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Rusted Steel: A Mega-Tank Quest

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Technical Information: Internal Fabrication Unit
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    • Excerpt from "A Strategic Analysis of the Use of Mega-Scale Vehicles in the Great War" by Jaelyne Casdy

    [...] While both the Concordiat Continental Siege Unit and the Eternal Odyssey Strategic Assault Platform (better known as the 'Monolith') were fully capable of assembling even super-heavy combat vehicles from scratch thanks to the massively increased scale of their Internal Fabrication Units, this was not their intended function. Rather than rolling factories, strategic planners of the day envisioned these units as mobile supply and command points, repairing damaged vehicles and constantly manufacturing ammunition, fuel, and other supplies for allied forces.
    The idea that these massive constructs were intended for support rather than direct conflict seems paradoxical to many, especially when one considers the massive firepower they were also equipped with. It is less surprising, however, when looked at from a more practical perspective. For all their power, even a mega-scale vehicle can only be in one place at a time. As they were never available in the numbers required to fully secure a planet on their own, lesser units were required to ensure flexibility and to secure areas the mega-tank had already pacified. As the fragile fabrication engines normally used to keep such forces supplied often made easy targets, the idea of a source of repair and supply that could only be threatened by another mega-vehicle or heavy orbital bombardment was an appealing one.

    The Monolith is especially indicative of the idea that the later mega-vehicles were designed for support rather than front-line assault. The last design released prior to the end of the Great War, the Monolith's most dramatic innovation was [...]
     
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    • Stelarwand030 said:
    I believe the unknowns inside of us are attempting to repair it.
    (On my phone will quote it later.)
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    No need to quote. They are indeed attempting to make some repairs to Argus' fabricator.

    At their current pace, it will require 167 days and approximately 2000 resource units before it is 100% functional again.
     
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    I'm shocked SV didn't name our tank the Waifu.

    ;P
     
    NewAgeOfPower said:
    I'm shocked SV didn't name our tank the Waifu.

    ;P
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    I am a bit surprised no one suggested that as a joke name, or perhaps @meganeshounen's 'Moetank'. I guess everyone was just having too much fun making Culture jokes.

    Motoko said:
    What did we name our tank?
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    I haven't technically locked the vote yet, but thanks to its landslide lead "Argus" is pretty much a shoe-in. This also means the tank's AI is going to identify as male.

    When naming an ever-faithful guardian giant, it's tough to compete with this bit of poetic awesomeness @acegunner dug up:

    And set a watcher upon her, great and strong Argus, who with four eyes looks every way. And the goddess stirred in him unwearying strength: sleep never fell upon his eyes; but he kept sure watch always.
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    A bit tragic, too, considering how long we were "asleep" for. His full name is Argus Panoptes, and he was slain by Hermes (according to some) after being lulled to sleep.
     
    Argus Yomoflach said:
    It's an honour to share a name with such a wonderful machine.
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    You know, I can always tell when you stop by here, because my Alert feed suddenly gets carpet-bombed with hugs. Glad you're enjoying things thus far!

    He's likely honored to share a name with you as well. You seem an excellent-

    - - - - -

    ++ ERROR: Medical scanner offline. Species, gender, and health status of subject cannot be identified. ++

    - - - - -​

    -sapient entity.
     
    Kaelor said:
    He's likely honored to share a name with you as well. You seem an excellent-

    - - - - -

    ++ ERROR: Medical scanner offline. Species, gender, and health status of subject cannot be identified. ++

    - - - - -​
    -sapient entity.
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    Argus, please set default conversation partner gender to Male.

    Because there are no females on the internet. :p
     
    Kaelor said:
    Excerpt from "A Strategic Analysis of the Use of Mega-Scale Vehicles in the Great War" by Jaelyne Casdy

    [...] While both the Concordiat Continental Siege Unit and the Eternal Odyssey Strategic Assault Platform (better known as the 'Monolith') were fully capable of assembling even super-heavy combat vehicles from scratch thanks to the massively increased scale of their Internal Fabrication Units, this was not their intended function. Rather than rolling factories, strategic planners of the day envisioned these units as mobile supply and command points, repairing damaged vehicles and constantly manufacturing ammunition, fuel, and other supplies for allied forces.
    The idea that these massive constructs were intended for support rather than direct conflict seems paradoxical to many, especially when one considers the massive firepower they were also equipped with. It is less surprising, however, when looked at from a more practical perspective. For all their power, even a mega-scale vehicle can only be in one place at a time. As they were never available in the numbers required to fully secure a planet on their own, lesser units were required to ensure flexibility and to secure areas the mega-tank had already pacified. As the fragile fabrication engines normally used to keep such forces supplied often made easy targets, the idea of a source of repair and supply that could only be threatened by another mega-vehicle or heavy orbital bombardment was an appealing one.

    The Monolith is especially indicative of the idea that the later mega-vehicles were designed for support rather than front-line assault. The last design released prior to the end of the Great War, the Monolith's most dramatic innovation was [...]
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    So they're more like an ACU than the mega-MBTs the Bolos are?
     
    Sad thing i've noticed is that there never seem to be any bol- I mean super tanks. was hoping to see a super motherly tank coddle all of the people crawling around in her some more
     
    lelenoi said:
    So they're more like an ACU than the mega-MBTs the Bolos are?
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    It depends on which class of tank you're talking about. It's true that the Concordiat and the Eternal Odyssey were definitely designed more as "mobile command fortresses" than straight-up tanks. That said, the range on mega-scale guns is "anything not hidden by the curvature of the planet", so they were also built to be able to withstand and dish out city-glassing levels of firepower. Just because they can also build and supply units does not mean they need to hide in the back.

    Motoko said:
    Sad thing i've noticed is that there never seem to be any bol- I mean super tanks. was hoping to see a super motherly tank coddle all of the people crawling around in her some more
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    Who says there won't be? Fathers can coddle too, and gender is pretty much just a label as far as these things are concerned. Argus was devoted enough to his mystery passengers that being unable to keep them from exposing themselves to danger almost gave him the AI equivalent of a stroke even before he remembered he was named after a legendary guardian. You can get an idea from Better Days how he generally treated the people in his care, back when he didn't have a few massive molten corridors blown through his brain.

    meganeshounen said:
    Instead of guns that can nuke things in orbit, we settled down for simply large guns AND the capacity to create armies on our own.
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    Actually, you didn't! Argus' primary weapons are more than capable of striking targets in high planetary orbit, should any of them ever be brought back online.
     
    Kaelor said:
    It depends on which class of tank you're talking about. It's true that the Concordiat and the Eternal Odyssey were definitely designed more as "mobile command fortresses" than straight-up tanks. That said, the range on mega-scale guns is "anything not hidden by the curvature of the planet", so they were also built to be able to withstand and dish out city-glassing levels of firepower. Just because they can also build and supply units does not mean they need to hide in the back.


    Who says there won't be? Fathers can coddle too, and gender is pretty much just a label as far as these things are concerned. Argus was devoted enough to his mystery passengers that being unable to keep them from exposing themselves to danger almost gave him the AI equivalent of a stroke even before he remembered he was named after a legendary guardian. You can get an idea from Better Days how he generally treated the people in his care, back when he didn't have a few massive molten corridors blown through his brain.


    Actually, you didn't! Argus' primary weapons are more than capable of striking targets in high planetary orbit, should any of them ever be brought back online.
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    Can Argus's vehicles also withstand hellbore-level firepower?
     
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