NLA-ARHK Meeting

A meeting between ARHK and the leader of the NLA, Zau Yi, held in advance of the official NLA-ACC summit.
==The Summit==
Topics of Discussion
*ARHK's role in possibly supporting the NLA as part of ACC.
Resolutions
*ARHK agrees to supply 2000 SILIUM combat drones.
==Transcript==
Before he went back to Hong Kong, Zau Yi requested a slight detour to his "guards": to visit and see the ARHK towers for himself. Reading reports on it was never enough for a man like Zau Yi. Something of this scale... he had to see it himself, he believed. After all, moving forward as an ally of the ACC, the NLA could definitely use the trade of the best technologies and science that the ACC had to offer.
 
Horvath was waiting at the airstrip for Zau's arrival. Unlike normal, she had replaced her headphones with more conventional hearing aids.
 
Standing right next to Horvath was Kaleidoscope, hands firmly on his belt as he waited. Good first impressions are necessary. Shame the rest of the directors weren't there as well, seemingly.
 
HORVATH: "You told SILIUS to make sure the drones don't yell right?"
 
KORS: "Yell? Last I heard, they can speak much more formally, but, uh, their voices are still as loud as a vacuum cleaner."
 
HORVATH: "At the unveiling to the ACC personnel. Where it yelled stuff."
 
Soon, a VTOL aircraft appeared over the horizon, quickly closing in and eventually gently landing on the Towers' designated guest helipad. The cargo door opened, and eventually Zau Yi appeared, flanked by two Iron Army bodyguards. He was dressed in fatigues, and was fanning himself with his feather fan. 
ZAU: "A moving research base... interesting. Ah! Where are my manners? I am Zau Yi, General of the Neo Liberation Army."
KORS: "Where it was yelling literal, weird, cryptic, standoffish insults? Those were more or less removed. Everybody peer reviewed it as unnecessary. They're more formal now, as- oh shit there he is," 
Kaleidoscope, upon Zau landing, adjusts his tie.
KORS: "General Zau Yi, I'm Board Director Alexander Kors."
 
HORVATH: "And I'm Director Farkas Horvath. Welcome to ARHK."
 
ZAU: "Two directors? You flatter me. 
Zau bows slightly.
ZAU: It's like having a warlord to take you around their camp! Please, show me the way. I'm interested in the product and services ARHK is rumored to be offering."
 
KORS: "Oh, but it's only two out of the five of us, not counting all the other lower-level Directors. We prefer a more technocratic approach to the old faction. But yes, you'll find a great deal of our wide variety of creations here at ARHK."
KORS: "Anything specific that you may be interested in?"
 
ZAU: "Hmm...It would be foolish of me to limit myself. Why not bring me to the technology you believe would be the best for.... the re-unification of China?"
 
Horvath takes a step back and sweeps her arm towards the elevator.
HORVATH: "Then how about we take a look at the FAIRY manufacturing lab, shall we?"
 
ZAU: "FAIRY? What a whimsical name. Please, show me the way," 
Zau Yi nodded, walking up to Horvath and following her.
 
KORS: "Right, those are one of our forerunner devices here," 
Kors follows after them. Horvath leads the group into the elevator downwards and across the gap to the Production Tower.
HORVATH: "Yes, it stands for Fabrication Array and Intelligent Resource Assembly. It normally falls under Director Castell's purview but sadly he could not make it today."
 
ZAU: "Is it some kind of manufacturing invention? What makes it special?" 
Zau seemed curious, although his tone was rather flat.
 
KORS: "I should add, don't think about the words behind the acronyms too hard, you'll just have yourself a headache"
 
HORVATH: "It is a massive rapid-production positive machining and biological growth machine. You can think of it as a very big 3D printer capable of precise manufacturing. Their major use is for producing design prototypes without needing an entire machine shop and the associated personnel."
 
ZAU: "Ah, that would indeed be convenient for a R&D facility. Is it capable of mass production at high speeds?"
KORS: "That's basically what we explained yes. They're made to be faster than most Pre-Fall factories."
 
HORVATH: "However due to our limited space and the purpose behind ARHK, they usually don't operate that fast. The technology does allow for designs that otherwise are not possible to fabricate at any rate approaching normal mass production."
 
ZAU: "Interesting... Unfortunately I don't see much use for it for the NLA. We retain most of our pre-war manufacturing capabilities. In fact, our usual issues involve the lack of manpower to wield weapons... Unless..."
 
HORVATH: "You may, but what of the rest of China? One strength is the FAIRYs can rapidly produce the parts needed to bring other machinery back online. However if manpower is something you need more of...ARHK does have our own set of drone designs. Director Kors here would know best."
 
KORS: "Er, Ms. Horvath, I thought it was pretty clear the Chinese are not too keen on drone-based weaponry from the last time we proposed to them."
 
HORVATH: "Oh I was thinking of our other drones. Ones that can free up manpower on the homefront."
 
KORS: "Oh, but they're still drones, that's where most of the problem the Chinese have with them lies."
 
ZAU: "This would definitely be of interest for the other warlords... but I do hear that beyond the Luo, the two others were less keen on a friendship." 
Zau felt weird saying that. So much has changed since he was released.
ZAU: "But drones... are they similar to the Dolls I saw back in Taiwan?"
 
KORS: "Well... The most similar drones we have to JKHI's combat androids are our SILIUM drones. I could probably show you to them if you're somehow interested"
 
ZAU: "Why not? Show me the way." 
Zau gestured that he would follow. He turned to Horvath.
ZAU: "As for this... Fairy, I'll check with my advisors and see if we need something like this."
 
Horvath nods and follows the other.
 
One elevator ride and IDM background song later, all three are brought to the bottom deck of the central tower, the main storehouse and factory of all SILIUM drones. While it didn't show any activity from its own FAIRYs considering they were made to be shut down by Castelli, the massive warehouse-like room still emanated black and glowing red. All of the drones had appearances ranging from almost pure humanoids, to cylinders, to large tanks and flying-wing jets, all of a specific distinct style. The jets hung from the higher parts on racks, the tanks and humanoids behind storage, and the rest of the humanoid drones wandered about, a security patrol no doubt.
KORS: "This is our director SILUS' main workshop. He's the head of Robotics and AI Development here at ARHK. He primarily creates the SILIUM drones, combat-ready robots and vehicles made to substitute, or even outright replace, conventional infantry."
 
ZAU: "Fascinating... With this, ARHK would've been able to take on a warlord..."
Zau scanned the room with his eyes, taking in every bit of detail.
ZAU: "...How did the ACC lose Japan? Unless, of course, all this work was after the Japan disaster, which would make it even more impressive..."
 
HORVATH: "Hard to keep it when the entire populace is angered enough to accept death. Helps when you cut off your own lines of retreat or reinforcement."
 
ZAU: "Yeah, I've read the reports." 
Zau put his fan up to his mouth, hiding his expression.
ZAU: "So, these... SILIUM drones. Do the humanoid ones require any more sustenance than human beings? Or are they solar-powered like suits are?"
 
KORS: "After. We had nothing remotely similar to this kind of force back when it was Engineer. Let me show you two samples of them" 
With a hand gesture, he calls two of the wandering drones. One was a cylindrical drone, not very particularly tall, at 150cm, and the other was a much taller, and bulkier humanoid drone. Both of them had no particular human features, as their visors were symmetrical patterns of red stripes encompassing their faces. They stop only meters in front the group. Both of them quickly scan Zau Yi. The cylindrical drone bellows, in a baritone at a decibel level not unlike that of a vacuum cleaner
PILLBOX DRONE: <UNAFFILIATED CIVILIAN DETECTED. WELCOME TO ARHK FACILITIES. AS YOU TOUR THE BASE, PLEASE KEEP YOUR HANDS AND FEET AWAY FROM ALL CONFIDENTIAL DEVICES AND WEAPONRY. AND ESPECIALLY DO NOT APPROACH, OR FEED, THE FELIS CATUS DEMIHUMANS. ENJOY YOUR STAY, CIVILIAN.>
KORS: "...They're mostly solar powered, but they don't absorb it as efficiently as suits do. At their current hardware, they can be on the field in combat mode for up to 40 hours. Though, actually, their operating time depends on the type of drone."
 
ZAU: "Haha! This is great! Being able to converse sure gives them some charm," 
Zau laughs. He was thinking about the phrase 'Felis Catus Demihumans', somewhat already guessing what they were referring to.
ZAU: "Well, if they can operate long enough for a 5 hours skirmish, then they would already tactically viable- no, tactically superior than human forces..."
 
Horvath quickly begins thinking to herself. "Don't ask about the catgirls. Don't ask about the catgirls. Please don't ask about the catgirls."
KORS: "Yes, well. The smaller one you see here is a SILIUM Pillbox. They're security-level drones, only meant for quickly suppressing any unwanted behavior or crime onsite. The only have stun-based energy projectiles and 9mm turrets. The other, larger one next to it is a SILIUM Stag. They're the premier frontline middleman of the SILIUM combat forces and are thus chief amongst them. They can utilize most weaponry, especially ones designed and tuned specifically for them. Of course, there are more variants of the drones, but these two I feel are the most necessary in demonstrating them."
 
ZAU: "Interesting... Are there other humanoid weapons that the ARHK has developed?"
 
KORS: "Beyond our affiliate, JKHI? No, not really... Non-humanoid automated weapons however, there are the GYO drones, small spider-like drones that acquire and equip any firearm that they can carry on their backs."
 
ZAU: "Oh, wait. How do you control these drones? Are they not susceptible to hacking attempts?"
 
KORS: "SILIUM, they operate on their own AI, but can be controlled by suits as well. They're susceptible to everything up to radio-based hacking, as they regularly use radio to transmit data amongst their allies and back to base. GYO, they mostly operate on a hivemind network that uses a WiFi-like connection, so less prone to hacking. They can be controlled by humans, however, via tablets made specifically for them."
 
ZAU: "So a non-suit user is capable of controlling them in battle with the right equipment..."
Zau took a step forward to look at the entire area once more.
ZAU: "... Are you able to supply two thousand of an assortment of SILIUM and GYO drones by the summit I heard was going to happen?"
 
KORS: "We only have about five hundred GYO drones and two hundred SILIUM drones in total."
 
HORVATH: "So it would depend on when exactly this summit is taking place and whether we can get the raw materials in time."
 
ZAU: "In exchange, I'll grant the ACC the full territory of Fujian, and all the Superfort resources salvaged from battles within Fujian. Of course, if the resources in Fujian prove advantageous... I would also like to ask for additional support and products from the ACC, if possible… But if 2000 is too much... let's make that a long term goal. For now, give me everything you have and whatever you can muster before the summit."
 
KORS: "As Board Director, I will gladly accept the offer. I'll discuss this with the other directors later."
Kors offers a hand to Zau.
 
ZAU: "Well then, Mr. Kors…”
Zau Yi walked up and offered his hand for a shake.
ZAU: "Then it's a deal. In exchange for the province of Fujian and all the Superforts within it and the material from the defeated Superforts from and in Fujian will be yours... But we expect all your current drones and whatever you can muster in the coming week... and eventually up to two thousand drones, with the long term supportive maintenance and the possibility of future deals. Is that alright?"
 
Kors looks towards Horvath for further comment.
 
HORVATH: "Well with that dealt with for now...pending full directorial approval. Is there anything else you wanted to see?" 
Horvath asks with a trepid tone.
 
ZAU: "I doubt anything else would be militaristically beneficial... Unless there are other projects?" 
Zau asks, his tone completely flat. He had an odd expression.
 
HORVATH: "Well not exactly military related but we've continued the crop yield and growth research started by Kantoku. It may not be important now, but after China is unified or at least secure; food is going to be a much bigger concern."
 
ZAU: "Definitely... definitely… Then let us make another deal when peace and unity finally returns to China. Current times would require other types of technology. I'm sure you'd agree."
 
HORVATH: "Yes, of course. I will admit, my emphasis of it is due to it being my area of study. Along with ethics and dealing with the remnants of less tasteful projects of the old Engineers." 
 
ZAU: "The old engineers... bio-engineered soldiers? I would like to see those as well..."
 
KORS: "I'm afraid that information's classified."
 
HORVATH: "No I speak of Felis Catus. The catgirls. We aren't really in the business of creating sapient weapons."
 
KORS: "E-except the catgirls of course, those are more public." 
He makes an aside glance, the color of his geometric eye blue and green.
 
ZAU: "Not even to a close ally? I was assured by Chris that we would be working closely with the ACC..."
 
KORS: "I am not sure if a single Hanse agent speaks for the whole of ACC, but we will ally with you. But bioweapons are much more unpredictable and a rather ethically touchy subject. I don't believe you'd really want them."
ZAU: "We would need every edge we have to fight the puppets, director. I'm sure you would agree."
 
HORVATH: "Then it's better not to waste time and material on making bioweapons. Drones are faster to build and more efficient."
Kaleidoscope sighs, as he leans over at Horvath and whispers into her ear.
KORS: "You approved those cybernetic enhancements Zlowrogi wanted to apply to the Gernadders, right?"
Horvath whispers back. 
HORVATH: "As long as he doesn't mess with intelligence."
 
KORS: "Do we even risk speaking of them to him?"
 
HORVATH: "No."
 
ZAU: "The stories and rumors from Japan were highly amusing, I have to say. A shame that something like that happened..."
 
KORS: "Right" 
He resumes speaking Zau Yi in a normal volume.
KORS: "I'd argue both sides were at fault in that incident. Though more so everything you could blame at TE was just Tommy and Editi's fault. They didn't speak for the rest of the Engineers, and we certainly don't follow in their footsteps now."
 
ZAU: "A rational decision. Now, while I'd like to stay and see more, my return to Hong Kong is long overdue. Shall we fully flesh out the deal when I reach the NLA?"
 
HORVATH: "That sounds best. Gives us a chance to fill in the other directors."
 
KORS: "Seconded"
 
ZAU: "Great!" 
Zau claps his hands together.
ZAU: "The ACC is truly magnanimous in allowing trade with a small faction such as the NLA. Now, shall we head back?"
 
HORVATH: "Of course." 
Horvath leads the small group back up to the hanger. 
As the Directors and their guest leave for the hangar, an uninvited observer watches them go. She lightly brushes her short brown hair out of the way of her large glasses, the star clips framing her face like the edge of a cowl.
KOMIKARU: “My my, how interesting.”
Category:PACYOA: TE
Category:ARHK
Category:China