Home Game Design / Progress Report / Tears of a Machine Our Work Continues
How about I distract you from that embarrassing comparison by telling you more about Preservation Force tech?
The Arx
The Legulus never built their machines. Everything was "grown" by microscopic robots in its early stages and then by larger insect-like construction drones as it grew larger. Their buildings, ships, tools and even their robots have elegant organic shapes and a polished sheen. Not so with the CRC's first attempts to mimic the alien tech. Though they could reverse engineer the function of the machines, it would be another year or so before they could recreate the nano-tech construction process with the SAInts. In the meantime they built large, clunky analogs that offer the abilities of the enemy but without their aesthetic.
The Preservation Force was a small army, made up of select units but responsible for protecting the populace worldwide. What was needed was a rapid response vehicle that could cover huge distances quickly and bring the full power of the Preservation Force to the fight. To meet that need the CRC built the first Arx, an airborne carrier ship for a whole division of Preservation Force soldiers and their weapons, equipment, support vehicles, and even support personnel. With anti-gravity drives and encased in the bubble of an electro-magnetic barrier the Arx could speed through the air and take up position above a city under attack. Weapons and troops could be dropped to the front of the enemy assault and the cannons of the Arx provide fire support for the counter-attack.
After the first successful deployment the CRC was granted access to the resources of entire nations to build more Arx and expand the existing ones. A few dozen aerial fortress-cities now patrol the skies of the world. Each a floating military base with civilians taking up residence alongside the military to provide support services. The CRC moved their operations into secure laboratories at the center of each Arx. When the SAInts were developed it was at the hearts of the Arx. Missile launch tubes were repurposed and converted to become the launchers for SAInt deployment. Now the Arx had their greatest weapons. Silver bullets locked and loaded to fire at the alien monsters.
J. R. will have a sample of her editing to compare against my writing so that I can be embarrassed by another update, soon. Remember, if you can't wait for your chance to play Tears of a Machine with your friends, let me know. I can send you my raw text version of the book or even set up a game session through Google Hangouts!