BGC Bunny/Seed/Opening

[Valles]

---

JUNE 8, 2035
"GRINDTOWN" INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT
OSAKA, JAPAN
"Sylia, what's wrong?"
Sylia Stingray pulled herself out of her thoughts with a quick shake of her head and smiled at the woman who had become - to their mutual surprise - her closest friend. "Nothing. Just thinking about how quickly all this happened."
Nene sighed and carefully leaned her head back against one of the Knightwing's unpadded headrests. "I guess I understand. For years and years it was just us, and now, whammo, we've got 'expansion teams' all over the place."
"That's part of it, I guess. But... I owe all of you an apology."
The redhead made a face and reached forward to rap her gauntlet off of the other woman's helmet. "I was a kid, Sylia. God only knows what kind of mess I'd've made of things if you'd put me in charge of the entire computer system back then. Yeah, okay, you shouldn't've tried to do it all yourself, superhuman computer brain or not, but we've all done a lot of growing up since then. You don't need to mope about it any more than Priss needs to mope about all the suits she wrecked."
"I wrecked?" the singer said through the comlink from where she was leaning against the VTOL's landing gear. "Hey, while we're comparing repair bills, Little Miss Cyberpunk, let's talk about-"
"They're here," Linna said, cutting in against another chapter of the perpetual good-natured fued between the Knight Sabers' most and least agressive members.
The five armored figures that were landing on the roof where the Knightwing had set down were clad in armor very similar to the Sabers' own - as it should have been - but were still distinctively different. First and foremost, of course, there was the fact that one of them were quite unmistakably male, but other details large and small, from the design of their boots to the use of slashes of color on a drab background rather than solid shades, gave them a unified appearance all their own.
"So who gets to kill who?" Nene asked as she lifted her helmet on and sealed it in place.
Linna turned to look at her, though of course she couldn't see more than a dim profile from outside the one-way mirroring of the Knightwing's cockpit. "This is just an exercise, you know. No one is going to kill anyone."
The youngest Saber blew a raspberry at her.
"Red and Blue will work together to occupy Owl, Cobra, and Wolf. Green and I will seperate and eliminate Hawk and Tiger, respectively, before returning to support you." Sylia belted out the orders as the aircraft's cockpit opened to allow its two occupants to disembark. "Green, be careful, Hawk is-"
"I know, we've met before."
"Good." She stood and armed her suit's systems. "Knight Sabers, sanjou!"

---

This is ultimately supposed to be the Menagerie's story, not the Sabers', but our favorite girls will likely make cameos from time to time.
As to who the Menagerie are themselves, well, I know differing amounts about different members - the ones I have the most on are Hawk and Wolf, who are, well...
Hawk is, of course, one of the group's two close-combat specialists, and a good enough martial artist that she was living off of tournament prizes before she got pregnant with her daughter (who is, BTW, somewhere around sixish, and smart and precocious enough to seem anywhere between half again and twice that). Outside of the suits, she'd take Linna apart fairly easily, for comparison, although experience with that sort of fighting makes the odds both more even and weighted in the other direction in the situation described above.In between beating up psychotic boomers and taking care of her kid, she's fueding with her ex-husband and dating Cobra.
No, Owl is the resident male, along with being the team leader and the person who shelled out the Menagerie's starting capital. His suit is the only generalist design.
Cobra's a stripper in her day job. Owl's the only other one who knows that, though, and even he hasn't figured out that she's an escaped 33-S rather than a 50/50 cyborg with a blood disorder. She's one of the two shooters.
My earliest drafts had Tiger as being Jeena Malso of ADP fame, but on reflection I suspect it'd be best to scrap that... which'd leave the only fact we have being that she's the other close-combat specialist.
Wolf is the oldest, the most cynical, and the most experienced at violence, being as she is, or was, a professional mercenary for most of her adult life. She's Russian, originally, and has a fairly serious hate on for the male species in general. Thinks Owl means well, but never turns her back on him. Besides being the other shooter, she carries the demolition charges.
Their suits were all designed using the RPG rules, and those familiar with same will likely recognize their mark.
The Hawk suit is capable of independant flight up to Skyknight levels, is unusually flexible, and is armed with a railgun on one arm, a three-shot plasma torch (aka, lightsaber) deployable from the other, and shock plates on heels and knuckles. Its helmet is shaped and painted to resemble a hawk's face.
The Tiger is slow, its only ranged weapon is a set of low-intensity plate lasers, like those seen in the 55 series boomers, and its close-combat weapons are limited to a series of Really Really Sharp claws on the fingers of its gauntlets, but it's very heavily armored and stronger by far than any of the other hardsuits - comfortably stronger than anything short of Largo's superboomers. Given proper tactics and a working knowledge of leverage, it's capable of quite literally pulling most opponents limb from limb.
Besides carrying arm-mounted railguns and a laser array in the helmet, the Cobra is also the Menagerie's electronic warfare platform. Its jammers deploy above the shoulders, on either side of the helmet, giving rise to its name.
The Wolf has half a dozen S-mines in either arm and a pair of large laser cannons mounted on shoulder armatures and stored along the back - they deploy below the arm, rather than over the shoulders, though.
You might've noticed I didn't mention the Cobra as having hypersensors - it doesn't. The Owl carries those, but aside from that and substituting railguns for the lasers, it's a fairly close copy of Sylia's later suits, right down to the flight capability.
As to why I'm posting here, well, partially it's just to get this down on record rather than cooking in my brain, but I'd also genuinely like input, ideas, and other commentary.
Heck, coauthors are welcome!
Ja, -n

===============================================
"Puripuri puripuri... Bang!"

[CattyNebulart]

you might want to add the fact that the suits have animal heads painted on their helmets to the description of the suits, worded in a more elegant fashion of course.
Other than that it looks ok, reserveing future judegemnt until/if I see more. And aren't you working on too many bunnies already Vales?
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

[Rieverre]

---

Other than that it looks ok, reserveing future judegemnt until/if I see more. And aren't you working on too many bunnies already Vales?

---

And this has stopped any of us, when?

---

The Tiger is slow, its only ranged weapon is a set of low-intensity plate lasers, like those seen in the 55 series boomers, and its close-combat weapons are limited to a series of Really Really Sharp claws on the fingers of its gauntlets, but it's very heavily armored and stronger by far than any of the other hardsuits - comfortably stronger than anything short of Largo's superboomers. Given proper tactics and a working knowledge of leverage, it's capable of quite literally pulling most opponents limb from limb.

---

I dunno, I just can't seem to see the 'claws' as being anything more than an inconvenience to whatever she's going against, rather than an actual weapon. Unless you shove the gauntlet into a boomer's gut, and if it comes to that, they'll hardly be anything but an accessory to the already massive damage caused.
Unless you're talking about Waldos and having the 'hands' be out of proportion with the rest of the suit, with the claws not there as a weapon but more an aid for whenever Tiger wants to grab and toss, or grapple something.
As for Tiger herself ... military or police background, yeah. Maybe just go with Jeena, maybe pick up someone who'd gone AWOL after her tour in Antarctica, from either the UN or the Chinese side. Chinese would be better, methinks. Maybe a sleeper for the Hou-Bang, even?

---

Wolf is the oldest, the most cynical, and the most experienced at violence, being as she is, or was, a professional mercenary for most of her adult life. She's Russian, originally, and has a fairly serious hate on for the male species in general. Thinks Owl means well, but never turns her back on him. Besides being the other shooter, she carries the demolition charges.

---

Sniper Wolf! Heh. Sorry, I keep seeing Metal Gear references all over the place these days.
So, obviously, at some point in time Owl gets to pull her ass out of the fire - it's only in genre.
On the other hand, who is Owl in the first place? Obviously, he's not nearly as paranoid as Sylia, else he'd have caught on to Cobra sooner than he and the rest of the team inevitably will (also in genre). Money is a given, some prior contact with Sylia and a present tech-base would be par for the course.
I'd speculate more, but I've got to get a move on. Later.
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm

[Acyl]

Owl's identity, I think, is important.
Even if the man is...independently wealthy, somehow, and can fund his team's operations...the hardsuit technology still belongs to Sylia.
She needs a reason to trust him with the tech...and to operate outside her immediate control.
Sylia (at least the OVA one, I haven't seen 2040) isn't as paranoid as many fanfic authors like to portray her...at least, that's my read on the situation. But she still is paranoid...although the Sylia in this world might well have mellowed some. The very idea of expansion teams hints at that...unless she really trusts all the branch leaders.
In which case, y'know...again...why?
On a side note, I'm tempted to suggest that Owl's real name is Christopher Milne, and he's currently working on a high-altitude jump pack for Tiger...and new hardsuit designs codenamed 'Bear', 'Rabbit', 'Donkey', 'Kangaroo', and 'Piglet'.
But that's probably just a wee bit too silly.
*coughs* Ahem.
-- Acyl

[Valles]

---

you might want to add the fact that the suits have animal heads painted on their helmets to the description of the suits, worded in a more elegant fashion of course.

---

*nodnod* Unfortunately, it's a little difficult to describe an ANBU mask without a picture to illustrate.

---

Unless you're talking about Waldos and having the 'hands' be out of proportion with the rest of the suit, with the claws not there as a weapon but more an aid for whenever Tiger wants to grab and toss, or grapple something.

---

That's the way it works, though I'll note that they're also intended to be able to dig in and punch through sheer plates and such - but mostly they're intended to augment the grip of the suit's powered gauntlets, yeah. Less Wolverine, more Sabertooth.

---

As for Tiger herself ... military or police background, yeah. Maybe just go with Jeena, maybe pick up someone who'd gone AWOL after her tour in Antarctica, from either the UN or the Chinese side. Chinese would be better, methinks. Maybe a sleeper for the Hou-Bang, even?

---

Or even openly affiliated, since I figure Vison's in control of the Chang Group by this point... Hmm. Yeah, that'd make an interesting addition.
Ja, -n
(*has far, far too many bunnies - but they breed*)

===============================================
"Puripuri puripuri... Bang!"

[Acyl]

---

Or even openly affiliated, since I figure Vison's in control of the Chang Group by this point... Hmm. Yeah, that'd make an interesting addition.

---

If an open link between the team and the Chang Group is a possibility, based on an established alliance between Chang and the Knight Sabers...
...then maybe Owl works for Chang, as well...and that's where their funding comes from. It solves the problem with having to explain who these folks are, and just why Sylia lets 'em run around with her hardsuit technology.
-- Acyl

[Rieverre]

Besides the question of how he's supposed to have become independantly wealthy.
Either make him a 'self-made man' ...
... maybe, 'onetime owner/stockholder of company that experienced a hostile takeover courtesy of GENOM', and the starting capital came from the patents he was left with afterwards.
Or go the 'Stately Wayne Manor' path, having him be the somewhat idealistic heir to a small/medium sized fortune of some sort with a grudge against GENOM because of ... well, maybe some familiar matter akin to Sylia's - that'd be a free sympathy card right there.
There are likely more possible choices. Since you said Wolf 'thinks Owl means well', then he's likely still more or less wet behind the ears, which rules out any sort of military or police background for him.
As for the name? Hmm. *chuckles* Just call him Edmond Cristo, nee 'Dantes', or maybe just 'Dante' as a nom-de-guerre.

---

...then maybe Owl works for Chang, as well...and that's where their funding comes from. It solves the problem with having to explain who these folks are, and just why Sylia lets 'em run around with her hardsuit technology.

---

Nope, the Chang Clan has a sponsored team up North, most of them with military background, and with names taken from the Chinese Zodiac.

---

Besides carrying arm-mounted railguns and a laser array in the helmet, the Cobra is also the Menagerie's electronic warfare platform. Its jammers deploy above the shoulders, on either side of the helmet, giving rise to its name.

---

I'd have imagined that they'd use the laser array to that effect as well. Just make it a multi-purpose one, with optional uses such as ... oh, a high intensity strobe, a goalie mode, and maybe an X-ray laser electronics frier (not to mention what it does to 'meat').

---

You might've noticed I didn't mention the Cobra as having hypersensors - it doesn't. The Owl carries those, but aside from that and substituting railguns for the lasers, it's a fairly close copy of Sylia's later suits, right down to the flight capability.

---

For some reason, whenever I think of The Owl I'm imagining it looking as if it's top 'layer' were ... nah. That's no good a description.
Let's see ...

---

The predominant color was grey. Mostly gunmetal, but with a lighter shade of the color here and there to break up the outline of the frame.
Even without that trick, though, you would hardly call it 'sleek' at first sight. The only part that could lay claim to that would be the head, with its pale 'faceplate' and the stylized representation of an owl's beak, eyes, and some of the plumage done in stark, simple lines of black.
Oh, there were hints of sleekness involved, yes, but for the most part the suit's uppermost layer of armor resembled nothing more than the feathers of a bird - a multitude of plates of varying sizes, overlapping one-another smoothly in some places and nearly absent in others - that you almost expected to rustle with every step.
The general impression was that of some bizzare sort of tengu samurai, more so when the wings - longer and broader than those of the design's predecessor - unfolded from its back with a slick, almost animalistic smoothness.

---

Yeah. Like that.
Maybe it's reactive armor, maybe something completely different (some weird form of stealth system/sound suppression/radar refraction/etc.), but that's the sort of aesthetics going through my head right now.
Hmm ... let's see ... other random thoughts/suggestions.
Subbing in railguns for the lasers would mean getting rid of the 'palmcannon' setup, right?
Hmm ... would that 'later suit' thing also apply to the blades? I've always rather prefered the switchblade bayonets of the early models to the later sliding-housing designs.
Larger wings ... umm ... full air-mobility with a focus on endurance first. For some reason, I'm thinking of it going 'overwatch' on a battle.
What do they have for tranportation, anyway?
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm

[Valles]

Hm. Explaining the Menagerie's backing is...
Okay, lemme get into how I look at the Sabers' purpose. They are not intended as a tool of violent retribution, nor really as a curb on Genom's worst excesses.
What they are meant to be, to look like in the public eye, is symbols. Folk heroes. They're meant to seem the plucky robin hoods, fighting the good fight against the faceless corporate evil of Genom.
In short, they're a propoganda tool, and no less effective at that for having to work through word of mouth.
The mercenary jobs are merely intended to provide working capital - no more, no less. I think it's quite likely that the combat arm of the Sabers operation actually earns a moderate but noteworthy profit.
The research and production operation that supports them, however, is somewhat less successful. It's simply too expensive to be covered out of the merc contracts - which is where Sylia and, now, the Chang Group come in. The expanded number of teams - the Menagerie is far from the only new group - are intended to increase revenue by increasing volume and allow more agressive research for smaller out-of-pocket costs.
Yes, this is, indeed, my attempt at a somewhat more plausible version of the RPG's 'Bubblegum Crossfire' conceit.
As for why Sylia trusts Owl... well, I imagine that most of the hardsuits' parts are actually off-the-shelf, while the rest of them are 'handmade' by Sylia in her basement. Owl's firm supplies certain of the more exotic sorts of 'off the shelf' bits for the entire Saber organisation... including their railgun components. ^_^

---

Nope, the Chang Clan has a sponsored team up North, most of them with military background, and with names taken from the Chinese Zodiac.

---

My evaluation is that the Chang Conglomerate is an entirely legitimate transnational megacorporation, as close to a rival as the Genom titan really has... it just, happens to be controlled by a Triad, is all. I figure the centers of their power - their 'company towns', their Megatokyos - as being either Hong Kong, Taiwan, or California. Ironically, the nature of its hidden owners tends to make it more moral and trustworthy, rather than less.

---

Subbing in railguns for the lasers would mean getting rid of the 'palmcannon' setup, right?

---

My memory of her Ep8 suit puts the beam guns not so much on her palms as the heel of the hands - just below the axis of the forearm, which would be a position that'd still work for the railguns... And, as for the blades, while I won't argue your asthetics, there are practical advantages to the slide-out model - most notably that it takes much less space - and the mechanical strength is only marginally different.
So, yeah, I'm afraid you're going to have to live with the new type. ^_^

---

What do they have for tranportation, anyway?

---

A converted news'chopper'. Unarmed, but utterly unremarkable in the skies above a 2035 city.
Ja, -n

===============================================
"Puripuri puripuri... Bang!"

[Acyl]

---

My evaluation is that the Chang Conglomerate is an entirely legitimate transnational megacorporation, as close to a rival as the Genom titan really has... it just, happens to be controlled by a Triad, is all. I figure the centers of their power - their 'company towns', their Megatokyos - as being either Hong Kong, Taiwan, or California. Ironically, the nature of its hidden owners tends to make it more moral and trustworthy, rather than less.

---

A word on Triads. There's a very simple insight into 'em, when you realise that Chinese folks...when referring to them in English...
...well, the word "Triad" is used, but the more common reference is "secret society".
And the society bit is important.
You're looking at a sorta...Confucian paternalist clan structure. It's not necessarily benevolent or anything - there's rank structures, and so on. But everything's expected to work on the basis of mutual favours. And while you might treat your own people harshly, they're your people...so you go after anyone who messes with them.
For Chinese secret societies, there really isn't a difference between, say, punk street gangs...and gun-toting mafia in bad suits. They're all part of the same structure. Any given gang's gonna be linked to some big boss further up the chain, and so on. No exceptions. Those 14-year-olds stealing bicycles and smoking behind the school building...report to some gang boss who runs the local gambling rackets...and he's allied with some guy in a drug dealing ring, and the drug dudes are part of...
Yes, I have a story-relevant point, I'm getting to it.
Okay. Practical example. In the case of Taiwan, it's pretty much commonly accepted that politics and big business...including the film and music industries...are also heavily influenced (if not outright owned) by criminal syndicate interests. Interestingly, Taiwan's also relatively stable in that respect; it's as if once you've crossed a certain critical threshold of corruption, it all becomes Pratchettian self-policing.
Now, there's problems with rampant crime, of course. But the Taiwanese news media is oh, about 110% sensationalist reporting, and they always have such wonderful coverage of gun battles. =)
(And I'm only half-joking, here. Taiwanese TV is...an interesting experience.)
What's all this leading up to?
Well, as I've said, the Triad/Secret Society structure's all based on mutual favours, 'friendships', as it were. Alliances, unwritten agreements...
...and GENOM doesn't play.
Completely, totally, does NOT play.
Think about that.
So.
Chang's gonna be a natural enemy of GENOM. It's inevitable. Total trainwreck of a culture clash.
And it makes perfect sense that the Chinese secret-societies would close ranks against the bigger threat.
My read...the Chang Conglomerate was probably a Taiwanese concern, at least initially. One with big interests in mainland China, of course...then California, across the Pacific. Perhaps some strongholds in Southeast Asia, depending on how widespread their power base is. That gives it the right roots, you see. It's gotta be Taiwan. China's underworld has never quite recovered from the Communists, Hong Kong's never been quite that bad...and the Chinese criminal syndicates of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, etc. are even sadder and weaker animals in comparison.
-- Acyl
(Who shared barracks with a former gangster in the army, yeah. Plus, everyone back home gossips about Taiwan. =)
-- Acyl

[Rieverre]

---

Yes, this is, indeed, my attempt at a somewhat more plausible version of the RPG's 'Bubblegum Crossfire' conceit.

---

And for those of us that don't have access to the RPG, that means?

---

there are practical advantages to the slide-out model - most notably that it takes much less space

---

*scratches chin* True. When I stand back and look at it objectively, in terms of practicality, the selling point to me would be the fact that they wouldn't need any extra space to unfold in, and the pivoting part made doing so awkward in close quarters.

---

A converted news'chopper'. Unarmed, but utterly unremarkable in the skies above a 2035 city.

---

Those tend to be on the small side, though. Unless '35 news agencies are using larger ones than the trend of today is, I don't know if you'd be able to fit in five suits, and if you would, you'd be sacrificing any possibility of the team having enough space there to get out of the suits and, say, administer some emergency medical treatment to potential wounded. Rather, say, converted transport chopper of some sort would work better. There's plenty of those flitting around as well.
I'd go as far as to suggest something along the lines of a V-22, only civilian, but the Sabers have the VTOL thing going for them already.
I'll assume the usual 'truck' conversion for ground transport, when they can afford to take their time in getting somewhere.
Motoslaves, yesno?
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm

[M Fnord]

---

And for those of us that don't have access to the RPG, that means?

---

Short form (IC): In order to help spread the love, Sylia decided to create bundles of hardsuit and motoslave blueprints, technical specifications, CAD files, etc. and ship them off to various trusted parties around the world, who could then build their own "Knight Sabres" groups, who would then fight the local GENOM subsidiaries.
Short form (OOC): R. Tal convinced a half-dozen or so fan writers to let them publish condensed versions of their BGC:RPG settings in the last book. The list included San Francisco, Night City (a little CP2020 crossover there to make Maximum Mike happy) Portland, Seattle, Mega-Gotham (how they slipped that one past DC's legal team, I'll never know), Baltimore, Cologne and Sidney.---
Mr. Fnord
Raving blogger
http://www.jihad.net/
"when edison thinks down pipes into special Future Death Machine, in 21st Century another teenager on MySpace gets hit by a car." --Warren Ellis
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[SkyeFire]

Valles:

---

...then maybe Owl works for Chang, as well...and that's where their funding comes from. It solves the problem with having to explain who these folks are, and just why Sylia lets 'em run around with her hardsuit technology.

---

Griever:

---

Nope, the Chang Clan has a sponsored team up North, most of them with military background, and with names taken from the Chinese Zodiac.

---

....darn you, Griever. Now I have this vision of the "Fruits Basket" cast running around in hardsuits *jammed* in my *head.*

[Acyl]

The first quote was from me, actually.
And it made me envision the Gensomaden Saiyuki boys in hardsuits, so what's your point?
-- Acyl

[NotDavies]

Technically, Crossfire was started in the first book, as a "you don't have to play the Knight Sabers, you can do this!" campaign seed.

---

Short form (OOC): R. Tal convinced a half-dozen or so fan writers to let them publish condensed versions of their BGC:RPG settings in the last book. The list included San Francisco, Night City (a little CP2020 crossover there to make Maximum Mike happy) Portland, Seattle, Mega-Gotham (how they slipped that one past DC's legal team, I'll never know),

---

Dave Pulver was non-plussed by it when I asked him about it. (Actually, he said words to the effect of, "That's probably not too big a deal." Then I described it. WTTEO: "Hoo boy.") I wonder if it might have had something to do with the company's final dissolution ... have to check with the lady who's doing company histories on rpg.net ...
Chris Davies.

[Valles]

Acyl:

---

...well, the word "Triad" is used, but the more common reference is "secret society".
*snip*

---

Hmmm. Interesting. A very different beast from my understanding of an American/European style mafia group, and different again from the model of the Japanese yakuza.
It honestly makes me wonder if the entire Chang megacorp isn't just a Hou Bang front organization... And keep in mind that, in my head, Chang is easily one of the 'second tier' transnationals, right beside Gulf&Bradley, Boeing-Lockheed, Wal-Mart, and Disney...
Speaking of which, I wonder what Chang's 'home niche' is?

Griever:

---

Those tend to be on the small side, though. Unless '35 news agencies are using larger ones than the trend of today is, I don't know if you'd be able to fit in five suits, and if you would, you'd be sacrificing any possibility of the team having enough space there to get out of the suits and, say, administer some emergency medical treatment to potential wounded. Rather, say, converted transport chopper of some sort would work better. There's plenty of those flitting around as well.

---

I don't think I've ever seen or heard of a chopper being used for cargo, but... what about one of those hospital medevac types?
Of course, since the only 'free rotor' choppers I can remember seeing in the OAVs were the Firebees, it'll actually be one of the same fan-lift aerodynes we saw all over the place, but designed for the same role.
I have the sudden image of one of the expansion groups using a Walrus-type airship, but in a place as cramped as Japan there probably wouldn't be that much call for it. Australia or Russia or the US would be more likely, I think.

---

Motoslaves, yesno?

---

Yes, sorta. I figure on one heavy motoslave variant - possibly completely redesigned, so as to turn into something four-wheeled and inconspicous, rather than an obscenely huge motorcycle, but based off the same tech - for the heavy firepower role, and...
One of the RPG books includes a design for a hardsuit that folds away into a smallish but otherwise utterly unremarkable motorbike - I figure that all five of the Animals will have one of these so as to have 'heavy backup' near at hand in their civilian lives, since the overall Sabers operation doesn't have Genom Osaka's security branch penetrated to nearly the same degree as they do Megatokyo's.
Ja, -n

===============================================
"Puripuri puripuri... Bang!"

[robkelk]

---

Nope, the Chang Clan has a sponsored team up North, most of them with military background, and with names taken from the Chinese Zodiac.

---

So that's what happened to the Boomers that Doug freed just before he left Mega-Tokyo...

-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Acyl]

Valles:

---

It honestly makes me wonder if the entire Chang megacorp isn't just a Hou Bang front organization... And keep in mind that, in my head, Chang is easily one of the 'second tier' transnationals, right beside Gulf&Bradley, Boeing-Lockheed, Wal-Mart, and Disney...
Speaking of which, I wonder what Chang's 'home niche' is?

---

Whether the entire Chang group is a Hou Bang front...I suppose that depends on how far the secret societies have closed ranks, and so on.
Personally, theoreticisin' based simply on what little we see in canon...I'd assumed that the entire boardroom leadership of the corporation is Hou Bang...and so's the ownership, though that's probably cloaked behind dummy shareholders and the like.
So Hou Bang has free reign over Chang...but it's not like every single rung of management works for the secret societies. Most executives would know the score, of course, and even if they're not sworn brothers and sisters, would keep quiet due to self-interest. Besides, who are you going to complain to?
...I am also insanely amused by the notion of Wal-Mart and Disney as megacorps. I'm guessing retail and entertainment are still their core businesses, and Disney basically owns Florida?
*shrugs* No idea what Chang's main markets would be. We know they have a military hardware division, of course, but that can't be it. Pharmaceuticals? Medical technologies? Biotech? Agrotech?
robkelk:

---

So that's what happened to the Boomers that Doug freed just before he left Mega-Tokyo...

---

Bob's already painted a compelling picture of a Boomer-run underground railroad, of sorts...
...but the idea of a buncha Saber-style vigilante Combat Boomers. Oh yeah. That's got major, major possibilities.
I wonder, how would their operations be like? Would there be a level of misdirection - deliberately concealing their combat frames, somehow, to look like humans in bulkier power-armor or small battlemovers? Somethin' else?
That's a different kettle of fish, of course.
-- Acyl

[Evil Midnight Lurker]

There was the army of 33-S Knight Sabers from Bubblegum Crusade...
--Sam
"Egad! Too much anatomy!"

[CattyNebulart]

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I don't think I've ever seen or heard of a chopper being used for cargo

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It's quite common in mountenous and other areas that are dificult to acsess with a large truck.
When a delivery needs to be made (such as a granite table for the garden, which was my personal experience with it) it's subcontracted to a company that specializes in these sort of things, and they hold the orders untill they have enough in one area (such as one side of a mountain) that they will be busy all day doing deliveries.
You can of course also request a rush delivery in which case they do it before they have a full load, but that is far more expensive, because getting the materials to the temporary home base and the fuel to get the helicopter there and back is dived over less deliveries, and the pilot is still paid for a full day. Typical delay between runs in the same area tends to be between one and three months, or at least that's how it was in Belinzona.
Some helicopters are also used for express delivery of stuff but because of the cost it is relativly rare. If helicopter operating expenses came down for some reaon (such as more efficient engines, or something) then that would become a lot more common, which would drive economies of scale to further lower the price.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

[Jeap]

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If helicopter operating expenses came down for some reaon (such as more efficient engines, or something) then that would become a lot more common, which would drive economies of scale to further lower the price.

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Someone could decide that, hey, the Rotodyne was a really good idea and revive the concept.

[Black Aeronaut]

Wow. This is cool. I definitely like.
And now I am having ideas about such a team operating out of Roswell using a highly retrofitted SR-71 airframe as transportation. (Think about it - they can be anywhere in the world for whatever reason within -hours- and arrive from a sub-orbital orbital drop. How cool is that?)
Team would consist of six members. Two CQC units, two heavy weapons units, an offensive ECM unit, and a stealth-sniper unit. Why the covert unit? Because it's handy as all hell to have someone watching everyone's backs, ever ready pop a depleted uranium APDSFS round into the head/cockpit of an offending Buma, Battle Mover, what have you...
The two heavies have definite emphasis on firepower - no need for subtelty here. Artillerary is shoulder-mounted partical beam cannons. Unweildly, perhaps. But as I said, there's no need for subtlety here - this dynamic duo is here to paste hard-to-kill targets.
CQC units, with all their vibroblade bayonettes and spurs, are like walking lawnmowers. Monomelecular wire, deployed from their fingertips, is another one of their weapons - a single string of atoms woven into a long molecular chain. Slices through just about anything like cheese.
The ECM unit will take his/her job to the utmost extreme. While the unit would have the capability to play bloody-hell with computer systems, it will also have the greatest amount of manuverability and a handy-dandy EMP generator (of course, this is a double-edged sword).
The sniper unit's ECM abilities are totally passive in nature. This suit-bearer's job is to stay the hell out of sight so he/she can be a Happy Camper(tm) and monitor and direct the rest of the Team - yeah, this'd be the command unit as well. It's main weapon: a huge shoulder-mounted railgun designed to fire the .22 DU-APFSDS rounds (small caliber, but you know how powerful it is) or the optional ceramic rounds (the discarding sabbot provides the necissary ferric alloy). In the unliekly event of being confronted in close quarters he/she is also equipped with an EMP generator.
All units also have a rather unique self-defense mechanism. In the event that they're overwhelmed they can deploy a very dangerous one-shot nano-weapon: a branchlike network of monomolecular thorns that can rip molecular bonds apart. As I said, it's a one-shot weapon and due to it's nature, it is inherently dangerous not only to anyone in the area, but the one who uses it as well. It is, indeed, a weapon of last resort.
Thoughts?

---

Black Aeronaut Technologies Group
Aerospace Solutions for the discerning spacer
"To the commissary we should go," Yoda declared firmly. "News
of this kind a danish requires."

---

[CattyNebulart]

They seem somewhat overwhelming. The sabers are supposed to be beyond the bleeding edge of technology, What you have there feels more like a unit of Skyknights and Twisters. why not give them a spider tank too?
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

[Valles]

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And now I am having ideas about such a team operating out of Roswell using a highly retrofitted SR-71 airframe as transportation. (Think about it - they can be anywhere in the world for whatever reason within -hours- and arrive from a sub-orbital orbital drop. How cool is that?)

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More than a little, though not, IMHO, as cool as being able to airlift six Abrams in a single trip.
Still, while hypersonic aircraft are well established in canon, they can't possibly be cheap, and would -certainly- be hard to hide... to much infrastructure, ne? And this is thirty years in our future, remember - not a chance in hell that there'll still be one of the original Blackbird airframes still flying.
The team make-up is reasonable, as, for the most part, are the power levels, so long as one makes the assumption that not all the suit designs being produced from this technology are as sleek as Sylia's.
I don't think that the 'thorn system' you describe would be feasible given either the current state of nanotech or what can be deduced from the 'fusion' ability some boomers show.
Finally... At some point or other in the past, human beings have tried just about every possible edged means of dissassembling each other. 'Blades all over the place' never panned out well enough to be worth recording. What to use instead, I'll leave up to your judgement... although the idea of a hardsuit with a longsword amuses me quite a bit.
Ja, -n

===============================================
"Puripuri puripuri... Bang!"

[Black Aeronaut]

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why not give them a spider tank too?

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They wouldn't have been able to take it aboard the Blackbird... Upon which they blew a good portion of their seed money. ^^;

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Still, while hypersonic aircraft are well established in canon, they can't possibly be cheap, and would -certainly- be hard to hide... to much infrastructure, ne? And this is thirty years in our future, remember - not a chance in hell that there'll still be one of the original Blackbird airframes still flying.

---

Flying, no. But there's bound to be a decomissioned frame somewhere that was being used as a show-piece. You see, at that time frame, the airframe itself is all you'd want because you're gonna want to equip it with modern powerplants and such. As for the frame itself... Let's just say that the good old Blackbird was ahead of her time and proved, over decades of service, to be rock-solid reliable. And let's not forget the immortal words of Dr. Brown: "If you're gonna build a time machine, why not do it with style?"
It would indeed be expensive and quite conspicuous to operate such a peice of machinery. Answer: the Team is operated by an Aerospace Technologies group that is the ancestral remnants of the Skunk Works and all the other outfits that used to work on the old Black Projects of the US. They have the technical clout to remain just a step or two ahead of GENOM, and thus, out of their greedy grip. They operate out of Groom Dry Lake where all sorts of experimental craft are in use, so the idea that an old Blackbird flies in and out of the place doesn't exactly attract attention from the locals - in fact, it's played off as being the Boss Man's Big Toy(tm).
Or you can go one step further and just come out and say it: they protect the interests of this aerospace group (Which I'm starting to think of sticking the "Black Aeronaut" lable on). This way, they don't need to be paranoid-secretive like Sylia is, just quiet instead. While it does tend to make them a target for litigation, it also lends them a bit more flexability. Just a thought, though. Whatcha think?

---

They seem somewhat overwhelming. The sabers are supposed to be beyond the bleeding edge of technology, What you have there feels more like a unit of Skyknights and Twisters.

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Personally, I feel that overkill is what you make of it. These people aren't overkill - they're the equalizers. Think about it - most combat bumas have PBC's built into their mouths (oversimplification, I know). To say that the two heavy-hitters of this group are similarly armed is not out of the question. Which brings me to...

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The team make-up is reasonable, as, for the most part, are the power levels, so long as one makes the assumption that not all the suit designs being produced from this technology are as sleek as Sylia's.

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Yeah, the heavy weapons people are definitely gonna be on the chunky side. As I said before, there's gonna be nothing subtle about those two.

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I don't think that the 'thorn system' you describe would be feasible given either the current state of nanotech or what can be deduced from the 'fusion' ability some boomers show.

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EMP Generators for everyone then. Still provides the nice Danger Level in that it not only knocks out your own suit, but anyone else's in the area.

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Finally... At some point or other in the past, human beings have tried just about every possible edged means of dissassembling each other. 'Blades all over the place' never panned out well enough to be worth recording.

---

Perhaps not. I knew this was gonna need work.

---

although the idea of a hardsuit with a longsword amuses me quite a bit.

---

One thing I've always wanted to see applied in power-armor is something I like to thing of as a "Sling Blade." It's a wide, single-edged, tanto-tipped tapering blade that, in it's folded position, functions as a good elbow spur. But it can swing, pivoting at the wrist, and lock into position over the knuckles, providing a good gladius-length vibro-sword. Not so long it gets in the way, but certainly enough to give most opponents something to worry about.
I'm already starting to draw up a cast of characters... And unfortunately for you guys, they're all from Battle Angel Alita.
Sniper Unit: ... Dare I?
CQC Unit 1: Jashugan
CQC Unit 2: Alita
HW Unit 1: Sechs
HW Unit 2: Zappan
ECM Unit: Lou Collins
Combat Adjunct: AMEE
Handler: Murdock
Cyber Physicians:
Dr. Daisuke Ido
Kayna
Hardsuit Technicians:
Prof. Desty Nova
Jim Roscoe
Shumira (She's a savant)
Pilots/Drivers:
Pam Collins (changed name so she could be Lou's sister)
Nola Defarge
Koyomi
Hugo
This page has info on all the characters listed here, but not pictures of all, unfortunately. Bear in mind, their back stories are all gonna be different to make them fit, of course. ^^
If the idea of an SI makes yall wanna hurl, then I'll make Jashugan the Sniper Unit, bump Alita up to CQC 1, Sechs to CQC 2, and then stick Figure Four in as HW 1.

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Black Aeronaut Technologies Group
Aerospace Solutions for the discerning spacer
"To the commissary we should go," Yoda declared firmly. "News
of this kind a danish requires."

---

[CattyNebulart]

Oh and by the way, you know it takes half an hour or so to launch a blackbird?
Their fuel tanks are very leaky while they are not flying, to the point that they need a full tank for liftoff, and then they need to refuel because their tanks are almost empty and the runway drenched. But one thermal expansion from airfriction sets in their tanks become sealed. Blackbirds are not a good choice for rapid response, but that's not what they are desinged for either. If they are an experimental aerospace company then they should be able to build something better.

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If the idea of an SI makes yall wanna hurl,

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I like well written SI's, but of course I like any story as long as it's well written.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."