Yakut Shuffle: questions, ideas, criticism Options

[Fatum]

Okay, so with alt.War dead I don't think anyone browses through its folder, so writing there is kinda pointless by now.
Thus, I take the liberty of starting up a thread for you to throw rotten tomatoes at my ideas for the write-up of Russo-Yakutian war I'm writing. Also, for me to track my progress as I slog through the project.
Please be my guests :3

2011
May

[ Spoiler ]

22.05: found a better picture for Ka-104; wrote up several Army drones, and uploaded some pictures for them; uploaded a picture for MVD OAZ Voronoi; wrote up a flamer/water cannon/chem delivery device for MVD and uploaded an image for it; wrote up the RVSN vehicles (which had a picture already), you wouldn't believe what kind of vehicles the Russian Army actually possesses in RL!
23.05: one year closer to death. Exam.
24.05: Exam.
25.05: Exam, goddamn!
26.05: Rewrote some bits for the DShB.
27.05: Wrote up the UGB, still needs work.
28.05: Doing nothing, celebrating getting one year closer to death.
29.05: Wrote up the cannon shells. Will have to polish this one later - where are the costs for the shells for the cannons from Arsenal, anyway?
31.05: Some more missiles for the Red Army, some stuff for the GRU.

June

[ Spoiler ]

01.06: Exam.
02.06: Uploaded the recent stuff, wrote up a couple of GRU toxins.
03.06: Added one more toxin, wrote up the NII producing those. Wonder if I should make some more obvious plothooks...
04.06: Wrote up the GAPSI, the PV and the UGB Spetsnaz, added the Russia-produced vehicles from War! and Unfriendly skies, added some shadowtalk to the vehicles. Also discovered that the UGB write-up was in the version I kept on my flash drive and overwrote to synchronize, apparently. Will have to write that part again.
05.06: Finished up the shadowtalk for the Red Army vehicles.
05-28.06. Exams proper, ones I actually have to prepare for.
07.06: Exam.
15.06: Exam. Wrote up some Red Navy ships, added pictures for almost all of them.
18.06: Added Fire Control software, wrote up costs and availabilities for it and Wide Area Tacnets.
21.06: Exam. Wrote up some of the Navy ships, replaced and added several pics.
23.06: Wrote up some more subs.
26.06: Added a Spetznaz martial style to the GRU Armoury subchapter. Some maneuvers, as well.
28.06: Exam. The last one, at last.

July

[ Spoiler ]

01.07: Wrote up a new bomb type, coming with a load of sensors.
06.07: Updated a bunch of pictures with better versions (or ones with contrast upped a bit).
12.07: As I'm writing about Yakut military, I sidelined to write up some pilot suits in the Red Army Armoury section. Kinda makes me wonder if that pilot's helmet is underpriced, but eh.

August

[ Spoiler ]

09.08: Uploaded Yakut Awakened Militia description.
12.08: Wrote up the UGB political officers in the army.
15.08. Rewrote the UGB, taking the changes from Spy Games into account.
17.08. Wrote up a new bomb, the Zhnetz-1M. Changed Laser Camera Neutralizer's mod slots to 12, to only allow it on massive vehicles. Added some HERF guns of different sizes, since EMP weapons are a promising area in RL. Also, magnetic mine plough as opposed to all that stupid WWII-era crap in War!
20.08. Wrote up an introduction for the chapter about the warring sides and sidebars on magic, metahumans, augmentations, drones and nanites in the army. Also, a bunch of corrections here and there.

September

[ Spoiler ]

03.09. Added images for missiles, changed some aircraft images.
07.09. Added EVO Lotos microsat, some shadowtalk and images.

December

[ Spoiler ]

03.12. Added images for towed artillery and Yakut vehicles, wrote up Yakut armour (or rather, animal equipment).

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

You should point the links for your docs. Although I already have them, just, you know, the rest of the people may read them.
But don't worry, any tomatoes we throw won't be rotten (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Fatum]

And the first question would be this. See, German Arsenal has all those neat melee weapons - a swordcane and an injection dagger, which uses pressurized air to deliver poison into the wounds it deals.
I've translated both, and have thrown them into the UGB armoury subchapter.

Now, it occurred to me - why only rapiers for swordcanes, when the Neo-Anarchist's Guide to Real Life has Barton Arms Gun Cane, which is basically a pistol hidden in a cane? Why only canes, and not umbrellas, only steel rapiers and not composite ones? Then, why should the injection mechanism only be reserved for daggers?
Naturally following from that line of reasoning is the idea to add a section on modifying melee weapons beyond the couple upgrades listed in Arsenal.
The most obvious choices would be adding a mono edge, using composites, chameleon coating, using hidden compartments in innocently-looking items to mask the weapons, something akin to Custom Look and maybe Extreme Environment Modification, Tracker or even a Propulsion system.
What do you think?

PS: Thank you, Brazilian_Shinobi, done.

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

Chameleon Coating is already one of the few mods that a melee weapon benefits from.
Now, since I don't have neither of the books you mentioned, I don't know how the mechanics of it works.
Perhaps you could create a new modifier that masks its look like something else, costing 4-5 mod slots, so the weapon can't receive tons of modifications on it.

[Fatum]

Noted for the coating, thank you.
Yeah, that's basically my idea - make it a complex mod. Maybe only allow it for handouts and light pistols, and reduce their clip to 1 - that's pretty much how it works in tNAGtRL.

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

it works in tNAGtRL.

Lol, it took me sometime to realize you were refering to a book instead of having a seizure while writing.

I would do it like something you can do it with a shop. Don't know the cost yet, but using 5 slots (maximum is 6, right?).
You can use it with any one-handed melee weapons and light, heavy and holdout pistols.

[Fatum]

Okay, I've been reading Corporate Guide, and I can see the reason for the negative reviews it got. I never read it overly carefully, since when it was out, I was in the middle of reading Corporate Download, - and let's face it, that second one makes for a much better setting book.

So anyway, I'm trying to fish some info on corp presence in Russia, and that's what I get.
Sauder-Krupp "managed to snatch the contracts for the Russian Matrix infrastructure—leaving both NeoNET and Evo in the dust".
On the other hand, in Evo "Yuri also oversaw the implementation of the Wireless Matrix Initiative, and to this day most of the wireless Matrix infrastructure in Russia is handled by the corp".

Sauder-Krupp:

"During the decades that followed, he [Lofwyr] brought large swaths of Europe, the Middle East, and Russia under his thumb using the considerable profits Saeder‑Krupp’s steel-fabrication and military branches had realized during the EuroWars. Lofwyr bought a plethora of companies involved in heavy industry, oil production, and mining, as well as a variety of automotive and aerospace assets including the remnants of the European Space Agency and several Russian launch sites". Corporate Download also adds: "Currently, SK controls all the former EC launch facilities, as well as the Tyuratam Space Center in Khazakistan"

(sic!).
Meanwhile, in Evo:

"Earth-side, Evo’s Space Division is purely administrative. The actual heavy lifting (no pun intended) is handled by Roskosmos, Russia’s space program. Evo is the largest sponsor of Roskosmos and its greatest customer. Most of the work at Russia’s five spaceports is subcontracted to Evo and its subsidiaries".

What the hell?! Who runs what? Who's in charge of what? Did that book have an editor?!

But the wonders of Corp Guide don't stop here. It goes on about how important Evo is for Russian economy:

Calling Yamatetsu Naval Technologies a mere naval manufacturer is pretty misleading. Yamatetsu NT is Evo’s military manufacturing arm. Its biggest client is Russia—if you’re looking at a Russian tank, fighter jet, or warship, you’re looking at a Yamatetsu NT product. It also produces a few cutting-edge weapons and armor designs, most designed for implantation or for use with some form of augmentation.

Evo NT is a major player, obviously. But to think of it, there's a bunch of Russian military companies mentioned in the fluff (like MiG, Ilyushin, Zil, Krasnoe Sormovo or Nizhnii Tagil Inc.) which are neither listed as Evo subsidiaries, nor can be found in the subsidiary lists of other megacorps (unlike, say, Mostrans or Gaz-Niki).
What the hell do they even mean in the piece quoted? Nobody buys anything from Evo's competitors? Why are then all Russian tanks anywhere in the books produced by Nizhnii Tagil Inc, and all the subs - by Krasnoe Sormovo?

Now, to topple it all off:

For almost a decade, Evo has struggled with Saeder-Krupp (and to a lesser extent Zeta-ImpChem and Bioenergetica Ukraine) for control of Russia. Obviously, Evo has the upper hand at the moment and its influence stretches to all levels of society. The battle is far from over, though, and the struggle has spread to Ukraine and Poland. Russia remains a sovereign nation, but everyone and their mother knows that Evo could take over the eastern half of the country at a moment’s notice. That they choose not to is a testament to their honor and restraint.

I... I mean... uh... what?!

Frankly, now I just don't know what to make out of it. A lot of corp interests have been mentioned in the books, but then suddenly Evo, Evo everywhere...

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

Yeah, welcome to CGL's darkest times, along with War! Corp Guide is one of the worst books released so far when taken into account the setting and editing.

[Fatum]

The problem here is that I'm trying to be as close to canon as possible. But CGL is really leaving me no choice.

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

The problem here is that I'm trying to be as close to canon as possible. But CGL is really leaving me no choice.

Actually, they are. Create your own setting or leave it be. Considering how nit-picking you are being about the setting, I hope you create your own.

[Fatum]

Pah, I believe we've been over it already. Keeping fan materials as close to canon is essential for making them possible to adopt into actual games without changing the setting much.

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

Pah, I believe we've been over it already. Keeping fan materials as close to canon is essential for making them possible to adopt into actual games without changing the setting much.

Yeah, but when official source A says one thing in page X and the same source A says the opposite in page Y, well, you are in for a migraine.

[Fatum]

Yeah, but when official source A says one thing in page X and the same source A says the opposite in page Y, well, you are in for a migraine.

Yeah, and that's precisely what I have.

Also, SOTA2064 is weird, as well, in that it describes Romanov's support base just as being the largest of all, but for his competitors, names the specific Departments.
Gonna have to make a couple ones not mentioned to balance those out...

[Nath]

Even though what the authors' meant was contradictory, you can still manage to be faithful to the wording. It works as long as no new sourcebook comes to shed a new light on the topic.

During the decades that followed, [Lofwyr] brought large swaths of Europe, the Middle East, and Russia under his thumb using the considerable profits Saeder‑Krupp’s steel-fabrication and military branches had realized during the EuroWars. Lofwyr bought a plethora of companies involved in heavy industry, oil production, and mining, as well as a variety of automotive and aerospace assets including the remnants of the European Space Agency and several Russian launch sites

Currently, SK controls all the former EC launch facilities, as well as the Tyuratam Space Center in Khazakistan.

Earth-side, Evo’s Space Division is purely administrative. The actual heavy lifting (no pun intended) is handled by Roskosmos, Russia’s space program. Evo is the largest sponsor of Roskosmos and its greatest customer. Most of the work at Russia’s five spaceports is subcontracted to Evo and its subsidiaries.

Saeder-Krupp bought several Russian launch sites, at some point. As far as Year of the Comet goes, the only former Russian launch sites S-K use is Tyuratam/Baikonour in Khazakstan. S-K bought several sites (maybe because the Russian authorities put a package including several sites on sale), but only had use for Tyuratam, and they sold the other back to Yamatetsu or other corporations later.
According to Year of the Comet and Corporate Download, Yamatetsu uses Svobodniy, a former Russian site in Russia. IRL, there are at least three other spaceports in Russia proper, Plesetsk (mentionned in YotC), Dombarovsky and Kasputin Yar. Just add one and you're done.

Evo would have "Space Division" written on a door somewhere, with only administrative offices behind. The Russian five spaceports administrative work would be subcontracted to that division, and the technical work, supplies, component manufacturing would be subcontracted to other Evo subsidiaries and Shibata Construction & Engineering.

Yamatetsu NT is Evo’s military manufacturing arm. Its biggest client is Russia—if you’re looking at a Russian tank, fighter jet, or warship, you’re looking at a Yamatetsu NT product.

That sentence can be true if every Russian tank, fighter jet and warship just include one chipset manufactured by Yamatetsu Naval Technologies. Something like, when you're looking at your computer, you're also looking at an Intel or AMD product, though it's not visible. Nowadays, electronic components represent the most important part of military equipment cost.

[Saeder-Krupp] managed to snatch the contracts for the Russian Matrix infrastructure—leaving both NeoNET and Evo in the dust.

Yuri also oversaw the implementation of the Wireless Matrix Initiative, and to this day most of the wireless Matrix infrastructure in Russia [...] is handled by [Evo].

Tough one here. I'd go with Evo running the wireless part of the Russian Matrix infrastructure, strictly speaking : frequencies, relays and augmented reality, while Saeder-Krupp managed to snatch contracts for to renovate the ground Matrix infrastructure, that is, fiber optics and things that actually connect Russian cities and Evo-run relays. "Snatch" would really be appropriate then.

[Fatum]

It works as long as no new sourcebook comes to shed a new light on the topic.

That may mean a very long time indeed :3

Saeder-Krupp bought several Russian launch sites, at some point. As far as Year of the Comet goes, the only former Russian launch sites S-K use is Tyuratam/Baikonour in Khazakstan. S-K bought several sites (maybe because the Russian authorities put a package including several sites on sale), but only had use for Tyuratam, and they sold the other back to Yamatetsu or other corporations later.

But why would it sell to its bitter competitor it was in a middle of corp war on the theater of said corp war?

According to Year of the Comet and Corporate Download, Yamatetsu uses Svobodniy, a former Russian site in Russia. IRL, there are at least three other spaceports in Russia proper, Plesetsk (mentionned in YotC), Dombarovsky and Kasputin Yar. Just add one and you're done.

Dombarovsky is the name of the region; the spaceport itself is named Yasniy ("Clear", "Transparent"); and it's an ICBM positioning region, with old ICBMs used for the launches :3
Also, Kapustin Yar ("kapusta" - cabbage, "yar" - ravine).
Actually, the question would be - why would Evo need all these. But oh well, at least that way we dodge most of the questions...

Evo would have "Space Division" written on a door somewhere, with only administrative offices behind. The Russian five spaceports administrative work would be subcontracted to that division, and the technical work, supplies, component manufacturing would be subcontracted to other Evo subsidiaries and Shibata Construction & Engineering.

Actually, is there anything hinting the tech work is not done by Roskosmos itself, with Evo Space Division only handling task assignment and order placement for Evo? Cause that's how I read that piece from Corp Guide...

That sentence can be true if every Russian tank, fighter jet and warship just include one chipset manufactured by Yamatetsu Naval Technologies. Something like, when you're looking at your computer, you're also looking at an Intel or AMD product, though it's not visible. Nowadays, electronic components represent the most important part of military equipment cost.

Haha, brilliant; that's a truly elegant way to deal with the situation, especially minding that Russian hardware is traditionally weak.

Tough one here. I'd go with Evo running the wireless part of the Russian Matrix infrastructure, strictly speaking : frequencies, relays and augmented reality, while Saeder-Krupp managed to snatch contracts for to renovate the ground Matrix infrastructure, that is, fiber optics and things that actually connect Russian cities and Evo-run relays. "Snatch" would really be appropriate then.

I got the impression the wireless matrix only needs the backbone lines to be run (and that's what MSP do), with commlinks forming a mesh network and automatically providing the last mile line. Does it even need relays?
While it's obvious what S&K would be doing in that setup, what would Evo be making money on once the whole thing is implemented? Something like AR sculpting for the cities, hmmm?

[Nath]

But why would it sell to its bitter competitor it was in a middle of corp war on the theater of said corp war?

The previous sentence refers to the "the decades that followed". So Saeder-Krupp may have bought the Russian launch sites at some point between Lofwyr's arrival in late 2036 or early 2037 and 2072. And so may have sold them at any point in the same time frame. Yamatetsu only becomes the smallest of the AAA in 2042, and started to expand its influence in Russia when it moved its headquarters to Vladivostok in 2059 (that is, also the point when we actually started learning things about Russia in Shadowrun).

Saeder-Krupp could buy the Russian launch sites not so long after the regime changes of 2035 and 2037, or around the time Russia would have to sign the Business Recognition Accords in 2042. And they could sell them in the late 2040ies or early 2050ies, before any sourcebook went around to tell us about it. That would be almost a decade before Yamatetsu becomes a threat in Russia. Besides, maybe S-K first sold them to a third party.

Of course, you could answer that Lofwyr, being Lofwyr, should have known as early as 2032 that Yamatetsu was going in the future to strengthen its interets in Russia and take a break from the Japanocorps. But then maybe Lofwyr actually wants Yamatetsu to win points with the Russian government and expands in space (rathe at the expense of Ares and Fuchi/Novatech/NeoNET than S-K, indeed) for some reason, while already eyeing at the future, the Kilimandjaro mass driver and the Ecuador space elevator.

Actually, the question would be - why would Evo need all these. But oh well, at least that way we dodge most of the questions...

Maybe just to please the Russian government and people, who still desire to be the leading nation in space (there's a reason I proposed the name Valentina Tereshkova for the Yamatetsu mission to Mars, set to arrive in 2063). So, the more spaceports there are, the better it looks.

I got the impression the wireless matrix only needs the backbone lines to be run (and that's what MSP do), with commlinks forming a mesh network and automatically providing the last mile line. Does it even need relays?
While it's obvious what S&K would be doing in that setup, what would Evo be making money on once the whole thing is implemented? Something like AR sculpting for the cities, hmmm?

Rather think of Evo as Verizon and Saeder-Krupp as Alcatel-Lucent (and the construction company doing the actual work to bury the fiber optics). Except that there would be some Russian administration in between that did not let Evo the opportunity to pick an Evo affiliate instead of S-K.]

[Fatum]

Saeder-Krupp could buy the Russian launch sites not so long after the regime changes of 2035 and 2037, or around the time Russia would have to sign the Business Recognition Accords in 2042. And they could sell them in the late 2040ies or early 2050ies, before any sourcebook went around to tell us about it. That would be almost a decade before Yamatetsu becomes a threat in Russia. Besides, maybe S-K first sold them to a third party.

Uh, what would be any large players on the market who could be interested?

Of course, you could answer that Lofwyr, being Lofwyr, should have known as early as 2032 that Yamatetsu was going in the future to strengthen its interets in Russia and take a break from the Japanocorps. But then maybe Lofwyr actually wants Yamatetsu to win points with the Russian government and expands in space (rathe at the expense of Ares and Fuchi/Novatech/NeoNET than S-K, indeed) for some reason, while already eyeing at the future, the Kilimandjaro mass driver and the Ecuador space elevator.

Well, Great Dragons make for great excuses for inconsistencies, right (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
Also, Ecuador space elevator? Where is that one from?

Maybe just to please the Russian government and people, who still desire to be the leading nation in space (there's a reason I proposed the name Valentina Tereshkova for the Yamatetsu mission to Mars, set to arrive in 2063). So, the more spaceports there are, the better it looks.

If I recall, the Evo Mars base is named after Gagarin, too; so here pieces fall in place.
It's just that I am not sure just how often can you launch spaceships from a single spaceport. Like, do you need massive amounts of work done between the launches? And if not, why don't everyone just launch their missions from a single spaceport per nation?

Rather think of Evo as Verizon and Saeder-Krupp as Alcatel-Lucent (and the construction company doing the actual work to bury the fiber optics). Except that there would be some Russian administration in between that did not let Evo the opportunity to pick an Evo affiliate instead of S-K.]

Uh, neither Verizon nor Alcatel operate in Russia, so your comparison really doesn't tell me much; googling tells me that Verizon signs contracts with end users and provides them with GSM signal, while Alcatel operates the network between the GSM towers. Do I get it right?

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

If I recall, the Evo Mars base is named after Gagarin, too; so here pieces fall in place.
It's just that I am not sure just how often can you launch spaceships from a single spaceport. Like, do you need massive amounts of work done between the launches? And if not, why don't everyone just launch their missions from a single spaceport per nation?

Mostly it's about weather and being closer to the equator line (the gravitational pool is weaker there). So, if you have three different locations with varying weather during a year for each site, say: from November to February site A is completely taken by snow, from March to June site B is under heavy rains and strong winds and site C has sand storms from August to November.

Each site is unusuable a few months each year so it would be interesting having more than one launch site to solve this problem. Right now, Brazil only has Alcântara launch site, but there are plans (20-30 years old plans, mind you), to create another launch site in Natal too.

[Nath]

Saeder-Krupp could buy the Russian launch sites not so long after the regime changes of 2035 and 2037, or around the time Russia would have to sign the Business Recognition Accords in 2042. And they could sell them in the late 2040ies or early 2050ies, before any sourcebook went around to tell us about it. That would be almost a decade before Yamatetsu becomes a threat in Russia. Besides, maybe S-K first sold them to a third party.

Uh, what would be any large players on the market who could be interested?

Ares, Aztechnology, Fuchi, Proteus (before their Devil Island arkoblok became operational), Shibata, some any corp that disappeared or abandoned their space projects since... You chose. Saeder-Krupp could also simply deactivate and "return" them to the Russian authorities. If it happened in the early forties, it would be far enough from even the earliest sourcebooks to justify we don't know about it.

Rather think of Evo as Verizon and Saeder-Krupp as Alcatel-Lucent (and the construction company doing the actual work to bury the fiber optics). Except that there would be some Russian administration in between that did not let Evo the opportunity to pick an Evo affiliate instead of S-K.]

Uh, neither Verizon nor Alcatel operate in Russia, so your comparison really doesn't tell me much; googling tells me that Verizon signs contracts with end users and provides them with GSM signal, while Alcatel operates the network between the GSM towers. Do I get it right?

More exactly, the bulk of Alcatel-Lucent activities is the actual manufacturing of the network components.

My suggestion would be something like, large parts of the Russian telecom infrastructure are owned by some Russian administration, and leased to telecom operators. When Russia adopted the Wireless Matrix, Yamatetsu/Evo won the main operator license. But the wireless Matrix also required a large overaul of the Russian telecom infrastructure (to handle the higher bandwith and so on), and said-administration chose Saeder-Krupp to provide the equipment and install it.

Also, Ecuador space elevator? Where is that one from?

Corporate Guide, page 80
But perhaps the most notable development for Aztechnology Latin America is the Corporate Court’s recent announcement that its orbital elevator will be anchored somewhere in the continent’s equatorial region. Aztechnology has already been contracted to provide ground-based elements for the elevator. Undoubtedly, this development will boost the profile of the Latin American division over the next decade and command close attention from the Aztechnology board.

> Prime locations being prospected include a site in the former states of Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela. It’s likely that construction on the anchor facility for the skyhook won’t start until late 2074. If the Azzies have cornered the ground infrastructure and security, they’ve accomplished a significant coup. This project will have a much larger economic impact than the African mass-driver and will boost the entire South American economy.
> Orbital DK

[Fatum]

Ares, Aztechnology, Fuchi, Proteus (before their Devil Island arkoblok became operational), Shibata, some any corp that disappeared or abandoned their space projects since... You chose. Saeder-Krupp could also simply deactivate and "return" them to the Russian authorities. If it happened in the early forties, it would be far enough from even the earliest sourcebooks to justify we don't know about it.

Hmm, Fuchi makes for a good universal scapegoat...

More exactly, the bulk of Alcatel-Lucent activities is the actual manufacturing of the network components.

My suggestion would be something like, large parts of the Russian telecom infrastructure are owned by some Russian administration, and leased to telecom operators. When Russia adopted the Wireless Matrix, Yamatetsu/Evo won the main operator license. But the wireless Matrix also required a large overaul of the Russian telecom infrastructure (to handle the higher bandwith and so on), and said-administration chose Saeder-Krupp to provide the equipment and install it.

Right, S&K and Evo having to collaborate is sure to give lots and lots of run opportunities...

> Prime locations being prospected include a site in the former states of Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela.

Ha, with War! in the region, that one will take some time to complete, so S&K can be sure about their investments into the Baikonur being safe...

[Nath]

Ha, with War! in the region, that one will take some time to complete, so S&K can be sure about their investments into the Baikonur being safe...

Uniting the Corporate Court behind that project also ensured none of the AAA could openly support Amazonia against Aztlan. So that Hualpa and Sirrurg stay pitted in the fight with the Smoking Mirror.

[Fatum]

Mostly it's about weather and being closer to the equator line (the gravitational pool is weaker there). So, if you have three different locations with varying weather during a year for each site, say: from November to February site A is completely taken by snow, from March to June site B is under heavy rains and strong winds and site C has sand storms from August to November.

Hmm, that makes sense...

Uniting the Corporate Court behind that project also ensured none of the AAA could openly support Amazonia against Aztlan. So that Hualpa and Sirrurg stay pitted in the fight with the Smoking Mirror.

I'm not sure what Lofwyr's relationships with these two Greats are...

Also, I finally uploaded some recent changes into the online doc, and the stuff for the GRU is what I'm concerned about the most, here. Is it workable? Is some of it even feasable by SR standards? I'd appreciate your opinions.

[Fatum]

Hmm, I wonder how to make the ship descriptions interesting. Also, perhaps I should describe their typical armament besides "this many heavy turrets, this many torpedo tubes"... It's not like runners are going to go around outfitting ships most likely anyway, so makes sense to describe what each class bears...

[Fatum]

The more I write about the Awakened Yakut, the less I understand how to make them able to stand up to Russia. With ten times less population and a firm anti-technology stance, really, it's problematic.
Sure enough, they have the Awakened forces on their side; but their fleet isn't any better for that, and I was hoping they'd be able to land on Kamchatka at least...

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

The only explanation would be a stalemate because they have rituals or spells on Ghost Dance-level of spells of mass destruction or close, so any movement of troops really big might be too dangerous.

If the Yakut territory has any natural resources that are actually worth mining, then it could explain why Russia didn't nuke their asses yet...