Taken from the message I sent to Caledus the Immortal:

Okay, so, to clarify, the story is basically your idea of Battle Fortresses, based sort of like Chrome-Shelled Regios (Mobile cities on a ruined earth that whenever they meet, they fight for the right of selenium mines, the primary fuel of the Regios - cities), and is called Future Tactics: The War Games.

If you can give me more information, I will greatly oblige.

Now, I have brought in some ponies, where a Battle Fortress will crash into Equestria, therefore advancing their technology by God only knows how many millennia. They will enter the War Games to protect their world.

Each Battle fortress is a factory, cloning facility, and colony, all in one. For every battle, a certain number of members are chosen, which will be the template for that battle. For basic infantry, they will pick their best commandos to be cloned. Any information within their minds that is battle-based is copied to the clones. The factories can churn out ATVs, light assault vehicles, or LAVs, heavy tanks, aircraft, powered exoskeletons, and weaponry more advanced than what the clones start out with. A commander just beginning in the Games will have access to very few schematics, as well as an INCREDIBLY limited pool of genetically compatible candidates. Every person aboard a battle fortress is screened for service as a genetic template.

The ponies find the Fortress Keppler, which crashed after a Planetary Conquest backfired. They rebuild the Keppler as best they can, utilizing the utmost in their quite advanced magical tech. (YES, THEY HAVE TECH MIXED WITH MAGIC). Once the rebuilt Keppler is launched, a code broadcasts the newcomer, with a new name.

So, what do you guys think? For the main premise of the Future Tactics 'verse? Battle Fortresses (Courtesy, in fact, of Caledus.) that fight against each other.

2345281

No, no. I see where you're going with this, and, dare I say it, it actually works along with some more stuff I was working on.

I was originally planning to have the Keppler be a forty-year veteran Fortress that had been one of the original Wyvern-class Fortress ships. (I name the classes after what the front looks like. Wyvern looks like the head of a Wyvern.)

Also was planning on a Mass Effect universe style tech jump, where they've rebuilt the ship as best they can.

The main purpose of the War Games, though, besides human entertainment, is still beyond me. We'd need a reason for them to fight, besides entertainment.

Bring in the alien races you want. Here's a few rules I have for the War Games, anyways:

1. Any defeated Battle Fortress, if crippled, or unable to continue in the Games, will surrender copies of their data stores, and their crew, to be amalgamated with the opposing ship, therefore increasing a pool of candidates that clones can be picked from.

2. Alien races, if any have special abilities (This is more a writing rule to keep the magic on the down-low for the earlier parts of it.), which includes the powerful psychokinetic abilities the equines know as "magic", will have problems replicating it in their clones. The clones will have reduced capabilities in the regards of special abilities until special "Ability Processor Implant" schematics have been acquired.

Schematics will play somewhat of a big part. They are the central ability that allows you to create weapons, vehicles, aircraft, armour, and defenses. Without newer schematics to update your forces, you would eventually be cornered and defeated by a more powerful Fortress.

Now! Here's how the clones would work, IMHO:

Candidates are picked from a pool of compatible subjects (Compatible with the cloning device - some DNA deteriorates too fast). Each subject is given command of a set unit amount, the unit capacity demonstrated by how much the Fortress' battle control suite can process. Those units are then cloned from the subject's genetic material. They are given a direct command feed to the subject, following their every command to the letter. In the case of Twilight Sparkle, this would mean magical abilities (AND IF SET AFTER SEASON 3's ENDER, also flight!) although to a lesser degree until "Ability Processor Implants" have been acquired. Pegasus flight would also be restricted, although they could be considered a type of light flyer unit on the side of the Equestrians.

Now, should we only have ponies from Equestria, or should we also include other species, including and not limited to: Changelings, Minotaurs, and various other species that my brain fails to remember?

2345628

The main reason I mentioned the restriction on cloning is due to the fact that the computers, although they may have been rebuilt by the Equestrians (Which includes all species), they do not have the capability to process that much raw energy coming from the unicorns. Every candidate which becomes a genetic template for their own battalion controls that battalion, ie, Rainbow Dash gets cloned, and her clones become flyers. While another pegasus might be able to command them, only Rainbow Dash knows how she, herself, works well enough to command them.

Also, restriction on magic! The cloning facilities can only replicate so much. The battalion leader (The one who was cloned) would have to use his or her own magic, disseminating it across the clones, at least, that's how I think it would work. They're not fully-activated intelligences. They can follow orders, and if attacked will return fire, but they do not entirely think for themselves.

Now, the main limitations are due to the fact that it is an old ship. The Keppler is a forty year veteran of the Games, but the ship was from the last great Intergalactic War, which lasted only four days. (That's how powerful the weapons were THEN. Imagine later in time from that point). It is an original Wyven-class refit, rebuilt to have better armour and armaments to stave off pirates and scavengers. Messier 83 is home to ALL SORTS of desperate types.

Now, here's a counter-list to the roles you said. Some agree, others are counter:

Ponies:
Unicorn: Rifle infantry, Sniper, (With Ability Processor Implants) Magi-Tech Infantry
Pegasus: Light Air Infantry, shock troops
Earth: Heavy combat troops (Not shock troops, not heavy weapons, but they move the fastest on land, and have heavy armour - basically a less powerful minotaur unit.)

Others:
Diamond Dogs: Engineers (Fortification, Emplacements, Defensive Measures), Demolitions experts, fast
Zebras: Field Medics (Every clone has the knowledge of the original imprinted into their minds.)
Minotaurs: Elite Infantry: Best armour, heaviest weapons. (I would assume they are strong enough to handle the heavier armour and weapns)
Changelings: Espionage and sabotage experts.
Griffons: Heavy Air Infantry, Pilots (Due to the designs for aircraft not fully adapted to ponies), Elite shock troops.

Anything you disagree with? I'd like to know.

2345281

Also, as dealing with the level of technology, their tech would probably be at those levels a few years after they begin study, but the repair of the Fortress would take years. They would also combine magic with technology, creating magi-tech, a hybrid of technology that is more devastating if used. (LAVs, tanks, aircraft, all weapons are enhanced by magic.)

Also, I've been spelling Kepler wrong. The ship is named for Johannes Kepler, a german mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer.

2351284

You'd have a swarm of Pegasi, not Rainbow Dash. They cannot copy the full essence of a being. The candidates SHOULD have an avatar version of themselves that keeps all their abilities. One of the systems of the Battle Control suite, where the units are controlled, the main candidates (The main battleforce commanders aboard the Battle Fortress) would be hooked up to. It is called the Neural Link Amplifier, allowing a Clone Avatar to be on the field. The candidate has the choice (If a MAIN battleforce commander) to either have a generic battleforce commanded from a console where they give out orders, or they can control the Avatar, giving out orders to a more advanced battleforce, one that is tougher, and much more intelligent. Think of the difference between an armchair general and a battlefield general.

EXAMPLE! Say Rainbow Dash is mentally strained after controlling the Clone Avatar for too long (Mental time limits - The NLA ejects a candidate after a certain amount of time.). She would still want to fight, but she would have to recall her ELITES back to the stronghold area, while a wave of generic Pegasus Air Infantry would be cloned and placed under her command. We'd have to determine which of the main characters should be genetically compatible with the cloning machine, which would allow us to have our battleforce commanders.

ALSO! We need a name for the Kepler once the Equusians rebuild it. (ALL of the races). It would no longer be a Wyvern-class Refit. Thinking of letting them call it a Manticore-class Equus Wyvern Rebuild.

We also need the classes of Battle Fortresses that would be used in the story.

2352507

We'd separate the Fortresses into intended roles: Offensive, Defensive, and Support. Also, if push comes to shove, and two BF Commanders have a common goal in the Games, they are allowed to form an alliance.

Yours:

Offensive:

Atlas-class
Nibiru-Class

Defensive:
Mars-class

Support:
Overlord-class

Mine:

Wyvern-class Offensive Dreadnought Fortress Refit
The Wyvern is a relic from the last great Intergalactic war, the only class to have survived so long. While the original version used Tritanium bulkheads as armour, the Refit uses quadrillium plating, usually several metres in thickness, as protection.

The cloning facilities aboard the Wyvern-class are usually top-of-the-line, meaning that there is rarely a break in the front lines for long. The factories are not as efficient as the newer models, but it makes up for it with enhanced plating that can be installed. The medical bays are quite advanced as well, being able to train the field medics faster than any other Fortress. Unfortunately, the medics are quite weak.

The front of the ship resembles a dragon head, with twelve heavy cannon turrets in a maximum spread pattern on the front. Four more heavy cannons are on the sides, prompting the Wyvern to always face the target.

It is powered by a fifth-generation quantum reactor, with options available to upgrade it to the far more efficient (BUT INHERENTLY DANGEROUS) Antimatter reactor.

Titan-Class Defensive Battleship Fortress
Somewhat smaller than many of the classes available in the Games, this is the first D-class of the Battleship type to enter the Games. Heavy hull-plate ionizers dot the armour, projecting a pseudo force field, covering over the technetium plating.

The Titan-class is known for its overactive factories, which, during a battle, can churn out hundreds of new vehicles, most going unused due to the Neural Processor of every Titan-class being near breaking point. They do not have good clone generation, most quite weak, but massive waves are sent out while small strike teams of Clone Avatars are sent through for sabotage and reconnaissance.

It has over fourteen heavy Directed-Energy cannon turrets, each with a 180 degree firing arc.

It is powered by a second-generation Antimatter Reactor, with options to upgrade it to a fourth-generation.

Ares-class Support Battlecruiser Fortress
If the other ships are heavily armed, or possess great manufacturing capabilities, the Ares is the epitome of defensive support powers. Heavy field projectors dot the hull, allowing the Fortress itself to take any number of hits before a counter-attack, although the main guns (ten of them) are quite weak in comparison. The armour plating is quite unique, as no one ship is ever quite sure what it's made out of. A defeated Ares is a tell-tale sign that something is quite amiss.

The many cloning facilities inside guarantee clone stability and ability, generating more Elite troops for a Clone Avatar's personal guard than basic attack waves. The Neural Link Amplifier on-board is top-of-the-line, neutralizing almost all Neural Feedback. The manufacturing facilities are average, being able to churn out numbers only in the hundreds.

Manticore-class Equus Offensive Wyvern Rebuild
The inhabitants of Equus used their own ingenuity and imagination to rebuild the Kepler, the Wyvern-class that had impacted in what once was the Ever-Free Forest (Site of the battle between the Kepler, and the Dawnhammer, a Titan-class). The reactor is a Magi-tech Quantum Reactor, third generation, only a step below a first-generation antimatter reactor. It also has modified field projectors, ones that can create a limited-lifetime Magic/Kinetic Shield

The cloning facilities, after being reworked dozens of times, were finally stabilized to the point where the clones would not simply turn to water in the middle of a battle, cellular degeneration being halted. The manufacturing facilities are average, but they infuse the essence of magic into armour, weapons, exo-suits, and vehicles, allowing for some to, when they are low on HP, to project a sort of magic field that (ONLY FOR ELITES) will allow for an engineer Diamond Dog to get close to repair.

The weapons are the original heavy cannons, but unicorns now target them manually, channeling offensive spells into the shells that are fired.

Those are the four I created. Like the detail? If I had enough time, I'd draw the external view of each of them.

2354903

The Battle Fortresses, due to some being much more massive than others, would stay orbital. Instead, Command Hubs are dropped from orbit. Think of this fanfiction being the description behind what REALLY goes on in an RTS... at least, that's now what goes through my head.

2355005

Ah, yes, the Angry Marines. Nothing is better.

Two structures would be dropped from orbit after the Com-Hub. An Infantry Beacon, and a Vehicle Beacon. Those two structures allow the use of drop points. Every played Star Wars: Empire At War? Think of drop points like those, where you can capture them for better offensive and defensive options.

The Ever-free Forest is the battle on Equus, nanites reconstituting it into a more readily universal battlefield.

2358122

They would come down in dropships.

2358539

Central premise of the story. We've got how it would start. Would we have them participating in the games, steadily gaining schematics and a reputation before the Committee gets scared, or something along those lines?