Garden Tactical Database
Entry C/275:
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. While the city itself was able to return to relative safety within 6 months (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 through hydroponics facilities within the city itself, there were 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 was 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 automated combat platforms built under Adel's rule. While obsolete, these units worked in concert with human soldiers to bolster 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 unbothered 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 more 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.
'Gesper' Anti-Infantry Security Construct:
Role: Autonomous Combat Platform (Security/Area Denial)
Manufacturer: Odine Robotics Corporation
Control System: O-Corp 'Cerulean' Class Positronic Matrix
Armaments:
1x Para-Magically Generated Enclosed Energetic Singularity Engine (Proprietary design)
The Gesper was known as the Odine Corporation's biggest failure, originally touted as a design that would see all Human infantry forces replaced with machines. O-Corp submitted designs for a Human-sized melee combatant with a hardened shell capable of surviving blunt force trauma and small-arms fire, twinned with a unique gravitic crowd-control weapon capable of forcing back opponents.
Orignally slated for deployment with Estherian Police Forces, more than 500 units were sent for testing in the Centran Wilds (the precise location and assignment are classified but we believe they were assigned to the defensive garrison protecting the Lunatic Pandora Excavation site).
Field Commanders were initially impressed with their combat proficiency and resilience, but later reports were less than praising. The units' IFF programming was prone to extreme degradation after less than a month of active service, causing the units to attack anyone they could see. The soldiers on staff took to shutting them down remotely and sealing them away, only turning them on in areas where they were guaranteed to be exposed exclusively to enemy monsters or combatants.
While the O-Corp engineering team endeavoured to resolve the problem, their problem turned out to be a hardware issue rather than one of coding. The Gesper's 'PM-GEESE' module was causing unusual and damaging effects on the surrounding circuitry, causing key functions to be damaged. The units were heavily shielded with Para-Magical protection fields, but radiation and gravitic fluctuations were periodically leaking out causing the units to 'go senile' prematurely.
Unfortunately, the remaining units at the test site were left boxed up within the Lunatic Pandora and were eventually reactivated by Galbadian engineers during the closing days of the Second Sorceress War. The units had only degraded further in the intervening years and the G-Army were far less capable of shutting them down, so many areas of the Lunatic Pandora were declared 'off-limits' even to their own soldiers until the craft was retaken by the Esther Army.
Only the relative secrecy of the project stopped Adel from destroying O-Corp and imprisoning its researchers, and perhaps she still might have done so were it not for the valuable contributions Dr Odine made in the study of the Lunar object itself.
While the Gesper does remain a black mark against the otherwise brilliant Dr Odine, it is one that has mostly stayed out of the public record.
'Octo-Elastoid' Omni-Directional Security Construct:
Role: Autonomous Combat Platform (Stealth/Guerrilla)
Manufacturer: Odine Robotics Corporation
Control System: O-Corp 'Magenta' Class Positronic Matrix
Armaments:
24x Med-Tek Surgical-Grade UV Laser Arrays (Gimballed)
1x Class 4 Magitek Para-Magical Junction Unit
An Adel-era autonomous unit originally designed to guard strategically important locations for extended periods of time, the Elastoid is 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 pre-emptive 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 underlayer not even thermal detection technologies could detect the Octo-Elastoid, making it the perfect stealth and infiltration unit.
The units have also kept the 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 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…
R-1 'Sickle' Fletchette Gun
Role: Mainline Infantry Weapon
Manufacturer: Odine Robotics Corporation/Kusanagi Arms Manufactory
Cartridge: 4.5mm Rocket-Assisted Fletchette
Action: Electric Ignition
Rate of Fire: 300 rounds/min
Feed System: 60-round rear-loading magazine
The Sickle is the primary offensive weapon issued to all Esther soldiers, a crescent-bladed weapon with an integrated needlegun capable of shredding unarmoured opponents. Originating from the hand-axe designs used by Estherian sailors, the blade has been thinned to a pickaxe-style point and reinforced with a Mythril composite that makes it incredibly strong.
While the blade is a dangerous weapon in and of itself, the underslung needlegun makes it an unparalleled close-range weapon.
The gun has six 'chambers' into which ten rocket-assisted darts are loaded. Each pull of the trigger empties one of the chambers and fires ten rocket-propelled darts at supersonic speed towards the enemy. While the rockets do have minimal guidance features, the effect is analogous to a shotgun blast with a 'spread' of impacts rather than a single puncture point.
The darts themselves are configurable, with some being designed to pierce heavy armour and others being tailored to cause violent internal wounds upon striking flesh. Many Estherian soldiers tend to pre-configure their magazines to carry specific dart types. For example they may arrange the magazine so that the first two trigger pulls are anti-armour rounds to soften up harder targets, then the next one will be an anti-infantry dart to finish them off.
While pre-dating the introduction of Peacemaker Armour, the Sickle only truly gained widespread acceptance once troops could take advantage of power armour. The recoil of firing ten rockets at once (even small ones) is substantial, and accuracy was greatly improved with the Peacemaker's reinforced and servo-assisted wrist actions.
While not common knowledge, there are unique variants of the Sickle issued to special units. The most successful of these is the R-1/s, which has been redesigned for stealth operations. The weapon has been coated in a layer of reflective material modelled on the 'skin' of an Octo-Elastoid, and the delivery rockets for the darts have been replaced with enclosed high-tension springs for a delivery system that is as close to 'silent' as a weapon can be.
While reducing the overall muzzle velocity of the fletchettes, this has the unusual side-effect of making the weapon well-suited to underwater use. This has seen these weapons trialled by the Navy for use among frogmen.
'Peacemaker' Powered Armour:
Role: Powered Infantry/Police Armour
Manufacturer: Odine Robotics Corporation
Top Speed: 60kph (Maximum), 45kph (Sustained)
The Esther military has always had a manpower problem, many citizens of the reclusive super-state lack the necessary mindset for war, 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. This became abundantly obvious during the First Sorceress War, where Esther forces found themselves frequently outclassed by technologically inferior Galbadian defence 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 robotic solutions (robotics were the de rigueur solution to all of Esther's problems at the time) and 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 Odine Corporation, who submitted plans for a revolutionary new combat uniform that utilised a mechanical 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 units 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 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 extremities were also designed to adhere to any surface the user designates, allowing Peacemaker troops to climb the sides of cliffs or even skyscrapers. 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 drastically increase the strength of the user, as its artificial musculature is designed for longevity rather than brute strength.
This was eventually exposed as a shortcoming of Peacemaker units, who had precious few options when it came to enemies they could not outrun or out-flank.
'Terminator' Powered Armour:
Role: Powered Special Forces Armour
Manufacturer: Odine Robotics Corporation
Top Speed: 70kph (Maximum), 45kph (Sustained)
A much more powerful variant of the Peacemaker was created to address its design limitations 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 when carbon nanotube sheets are woven with diamond Chemical Vapor Deposition and then crushed 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 is 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 fear into the hearts of other nations, and only the very best of the best were selected for augmentation.
The Terminators were Sorceress Adel's spearpoint for her constant raiding actions against the other nations, so they were expertly trained as infiltrators and stealth combatants. A single Terminator was capable of overpowering an entire squad of fully-equipped G-Army troopers (even with their robotic support units), but they were always 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 First Sorceress War concluded, the Terminators were suddenly no longer needed or even wanted by the new administration. The training of new Terminators was suspended, the program shut down and many of the existing applicants were retired or rotated to conventional Peacemaker units.
However, adjusting to civilian life proved 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 and deal with the pain and trauma their enhanced bodies were prone to.
Eventually the new administration decided to reactivate the Terminators to serve as squad commanders and elite units within the regular army so as to not waste their skills. Many speculate that their reactivation was more motivated with providing the Terminator Corps with medical care and support in an environment they could understand and acclimatise to.
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 have dedicated their lives to protecting their new country with an almost religious fervour. Their relationship with the civilian population is complex to say the least, as to many they are a reminder of the moral excesses of the Adel years and the constant need to atone for a dark period in their recent history.
The Terminators distinguished themselves during the Lunar Crisis, often observed undertaking missions no other units were able or willing to. A single Terminator by the name of Kyla Karragan 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 the winged monsters across the rooftops and in the galleries, bringing them down where she could and evacuating the civilians where she could not. As the last three abominations were felled her ruined body finally gave 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. The government commemorated her sacrifice with a real statue and a promise to the surviving Terminators that their actions to preserve Esther would never be forgotten as long as there was a single man or woman living to remember them.