RTS System in the Apocalypse: New World

By the time Hans finished with the last Rank 4 notification, Saicine was already dark.

He considered returning to Grefort, but his body disagreed.

The worst of the promotion had passed, though moving still felt unpleasant after an evening of muscles tightening, pressure waves and whatever else the System had done to him.

Hans found another bed inside the temporary command building and slept.

...

The Falcon left Saicine the next morning.

Hans spent most of the flight going through the production network.

Grefort’s twelve War Factories handled the armored batch easily enough, spreading the work across their available queues through the night.

The MLRS and PSML batches were already complete, and most of the support vehicles were finished as well.

By the time the Falcon crossed into Ironford, the last one was leaving its War Factory.

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[ Rank 4 Ground Production Complete ]

[ Multiple Launch Rocket System x10 ]

[ Precision Strike Missile Launcher x4 ]

[ Armored Recovery Vehicle x1 ]

[ Armored Resupply Vehicle x1 ]

[ Combat Engineering Vehicle x1 ]

[ Armored Bridge Layer x1 ]

[ Mobile SHORAD Vehicle x1 ]

[ Armored Reconnaissance / Forward Observer Vehicle x1 ]

[ Heavy Equipment Transporter x1 ]

[ Battalion Armored Command Vehicle x1 ]

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Twenty-two new vehicles from one promotion. He was going to need more parking space.

The Triton and Haven had finished at Saicine overnight as well, but both could stay there pending inspection.

The Falcon landed at the northern Ironford FOB, where several of the new vehicles were waiting inside a cleared freight yard for inspection. Others stayed at their production sites until Matilda decided where they belonged.

Most of the names already told him the broad role.

The Armored Recovery Vehicle needed little translation. The Combat Engineering Vehicle was built for heavier breaching and route clearance, while the Bridge Layer existed for gaps that would otherwise stop an armored column.

Mobile SHORAD meant dedicated air defense that could move with the ground formations instead of waiting around a fixed site.

The reconnaissance vehicle interested him more because even its name suggested a direct place in the artillery and targeting network, though the exact limits could wait until he inspected one properly.

The Heavy Equipment Transporter was less exciting but considerably more practical now that hundreds of tracked vehicles were spread across Grefort.

The Battalion Armored Command Vehicle made him stop.

It was considerably larger than his old Armored Command Truck, though the raised sensor assembly and equipment packed into the upper hull were the only obvious signs of what it was meant to do.

Hans opened its information.

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[ Callsign: Command One ]

[ Vehicle Type: Battalion Armored Command Vehicle ]

[ Star Promotion: 0 / 3 ]

[ Assignment: Commander-Held ]

[ Crew ]

Permanent Vehicle Crew: 6

Vehicle Commander

Driver

Radar Operator

Communications Operator

Systems Technician

Data-Fusion Operator

[ Command Capacity ]

8 additional Battalion command workstations.

Supports maneuver, fires, engineering, logistics, air-support liaison, air-defense coordination, ISR / targeting and readiness functions.

[ Mobility ]

Maximum Speed: 55 km/h

[ Defensive Armament ]

Remote 12.7mm Heavy Machine Gun

Current Ammunition Allowance: 1,500 rounds

[ Defensive Systems ]

Smoke Charges: 12

[ Command Systems ]

Hardened multi-channel communications relay.

System tactical-map projection and battlefield sensor fusion.

Supports integration of Tactical Drone Operator, Armored Reconnaissance / Forward Observer Vehicle and other authorized System sensor / communications feeds.

Long-range encrypted directional communications between compatible command nodes.

[ Mobile System Radar ]

Moving Surveillance Radius: approximately 15 kilometers

Fully Deployed Surveillance Radius: up to 50 kilometers under favorable conditions

Full Deployment Time: approximately 90 seconds

Emergency Teardown: approximately 30 seconds

Optimized for vehicles, aircraft, major formations, large biological concentrations, detectable artillery / missile launch events and major emitters.

[ System Tactical Data Mesh ]

Eligible mobile System-network anchor while its Radar is active.

Maximum Current End-to-End Synchronization Ceiling: 100 kilometers

Sensor range and network synchronization range are separate systems.

[ Remarks ]

Broad-surveillance platform. Provides less terrain, structural, biological and subterranean detail than a Physical Radar Facility. Full-power Radar deployment creates a significant electromagnetic signature.

Does not extend the Commander’s Virtual Radar. Does not replace a Physical Radar Facility or Command Center.

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The Radar figures held his attention.

Fifty kilometers.

His Physical Radar Facilities only reached twenty-five kilometers, but the next lines kept the comparison from being that simple.

The BACV could cover twice that distance while deployed, but it wasn’t giving him twice the information. Buildings, underground spaces and individual biological contacts were less detailed than what a Physical Radar Facility could provide.

It traded detail for a much wider operational picture: vehicles, aircraft, major formations, large biological concentrations and even major launch events if the Radar caught them.

And unlike the fixed Radars, it could move.

Hans closed Command One’s information.

The Armored Resupply Vehicle stood several spaces away. Compared with Command One, it looked considerably simpler, with most of the rear section built around four enclosed compartments instead of command equipment or weapons.

”Howdy, Commander. Mule One, reporting.”

”Good to see you, Mule One. Let me see what you’re made of first.”

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[ Callsign: Mule One ]

[ Vehicle Type: Armored Resupply Vehicle ]

[ Star Promotion: 0 / 3 ]

[ Assignment: Commander-Held ]

[ Crew ]

3 Personnel

Commander / Quartermaster Operator

Driver

Systems Assistant

[ Mobility ]

Maximum Speed: 60 km/h

[ Defensive Armament ]

Remote 12.7mm Heavy Machine Gun

Current Ammunition Allowance: 900 rounds

[ Defensive Systems ]

Smoke Charges: 6

[ Sustainment Payload ]

4 Field Replenishment Allocation Cradles

Each cradle carries one recipient-specific Field Replenishment Allocation.

[ Transfer Time ]

Vehicle / Large Ground Unit: approximately 90 seconds

Infantry / Small Unit: approximately 30 seconds

[ Supplemental Sustainment ]

A Field Replenishment Allocation restores an eligible receiving unit’s Standard Sustainment Stores to its current maximum.

Each receiving unit may receive one supplemental full refresh between natural System refreshes.

Supplemental replenishment does not alter the timing of the receiving unit’s next natural refresh.

[ Logistics Requirement ]

Field Replenishment Allocations must be prepared through an eligible Ammo Depot.

The Armored Resupply Vehicle transports and delivers allocations. It does not independently generate them.

[ System Integration ]

Within an eligible Radar / System Tactical Data Mesh, the vehicle can receive sustainment requests, recipient status, rendezvous points, route information and Battalion logistics priorities.

[ Remarks ]

Additional Armored Resupply Vehicles increase delivery capacity. They do not increase the supplemental-refresh limit of an individual receiving unit.

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Four allocations. Four extra full refreshes delivered where Hans wanted them, as long as each recipient was still eligible. With artillery and armor operating across Grefort, that mattered far more than Mule One’s plain exterior suggested.

The Ammo Depot was still under construction.

With more than a day left on the timer, Mule One could move ordinary supplies for now but had no System Field Replenishment Allocations to deliver yet.

The first MLRS stood near the opposite end of the yard.

Twelve large launch tubes occupied most of its rear section, grouped together on an elevating launcher assembly behind the armored cab. The vehicle was considerably smaller than a Hellhammer’s long artillery chassis, though there was little about the launcher itself that looked small.

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[ Callsign: Salvo One ]

[ Vehicle Type: Multiple Launch Rocket System ]

[ Star Promotion: 0 / 3 ]

[ Assignment: Commander-Held ]

[ Crew ]

4 Personnel

Commander

Fire-Control Gunner

Systems / Loader Operator

Driver

[ Mobility ]

Maximum Speed: 60 km/h

[ Firing Setup Time: approximately 45 seconds ]

[ Displacement Time after Firing: approximately 30 seconds ]

[ Defensive Armament ]

Remote 12.7mm Heavy Machine Gun

Current Ammunition Allowance: 750 rounds

[ Defensive Systems ]

Smoke Charges: 6

[ Rocket System ]

12 x 227mm Launch Tubes

Current Rocket Allowance: 18

Ready Rockets: 12

Virtual Reserve: 6

[ Engagement Envelope ]

Minimum Practical Range: approximately 5 kilometers

Maximum Range: 60 kilometers

[ Firing Modes ]

Selectable Fire Groups: 1 / 2 / 6 / 12 rockets

Full 12-Rocket Salvo: approximately 18 seconds

[ System Reserve Reload ]

Approximately 5 seconds per rocket into an empty launch tube.

A complete 12-tube reload requires approximately 60 seconds when sufficient virtual reserve remains.

[ Baseline Warhead Families ]

HE-FRAG Saturation

Blast / Anti-Structure

[ Targeting Integration ]

Can engage surveyed fixed coordinates without active Radar when a valid firing solution is available.

Compatible observation and correction may be received from Radar, ARFOV, Tactical Drone Operators, Scouts, aircraft and other authorized System observers.

[ Remarks ]

Area-saturation weapon.

Targeting support improves firing solutions but does not convert the MLRS into a point-precision weapon.

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