UncannyGaming Development

Extending a team’s reach, the repeater

Mechanics

Health: 250

Cost: 4 build points

Primary attack: None

Dimensions

Weight: 60 kilograms

Dimensions: 0.75 meters in height

Background

At times, the distance between the human and alien bases can be daunting, with the likelihood of running out of ammunition or receiving serious wounds posing a major threat to a soldier’s safety. To solve the problem of providing a reactor’s power to remote locations, repeaters may be built, small devices capable of amplifying the energy provided from a considerable distance. Similar to the reactor, the repeater contains a small fusion reactor, with most of the non-critical safety features removed in favor of a more simplistic design that can be easily mass-produced. The magnets surrounding the repeater’s plasma chamber are powered by the long-wave radiation beamed directly from the reactor, ensuring an uninterrupted power supply for as long as the reactor is functioning. If the main base is destroyed, the repeater can keep itself stable for a brief period of time off stored power, promptly exploding afterwards.

Up to two buildings may be powered by a single repeater, with varying degrees of usefulness. Besides the slight bit of power taken from the reactor, buildings utilizing the repeater do not draw from the main power source, and thus may be considered expendable. Thus, there is plenty of incentive to construct useful forward bases, aiding teammates in mounting attacks on the alien base.

A telenode, in the deactivated state

Mechanics

Health: 310

Cost: 10 points

Primary attack: None

Dimensions

Weight: 70 kilograms

Dimensions: 0.1 meters in height

Background

While high-ranking officers and other persons of interest utilize more elegant methods of transportation to reach the battlefield, the bulk of human conscripts are directly teleported onto special receivers known as telenodes. Prior to deployment, soldiers in a system facing hostility are kept on high alert, ready to be mobilized on a moment’s notice. When the signal is given, they have less than a minute to suit up into fatigues and pick up either a rifle or a construction kit before reporting to the ready room. Lined up in neat rows, the soldiers are quickly briefed on current battlefield conditions and the nature of the threat, while a team of medics gives each soldier an injection containing stimulants and powerful analgesics to stave off severe pain. When prepared, the soldiers queue up at the base’s main teleporter, which is locked onto the coordinates of telenodes present at the forward site. One by one, the soldiers step through, traveling across an entire system within an instant.

Telenodes function with or without the presence of a reactor, due to the presence of a small generator in the pad, although one must be built for further structures to be warped in. As they must cool down after each teleportation, it is to a team’s advantage to have at least two or three present, cutting down on the time for reinforcements to come in. If all telenodes have been destroyed and there is no way to obtain a construction kit, the remaining human operatives are doomed. Thus, it is important to keep them in safe locations, away from the predations of the alien threat.

Side view of the armory

Mechanics

Health: 420

Cost: 10 build points

Primary attack: None

Dimensions

Weight: 400 kilograms

Dimensions: 1.25 meters in height, 2 meters in length

Background

In order to lessen the risk of teleportation mishaps, such as the unfortunate possibility of a weapon trading places with a soldier’s internal organs, human soldiers are sent into the battlefield with only the bare minimum of equipment required to operate effectively. All other human equipment is retrieved at the armory, which is specially equipped to handle the transfer of munitions, armor, and other inorganic materials. Contrary to its name, nothing is stored within the armory itself, which instead contains a teleportation beacon similar in design to those used in construction kits. Keypads placed on both sides of the armory allow for a soldier to dial in a specific piece of equipment, which is then immediately transferred from a manufacturing plant on the same planet, or a stockroom on an orbiting ship. Items that are made of expensive or fragile components require the expenditure of a soldier’s credits, which are accumulated during the course of battle. Thus, battlefield effectiveness directly translates into what the soldier is allowed to equip or wield.

Second only to the reactor in importance, the armory is the ultimate source of all human firepower, and thus is one of the first structures to be destroyed when a base is overrun by aliens. Safeguarding the armory is key, as its loss renders the human team impotent in the face of serious threats. As multiple humans can use the same armory at once, the construction of more than one is generally regarded as useless.

The life-saving medistation

Mechanics

Health: 190

Cost: 8 build points

Primary attack: None

Dimensions

Weight: 50 kilograms

Dimensions: 0.1 meters in height

Background

While deceptively mundane in appearance, the medistation is easily one of the most critical structures present in the human base, solely for the reason that it can return the most grievously wounded human soldier back to fighting shape within the span of seconds. The structure itself is a heavy metal pad, with a pressure plate in the center that registers the presence of a human stepping onto it. When this occurs, the device immediately activates, surrounding the user in a reassuring sheath of light. A ring of sensors mounted around the pressure plate quickly scan along the length of the wounded human’s body, detecting wounds with far greater speed and accuracy than even the most trained human medics. When the initial scan is complete, this information is relayed directly to medical nanites present in soldier’s bloodstream, which are typically injected prior to deployment. The microscopic machines work with astounding precision, closing wounds and releasing antidotes to counteract all known forms of alien poisoning. After this is finished, the medistation automatically deactivates, signalling it is ready for the next user.

Without the presence of a medistation, the human team is unable to easily recover from its losses, as wounded soldiers have no choice but to continue fighting while facing certain death. Thus, the medistation must be protected from alien assault at all costs, hidden safely behind base defenses. Larger teams may benefit from an additional medistation, allowing two soldiers to recover at once and drastically cutting wait times.

The defense computer

Mechanics

Health: 190

Cost: 8 build points

Primary attack: None

Dimensions

Weight: 150 kilograms

Dimensions: 1.25 meters in height

Background

When human bases are expected to hold out against a particularly threatening alien swarm, the defense computer is authorized for construction. Containing a diverse array of electronics and wireless broadcasting equipment, the defense computer coordinates all of the automated components of the standard human base, contributing its own enhanced artificial intelligence to the local network. It is capable of analyzing defects in local structures, which it repairs using the same maintenance nanomachines that the construction kit possesses, although at a slower pace. At the same time, it reports the presence of a damaged structure to human operatives, which likely indicates the base has been attacked or is in the process of being destroyed by the aliens.

While it takes up as much power from the reactor as a defense turret, the computer is still one of the most useful components of a properly built human base. Its capability to maintain nearby structures and warn of impending attack allows for the human team to venture out further from their base, providing some peace of mind in regards to the base still existing when they return.