depends on what you mean by recreating something, if you mean build an identical copy then you need details, if you mean developing either countermeasures or a competing design all you need is the basic principles and some time.
The MCV being a lynchpin in everyone's strategy does is not evidence of everyone doing their best to protect every detail about their versions, in fact i'd say it's the opposite.
depends on what you mean by recreating something, if you mean build an identical copy then you need details, if you mean developing either countermeasures or a competing design all you need is the basic principles and some time.
Tesla-troopers shoot electricity. The general laws of electricity are well known, if shit could be done it'd be done. The basic principles are known, heck they probably have examples from dead troops, what they don't have is time. They are in the middle of a war after all. They need specifics (as gained from Spies in Battle Labs) to do anything with it in time.
The MCV being a lynchpin in everyone's strategy does is not evidence of everyone doing their best to protect every detail about their versions, in fact i'd say it's the opposite.
You probably mistyped that, but that's what I'm saying. No point in blackboxing the engine of a car, when you could look up how a car engine works online.
Tesla-troopers shoot electricity. The general laws of electricity are well known, if shit could be done it'd be done. The basic principles are known, heck they probably have examples from dead troops, what they don't have is time. They are in the middle of a war after all. They need specifics (as gained from Battle Labs) to do anything with it in time.
You probably mistyped that, but that's what I'm saying. No point in blackboxing the engine of a car, when you could look up how a car engine works online.
Keep in mind that in the First Tiberium War the Brotherhood of Nod was already handling something like half the planet's tiberium supply. Their sheer manufacturing and economical capacity is terrifying, and they didn't really lost any of it as the timeline progressed. The Tiberian Sun era Brotherhood might even be at its economical peak, given that GDI's mostly stuck in places with low infestation while the severely infested areas are only starting to become utterly inimical to human life and are still exploitable.
They also have some amazing technological chops, given that they've got effective stealth tanks, among other technologies, and Nod's technological advantage in many ways only grew more pronounced as the years passed. If the organisation had one real flaw it's that their entire set up is basically self defeating without Kane there to stay on top of his subordinates' schemes for favour. That their organisation and equipment tended towards 'rabble' and 'ultra elites' with little in between did not help either, when GDI tended towards smaller numbers of professional soldiers backed up with lots and lots of heavy metal and a very good organisational support system.
Keep in mind that in the First Tiberium War the Brotherhood of Nod was already handling something like half the planet's tiberium supply. Their sheer manufacturing and economical capacity is terrifying, and they didn't really lost any of it as the timeline progressed. The Tiberian Sun era Brotherhood might even be at its economical peak, given that GDI's mostly stuck in places with low infestation while the severely infested areas are only starting to become utterly inimical to human life and are still exploitable.
They also have some amazing technological chops, given that they've got effective stealth tanks, among other technologies, and Nod's technological advantage in many ways only grew more pronounced as the years passed. If the organisation had one real flaw it's that their entire set up is basically self defeating without Kane there to stay on top of his subordinates' schemes for favour. That their organisation and equipment tended towards 'rabble' and 'ultra elites' with little in between did not help either, when GDI tended towards smaller numbers of professional soldiers backed up with lots and lots of heavy metal and a very good organisational support system.
And now we can, at least to an extent, combine the advantages of GDI and Nod, plus the USSR, the Allies, and whatever the fuck Yuri calls his faction/nation.
Keep in mind that in the First Tiberium War the Brotherhood of Nod was already handling something like half the planet's tiberium supply. Their sheer manufacturing and economical capacity is terrifying, and they didn't really lost any of it as the timeline progressed. The Tiberian Sun era Brotherhood might even be at its economical peak, given that GDI's mostly stuck in places with low infestation while the severely infested areas are only starting to become utterly inimical to human life and are still exploitable.
Having a virtual monopoly on the resource that everyone wanted is an excellent starting advantage.
They also have some amazing technological chops, given that they've got effective stealth tanks, among other technologies, and Nod's technological advantage in many ways only grew more pronounced as the years passed. If the organisation had one real flaw it's that their entire set up is basically self defeating without Kane there to stay on top of his subordinates' schemes for favour. That their organisation and equipment tended towards 'rabble' and 'ultra elites' with little in between did not help either, when GDI tended towards smaller numbers of professional soldiers backed up with lots and lots of heavy metal and a very good organisational support system.
The rabble vs ultra elites came up more in Tiberium Wars. Up until that point, Nod also had professional soldiers on the level of GDI (see: Identical Minigunners/Light Infantry,) except where GDI adhered to heavy armor and overwhelming firepower, the Brotherhood of Nod used hit and run tactics and subterfuge. After TS, they started going for a larger amount of rabble with a smaller amount of more elite soldiers.
Sure. There's implications though that the player Commander of Nod in Tiberian Dawn is part of the Black Hand, which would be on the elite branch with the experienced mercenaries on par with GDI's western trained infantry, and Anton Slavik, the Nod Commander you play as is outright a part of the Black Hand, and would likewise have (greater) access to this level of quality troops.
Nod's on the average lower quality of soldiers is something they compensate for with trickery, subterfuge, guerilla warfare and just plain terrorism.
@UltimatePaladin I'm assuming in the various civilian buildings that the GDI have on record, there are Hospitals and Machine Shops, and what not. If we built them, would we get the same benefit as if we captured a tech building of that?
@UltimatePaladin I'm assuming in the various civilian buildings that the GDI have on record, there are Hospitals and Machine Shops, and what not. If we built them, would we get the same benefit as if we captured a tech building of that?
Machine Shops are RA2, and not found in the Tiberian Sun universe (where the schematics come from.) In addition, captured buildings behave like they do in RA2 (and would have been for TS, but they removed that feature for some reason,) in that you have to move the units or vehicles in question to the location in order to heal them.
Machine Shops are RA2, and not found in the Tiberian Sun universe (where the schematics come from.) In addition, captured buildings behave like they do in RA2 (and would have been for TS, but they removed that feature for some reason,) in that you have to move the units or vehicles in question to the location in order to heal them.
Machine Shops are RA2, and not found in the Tiberian Sun universe (where the schematics come from.) In addition, captured buildings behave like they do in RA2 (and would have been for TS, but they removed that feature for some reason,) in that you have to move the units or vehicles in question to the location in order to heal them.
I would think there'd be a machine shops in the cities, unless public transportation has pretty much taken over in their cites making cars pretty rare. Which is rather plausible, now that I think of it.
Yep. The in-game explanation for it (at least on the wiki) is that they used the hospital to give all the soldiers really good medkits, that they carried with them and used on themselves when they got hurt. But that apparently isn't how ours work, so oh well.
Patrol the Market
GDI Riot Trooper (4)
GDI Light Infantry (1)
GI (1)
Patrol the Docks/Boat Graveyard
GDI Riot Trooper (5)
Grizzly Tank (2) [One has big, furry, clawed arms on the tank: Right to bear arms.]
NightHawk Transport (1)
Brute (1)
Accompany to the Meeting
GDI Riot Trooper (1)
GDI Light Infantry (1)
Conscript (2)
Defend Base
GDI Riot Trooper (1)
Flak Trooper (1)
Patrol the Trainyards
GDI Riot Trooper (4) [2: Join the Patrols. Sent to Trainyards to make up numbers.]
Disc Thrower (1)
Grizzly Tank (1)
Scavenge Boat Graveyard
Brute (5) [One is still on the lookout for Top Hat and Monocle. Will ask passerby for one.]
Slave Miner (1)
Amphibious Transport (1) [Since unspecified, will be Soviet. Will comment how terrible it is that constructs abuse other constructs only to both disappear at the end of the same day.]
War Miner (1)
Allied Engineer (1) [Look for old engines and working parts you can use for more than scrap.]
Quick Response Team
NightHawk Transport (1)
GI (1)
Pick up the PRT Squad
Amphibious Transport (1) [Since unspecified, will be Yuri.]
NightHawk Transport (1)
GDI Riot Trooper (1)
Loot Merchant Bases in the Market
Nod Light Infantry (1)
Conscript (2) [Finding things for distillery. One is for destiny, one is against it.]
Allied Amphibious Transport (1)
Upgrade Distillery
Soviet Engineer (1)
Repair Boat Graveyard Infrastructure
GDI Engineer (1)
Engineer (1) [Since unspecified, will be Yuri, and is repairing water lines.]
Talking to Civilians
GDI Riot Trooper (1) [Finding out re-established groups or people of interest in territory.]
Scouting
Soviet Attack Dog (1)
NightHawk Transport (1)
SCIENCE!
Initiate (1) [Doing research with pyrokinesis.]
Repair Waterlines in the Market
Engineer (1) [Assuming to be Nod.]
Explore the Boardwalk
GDI Light Infantry (1)
Nod Light Infantry (1) [Reminiscing about the good old days of fighting with real enemies.]
American Propaganda in the Market
Grizzly Tank (1) [Since the Commander didn't go to meet with the Colonel, shout propaganda about America.]
Halping Civilians (clearing out roads)
Brute (1)
Slave Miner (1)
"Comrade." A voice called out.
The noise shook John from his slumber. he groggily turned his head toward the sound, seeing the blurry form of a Conscript standing in front of him. "Whuh?" he asked, his mind still addled by a long, alcohol-induced night's sleep.
"Get up," the Conscript said, "the Commander wants to see you." With that, he turned and left John's vision, walking down the halls of the Barracks. Slowly, John stepped out of bed. He had been sleeping in a bed-roll the past few days, so sleeping in an actual bed was a wonderful experience that he never wanted to forget. The fact that the Commander wanted to see him, however, pushed him out of bed.
He had been part of the Coalition for a few days, and all throughout it he had been wondering when he would see the Commander. He never saw him around, but the others always talked about him like he was standing right there. Maybe he was. Damn.
John picked up the rifle next to his bed before following the Conscript down the halls. He didn't carry any other magazines with him, some of it because he was just staying in the base and some of it because it was cumbersome. When he was with the Merchants he only carried a spare magazine, but it was beaten into his head that carrying just a magazine was bad.
When he stepped outside, he looked around for a moment.
He had no idea how the base got here, and when the walls suddenly were formed around it. He didn't give it a thought as he stepped down to the earth.
What he did give a thought to was the large army scampering around. There were a lot of the Light Infantry around today, but their weapons looked different. He walked up to one of them, and asked "What are you packing?"
"Tranquilizer Rifle." The soldier replied. "Part of the restrictions with the PRT: stick to nonlethal stuff if possible."
"Guess I won't be doing much today." John replied. Part of his training stressed that even shooting 'non-fatal' parts of the body with real bullets was still enough to kill them, sometimes. As far as he knew, he didn't have any nonlethal ammo.
"Maybe." The man said. "Should probably talk to the Commander in the ConYard over there."
John gave a brief nod as he began walking. It was easy to find, dab center in the base nearby the weird tower that stood up next to it. The doors to the building grew as John walked, eventually eclipsing him in size. John looked at the door, for a moment, wondering if it would open with a large screech, or an ominous boom.
Next to John, an almost indistinguishable part of the wall slid in with a small sound. John paused, for a second, seeing if anyone would be coming. No one did, so john tentatively stepped inside.
It's like the Barracks. John noted. Whoever built this place had the same fondness for sparse lighting as whoever built the barracks. There were dim light bulbs hanging off the walls at regular intervals. There was enough light so that John wasn't stumbling around in the dark, but it wasn't bright and vibrant, and, John felt, foreboding.
There was an open frame to the right and John stepped through. The light was a bit brighter, and John could clearly see what was in there. Clean stacks of material were placed from side to side, some of them were piles of food, carried in from yesterday, but others he could see were refined stacks of metal, gleaming different colors under the light.
There were only two spaces left uncovered. The first was a marked square in the center, connected to the building by gears. An elevator of some sort? There was also an office overlooking the area, reachable by a climb up some stairs. The light was on. John walked up and over the metal stairs, to the office, the metal clanging beneath his feet.
He grabbed the handle when a voice called out from within. "Knock first."
From within the room, you could see John jerk away from the door. You sigh, rubbing the bridge of your nose. There was protocol to these things. A soldier knocks, you say 'enter,' they enter, they salute and then you tell them what you want.
Oh, yes, and tell them to sit down afterwards. After all, you didn't want them standing up while you talked to them, that would get tiring very quickly.
John recovered his nerve quickly and knocked on the door, three time in quick succession. "Come in," you said, standing with your back towards the wall and your hands held behind you. The door opened with a click, and John stepped inside.
Being the only person in the room besides him, John focused on you. "Are you the Commander?" he asked.
You frown. John stepped back a bit before he held his hand to his temple in a hasty salute. "Sir?" he asked.
You feel your lips twitch upwards. "Yes." you said, "Take a seat."
John complied with your order, crossing the room, and pulling out the seat in front of him. If you could have, you would have sat down as well. However, you lacked a chair and a desk to go along with it, as this was the control center of the Construction Yard, re purposed as a command center. As such, you lacked a central desk in the middle of the room, and you couldn't pull any from around you, given that they were bolted to the wall. You would continue to remain standing and look down at John. John was looking at you strangely, fixated on your bare face.
"Up until now we have been behaving as a standard military force." You began, getting to the heart of the matter. "We seize territory, kill or otherwise remove any hostiles in the area, and protect civilians whenever possible."
You pause. "However, we have met with the Protectorate and PRT representatives yesterday, and they have requested that we abide by a number of their restrictions."
"What would those be?" John asked.
"Until I am over with the briefing you will save your questions for the end, Private." You replied. Embarrassment coloring his features, he nodded quickly and turned silent. "However, one of those restrictions was a limitation on lethal force, except in cases of extreme self-defense or if to protect the lives of others. While I was able to outfit the majority of my forces with non-lethal munitions, I did not do the same for you."
John looked like he was about to say something, but closed his mouth. You continue on.
"I have a different purpose in mind for you. When we recruited you, part of the reason was because you were a local. You knew the lay of the land, and gave us information pertaining to local events. I wish to expand that a bit further. I have plans to start recruitment, and having a local handle some of that would be better than a stranger out of nowhere."
"What I want," you finish, "is to make you an official part of our army."
John looked at you, uncertainly, before you realized and added "Any questions?"
"What do you mean, a part of the army?" John asked.
You nod, speaking, "Instead of wearing the same clothes we found you in, using weapons taken from the Merchants and makeshift explosives, I want to give you some of the standardized equipment that you see in my army. More specifically, from Yuri's faction."
"I'm...not a cape?" He said, puzzled. "I'm not sure what I'll be able to do there, with the big guys and the Initiates..."
"You think they got their powers when they were born?" You reply, "No, they were given them, with the equipment found right here in this base." You pause, letting that sink in to John.
"I-I'll get powers?" he asked, disbelief coloring his expression. "Are there any downsides?"
"Brutes suffer from massively decreased intelligence," you say, "but Initiates suffer no side effects to my knowledge."
John sat there for a moment, utterly still. "I think I'll like that." He said, slowly.
"Excellent." You said, a smile coloring your features. "Report back to the barracks, an Initiate will walk you through the process."
As he was getting up, something occurred to you. "Wait." You said. "What's your last name?"
"Uh, Lenard." He said.
"Good." you said. "As you were."
As John slowly began walking out the re-purposed room, you turned your attention to the whole reason you refrained from sending your units out this early.
You didn't know what constituted a full PRT squad. As such, you sent a NightHawk and an Amphibious Transport out to the last location you met, namely, the battle site. You also sent a Riot Trooper there as well, to brief them on the situation when they arrived.
Since your NightHawk didn't have to contend with the environment below, it arrived first, with your Riot Trooper stepping out onto the cracked concrete.
A while later, a PRT van came rolling up the street, stopping in front of the NightHawk. From the back, five PRT officers exited the vehicle. They were carrying backpacks and holding bags in their hands, setting them down on the ground while one of them walked forward. He didn't have the backpack, instead carrying a foam sprayer.
"Sergeant Samuel Pierce." He introduced himself. "We would have went to wherever you where, but you didn't tell us."
"We should have told you where we were based." The Riot Trooper admitted. "But we're willing to transport you there."
"In the heli?"
"Sorry, but no. The NightHawk only has room for five. We have an Amphibious Transport on the way that can transport all of us and any cargo you bring along."
"Why is it here then?" Pierce asked. "Sending it over here only to not carry anything back seems kind of a waste."
"The Commander didn't know how many of your people made up a squad." The Riot Trooper replied. "He also wanted me here ASAP to see if you were here and to brief you on what you needed to know."
At that moment, your Amphibious Transport arrived. It drove up between the grounded aircraft and the still van, rotating around to have it's back to the PRT Officers. With a whirr, the doors folded down, touching the ground with a light thud.
"That's our ride." Your Riot Trooper said, walking towards the transport. Sergeant Pierce and the other PRT Officers followed him, and they were quickly seated in the vehicle, bags and backpacks tucked beneath them as the doors closed, and the Amphibious Transport began moving.
"So what are we going to be 'observing' today?" Samuel asked, leaning over in his seat. The other officers remained silent, their expressions hidden behind opaque visors. One of them had a black device out and was tapping it, apparently paying no mind to the conversation.
"Didn't think you guys would be wanting to go out so fast." The Riot Trooper said, surprised. "The Commander thought that you would want to settle in first, get a handle on the base before going out."
"We can hold off on the tour later." Pierce brushed off the Trooper's concerns. "Right now we need to be out there observing you in the field."
"Right, I can understand that." The Riot Infantryman paused, as the Amphibious Transport swerved around a corner. "Mostly we're doing patrols: the Docks, the Trainyard and the Market. Most of it in the Docks."
"Anything else?"
"Some salvage operations in the Graveyard." After a brief pause, he elaborated, "Metal, mostly. Need it for construction and manufacturing."
"I see. Can we expect any parahuman support?" Pierce asked.
"You mean Capes?" The sergeant nodded. "No. They had issues restraining themselves, so the Commander has them benched until they can figure themselves out. We have lots of Brutes-"
"Talking about brutes, or the big guys?"
"The big guys."
"Might want to pick a different name," Samuel said, a hint of something in his voice, "Hulks, maybe?"
"Brutes," The Riot Trooper stressed, "are working on salvage, but only one on patrol. Mostly you'll be seeing us Riot Troopers out there."
"What are you equipped with?" Pierce asked.
"Standard GDI Combat Suit, same as the Light Infantry." He said, he gestured to his weapon, "Only difference is the weapon: tranquilizer rifles instead of the GD-2's. Course, they have rubber bullets too, now, but they'd prefer us to take the shots, if any."
The PRT Sergeant nodded. The ride continued in silence for a few minutes until the Amphibious Transport slowed down, and stopped. "We're here." The Riot Trooper reported, getting up out of his seat. Sergeant Pierce walked out with him, and stopped, staring at the small army in front of him and the base surrounding him.
"I think I want to take the tour now." Samuel said, his gaze moving over the base.
"I'll talk to the Commander about it." The Riot Trooper replied. "He's on his way out right now."
Samuel nodded, still focused on the sight around him. When he and his squad were briefed on the mission, one of the objectives was to determine the strength of the Coalition. They were just as mysterious as Coil: no one knew where they were or how many boots they had walking around.
He had the answer to both of them: near the Boat Graveyard, and a lot. The soldiers in question were laying around the base, sitting down, talking, and a few looking at him. He saw several of the Riot Troopers - he never learned the other one's name, should probably get to that - and the bullet-using soldiers with black-tipped ammo. The Coalition said they were going to play ball with the PRT and Protectorate, and it looked like they were going to do it.
More worrying was the base. He didn't know what to expect, but he didn't expect an actual military base surrounded by tall walls, several yards by his guess. Tinkers. The PRT Sergeant thought. Just when you thought you figured them out.
He was looking over the area again when he noticed something strange: the lack of labcoats. According to intel there was at least three of them, but he could only spot one, leaving the giant head-shaped structure. He didn't join the crowd, instead remaining separate. Plenty of the Brutes though, enough of them that he was worried.
At that moment, he realized that there was someone approaching. They were dressed in a modified desert BDU, with a pair of blue and purple pins on his chest and a set of red lines on his shoulders. In place of a name, the name tag simply read 'COMMANDER.'
Samuel withheld from any judgments until the man got closer. As he did, he realized that each of the pins made up a different symbol: blue was a bird in flight and purple was three lines, one angled, one straight, and one curved. "Would you be the Commander?" He asked.
"That'd be me." The Commander replied, looking back at him.
Sergeant Pierce nodded as he analyzed the situation. Probably not a cape, he thought, not showy enough, and he doesn't have a mask on. With the exception of New Wave, heroes, villains, and rogues tried to keep their identities secret. If he was, he's not a Tinker, don't see a lot of tech on him. Tinkers often liked to make and use their own gear, and with the Commander lacking any, it decreased the likelihood he was a Tinker.
There was also the possibility that the Commander was just a human, no powers involved. It was unusual, but not unheard of.
The Commander began speaking again. "So you're supposed to be observing us." There was some distaste in his voice, that Pierce dutifully ignored.
"That we are. You're the commander here, so what do you suggest?"
"If you want to keep your squad together I suggest that you be part of the Quick Response Team," he said, gesturing to a nearby NightHawk. "If you don't mind me breaking them up, I would have have two of them running foot patrols with my forces here in the Docks, another with my patrol in the Trainyards with another with my Market patrol."
"What would be the goal of these patrols?" Samuel asked. From experience, other groups tended to have different objectives when it came to patrols, so clarifying beforehand was a good way to make sure nothing came up.
"The objectives are to protect civilians first, with discouraging gang presence and apprehending criminals secondary objectives."
Samuel nodded. "That would work." He said. "You have something different in mind for me?"
"Two things." Commander began. "First off, you said you wanted a tour of the place. While your men are patrolling with and watching us, the Riot Trooper will escort you around and answer any questions you have."
"Second is a request. Could you get into contact with Director Piggot? I was originally going to see the Mayor, but if meeting with the Director would be more efficient I would like to do that."
That was easy. Samuel thought.
"Sure." He said. "Let me call and ask."
A brief pause followed, before he remembered something. "Do you have anywhere for us stay to here?" He asked.
"I built a barracks with some utilities over there." The Commander said, pointing to the Giant Head. Samuel had only one thing to say about that.
"I see."
Your forces finally began moving when the PRT Officers stash their kit away.
A majority of your forces are in the Docks, specifically, the Boat Graveyard. There your Brutes were working tirelessly, ripping apart and crumpling up the rusted hulls of ships to eventually turn directly into more funds for your mission. One of the five was depressed, sullenly continuing on with his work when he couldn't find a top hat. You question the significance of an article of clothing and turn your attention to to other aspects of the operation.
You had an engineer looking through more of the complete hulls, seeing if there were old engines and working parts they could use, instead of turning them into scrap. The results weren't encouraging: anything of great value from the boats had been taken already, leaving the metal for you to take and use later. Those few parts that remained untaken were incompatible with your systems, making them only fit for more grinding.
Central to the operation was a Soviet Amphibious Transport, who carried Brutes into the bay and brought metal back for collection and transport. The captain of the vessel, upon seeing the Slave Miner rolling along, began speaking to himself.
"How terrible is it," he said, "That we constructs who exist for a day abuse other constructs who too will vanish at the end of the day. Do we not exist for the same time as the rest, and share the same fate in the end?"
He paused, for a moment. "At least, until the Commander banned slaves from the Slave Miners, leaving them just Miners, and serving only as cargo space to move the raw material to the Grinder. But before then all I said was true."
His musing finished, the captain continued to pilot his transport, working long and hard.
Elsewhere, there were similar philosophical phenomena occurring.
"So what do you believe our destiny is?" One Conscript said to another. They were sitting on concrete slabs, sharing a smoke together. They could have been working at the time, but with the Amphibious Transport going to the base to transport their gains, why should they? The Nod Soldier thought differently, but because he looked and talked down to the Conscripts, they ignored him completely.
"If we had a destiny, we don't have it any more." The other Conscript replied. "With the multiverse being a true and irrefutable fact, any action we take creates another universe. Destiny is only the result of chance, nothing more or less."
A reply was coming when a voice boomed from afar. "When the nations of Europe cowered before the Soviet onslaught," the Grizzly Tank pilot shouted, as he drove through the streets, "it was AMERICA that stood and turned the tide. God Bless the U.S.A!" The Conscripts simply stared at the tank as it continued along, the pilot screaming propaganda as it drove down the streets.
"I feel offended, Comrade." One of the Conscripts said, when they could no longer hear it.
"What are you going to do about it?"
"Smoke." He said, taking the cigarette from his lips and exhaling. "And argue with you."
"Good." The Conscript said. "Because I believe that we still have a destiny."
"How so?"
"How would you know? Those who are part of Destiny's designs are rarely aware that they are a part of it. And as we are a part of it, it would make sense that to us it appears a vague concept."
Silence reigned, until the humming of the hovercraft could be heard as it returned to take supplies.
"I am glad we could have civil conversation." The other Conscript said. "Much more civil then how Officers argue."
"Fighting and arguing are the same to them," the first Conscript agreed, "only it's never their lives on the line in any case."
The Docks were a hive of activity.
In addition to the ongoing salvage operations in the Boat Graveyard, most of your forces were working in the area. Brutes and Miners were clearing out any wreckage in the road, knocking it aside or crushing it under-tread to help the populace move through the area more efficiently. Thanks to their efforts, your soldiers move faster through your territories in the Docks.
You also had your Engineers repairing whatever infastructure they could find in the area. Barring those that have been destroyed beyond repair, the rest of Docks utilities (Water, Electricity Lines, Sewage,) have been repaired.
That said, there were a few problems your Engineers couldn't repair. Phone lines and connections were still down in the area, probably due to the loss of other facilities further inland. Since your engineers could only repair and maintain and not build, there was nothing more they could do.
In the meantime, you observe the PRT Officers observing your men. Mainly they took an advisory role, letting them know about who they could and cannot fire on, the dangers of using rubber munitions on certain parts of the body, and handling the actual arrest portion.
That was something else that stood out to you: gang activity. There were minor crooks and muggers that had sprung up around the Docks, coming with the flow of people returning to their homes. They were easily dispatched with tranquilizer rifles, with the offenders going down to the ground and waiting for transport to your base (as a temporary holding cell for law enforcement to come and arrest them, the PRT Officers explained.) The PRT Officers had also made it a point to announce their presence to the criminals once spotted, demanding their surrender. Your forces, up to this point, have been remaining quiet until they could shoot and capture.
Last but not least, you focus on your current image with the Docks' population. From your Riot Trooper's discussions with the people, they see you as a stabilizing force in the region, cracking down on illegal activity and restoring essential services. On your alliance with the PRT, however, people are more divided. While most were happy to see PRT Officers patrolling with your men, giving you increased legitimacy in their mind, there were some people displeased with the PRT's arrival.
From what you gathered, the city of Brockton Bay was at a stalemate. The two largest crime organizations, the Empire 88 and the ABB were fighting each other, but couldn't win over the other. This stalemate was disrupted when Armsmaster fought and arrested Lung, the leader of the ABB at the time. With his capture, the fighting had immediately escalated as the gangs tried to swarm into the territory, eventually resulting in the use of exotic bombs - both for destroying enemy targets and on civilians to fight for them under pain of death - by the ABB. Although the crisis was resolved, a few still blame the Protectorate for that.
With the current level of Gang activity, however, you are starting to loose track of who has been where and criminal hot-spots in your territory.
"EVA." You quietly say, ignoring Pierce talking on the phone in front of you. "Can you keep track of criminal activity inside Coalition territories?"
Affirmative, Commander. An interface will be ready for you by the end of the day.
"Thank you," you say, turning your attention to other matters.
"It's quiet here," the Disc Thrower murmered as he stepped through the cracked streets.
You had to agree. There were a few encounters through the area with Fenrir's Chosen or even Merchant breakaways (oftentimes using an altered Merchant symbol,) but they quickly ran when they saw you approach and didn't commit any crimes - at least where you could see. Still, it was nothing compared to what went down here only a few days past. It felt wrong, somehow, that there wasn't anything happening here.
"You torched the Trainyard pretty good." PRT Officer Harrison replied. He was the corporal of their squad, and was armed with a grenade launcher as he walked along with the rest of your Trainyards patrol force. "I'd be surprised if anyone actually controls the place for a while. Hell, I'm surprised we're patrolling around here." He shifted, a bit uncomfortably. "Getting kind of warm in the armor."
"Shut your griping." the Disc Thrower said. "If we can walk through the Trainyards, you could too. If not, you could always sit on the Grizzly."
"I've seen the acceleration on that thing, I'm not getting on that anytime soon." He paused. "Isn't it hot for you guys too?"
"Yep." The Disc Thrower sighed, "There's air-scrubbers, a flashlight, and even a computer built into the suit - and they didn't throw in an air conditioner."
"How much is all that worth?"
"Eh, around $60."
"That cheap?"
Before conversation could continue, your men noticed someone ahead.
It was a boy, currently around adolescence from his size, your reckon. He was dressed in a hoodie and ripped jeans - you couldn't see his face, turned away from you. There was also a crude-looking breastplate around his torso, little more than a slightly curved sheet of metal. More worrying, there was also a pistol in his hands...you think. It's the shape of one, but it looked assembled out of kitchen appliances.
Hearing the tank, the boy looked at you, and froze. His face was similarly covered, with a bandanna covering his lower half and a pair of cheap sunglasses covering his upper half. Cape. Your first thought.
"Shit!" He yelled, the pistol in his hand snapping up at your forces.
"Put the weapon-" Harrison began, but it was too late. A bright, green laser flew through the air, past your forces, and into the tank, burning a a half-centimeter deep hole.
Your men began moving into action. A pair of Riot Troopers began firing at the cape, running for cover. The Cape, seeing the fire, ducked into cover, shooting blindly back.
But only blindly. With the threat of precise laser-fire lessened, your other infantry could make a move. Your other pair of Riot Infantry rushed forward, moving around the side to flank the new cape. Your Grizzly Tank, Disc Thrower, and the observer, Corporal Harrison, moved through the center. The latter was loading a grenade into his launcher. He pointed it to where the Cape was. "Deploying flashbang!" He called out.
"Acknowledged!" The Disc Thrower replied. "Go ahead!"
You couldn't see the Cape's expression, but he started backpedaling when the PRT Officer pulled the trigger, sending the grenade flying with a crack. As soon as it landed, the world exploded into light and sound, even behind your men's protected eyes and ears. However, it had a more dramatic effect on the Cape, who was sprawling on the ground, crying.
Your closest pair of Riot Troopers moved in. One kicked the pistol away, removing it from the Cape's grasping hands. The other lowered their rifle, aiming at the leg.
Then a flying blur materialized out of a nearby building, slamming into him and sending him flying back to the ground with a crunch. It materialized into a girl, dressed much the same as the boy, except lacking the breastplate and sunglasses. She hovered in the air, with the air shimmering around her like it was a hot summer day.
Your remaining Riot Trooper fired point-blank at her, allowing you to see the darts hit her, penetrate the sweater, and fall out, doing nothing. "Brute!" He called out, before being pounded against the wall and then into the ground by the Cape.
"Alexandria package, lethal munitions authorized!" Harrison called out. You didn't know what an Alexandria package was, but given that she had resisted your tranquilizers, you knew she was a Brute, and with permission from the PRT you could deploy lethal weapons.
Your Disc Thrower relented from throwing his explosive discs, however. Your Riot Troopers weren't dead yet, just knocked to the ground. Throwing a disc might mean killing them.
Your Grizzly Tank had no such worries. When she charged at the center group, it fired, the noise booming through the nearly-abandoned area. The round flew for a milisecond, before colliding with the Cape.
The tank round fell to the ground harmlessly. However, the shimmering effect suddenly covered the whole area as the heat rose.
The Cape stopped suddenly, surprise in her eyes. It didn't last long, and she quickly turned around, scooping the tinker and his pistol up before rocketing up to the sky.
Lacking anti-air weapons (and non-lethal anti-air weapons at that,) your men could only watch as they flew away.
Your remaining forces split up: Harrison and the Disc Thrower ran to check on the downed Riot Troopers, while the other pair and the Grizzly tank moved to investigate the building the flying cape came from.
"Damn." Corporal Harrison said, checking the first Riot Trooper. "Have some broken bones here, we'll need to get him back to base or to a hopstial."
Your Disc Thrower nodded. "EVA." He said. "We need a NightHawk for medical evac, over."
Acknowledged, Transport is on the way. ETA: 4-5 Minutes.
Harrison didn't look over from his position, hunched over the Riot Trooper. "EVA?" he asked.
"Electronic Video Assistant." The Disc Thrower replies. "Handles our communications, relays tactical information, and in general keeps track of everything."
"Your own personal AI, huh? Your Tinker take commissions, or is he exclusive?"
"You'll have to bring that up with the Commander." The Disc Thrower replied.
In the meantime, your forces report some gang members in the structure. They were in varying states of injury, but on-site questioning revealed that the two capes were there to drive them out or bring them under their control. The "Alexandria Package," was known as Stroke, and she made reference to a partner named Jockey: you're betting that would be the Tinker. They seem fairly new, but have made moves establishing territory and acquiring underlings.
You drag them out, prep them for transport, and when the NightHawks arrive they take the Merchant Prisoners and your Riot Troopers for medical treatment and for the former, incarceration.
Villains (Jockey and Stroke) in the Trainyard!
The only indication that Pierce was about to hang up on his phone was a slight nod. Tapping it with his thumb and sliding it a pouch, he turned to face you.
"Director Piggot has a spot open, 1400 hours." He reported, "PRT Headquarters are downtown, you should be able to tell by the logo on it. The helipad should be open for you."
You nod. "Thank you." With that, you step into the waiting NightHawk with your bodyguards: 2 Conscripts, a GDI Infatnryman and Riot Trooper. As soon as you're strapped in, the NightHawk rises in the air and flies to the south.
In the meantime, a Riot Trooper approached the Sergeant. "Ready for the tour?" He asked.
"Yeah. Any idea where to begin?"
The Riot Trooper nodded. "You're already acquainted with the Barracks, so I'm not going to bother with that."
As the two walked around the base, an Engineer was looking at a makeshift distillery. The only identifying mark was a hammer and sickle on his red tie, and his tool-case lay beside him on the ground. He looked deep in thought, as he stared at the contraption.
Shrugging, and nodding, he pulled out a ream of duct-tape and began to add on to what the Conscripts originally did, making small adjustments to the pieces and components.
Your focus then turns to the single Initiate you had around the base today. You quickly realized that as a result of the restrictions, your Intitates would see far less combat due to the inherently lethal nature of their pyrokinetic abilities. Since you didn't want to see another one of your units removed because of the mandate, you had the Initiate conducting field research to determine if their abilities can be used in a non-lethal manner.
So far, the results weren't encouraging. Your Initiate was so used to just creating fire that he suffered when just trying to heat something up, which, after four tries and a wooden plank reduced to ash, he was able to to do. It wasn't obvious, but you had an issue seeing the combat-related applications of the ability.
Assuming there was something nearby your Initiate could set on fire, you found that they could make a crude smokescreen to obscure your own troops. However, it relied upon there being nearby objects for the Initiates to set fire to in order to maintain for a reasonable time. Sergeant Pierce stopped momentarily to look over at the column of smoke before moving along.
The Initiates couldn't pull heat from things or people, or use the fire in a stream like a flamethrower. The Initiate explained further.
"The great Yuri has gifted us all with minor psychic potential, but we have not gotten to the point where we can truly comprehend the power we have, not like Yuri has. As such, he taught us little...tricks, to make use of our power. By focusing in on an object, we can will it aflame. The concept of setting the air - invisible to us - on fire to set our foes on fire is more difficult to understand. Similarly, it is easy to control fire already there: it is an object that we can easily see and comprehend. With just regular body heat or residual heat, however, it is harder to see or make sense of it."
He paused, for a moment. "I suppose that if we could unfocus our attention on a single object...no, it is beyond us at the moment."
'Mind over the laws of thermodynamics,' huh?
"Remember the good days?" The Nod Light Infantryman asked his GDI counterpart.
"Not really, most of my memories are about either me shooting your friends or your friends shooting at me."
"That's what I was talking about."
"How would those be the 'good days?'" A note of incredulity in his voice.
"Because they were challenging! It wasn't like the rabble in this city, just charging in and blindly shooting. We fought and battled one another using tactics and strategy, not with twitch-filled mass gunfire."
As he said that, a trio of gang members walked out of a nearby alleyway. They were Fenrir's Chosen, given their tattoos and ethnicity. They stopped when they saw the two, and quickly retreated.
"See what I mean?" The Nod Infantryman continued. "If this was a battle against GDI, you would have opened fire! And actually hit me, and not the wall behind me."
"Don't tell me you're bitter over the nonlethal ammo," The GDI Infantryman said.
"No. Not at all."
Before the conversation could continue further, the GDI Infantryman interjected. "Looks like the Boardwalk's coming up."
At one point, you could have seen the area being a high-class tourist attraction. There were a great deal of shops selling either souvenirs or overpriced food and goods.
Keyword being was. seawater and useless wealth all around
There wasn't a single store open, most of the storefronts had been smashed open, either by the waves, or by looters following Leviathan. The roads were mostly clear here, so your men were able to walk unimpeded.
As your men walked into the interior of the Boardwalk, you were surprised to see how many people were there. It almost resembled normal, everyday traffic in the area, were it not for the dirty clothes and unwashed faces that turned towards your infantrymen as they advanced. There was even some construction efforts, tearing down wrecked buildings and tearing up shattered roads, laying new foundations down in their place.
There was also a large number of flying insects buzzing around, attracted by the masses of people.
Your men swatted them when they got close, but the insects remained insistent on being an annoyance.
"Least it's not Tib bugs," the GDI Infantryman said, "those would have been a problem."
"Only if we had our helmets off." the Nod infantryman countered. "So what are we supposed to do here? Explore?"
"Recon, yeah. If we get engaged, we retaliate, but we don't go looking for trouble."
With that, your soldiers moved through the area. People eyed them warily, a few clutching at hidden weapons or nearby objects if they passed particularly close, but didn't attack. Your men didn't talk to the locals much either, none of them seemed interested in talking to you (but were carefully observing them,) and your men had an objective to complete.
"We have permission to land." The NightHawk pilot spoke, jarring you from your observation. You had made good time, all things considered. Sending a NightHawk ahead to scout out the area was a good idea, especially since you now have a general map of Brockton Bay.
"Go ahead." You said. Your bodyguards readied their weapons. If all went well, you would be able to talk to the Director without complications.
Your NightHawk quietly touched down, and the door opened. Your Conscripts went first, briefly scanning the area before motioning your GDI Light Infantry and the Riot Trooper forward.
"Area's clear." The GDI soldier said. "Come on down."
With that, you get up out of your seat, your feet clanging down the hatch as you step onto a helipad. Looking around, you could see that you were on a rooftop, with some PRT officers patrolling around. They acted like this was entirely normal, but you could see their helmets facing you longer then what was expected before moving onto somewhere else. You were going to talk to a nearby officer when one approaches you.
"You Commander?" He asked.
"Yes. Here to show me the way?"
"Follow me."
You, the officer, and your four bodyguards crammed into the elevator. The ride felt incredibly smooth, like it wasn't moving at all, and an indeterminate time later the doors opened into an office area. It was in a flurry of activity, with men and women typing away at computers and a cacophony of phone calls filling the air.
Your guide led you past the office workers and to a checkpoint, where they searched you and your men for anything hidden. They didn't make too much of a fuss about your men's weapons, after demonstrating that they were, in fact, rubber bullets and tranquilizer darts and weren't carrying any lethal ammunition on them.
You didn't talk much with the officer, and neither did your men. You continued through the halls until you reached a conference room.
"You'll have to leave your men outside." The PRT officer spoke. "It'll just be you and the Director in there."
You frown. Seeing it, the PRT officer speaks again.
"Standard policy, if the Director is in the room, we have to bring equal or more numbers in to whoever is visiting."
"Fine then." You say, at last.
The PRT Officer nods and walks to the door, knocking before opening it up for you. You step in, and get your first look at Director Piggot.
The first thing you noticed was her hair: bleached blond, tied into a bun. The second thing you noticed was her considerable weight. Years behind the desk must not offer a lot of opportunities for field work.
The third was her expression. Hard, and determined.
You decide to make the first move. "Good afternoon, Director Piggot." You said. "May I take a seat? We have a lot of things to talk about."
"Of course."
You take the seat opposite from her on the long tale. Looking around, you notice that there are no guards nearby. With GDI at the forefront of your mind, you find it unsettling, you would prefer if they were in there, so that you could see where they were. With no idea where they are, you can't help but hear the alarm bells ringing.
Director Piggot began talking as soon as you sat down. "I don't have much time at the moment, so whatever you're going to say, say it quickly."
You nod. What do you say?
Group Vote
[] Plan?
Supplies. They have plenty enough, but they have issues transporting them to you because of the gang problem in the city.
Shelters. Anything you need to know or worry about beforehand?
Sales? Harrison had said a few things that made you think.
The more detailed the plan, the better. Not doing Riot Questioning this time since the purpose isn't grabbing information but making a proposal.
Alrighty. These are the things coming to me that we should cover.
Supplies: We can supply Helicopters to transport the supplies, which should cut down on most of the transportation issues. If any areas are still a problem because of various capes, we can transition to sending the supplies in Amphibious Transport, escorted by Tanks. We may unlock other air units to escort the helicopters, but that isn't certain, so might not be worth mentioning.
Shelters: If we could know the locations, we could set up Clinics and other buildings near-by to support. Also, permission to build our own shelters would be nice.
Sales: We aren't in a position to sell stuff quite yet. A topic for a later meeting.
[X] Ask for a list of terminology commonly, such as the 'Alexandria Package' mentioned by the PTR officer, and maybe a few example pn the number rating system they use for capes (eg. how does a blaster 1 compare to a blasters 3, or 5 ect.)
[X]Ask for a map of the city indicating shelters, and for help setting up a supply train to be set up, mostly for food, and basic medical supplies. We can use our helicopters to transport the supplies and with the PRT officers in base we can use them as an assurance that the supplies are going to were we are telling them they are. If Helicopters are not a reasonable transport, for fear of flying capes or lack of landing areas around the shelters we can mention the Amphibious transports with escorts as an alternative, but mention that they will be more vulnerable to attack and will be slower as they will have to deal with ground obstructions.
[X] Ask for permission to set up temporary/ emergency housing in and around the Boat Graveyard to house more civilians.
So this is my initial plan open to changing it but I think I covered our bases for now. Also should we mention that we work on a different monetary system then the america of this dimension?
Edit: alright that should be better
[X] Ask for a list of terminology commonly used in regards to capes plus for someone to give us a written/printed version of cape types(eg. blaster, thinker, brute) & ratings, as we don't know what an 'Alexandria' package that the PRT officer mentioned durring the patrol was.
We have the basic cape terminology already (blaster thinker brute) all we need is what the numbers mean, and special stuff like the "Alexandria package"
Ask for a supply train to be set up, mostly for food, and basic medical supplies. We can use our helicopters to transport the supplies and with the PRT officers in base we can use them as an assurance that the supplies and almost entirely used for the civilians.(we do have to feed John after all, but I doubt that they we really mind us feeding one soldier).
All the people in our territory are good on food for the next 48 days, we are good on that, as for medical supplies we have a clinic already set up that presumably auto-magically makes them as needed.
Transport of goods is only needed to all the other shelters, not for our own people's stuff.
All the people in our territory are good on food for the next 48 days, we are good on that, as for medical supplies we have a clinic already set up that presumably auto-magically makes them as needed.
Transport of goods is only needed to all the other shelters, not for our own people's stuff.
I figured that medicine might help with fixing people up in a shorter time frame but I change the cote now, also totally didn't notice that we weren't doing the riot vote yet.
It's not that we aren't doing it yet, we already did it. We probably won't have another one till the next day, unless we got some big action going on tonight.
I think they'd know if they are going there, if the people at the shelter report that they recieved the supplies. Don't need to get the people watching us to verify for us.
