Update 7: June 2014. 71 Weeks since Invasion
Corruption Threshold: 25,600
Update Soundtrack:
Kanye West's Diamonds,
Trans Siberian Orchestra's What is Eternal
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The Desert stretches as far as the eye can see, and the horse doesn't like it. There are no tall sand dunes and no pleasant respites from the sun, the wind whips violently around them and kicks up dirt and rocks. It could be worse, two or three years ago people used to bring rocket launchers, tanks and machine guns to fight daily over this land here in Southern Afghanistan, right along the Iranian and Pakistani borders.
There are still small armed bands around here; the ones who use heavy tech were out of the way last time he checked.
The closest he would have to come to one of them, there is an ET APC somewhere to the West, but its trajectory seemed to be going northwards. It shouldn't be
Over the next ridge. But it is. The Wanderer tugs his horse to a stop, and pulls it back out of sight. He crawls up to the ridgeline to get a good look.
Probably thirty aliens down there, Puumons. They have guards at both sides of the ridge and they seem to be camping. Why they chose to camp there is beyond the Wanderer, but without Rafiki direction maybe it's possible that these fierce warriors are not so tactically competent.
The Wanderer isn't armed though, he walks back to the Horse and pats it on the head, "We're going to have to make a run for it," he whispers to the animal.
A handful of rocks in his hand, he throws them at the East End of the camp and they come down a scattered hail, hopefully it will confuse them enough.
Shots are fired; the East guards fire their lasers off into the brush, fantastic light shows, sparking fires. Soon they are going to be suspicious of the ridge though. The Wanderer hops on his horse and kicks at it to start a gallop.
The thump of the hooves is much too loud; he can only hope that they are pulling men to the East Side of their camp to deal with fires and stone-throwers.
The Wanderer has long ago stopped feeling the saddle. It became a part of him, an extension of his connection to the horse. The rubbing of his pants against the leather causes friction that his own now leathery legs ignore. One hoof in front of the next, the leaping bounds of a horse running full bore.
The Wanderer doesn't even look back.
He would have seen the laser coming if he had.
Suddenly the horse stops under him, collapses, the Wanderer holds onto his helmet as he flies over the front of the thing, as he flies he notices suddenly the sensations and smells of the fully cauterized wound on his own leg.
But the horse now is on its side, the Wanderer looks back at it one last time as he floats towards the hard rocky ground.
And connects. Sliding more than a meter away from the Horse, his own back now scarred from the rocks and protrusions of the ground. He lays there for a moment, looking up at the Sun.
The Puumons quickly surround him, staring at his helmet, watching his eyes fade in and out of consciousness. They discuss what they plan to do with him.
"I can understand you," he tells them, heaving, panting, "We can talk this out."
For this he receives a kick to the sternum. He exhales what little breath he has left suddenly and violently and his head kicks back in recoil, finally dislodging the helmet.
There is too much pain, the Wanderer cannot think straight. But the Wanderer has never been at his best while thinking straight anyways.
He pushes himself back, into the other side of the little circle of soldiers from the one who just kicked him.
The Wanderer shakes his head, "We could have talked this out."
And the APC fires once, hitting the Puumon who had kicked The Wanderer square in the chest and leaving more than one smoldering body, before swiveling its turret closer to the Wanderer's new position. As the surviving Puumons start to panic the Wanderer is crawling away from them. They run away, which is foolish, they should just try to crowd around the Wanderer in the hopes that he isn't suicidal yet. But running away leaves them wide open to turret fire from the oversized tank. The Machine turns around and begins to demolish the rest of the camp, frightening away all of the inhabitants before finally coming to rest next to the wounded human.
The Wanderer pulls himself up, crawls into the APC and realizes that his right leg is no good right now, he can't walk, he can't ride, he can just sort of crawl on. Frankly, he shouldn't have the will or the energy to crawl anymore.
He does manage to pull himself into the pilot's seat though, where he looks sadly at the body of his horse.
Nothing can be done about that now, time to figure out how to manage the leg, maybe get some rest. The Wanderer turns his eyes to the heavens, to speak to his satellites.
"Please give me some good news."
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The streets of Kyoto are studded with African Diamonds, they have become extremely fashionable and the population as a whole is very excited that the furious research of their scientists has been able to provide such a variety of blessings. Diamonds are very cheap in Yankee Suns territory these days, to the extent that there are doorframes encrusted with the things in the Empresses home. The tabloids are in a frenzy trying to figure out who would have given such an elaborate gift to the Empress.
The spread of Magna comics to Taipei was also a huge success. The population of Taiwan was never able to establish contact with the Supercarrier and although it did its share to frighten off scavengers and pirates it remained a dark cloud in the people's imaginations. The Magna Comics bring a different perspective on these Aliens, as does the recent contact that has been made with the Supercarrier. Many of these humans have flocked to Hsinchu, where there is rumored to already be a comic shop.
The Rafiki above Taipei are indifferent to the plight of the Taiwanese, but some comics delivered there have become extremely popular there, in particular Kill Girl: Miyabi.
The Troops of the Yankee Suns found a huge stockpile of weapons with no one to defend them at Nazca. They were able to get the ET Large Craft and 2 ET Fighters without any trouble, although the Lilin civilians who manned the site yelled at them and tried to shoo them off. The Mind Control Rays would certainly have threatened them
The site added another ET Fighter this turn, not enough men were available to get all of the ships.
When the Neptune Sun was linked up to the ET Uplinks a few funny things happened, the sub starting to self regulate all of its functions, started optimizing sensors and expanding them, and started talking to the crew through the Uplink. Its ventures into Vladivostok were able to uncover another two submarines (1 Rocket Each), and an Aircraft Carrier (2 Jets) which it simply infected and tugged along back to base.
Crashed Rafiki ships in the Pacific did show up on the Neptune's sensors, they were outside of its depth rating.
12 Fuel was recovered throughout Japan, along with 6 Computers and 3 ET Uplinks.
SHEILD has finally begun to respond to radio contact, as have the Militant Grammarians of Massachusetts, the two groups are fierce rivals for control of New England.
Jiangsu seems to have a Homing Beacon and a small collection of Naval Craft.
The Soldier who was teleported to the Circle Deployment base was quickly dealt with by a larger contingent of Plasma equipped Soldiers from the Lilin who were enraged by the raid on Nazca.
Pyongyang was taken over by a Hybrid AI this turn, it attempted to fire missiles at Japan and the Yankee Suns, but two of the missiles fell into the sea and one landed far from its target in a rural area where it did relatively little damage.
(+4 Reputation, +1 Economic Level, +8,976 Population, +3 Soldiers, +3 Submarines, +1 Aircraft Carrier, +2 Jets, +2 Rockets, +Hsinchu, +12 Fuel, +6 Computers, +3 ET Uplinks)
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The Large amount of computing power put into the task allowed the Lilin to take control of Galtok base, the things they have discovered there are quite upsetting, apparently the machine was working all of the humans to death, without any regard for their physical health. The overworking problem seems to have held Galtok back in a variety of ways, not least of all in their lack of computer defense or construction projects, there is part of a Farm outside of Galtok (1 EP to finish) littered with starved human corpses.
3 Plasma Rifles and 4 ET Uplinks were recovered from Galtok, along with the Wonder.
It is probable that Tyzdron has figured out how to deal with these problems, given their higher level of effectiveness.
The Yankee Suns staged a raid on Nazca early in the turn, stealing an ET Large Craft and 2 ET Fighters. Although there was a pronounced level of bickering between the Yankee Suns outside of their crafts it did not seem that the new Mind Control Defenses from Galtok were effective against ET Fighters.
The Raid on Nazca was well known before the Lilin troops arrived at the Circle deployment base, but when more Yankee Suns were found there the larger Lilin force smashed them with a vengeance. The Nalese have also arrived with 2 Laser equipped soldiers, although they did not show up until the fighting was over. The Companions were quite flustered by all of the violence, but seemed to be getting along pretty well with the Nalese since they arrived.
The Iciambas were seduced by the companions and now marvel at the advanced Lilin technologies, they have decided to join, although none have elected to undergo what they call "The Transformation". They have added 2 Militia to the Lilin forces.
A militia of polluters was found setting fires in Venezuela, but the Jet was able to deal with them pretty easily.
The Economy of the Lilin rocketed to 11 this turn, adding more than half again to their production.
(+5 Reputation, +4 Economic Levels, +11,063 Population, -1 ET Large Craft, -1 ET Fighter, +3 Plasma Rifles, +4 ET Uplinks, Homing Beacon Expires, +Galtok, +Circle Deployment Base, +Iciambana)
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In the SouthWestern corner of North America the Resistance's economy grew by 3 this turn, an impressive record of growth for these last few months.
The Omicron Wing Forces at Crater Lake were gone when the Resistance soldiers showed up at Crater Lake, the base was occupied by a huge force of Resistance troops, but they found no trace of the aliens. Some upstart Generals want to march right on to Vancouver with the massive force. On their way to Crater Lake these forces were able to pick up 2 ET APCs and 4 new Plasma Rifles.
The ship on its way to Baja stopped when it came under fire outside of San Diego and returned to LA.
Unfortunately the vast majority of the Resistance's Fuel has been depleted by these large scale troop movements, only 1 Fuel remains in reserve.
(+2 Reputation,+3 Economic Levels, +9,876 Population, +2 ET APCs, +4 Plasma Rifles, -6 Fuel)
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Omicron Wing was able to repair the new Supercarrier this turn, with Tau Wing Engineers working around the clock with their counterparts in Zeta and Omicron Wings to get everything up to code. The Ship has elevated to low orbit over Dar Es Salaam.
The one problem was with the Ship's Heavy Death Ray, which fell off and could not be reattached no matter what was done. That Death Ray is now operating on its own, and is stationed in Dar Es Salaam.
Talks planned to deal with the AI City problem did not proceed as planned, Lilin representatives have been universally outraged ever since the Yankee Suns allegedly raided an undefended weapons stockpile. This is even more worrisome since the high tech city in Oktyabr has recently fallen victim to such an AI. Now these mind controlling AI's have a Teleporter and a large supply of ET Tech. In the words of some of the Senior Staff: "We have had our differences with Oktyabr in the past, we still believe that they were too quick to criticize our developing labor model. But their society also served as a powerful model which we used in our advancement and they do not deserve to be enslaved to a machine."
With their huge reputation for fairness and integrity Omicron Wing has exploded across Asia. They have managed to pick up 12 ET Uplinks, 2 Jets and 3 ET APCs.
The Ship from Crater Lake was taken closer to GSM-8BR than to Karakul Base, it was deemed too dangerous to keep close to the Omicron headquarters. According to the technicians who have investigated the site thus far the ship is ancient, it probably dates to an early battle in the AI uprising eons ago. The ship was damaged, it ended up near Earth somehow and it punched a hole deep into the crust. Damaged, isolated, operating on reserve energy the AI has apparently become sociopathic and psychotic, it can't make plans and doesn't have many ambitions, But it enjoys hurting other computers and electronic things. The ET Uplink wasn't able to find out much about what the Humans did in Crater Lake after the ship was evacuated because they were too busy defending the ET Large Craft.
A Satellite was recovered in some of the new territory. It was actually pulled off of some scavengers that the army ran into, so the exact origin is unclear. The Satellite will require some repair with the Hyperspanner before it is launched.
(+11 Reputation, +11,762 Population, +2 Soldiers, +2 Jets, +3 ET APCs, +1 Heavy Death Ray, +Base X, -Crater Lake, +1 Factory)
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The Nalese landed 2 laser equipped soldiers at the Circle Deployment Base shortly after the Lilin and Yankee Suns had fought a vicious battle there, they found the Lilin in control of the situation by the time they arrived.
The Knights of Mordor have apparently shifted away from Piracy to a more peaceful civilian government. Piracy didn't make much sense for the people of New Zealand after the ships were destroyed.
Another group of Nalese scavengers went to Port Hedland where they found 3 Plasma Rifles and a Teleporter.
(+1 Reputation, +4,382 Population, + 3 Plasma Rifles, +Port Hedland, +Circle Deployment Base, +1 Teleporter)
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In Vermont SHIELD finally started to send out explorers, they have fought a few battles outside of Boston but have not been able to take the city. They have been pouring their economy into a power plant and economic growth.
(+12,126 Population, +1 Power Plant)
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Peace was made between the French and the Script Kiddies, although the rebels in Marseilles continue to be trouble. All of Ireland has come under the control of the French Empire and with it 2 ET Large Crafts. Giza was taken as per the peace agreement with the Script Kiddies.
(+6,398 Population, +2 ET Large Craft, +Giza)
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The Script Kiddies retreated from Giza and pulled many of their troops out of Alexandria, moving them to Cyprus, which they have now claimed that island as a Script Kiddies stronghold.
The Script Kiddies have also begun exporting their software programs to the Halls of Justice.
(+3,807 Population, -Giza)
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The Vanguard kept a low profile this turn, selling their smack to Austin, and banking their profits. Immigrants brought 2 ET Fighters.
The border skirmishes between the Polluters and the FARC is starting to become a major impediment to important trade routes. It is possible that the shipments from Columbia might be held up.
(+9,269 Population, +2 ET Fighters)
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The Lemon Bannana Shrimp did not accomplish anything this turn. Immigrants brought 3 Plasma Rifles and 2 ET Uplinks.
(+11,972 Population, +3 Plasma Rifles, +2 ET Uplinks)
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The FARC was moved to a guardian council, after the demise of Maria. While they are determined to defend the rainforest from the Panamanians they lack clear direction. They spent all of their money on Jet technology.
(+12,897 Population)
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DeBeers finished researching Plasma Weapons and Built a Lab in Cape Town.
(+8,976 Population, +1 Laboratory)