Shrike's Nanowrimo Project

Background Info

The Arrival

It is unknown exactly when the invaders first came to Earth, though isolated encounters were reported as early as 2009 and the complexity of some more isolated warrens suggests they must have been in existence for several years prior. No matter the exact arrival date however, the first major battles were fought in 2011. Pouring out from what seemed like nowhere with unearthly beasts and weapons, the invaders struck ferociously but with little evident knowledge of Earth.

If the sudden and completely unexpected appearance of monsters was not bad enough, panicked reports of the invaders using magic soon came from the front lines. Phenomenon unexplainable and sometimes even outright impossible was occuring on a regular basis. Blasts of energy summoned from nothing, telekinesis, substances repairing themselves in seconds. It was patently unbelievable, yet it was happening. Against this was matched the military and industrial power of Earth, crash-militarized after the first few stunning weeks.

As the weeks turned into months and then into years humanity fought stubbornly against the alien invaders, slowly starting to understand them. With understanding came the ability to develop new tactics, new weapons and even turn the enemy's powers against them. In 2019, the time to strike back has arrived.

The Invaders

While some of them appeared superficially human, the invaders were anything but. Even the most human-looking had unnatural features, be they oddly-shaped heads or legs terminating in cruelly hooked talons like those of an owl or other raptor. This, along with other less obvious physical traits uncovered in autopsies has led to being classified as some sort of evolved pseudomamal with strong avian traits.

The Sousa College

In the immediate aftermath of the invader's arrival, nations across the world began to put together teams to investigate, understand and if possible, reverse-engineer their technologies. The primary EU effort was headed by Doctor Sousa and headquartered in the portugese city of Sines. Here they broke ground in several disciplines and became well known for their leadership in understanding 'magic' and how to apply it. In particular, they were instrumental in developing the first-generation Active Control Systems - the technology that allows for control of humanoid frames.

The EU nations were quick to embrace the fruits of Dr Sousa’s work; traditional weapons were hardly ideal to deal with many of the invaders. While a 140mm sabot round or 2000lb bomb would often be quite lethal, more often than not they’d find their target had agilely dodged or had raised a massively durable shield. Against these enemies, a new weapon was needed. That weapon was the Humanoid Combat Frame.

The Weapons

In Britain and Europe, 'frames are colloquially known as Axes, after the English acronym for their control system - ACS. The name stuck and was translated into many other European languages. As their official name implies, Axes are humanoid in body plan – a stark limitation of the same control system that gives them their speed and agility. ACS systems operate best when built into a machine with very humanlike proportions and utterly fail to operate at all when not built into anything at least reasonably humanoid. This has vexed many, many engineers and an ACS that could be used in a tank or jet fighter is the holy grail of more than one research project.

Most frames are between 12 and 16 meters tall and mass between 30 and 70 tons; heavier models have commensurately more powerful weapons and (much) thicker armor. Weapons tend to be conceptually designed like vastly scaled-up infantry weapons. 35mm ‘submachine’ autocannons have become one of the EU’s standardized calibers, while larger sniper-style weapons use modified 120mm tank ammunition. Of course a great many other weapons exist from missiles to mortars – an exhaustive list would fill a small volume of Janes.

The People

The Sousa College has led the EU in development of ACS and their latest achievement is the second-generation Active Control System. This is a giant leap forward in ability but requires more than just any conscript. To unlock the power of a 2nd Gen ACS, it requires an Aleph. These people can use a 2GACS to match the invaders at their own game. What’s more, some can even use outright magic, defying physics like the invaders. These people are one in a million, perhaps rarer.

In order to find sufficient pilots for 2GACS frames, the Sousa College scoured Europe and (with appropriate permission) the world. These brave souls were inducted into the Samekh Project, sometimes with only the barest introductions. Each has their own custom 2GACS frame. Unfortunately, they are hardly a team with many fresh out of civilian life.

Note: the official language of the Samekh Project is English, for international convenience.

The Pilots

TBD

The Staff

Director Rui Sousa: The brilliant head of the Sousa College and the mastermind behind the 2nd generation ACS. A terribly busy man who nonetheless has time for his new charges.

Oberst Klaus Vessler, Kommando Spezialkräfte: The military man in direct charge of the Samekh Project’s deployments and operations, a veteran of many battles both in and outside of a Frame.

Doctor Lucielle Lavoisier: Head medical officer of the Samekh Project. French and volumptiously popular among the males.

Doctor Garth Frasier: Head physicist and as handsome as he is intelligent. Unfortunately rather scatterbrained outside of his chosen double-PhD field.

Felix Ivanov: Russian engineer in charge of the maintenance teams. Speaks in a heavy Russian accent and is a genius with machines.

Major Thomas Hurst, NORAD Integrated Command: Official ‘observer’ from the North American Regional Alien Defense command.

Honey & Clover: The two subsient AIs installed in the Samekh Project’s HQ. They provide tactical and strategic forecasting plus technical support.