Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Duster Bomber

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The Duster Bomber is a type of ground attack aircraft used by the Survivors. The unit is planned to be voiced by *TBA*

Tactical analysis

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History
"I'm not exactly sure this is a good idea..."

-Duster pilot, doubting his aircraft's airworthiness

After the nuclear war which devastated Embry, which turned the skies black with smoke and the ground green with Tiberium, any survivors were few and far between; as major cities were the main targets, the handful of survivors left behind were often those who had lived in remote villages, had fled their township when they saw the bombs coming their way, or had simply gotten lost, wandering through the hellish landscape in the hope of finding anyone else. Any pockets of survivors were cut off from the rest of the world; travel by land would take weeks over broken and hostile terrain, by which time the fallout would have finally reached them, and destroyed anyone living there.

Travel by river was not a plausible solution, due to radioactive water killing anyone foolish enough to travel along it, several rivers having literally dried up from the heat of the atomic war, or villages simply not being near a major river.

Clearly, searching for survivors by air was the only plausible solution. The only problem was that no existing design was acceptable for the role. Using any traditional military aircraft would cause the survivors to flee, fearing that their area would become the next smoking atomic crater, and villagers had learned to hide when helicopters flew past to avoid becoming collateral damage in the previous battles. What was required was an airborne vehicle that was not a helicopter and, at first glance at least, was obviously not a military vehicle. To this end, harmless looking prop planes, known to the Minutemen as Dusters, commonly used crop dusters but also airmail, stunt planes, museum pieces and so forth were chosen and modified. With their engines supercharged, the remaining space turned into a storage hold, and then as much armor plating as possible was bolted on while still allowing the plane to take off. It could fly for long durations without having to land, helping in the search for survivors.

Its cargo hold was large for its size, and an efficient deployment system to drop leaflets detailing survival information, signaling devices, maps to safe locations, and a Pipboy to those it came across in its patrols. Finally, to send a message to those who saw it that this was not coming to kill them, the aircraft had a large, friendly word written on it. Friend.

Of course, the Minutemen also noted another useful niche for the Duster in their army. As when the Revolution first started gaining speed, the former Aquilan soldiers of the new Minutemen did everything they could to secure air support, which many of them could not imagine fighting without after the unprecedented Aquilan air superiority in the last war. In the days before the Boneyard raid, close air support options were slim; the few existing commercial helicopters were used as scouts, but they were a rarity indeed, and airliners and passenger planes were essentially useless since they cannot be fitted with weapons. Around the time they had also developed a Tornado OTB (offensive turbine bomb) that can significantly damage enemy vehicles while throwing them up in the air, exposing them to AA fire and incapacitating them for the time being but currently had no way to do so. The Duster delivery system for its survival equipment was perfect for the job. And with only minor modifications, the Duster Bomber was cleared for military duty as well.

The Duster Bombers have served both roles with incredible effectiveness, saving large amounts of refugees one moment and causing large enemy casualties the next. In fact, it is not uncommon nowadays for a Duster to finish patrol, fly back home, do a quick engine check, and immediately fly back into battle with only a minute's delay to mark its dual nature.

Even after proper air support in the form of Skyfortresses and Longbow Helicopters was acquired, Dusters continued to be used by the Minutemen due to their unexpected effectiveness.