ERT + TCFL Rework

[Scheveningen]

It's worth noting that while enlistment with the US National Guard is possible, it's generally more difficult to blow past it than, say, joining up to be a grunt or a squid (US Army and US Navy, respectively), given the NG's reputation as being composed of citizen soldiers. A recruiter for the National Guard in the United States has the right to turn you down (I mean for any reason honestly, they can do that) if they find out you're not a citizen, and your residence in the country hasn't been for very long (essentially, you're telling them in that specific case that you're nowhere near being a full-fledged American citizen yet, so you're an unknown variable and a flight risk). A system like that is pretty reasonable, it would be equally reasonable were it to be similarly translated for non-citizens in Tau Ceti being otherwise incapable of gaining the rank of Legionary/Prefect until they serve for a period of time that qualifies them for citizenship in exchange for their service, and likewise you can't just become a Volunteer your first week migrating to Tau Ceti.

I like the idea of ERT being reworked out of the interpretation of them being just mere mercenaries. It doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense, considering how ERT and HAPT are both essentially specialized squadrons of corporate troops designed as direct force multipliers to ascertain asset loss and move to unfuck drastic scenarios. Elite of the elite, but they don't work just for money, they work because they're contracted to and otherwise must serve or else they could lose a lot more than money from trying to quit their job given the sensitivity of information often related to either party. "They're highly trained mercenaries!" just doesn't cut it, because it implies ERT has agency and can contractually back out of a job if the terms didn't fit them. No, it seems more sensible that once your signature is finalized on a piece of paper for your hiring form, the company owns you like a federal government owns a soldier. Different side of the coin.

I like the cut of your gib regarding TCFL too. "We fight for freedom!" federal types that deploy onto a station with the motivation to protect Tau Ceti citizens and neutralize threats to said citizens. Because their budget comes from taxpayers (which are not as numerous and powerful as corporate interests, especially so as corporate interests dodge paying taxes), they should be less armed than ERT, but arguably balanced so that TCFL can at least hold their own as a team against any antagonist force.

For me to lobby these changes though (which are basically buffs), I suggest the chances of ERT/TCFL get shrunk down and only scale up, kind of like how the system works presently with ER calls. Arguably, the distress beacon should not be able to receive ERT/TCFL every time. There should be a 30 minute cooldown between ER calls as well.

Also forgot to mention. There should be some bluespace-y distress beacon inside the telecommunications satellite. You can break it, but it can also be fixed. Breaking it removes the ability to make distress calls entirely, fixing it restores that ability. My 2 cents though, for what it is worth.

Edited July 14, 2019 by Scheveningen

[Naelynn]

2 hours ago, Scheveningen said:

It's worth noting that while enlistment with the US National Guard is possible, it's generally more difficult to blow past it than, say, joining up to be a grunt or a squid (US Army and US Navy, respectively), given the NG's reputation as being composed of citizen soldiers. A recruiter for the National Guard in the United States has the right to turn you down (I mean for any reason honestly, they can do that) if they find out you're not a citizen, and your residence in the country hasn't been for very long (essentially, you're telling them in that specific case that you're nowhere near being a full-fledged American citizen yet, so you're an unknown variable and a flight risk). A system like that is pretty reasonable, it would be equally reasonable were it to be similarly translated for non-citizens in Tau Ceti being otherwise incapable of gaining the rank of Legionary/Prefect until they serve for a period of time that qualifies them for citizenship in exchange for their service, and likewise you can't just become a Volunteer your first week migrating to Tau Ceti.

I like the idea of ERT being reworked out of the interpretation of them being just mere mercenaries. It doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense, considering how ERT and HAPT are both essentially specialized squadrons of corporate troops designed as direct force multipliers to ascertain asset loss and move to unfuck drastic scenarios. Elite of the elite, but they don't work just for money, they work because they're contracted to and otherwise must serve or else they could lose a lot more than money from trying to quit their job given the sensitivity of information often related to either party. "They're highly trained mercenaries!" just doesn't cut it, because it implies ERT has agency and can contractually back out of a job if the terms didn't fit them. No, it seems more sensible that once your signature is finalized on a piece of paper for your hiring form, the company owns you like a federal government owns a soldier. Different side of the coin.

I like the cut of your gib regarding TCFL too. "We fight for freedom!" federal types that deploy onto a station with the motivation to protect Tau Ceti citizens and neutralize threats to said citizens. Because their budget comes from taxpayers (which are not as numerous and powerful as corporate interests, especially so as corporate interests dodge paying taxes), they should be less armed than ERT, but arguably balanced so that TCFL can at least hold their own as a team against any antagonist force.

For me to lobby these changes though (which are basically buffs), I suggest the chances of ERT/TCFL get shrunk down and only scale up, kind of like how the system works presently with ER calls. Arguably, the distress beacon should not be able to receive ERT/TCFL every time. There should be a 30 minute cooldown between ER calls as well.

Also forgot to mention. There should be some bluespace-y distress beacon inside the telecommunications satellite. You can break it, but it can also be fixed. Breaking it removes the ability to make distress calls entirely, fixing it restores that ability. My 2 cents though, for what it is worth.

There's a piece of counterplay available to faxing for ERT - if you destroy a bluespace transmitter in tcomms faxes no longer work. However, swiping for ert works 100% of the time, and EBS is so rarely used that I don't even know if destroying the transmitter does something to it.