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Author Topic: Absolutely Absurd Abductee Arms Race: F. Cities of Sujia (Turn 4 Revision Phase)  (Read 9665 times)

flabort

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Core Thread
This is a side-specific thread. If you are participating in one of the other two teams, please don't read this thread any further than this post; if you'd like to participate in this game, please read the first post in the above linked thread first.

The year is 10 AA, you are on an unknown planet far away from Earth. Your identity as a community is still nebulous, your settlement only just organized. You were abducted, along with the others in your eventual nation, exactly 10 years ago by your reckoning. It was likely longer, due to you being in stasis in transit. Now you've organized, and found out about two other settlements on the continent you now call home - and you hate them, for one reason or another. The name they gave themselves, their system of government, the language they speak, the colors of their skin, or perhaps it's just the fact that they've been settled onto valuable resources that you feel you need for continued survival.

You are up on a cliffy hill side, with a solid foundation. This is very defensible, as there is only one safe way up or down, but the land around isn't very fertile, and what life exists has evolved to be very hardy and dangerous. This place doesn't seem natural, as the rocks and cliffs have a rather artificial shape to them.

Spoiler: Starter Designs (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

You start with one Research Credit, and one Alien Credit. The first team to vote for a name for themselves and their city gets another Research Credit, the team with the best lore about life where they live at the end of turn 2 gets another Alien Credit, and the team with the best lore about their faction and why they don't like the other guys between turn 2 and the end of turn 4 gets another Research Credit.

You have two designs each design and revision phase for the first 4 turns. Use them wisely.
« Last Edit: November 10, 2019, 03:25:10 pm by flabort »
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Vostok

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 Edit: posted in the wrong thread, please ignore.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2019, 10:35:55 pm by Vostok »
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VoidSlayer

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Maybe just a standard fully automatic battle rifle as basic kit.  The alien pulse weapon seems good to maybe work on but something simple and functional to start.

A truck is certainly a good idea and gets us experience with vehicles we could turn towards a combat vehicle of some sort.

For government what about a monarchy/dictatorship with a supposed philosopher king who is very wise and can do no wrong?

Doubloon-Seven

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God-King could work for Ancient Egyptian stuff, but I'm more interested in the potential behind a Dune-like interpretation of desert life. Sort of an Arabian feel, possibly with elements of native american cliff-dweller architecture, perhaps even a bit of influence from Mad Max.

Anyhow, the ideas must flow...
Quote from: Dihydrogen Monoxide
Ahmed slipped into the bulky Aqueostat, the precious suit that would allow him to journey far into the desert. He was on a scrapper's expedition, bound for the misplaced cities of the dawn years, where many had been reaped from their world to find their metropolis stranded in the inhospitable wastes. Many died trying to escape, and even now many die trying to enter.

They all seek the same thing -- the bounties of the worlds before. Tons upon tons of steel, copper, metals of all kind. Parts for motorwagons, tools of the kind man hadn't produced in years. Yet ever these treasures were nothing in comparison to the true prize. Ahmed's eyes shone with delight as he sealed his helmet to the Aqueostat's collar. The true riches were found in the cisterns. After the arrival, it was soon found that the deserts of this land were drier than anyone could have possibly imagined possible, and every liter of water became a fortune unto itself.

He looked out a window to the fleet of modified tanker trucks that would soon set out. 'Yet,' Ahmed thought with a tinge of sadness, 'It will not last forever.' It was true, for his kinsmen's thirst was great indeed, and as the reserves of salvageable or collectable water grew low, a final resort was settled upon.

To the north and west were similar abductee nations, both unlike his own in that they had vast supplies of water in the form of streams and snowmelt. It was settled that these resources would have to be seized. The alternatives were unthinkable. In truth, that was the reason behind his expedition. Water would have to be gathered in order to mobilize a proper army.

Blood would be spilt, yes, but if nothing was done they would die regardless. This was no war of aggression, no lofty goals of glory and conquest.

It was a war for survival.

A war for that most important chemical of all.

Casus Belli: Dihydrogen Monoxide
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Avanti!

Doubloon-Seven

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Alright, I think that we should get things moving. Sorry for the doublepost, but it's better than an unseen edit.

Quote from: Design: Battle Silicalisk
The Silicalisk was first discovered when an early scrapper came across a strangely shiny reptilian-looking thing licking a boulder out in the middle of the desert. The paranoid scrapper did the first thing he thought of, and shot it in the head. One dead scrapper later, the rest of his team was able to take it down with concentrated fire. What they discovered after killing it was peculiar, to say the least.

The creature superficially resembled a horse, and was covered in a stony hide, with fur like mineral wool. Upon recovery and dissection of the body, it was discovered that the creature was partially silicon based, and had the diatom-like ability to create a silica shell around itself through eating rock. A severely burned hand lead to the discovery that it was able to spit acidic compounds strong enough to break down stone.

It wasn't long before someone tamed one. Then a few more. Within time, the Silicalisk was a popular beast of burden, and significantly easier to take care of due to its heat resistance and requiring less normal food than an entirely carbon-based creature of the same size. As the need for war became ever greater, a group of breeders and trainers attempted to accustom a breed of Silicalisk to war.

The Battle Silicalisk, as the idea came to be known, was bred for increased hide density and crest size, as well as claws more suited to slashing than the wide and flat digger's claws of the original silicalisk. The theorized training regimen called for conditioning to increase bravery and pain tolerance. The state of mind achieved by these changes isn't thought to be conducive to obeying a rider, so the Battle Silicalisk is intended to fight either on its own, or being aided by regular soldiers.

Quote from: Casus Belli: Water
If one thing is obvious about deserts, it's that they're dry. The one that our precious nation is in is unnaturally dry. Until now, we'd relied on groundwater, saltwater purification, and water taken from the pipes of abandoned cities. Unfortunately, this arrangement had become untenable. The groundwater and salvageable stuff was running low, and the infrastructure just wasn't in place to mass-desalinate seawater.

Trading for water would leave the country in a disadvantaged, subservient position to the other two nations, and the populace couldn't be left to slowly dessicate. With no other options left, it was decided that the only way to acquire enough water would be to invade the neighboring countries and seize freshwater lakes, rivers, and snowmelt.

This plan was supposed to be kept confidential, but it trickled down to everyone as the leadership stockpiled water, and mobilized an army for the first time in its existence. The decision was respected, and those who marched off did not fear for death. After all, if nothing was done, they would die anyway.

It would not be a war of petty diplomatic disagreements. It was not even just one for resources or land.

It was a war for their very survival.

Quote from: Votebox
Design
Battle Silicalisk (1): DoubloonSeven

Name
Federated Cities of Sujia (1): DoubloonSeven

Casus Belli
Water (1): DoubloonSeven
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flabort

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As the GM, I'd say doubleposting is fine with a certain amount of time in between. 48 hours is more than enough for me, though ask your teammates how long they'd say.
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Screech9791

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Quote from: what do you mean "rigged"
Design
Battle Silicalisk (2): DoubloonSeven, 0cra_tr0per

Name
Federated Cities of Sujia (2): DoubloonSeven, 0cra_tr0per

Casus Belli
Water (2): DoubloonSeven, 0cra_tr0per
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it's over

Jilladilla

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Right! I have a proposal now all done. Let's begin with some fluff yes?

Quote from: A brief history of water transport
Water is life. This is a fact that has been made exceptionally clear to us in the years since the Abduction. Another fact that is less apparent at first but no less important is that water is heavy. Transporting precious water from their locations to our settlements and people by foot is an impossible proposition, so little water could be carried in that manner, and most would be consumed in the duration of the journey. So it was with little surprise that the motorized vehicles of the old world were commissioned for the most important and vital role of finding and transporting water.

These motor transports have seen a history of modifications, beginning with a simple set of poles suspending a tarp over the bed, to provide shelter from the tyranny of the sun for not only the passengers, but also for their precious cargo so that it does not boil off. The fact that the engines mandated precious water to cool led to the next major modification, as more than a few of these vital motor transports have had their engines burn out in an ill-fated attempt to conserve as much water as possible. It was a time of precious
balance, at least until one engineer built a system that would allow the water boiled off in the process of cooling to be captured, and allowed to sublimate into a tank. Now, no precious water would be wasted, indeed, now the vital fluids would indeed be purified in their duty of ensuring our fleet of motor transports operations.

The final major modification occurred shortly after the discovery of one of the Great Cisterns, when a convoy returning with a great bounty angered a pack of feral silicalisks on their journey home. Few escaped, and many motor transports torn asunder, their precious cargo spilled across the sands... This lead to a great uparmoring of the fleet, with the beds of the motor transports now sporting walls of metal, thick enough to resist the claws and spit of a feral silicalisk long enough for those riding the transport to fire outside
one of the windows in the wall and strike it down. Other modifications have been made, but none are as major as these...

Fennic Protected Motor Transport
This well armored flatbed truck has a history of transporting scavengers across the wastes in their endless search for water. Its bed is protected by a set of metal walls, thick enough to be proof against small arms, with armored shutters covering 'windows' that can be retracted for instant protected firing positions for its passengers; and roofed by means of a tarp to provide shelter from the merciless sun while providing superior ventilation compared to a metallic roof.

The Fennic also sports a notably Sujian innovation: the engine's water cooling system doubles as a water purifier, with any steam boiled off in the process captured and allowed to sublimate back into purified, drinkable water. All in all, the Fennic Protected Motor Transport will serve our soldiers as not only a transport and combat vehicle, but as a home away from home.
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Glory to United Forenia!

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Man of Paper

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me2

Quote
Proposal: Reverse-Engineered Extraction Equipment (uses Alien Credit)

The lands we've been thrust upon are dry, cracked, and barren. If this is some sort of alien experiment then there is no doubt that we are the group expected to fail first. Plant life on the surface is sparse, and what little there is is either covered in barbs or some manner of toxic. The wildlife is something else altogether. With little food or water we should have died, and many did. The first few years ravaged our population, and it would have been worse had it not been for a single seemingly abandoned mining facility.

There were stains of blood but no bodies and most of the facility was inoperable, but our people gained three things that day: space with which to expand underground safe from the sun, access to an abandoned mine still rich with ores both familiar and foreign, and the means of creating tools to extract said foreign material. The primary means of mining in the facility seems to have been what we refer to now as the Reverse-Engineered Extraction Equipment.

The R-E3 is a sledgehammer-like tool with an alien device within the head of the hammer that multiplies the power of the hammerblow with little to no impact to the wearer. While the device is mostly contained within the hammerhead, a small protrusion pops out of the top. This little piece allows air to run through it and lets out a low whistle whenever the R-E3 is swung. The vibration caused by the frequency of the whistling in the device triggers a response in the inner mechanisms that turn it into some sort of inertial amplifier and shock absorber.

This sledgehammer led to the rapid expansion of a number of sietches and is one of the leading reasons why our people are as numerous as they are today.

Everything except for the hammer itself is fluff and isn't actually meant to provide mechanical benefit necessarily. It uses the alien credit to net us access to Phlebotinium with plenty of room for the GM and ourselves to actually define what it could be based on whatever rules of the universe there are. For all we know we've been mining alien graves and harvesting their bones. This may also give us a window into how absolutely absurd absolutely absurd can be.

I was also thinking about some sort of cloaking that utilized the alien token instead, but there's probably a lot of potential ideas for what to to make our people super special. I just wanted to push my totally-not-Red Faction: Guerilla hammer.
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Jilladilla

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Right. We should get moving on the vote I think.

Quote from: what do you mean "rigged"
Design
Battle Silicalisk (3): DoubloonSeven, 0cra_tr0per, Jilladilla
Fennic Protected Motor Transport (1): Jilladilla
Reverse-Engineered Extraction Equipment:

Name
Federated Cities of Sujia (3): DoubloonSeven, 0cra_tr0per, Jilladilla

Casus Belli
Water (3): DoubloonSeven, 0cra_tr0per, Jilladilla
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Glory to United Forenia!

If you see a 'Nemonole' on the internet elsewhere, it's probably me

Man of Paper

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Quote from: VoteBox
Design
Battle Silicalisk (3): DoubloonSeven, 0cra_tr0per, Jilladilla
Fennic Protected Motor Transport (2): Jilladilla, MoP
Reverse-Engineered Extraction Equipment (1): MoP

Name
Federated Cities of Sujia (4): DoubloonSeven, 0cra_tr0per, Jilladilla, MoP

Casus Belli
Water (4): DoubloonSeven, 0cra_tr0per, Jilladilla, MoP
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flabort

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Turn 1 Design Phase Results
Quote from: Design: Battle Silicalisk
The Silicalisk was first discovered when an early scrapper came across a strangely shiny reptilian-looking thing licking a boulder out in the middle of the desert. The paranoid scrapper did the first thing he thought of, and shot it in the head. One dead scrapper later, the rest of his team was able to take it down with concentrated fire. What they discovered after killing it was peculiar, to say the least.

The creature superficially resembled a horse, and was covered in a stony hide, with fur like mineral wool. Upon recovery and dissection of the body, it was discovered that the creature was partially silicon based, and had the diatom-like ability to create a silica shell around itself through eating rock. A severely burned hand lead to the discovery that it was able to spit acidic compounds strong enough to break down stone.

It wasn't long before someone tamed one. Then a few more. Within time, the Silicalisk was a popular beast of burden, and significantly easier to take care of due to its heat resistance and requiring less normal food than an entirely carbon-based creature of the same size. As the need for war became ever greater, a group of breeders and trainers attempted to accustom a breed of Silicalisk to war.

The Battle Silicalisk, as the idea came to be known, was bred for increased hide density and crest size, as well as claws more suited to slashing than the wide and flat digger's claws of the original silicalisk. The theorized training regimen called for conditioning to increase bravery and pain tolerance. The state of mind achieved by these changes isn't thought to be conducive to obeying a rider, so the Battle Silicalisk is intended to fight either on its own, or being aided by regular soldiers.
Very Difficult (8+3)-2 = 9 (Below Average)
Domesticated Silicalisks are useful creatures. They are tough, enduring creatures capable of being beasts of burden and not being easy to kill. They even eat stone, making them easy to feed. It is hard to say what they won't eat, but their naturally acidic spit lets them break down most any compound. The acidic spit actually poses a problem for handlers, as the creatures still cannot be trained not to spit at anything that moves - several glands have to be surgically removed from a young Silicalisk's mouth to reduce it's acid production to manageable levels, where only what goes into their mouth gets dissolved, and not everything nearby. This can be tricky, because if the wrong glands are removed, or too many, then the Silicalisk won't be able to break down rock to eat, and will die of starvation, but if not enough are removed, it will pose a danger to it's owners.

The breed of Battle Silicalisks bred and trained to serve along side our soldiers is even more dangerous. It's claws have been bred narrower and sharper, and it was selected to have a denser, harder to damage hide. It's rocky fur takes on an almost metallic shine and woolly density, and it's tall crest keeps it cool in the heat of the wasteland, and flattens down to conserve heat at night. And it's training, though some consider it cruel, increases it's pain tolerance and aggression, making it disregard many dangers to itself, and giving it a sort of battle frenzy state in which it can ignore fatal wounds for a time.

The downside of the selective breeding is food consumption. To keep up it's aggression, and to keep it fit, it requires a steady diet of minerals and ores, already broken down into smaller chunks since it's claws can't smash through rocks like it's civilian-owned brethren. A steady supply chain is required to feed a contingent of Battle Silicalisks, and hungry Silicalisks have been known to turn on their keepers. It costs 4 Ore to deploy, making it Expensive.

Fennic Protected Motor Transport
This well armored flatbed truck has a history of transporting scavengers across the wastes in their endless search for water. Its bed is protected by a set of metal walls, thick enough to be proof against small arms, with armored shutters covering 'windows' that can be retracted for instant protected firing positions for its passengers; and roofed by means of a tarp to provide shelter from the merciless sun while providing superior ventilation compared to a metallic roof.

The Fennic also sports a notably Sujian innovation: the engine's water cooling system doubles as a water purifier, with any steam boiled off in the process captured and allowed to sublimate back into purified, drinkable water. All in all, the Fennic Protected Motor Transport will serve our soldiers as not only a transport and combat vehicle, but as a home away from home.
Very Difficult (1+2)-2 = 1 Abject Failure
Trying to make a motor vehicle, even based on the designs of vehicles that quickly broke down that were brought with us from home, turns out to be tough. All the moving parts, the supply of fuel, the controls - not to mention the ones we had all had computers and even the beat up old truck with an automatic transmission had a key fob to lock the doors or start the engine. It was too many advanced parts without enough knowledge of what was necessary, and what was luxury. All in all, we only managed to build three that worked, total. And one of them got melted by feral Silicalisks, the second suffered from a fatal buildup of salt in the radiator that allowed the engine to overheat and melt out of the bottom, while the other kept going for some time before we realized it was collecting a pocket of unburnt gaseous fuel in the purifier, which exploded all of a sudden. So we weren't able to replicate the parts we made, and we wound up with a few dozen half-finished wrecks.

On a plus side, we know roughly what parts of a vehicle are necessary now, and using the radiator as a water purifier worked in two of our prototypes. We'll need a way of removing any silt or salt buildups when we add unpurified water, though, and it would help to have the infrastructure in place to put them together. The couple of car dealerships (now starting to fall apart from not being maintained) brought from Earth are more suited to repairing vehicles than building new ones.

Spoiler: Designs (click to show/hide)
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Doubloon-Seven

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LOOOOOOORE

Quote from: The FCS Explained
In the near-decade since the Abduction, the disparate desert peoples that were sown into the barren have struck out a stable nation from the city-states. Before we can dive into the structure, we must first look at the foundations. Of the areas that were transplanted, the most notable are as follows:
-Abu Dhabi
-Kuwait City
-Tripoli
-Hopi Reservations
-Apache Reservations
-Tucson
-Adelaide
Most of them did not survive the initial displacement intact. During the first four years after Abduction, people fled en masse into the desert on vehicles of all kinds, hoping to secure water for their families. Many turned to stealing from others to survive, and so people banded together into nomadic groups to maximize their chances at survival. These individuals were known as "Road Warriors".

However, one city managed to remain effectively unscathed. Kuwait City, even before the Abduction, had relied heavily on desalination, and as such was able to support its population while recovery was underway. From a number of hired Road Warriors -- many former servicement in their home countries -- and a conscripted militia, forces were sent out to pacify the outback, which had been named Sujia -- an arabic portmanteau of "Glass Desert".

Meanwhile, in the deep deserts, the displaced Native Americans turned to a strategy which had done similar groups well in the past -- cliff dwelling. Living off of rationed groundwater and improvised greenhouses, they were able to coalesce into a polity similar to that of the former Kuwaitis. Soon enough, radio contact was made. In order to better facilitate diplomacy, the Community of Sujian States was founded, a sort of miniature United Nations.

As the CSS nations continued on their path of supplying, securing, and rebuilding, nations were slowly brought into the fold as the period of anarchy ended around 5 AA. At this time, the CSS started transitioning into a more centralized entity in order to better distribute food and water from the coastal desalination plants and hydroponics banks. It was around here that the trouble began.

While order had been mostly restored, and basic nourishment was being supplied, the industrial base of the abductees had crumbled to nothing from decay, scrappers, and lack of prerequisite resources. The desalination plants alone were not enough to slake the populace, and as native freshwater reserves ran low, scouts were sent to find new land that could be harvested. They found flowing rivers and placid lakes, rushing icy waterfalls and snowcapped peaks. The discovery was soured when the scouts discovered that the land was already claimed, and were driven back to Sujia in border skirmishes.

By 8 AA, the CSS had centralized enough to be reborn as a nation in and of itself, though not a particularly centralized one. The chosen capital was, of course, Kuwait City. One of the first motions by the new Sujian Parliament was to found a military force to match the ones being built up by the SDRB and the Rayleighs, those other powers mentioned. The army soon founded an agency of their own, one to design, manufacture, and supply war material.

The rest, they say, is history.
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VoidSlayer

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Aggression Control Silicalisk "Drugs" - Silic Powder
To better control domestic Silicalisks and allow closer training with combat Silicalisks a study was necessary on how their internal biology regulated temperament.  A series of microscopic crystals were discovered that function similar to hormones or neurotransmitters and injection of specific artificial variants in feed or directly can reduce or restore aggression.  Less aggressive Silicalisks take to training better and even in combat situations where aggression is restored they will be less likely to turn on their handlers and allies.  The drugs in a powdered form are artificially colored blue for aggression reduction and red for aggression production.

We could revise the pulse pistol or makeshift rifle.

Doubloon-Seven

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Quote from: Silicalisk Caravaneers
The use of draught animals in a supply train is an ancient tradition, with beasts from elephants to camels being used. The potential behind the Silicalisk arises once more.

There have been a few recorded instances of people uses Silicalisks as beasts of burden before, though with limited success. The creature in its wild state is insufficient. Training for these Silicalisks will revolve around docility. As shown by our previous efforts, it is a difficult task to make the naturally skittish creatures not spit acid at handlers. In order to neutralize this behaviour, training will start effectively from birth so as to allow the animal to become used to humans (During this period, the choice foods are about 2-3 on the Mohs scale, and includes powdered bases, so as to reduce the danger of its acidic saliva.)

From then on, training is based on the carrot method, rather than the War Silicalisk's stick. It is hoped that kindness and compassion will give the Silicalisk time to acclimate to the presence of humans. When the Silicalisk has reached adulthood, they can be sent off for deployment into supply trains and transport caravans.

Thoughts?
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