Paradox Mod Wiki
Register
Advertisement
F
F
Massive Mobile Logistical Base
A Floating Fortress
F
F
A Floating Fortress
(Minor) faction(s) EmpireLogoThumb Empire of the Rising Sun
Type Game Map/Floating Fortress
Designation Floating Fortress/Logistical Support
Mod Relevance Lore/Map
Country of Origin  Japanthumb Japan
Produced/
Trained at
 Imperial Corps of Engineers
Key Features  » Multiple "Amaterasu" Wave-Force Triguns
 » Defender-VX Banks
 » Huge supply and vehicle storage
 » Naval docks for attendant fleet
 » Large traditional garden bay

Japan is a small group of islands in a forgotten corner on the largest sea on the world. To keep its huge empire in order required a large number of expensive bases that were difficult to garrison. Other than Pearl Harbour, no one place had enough resources concentrated to defend the whole ocean, nevertheless conquer new lands. With the Emperor's wish to conquer the world, the Imperial Corps of Engineers was tasked with finding a method to feed, arm, and transport whole armies into foreign lands. Plans from large airships to transport mecha were all dismissed as impractical on a large scale, so the Imperial engineers fell back on the thing the Rising Sun was very good at: naval superiority.

What the Corps of Engineers proposed was the largest ship to ever float, larger than even the Atlantis Sprawl the Syndicate had. Constructed in the Seto Inland Sea to keep away prying gaijin eyes, the design was a large, flat topped structure not unlike a massive pre-World War II aircraft carrier. While on the top it was more or less uncluttered, with only a few loading bays and command and control buildings, inside the fortress were massive bays and garages for carrying supplies and vehicles enough to sustain a campaign anywhere in the world. To prevent hogging and sagging from ripping the hull apart, the bottom is segmented and allowed to bend as much as possible, not affecting the floor above due to a generous open space.

In truth, the amount of men carried is no greater than any army the Rising Sun fields anywhere else, but unlike other forces, Floating Fortress contingents have the ability to replace any losses and stay supplied, without any vulnerable lines from Japan or needing to set up bases on land. As each Floating Fortress had its own escort fleet, they were equipped with docks to not only supply and repair ships, but to hold them in movement to save fuel and degradation from traveling on the open seas. Even rice patties, kept in hydroponic labs and artificially lighted, are included to better feed an army on the field.

However, moving the hulk was a different problem all together. Any conventional method, no matter how upgraded, simply couldn't move the fortress. It was eventually fitted with hundreds of small waterjet nozzles all over the bottom of the fortress. This provided enough accumulated propulsion that the Floating Fortress could steam at a slow but steady pace, while also allowing on the spot turning, especially important when near the coast. To power the whole thing, two massive Wave-Force reactors, each programmed to double output if the other is disabled, are placed at the center of the fortress.

So much heat is produced that both reactors have to be out in the open. Jet-Tengu squadrons and Defender-VXs provide ample anti-air in case anyone is bold enough to attack the reactors, and a stapple of "Amaterasu" Wave-Force Triguns fire at anything on land and sea. Unlike their smaller Wave-Force Tower brethren, they can only be used on Floating Fortresses, seeing as their energy demand is atrocious.

Famous Floating Fortresses[]

Black Tortoise[]

Fate of the Black Tortoise

During WW3, the Empire of the Rising Sun attacked Los Angeles via the Floating Fortress 'Black Tortoise' in what is known as the Invasion of Santa Monica. The Japanese succeeded in overwhelming Allied defenders, and due to Allied Command deciding to prioritized the European Theater, they were able to hold the area (albeit they were unable to push beyond the sprawl of Los Angeles itself) until nearly the end of the war. During this time, with the Black Tortoise swatting Allied attempts to sever supply lines, the Imperials dedicated themselves to remaking Los Angeles into a 'Tokyo of the West'. Thousands of Nanocores, hundreds of thousands of Japanese colonists (willing or not) and *millions* of Yen flooded into LA along with the Imperial Military in a doomed attempt to 'Japanify' the city.

However, this venture was cut short roughly halfway through as word reached the Imperial Colonization Force that Japan itself was under attack and the Imperial Palace itself was under seige. All hell broke loose as the Imperials dropped everything in a desperate, disorganized attempt to return home to defend the Emperor. The Black Tortoise steamed out of the Santa Monica Bay where it had squatted for the last few months less than an hour after they got the message, much to the celebration of the Americans, and much to the horror of the tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers, support staff and civilians now left stranded in the middle of a hostile country.

But that was not the end of Imperial misfortune that day, for as American forces rushed to retake the city, a massive swarm of Aircraft and Naval vessels launched in one last attempt to kill the Black Tortoise before it returned home. Due to the Fortress's rushed departure, numerous gaps existed in it's defences, and one lucky Century Bomber was able to exploit one to destroy one of the Fortress's massive power generators in a not-at-all-percise strike that crippled the fortress, causing many of it's systems to completely shut down, most importantly it's navigation and helm systems and many of it's external defenses, but it's engines remained fully online, leaving the behemoth barreling ahead at full speed straight on a collision course with the diminutive Santa Barbra Island while having it's surface bombed and shelled to oblivion by vengeful American forces.

By the time it's crew were able to bring the Fortress's systems back online, it was much too late to stop it's mountainous mass, and they could only watch in despair as the crown jewel of the Imperial Fleet barreled into Santa Barbra, and were quickly thrown into a frenzy by the deafening shriek of metal and a whole new set of alarms as the underside of the Fortress was torn open. The shear force with which the Fortress had struck the island forced it upwards and onto the island itself, covering nearly 3/4ths of it with the Battle-scarred form of the fortress, and nearly shattering the remainder into so much broken gravel.

American forces pounded the immobilized fortress well into the night and into the next morning in a valient attempt to remove the Channel Islands' latest addition, but once the Fortress's defenses were brought back online by it's panicked crew, such attempts quickly became futile, as the massive Nanite Shield barrier projected by the Fortress's internal Nanoswarm Hive cast the entire city of LA in a shimmering golden light, and the endless thunder artillery bombardment ensured that nobody slept that night.

In the morning, negotiations for a local cease-fire began between local American forces and the Black Tortoise, since it had already become clear that- in the words of Colonel Matthew E. Hewitt- 'it was a dire case of an Unstoppable Force vs. an Immovable Object'. Surprisingly, the Black Tortise's crew actually agreed to the ceasefire, on the terms that all remaining Imperial millitary forces and civilian colonists that had been left stranded in Los Angeles be allowed to evacuate to the Fortress, lest they be slaughtered by vengeful Americans. Col. Hewitt heartily agreed- seeing as how it would make the clean-up job orders of magnatude easier if there weren't hundreds of Mecha ready to launch a suicide charge at every Grizzly column that tried to enter the city.

The mass-evacuation of Japanese forces to the Fortress took nearly four days- and no small number of 'incidents'- but were ultimately successful, with the vast majority of Imperials gladly accepting the offer to get as far away from the local American inhabitants as they could. Even so, Los Angeles currently has a titanic Japanese minority made up of die-hard colonists who refused to leave their new homes, making the city 15% Japanese.

While Allied Command fully intended to repatriate those aboard the Black Tortoise following the end of the war, the rapidly rising civil unrest brewing throughout America quickly forced such operations onto the 'Deal with it later' list, and now that the 2nd American Civil War has broken out, the blast-scarred and literally blacked form of the Black Tortoise dosn't seem like it will end it's duty of housing the Japanese portion of Southern California's population any time soon, much to the chagrin of the many, many forces that would very much like to retrieve the many examples of Imperial technology aboard it.

  • "Mengi"
EmpireLogo
EmpireLogo
Empire of the Rising Sun Defence Forces

Italics designate Paradox-Exclusive units and structures.

Infantry Burst DroneImperial WarriorTankbusterMasamuneEngineerHolotree SniperShinobiAshigaru BombardierRocket AngelTsukumogami Proto-SuitBattle PsychicYuriko Omega
Vehicles MCVOre CollectorSudden TransportAuto GoTanuki Vector AssaultTsunami TankJishin Buster TankTedate ProjectorWave-Force ArtilleryIsha Vector Jet TankIzanagi Devastator Tank
Mecha Mecha Tengu/Jet TenguIkiryo Mini-MechaMecha Kitsune/Quad KitsuneStriker-VX/Chopper-VXHanzo ZSamehada Buster MechaKing OniMecha Nezumi/Tank NezumiKintaroSentai Command Mecha
Dedicated Aircraft Raijin X Ground StrikerFujin Variable StrikerHachiman Aerial TransportMasakari Drone Command
Watercraft Yari Mini-SubFukiya HovercraftNaginata CruiserSeawing/SkywingWakizashi Sea TransportShogun BattleshipAerial Battleship Musashi
Structures Construction YardInstant GeneratorInstant DojoInfantry BaseInstant ProcessorMecha BayInstant GarageIncredible Mobile Fortress TatsuSupport AirbaseInstant DocksNanotech MainframeNanoswarm HivePsionic Decimator
Construction Nanocore
Defences Fortress WallNanoscreen WallSecurity GateDefender VXTankbuster TurretDisassembler TowerNoise DetectorWave-Force TowerSpider Hole
Protocols Imperial Protocols
BunrakuSpider NestSpeed ReconSleeper AmbushMotorizationFinal SquadronHot BloodedRetreat Under FireSudden DropoffBalloon BombsNo BarriersPoint Defence Drones
Lore Units Archer MaidenSteel RoninGiga FortressShogun ExecutionerFloating Fortress
Technologies NanotechnologyWave-Force TechnologyPlasma-cutter TechnologyVector JetsKinetic-burst WeaponryPsionicsBreathable LiquidImperial Small Arms and Equipment
Detailed Information Imperial MechaImperial TanksImperial NavyImperial Air ForceImperial Zaibatsu and Military ContractorsImperial CharactersTwilight of the EmpireYakuza
Advertisement