If someone cut down whole fucking trees on a property I owned without my permission this would instead be a post about the graphic details of my murder trial (worth it)
Heyo, I’m back, got sick and played too much Zelda. Also the upcoming Aphelion pages might sort of be spoilery and ruin the ending so I’m debating if I want to show them at all. I dunno.
Some super early concepts for a plane that plays a pretty important role in the plot of TankEater. I just added text and stuff to fill in space. Definitely will be changing that roundel. Will hopefully also be building up the thermo calcs for the jet in the Venusian atmosphere (if I feel like it, here’s the thing about worldbuilding that too many people forget: STOP IF YOU’RE NOT HAVING FUN!!! IF IT SUCKS HIT DA BRICKS!!! The reader knows if you’re bored and will become bored!!!).
I like how the rotating tail will kind of look birdlike, like a hawk swishing around their tail to steer, trying to lean towards a brutal metal+biological aesthetic for these guys. I like it when different groups have different aesthetics.
Also, because I forget if I’ve mentioned it, The world of TankEater is like, 100 years ahead of us with medical technology, and only about 10 years with mechanical technology. which makes things interesting since I don’t think there’s a lot of stories like that.
Your Tank Eaters have been making me think about, among other things, a random bit of fiction from Peter Watts’ website where the US military is using “we will turn you into a cyborg killing machine” as their recruitment pitch. Obviously the non-consensual aspect is a big part of the horror of your setting but I could easily see willingly volunteering to become something like Tank Eaters for any number of reasons.
Watts is probably right! However, the Heavy Combat Cyborg (AKA TankEater) process isn’t really something that anyone would stick through consensually, as it takes six years and is incredibly painful. Literally no one would remain there that long given the choice. Also even if you found someone that would? The massive amount of brain damage and recovery from it means they might not be the same person that chose it, so the military expects that the TankEater will hate them no matter what.
BUT, there are other types of combat cyborgs, and modifications you can just buy! And sometimes people choose to do that. Just not enough and for various reasons it’s convenient to have a separate group of soldiers you can send into near-suicidal situations as fancy drones.
If you’re willing to undergo some fairly nasty surgery (and people do in real life for many reasons) then you can be set for life in the military. Personally I’d get surgery for cool night-vision eyes! I just wouldn’t want to also be forced to have wires in my brain that oxytocin me to love my commanding officer like a parent.
