 10,000 credits

*Sense Magic---The PPE crystal can flash yellow if active magic occurs within 120 ft of the weapon. Cost: 10,000 credits

*World Bizarre---This adds a smoky ectoglass lense that projects a World Bizarre spell. Range: 400 ft, affects a 200 ft radius for 10 melees, 2 PPE per activation. Cost: 4,000 credits

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sat Dec 19, 2020 8:15 pm

Greater New England and Russian Relations

“Tread carefully when dealing with the various factions in Russia; the Russians do love their intrigues, much as they like to present themselves as stalwart, enduring, giants. In that respect Orloff and Sokolov are blessedly simple to read and deal with; we don’t. Avoid those monsters if and when we can, and let the rest of the locals deal with sequestering the beasts away. The rest we can ascribe enlightened self-interest to, and I advise polite caution around all of them while we mutually dance around what we want versus what everybody else wants. We must know what we want of them, and be honest in our intentions, Short-term gains aside, our long game requires their cooperation, and we’ll be bringing them up along with us on our expansion plans; we hardly want hostile travel companions when we truly open up the megaverse.”
---Gidan Scharetz, Executive Officer and Manager, Global Eastern Operations, Paladin Steel

“Our vodka may have met its match in their ‘coffee’.”
---Anonymous Burgasov Camp technician, on working with Paladin Steel personnel at the PS factory in Novgorod

“Our toughest customers may be the ones in our own backyard...megacosmically speaking.”
---Charlie Katana, vice-CEO, Paladin Steel

“You can expect that any Soviet authority who expresses an interest in any of our equipment is likely to have a laser-enhanced video-recorder implant, or a sub-vocal audio notebook and a disguised set of calipers to take measurements when they think we aren’t looking. They’ll try to knock off our high-end crap as best they can, and the Warlords will try to knock off our lower end crap, ...but that’s the price of doing business here. Better that letting the place fall to maniacs like Orloff, who would just end up losing the whole region to the paranormal monsters, and if we’re to secure the safety of Earth for civilization, we’ll need the Soviets and the more civilized warlords onboard.”
---Avra Matain, Senior Field Manager, Office of Positive Outcomes, Global Eastern Operations, Greater New England

Paladin Steel’s inroads into Russia have surprised even the most optimistic of PS corporate officers, but the company is rolling with it, the more historically minded of its personnel amused at the idea of a ‘Yankee’ American military-industrial corporation doing business with hardcore Russians on their own soil. Of course, this is balanced by the awareness that the Warlords and the Sovietski have already knocked off a number of Paladin Steel products(and to be fair, PS has done the same with both historic and current Russian designs), and doing business with Russia puts their business interests backdoor to Triax’s European markets, putting the Greater New England company in competition, and sometimes cooperation, with the Germans. Of course, doing business in Russia means dealing with a variety of factions and their politics.
Though initially little more than a way of finding out more about other world powers, acquiring ideas, and maybe making a buck, the Russian business market has become a big investment front for Paladin Steel, potentially even more so than South America or Japan. Though doing business with the tech-kingdoms of Russia has the aforementioned price that PS’s designs are getting copied(and often cosmetically altered to a more Russian flavor), the GNE has accepted this as part of the overall long-term agenda of securing good will, potential allies, and preventing a good portion of the Earth from falling to darkness. And, many PS/ASI officers feel, better a friendly local(Earth, being ‘local’) corporation peddling product, than a rapacious offworld `megacorp like Naruni Enterprises muscling in.

While the GNE would have ideally wanted to establish their primary relations with Warlords Romanov and Kolodenko, even over the Soviet, geography and geopolitics do not favor such contact. The diplomatic envoys who managed to get to Kiev were taken with both the charismatic Romanov and her social policies, but are cautious about both her ambition to become Czarina and her spirituality, However, despite the logistical difficulties, Paladin Steel has managed to find ways to supply Romanov with advanced technology, either through Sovietski middlemen(with all the lack of confidentiality that implies) and through their ever-growing expertise in navigating the hazardous aerospace of Rifts Earth.

Kolodenko is known mainly by reputation, but what few negotiating parties have reached the seat of his power at Windshorn have been suitably impressed with Kolodenko’s manner, politics, and education. His ties with Triax and the NGR do present some problems, what with the Americans and Germans being business rivals, but Kolodenko has also gone to lengths, even before the GNE was invested in him, to get engineers and technicians educated in the GNE. It is Kolodenko’s fair-mindedness and love of knowledge that has endeared him to many in the GNE and so, the GNE has given him a pass on dealing with Triax(it’s fair to expect him to deal with a neighboring tech-power, rather than expect him to abandon a previous alliance). So, to the extent that they can, PS and the GNE are willing to extend help to the Kolodenko camp, as long as it doesn’t jeopardize their working relationship with Burgasov. Fortunately, hammering both the back-to-back Solokov and Orloff camps from either side keeps both Burgasov and Kolodenko too happy using their new technological gains to be at odds with each other other than on paper.

Though greatly at risk from the Azhur, Warlord Alekseyevna is considered too passive, and any move to establish ties with him has been met with apathy in the past’ any more aggressive measures to press the issue would likely been seen as an attempt to move in on Russian territory. Alekseyevna’s recent fears that the ‘Yankees’ are conspiring with his rival Burgasov with the expectation of easy access to Alekseyevna’s territorial mineral wealth are unfounded(PS/ASI is getting its raw materials far more easily from offworld), but is hampering any diplomatic approaches. For ow, though, Alekseyevna is ignored for the most part by the PS/GNE trade missions, and any sales of gear to the ‘Old Man’ are incidental, and through third parties, rather than direct negotiated sales.

Pyotr Karol Burgasov, Paladin Steel’s main partner in Russia, is a known brute(in contrast to the ‘Paladin’ ideal that the GNE espouses), but he is at least honorable in that he is a man of his word and looks after his people with a firm, but fair-minded, mega-steel hand. The OPO has correctly judged that as long as they keep their word to him, no GNE personnel will come to harm in Burgasov’s territory, so they figure they can work with him. Burgasov means what he says, lives by his word(and doesn’t give it lightly), and has the respect of both the GNE military and diplomatic corps. Burgasov is also wise enough not to interfere with the PS technicians, and lets his own people work as they will with the foreigners.

` The GNE views the Sovietski with varying amounts of worry and respect; they espouse a strong work ethic, supportive society, and mutual determination to overcome hardship, but high level corruption and what seems like overkill suppression of civil liberties disgust the Greater New Englanders. PS and the GNE respect the technical achievements of the Sovietski, and even take inspiration form some of them(especially since PS/ASI built up their lead in many fields, such as bionics, studying samples of Russian cyborg technology), but fear that the Sovietski may be tempted to follow the path of the Coalition States in establishing an oppressive hegemony that benefits only the social elites. The Sovietski knows enough history to be distrustful of Americans, but for the juicy carrots being dangled, such as reliable access to offworld resources, that the GNE is offering its allies, they’re willing to give PS/ASI the benefit of the doubt in limited fashion. GNE overtures in the area, however, are watched with hawk-like intensity. That being understood, the GNE is in the interesting position of helping the Sovietski maintain access to arguably the latter’s first offworld/out-dimension outpost, on Dedek, where dimensionally-displaced Soviet troops have established a foothold and negotiated mineral deals with the locals.

Warlord Seriyev is respected for his flexibility, and ability to adapt to the times, especially with his blooming aerospace industry and rumors of his hijacking of the Klia servants of the Azhur invaders. On the other hand, the GNE diplomatic corps came to their own parallel conclusion, even without Burgasov’s input, that Seriyev could only be trusted as far as the weakest member of the diplomatic team could throw him(for the record, the weakest member was/is a Smallkin). GNE policy with regards to negotiating with Seriyev is to have at least one psychic or body language reader sitting in on the talks, and intelligence specialists fact checking every word and clause. It seems to be having an effect; Seriyev recognizes the GNE’s caution and that they are taking him SERIOUSLY, which he respects(and finds rather ego-stokingly charming), so he’s not going to do anything to risk antagonizing a potential alliance partner. Naturally, this has some in the GNE intelligence community pulling hairs wondering what he’s REALLY up to(again, Seriyev would be amused by this if he only knew).

Warlords Orloff and Solokov present a refreshingly straightforward situation; they’re monsters, on the other side of the world. PS and the GNE ignore what either of the ‘Butcher Twins’ have to say about them, and turn over to the local authorities whatever’s left of any operatives either sends against the GNE in Russia. In fact, if any PS/ASI technology were to be stolen by either camp, PS/ASI would go to lengths to recover or destroy it, rather than let Orloff or Solokov reverse-engineer it for their own purposes.

Beyond the Sovietski and the bionic Warlords, the GNE has had a few contacts with small kingdoms in East-Asian Russia and Siberia.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Sun Dec 20, 2020 3:15 am

After this, I'll think I'll tackle what the Russians think of the GNE next, then move back the the 3G for a while.

‘Hector and Jansen Go to the Movies’ Episode 2063
Segment 1: ‘The Dedak War; Part 5: Sotita Gulf’

(Hector)
Unless you’ve been living under a proverbial rock for the last few years, you should know that the theaters have been absolutely DOMINATED by ‘Minion War Stories’ of various quality. ‘Hector and Janten’ being a renowned niche review show focusing on ‘What the Forge’ exotics means that me and Janten see a lot of the interdimensional imports, and one of the mixed lessons we’ve learned over the years is that Vigmen’s Law truly is truly megaversial, even if it isn’t always called that. But, having gone through the process of somebody deciding it was worth the hassle of bringing over to the Three Galaxies means that there’s at least one level of filtering going on, so only around two thirds of what we have to watch is trash. One of the more coherent batches is the ‘Dedak War’ series, which is a relatively accurate albeit still somewhat dramatized account of the 18 month campaign that was waged upon the titicular planet. We’ve already gone over the first four parts, and you can see the in depth reviews HERE, but we need to gratuitously pad our play time due to contract reasons so lets have an overview.

(Jansen)
Part One is titled ‘Shadows in the Either’, which by all accounts gives a good view of the social decay that was exploited by the Infernals to secure their foothold, and gives us a mostly complete understanding of how things work on this minor dimensional transit point. We are introduced to a number of characters and groups, the most important of which is the USA Deland Depot, and anybody that knows anything about said nation’s conduct during this period can see where this is going already. Beyond the growing power and reach of the cults, a lot of emphasis is placed on the Deland Depot being surged in strength to fuel a major colonization push, which results a massive glory shots of the Army Corps level of M-Factor militia grade material that’s sitting out in the ‘harbor’ of their oddball salt flat island. Their overriding concern is making sure that none of the locals make off with any of it, because the planet is pre-M-Factor, and they do not want to be responsible for another mess. The film ends with the cults about to make their move, and a good chunk of the colonization personnel showing up at the depot to wait for their next leg of their journey.

(Hector)
Part Two is ‘Sins and Retribution’, which covers the initial weeks of the open cultist uprising and the demonic incursion. It pulls no punches with casting blame, with essentially none of the native powers making more than a token resistance effort before being crushed due to the sheer disparity between M-Factor and Non-M-Factor, combined with the general tactical cluelessness due to their ritualized war games. The native characters we were introduced to in the first part are all in transit to somewhere else in the ‘Warland’ region, and have a number of survival stories working their way to the out-worlder enclaves that are hanging on. Deland Depot has been thrown into chaos by the scrambling of the dimensional gate schedule and know due to their remaining communication methods that reinforcements aren’t coming, so they break open the colonization kits and start hunkering down. They see off a number of attacks of varying strength, but are in trouble due to lacking trained manpower to actually do the fighting needed, so they're running out of time before the Infernals move on them. By the end, all of the native characters in the general proximity of the depot, and it ends on a cliffhanger with the comms center picking up a directional transmission aimed at them in a language that they identify as ‘Russian’.

(Jansen)
Part Three is ‘Strange Allies’, and if that isn’t an understatement that I don’t know what is. It starts going backwards a few days to a mortal offensive on a developing Demonic Hell Pit on the transdimensional hellhole of Rifts Earth, and the natives are simply steamrolling. The New Sovietski Red Army is basically something you’d expect out of the Central Alliance, only somehow even lower tech but just as heavy on the Cyborgs, and they did not skimp on the Silver ammunition. There’s good shading of the various cultural mores and future friction points, and the would be Overlord is deliberately not named in a series of comedic interruptions, the last of which is him **** the bet as the construction ritual collapses and sends the 4th Reserve Motor Rifle Division and some extras to Dedek. They arrive reasonably close to Deland Depot, and then make their way there. The film then spends about an hour on the various problems and solutions to them working together, with various notable officers are introduced and their characters established, what amounts to a paid infomercial of ASI occurs as they get used to their new equipment, and Major General Semenov coming up with a plan. The final part is their more mobile forces taking out lesser war bands and getting intel on the locations of the various captured War-Barges that serve as land going surface warships, with the now normal cliffhanger being some of the depot techs showing a proposal for a kitbashed equivalent to rally the natives around, titled the Mastodon.

(Hector)
Part Four is simply called ‘Momentum’, and is all about the Red Army doing their thing and using M-Factor equipment in a capable manner against cultists that only have a vague idea of how to actually fight a war. This part covers about a year’s worth of time, as the forces under Semenov seize geographical choke points and cutting down isolated forces before they can link up and cause a bigger problem, with a few notable instances of the Spetsnaz Special Forces Company earning their paycheck and taking out notable schemes before they become major problems. The remaining native characters are used to provide the normal ‘soldier’s life’ stories of their relevant jobs, as the militia forces have now expanded to amount to small Army Corps with near bottom grade M-Factor equipment. The narrative climax of the film is the liberation of a number of the more important highland nations, with both the Red Army infantry and the militia fighting urban battles against cultists with minor M-Factor equipment and their Infernal patrons. The ending cliffhanger is a voice over of General Semenov going over their gains and possible Infernal responses, with the visuals being a number of Demon and Deevil flagged War-Barges going at each other in what is a visually impressive but not every effective show of strength. It ends with the largest War-Barge, the former ‘Victory of Telgranth’, now called some unpronounceable Deevil proverb, being refitted with mystic components, and a large apparatus being installed in the rear cargo/hanger bay.

(Jansen)
So now that we’ve killed a few minutes let's go into our first movie of today, Part Five of the series, which is simply titled ‘Sotita Gulf’. Now the target audience would naturally know the pertinent details, but the importers helpfully puth together an info-blurb that gives the context. The First Battle of Sotita Gulf was essentially the last hura of the Infernal forces on the planet, using magic to drop on one of the major Red Army formations with essentially everything the Deevil aligned cultists had. The resulting battle was objectively the largest loss of life the Red Army suffered during the entire campaign, but it was considered a tactical draw and a strategic victory for the mortals. The reasons why and how it happened are heavily hinted at in the prior parts, but we’ve had some of our unpaid interns deal with identifying all of those sorts of continuity factors, the link to which is HERE. Now without further ado, let's get to it.

(Two minutes of various clips, focusing on what they host consider to be the most artistic.)

(Hector)
Act One picks up almost immediately after Part Four, with the opening crawl being presented on a glory shot of an illustrated strat map, with the camera going over points of interest and doing a surprisingly good job of showing the overall situation with the popups. If you pay attention you learn that the 4th Reserve is considered to be in ‘Excellent’ condition, the majority of the ‘Warlands’ are considered secure enough to send out only lightly defended convoys, and about half of the planetary population is either free or liberated. This leads into a teleconference between the major leaders of the resistance army, with Semenov chairing the somewhat rowdy bunch that we were introduced to in Part 3, and most of the interesting interactions happening between Egorov and Vlasov, who are not only arguing opposite strategies, but are strategies that are opposite of their natural inclinations, and this is not lost on anybody. Colonel Nikolaev notes that overall relations with the USA Deland Depot are still relatively good and that there isn’t too much of a ‘debt’ attached at the moment, and Colonel Fedoro (with some input from the somewhat disturbing Doctor Fedorov) judges that the personal situation is as good as can reasonably be asked for. Semenov eventually concludes that the current plan is to take a hybrid approach, liberating what island chains are practical and neutralizing Infernal combat assets whenever they show their head, citing a report from Major Kuzmin of the Spetsnaz that the near totality of the even vaguely capable cultist forces are present in the Warlands for one reason or another.

As throughout the entire series, the narrative present is quite reasonable, and from what we can tell is actually a homogenization of a number of different real discussions on the subject that have been tied together to not lose much time or interest. The cinematography for these sorts of conference scenes has been refined for more than a millennia, and everybody knows what’s the best for what form of dialog or undertone you want. Me and Jansen have done an entire series about this, and we’re both honestly sick and tired of having to explain it, so I encourage you to follow the linke HERE if you actually care. The director makes good use of the fact that they’re doing this in a strategic command room to show various bits of information visually on the interfaces, and the parts of it that are a jumbled mess are that way intentionally. The whole thing is cliche but necessary, because these things really do happen and important decisions are made in them. It's not something you award points on, but they don’t lose any either, which is not common.

(Jansen)
Act Two gets into the nitty gritty of the Battlegroup Murmansk, centered around the Mammoth class supertank of the same name, and takes us through the mind of Colonel Goga Borisov. There’s a few minor actions where the future key players show their stuff, and no end of foreshadowing is cast on various aspects. All of it amounts to pretty blatant ‘be attached to these guys’, but it’s effective due to everybody being real people with real lives and believable levels of drama. There’s friction to be sure, but these are all professionals that know their duty. The most important parts are on Borisov, who is depicted as a highly capable professional but somewhat lacking in overall creativity and is more than a bit dogmatic in terms of his tactics, particularly compared to Colonel Yaroslav Pushkin who is his senior. It is presented not as a failing on Borisov’s part, but more that Pushkin being exceptionally capable and overshadowing others in comparison. The military vet’s I’ve talked with know plenty of both of these two, and while they would prefer Pushkin, they wouldn’t mind being under Borisov due to him being anything but a screw up.

Again, the cinematography of it is all done to the standards you would expect of a competent docu-drama. The bits of combat that happen are short and are used to illustrate the tendencies and characteristics of the various notables, and they are used in a very economical manner. The panning shots of the Battlegroup are not overused, and more often than now have some level of meaning to them attached, even if it's not very deep or philosophical. ‘How to film inside a tank’ is an old, old problem, and the film uses the best methods that have seen any serious level of success. One thing it does better than most is showing the amount of maintenance that military vehicles need in operation, with nearly all the character dialogue happening with somebody doing something to keep things running somewhere on camera. Combined, it is head and shoulders above the swill that normally gets put out covering this, so it's a welcome relief.

(Hector)
Act Three covers the immediate lead up to the battle and opening stages. A stronger than normal Deevil War-Barge group led by the ’Victory of Telgranth’ engages Battlegroup Murmansk, and oddities start popping up immediately. Beyond being much more durable than usual, the War-Barges have extremely strong magic readings and are splitting up, which is objectively a really stupid idea. It's obvious that the Deevils have something up their sleeve, and Borisov decides to play it safe by not fully committing. This proves pertinent, with the rest of the Deevil fleet being teleported in through what we are led to believe is mass human sacrifices and the ’Victory of Telgranth’ starting to **** out swarms of lesser combatants. The situation is untenable, and thus Borisov orders a fighting withdrawal, with the needed rear guard being formed from the slower (fortunately non-troop carrying) vehicles that wouldn’t be able to break contact anyway.

The overall cinematography does a very good job at showing the nature of mobile armored vehicle combat, the chaos there of, and how commanders make do. The producers were lucky to have a cheat in the form of the Murmansk’s C3 system, which gives them an excuse to illustrate the various parts of it on a non-obtrusive tactical map. If you’ve played any sort of real time strategy game or used anything resembling a modern tactical interface you can read it at a glance, and the cuts do a very good job of showing the interesting bits when they happen. About half of the exterior shots are recovered datalogs from the battle itself, which is where the less believable bits are. According to experts, there are no notable errors in how things are presented, which is consistent with the rest of the series and continues throughout the film.

(Jansen)
And now we get to Act Four, which must have been where they blew their special effects budget for the entire series, because the level of resources needed for this level of reconstruction from sensor logs is not cheap. And yes, I said reconstruction, as the C3 system on the Murmansk remained operational through the entire thing, and was recovered intact afterwards. This results in the fight of the supertank and its fellow rearguard being in incredibly high definition, with lots of glory shots of the big primary turrets of the War-Barges brewing up, and it only starts there. Beyond the incredible brawl sequence happening in the basin, there is a smaller sub-engagement happening at the entrance, as a pair of mid sized War-Barges are trying to block the exit, and with all their missiles and most of their long range ammunition expended the retreating Red Army looks like it has to engage up close and within mutual engagement range. But this is preempted by the arrival of a Spetsnaz platoon in hovercraft with technowizard stealth systems, which allows them to get to knife fighting range, blow some big holes in the sides, and conduct a boarding action before the cultists even know that they’re there. I’ve asked around with some NON colleagues, and they say that the resulting slaughter is entirely accurate for what happens when M-factor Special Forces go up against much less advanced barely-trained militia. Amusingly, the entire sequence is called in the script as literally ‘Suddenly Spetsnaz’, so they must have a memetic reputation.

With the exit route open and damage to the rear guard mounting, Borisov changes his focus to start damaging the mobility systems of the opposing War-Barges, reasoning that the time needed for repairs will make them easy prey for Pushkin and his Battlegroup Grozny when they arrive in two or so days. But they have to thin out as much of the smaller support units as possible, and they need to do something about that teleporter on the ’Victory of Telgranth’, so with just about all of the ammunition exhausted, nearly every meaningful energy turret down, and every one of the Murmansk’s escorts a broken wreck, Borisov orders ramming speed and to prepare for boarding. The resulting impact is one of the most visually sympathetic I’ve ever seen, and the remaining 70 or so crew strap on ammo packs and munitions vest and prepare to kick the door down and make a mess.

(Hector)
I’m going to cut to the chase and outright say that what follows is the most emotionally charged and heart pumping action sequences either of us have seen in a more than a decade, and it's going to be required viewing for anybody in the industry going forward. It is almost entirely reconstructed from the interior cameras of the ’Victory of Telgranth’, so barring dialog it's exactly as it actually happened. The Tankers and Infantry have a far harder time than the Spetsnaz did, being not as extravagantly equipped and up against far more Deevils, resulting in no small number of fatalities. Throughout all of it, the Reds show an absolute fearlessness that you would normally think that they were suicidal, but with the undertone being that they’re all dead men anyway it makes perfect sense. Something I have to point out is the music, and not just because it feels so fitting. The song is, and I **** you not, the honest-to-Forge Soviet National Anthem, and I must express jealousy over my nation not having something anywhere near are motivating.

(Jansen)
The entire sequence is a bit over three minutes forty seconds, and it's pretty blatantly a compression of the overall firefight. The one part where they extend it is at the end, with the absolutely gratuitous ‘whip out and fire’ sequence where Borisov cracks open the massive case he’s been dragging along with him the entire time and shoulders an absolutely massive shoulder fired missile, a cut down MRM, with a solid three seconds spend on the oversized warhead and the color designation code on it. The one bit of major military inaccuracy in the film is that the version we received has intentionally changed the code form the Russian format to the CAF one, so those who are literate in it can immediately identify what type it is; a multi-warhead mini-nuke. They’re at one end of the final hallway to the portal room and there’s less than a dozen of them left, so Borisov clearly decides that they’re close enough and launches the thing in a slow motion sequence with lots of backblast. The timing is such that the flight and detonation of the missile cover most of the song’s coda, and the resulting mystic backlash from the bits of fel magic in the room results in the entire rear half of the Barge being slagged by a massive pillar of light.

(Hector)
Where the previous films had a cliffhanger, this one has an epilogue, where Battlegroup Grozny shows up and finishes the Deevils off two days later and the superimposed scrolling text tells us that this was the last major combat engagement of the war, with the dimensional gates stabilizing enough for the USA to send reinforcements who are able to secure the remaining population centers in sort order. The credits are a nice comparison of the actors and the real people, informing us of what is known to have happened to them since. It also informs us that the remaining members of the Dedek War-Barge Fighting League decided to accept the Murmansk as an official contestant, and give it no end of accolades. All told, it's one of the best docu-dramas I’ve sat through in years, and I have to wonder just who footed the bill for such a moving propaganda piece.

(Jansen)
I agree, it was damn good by any standard, and it stands head and shoulders above the recent flood of cash-in swill we’ve seen. It's obviously politically charged, but without an understanding of Dedek politics just what direction it lays in is hard to tell. I want to say that the overall series is a call for outreach and reformation, but outreach to who and what to reform is open to debate to us outsiders. The local USA forces and the Russians do not like each other due to ideological differences, but hold dealing with the monsters at their door as a far higher priority. Being out dimensional, there is definitely no deliberate allegory to Three Galaxies politics, but I’m sure people will come up with one anyway.

(Hector)
And with that, we move onto our next film of this episode, ‘Litany of Blue’, which I must say is a major set down in comparison with…..

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sun Dec 20, 2020 10:37 pm

I'm picturing their commentary at a holo-theater when a monster teleports into the middle of the showing.....

Such an incident would be likely on Rifts Earth, with the result that even if enough precogs had issued warnings of 'stay away from this movie' or more specifically 'stay away from this particular movie theater on Tuesday night, Nov. 7th, etc..., the monster gets shot full of holes or bludgeoned/bladed to death, accompanied by some comment from the back about 'DOWN IN FRONT!".

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 2:25 am

Russian Viewpoints: Mid-111 PA Update
The events of the Minion War served as a pause on Eastern Europe’s normal internal dynamics, violently interrupting the ongoing tensions between Orloff and everybody else. Everyone was put under pressure from one force or another, with all but Orloff frantically trying to defend their territory. Orloff’s willingness to let the various invaders move across his territory to attack his neighbors was all too predictable, and caused his War Camp to become even more short sighted and callous. But, thanks to their combined efforts, the forces of stability have emerged from it in not much worse shape than they started in, which is more than much of the Americas can say with the hammer blows of the Infernals falling on the western hemisphere due to their far greater concentration of Ley Lines. However, the interruption also serve as a pressure cooker, and the returning tensions of the summer of 111 PA will soon explode into open war once again.

Aleksyevna
The Old Man of Russia has been dragged back to administering his realm kicking and screaming, and has naturally suffered a degree of shock now that he has been forced to actually look around him. While as isolationist as ever, he has become rightfully paranoid of Burgasov’s intentions, even if he is wildly off the mark in some specifics. He is barely knowledgeable about the GNE or Paladin Steel beyond them working with his western peer, which is more than enough to tell him that they wish him nothing good. This has led him to sending his spies to ferret what industrial secrets they can so that he can catch up, and is pushing his engineers to improve the Tempest Shocktrooper as soon as possible. Efforts into reverse engineering the new plasma weapons that Burgasov is fielding are making decent progress, and large numbers of Triax 30mm anti-aircraft guns are being constructed to shore up this exposed weakness. His opinions of the others remain unchanged, and their opinions are static as well.

Brugasov
Burgasov has found himself notably mellowing out in recent years, finding the effective limits of his ability to control his territory ultimately falling far short of conquering Russia. At best, he could incorporate Alekseyevna’s territory and the parts of Orloff’s down to the other branch of Volga River, but beyond that it would stretch his ability to command and coordinate his realm beyond its limits, and he finds himself greatly reluctant to change his method of rulership. Thus, he intends to leave it to his children to deal with the matter, and has decided that he would rather have Seriyev and the Sovietski as neighbors than Orloff or some no-name replacement from Alekseyevna Camp. Seriyev is also providing extremely valuable support against the Neo-Vikings and Azhur, and the Sovietski fleet will be key in pushing back the raiders from Russia’s shores, so there is no shortage of reasons to work with them either. This makes Romanov and Kolondenko non-factors, as he considers it lunacy to think that their territorial ambitions will result in sharing a meaningful border with him.

Burgasov believes that he has the GNE’s measure, and while they have divergent values they have gone to great lengths to avoid pushing them, which means that it will be a few generations before the ideas from them come to fruition, and by then Russia will be a very different place one way or another. The use of ethnically Russian ‘Shaterworld’ refugees as the primary labor force does much to sooth domestic tensions, resulting in all but the most conservative leadership of his War Camp considering the relationship ‘workable’. There is also a growing awareness that the GNE’s overall ambitions for Russia lay less in territory and control and more in planetary stability, with a mountain of evidence growing that the GNE has no reason to actually care about land itself other than what bits of lore they can retrieve.

Burgasov’s opinions on the other Warlords have changed somewhat, but not dramatically. Seriyev has clearly been forced to engage in open war, and has proven himself to be a competent general should the need arise. The Bear still doesn’t trust him one bit, but for now they have no interests that are in opposition, so he is considered quite reliable. Koldenko has also proven that he knows the key parts of warfare, and his masterful setup and execution against Sokolov in 109 gained him a great deal of respect. Should he decide to claim Sokolov’s territory and claim nominal control over the Stepp, Burgasov would have no objection, for both are too far away for him to be interested in.

The Sovietski have greatly shaped up in recent years, and have proven that they have metal in them after all. Beyond serving as an ally against Orloff, they have a far more pressing use as a counterweight against the Neo-Vikings and Azhur. Burgasov has come to the conclusion that the Sovietski are almost certain to outlive him, so having a known reliable neighbor would be best to be part of the domain he grants his children. They also keep the GNE on their toes, which is useful in its own right. As for Romanov? Well, after her recent transformation she clearly has the blessing of a number of Russian deities, and while he still thinks she is holding herself back he has come to recognize the utility of the soft power she is absolutely awash in.

The Bear’s primary concerns rest to the north and south east, with the Azhur and Orloff becoming ever growing problems. Orloff is the simpler of the two, and he is looking for an excuse and an opportunity to deliver a hammer blow that will let the Sovietski and Romanov see off the thug and make his life simpler. Alekseyevna has proven to have at least something of his mind left, but is being attrited nicely by the Azhur, so there is the prospect of having a relatively easy and straightforward annexation of the old fool’s territory when this is over. But the Azhur and their Neo-Viking allies are a true threat, and one that requires a far different approach than his normal fair.

The Neo-Vikings are simpler, if more galling, as Burgasov simply does not have the time or resources to build up a force that can actually deal with their iceberg carrier fleet. On land they are nothing more than a nuisance, but if he is to make progress against the Azhur then others are going to have to keep techno-wizard bandits occupied. Both the GNE an Sovietski can be relied on to follow the simple but effective strategy of hitting them while he focuses on their Azhur allies, and if what he has heard about the NGR’s troubles with them is true than they can be expected to work towards the same goal.

While Burgasov is renowned for his hard heart, there is something about the Azhur that absolutely infuriates him on a deep personal level. He believes it to be their complete lack of responsibility to their subjects, and can cite no end of reasons why they are wasteful, counter productive, and simply stupid. But somewhere deep in himself he has developed a shocking degree of sympathy for the Klia, holding them to be blameless tools that must bear the cost of their master’s actions. They are slaves in the truest sense of the word, and one cannot fault a dog for what it’s breeder has raised it to do. Is campaign across St. Peter’s Spine will be somehow even more cathartic than that against Kahzmyr, and he intends to add no small number of new vassals.

Seriyev
Seriyev knows the most about the GNE’s general intelligence efforts, and is sufficiently fluent in the tide of the craft to identify that they’re not intended as a set up for significant operations or schemes. The GNE as a whole is a potential source of technological secrets, and them bringing out the big guns when it comes time to negotiate show that if nothing else they take him seriously. Seriyev finds them to be moderately more valuable than Triax, if only because the gap between Russia and the German giant has closed significantly, but as he has no real beef with them he is content to let the espionage game play out as it naturally develops. His network needs a new challenge anyway, as the old game board had become too stale to keep their skills sharp.

He perhaps knows his neighbor Burgasov the best, and realized that the fire in the Bear of Moskva is not burning quite as bright as it did a decade ago. His own estimation of Burgasov’s maximum reach is quite close to that of Burgasov’s own, so he believes that the campaigns against the Azhur, Orloff, and Alekseyevna will be the last major military efforts of the Bear’s career before Russia becomes more ‘civilized’ for lack of a better word. Romanov’s transformation makes it obvious to him that she will be the pillar that defines much of the region, and being her shadow is the best way to ply his craft in a manner that he enjoys. Kolondenko has proven to be both able to play the game and wage war, and while it stings a bit that Romanov has clearly chosen him as her preferred paramour, Seriyev didn’t even realize he had feelings for her as well, so he accepts it as his loss. The token territorial concessions he has given the Sovietski were well worth the technical assistance provided for his aviation efforts, and they have been used as the basis for his wider scale training program.

Like Burgasov, Seriyev lacks the naval and heavy aviation assets to truly threaten the Neo-Vikings, but he is making great strides on finding information to provide to those that can, with the GNE, Sovietski, and increasingly the NGR all eager to get their kicks in whenever possible. His small but capable fleet of submarines have become experts at evading their patrol forces, and have managed to plant agents on several of the larger icebergs that serve as their motherships. Progress is naturally slow, with the ethnic differences and techno-wizard systems making much of their normal toolkit non-viable, but so far the raiders do not even suspect that they have uninvited guests. They have proven to be quite sloppy in regards to checking their outer surfaces for unexpected additions, and Seriyev is slowly piecing together a network of repeater systems to allow real time tracking of their fleets.

Militarily, Seriyev is far more involved against the Azhur, and like Burgasov has found himself with a deep loathing of the callous ice overlords. The spy master has always placed a high premium on loyalty, and to have such a fundamentally obedient force such as the Klia be willing to jump ship the moment it occurs that they can do so indicates such a fundamental flaw in their owner’s basic behavior that there can be no excuse. As such, he now feels an obligation to take as many of the Klia as possible away from them, with the military and industrial benefits more than justifying it. His War Camp has become quite familiar with the Klia as a result, the overall consensus is along the same lines, with the servile nature of the species making it a trivial sell for even the most hardline human supremacist. As a result, the Klia are becoming increasingly ubiquitous among their support staff, building the aircraft to fill the ranks and keeping them operational.

Romanov
While Romanov has forged industrial ties with the GNE, she has been far more changed by their neighboring Shemarians, as the brief siege of Kiev in mid 110 PA provided. Struck by a powerful curse by a would-be Hell Lord, it seemed like fate had conspired to finish her off as Kyanyarsk had intended, when outside forces intervened. A group of Shemarian Wayfinders extracted her soul from her curse ridden chassis, and worked together with more than a dozen Mystic Kuznya to craft her a suitable replacement. She would emerge from the Progen chamber after a month in a form similar to that of a Shemarian War Goddess (same stats as the Wayfinder version minus the antenna and spikes), with her psionic abilities expanded to that of a Master and with no small amount of traces of divine attention on her frame. She would prove her recovery by slaying an Overlord in single combat several days later, and her phoenix-like rebirth and even greater beauty has made her more beloved than ever. She understands that the American foreigners ultimately want a more stable planet, and are willing to give a great deal of leeway to local forces to see that it is done.

Her new body and regained powers have allowed her to take better stock of her allies and enemies, and has found that while she has made a few mistakes they are not major ones. She now understands Seriyev on a level that perhaps he does not himself, and is much better able to manage him within his role as part of the Council of Warlords. So long as she gives him enough room to be happy with his game he will ultimately be content, and he has enough strings in his heart than he can be truly reformed given time. Kolondenko on the other hand she has rewarded greatly, with the most obvious sign being a pair of Progen created daughters (both Warchiefs with major internal design differences than the norm and are distinctly ‘Russian’ on a metaphysical level). In the Sovietski she recognized a people that aspire to be greater but have unconsciously internalized a level of corruption and oppression that is unnecessary, so reform needs to be undertaken for their long term health. The NGR is already in the process of reforming, and assistance from the east will greatly help their psyche.

Her primary concerns remain Orloff and the Brodkil, with the Snowdemon being more immediately pressing. His mad belligerence makes it certain that open war will break out in the latter half of 111 PA, and she is coordinating with the Sovietski as best possible to prepare for the onslaught and counterattack. She believes that Orloff is fundamentally unprepared for her to go on the offensive, and if the Sovietski can hold for a few months then she can sweep across much of his territory and crush the smaller bands of forces that are garrisoning it, placing his main force in a pincer. She believes that Burgasov will find it in his own interest to assist if he has the mobile forces to spare, so she is agitating it to happen before the Bear goes over St. Peter’s Spire. Kolondenko, the Cossacks, and the forces in Kurlensk can handle that thug Sokolov, and are in the best position to lay siege to Kuibyshev after that is finished.

Her western flank is a far more tricky subject however, with the shadow of Mindworks obvious to her expanded mystic senses. Until it is found and neutralized the Brodkil will remain a constant force against stability, and the Angel of Death’s madness floats like a cloud over Poland to those that know what to look for. Finding the Mindworks facility and dealing with it one way or another is of utmost importance, with dispatching the Angel and her equally mad daughter being only slightly behind. Her spiritual scrying efforts have narrowed its location down to the specific Polish province, but beyond that the land is too tainted to find out more. Future efforts will have to be done by teams on the ground, which will be a hazardous operation to say the least. The Neo-Vikings and Azhur are not currently her problem, but she hopes to assist once her current concerns have been dealt with.

Kolodenko
After Burgasov, Kolondenko has the best overall picture of the GNE, and knows more about the sheer extent of their out-dimension efforts. He has absolutely no quarrel with them, and finds it regrettable that they are so far away. He is utterly unsurprised that they have superior technology, and has a working understanding of their overall goals across the homeworld. Once the Butcher Twins have been dealt with, he plans on asking them for Stone Master support to cap the Lake Adyar Dimensional Triangle and use it as the foundation of his major efforts into techno-wizardry. The NGR is also seeing some encouraging reform efforts, so he hopes to have the political situation of Eastern Europe settle into something resembling a peaceful arrangement within his lifetime.

Burgasov is a known factor, and Kolondenko believes that he is settling into a more stable long term stance, which means that at the very least he will not be a source of major trouble after he crushes Alekseyevna. He would be surprised to learn just how settled Burgasov has become though, and he would see it as a major positive development. Seriyev is almost exactly as he expected him to be given the situation, and while he remains an opportunistic rat he at least realizes that the current arrangement is the best he is going to get, so he can be relied upon to ensure things do not seriously degrade. The Sovietski have become a far more effective ally against Orloff and Sokolov, and their interactions with Romanov are an indication that Russia is progressing past the barbarity of the past few centuries. As for Romanov herself? Well, one of the first things she did once her resurrection was completed was to drag him to a Progen chamber, so that can be filed under ‘Progress’ if nothing else. His accomplishments against Sokolov have made him an acceptable suitor to the members of her Camp, and his obvious lack of desire for her territory or wealth brings him to the top of the pack.

His threat board has seen changes, but not in a way he can complain about. The Azhur and Neo-Vikings are far beyond his area of interest, and he believes that they are currently being adequately handled by those involved against him. Orloff is much closer, but the combined forces of Romanov and the Sovietski’s rejuvenated armies should at least be able to stalemate the Snowdemon, and Burgasov is more than likely to jump in to suppress the most problematic of his peers. But Sokolov is his responsibility, and he has already done a great deal to cripple the Demonfist. The crushing defeats he inflicted on the mad dog in late 109 PA means that if anything he’s the one in the stronger military position, and the unexpected show of support from the Crossaks allowed him to make off with more than 70% of the scattered and dispersed population of Sokolov’s territory, not that the beast noticed until it came time to pay tribute. He firmly believes that Sokolov is one major incident from having a complete breakdown and doing something truely idiotic such as moving on Kurlensk, as the Soviets would only have one option and are certain to have at least a handful of the major warheads ready on short notice. Should such an event occur then the map will change dramatically, and he is working out how to best exploit it.

Sovietski
To say that the Sovietski relationship with the GNE is complex is putting it mildly. One of the side effects of the Dedek campaign is that they now have a far greater understanding of the overall scope of the GNE’s interests, and have come to the uncomfortable realization that the Americans have very little reason to care about Europe. While unwilling to go so far as to attribute it to altruistic desires, there is a growing consensus among the Politburo that the GNE would prefer that Russia (and the rest of Asia for that matter) simply not be a mess that could spill over to the other side of the northern hemisphere. The GNE having such an open acceptance of magic and having so much success in using it shows that at the very worst it is no more tainted than capitalism, and Marx himself said that capitalism is a necessary step in moving civilization to a point where true communism is possible. Additionally, their recent out-dimensional contacts have resulted in Shifter magic being ‘only’ tightly regulated under the aspects of the OPI. In the meantime, the Sovietski have remembered the same lessons as Burgasov, and seek to get what technological knowledge they can out of Paladin Steel, as this is how the game is played.

Seriyev is considered a contained issue, and it is believed that the GNE has enough influence on Burgasov to discourage him from looking southward for more territory. They would take his slow change of heart as a welcome relief, as at the very least his sons are almost certain to be less of a military threat than him. They do not care for Aleksyevna, and if throwing him under the bus buys them a generation of peace from the north they wouldn’t think twice. They are uncertain what to think of Romanov’s new form, but as her zeal to civilize the motherland and protect it’s people from its enemies has only strengthened they won’t make an issue of it unless someone else credible does first. Kolondenko is a stalwart ally that is currently held at bay only by distance, and he is certain to help against Sokolov and whatever forces of Orloff happen to get within his striking range.

With the Bordkil at least temporarily at bay, the Soviets have two primary threats, the Butcher Twins and the raiders from the north. Kolondenko’s success against Sokolov means that the Demonfist will likely be a non-issue in the coming war against Orloff, but the Snowdemon remains as brutal and cunning as ever, and has only suffered moderate losses during the Minion War due to simply not caring about the non-industrial parts of his territory. Romanov is a guaranteed ally, and there is decent odds that Burgasov will chip in as a non-hostile co-belligerent, so the Red Army thinks that they can hold him off with the recent upgrades that have been distributed. The Neo-Vikings and the Azhur are a different kind of threat however, and the Soviet Navy has seen a substantial increase in resources diverted to it, most notably resulting in Slip 39 finally seeing major progress being done on the oh so ironically named Albatross, which is being fitted to serve as a mothership for aquatic demolition crews to break apart the Neo-Viking icebergs. Serious though is being given to loaning out the services of their amphibious assault ships to Burgasov to assist him in crossing St. Peter’s Spire, and it is hoped that his efforts will draw the Azhur’s attention from their allies. Mindworks is also on their radar, and they intend on sending Spetsnaz teams to narrow the location down when their backyard is less cluttered.

Sokolov
Of the two native belligerents of Russia, Sokolov is the one in far worse shape, having suffered enormous humiliations at the hands of Kolondenko on the open field. The interruption of the Minion War forced the Demonfist onto the defensive as several groups of nascent Overlords and Hell Lords emerged from the Lake Adyar Dimensional Triangle and across the Stepp, further hammering his War Camp. His overall forces are down to around 40,000 souls, and the loss of half of his effective industry means that he is far less able to replace them. This has resulted in him becoming even more unstable than ever (ME 5), and he has deluded himself into thinking that the Sovietski’s claims of Kurlensk’s nuclear arsenal are a bluff. He intends to seize the facility to make up for his losses, and his terrified War Camp is unwilling to try to dissuade him. He will march with more than half of his forces within the next few months, and it hasn’t occurred to him to talk with Orloff about it. He couldn’t care less about anyone or anything else, and if anybody has informed him of the other threats facing Russia or the GNE he can’t be bothered to remember them.

Orloff
If Sokolov is thought to be a mad animal, then Orloff is a true monster, and his brutal callousness has allowed him to weather the Minion War in good shape. As the near totality of his industry is located in Donetsk and Kuibyshev, he couldn’t care less about what happened to the rest of his territory, as he could always raid for resources if need be. This is exactly what was expected out of the cold hearted villain, and jokes already abound that the Infernals avoided him out of professional courtesy (which they normally didn’t even show each other). While he was naturally disappointed with Sokolov's performance over the last few years, he honestly doesn’t care beyond his ability to provide bodies and keep the attention of Kolondenko, having always held the fool as an expendable asset. His psyche has further deteriorated (now ME 6), leaving him vastly delusional as to the overall capabilities of both himself and his opponents, and he doesn’t care about the assistance that the GNE is providing Burgasov and Romanov.

He plans on moving on the Sovietski at coincidentally the same time that Sokolov intends to push on Kurlensk, and the non-existent state of his realms infrastructure will prevent him from hearing about it until well after the Sovietski have responded. The Cossacks will quickly receive word that Sokolov’s territory is effectively abandoned and will overrun the remaining members of the Camp in a matter of weeks, while both Romanov and Kolondenko will move swiftly to pincer Orloff’s western territory. There are very good odds that the Mountain King’s forces will be able stage an amphibious assault near Donetsk and pin the garrison down until the bulk of Romanov’s Camp arrives to storm the city, destroying a full third of his War Camp and taking 90% of his industry. And as a final capstone to his problems, Burgasov has managed to conceal that a large portion of his upgraded Shocktroopers are within airlift range of the Orloff/Sovietski border, and this is the excuse he has been desiring for years to crush the childish monster and secure his southern borders. This will pin half of his total forces and him along with them between the shockingly resistant anvil Sovietski and hammer that is the Paladin Steel equipped army of the Bear of Moskva, and it is questionable just how much he will be able to extract (if any). Unfortunately, Orloff is too canny a beast to catch so easily, so he will escape more deranged than ever and plan revenge in years and decades to come.

EDIT: And a bonus prize while I wander away from Rift's Earth for a bit.
Aleksyevna Tempest Shocktrooper Upgrade
“The latest version of the Tempest is a notable improvement, likely using material technology stolen from the Americans. The massive decrease in weight must result in major improvements in flight performance, although aerodynamics means that it’s still greatly limited in how high it can go. We haven’t seen it in any serious action against other Warlords, with nearly all of them over the Urals to hold off the Azhur, but it's only a matter of time before the Bear comes knocking. Brugasov might just keep the design after he’s done, but it's more likely he’ll make a better derivative.”
---Admiral of the Fleet Anatoly Dachenko

While something of a rush job, the latest iteration of the almost 80 year old Tempest is the most significant change it has ever seen, incorporating newly acquired materials to reduce the overall mass by a forth without sacrificing protection. This allows the plasma rocket engines to be far less stressed for greater performance, almost catching up with the Avenging Angel at low altitudes. The primary energy weapons have been duplicated from the weapons PSE is providing to Brugasov, although naturally far heavier due to cruder technology. A number of quality of life features have been included as well, making the chassis more practical for garrison tasks. While still only moderately useful against true aircraft, it has proven very effective against the Azhur ground forces that have tried to take Alekseyevna’s eastern territory. Efforts continue to make something that can better slow down the Bear of Moskva, but it is as much speculation as serious development.

Spoiler:

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 9:25 pm

Heh....wonder what the Sovietski would do if the GNE offered them a few of their magic WMDs to take care of Sokolov, rather than have the Russians irradiate even MORE of their soil.
Wanna disguise a magic WMD attack? Lay down a few fuel-air munitions for a great big flash-bang...though a FAEE's a good enough substitute in its own right for a nuke, nd would do the job well enough against most infantry and structures. I wouldn't rule out those big shock trooper cyborgs being able to tank a blast that would leave the rank and file reavers as overcooked sludge. Combine the air burst FAE with a spread of magic River of Lava or Firequake munitions. and you get them from the air and the ground, and who's going to be able to tell, that there's magic in the mix?
Plus unless Sokolov's got good field-mobile SAMs(I wouldn't rule it out; the Russian military traditionally has been -crawling- with mobile SAM systems), it would be easy enough to run. few escorted cargo planes over his positions to drop the big FAE daisy-cutters.

Or maybe go Tunguska...Multiple warhead Meteor strike.

Omegasgundam · Mon Dec 21, 2020 10:31 pm

taalismn wrote:Heh....wonder what the Sovietski would do if the GNE offered them a few of their magic WMDs to take care of Sokolov, rather than have the Russians irradiate even MORE of their soil.
Wanna disguise a magic WMD attack? Lay down a few fuel-air munitions for a great big flash-bang...though a FAEE's a good enough substitute in its own right for a nuke, nd would do the job well enough against most infantry and structures. I wouldn't rule out those big shock trooper cyborgs being able to tank a blast that would leave the rank and file reavers as overcooked sludge. Combine the air burst FAE with a spread of magic River of Lava or Firequake munitions. and you get them from the air and the ground, and who's going to be able to tell, that there's magic in the mix?
Plus unless Sokolov's got good field-mobile SAMs(I wouldn't rule it out; the Russian military traditionally has been -crawling- with mobile SAM systems), it would be easy enough to run. few escorted cargo planes over his positions to drop the big FAE daisy-cutters.

Or maybe go Tunguska...Multiple warhead Meteor strike.

The radiation wouldn't be that bad, and would die down within a few years. Nearly all of a modern nuke's fallout is caused by the initial fission stage and what material contacts the heart of the reaction afterwards. A late gen warhead would be a strait fusion reaction, and air-bursts are the best way to do direct damage with them regardless, so the truly long term damage would be negligable. I give decent odds the Second Sovietski recycled their weapons grade fissionables into cyborg power plants, and they would only need lithium for warheads.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Tue Dec 22, 2020 1:41 am

Something I have to get out of my head, here's how Seriyev is infiltrating the Azhur and why he hates them so much.

Soldati Tuman (Mist Soldier) Klia
The Tuman are a group of Klia that fell into Seriyev’s possession in 107 PA, and are perhaps his largest stroke of luck against the Azhur. A uniquely capable sub-breed, their capabilities make them ideal agents against the Azhur, with extraordinary mental affinity and endurance combined with minor shape shifting abilities. The rest of their characteristics also shows the millennia of deliberate breeding that went into crafting their specific lineage, which grants them substantially above average capabilities in all other aspects as well. Seriyev has chosen to only commit a small portion of them to espionage, with most of them being too old to reasonably retrain and there being the obvious need to retain a breeding stock to build up their numbers. He has high hopes for his newest agents, and they are striving to not disappoint him.

From what the Tuman know and the documentation recovered, their original master was a sadistic piece of work even by Azhur standards, with his most favorite form of ‘play’ being to have his Klia enact rolls and make each other suffer. To allow him to retain his favorites, and to enhance the experience, he bred his ‘actors’ breed to have extraordinary mental endurance and affinity. The addition of minor shape shifting was relatively recent, with their master growing board of having the same faces every time. As his resources were quite substantial and he had no shortage of contacts, he was easily able to get himself included among those that would be sent to the material planes to establish their footholds, with his personal goal being to find inspiration for more of his games. The thought of using them as spies appears to have never occurred to him, and as he was often unguarded around his favorites this is thought to be the truth.

His death at the hands of one of Seriyev’s Assassin Shocktroopers (who had acquired a pair of Paladin Steel ‘Heatwave’ tribarrels for the occasion) in early 107 PA meant that his current stock of 80 of these advanced Klia now fell into the Warlord’s possession, and they were eager to leave the Azhur behind. They assisted in the strike team’s looting of the facility, and found themselves in debriefing rooms with experienced Soldati Dimiye in Minsk less than a month later. Their potential as espionage agents was immediately recognized, and Seriyev made the decision to train the youngest batch of 20 (who were only 16 years old) in the arts of the Dimiye. Their training would be considered finished in late 110 PA, and they have spent the months since establishing their covers and working their way up the chain of facilities the Azhur possess in the arctic circle. They have already provided invaluable pieces of intelligence regarding the organization of the Azhur’s forces and their ongoing expansion efforts, and will be able to dig up more in the future.

Beyond training these agents, Seriyev has also established (at substantial risk) a number of small covert outposts in the deep arctic where several of his Master Forgers, Hackers, Armorers, and Intelligence specialists (all 8th to 12th level) support their efforts. They also serve as staging points for his Assassin Shocktroopers to operate out of, removing the need for the Tuman to deal with most wetworks themselves. The Tuman have also managed to set up a number of small hidden safe-houses near or sometimes even in Azhur facilities, which provides Hackers with access to the local datanet. He has informed GNE Intelligence the regions of which he has active operations, and they have responded in kind in order to not trip over each other.

Those retained at home find Minsk to be generally pleasant, with their atmospheric control abilities allowing them to remain fully comfortable all year round. Interior spaces in Seriyev’s territory are generally around 68 degrees Fahrenheit, which requires some active measures to be survivable, but a low profile cooling suit is more than sufficient. The spaces set aside for their residence are kept around 25 degrees, with the normal Klia caretakers using the constant stream of protective amulets that Seriyev’s forces bring back to compensate. Those that are part of it have come to enjoy working for a criminal empire, and have become absolutely amoral in outlook.

Tuman Klia Racial Stats

Spoiler:

Soldati Tuman (Mist Soldiers) OCC

Spoiler:

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Wed Dec 23, 2020 11:08 pm

(Reposting some older material as per request)

Paladin Steel ‘Wolfhound’ Light Armored Car
(aka ‘American BRDM’, ‘Rowboat’, ‘Pacecar’)

“The Wolfhound is yet another of Paladin Steel’s long line of light combatants, and is another sign of the company’s inability to put anything down, at least not completely.....It’s also clear that Paladin Steel and Greater New England plan on putting one of these things, or at least one of their many armed ‘utility’ vehicles...jeeps, light trucks, hoverplatforms....in the hands of virtually every able-bodied combatant and driver in their territories, and supply more in low-cost gratitude-winning bulk to their allies and possible allies....One gets the impression that if the Vermonters can’t take out their enemies one-on-one with combat units of equal quality, they’ll settle for drowning them with masses of light armor units....Whether their populace or that of their neighbors will accept such a strategy remains to be seen, but anyone contemplating attacking GNE interests and territories is well-advised to pay as much attention to their ‘commercial’ vehicle catalogues as to intel reports on their latest megadamage robot armors. ”
-----Captain Adrianne Guearux, Free Quebec Military Intelligence

“Somewhere at the Paladin Steel outlet, between the VW SuperBug, the VW Camper, the RV-08 MegaBago, DL-500 Arabian, Gray Wolf Command APC, the GAC-01 Greyhound, the M017 “Futura”, the Wolfhound, the DL-600 ‘Clysdale’, and the Jeep Warrior, you ARE going to find the vehicle that fits you to a ‘T’...and THEN they’re going to hit you with the options catalogue....”
-------Talag Astior, Headhunter, “McCathy’s Metal Maniacs’

“Betcha never taght ew’d never be able to’get a slab-sider roadsucker like dis to jump like ‘dat, didja?”
“I never thought I’d be able to SURVIVE a jump like that....”
----Drek and Lance Magoo, Headhunters, in a Wolfhound AFV, after evading a Juicer bike-gang

“With our range of available off-the-shelf options, and our expert mechanic and technical staff who are willing and ready to listen to your needs, your defense capabilities need only be limited by your imagination and your budget.”
-----Mikhail Gorridan, Paladin Steel Sales Representative, Merctown Office

The PS ‘Wolfhound’ is the latest incarnation of Paladin Steel’s stalwart ‘Greyhound’, a simple, wheeled armored car based on the pre-Rifts World War Two American ‘Greyhound’ of the same name and following generally similar lines. The original PS-GAC-01 was one of Paladin Steel’s first post-Rifts AFVs, a commercial chassis mated with an armored hull and weapons turret, in a simple, easy to produce, low-end combat vehicle that could be produced in quantity to supply the local militias that would later become the basis of the Greater New England Regular Army. Since those humble beginnings, however, many changes have been made to the Greyhound, due to applied combat experience and advances in design and production technology, and ultimately those changes have added up significantly that Paladin Steel has elected to dub the latest model of the Greyhound to emerge from the Heavy Industries assembly lines as a new machine...the ‘Wolfhound’.
The ‘Wolfhound’ more closely resembles later-generation American armored cars, such as the Cadillac Gauge Commando series. The body shell is now a cast and molecularly sealed ceramic-composite, as opposed to the earlier bolted ceramic plate, with a boat-shape(inward-angled lower sides, angled-in ‘turtleback’ top, raised nose, forward glacis plate, and sloped fantail). Besides being amphibious, the boat-shaped hull also helps divert blast damage from land mines to the car’s sides and away from the crew. The GAC-02 is faster, sports heavier armor, and can carry heavier armament, being intended from the start to use PS’s multi-modularity configuration system(as opposed to the Greyhound, whose upgrades were largely left to field mechanics and militia garages). To speed production, PS has tried to use as many off-the-shelf systems as possible; the PS-GAC-02 may not be cutting edge, but it takes advantage of the dominant standards in the GNE arsenal. Simplicity is the key to the Wolfhound.
The standard combat configuration Wolfhound features an armored turret with an eighty-millimeter long-barrel massdriver cannon with both direct and indirect-fire capabilities, a co-axial light rail gun, and twin pintles for a cupola-mount light weapon and a turret-side weapon(typically a mini-missile launcher box). A retractable sensor tower pylon, a copy from the PS ‘Black Titan’ robot design line (themselves knockoffs of Titan Works designs) is mounted on the turret, and can elevate up to 3 extra feet, allowing the AFV to hide behind walls and other obstacles and still keep an eye out around it.
The ‘Wolfhound’ is expected to take over many of the same roles now performed by aging Greyhounds in the GNE; scout and rear echelon military security patrols, police, and corporate security. The Wolfhound is also clearly intended for the commercial market as well, with sales being expected to various North American states and mercenary groups(especially through the Maison de Guerre and Merctown marketplaces).
Limited production of the original, simpler (though often sporting improved armaments) Greyhound continues at smaller border state and ‘black market’ production lines.
Type:PS-GAC-02
Class: Light Wheeled Armored Fighting Vehicle(Ground Armored Car)
Crew: 3(driver, gunner, commander/communications/sensor officer)+6 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 320
Wheels(4) 50 each
Turret 150
Main 80mm Cannon 80
Sensor Tower 25
Height: 9 ft
Width: 7.5 ft
Length: 17.8 ft
Weight: 12,700 kg (25,400 lbs)
Cargo: Small space in cabin for several backpacks, small arms, and personal gear; 4x4 ft cargo space in rear cabin.
Powerplant: Liquid Fuel(450 mile range), Hydrogen-Electric Fuel Cell(500 mile range), Electric Battery(480 mile range), or Nuclear Mini-Pack(w/ 10 year lifespan)
Speed:(Road) 80 MPH
(Water) Fully amphibious; 5 MPH
Market Cost: 700,000 credits standard, 800,000 credits for fuel cell, 900,000 electric, 2 million credits for nuclear
Systems of Note:
Basic Vehicle Systems:
Closed Cabin w/ 18 hour life support and air conditioning/filtration
Radio: 50 mile range
Headlights--Normal and Infrared
External Loudspeaker/Sirens---90 decibels
Sensor Tower/Turret---Can raise or lower up to three feet
Laser Targetting
Thermo-Optics
Mini-Radar (7 mile range)
Rear Trailer Hitch----The Wolfhound can pull a trailer load of up to 5 tons without significant performance degradation.

Weapons Systems: None standard, but the standard combat model has the following:
1) Smoke Mortars(2x3 tubes)
Range: 500 ft
Damage: None, smoke(chemical agents such as tear gas can be substituted) in 10 ft radius.
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2,3, 4, or 6
Payload: 6 smoke grenades per launcher, 36 total

2) 80mm Medium Barrel Gauss Cannon(PS-MDJ80M)----Paladin Steel loves dual-mode direct-fire/ballistic-fire artillery and the Wolfhound is no exception; the 80mm massdriver cannon gives the otherwise modest AFV a tremendous bite as both a forward armor-hunter and a light mobile artillery platform.
Range: (Direct Fire)25,000 ft (5 miles)
(Indirect Fire) 62,500 ft (12.5 miles)
( SATNUC-Direct Fire) 17,000 ft (3.4 miles)
(SATNUC-Indirect Fire) 42,500 ft (8.5 miles)
Damage: High Explosive(HE)----1d4x10 MD to 15 ft radius
High Explosive Anti-Tank(HEAT)---- 3d4x10 MD to 5 ft radius
Fragmentation--- 5d6 MD to 30 ft radius
Plasma----- 1d6x10 MD to 20 ft radius
(APFSDSDU)(Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot Depleted Uranium) 3d6x10 MD out to 6,600 ft, 2d4x10 MD out to maximum range
(SATNUC)80mm---4 submunitions----Does 4d4x10 MD to a 4 ft blast radius, 4d6 MD concussion damage to a 20 ft blast radius.
Rate of Fire: 5 shots per melee
Payload: 50 rounds

3)Co-Axial Light Rail Gun---Mounted next to the 80mm cannon
Range: 3,500 ft
Damage: 1d6 MD per single shot, 7d6 MD per 30 shot burst
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 10,000 rd drum(333 bursts)

4) Cupola-Mount Weapon----A powered pintle mount can be fitted to the turret’s main hatch ring, and can accommodate another light rail gun, mini-missile launcher, or light energy weapon. This can be operated either by a crewman standing upright in the hatch, or by remote control from within the safety of the turret.

5)(Optional) Hardpoint(1)---A single turret hardpoint can be added, typically for mounting a mini-missile launch box or launch rails for heavier missiles/projectiles.

Options/Variants:
*Turret-less models of the GAC-02 sell for about 20% less.
Removal of the turret equipment allows, for 10,000 credits, for a built-up casemate-style hull to be added, allowing for accommodation of 3 extra passengers

*Extra Armor---Up to 100 MDC of additional armor can be mounted applique-style, at 35,000 credits per 10 extra MDC(this is PS-manufactured plate direct from the factory, so PS can lower the price). However, anything above 50 extra MDC will add extra encumbrance to the vehicle; -10% to top speed.

*Sealed Gunports----The sides of the Wolfhound can be fitted with up to four(two each side) NBC-sealed/locked gunports, allowing passengers using speically modified sidearms to fire at targets(-1 to strike due to the awkward angle)
Cost: 4,000 credits each

*Ram Bumper-A semi-articulated reinforced ram prow that can serve as a ramming ‘beak’ or can be lifted and lowered for debris clearance.
MDC: 75
Damage: 6d6 MD from a ram, 1d6x10 MD from a full speed ram
Cost: 18,000 credits

*Supercharger---(Available only to Liquid-Fuelled models)--This modifies the powerplant for greater speed(albeit at greater expense)
Cost: 9,000 credits for a 20% increase in speed

*Sensors---Many buyers/operators reconfigure the sensor suite, adding additional sensor mounts or installing wholly new ones.
a)Sensor Cluster--Small sensor dish on a turntable
MDC: 25
Sensors: Mini-Radar--5 mile range
Motion Detector--200 ft range
Laser Illuminator-----6,000 ft range, Designates targets for laser-guided munnitions/weapons
Laser targetting System(+1 to strike)
Cost: 18,000 credits

b) Lance Scanner---Looks like a long lance protruding from the front of the craft. The Lance Scanner contains a magnetometer() and a short-range microwave radar for groundsearching minefields(in theory, the ground radar sound be able to detect even non-metallic mines, but takes twice as long).
Range: The magnetometer has a range of 4,000 ft and can detect vehicles and other metallic structures with 80% accuracy
The ground radar has a range of 3,000 ft, and has a 90% chance of detecting metal-cased mines, 60% chance of detecting non-metallic ordnance.
Cost: 40,000 credits

c) Aura Scanner---For detecting and identifying PPE concentrations
Range: 2000 ft
Cost: 35,000 credits

d)Bio-Scanner---Has a molecular analyzer, enhanced radiation detector, high-powered accoustic ‘shotgun mike’(3,000 ft range), and thermo-imager optics(3,000 ft).
Cost: 10,000 credits

*e) Optical Cluster---Mini-optics turret similar to those mounted on helicopters and aerodynes
Sensors: Telescopic (2 mile accuity, 4-10x50 magnification)
IR/UV(2,000 ft)
Thermo-Imaging (3,000 ft)
Audio-Video-Survellance System w 48 hour recording capability
Laser Illuminator---’Paints’ targets for laser-guided weaponry. Range of 2 miles and gives a +1 to strike for L-G ordnance.
Cost: 18,000 credits

*Armaments----The GAC-02 can be fitted with a variety of other turret armaments, resulting a large number of possible variants. The following are a few of the more common/popular configurations:

a) 90mm Cannon-One variant turret mounts a conventional chemical propellant 90mm cannon in place of the 80mm railgun. The 90mm cannon has a slightly heavier punch at short range due to the larger shell, but has less range and available ammunition capacity(due to the added weight and mass of the cartridge) than the rail gun. It’s also a lot less expensive(purchased separately, the PS 80-mm rail gun costs 1.1 million credits).
Range: (Direct Fire Only) 5,000 ft
Damage: (Armor Piercing)1d6x10+15 MD
Rate of Fire: 5 shots per melee
Payload: 36 rds
Cost: 180,000 credits

b) 80mm Gun-Mortar---One version intended for overseas sales in newly reopenned Spain outfits the turret with a locally-produced ‘Mangonel-80’ 80-mm Gun Mortar----This weapon, named for an ancient low-trajectory catapult, trades the range and power of the 120-mm mortar and the 105mm L7 cannon, for a higher rate of fire, and capability in BOTH the direct- and indirect-fire roles. The turret also mounts a light rail gun in an adjacent mount.
Range:(Direct Fire) 3,200 ft
(Indirect Fire) 26,000 ft (5 miles!)
Damage:(Fragmentation)1d4x10 +5 MD to 25 ft blast area
(Armor-Piercing High Explosive) 2d4x10 MD to 6 ft blast area
Rate of Fire: Four times per melee
Payload: 60 rds
Cost: 190,000 credits

c) 2 Pounder 40mm Autocannon---Another variant with export possibilities mounts a turret with a licensed copy of the Farnborough Avionics British 2-Pounder ‘Pom-Pom’ Autocannon Mark IV, a weapon with both ground-fire and air defense capabilties. The turret mounts a single weapon, with 75- degree elevation, and associated air warning/target acquisition/tracking radar(15 mile range and +2 to strike airborne targets).
Weight: (Basic Single-Barrel Weapon, sans mounting) 600 lbs
Weight of Shells: (HV Round) 1.81 lbs
(LV Rounds) 2.0 lbs
Range:(High Velocity Round)5,000 yards(15,000 ft)
Maximum AA altitude w/ HV shells: 13,300 ft
(Low Velocity Round) 3,800 yards(11,400 ft)
Damage:(Fragmentation) 4d6 MD to 6 ft blast radius
(High Explosive) (HV) 1d4x10+3 MD to 1.5 ft blast radius
(LV)1d4x10 MD to 1.5 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: 120 rounds per minute(or up to 30 rds per melee)
Payload: 100 rds in turret box magazine
Cost: (Basic Weapon) 70,000 credits (200,000 credits for entire weapons package)
High Velocity(Fragmentation) shells cost 200 credits apiece, 245 credits for HE
Low Velocity(Fragmentation) shells cost 180 credits apiece, 200 credits for HE

Other variants include the following:
d) Copperhead ATML-----Replaces the gun armament with a twin-box launcher for short range anti-tank missiles
Range: 1 mile
Mega-Damage: High Explosive 2d4x10 MD, (6 ft blast radius)
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1, 2, or 4
Payload: 12(6 per launch box)
Bonuses: +5 to strike
Market Cost: 80,000 credits for the launcher, 10, 000 credits per missile

e) ADML----Air Defense Missile Launcher---Like the ATML turret, this replaces the gun turret with twin box launchers for medium-range air defense ‘smart’ missiles for company-level battlefield air defense. Typically carries 4 MRMs per launcher, for a total of 8.
Market Cost:100,000 credits for the launcher. Missiles cost extra

f) Medium Laser Cannon(PS-MLC-01)---In order to address the complaint about there not being enough energy weapon options for the Wolfhound, PS offers up a MLC weapon( 6,000 ft range, 1d4x10 MD per blast, EGCHH, 120 shot battery for conventional liquid-fuelled/electric models---recharges at 1 shot every 15 minutes...or unlimited linked to a nuclear powerplant. 5 million credits bought from Paladin Steel)

Twin-Long Barrel 20mm Automatic Cannon
Range:(Maximum) 7,000 yards(21,000 ft)
(Effective) 2,500 yards(7,500 ft)
Damage:(20 mm) 1d4 MD per shell at 7,500 ft or less, 1 MD per shell up to 21,000 ft
4d6 MD per 5 rd burst(1d6 MD at maximum range)
1d4x10+4 MD per 10 rd burst (2d6 MD at maxium range)
Airburst does 1d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius(single shot)
(20mm TX-1)4d4 MD per shell(2d4 MD per shell up to 21,000 ft)
1d6x10 MD per 5 rd burst
2d6x10+4 MD per 10 rd burst
Airburst does 4d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius(single shot)
(Wood rds) 6d6 SDC per shell(1d6x10 HP to vampires)
2d4x10 SDC per 5 rd burst(2d4x10 HP to vampires)
2d4 MD per 10 rd burst (3d6x10 HP to vampires)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 450 rds per gun

(For the sake of convenience)
Paladin Steel Greyhound Armored Car
“Don’t call my car ‘old’, it’s ‘VINTAGE’! This oldie comes by its grey legit! It’s a VETERAN!”

A cheap, mass-produced MDC IFV, typical of PS’ early product-lines, which got it established in the heavy equipment market. The Greyhound is decidedly unspectacular, but offers a cheap, easily-maintained light- MDC vehicle for lower-end buyers, who can’t front the money or the technical support for more sophisticated systems. True, a well-armed hovercycle or power-armor can carve thru them, but a small town militia, armed with a squad of these things, can still do some substantial damage to an intruder.

(Update:) The GAC-01 has long passed from frontline service with any PS/GNE unit, but its sheer simplicity and low cost mans that every town has a few(typically much modified) in the municipal motorpool . PS/ASI often hands out tooling and licenses to satellite communities and local militias, allowing them to bolster their defenses, or to make some side money selling them, with these easy-to-construct vehicles. Often it’s simply the armored shell of a GAC-01 slipped over the mechanicals of a local vehicle.

Type:PS-GAC-01
Class: Armored Car
Crew: Three(driver, radio operator, gunner)
plus room for 2 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 150
Turret 100
Laser Cannon 20
Wheels(6) 10 each
Height: 7.5 ft
Width: 6.8 ft
Length: 16 ft
Weight: 2.5 tons
Cargo: Small space in crew compartment for a few survival packs, tools, spare parts, and a few rifles/small arms.
Can haul up to three tons via trailer hitch
Powerplant: Conventional Fuel or Electric
Speed: 100 MPH
5 MPH on water
Range: 300 miles before refueling
Market Cost: 70,000 credits, good availability
Comes new with 2 spare tires, tool kit(s), spare parts package, air filters, first aid kit, 2 jerry cans for fuel or water(10 gallons each, and have 5 MDC), and two fire extinguishers. Paladin Steel also offers a 10-20% discount for orders of 10 or more vehicles.
Systems/Features:
Radio: 20 mile range
IR/Visible Light Headlights
Movable Spotlight
Air Filtration System; Rather than a self-contained NBC-proofed closed environment cabin, the Greyhound has a cheaper air filtering system that draws outside air in thru bionic lung-style filtration elements.
Amphibious
Trailer-Hitch
Options: Additional Armor. Applique MDC armor can be added at 25,000 credits per 10 MDC, max of 100 MDC can be added.

Weapons Systems:
1)25 mm Cannon
The Greyhound’s “big gun” is a turret-mounted 25mm cannon. a rather plain, generic weapon mass produced for the undiscriminating end-user.
Range: 4000 ft
Damage: 1d4 x10 MD per HE shell ; blast radius 8 ft.
Fragmentation: 4d6 MD to 20 ft radius
Plasma/AP : 1d6x10 md to 3 ft radius
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 30 rds

2)Mini-Missile Launcher
Range: Varies
Damage: Varies
Rate of Fire: 1,2,3, or 6(all)
Payload: 6

3)Laser Cannon(co-axial to main gun)
Range: 4000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: Up to six times per melee
Payload: 500 blasts

4)Smoke Launcher
Range: 100 ft
Damage: None, covers a 40 ft area with thick black smoke or tear gas.
Rate of Fire:1,2,4, 6, or 8 (all)
Payload: 8 rds

5) Optional pintle-mount weapon on the turret, typically a rail gun or energy rifle

** Calliope Mini-Missile Launcher Varient
This is a Greyhound converted into a cheap artillery support vehicle with the simple addition of a large box-type mini-missile launcher atop the turret, similar to the “Calliope” launchers mounted on Sherman tanks during WWII
MDC of Launcher: 25
Range: Varies
Damage: Varies
Rate of Fire: 1, 2,5,10, 0r 20(all)
Payload: 20
Cost: 15,000 credits and adds 4,000 lbs to the weight of the vehicle

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Thu Dec 24, 2020 9:47 pm

Here's a few item's I've talked with taalismn about.

PS-GrAR-05B Gravitonic Assault Rifle Extension

(aka ‘ Long Thumpa’)
”First off, there’s more to it than just a bigger barrel. There’s some bits in the stock and the firing chamber as seen some notable alterations, so you can’t just put it on an older gun. A decent field armorer can convert it given a few minutes, and if you go to an outlet the exchange cost is only 6K for a complete set. You can use the old barrel and stock for closer range fire fights, and it remains compatible with their ammo mods. It's definitely not a cheap gun, and the damage trails off in the extended range, but the better shot grouping makes the big bursts usable. It's still lighter than the old -15, so Wolfpack can suck on it.”
----General Vlar Reltish, CAF Ground Forces

Extending the range of the Thumpa was not a simple task, with the gravitic effects being a complex interaction of several factors. A large part of the reason for the weapon’s good damage potential was that its performance was optimised for its effective range, and making it shoot past that would force some compromises. However, it was thought that it was worth looking into regardless, and after the Minion War an upgrade kit to the Thumpa was released. Using a variable focus gravitic accelerator design, the ‘Long Thumpa’ can be fired in short and long range modes with the flick of a switch. While the damage is decreased in Long Range mode, it retains the design’s excellent shot grouping, which means that more rounds land on target.

(Long Range mode) 3d4 for single shot, 1d4x10 per 3-shot burst, and 2d6x10+10 per 10 round burst.

(Long Range mode) 2,000 ft (610m)

(Upgrade Kit) 6,000 credits and a successful Field Armorer or Weapons Engineer roll to install. PS offers to exchange older weapons for new ones with the complete set for only the kit cost

PS-GrHW-01B ‘Flamma’ Heavy Gravitonic Rifle Upgrade

(aka ‘Flamma Mod’)
”The Flamma was already one of the best man portable heavy weapons, and the upgrade only helps. While ideally you wouldn’t want to be using such a big gun in such close ranges, all too often you don’t have a choice. And then there’s all the people that use it as a PA/Cyborg weapon, where they’d just use it anyway. Wolfpack has naturally put out a similar upgrade to the GR-25, but it's both blatantly a copy cat and still needs externally charged ammo, so people know its second best by a large margin. The Flamma’s shot grouping remains its big claim to fame, and Wolfpack hasn’t come close.”
----General Vlar Reltish, CAF Ground Forces

While good for infantry use, the Long Thumpa is considered inferior to the Flamma for PA and Cyborgs due to its still inferior range. However, there is an argument that its shorter range mode is of notable utility, so an upgrade kit for the heavier weapon was developed for close quarter fire fights. The changes were substantially different, as the Flamma houses a full gravitionic generator rather than using externally charged G-Clips, which more than triples the weapon cost but greatly increases range and cuts ammunition costs by more than 75%. Improvements in Paladin Steel’s gravitonic technology keeps the overall weight the same despite variable focus components, and the gains in damage potential are very meaningful when they are relevant, such as a boarding or urban combat action.

(Long Range mode) 3d4 for single shot, 1d4x10 per 3-shot burst, and 2d6x10+10 per 10 round burst.

(Long Range mode) 4,000 ft (1220m)

(Upgrade Kit) 8,000 credits and a successful Field Armorer or Weapons Engineer roll to install. PS offers to exchange older weapons for new ones with the complete set for only the kit cost

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Fri Dec 25, 2020 4:32 am

And here's one last thing for the night.

Suhkoi/SevAir Su-57TW ‘Archfelon’ Air Superiority Fighter
“While he stole it off the Azhur, Seriyev had to have had his eyes drawn by the ‘Felon’ name. He’s a back-stabbing rat through and through, but he’s good at the game and knows when not to try something. It's a damn good craft as well, and is likely the best design that's yet been produced in Russia. Sadly the GNE has multiple designs that easily surpass it, and far more of them as well. The Yankey’s have always loved having control of the air, and their focus on more refined designs has all too often resulted in them surpassing the motherland in that regard. This is why the First Sovietski had so many SAM platforms, and the replacement for the Firefang can’t come soon enough.”
--- General Gavriil Shkuro, Secretary of the Sovietski Air Corps

“The more capable elementals are something of a double edged sword if you treat them like pieces of equipment, but if you work with them they can be cooperative. Whatever they did to make the cyberlink work gives you mental contact with them, and if you put the work in you can build a relationship. Most of the Warlord people that have been in them consider it akin to gaining a horse’s trust, which is a workable analogy. They seem to REALLY enjoy tangling with the Fire Elemental jets of the Neo-Vikings, and have nothing against being used against the Azhur’s Ice Birds. If anything, they’re more shy about the sensors being fired up than stealth pilots.”
--- Anonymous, Farnborough Aviation consultant

“When they said that the Elementals in the thing are smart predators, they were understating it. Based on the notes, they hunt in mated pairs and are primarily ambush predators, but being from the Elemental Plane of Air gives it a big twist. Beyond simply understanding air combat, they also GET the Stealth/EWAR game, which you can tell due to the feedback from the Cyberlink. Most of them actually enjoy being in a fighter jet, and can parse the rest of it though their lenses. Maintenance techs are seen as lesser flock mates doing grooming activities, which are important to keep the edge. Missiles are interpreted as fragmented lessers being used to attack, but they’re fragile enough that a good lightning blast can kill them first. They also know how to use the TW systems if you let them, and they’re not bad at their timing either.”
--- Anonymous, Seriyev War Camp Pilot

In early 112 PA Warlord Seriyev reached out to the GNE to help him conduct a daring raid into Azhur territory, having located the facility where they were both producing their SU-27s and developing its successor, based on the stealth capable Su-57. No one wanted the Azhur to have such capabilities, so a plan was formed. As both Seriyev and the GNE desired to have an indepth look at the icy overlord’s TW production methods, it was agreed that a commando operation would storm the facility and capture whatever documentation, equipment, and Klia personnel they could. The facility was built on a nexus point, and Seriyev had their Rift schedule for months in advance, so it was possible to use the GNE’s growing corps of Dimensional Pathfinders to extract the force the same way. The operation itself was conducted in late 112 PA, and despite the usual list of unexpected complications it was a major success. As the GNE had far better craft available, the recovered tooling and most of the production staff were turned over to Seriyev, who then went on to finish developing it as his new primary fighter.

Some speculate that the biggest draw of the Su-57 for Seriyev was it’s historical NATO reporting name; Felon. It being a capable stealth aircraft and undeniably Russian only helped, along with stealing several matches on the Azhur. The original Azhur prototypes mirrored the original, but Seriyev reasoned that the more refined engineering methods of humanity could improve its layout. To start with, much of the internal systems were taken from the Paladin Steel F-24 Batelour and Farnborough Aviation/Hanger-18B J-350 Draken II, which increased capabilities, sped up development, and allowed for parts to be purchased on the open market if need be. The internal airframe had already been partially redesigned to take advantage of the internal fuel tanks being redundant, but engineers on loan from Farnborough Aviation and the Sovietski were able to take it much further. One of the lucky breaks of the development was that the advanced Air Elemental engines produced a substantial amount of electrical power with some slight modifications, removing the need to install a complicated or massive nuclear power plant.

Externally, it is almost identical to the original, but there are key differences. The first and most significant of which is that the primary internal bays have been combined, with M-Factor materials allowing the divider to be removed and larger ordinance to be carried. Less notable changes are the addition of a pair of pulse lasers (copies of the PS-RFL-25, which is itself a copy of a Coalition States weapon) above the front air intakes, and the duplication of the primary cannon mount on the other side of the cockpit. This did require a substantial reworking of the sensor systems, but the removal of the internal fuel tanks meant that there was plenty of room to move things around. The secondary internal pays have been slightly changed to be able to fit mini-missile pods, and given its role and capabilities there is some argument to using them.

One of the breakthroughs the Azhur were working on was using a more aggressive and capable form of minor Air Elemental to power their aircraft. The lead developer, Cornelian Dravite, had been renowned for millenia among the Azhur as the foremost expert on taming and making use of their mindless cousins, and Seriyev’s Soldati Tumen managed to prevent his personal notes from being destroyed. In addition to putting the Azhur back to square one, Seriyev was able to trade access to them with Hanger-18B to help reestablish the purloined production equipment at the eastern nexus of the Old Moskva lay lines, which the Sovietski permitted in exchange for a more formal peace arrangement and to start damming up the energy going into the most infamous Deadzone. It also gave them more access to Farnborough Aviation, which had joined the project as a technical consultant, which greatly helped their own aircraft development efforts. The Azhur would manage to reconstitute their efforts and release their version a year after Seriyev, and while limited would be similar in broad strokes.

Spoiler:

Suhkoi Su-35TW ‘Frost Pup/Fire Pup’ Multi-Role Fighter
“I know not of what has changed, only that things have. They have given me a new plane, and they expect me to do more with it. They have not told me why, and I tell me to obey. This is how things always are. This is how things have always been. This is how things will always be. I wonder if the enemy knows this feeling.”
--- Klia sadree

“It's definitely better than the older -27, but it's still short of our new birds. Other than the GNE’s Super-Tigers simply clubbing all of us, the Sovietski have almost finished whatever they’re calling their Firefang replacement. It’s likely better than a -57 without the magic, but the magic is why you get the -57 really. The -35s are still quite competitive, which means we won’t be able to club them so easily now, but that was never going to last. But if they’re still limited to aping old
+designs, we’ll be able to stay ahead of them, and we should hope that lasts.”
--- Anonymous, Seriyev War Camp Pilot

“Whoever the hell Seriyev has piping him intel has gotten us the rough specs for their Su-35 converion, and it's more or less exactly what you’d expect based on what we see from their Su-57 development. It's simply a better version of the Su-27, but they plan on making a lot more of them. They’ve already started incorporating more conventional TW enchantments and batteries, so that’s not a real surprise. Unfortunately, most of their production is also shifting back to their home plane or similarly secure dimensions, so it's unlikely we’re going to get another big commando strike off like last time. We’re also seeing them drift more from the historical design with specifics, so they might just come up with a lot more homebrew soon. Gods know there’s no end of abandoned Russian concepts that never went anywhere.”
--- Somebody

The Dravite Raid would cast a shadow over the leadership of the Azhur’s expeditionary forces, and no small number of heads would roll as a result. They had clearly VASTLY underestimated the natives, and losses among their remaining inventory of older craft were exceeding production. Multiple things needed to be done, among which was the development of a new primary fighter craft to replace their Mig-21s. While the Su-57 was still the ideal format for their higher end Azhur use craft, their Klia thralls clearly needed something better, so the still new Su-27 conversion was updated to the more advanced Su-35. Enough remained of Cornelian Dravite’s work to piece together what he envisioned for future craft, so the larger craft would be able to compensate for its mass with better engines.

Compared to the original Su-27 conversion, the Su-35 is simply more. While having identical performance in the air, it simply carries more ordinance and is more durable. Both gun options of the Su-27 have been mounted, increasing its direct fire capabilities substantially. The reinforced wings are able to carry larger items such as full ton bombs, making it a multi-role design. Magic systems were simplified, with the Cold Exhaust capabilities found to be not particularly useful against missiles and their enemies now knowing to stay further away, and the Ley Line Booster being only situationally relevant. The canard wings of the Su-37 were considered, but not thought to be worth the trouble.

Simultaneously, it was noted that the Neo-Vikings were under considerable pressure, and while they were considered nothing more than pawns their removal would be highly problematic. Thus, this more advanced design was offered to them, and they would immediately alter it to fit their tastes. The Air Elementals were replaced with Fire ones, the Ice Shard Cannon was replaced with a similar Fireball version, and the Invisibility system was replaced with the ‘Comet’ Mode of their Mig-27 Flogger. As the new design had far greater firepower and double the ordinance capacity of the Flogger, they have begun phasing it out as well as their Mig-21s. To compensate for the lack of control assistance from Air Elementals, their mystic ‘Afterburner’ has been installed, which allows it to serve as a replacement for their near extinct Mig-31s.

The Azhur, being the ones with the production facilities for them, are retaining the Mig-31 as an interceptor after replacing the 23mm cannon with a 30mm GSh-30, and work is being done to refine and simplify the design for faster production. Production for the Su-35 on the other hand is being established in several secure and unpopulated single planet dimensions, which will hopefully prevent enemy action from disrupting them like the Su-27. The projected numbers for the jets, less capable close air support craft, ground vehicles, RPA, and watercrate are quite substantial, if far less than the total output of Paladin Steel’s sprawling network of outdimensional complexes. Like a glacier, the Azhur take a great deal of force to turn once they have committed to a course, and the losses so far are considered either trivially irrelevant or politically convenient to those higher up the food chain. Now comes time for an actual war.

Spoiler:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Sat Dec 26, 2020 1:04 am

This is where Azhur and their kit is being posted, so have the garbage that they're having the Klia PBI use.

Azhur Klia-Use Infantry Equipment
“The Azhur have taken the memetic cliches about 20th Century Communists and their willingness to take massive infantry losses and ran with it, having an almost completely docile thrall species at their disposal and placing almost no value in them. Both the Soviet Union and the Chinese Communists were actually ahead of the curve in infantry usage and tactics in the post-WWII era, but the icy bastards just don’t give a damn about their lessers, with Klia being as expendable as the munitions they shoot. From what we’ve managed to piece together, they have the population to keep going at it like this effectively indefinitely, and the only reason they have to stop is internal politics. We’ve seen some hints that this whole campaign is being used to usher off politically inconvenient rivals, so there’s no hope there either. We’re going to be at this until we can actually hit back at their home plane.”
---Excerpt from a GNE Intelligence Report on the Azhur campaign.

“Objectively speaking, their tactics aren’t bad if you assume that they have effectively infinite manpower and no opportunity cost for using it. Working from the perspective that their only limitation is their ability to ship material from their home land, and their iceberg motherships show how meaningful that is, their forces are quite close to an ideal composition for what they have to work with. Our only real hope is to storm whatever local forces they have and prevent reinforcements, which means that we need to have our allies interdict their oceanic shipping and have our forces reach and secure the Ley Lines as fast as possible. We cannot afford to let them have a foothold on the mainland as they develop more capable combatants, so the time to strike is now. I am reasonably sure that the GNE and the Sovietski will agree, and Seriyev will not be able to resist making use of the opportunity. Issue the deployment orders; we start advancing in six days.”
---Warlord Brugasov addressing his War Council, early 112 PA.

“Ours is not to wonder why. Ours is to do and/or die.”

While the Azhur themselves use various forms of magic, their Klia servitors most definitely are not worth the effort of producing Techno-Wizard items on the infantry scale. Thus, they make due with what are primarily knock-offs of cost effective designs that the Azhur’s scrying efforts have retrieved, with Ishpeming’s Northern Gun and the Russia’s Warlords being the largest source due to their more rugged nature. As the Azhur operate in arctic conditions, hardier forms of equipment are preferred, and ideological concerns make Ion weapons substantially more popular than the simpler Lasers, although the conceptual purity of direct light has enough appeal to overlook the heat based damage mechanism. As the Azhur are a supernatural race, and lightning immunity is a reasonably common Air and Water Warlock spell, efforts have also been made to field a number of effective Russian projectile weapons, as well as North American ordnance launchers. Finally, it was simply too far a stretch to grant their thralls M-Factor durability, so a number of practical armors have been introduced.

Overall quality is held to be a bit above Northern Gun and old school Warlord inventory, but their primary feature is the production numbers. Several planet sized and uninhabited dimensions have been colonized to serve as factory worlds, and the output of all industries has already surpassed Ishpeming. As the primary limitation for their technology level is their willingness to expend resources to equip their tralls, they could likely surpass the Coalition in equipment quality if they wished to, but this is unlikely to be the case. Their basic strategy is (ironically) the most memeticly Soviet, with mass numbers of less complicated units overwhelming their opposition. Predictably, the calculus of the Azhur is as cold as their heart analogs, and nothing short of threatening them directly will make this change.

Spoiler:

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sun Dec 27, 2020 2:11 am

Arzhur/Klia Light Land Vehicles:
Besides aircraft, the Arzhur have been testing land combat equipment. Though initially they slavishly copied designs they acquired from the Warm, which helped disguise their presence in their first attacks, they’ve been quickly improving their arsenal, with more and more designs showing unique qualities.

“Icikill’ Heavy Power Armor
“You ever been dumb enough to stick your tongue on a cold metal surface during a REALLY cold day and find yourself stuck? That’s what the Arzhur do to their power armor soldiers, over virtually their whole damn bodies. Those poor blighters are fused to their suits and when their suits go up, so do the pilots. Most of the time, it’s no great loss, because the Klia are trying to kill you most of the time, but every once in a while you get one that doesn’t join the rest, or tries to surrender--”

“Those aren’t our Canadian auxiliaries coming up the trail! Those are Arzhur ice-troopers! Man your posts, we have enemy armored on our perimeter!”

A recent development seen on the battlefield has been the introduction of power armor with the Arzhur forces.
The Icikill seems patterned after common Northern Gun designs, examples of which the Arzhur likely either captured in raids on Northern Canada, or got when they hired local mercenaries. The Arzhur have even developed their own form of Northern Gun’s Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, using ‘slugs’ of solid-metallic hydrogen. The power armors are heavily insulated, protecting the operator from the ravages of heat and heat-based weapons, while also making them virtually invisible to heat sensors. The outward resemblance to the popular Northern Gun Samson has also helped, at least initially, to conceal the true origins of these suits.
The Arzhurs’ nasty little twist on power armor is how they fill them; Icikills are manned entirely by the Arzhurs’ Klia slave-soldiers, who are effectively welded inside their suits when deployed. This makes abandoning a damaged Icikill virtually impossible, as is defection; prying even a cooperative Klia from their power armor suit is a difficult and excruciatingly painful process.
It’s also rumored that the Arzhur have learned to rig some of the PBIs(Poor Bloody Infantry) with command-detonation weapons of mass destruction, starting with Freezone Bombs(and, it’s rumored, the sublimating body of the Klia is used to fuel the cold gas dispersion prior to detonation).
Still, overall, the Icikill is surprisingly mobile and durable for a unit assigned to Klia cannonfodder. However, this simply means that the Arzhur Icelords expect their slave-soldiers to push harder, farther, faster and accomplish more with these suits, and they show no compunction about throwing their armor-clad legions headlong at the local Earth opposition.

Type: Arz-PA01 Icikill
Class: Infantry Power Armor
Crew: One Klia
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 320
Head 100
Shoulder Plates(2) 90 each
Arms(2) 90 each
Hands(2) 30 each
Forearm Weapons Attachments(2) 50 each
Legs(2) 150 each
Height: 11 ft
Width: 5 ft
Length: 4.8 ft
Weight: 1,000 lbs
Cargo: None, except what can be carried externally
Physical Strength: Robotic P.S. of 30
Powerplant: Cold Fusion Deuterium Slug Battery, good for 1,400 hours
Speed:(Running) 130 MPH
(Leaping) 25 ft up/across(the Icikill lacks the Samson’s thrusters for assisted jumps)
(Flying) Not possible
(Water) Can run along the bottom of bodies of water at 20 MPH, maximum depth of 2,000 ft.
Market Cost: Unknown: none have been known to have been captured in a usable condition to be sold.
Systems of Note:
Basic Power Systems, plus:
*Thermal Stealth---The Icikill runs exceptionally cool, making detection with thermal-imaging systems difficult, if not impossible. -50% on Read Sensory Instruments rolls when using heat sensors.

Weapons Systems:
1) Ice Blades---Both forearms can extend a 4 ft blade of superhard ice
Range: Melee; 4 ft blade
Damage: 4d6 MD, 6d6 MD to fire creatures, or DOUBLE damage to those noted as being susceptible to cold-based attacks. Can also attempt to parry energy blasts(with no bonuses).

2) Forearm Weapons(1-2)---Mounted on one or both forearms is a point-and-shoot weapon. Here, too, the Arzhur or their Klia tech-servitors have been experimenting.
a) Tri-Laser--Identical in configuration to the Northern Gun Samson’s tri-laser, but using the more durable, a lower temperatures, workings of the Russian G-294R
‘Toughman” laser rifle.
Range: 1,600 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD single shot, 4d6 MD double blast, 6d6 MD per three-shot burst
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

b) Ion Blaster---Copied from Russian weapons, but improved through Arzhur super-chilled superconductive power systems
Range: 1,900 ft
Damage: 5d6 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

c) Machine Gun---Standard light GPMG familiar to cyborgs.
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage: (Conventional) 1d6x10 SDC/HP per 10 rd burst
(Exploding) 1 MD single round, 2d4 MD ten-shot burst
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 100 rd box magazine

d) Orb of Cold---This magic weapon throws a ‘snowball’ of intensely cold material that bursts on impact, doing cryothermic damage.
Range: 1,000 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD, plus victims must save versus magic or suffer debilitating numbness; -1 APM, -2 initiative, -1 strike/parry/dodge, and speed is reduced by 10%. Effects last 1d4 minutes, and are NOT cumulative.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

e) Mini-Missile Launcher----4 mini-missiles

f) Flamer---More of a terror weapon for the Arzhur/Klia, it is fueled by a rapid-sublimation liquid fuel that generates a flame more akin to plasma.
Range: 500 ft and can fill a 10 ft area
Damage: 4d6 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 25 blasts

g) Grenade Launcher---Copy of the Wellington WI-GL4, and using the same ammunition.
Some Icikillers have been sighted using a 30mm grenade format similar to that used on the Sovietski Thunderhead assault rifle, but most Arzhur power armors use the smaller WI weapon, presumably in order to streamline logistics with the regular Klia infantry.
Range: 1,000 ft
Damage: (Fragmentary) 4d6 MD to 12 ft radius
(Armor Piercing) 1d4x10 MD to 3 ft blast area
Smoke, chemical, and illumination rounds are also available.
Rate of Fire: Bursts of 1-4 grenades
Payload: 24 rd drum

h) Cryocrete Sprayer----This chemical sprayer sprays a coolant liquid that freezes on contact, encasing an unlucky target in resin-like ice. Usually reserved for special capture missions, but occasionally used for fire control and quick battlefield repairs.
Range: 150 ft and fills a 10 ft area
Damage: The chilling gas freezes into a polymer-like substance that hardens in less than 2 seconds, and can take 10 MDC per cubic meter(a humanoid typically needs at least two meters to be totally enveloped). The material steals heat, so those in bare skin contact with the polymer take 1d4 Hit Point damage per minute of being stuck in the stuff. At zero HP, the victim must roll versus coma/death to avoid lapsing into a hypothermia-induced coma(HP loss to the cold stops at zero, but the victim can still take damage from other sources and die from that damage) while a save means the victim is still conscious, but utterly weak and (roll versus insanity) delusional and disoriented; -1d4 on initiative, -20% to perform skills).
The polymer is also used by the Arzhur/Klia to patch holes in their field shelters and ice boats, and to put out fires.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 10 blast tank

i) Ice Shard Thrower---Some claim the Arzhur have modified this weapon to ape the AR-110 Razor Disc Launcher in throwing snowflake-shaped ice projectiles.
Range: 1,500 ft
Damage: 1d4 MD to a 4 ft area.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3) (Optional) Use of Handheld Weapons------The Icikill typically carries a heavy weapon like a rifle. The Arzhur have typically been using scavenged Russian weapons, and have been knocking off a few other designs:
a) 12.7mm Machine Gun
Range: 6,600 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 SDC single rd, 1d6 MD per 10 rd burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH, 550 rpm
Payload: 500 rds

b)Light Rail Gun
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4x10 MD per 20 rd burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 2,000 rd drum

c) 23mm Gun Pod
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d6 MD single shot, 6d6 MD per six-shot burst.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 240 rds

d) 30mm Cannon---A cut-down GSh-30 aircraft cannon.
Range: 6,500 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single rd, 1d6x10 MD two rd burst,
Rate of Fire: Single shot or two-round burst
Payload: 275 rds

4) (Optional) Self-Destruct(?)---While Icikills already seem to incorporate a limited self-destruct system in that most of their components rapidly burn or melt away when destroyed or captured, leaving little if anything to be salvaged or studied(and even attempting to examine the cold fusion system will result in a pressure explosion doing 3d6 MD to a 10 ft area, plus releases a cloud of freezing vapor that does 3d6 HP damage to anybody breathing it) , there are rumors, based on battlefield reports, of the power armors carrying more destructive means of self-immolation. For the most part, these ‘suicide’ charges appear equivalent to a long range missile warhead, but some battlefield reports suggest the use of cut-down ‘freezone’ munitions is also possible.

5) Hand to Hand Combat---Use basic PA combat(Rifts MB).
Restrained Punch 1d4 MD
Full Strength Punch 2d4 MD
Power Punch 4d4 MD(counts as 2 attacks)
Kick 2d8 MD
Leap Kick 4d8 MD(counts as 2 attacks)

Variants
Most observed variants of the Icikill have been in armaments, and raiding parties have been seen toting one-shot Katyusha rocket launchers(with one or more accompanying armors carrying one or two reloads apiece).
There have been some reports of more elaborate Icikills fully fitted with jump jets and able to generate shields or extra cladding of ice, though these remain unconfirmed by hard evidence. However, such modifications seem well within the capabilities of the Arzhur and would likely be fitted to Arzhur personal power armor if and when they take the field.

Arz-AGEV01 ‘Razis’ Hover Sled
(aka ‘Cheapskate’)

“If the Arzhur take to copying the Asateague, which is what this thing reminds me of, we can expect a lot more of them, carrying a more diverse selection of weaponry, to the months to come. And if there are as many of the cold-blooded bastards as we’re hearing indications of, we’re looking at Xiticix-levels of swarm. Quantity has a quality all its own in numbers like that. We best be prepared for the worst.”
---Lieutenant Scotti Wilan, Ranger, Greater New England Regular Army

“They’re like the clouds of flies that hatch out during the brief summers we have here; flitting, biting, obnoxious annoyances that are EVERYWHERE and you can’t swat them all! At least the flies freeze in the autumn; these damn things are out ALL the time!”
---Anonymous Burgasov Camp Reaver.

The ‘Razis’ is the Arzhur version of the Warrior Assault Hoversled, only using cheaper materials and lesser technologies. The Razis resembles the ‘aerosleds’ occasionally used by the Russians in the extreme cold of their northern territories; an aircraft-like cockpit mounted on ski-runners and propelled by a rear-mounted propellor, only in this case, the Arzhur version uses more powerful hoverjets to carry the vehicle over non-frozen surfaces. Both armor and armament are light, but in keeping with the Razis’s intended role as a light, fast, and ultimately expendable raider, scout, and skirmisher. Likewise, the powrplant is the equivalent of an internal combustion engine, but instead uses a ‘slug’ of stabilized metallic hydrogen isotope to fuel an exotic cold fusion system. This has the advantages of keeping costs down, uses low-temperature technology familiar to the Arzhur, and prevents the vehicle from being commandeered or reused for very long before its hard-to-acquire(at least by non-Arzhur/Klia forces) fuel runs out.
Besides the Arzhurs’ Klia hordes, the Razis has also appeared in the service of the Neo-Vikings. A number of the hovercraft have been captured and reused by various smaller war bands as well. Performance-wise, the Razis sits between the Russian Land Flier and the Warrior Assault Hoversled, and, given the mongering of the latter by the Warlords’ bands, many smaller outfits wanting mobility and firepower better than the Land Flier have taken to salvaging or buying up captured Razises. This has occasionally led to some ID problems in the war zones, with some examples reportedly changing hands four or five times before finally being destroyed due to misidentification. Burgasov regards them with contempt as annoyances, as his own forces are well-supplied with locally-made hoversleds and PS-made Asateagues(though he has no problem with his forces ‘recycling’ them), while Seriyevhas nicknamed them ‘cigarettes’ and has made use of captured examples to re-introduce his turncoat operatives back into the Arzhur war camps.

Type: Arz-AGEV01 ‘Razis’
Class: Light Attack/Scout Hovercraft
Crew: 2+1 one additional passenger/gunner can be squeezed in.
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 200
Armored Windshield 80
Top Weapon Turret 25
Razor Runners(3) 45 each
Height: 7 ft
Width: 8 ft
Length: 10 ft
Weight: 1.2 tons
Cargo: Small space in cabin for sidearms and survival gear
Powerplant: Cold Fusion Deuterium Slug Battery, good for 1,400 hours
Speed: Hover to 220 MPH, usually 2-10 ft off the ground, but can attain a maximum altitude of 200 ft.
Market Cost: A number of Razises have been captured intact, though their initial usefulness ends when their SMH Deuterium fuel-slug runs out, at which point the new operators either rip out the Arzhur power systems and replace them with more conventional powerplants, or scrap and recycle the components and materials. Black Market value of 700,000 rubles.
Systems of Note:
Power Armor-equivalent sensors and communications.
Weapons Systems:
1) Nose-Mounted Cannon(2)---Fixed in the nose are two synchronized-fire direct-fire weapons; point the vehicle and shoot.
a) AEG-1, -2, or -3 Rail Guns
b) Machine Gun---Standard light GPMG familiar to cyborgs, though some examples have been seen to carry twin heavy 12.7mm HMGs. 600 rd belt each gun.
c) AGL-2 Grenade Launcher---Copy of the Wellington WI-GL4, and using the same ammunition. 200 round belt per gun.
d) AIR-1 Ion Pulse Rifle---Copy of the NG-IP7. Effectively unlimited shots linked to the sled’s powerplant
e) Pulse Lasers---Seen more often with NeoViking units. They appear to be pulse-chopped adaptations of the WR-15 Wilderness Laser Rifle.
Range: 1,600 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD single shot, 1D4x10 MD three shot pulse burst
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
f) Plasma Cannon---Seen more often with NeoViking units. Identical to the Triax WR-19, only with unlimited shots linked to the Razis’s powerplant.

2) (Optional) Dorsal Weapons Turret---The Razis can mount a roof-mounted weapons turret, usually fitted with a rail gun, heavy machine gun, grenade launcher, light missile launcher, or energy rifle(the Neo-Vikings’ are distinguished by mounting plasma projectors). The turret can be operated remotely by the second crewmember or manually by a third passenger.
a) AEG-1, -2, or -3 Rail Guns
b) Machine Gun---Standard light GPMG familiar to cyborgs(x2), or a heavier 12.7mm model. Typically has a 500 rd box magazine, plus another ready to be swapped in.
c) AGL-2 Grenade Launcher---Copy of the Wellington WI-GL4, and using the same ammunition. 200 round belt per gun.
d) AIR-1 Ion Pulse Rifle(x2)
e)23mm Gun Pod
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d6 MD single shot, 6d6 MD per six-shot burst.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 240 rds

f) 30mm Cannon---A cut-down GSh-30 aircraft cannon.
Range: 6,500 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single rd, 1d6x10 MD two rd burst,
Rate of Fire: Single shot or two-round burst
Payload: 275 rds

g) Plasma Projector(s)---NeoViking examples often mount a Belofsky Plasma Cannon or a pair of Triax WR-19s, linked to the hovercraft’s powerplant.

3) (Optional) Runner-mounted Rocket Launchers---The Razis can carry an AML-1(Arzhur copy of the Wellington WI-23 six-shot mini-missile launcher in each side skid pylon, though the vehicle has also been seen mounting eight-shot AR-M45 launchers(presumably battlefield salvage) and even the monstrous 18-shot AR-M50(though these vehicles seemed to be slightly sluggish due to the encumbrance).

4) Razor Runners(3)---The Razis can ram/run over targets, using its razor-sharp sled runners to produce deep lacerations.
Range: Melee
Damage: 4d6 MD on a sideswipe

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Sun Dec 27, 2020 3:54 am

And here's my contribution. When something is not stated, use the Flying Titan's stat block.
Snowfake Light Flying Power Armor
“The utility of flying Power Armor is obvious, and they are far cheaper to fabricate than a VTOL. The simplest viable model is the ‘Flying Titan’, which is not a bad place to start. Its age and distribution means that it will make an excellent low profile scout, and I imagine that a squad of them would be more effective at dealing with the minor vermin infestation claimed territory than soldiers on foot. Its drawbacks all revolve around it being a small and low cost platform, which make them inescapable really.”
--- Excerpt from deliberations of the Azhur Production Committee.

“*Dismissive Snort*”
--- Just about every human PA pilot and cyborg that runs into them.

“The Snowfake is most definitely not a frontline platform by modern standards, but the ubiquity of its base design makes it ideal for long range scouting purposes. Assuming you do something to disguise the hair, it’s difficult to tell a well trained Klia scout from any of the wanders out here, although Klia scouts defect at a higher rate than just about any other type. On average, we pick up between 6 to 9 every month, and after a power plant swap they’re good to go for our own purposes. The Russians sell the suits they get at a decent discount, and PS West ships us a supply of Solid Oxide engines to keep them running.”
--- Excerpt from a Tundra Ranger Intelligence report.

The Snowfake is the second class of power armor to be spotted in the ranks of Azhur’s forces, and is clearly based on the classic Flying Titan. While many consider the Flying Titan to be a borderline heavy exoskeleton, its full sensors and nuclear power plant clearly marked it as a full Power Armor, and the Azhur treat their equivalents as such. The fundamental design of the Flying Titan makes welding it together over its pilot counter productive, with its lightweight construction meaning that taking it off was effectively the same as stripping it for maintenance. The primary difference is the power source and propulsion system, with the Snowfake using a solid-metallic oxide fuel slug system and using extremely high pressure air jets to fly. Careful analysis of recovered units reveals that the compression blades are slightly enchanted with something similar to the Enchant Weapon spell, making them substantially more effective than they should be.

The Azhur primarily use them as scouts and light infantry support, with the majority of actions involving it being skirmishes between similar light scouting forces and attacks on poorly defended towns and villages. As the nature of its use involves it often operating away from Azhur overseers and requiring a degree of independent initiative to be effective, a notable number have defected. The only party that cares to keep them are the Tundra Rangers, who have commissioned Paladin Steel to provide them with Solid Oxide plants to keep them running. As it is almost identical to the old Flying Titan, no one bats an eye over it being used in the wilderness, and some cosmetic changes prevent friendly fire accidents.

Spoiler:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Sun Dec 27, 2020 4:10 am

Based on a few things, among them taalisman's work and Kitsune’s creations. The name was so I could make a joke in the last quote, inspired by a fanfic I'm following.

Paladin Steel/Aegis Stellar Industries VEBA-14EX ‘Ramza’ Exoskeleton
(Aka 'Armsman','Cereberus' (from its shoulder turrets looking like extra heads), 'BGS'(Burt Gummer Suit))

”The nature of infantry warfare in the Three Galaxies is changing, and we best be ahead of it. ‘Frontline’ combat between galactic level forces has become too dangerous for normal EBA to provide sufficient protection, so exoskeletons must step forward. While this level of danger will remain a minority of overall actions, even in the fringe we have seen physically superior races run over lessers without equalizers. This is the same logic that has led to our development of biomods, but hopefully these will be available on a far larger scale. Paladin Steel has a few lines of inquiry into such devices, so a formal tender for such is advisable.”
----Minutes of GNE High Command.

“Compared to the CEPA, the Ramza is simply lighter but more versatile. The base model costs more, but considering that it comes from PS the options list is way longer, and not just for the weapons. The various alternative coatings and under-meshes are worth procurement taking a look at, and the mountings are way more versatile due to their experience with this sort of thing. The biggest issue is that it's too small for them to be comfortable mounting a nuke plant in, so outside of barmy custom units they’re going to be battery powered. I can understand the reasoning, and I can’t say that they’re wrong, but it is something to be aware of.”
----General Vlar Reltish, CAF Ground Forces

”While it's pretty close to the K-Standard, the Ramza is well ahead of it in several areas, which makes every reviewer say it's well worth the extra cost. The CEPA is overall better due to being a full suit of PA, but good luck getting your hands on one. The AJC naturally buys the lion’s share, but there’s enough left over to permeate through their Irregular forces. It's also become a really common TW project due to the availability of an Ectofiber version. While it's never going to replace EBA’s in the frontier, it going to be way more common than full PA pretty soon.”
---- Anonymous, Three Galaxies Soldier’s Review Magazine

*BOOOM* “KNOCK KNOCK IT'S THE FUN POLICE!” *Sounds of MD violence*
---- Horrorhunter Team Beoulve interrupting a mass monster summoning by the Lucavi Dark Coven.

The Ramza is based on a recovered example of NEMA’s FR-EX220 ‘Roscoe’ Exoskeleton, which was found by an Irregular unit somewhere in the Midwest. Development was protractor due to there only being one example, but inspiration would be provided by the K-Standard and post-Minion War CAF CEPA. Intended as an equivalent design, the Paladin Steel engineers included a number of features as standard, mostly drawn from the VEBA-06 ‘Starman’ EBA. The resulting armor doesn’t set any Three Galaxy performance records, but it is quite competitive with the top of the line within its niche. On Rift’s Earth it is the king of the heap by default, and is competitive with many of Northern Gun’s full scale Power Armor offerings in everything but ground speed.

This being a Paladin Steel product, the real meat is in the options list. Beyond the extensive array of weapon mounts, the Ramza has a substantial number of internal modifications available. The only real failings of the suit revolve around it not being a full Power Armor, lacking the speed and agility of the CEPA or the option to mount a nuclear power source. Considering its price point this is considered acceptable, with on average around 3 of the AJC fitted versions costing as much as a single high end PSA-11G3 Gendarme, and they would often win if the Gendarme can’t make use of its relative advantages.

Spoiler:

Type:
MDC/Armor by Location:

Forearms (2)-----------------80 each
Upper Arms (2)---------------80 each
Legs (2)---------------------120 each
*Head-----------------------100
Main Body-------------------200

Statistics:

Height: The suit is four inches (10.1 centimeters) taller than the wearer. Armor is designed to be worn by individuals for five feet (1.52 meters) to seven feet (2.13 meters), although it usually has to be custom fit for the race.
Width: Variable
Length: Variable
Weight: 85 lbs (38.6 kg) without any of the options.

Speed:

Mobility: Good, -10% to physical skills
Running: Triple normal running speed. Leaping distance is increased by 20% or 10 ft (3m), whichever is higher. Running does tire the operator but at 30% of normal rate. Armor is well suited for most terrains, including underwater.
Flight: With an external jetpack only.
Underwater: The Ramza can swim by using the same types of paddling leg and arm movements as a human at a maximum speed of roughly four mph (6.4 km/3.4 knots). It can also walk along the bottom of the sea at about 25% its normal running speed.
Maximum Depth: 500 feet (152.4 meters).

Physical Strength: Either Base PS +10 or 25 (whichever is higher), and is Robotic.

Cargo: Very limited, but it includes mounts for a Jet Pack and either a pair of CAF Power Packs or an ammunition drum on the back. EBA compatible strap harnesses are also commonly used. The operator can wear a Skinsuit underneath.

Power System: Electrical, has a 96 hour battery (Can change out battery in two minutes or recharge battery in thirty minutes). Stored in the hips, two batteries can be used at once.

Market Cost: 300,000 (Phase World) credits for a basic suit, but the options increase it dramatically. Each battery costs 25,000 credits.

Systems of Note:

Standard Phase World EBA features, as well as the following;

*Bonuses: As RPA Combat: Basic, and +1 initiative. It does not have an Elite skill due to its limited features.

*Extended Life Support: 8 hour air supply backed up by 18 hour air recycling system. Temperature range is -200 degrees to 300 degrees ferinhight without discomfort or malfunction..

*Optical Augmentations: The Helmet comes complete with Light filters, IR/UV optics, telescopic magnification (10x magnification), macro-lens (6x magnification), passive nightvision, and Kirilian Aura viewer (detects PPE auras, including those of invisible beings, with 60% effectiveness at 200 ft range, but cannot determine power level or alignment). It has a PA grade HUD Multi-Screen.

*Mini-Radar: 3 mile range in atmosphere (30 miles in space)

*Laser Distancing: 5 mile range (50 miles in space)

*Mini-Periscope: The helmet mounts a small extendable antennae/ fiber-optic telescope that can extend 16 inches out from the helmet and transmit its view to the HUD; perfect for peeking from behind cover.

*Integral Language Translator: Holds about 14 different languages (typically the most common languages in use in the area of operations). Selections can be changed by swapping out the language crystal module and adjusting the new one for an individual's speech patterns (mechanical translators are notorious for not catching/misinterpreting nuances and inflections) .

*Helmet Combat Recorder: This system allows the soldier to record what they see and hear onto three six-hour mini-discs for later transmission/download, or review back at base. To prevent sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands, combat recorders can only be unlocked by special code-keys typically carried by officers; unauthorized tampering will wipe the discs.

*Blur Camouflage: The faster the wearer moves, the greater the distortion; at speeds of 3 or less, no bonus, 4-10; -1 to strike the wearer, 10-16; -2 to strike, 16-22; -3 to strike, 23 or greater, -4 to strike.

*Thermal-Stealth: Copied from CAF armors, Infrared and Thermographic sensors are useless against this armor unless against a heavy differential (near MD level heat).

*Integral First Aid System: Integrated RMK and IRMSS with drug dispenser.

*Gel Sealant: In the event that the suit is punctured, an internal layer of semi-liquid polymer gel quickly ‘clots’ to seal the hole, within 1d6 seconds, hopefully before much internal air is lost, or too much outside atmosphere invades.

*Counter Crush Field Emitter: Gravitic munitions only do half damage to the armor when powered, and the wearer only takes SDC damage divided by 10.

Weapons:

1) Internal Forearm Mounts (2): The sides of the forearms my house any of Paladin Steel’s energy pistols, and the internals are wired to draw from any Power Pack that is mounted. They may be fire linked with Paired Weapons: Energy Pistol. The GNE generally equips their with the PSIP-17/2098 ‘Kepper’ Heavy Ion Pistol

2) External Forearm Mounts (2): There are hardpoints on the bottom of the forearms for use with various weapons. They are wired to draw from any mounted power packs without an exposed cable.
- a) Cyborg Blasters: As normal.
  
  b) Heavy Weapon Mount: Uses a modified version of one of PS’s heavy infantry weapons. It often obstructs the use of the hand.
  
  c) Grenade Launcher: Equivalent to either an PSAGL-23C 23mm Micro-Grenade Launcher Pistol, a PSAGL-30B 30mm ‘Banger’ Grenade Launcher, a PSLAGL-40D 40mm Light Grenade Launcher, or an PSAGL-50A ‘Sneezer’ 50mm Projectile Gun. The magazine sizes are 30, 18, 12, and 8 respectively.
  
  d) Micro-Missile Launcher: As the McMLR-15, with a 24 shot double stacked pod.
  
  e) Mini-Missile Launcher: A pair of double stacked Mini-Missile tubes.
  
  f) Short Range Missiles: A pair of exposed SRMs
  
  g) Medium Range Missile: A single exposed MRM. It’s sheer weight and bulk are problematic, and obstruct the use of the hand.
3) Shoulder Harpoints (2): Each may mount one of the following
- a) Sensor Cluster: Grants sensor performance equal to that of a ground use Power Armor.
  
  b) Mini-Turret: May mount any cyborg blaster or PS energy pistol, slaved to the wearer’s eye movement.
  
  c) Grenade Launcher: As in 2)
  
  d) Micro-Missile Launcher: As in 2)
  
  e) Mini-Missile Launcher: As in 2)
  
  f) Short Range Missile: As in 2)
  
  g) Medium Range Missile: A single exposed MRM. It’s sheer weight and bulk are problematic.
  
  h) Light Vehicle Mounting Brace: For any weapon above 100 lbs but below 300 lbs. Endurance is naturally limited by the Power Packs or whatever ammunition drum can be fitted.
4) Hand Weapons: When dedicated mounts are not available or not appropriate, there are UEL cables in both Upper Arms.

5) Pistol Holsters: The shins include quick draw holsters for various pistol sized items, most often projectile weapons for use against energy immune foes.

6) Hand to Hand: As PS, along with whatever melee weapons are installed.

Options:

*Naruni-style Forcefield: Equivalents to any of Naruni’s infantry scale models can be mounted.

*EM Magshield System: The armor takes half damage from particle and ion weapons, but reduces the battery life by 10%. This is effective against TGE Energy Pulse technology. 20,000 Credits

*Armor Resistances: The armor may be fitted with one of the following.
- *Laser Resistance: The armor takes half damage from laser weapons. 75,000 Credits
  
  *Heat Resistance: The armor takes half damage from plasma weapons. 75,000 Credits
  
  *Impact Resistance: The armor takes half damage from kinetic impacts, like falls, punches, kicks, concussion explosives, slug bullets, and rail guns. 75,000 Credits
  
  *Thermo-Kinetic Resistance: As in DB:8. This is not openly offered. 200,000 Credits
*Undermesh: The armor may be fitted with one of the following
- *Electric Dissipation Mesh: The armor takes half damage from infantry scale electrical (ie Ion) weapons. 50,000 Credits
  
  *Ectofibre Mesh: Magical energy attacks are reduced in damage by 1/3, and the wearer gets to save +1 versus magic, and TW modifications cost 1/3 less. 75,000 Credits
  
  *Psycoactive Mesh: As VBA-UC-1/7 (Pz). 66,000 Credits.
*Model 2 ZapTaps: As in the PS catalogue. 30,000 credits each as most of the guts are effectively already installed. They can be added to the fists and legs.

*Wrist and Boot Blades: 500 credits in additions to the cost of whatever blade weapon you wish to install. It must fit within the dimensions of the forearm or boot heel.

*Integral Micro-Gravity Maneuvering System: Small gas jets at wrists, elbows, shoulders, chest, back, knees, and ankles, plus a gyroscope system, allow for improved maneuverability in zero-gee. Can move the trooper at speeds of 30 MPH, and is good for 6 hours of maneuvering. 20,000 Credits.

*Other Modifications: If you can find an armor mod or feature somewhere else, odds are PS has an equivalent available at a reasonable cost.

*Techno-Wizard Features: As normal Paladin Steel pricing.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sun Dec 27, 2020 8:21 pm

Omegasgundam wrote:Based on a few things, among them taalisman's work and Kitsune’s creations. The name was so I could make a joke in the last quote, inspired by a fanfic I'm following.
Paladin Steel/Aegis Stellar Industries VEBA-14EX ‘Ramza’ Exoskeleton]

(Aka 'Armsman','Cereberus'(from its shoulder turrets looking like extra heads), 'BGS'(Burt Gummer Suit))

“Oh wow!, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished for a power armor that I could take indoors without falling through the floors into the basement, or that could fit into the back of a regular APC! This allows us to scale response to street level, because sometimes you can’t deal with a situation with regular foot soldier issuance gear, but heavy PA anti-armor gear would be overkill.”
—Anonymous GNE soldier

“Great, no excuse now for not accompanying the ‘Borgs, ‘bots, and augs into the scary places.”
—Anonymous GNE soldier

“Lower cost and more options than a fully-exo’ed Naruni Super-soldier suit? Even with the already massive list of options, I’m certain that’s only encouraging the field-techs to come up with new ones! I’ve already heard some discussion of fitting the arms with any of the multi-arm-antagonizer series, and that with some of the multi-armed species in the USA!”

Omegasgundam · Mon Dec 28, 2020 12:13 am

taalismn wrote:
Omegasgundam wrote:Based on a few things, among them taalisman's work and Kitsune’s creations. The name was so I could make a joke in the last quote, inspired by a fanfic I'm following.
Paladin Steel/Aegis Stellar Industries VEBA-14EX ‘Ramza’ Exoskeleton]

(Aka 'Armsman','Cereberus'(from its shoulder turrets looking like extra heads), 'BGS'(Burt Gummer Suit))

“Oh wow!, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished for a power armor that I could take indoors without falling through the floors into the basement, or that could fit into the back of a regular APC! This allows us to scale response to street level, because sometimes you can’t deal with a situation with regular foot soldier issuance gear, but heavy PA anti-armor gear would be overkill.”
—Anonymous GNE soldier

“Great, no excuse now for not accompanying the ‘Borgs, ‘bots, and augs into the scary places.”
—Anonymous GNE soldier

“Lower cost and more options than a fully-exo’ed Naruni Super-soldier suit? Even with the already massive list of options, I’m certain that’s only encouraging the field-techs to come up with new ones! I’ve already heard some discussion of fitting the arms with any of the multi-arm-antagonizer series, and that with some of the multi-armed species in the USA!”

Glad you like it. Next I'll be doing some Sovietski aircraft (mostly Kitsune derivatives). Then I'll explain what was in the Foghakle Contingency Bunker over in Phase World.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Mon Dec 28, 2020 9:02 pm

These are all rehashes of Kitsune's work to one degree or another.
Post Minion War Sovietski Aircraft
While the Sovietski had a number of their more advanced aircraft in the Mendev Bunker, their production required several minerals that were in vanishingly short supply with the collapse of global trade, and decades of attempts at reengineering it met only failure. Many of the higher end technologies available to the Sovietski had similar problems, forcing them to use inferior versions of their already less than cutting edge technology. This would change with access to the minerals of Dedak, with trade relationships forged by the 4th Reserve Motor Rifle Division ending almost all of the extreme rationing. With these doors opened, the Red Army could begin fielding its most capable designs in numbers once again.

Kitsune has art for this one.

Mi-221 ‘Firefly’ Attack VTOL
“The closest equivalent we have is the Cheyenne III, but the Firefly has several key differences. It has less nominal throw weight, but is a hell of a lot faster and more durable. It being a single man craft is a double edged sword, but it's basically always going to be used via cyberlink so the viability isn’t in question. Interestingly they don’t have a Micro-Missile pod for them yet, with their doctrine preferring to go with the big blast of Plasma Minis. Payload is usually SRMs regardless, although it can mount a good number of MRMs for air defense. They should have enough power left to put in an energy weapon or two, but that’s just from our perspective.”

The Mi-221 is a resurrection of a Pre-Cataclysm ground attack aircraft of the Russian Empire, similar in concept to an attack helicopter but far more resilient. The Sovierski had long been forced to make due to the bare bones Red Squall, but its failings were numerous. Only the lack of meaningful field AA weapons among the Warlord Camps made it viable, and the forced proliferation of such due to the attacking Azhur meant that its time in the sun was fast coming to a close. The Mi-221 is simply more, being larger, faster, more durable, and vastly more heavily armed. While only a bit more durable than an armored Heavy Machine, it has more firepower than a Stormbringer, and casually outperforms anything short of the Firefang. The one major change is the upgrading of the engines, using TRIAX designed models to remove the need for cooldown periods.

Spoiler:

Type: Mi-221 ‘Firefly’

Class: Attack VTOL Aircraft

Crew: One (Cyberlink Light Machine)

MDC/Armor by Location:

*Forward 20-mm Rail Guns (2)-----25 each
Nose Ball Turret-------------------------60
Wing Mini-Missile Launchers (2)----50 each
Wings (2)---------------------------------175
Elevators (2)-----------------------------65 each
Rudder------------------------------------65
Lift Engines (2)--------------------------125 each
Thrust Engines (2)---------------------125 each
Reinforced Crew Compartment----125
Main Body--------------------------------325

Destroying a wing will cause the plane to crash.
Destruction of rudders or one elevator will still allow the aircraft to be controlled by the varying the power levels of the engines but aircraft has a penalty of -10 to dodge, and a -30% penalty to all piloting rolls.
Destruction of both of the elevators will leave the plane uncontrollable and the pilot must eject to survive.
The destruction of one of the lift engines will cause the aircraft to crash and destruction of both of the thrust engines will cause the aircraft to crash.
Destruction of one of the thrust engines will reduce to speed by half.
Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will shut the aircraft down completely, rendering it useless and causing it to crash if in flight

Speed

Land: Only possible for take offs and landings as well as for parking and storage. Speed is 40 mph (64 kph).
Flying: 644.9 mph (560 knots/ 1,037.8 kph)
Maximum Altitude: 32,808.4 feet (10,000 meters)
Range: Effectively Unlimited. Thrusters do not overheat due to the TRIAX designed cooling system./list]

Statistics
- Height: 15.1 feet (4.6 meters)
  Width: 37.7 feet (11.5 meters) wings down and 28.5 feet (8.7 meters) with wings folded.
  Length: 34.4 feet (10.5 meters)
  Weight: 9.36 tons (8.5 metric tons) fully loaded.
  Power System: Nuclear, 8 years before refurbishment.
  Cargo: Minimal (Storage for small equipment), does not include hard points.
  Cost: Production cost is 7 million credits.
Systems of Note:
- Standard Sovietski Vehicle Equipment
  
  *Bonuses: +2 to strike, +3 to dodge, +10% to piloting
  
  *Jamming Gear: Causes -25% to detection but when it is active, other vehicles/ base can detect that it is jamming, and some missiles will home in on jamming signals. Jammin also causes a -4 penalty to all radar guided weapons.
Weapons Systems:
- 1) Heavy 20-mm Rail Guns (2): The turret is designed for sixty degree side to side rotation and forty-five degree up and down movement.
  - Range: 6,560 feet (2,000 meters / 2 kilometers).
    MD: 1D4x10 for a half-burst of 10 rounds, 2D4x10 for a full burst of 20 rounds or for both cannons firing linked 10 round bursts, and 4D4x10 for a full burst from both cannons firing linked.
    Rate of Fire: ECHH
    Payload: 500 rounds per gun, 1000 rounds total.
  2) Mini-Missile Launchers:
  - Rate of Fire: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 24 each
    Payload: 24 each, for a total of 48.
  3) Hardpoints (4):
  a) 20mm Rail Guns: As 1) but fixed forward.
  b) Mini-missile Pod: 16 count, volley 16
  c) SRM Pod: 6 count, volley 6
  d) MRM Pod: 3 Count, volley 3
  e) LRM: 1 count
  f) Bombs: twice as many as b) through e)
  
  4) Flares/Chaff Launcher: As Triax style chaff, 12 charges.
Variants:
There is a great deal of thought in replacing the railguns with newly acquired pulse laser designs, but still will likely just be an option rather than a fleet wide swap.

Mi-223 ‘Firebird’ Assault VTOL
“Let's be frank, the Stormbringer was basically an even slower Skybunker that traded troops for more guns, and was realistly dead meat if it ran into a moderately capable AA grid. The Firebird can actually try to survive due to its far better speed and notably better durability, and it has substantially more firepower. We’d use a pair of Dragonflies, but the tech advantage is a bit high for that to be a good comparison, particularly with it outperforming their older VTOL Jet as a dog fighter. Its only real local competitor is the TRIAX Mosquito, which fills a different design role.”

Another resurrected design, the Mi-223 was what inspired the highly downgraded Stormbringer. Heavily influenced by the smaller Mi-221, the -223 competed with the SUH-86 as the primary air transport for the Second Sovietski. Only a handful were present at the Mendev Bunker, so it effectively vanished from their rosters, and resource limitations prevented it from being produced. It would finally return to the skies after the Minion War, featuring TRIAX designed engines and fire control systems. With the numerous flaws of the Stormbringer making themselves felt, they are being replaced as fast as possible, to the degree that its interfering with the production of the Mi-221.

Spoiler:

Type: Mi-223

Class: Attack & Transport VTOL Aircraft

Crew: Three: One pilot, one co-pilot, one communications/sensor officer.

Troops: 16 humans or Light Machines, or 8 Heavy Machines.

MDC/Armor by Location:

*Forward 20-mm Rail Guns (2)-----25 each
Nose Ball Turret-------------------------60
Side Pulse Lasers (4)-----------------40 each
Wing Mini-Missile Launchers (2)----50 each
Wings (2)---------------------------------250
Elevators (2)-----------------------------80 each
Rudder------------------------------------80
Lift Engines (2)--------------------------180 each
Thrust Engines (2)---------------------180 each
Reinforced Crew Compartment----225
Main Body--------------------------------725

Destroying a wing will cause the plane to crash.
Destruction of rudders or one elevator will still allow the aircraft to be controlled by the varying the power levels of the engines but aircraft has a penalty of -10 to dodge, and a -30% penalty to all piloting rolls.
Destruction of both of the elevators will leave the plane uncontrollable and the pilot must eject to survive.
The destruction of one of the lift engines will cause the aircraft to crash and destruction of both of the thrust engines will cause the aircraft to crash.
Destruction of one of the thrust engines will reduce to speed by half.
Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will shut the aircraft down completely, rendering it useless and causing it to crash if in flight

Speed

Land: Only possible for take offs and landings as well as for parking and storage. Speed is 40 mph (64 kph) when traveling and not on take off or landing.
Flying: 581.5 mph (505 knots/ 935.9 kph), 200 mph (321.9 kph) with an underslung cargo load.
Maximum Altitude: 32,808.4 feet (10,000 meters)
Range: Effectively Unlimited. Thrusters do not overheat due to the TRIAX designed cooling system.

Statistics

Height: 16.7 feet (5.1 meters).
Width: 64.0 feet (19.5 meters).
Length: 73.8 feet (22.5 meters)
Weight: 31.2 tons (28.3 metric tons) fully loaded.
Power System: Nuclear, 8 years before refurbishment.
Cargo: Can carry as much as 20 additional tons, usually a full load of Heavy Machines, but Superheavy Machines can be carried either in the cabin (if they will fit) or underneath the vehicle using the cargo hook system. Additionally, there is a crew storage space with a rifle, side arm, suit of light body armor and jetpack for each crew member.
Cost: Production cost is 14 million, and is not available to outsiders.

Systems of Note:

Standard Sovietski Vehicle Equipment

*Combat Computer System: The vehicle has two AIs to control the side lasers, which have proven to be sufficiently reliable in regards to threat identification. They have received improved programming to make their targeting more accurate (+3 to strike) and retain a reasonable response capability (5 attacks per melee).

*Jamming Gear: Causes -25% to detection but when it is active, other platforms can detect that it is jamming, and some missiles will home in on jamming signals. Jamming also causes a -4 penalty to all radar guided weapons.

Weapons Systems:

1) Heavy 20-mm Rail Guns (2): As on the Mi-221

2) Side Pulse Lasers (4): As the S-500 Cyclone, but 4,000 foot (1,220 meter) range. Two are usually firelinked to the same AI.

3) Mini-Missile Launchers: As on the Mi-221

4) Hardpoints (6): As on the Mi-221

5) Flare/Chaff Launchers (2): As Triax style chaff, 12 charges each.

Variants:
There is a great deal of thought in replacing the railguns with newly acquired pulse laser designs, but still will likely just be an option rather than a fleet wide swap.

Combining Kitsune’s Su-47 with parts of his TRIAX Grey Death.

MiG-244 ‘Foxfire’ Multi-Role Fighter
“It's interesting that they didn’t make it a stealth design, but they must have felt that they needed missile trucks more than anything else, and 24 MRMs is nothing to sneeze at for its tech level. Assuming they can rely on the Rat to deal with that sort of work in the short to intermediate run it makes sense, but they have to be working on an inhouse design. I can see an empty space that’s ideal for a few fixed forcefield designs, so they likely lifted a few from one of our depots somewhere. Their GMR purchase is likely a one off, and Intel has it that Kolodenko is close to figuring out how to make it due to him being spotted with several Human Alliance sourced engineering texts. There’s a story there for sure.”

The badly needed replacement for the SUT-93, the Mig-244 is surprisingly not a resurrected design. Rather, it combines several incomplete development programs with a number of recent acquisitions, solving the various problems that cause them to be abandoned. The most significant of which are the acquisition of advanced fusion turbines from TRIAX from diplomatic channels, and the open purchase of a great deal of GMR plating from Paladin Steel. The first solved Sovietski’s long standing problems of making reliable high performance engines, and the later removed the need to design a complex VTOL system. Together they combine to make a craft easily capable of going head to head with the new Su-35TW, and there is no end of speculation of additional ongoing development. The most common rumor than a forcefield equipped version is imminent, based on models 'acquired’ from the GNE with the help of the NGR.

The Mig-244 is being produced in both New Moscow and Kiev, with Novyet’s expansion helping to handle the load. For all of Warlord Romanov’s oddities, several traditional Russian powers have clearly chosen her to protect its people, and she is by far the most compassionate about actual justice. The Red Army intends to use the -244 to hold the line while Seriyev does the more dangerous work of attacking the Azhur and Neo-Viking’s assets with his TW stealth designs. The GNE is irritatingly far ahead of any of the European powers with their stellar level technology, but this can hopefully be mitigated given time. The fact that the Sky Tiger II is considered a near militia level design is not lost on anyone.

Spoiler:

Type: Mig-244

Class: Multi-Role Fighter

Crew: One full conversion Light Machine

MDC/Armor by Location:

Wings (2)---------------------------------260 each
Canards (2)------------------------------120 each
Engines (2)-------------------------------280 each
Reinforced Cyborg Compartment---100
Main Body---------------------------------550

Destroying a wing will cause the plane to crash
Destruction of a canard will still allow the fighter to be controlled by the varying the power levels of the engines but the fighter has a penalty of -10 to dodge, and a -30% penalty to all piloting rolls. Destruction of both of the canards will leave the plane uncontrollable and the cyborg pilot must eject to survive.
The destruction of one engine will reduce the fighter’s top speed by half and give the pilot a -2 penalty to dodge as well as giving a 10% penalty to piloting. Destruction of both engines will cause the aircraft to crash. The pilot may attempt an emergency landing or can choose to eject. The engines are placed deep in the main body of the fighter, and can only be hit on a called shot: -3 to strike.
Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will shut the aircraft down completely, rendering it useless and causing it to crash if in flight.

Speed

Cruise: Mach 1.12 (870 mph, 1,400 km/h)
Maximum: Mach 2.4 (1,779.5 mph/2,863.8 kph), Mach 2.1 (1,557.1 mph /2,505.8 kph) with full ordinance.
Maximum Altitude: 20,000 m (66,000 ft)
Range: Effectively Unlimited. Thrusters do not overheat due to the TRIAX designed cooling system.

Statistics

Height: 21 feet (6.4 meters)
Width: 55.1 feet (16.8 meters)
Length: 74.2 feet (22.6 meters)
Weight: 66140 pounds (30,000 kg) empty and 83780 pounds (38,000 kg) fully loaded.
Power System: Nuclear, 8 years before refurbishment.
Cargo: Minimal (Storage for small equipment), does not include ordnance bays.
Cost: Production cost of around 20 million credits.

Systems of Note:

Standard Sovietski Vehicle Equipment

*Bonuses: +3 to strike, +3 to dodge, +20% to piloting

*GMR Lift Plates: Allow hovering up to 100 ft, and makes the craft VTOL.

*Jamming Gear: Causes -25% to detection but when it is active, other platforms can detect that it is jamming, and some missiles will home in on jamming signals. Jamming also causes a -4 penalty to all radar guided weapons.

Weapons Systems:

1) 30-mm Cannons (2): As the J-350 Draken II. 250 rounds of ammunition each.

2) Pulse Lasers (2): Copies of the PS-RFL-25.

3) Hardpoints (8): As on the Mi-221.

4) Flare/Chaff Launchers (2): As Triax style chaff, 12 charges each

[/list]

Variants:
*Forcefield Version: If true, the forcefield is a Three Galaxies civilian fixed model, granting 400 MDC and regenerating 5% per melee. The primary use would be in surviving the preliminary MRM volleys in combat worth condition. In all likelihood the NGR will field it first on a new XML design.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Mon Dec 28, 2020 9:19 pm

...and the bad guys in the Great Northern War again....

Arz-MBT-01 Tice-ger Main Battle Tank
(Aka ‘Eiger’)
“Damn sno-panzers come out of nowhere; bad weather doesn’t seem to bother them one bit. They can stand off and shell the hell out of you, or they can run right up to you and claw you open. Anybody who whines about us fighting ‘snowflakes’ never faced an eiger attack. Maybe they should, maybe then they’ll see our enemy as the ice demons they are.”

Another unwelcome arrival on the northern battlefields is the Tice-ger battle tank/robot, an indigenous Arzhur design(though drawing on elements of various terrestrial vehicles). The Tice-ger resembles a cross between a WW2 German Tiger tank and a later Russian T-90 MBT, carried on four legs. The Tice-ger possesses high mobility thanks to its four-legged drive, and it is amphibious as well. The animalistic profile of the vehicle led to early sightings of it being confused with Shemarrian Warmounts, though it is now suspected that some, if not all, or the Arzhur vehicles may incorporate an animal-level Ice Elemental essence.
Like the power armors, the Tice-ger is apparently powered by a cold-fusion powerplan with a limited fee supply, limiting the tank's range and endurancet. Unlike the power armors, the Tice-ger has provision for carrying Arzhur officers, though the majority(70%) of fielded tanks carry only Klia crew members.
Hordes of these armored fighting vehicles have been set loose on northern territories, providing armored support to the Kill infantry and fire support to. the power-armored cannon fodder. Though the average Heavy Combat 'Borg or Shocktrooper can tear right through one, the Arthur are going their tactics, and the more experienced officers and troops are getting the hang of mutually supporting formations, using their ranged firepower to keep opponents outside knife fighting range. An artillery variant, fitted with rocket launchers, has also been sighted in combat, and more variants are expected to appear.
So far, few, if any, have been captured intact, and none are yet known to have defected, either because of the hidebound loyalty of the crews, who rate somewhat better than the chaff-infantry, or because the violence of combat encounters leaves little left of operational casualties.

Type: Arz-MBT-01
Class: Main Battle Tank
Crew: 3 +1 passenger(typically an Arzhur officer)
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 380
Reinforced Crew Cabin 175
Turret 250
Main Gun 180
Sensor Mounts(2, turret) 50 each
Legs(4) 120 each
Height: 13 ft (can crouch down to lie at 8 ft, or stand up to 18 ft )
Width: 14 ft
Length: 6.83 m(9.53m w/ gun forward)
Weight: 36 tons
Cargo: Small space in crew cabin for survival gear and personal weapons
Powerplant: Cold Fusion
Speed:(Running) 120 MPH
(Leaping) Can make a running leap of 30 ft across/15 ft up
(Flying) Not possible
(Water) Amphibious; can ‘swim’ on the surface at 12 MPH.
Market Cost: Unknown: none have been known to have been captured in a usable condition to be sold. Usually all tha remains are a few technological systems that could be salvaged for scrap.
Systems of Note:
Standard Robot Systems, plus:
*Thermal Stealth---The Tice-ger runs exceptionally cool, making detection with thermal-imaging systems difficult, if not impossible. -50% on Read Sensory Instruments rolls when using heat sensors.

Weapons Systems:
1) Main Gun---The main turret-mounted armament of the Tice-ger is typically a heavy rail gun/mass driver, but energy weapons have also been observed, as is an ‘ice cannon’, suggesting that the Arzhur are testing out various configurations.
a) Rail Gun---100mm cannon firing armor piercing slugs
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: Four times per melee round
Payload: 60 rds

b) Heavy Laser Cannon
Range: 1.5 miles
Damage: 1d6x10+7 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: Four times per melee round
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

c) Ion Cannon---Less range and damage than the laser, but much faster rate of fire.
Range: 7,000 ft
Damage: 1d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

d) Ice Cannon--This weapon seems to fire a shell or slug of dense solidified gas that hits like an armor-piercing shell, then explosively sublimates, creating a shockwave, then detonates in a fuel-air blast. The ammunition seems unstable, as heavily damaged Tice-gers known to carry this weapon have been observed to explode more violently than normal, presumably due to the remaining ammunition ‘cooking off’. Still, as an indication of possible ‘things to come’, this weapon worries some analysts.
Range: 9,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10 MD to a 12 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Four times per melee round
Payload: The standard Tice-ger carries 60 rds, but there’s some evidence to suggest that some tanks, especially those with Arzhur officers or powered by Elemental essences, can generate new ammunition at one shell every 30 minutes.

2) Coaxial Gun(1)---A standard secondary gun, mounted co-axially to the main gun. As with the main armament, the Arzhur seem to be experimenting with different weapons.
a) Rail Gun----Copied NG weapon
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4 MD single shot, 6d6 MD 30-rd burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 3,000 rd ammunition drum

b) Laser Gun----Copied NG weapon
Range: 3,000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single shot
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

c) Ion Pulse Gun----Copied NG weapon
Range: 1,600 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD single shot, 1d4x10 MD pulse burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3) Hull-mount Light Gun(1)---Mounted in the forward glacis plate, and controlled by the driver.
a) Rail Gun----Copied C-200 ‘Dead Man’ Rail Gun
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4 MD single rd, 4d6 MD per 20 rd burst.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 2,000 rd drum per cannon

b) Laser Gun----Copied NG weapon, same as 2) above
c) Ion Pulse Gun----Copied NG weapon, same as 2) above

4) Fog Launchers(2)---In place of smoke mortars, the Tice-ger can launch rapidly-sublimating ‘slugs’ of frozen gas that expand into clouds of thick cold fog.
Effects: Covers a 100 ft area in thick obscuring fog. Typically disperses within 1d6 melees, depending on local wind and humidity conditions.
Payload: 10 shots each launcher; regenerates 1 shot every 30 minutes

5) (Optional) Pintle-Mount Gun---A light weapon mounted on a powered pintle atop the main turret, and either remotely- or manually-operated by the commander. Typically used for antiaircraft work, and usually a rail gun or heavy machine gun.

6) (Optional) Reactive Armor---Fueling the suspicion that the Arzhur are using their invasion to copy and test new weapons technologies is the recent appearance of Tice-gers sporting sheathing of thick and dense ice, that can be set to shatter-explode off the tank’s hull in an expanding cloud of icy shrapnel that can serve to shred enemy infantry, or preemptively detonate anti-armor missiles. Cossacks have come to HATE facing Tice-gers so equipped because it ruins their tactics of ridding up close and jumping aboard the vehicles to sabotage them.
Range: 100 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD to a cone swath roughly 50 ft long, by 10 ft wide.
Used as reactive armor against plasma and armor-piercing missiles, the system acts as a PARRY, rolling to match or better the missile’s strike roll...a successful counter means that the missile damage is HALVED, while a failure means the tank takes full damage. Note: when dealing with volleys, one reactive armor pack can match TWO missiles in a volley, so in order to effectively counter a five missile volley, the tank must expend 3 reactive armor packs...two packs would roll twice to defeat their respective missiles, the third would only roll once. If the enemy missile launcher has a line of sight on the tank, they can target a spot on the hull which has no packs covering it (a called shot), in which case the remaining reactive armor is -4 to cover the gap.
Rate of Fire: One at a time or can be simultaneously fired in volleys of 1-10
Payload: Each side of the tank(sides, front, back) has 10 fletchette packs each(40 total), the turret has 6 each side, three on top(15 total)

7)(Optional) Hand to Hand Combat---Limited to claw attacks and ramming
Claw Strike/Kick 4d6 MD
Stomp(Objects 5 ft tall or shorter) 1d6 MD
Body Block/Ram 1d6x10 MD

Variants
*Arz-MLRS-02----Rocket artillery variant, replacing the turret with a multiple launch tube array for the Arzhur copy of the Katyusha rocket.
Changes/Modifications:
MDC/Armor by Location:
MLRS Launch Box (replaces the gun turret) 180
Weapons Systems:
1) Katyusha MLRS(replaces the gun turret)
Weight: (Rocket)
(Short) 102 lbs
(Long) 170 lbs
Range:(Short) 7 miles
(Long) 13 miles
Damage: Both missile types use a 122mm warhead, typically the following warhead types(damage may vary as much as 50% by the quality of warhead manufacture):
(Fragmentation) 1d6x10 MD to a 60 ft blast radius
(Incendiary) 1d4x10 MD to a 50 ft blast radius, plus 01-75% chance of setting combustible materials aflame
(High Explosive) 2d6x10 MD to a 20 ft blast radius
(Plasma) 3d4x10 MD to a 40 ft blast radius
(Smoke) Covers a 100 ft area in thick obscuring smoke. Typically disperses within 1d6 melees, depending on local wind and humidity conditions.
(Chemical) Varies, but typically used to dispense CS or nerve agents(currently only the Sovietskii uses chemical munitions, though it is rumored that Warlord Sokolov has been seeking to acquire such weapons). Typically covers a 100 ft area. Like the smoke, local weather conditions determine the dispersal rate.
(Submunition)---Detonates airburst style over the target and scatters a small cloud of grenade-like sub-mines, that can be used to infilade an area with contact explosives or delayed-fuze mines. Carries over 18 submunitions, scattering over a 100 ft area, and doing 5d6 MD to a 10 ft blast radius each.
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-10
Payload: 40 tubes
Penalties: Katyushas use the standard rules for unguided artillery with regard to deviation from target. Best fired in salvoes of 4 or more rockets.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Thu Dec 31, 2020 8:33 pm

Okay, let's end the old year with some buffed-up old stuff...

PS-S-GMR-LBT-7G Zephyr Hover Tank
“Now with more tanky-ness!”

“Zephyrs blow pretty hard these parts.”

“We may have introduced the Free Worlds Council to GMR, but they’re teaching us some very real lessons about using it in combat. That hard-won expertise is being applied to both crews and vehicles.”

“Some of the later model recon units got so much clutter on the turret bustle, it’s hard to tell that it’s a Zephyr under all that gear and not a grav-plate truck!”

“The Travies hate us hard enough already that with their great big robots they can’t shoot us gravers like skeet without getting shot up badly in return as we dodge away. Imagine how much more they’ll hate us when we start getting Shadowblades in this campaign and we can start marking Travie armor for the teleport guns and they start getting slammed by cannon they can’t even SEE! “

This light and limber stalwart of the GNEAS’s armed recon and fast strike units saw a number of battlefield chop-and-shop variants, mainly in armament substitutions, that became standardized after the Minion War. PS took advantage of the Zephyr’s snug interior space to install improved crew safety restraints, padding, and fire extinguisher systems to increase the crew’s chances of survival in event of a crash. Extra sensor systems improve maneuvering, especially in rough terrain. A turret-mount hardpoint can carry additional armaments, or systems pods, such as extra sensors or a forcefield generator. Improved materials add some extra protection, bringing it up the same level of durability as the Naruni Carnivore Mrk 1, at the cost of some extra weight, but improvements to power and propulsion compensate for the extra mass.

Changes/Modifications:
MDC/Armor By Location:
Main Body 400
Turret 250
Weight: 7.5 tons
Market Cost: 21 million credits
Systems of Note:
*Crash Control/Safety Restraints/Fire Control System---Reduces the damage that passengers take in a crash by HALF.

*Radar Detector---Alerts to the presence of any radar beam

*Terrain-Following Radar/Lidar---Maps the terrain and alerts the pilot in event of imminent collision. Also gives the pilot a +10% to piloting rolls in nighttime or nape-of-the-earth flying

Weapons Systems
1) Main Armament Substitution---- A number of new weapons became available to be fitted to the Zephyr’s main turret.
a) PS-HPBC-20 Particle Beam Cannon
Range: 11,000 ft(double in space)
Damage: 4d6x 10 MD single blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Cost: 4.2 million credits

b)T-410 20mm Missile Gun
Range: (T-410)Gun launcher fires the micromissile out to about 8,200 ft, where after the rocket propulsion takes over.
(Micromissiles)8,000 ft for all types

Damage/Bonuses:(T-410)
Pattern-2a---4d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius
Pattern-2b----6d6 MD to a 5 ft blast radius, or 2d6 MDC out to a 18 ft blast radius in fragmentation mode
Pattern-2c----(Incendiary)2d4 MD to 5 ft blast radius, does an additional 1d4 burn damage for 2d4 melees

Bonuses: (T-410)
(All Patterns)(+3 to strike airborne targets, +1 to strike ground targets) Gyro-Compass Chip, Laser-Sensor Microchip, Radar Trigger Chip, Image Sensing Chip, Infrared Sensing Chip.

Rate of Fire: Bursts of 3-40 rds per melee
Payload: 600 rd bin.

Cost: 150,000 credits for the T-410 Gun System

(T-410)
(Pattern-2a) 90 credits each
(Pattern-2b)130 credits each
(Pattern-2c)150 credits each

c) 105mm Grav Cannon----Earlier issues with manufacturing the armor-piercing osmium-alloy, crystal ‘whisker’ ammunition for a 105mm grav-cannon trialed on early Zephyrs have been solved, has as the matter of recoil(thanks to gravitic-counterbaffling. This has also led to a slight improvement in damage.
Range: 7,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10+10 MD per 10 rd burst. Can only fire bursts
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 5,000 rds(500 bursts)
Cost: 700,000 credits

d)‘Mangonel-80’ 80-mm Gun Mortar---- A earlier, less sophisticated weapon, but one with excellent ballistic characteristics. Though direct fire range is rather poor, Zephyr crews prefer to use the mortar mode to keep opponents under fire from as far away as possible in ‘shoot ‘n scoot’ engagements. The weapon is also compatible with Merlin ‘smart’ rounds.
Range:(Direct Fire) 3,200 ft
(Indirect Fire) 26,000 ft (5 miles!)
Damage:(Fragmentation)1d4x10 +5 MD to 25 ft blast area
(Armor-Piercing High Explosive) 2d4x10 MD to 6 ft blast area
Rate of Fire: Four times per melee
Payload: 60 rds
Bonus:(Merlin shells, only in mortar mode)+3 to strike
Cost: 190,000 credits

e) M-61 ‘Snapfire’ Mass Driver Cannon---Smaller, but still dual-mode, with a longer direct fire mode. Also compatible with ‘smart’ shells.
Range:(Direct Fire Mode): 6,000 ft
(Artillery Mode) 2 .5 miles
Damage:(Direct Fire Mode) 3d6x10 MD, no blast radius
(Artillery Mode) Everything within the 30 ft blast radius takes 2D6x10 MD and has a 75% chance of being knocked flat.
Rate of Fire:(Direct Fire Mode) EGCHH
(Artillery Mode) Three times per melee
Payload: 90 rds
Bonuses/Penalties: +1 strike in direct fire mode. -2 to strike in Artillery mode.
(Merlin shells, only in mortar mode)+2 to strike
Cost: 250,000 credits

3) Mini-Missile Launcher Substitution---The twelve-shot mini-missile launcher can be replaced with an alternate missile launcher
a) Micro-Missiles---50-shot box; volleys of 1-10

b)Heavy ATGMs---a medium-range armor-piercing missile warhead on a foreshortened rocket booster, with command guidance, for making precise anti-armor kills.
Range: 1 mile
Damage: 3d6x10 MD to 20 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-6
Payload: 6 SRMs in 2x3 launch boxes
Bonuses: +5 to strike
Cost: 100,000 credits for the launcher, 20,000 credits per missile

c) Copperhead Anti-Tank Missile Pod---Uses PS ‘smart’ armor killers for more accurate fire.
Range: 1 mile
Damage: Armor-piercing: 2d4x10 MD, no blast radius
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-6
Payload: 6
Bonuses: +5 to strike
Cost: 200,000 credits

d) TW Rocket Launcher----40 Light or 12 Heavy

Options:

*Improved PPE Sensors---An adaptation of the nautical ORACLE---Omni-diRectional Aura Classification and Locator Electronics---A TW development of the SNARLS PPE Scanner, this system consists of a series of advanced Technowizardry scanner systems(TW optic mounts, static crystal PPE meters, and whatnot) stationed around the MBT, feeding into a central computer system with special TW-derived interface program algorithms. The system is designed to detect incoming magical/paranormal attacks and alert the crew to them(hopefully in time to allow them to take defensive measures).
Effective Range: 4,000 ft radius of detection.

*Flare/Chaff Pod---Holds 18 chaff bundles/flares. Equivalent to Triax-style countermeasures.
Range: Close Defense
Damage: None; similar to Triax-style chaff
01-50 Enemy Missile or volley detonates in chaff and threat is neutralized
51-75 Missile/Volley diverts and may pursue/lock on to other targets
76-00 No Effect! Missile(s) still on target!
Will also temporarily blind and impede flying monsters who fly into it.
Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
Payload: 18 per launcher
Cost: 20,000 credits per pod. 100 credits per flare/chaff bundle

*Jammer-----A mini-radio jammer, that can pump out enough multi-wavelength white noise to jam civilian band communications with 90% effectiveness, and military comms with 70% effectiveness, over a 20 mile radius. Additional pods DO NOT add cumulative bonuses, but do provide system redundancy. A favorite of headhunter crews engaging in ‘muff and snuff’(isolating and ambushing enemy units while preventing them from calling an alert) tactics.
Cost: 100,000 credits

*Radar Jammer Pod---5 mile range. Jams radars and radar targeting systems with 60% effectiveness. Radar-guided weapons are -6 to strike. Note that this affects friendly systems as well unless they are set to specific, per-arranged, non-jammed frequencies(that it may be possible for the enemy to discover). Carrying extra jammer pods does NOT increase the range or effective bonuses of the system, but may provide redundancy and multi-wavelength coverage.
Cost: 50,000 credits

* Forcefield Generator---This is a self-contained unit with its own mini-powercell(good for one year’s operation) and a light (‘heavy’ by terrestrial vehicle standards)forcefield generator. 250 MDC and regenerates at 5 MDC per 5 minutes.
Ot can be tied into the tank’s own nuclear powerplant for faster recharging(10 MDC per 5 minutes) but reduce energy weapon/rail gun rate of fire by HALF while this is going on.

*Type III Multi-Plexor Mini-Mage Pod---Light vehicle version of PS’s ‘Magepod’ TW projection system.
Range: Varies by spell
Damage/Duration: Varies by spell
The Type III has a ‘magazine’ of four different spell-cards
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
PPE Cost per Use: Varies by spell. Spells cost as normal
Payload: Draws from the main PPE Battery. In an emergency, the user, if they are a mage or psychic, can kick in their own PPE.
Bonuses: As per spell(if any)
Cost: 55,000 credits for the projector
PPE Battery Packs(about the size of a car battery) 10,000 Credits for 100 PPE capacity, 22,000 credits for 200 PPE capacity

Spell Cards cost (as per Jason Richards’ guidelines in Rifter #2) 5,000 credits per PPE cost of main spell plus an additional cost (as per following modifiers)
*500 credits per level of the creating caster(Mages’ time and PPE are money, so expect to pay more for the longer duration/higher power spells)
*Warlock spells cost 20% more, in addition to above modifiers, owing to the difficulties of adapting Elemental Magic to ‘conventional” magic systems.

Variants:
*PS-S-GMR-LBT-7GTW--(aka ‘Mega-Boogieboard’) Technowizardry variant. The Minion War taught the Greater New England Armed Services quite a few lessons about the importance of properly-armed and -equipped recon units, especially against mystically-stealthed or teleporting enemies. Now an improved TW model scout/raider hovertank is taking to the field, with those lessons taken to heart.

Changes/Modifications:
Powerplant:
Supplemental TW Powerstone PPE Generator---(‘Wizard’)----400 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 14 PPE per hour, 50 PPE/hour at a leyline, 100 PPE/hour on a nexus.
Market Cost: 24 million credits
Systems of Note:
*Improved PPE Sensors---As standard
Weapons Systems:
1)Main Gun---Can be replaced with one of the following:
a) TK Gatling---Actually three TK-80 TK Heavy Machine Guns bundled together
Range: 4,000 ft(double on ley lines)
Damage: 2d4 MD single shot, 3d6 MD 5-shot burst, 5d6 MD 10-shot long burst, and 2d6x10 MD 50-shot full-melee burst, 6d6x10 MD 150-shot full-melee burst.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited; powering spells must be recast every six months. 200 shot ‘back-up’ PPE clip. 1 PPE point for 1 TK shot.
Cost: 1.8 million credits

b)TW Lobber---Similar in appearance a scaled-up PS/Wul- TWR13 ‘Agniter’ Fireball rifle in that it creates its own ammunition via magic energy-to-mass conversion. Can fire one of several different kinds of magic ammunition:
Range:(IceBall)5,000 ft
(Fireball) 4,000 ft
(Barrage) 4,000 ft
(Meteor)5,000 ft
Damage:(IceBall)2d6 MD on impact, then explodes, 60 ft blast radius, shedding hundreds of icy shards. Human-sized objects caught in its way will get hit with 1d6 shards, each doing 2d6 MD. Fighter- and Robot-sized targets (16 ft or larger) will get hit by 1d4x10 shards. Ships and targets 50 ft and larger will get hit by 2d4x10 shards. Victims must save versus magic or suffer debilitating numbness; -1 APM, -2 initiative, -1 strike/parry/dodge, and speed is reduced by 10%. Effects last 1d4 minutes, and are NOT cumulative. The Ice Ball has 70 MDC.
(Fireball) 5d6 MD at impact, plus does 5d6 MD per melee for 1d4 minutes.
(Barrage) 1d6x10 MD, plus all other effects as described for the Barrage spell.
(Meteor) 1d6x10+20 MD to a 40 ft radius
Rate of Fire: Three times per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited; limited only by the available PPE to generate new ammunition;
(IceBall)25 PPE per shot
(Fireball) 20 PPE per shot
(Barrage)13 PPE per shot
(Meteor) 38 PPE for 1 shot

c)TW Sonic Cannon---PS TechnoWizards got the idea for this after studying examples of the Immaterial Hand’s Ironmage TW Glitterboy Armor and its ‘shrieker’ cannon(see Rifts Black Market, pg. 187-189) . Using their booster barrel technowizardry, PS TWs were able to increase the range. Vehicles mounting this weapon are sometimes called ‘battle-singers’, ‘whistlers’ or ‘banshee-wagons’.
Range: 7,000 ft
Damage: 1d4x10 MD per shot, 1d6x10 MD on a ley line and against supernatural creatures and beings of magic.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 12 PPE per shot
Cost: 1.2 million credits

Magic Systems:
*Ley Line Booster---Increase speed by 50% on a leyline, and +1 dodge, but -10% to piloting rolls.
*Impervious to Energy( 5 minutes per 20 PPE)
*Protective Energy Field(50 MDC per 10 PPE, 10 minutes per 10 PPE)
*Type III Multi-Plexor Mini-Mage Pod---As standard, only now mounted in the hull. Usually loaded with a combination of defensive and stealthing spells.

Options:
*MagePlate Armor(Formulation-1C) Armor Re-Skinning
Armor-sheathing replacement in MagePlate is also possible, now that Formulation-1C has passed field testing and is entering mass-production; it lacks F-1B’s vulnerability to magic, but takes DOUBLE the PPE to repair...1 MDC=2 PPE/4 ISP. A favorite of mage-recon units, who can more effectively repair damage to their vehicle in the field.
Cost: 50% more than regular armor plate, but weighs 25% less.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sat Jan 02, 2021 8:43 pm

Something modest to start off the new year....

PS LRB-PT-1 Pedway Ambulator
(aka ‘Walka’)
“Yeah, I have a wheelchair for my legs, and I could get it amped into a proper scooter I could drive along the road, but I like wheeling aboard my Pedway for longer trips. I like the higher vantage point that gives me respect on the road from other drivers, and I like the feeling, however second-hand, of walking again, only BETTER, with a ground-devouring stride.”

“God gave us legs to walk, not ride!”
---Complaint heard by a Pedway rider after passing pedestrians

“Seen the online video of the hundred or so Pedways all doing synchronized dance-step? Crazy, man, crazy!!!”
----Overheard in a sports bar on Masumi Station.

“In a REAL firefight? In this thing you’d be sticking up like a shooting range target that a green, still wet-behind-the-ears, recruit with eye problems could pick off. Chasing muggers, walking a beat in the warehouse district or around a low-security lockup, or hunting low-end predators that don’t have the means of shooting back? You’re okay, then. The extra height actually gives you a bit of presence in those situations. But hard combat? Get yourself into a REAL combat exo, like a Rezma, or even a Chipwell. ”

The Pedway is a robotic ambulation platform-style vehicle considered akin to a motorcycle and sold by Paladin Steel. It is a minimalist robot vehicle for personal transportation.
The Pedway consists of a pair of robot legs surmounted by a pelvic platform upon which a single rider stands or sits, controling the ‘bot with a front-mounted handlebar assembly. Guard rails on the sides and a seat/backrest keep the rider from falling off.
Rather than amplify the rider/driver’s own leg movements, the Pedway is a fully robotic vehicle with an onboard AI that scans the terrain in the desired direction of travel, selects the appropriate and safest foot placement, adjusts the stride to the desired speed, and gyrostabilizes the rider for a smooth, tireless, ride.
For such a basic robot vehicle, the Pedway uses proven, reliable, technologies and durable materials. The biped ambulation AI system is well-tested and field-certified for long life without glitching. A choice of powerplant options is available for the budget-conscious.
The downside is that, like a motorcycle, the rider is exposed to the elements and other hazards. It is also not as fast or maneuverable as higher-end motorcycles and hovercycles. It is also not considered suited to combat operations(though it can be armed, and some buyers operate them as offroad scouts or security patrollers. See Options).
Still, Paladin Steel has sold hundreds of Pedways on Rifts Earth, thousands offworld. The Pedway is regarded like a trail bike; a sturdy form of personal transportaton with offroad capabilities. The Pedway is competitvely priced with the Black Market’s Walker-Bike, its closest competitor in the open market.

Type: PS-LRB-PT-1 Pedway
Class: Light Robot Vehicle, Personal
Crew: One. Another person might be able to share the platform, but conditions will be tight.
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 60
Legs(2) 25 each
Stem Shield*(removeable) 25-60
Height: 6 ft at the waist(can squat down to 2.3 ft for easier mounting), plus the control bar assembly and safety guards stick up another 3-5 ft(adjustable height)
Width: 3 ft
Length: 3 ft
Weight: 1,000 lbs
Cargo: Can carry up to 2 panniers on the sides, each up to 25 lbs.
Powerplant: Battery-Electric( 800 mile range), Fuel-Cell(700 mile range), or mini-pac Nuclear(w/ 5 year energy life)
Speed:(Running) 65 MPH
(Leaping)Not possible(see Options)
(Climbing) Not possible, though the Pedway can climb
(Flying) Not possible
(Water) Can ford bodies of water up to 5.5 ft deep.
Market Cost: 75,000 credits for electric, 80,000 credits for fuel-cell, and 450,000 credits for nuclear.
Systems of Note:
*LED Headlights)often modified to flashing strobes in police/security vehicles)
*Gyrostabilization---+1 to Maintain Balance
*Ground-Mapping Radar/Motion Detector/Collision Warning System(400 ft range)
*Laser Ground Scanner(400 ft range)
Weapons Systems: None standard, though the use of the Pedway by some users as battlefield scouts or security patrollers has prompted PS to import over the armaments and combat options of their PS-MC019 ‘Howard’ Light Personal Transport Scooter(see Options)
Options:
*Improved Speed---Ups maximum speed up to 85 MPH. Cost: 5,000 credits per 5 MPH increase

*Improved Stealth---Makes the scooter even more quiet. Effective Prowl capability of 70%. Cost: 4,000 credits

*Improved Durability----Raises MDC; Main Body 100, Legs(2) 50 each. Cost: 10,000 credits

*Weather Hood--A fabric cover to protect the rider from the elements. 5 MDC Cost: 3,000 credits

* Bubble-Top----Armored perspex top; 60 MDC, Cost: 14,000 Credits

*Snow/Sand Shoes---These add larger surface area to the footpads. Cost: 1,000 credits

*Spring-Shocks----These, along with patches to the gyrostabilizer programs, allow the Pedway to perform short leaps without automatically unhorsing the rider. 10 ft up/15 ft across. Cost: 5,000 credits

*Powered Roller-Blades---For those people who want to go FASTER on paved roads. 120 MPH. Cost: 7,000 credits

*Shield--As with the ‘Howard’ , an MDC shield can be mounted on the front of the Pedway, affording additional protection.
*Shield Options: Shields typically have 2-4 handholds/binders on the inside facing. They may also have 1-2 clips for small objects like flashlights, toolkits, combat/utility knives, grenades, and extra ammo/e-clips.
Light Shield---Weight: 4 lbs, MDC: 25, Cost: 6,000 Credits
Medium Shield---Weight: 8 lbs, MDC: 60, Cost: 13,000 Credits
a) Thermal Resistance ---Developed from pre-Rifts aerospace heatshielding materials. Cuts the damage from plasma and other heat based attacks by 3/4! Cost: 10,00 Credits
b) Laser-Ablative---Bonds a layer of laser resistant material that cuts laser damage by HALF. Cost: 12,000 Credits
c) Forcefield Shield---This shield adds a small portable forcefield projector to the rear; 45 MDC for light, 65 for medium; protects the forward arc of the shield(+2 ft to either side) runs on E-clips(12 hours for the light, 10 hours for the medium). Cost: 40,000 credits for light, 80,000 credits for medium.
d) Repulsor Field---An electromagnetic repulsion field; ion weapons and rail gin projectiles do HALF damage trying to shoot through it, and metal bullets, shells, grenades, and other projectiles are tossed aside by it(has an 10 ft range)...Melee weapons must be wielded by a PS of 24(or Superhuman PS of 18 or better) or greater to be pushed against the field, or be knocked aside/away. Like the forcefields, it extends 2 ft to either side of the shield. An e-clip powers the repulsor for 8 hours of continuous operation. Cost: 32,000 credits.
e) Spikes---Spikes can be added, that add +1d6 SDC(or 1d6 MD if vibroblade spikes are mounted) to a strike(or impact) with the shield. PS also produces a ‘memory plastic’ material that appears as flat plate, but with a brief electrical charge, undergoes a state-change to suddenly bristle with spikes. Cost: 300 credits for normal spikes, 1,000 credits for vibroblade spikes, 50% more for memory material(applies to both types)
f) Tazer-Strips---ideal for riot duty. (Shock Damage---Generally nonlethal)
Light Prod: 1d4 SDC/HP
Moderate Prod: 2d6 SDC/HP
Lethal Zap: 5d6 SDC/HP, plus 01-33% chance of stunning humans, D-bees, and small animals for 1d4 melees, 01-33% against large or inhumanly strong/powerful animals. A successful save means victim takes HALF damage and only lose initiative and one APM.
Stun means -6 to strike, dodge, and parry, plus reduce APMs and Speed by HALF.
Being shocked on the strong/lethal setting for more than 5 times, or once the victim's Hit Points drop below half, means they are knocked unconscious for 2d4 melees. Chance of cardiac arrest as detailed in Rifts: Lone Star, pg. 50.
Ineffective against EBA, power armor, 'bots, and 'borgs.
Payload: 80 lethal (strong)shocks, or 150 moderate from a standard E-clip
Cost: 9,000 Credits
g) Zap-Tap Studs----(2-6) Damage: 2d4 MD per strike, 50 blasts from a Standard E-Clip pack . Cost: 80,000 Credits per stud-mount.

*Weapons Racks---Two weapons hardpoints can be added to the sides of the Combat Shield:
a) Mini-Machine Gun---Modified ‘Frenzy’ PS-McGPMG07.
Range: 500 ft
Damage: (.22LR) 1d6 SDCor 3d6 SD per 3-rd burst, 6d6 SDC for a six-round burst, a ten-round burst does 1d6x10 SDC, and a full twenty-round burst does 2d4x10 SDC.
(Wellington/PS Exploders) 3d6 SD per rd or 9d6 SD per 3-rd burst, 1d4x10 SDC for a six-round burst, a ten-round burst does 1d6x10 SDC, and a full twenty-round burst does 2d6x10 SDC.
(PSX-2) 1d4 MD per rd, a three round burst does 2d4 MD, a six-round burst does 4d4 MD, a ten-round burst does 1d4x10 MD, and a full twenty-round burst does 2d4x10 MD!!
Rate of Fire: Automatic
Payload: 50-round box magazines are available, but 250 and 360 rd belts are the norm
Cost: 2,500 credits

b) 23mm Micro-Grenade Launcher
Range: 250 ft
Damage: (High Explosive)2d4 MD to a 10 ft area
(Incendiary)---A slug of thermal gel that does 1d6 MD to a 12 ft splash, and an additional 1d4 MD per melee for 1d6 melees
(Flare) Burns with blinding incandesence for 1d6 melees, each round brightly illuminating an area roughly 100 ft in radius. These are NOT parachute flares, but fall normally.
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-18.
Payload: 18 shots per launcher
Cost: 1,200 credits. HE Shells cost 400 each, incendiary 450 each, and flare rounds 30 each.

c) 30mm Grenades---PS’s knockoff/improvement on arch-rival Northern Gun’s 30mm grenade launcher. Typically used to launch flashbang rounds.
Weight: 4 lbs
Range: 800 ft
Damage:(Flashbang) Victims are -10 to strike, parry, dodge, -1 on initiative, and lose 1 APM for 1d4 melees, Even those in armor will lose initiative that melee.
(MD)2d6 MD to 6 ft blast area
Tear Gas, Smoke, and Chemical rounds are also available.
Rate of Fire: Single shot
Payload: Single shot. Up to four launcher tubes can be mounted
Special Features:-----
Cost: 2,000 credits per launcher

d)’Door Buster’---This is simply a one-shot 12-gauge shotgun tube used for delivering a short range blast
Weight: 1 lb
Range: Varies(see below)
Damage:(12 Gauge)
*Standard Shotgun shell--100 ft range, 5d6 SD
*Standard Buckshot shell---100 ft range, 4d6 SD to 5 ft area
*Teargas shell---100 ft range, 25 ft radius---victims are -10 to strike, parry, and dodge, -3 initiative, lose 1 melee attack/action, for the next 1d6+1 melees
*Baton shell---100 ft range, 2d6 SD, plus humans and human-sized D-Bees must roll a D20 to maintain their footing (must equal or surpass the attacker's roll to strike...Full rules in TNW p.174).
*S-9Dex Incapacitation Munition ---100 ft range, Essentially a paper-shelled shotgun shell-sized gas-propelled 'cold rocket', packed full of taser beads. Beads powder on impact, reducing the chance of bystanders or ingoing police stepping on undischarged beads. Great for crowd control and dealing with closed-space situations(alleyways, rooms, vehicle interiors, etc...)
Effective Range: 100 feet, w/ 20 ft radius
Damage: Nil. Humanoids struck with this weapon must save vs. coma or be shocked unconscious for 1D6 minutes.
Cyborgs have a 60% chance of having their cybernetics disrupted for 1D10 minutes, and a 30% chance of a non-vital system being permanently shorted out.
*High Explosive Armor Piercing Shell---400 ft range, 6d6 MD(no blast radius)
*Mini-Grenade(plasma)--- 400 ft range, 5d6 MD to 5 ft blast radius
*Mini-Grenade II(Fragmentation)---400 ft range, 2d4 MD to 10 ft blast radius
*Standard HESH Shell---400 ft range, 2D4 M.D. plus 4D4 S.D.C. to the person(s) inside of EBA power/body armor & roll versus knockdown (14)

Rate of Fire: Single shot
Payload: 1 rd, hand-loaded
Cost: 1,000 credits

e)15-20 mm Micro-Missile Launcher
Range:Varies by Micro-Missile Type;
(15mm Format)
Pattern-1A 5,700 ft
Pattern-1B 6,000 ft
Pattern-1C 6,000 ft
Pattern-1D 7,000 ft
Pattern-1E 7,500 ft

(20mm Format) 8,000 ft for all types

Damage:Varies by Micro-Missile Type;
(15mm Format)
Pattern-1A---1d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius
Pattern-1B---1d6 MD to 5 ft blast radius
Pattern-1C---4d6 MD to 4 ft blast radius, or 1d4 MD to a 10 ft blast radius in fragmentation mode
Pattern-1D----6d6 MD to a 5 ft blast radius, or 2d6 MDC out to a 18 ft blast radius in fragmentation mode
Pattern-1E---1d4x10 MD to 3 ft blast radius

(20mm Format)
(Pattern-2a) 4d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius
(Pattern-2b)6d6 MD to a 5 ft blast radius, or 2d6 MDC out to a 18 ft blast radius in fragmentation mode
(Pattern-2c)(Incendiary)2d4 MD to 5 ft blast radius, does an additional 1d4 burn damage for 2d4 melees

Rate of Fire: Single Shot
Payload: Single Shot
Bonuses:
(15mm Format)
Pattern-1A (None) Spin-Stabilized
Pattern-1B (None) Gyro-Compass Chip
Pattern-1C (+1 to strike, in addition to W.P. Heavy bonuses. The Pattern-1C can also be set to be a ‘beam rider’, following a laser illuminator ‘painted’ on the target for an extra +2 to strike. However, this requires expediture of an extra attack per melee on the part of the gunner to keep the laser illuminator on target) Gyro-Compass Chip, Laser-Sensor Microchip, Radar Trigger Chip.
Pattern-1D (+2 to strike, in addition to W.P. Heavy bonuses. Like the Pattern-1C, the Pattern-1D can ‘beam-ride’...again, this requires the gunner to maintain target-lock at the cost of an additional APM, but the -1D is better able to remain on target if the lock is broken. Furthermore, the missile can be keyed to lock on to the laser illuminator of other gunners...done with a pre-determined key-chip...allowing squadmates to ‘paint’ targets for fellow soldiers with micro-missile launchers). Gyro-Compass Chip, Laser-Sensor Microchip, Radar Trigger Chip, Image Sensing Chip.
Pattern-1E(+4 to strike, in addition to W.P. Heavy bonuses, Same ‘beamrider’ capability as with Pattern-1D. ) Gyro-Compass Chip, Laser-Sensor Microchip, Radar Trigger Chip, Image Sensing Chip, Infra-Red Sensing Chip.

(20mm Format)(All Patterns)(+3 to strike airborne targets, +1 to strike ground targets) Gyro-Compass Chip, Laser-Sensor Microchip, Radar Trigger Chip, Image Sensing Chip, Infra-Red Sensing Chip.

Cost: Launcher(both types) (Disposable) 2,000 credits+cost of missile
(Reusable/reloadable)4,000 credits, 1,000 credits for the laser guidance upgrade.
(15mm Format)
Pattern-1A 25 credits per McM
Pattern-1B 32 credits per McM
Pattern-1C 60 credits per McM
Pattern-1D 95 credits per McM
Pattern-1E 220 credits per McM
(20mm Format)
(Pattern-2a) 90 credits each
(Pattern-2b)130 credits each
(Pattern-2c)150 credits each

*Pannier Weapons Packs----In place of cargo panniers, a fixed-forward-firing weapons pack can be mounted instead. These are identical to standard cyborg forearm weaponry, and are e-clip/battery-pack powered.

Variants:
*LRB-1UV----(aka ‘RoboLeggy’) Robot drone version, meant as a low cost semi-autonomous patrol tool. Can also be remote controlled.
-Basic Robot Optical and Audio
-Low-Light and Thermal-Imaging Optics
-Motion Detector
-Attached Loudspeaker
-Drone A.I.; has 4 attacks per melee, +2 to strike, +1 to dodge
Cost: 75,000 credits

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Tue Jan 05, 2021 2:53 am

Something, updated...Yes, PS has now gotten old enough on the forums, it's updating its older designs.

PS-PA-10G Pikeman(Upgrade)
“Sure, the Ramza’s all the rage since it came out, but people who want endurance know to put their coin on the staples. For a little extra, that means the sturdy stalwart Pikeman.”

“On Khaldar, the street gangs have amp-suits; true, they’re high SDex factor, but they still got enough strength to punch through walls and they like their toastie-cannons. The police are afraid to go into the gang-zones in anything less than full war-armor to pacify the place, but local industry’s not keeping up with government demand; the street market’s more reliable and profitable for backdoor sales of the makings of the gang amp-armors. So before Naruni starts making the Khaldar police an office they can’t refuse on their budgets, we’re going to offer them some security and emergency response gear at a much lower cost, and that includes some properly equipped Pikemen suits.”

“The Gendarme’s first and foremost the GNE signature suit. Its modularity marks it as nothing else but a PS creation. The Pikeman, on the other hand, is so textbook basic that it can be so fiddled around with that it can be made local color and nobody would guess it’s a PS chassis under the local garb-shell. It becomes native.”

This is the Three Galaxies-tech upgrade of the Pikeman. Post-Minion War, the USA’s higher profile and more positive reputation led to greater access to cutting edge metallurgical and materials research in the public realm, less reluctance on the part of metroworld companies to invest in Rim industry, and less gouging on supplying the Rim with more advanced metallurgical fabrication gear. Thus, USA industries have been able to more economically produce better armor for their equipment.
The PA-10G sees a general upgrade in the quality and protective value of the armored shell. The frame has also been made more adjustable, to accommodate a greater range of humanoid sizes. Appliqué Armor, increasingly available from a variety of sources, especially the Central Alliance, can be added, increasing the Pikeman’s armor M-factor. Though still not as light or inexpensive as the CAF’s new CEPA-01 armor, the Pikeman-10G shows that Fringe industry is catching up without outright slavishly copying the coreworlds.

Type: PS-PA-10G Pikeman
Class: Medium Infantry Exoskeleton.
Crew: One
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 280
Head 100
Hands(2) 20 each
Arms(2) 90 each
Legs(2) 120 each
Backpack 100

Height: 8-9 ft(adjustable)
Width: 3.5-5 ft(adjustable)
Length: 2.8-3.5 ft(adjustable)
Weight: 220 lbs
Cargo: None, except what can be belted or backpacked on
Physical Strength: Robotic P.S. of 30
Powerplant: Modular Backpack allows the armor to be fitted with either an electric fuel-cell/battery w/ 120 hour energy life(comes with recharge cable and e-clip slots; 4 standard e-clips will power the armor for 3 hours) or a micro-pack nuclear power cell with 15 year energy life
Speed:
(Running) 60 MPH
(Leaping) 20 ft up/across, 35 ft up/across with a running start
(Flying) Not Possible Without a Jetpack
(Underwater) 7 MPH running underwater, maximum depth of 500 ft
Market Cost: 350,000 credits
Spare Battery Packs cost 60,000 credits each
MicroPack Nuclear costs 1.1 million credits
Weapons Systems:
1) Forearm Hardpoints(2)---Each forearm is fitted with a hardpoint capable of accommodating any of the commercially-available cyborg forearm options.

2)Backpack Hardpoint----The Pikeman features a single power-actuated over-shoulder hardpoint for mounting a heavy weapon such as a railgun with ammo drum, missile launcher, or light energy cannon(must have own power source if nuclear powerpack option is not available). Features weapons stabilization and powered aiming(+1 to strike).

3) (Optional) Use of Handheld Weapons---The PSA-10’s hands are scaled to use standard infantry weapons, though the extra strength of the exoskeleton allows the wearer to carry and use fairly heavy weapons with ease.

Options:
*Appliqué Armor----Pikemen PAs can now be fitted with the same sort of accessory armored plates as full conversion heavy cyborgs.

Variants:
As with the original PA-10, the PA-10G has spawned numerous variants, mainly cosmetic, amongst the various regional and planetary militaries of the USA. A few variants, however, stand out in particular:
* PA-10G-KS----Custom frame for the Kai-shem minotaurs. The variant features a wider torso and thicker limbs, extra appliqué armor, and extra features useful in the boarding actions the Kai-Shem marines have become infamous for. The backmounted weapon is liked because it leaves the minotaur’s hands free to wield a melee weapon. Some troopers have been seen mounting Warlock-surplus V-61 Volcano Rifles on the back-racks.
Changes/Modifications:
MDC/Armor by Location:
Head 130
Horns(2) 50 each

Systems of Note:
*Molecular Adhesion Pads---Ideal for anchoring the suit to ship decks and hulls.
Weapons Systems
1-2) Unchanged
3) Horns(2)----The PA-10G-KS accommodates the Kai-Shem predilection for headbutting, by reinforcing the helmet and adding these distinctive horns. Though steered to the target by head motion, the ‘horns’ are actually attached to the shoulders, allowing the main body to absorb the shock of strikes. The horns themselves can be vibroblades(doing 2d4 MD on a gore, and, during the Minion War, often silver-plated), or contact-plasma blast pads(adding +1d6 MD to body-block ram damage on an un-powered strike, and 2d4 MD on a powered blast).

4) Chemical Discharger----The PA-10G-KS also sports a chemical sprayer system(seconded from cyborg systems) that discharges through vents in the lower chin area of the faceplate. This system is commonly used in boarding actions to dispense antipersonnel war gases, or in firefighting situations to spray firefighting chemicals
Range: 150 ft
Damage: By chemical. Does 6d6 HP to vampires if filled with water
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 50 blasts. Up to 10 shots of 5 different chemical agents can be carried.

*PA-10QBk-----Custom frame for the QuimBek, featuring a fully water-sealed body, streamlined armor, a distinctive large, protrudent and oval head, and large expandable foot/fin pads. A dozen fine manipulator tendrils can be extended from the mouth area of the helmet. It has all the features of the navalized PSA-10N, including built-in floatation pockets and variable ballast chambers, but is designed to carry a watery environment up on dry land. The forearms mount a modular hardpoint and either an extendable vibroblade or an electrospear weapon(the latter based on a copied Free Quebec weapon).
The QuimBek, commissioned this variant to reinforce their self-defense forces, though a few have wound up in the fin-hands of private security/military contractors and adventurers.

Changes/Modifications:
MDC/Armor by Location:
Head 100
Hydrojets (4) 35 each
Manipulator Tendrils(12) 15 SDC each
Speed:(Underwater) Moving on thrusters, the PA-10QBk can reach speeds of up to 40 MPH. Maximum Depth: 4 miles.
Systems of Note:
*Sonar---5 mile range
*Manipulator Tendrils(12)---Extend from the mouth area of the helmet under the control of the QuimBek’s own prehensile manipulatory whiskers. 2 ft long and each have a P.S. of 2.
Weapons Systems
1) Forearm Hardpoints(2)---Same as for the regular Pikeman, but SDF units usually carry weapons suitable for underwater use, such as blue-green lasers, ion projectors, sonics, micro/mini-torpdo launchers, and 2- or 3-shot harpoon guns.

4) Forearm Melee Weapon(2)---An underslung vibroblade( 2d6 MD) or electrospear(1d6 MD on a jab, 2d6 MD per electrical charge to an impaled victim, or it can fire a long distance electrical bolt that does 1d6 MD at a range of 20 ft on dry land/in air, 1d6+6 MD to targets 50 ft away underwater, plus 1 MD to everything in a 50 ft radius of the armor underwater in an omnidirectional blast.)

Options:
*Jetpack/Jump-Pack/Space Mobility Pack---’Upper World’/offworld SDF and adventurer units more frequently mount these instead of the Hydrojets.

* PA-10GKam-----Custom frame for the Kamasaugh oni, who, while a normally peaceful sort, have recognized that good intentions and a meditative outlook don’t always work when pirates come a-knocking. PA-10GKams’ outer plating is modified to resemble samurai armor, with added radiation and thermal shielding(heat-based attacks do 1/4 normal damage) against internal shipboard fires. Molecular adhesion foot pads allow the suit to anchor itself in position against violent ship maneuvers, explosive decompression, or charging boarders. A variable-length-shaft plasma or electroshock pole arm is typically standard issue with these suits, and especially used in shipboard defense, though the forearm hardpints are usually used for tool modules, and the back mount for a sensor armature. This is so common that most people don’t even raalize that the PA-10GKam is really a military exoframe, and seeing weapons on a Kamasaugh ‘engineering suit’ a shocking exception.

The Gisei-clan ninja have taken advantage of the deception being perpetuated that THEY are Kamasaugh-in-residence, to acquire a few suits and modify them to their own spec., with special ‘memory-nanite’ panels that can transform into new configurations, especially weaponry. Their PA-10GKam-nin , for example, resembles a Kamasaugh unarmed engineering exosuit, even on scanners, but polymorphic panels in the forearms imitate the Dasisho-10 Multiweapon, only doubled and synched in each arm, so becoming either a pair of vibroblades(+3d6 MD each, or +6d6 MD on a punch) or a pair of fire-linked lasers(2,000 ft range, 4d6 MD single shot, 8d8 MD double shot, 2d4x10 MD pulse burst, unlimited shots linked to the power armor’s powerpack), and retaining the Daisho-10’s scanner-proofing. Other panels in the outer sheathing allow the power armor to change appearance to match other power armors/utility exoskeletons and Bushi Federation Cyberai cyborgs(80% chance).

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Wed Jan 06, 2021 8:59 pm

Variants:
PS/H-18B/UCA-F-890CA ‘UngerScorp’ Inatmo Attack Aerodyne
(aka ‘Heavy Harrier’/Heavy Harry’)

“Even with the Cyberhawks protecting the new bionics factories, there was a very real concern that Ungersoll might be attacked by a rival faction wanting to grab the technology for themselves, or at least disrupt production of Noldek’s new arsenal. Ever see an invasion strike with full-conversion cyborgs in the lead? Attacks like that take a lot of killing power to stop, and Ungersoll’s military governor wanted some quick, fast, and easily-produced firepower to interdict any possible landings. Fangs had the speed to intercept , but not the firepower to pry out an entrenched landing force. Fortunately, the PS techs had access to their aerospace template book, and the local engineers were eager to show what they could do with the expanded factories, and they came up with the Ungerscorp virtually overnight.”

“Ugly mugger-fugger, especially from the backside, but screw looks, it works. Power tools aren’t supposed to be pretty, they’re supposed to work, and the Ugscorp’s a tool for killing.”

“Big guns, heavy armor, high speed, Ungersoll-sourced reinforced titanium airframe, locally-produced GMR lift-units, an Ungersoll Power-Zup fusion engine, an Ugersoll Aerotronics cyberlink system, and all made by a drug-free Clean Machine local workforce! What’s not to love about this bird?!”

“We knew we were onto something when the orders came in from Camerol for a ‘flying stomper’ to help them deal with those giant lizards and other megafauna they got chewing up the landscape there.”

Besides getting a brand-spanking new bionics factory and a general buffing up of local industries, the Central Alliance planet of Ungersoll also got license to manufacture the PS-F102 ‘Fang’ , an airbreathing second-tier militia aircraft suitable for the many backwater worlds of the Central Alliance. However, flush with enthusiasm, the engineers at the new Ungersoll aircraft factory saw the opportunity to expand their offerings by adopting several other PS designs.
One of these was the PS/H-18B-TWF-890SX Scorpio, a proposed pre-Rifts attack jet design that never saw production, and was resurrected as a techno-wizardry aircraft. The Ungersoll engineers saw potential, and converted the design back into a purely technological vehicle, albeit one incorporating upgraded technology.
The first step was removing all the technowizardry, which the Central Alliance tended to be unfamiliar with and distrustful of. The twin captive animal-level Air Elementals have been replaced with a thicker less streamlined lower rear fuselage section containing a pair of air-breathing turbines, powered by a locally-produced(but upgraded with offworld technologies) nuclear fusion engine. The expanded fuselage ‘cradle’ also incorporates several GMR elements, and GMR panels have also been added to the outer wings. With the Gravi-Magnetic Resist panels taking some of the strain off the engines to provide lift power, the Ungersoll engineers were able to improve the armor protection slightly but significantly. The cockpit has been expanded slightly to accommodate air crews with bulky cybernetics or light cyborg frame bodies, and cyberlink systems installed as standard.
While costing the same as its TechnoWizardry brother, the ‘Ungerscorp’ is arguably just as capable under more conditions that would hinder magically-powered aircraft.
Though still decidedly a second- or third-tier combat aircraft compared to more advanced Galactic offerings, the new aircraft has quickly gained the favor of local Central Alliance security and defense apparati looking to add some heavier fire support to their Little Machine cyborg ground troops. The Ungersoll chamber of commerce is simply beaming at another locally-produced product they can point to with pride, and the greater demand for workers at the expanded production lines is doing the local economy no end of good.
While the Central Alliance currently purchases the bulk of Ungerscorps produced, the design is also being offered for sale through PS/ASI to other customers.

Changes/Modifications:
Type: PS/H-18B/UCA-F-890CA ‘UngerScorp’
Class: Two-Seat All-Weather Fighter-Bomber
Crew: 2 (pilot and weapons/sensor operator)
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 480
Cockpit 180
Wings(2) 250 each
Wing Pods(2) 200 each
Tail 190
Height: 18 ft
Width: 59 ft
Length: 58 ft
Weight: 52,000 lbs
Cargo: Small space in cockpit for parachutes, survival packs, and sidearms.
Powerplant: 2x Nuclear Fusion Turbojets (w/ 15 year energy life)
Speed: Hover to 625 MPH, can boost to 760 MPH, maximum altitude of 53,000 ft
Market Cost: 50 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Aircraft Systems, plus:
*Ejection Seats
*HUD-Head Up Display
*Environmental Protection/Life Support---Pressurized cabin(though crew typically wears pressure suits/EBA for additional protection, or, in the case of many Central Alliance crews, full conversion cyborg bodies).
*Long Range Radio----200 mile range
*Long Range Radar---100 mile range
*Radar Detector---Picks up enemy radar emissions and weapons locks
*Laser Rangefinding/Targeting----+1 to strike with cannon and rockets
* Cyberlink: A standard feature is this advanced cybernetic control system that allows the pilot 'jack in', if so equipped, to the plane, linking him with the plane as if by telemechanics. The pilot is so in tune with the plane and their environment that he instantly knows everything involving their plane and its operations.
Bonuses: For anyone with the CyberVehicle Link, the following bonuses apply: +1 to initiative, +1 to strike using the vehicle or vehicle-mount weapons, +1 to Dodge, +1 Action/Attack Per Melee, Base Driving skill of 45%, or +10% to existing driving skill. Driver can also ‘tweak’ the vehicle’s maximum speed by 1% per I.Q. point. Note that the operator can only be controlling the vehicle while doing this....no other relevant actions(can carry on light conversation, or take a quick bite/drink, but can’t disassemble their weapons or whittle a wooden toy) .

Weapons Systems:
1) Wing Pods(2)---Mounted on the wings are two large pods for carrying armaments and additional avionics. The Ungersoll engineers have removed the TW options, and instead upgraded the pods to be compatible with PS/ASI Medium Aerospace Hardpoint weapons modules:
a) Configuration A:----30mm Cannons(4)---Technological weaponry version with four 30mm cannon in the front:
Range: 9,500 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single rd, 1d6x10 MD two rd burst. 4d6x10 MD for all four cannons firing simultaneously.
Rate of Fire: Single shot or two-round burst per barrel
Payload: 100 rds per gun
Cost: 320,000 credits

b)Configuration B: ----15mm Missile Guns(4)---Unchanged from the original TW Scorpio.
The micromissile ammunition for the PS-McMPG110 system are modified versions of the standard PS Pattern McMs; aside from the propulsive cartridge, the missiles have also been strengthened systems-wise for the more severe acceleration they get, over the relatively low-velocity launch speeds of the infantry models.
One of the advantages of the McMPG110 system is that with their internal guidance and onboard propulsion, the micromissiles tend to be more accurate. Also, with laser-homing guidance, one of the tactics currently under evaluation and field-testing is to use air- or ground-based laser illuminators to guide a burst of rocket-shells onto a target similar to larger missiles and bombs.
Range: Gun launcher fires the micromissile out to about 4,000 ft, after which the rocket propulsion takes over.
Pattern-1A 5,700 ft
Pattern-1B 6,000 ft
Pattern-1C 6,000 ft
Pattern-1D 7,000 ft
Damage/Bonuses:
Pattern-1A---1d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius
Pattern-1B---1d6 MD to 5 ft blast radius
Pattern-1C---4d6 MD to 4 ft blast radius, or 1d4 MD to a 10 ft blast radius in fragmentation mode
Pattern-1D----6d6 MD to a 5 ft blast radius, or 2d6 MDC out to a 18 ft blast radius in fragmentation mode
Bonuses:
Pattern-1A (None) Spin-Stabilized
Pattern-1B (None) Gyro-Compass Chip
Pattern-1C (+1 to strike. The Pattern-1C can also be set to be a ‘beam rider’, following a laser illuminator ‘painted’ on the target for an extra +2 to strike. However, this requires expenditure of an extra attack per melee on the part of the gunner to keep the laser illuminator on target) Gyro-Compass Chip, Laser-Sensor Microchip, Radar Trigger Chip.
Pattern-1D (+2 to strike. Like the Pattern-1C, the Pattern-1D can ‘beam-ride’...again, this requires the gunner to maintain target-lock at the cost of an additional APM, but the -1D is better able to remain on target if the lock is broken. Furthermore, the missile can be keyed to lock on to the laser illuminator of other gunners...done with a predetermined key-chip...allowing squadmates to ‘paint’ targets for fellow soldiers with micro-missile launchers). Gyro-Compass Chip, Laser-Sensor Microchip, Radar Trigger Chip, Image Sensing Chip.

Cost: 200,000 credits for 4x gun pod
Pattern-1A 65 credits per RG-enabled McM
Pattern-1B 72 credits per RG-enabled McM
Pattern-1C 100 credits per RG-enabled McM
Pattern-1D 135 credits per RG-enabled McM

Rate of Fire: Bursts of 3-10 rds
Payload: Each cannon has 150 rds/McMs (600 rds total per pod)

c) Pulse Laser
• Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 6 miles in space
? (Kitsune Values: 6 miles in atmosphere, 600 miles in space)
• Damage: 2d4x10 MD per pulse burst
• Rate of Fire: ECHH
• Payload: Effectively Unlimited

d)Particle Cannon
• Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 5 miles in space
? (Kitsune Values: 5 miles in atmosphere, 500 miles in space)
• Damage: 2d6x10 MD per pulse burst
• Rate of Fire: ECHH
• Payload: Effectively Unlimited

e) Plasma Torpedo Pod: Direct fire unless a tractor beam is mounted
• Range: (Palladium) 3 miles in atmosphere, 6 miles in space
? (Kitsune Values)6 miles in atmosphere, 600 miles in space
• Damage: 2d6x10 MD to 15 ft blast radius
• Rate of Fire: Three times per melee
• Payload: Effectively unlimited

f) Ion Projector Pod
• Range: 2.4 miles in atmosphere, 7 miles in space
? (Kitsune Values: 7 miles in atmosphere, 700 miles in space)
• Damage: 1d4x10 MD per blast
• Rate of Fire: ECHH
• Payload: Effectively Unlimited

g) Tachyon Scattergun
• Range: 1.5 miles in atmosphere, 6 miles in space w/ 3 mile wide arc*
? (Kitsune Values: 6 miles in atmosphere, 600 miles in space)
? *Range and width are reduced to 1/4th in atmosphere
• Damage: 2d4x10 MD per single cannon firing
• Rate of Fire: EPCHH
• Payload: Effectively Unlimited

h) Gravity Rail Gun Pod
• Range: 3 miles in atmosphere, 10 miles in space
? (Kitsune Values: 10 miles in atmosphere,1,000 miles in space)
• Damage: 3d6x10 per 20 round burst
• Rate of Fire: ECHH
• Payload: 3,000 rds (150 bursts)

i) Mini-Missile Pod: 36 MMs per pod

j) SRM Pod: 10 SRMs per pod

k) MRM Pod: 4 MRMs per pod

l) LRM Pod: 2 LRMs per pod

m) Cruise Missile: Single

n) Countermeasure Launcher: Triple normal payload.

o) Electronic Cloaking Pod: Jams enemy communications(radio band) in a 5,000 mile radius in space, 50 mile radius in atmosphere, civilian band communications with 80% effectiveness, military bands with 50% effectiveness. 45% chance of confusing guided missiles (especially ‘beam riders’ or radar-guided types). A single ECP adds +15% chance of eluding sensor detection(or -15% to enemy Read Sensory Instrument rolls). A second pod will only add an additional +10%; the field of electronic cloaking covers a 100 ft radius

p) Cargo Pod: 2,500 lb capacity each

o) Personnel Pod: An environmental (56 hour life support duration) capsule (200 MDC) able to hold a single person. Typically used in evacuation operations and in infiltration/insertion ops.

q) KTH-65 32mm Assault Rail Gun Pod: ASI only, and it's falling out of favor as well
• Range: 1 mile in atmosphere, 5 miles in space
? (Kitsune Values: 5 miles in atmosphere, 500 miles in space)
• Damage: Varies by shell type
? APFS-DU: 5D6x10 MD , no blast radius
? HESH: 5D6 MD plus 5D6 SDC to the person(s) inside the object.
? HE: 1D6x10 MD to a 16 ft radius
? HEG (High Explosive, Guided): 2D6x10 MD to a 7 ft radius
• Rate of Fire: Single shots, EPCHH
• Payload: 100 rds

r) Combat Multiplexor: A TW weapons pod/spell projector, with its own PPE batteries. The Multiplexor Magepod can select-fire up to five different spells
THis has been retained as an option, because it is self-contained(holds its own PPE battery) and allows the Central Alliance, which is normally distrustful of magic, to ‘toe in the water’ with regards to applied magic systems.
• Range: Varies by spell; Equal to 10th level spell level x10
• Damage: Varies by spell; Equal to 10th level spell level x2
• Rate of Fire: EPCHH
• Payload: 300 PPE battery reserve

2) Nose Module---Unchanged

3) Hardpoints(2)---The two wing hardpoints have been replaced with PS/ASI Medium Aerospace Hardpoints :
a) Bombs--Can carry warhead equivalents of missiles, but DOUBLE the respective number, or retain the same number, and DOUBLE the damage.
General effective range of a gravity bomb is half a mile(0.8 km) from drop point.
‘Smart’ Bombs are laser or command-guided and hit large stationary targets automatically! Moving vehicles can also be targeted (at +6 to strike).

4)Flare/Chaff Launchers(2)---Mounted near the tail are two standard countermeasure launchers.
Range: Close Defense
Damage: None; similar to Triax-style chaff
01-50 Enemy Missile or volley detonates in chaff and threat is neutralized
51-75 Missile/Volley diverts and may pursue/lock on to other targets
76-00 No Effect! Missile(s) still on target!
Will also temporarily blind and impede flying monsters who fly into it.
Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
Payload: 12 per launcher

Options:
*Wingtip Laser Pods---These late add-ons hold small laser turrets that can be spun about to fire in the side and rear-arcs of the aircraft. They are meant as antimissile defense, but have proven themselves against fliers, despite their low damage. Rumor has it, the newly-expanded UCA laser optics facility on Ungersoll wanted to put something on the Ungerscorp as well and whipped up this mounting for the occasion.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 2d6 MD single laser, 4d6 MD dual-cannon pulse shot, 6d6 MD triple shot burst
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited
Cost: 22,000 credits

*Forcefield Generator--- A dorsal hump can be added aft of the cockpit to house a technological forcefield generator. This is a self-contained unit with its own mini-powercell(good for one year’s operation) and a light (‘heavy’ by terrestrial vehicle standards)forcefield generator. 250 MDC and regenerates at 5 MDC per 5 minutes.
Ot can be tied into the vehicle’s own nuclear powerplant for faster recharging(10 MDC per 5 minutes) but reduce energy weapon/rail gun rate of fire by HALF while this is going on.
Though light, the available of this non-Naruni system is seen as a harbinger of things to come, with upgraded systems likely in the future.
Cost: 450,000 credits

Omegasgundam · Fri Jan 08, 2021 11:11 pm

Its a low tech air to mud mover for low tech forces. If the enemy doesn't bring notable AA, they're devastating, and they still force them to keep an eye out. Assuming the bases are near the locations people would actually attack, the planetary travel problem isn't major.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sat Jan 09, 2021 12:40 am

Missile bus too. While the all-missile fighter concept was discarded by the US Navy in favor of multipurpose fast-movers like the F-14 Tomcat, being able to throw enough missile spam at a target from outside gun range is a good thing. Especially when the target is on reentry and not able to maneuver as hard.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Sat Jan 09, 2021 4:56 am

taalismn wrote:Missile bus too. While the all-missile fighter concept was discarded by the US Navy in favor of multipurpose fast-movers like the F-14 Tomcat, being able to throw enough missile spam at a target from outside gun range is a good thing. Especially when the target is on reentry and not able to maneuver as hard.

If you're only going to get one good pass ANYWAY, a one-and-done load out can work. Even if it only accomplishes disruption, it's worth the effort.

EDIT: Its also a situation where massed SRMs could be viable. The target coming to you in a more or less fixed coarse makes the intercept much easier/possible.

Prole · Unread post by **Prole** » Thu Jan 14, 2021 2:36 pm

AWACW has sent a series of detailed and semi-public messages to Paladin Steel, about upcoming plans to consider a reproduction of the Colt Walker and/or Dragoon revolvers. The main series of changes to the design will: improvements in metallurgy and materials, quick change cylinders, the ability to accept black powder or cartridge cylinders at will, and the ability to accept and fire the new .45 Ruger Rimmed.

In the good spirit of how Paladin Steel mostly avoids reproducing S&W, Ruger, Henry, or other associated brands (The 500 S&W is being ignored due to lack of interest within the AWACW), AWACW strives to avoid Colt and other favorite brands of Paladin Steel.

Due to the strong New West revolver market, there is a large enough "Colt Walker shaped hole" that likely should be filled.

Due to all political, social, and economic considerations; AWACW will be offering full design and production workups/writeups to Paladin Steel at no charge, provided that Paladin Steel avoids producing revolvers based on the designs which: lack .45 Ruger Rimmed or equiv as options if the cylinder takes cartridges, or, offer .454 Casull as an option.

Please send any deeper inquiries to personal messengers within the New West.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Thu Jan 14, 2021 9:27 pm

Prole wrote:AWACW has sent a series of detailed and semi-public messages to Paladin Steel, about upcoming plans to consider a reproduction of the Colt Walker and/or Dragoon revolvers. The main series of changes to the design will: improvements in metallurgy and materials, quick change cylinders, the ability to accept black powder or cartridge cylinders at will, and the ability to accept and fire the new .45 Ruger Rimmed.

In the good spirit of how Paladin Steel mostly avoids reproducing S&W, Ruger, Henry, or other associated brands (The 500 S&W is being ignored due to lack of interest within the AWACW), AWACW strives to avoid Colt and other favorite brands of Paladin Steel.

Due to the strong New West revolver market, there is a large enough "Colt Walker shaped hole" that likely should be filled.

Due to all political, social, and economic considerations; AWACW will be offering full design and production workups/writeups to Paladin Steel at no charge, provided that Paladin Steel avoids producing revolvers based on the designs which: lack .45 Ruger Rimmed or equiv as options if the cylinder takes cartridges, or, offer .454 Casull as an option.

Please send any deeper inquiries to personal messengers within the New West.

Oh, PS CERTAINLY produces replicas/reporductions of firearms historically produced in the New England area. including the Colt line, though this is largely farmed out to local 'mini-steels', workshops that do custom work or small-batch processing, or SDC material runs, of which some are marketed through the PS distribution network.

Then PS does up editions in mega damage materials and advanced coatings, which cost extra, but assure that your six-shooter can take SERIOUS abuse.

And THEN you got offworld produced guns....A deep-space solar-powered boundary chewing up a nickel-iron asteroid can turn out a MASSIVE amount of steel-framed revolvers at a cost that makes the wood inlays the most expensive parts of the gun(even with vat-grown wood or ivory).

Then you got the look-alike tat externally resemble guns of the past, but are actually TW weapons, or the PS version of Naruni's plasma cartridge guns.

Yah, we got you covered.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Fri Jan 15, 2021 2:40 am

And now some words on the Cambridge Jungle. 25 pages to be exact. I've 'upped' their relative power level compared to taalismn's earlier notes, and I am working towards what they're doing during the Minion War. We'll start with a brief and partial summery of what the Jungle is (taalismn has more), and then go into just what I've changed. You'll know it when you see it. Part 2 will handle the new equipment

The Cambridge Jungle In Brief
The Cambridge Jungle (also known as the MIT Forest) is a mass swath of permanently dense and lush vegetation covering eastern Massachusetts stretching down into northern Rhode Island. Even in winter this region is nearly impenetrable even with heavy machinery, with the Kittani having lost multiple Insecton Rovers during their exploration attempts. Just WHY this area so so dense is something of a mystery even to those that live there, but the leading theory is that one or more of the Pre-Rifts Biotech laboratories released something that reacted exponentially with the energies of the Cataclysm, resulting in tree densities greater than those before the arrival of European colonists in the 1600s. The only reliable ways through it are the access corridors painstakingly cut by the GNE to connect its holdings, but even they require constant maintenance to not be overgrown.

Prior to the Cataclysm, the region was known as Massachusetts' Biotech 'Science Corridor', which had seen an explosion during the Golden Age. The best of the lot were cherry picked by NEMA to man the Lone Star Genetics Complex, but the sheer number of firms meant that there was no shortage of laboratories. The Shapertech scandal in South America was both a boon and a bane to biotech research; as while it kicked up the questionable ethics and frightening capabilities of these firms, it also encouraged acceptance of gene-modded lifeforms. While it naturally wasn’t advertised, the various 'hotbox labs' along the Boswash Corridor (Boston to Washington DC) were soon protected by extensive mega damage materials, which would protect their contents during the Cataclysm and subsequent Dark Age. Beyond purely medical work, the Mass Biotech Corridor was involved in small animal and plant modification along with lab equipment development. Outside the Cambridge Jungle, enough of these labs survived over the centuries to be salvaged by the nascent GNE, forming the basis for their advanced medical treatments.

The Cambridge Tribes formed from the survivors of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the various Biotech firms, who managed to piece together enough equipment to retain much of their knowledge base. While primarily limited to scavenging for material, they were able to establish a refuge in the growing Jungle and slowly adopted a semi-duidic lifestyle, living in semi-permanent encampments around their remaining lab complexes and subterranean utility spaces. Despite falling short of their Golden Age peak, they were still able to hold off the various horrors of the Dark Age for almost two centuries. Things took a major change in -14 PA however, when fate saw them be joined by an unlikely group of individuals; desperate Splicers taking a long shot chance to survive the onslaught of their NEXUS oppressors.

The Arrival of the Splicers
While consisting of only 17 individuals (most of them Dreadguard), the influence of this group on the Cambridge Tribes cannot be overstated. Dating to the early days of the Great Houses, the group used an experimental teleportation device cobbled together by one of the first Librarians to escape a purge by the forces of Kali, whose sadism prolonged the event long enough for the relative handful of survivors to decide to roll the dice. Naturally, the unfinished (and honestly unsound) organism malfunctioned, resulting in the group undergoing Rift Displacement, and by sheer luck they ended up in the middle of the Cambridge Jungle. Making contact with the Cambridge Tribes, they soon realized that they were no longer on their world, and as they had no way of returning, decided to settle down and join the community.

Among the group were a pair of Saints, with one of them being weeks away from maturity when they fled and the other being half way. By sheer chance the effects of Bond Fruit on the normally fatal relationship was discovered before the first finished the gestation process, resulting in the former refugee becoming the first Gene-Pool Engineer on Rifts Earth. The second would develop in what was considered frightening speed and become the first Brain-Pool, with the Librarian Gould merging with the organism after giving it an ultimatum that it could not ignore. Since then Gene-Pool sourced constructs have become the cornerstone of the Cambridge Tribes, decoupling them from the scavenged Pre-Rifts laboratories and equipment that were reaching the limits for how far they could be stretched. While going nowhere near the (necessary) lengths of the Splicer Great Houses in turning away from normal technology, the Tribes have a high cultural preference for flesh rather than metal, and are likely only second to the Gene-Splicers in their mastery of biological sciences.

Cambridge Tribeman RCC
(aka ‘Mitrites’)

While genetically human, the 3 centuries of modifications done to the inhabitants of the Cambridge Jungle results in them having a distinctly different baseline compared to the rest of humanity. Overall capabilities fall within the normal bounds of human biology, but the bottom end is substantially higher. Beyond having physical advantages, they are also universally Psionic to one degree or another. The differences are noted below.

Spoiler:

Cambridge Gene-Pool Engineers
(Based on the entry provided by Premier here: https://palladiumbooks.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=149385.)

The Cambridge Tribes have an enviable number of Gene-Pools by Great House standards (a full 20 as of 110 PA), and the advantages of being in a high PPE environment are tremendous. Free from the constraints of being forced to work (literally) underground, the majority of their efforts go to improving the lives of the Tribe’s members, with bio-tech organisms slowly replacing the kludged together equipment and systems that they had been forced to use previously. The outright supernatural environment, and the widespread availability of Psionics, have led the Tribes to embracing Bio-Technology at a far deeper level than any of the Great Houses, and even the most radical would balk at the extent of which they have integrated human augmentation into their society. But the most radical change is something that surprised everyone; the continuation of a Saint’s consciousness post-maturity.

By accident, the tribe’s first Saints discovered that the ingestion of a pair of Bond Fruit ingested by both them and their hosted organism results in a far deeper connection than normal, but the benefits do not merely extend to the Saint’s own capabilities. The process results in such a total link that the Saint’s mind transfers to the Gene-Pool after it reaches maturity and devourers their body, and Psionics have proven that the Saint’s very PPE is stored in the organism. The Saint retains enough of his mind to use the Gene-Pool to construct a new body, and then becomes the bonded Engineer. Those that have turned into Brain-Pools can be transferred to another Gene-Pool by physical contact combined with a deep psionic trance between the Librarian and Engineer, and once reborn have a fresh Gene-Pool symbiote attached to them to try again.

As a related benefit, the former Saint is tied to the Gene-Pool on such a level that the normal physical tethering is not necessary, allowing them to roam up to a few miles away from their anchor point while still having control over the organism. While reduced to the level of a 15th level Saint while untethered, this allows them to much more freely interact with their community. The only real reason for them to travel further is to provide consultation to the GNE’s Bio-Modification programs, which are sufficiently stimulating that the Gene-Pool is willing to overlook the absence for a week or two. There is talk of sending several of the upcoming crop to the west coast to set up satellite facilities,

Spoiler:

RCC Ability Adjustments: Each Engineer is a Master Psionic with 1D4x100+400 ISP, and learns abilities and gains in strength as a Mind Melter, but must take the new Super Ability of Parallel Absolute Focus. They do not pay any permanent ISP cost to heal others in any fashion. Once they become Practitioners of Magic, they have an identical PPE base and gain and draw it as a Stone Master. Their lifespan is effectively infinite in High PPE dimensions such as Rifts Earth or the Three Galaxies, and when anchored in a PPE rich location (such as a Ley Line, Nexus, or Stone Pyramid) can use the free energy to reduce their basic biomass needs to only a few dozen pounds of material per pool per day, although produced items must be paid in full. Additionally, the penalties for being uprooted take ten times as long to develop, allowing them some pretense of mobility.

Engineers and Gene-Pools can use PPE accelerate the gestation of Bio-Technology in their Gene Pool at a rate of 1 PPE for every hour saved, and can reduce the overall total by up to 50%. Additionally, the Engineers have developed a form of Super Psionic Ability that allows them to concentrate on multiple items at once without denternmental effects. As this results in large numbers of items filling the Gene-Pool for an extended period of time, they have also gained an abnormally high number of secondary pools, roughly double that of their Great House peers. As the Tribe’s Engineers have been relocated to specially constructed Stone Pyramids, this means that their overall productivity is quadruple that of those of the Great Houses, making the Tribe ludicrously wealthy by those standards.

RCC Skill Adjustments: As they retain a level of mobility, Engineers have reason to keep their full range of skills. They remain too valuable to risk however, and their combat skills focus on escape and evasion above all else. Most of them also have Teleport: Superior as well, which greatly simplifies the issues, and they automatically succeed in teleporting to their Gene Pool.

Schools of Magic: Both the Engineer and the Gene Pool are natural practitioners of Biomancy, and can freely cast any spell known. Unless prompted by the Engineer, the Pool only uses it to accelerate gestation and to convert non-ideal biomass into usable material. The Tribe generally keeps them fed with vast quantities of modified Bamboo, which has been described as ‘bland but filling’. They are also capable of replicating Bio-Wizardry constructs and procedures, but only use the ‘cleaned up’ versions reverse engineered by the Tribe’s Librarians. Engineers also pick up a large number of Invocations, particularly ones with widespread utility, and are starting to walk down the path of Techno-Wizardry.

Super-Psionic: Parallel Absolute Focus

Range:

Duration:

I.S.P.

Cambridge Librarians
The Tribes hosts a full four Librarians, and they have taken a substantially different turn than normal. The availability of Psionics allows the Tribal Elders to give the creatures an ultimatum in a form that they can understand, forcing them to accept the chosen Acolite as their host. As a result, the Librarians are far more stable than their Great House peers, and the effectively endless stream of exotic and outright supernatural bio-samples easily placates the creature’s thirst for new knowledge. The simple novelty of being certain that no Librarian has even had access to the knowledge at their disposal does much to hold the worst impulses at bay, and the strong wills of the host keep them further in check. While they are all masterful in Bio-Technology, they have each specialized in a different field, if only to not be forced to share credit with each other.

The members of the GNE that are aware of them compared them to the Lumarian Gene-Mage Biomancers, which is something the latter would be absolutely appalled by. The Librarians can be considered a complete mockery of the Lumerian philosophy, taking the same knowledge and twisting in a manner that shows a complete disregard for the sanctity of life and the natural environment. The Librarians see the world as a petri dish to experiment with, and couldn't care less for the concepts of balance or pollution. That they have arguably managed to equal the Lumarians in applied knowledge in such a short time would make it all the more galling. But the realization that the human part of these beings are what serve as the restraint for the Brain Pool’s otherwise unbound lust for knowledge would cause existential despair, for it would be proof that even non-sapient living beings can be polluters.

(Thoth would remark that the Lumarians have a remarkably naive view of the Megaverse, likely due to their lack of dimensional exploration efforts and long isolation. That such a wise and powerful being would hold their philosophy to be ‘silly’ would wound them on a deep personal level. That he would follow up by showing them a few ‘mechanical’ dimensions similar to The Great Machine would likely break them.)

Spoiler:

The Librarians: As there are only four of them (at present), each can be described below.

Spoiler:

First Librarian Gould: Merging with his symbiote in late -2 PA, Gould was responsible for reverse engineering the preserved bio-technology that the displaced Splicers brought with them, and was the one that developed the Great Armors. His personal fields of focus are psionics and human augmentation, and while he accepts volunteers he vastly prefers to use engineered vat grown clones to remove as many random variables as possible. It is an open secret among those with the clearance to know that the GNE’s bio-modification programs are primarily based on his work, which he dumbed down in order to farm out the sheer number of development avenues that were opened up with the mass acquisition of Splugorth Bio-Wizardry. His current project is finding ways to incorporate Psylite and J’ng crystals into Bio-Technology, holding it to be the key to making battlefield psionics truly practical on the mechanized scale.

Second Librarian Carson: Establishing herself in 59 PA, Carson’s focus is on Magic in all its forms. While the others have their specialties, she is the one with the broadest and deepest understanding of the mystic arts. Her first major creation was the precursor to Ectofibre in 65 PA, and while it took Paladin Steel’s industrial knowledge to make it economical it was immediately recognized as a breakthrough in mystically conductive materials. She is a personal acquaintance with the Lords of Magic as of 111 PA and makes frequent visits to Malcore to consult her academic peers. She also has a secondary residence on the planet Lothrain.

Third Librarian Vesalius: Vesalius is the joint newest, having merged alongside Ritche in late 109 PA, and has carved out a niche as the most purely biological focused of the group. He is heavily involved in the USA’s dimensional exploration efforts, and is the de facto head of their biological analysis division. He spends most of his time hoping between dimensional transit points to get his tentacles on the freshest samples possible, and rarely returns to the Cambridge Jungle. He is fully convinced that he will never run short of novel and exotic samples to look at, and by necessity his understanding of Dimensions has few rivals among those that call the USA home.

Fourth Librarian Ritche: An unashamed maverick, Ritche focuses on something that no other Librarian seriously looks at: computer science. While he fills his dues with miscellaneous biological work at the behest of the OPO, he is obsessed with computer systems and networks. As a result, his telemechanics are greater than any of his peers, and he has gained the respect of the Ghost Riders. So long as he remains someone else’s problem, the Tribe is happy to have him warder off and do his thing, which suits Ritche just fine.

Acolite Sagan: Should the current crop of Saints result in another Brain Pool, Sagan is the Tribal Elder’s presumptive choice to merge with it. His overall focus is in stellar and interstellar biology, and is part of the ASI’s spacecraft development staff as a life support specialist. He hopes to one day make a viable organic star vessel from scratch, and already has a working understanding on how it would be done. He is currently involved in the XBF07 project, which he sees as a critical (if frustratingly low performance) stepping stone.

The Elders are currently going over their options for a second candidate, as there might be two Brain Pools like last time.

Schools of Magic: As a form of knowledge that directly leads to power, all of the Librarians are accomplished spell casters with vast tomes of spells. They commonly use it as a trade good, with fellow spell casters being more capable than most at acquiring new sources of knowledge for them to examine.

Spoiler:

Cambridge Saint
Beyond simply surviving the maturation process thanks to Bond Fruit, the Tribe’s Saints have the mixed blessing to need only 25 years to reach maturity thanks to the high PPE environment. This means that their ranks expand at twice the rate of those of the Great Houses, and the Tribe currently has 23 in various stages of development. As is to be expected, the Tribal Elders select only the most pure of heart and mind to become Saints, as they will also be the bonded Engineer once the gestation is finished and they create a new body for themselves. Once the candidates have been selected, they are given extensive training in biological sciences to best suit their future role, and often qualify as full Medical Doctors by the age of 24. Due to their importance, they have historically rarely left the confines of the Cambridge Jungle, but the GNE’s dimensional exploration efforts and the Tribes’ involvement have caused this to start to change. They never have less than a full squad of Dreadguard assigned to their protective detail however.

Spoiler:

Cambridge Scarecrow
The Cambridge Scarecrow is more than a simple refinement of the normal Great House version; it is an evolution due to combined knowledge of Bio-Wizardry and other mystic arts. Drawing heavily from the Splugorth Maxi-Killer, Techno-Wizard Dragon Juicer, and the more mundane Mega- and Delphi-Juicers, a modified version of Elixir of Life is used to compensate for the immense physical strain of the implanted symbiotes. This greatly reduces the amount of overall work the Elixir has to do, resulting in far less degradation of the physical appearance. Those that volunteer tend not be the smartest or strongest willed, so the Librarians tend not to use them as lab assistants. Typically, there are less than 70 Scarecrows between all four Librarians, with around 6 being retained as bodyguards for each and the others being sent out as procurement agents.

Spoiler:

Cambridge Dreadguard
Even for their relatively small numbers, the Cambridge Tribes have a miniscule defense force by Rifts Earth standards. However, it is entirely composed of mighty Dreadguard who are equipped with the powerful Great Armor, and combined with their defensive advantages makes them more than what even the Splugorth are willing to tangle with. Most of the Tribes can serve as militia if need be, but it is the Dreadguard that form the striking arm. The Tribal Elders are not shy in applying their biological knowledge to enhance their defenders, and while far short of the apocryphal Biotic of the Great Houses, the results speak for themselves. Additionally, centuries of on-and-off directed breeding and careful engineering have resulted in virtually all of the Tribe being some level of Psionic, resulting in no shortage of Major and Master level aspirants to join the ranks.

Spoiler:

Cambridge Stone Pyramids
The Cambridge Jungle has a number of two line Nexus Points within its confines, and the Tribe’s Librarians pieced together enough about Stone Magic to build basic pyramids in the mid 60s. A proper Atlantean style Dimensional Pyramid was raised in late 98 PA, and contact with a minor Atlantean Clan provided the knowledge to build proper Power Pyramids. A notable modification from the normal template is that the Cambridge pyramids project an illusion to help cover their presence from aerial reconnaissance, replacing the Storm Summoning capabilities that are only marginally useful in the vast forest. After the Zot Smackdown, Second Librarian Carson developed a variant that serves as a dedicated host facility for Gene-Pools, and the Tribes have since constructed three of this Bio-Factory variant.

Based on the normal Dimensional template, the Bio-Factory strips out essentially all of the internals to make room for up to 15 Gene Pools; 9 on level 2, 4 on level 4, and 2 on level 5. Level 1 has been converted into a single massive armory/storehouse, and level 3 has dropped everything but the control center for a pair of PPE capacitors similar to the Power Plant, which can store up to 12,000 PPE if need be. The stored PPE is used to fuel the Gene-Pools enhanced gestation capabilities and is spent a bit slower than it comes in, with the reserve normally amounting to around 2,000 PPE split between the capacitors. These pyramids do not have Stasis Sleep, Pyramid Defense Systems, Storm Summoning, Weather Control, Local Teleport, or Dimensional Teleport capabilities, but this is considered irrelevant due to them sharing Nexus Points with ones that do. The healing and lifespan increasing effects remain, and have proven to affect Biotech items stored inside, which means that the near totality of stockpiled living equipment is held within their confines. Due to their value, each is guarded by at least a platoon of veteran Dreadguard at all times.

Cambridge Gene-Pool Bio-Wizardry
The Tribe’s Librarians have found a method to use Gene-Pools as Bio-Wizardry Vats, and the Engineers have found ways to use their ‘dumb’ secondary pools rather than their far more capable primary. This allows for essentially any item creation or alteration procedure to be conducted, but only a handful of those that have been reverse-engineered from the Splugorth are considered worthwhile. A middling priority project is to find a way to reverse the mutation’s and disfiguration of Bio-Wizard torture, but it is likely that the most effective solution will be to put the soul in a specially grown replacement body.

Spoiler:

Non-Mystic Augmentation: The method used prior to the acquisition of Bio-Wizardry knowledge, its capabilities are more limited. However, it is also faster to implement and has far less potential to go wrong, so it is offered to the Tribes’ civilian members. A large portion of the GNE’s Special Forces have also cycled through the Gene-Pools, resulting in meaningful gains in effectiveness. The process takes 3 hours per attribute point gained, but there is no limit to how many times it can be done. Assuming a perfectly normal individual (straight 10s), the full suit only takes 104 hours, or around 4 and a half days. The complete Bio-Wizard package takes 18 days, which represents a substantial time savings.

Physical Strength:

Physical Prowess:

Physical Endurance:

Physical Beauty:

Speed:

Magical Transmutation: The Tribes use Transmutation to increase the capabilities of its Dreadguard protectors, and the Engineers have more control over the process. This allows up to 9 transformative procedures to be performed without risk of mutation or death, but a premature removal has the normal penalties. It is likely that this will be offered to the GNE’s Special Forces division in the near future, assuming that other Bio-Mods do not make them incompatible.

Physical Strength:

Physical Prowess:

Physical Endurance:

Physical Beauty:

Speed:

Increased Size and SDC:

MDC Transformation:

Microbes: The full range of known strains can be produced at will.

Parasites: The Cambridge Tribes have little love for these destructive organisms, but can create any listed in WB:2 and 21 if needed.

Symbiotes: Much more palpable, the Tribes have reason to actively produce a number of them beyond special circumstances. The list below consists of only those that are described in WB:2 and 21, which does not comprise the entirety.

Ansir Life Node:

Aqua-Mask:

Chest Amalgamate:

Electron:

Elom:

Line Feeder:

Mindlink:

Musical Nymph:

Storm Breather:

Solara:

Storm Screamer:

Symbiotic Heart:

Pathic Healer:

Talo Mind Worms:

Thundergut:

Titanizer:

Zembahk Appendage:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Fri Jan 15, 2021 2:41 am

Part 3 will be the new Bio-Augments. One of the other items they produce are lesser Gene-Cauldrons that the Gene-Druids use to ply their trade. They handle the 'low level' stuff, and have replaced the kludged systems and vats that they nursed through the Dark Ages. The Great Houses would consider what the 'normal human' Tribal Elders can do with a good set up to be unsettling, and almost on par with a fresh Gene-Pool.

Cambridge Bio-Weapons
The Tribes have equivalents to all of the (Main Book) Great House melee and explosive weapons, and only lack the Electro-Pulse Gun and Shard weapons for the ranged ones. The various weapon bio-enhancements (see Rifter #0, pg 36) are all available, and are commonly applied. Light Cell weapons are freely distributed as militia weapons, while Bio-Energy ones are seen as being overly limited in their payload.

Spoiler:

Cambridge Very Heavy Bio-Weapons
The various hand held Bio-Weapons were found to be adequate for their size, but greatly lacking against the supernatural threats that Rift’s Earth throws out with great abundance. Thus, a number of larger scale weapons for use with Great Armor have been developed, allowing them to not invest as much of their early Bio-E into ranged offensive features. The Cambridge Tribes are also relatively free in augmenting their equipment (See Rifter #0, pg 36, or slappy’s post on the forums), so these base formats are a minority of the overall inventory.

Spoiler:

Greater Light Cell Rifle
The simplest (and thus most common) of these oversized weapons is the Greater Light Cell Rifle, the size of a squad support weapon, which combines six augmented Super Light Cells into a single apparatus. While still lacking compared to many of the Paladin Steel produced equivalents, it is still reasonably effective and has room for growth. Since the end of the Tolkien War, the Mega augment has become standard.

Weight:

PS Requirements:

MDC:

MD:

RoF:

Range:

Payload:

Bonus:

Integral Mods:

Greater Bio-Rocket Slinger
This enlarged Bio-Rocket Slinger fires full Host Armor/Warmount sized munitions, increasing damage and range. While far too large to be used by normal mortals, there are no shortage of stronger beings on Rifts Earth, and the range is appreciable for its damage output. The weapon is not compatible with the Mega augment, but can take the full range of Bio-Rocket specific modifications. It commonly integrates a full Light Cell Rifle as its under barrel option.

Weight:

PS Requirements:

MDC:

MD:

RoF:

Range:

Payload:

Bonus:

Integral Mods:

Heat Projection Rifle
The largest independant Bio-Weapon the Cambridge Tribes can produce, this is a handheld version of the Heat Projector Cannon. Beyond its enormous size, its largest problem is its relatively slow rate of fire, which is limited by the non-integrated nature of the organism. This makes it only attractive to Dreadguard on foot or in near baseline Great Armor, but for them it can be a very dramatic increase in firepower. It also sees use as a fixed bunker and vehicle mount, being easily superior to Northern Gun’s various rail guns despite the drawbacks. With the Mega augment, it can rival a Boom Gun in single shot power, which is not something to overlook.

Weight:

PS Requirements:

MDC:

MD:

RoF:

Range:

Payload:

Integral Mods:

Cambridge Living Armor
Easy access to supernaturally durable creatures means that the Tribe’s various forms of protection are notably more capable than the Great House versions, which translates to them maximizing the first die of each location. Additionally, long term field use is enabled via feeding PPE or ISP to the organism, along with a nutrient pod every month. Some of the Engineers have figured out enough of the principles of Technowizardry to apply 5th level enchantments, but this is very much a Dreadguard only option at the moment.

Spoiler:

Cambridge Great-Armor
While the Cambridge Jungle Tribes lack the overall breadth and refinement of the Splicer’s Great Houses, if for no other reason than their far smaller population, their access to exotic and outright supernatural bio-samples more than compensates. This results in their Host-Armor equivalent being held to substantially higher standards, with much less in the way of random fluctuation needing to be tolerated to reach higher theoretical performance. As a result, their creations have the flexibility of Host Armor and the shear capabilities of Proto-Armor, although their quite finite number of Librarians limits the number of augments that they have managed to develop for them. This comes at the cost of them completely neglecting the field of War Mounts, but in a theoretical offensive campaign the GNE would be the ones providing such capabilities regardless.

If a Great House Librarian was to get their hands on a suit of Great-Armor, they would find the overall structure both familiar and baffling, with many of core systems operating in ways that defy their understanding of biological operation. This is because the Cambridge Tribes have invested heavily into utilizing Psionic as the primary interface mechanism, bypassing the need for operator specific neurological architecture. As a result, their Great-Armor is not permanently tied to a single person, although it does need an Engineer familiar with the appropriate procedure to adjust to a new operator. Additionally, the half-supernatural makeup of its biology allows the armor to feed off of ISP and PPE in place of external nutrients for up to two weeks, making long term operation practical. This mandates that all Great Armor use the specially developed Hybrid Psychosynthetic Metabolism, but it would be considered a good choice regardless.

Beyond those of the Dreadguard, a number of particularly heroic Cyberknights have been granted suits starting in 108 PA, with the paranormal nature of their Cyberskin resolving any compatibility issues. During the Minion War, a substantial portion of Lord Coke’s forces would gain vat-fresh units, and they were put to good use against the Infernals.

Spoiler:

Cambridge Psionic Wing Pack
The pack is similar to the normal Splicers version (Main Book pg 141), but has a number of very significant differences. To start with, it is intended for use with Great Armor only, and hooks onto attachment points on the back similar to the SAMAS’s jet pack assembly. The various forms of supernatural flight at the Tribe’s disposal allow for much improved capabilities.

Spoiler:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Fri Jan 15, 2021 2:45 am

Cambridge Bio-Augmentations
(Credit to Ectoplasmic Bided for his Mind Knight https://palladiumbooks.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=88565#p1747145, which serves as inspiration for the most of the Psionic augments.)

Rifts Earth has given the Tribe’s Librarians no shortage of biological samples that defy the normal laws of biology and physics, which has allowed them to create a substantial number of extremely powerful augmentations for the Tribe’s forces. Most of them are superior equivalents to Great House offerings, but others are sufficiently outlandish to have no parallel. A partial listing of the more common and practical follows.

New Metabolisms

Spoiler:

Hybrid Psychosynthetic Metabolism: While Great Armor does need external sources of material to maintain its functionality, the vast majority of its operational needs can be met by feeding off of drawn PPE. Inspired (and likely developed from) the abilities of Psi-Stalkers, Great Armor can also draw from ambient sources of PPE such as Ley Lines with no ill effect, and can be charged from PPE Generators, PPE Clips, and the operator’s own ISP if need be. This metabolism allows for the use of Psionic Bio-Augments, and has been recently found to also enable the inclusion of Techno-Wizard enhancements given the right materials and techniques. The Armor can go without additional nutrients for up to 14 days in this manner, and an external pod system has been developed to allow it to be quickly topped off in the field. If need be, the Armor can go without PPE and use only its Nutrients, but this burns through its supply far quicker. The Tribe’s various Living Armor also have this form of metabolism, but it does not imbue any benefits other than improved operational constraints.

Feeding:

(PPE) 15 PPE/30 ISP per day for up to 14 days. (Double the cost prior to 68 PA)

Sleep:

Color:

Special Senses:

Bonus Bio-E:

Bite Damage:

Bonuses:

New Biological Defenses

Spoiler:

New Anatomical and Physiological Enhancements

Spoiler:

New Flight Appendages

Spoiler:

New Offensive Bio-Weapons
The first Psi-Weapon augments were developed in late 68 PA, and have replaced most of the older forms of single target direct fire weapon among the Cambridge Dreadguard. The primary downside to Psionic Bio-Weapons is that they are incompatible with normal weapon upgrades (Mega-Omni-Super), but their advantages are thought to generally compensate.

Spoiler:

Psi-Blade Projectors: Taking the form of enlarged gems in the palms of the Great Armor, these both serve as both a way to give lesser Psychics a damage dealing ability and to enhance those who already have it.

Mega-Damage:

ISP Use:

Bio-E Cost:

Prerequisite:

Light Psi-Bolt Projector: Developed in 80 PA, these weapons are similar in concept to the somewhat maligned Bio-Energy Expulsion Vent, only using psionic energy rather than biological. This grants it a far larger effective payload and makes it much less of a burden when over used, needing only an infusion of ISP to keep working. Mechanically, one of the bio-crystals on the Great Armor’s surface (commonly at the wrists) expands into a concealed housing, becoming a focus of turning mental power into deadly force. The size of the crystal roughly doubles (now being the size of a Robin’s Egg), and takes on a multi-faceted appearance as if they were cut by a professional jeweler and polished to perfection.

MDC of the Projector:

Mega-Damage:

Special:

Rate of Fire:

Maximum Effective Range:

Payload:

Bonus:

Bio-E Cost:

Prerequisite:

Medium Psi-Bolt Projector: Undergoing further augmentation, the projector crystal changes yet again. Root-like extensions grow from the edge of the crystal, appearing to have burrowed beneath the Great Armor's skin. This does no damage to the Great Armor, but provides the crystal with a greater focusing capacity by increasing its linkage with the pilot.

MDC of the Projector:

Mega-Damage:

Special:

Rate of Fire:

Maximum Effective Range:

Payload:

Bonus:

Bio-E Cost:

Prerequisite:

Heavy Psi-Bolt Projector: Like a blooming flower, the crystalline projector literally blossoms. The jeweled facets of the crystal expand and gain the ability to open a series of small petal-like protrusions that serve to further intensify the power of the psionic energy bolts it generates. Each time the projector fires a psi-bolt, the crystal petals rapidly open into proper alignment for firing then close an instant later.

MDC of the Projector:

Mega-Damage:

Special:

Rate of Fire:

Maximum Effective Range:

Payload:

Bonus:

Bio-E Cost:

Prerequisite:

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Fri Jan 15, 2021 9:14 pm

More Opposition Forces Material:
The War in the North: The Arzhur Warmachine.

Arzhur ‘Kholder’ Super-Heavy Land Cruiser
(aka ‘Glazer’)
<<“What’s that grinding noise?...”>>

“Looks like somebody ran a giant dozer right through the middle of the town. And blue ice craters all over where the militia fort and the town hall used to be. ”

“That damn gun-barge can take out this village, hell, this entire encampment! In just a few shots! And that’s just ONE of those monsters! If the ice-bastards start throwing them at us in company strength, we’ll need more than more cyborgs to hold the line here. We need artillery, HEAVY artillery, or else we’ll have to pull back, all the way back, to the mountains!”

“Our saving grace is that the Azhur are still rather inept at deploying their heavy iron. Their numbers are bad enough, and their experiments in material and tactics are pure murder, but at least we see no evidence of them having a Rommel or a Zukhov. Yet.”

The ‘Kholder’ is a giant combat vehicle that some Sovietski have compared to the mythical pre-Rifts Nazi Germany ‘Ratte’ one-thousand ton ‘supertank’(that existed only on paper). This giant warmachine shares the general size and configuration of that mythical techno-beast, but everything else is a unique Arzhur take on the idea. The Kholder has been compared to a ‘war-trained glacier’ in that it presents a moving wall of rapidly-moving solid ice that bulldozes across the landscape, grinding objects in its path like a giant grindstone, and leaving a wide swath of destruction. It doesn’t seem to have any visible tank treads, but instead appears to skim across the landscape on a thin sheet of ice it lays down, yet still manages to leave its distinct mark on the landscape that only the heaviest snows can hide.
Worse yet, the Kholder is amphibious, allowing it to strike coastal targets. In this respect, it has been compared to the Sovietski’s Storm Surge, except that the Kholder carries only a token force of embarked soldiers, mainly for self-defense and scouting/communications.
Kholders invariably serve as the command vehicles of Arzhur strike forces, carrying officers who direct hordes of lesser vehicles and troops, while providing them with fire support. The Arzhur don’t appear particularly worried about their monster command vehicle becoming a fire magnet; Kholders take a LOT of killing.

Type: Arz-SHMBT01 ‘Kholder’
Class: Super-Heavy Land Cruiser
Crew: 36 + a contingent of 20 troops
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 2,000
Main Turret 400
Main Guns(2) 200 each
Secondary Gun Turrets() 200 each
Point Defense Lightning Cannons (8 ) 150 each
Height: 40 ft
Width: 50 ft
Length: 120 ft
Weight: 1,300 tons
Cargo: 60 tons
Powerplant: Cold Fusion; possibly captive Ice Elementals
Speed:(Land) 80 MPH
(Water) Fully amphibious; can move along on the water at 35 MPH.
Market Cost: Unknown: none have been known to have been captured in a usable condition to be sold.
Systems of Note:
*Thermal Stealth---The Kholder runs exceptionally cool, making detection with thermal-imaging systems difficult, if not impossible. -30% on Read Sensory Instruments rolls when using heat sensors.

*Armor Regeneration----The Kholder can repair its own hull armor at a rate of 6d6 MD every 30 minutes.

Weapons Systems:
1) Main Guns(2)---The Kholder carries two powerful 11-inch bore projectile cannon in its main turret. The Arzhur appear to be learning the art of indirect fire, using their Klia minions to spot for these guns, even to the point the Arzhur apparently used the Klias’ own radio as the aim point on several occasions.
The main shortcoming of this weapons system is the ammunition supply; the Kholder must be accompanied by supply vehicles to keep its main battery fed during sustained campaigning. Its slow rate of fire also keeps it from effectively engaging fast-moving targets.
Range: 25 miles
Damage:
(High Explosive) 4d6x10 MD to 30 ft blast radius
(Plasma) 1d4x100 MD to 40 ft radius
(Hailstorm)--- Rather than just a massive casing of high explosive, this shell uses a pre-timed fuze to burst the casing just above the target(a crude proximity fuze...later munitions would use a more modern ‘smart’ fuze) and spews out magically conjured hailstones doing 8d4 MD per melee, for 32 melees(8 minutes) to a 60 ft target radius.

(Freezone Explosive)---Explodes in a cloud of crystalline blue vapor cold enough to precipitate even the air into a short-lived liquid state, and doing 3d6x10 MD MD cold damage to a 100 ft radius. Within that area of effect, temperatures drop as low as -150 degrees F, and the abrupt temperature drop can embrittle plastics and synthetic fibers like nylon. Only full EBA and spacesuits will protect personnel caught in the cloud. The Freezone also does an additional 2d4 MD in cold damage to another 100 ft beyond the core, and 4d6 SDC in cold damage to another 200 ft beyond that.
While the above damage applies in the first melee/moment of detonation, immediately after that the affected region will be subjected to a concussive BLAST that does an additional 2d4 MD to the 100 ft radius outside the central blast area, and 5d6 SDC in concussion damage outside that as the liquified atmosphere at the center flash-evaporates and surges out in a massive pressure wave, shattering structures and bowling over anything still standing, in a sort of ‘reverse fire storm’. The cold will dissipate, but slowly, the cloud of freezing vapor doing only 1d6 MD per melee in the central core, and 1d4 MD per melee in the next area out, and 2d6 SDC per melee outside that, for 1d4 melees as the affected region fills with blinding cold fog, then HALF that damage for another 1d6 melees as the affected area heats up again.
Furthermore it creates a freezing cloud that can drift as far as an additional 1d4 miles with the wind, covering a roughly 1d4x100 ft wide area, doing 1d4 MD cold damage per melee of exposure to anybody caught in its path before it dissipates after 2d4 minutes. This unnatural cold front can freeze animals in their tracks, and shatter trees where they stand.

Rate of Fire: Once per melee per gun
Payload: 36 shells

2) Secondary Guns(2)---These are identical to the main turrets on the smaller Tice-ger MBT; on is mounted forward on the front glacis plate, under the twin-gun turret, while the other is mounted aft.
a) Rail Gun---100mm cannon firing armor piercing slugs
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: Four times per melee round
Payload: 80 rds each

b) Heavy Laser Cannon
Range: 1.5 miles
Damage: 1d6x10+7 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: Four times per melee round
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

c) Ion Cannon---Less range and damage than the laser, but much faster rate of fire.
Range: 7,000 ft
Damage: 1d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

d) Ice Cannon--This weapon seems to fire a shell or slug of dense solidified gas that hits like an armor-piercing shell, then explosively sublimates, creating a shockwave, then detonates in a fuel-air blast.
Range: 9,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10 MD to a 12 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Four times per melee round
Payload: 120 rds each

3) Point Defense Lightning Cannons (8 )---For dealing with air attack and smaller targets like enemy infantry, the Kholder carries a substantial point defense of rapid-fire ion guns on its rear decking behind the large turret.
Range: 7,000 ft
Damage: 1d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited

4) Fog Launchers(2)---In place of smoke mortars, the Kholder can launch rapidly-sublimating ‘slugs’ of frozen gas that expand into clouds of thick cold fog.
Effects: Covers a 300 ft area in thick obscuring fog. The cold vapor effectively renders thermo-imaging and targeting systems useless in seeing through the fog. Typically disperses within 1d6 melees, depending on local wind and humidity conditions.
Payload: 30 shots each launcher; regenerates 1 shot every 15 minutes

6) Ramming---The Kholder can use its heavy mass as a weapon, bulldozing through the landscape, crushing vehicles, and leaving unlucky enemy personnel as smears on the ground; does 2d4x42 MD on a full speed ram.

Omegasgundam · Fri Jan 15, 2021 11:16 pm

I would question why it has Plasma shells, but then I realized their for executions/backstabs. Very Azhur in that regard. The speed is frankly ridiculous for a tracked vehicle its size, at least if they were limited to 20th century technology. They're not.