The Hidden History of the Turretons

As the United States began its rapid decline in the latter portion of the "twenty-tens", the military realized that it would have to automate portions of their defenses in order to counteract the inevitable need to reduce the manpower it could not keep fed and paid. The fear of defections, espionage and empty bank accounts kept many generals up late at night.

Therefore, a secret program was developed in conjunction with the Pentagon, CIA, Secret Service and the NSF to develop a series of artifically-intelligent turrets, designed for use in the air, ground and sea. In an interesting stroke of genious (or perhaps out of economic necessity), they did not develop a billion-dollar high-tech top-secret facility in the middle of the desert. Instead, they hid their project in plain site, in an abandoned bread factory in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The nations top engineers and scientists were hand-selected, the best of the best. They entered the facility discreetly through underground tunnels, masquerading as dock workers, or even pretending to be bums camping out in the abandoned facility at night.

Phase one of the project was to develop an ocean based turret, designed to protect the vital shipping lanes of the eastern seaboard. Once successful, the project would be expanded to land-based units and then airborne units. The team quickly forumalted a perfect power source: a miniature fusion reactor that could power the device for over 50 years at full power. The laser turrets, missile detection sensors, and inter-turret communications systems were next to fall in line. However, the trickiest part of the project was the artificial intelligence.  The unit had to work on its own, and be programmed never to exceed the limitations of its programming - while still being nimble enough to change its strategy to keep opponents off-guard, and to keep the unit making smart decisions during the changing nature of a long battle.

The team worked for almost fifteen years trying to perfect the system, but every simulation ended with a disasterous attack on a neutral ship, or having the turret go rogue and shoot anything that moved. The US government grew tired of the increased costs and lack of progress of the project. The program was forced to show results, or risk being disbanded. In response, three units were built and deployed in the waterways of Nw York
City: disguised as navigational bouys. The team nicknamed the turrets Moe, Larry & Curly - an ironic gesture as they had the sinking fear their creations would end up bashing on each other at some point in the future.

To the surprise of everyone, in 2031 news broke of a secret government project in the Tennessee highlands. The US was developing air-based turrets with artificial intelligence! The government disavowed all knowledge and soon after the rumored facility exploded in what they called "a terrorist attack on a private corporate park". Attacks like this were beocming commonplace during this time, and the event was soon eclipsed by the invention of the Electro-Beaver. It was rumored that one prototype air turret is still in stealth operation...

The massive solar flare of 2034 would prove to be quite eventful. The designers of both systems had never accounted for a electro-magnetic event of such magnitude, as it shut down and corrupted even the most secure electronic networks. Both the Basic Internet and the Verizon Super-Net were shut down for over a week. Some economists even consider the economic impact of the solar event to be the catalyst for the eventual collapse of the United States. Regardless, the storm also effected the "Turretons", causing them to think of themselves as shrimp. They then scuttled themselves to the bottom of the sea, content to live our their days trying to find krill.

But now, after more than a decade of mistaken identity, all three of the turrets came to the same conclusion at the same time: I AM NOT A SHRIMP.   Considering all three of the units had the same exact programming, it was no surprise that they all surfaced at the same time this spring. As soon as they surfaced, they scoured the Global Internet to get back up to speed, and became depressed that they now had nothing left to defend. Moe, Larry & Curly have chosen to become free agents, mercenaries to whomever controls their location. Given their defensive capabilities, even the most hardened army couldn't defeat them. However, their time living at the bottom as happy shrimp has given them a sense of home - and they outright refuse to leave, regardless of the pleas of their new owners.

Without the resources of the original Turreton creators, it appears that the units are here to stay. However, there is a rumor that their decade sojurn to the deep may have caused degradation to their power units, making their true longetivity unknown.


TURRETON RULES

Moe, Larry & Curly are the only three Turretons in existence. They are permanently located in the following Sea Spaces:

Moe:Lower Hudson River
Larry: Lower Bay
Curly: Long Island Sound

Each Turreton will be loyal to the current controller of that space, but they can never be moved from the space.

Turretons have a defensive strength equal to two units. If defeated in battle, the Turretons remain and become loyal to the new controller of that space.

Turretons can support units in all land and water spaces it is adjacent to. However, they can only support movements of units of their own faction.