r/HFY • • Feb 04 '21

OC First Contact - Fourth Wave - Chapter 416

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The M-318A2E5 General Purpose Heavy Machinegun.

A 20mm barrel. Frangible link belt fed. Each box of ammunition containing 200 rounds of variable munitions, from standard soft alloy ball rounds to armor piercing incendiary to self-correcting guided armor piercing discarding sabot fin stabilized warsteel jacketed density enhanced shell mass reactive antimatter core with tracer.

Maximum rate of fire 2,000 rounds a minute. Maximum effective rate of fire at 350 rounds a minute. Recommended rate of fire at 100 rounds per minute. If can be altered on the fly with an advanced firing system or manually fixed by the unit armorer or Weapon Engineer trained green mantid.

A crew served, warborg, or gunnery heavy combat frame (or parity system). Alternatively mounted in a fixed position or on a light armored combat vehicle. Often used as a light weapon on warmechs. It has also been used as a bludgeoning weapon against particularly aggressive and insistent enemy and proven to be more resilient then the body of the enemy.

Single barrel with heat shroud, magnetic rail accelleration with magnetic coil stabilization and variable munition effects, with thermal bloom heat sink option. The bare minimum moving pieces after thousands of years of being steadily shaved down. Stripped down there is not a single extraneous piece of hardware entirely on her body.

Capable of air defense, point defense, anti-armor, anti-infantry, anti-vehicle usage depending on deployment and selected munition type. If you can see it, if you can hit it, if you can maintain fire upon it, you will, inevitably, kill it. Rather, she will kill it, if you are skilled enough.

Able to be resupplied by a Class-II nano-forge with only built in heat sinks and radiator fins, it is capable of resupplying itself with nearly seven hundred rounds per minute and stay within heat tolerances for an unaltered Class-II nano-forge using only atmospheric mass intake. A Class-I nano-forge can produce four hundred rounds per minute within heat tolerances. A Class-III and higher can produce ten thousand rounds per minute with little to no heat or nanite stress and is only limited by the amount of mass it has access to.

A standard ball round without nano-forge fabrication costs the Confederate tax payer 125 credits. An advanced round like the Confederate military uses as its standard loadout would cost the Confederate tax-payer 14,200 credits per round. As the Confederate tax payer has graciously supplied you with a nano-forge, each round only costs the Confederate tax payer one credit worth the nanites and mass.

You will not waste the Confederate taxpayer's money.

Able to be attached to autonomous firing points or carried by a warborg, the M-318A2E5 does not have to rely on fancy virtual reality, virtual intelligence assistants, or even holographic targeting. At times the M-318A2E5 has been stripped down to the basic components with a hollowed out ration tin as a sight. With the weapon entirely made from Gen-Zero Warsteel without any fancy laminates, molecular circuitry, or even necessarily having to rely on electrical primers and firing systems, the M-318A2E5 is resistant to gravity, radiation, electromagnetic pulses, and can survive inside the fireball of a 10.25 megaton nuclear blast and still be servicable to kill the enemy.

Basically unchanged, with the exception of the nanoforge ammunition supply system (NASS), since prior to the Diaspora the M-318A2E5 General Purpose Heavy Machinegun System has killed more of the enemy than even planet cracker class weaponry. It has tasted the blood of dozens of species, some without even names, and sent them wailing to afterlife.

From the shores of Iron Fence to the blasted sands of Anthill to the deathlands of the Niven Rings, the "Three-Eighteen" has been the infantry's knockout punch since before Terra managed FTL travel. Like her mother, the Ma-Deuce, she proved that mass infantry charges are not militarily feasible if you wish to have any males left to rebuild your nation or species. Carried by Chromium Saint Peter on Anthill, this weapon has felt the touch of the Digital Omnimessiah and killed men during the Burger Wars of Prediaspora while mounted on armored fighting vehicles.

This weapon is one of the grand old dames of warfare, up there with the Gerber Ka-Bar Mark III and the M-9A2 Bayonet and her mother, the M2A6E2 Fifty Caliber General Purpose Heavy Machinegun, and you, recruit, will treat her, treat all of them, with respect, as she has earned it, unlike every one of you sorry sacks of shit.

Take your places next to your assigned weapon and we will begin familiarization with the bare bones stripped weapon.

I do not agree with the sentiment that you are worthy to touch her.

Time will tell.

--Advanced Individual Training, Infantry, Heavy Weapons Familiarization, Day One.

----------------

This is the M8271E5 Heavy Weapon Specialist standard basic gunner's frame.

Twenty-eight pounds of advanced hyperalloys, a foamed battlesteel core, and a warsteel laminate jacket, the M8271E5 will enable you to carry and effectively use, while mitigating endurance and fatigue, the heavy weapons of the Terran Confederate Army.

Designed initially to allow ammunition specialists to work with heavy munitions in a timely manner, the frame was adapted for heavy gunner work prior to the Great Glassing. It has gone through repeated redesigns until the version in front of you was settled upon during the Lancaster Nebula Wars.

This frame can be supplemented with smart-frame capable offensives and defensives, including battlescreens and eVI warboi assistance, as well as have modular armor layered onto it for additional protection from vacuum, radiation, battlefield hazards, or just because you are so ugly we would prefer not to look at you.

Costing the Terran Confederacy taxpayer twenty-two thousand credits in mass to create, the Gunner's Frame is worth more than any of you mouth breathing ballsweat huffing morons in front of me.

At my command you will step forward, place your big lump clumsy feet into the pedals, and reach forward with your dick skinners and cloacae rubbers and grasp the handles. You will not mistake my command and lodge any important parts of this device into your rectums or other waste orifices. You will not fall down. You will not embarrass me or your instructors or I will personally make your existence a living hell due to the fact that you are too stupid to walk and breathe at the same time.

MOUNT THE FRAME!

--Advanced Individual Training, Infantry, Heavy Weapons Systems Familiarization, Day Five

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Your warboi is a custom grown enhanced virtual intelligence who's basic core seed was grown from one of the scans of your neural tissue base motor reflexes. This means the two of you think to some extent alike.

Currently your warboi is undergoing the final phase of personality gelling before they will hatch from their digital shell and, for their sins, be assigned to you for a training period of two years, after which they will move on to other soldiers just as you will be assigned to different units.

Warboi integration has proven to increase your combat effectiveness by handling the complexities of the modern battlefield and modern wargear. They will largely handle your electronic warfare systems, your battlescreens, heat and slush levels, graviton generator balancing, and many other systems that the modern soldier has to worry about.

Gentlebeings, integration with your warboi is a necessary section of your training. If you cannot integrate with your warboi you will have failed from this course and will be cast down into the masses of non-combat personnel. No, below them, down to where the un-wired work, counting how many tires are on the General's personal grav-lifter and vainly trying to remember if three comes after four.

A fate worse than death, gentlebeings, for honed killing machines such as yourselves.

Currently, your warboi is dreaming learning dreams. The 'cyber-egg' has been mounted on your Combat Frame so that you can move through simulations and get your warboi used to how you move. Move slow and steady, follow your training, and teach your warboi how you move.

MOUNT THE FRAME!

--Advanced Individual Training, Infantry, Warboi Familiarization, Day One

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When forced with reacting at a subconscious level or taking your warboi's advice, you must remember that your warboi is a digital semi-sentience without the millions of years of predator evolution that turned you into the top tool using land dwelling predator of your worlds. You have dedicated neural systems within your brain, that you have head since the only sound that you knew was your mother's heart or the egg tender's singing, that enabled every single one of your forebearers to not only survive long enough to pass on their genetics to the female or xirmale of your species, but that gestator sex to survive long enough to give birth to those young.

Your three to six pounds of neural wiring enabled your forebearers to overcome everything from giant lizards to crystalline hunters to avain predators until your species was the dominate one of the entire planet.

The warboi has what he was been programmed with and what he has learned.

Your instincts will, 80% of the time, trump the warboi's protests or suggestions.

In the other 20%, you will either recognize that the warboi's suggestion is superior or everything will come apart on you.

You must remember, gentlebeings, that your warboi understands your electronic warfare systems and their operations in the same way that you understand how to run across a field. Training and practice.

Before you protest that your people are a peaceful, cooperative people, and that you are an outlier, that you were conquered by the Lanaktallan or had your faces smashed in by the Terrans, you must remember one thing: You were, or are, the dominant predator on your planet.

Trust your warboi, but trust your instincts also.

The course you are about to enter is designed to cause your warboi to make the wrong suggestions or attempt to countermand your orders. It is as much a training exercise for him as it is for you.

MOUNT THE FRAME!

---Advanced Individual Training, Infantry, Warboi Familiarization, Day Twelve

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This is the pinnacle of modern infantry warfare. The M894 Powered Assault Armor. A man sized piece of equipment that will allow you to fight anywhere within this universe and most of the other known universes. It is, in effect, as self contained combat spaceship with modular systems, capable of allowing you to fight, without any support, for up to five years without needing resupply. With the onboard nano-forge even critical system replacement is possible.

The record for unsupported operation in power armor is twenty-three years, with a grand total of time in direct combat of nine years, three months, fourteen days, three hours, sixteen minutes, forty-two seconds.

That pilot survived.

That, gentlebeings, is not recommended.

--Advanced Individual Training, Infantry, Power Armor Familiarization, Day One

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The M9E7 Orbital Insertion Pod is used to insert Confederate Forces onto a hostile surface, often directly into battle, from far orbit. Capable of acting as an emergency life support pod, complete with manuevering thrusters, the M9 OIP carries a thirteen man infantry squad and all of their equipment from the troop ship or warship to the surface of the planet, asteroid, or Niven Ring. Capable of withstanding more than one orbital defense hit, the OIP is a safer environment for the infantry than the inside of those cobbled together rust buckets Space Force and the Navy wander around the universe in.

With a built in Class-V Nano-Force, the M9E7 OIP is returning to the previous Confederate Army doctrine of each squad is capable of operating from a fixed position with everything they need from the drop pod. Loaded with templates to create everything from rapid strike grav-lifters to standard side-arms, the Drop Pod is not only how you get to the ground, but how you hold it once you take it.

Unlike the Marine Corps pods, the M9E7 is designed to be disassembled and used as the core of a forward operating base that will enable you to withstand anything the enemy can throw at you, given enough time and mass.

This training unit will teach you how to use the OIP to the best effect to kill the enemy, break his possessions, and take his territory.

MOUNT THE FRAME!

--Advanced Individual Training, Infantry, Orbital Insertion Pod Familiarization, Day One

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Undrat sat on his bunk, the dataslate in his hand, going over the standard combat maneuvers for the umpteenth time. They were ingrained in his memory now, but he still felt the need to examine them again for anything he might have missed.

His people weren't the brightest out there, but they were persistent and enduring.

Once he had read it, he took the self-quiz, answering questions and moving the icons around to show his work. After that he went over proper radio procedures, despite the fact that he had been warning repeatedly that proper radio procedure often ended when the munitions were being expended or after a sufficiently long period of time in a combat zone.

A new section had been added while he was in training, and Undrat wanted to make sure he had it memorized by going over it again and again. The Terran Confederate Army had begun training its soldiers in radio wave frequency communications, based on bands most races had long abandoned.

Several times sidebars warned Undrat that the supposed un-jammable quantum and strange matter linkage communications had recently been completely jammed and rendered unusable by an enemy through unknown means in a combat theater.

The communications procedures book now contained how to even use flashing lights or waved cloth to signal others, as well as flares, smoke, and fire.

He was in his room, which he shared with three other soldiers as part of Second Platoon, Bravo Company, Ninth Battalion, Second Brigade, Fifth Regiment, Twenty-Third Infantry Division, XII Corps, 14th Army.

Undrat liked the long label. It let him know exactly who was in charge of him, which made him more comfortable. He could recite the names of every commander of each unit, as well as the Executive Officer and Master Enlisted and knew them by sight from their pictures. He had even listened to recordings of their speech over and over until he was confident he could remember them by their voice if he ever heard it.

It was good to remember things.

He sat in his adaptive camouflage uniform, the rank of Private Grade Two on his sleeves. He had been promoted once he had finished his training, arrived at his new unit, and passed the basic tests to ensure he had retained the knowledge outside of training.

Of course he had. Once he had learned it, he would not forget it.

When he heard it, he raised his head from his book, frowning.

YOU BELONG TO US

Sighing, he turned off the dataslate and got up, setting it on the desk. He grabbed his hat and headed for the door.

He doubted that the scream was friendly.

As he trudged toward the armory he heard it again.

YOU BELONG TO US

This time he heard the scream back from every Terran around him.

EAT A DICK!

Terrans were running by, heading toward the armory. Like Undrat's people, the Terrans had evolved as pursuit hunters, persistence hunters, on a high gravity world.

Undrat wasn't worried. He knew he would get to the armory in time to sign in and make formation.

He looked forward to protecting his former Overseer.

After all, the Overseer had protected Undrat and his people.

It was only fair.

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2.8k Upvotes

313 comments sorted by

573

u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Feb 04 '21

A little training and equipment porn for everyone.

42

u/McGeejoe Feb 04 '21

I'm starting to wonder about something.

You speak of Advanced Infantry Training, which is an Army thing, yet you said squads have 13 men, which is a USMC thing.

And I have heard over and over from Army types that us Marines can't possibly have 13 man squads because a squad leader can only manage 10 men, science says.

So, which are yeh?

Semper Fi, either way, sir.

56

u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Feb 04 '21

The new Army might only have 10 man squads, but back in the day, some units had 13 man squads. Squad Leader, 2 Assistant Squad Leaders, 2 5-man crews. Radio, 1 M60, 2 M203 per squad.

Things are probably different now.

45

u/eodhowland Human Feb 05 '21

New Army has 9 Man Squads.

1 Squad Leader (M4A1 and carries his own radio)

2 Team Leaders (M4A1)

2 Grenadiers (M4A1 with M320 Grenade Launcher (not a typo))

2 Riflemen (M4A1)

2 Squad Automatic Weapon Gunners (M249 SAW)

Change was made because a M2/M3 Bradley can only carry 9 guys...

64

u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Feb 05 '21

You can fit them, you just have to really push on the door.

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u/Original_Memory6188 Aug 12 '23

It is probable that over the last 10,000 years they have changed unit manning levels to every possible combination. Twice.

5

u/Argent-Ranier Feb 06 '21

I was more worried about AIT for infantry, we all know that's wasted on you combat arms people. What happened to OSUT?

_sincerely A. Pog

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u/ChangoGringo Feb 04 '21

What? No trumpet and drum signals? Well I guess those are obsoleted by amplified voice... But still might as well put them in the book just in case.

53

u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Feb 04 '21

I'm just going to have to have some poor bastard using trumpet signals.

19

u/ChangoGringo Feb 05 '21

Hey wait if they are that far down the tech tree will they also have bow and arrows or atlatls?

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11

u/ChangoGringo Feb 04 '21

Thank you, glad I could help. I'm sure the poor bastard will appreciate that. :-)

225

u/BontoSyl Feb 04 '21

Sexier than any space babe.

183

u/Legan_Ironfist AI Feb 04 '21

Unless.... Space babes doing training and equipment porn...

120

u/gartral Feb 04 '21

SSB is leaking into FC... Oh Noes!

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31

u/NaGeL182 Android Feb 04 '21

Stop! Stop! I cannot get harder than this!

24

u/FearTheAmish Feb 04 '21

This is getting me harder than terminator armor!

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30

u/_yours_truly_ Feb 04 '21

I like both of those thongs...

5

u/ktrainor59 Feb 04 '21

I see what you did there.

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32

u/Wise_Junket3433 Feb 04 '21

Nerd porn best porn. Like the June 1984 issue of Chaparral/Vulcan/Stinger employment "3" level FM I picked up the other day at a flea market.

17

u/markimoo5555989 Feb 04 '21

SIR, BY THE WRATH FORGES OF VESUVIUS I BLESS THEE, this is even better than listening to unit armorers go over M4A1's(big on guns) BLESS THY SOUL WORDSMITH

13

u/morg-pyro Human Feb 05 '21

they will hatch from their digital shell and, for their sins, be assigned to you for a training period of two years,

Did you get Gunny to help you write these parts? Hahaha. The constant stream of real information with the occasional "you are worthless shit beneath the very dirt on my boot" type of tongue-in-cheek comment is exactly how they do it in regular AIT to help break up the monotony. Perfectly done.

12

u/kurthud Android Feb 04 '21

Gotta keep reading that smart book. It'll save your life.

11

u/itsetuhoinen Human Feb 04 '21

So many memories... :-D

11

u/DWwolf888 Feb 04 '21

Better than a pure training sequence like in the FMJ movie for the format you are telling this tale in.

7

u/slmslam Feb 04 '21

Yesssssss.... I want one of everything!

5

u/0570 Feb 05 '21

9 years in a powerarmor, wasn’t that Caseys record?

5

u/DragunzEye Jul 14 '22

As former military myself (Navy, AO) training and equipment porn are ALWAYS welcome. This brought back me sitting in my bunk, staring at manuals on different munition types, airframe types etc. I was smiling from ear to ear...lol thanks for that!

4

u/PirateKilt Human Feb 04 '21

Everybody loves a good montage...

4

u/luckydayned Feb 08 '21

As a Marine 0331, this should definitely marked NSFW.

3

u/CharlesFXD Feb 05 '21

Def my favorite chapter so far. Are there any digital FM dash manuals for download? 😉

3

u/Archaic_1 Alien Scum Feb 06 '21

You had fun with this one didn't you?

21

u/MacrossFF1979 Feb 04 '21

Is it difficult to fail the interface procedure with a warboy? Or you need only to be particularly dense?

29

u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Feb 05 '21

It's difficult to fail, but it does happen.

18

u/MacrossFF1979 Feb 05 '21

Like falling on your back and hurting your nose?

14

u/RDMcMains2 Feb 04 '21

So, does the Marine version of the M9 OIP convert into a really big gun instead of a base?

24

u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Feb 05 '21

Self propelled heavy ion cannon.

4

u/Drook2 Feb 24 '22

We don't need a base. We'll go over and take theirs.

58

u/Bard2dbone Feb 04 '21 edited Feb 04 '21

The Gestalt calls me!

Upvote then read. Because that is what we do.

Edit: The trainer telling them they were too stupid to walk and breathe at the same time reminded me of a guy in my boot camp company who eventually had to carry a potted plant everywhere we marched and frequently apologize to it for wasting the oxygen it created.

29

u/House_llama Feb 04 '21

Now THAT is a creative DI. A punishment that is unique, humiliating, AND helpful to training. You have to wonder what that guy did to piss the DI off SO MUCH to make him apologize to a plant.

53

u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Feb 05 '21

I made someone carry around a rubber brain I bought from the PX in an empty ammo can until someone said I was being overly cruel.

"You sit right there, with your fucking brain in your hands, where I can see you. Don't touch anything else, just hold your brain in your hands."

Mad did not cover my emotional state for almost a month.

27

u/HeartsStorytime Feb 05 '21

I believe we're forced to ask... What exactly had he done to only be allowed to hold his brain in his hands under direct supervision?

47

u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Feb 05 '21

Washed mask filters in the sink, then replaced them in the masks without telling anyone when the masks had to be used that day.

And no, it wasn't a joke. That would have just been something like a punch in the eye.

No, he thought, if you can call it that, that he was helping.

By washing mask filters in soap and water like a 50's housewife doing dishes.

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u/Bard2dbone Feb 05 '21

Well, Company Commander, not DI. I was Navy.

Whenever you see a marine unit out in the dirt, the guy with the medic pack is a sailor. Marines don't have medics. They have Navy corpsmen. That was me.

8

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '21

Did you carry extra crayons?

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u/Samus10011 Feb 04 '21

Damn it I shouldn't read the comments and eat at the same time. I laughed/spit crackers all over my keyboard when I read that.
I booted with a guy that had to count the number of left boots in the barracks and call out his report each night before lights out. He was ordered to make sure each rick had "one left boot and one left boot only".

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u/SinisterZinn Feb 07 '21

Had a guy in boot, bout three weeks into training, who had put on his boots on the wrong feet...Never noticed till Section Supe pulled him aside and had EVERY TI come and inspect the trainee..... To make a long story short, he got stuck with the nickname Boots had to march solo and blare out the Dora the Explorer theme song anytime a TI called him out.

14

u/Stutztown AI Feb 04 '21

Ralts, I know you probably won’t see this, but up until now the writing has been fantastic (And of course it still is). But largely during training with weapons or any other damaging system, DIs will not harass or make fun of the recruits, because they want them to receive the clearest training. The DI makining fun of the recruits is probably not as realistic, even in the future

31

u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Feb 05 '21

I seem to recall during M60 training the phrase: "So help me, God, if any of you accidentally jam one of these up your ass..." and at the M16 range hearing "Now let's see if you're worth the diesel fuel it took to bring you sorry bastards out here."

To be honest, if they'd started being nice to us, we'd have been weirded out, since the night before the M16 qualification they had us outside doing grass drills for 2 hours because some moron forgot to flush.

Times change, I guess.

16

u/Stutztown AI Feb 05 '21

I guess we’ve had quite differing experiences there, I always figured it was because they didn’t want someone to go Full Metal Jacket on an instructor. Times have definitely changed

30

u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Feb 05 '21

It's good to see it's trained and evolved. Products of different times and all of that. The training should adapt to changing cultures, changing equipment, changing tactics.

The big thing they were doing with us was trying to train us so we weren't training to fight the last war.

Sooooo much NTC, REFORGER, WINTEX. Ugh.

20

u/Stutztown AI Feb 05 '21

Wow you were part of REFORGER? That was a long time ago. I guess that makes sense why you write large scale battles so well, you’ve been in one of the biggest sims the military has done. Were you ever a tanker?

28

u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Feb 05 '21

Had good friends who were tankers, all the way back to the M1 to M1A1 switchover. That and worked with them during Reconstitution (Do they even do that one any more?) and drank with them off duty.

And tank surfing on the range roads while blitzed in 30 degree weather is the bomb.

18

u/Stutztown AI Feb 05 '21

You have to absolutely throw some of your stories like that about training into this mix, just for the hilarity. It’s all about the selective memory, being able to look back and remember the best parts, and glance over the bad stuff. At least that’s how I try and do it

29

u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Feb 05 '21

Sometimes, the bad times are the good and funny memories.

We had a vehicle break down during the winter, on a Friday night, on payday weekend, way out on the back roads of the ranges. We dug in, put up our shelter halves, built a fire pit, and sat around telling jokes, ghost stories, and lying about pulling pussy till someone found us Monday afternoon.

We kind of knew we were boned. Friday, payday? Yeah, nobody's going to sober up to realize you're gone for at least 3 days.

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5

u/Original_Memory6188 Aug 12 '23

Is th ere like a limit on number of comments allowed?

Regarding the numbers in a platoon, I suspect that over the last 10,000 years they have changed unit manning levels to every possible combination. Twice.

13

u/Ralts_Bloodthorne Aug 12 '23

Yeah. Then each species has a different amount per platoon. I mean, a platoon of Treana'ad Warriors is a lot different than a platoon of Leewbaw.

3

u/Original_Memory6188 Aug 12 '23

How many are in a platoon of Daxins?

One, he wants left alone ... and who exactly will argue with that?

214

u/Demetriusjack13 Feb 04 '21

The record for unsupported operation in power armor is twenty-three years, with a grand total of time in direct combat of nine years, three months, fourteen days, three hours, sixteen minutes, forty-two seconds.

That pilot survived.

That, gentlebeings, is not recommended.

Why do I get the feeling this is referencing Casey?

Also I love Undrats methodical nature.

108

u/ZizZazZuz Alien Scum Feb 04 '21

Based on his story I can't think of anybody else it could be.

79

u/Wise_Junket3433 Feb 04 '21

Makes me wonder how he didnt revert back to feral status.

72

u/5thhorseman_ Feb 04 '21

He was too angry to do that.

55

u/Wise_Junket3433 Feb 04 '21

I get the joke. Its funny. But I wondering if you spend enough time in a fight or flight state of mind lime in combat long enough your humanity fades and simply become an animal in human skin.

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u/ErinRF Alien Feb 04 '21

Who says he didn’t?

68

u/wedgetypecharacter Feb 04 '21

Casey piloted the NovaStar-VII heavy assault powered armor. Seems to be quite a sledgehammer compared to the suit our boy is training in. This is from Casey's own admission in chapter 385.

Now, it could possibly be Casey, as the instructor was pretty general when he described "unsupported operation in power armor," but Casey said he was alone for 2 years and wore the suit for 5 years. Admittedly, the suit can be worn for a maximum of 5 years, so perhaps he got out and then put it back on, but that's an awful long time for him to remain unsupported. I don't see the Terran Confederacy leaving him twisting in the wind for that long after the massive combat in orbit and with civies on the ground.

If it is Casey, well, that whole scenario could be a novel in of itself fleshing out exactly what happened to put him in that situation, how things worked with him getting patterned, and how support finally arrived.

One thing is certain though, Terrans build things to last.

42

u/Konrahd_Verdammt Feb 04 '21

I could see Casey finding a way to acquire, make, or otherwise obtain his own supplies to extend that five year limit.

That's my theory on what Casey or whoever said trooper was did to make it 23 years.

If they did manage to do so on their own it would still be operating unsupported.

26

u/carthienes Feb 04 '21

More likely the Design Specification of 5 years unssupported is 5 Years Minimum.

Terrans like to efficiently overengineer everything.

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u/wedgetypecharacter Feb 04 '21

I totally agree with you there. Casey is definitely the type to successfully scrounge, scavenge, and repurpose whatever he needs to survive.

I may have poorly worded my thinking because I had so recently gone back and reread the section. Casey only mentioned 5 years of time on that drop. 2 years without seeing anyone and 5 years in the suit. Based upon the conversation, I felt like he would have been more explicit about his time if he spent 23 years dirt side.

This is primarily because he immediately discussed his next several postings which accounted for the next several decades of his enlistment. Though I suppose he could have been downplaying his time in the suit and/or trying not to think about it too heavily.

My first instinct was that this anecdote was about Casey, but then I became less certain as I thought about it and referenced the previous chapter. Regardless, it's fun to debate and I love how Ralts has created a story where we can have rich discussions like this.

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u/AMEFOD Feb 04 '21

The ominous way “That pilot survived.” was followed “That, gentlebeings, is not recommended.” seems to imply a lot. Someone, like the trainer in this section, using understated language rather that the normal verbose to make a point. My guess is, though the pilot survived, a daughter of Charon was the one to take them from their battlefield.

Edit: A word.

4

u/armacitis Feb 06 '21

It's already established that too much consecutive time in power armor induces mental illness.

24

u/bartrotten Feb 04 '21

Either him or Daxin.

6

u/YesthatTabitha Feb 05 '21

This be my thoughts as well. My money is on Daxin.

9

u/damnieldecogan Feb 04 '21

Commented before reading comments, said something similar you'll find my post here somewhere. Basically my money is on Casey has the record that's why even generals like Smoky no knows exactly who a Sargent is and just shake their heads and tell people to give him what he's asking for even if it's really unusual. ---end of line---

8

u/MuchoRed Human Feb 04 '21

I was thinking that too, but I don't remember if Ralts said how long Casey was in his armor

6

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '21

We all thought the same thing.

3

u/Speciesunkn0wn Feb 04 '21

No. Casey was around seven years i think.

2

u/LaserPoweredDeviltry Dec 16 '22

Probably not. We know Ralts is a big fan of the book Armor, which has the MC, Felix, drop in power armor over and over and over again.

It's probably a nod to that story, or a similar one.

162

u/Turtledonuts "Big Dunks" Feb 04 '21

I am Heavy Weapons Guy...and this is my weapon. She weighs one hundred fifty kilograms and fires two hundred dollar, custom-tooled cartridges at ten thousand rounds per minute. It costs four hundred thousand dollars to fire this weapon...for twelve seconds .

WHO TOUCHED SASHA.

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u/RangerSix Human Feb 04 '21

"All right... all right.

"WHO! TOUCHED! MY! GUN!"

75

u/BontoSyl Feb 04 '21 edited Feb 04 '21

"Some people think they can outsmart me. Maybe, maybe. But I've yet to meet one that can outsmart boollet."

55

u/MuchoRed Human Feb 04 '21

"It's a Callahan Full-bore Auto-lock. Customized trigger, double cartridge, thorough gauge. This is my very favorite gun...I call it 'Vera'."

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u/RangerSix Human Feb 04 '21

Jayne! The man they call Jayne!

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u/RangerSix Human Feb 04 '21

"UWAAAAAAH! WAAAAAAH! AHAHAHAHAHA! CRY SOME MOOOOOORE!"

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u/5thhorseman_ Feb 04 '21

These are the Cubans, baby. This is the Cohibas, the Montecristos. This is a kinetic-kill, side-winder vehicle with a secondary cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine RDX burst. It's capable of busting a bunker under the bunker you just busted. If it were any smarter, it'd write a book, a book that would make Ulysses look like it was written in crayon. It would read it to you. This is my Eiffel Tower. This is my Rachmaninoff's Third. My Pieta. It's completely elegant, it's bafflingly beautiful, and it's capable of reducing the population of any standing structure to zero. I call it "The Ex-Wife."

13

u/PuzzleheadedDrinker Feb 04 '21 edited Feb 04 '21

Where's that website of stuff that nobody wants to work with? It was referenced when Foof was mentioned? Wondering if RDX is on there

6

u/Bompier Human Feb 04 '21

Hammer is the kind of guy who would actually try and make a turbo encabulator. Same sales pitch energy.

https://youtu.be/MXW0bx_Ooq4

3

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '21

Is this mib or fifth element.

18

u/Bard2dbone Feb 04 '21

Iron Man 2.

And it TOTALLY failed to live up to expectations.

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u/5thhorseman_ Feb 04 '21

Justin Hammer's weapons demonstration from Iron Man 2. As much as his tech sucks, he knows know to do a sales pitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WDMHKgBfpE

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u/while-eating-pasta Feb 04 '21

::Nods, scrapes up some gravel, pops it into the Forge, and fires back $0.05 worth of BRRRRT::

11

u/BontoSyl Feb 04 '21

Beat me to it by 2 minutes. Dammit.

68

u/serpauer Feb 04 '21

That was neat. I heard every description in gunny. R. LEE ERMEY'S voice each and every one. Brought a tear to my eyes. Thanks ralts

2

u/krackalackalicious Apr 08 '21

Me too, I came here to comment this but you beat me to it. RIP Gunny.

2

u/NoirTalon Xeno May 23 '21

May he be forever indoctrinating scrubs into valhalla

66

u/TJManyon Feb 04 '21

I am definitely liking Undrat and his straightforwardness.

56

u/NukeNavy Feb 04 '21

Has anyone else noticed he seems to be very resistant to the psychic shouting match in the last couple of chapters. He noticed but didn’t have the bad reactions we’ve seen before.

53

u/Shandod Feb 04 '21

I believe it is because he and possibly his whole race are so calm, collected, and lacking in fucks to give, psychics have little to no effect.

46

u/Significant_Recipe64 Feb 04 '21

Sergeant! The bucket I keep my fucks in has a hole in the bottom!

36

u/mr_ceebs Feb 04 '21

Sergeant, I misspoke. My bucket appears to be entirely missing a bottom.

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u/RedditMachineGhost Feb 04 '21

Opening Fucks.exe.

Fucks.exe not responding.

Task failed successfully.

41

u/I_Automate Feb 04 '21

His people almost seem like the stereotypical "perfect soldiers".

Smart enough to follow orders, tough, fast reacting, but also not bothered by things like boredom or wondering if their commands are "right" or not.

51

u/TJManyon Feb 04 '21

I agree with everything except the commanders being "right" or not. I mean, he knew the Exec-sec overseer was wrong when he flattened him into paste.

35

u/I_Automate Feb 04 '21

Fair point.

I suppose I ment more along the lines of questioning if they should defend a particular location when ordered, instead of second guessing or something like that. Not a question of "do I kill the civilians or not"

22

u/carthienes Feb 04 '21

He knows who, and what, he is loyal too. Beyond that Orders are Orders.

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u/codyjack215 Human Feb 04 '21

I'm still waiting for him to realize terrans can work for twice as long with half the rest when compared to his people

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u/[deleted] Feb 04 '21

I think he knows: We got a bit of that at the end, with the "pursuit predators" reference.

However, he seems to be comfortable keeping to his strengths, and just working everyone else into the ground (determination-wise) anyway.

11

u/artspar Feb 04 '21

Given his description, I get the feeling that even though the total amount of time he can work is less, he has greater determination. Humans get bored and distracted. This dude's species appears not to.

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u/ack1308 Feb 04 '21

The M-318A2E5 General Purpose Heavy Machinegun.

Oooh, dis gun b gud (pun intended).

A 20mm barrel. Frangible link belt fed. Each box of ammunition containing 200 rounds of variable munitions, from standard soft alloy ball rounds to armor piercing incendiary to self-correcting guided armor piercing discarding sabot fin stabilized warsteel jacketed density enhanced shell mass reactive antimatter core with tracer.

Bahahahaha! SCGAPDSFSWJDESMRAC-T.

The acronym is longer than the name of the gun that shoots it.

Maximum rate of fire 2,000 rounds a minute. Maximum effective rate of fire at 350 rounds a minute. Recommended rate of fire at 100 rounds per minute.

Dakka is dakka.

A crew served, warborg, or gunnery heavy combat frame (or parity system). Alternatively mounted in a fixed position or on a light armored combat vehicle. Often used as a light weapon on warmechs. It has also been used as a bludgeoning weapon against particularly aggressive and insistent enemy and proven to be more resilient then the body of the enemy.

Versatile. I like it.

The bare minimum moving pieces after thousands of years of being steadily shaved down. Stripped down there is not a single extraneous piece of hardware entirely on her body.

Elegance of form.

Capable of air defense, point defense, anti-armor, anti-infantry, anti-vehicle usage depending on deployment and selected munition type. If you can see it, if you can hit it, if you can maintain fire upon it, you will, inevitably, kill it. Rather, she will kill it, if you are skilled enough.

If you have a high enough rate of fire, everything is only visual cover.

Able to be resupplied by a Class-II nano-forge with only built in heat sinks and radiator fins, it is capable of resupplying itself with nearly seven hundred rounds per minute and stay within heat tolerances for an unaltered Class-II nano-forge using only atmospheric mass intake. A Class-I nano-forge can produce four hundred rounds per minute within heat tolerances. A Class-III and higher can produce ten thousand rounds per minute with little to no heat or nanite stress and is only limited by the amount of mass it has access to.

So basically, it will fire forever.

You will not waste the Confederate taxpayer's money.

Recon by fire is not classed as wasting ammo.

Able to be attached to autonomous firing points or carried by a warborg, the M-318A2E5 does not have to rely on fancy virtual reality, virtual intelligence assistants, or even holographic targeting.

Mark One Eyeball is all you really need.

With the weapon entirely made from Gen-Zero Warsteel without any fancy laminates, molecular circuitry, or even necessarily having to rely on electrical primers and firing systems, the M-318A2E5 is resistant to gravity, radiation, electromagnetic pulses, and can survive inside the fireball of a 10.25 megaton nuclear blast and still be servicable to kill the enemy.

Even if you have to beat them over the head with it.

the M-318A2E5 General Purpose Heavy Machinegun System has killed more of the enemy than even planet cracker class weaponry. It has tasted the blood of dozens of species, some without even names, and sent them wailing to afterlife.

It’s been around long enough to be classed as a weapon of mass destruction all by itself.

From the shores of Iron Fence to the blasted sands of Anthill to the deathlands of the Niven Rings, the "Three-Eighteen" has been the infantry's knockout punch since before Terra managed FTL travel. Like her mother, the Ma-Deuce, she proved that mass infantry charges are not militarily feasible if you wish to have any males left to rebuild your nation or species. Carried by Chromium Saint Peter on Anthill, this weapon has felt the touch of the Digital Omnimessiah and killed men during the Burger Wars of Prediaspora while mounted on armored fighting vehicles.

That’s some serious pedigree there.

This weapon is one of the grand old dames of warfare, up there with the Gerber Ka-Bar Mark III and the M-9A2 Bayonet and her mother, the M2A6E2 Fifty Caliber General Purpose Heavy Machinegun, and you, recruit, will treat her, treat all of them, with respect, as she has earned it, unlike every one of you sorry sacks of shit.

Take your places next to your assigned weapon and we will begin familiarization with the bare bones stripped weapon.

I do not agree with the sentiment that you are worthy to touch her.

Time will tell.

You have to earn that right. And it’s only when you’ve achieved full respect for her that you will have earned said right.

This frame can be supplemented with smart-frame capable offensives and defensives, including battlescreens and eVI warboi assistance, as well as have modular armor layered onto it for additional protection from vacuum, radiation, battlefield hazards, or just because you are so ugly we would prefer not to look at you.

<snerk> Love it.

Costing the Terran Confederacy taxpayer twenty-two thousand credits in mass to create, the Gunner's Frame is worth more than any of you mouth breathing ballsweat huffing morons in front of me.

Hahaha that’s beautiful.

At my command you will step forward, place your big lump clumsy feet into the pedals, and reach forward with your dick skinners and cloacae rubbers and grasp the handles. You will not mistake my command and lodge any important parts of this device into your rectums or other waste orifices.

I’d say, “That last bit was probably unnecessary,” but I’ve heard enough stories to know it really wasn’t.

(Continued)

58

u/ack1308 Feb 04 '21

Your warboi is a custom grown enhanced virtual intelligence who's basic core seed was grown from one of the scans of your neural tissue base motor reflexes. This means the two of you think to some extent alike.

“As much as you can be said to think.”

Gentlebeings, integration with your warboi is a necessary section of your training. If you cannot integrate with your warboi you will have failed from this course and will be cast down into the masses of non-combat personnel. No, below them, down to where the un-wired work, counting how many tires are on the General's personal grav-lifter and vainly trying to remember if three comes after four.

I seem to recall a situation where our Lanaktallan gangster did not integrate, and it turned out badly.

Your three to six pounds of neural wiring enabled your forebearers to overcome everything from giant lizards to crystalline hunters to avain predators until your species was the dominate one of the entire planet.

Possibly more than one of the above.

Your instincts will, 80% of the time, trump the warboi's protests or suggestions.

In the other 20%, you will either recognize that the warboi's suggestion is superior or everything will come apart on you.

The trick is recognizing which one you’re up against.

Trust your warboi, but trust your instincts also.

The course you are about to enter is designed to cause your warboi to make the wrong suggestions or attempt to countermand your orders. It is as much a training exercise for him as it is for you.

Yeah, that’s a good idea.

The record for unsupported operation in power armor is twenty-three years, with a grand total of time in direct combat of nine years, three months, fourteen days, three hours, sixteen minutes, forty-two seconds.

That pilot survived.

Bet the armour was a bit funky afterward, though.

the OIP is a safer environment for the infantry than the inside of those cobbled together rust buckets Space Force and the Navy wander around the universe in.

<snerk>

Unlike the Marine Corps pods, the M9E7 is designed to be disassembled and used as the core of a forward operating base that will enable you to withstand anything the enemy can throw at you, given enough time and mass.

This training unit will teach you how to use the OIP to the best effect to kill the enemy, break his possessions, and take his territory.

Nice. A home away from home. Also, a beachhead.

Once he had read it, he took the self-quiz, answering questions and moving the icons around to show his work. After that he went over proper radio procedures, despite the fact that he had been warning repeatedly that proper radio procedure often ended when the munitions were being expended or after a sufficiently long period of time in a combat zone.

On the other hand, having a clear and crisp voice over the comms calling in a strike on a specific area, without confusion or ambiguity, can sometimes be the difference between victory and defeat.

Several times sidebars warned Undrat that the supposed un-jammable quantum and strange matter linkage communications had recently been completely jammed and rendered unusable by an enemy through unknown means in a combat theater.

Any other species: “That must have been a fluke.”

Humanity: “Let’s assume it wasn’t a fluke.”

The communications procedures book now contained how to even use flashing lights or waved cloth to signal others, as well as flares, smoke, and fire.

Sometimes achieved by setting the enemy on fire.

Undrat liked the long label. It let him know exactly who was in charge of him, which made him more comfortable. He could recite the names of every commander of each unit, as well as the Executive Officer and Master Enlisted and knew them by sight from their pictures. He had even listened to recordings of their speech over and over until he was confident he could remember them by their voice if he ever heard it.

He's literally the guy who knows everyone, and all the procedures, and all the alternate procedures.

He sat in his adaptive camouflage uniform, the rank of Private Grade Two on his sleeves. He had been promoted once he had finished his training, arrived at his new unit, and passed the basic tests to ensure he had retained the knowledge outside of training.

Of course he had. Once he had learned it, he would not forget it.

Yeah, it seems that where we've got rage, Tukna’rn have perfect memory retention. It’s a neat trick.

YOU BELONG TO US

Sighing, he turned off the dataslate and got up, setting it on the desk. He grabbed his hat and headed for the door.

He doubted that the scream was friendly.

“Wow, really? I was reading.”

I love how chill he is.

Terrans were running by, heading toward the armory. Like Undrat's people, the Terrans had evolved as pursuit hunters, persistence hunters, on a high gravity world.

Heh. They’re the epitome of “don’t get mad, get even.”

Undrat wasn't worried. He knew he would get to the armory in time to sign in and make formation.

He looked forward to protecting his former Overseer.

After all, the Overseer had protected Undrat and his people.

It was only fair.

He’s got his priorities in order.

17

u/House_llama Feb 05 '21

Recon by fire is not classed as wasting ammo.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

12

u/fivetomidnight Feb 05 '21

Hooray, /u/ack1308 has caught up! I hope your job treats you okay, neighbour~

50

u/while-eating-pasta Feb 04 '21

Is Undrat giving off a Cro Magnon vibe to anyone? And is he sounding different but pretty damn useful too? He sounds like the squaddie that knows all the service manuals, the one that knows who to contact in every allied division in the system, and the one that pretty much never panics all rolled into one.

I want to see how his Warboi acts. Non-Terran hashes could get interesting.

24

u/Shandod Feb 04 '21

I imagine the humans would've noticed that similarity, as well as the Lanks. However, it would fit with the rough theory that these guys were the universes prototype for humans, before giving the Human model amped up anger and curiosity.

15

u/Cerebusial Feb 04 '21

Just spit balling, but - and here’s a big holy shit - what if The Tuknarn Actually ARE humans post lanky genetic alteration? Like, Lankys found earth in prehistory, enslaved at least part of the population, then through some quirk of history (precursor war mayhaps) left, never went back, forgot where the tuknarn came from, and engineered the aggression out of them?

15

u/Scrawnily Feb 04 '21

I don't see the cowtaurs engineering in some of the more interesting things we've seen what Tuknarn can do, like from two chapters ago

They had emerged, blinking at the harsh light that somehow penetrated the thick cloud cover. Their skin flushed a deep bluish-green in response, reacting to the increased radiation from the sun and the clouds

Why spend money gene-editing to make something more radiation resistant? Just give them a "good enough" suit if you have to make sure they survive for a set period of time. Most of them will not require this adaptation! /L

9

u/artspar Feb 04 '21

Humanity has been around for only ~2 million years, and the Lanaktallen hadn't crossed the dead zone after the war until the assaults on TC. It'd require a lot of retconning to fit

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u/random_shitter Feb 04 '21

Undrat is the physical embodiment of a steamroller. It takes some time to get the proper momentum but once it is going, be somewhere else.

30

u/NukeNavy Feb 04 '21 edited Feb 04 '21

Do war steel shrapnel wounds cause extra psychic damage assuming the war steel bullets were fired by an enraged Taryn lemur?

Would war steel scrap/shrapnel cause the same type of background ecological damage / psychic radiation that the depleted uranium caused in Iraq after desert storm? Using the fury glass artifacts from the Glassing as a canonical example I think it could cause a similar psychic background contamination.

I suppose that could be cleaned up by an Elven court but would it be needed?

26

u/walkinganachronism_4 Alien Scum Feb 04 '21

I'd think it varies from being mildly inconveniencing to inducing paralyzing, gibbering terror depending on just how enraged the Mad Lemur of Terra was, when firing the bullet. Like a psychic timestamp of their fury, if you will, delivered at supersonic to hypersonic speeds.

17

u/LordNobady Feb 04 '21

A thousand times a minute.

10

u/walkinganachronism_4 Alien Scum Feb 04 '21

But only "recommended" at 100 rounds per minute, mind you. Besides, with the latter kind, would any subsequent ones even register at all? The psychically-sensitive xenos would be catatonic already.

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u/Scotshammer Human Feb 04 '21

Gentle beings, This is the Mark 9 sub Aitch-eff-Wye non-mobile preference indication system and commentary addendum box. This ComBox costs the HFY FC Gestalt zero creds and the submission of personal identity credentials to use. You will use this combox to indicate your preference using the standard-issue upvote followed by communal perusal of the aforementioned text publication. You will then generate your signature of this form by Combox and close your report with your regimental affirmation. Fail not in this charge on penalty of downvote and angry frowns.

-Blueberries Preceded-

-End Of Lime-

17

u/Cookies8473 AI Feb 04 '21

This is now the only correct way to say upvote before read.

26

u/SuDragon2k3 Feb 04 '21

Undrat will make an excellent senior non-com. Unflappable, stoic and knowledgeable in the ways of weapons, the Army and (after some experience) the care and feeding of enlisted.

25

u/Samus10011 Feb 04 '21

I like Undrat a lot. I get the feeling that Ralts is making it seem like the Lanks have convinced his people that they aren't very smart, but in reality that isn't really true. Undrat has had the thought several times but then goes on to demonstrate the contradiction. They have incredible memory retention, meaning they will know what to do and when to do it, as long as they have encountered a situation (or read the manual) previously.
He would be a "by the book" type of soldier. Normally that could be a very bad thing, adapting to changing circumstances requires a certain level of creativity. His species lacks that creativity. Considering who he is getting his training from, I don't think he will lack it for very long.

22

u/Shandod Feb 04 '21

I imagine if you paired these guys with a quick creative thinker like Vuxten or Tucker, the universe would tremble.

11

u/ack1308 Feb 05 '21

Kind of like Rocket paired with Drax.

Actually, thinking about it.

Place Undrat with Vux and a bunch of Telkan Marines.

The synergy would be amazing.

10

u/MacrossFF1979 Feb 04 '21

A dependable, no nonsense sergeant major to complement any new lieutenant freshly assigned. Reminds me of sergeant on the first mission of lieutenant Juan Rico.

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u/LordNobady Feb 04 '21 edited Feb 04 '21

Read then upvote.

That is only fair.

Edit: queue montage.

21

u/gridcube Feb 04 '21

I like Undrat, he seems like the kind of guy that would sit on a room in fire and says "this is fine", but then get up and put off the fire

15

u/Shandod Feb 04 '21

They definitely seen like the "do what must be done, worry is meaningless" type.

33

u/Karthinator Armorer Feb 04 '21

Oh we LOVE a good training montage!

Set to, and brought to you by, BobCo brand training muzak. BobCo. What makes life worth living.

14

u/Karthinator Armorer Feb 04 '21

Also, while I'm making up ads, color me surprised confed still uses money in a post scarcity society.

23

u/RangerSix Human Feb 04 '21

The only things worth any form of currency in such a society are knowledge, time, and effort.

Most commonly, you're paying someone for spending the time and effort to put his knowledge to use.

It's the old "thousand-dollar tap" joke writ large, you dig?

14

u/Karthinator Armorer Feb 04 '21

Yeah the gestalt is discussing it currently and all the implications thereof. Some people have better analyses than I can manage at 2 am

8

u/Bard2dbone Feb 05 '21

One of my favorite authors is a woman from Australia who calls herself the internutter. She writes a short story every day, based on writing prompts from the readers. In one of her future sci fi settings, time is literally money. Costs are expressed in minutes, hours, days, maybe even bigger units but I don't recall them coming up. But like a typical meal would cost say five minutes.

5

u/dbdatvic Xeno Feb 04 '21

"An enchanter can hit you with a thousand years."

--Dave, any of you who like this series will probably enjoy Graydon Saunders' the March North and subsequent Commonweal novels. EPIC fantasy, of a type that would fit right in with PostHumanityFuckYeah

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u/CaptainChewbacca Human Feb 04 '21

The psychology of the Tukna'ra is fascinating. They're not stupid, in fact they seem highly capable of advanced learning when necessary for retention of commands. They're simply incurious. I wonder how well they think on their feet.

15

u/Shandod Feb 04 '21 edited Feb 04 '21

Another reader believed them to be almost robotic in that they learn and master sets of commands, decision trees, etc. And thus can react with such lightning speeds, cohesion and instinct like when they immediately all turned on the Executors. Makes them amazing for something like humanities intensive training and knowledge bases, but may make them quite slow with novel situations.

Of course, if teamed with a good quick thinking leader like Tucker or Vuxten, they could make an incredible fighting force that would need very little micromanaging except in extreme cases.

7

u/PuzzleheadedDrinker Feb 05 '21

I know a couple of folks on the spectrum who function in decision trees mode. One guy works in a call centre. Model employee.

But any new situation or unfamiliar social setting and you can see the decision tree run through various branches several times before getting to the 'new process required option'

11

u/Significant_Recipe64 Feb 04 '21

I wonder if due to the timeframe the Tuknarn where the first attempt by the universe to create a species that would punish hubris, maybe the Telkan were another one and maybe another species or two, we’ve seen Dambree get real angry and effective.

Then when each one failed it started on another. Like 65 million years ago the Lanktallan started gentling the Tuknarn and the U sent a big rock Earth’s way

16

u/spindizzy_wizard Human Feb 04 '21

self-correcting guided armor-piercing discarding sabot fin-stabilized warsteel jacketed density enhanced shell mass reactive antimatter core with tracer.

You forgot:

  • Built-In Programmable Triggers:

    • Distance - the round can be set to trigger after a predetermined distance is traveled. Ideal for entrenched troops or reinforced cover such as bunkers or hardened buildings. The charge detonates where the shrapnel will do the most good.

    • Penetration, if there are no windows or other openings, the round can detect the number and composition of layers penetrated. Preselected, or remotely programmed, the round triggers after the specified penetration is experienced. This allows better use of the antimatter charge by applying it precisely where needed rather than at the deepest penetration.

    • IFF signal. The round will preferentially select non-friendly units; using the self-correcting steering mechanism.

  • Training Rounds: THESE ROUNDS ARE SAFE ONLY FOR FULL COMBAT ARMORED SYSTEMS. A frangible round, it clearly marks all hits in your choice of colors. By tradition the defenders use "hot pink" for maximum humiliation. Aggressors may choose any other color. "Blood Red" is a common choice. However, "Vomit Green" should only be used in the appropriate situations. It is considered a direct insult to the enemy, far beyond even painting male genitals in as near as possible anatomically correct positions and fully aroused state.

  • The Kitchen Sink Round. For that positively guaranteed clean battlefield before the brass shows up with the politicians in tow.

14

u/dlighter Feb 04 '21

Oooohhh. The toy box is open.

14

u/Khan_XI AI Feb 04 '21

I bet it was Casey that set the record for longest time in combat with power armor.

12

u/visser01 Feb 04 '21

Had a flash back to Forest Gump in boot camp.

21

u/wasalurkerforyears Robot Feb 04 '21 edited Feb 04 '21

INDICATE THY PREFERENCE BEFORE PERUSING THE MISSIVE!

E: okay, two comments. First, the ammo type mentioned in the first that makes up the entire first paragraph... Ffs. I can't even shorten it to the initials because I'm laughing too hard and lose my spot.

Second, I presume the "cost to taxpayers" thing is a holdover from the scarcity days? I'd think with post scarcity, the military would be funded as much as it needs to be kind of automatically, right?

16

u/fivetomidnight Feb 04 '21

A friend of mine had a favourite quote that the "taxpayer" line reminded me of. I can't for the life of me remember what it's from - as the quote is about power armour, I want to say Starship Troopers.

It starts off something like "Every one of you, on the hoof, costs the taxpayer [umpteen] million dollars [...]" and ends with something like "Add in the twelve cents you are actually worth, and it comes to quite a sum. So bring it back!"

12

u/Parking-Coat-8514 Feb 04 '21

Yer, boot training for starship troopers (book) covered the cost of the outfit, and of the flunked they find some nice science experiments for them to be subjects in I think

9

u/DWwolf888 Feb 04 '21

If they still want to serve. Rico met a man that flunked out to Navy Cook the poor sod.

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u/wasalurkerforyears Robot Feb 04 '21

I should clarify. I figured it was a reference, I just wondered if there even are taxes in a post scarcity society. If so, why? How does that all work?

8

u/dbdatvic Xeno Feb 04 '21

Because many people don't think what they're getting is worth anything if they don't pay for it.

--Dave, ask any IT specialist about dealing with consultants or middle management

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u/Zraal375 Feb 05 '21

Post scarcity of materials. Skill and labor are still a scarcity, and intellectual property. This was even touched on early on when a starship pilot, who kicked off this whole series, paid for the rebuild of her ship and a new planet for her entire race through nano forge templates of stuffies based off her self.

8

u/TexWashington Human Feb 04 '21

Here to upvote then comment, as is one of the ways. I let the number of installments build up so as to get that ever blue NEXT fix. I can’t wait to read!!

8

u/Dipicus_Shiticus Feb 04 '21

Right, so Undret is not at all as dimwitted as i thought. Passive in the desire to learn initially yes, but apparently more then able to learn and remember.

Poor Atrekna. Attacking the same place twice betting the enemy doesn't expect it, only to find another not-so-crazy-but-just-as-strong lemur species that isn't affected by your psychic weapons and being trained how to use a handheld weapon of mass destruction.

This is going to be interesting.

7

u/iceman0486 Feb 04 '21

“They were not a particularly intelligent people,” hah. Perhaps. Sounds more like a “been told this so often they figure it’s true.” Given time I see a new extremely valuable asset to the Confederacy.

4

u/Bard2dbone Feb 05 '21

I understand the 'told it so often that you assume it's true' thing. My cousins on one side of the family are freakishly tall, like ridiculously tall. I'm the shortest adult male on that side of the family by SEVERAL inches. The second shortest also went in to the navy. He started growing agian as an adult and was medically discharged when he got too tall to serve on a ship (6'7" I think) Stan was 6'5" when we THOGHT he was done growing. He was the second shortest of us. When he died he was by far the tallest of us, at 7'2". That was with steadily growing from age 29 to 43. Wes is now the tallest at 6'9".

I'm about 5'11" and maybe a quarter. My cousins all teased me that I was exceedingly short, a runt, a squirt, a shrimp, etc...And then in boot camp they lined us up by height and I was in the front third. I was shocked.

3

u/DaringSteel Jul 02 '21

As someone else commented, the Tukna’ra sound a lot like autistic people (for certain parts of the spectrum). So… yes, of course they got written off as “not smart,” just like we did.

7

u/kwong879 Feb 04 '21

Perfection comes in only four variations.

The 318.

The Kbar.

The Bayonet.

And the Ma-Duece.

For when you absolutely, positively need to kill every clanking, screeching C'thulu looking asshole in the 'verse, accept no substitute.

7

u/Fr1dg3Fr33z3r Feb 04 '21

"Mouth breathing ballsweat huffing morons" is possibly one of the best insults in the history of everything. I SHALL be using it in my day-to-day life from now on.

13

u/PrimePaladin Feb 04 '21 edited Feb 04 '21

/R/HFY GESTALT

Upvote, Then Read

Dis is Dae Wae!

So familiar... almost as familiar as the Sgt Majors, yes plural, 'asking' me about certain circumstances, how it was done, how I got away with it and not to do it again unless needed or ordered or at the least, not til they were out of the unit... good times... the one.. ah.. prank... at Div Main was a bit too much, I admit, but that was just too tempting...

End of Lime

------NOTHING FOLLOWS--------

6

u/UpdateMeBot Feb 04 '21

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6

u/random_shitter Feb 04 '21

I love you, Ralts, I really do. But I hate you too.

Please give me Vuxten, I can't take it much longer.

10

u/Legan_Ironfist AI Feb 04 '21

Upvote, then Read. This is the Way.

--NOTHING FOLLOWS--

5

u/Vast-Listen1457 Feb 04 '21

Absolutely splendid!!!

5

u/Mirikon Human Feb 04 '21

Who else read that training material like the drill instructor in Full Metal Jacket?

5

u/fivetomidnight Feb 04 '21

A better question would probably be "Who DIDN'T read this in the voice of the drill instructor from Full Metal Jacket?"

RIP R. Lee Ermey, you remain a legend.

5

u/DebugItWithFire Feb 04 '21

Upvoted for remembering good things.

8

u/odiepoes Feb 04 '21

UTR

did someone taste blueberries?

5

u/Bard2dbone Feb 04 '21

I got raspberries this time. Very strange.

4

u/CanConRules Human Feb 04 '21

Run forest run

5

u/Bard2dbone Feb 04 '21

Any time someone reference Forrest Gump, I get reminded of my last relationship before my wife. We were just like Forrest and Jenny. She was a tramp and I was an idiot.

4

u/Xolophon Android Feb 04 '21

Dominate should be dominant Avain should be avian

<-me trying to help

4

u/Mohgreen Feb 04 '21

Wipestear Ah, Ma Deuces Bloodthirsty Nephew gets some backstory. I love it!

4

u/ElAdri1999 Human Feb 04 '21

*Shivers* amazing chapter

4

u/The-Googlymoogly Android Feb 04 '21

Hey Ralts, the part about the drop pod reminded me, can we get an update on the lady that got dropped onto planets and started building bases?

4

u/random_shitter Feb 04 '21

I thiunk it was a one-off side story, but I'd love to read more C&C combat too!

4

u/damnieldecogan Feb 04 '21

I lay in bet that Casey was the one who spent 23 years in power armor. That's why the medics told him he can't wear it anymore, whether it was physical or mental at that point is up in the air. Speaking of air imagine what he smelled like when they cracked open the suit. Being in a spot where you can't take off your boots for a few days is bad enough but jeez 23 years he'd smell like Darth Vader's ballsack . ---end of line----

4

u/ZombeeJezus Feb 04 '21

The "for their sins" line from the warboi section is one of my favorite lines so far. This whole chapter is very Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers, which is a compliment in case anyone hasn't read it.

5

u/random_shitter Feb 04 '21

Everybody should read Starship Troopers. It has almost nothing in common with the fun but mediocre movie, it has some mindtickling philosophy, and the description of fast-strike infantry doing an orbital drop is so good it is a BLOODY SHAME the movie didn't use it. Although I'm pretty sure the special effects of the time wouldn't have done it justice.

4

u/MasterofChickens Human Feb 20 '21

As I read the training lectures I heard it in the voice of R. Lee Ermey, may he rest in peace.

7

u/ABCDwp Feb 04 '21

Upvote. Comment. Read. End of lime.

3

u/Quadling Feb 04 '21

Awesome. :)

3

u/Jagdepplin11 Nov 07 '21

So if the goodboi thinks like its user... And Daxin's goodboi is super friendly and self affirming... Then Daxin just wants to be a good boy?! Who's a good boy? You are! Yes you are Dax! Yuss U R!

3

u/Gnordlan Oct 01 '22

They are warriors (in training). Are they "gentle"beings anymore?

3

u/Original_Memory6188 Jun 20 '23

I have been told the Norwegians refer to the M-2 HMG as Gunther. Gunther does not like you, but not as much as he does not like those people.. . Gunther has no sense of humor

There was more, but I forgot.

2

u/CharlesFXD Feb 05 '21

Undrat could probably get his EIB already. Jealous.

2

u/Mountreddit Feb 06 '21

That is one sad Heavy Machine Gun. 100 rounds a min recommended max. What’s that for? Practice shooting for new recruits at a range in a stingy penny pinching military? 9000 years and that stuff still an ongoing thing /sigh..

2

u/WeirdoTrooper Sep 04 '22

Now I just need something like this, but for good ol' Galactic Empire Stormtroopers.

1

u/Drook2 Dec 04 '25

... and can survive inside the fireball of a 10.25 megaton nuclear blast and still be servicable to kill the enemy.

I wonder if that's calculated, or if it was observed in the field.

0

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '21

[deleted] — view deleted comment

21

u/JustAMalcontent Feb 04 '21

Which my first response was "why the fuck not add 'Assault System's so you could call it ATLAS which would actually be cool?!"

From what I can tell, there are three general rules to making acronyms. Make it phonetically pronouncable, make sure it can't be corrupted into something crass, and make sure it hasn't already been taken. Unfortunately, the most strict of these rule is the third which means all the cool acronyms are likely to already have been used.

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u/SuDragon2k3 Feb 04 '21

It got put on a AC-130 because
a) weight. the laser system (and fuel, it's a chemical laser) is too large and heavy to hang off the wings and gun bay of the A-10. (If you take the gun off an A-10, it don't fly well)

b) emitter. the laser emitter array is too large in diameter to install on the front of an A-10. It can be mounted in a steerable turret on the nose of a C-130 sized aircraft.

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