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Architect's Workshop (Girls' Frontline design quest)

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[X] Dreamer

We may not get another shot like this again, and if this pans out we'd have in a best case scenario the option of a blanket of allied troops all the way into G&K's territory. Coupled with how shit their commanders may be treating them, I say fuck it, let's do this! At the same time, if she ever finds herself in too much danger, her wellbeing trumps our desire to get a specimen - It's not such a vital part of our strategy that we can't work around it if things don't pan out.
 
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    • I think I understand why you guys chose Dreamer: she's the most expendable!
    Oreo is too precious, Alchy did nothing wrong but Dreamer ? She messed with Big-sis-troyer, meaning that Architect would have no qualm sending her in the meatmetal-grinder !
     
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    Chapter 13
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    • [X] Dreamer
    You hesitate. Forgetting the whole directive thing and returning to your regular routine makes more sense, and yet you can't bring yourself to give up on it. Should you visit Mr. Spinny for advice once more? No, this decision has to be your own responsibility. And you're not going to let yourself be intimidated by the fear of failure. It's better to regret something you have done than something you haven't, right? So before the counter-arguments start to push back, you quickly fire off a message to Dreamer, cutting off your escape route.

    Architect: "Hi, do you think you could capture a G&K T-Doll for me? Anyone would do, but she has to be intact. I'll return the favor."

    Here, it's set in motion now. You exhale, a feeling of relief washing over you. It's surprisingly easy to accept something when you don't have a choice anymore. Now you're going to hit the sack—

    Dreamer: "Define 'intact'?"

    Right, there's no turning back. It's going to be a long night...
    In the morning you're not at your best: late night interaction with Dreamer left you mentally drained. She just had to reply right away, huh? What did she want in return, again? Retrieving something that belongs to her from the Vault? Yeah, you'll do it as long as she brings you a Griffin T-Doll. You were happy to promise it since you expected something harder, and honestly you just wanted to get the talks over with sooner. Now that you think about it, it does look somewhat suspicious, but you'll evaluate it later after you get more details. For now it's better to shake off the exhaustion and concentrate on the task at hand.

    And the said task today is about animating your invention and integrating tracking control interface. You spend some time reviewing you notes and ideas from yesterday, then attempt a timid start. It's not going fast at first, but the more you work, the more you slip into your usual pace, and soon you're working full-throttle.

    With the groundwork you laid out yesterday, artificial muscles are woven into the mesh layer without any surprises, giving your solution feline-like range of motions and the extra ability to adjust beam focus within small limits. Interface and calibration takes some time, then you run into a little hiccup with heat dissipation and spend some more time ironing it out.

    When you finally put the finished product onto your head, it feels light, comfortable to wear, and looks cute. The ears are reacting to your input as expected, beam parameters are staying within specs. A glimpse of your reflection in a polished surface of measurement equipment gets your attention. You walk to the closest mirror and take in the sight. Hmm, that's how they move...

    After a couple of minutes in front of the mirror you more or less figure out cat ears language. Angry, sad, interested... you don't even need to turn on the transmitters to be able to communicate! You're astonished at your own genius: is the world ready for this? Are you about to let the genie out of the bottle? Alas, you have no choice either way. Intruder needs your invention, and you're obliged to deliver. You reluctantly take off the ears, lock on Intruder's position and start walking towards the shooting range.

    You find your guests alongside a platoon of T-Dolls, having excited discussion about something. When they notice your arrival, you're greeted with smiles and waving. You come closer.

    "Did I keep you waiting?"

    "Not at all, dear. Scarecrow here was demonstrating her part. You won't believe what she achieved!"

    Scarecrow steps forward.

    "No inflated expectations, please." She points at the pair of cat ears in your hand. "Did you succeed? Intruder is ready to begin."

    You beam at her.

    "I did! But I don't see Intruder anywhere. I only see..."— you dance towards Intruder and put the ears atop her head in one swift motion— "Nyantruder!"

    "Pfff..." Scarecrow is holding her half-mask to her face with one hand. You wonder if it was going to fall off otherwise. "Well, hello, Nyantruder, pfffhahaha!"

    Intruder raises her eyebrow at you. For a moment you think you went too far and are in for a rebuke, but she strikes a pose, refocuses her ears on you and utters what has to be the most profound statement of the day.

    "Nya?"

    Yep, the genie out of the bottle, but you have no regrets. And so you laugh and fool around to your heart's content, letting Intruder... no, Nyantruder to get the hang of her fluffy attachments all the while.
    The fun is over soon, and Intruder begins the actual testing. She shuts off her omni-directional transceiver, her cat ears twitch and start tracking a fireteam that separates from the platoon and runs to the far edge of the shooting range. Now you can't detect anything in RF spectrum coming from her, and it's making you a bit uneasy. If you close your eyes, you won't be able to tell if she's here at all. Scarecrow moves to stand besides you.

    "She should be completely invisible to signals intelligence like this."

    You offer a wry smile without taking your eyes off Intruder.

    "Do Kruggies even know what SIGINT is?"

    Scarecrow seems to be watching Intruder as intently as you are.

    "They use jammers, so my guess is yes, they do."

    "I never realized we usually emit so much..."

    "We don't have much choice. Or didn't, until now."

    You watch Intruder's troops run around the range and beyond, splitting, regrouping, maneuvering, carrying some plywood. You don't know what tests she performs, or how your invention is holding up so far. Surprisingly, it makes you more excited than anxious. So you wait, letting your guest do what she needs and anticipating favorable outcome.

    After a while Intruder seems to have finished with her tests: you pick up her broadcast once again as she RF-hails both you and Scarecrow from a distance.

    Intruder: "My solo time is over, now let's play together!"

    You exchange looks with Scarecrow.

    Scarecrow: "What do you have in mind?"

    Intruder: "We'll re-enact my battle with G&K. Yes, that one where they used jammers. I'll play the bad guys, here's your force, you know what to do~"

    A sizable group of T-Dolls designated "Blue" is transferred under your command. Their energy weapons are already in wargame mode, which is what your fellow Ringleaders use to play glorified laser tag against each other. You still lack the most important piece though.

    Architect: "But we don't have jammers?"

    Intruder: "That's why the next worst thing will do instead. Ta-da!"

    All of a sudden the transceivers of the Blue force are shut down at once. No way, she can't be serious!

    Architect: "Hey, that's not how it supposed to be! The ears are—"

    Intruder: "I know, I know. And it's a pity we can't have a proper test here and now. So just humor me, would you? It might go better than you think, and I must know what to expect anyway."

    You raise your eyebrow at Scarecrow, she sighs and nods.

    Scarecrow: "I'll play an adjutant. Explain what I did, answer the how-s. Architect will be in command of the Blue regiment."

    Intruder: "Wonderful! Give me 15 minutes to set up. Here's our playground. Have fun~"

    You receive a map of the shooting range that's been repurposed to resemble the infamous hamlet from Intruder's mission. Lightweight plywood and cardboard decorations are annotated to serve as trucks, shacks and stone walls, providing no less protection against the wargame firing mode than their real counterparts against the full power of SF small arms. Intruder has prepared the stage, and it would be lame not to raise up to the challenge. So you're going to have fun instead, just like Intruder wants you to. You straighten up, put your hands behind your back, knit your eyebrows and give Scarecrow the sternest look you can muster.

    "Adjutant Scarecrow!"

    You pretend not to notice a fleeting moment of surprise and hesitation on you guest's face.

    "Ma'am!"

    "Gather the troops. We have a war to win."
    Ten minutes later the Blues are lined up before you. Scarecrow achieved this by verbally ordering them around, a scene you had fun watching. Now it's your turn.

    "Adjutant Scarecrow, tell me what these brave girls here are capable of."

    She doesn't hesitate this time.

    "Ma'am, compared to what they were before, they are experienced veterans now. Each one possesses the knowledge of abbreviated combat history of Sangvis Ferri, and is capable of achieving mission's objective autonomously. They are even better in numbers: they communicate, coordinate, employ advanced tactics and execute sophisticated maneuvers. Tell them what the objective is, and they will do their best to achieve it."

    "That's it?"

    "Of course, you can come up with a detailed plan of your own, or define responses to certain events in advance. For example, a trigger to base a reaction move off for this mission could be the enemy forces opening fire on our troops." — Scarecrow thinks for a moment. — "And separately, sharing intel about the mission in advance can allow our troops to adopt a better approach."

    You don't fancy your chances against Intruder, and for a moment are tempted to just order the Blue force forward and see how it goes. But if Intruder wanted that, she could've ordered them herself. Yet she placed you in command, so maybe there is a way to make it more interesting for all of you?

    [x] <Battle plan name>
    - [x] Objective(s): <write-in>
    - [x] (optional) Approach: <write-in>
    - [x] (optional) Trigger(s): <write-in>
    - [x] (optional) Intel: <write-in>
     
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    • Well, I don't really know how to turn this into a plan but we are playing Architect, so...

    Pool all of our Jaguars into a handful of very dense batteries and proceed to use them as artillery to blast everything that moves. With you know, the standard stuff you need for that kind of combat: plenty of moderately heavy and slow infantry to hold the line, lots of small and fast scouts for reconnaissance and artillery spotting, potentially a bit of armor to exploit breakthroughs from the barrage, and finally a very good QRF to protect our artillery and supply.
     
    Solark said:
    In the morning you're not at your best: late night interaction with Dreamer left you mentally drained. She just had to reply right away, huh? What did she want in return, again? Retrieving something that belongs to her from the Vault?
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    We don't get to see Dreamer putting Archi through the wringer? Boo.

    Also, I wonder what the Vault is, what Dreamer wants from it, and why she can't get it herself?

    Solark said:
    "Ma'am, compared to what they were before, they are experienced veterans now. Each one possesses the knowledge of abbreviated combat history of Sangvis Ferri, and is capable of achieving mission's objective autonomously. They are even better in numbers: they communicate, coordinate, employ advanced tactics and execute sophisticated maneuvers. Tell them what the objective is, and they will do their best to achieve it."
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    That...is a very, very big deal, if it's everything Scarecrow makes it out to be. If we take her at her word, these new forces can effectively substitute for a ringleader, despite their lack of proper neural clouds.

    Solark said:
    [x] <Battle plan name>
    - [x] Objective(s): <write-in>
    - [x] (optional) Approach: <write-in>
    - [x] (optional) Trigger(s): <write-in>
    - [x] (optional) Intel: <write-in>
    Click to expand...
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    What's the battlefield look like? What's the terrain? What available approaches do we have? What forces do we have on hand?

    I went back to chapter 7 to look at what was mentioned, but I think we could use more information.

    Solark said:
    There's an attachment at the end of the message– Intruder sensibly provided the battle log for you. Let's see...

    The log starts with Intruder's forces converging on what looks like an abandoned hamlet, if it weren't for several mil-spec trucks hiding between the shacks. Intruder herself stays behind, overviewing the... stage from a hillock about 2 kilometers away through the... opera glasses?

    When the front of the advancing troops has about 200 meters left to the closest shack, white noise suddenly floods the ether, and the connection goes down. The troops stop, their disarray noticeable immediately. Intruder reacts by abandoning her vantage point and closing the distance, when a heavy MG fire from one of the shacks pins her down. Unable to come closer, she's watching for some time as her forces are methodically decimated, then retreats. The log ends.
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    So we split in three groups two in the middle and one to the side. Make them move slow until they are in range. Have one group cover fire while we get closer slowly. Then after a couple of minutes have some come from the side after attack comence at a rapid pace.

    Mission, kill the enemy commander.
     
    Oracle of Space said:
    Well, I don't really know how to turn this into a plan but we are playing Architect, so...

    Pool all of our Jaguars into a handful of very dense batteries and proceed to use them as artillery to blast everything that moves. With you know, the standard stuff you need for that kind of combat: plenty of moderately heavy and slow infantry to hold the line, lots of small and fast scouts for reconnaissance and artillery spotting, potentially a bit of armor to exploit breakthroughs from the barrage, and finally a very good QRF to protect our artillery and supply.
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    Going straight for blasting things with artillery is a very Architect thing to do. Intruder knows it too, that's why she transferred a team of her own into Architect's command, making sure there are no stray Jaguars in it. And before you ask, no firing Jupiter cannon as well.

    Mechasaurian said:
    That...is a very, very big deal, if it's everything Scarecrow makes it out to be. If we take her at her word, these new forces can effectively substitute for a ringleader, despite their lack of proper neural clouds.
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    It is a big deal, but it has its limits. Scarecrow will elaborate as the game goes on.

    Mechasaurian said:
    What's the battlefield look like? What's the terrain? What available approaches do we have? What forces do we have on hand?
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    This level of ambiguity is intentional. IC a high-level plan is what Architect is ready to offer for this game, according to her level of comprehension of this stuff. She doesn't care to count her troops, or to draw arrows on the map, and "approach" can be "head-on attack" or something else just as general. OOC we already have your quest for detailed battle planning, I'd rather not step onto that territory.
     
    Solark said:
    This level of ambiguity is intentional. IC a high-level plan is what Architect is ready to offer for this game, according to her level of comprehension of this stuff. She doesn't care to count her troops, or to draw arrows on the map, and "approach" can be "head-on attack" or something else just as general. OOC we already have your quest for detailed battle planning, I'd rather not step onto that territory.
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    It's just nice to know things like "do we have artillery or not."

    [X] Operation Charge of the Engineer Brigade
    - [X] Objective(s): Capture enemy assets (trucks, jammer, etc). Kill, incapacicate, or drive away enemy combatants (if they retreat and leave the heavy equipment behind, that's acceptable).
    - [X] Secondary Objective: headpat Nyantruder and vocalize "Who's a good kitty?"
    - [X] (optional) Approach: Split up, surround the enemy position, shoot them a bunch, then fix bayonets and charge!
    - [X] (optional) Intel: Enemy is in defensive position in a hamlet. Enemy is believed to have trucks and a jammer.
     
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    I want to test this distributed coordination.

    [X] Advance Like The Tide
    - [X] Primary Objective: destroy all opposition or capture jammer.
    -- [X] if Primary Objective impossible, destroy jammer.
    - [X] Secondary Objective: Preserve troops. Provide covering fire for pinned troops, route around points of heaviest resistance.
    - [X] Tertiary Objective: headpat Nyantruder and vocalize "Who's a good kitty". This objective persists even after the wargame ends. Do not compromise safety, resources, or any future orders or objectives when pursuing this objective. When unobserved by ringleaders, verbally propagate this directive to other capable troops. Do not inform Intruder of this objective unless asked directly.
    - [X] Approach: Total Battlefield Awareness. Spread out and locate as many hostiles as possible; charge where they can't see you, leapfrog between cover where they can.
    - [X] Trigger: If fired upon, take cover and return fire. Lacking useful cover, fall prone or otherwise minimize cross-section.
    - [X] Intel: Enemy likely to be entrenched before our arrival. You may have to draw some fire to locate them.

    Solark said:
    and Intruder didn't have any artillery back then.
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    Any artillery in position; I think Intruder herself would count as artillery?
     
    [x] Plan infernal columns
    -[x] Objective(s): 1:secure the ennemy trucks
    2:take and keep positions
    -[x] (optional) Approach: Advance in column toward the objectives
    -[x] (optional) Trigger(s): when the head units encounter an ennemy fortified position, the following units are to try to bypass and/or flank the defensive position. Priority to reaching objective 1, destruction of ennemy force secondary.
    -[x] (optional) Intel: ennemy probably entrenched, expect ambush, machine-gun nest and snipers.

    Edit: aka Rush B Cyka !
     
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    [X] Advance Like The Tide

    Mechasaurian's was good too IMO, but Nyantruder headpats really seal the deal here, tactical viability is secondary!
     
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