Author's Note:
Another technical document brief, this time for the army of Esther. These guys were super OP if you took their lore at face value, so my key thought here was how to effectively 'hobble' them in such a way that they could feasibly be challenged by the technologically inferior G-Army. My solution is simply to reduce the available manpower, and I've also thrown in a touch of tactical inflexibility and just a smidgen of war-weariness.
As to the city itself, I always pictured it as something akin to 2000 AD's Mega City One if everything was working the way it was supposed to work. I picture factory zones the size of New York, individual habitat buildings holding thousands of people in spacious, palatial apartments. I can't imagine suburbia is even a concept in Esther's cultural mindset. It seems like the sort of place that would take a solid few weeks of walking to traverse from end to end, giving rise to different cultural sub-sets based on the function of the District. Each residential district would essentially be a self-sustaining arcology, where residents can get everything they could possibly need inside their building (think something like an upbeat version of J.G. Ballard's High-Rise).
When each individual can order anything and everything they need with no effort on their part, I should imagine it makes them reticent to go out and have adventures. Things that are exciting are also dirty, tiring and dangerous, something the average Esther citizen doesn't need in their life.
As always, I'd appreciate any thoughts you lot might have on how this could be better, or perhaps you even have some thoughts about how you might have done things differently? All comments are welcome, naturally.
Garden Historical Database Entry C/131:
The Tactical Evolution of the Esther Expeditionary Forces in the wake of the Second Sorceress War:
The nation of Esther was subject to an unprecedented ecological disaster in the wake of the Lunar Cry, as the Lunatic Pandora was activated a scant few miles south of the city. While the city itself was able to return to relative safety within 6 months of aggressive fighting (although the lower Kyuto District remained subject to monster infestations for a further two years) the surrounding countryside was overrun with dozens of aggressive new fauna species. The natural food chain was entirely destroyed as the Lunar monsters tore across the desert like a cannibalistic plague.
While Esther generated much of its vital foodstuffs and other key goods through hydroponics facilities and manufacturing districts within the city itself, there were nevertheless supply problems that left citizens at risk of starvation in the richest nation on Gaia.
The ever-enigmatic President Loire decided to break with nearly two decades of isolationism to open up trade routes with Trabia and the wider world. Perhaps more controversially he allowed his country to enter into various bi-lateral trade agreements with Galbadia in order to procure his nation's food supplies. While many citizens bristled at the thought of trading with the very outsiders who were responsible for their suffering, President Loire's administration could trade on several years worth of political good will to push the deals through.
Within a year the Transcontinental Rail Bridge was repaired and reactivated, with dozens of cargo trains travelling along its length day and night. Crucial to this tense political relationship was the town of Fisherman's Horizon, which naturally served as a mid-point between the two powers. Both nations maintained embassies there and FH was considered politically neutral ground.
This left the matter of the severely atrophied Esther military to contend with. True reconstruction could not take place until the entirety of the city and surrounding environs were safe, but the Army was much smaller than it had been under Sorceress Adel. This problem was further compounded by the fact that the Esther military was under severe strain holding key districts and ensuring public safety, when it was clear that an aggressive attack on monster nests was necessary.
To that end President Loire authorised the emergency re-activation of several thousand moth-balled robotic combat platforms built under Adel's rule. While old, these units worked in concert with human soldiers to bolster troop numbers and buy the breathing room necessary to push out into the infested zones.
However, once the crisis was over Esther's military stockpiles were dangerously low. The Loire administration ordered a media blackout on the state of the Armed Forces, something the reclusive nation was comfortable enforcing while the nation rebuilt. Seemingly unconcerned by the galling cost of the city's rescue, the ever-innovating Dr Odine suggested to the President that now would be an excellent time to make some structural reforms to the army.
His 'reforms' were mostly tantamount to throwing enormous sums of money at the military research budgets to allow Odine's own designs to be rushed into action. Loire assigned Minister Ward Zabac to reign in the Dr's worst impulses and deliver an actionable plan to rebuild the nation. Minister Zabac refined Odine's suggestions, eventually using his own Galbadian heritage to inject some new ideas of his own into the process.
'Octo-Elastoid' Omni-Directional Security Construct:
An Adel-era autonomous unit originally designed to guard strategically important locations for extended periods of time, the Elastoid was a venerable auxiliary unit of the EEF used as a defensive ambush and squad support unit. Some Elastoids have been known to lie dormant for years at a time, popping out from a hiding place if they detect an intruder. Galbadian tactical manuals contain sections on the preemptive detection of dormant Elastoids as they are surprisingly adept at concealing themselves.
With the conclusion of the Lunar Crisis and the recovery and reactivation of all of the city's manufacturing districts, commanders began asking for new mechanical units to complement their depleted human numbers. The Elastoid was taken back to formula and given a substantial upgrade to nearly every key system, resulting in an impressive unit capable of planning and executing ambushes without human intervention.
Firstly, the central control hub was dramatically overhauled, with a new VI gestalt capable of controlling twice as many limbs as the original Elastoid with no loss of function. This hub was anchored to the body of the unit by a thick yet flexible 'trunk' instead of free-floating in a magnetic bottle. This eliminated the costly issue of signal loss which often resulted in flailing uncontrolled limbs when the unit took any damage to the central core.
The Octo-Elastoid was also coated in a semi-biological 'skin' that could change colour and texture at will, allowing the unit to blend into the background nearly perfectly. When combined with a heat-dampening under layer not even G-Army thermal detection technologies could pick up the Octo-Elastoid, making it the perfect stealth and infiltration unit.
The units also kept the original Elastoid's Magitek Para-Magical Junction Unit, allowing it to function as a support-mage for other assets. However, the designers did remove the centrally mounted laser-cannon, which was prone to overheating and mirror-warping with repeated use. Instead a series of four smaller surgical-grade lasers were affixed to the end of each tentacle, allowing the unit to carve through skin, clothing and even body armour with enough time, which the vice-like grip of the other tentacles were very capable of providing.
Some more unscrupulous commanders have drawn up plans to utilise Octo-Elastoids as weapons of terror, planting them in contested urban areas and letting them wreak havoc over weeks and months as a kind of adaptive re-usable landmine. Thus far cooler heads and the implicit condemnation of the Loire Administration have prevented any serious consideration of this doctrine, but the tactical theory is sound and Laguna Loire will not be the President forever…
'Peacemaker' and 'Terminator' Powered Armour Concept:
The Esther military has always had a manpower problem, as many citizens of the reclusive super-state lack the necessary mindset for war. Most Estherians live their whole lives not wanting to see the world or even leave the confines of their decadently comfortable city.
While much of the slack has traditionally been taken up by unmanned robotic units, a bare minimum of human personnel must be maintained to coordinate them. This became abundantly obvious during the First Sorceress War, where Esther forces found themselves frequently outclassed by technologically inferior Galbadian defense forces.
The traditionally-garbed Esther foot-soldiers and command staff were unable to compete with the impeccably drilled and trained G-Army infantry, and their unmanned units were essentially useless without proper human oversight. Sorceress Adel needed to keep up her raids on the other nations and furiously demanded a solution to increase the survivability of her otherwise fragile expeditionaries.
Several different agencies presented their own concepts for new infantry support units and other automated solutions (robotics being the de rigueur solution to all of Esther's problems at the time) and while interesting, none of them worked. Adding fresh robots to the problem left the infantry just as vulnerable as before, but most engineering firms lacked the intellectual flexibility to pull away from their focus on robotics.
The solution was eventually presented by an unnamed employee working for the fledgling Odine Corporation, who submitted plans for a revolutionary new combat uniform that utilised a robotic frame linked to the host's central nervous system.
The design that would eventually become the 'Peacemaker' armour utilised a cortical shunt implanted at the base of the neck that transmitted neural impulses to a computer. This shunt was connected to an armoured exoskeleton that was designed to interpret neural impulses and use the data to move the limbs. Early prototypes were bulky and somewhat ponderous, but the theory was sound.
The unit was quickly refined and rolled out to infantrymen, who were grateful for the many advantages that powered armour offered.
In addition to the light and sturdy armour plating (which provided decent protection against melee weapons and small arms fire) the unit also used an artificial muscle fibre rig that greatly improved individual stamina and speed. Soldiers wearing Peacemaker armour could maintain running speeds of up to 45 kph for up to an hour, as long as they were trained to allow the armour to do most of the legwork.
The pads of the fingers and toes were also designed to adhere to any surface the user designates, allowing Peacemaker troops to climb the sides of cliffs or even skyscrapers as necessary. Esther police units utilising Peacemaker armour are often referred to as 'Spider-men' by locals as they can climb even sheer glass with no apparent discomfort.
While possessing many impressive attributes, one thing that the Peacemaker does not do is increase the physical strength of the user, as its artificial musculature is designed for longevity rather than brute strength.
This was eventually exposed as a major shortcoming of Peacemaker units, who had precious few options when it came to enemies they could not outrun or out-flank.
A much more powerful variant was created to address the design limitations of the unit that would eventually become the dreaded 'Terminator' armour. Everything about the suit was significantly beefed up to provide a truly unparalleled infantry combat suit that has yet to be bested by any nation on Gaia.
The original Peacemaker muscle-weave was laced with an improved 'quick-twitch' layer that allowed for an impressive power boost. This in turn created soldiers that were able to punch through concrete and tear steel doors off their hinges with little effort. This also allows Terminator units to jump more than 40 feet into the air in addition to their pre-existing Peacemaker-tier speed and stamina upgrades.
The mithril-composite armour plating was replaced with a new material created by weaving carbon nanotube sheets with diamond Chemical Vapor Deposition and then crushing them under intense pressure.
The resultant material was able to shrug off cannon-rounds with little difficulty and always ensured that the armour itself could be recovered in the event of a disaster. This didn't make the Terminators themselves invincible however, as it was possible to essentially bludgeon them to death with sufficient force of arms. As much as the armour might be impervious to damage, the human being beneath it was still vulnerable to the concussive force of bullets or other weapons.
These upgrades prompted a greatly expanded software package and a much more invasive series of augmentation surgeries for prospective users, which drastically limited Terminator armour deployment.
While standard Esther Peacemaker units suffered almost no degenerative health issues as a result of their service, the Terminator program was incredibly harsh on its applicants. Terminator users needed months of painful and invasive surgery to properly interface with the suit, and further months of training before they could take a step without shattering their leg-bones.
Naturally matters of human welfare were never particularly high on Sorceress Adel's list of priorities, so the Terminator program was given an enthusiastic endorsement and units were drafted from the EEF's most battle-hardened regiments. The Terminator program struck well-deserved fear into the hearts of other nations, and only the very best of the best were selected for augmentation.
The Terminators became Sorceress Adel's spear-point for her constant raiding actions against the other nations, so they were expertly trained as infiltrators and stealth combatants. A single Terminator with the element of surprise was capable of overpowering an entire squad of fully-equipped G-Army troopers with robotic support units. However, they were always vanishingly few in number, as the training program had an extraordinarily high dropout rate (along with a shocking number of training deaths and dismemberments).
After the conclusion of the First Sorceress War, the Terminators were suddenly no longer needed by the new administration, and found themselves ostracized by the public at large. The training of new Terminators was suspended, and many of the existing applicants were retired or rotated to conventional Peacemaker units.
However, adjusting to civilian life was nearly impossible, as the augmentations they had undergone made it difficult to operate without the suit. Many Terminators turned to alcohol or substance abuse in order to deaden their augmented senses, stating that the sensory overload was too much to endure otherwise. Eventually the new administration decided to reactivate the Terminators to serve as squad commanders and elite units so as to not waste their skills (but mostly to ensure their medical needs were met).
All Terminators serving the EEF today are original members of the Adel-era program, still serving as Esther's elite Special Forces Unit despite many of them being in their 50s and 60s. These wizened men and women are often observed as being terse and melancholic, obsessed with protecting the New Esther until their bodies finally give out.
Despite their checkered pasts, many are now known as Heroes of the Nation by a supportive civilian population who see them as indefatigable protectors. Their relationship with the civilian population is complex to say the least, as to many they are a reminder not only of the moral excesses of the Adel years, but also the constant duty to atone for a dark period in their recent history.
The Terminators further distinguished themselves during the Lunar Crisis, often observed undertaking missions no other units were able or willing to. Many civilians have loved ones who would have perished if not for the timely intervention of a Terminator squad, and they share stories of the iconic black-suited super-humans who seemed to appear and disappear at will.
Perhaps the most well-known tale is that of a single Terminator by the name of Kyla Karragan, who saved the entire Noorada Residential District from a group of twelve Elnoyles who were looking to establish a breeding pit in what they now considered their feeding ground.
For more than three days without relief or support she fought winged monsters across the rooftops and in the galleries of the district, bringing them down where she could and evacuating the civilians where she could not.
In the closing hours of the third day the last three abominations were felled in the main atrium of the district. As the final beast spasmed in death, her ruined body finally seemed to give out.
Onlookers say she stood tall and defiant at the main entryway of the district and locked her armour in place with her final breath. The civilians looked on in muted shock as the monsters prowling outside refused to enter, terrified of the iron demon blocking the way.
When EEF troops forced their way into the district more than a week later they found it untouched by the horrors outside, still being guarded by the silent Terminator even in death. For the defense of the 8,000 citizens of the Noorada District the government commemorated her sacrifice with a real statue carved from raw Adamantine.
In a private ceremony for the surviving Terminators (now numbering less than 200), President Loire made a promise to the assembled warriors that their actions to preserve Esther would never be forgotten as long as there was a single man or woman living to remember them.