Omake: Steel Talon R&D Team Osprey Proposal #74656-J
DRAFT
Yeah, yeah I'll clean this up when we finally submit it up the chain. -Jen Wade
Bogatyr Repurposing Proposal
Intro:
Team Osprey is currently one of several R&D teams allocated to the Bogatyr reverse-engineering project. As per our status reports from Q2 2061, approximately 89% of the external systems have been disassembled and removed for further study, dispersed to research institutions across GDI. However, the core systems of the vessel remain intact. Most relevant for this proposal are the drive systems. In this proposal, we discuss the possibility of repurposing the Bogatyr from a floating, sub-orbital heavy weapons platform into a rapid-response mobile science research facility.
Current Status:
As mentioned before, the majority of the external systems of the Bogatyr have been removed. A short non-comprehensive list of removed systems include its sensor/targeting systems, light laser emplacements, rocket weapons pods, and communication system. Some of what remains include several heavy Obelisk of Light-type heavy lasers, a Tiberium-based power reactor, and a 6-pod reactionless drive system. These heavy systems are currently tightly integrated into the hull sections and will be slated for disassembly and study. But otherwise the heavy systems are intact. Also noted is that there have been extensive raids on various Steel Talon research facilities by extremely skilled operatives and regular Nod forces.
Proposal:
With the removal of the majority of external systems and heavy laser systems, this proposal aims to convert the Bogatyr into a dedicated mobile research vessel. By doing so, any Nod attempts on this research vessel will need to account for its mobile and airborne nature. It is proposed that we station several research teams onboard the vessel, enabling the study of the vessel while it is in operation as well as co-locating any sensitive research to reduce risk of seizure and destruction. An additional benefit is that the new research vessel could be promptly deployed to time-sensitive areas for scientific research.
The vehicle itself will need refits for scientific and defensive purposes. Scientific refits include several banks of Isolinear circuitry to handle all computing and simulation requirements, hi-fidelity long-range sensor equipment (both external and internal), and testing laboratories with workspaces for researchers. Defensive weapons will include a full spherical infernium point-defense network for anti-fighter and anti-missile capabilities. Additional ECM up to Initiative standards will also be required. While the heavy exterior armor of the Bogatyr already exists, additional supplementation of armor with ablative armor would be an optional extra.
Outcomes:
-Mobile, defensive, difficult to approach research facility
-Several co-located research teams
-Top of the line research and scientific equipment
-Study of Liquid Tiberium, Nod drive system while in operation
-Providing operation experience of operating future floating vehicles.
[Document continues for 12 pages]
Mainly wanted to show what craziness the Steel Talons get up to behind the scenes, even if it is unlikely their researchers will ever get their hair-brained schemes approved. I want to say this is probably one of the more sane proposals.
Finally getting around to posting the GDI Development Issues "blog article." I ended up excising part of it out as a bit too much TV drama-esque (involved trying to scapegoat BGen Solomon for leaks via NJP, he refuses and requests trial by court martial, trial is a fiasco for the brass) and instead having public discovery of the walker program causing more fuel for the media fire of the mess. That whole court martial mess also kinda works against the idea that it was largely a perfect storm from the chaos of the time frame and how everyone was trying to adapt to the changing situations regarding tiberium spread, so it makes sense. Also, I think it stayed in this long because my brain was going "Band of Brothers!" and I really enjoyed that particular scene from the series.
If this feels familiar with any contract award/procurement scandal/ethical misconduct (civilian or military), or just about any military vehicle development program of the last half century, then I think I did well. Also shades of McNamara era DoD programs with analysts making decisions based on paper numbers and not enough real world experience in the area.
Over the course of the decade since the Third Tiberium War ended, it had been asked periodically why research, development, and procurement for GDI's military forces are how they are. Currently, the Treasury's authority covers funding any research and development of new technology or vehicles for the military, while the military covers control over procurement once the factories have been built by the Treasury. Many can point to the old member states of GDI and how their R&D was set up in comparison, and question why GDI is set up "wrong." One answer would be that it actually used to be worse, and it only shifted into the current system in the 2020s following the HoverTech corruption scandal. This doesn't answer how it got that way in the first place. The answer regarding the military's procurement problems lie in the years between the First and Second Tiberium Wars, as the UN and GDI started transitioning towards the current system.
How It Happened
As the 2010s rolled on, Tiberium began spreading further and faster than before. The health effects of Tiberium exposure were becoming quite apparent, and efforts to contain the spread proved less than capable. As a result, populations began either fleeing or being evacuated from areas where Tiberium was found. This resulted in political upheavals and stresses on civil services. The United Nations acted to provide aid and financial support to countries to help them deal with these issues, but required GDI oversight to prevent improper use of the funds. The more programs and aid a country received, the more oversight was present. In the worst case, the country would essentially be a GDI Administered Region, particularly if the government actually collapsed in the process.
The GDI was not really equipped to handle this type of work, particularly when it ended up essentially running countries. To deal with the task, they formed various bureaus to deal with the work. One such bureau was the Treasury, which took up much of GDI's financial groups. As it became better established, many of those groups "separated" back into their initial Bureau forms within the Treasury. In the chaos, it was forgotten to move the research and development aspects back to a relevant bureau.
As the number of "GDI Administered Regions" began increasing due to developing countries being unable to handle the upheaval and stress of Tiberium spread, the United Nations became concerned that GDI was essentially becoming a country while technically under the UN but having a number of UN representatives from their Regions. As a result, they temporarily suspended all representatives from GDI Administered Regions until such time as the country took over governing itself once more. In addition, they split some parts of GDI off to be directly under UN control, including the Treasury. The Treasury becoming an independent organization resulted in them absorbing a number of existing UN financial organizations, including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
When the Treasury was spun off, the GDI bureaus under it were "returned" to the military, but under the impression that the military would have sorted everything out already, no efforts were made to make sure everything was properly sorted first. This resulted in the Treasury having full control over research and development programs and projects for GDI, and was noticed when GDI went to begin its Next Generation Orca program in the late 2010s. Neither the Treasury nor the UN were in favor of returning that authority to GDI, thinking of the wasteful military programs of numerous countries in the past that never provided any results.
Next Generation Combat Vehicles and HoverTech
As GDI took over a region, they also temporarily (or, as time showed, not so temporarily) took over the military forces within. In an effort to ease logistics, they worked to standardize the vehicles to the newest models. Part of this effort was coming up with a designation system unique to GDI to better sort their vehicle fleets. MBT-1, MBT-2, LBT-3, and LBN-1 became a catch-all for all tanks they received, though they rapidly phased out the oldest designs and used letters and numbers at the end to designate which tank it was. Similar designations were set up for recon vehicles (RN-1, RT-1), APCs/IFVs (CN-1, CT-1), tube artillery (GAN-1, GAT-1), and missile artillery (MAN-1, MAT-1). The main lesson GDI learned from dealing with the issue repeatedly was that it would be better to simply have a GDI specific vehicle and not bother absorbing the military inventories.
Thus in 2018, GDI notified the Treasury and the UN Defense Initiative Oversight Commission (DIOC) that it was issuing a Request for Proposals regarding a family of combat vehicles to become the GDI standard over the next decade. Proposals that came in could be sorted into two categories - Conventional and Unconventional. GDI would rule out the conventional proposals on the grounds that they felt the proposals were too merely iterative and lacked sufficient protection against Tiberium exposure and contamination. Out of the unconventional proposals, only two would stand out as options.
One proposal was based off of the X-0 Powersuit and related developments. The X-0 first came into existence right around the end of the First Tiberium War, and had been the first in a series of technological testbeds exploring the limits of combat walkers. The proposal put forth an anti-infantry walker not much larger than the original X-0 for the recon role. They estimated that a walker three times taller than that design would provide a stable, balanced platform for mounting a 120 to 152mm gun and serve as the battle tank. It was expected that an artillery platform could be made off the same chassis as the tank. An odd exception to the Walker proposal was the APC, which was a conventional design with wheels designed to allow it to move through water at a decent clip without need of a water jet system, though a water jet system was included to substantially increase its water speed. It was stated that the design was conventional because they could not determine a walker design that was stable, capable of keeping up with other walkers, kept the troops protected from enemy fire, and allowed speedy embarking and deployment of troops. The proposal also provided for a SPAA based on the recon or APC chassis, or potentially a heavier set-up on the battle tank chassis.
The other proposal was from a relative newcomer, HoverTech. Prior to this, they were largely known for commercial hovercraft and providing power plants for the Next Generation Orca program. As one could assume, their proposal was everything being a hovercraft. They put forth two tank designs - main difference being the amount of armor each carried -, an APC design, a tube artillery design, and a missile artillery design. SPAA variants were considered quite possible, perhaps even making use of the Hover MLRS itself with some modification. Positives of the proposal was that they would be deployable from ship to shore without need of a transport in sea states up to 3, that terrain would become less relevant to where vehicles could go, and would reduce Tiberium contamination issues due to being held off the ground on an air cushion. The systems to be used were considered of such power that a "skirt" was not needed to maintain the air cushion.
Unable to decide between the two options, GDI filed its finding on all of the proposals with the Treasury and requested a competition between the two it liked. The Treasury instead decided to award the development contract to HoverTech with the approval of the DIOC, despite the protests of Ground Forces and also the current Chief Commander, General Sheppard. In response to this and the decision to retire conventional aircraft for an all Orca fleet, General Sheppard resigned in protest in mid 2019. His replacement would be General M.O. Morelli, previously head of the GDI Air Force and major proponent of the Universal Orca program (formerly Next Generation Orca program). General Morelli and the Treasury announced the awarding of the contract to HoverTech.
In mid-2020, the HoverTech prototypes arrived at Aberdeen Proving Grounds for GDI testing. Five models were available, though one was merely there to show why they gave up on it in favor of the MLRS prototype. The XMAH-2 Hover MLRS, as the lightest design, handled all tests with ease and showed substantial mobility and speed, making Ground Forces put it under consideration as a recon unit instead of just a MLRS system. The XCH-1 Hover APC was not far behind. Issues started showing with the two hover tanks. Being the heaviest designs, they already required more of the power plant's output be devoted to the vehicle's air cushion, but speed dropped even more as they needed to increase height to deal with obstacles. Other issues included the fuel efficiency of the power plants as a result of the air cushion system, and water crossing capabilities.
The problems with the hover tanks would come to a head in early 2021, when GDI decided to test the water crossing ability for amphibious operations (having tested river crossings on local rivers) with a series of tests on the Chesapeake Bay. The first test – and as it turned out, only test that day – was to cross from the Proving Grounds to a location near White Crystal Beach, around 7 kilometers to the east. At the time the testing started, conditions were only sea state 1, well below the promised sea state 3 capability. The XMRH-1 MLRS and XCH-1 APC both rapidly crossed the Bay without issue.
As the XHBH-2 "Heavy" Hover Tank began its trip, the wind picked up, bringing sea conditions up to 2. The vehicle covered 3.25 kilometers when it "wobbled" and then sank slightly in the air, though after stabilizing at the lower height it did pick up speed. Wind gusts began breaking 8 knots and the hover tank adjusted course as if to pass closer to Turkey Point or to land there. Not long after, pursuit boats noticed that it appeared that a wave had hit the underside of the vehicle on one side, inducing another wobble of the hover tank. At this point, the crew decided to head for shore and began to turn, but the wobble returned and dropped one side of the tank just enough for a wave to catch the underside.
The air cushion system on one side became partially flooded and the remaining system strained to keep the whole vehicle aloft, but the effort lowered it too close as well, and not long after waves flooded both systems and the vehicle rapidly sank. A MV-25 Orca Heavy Lift was brought in from nearby Phillips Air Field and, with the aid of divers, was hooked to the tank and slowly lifted it out of the water as it moved in closer to shore. The vehicle exited the water about 500 meters east of the Turkey Point Lighthouse and, after the water mostly drained from the air cushion systems and the crew exited the tank, was airlifted back to Aberdeen. The remaining tank did not attempt the crossing and performed some tests off Sandy Point while the APC and MLRS made a return trip with no issues.
The investigation revealed that the power plant for the hover tank was underpowered for the weight it was having to lift, and that as sea states increased, more power was required for the cushion to break the waves. Insufficient strength would cause the vehicle to bob on the waves like a ship, which is both an issue for the crew's stomachs and a threat to the air cushion system's exhausts. In an effort to increase speed back towards its on land levels, the crew lowered the air cushion height in order to maintain strength while using less of the power plant for that purpose, resulting in the initial wobble. As the wind speeds increased, the crew became concerned that they might not have the height to avoid waves any more and changed course towards land. A wave did manage to hit the vehicle, tilting the craft and causing the onboard systems to automatically adjust output power to avoid potentially rolling the tank. This caused a failure in wave breaking capability just as the tank turned for shore and the crew attempted to override the computer, and a subsequent wave flooded that system.
Modifications were ordered to ensure the other three prototypes had the capability for the crew to egress from a sunken vehicle in shallow waters with minimal chance of drowning, but the already overweight heavy tank was left alone, as Ground Forces did not consider it acceptable and refused to further test or develop it. The surviving Hover Tank design would get re-tuned engines to provide more power, and would successfully complete the crossing in sea state 1 conditions with some speed loss, and more speed loss on the return trip in sea state 2 conditions.
The investigation also resulted in concerns about the APC, as it had not yet done any testing at its combat load while having already had additional weight added. Ballasting out the APC to represent its combat load of troops, the APC showed results on par with the tank, being nearly the same weight. Increasing the ballast to account for the new infantry armor systems pushed it past the tank's weight and raised acceptability concerns.
Suggestions were made to add a deployable/retractable skirt for use when the heavier vehicles crossed larger bodies of water, and tests with the hover tank and hover APC using permanently deployed skirts showed significant improvement. Some suggested simply adding a more durable skirt that wouldn't be damaged or contaminated by tiberium. Instead, development of a deployable/retractable skirt system was started while debate continued on the topic, as part of the reason the original proposal looked attractive was a complete lack of skirt needed for that capability. As it turned out, the system was never finished or tested as external events spiraled.
HoverTech Scandal
In 2022, the Bay incident and investigation report was leaked to the media. Companies that had put forth conventional proposals a few years earlier began raising complaints over the program and why there had been no competition for the contract. General Morelli issued a statement praising the progress of the technology and that an incident like that one was to an extent an expected occurrence when developing cutting edge new systems. A joint statement by the Treasury and General Morelli soon after claimed that a thorough discussion had been done of all proposals, and the best option was apparent without need for a budget wasting competition. The initial report to the Treasury requesting a run-off competition between the Walker proposal and the Hover proposal was leaked to the media soon after. Investigations to discover the source of the leaks was slow to find any possible suspects, but retired General Sheppard would appear on the news for interviews, revealing that the "leak" of the competition report was simply making a request for information for that report, as he had done after retiring due to the Treasury choosing not to classify the report.
Public discovery of a walker program pushing the capabilities of the concept, with the fairly ready XRW-1 Wolverine doing well on all testing programs on which it was compatible, just added fuel to the media fire late in 2022. After all, how could it be harder to get hover vehicles on air cushions - a fairly well known and developed technology - than it is to have a combat capable bipedal walker running around the countryside?
In 2023, General Morelli would quietly step down as Chief Commander, with her replacement being General Adam Locke. He would – in the very press conference announcing his becoming the Chief Commander – lead off his tenure by requesting the exit clauses for the HoverTech tanks and APC contracts be exercised due to lack of acceptable results and apparently lack of desire by HoverTech to take the necessary steps to correct the problems to GDI's satisfaction, as well as the exit clauses for the HoverTech tube artillery vehicle, which HoverTech itself had abandoned work on for valid reasons before GDI even began testing and thus shouldn't even still been providing funding for the last nearly 3 years. He topped it off by questioning the Treasury and DIOC's decision to overrule Ground Forces' desire for a competition and unilaterally awarding a generous contract to HoverTech.
The only real bright spot in the HoverTech program was the Hover MLRS system, which compensated for weight growth over the program with re-tuned, higher powered engines, and would enter service in 2024 as the MRH-1 Hover MLRS. Software improvements during development enabled the MLRS to also engage air targets, allowing the Hover MLRS to also serve as Self-Propelled Anti-Air. This dual purpose use of missiles would later show up with its spiritual successor, the ERN-2 Pitbull. The MRH-1 was used to phase out all legacy artillery vehicles and, alongside the RW-1 Wolverine, the legacy recon vehicles.
The wheels were already turning, even as the media began to dig into the allegations and a response was being formed by the Treasury and parts of DIOC. GDI's investigations service in cooperation with various law enforcement agencies began a wave of arrests on corruption, bribery, fraud, and other charges, and GDI filed suit against HoverTech on issues ranging from false claims and overbilling to breach of contract and conspiracy, not only regarding the Ground Forces programs but also regarding their contributions to the various Orca programs. A number of Treasury employees would also face jail time and fines, and while never charged with anything, the Treasury Director would step down in late 2023. The replacement Treasury Director approved executing the exit clauses, and also approved funding for expanding the Walker development program to replace the failed HoverTech initiative.
Five members of the Defense Initiative Oversight Commission would end up embroiled as well. Two were found to have close family members well placed in HoverTech that would benefit substantially from the contracts. Three were discovered to have taken bribes and/or other undeclared compensation from HoverTech prior to and after awarding the contract. The last member turned out to have actually been part of HoverTech's board and never revealed that information in session or abstained due to conflict of interest. The military was not immune either, in both Ground and Air Forces, with a number of officers having their careers ended, though all managed to avoid prison time.
Aftermath
The hidden development time of the Walker program bore fruit, and the RW-1 Wolverine would be on the battlefield by 2023 and, alongside the Hover MLRS, finished phasing out the RN/RT-1 by the end of the decade. The rest of the program would take more time, but the MBW-1 Titan would phase out the tank collection by the start of the Second Tiberium War in 2030. The Tiberium contamination concerns and advances in Walker technology were such that the planned upgrade of the First Tiberium War HBT-4 Mammoth tank was transformed into the cutting edge four-legged HBW-2 Mammoth Mk II walker that would be undergoing trials and entering service in 2030. The last design of the program would end up being one of the original designs proposed, with the GAW-1 Juggernaut entering service in 2031.
HoverTech had started significant expansion to handle the lucrative Ground Forces contracts even before the contract was officially awarded, and the scandal ruined the company. Between fines, exit clauses, repayment demands for false claims, and more, HoverTech would declare bankruptcy and suffer substantial downsizing by 2028, and would close the following year. As part of reclaiming costs from the company, GDI acquired all of their military related IP, patents, and factories. Further development on the systems for air cushion use was carried out by the Steel Talons in the early 2030s, resulting in the much improved systems used on the GAH-2 Slingshot and SAH-3 Shatterer. The ultimate culmination of the systems can be found in the SH-3 ZEMEV and the SAH-4A Pacifier MAV of the late 2050s, which make use of an ultralight, very durable alloy skirt to prevent tears or caught tiberium pieces.
The decision to go with the HoverTech proposal meant there was no need to design a new LCAC to deploy from amphibious assault ships, and all in service hovercraft had been retired in the early 2020s. The failure of the program and the switch to the Walker program necessitated a new transport to carry them. The MV-25 Orca Heavy Lift would be insufficient for the weight requirements of the main walkers and its replacement would enter service in the late 2020s alongside the MBW-1 Titan as the V-30 Carryall. The Second Tiberium War and subsequent Nod Reunification conflicts would push home the weaknesses of purely air transport for assaults, and the LCC-1 Ship to Shore Connector would enter service in 2040. The LCC-1 would - with use of an air cushion skirt - be capable of carrying an HBT-5 Mammoth Mk III.
General Locke would not remain Chief Commander for long, though he would ensure the Air Force was fully modernized and that the infantry armors would evolve greatly, most notably by beginning studies of Deep Industrial Design. The results of the studies the following year would decrease friendly fire by 85%. He would retire in 2026, with Head of Ground Forces General Solomon taking up the position. General Solomon would push forward with rapid orbital deployment to trouble zones and more flexible command capabilities, with infantry drop pods and V-31 dropships being well established by the end of 2029. The V-32 Orca Command Vehicle would turn out less well received from a cost perspective and only see limited production.
The discovery that the military had essentially no say in what they were given if the Treasury thought it knew better outraged the public over the thought that some desk jockey could force substandard equipment on the military without recourse, especially when the civilians also didn't really have a say due to UN control. In 2024, parts of the procurement authority were returned to the military, restricting the Treasury to simply approving or refusing funding for research or development requests from the military, and allowing the DIOC to overrule a refusal if the Treasury's reasoning was unsatisfactory to them. It was felt this change struck a balance between the military being able to have control over its development decisions while preventing boondoggle projects that fail to provide results while wasting substantial money. Following the merging of the UN (and associated agencies/organizations) and GDI, the process for overruling a Treasury refusal was slightly modified, but remains the same in spirit.
The former Treasury Director would have a peaceful retirement for many years, before being drawn back into work as an adviser and consultant to Redmond Boyle in the 2040s. His last act before returning to retirement was attending a conference on the GDSS Philadelphia, and was on board when the station was destroyed. Two of the DIOC members that faced trial received prison time and were out by 2033. They stayed out of politics until the early 2050s, when they managed re-election as part of the Hawks during the rebuilding of the government after the Third Tiberium War. The following election would see them out of office, and they would fade into the more backroom side of party work, and left with Initiative First when the Hawks party split. The last DIOC member to face trial would die in prison in 2034 when central Australia was turned into a Red Zone due to a liquid Tiberium detonation.
Following the Second Tiberium War, the military would attempt to recover other parts of its procurement authority without much success, such as regarding consumables development and production construction. It would not be until the mid to late 2050s, with budgets increasing without having to ask for a larger percentage and a Treasury not always remembering needed lead time for production, that serious consideration began again regarding reclaiming more of its procurement authority.
Personal Notes
Despite all the stuff we're missing here and now compared to a few decades ago, I'm glad I wasn't alive for the first few decades of this century. Governments collapsing, humanitarian crises globally, GDI rapidly expanding in ways it wasn't planned, the UN struggling to adapt to the deteriorating situation…. It all leads to problems you'd never expect normally. Why would a UN commission member for military oversight need to worry about ethical misconduct in the handling of their duties when it comes to military procurement of all things? Why would the Treasury have any authority over military procurement either? Sheer happenstance created a perfect storm for a major scandal.
The chaos of those first few decades led to errors that resulted in a colossal mess that, amusingly, cemented GDI in the public consciousness and relegated the UN into irrelevance for the general public. The various missteps the UN would take in addition to the HoverTech Scandal would cause greater unrest from the public at "lack" of representation and GDI being hamstrung by an increasingly out-of-touch organization, and eventually lead to the UN and its agencies "merging" with GDI. This would leave GDI as essentially the world government on top of its military duties, though some UN member states wouldn't fully vanish into GDI for up to a decade or more.
Posted on: 27 Aug 2059
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The Strategic Implications of Tiberium Expansion and the Rise of MARV Hubs as a Tool of Power Projection
The Strategic Implications of Tiberium Expansion and the Rise of MARV Hubs as a Tool of Power Projection Opening Historically, MARV hubs have been seen as a net negative on GDI military strength. Though the hubs themselves are formidable fortresses, and the fleets of Mammoth Reclamation Vehicles they support have immense combat power, to the point that Nod rarely dared challenge them directly, this was far more than counterbalanced by their position hundreds or even thousands of kilometers deep in enemy territory. The hubs generally existed at the end of a long and tenuous supply line through Nod-controlled territory, exposed to continual raids and harassment. Preventing the hubs from being cut off entirely was a constant struggle, and far outweighed the ability of the hub to dominate the territory around it.
With the advance of the Red Zones in the wake of the Third Tiberium War, this has changed. The vast reduction of the Yellow zones has cost Nod one of its key strategic strengths: defensive depth. Nod has been confined, in many cases, to long, narrow strips of land trapped between the resilient front line of the Blue and Green Zones on one side and the uninhabitable wastes on the other. Under these conditions, the zone of control projected by a MARV fleet can easily stretch all the way to secure territory. Under such conditions, Nod cannot effectively base out of the region without threat of destruction from prowling MARVS or fast-moving armored spearheads performing "shuttle runs" to or from the MARV hub. The ability of the hubs to provide a deeply advanced airbase further complicates the situation for Nod. Under these conditions, a strategically located hub can effectively cut a warlord's territory in half, or isolate them from Nod's global supply network.
Nowhere has this been rendered more clear than in North America, where the completion of the RZ-7 North/South and YZ-10 hubs were in large part responsible for the widespread fragmentation of Nod forces on the continent. Three MARV hubs, placed at strategic choke points, were sufficient to enable offensive action that resulted in the effective dissolution of a first-tier Nod warlord. It stands to reason that this success could be repeated.
Operational Opportunities
In general, there are two theaters where such an application of force could have great strategic impact. The first is in the West African/Southern European theater (Operation: AVALANCHE). The second is an attempt to open a new front in Western Australia (Operation: MULLBERRY). Conveniently, both of these operations strike at Nod's more prominent naval assets, thus letting the GDI convert its ground-based military strength into naval results, thus freeing up fleet-based assets in preparation for the attack on Karachi and the relief of BZ-18. Operation: AVALANCHE
The more straightforward of the two operations, AVALANCHE would consist of the construction of the YZ-13 hubs, south to north, along with YZ-15 in Southern Europe, preferably simultaneously. The immediate operational objectives would be to destroy or cripple the Ten Rings ability to operate as a naval power, to seize control of the Pillars of Hercules to allow for the exploitation of the Mediterranean Red Zones, and to completely cut off the Southern European Nod cells from resupply and reinforcement. The grand strategic objectives are, ultimately, the elimination of Nod's ability to maintain conventional military resistance in Southern Europe as a whole and the conversion of the West Africa theater to a pocket on a grand scale.
PROS:
Likely to cripple Nod ability to project naval power into the Atlantic, further rendering it an Initiative lake.
Allows for large-scale resource extraction projects in the Mediterranean
Likely to put direct pressure on Kane
CONS:
Highly provocative, high risk of an operational nuclear exchange
Targets Mehrehtu and Reynaldo, likely to provoke a large-scale terror campaign while InOps is still overstressed.
Likely to put direct pressure on Kane
PREREQUISITES:
Completion of multiple phases of Strategic Air Defense Network
Early and aggressive funding of InOps. Operation: MULLBERRY
MULLBERRY offers a somewhat more subtle approach than the brazen assault of AVALANCHE, though one with somewhat lesser long-term gains if successful. The operation is planned to start with the construction of hub RZ-8 South, ostensibly for simple mitigation purposes. However, rather than conducting traditional semicircular abatement efforts, they will instead attempt to chew out an invasion corridor into western Australia. Once a breakthrough is achieved, this would then be followed up by YZ-6 to cement GDI control, and then finally RZ-8 North to serve as a forward bulwark against naval incursion. The immediate operational objectives are the complete elimination of Nod bases in the deep southern Pacific, the opening of a South Africa-to-Australia convoy route, and providing flank security for the Karachi operation The strategic objectives are to open up the west Australian Red Zone for additional abatement efforts and the propaganda victory of rendering an entire continent effectively Nod-free.
PROS:
Does not threaten a warlord's core territory, achieved by unrepeatable coup de main, fighting removed from GDI-controlled territories: low chance of nuclear exchange.
Enables the GDI to effectively contest transit of the southern exits from the Malay barrier, rendering naval operations in the Indian ocean difficult for Bintang and securing Karachi's flank.
Relatively likely to achieve strategic surprise.
CONS:
Relatively limited strategic possibilities
Extended time frame likely to pose a strain on the military administration.
Could collapse in opening stages if Bintang chooses to take aggressive naval action
REQUIREMENTS:
Orbital Defense Laser Systems to prevent Bintang from effectively prosecuting a major naval engagement in response. Conclusion
It is strongly advised that, if the Treasury wishes to support large-scale offensive actions beyond Karachi, that it commit to at least three phases of MARV hubs during re-allocation.
Everyone had their own mental image of how Kane worked. None were allowed into his inmost sanctum, except for his tech-child LEGION. Thus, mystery bred speculation. From thoughts of gleaming high-tech laboratories, to dank arcane sanctums, and everything in between.
There was an outer "office" space that his inner circle could access, with a handful of chairs to allow them to sit and discuss deep and important matters, and a sleek "interface chair" Kane could sometimes be seen working in. Strange holographic glyphs would be seen hovering over his near-motionless body, even as his eyes were all but glowing white with the power of his technological union with LEGION and the cybernetic assets of the Brotherhood. Such a feature gave an air of otherworldliness to Kane, a hint that his inmost space was even more incredible.
The truth is rather more mundane in many ways. Kane's sanctum is primarily a space for him to have privacy from even his most trusted inner circle, a place to simply be himself. As much as he was ever himself these days.
~-Fire. Screaming metal. Rushing air.-~
There was a bed, a small private bathroom space, and other accouterments for basic upkeep of one's self. Simple but comfortable.
The main feature was a workspace with a large desk featuring a keyboard that was much larger than normal, multiple large monitors on the desk surface, and a small wall of monitors behind. Kane sometimes spent long hours at this desk, working on perfecting both his plans, and the Plan. The chair was the single most indulgent thing in the room, very clearly an exceedingly comfortable masterpiece, with just enough artistry and symbology that Kane could record video messages from this space, for those trusted few he sent such messages to, that is.
Currently he was reviewing one of the primary components of the Plan, one that even his most trusted confidants, at least of the present Brotherhood, had even a hint of. It had become clear this was the only way forward for the Brotherhood, for his plans. The only chance to finally-
Suddenly, one of his monitors flashed a code sequence to catch his attention. As soon as his focus shifted, a text window opened. The opening code lines indicated that he was receiving something from long-buried, long-dormant triggers in some of the oldest data that had been in….CABAL Which meant it was GDI, poking in the broken remains of his lost project.
"Just what did you find, little eaglets?"
Finally, a message flashed on the screen.
++The thunderbolts are loosed++
++The walls have fallen++
++The garden is aflame++
++The shadows are drowned in light++
Kane blinked. Then, he laughed.
"After all this time, and they found it? Well then. If that's how the game board has changed, I suppose I should respond in kind."
~-Earth shakes. Metal snaps. Night falls.-~
"The past is the past, and the future waits for none of us…"
GDI Intelligence Operations Headquarters, London, England A Couple of Weeks Later
Secretary Hackett was working through a stack of reports when his aide came into the office. The young man was carrying a large white envelope and had a slightly nervous look about him.
"It's clean, sir."
"What do you mean, son? It doesn't look dirty."
"No sir, I mean…it's clean. We scanned it, ran it through the sniffer, all of that. But…"
Hackett stopped and looked at the letter. It had only his title and name on the front. It was paper. Real paper, wood pulp. Slowly, carefully, he reached out and took it, before turning it upside down. There was a wax seal there. The same symbol that former Secretary Granger had seen on his own. Hackett's face was grim as he spoke next, his tone brooking no argument.
"Dismissed."
The aide didn't run out of the room, but it was a near thing. Hackett hesitated for a fraction of a second, then forced the envelope open. The letter inside was, again, real paper; a slightly different texture and thickness, but no mistaking it. It looked and felt a bit more "modern" than what Granger had received.
"And it's encoded. Damn smug bald bastard."
After a half-hour working at the encoding, which ended up being a 13-offset Ceasar Cipher, Hackett had the entire plain-text letter in front of him, alongside the much-fancier ciphered original.
Dear Secretary Hackett,
It seems you have found something few before have laid eyes upon in all of my years upon this world. Congratulations.
Of course, all it gives you is history. Many amateurs think that if you "control" the past, you will command the future. You and I know better. Knowledge of the past is information, but it is not victory.
Still, it reflects well on you and your staff. Those were not easy codes to break, even for my kind. I assume you threw your nascent Erewhon at it, Secretary?
So what shall you do with this, Secretary? You know. I know.
As a great playwright once said, we both know, what we know.
What now?
Sincerely Yours,
Kane, First of His Name PS: You should remind your people that large numbers of takeout orders at roughly 10pm local time are noticeable.
Negaverse Post- Regency War Discussion> GDI Weapory:
PucktheMediocreKnight (Verfied Noddie Air Force Warlord)
Okay we serously got our assess handed to us. I know that GDI won on most fronts and we are not going to attacking them again anytime soon but we need to start compiling GDI Weapons to see what are our possible counters in the future. Here are the current onces being delpoyed in the regency war
WIngmand Drones: Apollo. - I F*cking hate these assholes, hate them, hate them, hate them. My Banshee-bis squadrons are getting torn apart and thanks to those damn drones, they are taking fewer actual pilot losses in the air while my goddam cyborg pilots keeps getting mowed down and I am running out of both!
Wingman Drones: Firehawk. Thankfully, they only started coming out into the last phase of the war. SInce the Firehawk is an aging platform it is not as effective against most of our newer airframes. However, this allowed them to carry more ammo and fighters on strike missions, so our Ground Huggers are crying for more air support
Plasma Missiles: Ah yes, the other piece of shit that is eating my damn planes. These little suckers are the reason why I have stopped sending Venoms. One of these new bastards took out an Entire Squadron on Venoms up north. Not even Redeemers are save from these little shits.
Cargo Carriers - They have a more GDI name but we are not them so screw them. Essentially cargo ships converted into Carriers. Barely good enough for ORCA. Piece of shit compared to dedicated ships, but frees their carriers for air support.
Escort Carriers? - Still in production thankfully, probably 2062 or something. Still this is concerning as we may not be able to dominate the seas further into the future.Furthermore, Intel says that these ships are designed with Drone Orca's in Mind. Drone ORCA's Say good by to our air superiority when these suckers show up
New Frigates? - See above, minus drone planes
Firehawk Lasers - Yeah, not as bad as the other two but Firehawks were already murder on our Venoms, Vertigo, Carryalls. Made a slight spike in shotdown fighters since they no longer does hit and run compared to just being armed with missiles but its not worth the casualties in more common aircraft we are getting. It might be time to start consider Drone air as well, at least for Carryalls.
OSRCT - Ah, yes of course, SInce GDI already has Power Armor Soldiers, The next steps is to hurl them in a Atmosphere. OSRCT does that not in Dozens, they do it in thousands and a lot of defensive lines collapsed because these jackasses struck from the rear. Furthermore, thanks to these Bozos (Thanks, Krukov, you dumbass) we lost the Bogatyr and made GDI get away with one of our ships. Thanks now, we will have to worry wirh the Kodiak Showing up in a Decade.
Neural Control - Mostly Steel Talons, gave them a few more mechs but nothing noteworthy but the Air Force might implement, increase their fighter count. (As if we need more fighters in the air)
That is all I can think off. Will rest for a bit because this damn problem is getting on my nerves. Will post possible counters on them when I get back. Meanwhile, please post your own on how we can implement on our own upgrades because we really need them
FishLord (Verfied Cargo Sinker)
Dunno what you are are whining about, we had it good at the war, we were sinking GDI Cargo left and right. Sure those Governors where nasty customers but a few dozen missile barrages from our rocket boats made them mince meat
OceanNoodle (Verfied Bintang Captain)
@ FishLord Are you sure you actually fought? We at the Pacific got our assess handed to us badly, that is with the Ion Disruptors blocking their Bolts and the Kelpies savaging their Firehawks. Those ships are freaking beasts.
MechZealot (Verifed Redeemist)
I told you! I told you we should have attacked in 2059! Did all of you remember when the QM announced on Q3 on 2059 that GDI retrofitted their factories with 16 CG and caused them to out produce us with enough TW3 stuff and gave them a MIl Dice alongside the one from Philadelphia and gave them 8 Dice in total. That is how bad the military situation was for us and for what? GDI ended up attacking anyway when we were not ready! Now, we got freaking Air Drones dropping bombs on us and soon it'll be drone Tanks and Mechs!
Rattanoia (Verified Sneaky Slitter)
Calm yout tits, @MechZealot, we all had it bad on our end. The only reason why my attacks got through was due to InOps being swamped with refugees. And that way is drying up.InOps will get more funding from GDI in the future so this will not be successful.
Nidhi Man (Verified Indian SubWarlord)
Guys, whining about how we lost is saved later. For now, we need solutions. Me and @CymonMother are working on new Gana to counter GDI's new tools. Good news is that we were able to snag some of GDI's Tendril Harvesters and were able to implement them in India so that means more Tib for us so we can make more good stuff. Now, however we need more tools, new plans, tech, airships yada yada.
Edit: ... To those asking for Tendrils, pay up, we didn't get this for free
ScorpionsonHigh (Verfied Nod Fighter Jockey)
We need better planes and fighters. I mean seriously? It has been Eleven Years since TW3, ELEVEN and we are still stuck with Venoms as our primary fighters. For Kane's sake we do not even have a counter to the Apollo and I don't care what people say, the Banshee-bis is not a counter to the Apollo. That is like countering F-16s with Zero Fighters.
Furthermore, we are running out of men due to GDI opening the Blue Zones to Yellow Zoners and our potential recruits are moving away more and more to GDI.
We have to match them in Quality, not Quanitity This is not 2047, we are losing a majority of our population to Tiberium and the migrations. We need more bang to our back, we need better planes because GDI can now actually translate that Industrial might of theirs into air superiority thanks to those Drones.
EzekielsTubs (Verified Skyship Builder)
@ScorpionsonHigh We already have a counter to the Apollos and Firehawks and their drones. They're called Varyag. You think those Beaky Zoomers carry a lot of ammo? Our ships are designed to take the amount firepower dozens of Firehawks can carry, we just need more of them to win against GDI
ScorpionsonHigh (Verfied Nod Fighter Jockey)
@EzekielsTub Obviously, you did not include the Plasma Missiles on that list. The, you know, small bits of missiles with Plasma inside them capable of melting thick armor into slag in just one hit with a blast.
Also we lost one of the Varyag to those OSRCT bastards. You know, the ones you could have prevented by installing a proper Point Defense Laser or Missile system which would have stopped them from landing in and taking the ship from under us.
We need to make less Das Uber Ships and concentrate more on functional fighters. For starters a better Xenotech Figjhter, the Banshee-bis is a piece of garbage and you will not change my mind. We need something capable of out fighting their numbers and drones just as armed and fast enough against the Apollo, we need our own Plasma Air Missiles. (Its unfair, our Spectres have Plasma ammo while we are stuck with Tib Warheads)
We need a new Vertigo Bomber and most importantly, get the Venom off air or make em droid so we do not lose more pilots to those Death Traps
EzekielsTubs (Verified Skyship Builder)
@ScorpionsonHigh The Skyships are not waste of money! You do realize that building more of the ships will be the method of future power projection. We need more to remain competitive to GDI, do you remember the OCV? Hell, Canon 2068 has them, we need to be more especially since GDI has a working sample of the Varyag now. We can expect a Kodiak Analogue or something worse coming from them considering what the Mastodon will end up according to QM.
And don't bring up Krukov and the Bogatyr, That was the result of GDI doing something crazy that ended up profiting them, we thought when Krukov got a Nat 1 they would just shoot it down or Kamikaze it, not going full Space Marines on them and boarding the damn ship. Remember those ships took out the enter Radar Network on Murmansk and caused immense casualties on the attacking birds
We took countermeasures to prevent that shit from happening again, the Salamander alone has enough missiles to drown Entire Squadrons and all fighters are ordered to prioritize OSRCT Drop Pods when they appear
Don't go criticizing a tool just because we got screwed up using it for the first time, we're Nod. It doesn't matter if we lose, what matters is getting back up.
PucktheMediocreKnight (Verfied Noddie Air Force Warlord)
@ScorpionsonHigh You are right that we need better fighters and bombers, however we should not abandon the Varyag Series. Especially since GDI will be making its own warships sooner rather than later. As for Droid Venoms, yeah, we will take a look at that.
MechZealot (Verifed Redeemist)
Okay, now that I have rested a bit, My solutions will be focused in the ground. Being the walking embodiment of Kane and all. First, we need the Mobile Stealth Generators back. You know, the one allowed us to hide whole armies under GDI's Nose back in TW2? We need that back, look. Centurions and Gana are good and all but we need to find better counter to GDI going all Soviet in the Artillery Department.
Also, we need more Plasma for our vehicles, back in US, Gideon was able to destroy a whole Battalion of Mammoths with nothing but a hundred Plasma Scorpions. Now, they did burn most of them but Scorpion Tanks man, that was hell of a trade. We could counter a lot of GDI Tanks with those.
Rattanoia (Verified Sneaky Slitter)
Plasma is good, but I worry about the new Shields that GDI has. We confirmed that they reduce the amount of damage the plasma does to their armor and we do not know when they will start equipping those shields to their vehicles.
However, my real concern is Zone Armor, specifically, GDI is starting to equip their soldiers with Zone Armor, not just in a Division or two but they plan to do that to all if them, at least in the near future. This would have immediate effects, in their Red Zone Mining. They will not be limited by ZOCOM Availablity and will spam Glaciers as long as their Logistics does.
I worry because GDI's Economy is allready leagues above us. We desperately need to rebuild our forces but most importantly, we need to prevent them from getting richer and at the same time rebuild our losses.
The most important thing is our own economy. We lost a lot of Territory to GDI and we have out backs to the Red Zones. We have lots of Tiberium but we need a dedicated industry, we will never be able to outproduce GDI so we need to outtech them. We need to abandon this high low mix nonsense because people, skilled people are becoming a resource.
Yellowclockwork (Verfied Nod Industralist)
Our two main limitations are Industry and Tiberium Processing, we know that harvesting ops are always Vulnerable to GDI strikes whether by air or Ion Strike. Our refining tech is good but we need a more secure source. My recommendation is we do underground Tib MIning like GDI does we have the tunnel borers so chewing to the ground is easy and we can make robots to mine Tib underground ourselves and take that load rich underground for ourselves
TibSage (Verified Tiberium Fanatic)
Heresy! Apostasy! the sacred crystal is not to be disturbed in it is resting place!
PucktheMediocreKnight (Verfied Noddie Air Force Warlord)
Sage, shut the fuck up. Tiberium can wait while we are struggling to stay alive. If this crap is Heresy then Kane should have shot the Bannerjee siblings.
@Yellowclockwork, this is not a bad idea but my concerns is that this might take some needed industry from rebuilding our military. The only ones who can get away with is probably the Bannerjees and that is because they have BZ18 Locked.
We will need inhibitors to all major Nod Territories and we all know that the Bannerjees will make us pay through the roof, The only one given was Stahl and that is because he won. The rest of the other warlords, Nada, zilch.
OceanNoodle (Verfied Bintang Captain)
Well, BIntang is slowly abandoning ocean ships for Varyag considering we have the shipyards for them but we know that they are not invincible. Personally, i think it is a mistake, especially as GDI is coming out with those missile frigates. We should stop building Ocean Going Battleships and concentrate on escorts and frigates to harass GDI Shipping and use the Airships against major convoys with lots of escorts
EzekielsTubs (Verified Skyship Builder)
@OceanNoodle Good to know that BIntang is seeing sense.
@Yellowclockwork Yeah, the loss of a large part of our Yellow Zone Territories is hurting us bad, Most of the time, we are forced to do harvesting on Red Zones which usually wears out our equipment faster and more expensive, the Vein Mining is a bit pricey but we are getting a decent amount from under the ground.
Anyhow, what is hurting us more is loss of knowledge and recruitment. When will we start growing people into damn vats?
A/N: My first attempt at a Negaverse post. Hopefully isn''t too verbose.
InitiativeDemon
Okay, Everyone. The third Four Year Plan has finally ended and the results are now well known. GDI won a total Victory against Nod, two major Space Stations are completed and our Tiberum economy has practically doubled.
I would not say that it is a major success. It is a significant improvement amongst us in the military and the Tiberium economy has practically doubled since 2058 and more new stuff are comng out of the labs,
We also got a few more boonies thanks to the business grants, more arcologies built per quarter and some good food finally coming back to the plate
Now, with that out of the way. what is your personal experience on the current plan and what will you like as improvement in the next plan?
Schlubbs von Spending.
The Third Plan is practically a roller coaster. On one hand, we got ourselves into another big brawl with Nod.I means Seriously, these Tiberium Wars are getting shorter and shorter than ever before although every one says that Kane was not included on this so I will consider it 3.5 Tiberium war.
On a lighter note. I would not say that GDI has recovered to pre TW3 levels but we are getting back on our feet. We have bacon now! Still costs an arm and leg but they are not super rare and hopefully they will also start funding some more meat and dairy.
TibBiteZodelo
Our biggest boon is finally, Finally after 10 Fucking Years, the Treasury has began rolling Zone Armor to Ground Pounders. It will take another year before we can start pulling out from Red Zone Glaciers and MARV Hubs to deploy more into deep Red Zone, Considering how high Parliaments demands are in cash, we will likely be spending the next plan scouting ahead into deeper RZs for more Glacier to harvest Tib Into.
We could end up possibly exceed the Parliament cash request and have more money than sense.
SailorStarlight
Hopefully a real settlement in the Moon and Columbia and Shala. The Treasury promised that they would put 20K people in 2065 in space and hopefully make it living here less than like a prison cell
ALso, more Fusion Ships and G-Drives is nice. Hopefully, we can also have Warships in Space. You know, just in cases, those aliens at Jupiter decide tot drop by to earth again
TheLambSauce
More fckin meat, naturally. All of the spices is nice but there is a limit to what you can do with basic shit. Although the many things you can do with Tomatoes and Potatoes with whole lot of spices.
Demand for meat is still sketchy though, many say they don't feel good after eating one. People say its because we were stuck on veggie diet for so long. But we got a few tryers here and then, Buncha Fubs at treasury spent so long making people eat Fungus and Weird meat fruits that they chicken out on good real meat.
ADressUpDarling
Hopefully a few more extra cash for fashion and entertainment. We have money but there are quite a few delays when getting funding especially and a little more GDI help. Also, a bit more variety in desserts would be nice, Meat is back and we have more chicken now but I kinda miss the classic desserts like Mochi and Ice Cream
WickerTib
We just went diving to the Deep Red Zone in the MidWest and dear god it was freakin crazy. It made the previous RZ dives a real mess but we were greatly assisted by the new ZA Troops. The new Tendrils are doing their magic and sucking up more Tib but our Sonics are burning themselves out faster just breaking Glaciers day and night (at least it is on Red Zone). Thank god, the trains are nearby and we lost less Crytals to Nod Raids.
ThisZoneofOurs
We have also been receiving our own ZA Suits and personnel here in Europe though, thankfully, there are no Deep Red Ops planned as of this time yet on our side.Probably due how close we are to the alien tower.
FaithlessMind
I believe that the best way this period is spent is improving education. Dr. Ganger has built upon the current education but a major increase in funding and teaching as well as assistance in finding jobs for new arrivalsl would be very crucial.
Also, high quality housing and food must be also be priority for this plan. This will not only heal the breaches between both the old and new citizens of GDI but also improve the standing of the current Treasury Policy Makers and prevent certain unsavory people from returning GDI back to its elitist and inefficient roots
Schlubbs Von Spending
@faithlessmind Central Planning go brrr..
DeathToEmerald
More Inhibitors naturally, especially in the newly converted Blue Zones. Also, Vein Mining would be a good start as well. Leave our soldiers less in danger and also reduces the large Tib Spikes like in New York
But of course the Treasury goes gallivinating on Red Zone Glaciers. Again
Blueheart
More Hospitals and advanced medical services would be a good start. Almost half of our Health Capacity is still assisting refugees and we have barely enough surplus in case of a major disaster. Those new Medicine Plants that the Agri Group keeps touting is not being released. Also,more food security and not the CRaP but real food.
Lastly, space habitation is also good.
TankieMensch
I am still waiting for my Tentacle MARV's treasury. Also, why in the heck the Mastodon got approved first? Where is my Super Mammoth and Super Predator #notrealtankname
Are we going back to TW2 where walkers are the rage? No!! Not those impractical chicken legged death traps! Death to Battlemechs!
Giant of Steel
@TankieMensch Haha! Decades after the unrightful disbandment, the Walkers stand proudly as GDI's new vehicles. Your Tanks and APCS will be put to the garbage tin where they belong.
TopTierCitizen
I do not understand why you are all so happy with the results of the previous plan. The Yellow Zoners that came into our Blue Zones is too much. Too much!
We fought half a century to keep the damn Yellows out of the Blue Zone, and now suddenly the government is letting them in and all of you are jumping for joy despite the lives they took and the luxuries they are taking from us. What was the point of all that blood we shed for the last half century if in the end, the Yellows and Noddists are winning against us?
InitiativeDemon
@TopTierCitizen Okay, back the fuck up, what? Do you see any Scorpion Flags around your street. Do you see any stupid idiot growing tiberium in your backyard? Do you see tibs glaciers in our cities and monks burning some 'unbelievers' on the street?
No. you do not. Why? because GDI is the one who won. We bled for this current situation, we bled so that Nod is now dying slowly more than every before You have no right to toss away thirty years of our sacrifices and the peace we earned just because you don't have steak on the damn table
TopTierCitizen
@InitiativeDemon Sacrifices that is now being wasted! You said so yourself that you fought for GDI for three decades. And now, we have noddists in the GDI Goverment, we have yellow zoners in our Blue Zones, taking from our shelves and killing our people, killing people you are dying to defend!
Why, why do you defend them? I don't understand. We saved them from Tiberium and Nod and they rewarded us by wasting our efforts and just making Nod stronger.
Schlubbs Von Spending
Wow, the Firsters really are whining. I guess I can't blame them with the Treasury tossing IF again to the wayside. Then again, considering they are assholes who would be dancing if Billions died, yeah. they deserve it. Besides, its not like Initiative First has good ideas nowadays.
Okay, I'll be the first to admit, I would probably be a Firster if ti wasn't from them being Corpo Ass Kissers. Still working on not freaking out with my new neighbors from Texas but small steps eh.
Wellerman.
More goddamn ships would be nice. The last war and our damn Governors got battered to hell and we were forced to serve on shitty Carrier Mockups. What the hell? Since the ground pounders are drowning in Tanks and APC and shells. Can they at least give us better and more goddamn ships!?
PurseMama
So apparently, the Treasury decided to build a new Foundry for new alloys. Usually I won't be bothered by this but apparently, they used more than a fourth of their budget for this quarter. Apparently these new Foundry will provide new material and alloys that will improve construction and save additional cost.
Bullshit
It was okay if its just the stations on orbit but apparently they are still investing all their cash into flights of fancy while we are here stuck in old rickety apartments and still subsisting on Fungus Bars. Where is the chicken and pork? Where is the goddamn good housing? For fucks sake we don't even have a car anymore since the last one broke down.
Everytime, Everytime that the Treasury gets a hold of the cash its always, Technology this, Mad Science that. Tiberium this, Alien tech that. Would it fucking hurt if they spent at least one goddamn year or even a whole damn plan not touching mad science and just work on improving our way of life?
InitiativeDemon
@PurseMama Why are so surpised? The treasury has been doing this since Seo took office. The guy is practically a crazy scientist given unlimited budget.Isolinear, Tiberium Tendrils, Nod harvesting tools, genetic engineering, Visceroid Studies, Liquid Tiberium Reactor, CraP, Communal Housing and Green Architecture.
Everytime, Everytime that a bunch of Scientists would come to him and beg for some cash he drops it right in front of them while we are left begging for something good. Even just sweets, chairs and basic clothes and blankets out of him needed to be wringed out by Parliament.
Let's not forget that the Treasury was given a budget limitation in regards to the military by Director Litvinov. On one hand, I worry this will make us weaker if Nod come back but on the other, that may not be such a bad idea since this would allow for a less bloated military and have more stuff for our people.
Schlubbs Von Spending
Yeah, As much I like Seo as Treasury Director, I admit that he keeps going overboard on the Science. I can safely root for him and trust since he isn't corrupt nor a corporation dong sucker like Boyle or Wu but I do acknowledge that the GDI Treasury barely acknowledges life improvement projects in favor of flashy, technologies and barely leaves anything for us people on the civilian side.
Although got us a lot really cool tech, it still worrying how little GDI Treasury invests on non-science stuff.
I guess this is largely due to the fact that GDI can fund its own and less beholden to our taxes and does not need our cash that much. Low taxes is still good however but would really be nice if they dial down on the flashy stuff for just some simple life improvements
Blueheart
I wouldn't say it is all bad. The new Optical Prosthetics were being ready for released this year and I heard that a dedicated Lab was being built in Japan for developing cyber-eyes. We also have new computers being deployed for education and medical purposes.
Still, I worry about our health capacity. New medical tech is alway good but what is important is space for healthcare capacity. More than half of our available medical support is assisting war victims and refugees and I cannot admit but be worried that we are just one Regency War away again from disaster and the previous war draining our medical personnel and equipment.
TheLambSauce
With the treasury spending all this money on techy shit,I do hope that someday they can actually make a goddamn machine that clones fucking meat. Also they should make some more crazy food stuff like Entari, Hopefully beef this time, would be nice to have an onion that tastes like steak.
FightingCat
Yeah, It would be nice to live in an arcology too. I mean a new one opens every three months and the waiting lists have gotten shorter but I wonder if that time becomes now.
Also, I just tasted my first Sirloin Steak yesterday. Mom said it cost a weeks worth of pay but it was pretty tasty. I just hope that they can make it cheaper in time. We're back to shrimp and potato for now though.
TibBiteZodelo
Going to play the Devils Advocate here, without the crazy tech that Treasury has been releasing, we would not be able to catch up with Nod. Partcularly in regards to Tiberium Harvesting, those new alien tendrils and those Nod Harvesting Claws, we would not be drowning on cash by now.
Based from some of my buddies working at the treasury, They want these foundries to reduce the cost for the space stations. Probably to fulfill Starbound requests for people in space. They said that these foundries would be massive as in kilometers long. As big as a damn city on its own and according to them there are like five of them.
Though the big limitation is apparently STU production, each would require a lot of STU per factory. With the current limitation, they can build from 2 to 3 depending on the amount available but apparently the original was five.
Pursemama
Oh god, five of those? Considering how expensive is one? This was not what the Director promised when she got into office. She said we would have good food and medicine and now the damn Treasury is wasting cash on super metal and whatever tech nonsense that gets cooked up in labs.
TankieMensch
Holy shit, super metal! Lighter, tougher, more durable. Just imagine if these get out. We will most likely get Hover MARVS and Hover Mammoths! Holleee SHiiieeet!
ADressUpDarling
I admit I am also not happy with all the techy stuff that treasury spends its money on tech stuff. Well, mostly, me and boyfriend drove one of those new HoverCars and it was really fun but I admit its not probably worth all the time and effort for a good house and food and some more money for reconstruction.
MidasOffice
@IntiativeDemon To be frank, it may seem like a Seo Thoki thing but this mad science attitude is present even with Granger on the Treasury but Seo owes his position to Mad Science I guess., Its just less pronounced before since the budget is not there and the rebuilding is more important. Now that budget and Nod being less of a threat, Seo can divert into more crazier stuff.
@PurseMama based from the Treasury's attitude it is safe to say that they are prioritizing space industry over simply life improvement projects due to fears of another Tiberium mutation that renders our abatement ineffective like in 2057. I know we are beating the Red ZOnes but there is no telling when a new mutation will pop up so it is safe and sorry to build up space in case evacuations will be needed in the future
Representative Cordelia Aina Bernstein (Starbound Party)
I admit I am concerned with the foundries themselves. When Secretary Thoki promised us nearly 20,000 people in space it was the realization of the Starbound Dream, a HUmanity free from ravages of Tiberium and Earthly conflict and with the rapid construction of Shala and Columbia, the dream will become a reality but these Foundries despite their supposed importance in cost reduction seems to be taking more money from the treasury that can be diverted to space development
ThisZoneofOurs
In a more depressing news, ZOCOM command has halted all RZ ops for the time being. If Seo really wants his damn glaciers. He better divert some cash to GF Zoner Troopers in the following Year so we can unlock the damn Red Zones again and start raking in more Tib for Space and Dairy or whatever.
PurseMama
I get what you mean, @Midasoffice. Space Development is important, evacuating Earth is important and making sure that if we end up in space safer in case Tiberium goes wild again is important. but wouldnt it hurt to simply lay off the non important tech first and just give us good homes?
Wellerman
Okay, since the Treasury is getting all Spendthrift with cash on these Damn U-alloys. Would it hurt them to divert some of those steel to boat making? Also, we need more damn boats on the sea! You all say that Tiberium and Red Zone is important but it is the damn sea that connects GDI together with all the Cargo ship carrying Tib from the Red Zones. We lost a fuckton of sailors due to lack of escorts.
Havok (SpecOps)(Scary Bastard, Ret)
Boats! Ha! We do not need boats, we need our own damn Airships, Nod has their own OCV now and its packed to the gills with fire power. We were the ones who invented the damn things in the first place and we need them back more that ever.Plane Drones and Plasma Missiles won't be enough when Nod starts flying fleets of those bastards
As for Seo, meh. Not bad for a copper counter. His spending for the army really got GDI back to back with Nod and good thing that there are no budget cuts this time around. Too damn sciencey in my opinion, too much flashy stuff on the military and needs more deployment of relevant tech on all branches instead of small flashy stuff on different units
Former 2nd Lt John Arnott stared at the face he saw in the mirror
He didn't do this often. In fact, he avoided mirrors where possible. He occasionally joked about it, referring to himself as a vampire but the truth was far simpler. He didn't like what he saw there. Previously, he had been an (in his own opinion admittedly) fairly attractive young man. He'd had some luck finding partners at least, although the dashing pilot's uniform probably helped with that at least somewhat. That had all changed in a routine patrol flight during the 'Regency war' as it was being referred to. His flight was jumped by Barghests while returning to base and in the ensuing dogfight his bird took a direct hit from a plasma round that seared its way through the cockpit canopy.
Luckily he survived the hit, the ejection and was recovered by an ambulance team that saw him go down. Luckily he'd avoided any tib patches and the burns didn't become infected. Luckily. Yeah, he knew he was one of the lucky ones. So many didn't return at all or went down in the wrong spot and required lifelong tib infusions. Others lost limbs or worse, lost their sight from the flash. He could still walk, still see, still live. He just avoided mirrors. It was difficult to feel lucky when he saw the melted wax sculpture that was his face.
Surgery helped with that of course, to an extent at least. Made him look human even if he wouldn't be recognisable from his old pictures. He'd even tried dating. It wasn't a particularly successful attempt. Turns out it's difficult to date when you despise your own looks. Not their fault, his. He knew this, accepted it. Of course when an old friend of his told him about a new treatment he jumped at the opportunity. He'd expected marginal improvements.
For GDI feasted while those in the Yellow Zones starved. They had arrived at the agreed point. The containers were there, filled with food, medicines, clean water. He saw the eagle emblazoned on the side of every one. They began emptying them, transferring the supplies within to the lorries they had arrived in. All GDI insignia would of course be removed before the supplies were handed out to the surrounding villages, a sign of the Warlord's generosity.
For GDI didn't know the fear of a life spent in the Yellow, where every breath might be the one that infects your lungs. Isaac looked down at the new envirosuit. It was comfortable, durable. It would take some effort to properly emblazon it in the colours of the Brotherhood without effecting the seals but it would be worth it. He'd read the manual that came with them, written in dozens more languages than he knew. Easy to clean, long lasting filters, tough materials. It made the old Tib War 2 era mask he'd been using previously look painfully inadequate. They had an entire crate of the things, after it had 'fallen off a truck' while they were handed out to the refugees gathered in the makeshift shanty towns.
For GDI lived isolated from the masses of humanity, living lives of comfort while everyone else was forced to scrabble for scraps. He stepped out in front of the man, arm outstretched. The family before him was exhausted, had walked for many miles with all their remaining belongings on their backs. They had hoped to flee, to find a life where they could walk out in the open without a mask, a life where they had been promised eggs and fish, a life where they didn't need to worry about petty conflicts between warlords and the ever shifting Tiberium fields. His job was to prevent that. Healthy adults of working age and children were not allowed to leave, the sick and elderly could pass. Let GDI use its resources on those with nothing to give back.
For GDI interfered with the plans of Kane. The god amongst men, the prophet of Tiberium, whose plans would lead them to a glorious victory. The remnants of his squad sheltered behind a shattered Scorpion as he watched the Predator's machine gun open up again, cutting down several of the faithful as they desperately rushed forward. He saw a courageous brother leap from cover with an RPG, a prayer on his lips as he fired it directly towards the side armour. It made half the distance before the laser burned it from the sky. The orders that had made it through the jamming were confused. Attack. Retreat. Resist. The training area where they had prepared for a glorious attack on the Blue Zones was naught but a smoking wreck, littered with corpses. He gestured to his men. They would fade into the desert, survive to tomorrow, pray for a change. Their prayers were not answered.
For GDI hated NOD, the kind of hate that must be returned in kind lest you be swept away. He watched the battlefield from his hiding spot, the few of his people that had survived tucked away out of sight, resting. There were still brothers and sisters crying, screaming for help but he hardened his heart to them out of need. Maybe that night he would be able to aid those that still survived, creeping out under the relative safety of the darkness. He saw GDI personnel in lighter armour than the others approach a brother and he tensed up, expecting a gunshot. Instead he watched them pull out something from a pack. A bandage? One stayed with the first brother while another approached a second, this one conscious and he swore under his breath as he knew what would come next. He could hear the cry to Kane from where he was, cut off as it was by the grenade that left parts of two corpses lying on the ground. He blinked the tears away.
Isaac had been taught to hate GDI. He was just no longer sure why.
"Thank you." "Thank you." "Blessings of the crystal upon you." "Kane guide your path." "God bless you." "May Thor find you worthy." All manner of thanks and grattitude from a variety of cultures were murmured to Jonas softly as they stepped down from the rear steps of his truck. Elderly, sickly, dying, and here and there, those young and apparently healthy but for the green glows behind their eyes. Signs of tiberium infusion, some, granted it as a reprieve from certain doom as a result of tiberium exposure, for others, an induction into Nod given against their will, a simple part of the conscription process.
Red zones three and four were still growing. And the yellow growing denser. Oh the Russian juggernaut still tried to nibble at the edges of the red, harvesting the most valuable crystal and trying to hold the alien landscape back and to feed Krukovs war machine. And for that they needed harvester pilots and soldiers. With harsh working conditions, long hours, and less than stringent safety checks, exposure to tiberium was considered by many simply inevitable. And for those with no other options, or those who sought to serve in the brotherhood, they were 'gifted' the blessing of tiberium infusion to ensure they lived long enough to be of value to Nod. In theory the infusions could counteract tiberium exposure if taken quickly enough, but therin lay the problem, a rip in your suit part way into your shift and it could be hours until one had a chance to see a medic, that if the resident doctor even had any infusions to spare. Otherwise someone working in a refinery could breathe in fumes thanks to a faulty seal and days or weeks later begin coughing up green mucus with flecks of crystal, far too late for any treatment to do any good.
And so it was, volunteers who didn't know what they were signing up for, or those conscripted against their will and who found themselves performing critical labour sought an escape. Ironically the very infusion which imposed a timer on their lives proved to be their salvation.
To reach the far east and west of Krukovs little empire required travel papers and documents to go by road and through the major towns and cities. Heavily patrolled by soldiers and with border guards posted at the easiest routes to Europe, Tibet and Korea it became ever more difficult for 'healthy workers' to escape through the main routes, only the very elderly and ill permitted some trickle into the much vaunted blue zones.
But for those so infused? It became as simple as walking south into the red zone. Madness some would say. And yet life clung on, pre-fabricated Forgotten barracks, townships in the ruins of old mining prospects, nomad convoys, and wanderers like him. They found those who fled into the Red, brought them to staging points and hidden bases, and when the ion storms subsided and enough refugees were gathered he began his journey. Cutting south and east from village to village until they reached the steppes, a thin strip of land that was the last remnant of an old yellow zone. A rail line ran through the yellow zone, a thin lifeliine of supplies to Blue Zone 18, his unarmed Reckoner truck kept it in view as he followed it south across the flat terrain, here and there soldiers and harvesters attempting to keep the route safe and secure. But at a distance he and his truck weren't fired upon. Courtesy of the Beacon which marked him as a courier for the Caravanserai.
Then, approaching the invisible boundary that marked where Al-Isfahani held sway. Here Jonas swerved west back into the red zone, the patch of green crystal on his forearm warming slightly as if to welcome him home. Fortunate for him he could pass for human simply by dint of long sleeves, at least to a casual glance.
The Holy Lands, it had once been called, the silk road, the middle-east. Some nations had survived, either as a part of nod, or part of GDI. In the third tiberium war, with the explosion at temple prime, warfare throughout Egypt and the alien invasion what had once been yellow zone had been swallowed, and far more recently than Italy. People fled, wherever they could. Either as refugees or evacuees until a containment line could be formed by the caravanserai, backed by GDI aid at the tip of the Arabian peninsula.
It left much of the red zone desolate and barren, but here, close to the borders of the beating heart of Faith, near the centre of the world Forgotten convoys roamed. Scouts in the deep red, there to warn harvester teams of incoming Ion storms to ward away the tib mutated wildlife, and to stand guard in case of any unwise attacks from Al-Ifsahani's forces and even to gather tiberium alone or with the aid of zocom. Attempting to strike deep into the red, an advance guard deployed ahead of more conventional harvesting teams who resolutely attempted to reclaim territory more cautiously.
It was here among these communities that Jonas was at home, those obviously mutated, those with less obvious changes, or even a few rare humans not marked by tiberium... not physically at least. Tiberium, information, and travellers, those were the lifeblood of the Forgotten clans. Both those seeking a permanent home, or simply those on a temporary pilgrimage. For some Mecca and Jeddah would be their final destinations. For others... the yellow zones border to GDI was at its weakest, setting foot in Blue Zone 4, and it was simply a matter of time and paperwork until one was a GDI citizen.
And then, at last, in the last remnants of the Holy Land were his charges delivered unto their salvation. Days and weeks of red zone and ion storms stuck inside his Reckoner, or else inside barracks and communal buildings, now they emerged into the sunlight blinking and thanking him.
Already volunteers were drifting forwards bringing food, water, fresh clothes, or simply human contact and reassurances of safety. Some Volunteers bore the eagle upon their shoulder, others the scorpion. It mattered little here.
Forgotten like Jonas brought people. Others in harvesters brought Tiberium, to be fed into the refineries of Nod and GDI. And a trusted few, he mused, sold information here. And in turn, the forgotten received finished goods, food, spare parts and weapons. Everything they needed to sustain their clans. Hover trucks were growing in popularity but the Forgotten didn't only gather whispers from Nod, some of the whispers from GDI spoke of a new generation of Marvs, or MCV's or Mammoth walkers. The specifics varied by the concept could be summed up easily enough, a mobile base that could operate in red zones self sufficiently, or as near to that as possible and harvest tiberium without ever stopping.
The Forgotten of course would be among the first to test such a design so GDI risked as few lives as possible, but even with the designs finalised the physical project was, as yet, unfunded. Zocom attempting to pivot back to their intended role of deep red zone combat operations and leave mining security to mainline GDI forces, something which required massive investments in zone armour. There was further talk of course, with the ongoing spread of the red zone and Tibets always precarious supply situation, of 'Karachi', representing a major push into Iran, a coastal city with a rail line connecting the mountain region to the ocean and giving a second lifeline to the beleaguered zone.
A pipe dream some said, there was always some lofty goal or other of reclaiming land from a red zone. Lots of talk, but action was harder, and far more expensive. Others weren't so sure, but the facts remained. Despite their largesse, GDI's coffers weren't endless and a great many issues demanded their attention.
Speaking of issues demanding attention. "Time to leave." Jonas prompted his last passenger, an elderly man fallen into a slumber, Jonas' voice rousing him as the last left inside the vehicle One of his 'legal' passengers. The man coughed wetly and stumbled from the Reckoners ramp, catching a hold of Jonas' wrist as he did so to steady himself.
"May the Travellers mercifully guide you to ascension." The old man muttered quietly, the prayer surprising but not shocking Jonas. There was a new cult that had been steadily growing in numbers ever since the third tiberium war and the Alien Invasion. Those who believed that the Aliens, and the Travellers in particular had seeded Tiberium on the planet as a gift and a test, and those worthy or who served the Visitors willingly would be uplifted into an alien empire. Service, in exchange for the blessings of greater beings and a rescue from a ravaged earth...
Thinking back to wanton destruction and the psychic powers of the Aliens Jonas privately thought a better term might be 'slavery'. But Jonas simply sighed and wished the old man well. An offshoot of The Brotherhoods belief in tiberium it substituted Kane for the Aliens, and like any cult its followers were a mix of people, the cult itself yet to formally organise and spanning multiple variations. Less extreme was the belief that Alien technology should be studied which... duh actual alien science and mastery of tiberium should probably be studied, as GDI and Nod both were trying to do. You didn't have to be a Traveller to realise that the aliens had advanced technology he thought as he watched the old man be guided away, likely straight to a hospital to see how much damage tiberium had done to his body, and then straight on to a retirement home.
"Any issues?" A business suited figure asked, approaching once the gaggle of refugees and volunteers had dispersed.
"Standard vehicle check for deep red operations. Probably need the tires and a bunch of parts replaced. Hows things been here?"
"Peaceful enough, the truce is holding, and the clans are delivering enough raw material to cover the costs of any replacements though..."
"The Reckoner is old, I get it. But it's better suited to red zone conditions than standard GDI models and it's got more room. I'll take the supplies back out to the shelters and old settlements, the number three hydro cylinder at Lightning Rods agri-hab needs a new intake filter by the way. If you can't get replacement parts then just sonic scrub the undercarriage and I'll source the rest myself from the Caravanserai even if I need to get them secondhand."
"We'll do a thorough check of course, see if we can find the parts ourselves for you. Reckoners aren't that hard to come by." The suited figure noted.
"Alright, that saves me some running around I guess." Jonas shrugged. "Anything else?"
"The usual offer to sell surplus vehicles to your clan, if you're interested."
"Gah. I'll ask around see if any of the harvesters need replacing or spare parts when I get back but don't get your hopes up." Jonas sighed. "What's on my list is what's on my list. And most of us being former nod that's the gear we're used to. Unless you've got a disarmed MARV I doubt the leadership will be interested."
"Alright, normal supply run. Fair enough. As a reminder you've built up a significant amount of savings and liquid assets. We'll continue holding onto them if that's your wish but the offer of luxuries or new equipment remains an open one."
"Actually, one last thing." Jonas mused. "That last passenger? A Traveller cultist. Might be the usual tech worshipper, might be something more, keep an eye on him. Beyond that, everyone else seemed the usual mix of sickly, elderly, draft dodgers and people seeking a better life but..."
"You make no guarantees." The GDI official nodded. At that Jonas shrugged helplessly.
"Occasionally patrols stop us to ask for bribes or to check people are just those the warlords want to dump on you. But they've used our routes in the past and I won't be blamed if any shadows infiltrates GDI through one of my routes." He explained.
"Noted and understandable. Your job remains as it is, bring people to us and supplies back to your people. The background checks are on us. Though we're always grateful for any insights or suspicions you can offer. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon."
