The Bubblegum Crisis Center > Extras > Fan Fiction
The Modern Combat Boomer
Throughout history mankind has been engaged in the cyclical practice of innovation/counter-innovation. From the advent of the club the need to defend against an existing weapon and to create a more powerful one has driven human culture from day one. This practice persists into modern times and just as the horse, automobile, airplane, helicopter, and hovercraft ushered in a period of startling advance, doctrinal shift and tactical evolution on the field of combat, so too has the advent of the Combat Boomer.
The Combat Boomer is arguably the greatest military invention to date. A combination of cybernetics, biotechnology, systems integration, weaponry, avionics and Artificial Intelligence has made the Combat Boomer the ultimate force multiplier. New weaponry has pulled, in some cases kicking and screaming the militaries of the world into an age of urban combat, cyber warfare and low intensity conflict. Forever altering the strategy and tactics of war, removing it further and further from large armies battering themselves upon the open field of combat. Large Army and Corps level combat is being replaced by Special Operations, covert actions, information war and small unit raids and lightning quick precision strikes utilizing units Platoon level or smaller.
The Combat Boomer is a unique weapon in that it is suited to all aforementioned types of combat. The Combat Boomer is at home in the Armoured Division as it is in the Commando team. The Combat Boomer is also unique in that while numerous weapons employed today possess a frightening level of autonomy and processing speed, allowing even the most rudimentary missile to evade countermeasures, identify decoys and not only avoid terrain but use it to mask their attacks, none of these weapons possess a dedicated AI. The common definition of AI is a computer that can take initial instruction, execute it, learn from it, integrate the new information, and repeat the task with greater efficiency. Essentially the weapon thinks.
This ability to 'think' has obvious positive applications, target selection and avoidance being only one. Discretion is another positive; however the military commanders at most levels consider this a negative. Allow me to explain. Discretion is the ability to pause, to allow a moment of introspection. I will term this as 'seeing the big picture.' A notable example of this in play occurred in South East Asia (actual location and operational details are still classified) During this operation, one of the Combat Boomer's attached to the unit had been ordered to secure a perimeter and fire on any target that had not broadcasted a valid IFF. The Boomer situated itself on a low ridge and camouflaged itself, sometime later that night a scout vehicle of the opposing forces entered the Boomers sensor range. At this point the Boomer, in keeping with its orders should have fired its weapons and destroyed the target. That was what it had been told to do. Instead the Boomer waited, allowing the scout vehicle to pass un-molested.
When the Boomer was relieved by another Boomer it reported it's actions (it had not done so earlier as strict radio silence had been likewise ordered) When asked why it had not fired the Boomer replied that scout vehicle bore markings attaching it to a larger unit, battalion strength. Had the Boomer fired, an Infantry Battalion would have responded and entered the area in force, possibly overwhelming the unit on the ground, and most certainly adversely affecting the mission. The field commander recognized this 'good judgment' and made sure to include this factor in further orders to his Boomers. He also forwarded this incident up the chain of command.
What happened next is indicative of current military thinking that must be addressed. The Boomer was recalled, dismantled and scraped. To the higher command the boomer had not shown good judgment; it had disobeyed a direct order. It did not matter whether or not the boomer, in acting as it did, had saved lives; it had 'malfunctioned'. This situation is a Catch-22, an organization that purchases a Boomer for use in combat does so for a few reasons, more effective, better endurance, but the primary reason is to replace a human in the field. The Boomer is fielded to protect friendly forces, either by killing opposing forces, augmenting and protecting friendly forces or taking the place of friendly forces. The Catch-22 is this; to fully replace a human in the field of combat you need a mirror of the human. Not only a mirror image of armament but also of intelligence and initiative. It is, even with today's miracles of room temperature super conductors, neural nets, biosynthetic computers and holographic data storage to predict and plan for every possible outcome in battle. Not even the human brain can do this.
Certain methods can be employed to get close, cybernetics, telepresence are but a few. But both these methods and others fall by the wayside due to ease of disruption, or simply not being cost effective. So when a Boomer 'learns' and approximates the human mind in battle, in essence fulfilling its intended purpose, field commanders squirm. Troops in the field are aware of this, and have adapted, and a few less likely to exhibit fear over the matter. In fact, many soldiers have been given to imbue their Boomers with pet names, and teach them slang, games, and jokes. To some units the Boomers are part of the team; they have been accepted into the brotherhood of warriors with human troops being documented putting themselves in harms way to aid their Boomer comrade. To the outsider this looks foolish, after all, the reason the Boomer is there in the first place is to keep the humans safe, not the other way around. However, these line units have hit upon something, it's not a new concept, and it's called teamwork. Espit-de-Corps. Élan. This phenomenon of accepting an outsider in dates as far back as militaries has been in existence. One example fits more than others. The Tuskegee Airman of WWII, not even second-class citizens at the time these Airmen were accepted due to their skill and merit. It wasn't until the First Korean War that military wide integration became common.
The soldier in the field understood that his life and the lives of his team mates depended on trust, and the trust of their fellows. Pre-segregation units experienced this, with new recruits. The FNG (Fucking New Guy) was off time not even addressed until they had showed they could keep up. But once he had, he was a part of the unit and the unit became stronger for it. The Combat Boomer is part of the unit, plain and simple. The survivability of its human counterparts is greatly increased by its presence. So the soldier risking his life to save the Boomer may have done so knowing that to keep the Boomer intact meant that his other team mates stood a better chance of surviving with the Boomer still around. This is over-simplifying the issue, but in this case it does no good to pick at details. This issue requires a large broad brush and bold strokes because this is not an isolated issue, it will not go away and to add controls to it degrades unit, and therefore Service wide efficiency. To meet the future threats this country faces in war requires Armed Forces that are integrated in all respects. To keep a Combat Boomers initiative in check, to reduce it's ability to function due to fear and bias not only lowers the Boomers effectiveness, but that of the unit it has been deployed to augment. Equipment breaks, so do people, PTSD is still a common affliction, and so are the myriad of other negative activities so unique to the human such as lust, theft, cowardice, greed and betrayal. To succeed in the defence of our country we need boots on the ground, and despite the human soldiers potential to commit these acts and some far worse, we need people, however imperfect, in those boots.
Boomers, for better or worse are a daily fact we cannot escape. We see them every time we step outside, and depending on your tax bracket, you see them at home as well. Boomers are by and large stronger, faster and more enduring than a human, that's why they were made. Due to these strengths Boomers will always have a place on the field of combat. Just like it is every soldiers and commanders duty to know his weapon, learn his ROE (Rules of Engagement) and maintains his or her martial prowess it is up to the individual soldier and commander to utilize every weapon at his disposal to its utmost capability.
The Boomer you sneer at, avoid or poke fun at today, might just save you from an enemy bullet tomorrow.