lucetimods: (Masamune)
Luceti Mods ([personal profile] lucetimods) wrote2013-03-25 01:06 pm
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TERRACE Draft

Alright everyone, here’s your draft details! Keep an eye out for a Malnosso post about to be posted to set things up. You’ll be able to use it to have your characters react and start making preparations for the battle.

When the Malnosso make their announcement, Lucetians will be told they are being sent to Region 1. Once part of the Malnosso territory, Region 1 has been occupied by the cultists for centuries and the Malnosso have had little success in retaking it. However a new initiative has been formed to retake the lost region in light of the cultist civil war, as it has been determined that the cultist horde previously inhabiting the region were wiped out by another sect. It’s ripe for the taking and the MSF intend to make good on this. Thus they’ve called in additional reinforcements from the other enclosures. For this endeavor, the more manpower the better.

TERRACE
TACTICAL, ENGAGEMENT, RESISTANCE & RESPONSE
AERO-COMMAND ENCLOSURE


To prepare for the strike, the volunteers are transported to TERRACE, a flying sky fortress built on a floating island. According to those who live there, the island was discovered centuries ago by the Malnosso to be the product of a natural Shift that kept it constantly suspended in the air. At first it became a Malnosso city, but when the cultist hordes descended on it, the inhabitants successfully fended them off. As the attacks continued to come, the island became more and more fortified until today, where it is now known as the heart of the Malnosso Security Forces. As a result, this flying fortress is a fusion of the old and the new, with many of the stony structures from the Malnosso’s past still making up parts of the city, but other parts are built with sophisticated modern architecture.


Sector T7 as seen during arrival. This section features several historic landmarks from the organization’s early history.


In its entire history, TERRACE has never once been taken over by enemy forces, in spite of its long history. It’s noted that even the General, who has led five attacks on the city, has never managed to successfully take over more than one sector. Every attack has been repelled to the point that the cultists have not tried to assault the city in over thirty years. Largely this is in part due to the encircle massive outer guns that encircle the floating island. Each of these large guns pack incredible power and are used to take down cultist airships with a single blast. Because of this, cultists have never even able to close in on the city to ever land a successful strike. This time, they are attempting to take TERRACE from within. A number of cultists have infiltrated the base and have been masquerading as MSF soldiers, poised to strike first against a fortress they’ve long wanted to conquer.


Sector T2’s outer gun, covered in ice due to environmental glitching.


For this draft, the Malnosso have called in several enclosures to participate. Involuntary draftees have been called in from Luceti, Kin’cora, Excenn, O’Connell, and Zompania. These draftees have all been placed in T7. Enlisted MSF soldiers from Tyrus and Vaskoth have also been called in and placed in T6, most of whom seem intimately familiar with the section already. In fact, a rumour quickly spreads from one garrison to another that the enlisted MSF soldiers have been given nicer quarters. In comparison, T7 has obviously only ever been used for temporary draftee housing. All have been given twenty-four hours to prepare themselves for the attack on Region One, including procuring additional arms and making any other necessary preparations.

Day One - March 27th

At some point during this first day, Biliruben makes a surprise appearance in T7. Although protected by the MSF, he is willing and eager to talk to his fellow Lucetians. After all, none of them have seen him in his younger body. He’s quite excited by this. The Commandant herself may also make an appearance.

During this day, many draftees may suffer from altitude sickness as they adjust. Shift afflictions may also occur during this time. Due to the area being powered by a natural Shift, there is considerably less protection than in most Malnosso compounds. Consequently, a great number of draftees may suffer from this and need to go to the practitioner's office for an injection that will help them recover from these effects. For information on Shift Afflictions, check out the last section in the Nitpicker’s Guide.

That evening, draftees are sent to the barracks, with each enclosure being given their own section to share. These accommodations are in large buildings with several rows of bunkbeds shared between all, including the adjoining mess hall and open showers. No effort has been made to separate individuals by gender. Despite the uncomfortable quarters, they are promised it will only be for one night, as they will be deployed the following morning.

Day Two & Three - March 28th - 29th

At two AM on the 28th, when most of the city is sleeping, a sudden alarm will sound to wake up the inhabitants. It signals an attack. Covered in a night sky, it won’t be easy to see what’s going on, but cultists will descend from the sky with alarming frequency. Those who make it to the outer edges of the city will see that cultist airships are incoming. Worse yet, the outer guns are not firing upon them. In fact, all of the city’s defenses seem to be completely down, leaving soldiers left with nothing to fight with but the weapons in their hands.


Cultist airships may look fairly simple in design, but their fleet include hundreds of these flying ships, each carrying complements of over a hundred cultists. These airships were used on the naval draft.


For two days, the draftees and soldiers in T6 and T7 will be forced to fight off the cultist hordes who continue to invade by airship. Though many of these airships may be taken down, there’s too many of them to successfully repel without the outer guns online. During this time, draftees may be able to make it to the docking area where they will be able to access Malnosso aircraft to take into the sky to battle. Naturally, only characters with flight experience will have success making use of these vehicles, as no prior training will be offered to pilot them. Likewise, land vehicles may also be able to use, though anything bigger than a small tank will not be found in the outer garrisons.

Any attempt to make it to the central section will be rebuffed by the outer ring that protects it from invasion. This fortified wall has already been taken by cultists, who have taken the entire inner area for one long drawn out siege.

By the third day, T6 and T7 will have been successfully secured. With little recourse left, it’s up to the soldiers and draftees in these areas to retake the city or face annihilation by the cultists. Well-contested and conflict-heavy areas will show the wear and horror of war, with corpses from both sides of the war littering the ground.

Day Four - March 30th

At some point during the night, the cultists managed to access and activate the Droid Reserves Center at TERRACE’s heart. From this point onwards, they dispatch the droids out into the surrounding garrisons. These droids swell and support the cultist numbers, seeking out anyone attempting to encroach upon ground already won by the cultists. They attack in groups and the most efficient way to thwart them is to find and attack the Shifter controlling the group. During this time, the contested areas will be T5 and T8. Now with the droids under cultist control, the effort to retake the city will become substantially more difficult.

Day Five - March 31st

Although it had been rumored as early as the 29th, the truth finally comes out. Cultists managed to infiltrate the city as soldiers and civilians. MSF soldiers report that they used this to infiltrate key areas of the city, disabling its defenses, and seizing the Central Urban Center (the controversial title for TERRACE’s interior) early into the invasion. So the MSF have issued a simple order to their soldiers. All large-winged soldiers (dubbed Lucies) and civilians are to be immediately apprehended and placed in the detention area. Any that try to resist are to be killed on sight.

Some of the draftees, especially Kin’corans, begin to use this as an excuse to kill anyone with large wings, regardless of whether they surrender or not. With a surge of more MSF soldiers freed from T5 and T8, these areas are reclaimed. With them they’ll bring Shift Hunters. These domesticated beasts are capable of tracking down Shifters with incredible ease, making the task of eliminating the droids much quicker and effective.

Day Six - April 1st

On the last day, orders come out to retake the city, from the Commandant herself. In order to end the conflict on TERRACE, certain sectors must be reclaimed. More important than most of the garrisons are TERRACE’s large outer guns, as well as the CUC. It is vital that the defenses, droid controls, and other vital systems be retaken.

Draftees must:
  • Reactivate the outer guns. By escorting MSF officers to the guns, these outer guns can have their command codes overwritten, allowing them to begin firing on the cultist airfleet that still waits outside the city. All eight outer guns must be reactivated.
  • Liberate detention centers. There are several detention centers where soldiers and civilians are being held to await sacrifice. Freeing these individuals will not only save their lives, but also provide additional forces to retake the city.
  • Shut down the droids. Although eliminating shifters may take care of small groups of droids, there are security overrides to shut them down permanently. There are several separate platoons of droids throughout the central section and each have their own shutdown procedures. Infiltrating these sections will be key to retaking the city.
  • Activate the barrier. Each garrison has a power distribution center that will need to be powered up again. These powerful generators are still active in T6 and T7, but the other ones will need to have minor repairs made to them in order to get them running again. Once all eight are at full power again, the barrier will be reactivated.

    Please note that it’s not important who does which task. There are several things that need doing to retake the city and as such, everyone has a chance to play a key role in this. Since there are multiples of each of the above, try not to worry about who will do what and who has dibs on each thing. Collaboration is great, but exclusion is not.

    Additional Notes about TERRACE

    TERRACE is a flying collection of garrisons and administrative sectors, where the garrisons are built in a wheel shape around the Central Urban Section, which normally houses around 15,000 soldiers and civilians. The CUC possess both command and astronomy towers, an observational dome, a central hospital, and a commerce sector. It houses all of the educational and recreational facilities not found within the garrisons themselves. The CUC also holds a considerable quantity of droids in reserve for times of civil unrest and emergency. These droids will be unleashed upon the draftees on the 30th, when the cultists take control of the Droid Reserve Center (DRC).

    After the initial attack, the cultists gain control T1 through to T4, as well as the CUC. T5 and T8 will be contested ground, where the draftees must advance to stop the cultists from entirely overrunning TERRACE.

    Each garrison has the capacity to hold 7,500 individuals (including soldiers and their families), but most of the troops have already left for Region 1 by the time of the attack. However, a fraction remain and those left in cultist-controlled or contested garrisons have promptly been imprisoned for eventual sacrifice. As the draftees gain ground within TERRACE, these prisoners can be freed and they will join the ranks in order to help repel the attack. These areas will also have plenty of infrastructure that must be cleared and conquered before moving on to the next garrison.

    Consider each garrison as its own military base. Each possess an armoury, various barracks buildings and mess halls, general practitioner’s clinics, fitness facilities, detention areas, administration buildings, as well as residential areas for the families of MSF recruits. In addition, each garrison has a docking bay, access to two of TERRACE’s outer guns, and a training dome that is a more professional version of Luceti’s own Battle Dome. In some garrisons, these training domes are malfunctioning and causing all kinds of environmental havoc: T2 has a permanent blizzard; T4 has a permanent heatwave; T5 has permanent thunderstorms; T8 has permanent nighttime conditions.



    Participating Enclosures:

    Tyrus
    Cycle: Tenth Year
    Population: 8000+
    Region: Ten
    Deployed: 1000+ enlisted soldiers
    An enclosure noted to be ending its experimental cycle, the Tyrus enclosure has not been involved with other enclosures for quite a while. This is their last draft before the cycle is starting over. Many of its inhabitants are already considered members of the Malnosso and are in the process of choosing new places to live. Many of the soldiers on this draft intend to stay on TERRACE afterward.

    Vaskoth
    Cycle: Ninth Year
    Population: 5000+
    Region: Eleven
    Deployed: All
    An enclosure far into its development. Resembling a small town more than a village, Vaskoth has developed to the point of having its own currency, roads and vehicles, homes spread out across the forest and mountains, an elected mayor and city council, and even the ability to vote for experiments conducted. They maintain their own MSF base, crewed primarily by their own people. Only soldiers are sent to battle, with the rest having won draft immunity via cooperation. They were previously subjected to an unfortunate zombie plague that decimated its population. Most of them are now reborn, but suffering from a variety of death penalties, some more debilitating than others.

    Luceti
    Cycle: Sixth Year
    Population: 300+
    Region: Six
    Deployed: TBD
    An enclosure far into its development and often a focus of much of the Malnosso’s attention. Although considered wildly dangerous, they have proven cooperative with the Malnosso and have accomplished remarkable feats that would be considered impossible for other enclosures. As a favorite enclosure of the previous CEO, it is has been the subject of many gifts and considerations other enclosures haven’t. Unlike most enclosures, subjects in Luceti are noted for having relatively brief stays within the world and consequently the ever shifting population leaves the enclosure divided.


    Excenn
    Cycle: Fourth Year
    Population: 300+
    Region: Three
    Deployed: 120
    A standard enclosure quite similar to Luceti and Kin’cora. With a diverse population of fighters and civilians, it has proven receptive to cooperating with the Malnosso, though only to an extent. They are frequently seen on missions, often in combat roles. Legends of Luceti have been passed around within Excenn to the extent that most of the population tends to idolize Lucetians and are eager to work with them on drafts and missions. Although they have numerous soldiers, most of them pale in comparison to Luceti’s fighters.

    Zompania
    Cycle: Third Year
    Population: 100+
    Region: Thirteen
    Deployed: 50
    A small enclosure established in honor of Count Zompano some time ago. Despite the subjects being relatively ‘normal’ and lacking in powers, they have been a favorite of the MARS program due to how often they participate in missions. They are sometimes used on drafts, but usually in support roles, due to the low number of fighters among them. Although they have crossed paths with Lucetians on previous recurring missions, they are not often seen on drafts.

    O’Connell
    Cycle: Third Year
    Population: 200+
    Region: Eight
    Deployed: 70
    This enclosure is among those that are frequently on missions and were present for the space draft. Consequently its name is likely familiar to those in Luceti already. Their enclosure has been described by their own as being much drier than Luceti’s and being heavily dependant on the rivers as a water source. They are subjected to infrequent experiments and have traditionally displayed a grudging acceptance of the Malnosso and the situation. They were one of the enclosures endangered by the FTSA when Depot 8 was attacked.

    Kin’cora
    Cycle: Second Year
    Population: 500+
    Region: Six
    Deployed: 300
    An enclosure still very early in its development that was unintentionally exposed to the world at large during a cultist attack that forced refugees to stay in Luceti. Two of its notable leaders are a rational man named Homer and a rough warrior named Korras Blake. They previously experienced a zombie outbreak in their own village. Due to the brutality of experiments in their enclosure, they share a close bond with each other and are very suspicious of others. Only recently has this enclosure been granted access to the MARS program, although presently they are kept separate from Luceti when deployed on missions due to past tensions.

    You are free to make use of NPCs for these enclosures. If you feel like recording them or reusing old ones, then check out the spreadsheet here.

    The Third Party

    Most information can be found on the Nitpicker’s Guide. Notably, this will be the first draft in a long time to NOT include the Elites. All cultists will either be Shifters, Dream Shifters or Foot Soldiers. After the fourth day, they will be making use of droids, which are talked about here. These are standard droids for kidnappings. They do not have the weaknesses that were recently introduced by a previous mission, as these are very old droids that have been in storage for several years now. As mentioned before, they will be controlled by Shifters. Eliminating the Shifter in control will cause the droids to deactivate.

    It will become apparent as the battle goes on that these are not your typical cultists, as they are using far more strategy and cunning than is normally expected from them. Soldiers will spread rumors and speculation about this, with many concluding that they are being led by a traitor of the Malnosso, who is responsible for the attempt on the General’s life made a month ago (see Mission 13). Eventually, most soldiers will conclude that the attack on Region 1 was always intended as a trap to empty out TERRACE.

    As always, please put your questions in the MOD QUESTIONS thread below. Remember, you can still sign up here!

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