#firstgeneration

The walls of The Bastion are breached. The Ravaged Earth is clawing its way back. We are launching the Alpha Playtest for Titan Aegis: Skirmish Protocol and need pilots and commanders to define the future of this asymmetric conflict!

⚔️ The Asymmetric War: One Commander vs. The Squad

This is a Power Level (PL) based hex-grid skirmish where the player structure is as asymmetrical as the conflict itself:

Team Mecha: The First Generation

* Pilot Squad: The Mecha side can be a Multi-Pilot Squad of 1 to 4 players, each commanding a single, heavily customized Mecha.

* Strategy: Coordinated fire, specialized Augments, and technical precision are critical. Mecha Pilots use their Sync-Ratio (SR)—the psychic fusion of flesh and steel—to execute Instant Dodges or charge up devastating Overload Shots.

Team Kaiju: Primordial Threat

* Solo Commander: Only one player controls the entire Warband of up to 5 total units (Alpha/Elite + Lesser Swarms).

* Strategy: Overwhelming force, biological adaptation, and utilizing the raw energy of the planet. The Kaiju Commander spends Primal Power Points (PPP) to trigger game-changing Power Mutations like Hyper-Regeneration or summon reinforcements.

We are testing to ensure the collective power of the highly-specialized First Generation is a balanced match for the single Kaiju Commander's multi-unit Warband across all 16 scenarios.

🛠️ Join the Alpha!

Every action is resolved through a high-stakes Dice Pool vs. TSV system. We need playtesters to stress-test the 50+ customization options and the resource flow (SR vs. PPP).

If you can provide critical feedback on unit costs, scenario balance, and the overall feel of this colossal conflict, we want you!

Requirements: Access to the core rules PDF (provided) and the willingness to document your games and provide honest, critical feedback.

The full Core Ruleset PDF is coming soon:

🔗 Download the Ruleset: madlabgames.itch.io

1955 FORD THUNDERBIRD (first generation) - Composition Sunday

Before Mid-Century Design—First Generation Diesel Locomotives

These images were taken northwest of Milwaukee—at the Butler Yard diesel house, in Butler, Wisconsin.

Number 1684 is an Alco RSD5, built in 1954, while number 1589 is an EMD GP7 built in 1952. I’m surmising that both locomotive companies designed these, or pre-cursors thereto, back in the latter 1940s. The sharper edges of EMD’s GP30 would come along in 1961, while Alco’s Century line would be introduced in 1963.

I won’t lie: I think the asymmetrical trucks of the Alco are awesome.

fading lights

Suwon was always different. So his parents enrolled him into a special kids school.

•••••

At dot 11:11 something emerged from the wall, startling Suwon. What followed was some kind of foul smelling powder being blown into his face. He waved his hand vigorously in front of his face and coughed stepping behind. “..the fuck?”

“Hey boy!” said a little figure floating in the air. It was the high pitched voice of a female.

“ooOh~ he looks cute!” said another.

When the dust from the powder magically cleared up, Suwon saw three women or girls he couldn’t really guess because they were so small. A little bigger than his hand. They were dressed in sparkly white dresses and tiny white boots. Suwon noticed that they weren’t floating, in fact they were flying, using their translucent webbed wings. He had never seen such creatures before.

“What’s your name?” asked the first.

Suwon stared at them.

“He’s deaf” whispered another girl.

“Blind too..” whispered another as she waved her tiny hands at him receiving no response.

“I’m not,” said Suwon.

“See, he’s not blind, maybe just deaf”

The middle girl who seemed like the older one smacked her. “He wouldn’t have heard you if he was deaf!” Then turning to Suwon, she flew lower to come in level with his face. “Hi there! I am Bada. And we are faeries, faes, if you may.”

Suwon nodded. Faes, whatever that is.

“We are here to take you to your new home safely. So kindly follow us” said Bada as she turned around and walked right into the wall.

“I’m Eugene” said another fae and followed Bada into the wall.

“And I’m Shoo'' said the remaining one. “It's shoo, and not shoe. As in S-H-O-O-'' She paused to look at the nervousness on Suwon’s face. “What happened?”

“I can’t do this” Suwon shook his head. “I can’t walk into the wall” Being the complete human he was, walking into a wall seemed impossible. He was never able to do it before and he was sure he still couldn’t

“Cmon, it's no big deal. Just close your eyes and follow your noona” said Shoo proudly.

Suwon’s eyes were fixed on the concrete wall. This is dumb. This is dumb! I wanna go home!

“Okay, alright. If you’re that afraid. Take a few steps back and run in” suggested Shoo.

Suwon obeyed. Water splashed on his shoes as he accidentally stepped into puddles. It didn’t bother him. There was no turning back now.

“Now listen to me carefully” began Shoo. “number one, you might feel a little giddy when you emerge on the other side because it's your first time. Number two, while you’re inside the wall for a second, you’ll hear deafening noises because you are teleporting so do not stop. Number three, do not stop until you’re out in the open again. Now at the count of three, 1, 2-”

Suwon dashed at full speed at the concrete wall. His eyes shut as he was a few inches from the wall and entered it. It was something he hadn’t felt before. Like someone was trying to tear him apart but he was faster. His surroundings were spinning and he was afraid he’d come out at some other exit, yet Suwon didn’t dare to open his eyes. He kept running on what didn’t seem like ground. It was solid air? Nothing made sense anymore.

Suwon tripped and fell down the next second. His foot had been caught into a twig. He was on grass, in a jungle. The environment was so fresh. He dusted his clothes and stood up. The three faes looked like they had been waiting for him for a while now.

“See, that wasn't that bad, was it?” asked Shoo.

“I am never doing this again” Suwon huffed combing fingers across his hair. He glanced behind and there was literally just more jungle. He had emerged from thin air. It was merely a second that he had been inside the wall but he was going to remember it forever.

The three faes led Suwon through the jungle. It was a bright pleasant day. From behind the trees at a distance peaked a tower. Bada began rambling about the school, the people, the teachers, the subjects, the fun stuff. Apparently these three were part of the student council and volunteered to get first years to the campus.

They emerged into an open field next to which was the huge school. For once Suwon thought it might not be that bad after all. If this school was really for special kids, he won’t be an outcast anymore. He could finally be normal.

Suwon was taken up a spiral staircase at the end of the hallway. It was about ten floors later that they reached a cabin. The faes left him alone there.

“Jang Suwon! Good…” the man glanced at the clock that struck 12 at that moment. “afternoon!” He was a small man with black rectangular glasses. He was pale and had swept across dark brown hair. He was the principal, Seo Taiji.

Suwon bowed. “Good afternoon sir”

“I have been waiting for you my boy” Taiji put his hand on the younger’s shoulder. He continued talking about how he was delighted to know about Suwon when his father reached out to Taiji a few days ago. “You’ll find a lot of people here. Some weird, some very weird. You have to choose your weird. Everyone here is unique and so are you, but promise me one thing” Taiji’s voice deepened and softened. “Never, ever, ever, tell anybody what your powers are”

Suwon’s eyes widened. His heart started pounding. This is supposed to be a safe place for him right? Where he could be himself. What was this now?

“Why?” Suwon asked promptly.

“Because-” Taiji paused straightening himself. His heightened senses told him someone was approaching. About a minute later, they heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

“Is the new boy here, sir?” It was Prof Jinu.

Taiji put on a warm smile turning Suwon to Jinu. “Here he is. You should take him to his dorm” Taiji nudged Suwon.

Jinu led Suwon across the room to another exit. They entered an alley that opened into a slide. Jinu turned to Suwon, gesturing to him to go first. Suwon craned his neck out. The slide was so long and steep, he couldn’t see the other end. He gulped and sat down. His heart was beating harder than ever. Is there anything normal here? Suwon thought, and the answer struck him immediately. Of course there isn’t. That’s exactly why he was here.

However, the slide looked more like a rollercoaster without safety measures aka, death. He gulped, “Sir, is there any other-” before Suwon could complete Jinu pushed him down the slide.

Suwon screamed his lungs out as he fell down the hole. He was afraid any movement he made would topple him off but he couldn’t even see where he’d fall. About ten seconds of yelling Suwon’s throat dried up and he still hadn’t reached the end. He stopped making any noise and sat there falling. The only sound was of air cutting past him. Towards the end, the slide was 180 degrees and Suwon was literally falling down, his butt was barely touching the slide anymore. An ending opened at a distance. Suwon fell right through onto a hard wooden floor.

“OW!” He yelped. A sharp jerk ran up his spine from the impact. He hadn’t broken any bones but his ass was sore. Really sore.

The door in front of him swung open. Until then Suwon hadn’t even noticed the door.

“Guys! he’s here!” said a good-looking boy. He looked as old as Suwon and had light brown hair that shaped his face. He stretched out a hand to help Suwon up. “Your stuff was brought nearly twenty minutes ago, we were wondering where you were,” he said. Their room was pretty spacious. There were three beds lined on one side and two on the other. Four were occupied and a crumpled one probably belonged to the boy who led him in. “I’m Sunghoon” said the boy. “This is Jiyong” he pointed to the tall lanky boy sleeping on the bed next to him. “That’s Jiwon hyung,” he pointed at the boy on the opposite bed. He was too busy playing gameboy with his headphones on. “That’s Jaijin hyung” he peeked from behind his comic book, scanning Suwon from head to toe. “And that’s-”

“I’m Kim Jaeduck” said the last boy as he sprang from his bed with excitement. “Nice to meet you….?” he trailed off.

“Suwon”

“Suwon, right. Nice to meet you Suwon!” Jaeduck and Sunghoon were by far the most normal people Suwon had met since morning. He had already made up his mind to stick with the two of them in case he couldn’t get along with the other three in the room.

Suwon collected his suitcase and backpack that were lying in the end of the room. “Where do I sleep?”

Sunghoon pouted with hands on his hips as he looked around the room. There wasn't space for another bed and it was too small to share.

“You can take mine for now.” chimed Jaeduck. “You only need it for night right, take mine”

“What about you then?” asked Suwon.

“It's that time of the month for me so I’ll be out all night anyway” said Jaeduck.

Suwon’s eyebrows furrowed. “That time of the month?”

Jaeduck smacked his lips. “You know, blood and all,”

Periods? Suwon could bet he never heard of guys menstruating. Was it even possible? Of course not! Guys don’t have a uterus that's basic biology. Unless, he’s…. A eunuch? But do you eunuchs have a uterus? Now that Suwon thought of it, he really didn’t know. Who was he to judge anyway? Wait, why did that require him to be out all night? Omg! Is that how people here treated eunuchs?! That’s fucking horrible!

“So you have to stay out all night?? As… punishment???”

“I wouldn’t call it punishment. It's the best option for us all” said Jaeduck.

Best option my ass! Who treats humans like this!

“You don’t deserve this kinda treatment!”

“Hey calm down” Jaeduck chuckled, settling the younger down on the bed next to him. “It's nothing new here. Our kind is used to this”

It pissed Suwon even more.

“Why the fuck do you have to be out all night! Just use pads like girls do!”

From the corner of his eyes Suwon felt Hoony turning around to look at him in utter confusion.

There was complete silence for a moment, then Jaijin burst out laughing, almost doubling over himself. Seconds later, Sunghoon started laughing when he realized.

Jaeduck and Suwon watched them cluelessly.

“You think he’s talking about periods??” Jaijin asked, battling his laughter.

“No?” Suwon asked, partly relieved, partly confused.

“Omg NOOO!!” Jaeduck squealed. “Are you crazy?! I’m A GUY!”

“What he means is, he’s a werewolf,” explained Jaijin.

Huh? Suwon thought he heard something wrong.

“A what?”

“A werewolf. It's a full moon today, so,, time for him to go wild and attack any human. Hence the isolation. It's not just him. All werewolves here go into the jungle on full moon nights so they can’t harm any of us”

Suwon wasn't listening. His brain had stopped working the moment Jaijin said Jaeduck was a werewolf.

I WAS TALKING TO A GODDAMN WEREWOLF ALL ALONG!?

•••••