Danger Zone One

[For Top Level Executive Eyes Only]
Unused publicity material for Aros ‘BATTLE’ tank:

According to recent statistics, 68% of law enforcement agencies are shorthanded and ill-equipped to deal with rising crime rates. The presence of illegal military-grade weapons have increased by an alarming 73% over the last five years—this black-market artillery now finds its way from foreign battlefields and into our cities. Criminals armed with destructive arsenals roam the streets, leaving officers unprepared for the extreme dangers that face them everyday.

It’s time to turn the tide: the Aros BATTLE (Battlefield Autonomous Treacherous Terrain Law Enforcement) tank is the first self-functioning vehicle designed to operate in civilian-populated areas and engage in urban combat. The Aros’ unmatched AI always operates with its surroundings in mind, ensuring low property damage and eliminating risk of unnecessary casualties. The Aros features a wide range of non-lethal countermeasures and, if required, enough firepower to take down multiple hostiles. (Please see spec sheet for additional details.)

When criminals bring the battlefield to your streets, bring the battlefield back to them!

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[Attached Notes]
We’re hitting too many roadblocks on the law enforcement front. They’re concerned the public would be squeamish, and that rolling a tank onto city streets for patrol could be deemed too “militaristic”. Rewrite the publicity material. Market the Aros as the ideal mech for military and/or high-risk private security contractors. I want to move forward with a functional Aros prototype before this project suffers from runaway production costs. Drastically cut back on all AI development expenses, we no longer need to take casualties or property damage into consideration if its being dropped into a combat zone. ‘Target-and-kill’ AI is basic and cheap. — Anelia Syren

Danger Zone One. Story by Midnight. Art by Pete Ranosa.