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Author Topic: WarBiz - An Arms Race // Core Thread // Y1M5 Combat Report  (Read 3790 times)

Man of Paper

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Re: WarBiz - An Arms Race // Core Thread
« Reply #15 on: May 17, 2019, 06:55:39 pm »

While I want people time to mull things over, I also want to actually define the teams! I'll be doing so probably tomorrow morning when I wake up (in 12ish hours, not going to sleep yet unless I can't sleep and get bored). Just a heads up so serious debate can ensue.
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Maxim_inc

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Re: WarBiz - An Arms Race // Core Thread
« Reply #16 on: May 17, 2019, 11:12:41 pm »

Sign me up for the Terrestrial Reserve please
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Man of Paper

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WarBiz - An Arms Race // Core Thread - Now With Battle Reports
« Reply #17 on: January 24, 2020, 10:58:30 pm »

Contract War, Year 01 Month 01, Combat Report
GM Note: Don't expect to see everything revealed this turn, as you're largely scouting and skirmishing. Also this skirmish sees less action than ones later down the line because I don't want to blow my brains out needing six posts the three companies are completely unsure of what to expect
Click This For Music


The Terrestrial Reserve, Victory Services, and Nextgen Consortium poured men and material through the warp gates that led to their first arena in Auraxis. Each company had it's own unique story to tell, but all three led to the same place at this moment - a sprawling urban landscape ruined by fires, bombings, and collapsed buildings.

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Key (click to show/hide)

The Terrestrial Reserve made it's adherence to tried-and-true methods of arms development well known by the UPA during the Corsair Rebellion. They armed Loyalists on Corsair, an important planet for business operations, while the UPA forces were occupied in other systems. Not only did the Loyalists hold off until UPA relief arrived, but UPA forces were often found using TR equipment in lieu of their standard issue armament - even after being ordered to leave the TR equipment behind (and reprimanded for not doing so). Their tendency to produce reliable infantry equipment and well-armed and armored transport vehicles would draw many a buyer until offered a spot in the Contract War by UPA reps.

Victory Services had always been, in some form or another, in business with the UPA. Separatists on the trade world of Hera were engaged in a shadow conflict with UPA agents who'd procured VS equipment in an attempt to sever the heads organizing the rebellion. VS equipment went a long way to quietly, quickly, and precisely reducing opposition forces to an unorganized, easily dealt with mob. Their production of highly accurate, long range weaponry and blindingly fast and agile vehicles garnered attention from the higher ranks in the UPA military and so they were a shoe-in (and favorite) for entry into the Contract War.

The Nextgen Consortium started off in a garage with stolen military tech and a few imaginative, if slightly unorthodox, individuals. The garage saw itself get exploded after a particularly "successful" modification to a vehicle, but as the workshop blew up, so did their fame. A local arms company took in the tinkerers, who learned enough of the arms trade to strike out on their own - this time with legitimate tools and employees. The NC's capability of producing experimental vehicles and modular weaponry proved to be a wild card that saw their equipment get frequent use by a wide array of less-than-legal elements. Still, the UPA sees potential in the NC's arms production, and so they were offered the opportunity to compete in the Contract War.

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

Rahul Bernard was as excited as any other soldier representing the Terrestrial Reserve, especially as a Pilot. His Neurohelmet linked him directly to the Wasp VTOL Strike-Fighter that made up the TR's offensive air capabilities with a top speed of 600km/h, a 20mm rotary cannon and two rocket pods with six SemiActive Rockets each. His wingman lagged somewhat behind as they flew towards Grid C-4 to get eyes on from above. They were still passing through Grid B-5 when Rahul's wingman piped up.

"Looks like, uh, larger radar contact bearing Zero-One-Zero. Maybe a couple craft flying tight."

"Keep an eye out. We got to check out this PoI (Point of Interest) the Execs told us about, but I don't want to get shot in the ass either."

The pair continued their flight Northeast for another couple minutes.

"Yeah, contact is definitely approaching. I've got visual on two, ten o'clock high. Looks like they're coming in fast."

"Alright, let's intercept. No use delaying the inevitable," Rahul ordered. The pair of aircraft began to maneuver north when the two distant contacts disappeared - from both radar and visual observation.

"I don't like that..." Rahul muttered, "Alright then, break formation. Climb hard and fast, and watch my back."

"That's what I'm here for."

--

Francisco Hodgson was as excited as any other soldier representing the Nextgen Consortium, especially as the pilot of a CI1 Hawk Cloaking Interceptor. The aircraft was capable of hitting speeds of 800km/h and was armed with a plasma cannon in the nose (operated by a gunner) and a pair of plasma missiles. Of course, there was a cloak, and though it didn't make the craft completely invisible to the naked eye, it certainly made it harder to see while also vanishing completely from radar. The cloak was a power sink that weakened the engines, but, as the corporate stooges drilled into Francisco's head, it was very Next Gen.

Francisco and his wingman had planned on heading south before swinging east to check out Grid C-4, but contacts on the radar drew their attention. They closed in at full burn until they could make out the dots in the distance that were the TR Wasps. They watched as the aircraft banked towards them.

"Looks like they're paying attention. Let's hit 'em with the ol' razzle-dazzle," Francisco said as he activated the CI1's cloak. He felt himself pull forward against his harness as the engines rapidly dropped to 50% strength.

--

Two spots came into view once again as Rahul and these two contacts closed in on one another.

"I can't get a bearing, pos. ID, radar sig, nothing!" his wingman was sounding flustered - and a little scared. Not of death of course, but the pain immediately preceding it.

"Stay focused. Keep eyes on and we'll be fine."

Rahul's wingman was about level with the contacts who were, probably, headed straight for them. As the craft got closer they...certainly didn't look like they should be able to fly. Their form was shifting somewhat, the craft apparently fractured into a dozen pieces all disconnected yet somehow traveling together. And then, without warning, the aircraft appeared to fully form again, sprung back up on radar, and accelerated rapidly.

Rahul pulled the nose up on his Wasp and began an upward spiral as the enemy contacts flew past him and opted to engage his wingman. Blue-green balls of energy streaked towards Rahul's wingman, but the volume of fire was low enough that they didn't make contact, even with their nose turret aiming somewhat independently from the aircraft. The Wasp came to a stop in midair and turned as the Hawks flew past and banked in opposite directions to prepare for another pass.

"Keep moving," Rahul commanded, "Get a lock as they pass and we'll hit them square in the ass."

The pair of Wasps moved laterally to give the clearly faster Hawks a more difficult target. Rahul angled his craft so that the Hawk approaching him would enter his autocannon's cone of fire while it passed, but his wingman was the focus of their second strike. Rahul watched as a missile detached from one of the Hawks and streaked ahead, impacting his wingman's Wasp with a large blue-green burst of superheated gas, immediately turning the practically unarmored craft into a ball of molten slag. Rahul cut off comms as his wingman screamed in pain while he plummeted to the city below and punctuated the end of his flight with an unimpressive fireball.

Rahul was better trained though, and one of the Hawks did indeed pass into his cone of fire. His autocannon opened up and a number of shots punctured the aircraft's fuselage. Fumes streamed from a number of holes as the aircraft listed slightly. The tone of his rockets getting a lock kicked in and Rahul fired, keeping the target indicator on his visor positioned on the damaged Hawk.

--

Francisco's wingman was in trouble. He'd taken some critical damage from the remaining Wasp.

"I've been locked onto. Shit, I don't think I'm getting this thing home," the wingman said, "Ah well, here goes nothing!"

The wounded Hawk flickered and distorted as the cloak reactivated. The guided rockets veered off and failed to make contact as they lost radar lock, but they did still alter trajectory slightly as Francisco's wingman moved to evade. It was too much for the Hawk though, as a stream of burning fumes erupted from the rear of the aircraft, a small internal blast sheared off a wing, and she spiraled downward.

"Nothing's responding, but shit, at least I did it to myself!"

"Yeah, they better not count this as a kill," Francisco joked as his wingman exploded.

--

Rahul cheered mutedly as he scored his first kill of the Contract War. Unfortunately the other craft had disappeared and he couldn't see it for shit anywhere. Not until he felt as much as he heard heavy thuds against his Wasp followed by a disturbing sizzling sound and the smell of burning metal. A blue-green splash hit his cockpit and the broken figure of a Hawk zipped past his nose while the plasma burned through and molten aircraft dripped onto Rahul. The craft exploded a moment afterwards.

Back at the Warp Gate Rahul came into being once again.

"I just fucking adjusted that seat where I wanted it, too," he lamented.

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

The TR and NC met multiple times in the air, and while both sides suffered losses, the TR's specially trained Pilots were simply underequipped to take on Hawks - especially as deployed aircraft were numerically even and the Pilots were not in every aircraft. The VS were notably absent from higher-altitude combat, but they made up for this in the initial phases of the ground war.

The VS utilized their Einherjar Rapid Attack Gunship (a small VTOL aircraft with a 20mm cannon, pilot, gunner, and four passengers) in conjunction with the Tormentor Light Attack Buggy (a light, fast buggy with two passengers and a heavy weapon mount in the rear) and the Desert Rat Ruggedized Buggy (a lengthened, armored Tormentor with a passenger gun, the weapon mount moved to the roof, and extra seating for up to 7 passengers) to hastily scout out and deploy troops in small concentrations at what were deemed to be important strongholds and chokepoints.

The NC, with a small level of aerial superiority, were relatively safe to deploy their Nebula VTOL Air Transport (a large 20-passenger transport craft) and Sunderer-S Troop Transports (battle buses containing a handful of troops and equipped with a Hardlight Projector that can deploy when the vehicle is stopped), but the Nebula was limited in where it could drop off troops, and the Sunderer-S didn't have the speed to outpace the VS.

The TR meanwhile deployed their Renderer Armored Troop Transports (a well-armored vehicle with a 30mm autocannon on the roof) and Osprey VTOL Transports (a transport with 4 passengers, nose-mounted 20mm autocannon, and 24 rockets), which were slower to meet the enemy than the others, though the Osprey's Nanite Revivification Chamber provided the ability to rapidly reinforce and redeploy troops on location.

Speedy VS expansion saw them take control of Grid D-3 and Grid C-4 in rapid fashion. VS Infiltrators armed with "Phantom" Anti-Opposition Rifles (large energy rifles that fire a single devastating shot equivalent to a 15mm ballistic round before recharging with a 1x-10x fully adjustable scope), "Razer" ShotPistols (sidearms potent at close range that fire a burst of hardlight filament and hum while powered on), Basic VS Nanite Cloaking Systems (similar to standard systems, with the bonus of movement not affecting power draw), and Nanite Deconstruction Systems (tubes that release nanites that weaken or crumble materials they're attached to) cut their own paths through the ruined city as they bypassed rubble and blockages with ease.

Certified Light Assault infantry, being highly mobile troops, also saw some action during the initial phases of combat. VS Light Assaults wielded "Monolith" Laser Rifles (long rifles firing the equivalent of a 10mm ballistic round with a 5 round capacity that consistently recharges while not being fired), the Razers, and a Basic Jump Pack capable of providing a few seconds of upward thrust. They seemed to crop up all over the place, and used their vertical mobility to hunker down in hard-to-reach areas with good lines of sight.

The other VS class of Certified soldiers to make an appearance during the brief skirmishes and drawing of battle lines was the VS Operator, trained in the art of electronic and information warfare. They came to the field with Monoliths, Razers, "Siren" Basic Comms Systems (arm-mounted devices that can intercept communications and provide remote access to electronic systems), and the "Illuin" Signal Booster (a deployable antenna that boosts energy-sharing capability for VS weapons within it's radius), which worked with the unique "Illuin" Battery Packs installed across VS weapons that were capable of remote transmission of energy from one weapon to another.

Operator presence at key locations in the city amplified the difficulty of dislodging them - a task that both the NC and TR were going to have to do if they were going to with this government contract.

TR Infiltrators were quite adept at countersniping operations - at least compared to the NC. Their "Imperator" Sniper Rifles (10mm bolt-action rifles with a 5-round mag and a 4x-8x scope), "Adjutant" Pistols (10mm, 12 round handguns with red glow sights and excellent reliability), Basic Nanite Cloaking System, and Legacy of Terra Armor (Carapace armor that greatly increases survivability of the wearer, with the ability to seal off and provide a few hours of life support) gave the VS defending their newly claimed territory a fairly hard time. Especially when paired with the Omnivisor Suite (an upgrade to all TR infantry helmets providing a multifunction visor capable of thermal imaging, night vision, and IFF identifier outlining combatants in company-appropriate colors, all controlled by brainwave scanners).

TR Light Assaults also proved somewhat problematic. They utilized "Overseer" Battle Rifles (accurate 7.62mm semiautomatic rifles with 20-round magazines), Adjutants, Basic Jump Packs, and Legacy of Terra Armor in attempts to dislodge the VS from their positions and keep the NC at bay. This was a lot harder than expected.

The Omnivisors proved to be as much of a hindrance as help, as Operators could sniff out TR soldiers with ease and disrupt visor operations. This led to the VS being able to rapidly respond to TR movement and set up ambushes in the ruined streets and buildings of the battlefield. The gunbattles were brief and extremely intense as the hard-hitting VS weapons gave the TR reason to be afraid, but TR resilience and the Omnivisors - when not hacked - provided the TR with the ability to survive long enough to hit back.

Both sides had bloodied noses, and the introduction of the NC to the skirmishing only complicated things for everyone involved.

NC Infiltrators proved to be more numerous than either of their counterparts. Using the "Australia R/O" Long Range Rifle (a modified Australia [described below] utilizing a permanently installed Ruby module to increase range and armor penetration and Oswald module to further increase range and outright stopping power) and a Basic Nanite Cloaking System, the NC fielded more marksmen than either of their opponents, but ultimately didn't have the capabilites to outsnipe either.

Aid in the form of NC Light Assaults proved to be quite the interesting addition to the field. They used the "Australia" Modular Battle Platform (a 7.5mm bullpup particle rifle with a 45-shot power supply, 5-second recharge, and 3 behavioral module slots, as well as a New Zealand underbarrel launcher with one free module slot and one permanently taken by the "Wellington Mk.2" Energy Grenade Module [described below]), the Light Assault Vertical Mobility Harness (a backpack using nanites to deploy eight individual meter-long multijointed limbs ending in spikes), the UBM-Bonnie (a module that increases rate of fire and sustainability at the cost of stopping power and range), UBM-Clyde II (a module that splits beams to produce a shotgun-like effect), and a spare "Wellington" Mk.2 Energy Grenade Module (a module that gives the New Zealand the capability to fire potent energy grenades that stick to targets, shred shields outside of their lethal range, and can cause temporary blindness for anyone who sees the explosion in close-but-not-harmful range without protection - installation into a weapon's primary slots give it's rounds explosive potential and makes shots behave more like the energy grenades at the cost of extra energy draw).

The ability to swap out modules on the fly provided the ability for the NC adapt to most any situation, and their use of a backpack for climbing along surfaces as opposed to the standard Jump Pack gave them a wider range of movement options across the landscape littered with ruined buildings, cratered streets, and narrow alleys. Still, hanging off the side of a building meant not having much cover for protection from a cloaked Infiltrator poking their rifle out of a window.

The NC and TR largely engaged on equal footing, with neither proving to have too much advantage over the other. The NC proved slightly more capable than the TR at dislodging VS positions, but the k/d of their soldiers came out poorly, resulting in an inability to immediately take ground captured from the VS. VS losses were not too bad, and they proved capable of holding out in the Medical Facility at Grid D-3. Sustained casualties quicker than the respawn and reinforcement rate saw them withdraw from the Capital Building and Grid C-4, but late enough in the month that neither other force was able to organize a push into the area.

The Subterranean Expressway and Industrial Rubble see only an occasional shot fired. Industrial complexes litter the landscape with a lot of open ground between them, making anyone travelling across them prime targets, while the Expressway is very, very easy to barricade, block off, and defend. All three forces don't venture too far into enemy territory during this initial phase of combat in these areas, but fighting within them will likely be extremely brutal.

All three Companies, having experienced the early phases of battle on one of these fields before the terrain is known to them, have learned that faster vehicles and lighter infantry almost exclusively see use during Skirmishing and Scouting. Now that the battle lines have been drawn though, all three Companies will be striking one another in full force. Rumor has it that three Outfits in particular are especially excited to be let off their leashes.

Spoiler: Control Map (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: January 24, 2020, 11:04:18 pm by Man of Paper »
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Man of Paper

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WarBiz - An Arms Race // Core Thread (CR2 OUT)
« Reply #18 on: May 13, 2020, 09:54:33 pm »

Contract War, Year 1 Month 2, Combat Report
Did something different and very obvious with the formatting of this update that should hopefully make it easier to understand what's going on while cutting down on character to a degree. If instead you find the colors too much, do let me know. Any equipment not described in this report was outlined in the last one.


Rosa Knight and a fireteam of quality Terrestrial soldiers were stacking up in the entrance to a room on the 33rd story of an apartment tower in Grid C-4, one of four in this particular housing project. Skirmishing and scouting over the last month led to a series of engagements with Victory Services, but the Consortium had pulled out of the area, and the Panzer-Grenadier-Battalion "Donnerschlag" was tasked with pushing through the flank they'd abandoned. The plan was to strike the VS as they made their own way through to claim ground for themselves. Instead, the Outfit found themselves engaged in brutal block-by-block fighting against the 1-4-1 Vanguard. Both outfits prided themselves in their ability to smash enemy positions with a large vehicle contingent supported by infantry, and while there was fighting elsewhere in the sector, the worst of it was where these two hammers struck one another.

While Terrestrial artillery could have brought those towers down, they provided quite the view of the rest of the sector, as well as a solid staging ground for pressing further through the sector. As a result, both sides saw themselves repeatedly grinding into each other over the same buildings, flanking and cutting one another off in turn as if they were some sort of self-devouring ouroboros.

Rosa was Heavy Assault, armed with a "Bulldog" LGM (7.62mm LMG with 60-round box or 100-round belt operating at 650RPM), an "Adjutant" Pistol, a Basic Overshield Generator, and Legacy of Terra Armor. Her squad had been communicating largely by hand after they'd turned off their IFF and comms. systems thanks to Operator presence in the area, and with any luck the signal spoofers installed in their newly-developed Upgraded Omnivisor Suites (All Omnivisor Suites now have a pair of buttons in a small compartment to control IFF and comms. signal power, as well as a signal spoofer that continues giving hackers false information while the systems are disconnected) had convinced the VS they were elsewhere.

She was second in line to go through this door, and was thankful for it. The pointman was obliterated by a fireball of hardlight as he kicked in the door.

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

Mason and Jason, the Booth Twins, were were members of the 1-4-1 Vanguard, and had already died a half-dozen times each in the fighting over the projects. The latest TR assault had cut reinforcements off yet again, and the lower floors were all being blasted through yet again, and the two of them had found themselves on a suicide mission to slow down the enemy push upwards yet again. Quite frankly they almost hoped they'd finally lose this fight just for a change in scenery.

Mason was certified as Light Assault, who were now given only a Basic Jump Pack and an "Immolator" Shattergun (an upsized take on the ShotPistol that fires a devastating cloud of hardlight filament out to 30m. Blocky but more comfortable. Has a foldable stock, pistol grip, and a pump action/forward grip that triggers recharging and produces the unnecessary-but-totally-necessary sound of a traditional shell racking).

Jason, meanwhile, was a Combat Medic, and given just as much equipment: the same "Immolator" Shattergun and the "Caduceus" Medical Applicator (A Nanite Medical System housed in the bracers of Combat Medic combat armor. Can quickly revive fatally wounded soldiers. Houses and produces nanites fast enough to rarely have an issue with supply vs demand. Can also apply a nanite cloud for automatic wound healing without Medic intervention lasting for a few minutes). With the absolute surplus of medical equipment production thanks to their control of the medical facilities in D3 there were more Caduceus' (Cadeuci?) available than certifiable medics.

Their unit was on the 33rd floor in a respectable suite with a beautiful view of the battlefield. Some Engineers, armed with the "Monolith" Laser Rifle, "Razer" ShotPistol, "Hephaestian" Repair Tool (A repair nanite dispenser system installed in the bracers of an Engineer's armor, works slightly faster than the Basic Repair Tool, doesn't overheat as much, and can repair significant damage to constructed objects), and "Illuminator" AntiArmor Turret (A remote controlled deployable turret with a devastating 8cm beam but long recharge time with targets automatically tracked after being painted by a laser), had set up a bank of their turrets in the windows overlooking the nearest rooftops. With the Wasps dominating the skies, their Ospreys set about the task of landing above VS positions and applying pressure from the revive points they provided, and this was one of the few ways the VS of deterring that tactic.

Operators had been keeping tabs on a group of TR a few floors below them when the door into the hallway was abruptly kicked open. Mason was closest when the door flew open and was quick to fire at the Terrestrial silhouette in the doorway. A dense cloud of hardlight filament blasted the intruder. Even the Legacy of Terra Armor deployed across the Certified TR forces had difficulty withstanding the blast. Mason pumped the "Immolator" with a satisfying shickshick and fired again before the Terrestrial soldier could recover, sending him reeling backwards against the now-scorched wall on the opposite side of the hall in a smoking heap.

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

Knight stuck the barrel of her gun through the door and sprayed into the room while her squadmates pulled the smoldering soldier out of the line of fire. The fireteam's Combat Medic, equipped with the extremely cumbersome "Herald" Heavy Medical Applicator (a large rifle-like healing tool attached to a large backpack capable of healing multiple people at once, and is capable of continuous use), an "Adjutant" Pistol, and Legacy of Terra Armor, set to targeting the severely wounded soldier and linked his "Herald" up to Knight and two others as well.

Knight swung her body into the doorway and rapidly pounded shots into a Combat Medic trying to revive a downed teammate, but a blast from yet another VS in the room armed with the "Immolator" shredded her overshield and forced her to take cover again before she could deal more damage. Another Heavy Assault cycled into the doorway to throw more lead into the room. The fire coming from both sides of the doorway was intense as TR soldiers had to cycle out due to wounds and the occasional death, but after a few solid minutes of heavy fighting the fire from within had subsided. Knight was first into the room and yet again took down a Combat Medic trying to revive a dead soldier. The furniture in the living room/kitchen was splinters, and blood was spattered everywhere. One of the "Illuminator" Turrets turned into the room and fired it's beam through the door, just past Knight and clear through another TR soldier. Knight spotted the Engineer controlling the thing taking cover in a doorway leading off of the main room. She managed to remove the top of her skull before the Engie ducked back into the other room.

With the rooms cleared out, Knight took a step towards the large busted windows that made up an entire wall of the suite. The turrets positioned by the dead Engineers had deconstructed and left room for Knight to admire the view before turning comms back on.

"We've cleared Nest 33."

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

An Operator on the 34th floor finally got a reliably strong signal from a TR source beneath him and signaled to an Infiltrator to prime a Nanite Deconstruction System. Ewan Perry, Heavy Assault, was armed with a "Scourge" Rapidfire Energy System (an energy LMG capable of firing 8mm rounds at 100RPM, has issues but better range than typical LMGs), a "Razer" ShotPistol, a Basic Overshield Generator, and a pair of Secondary Power Cores (power sources that provide additional overshields), and ready for some action.

The floor around the Nanite Deconstruction System began to crumble and within moments the nanites had caused the floor to collapse into the room below. One of their Heavy Assault was standing by the broken windows and turned towards the new hole in the ceiling that Ewan was already firing through. The TR soldier, caught off-guard, took a handful of shots before returning fire. Her overshield flickered and failed before Ewan's had drained through it's first backup core. More TR returned fire, but Ewan was able to shoot the Heavy Assault out through the window before he pulled back out of view. Two Light Infantry fired through the hole at the rest of the TR below, engulfing them in a series of withering hardlight blasts. Once Ewan's shields charged back to full he jumped down through the hole with a sickening crunch as he landed with both boots on a Terrestrial spine, and immediately fired upon the few TR left trying not to trip through the doorway as they pulled back out of the room. As he heard them pulling back, Ewan turned and looked out the windows at the warscape laid out before him.

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

Rahul Bernard, Pilot, had most of his equipment taken after his death at NC hands, though apparently this was part of a general overhaul and not a specific punishment. He now only had access to an "Adjutant" Pistol, a Basic TR Neurohelmet, and an Upgraded Omnivisor Suite integrated into the helmet. The reduced equipment requirements meant wider deployment of Pilots, and with the Upgraded Omnivisor Suite they had more utility in regard to identifying and targeting enemy combatants.

Rahul was holding his Wasp steady as he used Thermal Imaging to observe some firefight going on in a contested tower. The room in question housed a bank of lasers that Rahul had gotten tired of and was about to take out himself from a distance when a fireteam rolled through the door. The room was a mess of heat signatures as VS energy weapons lashed out at the assaulting force. His people had almost succeeded, were it not for some ceiling assholes who'd dropped on their heads. They hadn't paid attention to Rahul loitering in the distance, and he had fired a handful of rockets to ensure they knew they made a mistake.

The rockets followed the Neurohelmet guidance perfectly, with the six rockets all blasting into the same individual standing near the center of the room. Satisfied that he'd laid waste to a number of VS, Rahul began to fire up his engines and peel off. Some shots from angry infantry struck the Wasp, but critical damage had been avoided.

"Man," Rahul thought aloud, "This is easier than I'd imagined."

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

The air battles in Grid C-4 were hilariously one-sided. "Einherjar" Rapid Attack Craft fell victim to "Wasp" VTOL Strike-Fighters with alarming regularity. They were an elusive target, but the only thing in the skies the TR needed to keep an eye on. "Osprey" VTOL Transports, while still harassed from the ground, could take their time finding the best landing zones for their troops, and often found prime real estate to set up as mobile spawn points.

The armored assaults in the area carried out by the 1-4-1 Vanguard utilized the speed of their buggies to deliver infantry where needed, while the "Rampage" Main Battle Tank spearheaded the offensives. The Rampage boasts a very low profile capable of 100km/h, armed with a 15cm Illuminator and protected by ablative layered armor with a reflective outer layer as well as a protective skirt. The Illuminator fires at Thaw (a weaker beam with longer uptime meant for infantry targets), Bake (standard laser uptime), and Bonfire (a single draining, devastating pulse), with relative accuracy. A remote-controlled Scourge is housed atop the turret. Uses an Emergency Shield as a safety net should it take a few solid hits.

One-on-one, the Rampage holds itself about even with the "Destroyer" Main Battle Tank. The Destroyer was designed with a 125mm autoloading cannon, a 12.7mm machine gun, 105mm-150mm armor, and bricks of Explosive Reactive Armor over vital parts of the tank, and could reach speeds of 60km/h.

The grid of city streets made it easy for Rampages to set up ambushes and catch TR forces off-guard, and if they got their first strike off it left Destroyers wounded and in big trouble, and the ERA did little to protect against the main turret of the Rampage. Past the alpha strike though, the Destroyers were more than capable of fighting back. The long downtime between Rampage shots left them very vulnerable to return fire. The restricted environment within the city was not too beneficial to evasive maneuvering, and with Destroyers more numerous than their VS counterparts, the TR ultimately had a distinct advantage when it came to direct armored combat.

But the Engineers on both sides had a lot to do with the ultimate success of their ground vehicles. Engineers were a common sight, and most vehicles had at least one on-hand for repairs. The Emergency Shield in the Rampagesafforded them the opportunity to repair them, increasing the overall sustainability of VS armor. Their counterpart Engineers, each armed with an "Overseer" Battle Rifle, "Adjutant" Pistol, TR Repair Tool V2 (a bulky handheld device with heat sinks, liquid cooling, and an extra nanite generator for increased mending capability. Overheats quickly without coolant, and susceptible to wear and tear), Extra Cooling Charges (a pack of cooling charges for the V2 repair tool that greatly extends usage time), and their everpresent Legacy of Terra Armor, were a bit less common, but more effective individually thanks to their combat armor keeping them alive longer.

IT was the Illuminator that proved to be the balancing factor when TR and VS combined arms clashed. The landscape was littered with vantage points for Engineers to set their turrets up in. Remote control meant that even if return fire came at a gun, the Engineer was still probably safe.

Ultimately, neither side could win the war in the streets, so it fell to infantry, as always, to win the battle. Unfortunately for the VS, TR ground forces were supported by "Hail" Artillery Pieces (105mm cannons utilizing HE and HE/AP rounds for soft and hard targets as well as airburst flechette. Mounted on a carriage with ready rack towable by a Teamster. Target areas can be laser designated.) and "Thunderer" Self-Propelled Artillery (A Renderer with it's roof completely remodeled with an open-top turret housing a "Hail" Artillery Piece. Armor was cut down to 15mm so it can still tow an Ammo Fabricator while keeping up with it's relatives. Deployable struts provide additional stability. The turret fires at 8 RPM.). While Tormentors and Desert Rats provided the VS with great mobility, the TR could pound unimportant positions with reckless abandon. For the more important locations the TR relied on Renderers and "Teamster" Armored Logistics Trucks (Renderers stripped down and hollowed out to allow transport of an increased number of men (16) and materials. Can hit speeds of 95km/h, though an Ammo Fabrication trailer can be attached, bringing it's speed back down to around 70km/h. The turret is replaced with a hatch and the sides swing open thanks to hinges at the top.) to get their soldiers safely to their objective.

That said, the room-by-room, building-by-building fighting in the area was a total massacre for both forces. The VS were quick to set up in advantageous positions and, thanks to their Combat Medics being able to bring back the recently deceased, proved very hard to dislodge without a direct assault. Legacy of Terra Armor went a long way to improving the results of any offensive, but there are only so many hardlight blasts one can take. What proved to be the biggest problem for the VS was the use of Ospreys as forward spawn points. TR assaults would crash against VS position in waves, reorganizing and maintaining pressure without giving the VS time to recover. The ability Combat Medics had to bring their men back to life on-the-spot certainly made their positions more difficult to take out, but some injuries can't be patched over, and eventually the war of attrition would see the TR successfully take VS positions.

VS counterattacks came fast, hard, and frequently, but they were utterly unprepared to deal with the "Workforce" Engineering Vehicle (A Renderer-based construction truck that uses an open bed containing a large Nanite Manufactory and deployment system in order to break down and clear land to facilitate construction of basic structures. Comes with two basic Prefab blueprints.  Nanites can replicate steel, iron, and concrete. Building components have a (limited) snap-to ability. Uses treads and can hit 60km/h.) and the hardened positions they'd put up in intersections and chokepoints as soon as they'd take territory. While few Workforces saw deployment, their ability to turn a pile of rubble into a bunker had quite an impact on the progress of the battle.

Victory Services fought for every centimeter of Grid C-4, but were ultimately unable to hold their own. They outnumbered their enemies and had quite a few tricks up their sleeves (including practically free medical equipment), but the TR had steadier reinforcements and quite a lot of support.

Terrestrial Reserve captured Grid C-4, but it was far from easy. The environment suited VS tactics excessively well, but they lacked the bite to follow up their initial bark. Superior firepower won the day, but not by much.


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


Nextgen Consortium had another target in mind: the VS-occupied medical facilities at Grid D-3. Victory Services had been quick to occupy the area and lock it down. Dillon Dixon, Operator had been part of the VS defensive from the start.

The NC were giving him and his dudes plenty of hell, but they were getting quite the bloody nose in return. The NC had deployed a ludicrous number of Sunderer-V0 Missile Launching Systems (A Sunderer stripped down to the cab and bed with a 20-missile launching system on it. Guidance is damn-near perfect, thanks in part to battlefield information transmitters installed on other vehicles. Has good surface-to-air capability. The Sunderer-V0 travels at 65 km/h but needs to stop to utilize the V0 MLS). The damn things dropped plasma and white phosphorous constantly. The only saving grace was the transmitters the NC installed on everything. It gave Dillon the ability to "see" just about any vehicle nearby and get a bit of warning when a target was being marked. Not that it helped much. Knowing what was coming just gave you the opportunity to prepare to die.

Dillon didn't like the NC much. Being an arachnophobe, Dillon despised the sight of the Light Assaults (now equipped with an "Australia" Modular Battle Platform, UBM-Clyde II, UBM-Wellington Mk.2, and that fucking Light Assault Vertical Mobility Harness (now upgraded with Roofs OS for faster movement and automatic fall recovery). There were almost as many of them as Light Assaults, and they managed to get all over the fucking place.

Even worse were the tanks. Oh god, the tanks. The SWT-3 "Iktomi" Scout Walker (A spider tank that travels at 70km/h while ignoring most difficult terrain and can suddenly leap up to 15m in any direction. Armed with a 10mm particle cannon and spike launcher on frontal turrets as well as pistons in every limb that act as climbing/bracing tools as well as puncturing weapons. Protected by 15mm armor.) was exactly the kind of thing Dillon never wanted to see. They were light enough to be able to scale the less compromised structures, and while their spike launcher saw limited success against VS armor, the biggest benefit they gave to the NC was their target marking for the rocket artillery. They were also fucking everywhere. They were easy enough to take out, but there was always another giant fucking spider sitting in the middle of the road or perched on a roof right around the next corner.

Dillon had been watching out for NC from the wreckage of a downed Einherjar. The aircraft were another fucking problem. Hawks were quick to pounce on VS aircraft, but thankfully were relatively limited in urban air-to-ground engagements. That didn't ease Dillon at all. After being part of a losing engagement Dillon and a few of his men found themselves cut off from the rest of the VS, and some NC soldiers had been on their tail for a few hours now. They'd been tracing their pursuers thanks to their easy-to-crack comms. and set up an ambush for them.

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

Andres deSilva, Warlord, was armed with an "Australia" Modular Battle Platform, a Basic Nanite Field Generator (A hefty collection of equipment that allows the creation of a nanite field with a 5m radius that currently provides minor healing capability, faster weapons recharge, or an addicting morale boost), and two UBM-Wellington Mk.2s. He was leading a small team of volunteers to hunt down some VS who'd been harassing their forces as they pressed forward. They were coming out of an alley and trying to cross a wide street when they'd come under fire, with the second and third men crossing the road getting shot down.

"Under the wreckage!" shouted the soldier who'd made it across. Andres peeked out and fired his Australia, but laserfire came back at him from multiple angles and forced him back into cover. There was one fucker camping under a downed aircraft, but there were a half-dozen more hidden in the surrounding buildings. Andres slapped one Wellington Module into the Australia and another into the New Zealand.

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

Dillon watched the alleyway the NC had just come out of. The NC soldier firing at him had reappeared, this time firing rounds with a light blue glow to them. They stuck to the walls around the windows some of his own men were positioned in before detonating in a bright flash a moment later. Dillon took a shot and his laser pierced the Warlord's thigh, dropping him to a knee. The wounded soldier fired into the air before Dillon put him down with a shot to the chest. As he prepared to fire at the next NC to pop out, he felt a thunk on the top of his helmet and saw a flickering blue glow emanating from it reflecting off of the surfaces around him.

"What the hell is this, some kind of spider? Get it off!" Dillon shouted before the grenade that had been fired from the New Zealand detonated, immolating him in an impressive blue blast of energy.

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

Andres was feigning dead in the street. He'd managed to activate the healing mode on his Basic Nanite Field Generator before he took the second shot. He was fine, if a little sore, but there were too many enemies watching the open street. Unfortunately he didn't communicate this to the squad's Combat Medic, who, armed with an "Australia" Modular Battle Platform, Basic Medical Applicator, and a UBM-Clyde II, was not much better at healing than he was. He tried to save Andres though, and that was admirable enough until he took a laser to the brain. No coming back from that until you respawn.

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

What was supposed to be a small skirmish son turned into a nasty firefight as the VS attempted to roll through a flank and push the NC back. This wound up pinching Andres and his squad between the guys they were engaging and the enemies rolling their allies back behind them. Haya Truong, Heavy Assault, equipped with the "Australia" Modular Battle PlatformBasic Overshield Generator, UBM-Bonnie, and UBM-Wellington Mk.2, was trying to reconnect with the main force alongside Asad Kane, an Engineer with an "Australia" Modular Battle Platform, Basic Repair Tool, and UBM-Oswald. The pair ducked from doorway to doorway trying to evade the VS, but managed to get pinned down by a pair of Tormentors that'd turned the corner in front of them. The one armed with an Illuminator missed the duo, digging a nasty scar along the sidewalk. The other Tormentor came with a "Phantom" Anti-Opposition Rifle mounted in the back, and it was rapidly accelerating down the street. Haya had slapped both of her modules into the Australia and sprayed down the street, striking the approaching Tormentor with multiple small explosive rounds, disabling a wheel and forcing it to nose into the ground, coming to a stop...

Right next to Haya and Asad. The Phantom gunner fired, killing Haya with a laser through the center of her chest. Asad managed to return fire, striking the gunner and-

An MBT-1 "Hephaestus" (A tank armed with a slow-firing plasma cannon. Can move at 50km/h, has 200mm armor, and utilizes an Alcor on a small forward turret. A dome-headed repair drone at the rear of the vehicle does it's best to maintain the Hephaestus as it takes damage using a system not unlike the basic repair tool) had joined the battle, obliterating the damaged Tormentor and rolling over it's slagged corpse. The Hephaestus took a hit from the Illuminator that managed to punch a hole in the cannon. It's repair drone made beeping, sweeping, and creeping noise as the thing tried to hold the Hephaestus together, but it was struggling somewhat. Asad ran out of his cover and took position behind the tank, using his Basic Repair Tool to aid the repair drone in it's task. The Tormentor's Illuminator wasn't going to recharge before the Hephaestus fired again, so they tried to pull back. They failed stupendously once the plasma cannon on the Hephaestus discharged a second time, turning the vehicle and crew into a burning mass of flesh and metal.

Another Illuminator had popped up thanks to an Engineer and fired into the tank, getting a lucky strike and causing it to detonate catastrophically, taking Asad and the poor repair drone with it.

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

Once again the Victory Services' lack of a solid combat aircraft meant enemy aircraft had free reign. While this was more of a benefit for the Nextgen Consortium than a detriment to the VS, the size of their "Nebula" VTOL Air Transports meant they didn't quite have the flexibility to drop troops anywhere, so they couldn't quite capitalize on it.

The combat between VS and NC vehicles is an interesting mix of hit-and-run and ambush battles for the most part. They were all generally effective against similarly-classed opponents, though the VS light vehicles were a bit more vulnerable to fire. Engineers were better equipped than their NC counterparts, and their additional Illuminators were an additional threat to NC vehicles, while Infiltrators proved capable of occasionally damaging Iktomis with enough concentrated fire.

As fighting in the streets became more intense, the direction of the battle depended on the breakdown of opposing infantry. When it came down to it, the Victory Services had equipped their Certified soldiers in a way that allowed them to better perform their duties, whereas Nextgen Consortium outfitted their troops to maximize killing potential. This goes exactly as you'd expect.

The Immolator proves to be the single most devastating weapon, but the room-clearing ability afforded to the NC by their Wellington Mk.2s could not be understated. The effectiveness of Light Assaults with guns firing explosive shotgun-like blasts at clearing rooms was nearly on par with the Immolator. The NC also deployed a good number of Infiltrators, now equipped with the "Alcor" Heavy Weapons Platform (A cumbersome heavy weapon with a high-capacity energy cartridge. Features two Behavioral Modules which can be installed in a slot at the side of the weapon. Infiltrators use the Delta Module, causing the Alcor to fire a sustained beam for about a second before safety features cut it off. This can be fired eight times before needing to recharge.) and Basic Nanite Cloaking System were more numerous than VS Infiltrators, but they weren't as good at their job, so control of the high ground was leveraged better by the VS.

Without carapace armor protecting them, the NC were more vulnerable to VS fire than the TR, which would have made the VS ability to revive the fallen quite the benefit. Would have, because the crazy bastards used weapons that could fire exploding energy balls, and there's not much you can do for half an incinerated corpse except wait for respawn. Heavy Assaults were nowhere near as durable as their VS counterparts, but their suppressive abilities outmatched the VS by a large amount due to, again, explosive energy balls.

The battle is ultimately decided by what isn't present. That is, the Victory Services lack of air power and indirect fire capability. Having neither has given the NC complete freedom with both.

Nextgen Consortium manages to eek out a win, capturing Grid D-3 and gaining access to cheaper Medical Equipment. The standardized generalness of the force means they're generally prepared to take someone out, but being able to actually function effectively at their tasks could prevent the VS from swooping in and taking the place right back.

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


!!ALERT!!

The suits in charge of the UPA want to see what the three companies can do to apply pressure. You have three more turns of combat before having a new battlefield assigned. If, however, a team ends the conflict early by capturing another team's warpgate, they will win themselves some extra funding in the form of a design credit! The losers will not be left unaided however, and both their actions on the following turn will be treated as if they had Resource Credits!

Spoiler: Control Map (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: May 13, 2020, 10:01:48 pm by Man of Paper »
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Man of Paper

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WarBiz - An Arms Race // Core Thread // Y1M3 Combat Report
« Reply #19 on: August 23, 2020, 07:12:50 pm »

Contract War, Year 1 Month 3, Combat Report


Francisco "Hammer" Hodgson flew as the lead for Red Flight in the Caldwell Squadron and was responsible for five other pilots. The squadron's job was simple on paper: keep the airspace over and around the Medical Facility in Grid D-3 clear of enemy aircraft coming from the TR in the south-west and the VS in the south. Red Flight's job was to cycle out with Blue Flight in guarding the front along the VS line. Red Flight was about halfway done their patrol, netting a couple kills along the way as they caught some Einherjars trying to snake through the city and drop guys off behind the NC lines, when "Thumper", the newest member of the wing, called out over comms.

"Thumper to Red Lead, I think I just got flashed by something in the distance. Nothing on radar yet."

"Copy. Red Flight, looks like they're going to try to go above us this time. Badger, take Thumper and check out the potential contact, intercept if they cross our lines. Striker, Wizard, and Sweet, stick in formation on me," Hodgson gave his orders like some sort of seasoned vet, or at least he thought so. It felt pretty badass either way. The two Hawks broke formation and flew off as ordered.

A few moments later Badger reported, "Positive radar contact, let's see here...one, two, three, oh shit, oh fuck, cloaking cloaking cloaking."

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

Jeremy Hunt was leading Glaurung Squadron, a group of two dozen pilots flying the brand new Peregrine-T3 Air Superiority Fighter (A small, fast, nimble, unarmored VTOL fighter with a 20mm gimballed nose cannon connected to the aircraft's unified computer system, which aid in targeting and coordinating each part of the aircraft for maximum responsiveness and control. Reaches 1200kmh, has an extra fuel tank in an internal storage bay. Hull is designed and painted to reduce radar and UV signatures, while in-set engines reduce the thermal signature. Also has flares and chaff). They were just a portion of the fighters in this initial thrust back into the Medical Facility and surrounding area. Scatha and Gostir Squadrons were also charged with ripping air superiority from the NC in order to aid the advance of the 1-4-1 Vanguard below. They had two contacts well within radar range approaching from the north from the other side of the front line vanish completely, which all but confirmed Hawk presence in the immediate area. That was fine, they expected an enemy presence anyways.

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


"SCRAMBLE ALL AIRCRAFT! WE'VE GOT A MASSIVE ASSAULT COMING OUR WAY!" Francisco relayed Badger's and Thumper's sightings to Command.

"Check your protocol, Red Lead. We're not seeing anything on our end."

"Fuck protocol and fuck your end, we're going to lose this fight if we don't get more shit in the air fucking yesterday!"

Badger cut into the conversation, "We're not gonna outrun these guys, boss," his voice was shaking, "No way I'm making it out of this in one piece, not unless these new aircraft fucking suck."

"Got it, Badger. Improve that K/D of yours. Good luck," Hodgson responded.

Speed, mobility, stealth capability, the Peregrine seemed generally better than the Hawk, even if it couldn't go completely off-radar. But that didn't matter much. The Peregrine outpaced it's counterpart, and Caldwell Squadron was feeling it. Badger and Thumper were both shot down in quick succession, and from what Francisco could tell, without much effort at all. Blue Flight had linked up with his wing already, and Green and Yellow flights were on the way. But so were the fuckton of of enemy fighters, and they didn't seem too interested in much besides gunning for the Hawks.

It didn't take a genius to know that the VS outnumbered and outpaced the NC interceptors, but maybe, just maybe the Hawks had more firepower. And they did.

A number of Peregrines dove down on Blue Flight before Francisco knew they were there.

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

Hunt loitered at 10000m as his squadron held off while Scatha Squadron dove head-first into some Hawks who'd cloaked. But that didn't matter much, they were still somewhat visible, and the turret on the Peregrine acted much like the Illuminator, in that the turret held steady on a painted target. The pair of planes shot down at the front line didn't even have time to react, thinking the cloak would at least help protect them from the Peregrine. It did not, and these guys apparently didn't get that message. In mere moments Scatha Squadron had bagged three more. One of the boys in Scatha suffered from a near-miss that slagged an engine and forced them down, but the pilot had managed to survive the forced landing.

Hunt's aircraft then practically began screaming at him and a number of lights flicked red on his Heads-Up Display.

"Glaurung-1, getting spiked by V-0, uh, about 3 o'clock," he relayed to his wingmates, with the last bit of his transmission punctuated by the high-pitched squeal filling the cockpit signifying an active launch.

"Copy Glaurung-1, Glaurung-3 has eyes on a SAM launch confirmed 3 o'clock."

Sure enough, Hunt could see the smoke plume of a missile launch and the trail following the missile up towards him.

Another indicator lit up on his HUD.

"Another spike. Two more. One from 3, another from 11," he called out. Jeremy had already begun evasive maneuvers as the first missile streaked ever closer.

"Confirming another launch from the same location, no joy on the third," Glaurung-3 called out again, "Cancel that, confirmed third launch, Glaurung-1 you're in some deep shit."

Jeremy rolled his plane to the right and pitched down, going into a dive angled somewhat towards the direction of the first two launches. He could see the missile turning to compensate for his maneuvers, but it wasn't as tight as he was, and as the first missile approached Jeremy pulled out of the slight dive and went into a high-g turn while popping flares and chaff. The cloud of countermeasures did it's work and the first missile lost track of Hunt's Peregrine and detonated harmlessly.

"Missile defeated Glaurung-1, but you've got a fourth launch and - shit I'm getting tagged too now!"

Jeremy, with a missile coming at his ass and another at his face, was still pulling high-Gs and couldn't look around too much, but didn't need to to see the dozen plus streaks of smoke billowing skyward. A couple lost track of their targets, but the vast majority homed in on the VS aircraft. In moments comms. for the squadron fell into chaos.

"Glaurung-10, jink right! Jink right!"

"This is Glaurung-5, I can't seem to shake these fucking locks!"

"I've never seen so many warning lights!"

"I'm going down! Ejecting...Eject...EJECT! EJEC-"

"Glaurung-8 just bought the farm!"

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

The VS at high altitude were occupied with their own survival as missile after missile launched toward them, but that didn't make anything better in the hairball that was the air-to-air engagement just above the skyline. Francisco's missiles had both missed their targets thanks to the VS' extensive use of countermeasures (not to mention their fucking agility), and his flight was being picked off with every high-speed pass the VS Peregrines made, and their highly accurate gun meant a fly-by could see immense success with little to no chance of retaliation. If it weren't for the aircraft above him getting slagged every once in a while, Francisco might have just surrendered and retired on the spot. As it was, the engagement was not going in their favor but the missiles gave a potential route of egress, and reinforcements had yet to arrive, so that could provide more security, as ill-equipped as it was to face this threat.

"This is Red Lead, I need everyone who can hear me to bug out now. Gain as much altitude as you can and RTB, we're not going to escape this shit if we don't give the missiles a chance to fire at these assholes."

"Sweet here. I think we're it, Hammer."

"We probably aren't going to make it out of here then, huh."

And sure enough, they rendezvoused with the rest of their wing at the warpgate a couple minutes later.

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

The 1-4-1 Vanguard opened up their attack on Grid D-3 in earnest. While the heavy AA presence meant that Peregrines couldn't loiter as the VS penetrated further into NC lines, Hawks had become easy prey and an increasing number of Einherjars had found themselves with windows to deploy the troops they carried into strategic positions they'd otherwise would never have had access to. Alistair Hartman, Operator, found himself aboard one such Einherjar.




Alistair and their squad had managed to go undetected as their Einherjar weaved through busted buildings and devastated streets before setting them down in a T-intersection. They were one of a number of squads assigned to taking out SAM sites to clear the way for air support, and since these missile trucks doubled as ground-to-ground artillery it'd make things easier for the bulk of the 1-4-1 to push further.

Six Sunderer-V0s were parked in large lot with at least two dozen NextGen soldiers. With any luck though, four VS would be enough to take out the position. They managed to sneak themselves into a nearby building with good line of sight on the NC position before Alistair went to work.

There was a lot to fuck with here. Every vehicle openly communicated with one another, and Alistair's newfangled Advanced Siren Comms Unit (Range improved to 200 meters. A terminal on the forearm allows the user to attempt to manipulate or hack into enemy systems. Hardware upgrade in the second bracer comes with the ability to calculate the accuracy of incoming information, and displays the three most likely sets of data based on prior information sniffed from enemy wireless signals) was all set and ready to take advantage of it.

Alistair set up the "Illuin" Signal Booster, and both they and the Combat Medic set their weapons to Send, while the Infiltrator and Heavy Assault set their weapons to Receive.

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

Reggie Davis, Infiltrator, was just looking for a good place to shit, and maybe take a nap. He'd been familiarizing himself with the ruined buildings around the launch site, and he really didn't want to shit in the same corner twice. He, just like every other Infiltrator, was equipped with a Basic Nanite System, a UBM-Ruby, and a UBM-Kaczynski, and he really wasn't expecting to need any of that when he opened the door to a prospective toilet-room to be greeted by a couple blows to the head from a rifle butt.

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

Their mission was almost compromised. If it wasn't for Alistair's Advanced Siren Comms. Unit the dumb bastard would have stumbled right across them. At least he was unarmed. The Combat Medic kept watch on the prisoner as he gained consciousness, while Alistair focused on their Siren and the other two kept watch on the launch site. Alistair finally got the opportunity to utilize his abilities when a number of target locations displayed on their Siren's screen. The whole group of Sunderer-V0s began to maneuver their missile launchers in unison, and moments later they began to launch their payloads. A few missiles were on their way before Alistair could alter the targeting data, but they'd managed to replace the target coordinates with, roughly, the coordinates of the launch site. A half-dozen missiles streaked toward VS positions, but the seventh wasn't following their trail, and instead climbed skyward before looping back down on it's own path. Alistair's unit began opening fire as the NC saw the missile streaking back at them and tried to run for cover.

The Heavy Assault's Scourge sprayed bursts of laserfire down on the NC while the Infiltrator fired his Phantom at the soldier's he'd identified as officers, or at least they acted like leaders (which probably meant they were NCOs). A good number of the NC took cover near a Sunderer-S as it deployed it's shield moments before the missile impacted, wreathing a number of the missile trucks in superheated clouds of plasma that turned flesh and bone to ash, melted metal, and began cooking off the other missiles.

A streak of light passed in front of Alistair's face with a disturbingly audible sizzle, and they looked to where it came from to see the Combat Medic clutching a wound punching clean through his lower abdomen as he collapsed. And an armed Infiltrator with an “Oceania” Modular Long-Range Platform (A hefty son of a bitch capable of firing a devastating shot every couple seconds or so with no need to stop for an extended recharge. The particle beam is highly concentrated and capable of punching through light armor (as in vehicles) and most cover. Comes with three UBM slots and room for a scope currently taken by a basic 1x-12x. Can be stored and redeployed in a Nanite Storage System in the user's bracers).

The fucker couldn't get a second shot off in time and was met with a blast from Alistair's ShotPistol. With the Infiltrator dealt with, and plasma explosions still going on at the launch site, Alistair and the rest of his squad opted to pull out before the NC could reorganize and take action against them.

They got out of the building and were attempting to fall back to a rendezvous for the VS in the area, but Alistair was seeing a lot of NC signals. Other launch sites were being attacked, and the NC was deploying vehicles and infantry en masse to stop the assaults. As the three tried to cross a road going from alleyway to alleyway an NC Iktomi peered over a down the road and fired on the VS out in the open. The Heavy Assault went down with a few new 10mm holes in his body. Alistair and the Infiltrator got to cover but were pinned down as another one of the NC spider scout tanks made its way over rubble at the other end of the alleyway to block their escape. It opened fire on the pair as the second Iktomi positioned itself across the street to set up a crossfire. A spike launched from the second spider tank slammed into Alistair and pinned them against a dumpster. Alistair watched as the Infiltrator fired his rifle into one of the tanks. The first round deflected, but the second struck a joint in a forward leg just as it went to put weight on the limb, causing it to falter for a moment and miss it's next few shots, with one of the spikes flying wildly and hitting the cockpit of the other Iktomi. Unfortunately this fluke wasn't able to take them both out, and Alistair watched the Infiltrator slap his Nanite Deconstruction System to the wall next to him and escape through the expanding hole before Alistair slipped from consciousness and ended up back at the Warpgate.

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



The opening assault on the NC-controlled Grid C-4 by the VS proved to be extremely intense for all sides. The VS were swift and brutal in their initial push, leveraging the mobility of the 1-4-1 Vanguard to outmaneuver the NC on the streets and in the air.

The air war largely went in favor of the VS thanks to their Peregrine, but the thorough saturation of NC territory with their Sunderer-V0s made extended operations in the air tricky, but more annoying than lethal for the most part. At least until a half dozen missiles were chasing a single aircraft. Even then, there were enough Peregrines in the air to keep the occasional SAM-related loss from keeping them from clearing out Hawks. The NC aircraft rapidly became relegated to a strictly responsive role, scrambling to take out Einherjars before being themselves shot down by the Peregrine escorts. The Nebulas already had a difficult time just finding places to drop off troops, and while it could take a while for the Peregrines to shoot one of the large aircraft down, there really wasn't a good way to prevent that from happening outside of hoping the network of missile launchers was focusing on airborne targets instead of ground ones.

Unlike the air war, fighting on the ground was far from certain. The VS had to contend with the heavily-armored and somewhat self-repairing Hephaestus, and while an Illuminator could eventually melt a hole through the tank's armor, and the NDS could be slapped onto one if an Infiltrator got close enough (a task only just accomplishable on occasion thanks to their cloak) for the most part the VS had to rely on the Rampage and it's turret set to Bonfire in order to reliably take the things out. The Iktomi found itself largely used for it's intended purpose as a scout tank, as the VS 1-4-1 Vanguard was keen on causing breakthroughs in as many places as possible, while Einherjars could drop troops behind NC lines. These disruptions made the Iktomi's ability to scale buildings with relative ease very useful indeed, and aided in keeping the pockets of VS from acting largely unopposed.

The NC were dug in hard, and with the new rifle for their Infiltrators they proved to be something of a menace on the defense. The rifle could disable buggies and kill infantry without issue, and having nanites de- and reconstruct the weapon to store it in the Infiltrator's bracers meant they had hands free to help scale and climb the urban rubble. Not as good as having a device to make a hole in a wall or floor or anything else, but none-the-less useful. Both sides snipers were equally effective in their roles, at least until you factored in the modules used by the NC. The Ruby and Kaczynski added penetrative and explosive ability to each shot, and with slightly greater numbers than their opposites, Infiltrators found themselves just barely outdoing the VS. Operators had a field day, or month, thanks to the extended range and capabilities of their Siren Comms. Units as well as the NC connecting the entirety of their vehicle fleet to a singular network without adequate protections from EWar. The VS could get accurate positions on anything communicating to the vehicle they were piggybacking a signal off of. This let the 1-4-1 more effectively plan and pull off rapid assaults with a minimization of risk to them while giving advance warning of missile launches and where targets were. Luckily for the NC, they didn't have anything else they could use to really exploit knowing the general position of enemy vehicles.

The NC had also decided to give their Combat Medics a Wellington Mk.2 module to improve their explosive potency with no decrease in deployments thanks to control of the Medical Facility. Again, the NC decided to focus on outright killing power, and unfortunately it wasn't quite enough to hold back the 1-4-1 Vanguard (bolstered by their ability to revive, even if again it was relatively limited by the slagging of flesh and bone). NC fought hard, but the VS fought smart, and mass destruction and death-dealing worked better on the offensive where the enemy had key points they needed to hold. The VS also made full use of their vehicle's speed, with their MBT outrunning even the Iktomi, and their troops being delivered by buggies and Einherjars. This speed proved extremely beneficial when attacking the NC, and their positions found themselves surrounded and overrun. The sector was not surrendered without a fight however, and the VS would see themselves violently repelled by defenders multiple times before the Medical Facility itself fell, and even then there was constant, if somewhat less effective, missile artillery to disrupt them.

Victory Services won the day, taking Grid C-4 and regaining control of the Medical Facility. As they become more capable of holding their own, NextGen Consortium might want to look into alternative means of improving their product line past "murder, but more, and harder".

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Man of Paper

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WarBiz - An Arms Race // Core Thread // Y1M3 Combat Report
« Reply #20 on: August 23, 2020, 07:13:18 pm »

While the Nextgen Consortium regular forces had to pull out of the Medical Facility, their Outfit, the Ball Lightning Company, finally made it's debut in the conflict at Grid B-5. The BLC, or Balls Boys as they were informally known (and everything about them was informal), specialized in asymmetric warfare, sabotage, and generally being assholes. Their first attack into TR-held territory was...definitely befitting of the unit.


The air war between Terrestrial Reserve and NextGen Consortium went largely as it had for the whole Contract War. Sure, they had some more Pilots after their disarming last month, but the Wasp, as nice as it was, still couldn't quite match the Hawk. The NC maintained a significant but not overwhelming level of aerial superiority, allowing for more flexibility in the BLC's plans. A number of Balls Boys loaded up into a pair of Nebulae and, with an escort of Hawks to swat any Wasps that got too close, made their way over enemy lines. They didn't receive much in the way of fire from the ground until the transports reduced altitude to allow the troops inside to hop out onto the rooftops beneath it. As the first Nebula disgorged it's troops and the second moved in to drop the next group a missile locked onto it from below and fired, streaking upward with almost no time for evasive maneuvers. The missile struck the transport's left engine and tore it away from the body, forcing the aircraft to list heavily and fall sideways into a nearby building with an explosion that flattened the weak multistory structure. Most of the troops inside found themselves back at the warpgate.

The entirety of the opening plays by the BLC proved to be very similar. Troops were dropped behind TR lines before scattering and disappearing. The standard troops ground themselves against TR positions reinforced by several months of Workforce "resource reclamation" and fortification construction. Large parts of their long-held territory had been converted directly into resources for the construction vehicle, and they fully utilized the abundance of concrete, iron, and steel. The standard NC forces found themselves struggling to make any headway, especially as Panzer-Grenadier-Battalion "Donnerschlag" had a heavy presence in the sector. The initial thrusts into TR defenses were often outflanked, cut off, and slammed by Donnerschlag, pinned between anvil and hammer.

It took almost a week for the BLC to enact the combat phase of their plans.

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

"Dude, no way this works."

"Trust me, we got this," Astrid Ryder, Light Assault spoke to her battle buddy. Calvin Couch, Infiltrator, was dressed in a TR uniform. Some might call foul play, but there are no warcrimes in space.

"What do I say if they ask literally anything?" he asked as he readjusted some of the armor the Heavy Assault had kindly taken off for them before being unceremoniously executed while knelt against a wall.

"Just, I dunno, shoot 'em," Astrid suggested.

The pair had managed to infiltrate a TR vehicle depot and were hiding between some large crates in a recently-constructed storage bunker. Calvin wasn't too confident in the plan, being an FNG and all, but someone up the line thought he had potential, so here he was.

Calvin sighed as he stood up. The weight of the TR kit was immense, as not only did they have the Bulldog LMG to heft around, but they also had to carry a Sentinel Guided Missile Launcher (Shoulder-Mounted Missile Launcher with standard and thermal optics. Laser designation requires constant input, exposing users. Locking on is iffy at a distance or against clustered signatures, low fuel makes missiles highly unsuited to AA work, but the warhead is effective enough to blast a hole in most armored vehicles), and it definitely impacted his mobility. He felt especially naked without his Oceania readily available.

The storage bunker was empty save for the two Balls Boys. Calvin left the bunker and scanned the immediate area. There were, obviously, TR everywhere, which made it difficult to figure out exactly where the juicy targets were, and made it even more difficult to figure out how to strike said targets. Luckily, nobody was paying any attention to the "Heavy Assault" walking around seemingly aimlessly. He approached the staging grounds where a large number of TR vehicles sat awaiting drivers to take them where they needed to go. Calvin casually walked over to a number of vehicles with Ammo Fabrication Units and coolly and calmly began opening up access panels and unplugging or swapping wires. He managed to fuck with a good few without getting noticed, up until he hotwired one that started to endlessly manufacture Hail shells.

"Uh, oops."

Calvin briskly walked away, and just in time, as someone had noticed the clanking of artillery shells being dropped onto one another in a very dangerous, very explosive pile. Numerous Engineers rushed to the rapidly growing pile of shells and began to hurriedly try to take them away while one guy tried to defuck the Fabricator. Calvin circled back around a Workforce and peeked back at the growing chaos. There were a lot of TR irresponsibly close together.

"This is gonna be a safety briefing," Calvin said as he shouldered the Sentinel and dumb-fired it into the group. The explosion was impressive, swallowing a good number of the guys responding whole and leaving nothing but smears on the ground and overturning if not destroying a number of nearby vehicles. Unfortunately for Calvin, this drew a lot of attention.

"RED ON RED RED ON RED!" someone called out as a klaxon started going off.

Another shouted, "HOSTILES IN THE WIRE!"

"Oh shit," Calvin muttered as he tried to hop into the Workforce, but got tagged in the calf before he could close the door. He threw off his helmet and tried to figure out how to turn the fucking thing on, but in a matter of moments some TR had surrounded his vehicle, blown out the windshield, plugged him twice in the chest, and dragged him out through the busted front.

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

Rosa Knight was pissed. Some shitbag NC who kept making over-the-top dying noises while he bled out had stolen one of her men's uniforms and sabotaged the everloving shit out of their motorcade. The fires started by the explosion were difficult to combat, and damage to the facility was growing by the minute. Where the fuck had he even come from? Had the NC embedded themselves in TR units? Was he a lucky lone gunman?

Rosa didn't like what was happening. She especially didn't like hearing reports from other FOBs of somewhat similar attacks by small teams of Balls Boys over the course of the next hour or so. Something big was coming, and they had to make sure they were ready. Rosa organized those not busy fighting fires and set fireteams up along the perimeter to watch all approaches.

"I WANT CONSTANT VIGILANCE ACROSS THE PERIMETER! THIS POSITION IS TOO VITAL TO JUST GIVE AWAY!"

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

There we go, Astrid thought to herself. Calvin got himself rekt, but in doing so had set in motion the events that would reveal to Astrid the person who was running things. Astrid watched the Heavy Assault through the crack in the slightly ajar door to the supply bunker, and she was rapidly approaching with a handful of TR at her heel.

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

Rosa knew one of these supply bunkers had to have more firefighting equipment. The blaze was contained, but wasn't controlled, and with the perimeter set up Rosa diverted her attention inward. One of her soldiers went into the pitch-black bunker ahead of her and let out a quick yelp before he flew further into the blackness. Rosa sprayed her LMG into the doorway and heard a brief shriek. After she stopped firing there was an unbearable silence for a few moments (save for the firefighting going on in the background), then suddenly she was struck by her teammate's impalated and bullet-riddled corpse as it was flung at her from the darkness.

I'm glad I'm never the first one in anywhere, Rosa thought to herself as she hit the dirt and shoved her teammate's corpse off of her with a little help. More gunfire pounded the inside of the bunker, and some rounds hit fire suppression equipment that was indeed stored in the bunker. Thick pink smoke and foam rapidly filled the bunker and billowed out of it, and with it came a Light Assault who'd used those damn spider legs to fling herself outward and right onto Rosa, who was still getting to her feet and found herself slammed into the dirt again. She hardly felt the dozens of rapid strikes from the spider legs puncturing her armor and thrusting into the ground beneath her.

Her assailaint was shredded to bits and collapsed onto Rosa in a twisted eight-armed embrace until they both succumbed to their injuries moments later.

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


The first all-out engagement between the Ball Lightning Company and Panzer-Grenadier-Battalion "Donnerschlag" went fairly poorly for the defenders. The plethora of static hardened positions meant easy targets for missile bombardment. Without any real changes to their aerial capabilities since the initial skirmishes, the TR had a hard time pressing any advantages their Pilots could give them. On the vehicular front, an upgrade to the Iktomi gave it superheated pistons to better melt and punch through thicker armor. While this was present on the field against the VS, the NC couldn't really catch them to try it out. This upgrade proved a lot less effective than the NC had hoped, as yes, while an Iktomi could mount a Destroyer and fist it to death, that was a pretty difficult task to pull off when doing so usually meant exposing the relatively vulnerable entirety of the spidertank to gunfire. Engineers had better repairing capability to keep their tanks alive, but they were more lightly armored than the NC MBT, with extra protection that didn't really help against beam-like energy weapons. Engineers, along with the Hephaestus' self-repair, brought them about to parity with their TR counterpart in regard to keeping the MBTs up and moving. The TR did have some advantage in the way of infantry anti-armor with the Sentinel, which was pretty damn effective at crippling Hephaestus', with a single Heavy Assault's pair of missiles usually enough to take a fucker out. The missiles also saw limited use against the NC aircraft, and while their IR seeking capabilities made Hawks big juicy targets, the unreliability of the missiles reaching their target after taking any sort of evasive maneuver meant very few were shot down. Nebulae proved to be easier targets, as they tended to fly at lower altitudes, but were hardier and could occasionally limp home with a hole or two in 'em.

The TR's wide array of trucks found themselves more vulnerable to small arms than they'd have liked thanks to the array of explosive and penetrative modules the NC widely deployed. Infiltrators in particular found themselves able to disrupt vehicular operations with relative ease, and everyone with a Wellington II module (which was everyone else but the Engineers) found themselves at least able to deter enemy vehicles.

The NC's rocket artillery hit harder than the TR's Hail pieces and were just as mobile, but their accuracy was much better not only because they're guided missiles, but also because said missiles had targets designated by any number of NC vehicles - including their aircraft. This made NC bombardments much more devastating than the TR counterpart, though that isn't to say the Hail and Thunderer were ineffective. Unfortunately for the TR though, the presence of BLC in the area led to heavy decentralization of their operations, so targets were more mobile and spread out.

Infantry-wise, other than Infiltrators, where both sides deployed equal numbers, the NC deployed a larger number of certified troops. While the TR had better equipped soldiers, their armor wasn't as effective at keeping them alive against NC weaponry as it was against the VS. The right modules could see a soldier capable of punching clean through the carapace armor, or stick it with explosives, or not even stick it with explosives and just explode. The TR could still put up a significant fight at every turn, especially as the sectors they controlled became more intensely fortified over time. The TR also had the benefit of Combat Medics with the powerful Herald Heavy Medical Applicator, not to mention their mobile spawn points, and as the NC couldn't really oversee an entire sector they didn't control (and there were plenty already prepositioned), this exacerbated the issues of immense fortification.

Fighting would have ground to a halt and gone wildly in the TR's favor as their Outfit smashed and countered attack after attack. Would have, were they fighting anyone but the Ball Lightning Company. These professional saboteurs and dickheads were remarkably adept at getting where they shouldn't, doing what they shouldn't, and loving every minute of it. The vast truck fleet of the TR and their related supply lines (although this is somewhat mitigated by Ammo Fabricators) proved to be a stupendously perfect target for these agents of chaos, even if they didn't quite have specialized equipment to aid them in their endeavors (but then that's the story of the NextGen Consortium, isn't it?). Vehicles were immobilized, sabotaged, or straight up stolen by Balls Boys who'd been off the radar long enough after their drops for the TR to reasonably assume they'd all been captured or killed. Fortifications suddenly found themselves without a section of wall during NC assaults, Ammo Fabricators would produce dud munitions, aircraft were grounded due to faults and damage to critical components that were clearly not there upon recent inspection. One Balls Boy even stole a TR Omnivisor Helmet and played NextGen jingles to the poor bastard's squad on a loop for most of the month, not loud enough to make their comms completely unusable, just enough that NC slogans were being whispered constantly in their ears. The Panzer-Grenadier-Battalion "Donnerschlag" relied on their mechanized forces and high levels of organization, which just so happened to be the two things the Ball Lightning Company loved to fuck with most.

Creating cracks in the TR defenses was the only thing that saved the NC offensive this month, and chances are any further pushes into TR territory will not be able to rely on the Ball Lightning Company to save them. The NextGen Consortium takes Grid B-5, though they do so with so many losses that stocks saw a drop of .002% as a couple investors lost faith. The UPA doesn't want to grind themselves to death and victory, after all.


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



The Terrestrial Reserve had suffered a frustrating and bitter loss against the NC, but they'd admittedly put a lot of attention into their offensive against Victory Services positions at Grid C-6. Neither side had deployed outfits to the field, meaning the fight relied solely on Certified troops and their equipment with no impact from doctrine of any sort other than "Attack" and "Defend", with the occasional bigbrain move of "Flank" and the often ignored "Reinforce Here".

The TR had attacked the VS before, and little had changed in that time. Admittedly however, Wasps now had to contend with Peregrines...

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

Rahul Bernard was part of a strike force meant to support a pocket of TR troops that had been cut off by the highly maneuverable VS in a swift countermaneuver. The unit was taking steady losses as they held their ground and needed immediate exfil. Rahul was one of a dozen escorts for four Ospreys, and he had a bad feeling in his gut. He'd just transferred over from the NC front and had yet to face a Peregrine, but he'd heard the rumors.

The air group was hardly harassed by the VS as they passed over an ongoing firefight and rapidly approached the parking structure. Rahul circled overhead as the transports moved to land atop the structure. They were going in practically blind, as the stranded troops had to cut off their comms to keep from being absolutely outmaneuvered and overwhelmed. Laserfire left black marks on the hulls of the transports and rose up to deter the low-flying escorts, but to little real effect. What could prove to be a deterrent however, were the Peregrines swooping down on them from out of the local star. The first had pounced on Rahul before he could take proper evasive actions and given his Wasp a thorough asswhooping, sending his aircraft in a tight twist groundward, leaving a helical trail of smoke and fumes behind it.

Rahul crashed, hard, into another rooftop, and managed to pull himself out of the wreckage before he was swallowed by flames. He looked up and saw, for the first time, the frightening majesty of the air war from the ground. Contrails mixed with black smoke as aircraft twisted in the air to engage and disengage before finding yet another target to tangle with. He watched as people he'd known well were vaporized as their aircraft detonated midair or slammed into the ground. Tracers from the rotary cannons on the Wasps burned brightly against the cloudy skies as they tried to greet Peregrines, though few if any met their mark. Rockets proved practically useless against the extremely nimble aircraft, flying off into the distance to explode harmlessly in the air or against a building even with the aid of the Pilot's Neurohelmets, further adding to the grand display of fireworks.

One of the Ospreys had begun to take off, but as it oriented itself towards the TR lines a barrage of fire from a loitering Peregrine tore it asunder, and it broke apart as the burning wreckage streaked back to the parking structure, taking a second transport out with it. A missile rose to meet one of the enemy aircraft, but a dense cloud of chaff and flares easily duped the weapon, giving the enemy pilot time to bug out.

The Wasps began to dump their rockets onto the streets where the VS were attacking from before getting the hell out themselves. It seemed that the surrounded troops were going to try to hold out as long as they could with the aid of the spawn points dropped to them. Within a matter of moments the hairball was over, and the TR had clearly been on the shit end of the stick.

Rahul observed in silence from his vantage point as VS forces repeatedly charged the ramps to the roof of the structure. Infiltrators in nearby buildings had been firing down on the poor trapped bastards, giving them very limited, if any, cover. The remaining Ospreys fell victim to Illuminators, and the encircled TR were left with just wreckage and the armored corpses of their fallen as cover. The TR took out multiple troops for each one they lost, but the VS were still reviving their fallen. A couple minutes after the botched rescue and the last few TR were trapped, firing out of one of the still-burning Ospreys as VS tightened their noose.

The first shell struck the intersection just in front of Rahul's building, and the following few dozen walked down the street, forcing VS into cover that more often than not was destroyed by a blast of artillery. The munitions fell like rain, pushing further and further into the VS and briefly distracted the assailants on the rooftop of the parking structure. His fingers had plugged his ears, so Rahul heard more than felt the next massive blast at the base of his building. He peered over the edge of the roof in time to see a Destroyer rolling over the remains of some VS buggy, with a platoon of soldiers clad in Legacy of Terra Armor firing and maneuvering toward the trapped infantry.

They'd managed to break through.

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


While the war in the air did change, and a lot, Victory Services still don't quite have the killing power to overcome the Terrestrial Reserve's survivability on the ground. While the Peregrine can solve a good number of problems, it doesn't have fantastic options for ground support, and it doesn't make up for a lack of indirect fire support. It's nowhere near easy for the Terrestrial Reserve though, as without the aid of their Outfit this time, everything came down to the fairly even number of Certified troops, and the TR just having slightly better quality equipment.


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


Remember, two more turns of combat before having a new battlefield assigned! If a team ends the conflict early by capturing another team's warpgate, they will win themselves some extra funding in the form of a Design Credit! Losers get the pity gift of both their actions on the following turn being treated as if they had Resource Credits!


Spoiler: Control Map (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Terrain Map (click to show/hide)
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WarBiz - An Arms Race // Core Thread // Y1M4 Combat Report
« Reply #21 on: February 22, 2021, 02:20:47 am »

Contract War, Year 1 Month 4, Combat Report
Music Yay

Captain Johnson and WSO DeWane were the first Pilots to cross into VS Warpgate airspace in a Roc VTOL Paratrooper/Bomber Craft (a Pilot-only heavy airborne troop transport capable of carrying two dozen soldiers OR a full load of somewhat effective bombs. Travels at 160 km/h. Has a 20mm gatling cannon on a nose turret with four other point-defense turrets positioned elsewhere on the ship. Turrets fire chaff or airburst flak to defeat missiles and close-in aircraft. Camera systems provide an unprecedented amount of situational awareness). They weren't the first to try, just the first to succeed. Victory Services, in typical VS fashion, had set up flexible defensive lines throughout the urban and industrial areas surrounding the warpgate complex itself, hiding in plain sight among the rubble and ruins.

The Peregrine Scourge had been an issue for everyone since the VS began producing the things, but they managed to crank the dial to 11 this month with the introduction of the Huscarl ASRAAM (Advanced Short Range Anti-Air/Anti-Armor Multipurpose Missile Munitions System, uses a hardlight warhead that can pierce and detonate within hard targets or blast a cone of hardlight against soft targets. Utilizes infra-red tracking and IR-laser designation. Extremely fast and extremely agile, with limited but not too-limited range. Can be mounted on aircraft hardpoints as well as used in a 4-missile Box launcher). Peregrines met the approaching bomber squadrons head-on, and Johnson could do little more than hold steady while DeWane used the point-defense weaponry to provide some level of protection for themselves and nearby friendlies.

----

Jeremy Hunt absolutely adored the new missiles he had at his disposal. Wasps had a tendency to disintegrate when hit by the hardlight cone projected from the Huscarls, and even these new hefty bomber/transports couldn't stand up to more than a couple missiles. Their defensive weaponry helped, sure, but what did that matter when the TR had no way to respond to the onslaught?

"Glaurung Squadron," a voice piped up in Hunt's ear, "Priority target all heavy aircraft. Enemy escorts are outnumbered so you boys get to play with your food. Good hunting."

That was exactly what Jeremy was hoping to hear. While Wasps were easy prey, they could still potentially maybe shoot a Peregrine down, although even those already rare instances were cut back by the superior range of the Huscarls over anything the TR aircraft had to offer. It was nice, Jeremy mused, not being on the receiving end of a metric fuckton of missiles.

----

"Opening bomb bay!" Johnson's Neurohelmet transmitted to his WSO. DeWane kept focus on the pair of Huscarls streaking towards the aircraft from 8 and 4 o'clock and unloaded flak towards them. Another Roc joined in and fired at the missiles as well before another missile came up from beneath and lodged in the beast's belly before detonating, setting off munitions and leaving nothing bigger than fist-sized debris streaking towards the ground.

DeWane managed to pop one of the missiles before she saw another missile coming from below, this time at them. She didn't even bother with chaff: the lock warnings weren't going off, so she knew they were IR, or at least not radar-locking. A nearby Roc managed to pop one of the missiles, but the one coming from the side went off in a flash of hardlight, melting a series of holes in the Roc's hull. The aircraft was filled with the whistling of depressurization and the blaring of critical system failure warnings on top of acrid smoke.

"Fuck it, dropping munitions!" Johnson transmitted, his voice piercing through the cacophony of alerts and alarms directly to DeWane. They were over VS territory, and people were shooting up at them. There were targets down below, even if they weren't properly identified.

----

Jeremy watched as the first enemy aircraft began releasing their payloads before trying to, largely unsuccessfully, bug out. He almost felt bad for the pilots of these new aircraft. It wasn't as if the Rocs were able to help the Wasps when it came to the VS' aerial dominance, and with the addition of Huscarls both in the air and on the ground, the turkey shoot turned into a turkey massacre.

Jeremy had a positive lock on a Roc spewing fumes from holes in it's side and let loose.

"Fox 2 away, that's my last one. Let's get ready to RTB and rearm. We're going to make a lot of aces today."

----

The air war could have gone worse is what the TR would like to say, but in all reality the initial aerial assault on the VS Warpgate was an absolute disaster. Subsequent bombing runs were sparse, and Rocs dropping Light Assaults were only used as a means to transport the troops to the frontline, or at least as close as they could get without pissing off a squadron of Peregrines. The VS lost a couple aircraft to the TR's vastly improved Sentinel Guided Missile Launchers (Shoulder-Mounted Missile Launcher with standard and thermal optics. Laser designation requires constant input, exposing users. Locking on is excellent, even at a distance or against clustered signatures. It is highly suited to both AA and AT work work, and the warhead is effective enough to blast a hole in most hardened positions.), and the Heavy Assaults were carrying more missiles around than they had previously. Flares helped mitigate losses on the VS' side, but it at least gave the TR some form of bite. In the end, the Terrestrial Reserve had to trust in their ability to punch through the VS on the ground.

----

Tae-Hoon Song, Light Assault, was keeping pace behind a Destroyer MBT supporting his unit as they pressed towards the outskirts of the city. His Fireteam Leader was shouting orders over the rumbling engine. They'd turned off their comms. to prevent Operator intrusion as they approached a suspected VS outpost. It cut down on support options, but it gave Song that feeling of being in one of those old Earth wars he loved to watch on holovids. Everything was too computerized nowadays, almost inhuman. Tae-Hoon mused to himself about how he was born in the wrong millenia and only just managed to snap out of it enough to hear his Lead shout, "COVER!" as a Tormentor Light Attack Buggy blasted into an intersection ahead of the column while firing a mounted laser.

Tae-Hoon made it two steps before the front of the Destroyer MBT was hit by the powerful beam of energy, cooking off the ERA and boiling through the armor before setting ammo off and punching out the back end a split second later. A burst from his Jump Pack barely let him escape injury from the Victory Service's upgraded Illuminator, the Spotlight (A turret requiring laser designation to fire a continuous 8cm beam with a maximum uptime of 90 seconds. A human controller remotely designates a target that the turret's internal tracking and computations then tracks, allowing highly accurate fire concentrated on a precise area. The beam is capable of melting a hole in most armor. The Illuin System turns it into a short-range Booster. Best used a Medium and Long ranges.). The gunner fired the beam in short, rapid bursts, cutting through Tae-Hoon's CO and a number of his buddies then zipping away before there was any sufficient retaliation.

Tae-Hoon ran to his CO, who was laying on the ground gasping in shock as he reached for the stumps below his waist. His legs still stood, smoke rising from the Legacy of Terra greaves a few feet from him.

"Jesus fuck they blew you off of your legs, sir," he said.

The squad's Combat Medic was miraculously still alive and rushed over with her "Herald" Heavy Medical Applicator.

"Don't just fucking stand there!" she shouted, "Give me his fucking legs and cover me!"

Tae-Hoon did as he was told and positioned himself in a nearby doorway while the Combat Medic worked on mending the CO's legs. A couple of his squadmates who managed to survive the brief ambush also took up overwatch, while another had begun panicking, turned on their comms., and began requesting immediate support. Tae-Hoon's eyes darted between every potential firing position the VS could take - and there were a lot of them. He popped on his thermals just in time to catch the signature of a cloaked Infiltrator leaning out of a window down the street.

"SNIPER!" he shouted as a shot cracked through the air and the cloak dropped. The Combat Medic flinched and turned when Tae-Hoon yelled, saving her skin as the blast from the Phantom Anti-Opposition Rifle cooked through the very top of her helmet. Didn't do much to protect the CO's lower jaw though. The Combat Medic scrambled for cover as Tae-Hoon and the others fired shots in the direction of the now-vacant window.

Tae-Hoon wasn't enjoying which old Earth war this was beginning to feel like.

----

Breaking through the last few urban lines was especially painful for the Terrestrial Reserve, as the Victory Services had become increasingly efficient at locking down in this sort of tight, vertical environment. While the Spotlight had become iconic for both sides during this engagement for it's destructive power, both sides were more than capable of taking out heavy armor with their missiles. While still painful, attacking across the more open space in the industrial areas proved more to the Terrestrial Reserve's liking, since they could see their enemies just as much as their enemies could see them.

Artillery had been flying across a massive gap of "No-Man's Land" between the city limits and the VS lines linking the nearest industrial strongholds for a few days days as their forces prepared to cross the open pavement. Smaller VTOL aircraft and the TR ground fleet set up in makeshift staging grounds, set to launch in one massive wave against the VS defenses. When the time came, the fighting was intensely bloody and brutal.

As expected, the engagement in the air leaned heavily in the favor of Victory Services, but the ability to launch a massed mechanized assault was something the Terrestrial Reserve had been desiring for a long time now. It was just unfortunate how much time and material was wasted grinding to this point, and the VS still had pockets of fighters scattered behind TR lines to disrupt the assault further.

The Spotlight still carried itself as an excellent defensive weapon, and there were quite a fair number of Engineers deploying the things. Again, both forces' missile systems came in handy during the massed attack, but the VS just had more of theirs, and they proved quite effective at targeting vehicles moving across open ground. Thanks to the Illuin network provided by Illuin Signal Boosters used by Operators and the new but fairly disappointing Desert Shrew Logistics and Support Buggy (A rather shoddy modification of the Desert Rat. Has passenger space replaced with a poorly-installed Illuin system and battery array. The gun mount is equipped with the Vulcan Repair Megatool, which runs entirely too hot. It can still repair vehicles, but the operator needs to be cautious. Also has a plow bolted onto the front almost as an afterthought.) gave the VS line the ability to pump more power into sections of the line that needed it most without costing manpower in any one location.

It didn't always help, though. One problem with having a clear, easy line of sight is it makes it awful easy to spot for artillery. As the assault went on, shells from Hail and Thunderer guns pounded the VS and bracketed individual fronts for the assault. The flechette air burst munitions were particularly effective against the lightly-protected VS soldiers and buggies.

The assault, blunted as it hit the VS lines, turned more in favor of the TR as it entered close range, more conventional combat in the violently shelled industrial complexes themselves. The Terrestrial Reserve had impressive Kill/Death ratios across the board, but thanks to the VS controlling the Medical Facility, their extremely cheap, very effective Combat Medics were fucking everywhere. It wasn't uncommon for multiple Combat Medics to form a damn-near invincible pocket with their constant reviving. A well-placed missile usually ended that, though.

By the time the TR managed to get within pissing range of the outer portions of the Warpgate Facility itself, the month ended and the Terrestrial Reserve were ordered to withdraw back into the city. The ability to have some form of effective direct support, whether it be from the air or through a better way to protect communications than an off switch, would have reduced losses on the ground and quite possibly allowed for at least a breach of the VS Warpgate Facility


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


The Victory Services assault on C-4 managed to be even more brutal than the fighting for the Warpgate, as the 1-4-1 Vanguard and the freshly rebranded Steelfall Dragoons (Now with 200% less [REDACTED]!) clashed head to head.

Rosa Knight was a little peeved about her outfit being kept in reserve again. The Ball Lightning Company the previous month had done enough damage to her willingness to sit and wait for the fight to come to her, and now her outfit was carted over to the Capital to hurry up and wait. Again. To deal with another Outfit launching an offensive. But at least she understood how these guys thought. Once fighting kicked off on the front lines, Knight saw herself and her fellow Dragoons loaded up into vehicles and delivered to the fiercest fighting, and her boredom quickly subsided.

VS aircraft still largely dominated the skies, but having to fly over TR territory meant needing to expose yourself to one or two Sentinels if you wanted to do anything effectively - especially when it came to countering artillery. The one in Knight's hands had proven quite effective, and doubly so against VS ground vehicles who'd advanced a little too quickly in front of the main force. Most of the benefits of the Engineer's Spotlights were initially reduced by the highly mobile nature of the assault, so the Terrestrial Reserve's vehicles had to contend mostly with Huscarls - still by no means fun, but at the very least the vehicles they were mounted on made easier targets than remotely-controlled turrets poking out of every window.

The TR forces and Steelfall Dragoons slowly gave ground to the VS, but on their own terms. Defense in depth was the order of the day, the Victory Services were too effective in getting and staying behind the front lines, so the TR would bleed the VS with a token defense before pulling back to another Workhorse-modified position. When the 1-4-1 threatened to make any significant breakthroughs, the Dragoons were there to fight back. The TR kept reinforcement up thanks to prepositioned Ospreys, but the Combat Medics that littered the battlefield like cockroaches did a lot of work to keep the VS momentum up.

Problems for the Terrestrial Reserve began to occur when they tried to retake territory taken by Victory Services. Spotlights were hastily deployed by Engineers, and Infiltrators could easily lock down long lengths of road when working alongside one of the turrets. The VS didn't stay put for long, so responding TR units could never quite be sure where their enemy was waiting for them. Ambushes were pretty effective, even if the Legacy of Terra Armor protecting every Certified soldier cut down on initial losses more than the VS would have liked. The TR did have hitting power, especially with their infantry-level missiles, but the problem was directing it effectively against a very fluid enemy. Overall, the Victory Services proved better equipped to force breakthroughs in an urban environment, and they were eventually able to roll the Terrestrial Reserve back beyond the Capital. As the fighting in C-4 slowed near end of the month, it became clear that the Terrestrial Reserve would not be retaking the objective, so they withdrew back to friendly lines.

The high-speed, high-impact attacks of Victory Services and the 1-4-1 Vanguard worked fairly well overall, especially as they generally deployed more of their specialist Certified troops across the board. The Terrestrial Reserve put up a strong fight, but again, better more consistent communication could see better organization and utilization of support. It should also go without saying that the VS seem very comfortable in the skies nowadays, and encroaching on that even slightly could go pretty far.

Victory Services controls the Capital at C-4.


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



The Nextgen Consortium launched it's attack towards the TR Warpgate, which saw the near entirety of the surrounding structures "repurposed" into fighting positions by Workforces. What used to be a city and industrial zone had been turned into ring after ring of fortified positions, and the Ball Lightning Company were responsible for going in first and softening things up for the main force.

They prepared their assault with strategic placement of their brand new MSB-1 "Coyote" (a bulky motorcycle that transforms into a spawn relay with a sidecar acting as a portable generator. The GenCar is lightly armored, but the motorcycle lacks protection. Can reach 130km/h, but mobility can suffer with the GenCar attached. GenCar is easily detachable and can be wheeled around without issue) along their lines and attempted to soften their enemies up in the air first.

The engagement between aircraft themselves went unchanged this month, as even though the TR now had the Roc, a transport/bomber wasn't really too useful when defending a relatively urban landscape, and so they were consigned again to shuttling guys around. The prevalence of the upgraded Sentinels on the ground did have some impact however, as the Hawks were fantastically easy targets for the missiles to lock and stick to. This gave NC pilots something to worry about, sure, but ultimately isn't the most effective means of combating aerial superiority.

The BLC didn't drop deep behind enemy lines this month - there was nowhere to do so without significant risk - so the aerial assaults came in conjunction with the ground attacks.

----

Calvin Couch, Infiltrator, was part of a unit that had managed to get to the first TR positions under a, well, hail of artillery fire, alleviated somewhat by their own rocket artillery support. The approach was heavily assisted by armor, which now not only meant the Hephaestus, but the newly improved SWT-3 "Iktomi" Scout Walker Mk.II (spider tank that travels at 70km/h while ignoring most difficult terrain and can suddenly leap up to 15m in any direction. Armed with an overclocked Australia and Oceania on frontal turrets as well as heatable tungsten pistons in every limb that act as climbing/bracing tools as well as puncturing/melting weapons. Protection comes in 25-35mm overall armor, with an armored tub for the cockpit. The Oceania's NSS let's the driver refit stored UBMs on the fly) as well. While it was still vulnerable to heavy weapons, the Iktomi was no longer crumpling when it got looked at too angrily. It's ability to provide significant mobile suppression at range aided immensely in the assaults on TR positions.

Gunfire poured out of a nearby firing port above Calvin's head. He opened up a pouch on his uniform and pulled out the janky-looking Nextgen Destruction Set (a "brick" modeled largely after the core particle accelerator in the Australia that fires an explosive blast of particles based on the Kaczynski and Clyde-II UBMs out of the adhesive-covered bottom. Primed by installing two UBM-related chips which sets a 30-second timer. Complex internal components.), which was completely and totally unrelated and in no way similar to the NDS used by Victory Services. He slapped the adhesive side to the bunker wall, primed it with the UBM-chips, cloaked, and moved with much haste away from the device.

Thirty seconds, it turns out, feels like forever amid a massive gunfight. Calvin pressed himself against a fortification wall and waited. And waited. And waited. Nearby TR had begun to fire downward onto the NC taking cover under their positions in the meantime, cutting down a number of his squad. Coyotes had a difficult time reaching the walls up to this point, so any reinforcements were forced to assault the TR from the NC lines again and again. Eventually the NDS did go off in an impressive directionalized blast, blowing a hole in the bunker and paving the way for NC forces to push in.

While the TR were indeed dug in pretty heavily, the NC and Balls Boys were still quite effective at forcing and prying open breaches. The use of the NDS used by both Infiltrators and Engineers as well as the Volley-0 did well to kickstart the process, while their various UBMs were effective for approaching and engaging occupied positions at multiple ranges on the fly. Light Assaults could scale the walls, but it made them easier, and priority, targets, but their use of the Clyde-II and Wellington Mk. 2 UBMs gave them explosive shotguns that were absolutely devastating in close combat regardless of how much armor someone wore.

Combat Medics could attempt to patch up anyone who wasn't vaporized, and pre-placed Ospreys certainly helped keep the front line steady for a time, but once the NC broke through, the Coyote really showed it's colors. The NC, once inside the TR line, could bring up one of the spawncycles, separate the sidecar and bike, and wheel them into the fortifications. While the range of respawn was heavily restrictive, it provided the NC with solid pockets to progress out of without immediate fear of artillery wrecking their shit. TR vehicles could sally out to fight the NC, but the Destroyer was a clear target for Hawks and Hephaestus'. There was also at least one example of an NC soldier popping a tank with an NDS, but opportunities for that were few and far between.

----

Having the Ball Lighting Company supplement the primary force once again gave the TR the double-threat of standard warfare and chaotic bullshit. The TR lines were well-defended, but once again their opponents were built up almost specifically to break through them. Each defensive line was a difficult obstacle for sure, but the BLC and it's new toys managed to guide the NC force through to the TR Warpgate.

The facility itself was a massive multistory complex, with multiple buildings connected by skyways positioned around a massive parade ground where vehicles were nanite-printed. Unfortunately for the TR, this environment wasn't much different from the defensive lines the NC had already managed to effectively breach. If anything, the widespread indoor fighting favored the NC and their loadouts, as they generally had faster rates of fire and more devastating munitions to use in the halls, rooms, and workspaces. The NDS also gave the NC the ability to "craft" their own doorways, breach rooms, and generally be a fucking nuisance.

----

Once again, while the Terrestrial Reserve were pretty good at setting up defensive positions, they proved relatively easy to roll back once the first dominos fell. Once forced on the back foot, without the Dragoons to rally behind, the TR couldn't quite recover enough to launch an effective counter-attack. The NC had managed to repeatedly create pockets of very murder-happy soldiers and managed to keep the pressure up, but barely. The NDS while someone slapped together, in conjunction with the Coyote, proved to be just what the NC needed to punch through the TR lines, especially as the only new introduction to the field that had any measurable level of impact from the TR was their Sentinel upgrade.

It wasn't easy, but just as the month came to a close the Nextgen Consortium captured the TR Warpgate, ending the fighting in the area and forcing a temporary ceasefire as all three companies prepared for the next unknown battlefield.

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

With the Nextgen Consortium declaring a strategic victory, they've expanded the number of factories (read: garages) available for use and have a Design Credit that can be utilized during any Design Phase. The Victory Services, being in control of the Capital Zone, declare a tactical victory and acquire an Espionage Credit! As they lost the race to the warpgates, both the Victory Services and Terrestrial Reserve temporarily double-down on their manufacturing efforts, providing every action during the next turn with a Resource Credit, meaning anything worked on will be one rank cheaper (unless it's cheap already).

IT IS NOW THE DESIGN PHASE.
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Doomblade187

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Re: WarBiz - An Arms Race // Core Thread // Y1M4 Combat Report
« Reply #22 on: February 22, 2021, 02:48:28 am »

Lol
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In any case it would be a battle of critical thinking and I refuse to fight an unarmed individual.
One mustn't stare into the pathos, lest one become Pathos.

TricMagic

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Re: WarBiz - An Arms Race // Core Thread // Y1M4 Combat Report
« Reply #23 on: February 26, 2021, 03:49:14 pm »

You're get them next time TR. Don't give up!

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ghost armor 1337

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Re: WarBiz - An Arms Race // Core Thread // Y1M4 Combat Report
« Reply #24 on: June 14, 2021, 01:02:12 am »

I'll join the TR.
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Man of Paper

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WarBiz - An Arms Race // Core Thread // Y1M5 Combat Report
« Reply #25 on: July 25, 2021, 12:14:42 am »

Contract War, Year 1 Month 5, Combat Report

This month saw the combat arena change for the first time in the Contract War. Troops and equipment poured through their respective Warpgates and all three forces were met by a bright sun, clear skies, and a pleasant sea breeze. The Warpgate facilities on three different, distant islands overlooked a vast expanse of ocean broken up only by a massive structure that one could say barely qualified as a bridge stretching toward a small island on the horizon.

The bridges leading from each corporation's Warpgates were thick, imposing structures with supports stretching seemingly infinitely toward the unseen seabed below. Soldiers and vehicles of all sorts found themselves capable of moving across the bridge quite easily, where all three forces came across the second island in each of their own chains.

These islands, longer and slightly narrower than the Warpgate islands, were either of completely artificial make or had been entirely terraformed to turn them into massive Air Bases. The Air Bases were stocked with an excess of material, including massive stockpiles of nanites to help fuel the construction of aircraft. As each force occupied their own Air Base they each realized that, so long as they held their facility, they could produce as many aircraft as necessary to combat their enemies in the air. It wasn't long before the skies were swarming with aircraft.

----

Glaurung Squadron was up and mobile in no time, and departed the VS Airbase following another bridge, this one leading toward a massive island to the North-West. From his high altitude Jeremy Hunt in his Peregrine could see the massive foliage-dense island at the end of the bridge, complete with an imposing sheer cliff topped by what he could only imagine was some sort of fortified facility. Well, it'd be up to him and his squadron to figure out exactly what it was while infantry and vehicles made their way to the island.

As they made their approach Jeremy took his thumb and tried to wipe a smudge off of his RADAR monitor.

"I've got uh, really weak signatures at about 10 o'clock," one of his wingmates reported, with another few calling out affirmatives.

"I bet it's just some fuckin' birds, birds love islands," another wingmate quipped.

"I'd be more worried about the blips that just popped up at our 2. We're the only friendlies in the area, clear to move in and engage."

----

Rahul Bernard, now a decorated Pilot, led his squadron as they passed over the beaches and dense jungle below. He could make out a single road winding from the bridge and zig-zagging up the cliff toward a main gate for the massive fortress overlooking the entirety of the island. A more pressing matter was the dozen or so blips rapidly moving to intercept his squadron from the south-west. If the Rocs were gonna help take this island they'd need to grab air superiority before the fast, annoying VS ground troops slipped their way in.

Luckily for Rahul, he no longer had to fly the Wasp, and was instead testing out the combat capabilities of the new Lammergeier Heavy Fighter (Pilot-specific VTOL fighter capable of 1000km/h with impeccable maneuverability. Protected by TerraScale Composite Armor layers to protect against all forms of damage. Has a nose-turreted 20mm gatling cannon and two 4-missile bays in the wings, as well as chaff and flares, all with their own ammo fabricators. Cameras provide complete spherical view for the Pilot. Powered by a Cold Fusion Reactor). He was still riding the high from connecting to the Lammergeier, and couldn't wait to give his foes a little taste of their own medicine. He just couldn't shake this feeling that he was being watched.

----

As Rahul's and Jeremy's squadrons prepared to engage one another, Francisco "Hammer" Hodgson and his squadron circled the island and watched from above. They'd been loitering in the area for a little while and had silently watched both other forces approach the island over the horizon. It was nice, being the fastest guys around, thanks largely in part to the latest development in the NC armory - the CI2 "Strix" Cloaked Interceptor (Extremely powerful powerplant provides enough energy to run the engines for speeds of nearly 1300km/h, an Oceania-based turret with a fire rate 3000RPM, and Full Spectrum Cloaking that reduces radio and thermal signatures while also providing total invisibility. Introduces a Firewall to interfere with hacking attempts into the Volley-0 systems).

Hammer watched as the first set of Huscarls, and then Sentinels soon afterward, were let loose and both squadrons below scrambled as they attempted to outmaneuver their opponents.

"I guess now's as good a time as any," he said, "Let's get juicy."

He didn't really know what he was trying to say with that, but nonetheless his squadron followed as he banked to enter the fray below.

----


Jeremy had to jink hard as a computerized voice shouted "MISSILE ALERT! MISSILE ALERT!" in his cockpit. His squadron had scattered as the TR missiles locked onto and tracked their targets. They didn't have the chance to watch their missiles obliterate the TR, as they'd gotten used to, before needing to take evasive actions themselves.

Jeremy's nose was angled downward and he was gaining speed. An indicator on his instrument panel started flashing and the missile alert was replaced with a very loud, solid screeching tone. He twisted his aircraft away from the missile coming right at him, momentarily nosing straight downward, before popping a cloud of chaff and pulling out of the dive, now facing away from his enemies. The missile lost him in the chaff and detonated below as Jeremy twisted back to face the oncoming foes, albeit now at a much lower altitude. A yellow indicator lit up on his panel, signaling light damage from the Sentinel's slightly too close for comfort blast.

"You got light smoke, Le-," one of his wingmates called out, the blare of their own missile alert coming through over the comms. before being cut off in a burst of static.

"Glaurung-4 was hit! He's nothing but a fireball!"

"Hey Lead, that flock of birds is moving in pretty fast! Huh?"

----

Rahul's comms. were as full as Jeremy's, but with just a slight bit less desperation in their voices.

"I've been hit. Fuck, there go rudder controls, bailing out!"

"Splash one bogey!"

"I got some weird blips closing in from above, but I'm not seeing shit."

"Fox-3 away!"

"Haha! These assholes weren't expecting a real fight!"

"Woah, what the FUCK was that?"

Rahul too wondered "what the fuck" that was when his wing was stitched by bursting fire from above. For a brief moment he could see an aircraft swooping down at him and pulling away, but it shimmered and faded before he could really make it out. If it wasn't for the Lammergeier's camera systems he might not have seen it at all. His neurohelmet relayed the impact to the armor, but he'd avoided any internal damage.

"Looks like those NextGen assholes got themselves an upgrade too! Try to keep an eye on those fuckers! This is turning into one juicy furball!"

Rahul wasn't sure why he chose those exact words, but it got the point across anyways.

----

"Shit," Hammer said aloud. The new TR aircraft held up pretty well against his Strix' gun, so he changed it to the Ruby-Kaczinsky configuration as he pulled off of his attack.

His squadron was briefly appearing as they unloaded onto enemy aircraft before disappearing under their cloaks and repositioning themselves for their next attack. It was a beautiful, but delicate, dance - one that he soon noticed was not quite in their favor. While the VS were having some slight issues targeting the Strix with their guns, the Pilots in the Lammergeiers had much quicker, more precise responses to the strafing attacks. He watched as one of the heavy fighters stopped seemingly dead in the air, twisting itself with it's plethora of vector nozzles, and locked it's nose cannon onto the Strix that'd tried to strike it. The 20mm belched it's fire and it's target listed in the air, smoking heavily and streaking down toward the island below, where it slammed through the canopy of the jungle with a bright fireball.

"God damn, they got Thumper. He's gonna be pissed when we get back. Fuck, where'd that Peregrine come from?! Bogey on my six!"

----

Jeremy'd managed to line up behind one of those radar blips, and he was barely managing to get a sufficient IR signature on a small section of sky in front of him. He let a Huscarl loose and pulled off. The missile streaked into the sky, curving down and to the left before exploding against nothingness. The cloak on the stricken Strix deactivated as the rear of the interceptor broke away and both halves tumbled out of the sky.

Knocking a fully cloaked interceptor out of the sky was sure to get him a juicy promotion.

Unfortunately for him, one of the Lammergeiers had fired another missile at him, and he'd begun evading a little too late when trying to get his kill. The Sentinel swallowed him and his aircraft in the explosion, and next thing he knew he was back at the Warpgate.

----

"That's one more for me," Rahul mutedly celebrated another kill, but unfortunately for him, one of those damn cloaked interceptors still had eyes for him. It's cloak shimmered and fell as it opened fire from above once more, but this time the shots managed to breach the TerraScale Composite Armor and detonate internally. Rahul lost control as the right wing of his plane tore away and he began to list. In the moments before he nosed to the earth uncontrollably the interceptor pulled out of it's attack dive in front of him. He got a fairly solid lock and let one of his missiles fly before dropping out of the sky.   

----

"That's one more for me!" Hammer celebrated loudly. Unfortunately for him, the guy he'd just shot down managed to take a shot at him. A very good shot, too. He briefly felt intense heat as his Strix suffered a rapid chain of internal explosions and disintegrated along with him.

----

The air battle, for the first time in the Contract War, is too close to call. While the VS are starting to fall slightly behind, no one side is able to gain enough air superiority to leverage on the battlefield otherwise while they all keep blowing each other up.

Nobody is able to attain Aerial Superiority.

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

The race to get ground forces to the island was also neck and neck and neck. The Nebula and Roc were capable of dropping larger numbers of troops at the end of their bridges, but didn't press any further to avoid being shot down. The Einherjar brought smaller numbers of Victory Services personnel to the front, but their fleet of buggies wasn't far behind them, either. The improved Osprey VTOL Transport (Can transport four soldiers to a combat zone thanks to 35mm TerraScale™ armoring and can provide cover or clear an LZ with the nose-mounted 20mm and a total of 16 Sentinel missiles. Vastly upgraded engines suffer from a lack of upgraded powerplant, increasing the threat of flameouts when above normal speeds to more than never. A poorly developed camera system provides grainy black and white video feeds to the pilot's Omnivisor. Utilizes a Revivication Chamber as a "mobile" spawning point, but is unable to use it while in-flight. Can reach speeds of 280km/h normally, with a max of 400km/h. Covered in the Terrestrial Reserve emblem) worked in the same capacity for the Terrestrial Reserve, while also providing a forward spawn point for their forces. They, too, had ground forces rapidly reinforcing them thanks to their own convoys of (slower) transport vehicles.

While it wasn't quite transporting plural troops, the NextGen Consortium was also able to quickly bring their own spawn point to the front thanks to their continued work on the MSB-1 "Coyote" (A sleek motorcycle that transforms into a spawn relay with a powerful power supply for the engine as well as respawn generator. The Coyote is unarmored. Can reach 130km/h, limited to refrain from stress on the power supply).

As troops from all three forces fortified their bridgeheads and fanned out into the thick jungles they quickly learned how nasty the fighting on the island was going to be.

The VS had the most numerous forces on the island at the offset, with the NC coming in just behind them, and the TR coming in at a distant third. Light Assaults took advantage of their new toy, the HOTAS Light Assault Jump Pack (A Jump Pack modified to utilize two bracer-mounted thrusters for finer controls and the ability to maneuver in the air. The Thrusters, connected to the jump pack via cables, need to be attached to the user's bracers so that they can control the thrusters and detached so the user can do anything else with their hands. The thrusters are stored on hip clips when not in use and are vulnerable to damage. Overall flight time is not affected. A "suicide burn" triggers as the user approaches their landing that drains the Jump Pack to minimize impact) in what limited fashion they could with the dense jungle to contend with, while Infiltrators did what they could to find firing lines with which to use their new Spectre Sniper Rifle (A heavily modified, lighter Phantom capable of firing shots equivalent to the Phantom's, with a toggle to switch between a lighter Monolith-like shot and a "marking" shot for friendly Huscarls. A high capacity quick charge battery means all modes of fire can be used fairly consistently without much downtime. The scope is also taken from the Phantom, upgraded with ENVG capability, and can link to Operator signals to mark targets in faction-specific outlines. Sudden bursts of light are automatically adjusted for and have no effect on the scope's clear picture).

The VS, not so surprisingly, had spread out across the island faster than their opponents, and set up a good few ambushes to whittle away at them with the help of their Operators. Unfortunately, while they had some effect on the TR, having forward spawns with their Ospreys meant the losses hurt less for the TR than the ones inflicted by the TR in counterattacks. The NC were almost worse, since their own mobile spawn points could be walked through thickets and underbrush to set up, well, wherever they wanted.

While the TR and NC were able to push the VS away from their own lines and back through the jungle, in large part (read: solely) because the VS couldn't reinforce nearly as quickly, their own fighting was brutal and constant. Light Assaults used their Light Assault Vertical Mobility Harness to perch themselves in whatever trees they could, which there were a lot of, and this led to the TR moving cautiously as they fought through a three-dimensional battlefield once again. Their Legacy of Terra Armor kept them fighting, and prevented ambushes from being devastating events, but they were vastly outnumbered and eventually opted to double down on their bridgehead defenses, especially as the Coyote was letting the NC respawn much closer to the fighting.

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

While no forces were able to occupy the fortress overlooking the main island, each bridge does have a road winding up to it to provide access for vehicles and infantry. The sheer cliffs elsewhere prevent attacks from any other direction. The pilots fighting above the fortress note that the fort is absolutely massive, and that vehicular combat will surely be a thing within it's walls. The jungles are too thick for most vehicles, leaving infantry to do the dirty work there. Thankfully, the jungle canopy will prevent endless harassment from the skies (should someone eventually start winning the air war).

With the reveal of the new warzone, the UPA has given the companies the following incentives and objectives!

King of the Hill: Control of the Fortress for four nonconsecutive turns will end the battle on this map, netting the victor a Design Credit and the losers Resource Credits on each of their actions the following turn.

Total Control: Capturing the entire main island, even briefly, will result in a victory, netting the winners Two Research Credits and the losers One Espionage Credit and One Resource Credit.


IT IS NOW THE DESIGN PHASE.

Spoiler: Terrain Map (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Control Map (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: July 25, 2021, 12:28:45 am by Man of Paper »
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