Mai's Counterattack

ReLOE

Mai's Counterattack is a Lords of Ether OVA focused on Lost Ground produced by Artaria Animation who picked up the IP nine years after Season 7 of the original series was cancelled. Unlike its predecessors, it is originally produced in Japanese. Due to various copyright issues, various aspects of canon including the names of characters and places were changed, alienating many fans of the old series. Others however, have praised the much higher production quality and modernization of the art style.

Background

Lost Ground is a small gray planet orbiting largely alone around an unremarkable reddish-orange star. Until the reopening of the starways, the population of the world simply referred to their government as "the Empire". Following the return of interplanetary travel, the planet's sole polity gained the name Alter Empire after the advanced technomagical discipline (Advanced Liquid-metal Techno-Enchantment Resonance) that underlies its civilization. Likewise, they are often called "Alters" by foreigners but refer to themselves as "Lost Grounders" instead.

It is unclear what nations existed on Lost Ground during the previous era (when it probably wasn't called Lost Ground) but it was minimally the home of at least one major demihuman race: the aquatic Merai, as well as human populations loyal to the Japanese pantheon and to Greater Atlantis. This put the world directly on the front lines (or at least the front lines of the side lines) of the ensuing Godswar during which the planet was predictably and thoroughly devastated. Even as the violence wound down elsewhere after the collapse of hyperspace, the people of Lost Ground carried on their microcosm of the great war, far transcending the memory of their former affiliations. They were not to cease hostilities until bringing them to their final, genocidal conclusion over eight hundred years later. Throughout and after this period, civilization continued to stagnate or decline and the once green and blue world turned fundamentally hostile to humanity. In the present day, most Lost Grounders live within the confines of Vuwaru and a few other shielded cities on the Northern Continent with most outlying areas abandoned to a deadly mutant biosphere.

Alter Empire

Lost Ground Forces

Genre: Dystopian Magitech Dictatorship

Lost Ground's sole viable polity was founded about two hundred years ago following the genocide of the last Merai, a capstone finale to centuries of war which left a few million humans as the last survivors on a depopulated and devastated world. It is a thoroughly molten pot of cultural remnants from the planet's original, far more numerous inhabitants with Japanese being the biggest contributor. Although they have no living memory of the Godswar era, Lost Grounders identify more with Atlantis than anything else and are thought to be Atlantean descendants. This has especially been the case since the immigration of survivors from Mount Olympus who have a continuous Atlantean history following the war on Myrkliea.

For its small population, the Empire's government and social system is considerable in scale and presence but not in complexity. There are no delusions of rule through divine right nor any native sense of democracy (as opposed to rebellions of desperation) except what has been introduced via interplanetary relations. Through their command of power, mages are the gentry and the emperor is the emperor because he is the most powerful mage around. This attitude has put the Empire quite at odds with regional superpower of Sceptre but has lead to surprisingly productive and pragmatic relations with some other powers. While there's no denying that Lost Ground scores quite low on the Cure Joy Index, the Joy Peace State nevertheless sees Lost Ground as a valuable partner in relocation projects for its undesireables while the Papacy has found them to be pragmatic allies on their Crusades with high impact despite the limited numbers of their contributions.

Technology and Magic

Biology: 0
Chemistry: 0
Engineering: 500
Physics: 0
Psychology: 0

Creation: 300
Destruction: 500
Matter: 500
Mental: 500
Movement: 500

Engineering/Matter: 500/500
Engineering/Movement: 200/200

Infrastructure

Wealth: 59
Industry: 63+10
Ether: 55
Research: 198

Advantages

Ancient World
Even the briefest rambles through Lost Ground's hinterlands reveals that the world was once far more populated than the present day. The Southern Continent even has a few ruined cities that dwarf Vuwaru. Of more interest to the regime are the caches of weapons that have been lost to time, waiting for rediscovery after the passing eight centuries of war, though sometimes it's hard to be sure whether a given wonder weapon comes out of Lost Ground itself or one of its irrepressible designer laboriums.

Mercenaries
With weapons to be dug up everywhere, oftentimes it isn't the state that gets to them first. Moreover, being as it is at the center of so much conflict and ruled by a state that is utterly amoral whilst still being open to foreigners, Lost Ground tends to be attractive as a gathering place for mercenaries in general.

Exalimphone
Like a Batphone except ours calls up Cuselis. While Exalims generally are not into reducing mountains into enough ash to fit into a thimble, individuals fuck with Atlantis at their own peril.

Disadvantages

No Population Growth
Originally I just didn't want to track fractional changes like population growth...

Angry Population
...or the population industrial bonus... Now I kind of need them!

Barren World
Actually, places that look normal aren't uncommon on Lost Ground, especially on the Northern Continent. However, even those places are never fertile. The Southern Continent wouldn't be considered barren if you enjoy toxic spores and mycelium.

Resource Poor World
Most of the easy stuff has been tapped out.

Disaster Zone (Mutant Biosphere)
The Nanoforest is present on both continents and is composed of nanofungus, a form of life that do not respond normally even to life magick. Although it grows extremely quickly if left unattended, it can also be spread even faster by occasional uprisings of its gigantic, human devouring inhabitants. Fortunately, the Forest does not seem to like all locations and sometimes even retreats from places it has colonized after a while. The last major spread of the Forest occurred shortly after the close of the Myrkliean War and was uniquely catalyzed by the escape of an Atlantean nanological weapon, an event which points to what may have caused the rise of such an unnatural ecology in the first place.

Records and archaeology show that Nanoforest was present either by the end of the Godswar or immediately afterwards. Having long since abandoned any attempts to understand the Forest, responding to the threat with military force is a regular event for Lost Grounders. Presently all but a single area of the Southern Continent is overrun. On the Northern Continent, it mostly exists in the abandoned west but pockets still erupt now and again from other locales.

Lord of All
Lost Ground's top-down, mage driven society requires a strong unifying central authority. The empire has existed for almost two centuries with a single emperor whose position rests on his superiority as the greatest of the mages.

Pariah
But at least we're honest, and that's the most important thing.

Undiplomatic
Probably has to do with corruption and mages.

Climate

Lost Ground has a warm climate and is heavily overcast year round due to the state of the atmosphere which is the colour and consistency of a bad bruise.

Lost Ground

Heartland

The heartland of the empire is home to the vast majority of the Alter and Atlantean populations.

Vuwaru (Super)
Lost Grounders: 4,000,000
Joyish: 2,000,000 (enslaved)

Wealth: 24
Industry: 30
Ether: 25
Research: 125

Hinata (Mountains; Difficult

Population

300000 Alter, 1000000 Joyish; Wealth: 1, Industry: 0, Ether: 1, Research: 0)

Ariake (Mountains; Very Difficult

Population

400000 Alter, 1000000 Joyish; Wealth: 1, Industry: 0, Ether: 1, Research: 0)

Little Atlantis (Forest; Difficult

Population

50000 Alter, 500000 Atlantean, 1000000 Joyish; Wealth: 6, Industry: 0, Ether: 6, Research: 10)

Seize (Wastelands; Difficult

Population

750000 Alter, 1000000 Joyish; Wealth: 4, Industry: 5, Ether: 6, Research: 0)

The East

Hakurei (Open

Population

150000 Alter, 4000000 Joyish; Wealth: 6, Industry: 6, Ether: 4, Research: 5)

Fuuka (Open

Population

50000 Alter, 2000000 Joyish; Wealth: 0, Industry: 0, Ether: 1, Research: 0)

Fuuka Mountains (Mountains; Very Difficult; Population: 10000 Alter; Wealth: 0, Industry: 0, Ether: 1, Research: 0)

Belka Island

Belka (Island; Very Difficult

Population

250000 Alter; Wealth: 1, Industry: 0, Ether: 1, Research: 4) (Intervening Ocean)

Southern Continent

Suwa (Open)

Population: 400000 Alter, 400000 Ikarian, 8000000 Joyish; Wealth: 2, Industry: 0, Ether: 5, Research: 0) (Intervening Ocean)

Keyway

Hourai Island (Very Difficult - Island)
Gorghannians: 20,000
Liolanthe: 10,000 (enslaved)
Pureblood Yuan-Ti: 35,000 (enslaved)

Wealth: 9
Industry: 9
Ether: 5
Research: 25

Lost Ground's sole colony - a small island southeast of the Liolanthe continent. Probably run by a combination of the Church of Nyrethren and the Gorghannians that have settled there and built the island out up out to the shore.

Technomagic

ALTER (Engineering 500/Matter 500)

Advanced Liquid-metal Techno-Enchantment Resonance is a technomagic discipline underlying much of the military power of the Empire.

(+3) Alter Furnace
An Alter furnace is a self-contained, technomagical, liquid-based additive manufacturing plant; essentially an arcane nanolathe that gives a Build Time Multiplier of 1 and avoids the need for intense heat to work even the toughest of magical materials. They are exceedingly robust and maintenance-free once their enchantments are set, requiring only that random gouts of vapour be occasionally emitted and copious amounts of suspect liquids to be piped in. The most sophisticated type are those used to create and maintain marionettes in which case they are supplementarily powered by fanservice via a cover made of clarionite impact glass.

(+3) Crima Claws
The iconic weapon of Lost Ground which makes melee super-effective. They have been the standard arms for infantry and armours for centuries. A Crima claw's active component is a technomagical liquid metal that can change into any shape the wielder desires, from nearly invisible threads and swords to shields or maces. Once solidified, it retains shape and edge as well as any adamantium. They can also fire needles of metal as projectiles through internal pressure or, in newer Alter-Shift versions, through the new liquid metal's inherent motive magic.

Basic weapons issued to front line infantry appear as very bulky gauntlets and are somewhat limited in the precision of manipulation possible with the liquid metal. For the empire's mecha or the elite MAKO Corps, Crima claws are usually linked to the suit's own store of liquid metal, greatly increasing the available mass of metal and allowing weight to be distributed automatically by the AMBAC system. The principle is the same for marionettes who are mostly liquid metal by mass (though not volume). The personal weapon of a mage might appear as a jeweled bracer or armlet and be of high enough quality to coat the arm or hand in a film of liquid metal without hindering dexterity or create wires as thing as spider silk.

(+1) Morphic Armour
Armour crafted from Alter technomagic can dynamically reform without losing its protective qualities. The penalties of heavy armour (size, upkeep and encumberance) accumulate more slowly and even units that normally cannot tolerate armour at all can take at least one level without compromise.

(+1) Liquid Metal Form
Allows full transformation with a single added cap (normally requires two) and the carrying of three externals on aircraft.

(+1) Super Regeneration
Regeneration is super-effective and damage control rolls are much easier.

(+1) Ranged Melee
Lets melee be used out to a greater range than normal.

SHIFT (Engineering 200/Movement 200)

SHIFT is a new and emerging technomagical discipline inspired by Lost Ground's encounter with the teleporting supersoldiers of Samothrace.

(+4) Dimensional Resonance Armour
Causes liquid metal to reflect or shunt incoming energy into another dimension. Each application of Resonant Morphic Armour also acts as a Shield cap.

Future Possible

(+?) QT Effect
The dimensional resonance of Resonant Morphic Armour causes an initially unintended but ultimately tuneable and remarkably useful effect. Instead of shunting incoming damage into another dimension, it sometimes shunts the unit instead. To the enemy, it often seems their target is making an uncanny dodge or outright teleport. Agility and the defensive bonus from forcefield boosters or drives is super-effective. Requires Armour on non-mechanical units.

(+?) Solid State Gates
Freely exchange resources and infrastructure between different places in an official way! World gates moving military units between friendly places are super-effective! OR +1 Solid State World Gate cap available allowing fortifications, ships, land dreads etc to launch units of size based on the mother unit's size?

(+?) Hammerspace?
Externals are never destroyed and can be freely switched from a central pool? OR Big increase in deck/cargo/bit control space?

(+?) Liquid Crystal Focusing Lens?
A liquid crystal focusing lens enhances the range of any magic material ranged weapon mounted on the unit from a central pool?

(+?) Even Greater Melee Range?
Sniping with a Crima claw? Impossible!