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Description

While most major events of the Afghanistan conflict that Athena fought in would be familiar to people from our own timeline, the actual on-the-ground tactics and equipment were (unsurprisingly) very different.

Autonomous military drones had been involved in ground, aerial and naval operations in conflicts in the late 1990s, but the Afghanistan conflict was the first major conflict in the wake of the 2001 Berlin Convention and its effective outlawing of unaccountable autonomous weapons.

As the reintroduction of accountable operators in the loop was so recent, most NATO forces only had access to a limited number of relatively inexperienced drone operators during the early days of the conflict; naturally, this limited the number of operations where the drones could be deployed.

Consequently, the relatively small numbers of HUGV (Heavy Unmanned Ground Vehicle) drones in most NATO armouries saw disproportionate deployment during the early years of the conflict; originally intended as mid-weight support for drone deployments, the HUGV's battlefield role was most dissimilar to traditional infantry or tracked vehicles - carrying more firepower than the former, but remaining more mobile in urban environments than the latter - making them a logical choice to prioritise for the limited numbers of trained operators.

As more operators were trained, and the software interfaces better optimised to allow operators to handle more drones simultaneously, standard infantry drones were brought to the field to be deployed in greater numbers, frequently accompanying human deployments so that semi-autonomous drones could take hazardous positions in patrols. As significant upgrades were made to the equipment of traditional infantry at the same time, with many soldiers now being equipped with augmented reality hardware and exoskeleton assistance, these drones were much better able to operate alongside human soldiers than in previous conflicts. As such, casualties from improvised explosive devices were considerably reduced.

They also facilitated the more aggressive placement of NATO forward operating bases; with networked drones able to patrol a perimeter effectively at any time of day or night, bases could be situated closer to potentially hostile areas, improving reaction times and interfering with insurgent action.

However, in many ways, drones were ill-equipped for other counter-insurgency tactics; unable to engage without human oversight, they could be slow to react to unexpected attacks, as happened on several occasions when Afghan Army soldiers defected to the Taliban.

These shortcomings of semi-autonomous drones are what ultimately lead to experimentation with fully-sapient combat AIs, heralding a new paradigm in warfare that is yet to be fully understood...

~~~~~

This particular image dates from mid-2012, near the start of Athena's second year of deployment. She's seen seated atop an Onager-type HUGV (likely under refit at the time, as evidenced by several empty weapon hard points).

~~~~~

Fracturing Veil

It is 2018.

The United Kingdom is still arguing over Brexit, Vladimir Putin has been re-elected for his fourth term as Russian president, and a disillusioned AI super-soldier is failing to live a normal life.

After witnessing vampires attack a police officer she'd only just met, the pair are thrown into a world hidden from mortal eyes. Recruited by "Cerberus", they find themselves working alongside a sarcastic half-dragon, a distant arachne sorceress, and other paranormal denizens in order to try to maintain a 500-year ceasefire.

This is the Fracturing Veil.

~~~~~

"Hesco Barrier PBR" by polbrainstorm used under CC-BY licence Rendered in Daz Studio with Nvidia Iray

Description

While most major events of the Afghanistan conflict that Athena fought in would be familiar to people from our own timeline, the actual on-the-ground tactics and equipment were (unsurprisingly) very different.

Autonomous military drones had been involved in ground, aerial and naval operations in conflicts in the late 1990s, but the Afghanistan conflict was the first major conflict in the wake of the 2001 Berlin Convention and its effective outlawing of unaccountable autonomous weapons.

As the reintroduction of accountable operators in the loop was so recent, most NATO forces only had access to a limited number of relatively inexperienced drone operators during the early days of the conflict; naturally, this limited the number of operations where the drones could be deployed.

Consequently, the relatively small numbers of HUGV (Heavy Unmanned Ground Vehicle) drones in most NATO armouries saw disproportionate deployment during the early years of the conflict; originally intended as mid-weight support for drone deployments, the HUGV's battlefield role was most dissimilar to traditional infantry or tracked vehicles - carrying more firepower than the former, but remaining more mobile in urban environments than the latter - making them a logical choice to prioritise for the limited numbers of trained operators.

As more operators were trained, and the software interfaces better optimised to allow operators to handle more drones simultaneously, standard infantry drones were brought to the field to be deployed in greater numbers, frequently accompanying human deployments so that semi-autonomous drones could take hazardous positions in patrols. As significant upgrades were made to the equipment of traditional infantry at the same time, with many soldiers now being equipped with augmented reality hardware and exoskeleton assistance, these drones were much better able to operate alongside human soldiers than in previous conflicts. As such, casualties from improvised explosive devices were considerably reduced.

They also facilitated the more aggressive placement of NATO forward operating bases; with networked drones able to patrol a perimeter effectively at any time of day or night, bases could be situated closer to potentially hostile areas, improving reaction times and interfering with insurgent action.

However, in many ways, drones were ill-equipped for other counter-insurgency tactics; unable to engage without human oversight, they could be slow to react to unexpected attacks, as happened on several occasions when Afghan Army soldiers defected to the Taliban.

These shortcomings of semi-autonomous drones are what ultimately lead to experimentation with fully-sapient combat AIs, heralding a new paradigm in warfare that is yet to be fully understood...

~~~~~

This particular image dates from mid-2012, near the start of Athena's second year of deployment. She's seen seated atop an Onager-type HUGV (likely under refit at the time, as evidenced by several empty weapon hard points).

~~~~~

Fracturing Veil

It is 2018.

The United Kingdom is still arguing over Brexit, Vladimir Putin has been re-elected for his fourth term as Russian president, and a disillusioned AI super-soldier is failing to live a normal life.

After witnessing vampires attack a police officer she'd only just met, the pair are thrown into a world hidden from mortal eyes. Recruited by "Cerberus", they find themselves working alongside a sarcastic half-dragon, a distant arachne sorceress, and other paranormal denizens in order to try to maintain a 500-year ceasefire.

This is the Fracturing Veil.

~~~~~

"Hesco Barrier PBR" by polbrainstorm used under CC-BY licence Rendered in Daz Studio with Nvidia Iray