Virtuoso

**Key Features** | »Kuyen Anti Air Missile»Cybersol Communicator»Portable Generator»War Medal»Schneider Doctrine Memo

*"Hi, this is Juan, and today I'll teach you 10 uses for your Cybersyn that you probably didn't know!"*

"- Juan Pablo Hernandez, during a Broadcast of his weekle "Ask Juan Question"."

## Tactical Analysis

* **Hola, Soy Virtuoso:** Veterans of the War for Chile, the Virtuosos are the only people who could be trusted to carry their newfangled experimental weapons, the Kuyen Missile System, the social-democratic answer to the threats in the skies.

* **Like a Superstar:** Most Virtuosos are very much aware of their status as almost celebrities and know they are very much looked up from the Recruits, and they certainly aren't afraid of using this knowledge to their advantage, when given the free reign to do so, they'll certainly try and command any other comrades in arms to try just a little bit harder to see if they can, someday, join their ranks.

* **Boom Headshot!:** As Anti Air Infantry however the Virtuosos have some pretty blatant disadvantages, for once, they can't defend from any ground threats and then there's the problem that they have a significant lock-on time, however once they actually catch their target they'll be able to keep pressing the damage for as long as their range allows.

* **Day of the Veterans:** Virtuosos staying on the battlefield and making even newer and more daring shows of their bravery are certainly fearsome individuals, for once, they are much better at handling their Kuyens, significantly decreasing lock-on time and then, their own speed and the acts of bravery they inspire are also much greater.

## Background

The invasion of Chile wasn’t totally unwelcome nor unexpected by the inhabitants of the thin, long nation and while a significant portion of the military did provide some resistance in the face of the invasion to defend their birth nation’s interests, a much larger portion of the military was actually working in collusion with the invaders. Turns out a big part of the high ranking military men in the nation didn’t see with good eyes this people’s government thing nor did believe on the possibility to move onto communism through a democratic transition. When the dust settled, the interim government set up by the allied forces, principally argentine, was composed of these very military men, people who tried to brutally rollback the changes that had happened in the nation through the preceding years during Allende’s administration. This of course created a huge sense of mistrust towards the military of the country once the Socialists, and Cyberbolivarians in particular, managed to take back the territory.

While all the culprits of this conspiracy that sought to change the efforts made by Allende’s government were properly indicted and imprisoned on a remote island in the southernmost reaches of the nation, something had to be done so the few loyalist troops could gain the people’s trust again, and the thinkers behind the cybernetic miracle had an idea to see this made true.

Just like many aspects of the old administration, they suspected, the problem was that the military had distanced itself too much from the population at large and, while most of it had been dishonorably discharged and as such the actual armed forces of the nations were manned by but a shadow of its former self, defense of the nation now falling on the hands of the Vigilante force, it was still deemed necessary to at least keep a veneer of legitimacy to the few, proud military men that remained.

Those who have proven particularly loyal, defending the president during his mad escape from the city of Santiago during the bombardment of the Palace of Government, were formed into a special Presidential Guard unit, equivalent to that of the Aca Carayas from Paraguay or the Granaderos from Argentina, who indeed became honorary members after the official conformation of the Federation of Southern Cone. Labelled Virtuosos, an extensive publicity campaign was made around their figures. Specific figures were promoted, appearing frequently on television and later through live broadcasts in Cyberfolk transmissions.

This campaign, surprising even to the minds behind the publicity stunt, was a resounding success, people started seeing them as cultural icons, celebrities who were closer to the common folk as never before. Now they truly could see how was daily life for the valiant men who dared to risk their lives for the safety of the nation and the protection of the democratic values that were behind their ideals. They began to mimic their antics and quote the jokes they made during broadcasts, though not quite replacing television as a means of entertainment, nevermind radio, they, somehow, managed to carve a niche for themselves in an impromptu entertainment industry, easy fame and fortune, thanks to the miracles of science and computers that transformed war veterans in celebrities overnight.

Though the government tried to cash in on this sudden upsurge of popularity, the appearance of the few who actually bothered to appear on regular television also becoming the moments were negative algodometer registers saw sudden spikes. People’s comments on these appearances said that these felt like their beloved icons had lost their charm, didn’t really act like themselves and felt like they had sold themselves to the system. Publicitary campaigns to further government campaigns were mostly received with disdain too, with most people deeming them as forced. It was the end of the career for many would be stars, but a selected few managed to keep their “career”. The government declared that they’d better not intervene much into the act of these stars, though many suspected that this just meant they’d act in a subtler manner in the future.

Many suspicions were raised in particular when a particularly popular broadcaster, Juan Pablo Hernandez, revealed a secret military weapon “against the wills of the government and the army” during one of his weekly routines.

This “Kuyen” SAM system was indeed very unique in make and apparently used top secret experimental technology kept under most secrecy by the military scientists of the Federation. Though the recording was extremely shaky and low quality in actuality, it marked an historical record in viewers using the Cyberfolk system, operators underground barely managing to keep up with the demand to check this particular terminal, and caused a huger uproar when it eventually made it overseas, Netowork loons, and later military analysts when the recording was confirmed as true, going crazy over the strange armament that was just unveiled.

Working off some sort of backpack, certainly different in make from regular Recruit gear, it seemed to fire some sort of Spectrum blast that had enough punching power to break through the wall of the house of the broadcaster, it was later confirmed on an official government reveal that this weapon actually worked through the principles that power L.U.M.O.S and that what people were seeing was actual, “hard” light.

Of course, military analysts were quick to find out the flaws of this new “war winner”; for once, it was completely useless against ground targets, as the beam on a close range was simply too weak to even start considering causing damage to any ground target, instantly making it less reliable than the allied javelins, then it also has the trademark overweight problem that seems to plague the Federal military equipment, despite the fact that it has been repeatedly pointed out that it’s still far lighter than the soviet alternative, finally, there’s the worrying fact that it’s completely reliable on experimental and most secretive federal technology, not only making the system unreliable but also making the licensing an almost quixotic dream and forcing anyone trying to rely on the system to obligatorily deal with the Federal government for the supplying of not only the missiles, but the batteries and any replacements.

As for the Virtuosos themselves, the Federation still found ways to have them benefit their cause, for one their “volunteering” for participation in the Vigilante Forces greatly increases the morale of the troop they accompany, them being ecstatic of being in a presence of a true celebrity, while the government has people who can help the volunteers to become more professional in their actions, having orders to help them practice on the proficiency of their weapons as well as providing crucial backup in more heated comfrontation, as for the Virtuosos working with the Vigilantes, they are all too happy to enjoy the fruits of their fame while they are there.

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