Standard Combat Unit Lifecycle #2

Delivery & Deployment

The unit is implanted with the ORC after the "final" test during training. This advanced level of training application has been applied after alot of trial and error.....and alot of unit expenditure. 

Delivery is determined by operational requirements which are assessed by the command and control system AI. However frequently this is over ridden by command to accommodate assaults or makeovers.  

Deployment by Command (AI or Human) is to meet operational requirements. The operations of a sector are complex but very well regimented.

Typical Time Management 

A unit is deployed into the Sector and the AI will then typically allocate days of certain operations. It is dependant on the Sectors configuration.  Often there is a central base with a few Cache or Rotunda standing at outposts. The Time management will vary at outposts. 

When the AI delegates a unit to an operation the unit will typically spend a few days on that task. For instance a Patrol will last a day, followed by a Sentry shift then onto combat response or Standby.

Every days orders are fresh and on waking the unit does not know what they will be doing for the day. 

The unit will be on either Night or Day Operations and remain on that until the contract is complete. The exception being moved off standby. 

A days operations are waking hours only. Sleep is not factored into work load. 

A Day Shift will be woken at 5.45am by the system,  PT Commences for 1 hour followed by Hygiene procedure (shower, bathroom) then morning ration supplied. 

Ration is a protein, vitamin rich, MCT heavy Sweetened Gel that comes in multiple flavors. (Grape, Raspberry, Pineapple & Mango). It is also laced with other substances. 

Returned Units say, the gel is the best tasting thing they have ever had in their lives.

They then fit uniform base and receive daily orders where they then configure and marshal for inspection. 

Units are ready to deploy at 0800.

Immediately fall out to mission Parameter- 

Units Return to base or outpost by 21:30 for hygiene and evening ration and in bunks by 21:55.

4 other ration rounds are carried and consumed on mission. 

This is every single Day with out rest until contract ends.

The Number 1 priority of the company is obtaining Neon Dark. Units will spend on average 4 days per month on Azologoth Hunting Patrols. Intel determines particular areas where there is a heightened activity. Usually through seismic monitoring equipment. 

Sentry Patrols involve both Web configured and long range patrols. This forms part of an outer ring which acts as a buffer against enemy incursion & also a form of early warning. 

These two roles are the single most dangerous roles where most units are expended. Azologoth being the most dangerous as Units are frequently swallowed by the creatures and opportunistic enemy attacks on extraction operations. 

Combat Response generally is there to rapidly respond Azologoth patrols under attack by the enemy or to escort Neon Dark back to base. Combat Response will either be transported or operate close by the Azologoth patrols.

The No.2 Priority is base security. The operation cannot sustain with the support of a base. If a commander were to send most of her units from a standing base to support a Neon Dark Extraction, the base would be vulnerable and the standing base were to fall into enemy hands then the distance to escort the Neon Dark would more than likely make it impossible. 

Base security is why the majority of time, therefore majority of units are on Standby. 

The role of standby is muddy. There may be two rotunda allocated to combat response, but a commander will deploy additional rotunda in support from the standby pool.

In an all out Mass Skirm, standby are deployed in large numbers. This is when the Pool of Zako is dumped on an area to defeat an enemy. 

Standby will also cover losses in other bases or patrols. When Sentries are expended standby will replace.

There is a lot of sitting around as Standby, however the system moves them to locations in prep for attack at all times to rapidly deploy.

Training is precisely that , target practice, tactics, manoeuvres and weapons. 

Value extraction

The value extraction of the unit is actually with the application of the whole Sector. An individual unit has some value, for instance if she pulls Neon Dark out of a branch of the Azologoth then she has pulled a few billion Credits....but its the entire operation which possesses the power. 

The large number of Standby units on site acts as a deterrent and can repel enemy forces if need be. 

The individual unit expending herself in the course of duty matters very little. 

while the company does value her eliminating the enemy units, which is important. The overall scheme of Black Faction is the safe transportation of Neon Dark out of the Zone. 

The core value is the application of force. Apply it fast, apply it aggressively and victory is Black Factions, there for Neon Dark is Black Factions.

Or

When Victory is not Black Factions, the force is applied still aggressively and with the sole aim of inflicting asset loss on the enemy then the value extraction is a reduction in enemy strength

Expendature

Upon contract end, there is a substantial payout for the combat units. Obviously this is not in the interest of the company and the goal to expose the unit to Maximum Danger has two points.

If the unit survives the chances of her eliminating more enemy units is higher, or her participating in high value missions - both result in extra value extracted from the unit. 

However if the unit is expended prior to contract termination, after having completed a large amount of valuable tasks throughout the course of her service term, then this is the ideal outcome. 

More often than not units never return, there for there is no further value to be gained from the unit. Expending the unit means that the contract is not complete and the payment is terminated, thus saving the company potentially Millions in Credits. 

While most Units do complete their first contract in today's Black Faction, a large portion do not. Eaten alive, swallowed by liquid earth or gunned down in a skirm, many Standard Combat Units demise.

In the development of her forces, The Mistress knew that for them to be viable, they needed to be the most aggressive, the most hungry and ruthless but when Caterina matched her intensity, there was no going back. 

Black Faction Corps is basically a death cult, and the intended lifecycle end for a Standard Combat Unit is her demise, not all meet it though. Thus perpetuating the influx of young women, because many see the risk as worth it, see the thrill as worth it, see the uniform as something sexy, something sinister, something desirable, something powerful. 

The commodification of the Combat unit, turning them into stock, the masks, the dehumanisation makes existing as one easy. Seeing one taken out, or many, or one being swallowed loses meaning very fast. 

No interpersonal relationships, no intimacy with any, just following orders results in a combat unit becoming a mindless automation.....and that is without ORC>

The Lifecycle is being a Zako for money.