Pokemon Umbral Theatre 36: We're Alone, We're Very Alone

[Astral Harmony]

If you wish to enter Metal Hell, there's little anyone can do to stop you, and thanks to the number of Pokemon, there's plenty to catch and eat in both meat and vegetables. So naturally those people who couldn't make it in the upper world have built a somewhat impressive community down there. If you've ever played Final Fantasy VII, the place does kind of feel like the slums in Midgar.

Anyways, I read you PM and I'll handle everything you had to say today before the afternoon.

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Nov 23 ~ Off The Wall, by Armored Bishoujo

Armored Bishoujo: "Greetings, all players of Pokemon Umbral and all you lurkers who somehow enjoy reading our extremely slow and ridiculously convoluted story. This is Armored Bishoujo, the Elemancer of Lightning and a lover of fighting women everywhere! But enough about me, let me introduce our first guest in our first episode of Off The Wall. Off The Wall is a new and small segment of the Pokemon Umbral universe where I use my GM powers to make certain NPCs temporarily self aware so that they can talk about and explain things that the story itself doesn't get into very deeply. Today's segment is about Honmyr's mecha industry, and to help you learn about it, allow me to introduce-"

Alucard Prescott: "Hallo, everybodyyyyyy! I am Alucard Prescott, who hasn't been introduced in the real story yet but will be very soon. I am a young and beautiful genius who a lot of bad people have their eyes on, and not just because I'm cute or because my eyes are derp't all to hell. It's because I'm a super rare prodigy with a mastery in electronics, electricity, mechanics, engineering, circuitry, I could go on and on! Nearly every kind of modern mecha and combat vehicle in Honmyr owes itself to my talent at design and creation. So without further ado, let me tell you all about Honmyr's mechanical terrors. Note that this doesn't include things like military vehicles and mobile weapons platforms, as that is still a wild and erratic industry and I could fill more books about it than that dumbass Harry Potter."

Honmyr's Mecha Forces (First Successionary War to present day)...

Automaton
- Time of Use: First Successionary War - Present, but in a much smaller capacity.
- Variants: Engine Automaton, Furnace Automaton, Ashen Knights
- Force Size: First Successionary War (4000), Present Day (Less Than 500)
- Armaments: Various melee and ranged implements from swords, battle rods, axes, polearms, spike knuckles and many others to light machineguns, small cannons, flamethrowers, napalm cannons, bazookas, rocket launchers, grenade launchers, mine layers and mortar cannons.
- History: Reverse engineered from Heritage Technology from before I was even born, the automata were a part of the Republican Front and were deployed on the continent of Homnyr to increase enemy death tolls while minimizing allied casualties, and were wildly successful, even after some war criminals passed on information about their weaknesses (the mineral in the furnaces and the fuel in the engines) to the enemy in exchange for just about whatever they wanted. If it wasn't for the emerging power of the Rezonscape which drove many noble samurai and Republican Front soldiers to insanity, it is likely the automata would have more or less annihilated the Hiroshiho Empire. The information on their weaknesses came too little, too late, I guess.
- Current Day: With the reverse engineering of Heritage technology becoming the norm of our technological development jumps, the automata have become quite obsolete. They're powerful, sure, but they can't hold a candle to the mecha we have today. Most automata that exist and are still in use are very different from how they used to be, having been upgraded and modified all to hell. The majority of them are considered to be Constructomechs, automated robots that work in the construction industry whenever having a more specialized construction mecha would be less cost effective. About the only Automata that still remain true to their "built for war" natures are the Ashen Knights. Purchased by Irene Crosswald well over a decade ago, they too have been heavily modified, and to this day they patrol the dark and winding steel tunnels of Metal Hell, dealing death to the psychotic Madsoldiers and hopeless Rabandito that thrive there by the thousands.

Battleframe
- Time of Use: A Few Years After the First Successionary War - Present
- Variants: Construction and Wartime Operations (Battleframes used for construction are usually called Constructoframes)
- Force Size: Thousands and Slowly Climbing but Mostly Stagnating
- Armaments: Everything from construction materials like fork claws, arc welders, and industrial chainsaws to modern weapons like beam cannons, gatling guns, surface-to-air missile launchers, and nearly every weapon that the automata used to do battle.
- History: Battleframes are the forerunner of the modern RDPA, and basically function the same way except for having an exposed cockpit, although modern models come preinstalled with kinetic barriers while many old models are being fitted with them or steel cages for the protection of the pilot. This was pretty much when my genius was starting to get recognized and I began getting involved in mecha development.
- Current Day: To this day, Battleframes are used Honmyr-wide by nearly every construction company, by the Police Force for when a little extra oomph is required, by emergency services like Fire & Rescue, and naturally by the Honmyr Prideguard where they are used in the same capacity as mechanized infantry. Until the day comes that RDPAs are cost effective to build and maintain, Battleframes will probably never become obsolete on the battlefield.

Mechanoknight
- Time of Use: Roughly a Decade Ago - Present
- Variants: Treadknight, Insectoknight, Hoverknight, Turretknight, Turbineknight, etc.
- Force Size: Thousands and Climbing Fast
- Armaments: While Mechanoknights can be made to wield just about anything, they are usually equipped with the heaviest of heavy weapons for maximum damage over wide areas. Expect particle cannons, thermobaric rocket launchers, space compression cannons, grand sabers, ion cannons, anti-armor sniper rifles, plasmathrowers, and heavy beam and projectile cannons.
- History: First constructed before the outbreak of the Second Successionary War, that war was where Mechanoknights really began to proove that they weren't just my first original wacky idea. The purpose of Mechanoknights is the swift eradication of large infantry forces and decisive anti-armor strikes, and they brought that in spades, although they also preform very well when seiging enemy fortifications. Back in those days, Treadknights and Turretknights were more or less the mainstay of all Mechanoknight forces.
- Current Day: The specific name of a Mechanoknight usually refers to the type of lower body they possess (large tank treads for the Treadknight, six legs for the Insectoknight, a fortified base for the Turretknight to rotate on, etc.) and Mechanoknights have been adapted to every environment to date, from the skies to the seas, and all it takes is a simple change of the weapons loadout and body type to suit the environment and terrain. The Republican Guard and the Honmyr Prideguard have the largest numbers of active Mechanoknights, but private corporations and the Pokemon Advanced Tactics and Counterterrorism Agency also have their own handfuls here and there.

Rapid Deployable Powered Armor
- Time of Use: A Few Years Ago - Present
- Variants: Mostly Ground Warfare and a Few Naval and Hazardous Environment Varieties
- Force Size: Several Hundred and Slowly Climbing
- Armaments: A mix of modern-day Battleframe weapons and compact Mechanoknight weapons.
- History: With no war to speak of under their belt, the Rapid Deployable Powered Armor or RDPA still has something to proove.
- Current Day: RDPAs are considered to be superior (but not by much) to Battleframes and weaker than both Mechanoknights and Automechs, but have found some popularity due to be cheaper than their superior technological brethren to produce, and some people consider them to be the answer when that illfated day comes that Mechanoknights and Automechs become self aware and start slaughtering their makers. The most prevalent of an RDPA's features is their ability to be quickly deployed and extracted from a battlefield at the request of their registered user, almost as quickly as one can deploy and recall Pokemon. The quickest time one has managed to deploy and activate an RDPA for battle is a mere 4.6 seconds.

Automech
- Time of Use: A Few Years Ago - Present
- Variants: All have been built for heavy combat and elite tactics
- Force Size: Little more than a dozen, with one or two being produced each year
- Armaments: The latest in ultra modern military-grade Heritage weapon systems, cleverly designed, extremely dangerous, and often a bit odd.
- History: There is very little history when it comes to Automechs, though I for one expect that to change in the following years.
- Current Day: Only the richest and most powerful government agencies and corporate powerhouses would have the money and resources to possess any number of Automechs. The Honmyr Prideguard, Adonova, Black Cradle, Veldyne Corp, Ironworks, Ricewood Masterworks, the Republican Guard, the Hiroshiho Empire and PATCA all fall under this umbrella, and usually safeguard their Automechs like treasured lovers until they absolutely must deploy them for combat.

Evolith
- Time of Use: A Few Years Ago - Present
- Variants: Only combat models, differing by the element of attacks they use.
- Force Size: Thousands and Climbing at an Alarming Rate
- Armaments: Pokemon moves, although as time passes specialized TMs are being created to give Evoliths moves that an enemy will never see coming.
- History: Before the outbreak of the First Successionary War, Kagura Kazetsubaki fled the Hiroshiho Empire to escape assassination from her vile half-sister Sakuya, the current ruler of the empire. Settling in the western edge of Honmyr, she gave up all responsibility for the empire or Honmyr and began to embrace her greatest love: archaeology. Discovering the powerful and mysterious relationship between evolution stones and the mineral now called Evolite has resulted in a massive technology jump that doesn't involve Heritage technology at all. I should point out here that I myself have had no influence of any kind on the invention and construction of the Evolith, although I sort of wish I had. Some of them are incredibly powerful.
- Current Day: With a rather small amount of training in comparison to learning about any other kind of mecha, just about anyone can create and control Evoliths. Evolution stones and Evolite are both in vast supply, and thus Evoliths have become both very inexpensive to produce and extremely quick to shape and awaken. If anyone can find any Evolite motherlodes in Honmyr like there is in the west, it's entirely possible to form a entire battalion in less than half a year with the right amount of experienced professionals or factories.