Advanced Mobile Armor Project, Live combat testing phase:
Project GoaSide story: Test flight Helios Il: Counter TEMPEST units
Known enemy faction: ASL (A & N com) (Allied supercomputer League)
Participant corporations:
Lockshale and Merlin (Swallows Subd)
Galathine Industries
Gears and Sears
Bows Corporation
Rayshift Industries
Description:
Bipedal mechanized units meant for countering enemy bipidal mechanized units, as interceptors like the F22, F15E, F16 FF, F17 Cobra, and F18 Hornet have had a hard time locking on without being shot down by rail units and missiles from TEMPEST units. These units are meant to maneuver in urban and rural areas, as seen in TEMPEST units, with their ability to escape and outmaneuver lock-on attempts. These units are meant to be hunting dogs of these TEMPEST units, as they can maneuver like jets in urban areas with the durability and firepower of tanks. Although these units cannot fly above 500 meters, they can still act as CAS units if the situation arises. The next evolution of tanks. As of late, tanks are seen as obsolete thanks to the ASL. To those not given the memo or who aren't too knowledgeable on everything, the ASL is a faction from a world where humanity had gone extinct, and the ones left are A. I or digitized constructs of human minds, not much is known save for the few ASL units that we had captured, but the gist is that they are only following the final directive given to them by their version of humanity, that is, to safeguard the remnants of 'humanity' by any means necessary. The a.i don't see us as humans, only humanoids, as their humans didn't have mana or any of the likes from our home dimension. When the games started, the a.i collective had gone on the offensive as they had been attacked, and being attacked constituted a switch that made them want to eliminate the other competitors; they only wanted to be left alone to hold a vigil for an eternity, but that is too late. Thus, here we are, in recent games, circa 8 months ago, we had encountered them, and their weaponry. They had obliterated local forces and had used TEMPEST units as CAS to a devastating degree. Given how huge these machines are, they used both the fear factor and the seemingly high lethality of these units to their advantage.Yokohama has been turned into rubble thanks to this but thankfully with enough drones and a liberal enough explosive ammunition and so much property damage, they were pushed back and were able to capture a few TEMPEST unit wrecks to study and reverse engineer in order not to have a repeat of Yokohama. Thankfully yokohama is slowly rebuilding but the cost of doing so was worth billions of dollars in repairs alone, not to mention the planes and military equipment loss against TEMPEST units worth billions, they were even able to shot down a B2 spirit from tens of thousands of meters from below with pin point accuracy whilst being slippery enough to evade even the fastest of targeting systems currently available. Thanks to that incident and the lessons learned, the DOD has requested the weapon system to be reverse-engineered. The tech is already proven, although this side of the dimensions doesn't have the same alloys as that world's dimension. Thankfully, there were substitutes such as Depleted mana core steel alloys, which were dense enough and light enough to substitute for titanium and were cheaper than titanium alloys. Another thing to add was in the research to find a metal able to resist temps higher than the sun, mana core steel alloys were able to sustain being in a constant surface of the sun temp environment without melting for weeks on end after being treated thus were used as materials to make far more powerful engines able to sustain constant thrust at higher velocities without breaking or melting.Although thanks to that breakthrough, NASA and other aeronautics agencies are bulk buying depleted mana cores of high quality for engines, and the prices of mana cores have gone up, and in doing so, so have the energy prices.
TEMPEST UNIT:
Height: 12 meters
max speed: Mach 1.8 - 1.93
Cruising speed: Mach 1.4 - 1.64
MA proposals:
YMA/A1 "Swallow"
Type: Reverse joint Bipedal Interceptor Mobile Armor
Exoskeleton and armor composition: Depleted Mana-Aluminium steel alloy mix
Engine: 8x Priss and Gywn YF 150 Turbofan engine
Height: 10 meters
Width: 4.8 Meters
Max speed: Mach 1.7 - 1.9
Crusing speed: Mach 1.4 - 1.53
Tonnage: 22.1 tons
Max takeoff capacity: 23.3 tons
Fuel: Liquid Mana
Fuel storage temps: -50 to 39 degrees celsius
Combustion temps: 39 degrees celsius and above
Armaments: 1x Electric Works 40mm gau-10 nemesis, 2x Electric Works 100mm MAG (magnetically accelerated gun) (20 rounds max on both), 2x 3x3 SA-8 Avenger missile pods, 2x 4x Galathine electronics CQW-H melee (Close quarters weapon-Heat)
Operating system: XMAOS-1.7 (Circe)
Sensor, and ECM suite: BS-24 Bloodhound multipurpose sensor and radar suite (Galathine electronics), AN/ALRS-128 electronic warfare suite (Rayshift industries), ECS-450 communication suite (Rayshift industries), 15x 3x2x8 inch MTV M215 flares, M21 Radar absorbent Coating
Manufacturer: Lockshale and Merlin
Development cost: $775 million for one unit, actual cost in manufacturing and arming $620 Million per unit
YMA/A2 "Stinger"
Type: Traditional Bipedal Interceptor Mobile armor
Exoskeleton and armor composition: Depleted Mana-Aluminium steel alloy mix
Height: 10.3m
Width: 4.5m
Engine: 6x Galathine aeronautics F61 Turbo jet Engine
Max speed: Mach 1.9 - 2.0
Crusing speed: Mach 1.4 - 1.59
Tonnage: 23.1 tons
Max takeoff weight: 24.6 tons
Fuel: Liquid Mana
Fuel storage temps: -50 to 39 degrees celsius
Combustion temps: 39 degrees celsius and above
Armaments: 1x Rayshift industries RX7 40mm "Flashpoint", 1x Galathine electronics 125mm MAG (magnetically accelerated gun) (15 rounds max), 2x 4x3 MPSAM-203 'Pioneer' missile pods, 2x 4x Galathine electronics CQW-H melee 2.1 m blade (Close quarters weapon-Heat)
Operating system: XMAOS-1.6.1 ODIN
Sensor, and EC suite: BS-24 Bloodhound multipurpose sensor and radar suite (Galathine electronics), ECM 247 (Galathine industries), ECS-450 (Rayshift industries),
Manufacturers: Galathine industries
Development cost: $680 million, $380 million per unit
YMA/A3 "AdHawk"
Type: Reverse join Interceptor Mobile armor
Exoskeleton and armor composition: Depleted Mana-Aluminium steel alloy mix
Height: 9.8
Width: 4.3m
Engine: 6x Priss and Gywn YF173 Turbofan
Max speed: Mach 2.1 - 2/3
Crusing speed: Mach 1.6 - 1.78
Tonnage: 22.6 tons
Max takeoff weight: 23.9 tons
Fuel: Liquid Mana
Fuel storage temps: -50 to 39 degrees celsius
Combustion temps: 39 degrees celsius and above
Armaments: 1x Rayshift Industries rx2 30mm "cheese grater" 1x Galathine electronics 125mm MAG (magnetically accelerated gun) (15 rounds max), 2x 4x4 SAIM 180 pods, 2x 4x Galathine electronics CQW-H melee 2.1 m blade (Close quarters weapon-Heat)
Operating system: XMAOS-1.6.2 Moa
Sensors and EC suites: MH 10 'Head hunter' multipurpose sensor unit (Rayshift industries), ECM 140 (Electronics central), ECS-AHM 147 (Electronics central)
Cost of development: $700 million, $460 million per unit
Manufacturers: Gears and sears
YMA/A4 "Raven"
Type: Reverse joint Bipedal Interceptor Mobile Armor
Exoskeleton and armor composition: Depleted Mana-Aluminium steel alloy mix
Engine: 8x Priss and Gywn YF 170 Turbofan engine
Height: 9.9m
Width: 4.7m
Engine: 6x Priss and Gywn YF173 Turbofan
Max speed: Mach 2.2 - 2.4
Crusing speed: Mach 1.6 - 1.82
Tonnage: 21.6 tons
Max takeoff weight: 23.4 tons
Fuel: Liquid Mana
Fuel storage temps: -50 to 39 degrees celsius
Combustion temps: 39 degrees celsius and above
Armaments: 1x Gears and Sear's 100mm MAG (magnetically accelerated gun) (25 rounds max), 2x 4x4 SAIM 180 pods, 2x 4x Galathine electronics CQW-H melee 2.1 m blade (Close quarters weapon-Heat)
Operating system: XMAOS-1.6.3.4 Medea
Sensors and EC suites: MH 10 'Head hunter' multipurpose sensor unit (Rayshift industries), ECM-DH 180 (Rayshift industries), ECS-DW-HS120 (Londonium Implements), NSS-AHM 12 (Londinium implements)
Cost of development: $673 million, $560 million per unit
Manufacturers: Bows Corporation
YMA/A5 "Hummingbird"
Type: Reverse joint Bipedal Interceptor Mobile Armor
Exoskeleton and armor composition: Depleted Mana-Aluminium steel alloy mix
Engine: 8x Priss and Gywn YF 200 Turbofan engine
Height: 9.9m
Width: 4.7m
Engine: 6x Priss and Gywn YF173 Turbofan
Max speed: Mach 2.1 - 2/3
Crusing speed: Mach 1.6 - 1.78
Tonnage: 22.6 tons
Max takeoff weight: 23.9 tons
Fuel: Liquid Mana
Fuel storage temps: -50 to 39 degrees celsius
Combustion temps: 39 degrees celsius and above
Armaments: 1x Rayshift industries RX10 45mm autocannon, 1x Galathine electronics 125mm MAG (magnetically accelerated gun) (15 rounds max), 2x 4x4 SAIM 180 pods, 2x 4x Galathine electronics CQW-H melee 2.1 m blade (Close quarters weapon-Heat)
Operating system: XMAOS-1.6.3.4 Medea
Sensors and EC suites: YMH 20 'Siren' multipurpose sensor unit (Rayshift industries), ECM-YDH 190 (Rayshift industries), ECS-DW-AHN 70Y (Rayshift industries), NSS-YRDN 4 (Rayshift industries)
Cost of development: $873 million, $560 million per unit
Manufacturers: Rayshift industries
Location of test flight: Camp humphreys, Pyeongtaek, The main hub and headquarters for United States Forces Korea
Battle of Pyeongtaek, Operation Osprey
Allied countries/allied biligerents: JAF (japan), ROK (south korea), USPACOM (united states), UN expeditionary forces (UNSC)
Date: January 12th 2027
"Ok, back up!" A technician said as they began unloading giant crates being carried by a Lockshale and Merlin C5 Galaxy. Each is around 12 meters in length and 5 meters in width. The forklifts did their jobs as many foremen and forklift operators started to unload the crates. Each crate is marked with YF-48 'humming birds'.
A foreman asked another, "So what is this anyway. The jets are too small to be jets. Can they be autonomous drones?" The foreman next to them scoffs."Yeah, right. Using drones is a bad idea considering the enemy we are fighting." Said the man as they unloaded the crates.
"Maybe some prototype armored vehicle meant to be used as railgun artillery?" Another reasoned, but they were quickly shut up by a yank wearing a stereotypical suit. Some of them scowled as they utterly loathed these kinds of yanks as they were often too demanding and stand-offish to be getting along with."You all, stop talking and just do your jobs! You aren't paid to dillydally, the front is going to need this in just a few days." The suited man demanded.
The men quickly decided to shut up as they didn't want to get reprimanded and risk being in the crosshairs of the yankees when things got delayed. Doing what's been told, they quickly did their parts, and the crates were sent into the American fighter jet hangars. After doing so, the American technicians from the corporations finalized their fine-tuning.
5 hours later...
"So, James, you excited for our new stations?" Ask an airman wearing a rather form-fitting leotard-esque padded suit made from rubber polymers, bladders, and some insider bladders which were filled with liquids with similar consistency and density as blood to equalize the fluid dynamics of g-force strains on the body."Yeah, but the suits are kinda weird to walk around with. Is this really necessary for now?" Said the man named 'James'. The man walked around awkwardly as the suits felt weird to move around on the ground. The other man scoffed."Yes. We're here to do some finalization in the calibration with the AYMA program."
James shrugged and decided to get this over with. To be completely honest with himself, he was just called in for this project a month ago for Rayshift Industries, and barely got the hang of piloting the mobile armor. Some part of him was giddy about being able to pilot a literal fucking mech, but for the most part, the whole thing was stressful. He had to spend 100 hours piloting like a manic pixie trying not to get killed in a sim before getting to pilot the real deal.
The only reason he hadn't been replaced yet because he had been a PRECOG type NSS, and trying to find one was rather hard since they were rare and they only get to be tested in the battlefield. Most either die in the battles or get lucky enough to be found out and get some training; he had been the latter case.
NSS or Neurotic Sub Species
These are people gifted with higher functioning neuron cells and braincells. They were discovered in 1978 and had been discovered by project stargate after they started putting people in dangerous situations or by 'other' methods. The Government had experimented on people for this project and had a few 'unfortunate' casualties to get data about Neurotics. They had discovered 4 (many more depending if you believed there are still somethings being hidden about the project by the government). The following were PRECOG, which are people with the ability to predict possibilities faster than most people to the point that some actually suspect they can see the future and act accordingly. Another would EMPATHIC, which allows people who have this type of ability to read other people with ease, allowing them to feel what emotions others are truly feeling, it even works on people with apathy, which makes people mistake it as telepathy, as many could predict other's thoughts based on their feelings. The most common type. PARANOIA, which gives them superhuman senses but with the downside that causes an increased risk of heart attacks and heart-related problems, second most common. INSIGHT, which allows people with this type of neurotic symptoms to think more logically and are much smarter than normal folks, often being poached by research or engineering companies as ideal hires.James looked around as people around them were resupplying some F22/A's and F35/A's to quickly send them back to the Korean front. Some had bullet holes on the fuselage and were being quickly fixed by technicians. On the other side of the airfield, a fleet of A-10 Thunderbolt IIIs was being readied for takeoff. A small smile curled on his lips as he gazed at the planes with nostalgia. Memories of friends long gone, and experience still lingering in James' mind.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Ask the other pilot to James as both of them gazed at the busy airfield."Yeah, it is. I haven't seen the airfields being this congested since the war on terror and the counterinsurgency in 2021, whilst being stationed in Tehran as an A10." The other pilot sighed.
"Judging from your records, nostalgia?"
"Yeah. Reminds me of the times of the USACOM radios being blasted with guns'n'roses songs." The other pilot laughs.
"Well, ain't that funny?"
"It wasn't, but there's something ironic about songs about childhood and growing up playing in the background whilst fighting a counterinsurgency by Shi'as."
"Those were the days."
"Not really. Most of the time, it was just USACOM asking us to blow up an outpost."
"Well, I heard you shot down a Mig 21 in an A10." James shakes his head.
"Nah, it's nothing noteworthy."
"Nothing noteworthy?"
"Bitch, you shot down a MiG-21 on an A-10, which, mind you, isn't suited for dogfighting. And only using the 30mm no less, no missiles."
"That was all luck and me being a PRECOG type."
"Still, that's impressive."
"I still haven't lived it down. I hate how I'm only known as callsign Blackout and the one who got an air-to-air kill with an A10. I still remember how everyone dug up why I got the callsign blackout." The other pilot snickered.
"You mean about how you blacked out in your first flight in an f15-E and shit yourself whilst the instructor took over and let the autopilot return you back?" James groaned at that factoid. He hated that callsign. Sure, to anyone outside of the military and inside the military who didn't know how he got the callsign would think it's a cool callsign, but to anyone inside and in the know, it's a joke, and he'd been the butt of that joke too many times for his comfort (Pun intended).
James twitched as he felt someone mocking him for shitting himself in that incident. He doesn't know who, but some part of him instinctively twitched as the memories of being the joke came into his mind."Let's not talk about it." The other pilot laughs and pats James on the back.
"It's fine. Plus, be sure not to shit yourself." James really wanted to punch this guy, but held it in so as not to get Article 15'd.
"Cheeky shit."
"Oh, talking about yourself?" He walked into that one.
Deep breaths....Deep breaths....
James refused to talk after that, but after a while of silently walking into the hangar, they arrived and got inside.Inside was filled with technicians and people moving around like busy bees, people calibrating sensors and engines, checking the reactor cores, and structural integrity. Looking closely, the YMA looked smaller than a fighter jet when laid down. Still, it amazed him that it took this long to make these machines compared to the making of the advanced fighter project program, which took years. Yet this one only took 6 to 7 months. It impressed him. Looking around, the machines rarely looked different, save for the heads, sensors, and sizes. The legs looked similar, save for the outlier that was YMA/A2 "Stinger".
A swift look around, and James saw the weapons being loaded into the hangar. Six artillery pieces looking like guns with an ammo carriage around the side of a king-sized bed. 5 giant kriss vector-looking weapons that fired a variety of ammunition, 10 missile pods with a variety of ammunition, and a few giant blades being sheathed on the forearm similar to an OTF knife.Some of the technicians were already arming the guns.
To any mecha nerd out there, they would probably kill to be in his shoes, but James did not think that way; he just looked at the machines and hoped he wouldn't get shot down by a TEMPEST unit. The reports he'd read described those machines as literal angels of death that were really hard to kill unless you tried to get close, which was a death sentence to any soldier or jet pilot. His mind wandered to footage of audiologs hearing some weird sound before the audio cuts, and even seeing body cam footage from soldiers on the ground having glass shattered around them as a TEMPEST unit shot down an F-35 in one shot.
Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed the people coming to him wearing the same suits."Boo!" James nearly punched the person, only to stop as he noticed the one who startled him was an experimental pilot."So you're one of the two NSS pilots, eh? Not bad, from the file I read, you've got an impressive track record with your flights. Callsign blackout, yes?" Asked the newcomer, and he winced at the callsign.
"Yeah, I'm Callsign blackout, but I prefer you call me James." The other pilot, noticing his wince at mentioning his callsign, decides to call him James."Well, James, my name is Sirius. Callsign Malt." James looked at Sirius for a second before registering the callsign.
"Why did you get Malt as a call sign?" Said James, now curious at the why he got the callsign. Most of the times its a joke whist others it's a throwback of an embarrassing moment. Sirius looked away, a bit sheepish."Well..."
"I got drunk and went to the barracks with a foam mustache. That's about it."
"That's it?"
"Well.... that's all." James sighed.
"Lucky, at least you didn't feel so embarrassed." He mutters, but the two continued to talk whilst waiting for the others to arrive."Tell me more about yourself." Said James, wanting to do some small talk before he either dies or at least to make a friend to pass the time.
"Well i was born in Yorktown Virginia, i grew up in the 2000's watching cartoons and listening to music. Although, i sometimes dabbled in watching anime being dubbed by 4kids."
"What dub did you like?"
"If I had to say, ghost stories. It was so funny. I like how the characters absolutely have no filter, but if I have to be honest, I like the Gundam series. And judging where I am now, kid me would be jumping for joy for this. I mean, I get to pilot a mech! What can honest top that!" Sirius laughs as he imagines how his younger self would be envious of him and how he would be a little shit about it."You like mechs, tell me, what mech design do you like the most?" James asks as he is reminded of his childhood of accidentally stumbling into the Armored Core series.
"I think the design I like the most is either Unicorn Gundam, NEXT white glint, or Exiled Wolf Clan Black Wolf battle armor."
"Wait, so you know battle tech?" Sirius smiles."My man!" The two grin and dap each other up as they seem to agree on something.
"How about you?"
"Well, if you ask me honestly, I'd pick RX 94 Nu Gundam mass production, IBIS unit from AC6, or F22A Raptor from Muvluv Alternative."
"Muvluv?" Asked Sirius, not familiar with the series."Well, it's a VN about a guy getting transported into an alt universe where mechs exist but are named after jets. Takes place in the early 2000's. The coolest looking design was either the Raptor or the YF23-Black Widow II."
"That's pretty niche, I might look that up later if we survive." They wanted to continue but were cut off by someone calling them over.
"Hey. You two!" Looking at the direction of the noise, the two saw two other people, one was a rather beautiful woman wearing aviators with silky hazel colored hair, a toned yet moderately endowed body, and the other was a man with a face resembling that of a bishonen and eyes that made James feel like he was staring at someone who would be ready to do anything to win, a well toned body, and red-ish hair that made him look like he was scottish from how red it was.
"You two are the last ones, is everyone here?" She asked, and he pointed blandly at the other guy, who was busy looking at the specs of the mech.She sighed. "I take that as a yes." James gave her a deadpan stare as if there were any other pilots supposed to be here other than the five of them.
"Okay, fine." She grumbled."So who are you and your friend over there?"
"Oh, my name is Sherlie Rust, and this is my little brother." She nodded smugly, and she leaned into her brother, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else than here right now.
"This is Remmy Rust, my little brother. I'm 27 and my little brother is 23." James looks at the brother and sister. The sister seemed to be more lively at least. Her brother, on the other hand, was fidgeting. Gazing at the younger man with suspicion, James realized something.
"A Neurotic?" He asked the older of the two, but the older one looked away.
"He doesn't like being called that."
"Why?"
"Because he's been bullied because he was one before. It got so bad that we had to move multiple times."
"Damn, I knew Neurotics are not well-liked since we are kinda different from everybody else, but I didn't know it was this bad," James mutters.
"What type?" He asks.
"INSIGHT mixed with EMPATH"
"Oof, that's a bad combo, a recipe for disaster, especially when they develop low self-esteem."
"I know, but it's how it is. My brother has low self-esteem, so do not be too harsh with him."
"Or else..." Her voice turned ominous, and James couldn't help but gulp.
An hour later..."Test flight helios will move from here to the northeast towards Pyeongtaek, whilst reinforcements reinforce the road to Camp Humphreys. You provide a distraction to ease up on the pressure whilst some of the fighters support you with CAS and waiting for tempest, air, and naval units to slip up and destroy one. Either that or you yourselves will destroy it. Either way, both work." The commander said as he pointed out their flight route, where they had to move through the Yellow Sea and try to move undetected, covered by the flight wings of F-15Es, F-16s, F-22s, and F-35s, whilst they did a bombing run and dug out the entrenched ASL forces. Some of the F22s and F35 that survived have some runic commands on them to make them visually invisible, but the heat and electronic spectrum were still there. Those had been added after 5 months into the war, but the people who apply it to the planes have high rates considering their levels in their multiclass of magician and programmer, which allowed something called command lines, a specific subtype of runes that allows people with this subclass to change the physical properties of items like lines of code in a program. A few reached this level to unlock that specific sub-career class. Still, doing so would take a day at the least for one plane with all the troubleshooting, let alone something like a C-130, which would take days. The other planes don't have the luxury, as they were cheap to manufacture with new techniques and electronics. Sadly, the lives put into them are often counted only in statistics and insurance claims.
"68th, 71st, 84th, and 97th mobile infantry company, 70th, 74th, and 83rd armored companies, 31st, 33rd, and 37th infantry combat engineering companies will move directly through the bridge whilst the marine 7th, 10th, and 11th infantry alongside the marine 12th armored brigade and 14th combat engineering company will move through the yellow sea using the bases' amphibious units, and some c130 hercules'. From the yellow sea, move inward towards the inner point of the city, secure the landing points by any means necessary and rescue any trapped civilians, The marine infantry will move through oseong myeon into the city proper. Secure the area, when some landing points are secured, then the base forces will try to reinforce the area. The next reinforcements for the base is coming a day from now so better hold on as according to the reports, the bridge is slowly being pushed back and some even theorize that they will blow up the bridge whilst a large chunk is busy defending the area. It's in our best interest to not be pushed into the bridge. If those men die, then this base will be easily overrun as a large chunk of the forces living in Fort Humphrey are logistics and engineering units. A few have stats strong enough for combat in these units and ammunition is limited by base monetary resources." The tactician/the commander of local forces then pointed at areas where the drones with command lines modified into their chassis detected high concentration of forces.
"Avoid these areas. Do not go near any of them until reinforcements arrive from camp Mujuk from Pohang, and camp Younsan in seoul which will be made up of RoK, JAF, UN expeditionary corps numbering in the thousands. What was sent today is just a few infantry companies, and machinist units which will help in maintaining most of the air power in the airfield and the Osan air base. Most of the forces here are doing patrols whilst a few dozen companies are trying to defend the perimeter splitting Pyeontaek proper from camp Humphreys. The forces of Osan air base is currently busy defending their nodes and territory so there will be no infantry help, only air power." The people inside the camp Humphrey amphitheather grimaced as hearing that only cemented that only a few if, any air support from Osan will come."That will be all. Dismissed." Everyone stood up and saluted the commander of the local forces in camp humphrey's. Some, after the dismissal, quickly talked amongst themselves, whilst many looked at the new experimental mobile armor wing with some hope, whilst also mostly looking at them with pity, as pilots in this bloody front rarely go back home, often nothing was brought back.
Looking around, James could see Sherlie comforting Remmy as he realized the gravity of the situation as compared to the other fronts which consisted either mostly of ww2, cold war, cold war with magic, early 2000's, early 2000's with magic, age of exploration, victorian era, ww1, medieval, medieval with magic, or even romans with magi, the korean front is often known as Hell as the fighting here was rather intense and extreme compared to the other fronts thanks to technological inferiority. It didn't help that survivors made horror stories of TEMPEST units killing so many people, and most of the time, the local geopolitical forces being pushed back. North Korea was overrun by ASL, but not before wiping out a lot of the ASL forces in the area by exploding every nuke they had, so the ASL can't have them. The area radiation wasn't that bad, as after a month, everything returned to slightly above normal background radiation levels, but North Korea is nothing but holes on the ground or a large grave, as everyone died or got away from the reprisals from ASL.
Sirius then asks something."What do you all think of the war?" Asked Sirius about the other members, curious about their thoughts."I think it's stupid. Why should we die for some game to entertain gods?" Sherlie scoffed, but her brother Remmy interjected.
"I-I think it's worth it. A wish for every person of the species that comes to the top. At least with it, people can achieve what they wish. I mean, the people are pushing for it. Either for good or bad. A single unrestricted wish without any consequences. Imagine what you can wish for. Many already push for the war for just that alone." Remmy said with a hint of reverence in his eyes, his mind going back to the time when he had gone to a rally the first month after the start of the war. Many were chanting to go to war, whilst some shouted no, and said this whole thing was stupid.
Was a war for a single unrestrained and without consequence wish for every human alive to come true, justified or not justified?
People shouted slurs at each other whilst debating on the morality of things, but one thing was sure: many selfishly wanted their wishes to come true. One irresistible wish. Their hearts said yes, but some had their integrity and pride to say no. To remmy an EMPATH type, the emotions were overwhelming. Yet one thing was for sure: everyone was selfish in their own right. No one was a saint. He couldn't fault them. Many would kill for it.
"How are you so sure that would work? Who's to say they are lying to us and making us do this for entertainment only to fuck us over later?" Said the pilot who was with James earlier.
"Gods exist, magic exists, there's literally a magic that could warp your soul and body without consequences to the caster," James said flatly, as if those words were stupid. If angels, demons, monsters, and gods existed, why couldn't a god just bend reality with their authority? And other gods or more powerful ones to do the same.
"You mean the gods who were easily cowed by the foreigners after one took away their divinity, authority, and immortality." James wanted to call that out as proof and decided to fuck it, might as well.
"That's proof right there."
"Who's to say they could just grant our wishes? They are not obligated to say yes. They already did something similar in the form of these games; maybe they would do something like that just for fun and to our faces when doing so." He said, making the others really think about the implications of the actions of the foreign gods. The war, the streams, the gifts, the praises. All of it.
"Isn't that too judgmental? You have not met one." The other pilot scoffs. "No it isn't. I'm just being pragmatic. People can be assholes, you can't trust so easily lest you burn out like a candle." "Jeez, what happened to you?"
"People can be assholes." Was all he said before returning to his earlier demeanor.
"You, how about you, James?" Asked Sirius.
"Well, if you ask me, I just want to feel the thrill, I don't care about the justifications of war. I rarely care about my own life. I like how piloting feels. I just do it for the love of the game. I came, I saw, and I fought, simple as that. No other justifications. Hell, most of the people I knew joined just for the hell of it. Although some have circumstances like conscription or for a better life that the military offers."
"Really, that's it?" Asked Sirius, not really comprehending the justification.
"Yeah, that's about it. It's not for country, but for the spite and thrill of it."
"How about you?" He pointed at the other pilot who hadn't said his name.
"Well, my name is Kylos, and as for why, I find purpose in fighting. It's all I ever know. Plus, I don't care about the war. I find purpose in protecting and fighting in one, and for me, that's all that matters." He said as he then pulled a coin from his inventory and started flipping it.
"Well, how about you, Sirius? What do you think about the war?" Sirius seemed to think about it, his face contorting into that of someone deeply thinking of things that might happen.
"Well, I think this is a waste of life. People dying all for an ephemeral dream."
"That's just normal for people, people die for ideals, for things rarely understood, and for dreams that people rarely live to see achieved." Said Kylos as his face contorted into that of a longing smile as he remembered something from his past.
"Sometimes people want to achieve that dream and want to reach it, and they would do anything for it. Revolutionaries, scientists, engineers, lawmakers (be it good or bad), or even the normal folk. Some even kill for it. That's mankind for you after all, and yet there's beauty in trying." Kylos said, and chuckled afterwards.
"Nothing is wrong with reaching for a dream; people are people, trying to repress that will only cause pain. People are like birds. When caged, they will try to escape, and when they escape, they will feel euphoria in doing so. That's the closest one feels to reaching a dream. But sometimes people will submit, and they will rarely know the joys of achieving that dream." Said a man, as a child asks why people chase dreams after seeing a 26-year-old singing in the park, asking for tips instead of finding a proper job like everyone else.
The next memory was that of a boy standing in front of a grave crying for a father that will never come back.
Here lies Xyrus Helianthus
Born: Oct 17, 1980 to December 2004
Died: December 21st 2004
On the child's hands was a letter left to him by his father. Clutching it like it was all that was left in a world that doesn't make any sense.
Xyrus Helianthus,
The black dog
Semper Ad Meliora (Towards a better future)
Founder of the white snake foundation.
"To call it that is an insult to the ones already dead. No war is stupid or meaningless; everything has a purpose when man does it. To call war meaningless is to call every death in that war 'without a purpose'. An insult to the dead. Every war has meaning, be it good or bad. For money, territory, resources, etc. To call it that would be a disservice to those who died protecting something, be it the interests of others, their own countrymen, etc. Your idea of war is the dribble of children who cannot accept that others do things that you wouldn't want to do. Not everyone is similar, and differences will always affect things."
"To think conflict cannot happen in normal circumstances is childish. Look around, people bicker, sometimes they get angered, some to the point of a fight. To ignore that would be the height of naivety. There will always be conflict. It will start small. From simple disagreements, to later a societal problem that breeds problem after problem, to the point that it will justify a war. People are irrational; not everything can be rational. Take Hitler, for example, the guy blamed the jews for the cause of Germany's suffering when it could be traced back to conflicts of interest among their people, and pride in the lands under the old Kaiser's command. It was not the fault of jews but a human flaw, pride, greed, to make the unenlightened enlightened. There are many reasons. Sometimes it's good intentions that paved the way to hell made by human hands." Then Kylos' eyes narrowed at Sirius, his face contorting to a visible disgust at how narrow his thoughts were.
"Tell me, if a government becomes 'oppressive' thanks to heightened taxes and tax enforcement, and a lot of people suffer, and a bunch of sheltered people thinking they are doing good by the country do a revolt without knowing the whole context, are they the good guys?" Kylos asks a very serious question."Yes, the-" He was quickly cut off by Kylos's rebuttal.
"Wrong. There are many reasons for a government to do so. What if these young men and women overthrow the government only to find out that the government they were working against was only doing so to upgrade the country, healthcare system, education, police, and economy of the country, and what they did basically amounted to damning the whole country to be drowning in even more debt from foreign powers? Are they still the 'good guys'?" He asked only for Sirius to try to justify such actions that will surely endanger many people.
"You think the country, and it's people, could still survive after a civil war like that? They only made the situation worse, and made an opportunity for corrupt men to get into office. Especially worse so when the funds which were meant for essential services are used instead for the military to ensure public order. When people are desperate, they cling to hope, and hope means vulnerability. Corrupt politicians use that hope to get into office." Kylos said, voice filled with a hint of contempt.
"What you're thinking is too narrow. Too much hope for people to be knowledgeable enough to know what they are doing." Kylos sighed, mind whirling as he remembered too many reports of this happening in wartorn countries or countries where opportunistic men would use these events for their machinations. Kylos then talks about donations and addressing the problem of asking for help from other countries.
"In Africa, many of the countries found on the continent often misuse these donations, often going into corrupt politicians or 3rd parties who 'handle' the funds, which often are being pocketed or horribly managed, so that some lower contractors pocket money from item acquisitions. Nobody notices some funds used in buying expensive equipment or items for relief efforts. An auditor at best would think the items are high quality, thus justifying the expensive price tag, and overlooks it, or worse case, they are on it too." Kylos continues his rant.
"In other cases, help means there are strings attached. Countries like China, America, India, basically everyone on the surface of the planet will try to get the best deal out of that help at the expence of the people in said country they are dealing with. Check American deals, which often are favored towards US interests, China as well. In recent events, some dating back as far as 2010, often have many requirements before they lend a country money, and those lending contracts often come with strings that will earn China soft power and more influence in that country's industry.""It's okay to trust people, but not too much. Not everyone knows everything; there are layers to events, and not everything can be put into categories of good or bad. I was taught that at an early age. There is always context behind everything." Kylos finished, his face softening and smiling at the memories of learning things from 'Mother'.
'Isn't that right, Lady Astrea?' Kylos internally asked and used his mental link to his benefactor.
'Stop calling me Lady Astrea, I'm your mother after all. But you are right, one must know the context and think of their actions before they act.'The memory of a lawyer picking him up from school echoed through his mind.
'I'm sorry. But your dead is not coming back.'
'What?'
'Your father was... He's going to a better place.' The child looked confused at that.
'Your father is...' The lawyer sighed before he decided to bring the child into a car and bring him to a funeral home.
The entire time, the child continued to ask questions, but the lawyer refused to answer as he had no idea how to properly explain it to a child without scarring the child's mind, and try to run away.When they arrived at the funeral home, the lawyer brought him to his father's corpse and explained what happened, how he died, what life he lived, and explained the concept of death, but told the child that he may hate his father, but he must know what he did before he does something.
After a while, the child cries into the shoulder of the lawyer as he finishes. His father was executed for treason against the state by making an organization that tries to curb regional instability caused by US black ops and other countries doing the same.Death by firing squad.The last wish of his father before he died was to give him a letter and have him explain the life he lived so his child wouldn't follow the same path he did, and told him about the existence of the world below the moonlight. How organizations fought over interests, and for their own vision of the world. Now he is left to inherit his father's fortune as both a mercenary and someone who is the leader of a law firm NGO.
Looking back, it was the day he broke, but instead of doing what his father wished of him, he followed the hollowed path, remembering the conversation they had on that faithful day.In the funeral, his last wish was that when he was lowered, sweet child of mine by Guns N' Roses play.The day was the saddest day of his life, yet he did meet his mother there. He still remembers sucker punching her for leaving him alone to raise him, but quickly explained that she had to, or else there would be repercussions of breaking divine laws about raising children when there is a human to take care of the child and directly influencing human society, enforced by the will of the planet.They did not get along at first, but after awhile, that was smoothed over, and the two did eventually reconcile.
"How about you, Sirius? Why did you join to pilot an MA?" Kylos asked curious at why would he fight in a mech even when he dislikes the war.
"Because I'm qualified, a first pick for the corporation's project, and I dislike putting others in my situation when I'm the most suited," Sirius said, which made Kylos' respect for the man rise slightly."I believe we are going to get along nicely." Sirius snorted at that before they were called in for final calibrations of the MA's.
Later, they arrived at the hangars and arrived at their respective MA's. The inside of the cockpits was rather small, but the controls were rather simple and reminded the pilots of a mix between a car and a jet, except all the complex meters were digital and simplified so as not to confuse pilots and to be able to field the mechs in large enough quantities to provide a countermeasure for TEMPEST units. After fiddling with controls, the pilots got comfortable and started to make the mechs walk. Each step was a marvel of engineering and a testament to the competency of the engineers that designed them.
"Annyeonghaseyo Korea! This is the united states air force radio, and welcome to the premier radio of the US armed forces! I greet you all a good night, enjoy the evening, and listen to some music." The radio announce said through comms, and some of the outside technicians who were listening smile as this was how they passed their time whilst working.
"This evening's first song will be Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns N' Roses. Enjoy." Through the radio, the song played.
"Start using the thrusters. The airfield is currently reserved for you, so nothing will be damaged. All planes are either on deployment or inside the hangars, so pilot your hearts out." A communique arrived from the project leader and field commander of all airforces in Pyeongtaek. The pilot's hearing that starts to try the thrusters, and to their surprise, the acceleration time was far faster than some of the jets.
The mech's foot wheels glided through the tarmac as fast-moving mechs nearly reached Mach 1 after twenty seconds. The pilots are breaking in the virgin controls of the airframe. With ease, they started gliding and doing quick turn maneuvers as the command tower asked them to do. The sensors and screens provide them with telemetry, status of the mechs, tolerances, shooting arcs, and fuel estimates before recharge or slowing down to recover mana for the condensators to gather ana and turn the into liquid form from the ambient mana from the air. The data was sent to the overseer's and proved that the concept did exist, and was sent to shareholders to approve their branching out to the energy industry. This also provided the US governent a significant advantages as this proved that they don't need oil for operations and greatly saved them money. Some of the shareholders spectating were already imagining the profits from this and were asking the corporations to patent the tech.The whole maneuvers were quick and were to be expected according to the estimates of the engineers. The overseers of the project were impressed, but they reserved their thoughts after Operation Osprey.
Meanwhile somewhere.....Above Pyeontaek proper, a drone was doing reconnaissance alongside other reaper drones providing telemetry to troops and information of enemy locations. But below, something moved between buildings. One of the drones notices this, and moved to see it only for it to see a blurry image of a bidepal robot moving at fast speeds. The onboard A. I immediately pinged local forces of a TEMPEST unit in the vacinity through the connection of the OS and the global system the planet set up called 'Global consciousness'. As the data was sent, the normal data packet before conversion was intercepted by the UNIT, but let it be transmitted due to the fear factor a TEMPEST unit brings to the battlefield.
After it transmistted the data, the drones tripped launching on board tomahawk III's at it, only for them to be intercepted by some sort of floating drones that sent a laser strong enough to destroy them withing a few miliseconds. It was quickly transmitted to the command centers, but just as quickly, they heard a static sound reminiscent of a nuke going off, and then their last transmission was seeing it aim at them with its cannon. But one survived and sent a video of the TEMPEST unit Aiming its rail cannon at the swarm, and with a few shots, which sounded like the static sound of a nuke going off, and the drone saw how even if the shots missed, the shockwave destroyed the wings or the body of the drones as superheated air melted their chasis and electronics with heat alone. Then the surviving drone got shot down by a beam of light before the feed cuts.