Author Notes:
I think I am cooking with OBOM. My designing brain is acting up again. I am totally a certified military planner (trust).
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"You know, I never imagined that I would get to see the Great Migration." I comment as I watch the last of the avian and mammal lifeforms venture beyond the low mountains and coastline that were their homes. "Or at least a parody of it. Honestly, a part of me kinda feels bad to evict nature's denizens. There were a lot of them, after all, and many of them seem like the cute sorts. Like, have you seen that family of polar bears look alike?"
Hearing what I said, Reizen offers me some encouragement by putting a hand over my shoulders and pulling me closer to her side.
"The bears seem like one happy family and are quite cute, yes." Reizen says. "But it's not like we forcefully barged in and destroyed their habitats without prior notice, Umbra, Aurea."
Reizen mentioned Aurea for she understands that my dear Other Me is more of a bleeding heart for cute, innocent things than I am. "I am sure that Sapientia and Mother Arcadia will sort them out in a place way better than this, am I right?"
Perking up due to Reizen's question, and her composed yet pointed look that promises pain if the Ember Goddess so much as to screw up the Great Migration of the nameless island, which will cause disappointment to Aurea and me, Sapientia subtly hides her gulping with a couple of fake coughs.
"I assure you, the animals are in good hands. Umbra's idea of nature conservation sites, not dissimilar to Eden Island, has garnered great interest from Mother Arcadia and a couple of my siblings that I trust, yet are not privy to the whole shebang that's going on between your group and us. We will invest full effort into setting up something that may as well be a reservoir to recover from future disasters."
"Wow." I interject, interest evidenced when I heard the words conservation sites. "No wonder you switched from enacting migration of just one part of this island to nearly all of it. Where will you place the wildlife population then?"
"Eh," Sapientia shrugs casually. "There are other places around that need some repopulation. Worse comes to worst, Mother Arcadia can raise some landmasses and natural barriers in a random spot in the ocean to build the sites. That said, if you don't mind, this island has two potential spots where we can set up the conservation sites. They're situated in a resource-scarce region and can be quite hard to navigate on foot."
I give Sapientia a thumbs-up. "I think I know the two sites that you're talking about. So yeah, sure. Go ahead and use the places to host some of the wildlife, as long as they won't be a danger to our activity on this island."
I can swear there's a happy glint running across Sapientia's usual unfocused green eyes as she replies.
"Great! And don't worry, there won't be anything but the more mundane species Snowpuff Seals, Horned Wolves, and those Arctic Bears earlier. As a matter of fact, if you have the opportunity, try taming a few of them in your future military. I need not say the potential usefulness of having Horned Wolves and Arctic Bears as auxiliary units in your roster, right? You may even have a head start already with how you're familiar with the Alpha and its pack."
"That's for future me to worry about, though I am sure we will all be happy when Alpha's pack migrates over here." I answer. "But honestly, Arctic Bear is a cold-environment species; do you really think they're gonna be a good fit for an Army that will need to hop around the entire planet?"
Sapientia winks. "Oh, you will be surprised at how the name can be quite misleading."
"At the very least," Reizen offers her opinion. "The Arctic Bears can still be useful for base defense operations if warm weather deployment doesn't work out."
"Alright, I will take your word for it then." I look at Sapientia.
"Sweet~! I, for once, would love to see a revival of master and familiar warfare tactics. They went out of style with the introduction of Knights and Knight Riders combat."
I raise my hand, curious. "On a tangent here, but what's with the weird origin of Knights anyway? Are they a divine invention, or are they mortal-made?"
"Good question, student!" Sapientia claps her hands together, explaining simply. "It's a bit of both, really. Mortals and Divines working together to create some cool and big toys, either out of necessity or out of recreational activity, at first. Obviously, results varied, and the timeline of this happening goes way back, hence conflicting records and forgotten knowledge being so widespread among different parts of the world. It doesn't help that Knights are war machines, and when they're used in wars, not many things tend to survive the aftermath. After some quite bloody mortal conflicts, we Divines also wash our hands clean of designing and creating the overpowered stuff like new Knight models and Artefacts. One can even say that we're quite traumatized by the very mortals we keep watch over, so some ground rules were made to prevent too much Divine intervention..."
Sapientia stops for a bit before shrugging. "Obviously, rules exist to be broken, especially when they lead to significant stagnation and status quo. But since I kinda already signed those binding words..."
"You and Mother Arcadia have no choice but to come to us to break the deadlock... Huh, good to know. Also, from what you told me just now, I find it positively amusing that you Gods and Goddesses went all in on one moment, only to double-back and tackle yourselves to the ground." I comment with a twinkle in my eyes. "Not really your brightest moments, huh?"
Sapientia slumps.
"Unfortunately so, yes... I admit, we were kinda out of touch with mortal thinking back then. Still now, I think. It's why many of my siblings like the hands-off approach, unlike me. You don't have to clean up a mess if it ain't your doing. I will also admit that we kinda overreacted back then. You need to understand that the timeline was after the Voyager business. Things were a bit bleak then, so we tried our best to empower our civilizations, only to underestimate the immaturity of the mortals we cared for."
"So, it's a case of giving a toddler a firearm." Reizen speaks up with an understanding expression. "Or in your case, a longsword."
Sapientia sighs. "Now you understand why I can't personally empower my Theocracy and make it a true dominant force on Arcadia. The binding force of the rules is that strong, and I can't have them nullified because not even my most amicable sisters and brothers will agree to such a thing. As for Mother Arcadia... Well, technically she can remove the restrictions on us, but that will reflect badly on her status. Anyway, it's a host of Divine politics that I don't want to explain when there are clearly more interesting things to do."
"Ok then, I guess it's time to do some construction magic..." I look at Reizen and give Aurea a mental poke. "You girls ready?"
Reizen gives me a nod, while Aurea replies in my mind.
[U-Un!]
I rub my hands together at their acknowledgement before looking at the System panel that only Aurea and I can see.
"Well..." I hover my finger above the yes button, speaking with a grin.
"Abracadabra~!"
And then I lower my finger.
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With me as the center, a spherical pulse of purplish energy envelopes the 700 square kilometers of territory that is to be the site for our Base of Operations. When the pulse passes over the terrain features slated for construction, it digitizes them. However, it is not wrong to call the phenomenon purple pixelation, and each of the pixels that once was dirt and rock is slowly being remade into the shape of permafrost-resistant foundations and alloy walls.
Perhaps the most stunning and immediate change is the very mountainscape Sapientia, Reizen, and I are standing on.
Firstly, the once empty mountain top starts sprouting necessary structures like radar and comms stations, watchtowers and bunkers, storage and habitat, garages and hangars... The list of military installations can go on and on. There's even a solar farm and its associated battery system that acts as one of the backup power sources for the Base of Operations. Of course, to complete the infrastructure layout, paved roads and the basis of the power grid slowly appear after a purple, pixelated land dragon comes down the mountains to the lowland. Additionally, all of the structures are built into the mountains and are similarly connected via an intricate grid of subterranean tunnels, large and small alike, that can be separated via explosion-proof blast doors.
It's from said underpasses that you will get to the heart of the Base of Operations that is built deep into the center of the sturdiest mountain we managed to identify. While it's not the biggest, it's the safest option to set up a headquarters, a Command Center of the Base of Operations. The name is a bit of a mouthful, and we have yet to settle on a shorter callsign for it. Hell, we don't even have a name yet for this faction of ours. Still, as a Command Center, it has everything it needs to perform tactical and strategic command, administrative, data processing, shelter, and garrison duties... It is also the very place that will be the home of Reizen's Artificial Intelligence companion, Iris, and the Philosopher Stone-powered generator that will fuel the Base of Operations for the foreseeable future. This whole plot of land is tentatively called the Command District.
There's a lot to unpack in the Command Center and the larger Command District, but let's not forget the rest of the base, where it's similarly divided into different districts.
One of the more crucial districts is the Utility District. Picking up from where the Philosopher Stone generator and solar farm are, microgrid power plants come into being above, under, and even out there in the sea nearest to the Base of Operations. These self-contained, redundant power grids output energy from diesel and wind, ensuring the base remains operational if the main grid, namely the Philosopher Stone generator and the solar farm, fails.
In the Utility District, we have two seawater desalination and purification plants that provide a continuous, autonomous freshwater supply for both ship replenishment and base personnel, if needed. These plants are, of course, situated near the coastline and a bit of distance away from the designated deep-water ports. There are also facilities for advanced recycling and treatment to manage sewage, solid waste, and hazardous materials sustainably. These facilities are understandably positioned a distance away from the rest of the base.
Another backbone of the Base of Operations is the Logistics District. It's here that things like fuel depots, munition storage, resource bunkers, provision buildings, medical facilities, and even a tram system that connects with the rest of the base can be found in a protected, abundant manner. They may not do much other than hold and move stuff around, but without them, this whole Base of Operations may as well be dead in the water.
Moving on from logistics, we will have the Industrial District. It's in this very district that the heart of our faction's production will be placed. High-tech labs, munition plants, vehicle workshops, aircraft factories, naval yards with dry-docks and berths... We shall have everything from a common nut maker to a precision microchip factory line. Of course, due to our potentially skewed technology tree, where a modern ship may need to run with obsolete computer systems or something else that is way out there in the realm of possibility, we have settled for a modular approach to our industrial capability. Thankfully, since we intend to use an autonomous workforce in the future, we shouldn't need a long time at all to adapt our chief populous to any future changes... Hopefully, maybe. I still need to see Iris the AI in action before I can get the full picture.
Coincidentally, the autonomous workforce Reizen and I intend to utilize is manufactured in the Industrial District itself.
To fuel the whole Industrial District, however, we must not discount the Resource District. If you want to deploy a mining expedition and refine crude oil, the Resource District is where you need to pay a visit. Here, you shall have all the equipment needed to even mine some space rocks, if you have the necessary techs upgraded and manufactured.
You know, just like a real-time strategy game.
Moving on, we then have ourselves a Support District. This is where the bulk of our housing and amenities come in. Barracks, dining facilities, and recreational services to maintain the morale of the base's population. Now, why does an autonomous workforce need to maintain morale and such? This is because artificial intelligence life matters, considering we are running with the Eternal Reich's AI architecture.
I most certainly don't want to cross my partner Reizen and her AI friend over something like not treating digital lifeforms right, you know?
That aside, last but not least is the Military District. This is where most active and passive offense-defense measures are deployed from. Most notably, whereas the Logistics District runs through all other districts to fulfill its task, the Military District itself mirrors it and additionally encircles everything in a protective manner. The Military District is gonna be the place where you will find countless anti-air, anti-surface, anti-submarine batteries, bunkers and fortresses, tactical and strategic airfields and naval stations...
That is, if we can afford them all.
Unironically, due to our decision to ensure absolute self-sufficiency and secrecy, the resources we scavenged from the ERS Voyager are nowhere near enough to make the Base of Operations a true high-tech base. There must be compromises, always. So, as funny as it sounds, the Base of Operations is gonna be a place that is led by humans, is managed and run by an AI and her machine workforce from the far future... But it is protected by archaic weapons from the 1960s.
Yeah, that's the very, very real and glaring compromise. There are, of course, many other compromises in exchange for other perks, but that part about 1960s weapons will be something we won't be able to come out of any time soon. At least not until we can get the factories churning stuff in abundance.
After one last flash of purple light, the Base of Operations is finally made a reality. Gone is the once untouched natural vista. Now, there's only a solemn tone of near-high-tech-looking, formidable, and massive military installation. Many of the buildings above ground are coated with a durable coat of winter gray disruptive camouflage pattern. The near-future aesthetic means the factional theme for us is gonna be a bit more angular than most people of this world are gonna be used to. This will go on to translate into our factional equipment, I think.
Gotta stick with an established pattern for uniformity and exclusivity.
Still, with the whole thing seeming done and dusted, I turn to Sapientia and Reizen.
"Well, shall we explore the base? It's not every day you have an entire military installation for yourself."