Human Technology

Overview

Humans are good at cranking out different technologies over the course of years, even months. But they all have different kinds of flaws and so it was a huge task to alter everything to get connection to the Galactic Federations systems and to most of the tech of every other species, starting at high level fleet communication to the lowest API in printing services.

That is the reason why the human technology is so adaptive and so buggy and flawed.

Skynet is not our problem

Back in the day during the days of early computers, an Unspeakable reached out and influenced the Chinese, later on Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz for his binary system and even later on Zuse and his Z3. For what reason? Well, not sure how, but to get an advantage on controlling humanity as a whole.

Civilian

Private Sector

With the invention and the rapid development of fusion technology private companies cranked out tech on a daily basis. Not only better cooking gear, no, the whole infrastructure got a nice upgrade. Nearly self-sustaining buildings, fibre cables for better energy flow, better internet connection. SMART glasses, powerful enough to replace a huge amount of smartphones and tablets. Implants for the same purpose and the Datapads (mentioned in the Humans article) running on the same tech. Cars, public transport, planes, trains, everything was now running on fusion technology, even on remote.

In cooperation with this high-level-tech some human engineers came to the conclusion that a fast responding security network would be an excellent addition to the human safety net. So they implemented Artificial Intelligence into most systems: basic code, minor speech interface, only rudimentary personality.

Microsoft was bought up by Sullivan and the Grey Empress, they remodeled it into an european software developer by splitting up different sections of it into different cities of the european continent. Some parts stayed in the late United States of America - which made a lot of people happy and a few people very angry - and so the Valerian Empire got their first own operating system. It was based on two parts: Windows and Sullivans own basic operating system which runs his own body.

This new operating system comes in two versions: private sector and public. Which made a lot of people really angry, but in this times people seemed to be really easy to get offended. Humanity were a a mess for like... forever?

Anyway, based on this new operating system humanity reinforced their infrastructure and everything used in everyones daily life. Datapads, smart watches, even augmentations now run on a stripped, minimalistic version of this operating system.

Cars and public transport were starting to get flying - and talking - variants, but those were subsceptible against wear & tear and there were not many variants until they came in contact with the Galactic Federation.

Law Enforcement

Police, SWAT, coast guard etc. recieved new ways of enforcing the law and deliver justice on a daily basis. Their cars were the first one to recieve powerful upgrades: new engines, small EMP emitters, better armour. Depending on the area of application the upgrades varies, the ships of the coast guard even has guided harpoons for entering hostile ships.

Fusion technology wasn't responsible for every change in the law enforcement, but it helped a lot and spawned ideas and new equipment such as flying shockers, energetic mechanical handcuffs, magnetic bola shooters, long range taser, you name it. Even fast responsive units or really heavy armoured troop transports/intervention vehicles.

Medical

Fusion tech was not directly responsible for the rapid advancement in the medical field, but it really helped to get some really good inventions into the field. Most older hospitals for example where outfitted with fusion-supported energy storage, newer ones got external power supply and an emergency fusion reactor.

With the more open resources of the large supercomputers, powered by fusion-tech and without the restrictions of energy costs, more and more laboratories could get some CPU time. This enhanced research on certain medications, viruses, wound treatment, healing techniques. Even liquid infusions for stabilisation critical patients became available. Emergency Rescue Units were outfitted for fast responses, sometimes heavy armoured, for critical situations. Self-sealing patches were invented and after a few years so low-cost that they were available as household items.

Surgeries became safer and much more effective, even in the field with the ERUs or for medics in critical situations like battlefields, police missions, accidents or major tragedies.

Military

Planetary

Infantry

The Valerian Empire cared for their ground tactics. Great commanders were taken into account, ancient, old and new. Battle tactics were established and the Valerian Empire fused together the best practices for ground battle, e.g. the hard hits of the Danish vikings and their shield wall, the battle tactics of the Spartan soldiers, Japanese weapon perfection under the umbrella of the Bushido, the brutality of the North-American weapon industry and german efficiency and created something the universe had never seen before.

But lets talk about infantry first. The need for armed troops were not as big as one would imagine. The humans nearly conquered their own solar system and on the brink of the rings of Saturn they met with the Anthraxians and so with the Galactic Federation. Still no real need for infantry. But humans wouldn't be humans if they wouldn't prepare.

The first data came and they created the Valerian Marines - yes, Valerian all the way! - with their strong battle tactics and armaments. They saw how the Anthraxians organised, they saw their goal and it was horrifying. This spawned the "Saturn Incident", a small und bloody battle between the first Valerian Navy ships and a destroyer-class Anthraxian explorer ship. Four human ships were destroyed, close to a hundred souls lost in the cold space.

The Anthraxian explorer ship needed repairs because somehow the human ships penetrated their shield and light armour. Before dispatching Sullivan the commanders and generals sprang into action with something which was later called "Anthrax Protocol": they send out a frigate - which was just a huge amount of canons, a reactor and some armour - and a carrier, full of armed and angry marines.

Like a viking longship they crashed into the station, orbiting between the rings and the gravitational pull of Saturn. A few marines were killed because of the impact, but then they started to hunt like wolves. But instead of killing them, the human warriors showed the Anthraxians mercy. Over sixty Anthraxians were captured including their destroyer.

For a more detailed version of the Saturn Incident and the attack on the Anthraxian ship follow here: Saturn Incident

After this incident it was clear that the Marines needed a different tactic. The new infused training system combined all of the tactics above and it was glorious. Close-Quarter-Combat (CQC) of german and american Special Forces combined with Spartan phalanx training - they even got retractable tungsten shields, those mad humans - appeared to be very efficient.

The Valerian Marines were trained on Earth and Mars alike and they were good. Not as good as the specialised troops, but we are getting to that. They were educated and hardened in shock-and-awe on ground and in zero gravity. Open battlefields, CQC, security. Everything done with retractable swords & shields, rifles, pistols. But even with the new data from the Anthraxian ship and even during the first conferences with the Galactic Federation the humans stayed with their ballistic systems. Sure, they advanced even there, but it all was based on a "Bullet goes fast" principle. Or a "Bullet goes hard" principle, sometimes both. Humans are confusing sometimes.

With fusion tech behind it the human armouries could produce better, harder and lighter armour for the marines and every ground troop. In combination with their training and their weaponry the Valerian Marines were a force the Galactic Federation hasn't seen before. And they were underestimated by everyone. A grave mistake. But that is a story for another time.

As described, Marines were a force. They were trained to be effective on ground and in space, but they were needed on the ground of a planet more than everything else. Except for the halls of a space ship maybe. They trained to fight alone in the ways of the Samurai; trained in the ways of a Pathfinder and to survive in harsh environments. Even basic training on how to make a campfire with steel and stone or how to craft a rope, just in case.

It does sound like Special Forces, I know, but their Special Forces are a different topic and they scare me. In fact they scare the entire Galactic Federation, more than an army of Valerian Marines could scare them.

Every Marine is trained to act independently and in a group. They are trained in hit & runs, guerilla tactics and in large-scale operations. I saw Marines operating like a Spartan phalanx with their retractable shields and small rifles tanking incoming fire, while Marines with larger rifles shot from behind. I saw Marines in CQC in a glorious battle, covering each other like warriors of old with shields, guns and their short swords.

With new manufacturing methods and better, faster and sometimes more efficient production every Marine got a retractable, durable short sword to his combat knife, an also rectractable shield which was attached to the torso armour and a heavy punching personal defense pistol for closer combat. It was the standard issue and it instilled fear in the hearts of humanities enemies. Or at least some decent respect at the beginning.

Vehicles

The advancement in human technology was quite an interesting development. Some would argue that the influence of Sullivan, combined with the Grey Empress, had brought up some fascinating ideas and concepts, but that wasn't the case. Not entirely.

Humans were fond of tires and tracks. They had a few smaller vehicles and some interesting prototypes like hovering battle tanks, but they relied on tires and tracks. I think, because they were more reliable than a complex high-tech mechanism which lets a tank float. A thing on tires or tracks can be moved, even when broken, but a thing without it was just dead weight.

So they stuck with tires and iron tracks on their tanks, transporters and mostly everything land-based.

Most of their vehicles were support vehicles like the big ... Humvees, I think? Large and medium-armoured transporters, outfitted with machine guns and sometimes anti-air ordnance. They are reliable and pretty fast, an american invention. Some of them were outfitted with one of those strong 50.cal machine guns and they pack a punch. Their troop transports were reliable as well, but most of them outdated. For some reason they were still in use.

The heavy lifting was done by their trucks. Strong towing machines could transport up to fourty tons, some of them even eighty. With the supporting fusion tech those larger trucks could be outfitted with a helping AI, weapons, point defense guns and controling mechanisms. The engines were strong and reliable and if one of those trucks got under attack, they detonated the engine which led to a small fusion explosion, strong enough to level a few buildings.

The largest advancement saw the military vehicles, meaning tanks, artillery, support vehicles. The tanks were brutal, the battle tanks even more. The new battle tanks for the Valerian Empire were a mix of the american M1A1 Abrams and the german Leopard tank. Heavily armoured with a long-range main cannon, supported by a small fusion reactor, shielded by heavy plates. The main cannon could be used in two modes: normal and railgun. The railgun-mode was only used in special occasion because it consumed a lot of energy and overheated the barrell. But even in normal mode the battle tanks were a force on the field.

In addition to the heavy battle tanks the Valerian Empire had a lot of fast-firing light tanks to scout, support and demoralise enemy forces. Medium tanks, who sat right in the middle with firepower, armour and speed, where the greatest number of vehicles among the tanks.

But even the humans were not satisfied with their ground-based vehicles. The tanks were good, but when the terrain was a bit bumpy, they got stuck or couldn't advance, so the clever engineers of Boston Dynamics designed a walking tank: the TROLL, short for Tactical Reconnaissance Ordnance Long Leg. Yeah, someone found it funny to add "Long Leg" to the official three words and it kinda stuck until it advanced into the official name.

And the funny thing? The TROLL did what Trolls could do best: causing havoc and destruction, instilling fear in the heart of humanities enemies. And it did its job well, since it could walk on four legs and had three front-facing cannons. It was a walking castle and only six of those Trolls are still operational, because the maintaining and building of those hellish machines costs a fortune, only dispatched in the most desperate times and battlefields where losing was not an option.

Air

In terms of air-combat humans had three types of machines:

• The Vulture, a medium-armoured troop transport, outfitted for space and planetary flight with machine guns and some rockets (variants not included)
• The Eagle for fast reconnaissance from high above, outfitted with small bombs and machine guns, but mostly used for its high-tech cameras
• And the Broadsword, a heavy fighter, is used as a bomber or a jet, depending on the configuration

Human engineers experimented with a larger version of the A10 Warthog where the main cannon was placed at the side of the cockpit so it could fire larger rounds and could pack a punch over its weight class. Funny to say, it didn't went very well. The first iterations with ballistic ammunition and better armour had larger fuel consumption than anticipated so they were next to useless. In addition the cannon was too heavy it couldn't be any lighter. The light version of this cannon scrambled the accuracy and hitting was a thing based on luck.

The second iterations was a fighter with a plasma-cannon. It went well, but in practical operations there were hilarious outcomes. First the energy consumption was way too high, so the plane fell right out of the sky. As the cannon and the fusion reactor grew larger, the balance was way off and it tumbled on its nose. Quite funny, until the reactor exploded.

Every plane could be deployed from a ship, from a port or a space ship. There are experimental dropships for deploying a myriad of those smaller ships, but right now they are just for the fancy.

Space

Do not start with me about the space ships. Humans are crazy, did I mention this? I think I did. The human space ships are either a large tube with things stuffed together or a piece of art, they can't really decide.

For the military part most of them were just a large tube, stuffed with people mechanical doors and no artificial gravity! I mean, come on?! Well, speaking of. They had something like artifical gravity: swirling things around. A ball spinning very fast next to the fusion reactor and as a fallback moving metal parts around the ship. I mean, clever use of the laws of physic, but they had Anthraxian tech, why not use it?

I doubt the humans knew it either. Since Sullivan and Valeria brought new tech, knowledge and power with them, the human technology had a small hint of Unspeakable with it. Something corrupting. Maybe it was because of it.

Enough. Human space ships, especially the war ships, were just large engines attached with a lot of weapons, a bridge and a reactor. The naming conventions originated from their seafaring times, so they still have frigates and destroyer. The space ships were assigned into classes depending on their weight-class. Starting with destroyers most of the ships either had large ballistic cannons or a magnetic railgun. It was both the same in general, but the railgun was operating on magnetic principles and the ballistic cannons with powder-based propelling system. Sometimes the powder had a little help from gas- and or spring-operated mechanisms, but it had the same effect.

Since the contact with the Anthraxians and the first aggressions from space pirates - and due to some prophecy, but pssst! - they built large plattforms with a large railgun and a lot of anti-ship cannons. Only the railgun was powered from fusion reactors on the planet, but there are a few experimental stations where the gun and the reactor were in the same place.

Special Forces

The Special Forces of the Valerian Empire were a tough batch. They came from everywhere, be it from prison, out of good families, recruited from bad places or from the best of the best of the best, Sir! (100 points if you get the reference. Yes, I enjoy human television. It is so... divers.)

They were the ones who were trained under the Greek "Agoge" and the Japanese training of their Samurai of old, instilled with german efficiency, for five years. Five years of hardship, sacrifices and obedience. The outcome was... lets say, an assassin trained with the techniques of the Samurai and Ninjas, mixed with perfect weapon knowledge and a body to endure even six times of Earths gravity is a sight to behold. For me at least. Did you know of the assassination of Glurax? No? See?

Weaponry

Every soldier of the Special Forces is trained to use a wide range of weaponry. This includes swords, shields - yes, even ancient ones - pistols, revolvers, every kind of battle rifle, short- and long range sniper rifles, heavy weapons like a grenade launcher or a garrotte. With the first contact and the first stolen tech the range of weapons widened and the Forces were trained even in "alien" technology. And with every new technology human engineers scienced the shit out of it and spat out new weapons, including seismic grenades and sticky ones. They do funny beeping before exploding. And they stick on nearly every surface.

Combat

I won't spill many words about the combat when Special Forces are involved. One soldier can decimate an entire army if necessary, a squad of five can destabilise an entire planet.

Lets say, I never saw an Anthraxian shiver in fear. What a sight to behold.