EVENT #05: FIREWORKS FOR NEW YEAR PREPARATION

[vivalamods]

EVENT #05: FIREWORKS FOR NEW YEAR PREPARATION

With winter’s chill already setting in, Corsair laboratories are hard at work pumping out explosives for the operation to come. After extensive training, the crews of the Corsair airship brigade bring the infiltrators quietly to the Isles Above, all cabin lights doused to move stealthily to the drop point. There, Corsair specialists will disembark and plant explosives, as well as, perhaps, make contact with local workers and evacuate them if time permits. With all crews operating with quiet efficiency, the time is almost nigh to strike at the heart of the Empire itself.

Any mission marked Critical must have at least one log in progress by the end of the month to be counted as complete. Missing Critical missions will have major negative impacts on the Execution mission in the following month. Supplemental missions can be completed or not, completing them will go toward achieving optimal results during the Execution mission next month. As with Critical missions, Supplemental missions must have at least one log in progress by the end of the month to be counted as complete.

SUPPLIER MISSIONS

Create Explosives: Characters will need to create explosives and munitions for deployment.
Priority: Critical
Challenges: In order to get explosives that will make enough of a dent in the Imperial forces, Corsairs will need to develop them from the live rounds dropped above the vault. Logs can involve recovering salvage as well as construction of explosives.

Develop Precision Explosives: Characters will need to develop precision explosives to avoid undue damage to the civilians of Bluvink during the attack.
Priority: Supplemental
Challenges: This will require some research and development from suppliers to find explosives that will detonate at very specific levels in order to not cause the volatile materials within the Bluvink factory to ignite and cause wide-scale damage to the town.

Develop Communications Hijack: Characters will need to develop a tool that can hijack communications within the Empire.
Priority: Supplemental
Challenges: This will require recovering some Imperial communication technology from salvage or from the Vault and finding a way to dominate Imperial airwaves so they can’t shut down the Corsair propaganda.

INFILTRATOR MISSIONS

Set Explosives in Bluvink: Characters will need to sneak into the Bluvink factory and set explosives, preparing for them to explode during the New Year attack.
Priority: Critical
Challenges: The factory has regular guard rotations that can be figured out with proper observation, they will need to be avoided. The facility will also need to be properly cased so that the explosives can be set in places they will not be detected.

Set Explosives in the Vindess Mines: Characters will need to sneak into the Vindess Mines and set explosives, preparing for them to explode during the New Year attack.
Priority: Critical
Challenges: The mines have regular guard rotations and are constantly manned by serfs and servants. All will need to be avoided in order to set the explosives, and those manning the mines must be avoided at all costs.

NEGOTIATOR MISSIONS

Miner Negotiation: Characters will need to convince the miners to evacuate and to join with the Corsairs, as well as not tip off the Imperials.
Priority: Supplemental
Challenges: Many miners are distrustful of the Corsairs due to Imperial Propoganda, and several are Imperial loyalists even under the current circumstances. Several miners may need to be subdued in order to safely evacuate the area without their captors being alerted.

VILLAINS

Villain plots will be planned this month and will happen in the following month. Potential villains may post here to start workshopping potential plots that they may take part in next month.

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Comments

[upupatomway]

"I don't know, humor of a guillotine and demeanor of a glacier sound rather poetic. Maybe you're better with words than you realize. I know I've made people laugh when I didn't expect to simply talking about something abstract." He chuckles softly.

Atom looks slightly confused by her question. "What army? You mean which faction of the Corsairs freed me from the Empire after they abducted me from home, or which I've been assigned to?" He has to ask for clarification, although he's not sure either guess is right.

[theriflespiral]

"I mean that... Surely, someone noticed your talent, and taught you these things. Given the nature of them, I had assumed someone 'back home' had taught you for the purpose of... Weapons development or other such research." She shook her head. He seemed so young, especially. It was a damned shame. "Though I would be glad to be mistaken."

[upupatomway]

"Oh!" Atom catches on, not only to her question but that she's speaking from her own experience. His expression softens. "I've been lucky not to be forced into an army. The closest I've come to that at home was becoming a peace ambassador and trying to do what I could for civilians in the war zone. Dr. Ochanomizu, who is legally my maintainer, wouldn't let me be a soldier. But I don't think anyone ever requested I join the war to begin with because I look like a kid on the outside. Child soldiers have been almost nonexistent in my world in the last several decades. In the most recent wars, when countries wanted to supplement their troops, they have built or recruited robots to fight."

She must not have been told what he is, so he asks, "Do you know what a robot is?"

[theriflespiral]

She blinked. When she thought of robots and drones, what came to her mind were oversized, treaded vehicles of war, or quadcopters, or little speedboats with a big punch, not something like Atom. But 'maintainer'? 'nonexistent' child soldiers? She could add up fairly well. "... We do, but I think none nearly so advanced as you, or even the ones on your world. Most robots back home need to be piloted by humans, or else carefully programmed so as not to break themselves."

[upupatomway]

"My world was a lot like that in the past, but about 50 years ago the breakthroughs began that lead to modern robotics, and robots with a sense of self. That said, I'm a lot more humanlike than most robots are. Androids are a recent development. I was built over thirteen years ago now, but my AI is considered by engineers to be the most advanced built into a robot so far."

He rubs the back of his neck, looking a little pink in the face. "It's kind of embarrassing to say," he admits. "I'm not entirely sure how they decided that when there are plenty of others built with very advanced AI."

[theriflespiral]

"If I had to guess, there's two unrelated reasons," Natalia said. "The first is that you've likely proven highly adaptable in an increasingly wide variety of situations-- something newer AIs haven't had a chance to prove yet. The wider the situations you've been tested in, the harder it is to prove that a different structure of general AI are more adaptable."

She pauses, and circles a set of figures, and mutters something awful in Russian. "The second is that the engineers like you."

[upupatomway]

"Probably. I was built more oriented towards being like a growing human. Others were built with specific duties in mind, but I wasn't. I'm sure it has helped my adaptability, although any robot with a sense of self has the ability to learn. These days they even have hobbies," he explains.

He catches her mutter but politely pretends he didn't hear. He should probably tell her he knows Earth's languages, though maybe not in the middle of understandably frustrating calculations being done. He's heard worse than a little cursing.

"I guess I have gotten along with most of the ones I've met over the years. And of course Dr. Ochanomizu is like family. But I hope they didn't decide based on whether they like me." That would make it even more awkward!

[theriflespiral]

"Bias is a treacherous beast." She rubbed her forehead, leaving a smudge of graphite dust on it. "Tell me I've got this wrong, because if I'm right, these are going to be satchel charges, at minimum. We'll need multiple people inside to plant them."

"... Hobbies. Hm." Did she... have hobbies? The ones she used to have got absorbed into her missions...

[upupatomway]

He gets distracted, wondering if she's right about biases. As much as he tries to rush through the topic of his reputation, it has still had an impact on how he has processed the way certain people see him. Would any existing bias for or against his creator have contributed? -But maybe it isn't a bias problem at all. -But he hadn't considered it until now. He could have overlooked something. The thoughts go at rapid fire and tempt him to dig deeper into memory files.

Her question refocuses him. "Yes. I think we'll need a small group. We'll have to discuss with the leaders when finalize the number of charges how many should go."

Keep writing the measurements out, he tells himself. It's not hard to juggle the task and other thoughts with the computing power of his brain, but he is better off considering that train of thought alone in his room later.

"Do you have any hobbies?" he asks her. He's not sure how much free time she'd have, but an unmentioned part of being in a war has proven to be waiting.

[theriflespiral]

"Used to. I used to love learning new martial arts, new games with the hands and movement and flexibility, picking up a new weapon and figuring out how it is used.

"I used to love playing with the rules and laws of maths, proofs danced in my mind, visual, numeric, geometric, artistic.

"I used to-- To love so much and it--" And then, there is ice. "-- It became part of the mission."

[upupatomway]

"The Vault has all kinds of supplies for art- not just papers for attack plans," Atom says. "If you ever want to do any of those things you enjoyed before to pass the time between missions, it's available. As serious as everyone is about the battle, the Corsairs really enjoy having fun too. They just had a giant feast a little while ago."

He can't tell from her answer if focusing on the mission alone was due to the ways of the army she had been in or a personal decision. Either way, he can't help but encourage her to consider some fun options when there's time. Maybe he has known one too many burnt out workaholics to ignore it.