Magical Girl Pilot Nanoha

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Re: Magical Girl Pilot Nanoha

Unread postby jgkitarel » January 13th, 2014, 6:31 am

Just to butt in here with a little military background, Chief Warrant Officers are a completely separate ranking system from normal officers. CWO are officers that started their careers as enlisted servicemen; and are unable to advance past CWO-5 rank, and start as CWO-2. Officers that went through the Academy start as Ensigns. Of course this is the Navy ranking system I'm referencing.
Chief Warrant Officers are still commissioned officers within the US Armed forces. How those CWO-2s and up were utilized were still the responsibility of the actual service. The US Army is the one service most likely to have a Chief Warrant Officer in a command position or, much more commonly, in a Staff Officer's billet. After elven years in the Army, I've seen both cases, each which are usually handled by a Lieutenant or a Captain, but a shortage of officers in the more technical fields means that Chiefs are the next best thing and they do have the administrative and regulatory authority to do such jobs.

The main difference is that a Chief Warrant Officer will be passed over for a command or staff officer billet if a qualified officer, no matter how junior, is available to take the position, as Officers are still higher in the Chain of Command than any and all Chief Warrant Officers.

---

The MSO has the rank of Warrant Officer for pilots for the simple fact that Warrant Officers are still officers, which allows for some degree of authority that an enlisted person would not have. Namely, the ability to release weapon locks and use a lot of firepower on their own initiative in the absence of orders. Given the destruction a GD can unleash, you can see why making them officers makes some sense.

The rank structure does not correspond to the NATO OF scale, though it did influence things. The ranks were choses as it was considered easier to use existing scales, modified to suit their needs as it would make it easier to coordinate with conventional forces. As the MSO is a UN force, it does not fall under the purview of existing military alliances (NATO, SEATO, etc.), but instead reports directly to the UN Security Council and the UN Secretary General. The MSO does, however, try to maintain friendly, or at least professional, relationships with the various alliances.
The furthest I got on unit structure was Unit > Team (2+ Units) > [Base] (Teams permanently assigned to that facility) > central HQ. It pretty much meant that bases with permanently assigned Units/Teams were their own commands (which might have other facilities/outposts that lacked units reporting to them) that worked with adjacent bases to maintain coverage and reported back to central HQ. This is more like Unit > Team (2+ Units) > Squadron (1+ Teams, minimum 8-9 Units; normally commanded by a Colonel) > Wing/Combat Group (1+ Squads; regional level; normally commanded by a Brigadier General) > central HQ (Major General).
Organizationally, I've actually looked at it more along the lines of the cavalry, rather than the Air Force.

Team -> Squad -> Troop -> Squadron -> Regiment -> MSO HQ

There would be three Regiments in the MSO, Atlantic, Pacific, Indian-Oceania. Of the three, the Pacific Regiment is the only one commanded by a still serving pilot, with the other two being commanded by former pilots who are retired from piloting for various reasons. Also, 200 GD frames requires a lot of maintenance and support personnel. The actual MSO has about 30-40,000 personnel, not counting conventional military forces seconded to them.

We can further flesh this out as we go on.

On another note, came up with this idea.

United Nations Space Forces:
Spoiler: show
Contact with the TSAB told Earth that not only was interstellar travel possible, but there was a way to gain FTL travel and communications. Once tempers cooled off from the BoD Incident, the United Nations and the MSO began a process of acquiring ships of their own, due to Earth's infrastructure not being able to construct ships at the time. Over the course of a decade, the UN and MSO made numerous black market and legitimate purchases of civilian and obsolete ship designs.

The bulk of the purchases, however, was in parts, fabrication capability and resources to make their own. The TSAB, while well aware of this, only took steps in preventing Earth from getting any hardware newer than thirty years old, something that many experts on Earth expected and usually didn't bother trying to get around. Eventually, Earth began steps for what would be the largest case of industrial espionage the TSAB had any record of, getting the plans for actual ship building facilities, orbital construction equipment and plans for dimensional drives. By 0085, Earth had a small space force and was in the process of finishing it's third space borne construction yard around the orbit of Luna, Earth's moon, as well as finishing the construction of what would be the first of many orbital defenses.

In 0090, it was decided to search for further ruins and facilities of the Silver Millennium and eventually led to the discovery of the original facilities which gave the Senshi their planetary mana taps, as well as the surviving orbital palaces: Io (Jupiter), Magellan (Venus), Titan (Saturn) and Charon (Pluto), which were badly in need of repair and restoration.
Also, I have to punch you, jgkitarel, because I spent a lot of time on the nanoha wiki trying to locate information on mages being trained due to being above a certain rank, only to remember and confirm that you were the one that came up with that. - Phht
Don't forget: Mass Effect is powered by magic space rocks. Evangelion is powered by Your Mom.
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Re: Magical Girl Pilot Nanoha

Unread postby jgkitarel » January 23rd, 2014, 8:34 pm

Currently working out a Table of Organization for the MSO. Units, Regimental Organization, Commanders and such. Will take a while to do so for this.
Also, I have to punch you, jgkitarel, because I spent a lot of time on the nanoha wiki trying to locate information on mages being trained due to being above a certain rank, only to remember and confirm that you were the one that came up with that. - Phht
Don't forget: Mass Effect is powered by magic space rocks. Evangelion is powered by Your Mom.
From his new fic Long Night of the Harvest

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Re: Magical Girl Pilot Nanoha

Unread postby jgkitarel » January 29th, 2014, 3:41 am

Ok, a quick breakdown of the MSO Table of Organization:
  • * Regimental Organization spread across three Theaters of Operation
    * Three Theaters of Operations (Paciffic, Atlantic, Oceania)
    * 1 Regiment per Theater of Operations
    * 2 – 3 Squadrons Per Regiment
    * 3 – 4 Troops per Squadron
    * 3 – 4 Squads per Troop
    * 2 – Teams per Squad
    * 3 – 5 Pilots per Team
    * Independent Squads and Teams
    * Support Personnel organized into Battalions and Brigades
    * Conventional Forces
The Combat forces for the MSO are organized along a Regimental system, allowing them greater flexibility than most conventional systems. Each regiment is an independent command subordinate to MSO HQ, though the regimental commanders make sure to have a good working relationship with the conventional forces commander in a theater of operations. MG Heller has made it clear to the regimental commanders that failing to do so without good reason will result in being relieved for cause.

There are independent squads and teams in each theater which are not a formal part of a specific regiment. These independent units are normally composed of the MSO's most elite pilots or have specialized functions which make them in high demand worldwide and are assigned to theaters of operations for specific purposes, but are otherwise under the direct command of MSO HQ.

List of Regiments:
Spoiler: show
  • * 1st Regiment - Pacific Theater - HQ: Tokyo, Japan
    * 2nd Regiment - Atlantic Theater - HQ: Norfolk, United States
    * 3rd Regiment - Oceania Theater - HQ: Sydney, Australia
Also, I have to punch you, jgkitarel, because I spent a lot of time on the nanoha wiki trying to locate information on mages being trained due to being above a certain rank, only to remember and confirm that you were the one that came up with that. - Phht
Don't forget: Mass Effect is powered by magic space rocks. Evangelion is powered by Your Mom.
From his new fic Long Night of the Harvest

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Re: Magical Girl Pilot Nanoha

Unread postby Phht » January 29th, 2014, 7:19 am

Overall, neat. I'm amused that the unit chart covers pilots totals from 324 up to 1440 (not counting independent units) before a new regiment would be needed. Though, 3 to a team minimum instead of 2? If teams are the smallest deployed unit size in normal operations, wouldn't 2 be the minimum?

Though you might want to go into detail on the operational areas of the Theaters. Because I see Pacific and Oceania and think "won't that be major overlap on coverage area?" while wondering what theater the Middle East, India, the arctic borders of Russia, etc fall into. Reading an earlier post I see "Indian-Oceania", so that explains at least part of things.

I'm guessing RF6/JDS6 would fall under Independent Squads once they're formed.

--

Touching back on the time line.
  • c. -16060 to -12060 - Reign of the Moon Kingdom, ending in its destruction at the hands of the invading Dark Kingdom that was sealed away for many millenium as a last minute fuck you from the Moon Kingdom. The "mythical" civilization of Al-Hazard is a contemporary to the Moon Kingdom.
  • c. -0667 - Start of the Warring Ages and rapid expansion of the Belkan Empire beyond its planet. (c. 1273 CE)
  • c. -0448 - B7R annexed into the Belkan Empire. Troubles in the empire means no work is started on setting up mining over the next decade. (c. 1492 CE)
  • c. -0437 - Belka is lost, Belkan Empire collapses. Saint King Unification War begins. (c. 1503 CE)
  • c. -0256 - Belka and its system is lost due to supernova during a battle with Galea. (c. 1684 CE)
  • c. -0142 - B7R destroyed by out of control Tome of the Night Sky. (c. 1798 CE)
  • c. -0034 - Belkan Unification forces get in position to use the Book of Darkness in retaliation for Belka's loss, resulting in the destruction of Galea near the end of the Saint King Unification War. (c. 1906 CE)
  • c. -0020 - Saint King Unification War ends with the disappearance of the Saint's Cradle and the death of the last Saint King. (c. 1920 CE)
  • 0000 - Start of the new Mid-Childan calendar. (1940 CE)
  • 0054 - First Kaiju attacks. (1994 CE)
  • 0056 - First production RIDEs deployed. MSO officially formed. (1996 CE)
  • 0064 - Freighter breaks up over Earth. (2004 CE)
  • 0067 - Pluto Incident (2007 CE)
  • 0068 - First encounter between TSAB and MSO. (2008 CE)
  • 0069 - Book of Darkness Incident (2009 CE)
  • 0070 - Mediterranean Incursion (Battle of the Mediterranean). (2010 CE)
  • 0073 - Pacific Incursion. Hayate forced to retake training. (2013 CE)
  • 0074 - 2014 CE
  • 0075 - RF6/JDS6 forms. JS Incident occurs. Dragon's Triangle Incursion. (2015 CE)
  • 0076 - First Arctic Rift assault. (2016 CE)
  • 0077 - Marriage Incursion (2017 CE)
  • 0081 - Eclipse crisis. (2021 CE)
  • 0085 - Third space construction facility completed. (2025 CE)
  • 0090 - Discovery of numerous Silver Millennium era facilities. (2030 CE)
This version shifts Belka's expansion back a couple centuries and results in a ~417 year long SK Unification "War." Not quite as massively long as the ~630 year long original version or as short as the ~144 year long second version. Also, I slipped the Eclipse crisis in... at its canon spot. Figured the changes in events didn't affect the lead-in stuff enough to throw off when that occurs. Also added in events mentioned since the first post and major events from the first post.

Though... Jaeger-style VCP in 1995-1996? I guess it's possible.

B7R used to be a planet somewhere in the 48-60 AU range of the Sol system. What remains of it is the few Kuiper Belt objects detected in that range.

--

Delayed response to the UN Space forces. I love the concept (also the "largest case of industrial espionage the TSAB had and records of"). I should point out that Uranus and Neptune's castles were still around at least through Sailor Stars (as the Outers went back to their castles during the mess with Galaxia and were killed on them). Though it's certainly possible that the two castles died at some point in the 30ish years after that relative point in time. Though if we stick to canon where possible barring plot points erased due to time travel shenanigans, then there'd be no planetary mana tap facilities (because Star Seeds hold the essence of a Senshi, and they stick to one person til death).

I figure I should point out something regarding the JS Incident. While the MSO likely turned over the people they captured from the Saints Cradle... I'm pretty sure they kept the ship wreck for themselves. Though battle damage and crash damage probably wrecked a number of important systems. But stuff like metallurgy of the hull or functional gadget drones? That's definitely around for Earth to research. And given that it's possibly a Lost Logia... well, Earth probably got some nice tech/science advances out of what survived the damage.

"Nope, sorry. It crashed on our planet, we're keeping it. The prisoners hadn't actually committed any crimes because showing up in orbit and demanding the planet's surrender isn't actually a crime, other than possibly acts of piracy or maybe terrorism. But they had committed numerous crimes in your jurisdiction, so we extradited them to you for trial once they were in custody."

--

Semi-unrelated note: why are there apparently no Pacific Rim music videos on youtube using Bonnie Tylor's Holding out for a Hero?
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Re: Magical Girl Pilot Nanoha

Unread postby jgkitarel » January 29th, 2014, 2:12 pm

The three pilot minimum for teams would have been more recent. Keep in mind that while the MSO has the organization for many more pilots than they have, they have a hard time training up enough pilots to raise their active numbers, which is why their numbers of active pilots has never exceeded 350 by the JS Incident. Two pilots would have been considered an adequate minimum, but after the events since the Battle of the Mediterranean, it was decided to expand the minimum size to three as some Kaiju are that hard to kill. That doesn't mean that the entire team gets fielded, as it also allows for the pilots to rotate missions, with one on standby and resting ensuring that one is always ready to come to the assistance of his/her teammates if needed. That doesn't count that there is usually another team on call as well who can assist.
Also, I have to punch you, jgkitarel, because I spent a lot of time on the nanoha wiki trying to locate information on mages being trained due to being above a certain rank, only to remember and confirm that you were the one that came up with that. - Phht
Don't forget: Mass Effect is powered by magic space rocks. Evangelion is powered by Your Mom.
From his new fic Long Night of the Harvest

My current project on FFN, Mystic Knight Online
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Re: Magical Girl Pilot Nanoha

Unread postby jgkitarel » February 2nd, 2014, 6:24 pm

Also, the organization chart is what they're supposed to have. In reality, the MSO, like many actual military units, is either over strength in some areas or understrength in others and usually the latter. The only regiment that has anywhere close to what they're supposed to have on paper is the regiment in the Pacific Theater, due to the high number of Kaiju incursions. The Indian Ocean-Oceania regiment has one over-strength squadron and several independent units, while the Atlantic Theater houses the primary training facility and R&D centers, so the Atlantic regiment's forces often have a number of its pilots seconded as training cadre or involved in systems testing.

As for regional overlap, there is a great deal of it between the Indian Ocean-Oceania Theater and Pacific Theaters, particularly around Malaysia and also in the Southern Pacific. Also, the Atlantic and Indian Ocean units tend to share responsibility over Sub-Saharan Africa and the Atlantic and Pacific Units share responsibilities over the southern regions of South America, particularly the Drake Passage.
Also, I have to punch you, jgkitarel, because I spent a lot of time on the nanoha wiki trying to locate information on mages being trained due to being above a certain rank, only to remember and confirm that you were the one that came up with that. - Phht
Don't forget: Mass Effect is powered by magic space rocks. Evangelion is powered by Your Mom.
From his new fic Long Night of the Harvest

My current project on FFN, Mystic Knight Online
User avatar
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Re: Magical Girl Pilot Nanoha

Unread postby jgkitarel » February 23rd, 2014, 12:55 am

No real update, just trying to think up some soundtrack ideas. Would like some ideas from others.

MSO Theme idea:



Harry's Theme idea:



Reinforce/BoD Theme:



And a joking one for Nanoha:
Spoiler: show
Also, I have to punch you, jgkitarel, because I spent a lot of time on the nanoha wiki trying to locate information on mages being trained due to being above a certain rank, only to remember and confirm that you were the one that came up with that. - Phht
Don't forget: Mass Effect is powered by magic space rocks. Evangelion is powered by Your Mom.
From his new fic Long Night of the Harvest

My current project on FFN, Mystic Knight Online
User avatar
jgkitarel
 
Posts: 2534
Joined: January 20th, 2011, 5:14 pm
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Re: Magical Girl Pilot Nanoha

Unread postby jgkitarel » March 28th, 2015, 4:45 pm

Nanoha was mildly insulted by it and had someone redo her theme.



She thought this was much better.
Also, I have to punch you, jgkitarel, because I spent a lot of time on the nanoha wiki trying to locate information on mages being trained due to being above a certain rank, only to remember and confirm that you were the one that came up with that. - Phht
Don't forget: Mass Effect is powered by magic space rocks. Evangelion is powered by Your Mom.
From his new fic Long Night of the Harvest

My current project on FFN, Mystic Knight Online
User avatar
jgkitarel
 
Posts: 2534
Joined: January 20th, 2011, 5:14 pm
Location: D.C - Baltimore Area


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