PSI Corps units & buildings news - Yuri's Revenge: Before Alcatraz mod for C&C: Yuri's Revenge

--------- PSI Corps ---------

To do:
Rapture: Description missing

--- Infantry ---

Initiate
Priest
Engineer
Ascended
Angel
Reborn
Yuri Prime

--- Vehicles ---

Blessed Mechanised Infantry
Psychostasia
Proselyte (Tibet: Rapture)
Reaper
Catechism
Mastermind
PSI Corps MCV

Cherub
Seraph

--- Buildings ---

PSI Corps Citadel Walls
Brainchamber
Sanctum
Psychic Spire
PSI Corps Genetic Mutator
PSI Corps Psychic Dominator

PSI Corps Haven
Noosphere Tether
Cerebral Dormitory
Grinder
Manufactory
PSI Corps Submarine Pen
Psychic Sensor (Tibet: Noosphere Imbiber)
Enlightenment Beacon
Cloning Vats

--- Infantry ---

Initiate
$200, Cerebral Dormitory
75 strength, no armour
Speed 4, sight 5
Pyrokinetics (anti-infantry)
(like a deployed GI, but has less strength and is worse against unarmoured infantry and buildings - also no range increase when elite)

"Yuri is master!"

Yuri's basic infantry consists of legions of Initiates, but they weren't the first soldiers to be part of the PSI Corps' ranks; that honour goes to the scrapped Parasites. Much like these Parasites, the first Initiates couldn't really be called human, being more of a robotic shell controlled by a human brain. Yuri might be an unparalleled psychic, knowing more than anyone else about the brain, but His knowledge did not extend so far when it came to other aspects of the human being. He learned, though - he had to, in order to raise a proper army - and gradually, the newly built Initiates seemed to be more and more human.

Metal parts appeared to be wholly organic, except for when cut open, and with proper clothing, Initiates could walk around undetected around humans - though not yet past metal detectors. Eventually, human parts were fused, merged, replacing metal as organs and limbs were grown in vats, and then enhanced, as the human genome was fully decoded. Other vats were constructed in the Antarctic snow - Cloning Vats arose to replace the tedious procedure of growing body parts individually. In the end, only a few select surgeries were necessary to turn a human - or a clone, indeed - into an Initiate.

Initiates are, contrary to popular belief, incapable of using psychic powers; only their cybernetic modifications allow them to interact with the molecular level, to create friction, and thereby, to start a fire. Pyrokinetics. It is an uncontrolled interaction; an Initiate merely looks at a specific surface and 'thinks' of creating a fire. A pulse, a throb, something, is then felt inside the Initiate's head, as a burst of friction is applied. Normally, this would feel like a heavy blow to the head, and an ordinary human would suffer serious brain damage within a day - hence why Initiates undergo multiple surgeries to protect themselves against this.

It is as good as a psychic power, though far easier to achieve than spending weeks - at least - to unlock true psychic powers, which makes Initiates the perfect footsoldiers for Yuri. Especially since they do not have to be assembled anymore, as it were, and instead, can simply be ordinary humans - though modified. The long-term effects of being initiated, as it is called, remain unstudied. Initiates do have a tendency to suffer brain damage even with the additional protections, though, so it isn't a role to volunteer for. Even so, Yuri takes care of His followers; there are multiple paths to take for an Initiate, even when the Initiate is failing. One can go on to serve as an Ascended, or in a Brainchamber, or even in a Mastermind, for example. These are all honourable and glorious ways to further His will - and who wouldn't wish to further His will?

Fixed Initiate (the Initiate's muzzle fire used unlit colours) made by Atomic_Noodles

Priest
$400, Cerebral Dormitory
100 strength, no armour
Speed 4, sight 5
Machine Spirit control (anti-vehicle)
Machine Spirit appeasement (heals vehicles)
(can mind control one vehicle or ship, deploys for vehicle healing psychic wave)

"I hear the Machine Spirit's voice!" (voice based on Warhammer 40.000: Dawn of War's Techpriest Engineer)

Priests, or Tech Priests, hail from a small cult in Palestina. One of many such cults, Yuri originally thought, and he would have let Hurria deal with them - but then something caught his interest. On the surface, these Tech Priests are much like any other cult; religiously devout with clear Abrahamic origins. They worship a God-Emperor, whom they are searching, and they believe machines are inhabited by Machine Spirits. They insist that the rapid advances of the world, particularly those in robotisation, automation, and digitisation, will lead the world to its doom, as these Machine Spirits gain control over more and more tools and weapons. Ordinarily, this kind of Luddite doomsday cult wouldn't be noteworthy - but when these Tech Priests attempted to communicate with their Machine Spirit, they released an amount of psychic energy beyond what normal humans should be capable of. An amount of psychic energy that hardly rivalled Yuri, to be sure, but his interest was sparked none the less.

The Priests were quickly integrated within Yuri's ranks, and under his tutelage, their psychic powers grew. As they learned how to control their minds better, their rituals related to appeasing the Machine Spirits improved and diverged. On one hand, there were those who sought to sooth and please the Machine Spirits, with gentle caresses and whispers, tracing the imperfect human constructs their perfect souls resided in, seeking to perfect the curves and edges. Should their metal bodies fall apart, there would be no container left for them to inhabit, and the Machine Spirits would be condemned to scatter all throughout the void, broken, powerless, forever destroyed yet never dying. An incomprehensibly horrible fate, and one that the Priests would do their very best to avert. Besides, if they wouldn't, they might just awaken the Machine Spirits' wrath - and soon, a gun might accidentally fire, or a conductor might just explode, and a Priest may very well end up dead.

On the other hand, there were those Priests who grew in confidence - in arrogance, even. With Yuri's overwhelming psychic might behind them, the Machine Spirits could finally be neutered; instead of appeasing them, in the hopes that they might spare the Priests when the day of judgement arrived, they could now be controlled, constrained, bound to the wills of the Priests. Even with Yuri's training, however, it is strongly recommended for any Priest to only ever attempt to control the Machine Spirit (or Machine Spirits, if one is unlucky) of one single object, and preferably a small one at that. To attempt to control more is to inevitably lose control, in the most benevolent of circumstances - and the Machine Spirits are a vengeful and wrathful lot, never forgetting even the slightest slight. The Priest who wrongs them can be sure to have just lived his or her last week of life. Unless the Machine Spirits in question are rendered powerless first, by destroying their body or container.

These two diverging stances have lead to a schism filled with rage and hatred between the Priests themselves, but, although fanatically and dichotomically opposed, the Priests are too small in number to cause a lot of damage to Yuri's forces as a whole. And there is Yuri's influence as well, He who is perhaps the God-Emperor Himself, He who soothes them, who blesses them with peace and harmony, a tranquil and calm mind. For Him, they work together, just a little bit more, despite the blasphemic and apocalyptical ways of those other Priests, they will work together, until His plans are fulfilled.

Engineer
$500, Cerebral Dormitory
75 strength, no armour
Speed 4, sight 4
(sensor sight of 4, can detect disguise, can capture buildings, can defuse bombs, can drive)

"Smooth operations."

Though Allied Engineers hail primarily from universities and often study for a considerable amount of time in the army before being sent on field work, and though Soviet Engineers often learn through practice, needing to learn rapidly lest the Shock Gun they just fixed explodes in a shower of deadly electricity, it might well be Yuri's own creed of Engineers that is the smartest of all. Lacking both the extensive studies and the exhaustive practical work, the Engineers of the PSI Corps none the less have a body of knowledge to fall back on that dwarfs anything the Allies or the Soviets have. Further, the psychic knowledge of the PSI Corps considerably speeds up the learning process, and a rumour spread around by Allied Engineers holds that these PSI Corps' Engineers are, in fact, part of a hive mind prototype. Certainly, directly interfacing with Yuri Himself could explain why the Engineers of the PSI Corps seem to be so knowledgeable in the most obscure of things. They never seem to be quite as focused as other Engineers either - perhaps because Yuri is whispering secrets into their very minds?

Ascended
$600, Cerebral Dormitory, Psychic Sensor / Noosphere Imbiber
125 strength, plate armour
Speed 12, sight 8 (note: This is not particularly fast, as flying units use a different speed measurement)
Pyrokinetics (anti-infantry, anti-air)
(anti-air and anti-infantry rocketeer, uses psychic pulses like the Initiate - an ascended Initiate)

"Witness my power!" (voice based on Warhammer 40.000: Dawn of War's Psyker)

Before Yuri's Initiate program, there were the Parasites, little more than brains strapped into a husk of metal and cloth. These Parasites were prone to error; their brain, supposedly capable of identifying enemies, occasionally trod well out of established parameters, and directed pyrokinetic energy at anything ranging from snowflakes to fellow Parasites. Still, Yuri only needed a small taskforce to keep away the tiny few adventurers and researchers that sought to explore Antarctica, and for this, the Parasites were more than enough. As Yuri's facilities improved, however, the Initiate programme took off, and the Parasites were gradually phased out.

Still, some of the Initiates were prone to the same errors as the Parasites, getting stuck in a self-reinforcing loop of rage that triggers the pyrokinetic energy - and if fire causes rage, and rage causes fire... These errors appeared more frequently amongst damaged Initiates, and so, when the time came to reveal his presence, Yuri restored the Parasite programme, enclosing the damaged Initiates in Parasite-armour - with certain protections, to prevent the wholesale slaughter of his own forces by a crazed Initiate - and directing this flying armada of hate-fuelled flames into any concentration of enemies that threatened his interests.

As for the Initiates? It is certainly a great honour to enforce Yuri's will as one of the Ascended - that the aforementioned 'certain protections' slowly rot away the brain is of lesser relevance.

Ascended made by Chrono Loony (modified)

Angel
$900, Cerebral Dormitory, Psychic Sensor / Noosphere Imbiber
125 strength, flak armour
Speed 12, sight 8 (note: This is not particularly fast, as flying units use a different speed measurement)
Psychic explosion (anti-vehicle, anti-building)
Psychic healing wave (heals infantry)
(jumpjet, long-ranged psychic pulses to heavily damage vehicles and buildings, psychic wave to heal infantry)

"He who stands with me shall be my brother." (voice based on Warhammer 40.000: Dawn of War's Force Commander)

There is more to the mind than mind control, of course. In essence, it is will; the will to control someone's mind and the will to cause fire to spawn, for example. So, too, is there the will to simply rip something apart from the inside - like an explosion, but not like a rocket detonating upon collision with a tank's armour, but an explosion inside the tank itself, shattering its very structure apart, tearing the fabric apart on the molecular level. It is this power that the Angels have mastered, but there is more to the Angels than merely mastering one power over another.

Angels are human, much like the Reborn, independent and proud to serve in Yuri's ranks, believing in His vision of the future and seeking to realise it. They are humans whose psychic powers have been unlocked, but they are generally humans with less innate power than the Reborn. Whereas the Reborn are capable of fully enjoying the fruits of their minds, with mind control and other abilities, the Angels would have a hard time keeping control over an animal, and would run the risk of messing up someone's head by wrongly implanting ideas and suggestions. They are simply less attuned to the psychic, much like how some humans are better in sports and others are better in studying.

Where the Reborn are the commanders and the generals, the Angels are the officers and the captains. They have a role on the field, with the rest of Yuri's forces, but they should certainly not be underestimated. To be able to visualise something on such a deep level, to see that a tank is simply a collection of atoms, down to the very wave function that is everything, that is not something most humans can do. To then rip this apart, in a precise manner, so as to only cause damage to their chosen target - that requires in-depth training and modification of one's brain.

The Angels are the result. Usually hovering above their brethren - levitation is a lot less hard if you can move your self, every single atom that is you, upwards - to relay information to the rest, they can cause structures and vehicles to shatter from faraway. The smaller the target, and the more it (or its atoms) moves, the harder this is, hence why infantry is surprisingly resilient to the psychic powers of an Angel. As resilient infantry is to the destructive powers of an Angel, though, so receptive is it to the wave of soothing, calming, and healing, that Angels can naturally radiate outwards. Whereas Reborn overload the synapses of those around them - shattering their minds and their selves - Angels instead heal them, or at least, make them forget any pain or wound that might bother them. So all have a role to play in Yuri's ranks.

Blessed / Angel warhead animation made by Apollo (modified)

Reborn
$1000, Cerebral Dormitory, Enlightenment Beacon
150 strength, flak armour
Speed 4, sight 5
Mind control (anti-infantry, anti-vehicle)
Psychic wave (anti-infantry, anti-vehicle)
(Yuri Clone, slightly longer range (8 instead of 7), psychic wave that harms vehicles and infantry, gains experience from mind controlled units, can infiltrate)

"Share your thoughts with me."

Some precious few humans have latent psychic abilities - or, more accurately, every single human has latent psychic abilities, but for some precious few humans, these psychic abilities are a little bit less latent. With the guidance of Yuri, a human's psychic ability can be fully - or partly - unlocked, but of course, Yuri has no time aiding billions of humans in this process. One unfortunate fact is that clones of ordinary humans lose their psychic abilities, and though it is probable that a clone of Yuri Himself would retain at least a modicum of psychic abilities - Yuri Himself once spoke of Greek mythology, of how the child of a god and a human was usually a demigod, a legendary hero, or at least, someone superior to human yet inferior to god - this remains untested.

The quest of filling the ranks of the PSI Corps with psychically attuned people is one that never stops, and fortunately, the most prominent psychics besides Yuri are capable of bringing forth the latent talents of others (though undoubtedly not as efficiently as Yuri Himself could do). Even so, it is a very slow quest, as the procedure usually involves a complete reconstruction of one's neural pathways, with the - tragic? - consequence of also completely rewriting one's personality.

It is worth it though, Yuri says. To have such an open mind, to be able to perceive, understand, know, so very much, to be able to link your mind to someone else's, to plant thoughts and ideas in their heads, to control them, even, to sense any living being around you, to influence them all at once, to overload and destroy the synapses of all those around you... That is the power that any so-called Reborn gets reborn with, after the neural reconstruction process is finished. Some are more powerful than others, of course, and most are reborn with a wholly different personality - but they are independent actors, with initiative, dreams, opinions, everything that makes a human human, and then so much more.

They are often assigned to commanding roles in Yuri's army, precisely because of their humanity, and no mindless creature could possibly go undercover and live amongst enemies, stealing their secrets under their very nose. Even the weakest of the Reborn is a wonder to behold. An artwork, really, of neural pathways and synapses. A masterpiece, created by Yuri, given to the world.

Yuri Prime
$1500, Cerebral Dormitory, Enlightenment Beacon
200 strength, plate armour
Speed 6, sight 8
Mind control (anti-infantry, anti-vehicle, anti-building)
Psychic wave (anti-infantry, anti-vehicle, anti-building)
(Yuri Clone, but can mind control a maximum of three units or buildings, psychic wave deals slightly more damage to heavier vehicles, gains experience from mind controlled units, detects stealth and disguise, is radar invisible, is fearless)

"You will learn from me."

When the PSI Corps revealed its presence, conventional wisdom amongst Allied and Soviet soldiers soon held that the mysterious man in the hovering chariot was the root cause of all their troubles. When this man appeared, entire armies and bases would turn side. Regiments would feel disturbed, odd, unsettled. Tossing and turning in their sleep, hearing strange voices whispering in their heads as they marched. Forming odd ideas, losing their focus, finding themselves waking up from a trance... That is how Allied and Soviet soldiers knew of His presence in the area, long before - if ever - they actually saw Him.

He, of course, is Yuri, in the eyes of these soldiers. And if, if, they managed to kill Him, then the war would be back to normal, the psychic trickery finally over. Or so they thought. Informal contests were held and soldiers trained amongst themselves - but even if they would manage to kill this Yuri, it would all be for naught. For he is not Yuri Himself; he is but a clone of Him. One of the very few in existence, such as the one leading the operations in Tibet, or the one active in the Levant and dealing with Hurria. They are known as Yuri Primes, to muddle enemy intelligence, and they are psychically more powerful than anyone else except for Yuri himself.

They can mind control the crews of entire buildings and vehicles, as well as individual soldiers, and they can generate a wave of psychic energy that rips apart any solid object nearby provided it is small enough. Hovering across the battlefield, a Yuri Prime can quickly make himself scarce, leaving an entire force of mind controlled pawns behind to break through the enemy's ranks. Multiple bases have mysteriously disappeared in mere moments, when a Yuri Prime set his sights on it - just as all opponents will, until only the PSI Corps remains.

--- Vehicles ---

Blessed Mechanised Infantry
$800, Manufactory
200 strength, heavy armour
Speed 8, sight 4
Psychic explosion (anti-vehicle, anti-building)
(no turret, psychic pulse that rocks vehicles like the Angel, very low strength, terrible against infantry, better against heavier vehicles and buildings than other main tanks)

"My knowledge is at your disposal." (voice based on Warhammer 40.000: Dawn of War's Librarian)

The PSI Corps is specialised in - though certainly not limited to - three kinds of psychic energy. The imprecise desire to create friction, somewhere, and through it, fire. The imagination to see the universe for what it is, to attempt to rearrange molecules - an art very much not perfected, but if one replaces 'rearrange' with 'destruct', then it is an art mastered by the Angels. And finally, of course, the will to subsume one mind to another; mind control.

It is the second of the three, however, that is employed for the PSI Corps' main battle tank. The Blessed, as it is called, is designated as a 'Mechanised Infantry', and this is more accurate than one might suspect at first. The concept originates from the Mastermind; a vessel carrying a brain - or multiple brains, as is usually the case with the Mastermind. The Blessed is a far lighter version of the Mastermind, however, favouring speed over armour.

Carrying brains of fallen Angels, it is excellent at tearing down structures and vehicles; the larger, the better. This, unfortunately, makes the Blessed a bit lacking when compared to other main battle tanks. Lacking the ability to take to the sky, like an Angel, the Blessed also lacks the range of an Angel, and being confined to a somewhat unwieldy vessel, as opposed to one's own human body, the effectiveness of its psychic blast is reduced, especially versus infantry.

And yes. In eastern Europe, certain people whisper of Lucifer himself having come to scourge the world of all the faithless. He is, after all, the prime example of a fallen angel.

Blessed made by MadHQ
Blessed / Angel warhead animation made by Apollo (modified)

Psychostasia
$500, Manufactory
150 strength, light armour
Speed 12, sight 5
'Psychostasia' psychic missiles (anti-infantry, anti-air)
(fast bike, fires missiles that create small psychic waves that slow down units - cellspread, marginally effective against everything, long-ish range)

"Hit and run!" (voice based on Command & Conquer: Generals' Combat Cycle)

These fast hit and run trikes can pop up from practically nowhere, with their considerable speed, and they might well be the last sight one ever sees as the integrity of one's souls is judged against the power of a Psychostasia missile. The Psychostasia is the perfect hunter, outranging and outspeeding most, though they are somewhat prone to accidents if one isn't careful.

A well-placed shell can blow them apart, and it is easy to crash, driving at the high speed the Psychostasia goes. Being a unit relying on more or less conventional missiles, as opposed to psychic weaponry, and being a unit not very special or important, the PSI Corps initially recruited their newfound Hurrian allies for the task of driving the Psychostasia. As the PSI Corps' Cloning Vats expanded, this was no longer necessary, but it is an excellent way to keep abreast of the rumours and going ons in the various Hurrian cells, and it nicely reinforces their alliance.

The Psychostasia is armed with more or less conventional missiles; their payload, besides ordinary explosives, involves a certain kind of psychic energy - different than what is used by the brain - that slows down any and all movement until the energy dissipates. The same kind of energy is used inside the Brainchamber, to keep one's body in relative stasis while one's brain continues to serve Yuri. This makes the Psychostasia an even better hunter, especially as the Hurrian soldiers are well skilled in guerrilla tactics and harassment; exactly the kind of skillset needed to weigh the souls of all those unbelieving in Yuri's vision.

Psychostasia made by MadHQ

Proselyte Automaton
$400, Manufactory, Psychic Sensor / Noosphere Imbiber - inaccessible to Tibet
200 strength, special robotic armour
Speed 10, sight 5
Unlimited mind control (anti-infantry, anti-vehicle)
(robot, cloaked, very fast, can mind control an infinite amount of units without decloaking, but instantly starts taking damage, has a psychic wave deathweapon, detects stealth and disguise)

*Excited hums of psychic energy*

Like an eager missionary landing on the shores of Mesoamerica, a faithful servant of God, there to convert the pagan population, so too does the Proselyte zip over the battlefield, eager, oh so very eager, to open up the minds of all to the glory of Yuri. And like the eager missionary, the Proselyte starts preaching, even to those covering their ears and cursing the psychic legions. One, and one more, and there, another one, and soon, entire cities have converted, entire armies fallen under the sway of the Proselyte. But other cities rise up in anger, anger at their culture, their religion, their livelihoods being suppressed - many, too many, converge upon the Proselyte, and in its eager drive to reveal the truth of Yuri to them all, the Proselyte meets a sad and unfortunate end. Not burned at a stake, but a violent explosion, unable to contain all the psychic energy it has amassed - psychic energy that now spills outwards, obliterating anyone nearby, but freeing those under the sway of the Proselyte with (usually) little damage.

The Proselyte Automaton may not be the best - or even useful at all - when it comes to mind controlling; in mere seconds, the psychic energy causes it to overload and explode. But it is invisible, and can mind control entire armies in the blink of an eye - literally so. When it comes to causing chaos, to give the PSI Corpse an opening to exploit, or to distract their opponents as Yuri's legions slip through the cracks, that is where the Proselyte shines. And after the chaos has died down, those opposing Yuri will find their lines to be breached, their ranks infiltrated - all that because of an excited, eager, and dare one say it, adorable, Proselyte Automaton.

Proselyte made by Bu7loos

Rapture
$500, Manufactory, Psychic Sensor / Noosphere Imbiber - only accessible to Tibet
200 strength, special robotic armour
Speed 10, sight 5
Parasitic claws (anti-infantry, anti-vehicle)
(Terror Drone, permanently mind controls the unit it enters, doesn't reappear when the unit dies)

*Mechanical sounds of hunger for warmth and life and psyche*

(description)

Rapture made by MadHQ (modified)

Reaper
$1000, Manufactory, Psychic Sensor / Noosphere Imbiber
250 strength, light armour
Speed 4, sight 4
'Scythe' mutator (anti-infantry)
(only one can exist at a time, has permanently limited ammo, converts infantry into Brutes that can be sent into the Grinder for 500 or can fight pretty well)

"None can stand against the coming darkness." (voice based on Warhammer 40.000: Dawn of War's Chaos Sorcerer)

The Reaper is a curious vehicle, meant to augment the PSI Corps' bases on the mainland, away from Antarctica. On Antarctica, vast rows of Cloning Vats spit out organic parts ready to be used for energy and recycled for mass, but away from Antarctica, prolonged PSI Corps presence requires very creative ways of funding. Lacking Cloning Vats, the PSI Corps might turn to the obsolete Floating Disk, or to carefully mind control civilians, but both carry a high risk of exposure and detection.

An alternative was made in the form of the Reaper, based on the PSI Corps research in biology and genetics. It was an approach of quality over quantity; if there cannot be a great quantity of ready resources, be they cloned, abducted, or mind controlled, then the quality of our existing resources must be improved. Simply put, it was designed to maximise the mass of any human being, so that a Grinder might yield the greatest profit.

The first few experiments would result in creatures that have since then been left loose in the Middle-East, to contribute to the Hurrian cause. Although many Hurrians very much disprove of these abominations, public opinion amongst the most influential cells is slowly turning, with these so-called Tributes now being an item of status, traded for influence and resources. An improvement upon these Tributes was the Brute, a colossal monster full of muscles, as opposed to the Tribute, that had a lot of gas filling it up. Extremely dense and extremely strong, one can choose to send these Brutes into the Grinder, of course - but it would be a shame to withhold such a mighty being from the opportunity use its gigantic strength to utterly crush any and all opposition.

The Reaper, a vehicle based on the Genetic Mutator, can transform any human into such a Brute. As the Genetic Mutator is not a device capable of operating continuously, neither is the Reaper; the Reaper's Scythe can only reasonably be expected to manage ten such transformations, after which its parts can be recycled by the Grinder to charge up a new Scythe. Though not a fast vehicle by any means, death eventually catches up to anyone, and the Reaper will have its due just as the grim reaper will. But as the Reaper's Scythe is pointed at you, you will know that your future lies not in the afterlife, but in the massive shape of the mindless Brute. You can only hope that the grim reaper swiftly grants you relief.

Reaper made by MadHQ

Catechism
$1750, Manufactory, Enlightenment Beacon
600 strength, heavy armour
Speed 4, sight 4
Permanent mind control (anti-infantry)
'Catechism' missiles (anti-air)
(four passengers, has many powerful long-ranged anti-air missiles, can permanently mind control any infantry it gets close to, omnicrush resistant)

"I shall rally the troops to your cause." (voice based on Warhammer 40.000: Dawn of War's Chaplain)

Not all those who follow the Allied or the Soviet cause are irredeemable. Indeed, many simply happen to be born in the wrong country, and how could they know of Yuri's truth when they have never been exposed to His brilliance? To teach, one can turn to the method of catechesis, to the catechism, and to teach is exactly what the Catechism does.

A lumbering behemoth dwarfing most other units, the first thing one notices is not that a vehicle is approaching, but a massive visage of Yuri's head. Instinctively, one is drawn to His eyes, for the eyes are the pathway to the soul, and in His eyes, truth and beauty and visions of perfection are found. Many a soldier has been hypnotised this way, waking up from their old lives, finally seeing what He sees, finally seeing the righteousness of His plans and the truth of His visions. Taught thusly, these soldiers will fight in His name until their dying breath - which, in the middle of a battlefield, might approach rapidly.

This effect is rather weakened - or non-existent - for anyone whose sight is concealed, though. By the visor of a tank, for example. So too it is for anyone who cannot stand still; the wobbles of a helicopter are enough to mostly break the spell. While incapable of dealing with tanks - besides driving over them, crushing them under the weight of Yuri's truth and the burden he has taken up his shoulders for all of us - the Catechism can handle aircraft, sporting two racks of countless missiles based on the Allied AEGIS Cruiser and its Medusa missiles. It just so happened that one of the first to fall under the sway of the Catechism was an Allied Engineer who had worked on designing these missiles.

Now, this Engineer, and hundreds or thousands of others, are one with Yuri. The Catechism has taught them. And it shall continue its slow trek throughout the lands, and it shall continue enlightening all those on its path, until all speak the word of Yuri.

Catechism made by MadHQ (modified)

Mastermind
$1750, Manufactory, Enlightenment Beacon
600 strength, heavy armour
Speed 4, sight 4
Unlimited mind control (anti-infantry, anti-vehicle)
Psychic wave (anti-building)
(can mind control an infinite amount of units but instantly starts taking damage, can deploy to destroy itself and unleash a building-destroying psychic wave which is also its deathweapon, gains experience from mind controlled units)

"Let's have a meeting of the minds."

It would surprise many to know that the Mastermind started as a preserver of still working brains, a secure container, for the brains to wait until they could serve Yuri's cause once anew. But Yuri had other ideas; why wait, when they could serve perfectly fine now? Put on wheels, and sporting heavy armour, the amalgamation of brains now known as the Mastermind had a variety of roles, for not all brains are made equal.

Some Masterminds served as pyrokinetic flame tanks. Others as a mechanised variant of the Angel, rivalling even the famous Apocalypse Tank with their psychic explosion powers. But gradually, these Masterminds got their own designations; Brainchambers and the Ascended for pyrokinetic purposes, the Blessed Mechanised Infantry as a lighter and cheaper alternative to the Angel - and what was left became the true Mastermind; a vessel dedicated to the mind control of entire armies.

Curiously enough, this meant that the Mastermind turned from a container of healthy brains to a container of anything that had some remote psychic activity that might be used for mind control; psychic powers are very rare, and unlike pyrokinetics, rely on a calm and controlled mind. Instead of a simple impulse to cause damage somewhere, mind control relies on navigating the complex pathways of the mind, whispering, implanting, manipulating - it is an art, and it is very unlikely that any recovered brains, to be preserved in the Mastermind, was in a state whole enough to fulfill this task.

Using half-damaged brains means that the production of a Mastermind isn't terribly hard, despite the rareness of psychic power. Especially as the number of Cloning Vats increases and as the noosphere is further unlocked, it will become even easier, and one day, a Mastermind might drive around full of brains of the utmost quality. For now, however, the Mastermind will have to make do with less than perfect brains, with less than perfect neural pathways and synapses, and that means that it might overload and detonate in a psychic wave. A psychic wave of not one, but a massive amalgamation of brains, capable of shattering even the heaviest structures.

It is perhaps the scariest sight; to see your own army marching and rolling back to your own base, with an odd glint in their eyes, with their weapons pointed at you. And when - if - you have finally managed to throw off your own brothers and sisters, the Mastermind that was directing them unleashes a tidal wave of psychic energy, shattering your base even though you successfully slaughtered your former friends to prevent this fate. It is a traumatic experience, to those who survive. It is, without doubt, a masterplan.

PSI Corps MCV
$3000, Manufactory, Psychic Sensor / Noosphere Imbiber
1000 strength, heavy armour
Speed 4, sight 9
(MCV, omnicrush resistant)

"Yuri is the master architect."

The PSI Corps MCV is of a radically different design than the Soviet one, where Yuri acquired His MCV-technology from, and just as the Soviet MCV resembles the design of Soviet buildings - blocky, heavy, fortified, strong and imposing - so too does the PSI Corps MCV resemble the design of the PSI Corps' buildings; triangular, yet smooth, with angles perfect for standing out as little as possible. Lacking the slabs of armour the Soviets put on their MCVs, the seamless design and the variants of reactive armour mean that the PSI Corps MCV is just as well protected - if not better, for the Soviet MCV is a lumbering beast easily visible from afar.

Originally, the PSI Corps MCV was meant to do more than gliding silently over the lands; it was meant to hover, for Antarctica is cut off from the rest of the world by a large body of water. However, it was far harder than anticipated to establish a strong foundation for the Construction Yard, if the MCV had to land first. Still, with the aid of the speedy Journeyman Inserters, the PSI Corps can still transport their MCVs to any location of their choosing, and far faster than the hovering MCV itself would have travelled. From Antarctica, the PSI Corps spreads its tentacles all over the world - and the world will be blind to stop it, until it is far too late.

PSI Corps MCV made by Bu7loos

Cherub
$1000, Manufactory, Psychic Sensor / Noosphere Imbiber
200 strength, light armour
Speed 30, sight 6 (note: Flying units use a different speed measurement)
'Brainblanker' cloaking device (cloaks friendly infantry)
(cloaked, fast, cloaks nearby infantry)

"Gliding over." (voice based on Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars's Stealth Tank)

As the PSI Corps experimented with unlocking the psychic potential of humans and the enhancing of the brain, one of the many results was the so-called 'Brainblanker'; a device capable of masking all mental activity. This would eventually, in conjugation with the harnessing of the noosphere, result in the current-day iteration of the Brainblanker; a device capable of not only masking all mental activity, but all biological activity - provided one had a certain altitude. The noosphere is a fickle thing, and even now, subject to intensive studying. The Brainblanker needs to be close to the noosphere, to draw the energy needed for its cloaking operations without overloading and blowing up, and so must all those who would be cloaked be close to the noosphere.

The Brainblanker is carried by a fragile and thin frame, sporting only the bare necessities of keeping the Brainblanker afloat. The contraption as a whole is known as the Cherub, and speeds rapidly through the skies, hidden by the selfsame energies that hide the lifeforms flying with it - any larger, and the Cherub itself would be visible even if those accompanying it were not. With the Cherub attending those that fly with it, an enemy can be set on fire and torn apart by a host of Ascended and Angels, all perfectly invisible to those dwelling on a lower plane than the noosphere's mysterious energies.

Cherub made by MadHQ

Seraph
$1750, Manufactory, Enlightenment Beacon
400 strength, light armour
Speed 12, sight 6 (note: Flying units use a different speed measurement)
'Seraph' laser (anti-air)
'Hook' tractor beam (anti-vehicle)
(tractor beam against non-harvester vehicles, anti-air lasers against aircraft, flying infantry, and vehicles pulled in by the tractor beam)

"Levitation units online."

When the PSI Corps arrived in Antarctica, they busied themselves creating an arsenal not yet designed for offensive action, but instead, to guard the PSI Corps' presence until Yuri was ready to usher the world into His light. The precursor to the Seraph, but also the Parasite, for example, were but some of the designs to protect the PSI Corps' operations until Yuri was ready. This precursor, the Floating Disk, was used to covertly abduct humans and even raw ore from the Allied and Soviet refineries holding them. Used infrequently and with care, these actions remained largely unnoticed by the world at large, though UFO sightings increased remarkably. Still, it was always risky, and as the PSI Corps' presence and influence grew, the Floating Disks were discarded.

Or, more accurately, they were repurposed. The abduction equipment was discarded in favour of a magnetic (at)tractor beam that attracted all metal objects it was directed at - a different kind of abduction, one that lifted up even the heaviest of tanks to throw them carelessly back down onto the Earth below, be it land or water. This to counter the legions of Soviet tanks, far more threatening to the PSI Corps than a bunch of hapless soldiers. As to the Allies and their reliance on air power, the Seraph's lasers can easily pierce through any aircraft passing by. These lasers work exceedingly well in conjugation with the tractor beam, as helpless tanks can be lifted up to a height where the Seraph's lasers can shortly pierce a tank's armour.

Though the Seraph still lacks equipment dedicated to assault and siege, it can stop a convoy of tanks dead in their tracks and swat a squadron of aircraft out of the sky, instead of serving as a glorified harvester to be kept hidden behind the clouds. Yuri's opponents will need to come up with new tactics, should they wish to penetrate the Seraphs valiantly guarding His bases.

Seraph made by Bu7loos

--- Buildings ---

PSI Corps Citadel Walls
$100, PSI Corps Haven, Noosphere Tether
500 strength, steel armour
1 sight, 12 adjacency
(walls, with remap colours thanks to Atomic_Noodles)

Yuri relies on secrecy and stealth to carry out His operations. The massive slabs of brick augmented with barbed wire of the Soviet Union were therefore of little use to the PSI Corps, and when He posed that there is more safety in never being discovered in the first place, than in having enough fortifications to withstand a dedicated assault, the PSI Corps took a long and hard look at the concept of a wall. To protect something, yes, to ward it, to cut off access - all that is better achieved by hiding a base, so as to never be discovered, than by fortifying a base.

The angular and smooth shapes of most of the PSI Corps' structures reflect exactly that; shaped in such a way that the sun's reflection might hide them - shaped in such a way that true invisibility might even be achieved. Unfortunately, the technology for that isn't yet within the PSI Corps' grasp, though breakthroughs concerning the noosphere and its possible applications - the Noosphere Tether and the Cherub, for example - are very promising indeed. For now, the PSI Corps' walls remain just as any other wall, but perhaps one day, they might tap into the noosphere and cloak all of the PSI Corps' presence.

PSI Corps Citadel Walls made by Atomic_Noodles
PSI Corps Citadel Walls cameo made by Lefthand

Brainchamber
$500, PSI Corps Haven, Cerebral Dormitory
500 strenth, steel armour
4 sight, 8 adjacency
Amplified pyrokinetics (anti-infantry)
(requires an infantry unit inside to work, marginally better than a Pillbox / Sentry Gun, can detect cloaked and disguised units in a four cell radius)

Nothing is so wasteful as discarding a perfectly fine brain just because a defect container has failed to carry it. And the human body is full of defects. Building upon the earliest Initiates - metal constructs carrying a brain - the Brainchamber is just that; a metal construct carrying a brain. Should an incurable servant of the PSI Corps find his or her way back to base, missing body parts, rendered immobile, perhaps mere moments away from death, then such a person may be directed into the Brainchamber. It is not quite a chamber of healing; more like a stasis to prevent one from dying. So long as the mind is intact, death can be waylaid, at least for a small amount of time.

This comes at a cost, however; one would lose sense of one's body as one's mind connected to the Brainchamber, and those that have been healed by PSI Corps doctors after having spent time in the Brainchamber's stasis often note that it is harder to function. That walking might need to be partly relearned, that hand-eye coordination is off, or that breathing sometimes takes conscious effort, for example. Still, they would be alive, and in a fit and healthy body - and there is a minority that has reported markedly different experiences; that the Brainchamber is like a virtual reality game, or that one's senses were noticeably heightened upon leaving.

Entering the Brainchamber involves letting one's head be surrounded by all kinds of machinery, soon losing any awareness of one's own body, but being aware of all that goes on around the Brainchamber, as if it is an all-seeing eye wielded by its occupant. Unrestricted by the need for mobility and a humanoid shape, the Brainchamber allows one to wield the powers of pyrokinetics without surgeries or permanent implants, and that at a greater power than a normal Initiate could.

Screening tools make sure the occupant isn't overcome by a sense of awe and might, taking in the world in a way that few ever experience, and knowing that one has the power to light up any spot in flames at the merest thought with the aid of the Brainchamber. This, perhaps, is why some liken it to a videogame. The Brainchamber isn't only a place for the wounded to contribute while their bodies await healing - if possible - but it isn't exactly advised to enter a Brainchamber without need; who knows how you might come out?

Brainchamber made by Quiet
Brainchamber cameo made by Quiet

Sanctum
$750, PSI Corps Haven, Cerebral Dormitory
500 strength, steel armour
4 sight, 8 adjacency, -25 power
Sancti warp (anti-infantry, anti-light vehicles, anti-slow aircraft)
(very long range, spawns a drone that attacks enemies with lasers, rather ineffective, but useful as harassment and as a stationary counter to artillery and Kirovs)

As PSI Corps' influence grew over the world, a more sophisticated defence system was needed. Allied Prism Towers and Soviet Tesla Coils were iconic symbols of these blocs' technological prowess, but PSI Corps by and large operated in the shadows. Psychic Spires were well and good to protect bases too large to hide, preventing anyone from approaching lest they be mind-controlled, but PSI Corps simply didn't have that many full-fledged military bases. Instead, small outposts and small taskforces, nominally controlling a massive amount of territory, were the norm.

To this end, the Sanctum was developed; a mostly inconspicuous device capable of scanning a large area for any potentially hostile activity. Utilising knowledge acquired by reverse-engineering the Chronosphere at Point Hope, Alaska, the Sanctum is further linked to a massive complex of specialised Manufactories, pumping out nothing more than an endless stream of tiny drones. Fast and nimble, though vulnerable to mere glancing shots, these so-called Sancti drones are equiped with lasers based on the Seraph's laser. Should a Sanctum detect any enemy presence in the area, it can quickly warp in a Sancti fighter to deal with the threat, long before anyone has become aware of PSI Corps presence.

One should be aware, however, that this is very much a prototype system; not only does the Chronosphere-esque method of calling in the Sancti drones fall far short of the capabilities of an actual Chronosphere, but the Sancti drones themselves are extremely vulnerable and not all that powerful. While the Sanctum is therefore useful to cover the vast fields of snow and ice of Antarctica, a dedicated strike force can easily deal with the device. And though the Sancti drones are capable of targeting aircraft, the drones are so limited in their dogfighting capabilities that even helicopter pilots can outmanoeuvre them. Still, a large enough swarm would pose a credible threat to Soviet Kirovs.

Sanctum made by Droke
Sanctum cameo made by Speeder (modified)

Psychic Spire
$1500, PSI Corps Haven, Psychic Sensor / Noosphere Imbiber
750 strength, steel armour
4 sight, 6 adjacency, -100 power
Mind control (anti-infantry, anti-vehicle)
(Psychic Tower, equalised with the Prism Tower and Tesla Coil regarding strength, sight, name (Tower, Coil, Spire), et cetera; no longer detects disguises)

Whereas Prism Towers and Tesla Coils often ring around a fortified military base, openly boasting of the might of the respective sides, Psychic Spires may be found hidden, to snatch the minds of unaware passers-by and turn them against their former friends. Still, Psychic Spires are just as tall and visible as the Allied and Soviet equivalents, and so they, too, can usually be found around PSI Corps' bases - which is a downside, as the PSI Corps usually operates in secret, and wouldn't want to attract unwanted attention with Psychic Spires.

Therefore, there exist two schools of thoughts within the PSI Corps' ranks, divided over whether and when to use the Psychic Spire. When they are used, however, they may well inspire more fear than a Prism Tower or Tesla Coil; one might at least survive the effects of a thousand volts running across one's body, but to lose one's mind with certainty, to be rendered a slave, an onlooker, as one's body moves as if possessed... A far scarier prospect, that, to most. The Psychic Spire's mind control is one of brute force; no subtle suggestions or ideas, but fully, wholly, instantly taking control. From the safety of a PSI Corps Haven, a Reborn can then interface through the Psychic Spire with the newly subsumed person.

There is a limit to this; one can notice five stabilisers, inhibitors, or whichever name one would give them, designed to prevent an overload of the spire. Remarkably, the Reborn merely interfaces with the spire; it is the Psychic Spire itself, and not the Reborn, that does the mind controlling. And while a Reborn can generally only mind control one person at a time, the Psychic Spire can handle three - and directing three persons, instead of mind controlling them, that is something the expanded psychic capabilities of the Reborn can handle. One wonders where this marvellous piece of technology will lead to; mind control, without the need of any actual brains - soon, Yuri might truly be able to mass produce a simulacrum of His psychic powers.

Psychic Spire cameo made by Lefthand (modified)

PSI Corps Genetic Mutator
$2500, PSI Corps Haven, Enlightenment Beacon
2500 strength, steel armour
4 sight, 6 adjacency, -300 power
(Genetic Mutator, buildtime is 1.5 times as long as it normally would be)

The Genetic Mutator comes as an offshoot of the various branches of research the PSI Corps pursued to set up an efficient economical and industrial base as quickly as possible. One possibility was by using cloning, and tearing the products down to raw materials with the help of the Grinder. This has long since been widely adopted amongst the PSI Corps, and the subsequent research has vastly optimised every part of this process; one only needs to look at the evolution of the Initiate, for instance.

But another possibility was by using genetic mutation, a possibility not at all explored to its full potential, as PSI Corps' limited amount of scientists needed to focus their efforts. Still, it has resulted in the Genetic Mutator, a weapon capable of inserting certain artificial particles - conceptually similar to capsules, really - into the air. When absorbed by a body, be it by breathing or through one's pores, the body will rapidly mutate into a gruesome being; the Brute.

Usually, these 'capsules' would be applied by the pin-point precision of a laser, but the whole idea behind the Genetic Mutator is to be able to target any organism in the vicinity. This does mean that the Genetic Mutator is a highly inefficient device; whereas the Reaper only needs to apply one such capsules, transported by its accurate laser, the Genetic Mutator needs to fill the air with hundreds and thousands of capsules. After mere microseconds, the capsules burst open, and most of the particles will escape harmlessly into the air, never reaching a body to mutate - but some few will, hopefully.

That the Genetic Mutator, as a consequence, takes a lot of time in order to expel the next bunch of particles upon unsuspecting humans, is but a small downside to an otherwise terrifying weapon.

Genetic Mutator cameo made by Lefthand

PSI Corps Psychic Dominator
$5000, PSI Corps Haven, Enlightenment Beacon
5000 strength, steel armour
4 sight, 6 adjacency, -400 power
(Psychic Dominator with purple animation, only has effect after the animation has finished so that units can move away, buildtime is twice as long as it normally would be)

The Psychic Dominator might be Yuri's greatest triumph yet - and it is but a prototype. Ideally, Yuri would mind control the world with the push of a button, removing any and all notions of violence, of aggression, of any kind of negativity, from the collective psyche of the human race. His research in the noosphere might aid Him greatly with reaching this laudable goal, and it might well be the key missing to bring the prototype Psychic Dominator to the heights Yuri desires it to be. To a height where one such device is capable of mind controlling entire continents.

Unfortunately, this remains but a vision for now. The current Psychic Dominators are only capable of mind controlling a small taskforce, and in this, they are not more impressive than a handful of hidden Reborn. But the Psychic Dominator's range is ever increasing, and already outranges any other mind control weapon by far. It also knows no limit to the amount of mind controls that it can sustain, opening up to harness the power of the noosphere directly - which, admittedly, is massively wasteful, but does provide it with enough energy to let it cool down and recharge, removing any risk of overloading. Unlike with the Psychic Spires, as the Psychic Dominator permanently mind controls all those affected by it, there is also no need for personnel to directly control those affected - an advantage the Catechism also enjoys.

The Catechism, however, is based on an older model of the Psychic Dominator, and relies on hypnosis amongst other techniques. Understandably so, as the current model of the Psychic Dominator requires so much power that, without further research on the noosphere, there is no way at all to miniaturise and mobilise it. But this does mean that the current Psychic Dominator is capable of mind controlling almost anything; most buildings have enough obstructions to protect the crew inside, and underground caves would also offer protection, but most vehicles certainly do not offer enough protection to shield their crew from the Psychic Dominator.

Yuri can try, though, to negate the protection that buildings might offer; the influx of psychic energy generates a psychic wave specially designed to shatter any structure in the vicinity, so that its occupants might still be exposed to His truth. In the end, as more and more Psychic Dominators come online, and as they are improved upon again and again, surely, all will be one with Yuri.

Psychic Dominator cameo made by Lefthand

PSI Corps Haven
5000 strength, steel armour
9 sight, 6 adjacency, 25 power
(Construction Yard, provides Vigour Field ability)

MCV-technology is a highly guarded secret, and the primary reason for the Allies and the Soviets being the most powerful - and the only relevant - blocs of the world, despite having waged so many destructive wars. It is the ultimate logistical superpower, cutting production time and cost to practically nothing and being so very mobile as well. The sole downside is that it is so very miraculous, neither the Allies nor the Soviets want to use it for civilian purposes; the risk of MCV-technology falling in the wrong hands is simply too high. With it, and the right resources as well as sufficient manpower, even one man can amass an army that utterly dwarfs that of a country without MCV-technology.

Let that man be Yuri, having stolen the MCV-technology from the Soviet Union. More, He has reverse engineered it, and designed His very own army, an army designed to counter the strengths of both Allied and Soviet arsenals - using the strengths of Soviet tanks against them by mind control, negating the power of Allied aircraft with gatling weaponry. Yuri has seized the secrets of MCV-technology for Himself, and spilled the beans to his Hurrian allies as well. And now the whole world will be torn asunder, for want of one little secret.

Noosphere Tether
$400, PSI Corps Haven
500 strength, wood armour
4 sight, 0 adjacency, 50 power (+50 for 1 infantry)
(Power Plant, cloaks nearby friendly infantry, can be occupied by one infantry to double its power output)

The Noosphere Tether represents a hallmark achievement in the studying of the sciences. A pity, then, that the PSI Corps must keep its groundbreaking research under wraps, until Yuri's world can be realised. The noosphere, it is postulated - and confirmed more and more - is a sphere much like the atmosphere, a blanket wrapped around celestial bodies - possibly entwined with gravity - that humans unknowingly draw energy from. The concept of a soul, perhaps, is a primitive understanding of this phenomenon, and the question of how quantum mechanics can be so random as to depend on one's observation, as well as the age-old debate of whether free will exists, may be answered and explained by the existence of the noosphere.

There is a wealth of theory to be discovered still, but the PSI Corps has already managed to draw power from the noosphere. Power dependent on mind and soul, on brain activity, but power none the less. A Noosphere Tether serves two purposes; as an anchor, in a sense, perhaps best visualised as pulling a stream of energy downwards from up high where it flies freely. A magnet, perhaps. This energy can be used to generate usable power, much like friction can - and indeed, as it turns out, what would be called psychic power is often friction applied over a distance on a molecular level, with the aid of the noosphere. Reinforced by a human's natural ability to draw upon the noosphere - provided they are not braindead - the Noosphere Tether can double its energy output. However, being more like an anchor and less like a true power plant, it is incapable of storing fuel and instead continuously draws energy from the noosphere. Energy that must therefore be made use of in its vicinity, lest it dissipate into the environment and be wasted.

It would be wasteful to not make full use of such a fantastic power source, of course, which is why the Noosphere Tether at least doesn't let all unused energy go to waste; converging with research done on the Cherub's 'Brainblanker' device, the Noosphere Tether can hide those lifeforms near it from the naked eye - or, more accurately put, render minds not clued in to the PSI Corps' advanced radar systems incapable of processing what their eyes are detecting.

With only the PSI Corps even aware of the existence of the noosphere - though a secret Soviet research group has recently started investigating this phenomenon in Chernobyl - and with Yuri on the eve of mastering the noosphere for His own purposes, there is no telling what might happen in the near future. Perhaps His psychic abilities will be amplified to such an extent that His will be done immediately by all the billions of humans alive? Even if not, with such a mighty medium on His side, who could possibly oppose Him? His will be done, one way, or another.

Noosphere Tether made by Dark Elf 2001

Cerebral Dormitory
$500, PSI Corps Haven
1000 strength, concrete armour
4 sight, 6 adjacency, -25 power
(Barracks)

The Cerebral Dormitory is less of a barracks and more of a... Well... This ís the PSI Corps. A division, originating from the Soviet Union, headed by Yuri, the master psychic Himself, concerning itself with psychic research. With biology and neurology - and lately, with Yuri's benevolent vision of a world without pain, without hunger, without fear; a world with only positivity and happiness. To realise this wonder, alas, sacrifices must be made for the greater good - but causalities are to be kept to a minimum, in Yuri's benevolence, for it is better to repurpose a brain than to waste it in death. Mind control, therefore, is a tool frequently employed by the PSI Corps to bring about their world of goodness.

Ah, but there is so much more wonder that Yuri and His PSI Corps can achieve. Such as cloning, so that no naturally born human goes to waste in the grimness of war - though every well-functioning brain is sacred, and so, little distinction is made between clone and non-clone. The outright creation of humanoids lies still beyond the PSI Corps' grasp, unfortunately enough, but they do command a host of related knowledge; imprinting memories, learned skills, knowledge, characteristics - almost the only thing they cannot do yet is to kickstart life. Whether that can be done by firing up a certain neurological process, or by adding a soul, not even Yuri Himself knows - but He has His theories on the essence of life, to be sure, and His theories often prove to be truth.

Regardless, practically any human being can be sent inside the Cerebral Dormitory, be it child or elderly, sickly and infirm or youthful and virile. Their minds can be reshaped, their bodies reforged, their organs enhanced and their senses strengthened - legions of almost superhuman soldiers can emerge out of the Cerebral Dormitory after but a few days and nights of peaceful and undisturbed rest, with bodies and skills no serviceman or -woman neither Allied nor Soviet could ever hope to match. This process is only limited by the speed of cloning and by the small population the PSI Corps started out with - in time, as more enlightened (usually mind controlled) humans join the ranks of Yuri, and as more Cloning Vats and Cerebral Dormitories are established, an inexhaustible horde of untold billions can descend upon the world to purge any and all trace of suffering, and indeed, upon the very stars themselves. Yuri is master - truly, He is master of all.

Cerebral Dormitory cameo made by Lefthand

Grinder
$1000, PSI Corps Haven, Noosphere Tether
2000 strength, wood armour
4 sight, 6 adjacency, -50 power
(all infantry have a soylent cost of 125%, PSI Corps doesn't harvest ore but needs to produce infantry - or mind control units - to send them into a Grinder)

Antarctica, where the PSI Corps fled to, may contain a wealth of untouched minerals, but it contains precious little ore and other materials necessary for the construction of military bases and the conduction of research. Stealing resources, be it by traditional theft, by mind control, or by a Floating Disk specially designed for 'harvesting' purposes (both ore, stored in refineries, as well as human beings), was not a feasible way to build up an army for decades on end.

Humans, however, are imperfect creatures full of untapped potential, only using a tiny amount of their neurological capabilities. Not to mention that they often prefer to laze around, not even noticing as entropy eventually does away with their bodies, instead of being productive. All this wasted energy can be used to create mass, if one knows how to - and as it happens, Yuri is somewhat of a scientific genius. Oh, the Allied Einstein might know more of theoretical physics, and the Soviet Tesla is an able tinkerer and small-scale visionary, but Yuri... Yuri sees the bigger picture.

Is it immoral, to create clones whose only purpose is to be recycled, over and over? Is it more moral to let a man rot away in jail for his entire life, or to let him suffer the death penalty, than to make use of his body for science? Many people hand over their bodies to science, many people donate organs, many people research and invent - only, Yuri outclasses them and their conventional solutions by far. Yuri developed the Grinder.

Originally, this started out as a Soviet recycle facility, to be used in conjunction with their Industrial Plants; it would be more efficient to cheaply and quickly manufacture a new tank, while recycling an older or a damaged one, than it would be to repair this older or damaged tank. An entirely sensible idea, of course - and why not apply this idea to humans, horrible as it may sound? Not to any ordinary human, of course, but to humans - clones, if you will - specifically created for this, to humans whose life would otherwise be rendered null and void anyway, to all those who society already shuns.

Some might stare in awe, realising that the Grinder holds the means to reverse entropy (is that so, though?). Some might stare in horror, especially those people who are religious, and it is a very good thing Yuri's Hurrian allies are unaware of the network of Grinders operating on Antarctica and elsewhere. But perhaps Yuri knows more than anyone else, about souls, about the afterlife, about morals - about what is truly good and what is truly evil, in the grander scheme of things?

Grinder cameo made by Lefthand (modified)

Manufactory
$2000, PSI Corps Haven, Grinder
2000 strength, concrete armour
4 sight, 6 adjacency, -50 power
(War Factory)

Traditionally, the great powers' War Factories are focused on producing their mighty arsenals as quickly and as cheaply as possible. The Allies, with their costly technology, focus more on cutting prices, while the Soviets, with their vast armadas of tanks, focus more on producing as much and as fast as possible. Yuri, however, focuses on something different with his Manufactory; the PSI Corps do not need to produce as much as fast as possible, for they are hidden, existing in the shadows. They have time to gather the required resources and time to produce their weapons. As such, the Manufactory is focused on statistics and analytics; the Manufactory can analyse the effectiveness of any vehicle it produces, tracking them even on the battlefield, and can make suggestions for improvements. Over time, this has yielded great improvements for the PSI Corps - and there is one last advantage to the Manufactory as well; should it fall into Allied or Soviet hands, the Manufactory is likely to sabotage anything produced by them. For in the PSI Corps, even the buildings serve Yuri.

Manufactory cameo made by Lefthand (modified)

PSI Corps Submarine Pen
$1000, PSI Corps Haven, Grinder
2000 strength, concrete armour
4 sight, 16 adjacency, -50 power
(Naval Yard)

With the PSI Corps lying low, it only made sense to forego the traditional Soviet Shipyards in favour of new Submarine Pens. The Submarine Pen lacks the industrial machines and manpower of the Shipyard, something that would easily undo the PSI Corps' hidden operations, but something that is also necessary for the construction of colossi like the Dreadnought. Lacking the ability to construct these capital ships, the PSI Corps relies on submarines for their naval presence.

Undetectable and untraceable - unless one was actively looking for them, perhaps - the PSI Corps now has many Submarine Pens hidden in the dark depths and corners of the world. Who knows what is hidden on the ocean's floor? Who knows which atol hides a Submarine Pen, who knows which floe hides a submarine? Yuri's forces could be anywhere, listening in on anyone, awaiting the perfect moment to breach the water's surface and reveal their might to all those who oppose Yuri's vision.

Psychic Sensor
$1000, PSI Corps Haven, Cerebral Dormitory / Manufactory / PSI Corps Submarine Pen - inaccessible to Tibet
1250 strength, steel armour
8 sight, 6 adjacency, -100 power
(radar, provides Psychic Reveal ability, buildtime is 1.5 times as long as it normally would be, doesn't detect disguise, does detect stealth and orders in an eight-cell radius)

A device originally constructed for the Soviet Union during the Third Great War, though the Soviets were never truly aware of the purpose of the Psychic Sensor. The Psychic Sensor is a device that visualises the future actions of all those nearby. As a consequence, it necessarily scans the surrounding area for geometric, atmospheric, and other details, preforming all the tasks that a traditional radar system would in order to interpret - and make interpretable to humans - the information it gathers.

With it, one can see a certain subset of thoughts; those dealing with actions taking place near the Psychic Sensor - walking, running, shooting, anything that raises the heartbeat, including intercourse. Handy for keeping tabs on one's enemies, to be sure, knowing when their thoughts turn to besieging a base covered by a Psychic Sensor - but what about one's supposed allies within this selfsame base? What about that very first Psychic Sensor, assembled in the hidden basement of the Kremlin itself?

No wonder Yuri managed to almost replace the entire leadership of the Soviet Union by and with Himself. No wonder Yuri managed to escape in the perilous minutes before the execution of operation Chrono Storm. Would this first Psychic Sensor still be active? Is Yuri keeping tabs on the Soviet leadership, even now? Will we ever know?

Psychic Sensor cameo made by Lefthand (modified)

Noosphere Imbiber
$1000, PSI Corps Haven, Cerebral Dormitory / Manufactory / PSI Corps Submarine Pen - only accessible to Tibet
1250 strength, steel armour
8 sight, 6 adjacency, -150 power
(Psychic Sensor, doesn't detect orders, cloaks units and buildings in an eight-cell radius, can be occupied by six infantry to generate +50 power per infantry)

It was, of course, no mere coincidence, that Tibet would be one of the first regions to be swayed to the light of Yuri. Tibet provides Yuri with an easy way into the minds of the largest concentration of humans - China - and, perhaps more importantly, Tibet provides access to the Himalayas, separating the Tibetan plateau from the Indian subcontinent. There, the Noosphere Imbiber found its origin, as an amalgamation of Noosphere Tethers, to advance the wonder of a single Noosphere Tether on all fronts. The first Noosphere Imbiber has broken down, its decay still present on the unreachable heights of the Mount Everest, but Kangchenjunga is still home to an operational Noosphere Imbiber, and more and more appear all over Tibet (and beyond), hiding the forces of the PSI Corps from plain sight.

For that, seemingly, is the primary purpose of a Noosphere Imbiber. Large slabs of metal or other armour, still present on radar signals even if the driver of a tank or the crew of a building would have been hidden by the Noosphere Tether, can now be fully hidden by the Noosphere Imbiber. As such, not only infantry, but entire bases of operations become invisible in the blink of an eye, upon the establishment of a Noosphere Imbiber - with two exceptions; the Noosphere Tethers and Noosphere Imbiber themselves. Still, unsuspecting Chinese scouts, or innocent mountaineers climbing for personal amusement, will soon be swept up by Masterminds, Catechisms, Psychic Spires, and other wonders that Yuri has created to further His cause of peace.

But the Noosphere Imbiber is much more than that. It peers beyond the veil of heaven, like a psychic telescope, especially when established at the great heights of Tibet. In time, a network of Noosphere Imbibers will provide the equivalent of a radar, of a gigantic satellite network all around the Earth, and of interstellar probes scouring the unknown depths of the galaxy, all in one. At the speed of light, this network will map any and all neurological activity it detects - already, Yuri is aware of something known as 'Roxolani', and such Earth-shattering discoveries shall surely abound, as more Noosphere Imbibers are established. Of course, such an operation will require power - but the noosphere provides this power, and each of the six Noosphere Tethers that make up the Noosphere Imbiber, can as such be occupied by infantry to draw power from the noosphere.

Yuri now turns to Australia, where the ozone layer is thinnest, to see what mysteries of the universe a Noosphere Imbiber there might unlock. And afterwards? Mount Rushmore, the Alps, the geographical North Pole... There is no reason to limit this wonder of modern day science to the highlands of Tibet. There is no reason to deny humanity one of Yuri's greatest works.

Noosphere Imbiber made by DonutArnold
Noosphere Imbiber cameo made by DonutArnold (modified)

Enlightenment Beacon
$2000, PSI Corps Haven, Psychic Sensor / Noosphere Imbiber
2500 strength, steel armour
4 sight, 6 adjacency, -200 power
(Battle Lab, buildtime is twice as long as it normally would be)

The Enlightenment Beacon is home to neither a crew of scientists nor to a network of computers. Instead, it is a controlled way of sharing Yuri's very own thoughts. To be certain, a crafty Engineer or Spy could extract vital intelligence on the PSI Corps' force composition, much like with any repository of knowledge, but the Enlightenment Beacon is more than that. Yuri Himself is connected to each and every Enlightenment Beacon, and can both amass any data gathered by the PSI Corps' bases around them, as well as spread all this data to the other Enlightenment Beacons. Yuri, as such, is the focal point of a hivemind consisting of Enlightenment Beacons.

A hivemind, for Yuri's highest ranking servants, most often those made in His very image - the Reborn - but also sometimes specially chosen Angels, can also interface with the Enlightenment Beacon, sharing thoughts and knowledge at the speed of thought. This allows Yuri to directly interfere on any given battlefield, provided an Enlightenment Beacon has been constructed. The Enlightenment Beacon, then, moreso than any other technology centre, is a target of the highest priority to all those who oppose Him. For should it stand long enough - should His servants need more and more time to conclude their operations - Yuri's eyes may be drawn to this tenacious threat, and a Yuri Prime or Yuri Himself might even appear. And as the people of Middle-earth learned so very well; one does not wish for His eye to fall on you, for it almost assuredly renders the remaining hours of your life countable on one hand.

Enlightenment Beacon cameo made by Lefthand

Cloning Vats
$2500, PSI Corps Haven, Enlightenment Beacon
2000 strength, wood armour
4 sight, 6 adjacency, -200 power
(clones infantry)

The PSI Corps under the Soviet Union was but a small taskforce, consisting of those loyal to Yuri, handpicked by Himself. As they fled from the Kremlin, eventually arriving at Antarctica, they had one big problem; population. They could hardly abduct women to breed more people for them, and abducting children to indoctrinate them was also a costly and inefficient option. Luckily, the Soviet Union had the means to alleviate this concern; Cloning Vats. A technology not wholly Yuri's own, He none the less played a key role in both the creation and the use of it, and without His knowledge of biology and neurology, the Soviet Cloning Vats soon fell into disuse. All that was needed was for the PSI Corps to seize one such facility and bring the technology back to Antarctica.

The next step was to acquire bodies to clone; to acquire different DNA, different characteristics and personalities, quirks and traits, not only to create a diverse population but also to improve the PSI Corps' knowledge of the human being. The so-called Floating Disk - a prototype UFO - was used to kidnap humans from all over the world, a selection as diverse as possible - no wonder that UFO sightings increased in this time. The human genome was soon mapped, and the precise working of the brain remained a mystery to everyone but the PSI Corps. With this knowledge, the many bodies that were cloned could be altered on any level imaginable, such as the physical or the neurological.

Clones could be made to excel in manual labour, to be slavishly devoted to Yuri, and even to be almost superhuman. Almost, for there is a large gap between a more or less normal human and a Brute, for example, and while improvements such as perfect health and psychical attunement were certainly possible, creating some kind of superhuman would result in a Brute-esque character. Even so, with the Cloning Vats - more and more coming online even to this very day - and an ever growing population base, the PSI Corps looks set to dominate the world before long.

Which is not a bad thing, as Yuri would remind anyone. For He is not, in fact, looking for slavishly devoted humans, devoid of any free will. No, quite the contrary; He values creativity, vision, intelligence, everything that makes a human human. Otherwise, why would He not be content with legions of cold robots? But what He does abhor is violence, jealousy, bigotry - Evil, with a capital E. It is not for nothing that He has taken a cult from Palestina - practically from the Holy Land itself - under His wings. It is not for nothing that he saw potential in a group of people striving for freedom, a group that has done more to bridge the divides between the Abrahamic faiths than any other group.

Is He an angel, sent by a god? Whether that Allah or Yahweh or another conception? He has never spoken on this subject - but it seems likely, to His followers. And if the only way to attain world peace is to nudge the whole world's population into the right direction, to subtly influence there where necessary, to mind control those who must be - well, isn't mind control far more humane than the choice between life in prison or the death penalty?

Cloning Vats made by CannisRabidus
Cloning Vats cameo made by Lefthand