Self-Propelled Pinecone/Spergscale

dtn wrote: *

January 18th, 2021, 12:40 am

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Frontman, lyricist, and lead guitarist for the scumcore band MÖB 69, alleged gun-for-hire, and notorious petty booster "Jons Kvicksilver".

Born in 1999, Robert Johannes Lindstrom, more famously known as Jons Kvicksilver, was inducted into the Royal Army for training as an attack helicopter pilot in 2018. Qualifying as a flight warrant officer due to his excellent academic records, high physical fitness, and eyesight, Kvicksilver was trained to fly the SpHkp.8 "Ch'timi". After receiving his first unit orders, he was sent to the Far East Theater as part of the 4th Heavy Cavalry Regiment's rotation in 2022. From here he participated as a gunship pilot and reconnaissance attack officer during several "drug seizures" as part of the Far East Theater's anti-piracy mandate. Notably the confiscation and subsequent destruction of the Three Seas' Gang's fleet of a dozen narco-subs and makeshift shipyards in 2021, involving a company-size force of the 1 RMLI, an amphibious assault ship, an escort frigate, and an attack helicopter platoon from K4. Kvicksilver has often alluded to these raids in his songs and interviews as being more akin to turf wars between rival drug lords than legitimate anti-piracy operations, and claims to have seen officers and "brass" of the Far East Theater exchanging pleasantries with members of the regional triads, such as the "893" gang.

During the 9th La'chi War in 2025, the K4 Regiment was deployed to the Shan State to assist in stopping the land invasion of the disputed Loi La Mountain Range, along with 1st Battalion, RMLI, the Royal Roanapur Parachute Regiment, and the 10th Mechanized Division of the Shan Army's Northern Army. SpHkp.8s formed a vital deep reconnaissance element in conjunction with DrHkp.18 "Kolibri" drone helicopters carrying foliage penetrating radars, detecting La'chi and Jade Empire special forces troops infiltrating between friendly strongpoints or filtering across the border.

During one of these routine reconnaissance flights, shortly before dusk, Kvicksilver's attack helicopter was shot down by a man portable missile, losing part of its tail and crashing into the trees. As the pilot, Kvicksilver was positioned in the forward most part of the cabin, and suffered the brunt of the impact as part of the cabin collapsed, and a piece of metal crushed his upper left arm, penetrating just above the elbow. Shrapnel from the blast also destroyed his left eye. Comparatively, the gunner, C/Sgt Thomas Svensson, flying in the rear seat, was relatively uninjured, suffering only minor scrapes and bruises. Concerned about the possibility of capture by La'chi troops, Svensson evacuated Kvicksilver from the aircraft. With Kvicksilver bleeding "severely" from his wound, C/Sgt Svensson tied a combat tourniquet around his arm, and dragged him away. Reportedly falling unconscious, Kvicksilver awoke later in the night, in a hole underneath a tree root, to his left arm "feeling as if it were on fire", before passing out a few minutes later.

Over the next two days, C/Sgt Svensson attempted to make radio contact with friendly troops, while periodically moving Kvicksilver between several hiding locations during nighttime, as La'chi irregulars had secured the helicopter crash site, and were attempting to flush out the crew with periodic spurts of small arms fire and grenading possible hiding spots. Allied pilots from the Shan State, Roanapur Army Headquarters, and Royal Navy had detected periodic beeper transmissions.

During this time, Kvicksilver's condition became worse, as he began to suffer delirium and fading in and out of consciousness. C/Sgt Svensson traveled during the nighttime to a nearby brook for water, using provided sanitation tablets to clean it. By the fourth night, Svensson had taken notice of Kvicksilver's worsening condition, during a lucid moment where Kvicksilver had called his name repeatedly. Complaining of an inability to feel his arm or move it, and of a "bad smell", Svensson suggested removing the tourniquet, which was met with protests from WO1 Kvicksilver. After removing his flight gloves and seeing that the pilot's fingertips were "completely black", Svensson removed the sleeve of his flight jumpsuit with a knife. Kvicksilver, after seeing the arm, which appeared to be varying degrees of bruised, going down to what were the gangrenous fingertips, immediately ordered Svensson to amputate it. Despite a brief protest, Kvicksilver handed the sergeant an alcohol towelette and his serrated combat knife, and ordered him to do it again.

Using the knife's leather scabbard as an impromptu bite, Svensson proceeded to amputate the limb slightly above the initial wound point. Kvicksilver stated that the managed to endure it for several minutes, before fainting just after Svensson had sawed through the bone stump. With the arm removed, Kvicksilver's condition improved rapidly, and over the next two days he was able to eat from the survival rations, consisting mainly of black licorice, fruit flavored sugar tablets, and citadel spread.

After days of hiding from irregulars and La'chi ground troops, and periodic contact with friendly troops through the radio beacon, Svensson and Kvicksilver finally attained voice communications with a nearby Royal Marines A.33 VTOL attack jet, which was able to confirm that the intermittent beacon transmissions were from the pilots, they were alive, and that they required rescue. Within 45 minutes, the RMLI managed to locate a rough area of where the pilots were, which was less than three miles from the initial crash site, and sortied a Hkp.4 SAR helicopter equipped with "jungle penetrator" rescue hooks. As the rescue attempt would be done during daytime, a large strike package of escort bombers and attack helicopters were assembled to support the helicopters, as it would invariably attract attention of the enemy.

Arriving at a somewhat clear area of jungle, where the sky was visible through the canopy, Svensson lit a red smoke flare to draw rescuer's attention. As the rescue helicopter approached the LZ, small arms fire erupted from the canopy, and attack helicopters began strafing runs with 76mm rockets and 20mm cannon fire. The crew of the rescue helicopter lowered the winch, with a rescueman riding it down into the canopy, and Kvicksilver was loaded initially due to his injury. A few minutes later, the winch was lowered again, and C/Sgt Svensson boarded it, ready to be lifted into the helicopter.

At the last second, several small arms rounds impacted near the winch canopy and Svensson was shot from behind multiple times. The crew of the rescue chopper returned fire as the pilot evacuated the helicopter crewmen, initially unawares of Svensson's condition, as they were focused on Kvicksilver. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of the rescue crew, Svensson would die en route to the emergency hospital from internal bleeding.

As his injuries kept him from serving as a helicopter pilot, Kvicksilver was rehabilitated in an Army hospital for several months, undergoing skin grafts on his arm. In conjunction with Kiruna University's medical research hospital, Kvicksilver received a prototype neuro-muscular-osseointegrated (NEMO) limb, secured to the stump of his biological arm through a series of electrodes and a titanium socket inserted to the humeral stub. The prototype arm was capable of lifting nearly 50 kilograms, replicating most forms of pressure-touch sensitivity, and moving within the same range of motion limitations as a natural arm. A bionic eye, also a prototype, was implanted into Kvicksilver's left orbital socket, providing the remnant retinal nerves an equivalent 20/100 color vision, albeit with near-infrared and low UV wavelengths being visible.

C/Sgt Svensson was awarded the gold wound medal, due to his death in combat, while Kvicksilver was awarded the silver wound medal. He was discharged from the Army at rank WO1 in early 2026.

After the recession of '26 began due to increasingly liberalized international trade and breakdown of the international capital control system that had been in place since the 20th century, Kvicksilver found himself on hard times after leaving the Army, despite a sizeable severance package and accumulated bank account. Inflation had driven up the costs of basic goods, and general unemployment climbed, especially in smaller communities in the Gallan metropole. Kvicksilver initially made ends meet busking, applying his lifelong love of the guitar and music, playing in bars as part of the band AMoeBA (later becoming MÖB 69), and doing odd jobs, such as bartending, bush piloting, and courier work. Having been trained as a mechanic in secondary school, he was also able to procure a disused airport shuttle bus, a Gallan Motors T5500 cutaway cab, which was converted into an impromptu tour bus for AMoeBA.

Much of the musical context of AMoeBA was rooted in the hardcore punk and heavy metal scenes, similar to Gallan metal bands of the '90's and '00's, but focused on more explicitly anti-war themes, channeling Kvicksilver's experiences as a combat helicopter pilot in the La'chi War. MÖB 69 took this further, expanding into general anti-establishment themes with songs like "Skitslickers", "Liberal Likvidation", and "Res Dig Mot Oeverheten", calling out the expanding financialization of Gallan society, de-industrialization, and parasitism of modern finance capitalism.

Other songs, such as the 11 minute long "Atomvapen Attack", implied that the only way to stop such moral bankruptcy was to "wake up" the people through a traumatic event, such as nuclear war, and a general undercurrent of extreme politics defined the group. Members of MÖB 69 were often arrested for "rabble rousing" by encouraging mosh pits, leading crowds on street rampages through finance districts, and often barred by local authorities from playing at political rallies. Music critics would refer to MÖB 69's style of high speed punk rock as "scumcore" or "filthcore", because it "peeled back the veneer of modern society to see the filth underneath".

By 2028, despite having released two EPs, MÖB 69 had allegedly become entwined with the criminal underground gangs of Gallia, such as the ancient "893", and the metropole's "gentlemanly orders", working as "talent seekers", "procurers", and "couriers".

As such theories go, with access to the backyard machinists, basement chemists, and information networks of the underground, MÖB 69 was able to secure several successful "gigs" with major companies. Notably, the sabotage of the Malmo Machine (MFI) prototype jet fighter in 2029, and a raid on Longitude AB's artificial intelligence warehouse in 2030, were blamed on MÖB 69 by several fringe media outlets based on eyewitness accounts, although there was no evidence able to back this up.

In 2032, after receiving information that a regional Riksbank would be installing a "hypercore" supercomputer designed to "mine" cryptocurrency to supplement the Riksbank's new policy of digital currency issue, the "893" triad planned a heist of the cores. After nearly 14 months of casing, recruiting, and planning, the infamous heist began in mid 2033, and ended with 7 dead gangers, 30 wounded or dead police officers, and nearly a dozen bank workers caught in the crossfire. What had initially began as a smooth heist turned into a siege, and the entire array of supercomputer cores, and a large amount of network infrastructure, had been destroyed by thermite charges and high explosives. However, a dozen valuable computing cores were never recovered.

Despite evidence to the contrary (no eyewitness evidence, recovered bodies of gangers having no real affiliation with the underground punk scenes), several tabloid outlets claimed that MÖB 69 was behind the heist. The tabloids pointed to songs such as "Bankstat" and "Doeda 'em alla", containing lyrics that were eerily prescient to the 2032 Riksdag heist. On the other hand, songs such as "Koep Hoegt Saelj Laagt" and "Aktier aer Boegig" described other anti-market, anti-establishment practices, such as using capital to destroy capital. Notably in the latter song, the protagonist detonates a "monster truck sized" glitter bomb in the lobby of a major international bank, in an apparent suicide attack (although MÖB 69 bassist Sven Axelsson claimed that "he became the glitter" was a more appropriate interpretation), causing a collapse of the international finance system as the glitter "travels around the world" when the bank's traders, seeking stock exchanges to secure their ill-gotten gains, unknowingly carry glitter with them in their pockets (as well as within shoes, behind their ties, and under their ears) and cause each exchange to crash as the glitter reappears, "contaminating" the traders at each exchange and crashing their banks as well. Musical critics and economic theorists alike have pointed out the juxtaposition of the relatively sophisticated understanding of financial contagion theory and crude humor makes a strong argument for financial regulation that is easily understood by the majority of working class punks, the primary consumers of MÖB 69's music and a foundational component of the 'punk scene.

Coincidentally, MÖB 69 had played a departing tour a few weeks prior, ending several days before the heist near the Riksbank. Ultimately, a lack of evidence and strong alibis kept them from being considered prime suspects, although the band broke up shortly thereafter, which was widely believed to be due to behind-the-scenes drama or media heat from the investigation.

Notorious for his brash attitude, alleged criminal activities (heists, sabotage, corporate mercenary work), actual criminal activities (bar fights, petty larceny, drug offenses), and womanizing over the six years of the band's existence, Jons Kvicksilver cultivated a reputation as a rough housing, rough living, rugged punk rocker. Armed, literally, with a custom .454 Carlen automatic handgun, and a Haagstrom Fantomen electric guitar, Kvicksilver's brief run with MÖB 69 made him a legend in the scumcore scene.

Kvicksilver reportedly went on a sabbatical for several years to the Far East, returning to his old career of busking and playing in bars which was widely reported in local news tabloids, while other members of MÖB 69 branched off with their own crews or fell into other gigs.

A simplified Comanche.

Much like the famous "malewife vs. wife (male)" dichotomy, there exists in helicopter-kin the "Comanche vs. Ninja" dichotomy.

about a year's worth of improvements or so and such:

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Kontraktit/mercenary of HLM Loesningar AB (Sea, Air, Land Solutions), armed with an Ak95C caseless assault rifle.

SAL's first combat operations were during the Frisian Civil War in 2054, the year of its formation, following the Alarian War. After its success in this conflict, this was followed by numerous contracts in southern Sajarica for energy firms involving company- or platoon-sized deployments of direct combat troops or advisors through the 2060's. As of 2083, thirty years after its founding, SAL Solutions is estimated to have approximately 4-5,000 contractors in its employment, making it the third largest private military force (PMF) in the world. SAL is known for its employment of air assault and vertical envelopment tactics involving light attack/assault helicopters, parachutists, orbital gunships, and rapidly relocating aerial field artillery. Although able to support a battalion-sized formation of motorized infantry, including armored personnel carriers and light tanks, SAL Solutions is known mostly for its light infantry, riverine, and helicopter forces, and thus maintains the largest stable of privately owned rotary- and fixed-wing military aircraft outside the UZR.

SAL's primary clients are foreign governments, the World Bank, and major international conglomerates, often paying in resource concessions, bancors, or bullion, respectively. Its largest deployment is 1,000 men comprised approximately of an 800-man battalion group with a 150-man light attack squadron of SkA91s, a common trainer aircraft available in large quantities since the adoption of the Saab Mitten by the Gallan RAAC prior to the Alarian War, in the Republic of Aginawea. This battalion group is equipped with almost 30 armored vehicles, half a dozen heavy mortars, a dozen howitzers, engineering capabilities, eight light attack jets, two orbital gunships, nine attack helicopters, a dozen transport helicopters, and nearly 150 trucks of varying types. The remaining personnel are comprised of military advisors, contract support personnel (office workers), and legal advisors. There they serve as a direct combat force for the government, and several major Gallo-Kampalan mining concerns, as well as performing training operations for the newly-minted Aginawean Republican Defense Force (ARDF), emphasizing vertical envelopment of a airborne unit modeled on SAL's own contract army, and the Kampalan Light Infantry, and rapid mobility of conscripted motorized infantry from forward operating bases.

Its second largest deployment is in the waterways, deltas, and inland seas of the island of Suwannaphuk, the Shan Kingdom, and neighboring regions of the Golden Triangle, where SAL has deployed a 750-man unit aboard MV Naut A Narc and MV Illiquid Asset, both converted RO/RO container ships purchased from the Gallan government in 2068 and each acting as a mothership for riverine and coastal boat operations supporting up to 8 riverine craft (6x 16 m PCR; 2x 25m PCM), one medium helicopter or two light helicopters, and three 55-meter PCGBs, with a total of twelve PCRs, four PCMs, six PCGBs, six light helicopters, four MALE UAS, and attendant maintenance staff. A high speed ferry with a crew of 20, fitted for astern refueling of PCRs, PCMs, or PCGBs, and capable of transporting up to a company (~20-30 vehicles and ~120 men) of mechanized troops in light amphibious vehicles is also maintained, for when SAL contractors need to go ashore, either on drug-busting operations or in support of the PCR riverine forces. This deployment acts to assist the Far East Theater of the Gallan Royal Army in lieu of the "traditional" deployment of a regular Army regiment or battalion, its anti-drug enforcement mandate, which was recently restored in the region in the 2070's as part of a general overseas expansion of the Gallan government in the aftermath of the Alarian War. Again, the remaining personnel of the deployment are support staff for administrative and legal work.

Often considered a "secret branch" of the Gallan military, SAL Solutions is part of the sprawling AlarKo(Alarian Corporation) conglomerate, which in the post-war era has expanded to become one of the major suppliers of natural gas and hydro energy in the Alarian continent, as well as a major mining and exploratory energy firm, with interests in diamond, uranium, methane, and REE mines across Alaria and Sajarica. Its primary competitors include the UZR's "national champion" conglomerate, Совпром, and its "Tchaikovsky" Security Division, which is believed to have between 8,000 and 10,000 contractors through its various corporate organs. This makes Tchaikovsky the single largest "private" army, although given the Socialist nature of the government the use of the word "private" is analogical at best. Additionally, the Jade Empire's numerous PMF firms are all organized under the "National Guild of Private Security Workers", which are understood to be partly under the control of the state, contain approximately 7,000-9,000 contractors of all types. However, the Jade Empire explicitly bans direct combat operations of security contractors, similar to Oumei, and unlike either Gallia or the UZR, thus much of its contractors likely comprise unarmed or lightly armed security guards, with their primary job being surveillance of assets rather than battlefield combat. Use of armored vehicles and helicopters, aside from the minimum of VIP ferry or armored SUVs, is unlikely in either case, which means that SAL more often than not finds itself cooperating alongside Jade Empire or Oumeian contractors, and often competing with Tchaikovsky for work, or directly encountering them on the battlefield.

БМП-ДМ of the Papal Zouaves. The name, hastily painted on the side, translates as "the full armor [of God]", from Ephesians 6:11-6:13 in the Stedsk Bible.

This vehicle was donated to the Army of God by the UZR in 2050. The markings, notable for using stenciled Christian numerals opposed to Turanic, denote the vehicle as the executive officer's vehicle of the 1st Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 3rd "Trinity" Brigade of the Army of God, the ground arm of the State of the Church's volunteer army, the Zouaves. The standard Allied air identification marking, a white cross, is visible across the top of the hull. The Papacy's war flag flies from a whip antenna.

During the latter stages of the Alarian War (2049-2053) and subsequent Frisian Civil War (2053-2056), the State of the Church contributed nearly a dozen brigades, composed of both the three main ground brigades of the Papacy and three times as many foreign Christian volunteers who answered the call of the chief prelate, Urban IX. Funding for crusaders' initial arrival and boarding was provided by Papal grants, and after the illegal seizure and occupation of the Vatican by the Frisian Army, the still-ample coffers of United Provinces of Vinland, while ammunition and weapons were provided for, most ironically, by the Union of Zovlol Republics and the Principality of Gallia respectively. Complimenting this was the more modern, well-equipped Papal Gendarmes, the Knights Hospitallers, the Alemannic Knights, and the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, all totaled equivocating a territorial defense division, two mechanized divisions, and a motorized light infantry division. These Catholic ground units were equipped with modern Frisian-built ZF51 Cheetah main battle tanks, ZF41 Badger IFVs, ZF61 Bumblebee howitzers, and ZF31 Doberman AFVs, as well as a limited quantity of ZF10 Jellyfish battlesuits, and Alemannic-built Multicar MUNGO, RMMV HX and TG trucks, and Fuchs armored cars.

With the rescue of the Pope from the notorious prison-fortress Castle Berum in a nighttime commando raid by Q Squadron of the Royal Navy's Coastal Rangers (the so-called "bionic-cybernetic commandos") in low-observable "Gullwing" gliders during Operation THUNDERBOLT, along with several other high-ranking members of the Vatican Vicariate, the Papacy's Gendarmes and the Alemannic Knights successfully evicted the Frisian Milysje from the Vatican during a surprise uprising. Supported by the local population, and neighboring Alemannic Confederation, the Vatican's armed forces swiftly disarmed the occupiers. Following the assault landings in Northern and Southern Frisia respectively, during Operations SLEDGEHAMMER and ANVIL, which saw the arrival of over a million Allied troops to the shores of Frisia, the Papacy had committed itself to a major ground-gaining offensive in Northeastern Frisia. The professional army of the Papacy was subsequently called to service under the banner of the Northern Frisian Group of Forces, the 14th Field Army.

Over 200,000 crusaders would eventually arrive, swelling the ranks of the Papal military, as well as various Saintly and lay military orders. The largest of these was the Lay Order of the Poor-Fellow Brothers of Christ, or the Knights Templar, its name a deliberate homage to the long-defunct medieval Alarian military order. Although considered to be of disreputable origin due to the bulla cruciata contra Frisios providing for indulgences and thus in the Temporal realm (at least) the pardoning of non-capital criminal records such as larceny or petty battery, many crusaders were ultimately equipped, trained, and housed in hastily constructed dwellings in the rural outskirts of the State of the Church. The crusaders also had many non-commissioned officers of former military servicemen, as well as Palatine Guard officers, with the latter providing the professional leadership of the Army of God. These officers wore gold and white armbands emblazoned with the key and cross of the Papacy.

Regardless, the Knights Templar ultimately provided the equivalent of two mechanized divisions and supporting troops to the ASF, falling under the command of the battle-hardened Gallian 1st Field Army, which saw action during the initial nuclear exchanges in Wadjta and the Sajaric Plains. Together, they would form the "Catholic Corps" of the 1st Field Army, which along with with the 18th Airborne Corps, Oumeiguo's 3rd Marine Division, the East Styrian 41st Combined Arms Army, the Alemannic Confederation's Confederate Armed Forces Southern Group Army (approx. 1 mechanized infantry division, 3 light infantry division, 1 airmobile division, 1 armored division), and the 1st and 2nd Marine Commando Divisions of the Royal Navy, which under the command of GEN Joachim Llewellyn De Vers (ASF HQ) and LTG Georges Serreau de Patrik (18th Airborne Corps), formed the hammer that broke the back of the Integralists' corporate war machine.

After SLEDGEHAMMER's dismal advance beyond the Hanza Line, a megapolis running across the northern coast of continental Alaria, the ASF took the lead in the offensive. The 14th Army and its numerous field corps fought a grinding, plodding offensive, drawing in massive quantities of Frisian mechanized reserves in its relentless drive to the capital city, smashing through successive defensive lines and urban megasprawls to expand its beachhead. Meanwhile, the 1st Army managed to move at a higher rate of advance, helped by large enveloping maneuvers in the less developed areas of the South Alarian Plains, blowing through the croplands and open plains of Southern Frisia with relative ease. Despite expending nearly two million rounds of artillery ammunition each month, advance rates for the 14th Army were measured in hundreds of meters per day, while the 1st Army managed to achieve almost a mile a day on average, although in either case movement was typically in large surges forward followed by slogging battles or long periods of logistical resupply and force regeneration, a feature typical of major combats since ancient times.

After a year and a half, much of southern and Central Frisia had been seized by the ASF, and its Allied corps, while the industrial-urban heartland of Frisia was shattered, and the Athestan dynasty obliterated. The 14th Field Army had scarcely advanced more than 150 miles from its initial landing zones, and only after expending almost a dozen megatons of nuclear firepower, and nearly 50 million conventional artillery shells in combat. After suffering nearly a million men dead or wounded, the 14th Army had successfully engaged, tied down, and ultimately destroyed the surviving formations of the Lanmacht, including the incredibly powerful cybertank-battlesuit combat units, using an army composed of little more than under-equipped and hastily trained conscripts.

The "Big Six" of the Allied Control Council, including the Holy See, continue to administer portions of Allied-occupied Frisia to this day.

Royal Army rifle team, c. 2093, equipped with Pattern 52 helmets, Pattern 55 hard body armor, Ak56 automatic rifles, a Gk48 pump-action grenade launcher, a Gk203 single shot grenade launcher, and a Ksp50 general-purpose harness machine gun (GPHMG).

In the aftermath of the Alarian War, and the subsequent police actions required to restore order across the Gallian state, the Royal Army was left with a paucity of equipment, ammunition, and manpower. Over a million men had been killed, and two million wounded, in direct combat on the continent. Including the nuclear war, the Gallan population had been reduced by nearly 18 million following the Dorestad Incident, by 3 million during the Little Hungerwinter, and another 8 million during the Big Hungerwinter. This resulted in a total population loss (by 2049 census) of nearly 17% of the pre-war population, primarily in the initial nuclear exchange and the following two major famines.

Although prepared for a major continental war, the munitions and equipment stockpiles of the Gallan Army proved to be strained to their limits by August 2053, which officially marked the end of major ground-gaining offensives from the Allied armies. So extreme were these shortages that it is known that at least one battalion of Strv 81 main battle tanks, dating from the late 1940's, took part in the major defensive operations between February and April 2053. Further, at least sixty Strv 104 main battle tanks had been "de-gunned" with the Army's QF 3⅓" 20-pounder gun, using shells modified to deliver 3⅓" recoilless rifle projectiles, and a "shock battalion" of these tanks combined with a desantnik chemical troops/combat engineers company fought during the Battle of the Bridges. As the Strv 122 was originally fielded with a QF 4⅙" 9-pounder gun, itself derived from the 20-pounder, the identical size of the trunnions, with the addition of rear ballasts, easily facilitated this. Even rifles and ammunition had begun to run low, with troops being issued a menagerie of small arms, bandoliers of ammunition in stripper clips, or occasionally no more than a singleton or pair of magazines and a handful of loose shells. Ever prescient, the Supreme High Command had anticipated such difficulties, putting into production a new type of automatic rifle known as the Ak46, intended to be produced by collections of small gunsmithies across the nation, using the most modern extrusion and injection molded techniques. Simplified versions of the Ak58/Ak21 family were also developed, using injection molded lower receivers, as opposed to forged or milled, improving production time slightly.

Regardless, the extensive equipment and manpower losses during the Dorestad Incident, primarily affecting the 1st and 14th Field Armies, had only been smoothed over by the draining of stockpiles of other armies, and tremendous amounts of foreign aid. In the immediate aftermath of the war, production had been degraded significantly by disruptions in electrical power and loss of skilled labor. The Ak46, intended as an emergency minimum-time-of-production weapon (similar to the "Milysje Gewear" (MiG) used to equip many of the Feardmen) and incorporating components of the Ak58, became the standard issue rifle for a brief period. The "standard issue" status was always debatable, given the state of the Royal Army for nearly a decade after the war was more a loose collection of battalions and brigades than a true field force. The Ak56, an improved and simplified version of the Ak46, was developed in the meantime and put into production in 2057. Similar in design but including a redesigned bolt and gas system, bayonet lug, side rail optics mount, and new charging handle, the Ak56 has been the standard Royal Army rifle for mechanized and motorized infantry for the past 50 years. The Ak21, Ak95, Ak58, and even the Ak47, can still be found in the hands of various militias, Army cavalry and light/airborne infantry regiments, private security firms, and Home Guard regiments. The Royal Navy's equivalent, the Ak74, incorporates a more conventional design layout, with a reciprocating inertial block designed to reduce muzzle climb.

The Ksp50, P52 helmet, P55 body armor, and Gk48 had all been designed prior to the Alarian War. These advanced weapons, along with the Okp52 sentry gun, entered service in the final months of the Alarian War with some battalions, mostly from heavy cavalry regiments, which assaulted Frjentsjer during the closing stages of the war. Notably, two heavy cavalry regiments saw action near the Royal Palace in Frjentsjer, and are where most photographic evidence comes from. Built for the 50th king of Frisia Audulfus VI in the 1500's the Palace, and the much older Frisian Empire-era Citadel, have been a centerpiece of Alarian history for literal milennia, and the Battle of Frjentsjer was no exception. The ancient Frisian Mausoleum, dating to the 100s, had been converted to a garrison/barracks for the Royal Family's palace guard in the 500's, and connected to a greater fortress system, known as the Aldegillisian Walls. This citadel, and its smaller Folcwaldish Walls surrounding the Palatine District, marked the interior of Frjentsjer and were one of the primary objectives of Operation CRUSHER.

Fighting around the citadel was particularly heavy, as it was defended by a dug-in brigade of the Lanlikmilysje, the modern Palatine Guard of the Frisian Royal Family, and contained within it a fully equipped mechanized battalion and several battlesuit battalion-equivalents. The Aldegillisian Walls, constructed from tamped earth and concrete, extended nearly 15 miles in a circular pattern, and with thicknesses exceeding 70 feet at the base and an imposing 50-foot height, were immune to conventional weapons and artillery. Conventional military logic suggested that breaching the walls could be done only by siege towers or ramps, or through direct assault on the gatehouses, but the use of several low yield nuclear weapons was able to produce a pair of breaches of sufficient size to allow the passage of mechanized troops into the inner citadel. The Palatine Guard that lay at the heart of the city, defended by inner walls, was quickly broken by heavy firepower of the mechanized cavalry, who seized upon the gatehouse protecting the Palace. One unknown soldier, wearing an early Pattern 52 helmet with the sunscreen down, can be seen in the background of the photograph "Raising the flag over the Royal Palace of Audulfus" taken several minutes later by combat photographer LCPL Sven Axelsson. In the photo, taken from a battlement overlooking the ruins of Frjentsjer, a soldier is fastening a Gallian flag over the main gatehouse's gargoyle, while several of his comrades watch him from the door of the opposing tower. The breach produced by one of the nuclear artillery shells is clearly visible, providing a view into the more modern, albeit heavily ruined, architecture at the foot of the ancient walls.

The Ksp50 "smartgun" can be seen in several photographs, showing it was in use as a support weapon by rifle platoons in close assaults, taking advantage of its high fidelity thermal imaging sensor and stabilized mount providing precise automatic fire out to 800 yards. Integrated with the P52 helmet, the Ksp50's aiming module can be mounted directly over the sunshield, providing a wide field of view for the operator at 1x magnification, and the weapon sight with a 4x to 12x magnification. Although none have been photographed being used in the assault on the citadel, they were used in other battles throughout the city, with troops being pictured dismounting from APCs and firing from windows using the "smartgun", often wearing kerchiefs and forage caps as opposed to ballistic helmets. The Ksp50's most notable use was during the "liberation" of the Frisian bullion reserves and major art galleries by the 33rd and 77th Infantry Divisions (Line), which coincided with the arrival of the 14th Heavy Cavalry Regiment via the Hanza rail line. It was through this railroad line that nearly 3,500 tonnes of Frisian gold and silver bullion, priceless artworks, Christian relics, and ancient sculptures from the National Museum "Terpstrastate" were safely evacuated during the fighting. Many of these artworks have been preserved in various Royal Museums throughout Gallia, while the bullion has been protected in the Royal Bank (Riksbank) of Gallia's main vault in Kiruna since 2053. Despite diplomatic protests from the Frisian government, some as recent as 2095, the Gallan government has stated that Frisia is "not yet sufficiently mature" to protect the artworks and that Frisia's peace treaty signed in 2054 stated that all "spoils" were to be kept "in perpetuity". In response, the Gallan Museum offered a discount program for Frisian national tourists and visitors.

The Pattern 55 body armor vest is notable for its use of a hard torso upper plate, soft abdomen armor, and a ballistic "skirt" to protect the thighs. Unlike the Pattern 42 or Skv05 body armor vest, which incorporate thinner boron carbide or alumina internal plates, the P55's external plate is capable of stopping .265 to .355 caliber armor piercing ammunition, as well as .50 caliber ball ammunition, with minimal bruising to the soldier. The rest of the vest is designed to provide protection similar to conventional vest/battle belt/deltoid protector/thigh protector setups but be easier to doff and don, break up the general outline of the soldier, and provide limited inclement weather protection.

The replacement of the old Boots, Combat, Leather, Russet with Boots, Leather, Infantry is apparent. The new BLIs are similar to old-fashioned jackboots, providing good stability for marching over long distance, and come in both black and russet colors. The Pattern 57 battle dress incorporates a pair of tactical jodhpurs, similar to the Pattern 46 battle dress, but is constructed from wool entirely (with cotton threads), as opposed to the wool-rayon twilled mix of the Pattern 46. The Pattern 55 body armor comes in "Infantry", "Grenadier", and "Gunner" chest rig variants, with room for four magazines in two double pouches being common. The Grenadier version has 40mm waist pouches similar to the Zovlol M2035 combat vest, while the Infantry version has room for hand grenades and rifle grenades, as well as 10-gauge pouches. The Gunner version has room for four 100-round magazine pouches, used in the Ksp50 machine gun.

The Gk48, a ~20mm (10 gauge) pump-action grenade launcher/shotgun, was developed to combat battlesuits in close quarters. It would be adapted into the Sdvk87 (anti-battlesuit carbine) in the 2070's, but the weapon saw first action in the Alarian War. Some airborne troops and heavy cavalry were equipped with the weapon, in specially modified handguards for the Ak21 rifle. While the Gk48 was available, its quantity was too few to seriously affect ground operations, and satchel charges and disposable grenade launchers were still the primary anti-battlesuit weapon. The utility of the pump action, however, was praised by troops who were lucky enough to receive them, being able to defeat battlesuits during the assault on the Royal Palace. The basic weapon is, in essence, a cut down pump-action shotgun, albeit rifled, and is able to deliver a 20mm high explosive grenade, hollow charge grenade, slug, gas grenade (CN/CS), or 00 buck shot shell out to a range of 100 yards accurately.

The replacement of the battlefield computer system known as "KITTEN", with the new "MARKUS" or "PUMA" system is evident on the Lance Corporal, who wears a HMD on his ballistic helmet. The HMD is used for operation of FPV drones, accessing local maps, and as a display for a wrist- or torso mounted computer, which is itself similar to the 2020's era Army Tactical Assault Calculator (ATAK) used by "KITTEN". A wireless antenna is visibly run across the helmet's surface, while his armor plate has a folding carrier clasp for the PUMA tactile interface.

Finally, the M56 TeDAR (Terahertz Detection And Ranging) "motion tracker" provides a 2-dimensional "map", showing a plan position indicator, with the operator centered at the bottom, and provides a 70- to 90-degree fan capable of determining motion. Based on terahertz radar energy returns, the TeDAR can classify movement as armed or unarmed, and as human, animal, or robotic. These returns can extend to nearly 50 meters in ideal conditions, through most forms of interior walls, including reinforced concrete. Unlike most terahertz through-wall systems, which provide direct imaging (similar to an X-ray), the TeDAR provides only a representative view. Although designed in the 2040's, the TeDAR did not make it to service by the end of the Alarian War, as the primary production facility had been hit by several 50 kiloton nuclear weapons. Recovered prototypes and design documents, backed up at the RECTIFIER facility which had survived nearly 50 incoming warheads due to use of advanced prototype anti-missile systems, the TeDAR was able to make it to serial production by 2060. Typically, the TeDAR is carried by a rifle team's lance corporal, who uses it to direct troops onto incoming threats, and the resulting image can be displayed on a monitor on the M56 or the PUMA HMD.

With the possible exception of the Sd69 "Centerguard" battlesuit, which itself was designed by many of the same engineers of the 2030's-era Sd50 "Fullback", essentially all new Royal Army equipment put into production between 2050 and 2072 had been developed, or began development, during the 2040's or before. This includes weapons as advanced as the JAS.70 "Peregrine Falcon"/"Cruiserweight" and OLF.62 "Pigeon Hawk"/"Lightweight" autonomous cooperative attack aircraft (ACAA), which were initially intended for service in the late 2050's to early 2060's. Their entry into service ended up being delayed due to the "lost decades" of the 2050's and '60's, while many simple weapons, such as the humble Sh52 combat helmet and Ak56 assault rifle, were delayed simply due to greater priority needs of rebuilding the civil economy.

VIGGEN Series D/E Direct Action Unit/Special Reconnaissance Unit Commando Cyborgs

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Royal Navy Direct Action (DA) VIGGEN Series D Unit of 4th Platoon, Red Squadron, RN SOG in ordinary body armor, with .338" light assault machine gun (LAMG) and underbarrel 64-line pump-action grenade launcher; a Special Reconnaissance (SR) VIGGEN Series E Unit in light battle dress with a .50" magnum pistol, "electro-duster" knuckle irons, and SLR with 12-gauge underbarrel grenade launcher.

VIGGEN is the current codename for the Ministry of War's transhuman supersoldier program, descended from the "cybernetic-bionic commando" units, such as Assault Team Inoka, of the Alarian War. The VIGGEN program builds on the work of GUNGNIR (2040's), MISTEL (2050's), and TYRFING (2060's) to produce a 4th generation combat cyborg for the 22nd century. Based on advances both estimated and demonstrated through recovered corpses of special forces cyborgs, codenamed "Optimates", of the UZR Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), the STAVEN requested a new series of fully geneline modified cyborgs be introduced which could defeat the Optimates in close combat.

Generational development of cyborg supersoldiers began in the 2020's with various "human optimization algorithms", designed to increase the fightability and performance of commando units during colonial wars, and continued into the Alarian War (2049-2053) after contemporary advances in prostheses had allowed the whole-body replacement of limbs and neural tissues with cybernetic equivalents. This resulted in the GUNGNIR program, a mostly successful program designed to return injured but battle experienced troops to combat as rapidly as possible, and was responsible for successful execution of dangerous missions such as the Castle Berum raid and Operation SUPERKICK. GUNGNIR troops were baseline human soldiers augmented with extreme amounts of cybernetics and prostheses, often leading these soldiers to be successful in their jobs until the support provided by the military was cut off as part of the reconstruction and reorientation of the post-Dorestad economy. Many GUNGNIR veterans found themselves unable to function, quite literally, in post-war society as the advanced cybernetics broke down in lieu of routine maintenance, turning to body modification, illicit employment through organized criminal networks, or even suicide in rare cases. Many more found work in various private military firms that sprung up after the war or helped found charities dedicated to the support and well-being of people suffering from traumatic amputations.

MISTEL, the equivalent cyborg program for the Office of Special Collections (KSI), sought to improve upon the cybernetics with psycho-somatic conditioning, gene therapy, and advanced combat training. MISTEL-type cyborgs were organized into the Office of Special Collections' Section IX (liquidations) and given advanced weapons and prototype powered armor. MISTEL is still used as a general codename when referring to KSI cyborgs. TYRFING, the second generation military cyborg, incorporated gene therapy and microscopic augmentation. Increased mitochondrial count, "cat's eyes" reflectors implanted in the retina, frostbite and cold temperature resistances from freshwater fish species, and improved aerobic performance from advanced gene therapy cocktails increased the natural capacities of volunteer soldiers. In a way this represented a truer version of the pre-GUNGNIR programs of "human optimization", using genes taken from felines and catfish, instead of merely steroids and training regimens, without the need to go as long under the knife as GUNGNIR. The latter, born of both wartime necessity and desperation, was seen as outmoded almost entirely. However, TYRFING's ultimate weakness was that the soldiers were scarce, being volunteers, and fully grown, thus relatively fixed in their capacities for bearing weight, despite gene therapy and pharmaceuticals used to increase bone densities. VIGGEN, promising to produce similar results to TYRFING from birth, began in earnest in the early 2070's at AstraMedivir AB (AMAB) Kivik Facility.

This facility would later be renamed the Kivik Vatworks after the spinoff of Kivat AB from AMAB, after an internal strategic review by AMAB in 2086, becoming the prime contractor for the VIGGEN combat units. Kivat AB has the capacity to produce approximately 600 cyborg soldiers, excluding rejected or defective units, with orders placed in 20 year cycles.

Two genelines were developed for VIGGEN. One, based more heavily on TYRFING volunteers' DNA donations, was designated the "Special Reconnaissance" Series -A and -E geneline. The other, an entirely new geneline based on recently unearthed archaeological samples in pre-Vendish mounds of a previously unidentified peri-Neanderthalensis hominid (presently named Homo sapiens Stokerensis after V.B. Stoker School of Anthropology of Kiruna University) and incorporating sequences from Neandertals and Stokerensis, into what amounts to an entirely new subspecies of Homo. This work was designated as the "Direct Action" geneline, and required three generations to develop fully at the Kivik Vatworks (Kivat AB), with the final Homo s. Kivikensis (patent pending) rolling off the line in 2105. The Kivikensis was designed explicitly to fulfill the need for a large load capacity, innately high ABC/CBR-NEP (Chemical, Biological, Radiological - Nanological, Ecological, Prionological) resistance, and cognitive flexibility while retaining internal moral-political unity. The latter proved to be most challenging, with initial cohorts suffering numerous maladies, thus Series D units first entered service in 2105, while Series A and -E units had been in use since 2088 and 2097 respectively.

Homo Stokerensis is one of the now recognized six species of Homo active over the past 150,000 years since the evolution of the Cro-Magnon. Stokerensis were a predatory offshoot of Homo sapiens (or, more controversially, Homo sapiens is a offshoot of Stokerensis) which adapted for hunting of other Homo subspecies, and first appears between 275±37kya. The first skeleton was discovered in the Jade Empire in 2057 during an archaeological dig, while comparison of other skeletal fragments (primarily through bone density analysis) have revealed that previously identified Sapiens skeletons may be Stokerensis skeletons instead in both Tlaxcalan and proto-Vendish tombs. Stokerensis featured subtle anatomical differences in bone density and structure, with a clear adaptation for distance running and endurance movement, but relatively dense bones allowing for (presumably) very rapid changes in direction. The robusticity of available skeletons falls more in line with Neanderthalensis, or exceeds it in rare cases, and this increased density allowed the muscles to become much sturdier. As a result of hyperpredation competition between Cro-Magnons, Neandertals, Denisovans, Phukiensis, and Erectus (the conventional "Big Five" of the Upper Paleolithic), Stokerensis is believed to have gone extinct between 10-14kya in the Sajaralaric mega-continent. This coincided with the extinction of the Denisovan and Neandertal populations during the Upper Paleolithic. As a result of population transfers from 12-25kya across the Chukchi Strait land bridge, Stokerensis is believed to have sustained its lineage until as brief as 6,000 years ago before disappearing entirely. Further, pre-Uto-Nahautl oral myths record that proto-Tlaxcalan priests and shamans had a pact with "illuminated men" who lived with human families and consumed the blood of children and adults alike. As sequences from Stokerensis have been found in Tlaxcalan populations, it is likely that extinction of the last living Homo subspecies was driven by a combination of local droughts, population collapses depriving Stokerensis of food sources, and introgression. These sequences have also been found in some modern populations of the Vendish Peninsula, such as the Sapmi, Veps, and Geatish. In terms of trophic level, if humans are around 2.25, then Stokerensis is believed to have been approximately 4.1 to 4.3. As a result of the discovery of the Stokerensis subspecies, many anthropological understandings of Tlaxcalan, Dine, and Hopi history had to be rewritten essentially overnight. It is now understood that at least a handful of pre-Alarian, Anahuacian archaeological sites and several proto-Samoyedic settlements were resident to a high-status sub-population of Stokerensis, who acted as both eligious priests and literal shepherds for their livestock-flocks of Homo sapiens.

Early batches of Kivikensis Series B were highly aggressive towards Kivat personnel, albeit only after the onset of puberty, likely caused by the extensive Stokerensis sequences being activated, and were liquidated as a result. Kivikensis Series C were far more amenable to ordinary behavior, but were considered too individualistic to be serious combat soldiers, described by a general manager at Kivat as "exceedingly brash", while their skeletal density was considered to be too low to carry the large weight required by the VIGGEN program. These too were liquidated, albeit in a more traditional sense, and numerous Series C units have since found stable work as bodyguards, huscle, or photo models. The Series D batch, developed simultaneously, incorporated more xenogenetic cocktails, as well as redesigned calcium sequestration and autophagy pathways, providing a much denser body. Better understanding of the genes of Stokerensis that led to prior behaviors of the Series B units have resulted in a VIGGEN unit that is large, robust, capable of rapid movement, and has high moral-political preparedness. Like Neandertals, Kivikensis has a rapid growth cycle, reaching puberty at between 7 to 8 years of age, and rapidly growing over the next four to six years, reaching full adult growth between the age of 14 to 16 and full mental growth by age 20. This has allowed for three full generations of Kivikensis to be produced during the initial run of Series -A and -E SR VIGGENs.

In terms of geneline specific modifications, as the names imply, both VIGGEN series are designed for specific purposes. However, common modifications between the two genelines include increased mitochondrial counts, higher lactate thresholds, improved gluconeogenesis pathways, greater aerobic capacity, "cat's eye" reflectors, at least partial cyberbrain augmentation, denser astrocyte and neuroglia populations, thicker cortices, diminished fear responses, reduced (less than 2 hours per day) sleep demand, innate ABC protection via increased HuBCHe stores and genegineered livers, thickened and strengthened tissues incorporating long protein chains similar to spider silk, rewritten cellular transcription (to aid both healing and neuroplasticity), higher operating body temperatures (to allow for faster enzymatic action and cognition), improved kidney function allowing consumption of saltwater, greatly increased resistance to common fungal or plantborne toxins through modified chemical production in the liver, and denser skeletal-muscular tissues. The average weight of a SR VIGGEN, standing approximately 6' 10" in height, and described as a "typical triathlete build" in appearance, is around 280 pounds.

All VIGGENs are designed to think smarter, move faster, and hit harder than ordinary baseline humans, while carrying more mass (upwards of 200 pounds of combat equipment, ammunition, and body armor are not atypical for SR units, with 300 to 400 pounds common for the DA units) and moving aggressively against the enemy. Special Reconnaissance Units are designed for long-duration, deep reconnaissance and target of opportunity attacks. Limited support, foraging, and long periods of sedentary observation are necessary, with limited sleep and high metabolic endurance. Priority is given to low caloric consumption, judicious water loss, slow-twitch muscle fibers, aerobic capacity, and occipital and hippocampal cortices' relative volumes. Special Reconnaissance missions often involve specialized forms of insertion, such as paraglider or orbital pod insertion, and require covering long distances on foot. All SR VIGGENs are descended from a requirement for the classic Special Reconnaissance operation: SCALPEL.

During Operation SCALPEL in the Alarian War, Army Field Ranger units and Navy Coastal Ranger troops conducted deep reconnaissance (approximately 100 nautical miles from landing zone; >500 nautical miles from assembly area) and attack on Frisian ballistic missile and nuclear artillery units over the course of several weeks before the beginning of Operation SLEDGEHAMMER. Destruction of at least ⅔ of Frisian ballistic missile launch units were needed by STAVEN estimates, with an expectation that ⅓ to ⅔ of the remainder would be shot down by anti-ballistic missile defenses. SCALPEL's insertion of nearly 80 special forces teams of 4 to 8 troops allowed for the identification and subsequent destruction of almost 75 launchers before they could launch. A handful of these were destroyed in suicide attacks by the special forces units, while the bulk were eliminated by a combination of air- and nuclear ballistic missile attack. The ballistic missile submarine HMS Indomitable was destroyed by a dozen missiles which counterfired after its partial ballistic missile launch. During the initial landing of SLEDGEHAMMER, 36 hours later, ten nuclear missiles were intercepted by ballistic missile defense destroyers, while another six detonated successfully, destroying several battalions and a amphibious assault aircraft carrier. Regardless, SLEDGEHAMMER's amphibious armada landed successfully and established a successful beachhead on the continent, ensuring the victory of Allied forces.

SCALPEL's Special Reconnaissance demands specifically called for a successful establishment of a semi-permanent observation position of 340 hours, capped with 36-hour infiltration-exfiltration phases, and multiple patrols spanning a 35 nautical mile radius around the concealed observation point, with an 8-man unit. The SR VIGGEN unit possesses limited ability, by nature of its transhuman nature, to conduct direct action capabilities, but compared to the DA VIGGEN is highly ineffective in this role. Its specialized geneline allows the SR VIGGEN brain to rapidly track movements of troops and machines across a landscape, notice minute details, and remain motionless, neither blinking nor breathing for as long as 20 minutes. Although not as sturdy as their DA counterpart, the melancholic-phlegmatic personalities give SR VIGGENs a high level of detail and process oriented conscientiousness. Their augmented cyberbrains and dense hippocampal and occipital lobes provide them with extraordinary memory and eyesight, even by transhuman standards, while ocular implants allow for zoom magnification out to 8x normal vision. Optimized as snipers, long-range reconnaissance/patrol, and raiding troops, the SR VIGGENs lack much of the Stokerensis-specific derived sequences of the DA VIGGENs, being essentially baseline humans with highly optimized cybernetic and genetic augments.

DA VIGGEN genelines were designed along another Alarian War operation: SUPERKICK. SUPERKICK, involving the original GUNGNIR bionic cyber commandos of the Royal Navy, was a short assault on a heavily defended underground complex via battalion air assault. The commandos were supported by frontal aviation and helicopter gunships. The objective, a bio-nanological weapons facility and cyborg production center, was destroyed by atomic demolition charges, but not before valuable research data, captive Allied prisoners, and research scientists involved were evacuated. The cyborg units, along with battlesuit equipped Milisyje, attempted to defend the facility and were stopped by GUNGNIR's commando troops. The bulk of casualties of the GUNGNIR troops were suffered during SUPERKICK, indicating that even against unaugmented humans "merely human" wasn't good enough, and although SUPERKICK was successful at nearly all its objectives, it ensured that all of the GUNGNIR squadrons had suffered such losses as to render them impotent for the remainder of the war. Direct Action genelines required the ability to wear body armor resistant to 15.5mm ball or 12.7mm API unassisted across the thorax, .30 caliber AP plate across the limbs, and be able to move at tactical speeds i.e. between 6 and 8 miles per hour for distances up to 50 meters, and still be able to conduct close combat such as bayonet thrusts or accurate automatic fire. Because of its increased bodily temperature over baselines and SR VIGGEN geneline, the DA VIGGEN requires a passive or active cooling system when wearing heavy body armor, although its innate thermal regulation system is adequate for light body armor (12.7mm ball, .30 caliber AP) vests.

The main driving factor for the DA VIGGEN was trunk size, aerobic capacity, and gross load capacity, and thus skeletal size and muscle strength. High loads caused by body armor and speed requirements meant larger, stronger muscles, which meant larger, denser bones to avoid being destroyed by simple movements. Stokerensis provided the basis of highly dense bone structure, while modified autophagic pathways reduced the capacity for the body to eat itself, allowing the body to retain both skeletal and muscular density. The downside of this was that it came at a cost of both thermal regulatory management and caloric intake. Kivikensis requires upwards of 20,000 kcals per day, although this is more often half that in sedentary environments, primarily because its body cannot reasonably break down tissue for energy. Operating at a nominal of 104 degrees, with portions of the deep brain closer to 115 degrees, Kivikensis has extreme thermal management requirements, operating near the limits of hominid protein and enzymatic capacities. An extremely robust immune system is required to prevent the types of severe fevers which might literally cause proteins to denature. The thermal camouflage capacity of the SR VIGGEN, that is to depress its metabolic system in order to resemble a corpse on a FLIR, beyond the capacity of the Kivikensis.

Thus, Kivikensis represents the almost polar opposite of the Special Reconnaissance mission in that it is capable of carrying literally hundreds of pounds of body armor, often powered, but able to be operated manually if necessary. Capable of tearing doors off cars and bending metal with its bare hands, the Kivikensis features incredibly rapid cognition in addition to its physically imposing size. The SR VIGGENs, already standing at an imposing 6' 5", are dwarfed by its nearly 10' stature. Explicitly built for short-duration (less than 96 hours) operations, the DA VIGGEN nonetheless possesses an extremely limited SR capacity. Requirements of the DA VIGGEN were that it be able to operate for up to 72 hours without resupply, given adequate nutritional supplies, and perform limited patrols and ambushes within a 10 nautical mile radius of their observation post when lacking transportation.

Unlike the SR VIGGEN, which can complete a standard 2-mile run in combat boots on average between 5 and 6 minutes, the DA VIGGEN requires nearly 9-10 minutes to complete this task, primarily due to its larger bulk. Under combat weights (57 lbs body armor and helmet, 10 lbs rifle, 6 lbs ammunition, 54 lbs rucksack, with combat boots for SR; 108 lbs body armor and helmet, 25 lbs LAMG, 24 lbs ammunition, 73 lbs rucksack for DA) of a 2-mile run, the DA units slip to 7-8 minutes per mile while the SR units drop to merely ~6 minutes per mile on average. However, over short distances, the DA VIGGEN is capable of startlingly rapid direction changes and can complete a 100-meter sprint nearly thrice as fast as a SR VIGGEN. Combined with its sanguine-choleric personality, the DA VIGGEN is able to rapidly plot positions of enemy weapons based on limited information, intuitively understands complex tactical concepts, and can lead levy troops as an ersatz NCO if required.

Equipment issued to the VIGGEN cyborgs is similar to ordinary troops: automatic rifles, grenade projectors, rocket launchers, and ceramic or titanium body armor. Light body armor specially designed for VIGGEN troops, similar in construction to ordinary conventional vests, is typically resistant to .265" Super armor-piercing and 6mm Unified API and 12.7mm ball. Heavier body armor in the form of "light battle dress", essentially an industrial exoskeleton with thick armor plates and a load carrying cargo shelf on the back, which can resist 12.7mm API. The heaviest available body armor is "heavy battle dress", formerly called the "cybernetic commando battlesuit", which provides 14.5mm ball protection, full ABC sealing, and an integrated high energy power pack that allows use of weapons such as chainguns, sensors such as FLIRs and radar, and increased mobility. SPIE harnesses are integrated into all body armor, allowing for rapid extraction via helicopter or tiltrotor aircraft, and both light and heavy battle dress allow for near unimpeded mobility.

One major obstacle to the Kivikensis remains in that they are capable of succumbing to, during periods of extreme nutritional stress/protein starvation in combination with high heat stress, a major anatomical metamorphosis known as Witiko syndrome. So named after the Algonquin mythological monster, Witiko Syndrome is a series of extreme anatomical changes brought on after between 10 and 14 days of lack of protein intake by the Kivikensis. The cause of Witiko syndrome is presently unknown, but believed to be a result of interactions of reconstructed Stokerensis DNA sequences and donor DNA from Geatish TYRFING troops in the initial DA VIGGEN geneline series. Excessive bodily temperature, causing prion malformation and replication, results in misfolding of certain proteins similar to some forms of TSE. Diagnosis of Witiko Syndrome can be made via biopsy of brain tissue prior to onset of anatomical changes. Preventing Witiko Syndrome is of prime concern for Kivik Vatworks, not only due to lost revenue, but the impact it can have on nearby settlements and civilian populations. A degenerated form of the syndrome was observed in Series B Kivikensis units, which resulted in increased cognition, albeit similarly extreme aggression and cannibalistic behavior. An extreme pallor, the shift of the tapetum lucidum from green to red, avoidance of ultraviolet light, and predatory sadism were also observed in Series B units. Series D units add to this, to include jointed hypermobility, vocal mimicry, total bodily hair loss, reclusive behavior, and blackening of the sclera, thus leading to the term Witiko syndrome. Due to the extreme hormonal changes and organ damage caused by Witiko syndrome, the prognosis of afflicted VIGGEN units is invariably fatal, most often due to renal failure.

Because of the vast differences in displayed behavior and phenotype between Witiko Syndrome and historic Tlaxcalan tlahuelpuchiin, Rusyn upyr, and Gallic tilberadraugr, anthropologists do not believe that Witiko myths were inspired by Stokerensis. Considerations among paleontologists and archaelogists for funding archaeological digs in the southwestern Gallic and northern Tsuutʼina homeland straddling the Innuat Republic/Federal Republic of Oumei are growing to find evidence for a possible Stokerensis hybrid matching clinical descriptions of Witiko Syndrome VIGGEN units.

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