Welcome back, me hearties, to the fourteenth chapter of Mecha Space Pirate Quest! As always, you are Admiral Roarke Susan Starwind of the Iron Kestrels space pirate fleet, master of the starship Rhinehawk, and pilot of the terrifyingly crit-prone Knuckle Kaiser.
Previous Threads: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Mecha+Space+Pirate+Quest%2C+Collective+Game%2C+mecha
Master Pastebin: http://pastebin.com/sSHs0QmF
Upgrade Menu: http://pastebin.com/QQQzkFZe
List of Moves: http://pastebin.com/HSdyCe2y
Last time, you turned a failed scouting mission into a successful rescue mission, committed another bout of mass-murder on the Green Skulls, and now you're back on the Rhinehawk, where you have time to interview the scientist you rescued.
Rolled 1 (1d10)
>>47122506
Aw yes its that time again, time to see how the dice feel tonight
![1394915418096[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/B5N8sPT.jpg "1394915418096[1].jpg")
“Doctor Duncan Clancy, I'm a particle physicist working the the Solar System League's joint initiative.” The scarred man lights offers you a cigarette, you decline. He shrugs and lights it, puffing smoke across the table in the Rhinehawk's mess hall, “The little girl is my daughter, Athena. My wife died giving birth to her.” He adds the last point after a questioning headtilt from you. You'd been about to ask if the Green Skulls were holding her mother hostage, the last thing you want is a potential spy...even an unwilling one...with technical knowledge and access to your mechbay.
“What exactly were you working on, doctor?” You've set your PC to open a notepad and a speech-to-text transcription program. Samantha is sitting next to you, listening silently.
[Continue]
![char_112503[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/VHjmKwM.jpg "char_112503[1].jpg")
“This facility was originally a legitimate mining operation owned by a Martian sheikh, some wealthy bigwig named Abdul Ahmad. I've only met him a handful of times, but he seemed like a good guy. He's got a handful of daughters, so we were able to talk about that at least. Man appreciates an efficient mech design too, unlike some people.” He grunts scornfully, taking a long drag and tapping away the ash, which spirals into the smoke and towards an air purifier and recirculation vent, “He's a major investor in the joint initiative, and offered the military this colony as a secret facility and test site for new weapons, mecha, and systems. I was brought in as part of Project Skywalker, studying advanced uses of the A-Particle field used to contain fusion reactions. The UJCIDF read some of the papers I wrote back on Europa and thought my ideas had merit, unlucky me. Should've just stayed in the Jovian colonies with my daughter, but like every scientist I wanted to be remembered for my work. They put me in charge of building a prototype unit using some of what we learned through our research. Granted, it wasn't a traditional design, due to the weight of the thing we had to improvise to make it fulfill our goals for power output and sturdiness...but the Tarrasque is still, in my opinion, the finest space-combat mech that ever was. Unsurpassed range and firepower. A main cannon that could even reduce your mech to scrap in seconds. Complete 360-degree protection against flanking opponents. The latest Bahamutcorp Bichir Armor AND a miniaturized version of the defensive screen projector they're installing on the most modern starships. It's even capable of sustained gravity flight! I told them, once you mass-produce the Tarrasque, no war is unwinnable.” He sighs heavily.
[Continued]
>>47122631
>Tarrasque
OH GOD IT'S THE BIG ZAM
>>47122631
So were gonna steal that shit and cannibalize it to improve Kaiser
![tumblr_lmlyxfubsa1qlpe4jo1_400[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/HQvm9zD.jpg "tumblr_lmlyxfubsa1qlpe4jo1_400[1].jpg")
“Go on, doctor. Everything you're saying is helping me save lives.” You lean forward, somewhere between intrigued and worried. You're not sure you believe in anything that can scrap the Knuckle Kaiser without taking a beating, but on the other hand you aren't cocky enough to dismiss the possibility.
“I overestimated my clout. The UJCIDF had lot of interest in Project Skywalker for their new special forces unit, I even think I recognize some of the technology in the cloaking field her mech uses.” He points at Samantha by jutting his prodigious chin forward, “But mostly our more traditional upgrades. The Tarrasque was supposed to be assigned to one of the SOUL Squadrons, but here's the damnedest thing about all this, and the big tragedy of our current situation. So, they bring in the pilot, right? He's this kid, supposed to be some sort of genius. He looks at the Tarrasque, frowns like he's bitten into a lemon, takes it for a couple of spins around the colony, takes some shots at some targets from a much longer range than necessary...and then gives it back with the worst review I've ever seen.” His ugly face twists with anger, quoting in a high-pitched voice, “'It's too clumsy and heavy, it's not elegant at all. Why couldn't you make it look more heroic? Its main cannon isn't specced for sniping, it's unnecessarily powerful without being precise enough for my kind of work. Why does a unit with so much range need this much armor? I don't like the head, it's too ugly! I'll quit if my superior makes me pilot this hideous thing!'”
[Continued]
>>47122565
You forgot to sacrifice a goat didn't you?
>>47122565
They feel bad.
>>47122743
Fucking Kira being a bitch.
>>47122758
>>47122758
Dont worry like every night when we need it they'll come through
Almost forgot the mixtapes
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6iimHE85EZZWjJCLXRLem1mQ2s/view?usp=drivesdk
>>47122743
Oh god Jesus again
>>47122681
Why wouldn't we just get someone to pilot it for us?
>>47122743
>explicitly given an artillery piece
>"Why is this such a shit tank destroyer?"
Goddamn, he's literally retarded.
>>47122743
>bad mouthing the big zam
This fucking nigga.
![latest[1].png](https://i.imgur.com/Ts0Vuh3.jpg "latest[1].png")
His huge knuckles shift under his skin like big, white grapes as he clenches his fists on the table, “He raised such a stink that in the end they left it here. They took a lot of the scientists with them, but since I was in disgrace I got to stay here with my magnum opus. My career, ruined by a kid barely old enough to shave. The little shit even had the gall to tell me that something built only to kill people should be happy to be used for mining purposes instead and that I should devote my life to peace and understanding instead of building weapons.” He starts to spit, and thinks better of it in the zero-g environment. “At least the sheikh had some decency. He said if I wanted to come to Mars, I'd have a place on his staff, and that his eldest daughter would love the Tarrasque and make it famous. She's supposed to be some kind of Martian ace. I told him I'd think about it, not sure I wanna give up bacon sandwiches and at the time I thought SOUL would come back with a pilot who had good taste. Again, unlucky me. A few weeks after they leave and I start calming down, these Green Skulls jackasses show up and take the asteroid mine and the workers hostage. Turns out the kid screwed us again, because when some of the miners took him up on it and wanted to use the Tarrasque for work, I let 'em do it out of pique. Poor guys, I don't want to think about what the pirates did to them to get the access codes, but they have the Tarrasque now and I don't see how you've got a prayer of beating it with what you're riding. The defensive screen alone makes it impervious to anything any of your Harpies are carrying short of a lucky reactor breach...and if it goes down, it refreshes automatically within twenty seconds unless you take out the generator mounted in a pod on the back. Get through that, and you're looking at armor nearly twice as thick as your black monster's, and each of the legs alone can each take as much punishment as the torso of your mech."
[Continued]
>>47122743
..We need to get as many of these things as possible and then use them to smack Jesus' shit in. Hell, we could get a proper super robot chest laser going!
>>47122795
Miles has a new mech. Karen gets to research some new tech to play with. This gives her some new input on her armour research. We need that flanking opponent upgrade.
Maybe call in the favour to get the doc into our crew. To improve rhinehawks CP? Or Atleast so we can get that 360 degree protection upgrade.
>>47122857
If it really is the big zam wouldn't it have 360 degree protection by dint of being fucking massive and ringed by particle cannons? We can always find a guy to fly it for us.
Jesus christ the thing could probably take on a ship one on one from the sounds of it.
>>47122836
Wait.. female martian ace? Please tell me it isn't her royal bitchyness. Also I want to throttle jesus SO DAMN HARD now. Throwing even a decomissioned military piece in a place rife with pirates and looters is going to bite ANYONE in their ass.
>>47122836
>At least the sheikh had some decency. He said if I wanted to come to Mars, I'd have a place on his staff, and that his eldest daughter would love the Tarrasque and make it famous. She's supposed to be some kind of Martian ace.
Wonder if we should just give it to her ahead of time?
>they have the Tarrasque now and I don't see how you've got a prayer of beating it with what you're riding.
That depends entirely on how well we can dictate the circumstances of engagement, I think.
>>47122857
After we kick the shit out of his mech hes gonna want to join us to make an even better mech
>>47122913
A military ace could probably have figured out pirates were stealing her shit without giving ten bucks first.
>>47122941
Probably her sister
>>47122941
Being a good pilot does not necessarily correlate to being possessed of common sense. Just look at Jesus.
>>47122941
Being a genius pilot and fighter doesn't mean much when you are arrogant and dismissive of anything that is 'below' you. We also came way out of left field and managed to get them to surrender while she was still asleep.
Anyways, we must recruit the good doctor and his daughter. A man who is good to his child, makes big zams, and enjoys bacon sandwiches is a worthy man.
"Squadron B was here!? I...I don't understand at all. This wasn't even...it should have been in my files!" Samantha huffs.
You raise one eyebrow and look at Samantha, she shrugs, looking a little shellshocked, “Squadron A was never told about this. I mean, I knew Project Skywalker existed and that this was one of the facilities for it, but the most I expected was some of those theoretical plasma swords and maybe a new beam cannon or two. Nobody ever told us there was a prototype that powerful here.”
Dr. Clancy grunts, “Yeah, I got questions too. It's been weeks since our last transmission, and this is a goddamned military facility. Where're the UJCIDF battleships? I mean, I appreciate the rescue sweetheart, and your boyfriend here is obviously a good pilot even if he's just as obviously a space pirate, but shouldn't the Cincinnatus or the Jaburo or the new Mekong-class I've heard about have showed up by now? What the hell is going on, where's our backup?”
Samantha's normally polite and impassive face is haggard with guilt, “I...I'm sorry, I wish I knew. I'm not even supposed to be here, we have orders to hold position and do nothing, but I couldn't follow them and took matters into my own hands. Officially, Roarke here took me prisoner.” She places her hand gently on your arm, “Unofficially, I convinced him to come. He's a good man, a little rough sometimes, but he has a strong heart and hates the Green Skulls as much as you do.” She bows her head, “Please forgive me, you deserve better for your service. I'm ashamed as an intelligence specialist that I don't have any idea what is happening.”
[Continued]
>>47122990
And Oda. And Red Siren.
I blame Space Madness.
>>47122990
>>47123010
Jesus can spot a pirate to be fair. And just saying she would probably have to fight pirates being an ace.
Plus the one we have probably would have mentioned it during her tirades.
>>47123021
You take that back! Oda is a true bro, and all our prospective waifus are a best! A BEST!But some are more best than others.
>>47123037
Jesus would say anything that didn't look 'good' was evil and thus must be brought in. His only reason for going at us was because we had a scrapped harpy on our head, nothing more. He's also a giant hypocrite and a idiot.
![tumblr_lxnx02dxVG1r9gs22o1_500[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/gHO3oWk.jpg "tumblr_lxnx02dxVG1r9gs22o1_500[1].jpg")
He grunts again, finishes his cigarette, and crushes the tip to extinguish it, “Wish I could say something to make you feel better, but there are a lot of innocent lives at stake and I'm not exactly an optimist. It doesn't matter how many Harpies you throw at the Tarrasque, you'll just be feeding it kills. If anyone asks you, later on, you can claim you stole this file from me.” He takes out his PC and uploads a file to yours, “If you can find a way to bring it down, do it. It hurts to see my work destroyed, but I know it's for the greater good and ultimately I can think of it as extreme stress-testing of the design. When you're done, though, keep what's left. Use it. Let those bastards regret mocking the most efficient ultra-heavy combat mech ever made in the Belt!” He clenches his fist, before depositing the cigarette butt in a waste container, “My daughter should be waking up from her nap, she'll want me there.” Without waiting for permission, he gets up and walks out of the room, leaving you alone with Samantha.
You open the file, and feel something you haven't felt in a long time...a sense of not having the most powerful mech you're aware of. This thing is a monster. A real one. You feel your gut clench the way it used to as a Harpy pilot when you thought about going up against a Warmouth.
>[You might want to come up with a strategy, a serious one, for fighting this thing. Stats will be provided in my next post. Meanwhile, I believe you wanted to interrogate or at least talk with Samantha a little about what you learned from the Skull Brothers last session. What say?]
>>47123074
Seeing as harpy's are god damn pirate machines thats not the worst reason. They are basically pick up trucks with machine guns attached to the back.
Now we really have to sleep with Jesus's waifu to fuck with him, we could probably get Clemmy to help us for a favor
>>47123104
Do we have any idea what sort of field of engagement we can expect?
>>47123104
For Sam lets start fucking her and while were in the middle turn it into an interrogation
>>47123145
That sounds goofy as fuck man
Let's just do regular interrogation
>>47123104
So who exactly decided that you couldn't come here? And they are the ones in charge of your SOUL Squad right?
![BIG-ZAM-071[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/oN9IE7s.jpg "BIG-ZAM-071[1].jpg")
SOUL Prototype Tarrasque
Mega Heavy Torso: C/S/K 22, 11 tons
Mega Heavy Head: C/S/K 11, 5.5 tons
Mega Heavy Right Leg: C/S/K 12, 5.5 tons
Mega Heavy Left Leg: C/S/K 12, 5.5 tons
Armored Heavy Pod: 9 CP, 18 Spaces
Armor: Officer's Mega Heavy (11 SP, 16.5 CP, 5.5 tons, takes 4 Kills to ablate SP) on all locations
Main Sensors (Head): 4 CP, 1 Space, 2 Kills, 1 ton
Backup Sensors (Torso): 2 CP, 2 Spaces, 2 Kills, 1 ton
Options: Torso Cockpit with Environment Pod (2 CP, 2 Spaces), Liftwire (0.3 CP), Spotlights (0.2 CP)
Armament:
Primary Mega Particle Accelerator Cannon (Head): Range 800m, WA +1, 16K, 31 CP, 10 Spaces, 8 tons
Wide-Dispersal Particle Accelerator Defense System (Torso): Range 400m, WA+1, 4K, Wide Angle 360-degrees (hits all targets within range surrounding it), 39.9 CP, 18 Spaces, 2 tons
A-Particle Screen Projector (Pod): Automatically parries any attack with less than 7K damage, if hit by an attack with more damage the shield flickers out for two turns. 18 CP, 18 Spaces, 9 tons, 6K of damage to this system disables it permanently until repaired.
Thrusters: 12 per leg, allowing it to move 400 meters per turn in flight or run 150m
Total Weight: 76 tons
Total Cost: 269.9 CP
You have only yourselves to blame for making the QM wonder what this would look like statted.
>>47123145
Why not vice versa?
>>47123151
Shes trained in interrogation so i thought it would work better if we sprong it on her when she wouldn't expect it
>>47123104
Lock Sam up in a cell for interrogation. All this information we are getting is full of holes. It's making me doubt her a lot. It's only recently that Jesus was sent to SOUL B.
Take the Doc for a drink at the bar. Let's bond with the guy. He shares the same amount of hate of Jesus. Show him the email with Clemmy, "Seem familiar?", then entertain him with all the shit we pulled just to frustrate him. Have his daughter eat some sweets and some actual meal. I wan this guy on our team. That's valueable knowledge for tech.
Send a copy of the file to Karen. She'll be happy for something to work on.
>>47123105
but thats the thing. They are militarized pick up trucks. A civilian model thats weaponized. If you are going to pick up scrap and need a patch job, harpy scrap and its civilian half brother would be plentiful and cheap.
>>47123104
Hmmm.. best to think outside the box here. Outright wrecking it will be hard, but we could use traps and possibly a large enough 'ram' to puncture the shields. If the place is a mining colony there has to be tunnels, old mines and the like. If we could make sudden pitfalls, escape routes, and traps, we could get is stuck.
Also share what info we can with Sam that will help us with the mission. No point in making her go to heroic, but tell her anything that could make this operation tricky.
>>47123173
Can we just ask her about it without actually interrogating her and potentially alienating her in the case that it was just an honest mistake? You can't expect her to have perfect information about everything.
>>47123158
Holy shit. That particle cannon can one almost one hit our torso. That Particle screen projector is retarded strong. We can hardly even scratch its armour. We definitely need not one to one combat to mess with this guy.
>>47123158
We must have one.
The only ideas I have are we try to lure the thing out into space and smash it with the ships or we try to sneak in on foot and hijack it.
Because damn.
>>47123158
Shit with that type of defense this is gonna be a pain in the ass, Lets try and figure a way to have our grunts take out the shields then have us our ship and Oda's ship attack it when the defenses are down
>>47123158
What's its sensor range? Can we conceivably detect it from out of its effective range and dictate the engagement that way?
>>47123219
>if hit by an attack with more damage the shield flickers out for two turns
I'm thinking both the Rhinehawk and Yamato hit it at max range. They can fire at 4000m, Tarrasque fires at 800m.
>>47123208
Agreeing to not locking up Sam. She's probably just been played like a fiddle.
>>47123215
Then how bout we get her drunk while we drink with the Doc. See if she spills anything that's she is keeping secreft from us.It's subtle but we need to get her alone time after for more indepth interrogation to follow up on any leads she gives us.
>>47123203
I just got an idea were in an astroid field so what if we figured out a way to lauch some asteroids into the mech
>>47123219
But what would actually damage the thing its better to have the weaker attacks open it up for our strongest attacks
>>47123227
The same as your sensor range, actually. I might want to fix that later, it could use a longer sensor range since it can do long-range fire from well over the 7km mark we were discussing last thread.
>>47123269
Assuming said weaker attacks can actually penetrate its officer armor and screen projector.
What do we even have that doesn't require a ridiculous roll to damage it, anyway?
>>47123269
Probably just shoot them or fly out of the way.
Also the rhinehawk does 100k. Probably enough to sort it.
>>47123158
Fighting that thing in space would likely be a bad idea. It's what it's designed for. However, with how bulky it is, it likely can't fly right in gravity conditions. Pitfalls, traps and the like could work. Likewise dropping a building or tower on it could also work.
Mob combat isn't going to help us and aside from a ship, this thing is way too solid.
>>47123269
Asteroids or what have you might work. Could use them as shields and hit and run tactics. Wouldn't take much force and we could use salvaged thrusters to propel them.
>>47123318
>Fighting that thing in space would likely be a bad idea. It's what it's designed for.
So we lure it into a colony?
>>47123312
The two ships?
>>47123318
>It's even capable of sustained gravity flight!
THE BIG ZAM CARES NOT FOR YOUR PUNY GRAVITY!
>>47123291
What about Sam's sensor range? Or Miles'?
>>47123318
>Likewise dropping a building or tower on it could also work.
Clearly we should hijack one of the Green Skull's ships using Sam's cloaking and land it on top of the Tarrasque.
>>47123312
Our beat chance in space combat would be to take out the cock pit as fast as possible. Maybe use some mecha cores tied together
>>47123389
Or we just use the starships' main batteries.
>>47123350
The two ships armed with weapons with a range of 4km, that travel 800m per action, and will be shot up full of holes by all the crits they sustain attempting to close in from the Tarrasque's 7km range, you mean?
We won't actually be able to use our ships effectively unless we can somehow get the drop on it.
With two massive-as-fuck ships. Yes.
>>47123402
The aim penalty for that would probably be immense
>>47123318
>Pitfalls
Lol. The thing can fly.
It doesn't have advanced sensors. Maybe we can get a reaction explosion on it using a harpy core. Knock out it's Screen Projector at least. From there we can start punching out it's head. Having Oda and Sam help us take it out faster. As soon as it's head is gone then we can retreat, depending on how damaged we are, and let our bluegills with sniper cannons hit it from range.
I reckon we should use sam's mech to sneak in as many guys as we can and fucking steal the thing during a shift change or something. Or at least sabotage it.
>>47123350
Shit.. well, good news is if it's a mining colony there is likely plenty of places we can set up traps. If we can get past the shield and aim for it's head, we COULD remove it and the big gun before it could shoot us to death.
Once the gun is gone, it's just the generator and other things we need worry about. Lucky us, we can do 4 hits a action and can have our attacks treat it as half value. We just need to get close and make it focus elsewhere.
>>47123434
I'd support the Zamjacking plan, but we need more intel
I don't think we ever adressed this but Wong how good is Roarke at hand to hand putside his mech? Like is Roarke trained in any styles?
>>47123423
>From there we can start punching out it's head.
>Mega Heavy Head [...] K 11
>Armor: Officer's Mega Heavy
>Wide-Dispersal Particle Accelerator Defense System (Torso): Range 400m, WA+1, 4K, Wide Angle 360-degrees (hits all targets within range surrounding it)
Yeah, no. We can't take this thing on conventionally at all. Certainly not 1-on-1.
>>47123291
Any chance we can get a quick stat rundown of the other notable mechs we might field against this thing?
>>47123471
Dozle probably knows where they have service the thing at least. We could go in and scout the place with sam.
>>47123534
With her or in her?
>>47123135
Well, it's an asteroid used for mining. The outer surface is one thing, but most of the mine is below in the relatively cramped tunnels and galleries. Large enough for a mech, but not so large as to make dodging easy.
>>47123434
Likely not that easy, but we could use that for other ways. Like using the skull bros mechs or at least their signals to go 'all green'. Use some trojan trickery to catch them before they can fire the thing.
>>47123423
Honestly, sending in either of those two would be bad. They could be support though, helping us close the gap.
Actually, could we make some simply decoys? Like kaiser shaped ones piloted with some clunky auto pilot that it could fire on from extreme range so we can get close to it?
>>47123546
In her mech. After she got an idea of the place time permitting.
>>47123573
Looking easier than fighting the damn thing.
>>47123173
Just a reminder, Jesus was never in SOULS A. He was sent on ridealong as a temporary replacement for an injured A member before being formally assigned to B.
Normally the Doc would be up for drinking, but he's taking care of his daughter.
Well at least it isnt a neo zeong.
>>47123594
I agree with you, but both options are going to be trouble. We can't really rely on Sam since they are likely on guard if word about a stealth mech managed to get through to the main group.
Still, more than one way to stealth and a diversion could work as well. In the end, we want them not paying attention to us in either scenario While preventing the bugger from one shotting our buddies.
>>47123608
Can the doctor man tell us how long it can fight for?
>>47123507
>Oda
>Sam
> Bluegills
U wot m8? I never said one on one. Just need a few shots from Sam and Oda to actually help chunk down the armour for the head. Sam I don't think should be in the fighter apart from using the stealth to smuggle a fusion reactor near the Zam to take out the Projector.
>>47123573
Oda has enough armour on his torso not to get one shotted. If he does get hit in the torso he needs to LoS or we go infront of him to block.
Sam is only there for the reactor ambush. She BTFOs as soon as that happens.
Bluegills and Sam are back into the fight as soon as head comes off. We can tag out if we are damaged as fuck.
Lets not forget we still haven't seen their battleships yet
>>47123680
Have to worry about the 360 guns as well you know.
Wong I think you forgot to mark the Advanced Sensor update + CP expenditure. That is if you did decide to retroactively give us the advanced sensors. Please do, I just want Clemmy to smile.
>>47123507
Yes. Although the Bluegill isn't quite done.
Stats forthcoming, I have to update the Osano-Wo at least.
Whats the reload tike in that cannon since its just negging to have a harpy reactor to be put in it
>>47123756
4k Isn't much Anon. That's why I said to we back off when we are damaged as fuck. We can parry the big boy laser twice with shield. Our armour can tank us through 4k easy. The Zam has -7 on all their rolls.
Really whoever decided to write this thing off on one pilots review was an idiot. And thank god, imagine if they actually did start mass producing the fucker.
>>47123571
Aside from the range, do the Tarrasque's sensors have any limitations of note? Can they detect through rock walls, or do they purely rely on visual data?
Might we be able to use camouflage to stage an ambush?
>>47123786
I dont know man. How many turns did it take us to take out the warmouth last time?
>>47123419
Just to reiterate. Starships get -8 to hit mecha, mecha get +8 to hit starships.
How about we see if we can lead it into a mine and collapse it on him?
Will our scary face intimidate Zam?
>>47123486
Roarke has a 5 in both Hand-to-Hand and Dodge and Escape. He's not as ridiculously good as he is in a mech, but he's still as proficient as, say, Mohammed is at mecha swordfighting.
>>47123871
I imagine it would cause the pilot to flinch for the duration of perhaps a turn, before he remembers again that he's in a fucking Big Zam.
>>47123808
The doc doesn't list any Advanced Sensors. So I'm hoping we can use Subways in the colony to LoS for the ambush and for retreat.
>>47123839
2 Turns for either Warmouth or Morgan. Our twin linked crushing fists is deadly.
>>47123886
We should train that up by winning some underground fighting ring or learning a style
>>47123808
It lacks an ASP, so it has the same kind of sensors you do.
I believe you talked about sensor upgrades last time, by the way?
>>47123886
I'm surprised we aren't getting passive exp from just being a lethal as fuck mech pugilist.
What if we hide with some of our guys near by, then we have some our mechs fake an attack and retreat like any sane person would in the face of the big zam. Then we sneak into the camp disguised and use our huge coolness to start a victory party and get everyone shitfaced. And then we steal the big zam.
>>47123914
>>47123760
Does that mean if we are underground or get out of its vision range it can't "see" us? Is there a cool down to Sam's stealth?
I can't wait to see whats Wong's gonna do when Roarke starts really leting his hot bloodedness out, hopefully a Berserker mode
>>47123960
I like it maybe we can add something to the drinks to fuck them up more
>>47123886
Just to be sure. To bypass the big ol shield, we need an attack that does 7 or more damage. To bypass the officer armor, the attack must do more than 4 damage. First one eats the whole attack, second one does nothing if the attack is over that ammount right?
Our fist does 8 damage I believe and halves armor in terms of damage calculation. So one fist hits the shield while the other 3 blows can do full damage?
>>47124004
Fist does 6. Nothing we have apart from ship cannons can penetrate the projector. That's why I'm hoping the fusion reactor plan is a thing. Otherwise we gotta collapse a building on it or something.
>>47123914
Then, presumably camouflaged traps (and possibly mechs?) could work.
What's standard pirate procedure for boarding unwilling ships? Surely simply shooting a transport whose captain decided to be ballsy doesn't give the best returns. I imagine a similar tactics might be applicable here, whatever it is.
Also, just on the off chance the good Doctor decided to be completely retarded in his design, how well-protected is the Tarrasque against environmental hazards, like water or spontaneously-igniting clouds of coal dust?
>>47123104
Send the plans to Karen. She could give us some insight on potential weakness. Also she has a bomb we can use. Or at least she CAN make a bomb we can use. One strong enough to disable a god damn ship.
>>47124084
>how well-protected is the Tarrasque against environmental hazards, like water or spontaneously-igniting clouds of coal dust?
Probably pretty well since they used it to mine.
>>47124075
>>47124117
If were going with the bomb lets put it into the main cannon so we can at least put that out of comission
So, some simple mech stats before I try making sense of what you want to ask Samantha.
The Osano-Wo and S-Betta have the following general build.
Head: 5 Kills
Torso: 10 Kills
Limbs: 6 Kills each
The S-Betta has a relatively light 6 SP, while the Osano-Wo has 7 SP. The S-Betta can, however, completely vanish unless an opponent makes an Awareness roll against a DC of 20, 25 if they're more than 200m away. If spotted, and attacking DOES break the cloak, the S-Betta can recloak for the cost of an Action. It also moves silently and leaves no heat or radiation trails. In fact, you know the blue-green jets the Kaiser's thrusters put out? On the S-Betta, they're as transparent as heat shimmer even when it isn't cloaked. The Osano-Wo has a pair of fire-linked 5K AP swords and a 6K cannon that can hit multiple times on a good roll, while the S-Betta's Pacification Hammer Pilebunkers do a measly 4K...but they have the Shock effect. Essentially, the target must roll 1d10+Body, minus the base damage of the pilebunker (4). If they roll less than 10, they lose their entire turn. For every 3 they roll less than 10, they lose another action. As unlikely as it is since her weapons are prototypes and not exceptionally strong yet, if the target rolls below zero...something special happens. They make an unmodified 1d10 roll against a value called their Stun/Shock Number. If they roll higher, they're unconscious. If they roll lower, they DIE OUTRIGHT. Armor and shields do not stop this effect, but Officer Armor does cut the damage penalty in half (so the Tarrasque pilot would get a -2 to his roll)
More following.
>>47124148
>put it into the main cannon
Funnily enough, I think the cannon may be reinforced to deal more with concussive forces from within than without.
>>47124075
Actually, a dropkick could get through it.
So could a mace like the one the Warmouth had.
>>47124004
Correct. The Officer Armor is a measure to stop people with Shock, and to avoid having one enemy suicide on the shield and then the rest swarm it.
>>47124210
Even if it has to deal with both a reactor bomb and the full force of the laser?
>>47124249
Looking back, I realize it's actually a fuckhuge particle accelerator, rather than a laser. Meaning that every time it fires in air, there's almost certainly going to be some nuclear reactions occurring anyway.
Are we entirely sure this thing can function out of vaccum?
>>47124304
But what if we caused the beam to explode inside the cannon
>>47124304
It's like a mega-particle weapon from Gundam. So it should work in every environment that ain't water.
>>47124304
Unless they mine the colony in a vacuum I think we can be sure.
>>47124361
Actually aquatic mechs were zeons first mech to get mega particle weapons.
Bluegills. Bluegills have 3 Kills in their head, 6 Kills in their Torso, and 4 Kills in each limb. They also have 4 SP on every location. These are Pirate Bluegills, not the Bahamutcorp-standard version, capable of flying about as fast as the Tarrasque. They're the smallest mech that can equip an 8K Mace or a 5K (+1 WA) Sword. Most carry one of these, or a rocket launcher, rocket pod, or Medium Beam Gun (+1 WA, 3K damage), with a small 6 SP shield on their other arm.
However, they can also equip an Epoxy Gun. This weapon, used by both the UJCIDF and pirates, has +2 WA and must be wielded two-handed (preventing parrying while in use and slowing the Bluegill down with its extra weight). It does no damage, but on a hit the target cannot move or change position unless he succeeds a Mecha Fighting roll at DC 18.
>>47124232
Hmmm.. so we must get that shield down with something big and quickly disable it. We should figure out where it refuels and try to joyride it or disable it's backpack before it can fully start up.
This is going to be a tricky fight, but imagine having THAT as our throne?
>>47124430
>Bluegills have 3 Kills in their head, 6 Kills in their Torso, and 4 Kills in each limb. They also have 4 SP on every location.
I can't imagine throwing these things at something that does 4k as an action to everything in a 400m radius will be good for crew morale.
We're probably going to have to find a way to close all our aces to extreme close range in a single turn, or else use the environment against it and bury it or crash an asteroid into it as previously suggested.
>>47123938
It's been a while since I gave you IP. Soon, I promise.
>>47124430
At least pick a good mobile suit anon.
>>47124507
How about, lure it into Suleiman 1, and then blowing up the entire colony via reactor overload or something? Presuming there's no hostages inside.
>>47124507
Or try and loot it. Or hope it shares the big zam's weakness of only being able to fight for 20 minutes at a time.
>>47124546
We would have to figure a way to get all the colonists out there if we care since we are a pirate
>>47124546
that would attract so much attention...I love it. Colony drop on this motherfucker.
>>47124538
THE LEO TRIES HARD EVERY DAY. BE KIND TO THE LEO.
Besides, it's a basic line infantry mech mass-produced in almost the same form since the last days of the War. A knife isn't very impressive, but knives were one of mankind's earliest weapons and they still see use today because they're cheap, effective, and versatile. Much like the Bluegill. Also, unlike the Leo, Bluegills are not coated in explodium.
>>47124507
What are you talking about. They can hand 3 hits on their head. 4 On their limbs. 5 On their torso. It's as safe as can be. Especially if I correctly assume that their cockpit is in the torso.
Also these guys use to be in a goddamn harpy. 2 SP armour and 2K on their cockpit location.
>>47124430
Does turning to aim the main gun count as moving?
>>47124619
Absolutely yes.
>>47124614
You're correct. Torso cockpits are standard for almost all Jovian military mecha...so anything Bahamutcorp or Bucephalus probably has one.
UJCIDF regs also state they must have primary sensors in the head, backup sensors in the torso, a liftwire, spotlights, an environment pod cockpit like yours instead of the Harpy's plain ejector seat, and a shield. A good pilot is among the most expensive and valuable parts of a mech, and the safety features show up a LOT in UJCIDF propaganda, where Harpies are generally shown exploding from near-misses or random reactor malfunctions.
>>47124678
So quite right then?
>>47123673
I almost missed this.
The Tarrasque is better than the Big Zam in one major respect. It does NOT have a twenty-minute fighting limit. It's designed for prolonged battles, hence using beam weapons with essentially infinite ammo, armor that won't degrade to hits from mooks, and what could be considered a triple-layer of defense (I-Field, Officer Armor, sheer armor SP and Kills of structure).
It is a remarkably efficient machine and I can forgive a lot because Mekton Zeta has been so kind to such a rad design. Look at it, it doesn't even cost 270 CP!
>Falling occurs whenever you no longer have thrusters to keep your unit airborne (speeding over cliffs, being thrown and other such troubles also come to mind). All mecha fall at a rate of 8 hexes per Turn. To compute falling damage:
>1) Check the weight of the mecha with the Ram Table (page 99). This is your base damage taken.
>2) Add +1 Kill for every 2 hexes fallen. Apply total damage to the mecha's Torso servo.
Wonder if there's some way we could use this to our advantage.
>>47124733
There's a cost-saving option available in MZ called a "hot powerplant", it makes it easier for your reactor to explode and makes it do a lot more damage. Popular depictions of space pirates tend to depict the majority of Harpies as having hot powerplants. In reality, no sane, self-respecting Captain allows the damned things on his ship, it's not worth it when Harpies are already cheap.
>>47124818
Yep I was trying to joke with you mate. Just pls no bully?
>>47124783
Your throughing this at us because we've been destroying everything so far aren' you
>>47123416
>Tarrasque's 7km range, you mean?
Did you even read the stats we were given for the thing?
>>47124783
I still stand by turning this into the Kaiser's noble steed. Still, it might be best to throw the ideas we have at the crew to see what sticks before going further with the planning stage. If we can take it out or weaken it before it's up we can make the fight much easier.
![f3a02e50762c6a39ef0fd50ddb3eec6c[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/TbvZQP8.jpg "f3a02e50762c6a39ef0fd50ddb3eec6c[1].jpg")
>>47124847
Complacency is more dangerous than the Tarrasque. Imagine if you went up against a SOUL machine that cost a similar number of points, got cocky, and found out at the last moment that it had, say, a 12K beam greatsword that automatically ignores 4 points of armor SP. Wouldn't that be unkind of me? Wouldn't it be terribly unfair if you thought all boss fights would be like the Osano-Wo?
There's a character in the popular vidya Dark Souls known as Havel. Havel is a beast. He has tremendous armor and damage, and can oneshot unlucky players. He's also very near the beginning of the game. However, defeating Havel teaches you the skills necessary to survive the game itself. Tarrasque is much like Havel.This is all a lie, talking about Big Zam in one of the early threads made me wonder what it would look like statted, and once I made it I HAD to use it.
>>47124935
800m is its combat range. Its maximum range, calculated from the square of the number of hexes of its combat range, is 12.8km, unless I've got my math wrong. This is, however, limited by its 7km sensor range.
Of course, my failing lies in forgetting that the same principle should apply to our ships as well. Of course, our main batteries are rather unlikely to hit a mech, and our CIWS has a shorter range than the Tarrasque's main gun.
>>47125023
Nah, your math is spot on. Just waiting on Wong to decide if he should buff the sensor range to long or not.
>>47125023
Yeah, we may need to get the extended sensor range at least. Being able to maneuver around the zam and avoiding it's death gun would be for the best.
>>47125051
We might as well get both the sensor upgrades includi by the ine that we would get retroactively
>>47124999
Why don't I believe you?
>>47125051
Perhaps I'm being dense, but I fail to see the point behind prioritizing the upgrading of the sensor system on a melee-focused mech. Surely it doesn't make a difference if we know where it is if we still can't hit them?
Wouldn't it be better to put it on, say, a scout like Sam or a sniper like Miles, and have them feed us telemetry if necessary?
Honestly I'm feeling support for two actions:
1) Ambush and destroy the Green Skulls before they can/when they can't deploy the Tarrasque
or
2) Tarrasquejacking. Get it out, reverse engineer it, cannibalize it for parts, or sell it to some government for the dosh.
>>47125100
More inclined for 2 over 1 but either works, I mean once we have that what do they honestly have to stop us
>>47125039
No. It's a prototype designed entirely for war. Its sensors would have been upgraded significantly in terms of range if Jesus took it, but he didn't want it because it doesn't fit his aesthetic and he doesn't want to be remembered for piloting it, the way Rudolph Merrow is associated with the melee assault mech King Swordfish or Floyd Beck is associated with the beamspamming Thoroughbred-X.
>>47123416
But can't ships fire beyond the effective range of their weapons just like mechs?
Isn't the sensor range on the Rhinehawk farther then the one the Tarrasque has?
Doesn't the Rhinehawk move 800 as opposed to the tarrasques 400 meters per turn?
Can't the tarrasque not actually damage ships because it would need to deal over 100 kills of damage to register as an attack strong enough to harm ship-grade armor?
I don't think Wong is doing explosive dice, either, so I don't see how it could even threaten a ship externally.
>>47124999
>defeating Havel teaches you the skills necessary to survive the game itself. Tarrasque is much like Havel.
Are you trying to tell us that we need to respec our character, abuse mechanics and minmax more religiously?
>Havel is a beast.
Read that as 'Havel is a best' the first time round.Havel mech when
>>47125092
For a melee mech knowing where the long range mech is is INCREDIBLY important. If we know where it is and know it's range, we can plan more accordingly and not get surprised or take a sudden death laser to the chest.
Not only that, but it allows us to coordinate with our other men that much better since we would know where the enemy reinforcements and our own are. Remember, we are a battlefield sort of leader. Knowing where everything is can make or break bigger operations and we took massive losses from a ambush. Sensors are damn important. Don't chimp on them.
![That+s+probably+because+evangelion+is+trash+_8e73a3863bce69df40551b0cce6e016a[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/pwz23cd.jpg "That+s+probably+because+evangelion+is+trash+_8e73a3863bce69df40551b0cce6e016a[1].jpg")
>>47125133
> I mean once we have that what do they honestly have to stop us
Now enough stalling from me, on to Samantha.
>>47125133
Override codes any sane engineer would install to remotely shutdown a potentially-malfunctioning prototype weapon?
Wait a moment...
![havel-the-rock-large[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/X9Glezs.jpg "havel-the-rock-large[1].jpg")
>>47125157
>Read that as 'Havel is a best' the first time round.
You wouldn't be wrong about that. The rest, however, isn't true. Between your current forces and the Knuckle Kaiser, you have what it takes to bring down the Tarrasque.
>>47125183
Get Karen to rip them out
>>47125213
>>47125176
Wong.
>>47125152
It can still score mega-criticals that ignore armor and get to roll on the ~special fun critical damage charts~.
>>47125152
Range penalties to start. Even if it's a less mobile mech, that -8 to hit is brutal and the pentalty just gets worse the further it is away from it. If we went maxed range, we would risk failing horribly with every shot and if it's near the civilians we risk accidently hitting them with the long range attacks.
Likewise, that sucker if it's close can easily hit if not megacrit which would down right gouge a chunk out of our ship. Likely killing crew or even damaging our reactor. Against another ship our gun is awesome, but even the mega heavy is much too small to reliably hit with the cannon.
>>47125183
this could work
You wait until Doctor Clancy is definitely out of the room and the door is shut before turning to Samantha, "So, I learned something interesting."
"Oh?" She frowns, examining the blueprints currently displayed in holographic 3D view floating above your screen, "Does it have anything to do with why anyone would design a weapon system with twenty-two particle emitters and a powerplant stronger than the one on the main cannon? Because right now, I'm just trying to figure out what the hell the brass thinks would need this much firepower to beat. This is insane. This thing is a monster."
"Well...no. Samantha, listen. Who stopped you from going to Suleiman, again?" You wave your hand to keep her from staring in horror at the Tarrasque, which remains cheerfully defiant in the face of your mutual glares.
She blinks, "It was an order from upstairs. The Colonel didn't like it, but even he can't second-guess General Hermione Fairchild. He's a legend, but even legends have superior officers."
You grunt, "I've been a fan of mecha ever since I was a kid, I don't remember ever hearing about a Ziemowit Stern."
"He changed his name." Her mouth becomes a small, tight line, "Please don't ask, Roarke, he told us A members in confidence and it's a secret I can't betray. He's a good man, though, you have to trust me on that. An honest man who just didn't want to be famous for what he did in the past."
You let it go. Temporarily, "So, it definitely came from the general? Because unless those two boneheads I killed were hallucinating after I ripped out their cockpits, someone with a lot of authority promised them a free hand and no interference. Why?"
[Continued]
She rubs her temples, "I don't know! You might have noticed already, but strange things are happening with SOUL. For instance, Squad B solidly outranking everyone in Squad A. Ostensibly, it's because we're test pilots and they're elites in charge of commanding future units, but the Colonel said something to the effect of suspecting that it was to make it difficult for us to interfere with them. Establishing B wasn't something he wanted to do, it was another order from above. Then there's this facility, with a machine we don't have in our records, that only B knew about...and at that, one they were fitting a pilot for even before that pilot officially joined SOUL...and that I don't have override codes for."
"Override codes?" You don't like having to be strict with someone you're sleeping with, but you're an Admiral with two ships and a few hundred crew to protect. Your personal life comes second to your duties.
"If someone stole the Betta I could turn it off as long as I was in PC range to call it, along with its cloaking systems. The stealth is sort of built in, but the cloaking at least has controls. I could do the same for the S-Swordtail and S-Puffer, although faking Pierre or Naomi's voice would be difficult. I could probably record them saying it somehow, though, that's why I'm not ruling it out as impossible. This isn't a SOUL Squadron A machine, though, and I suspect if Doctor Clancy could turn it off he would have done it by now even if there were hostages involved." She sighs, hugging herself a little, "This isn't what I joined the military for. We're supposed to be special forces, heroes, working with a group like the Green Skulls goes against everything we stand for, everything the Colonel and my little brother and Naomi stand for."
You make yourself smile, reach across the table, and take her hands, rubbing your thumbs along the backs of them until she calms down enough to look at you, "It's going to be okay. We can win."
>[What say next?]
>>47125543
Well you could always leave and join me? Of course that is if we could get your brother and colonel to come along eh? But I need you to look for any weakness that thing has with Karen.
>>47125543
Now let's go figure out a way to make huge makeshift bomb to melt this thing or luring it into the colony and blowing up the colony.
>>47125543
Dont worry I have a plan all you need to do is get a group of us cloaked into the base and near the mech, we might not be able to damage it from the outside but what about the inside (get a bomb or a reactor into the cockpit then detonate it)
>>47125543
Up to you guys how to swing Sam our way. I can't think of anything that isn't hypocritical to say.
Send the Zam blueprint to the Cohens. They might be able to find some weakness we can exploit since they know what exactly our armaments are. Give Oda the heads up.
>>47125647
If we're able to access the cockpit, why not just hijack it?
>>47125647
Further thinking into this we can have the ships and crew attack the colony to get the green skulls to all run to their stations and we kill the people who run to the mech. We can also have a prerecorded message play as though it were real time to make them less suspicious about us
>>47125685
I would rather make sure its completely out of the fight then chance them pulling some bullshit
>>47125713
Remember to specify colony or asteroid. Both are considered Suleiman 1, but they're obviously separated by some void and your ships and mecha are preventing further Green Skulls on the asteroid from reaching the colony proper.
>>47125620
We rob civilians anon. We are pirates at the core.. Think of something else to get her on our side.
>>47125783
We seemed pretty angry about those guys killing civilians, didn't we? I think last thread there was something about us not aiming for the cockpits when we fought Shetlands, either.
>>47125783
Tell her that at least we don't have any ulterior motives and what you see is what you get with us unlike the military plus we have no reason to harn civies sibce then we cant get any ransom money
You tap a few of the holographic icons at the bottom of the display screen, bringing up your contacts list and selecting the floating, smiling image of Karen's face. After thinking for a moment, you select Cornelius' pruny visage as well, and forward the Tarrasque file to both of them with a short message consisting entirely of 'The Green Skulls have this. Can you find a weakness?'
You also forward the same file to Oda, Miles, Richard, and Mohammed. You've had the kid training his sword skills with Oda, the best swordsman in your fleet...despite your own reservations about the kid picking up bad habits from him...but if he's going to be an officer, and you suspect he has the potential for it, he's got to be in the loop. You also send a secondary message to Cornelius and Oda inquiring about how many spare reactors and materials for bombs the two ships have. The fact that Oda responds with a prompt 'Plenty, aniki!' and Cornelius takes a picture of him gesturing angrily at a pile of reactors in blast-sealed pods is vaguely reassuring.
Ignoring the multiple bings a few moments later, mostly messages consisting entirely of profanity, or incredulous doubts about it being real, you turn back to Samantha, "You have a third squad member, you said? I know UJCIDF squads are smaller than the typical pirate squad, but I don't know the details."
She nods, "Harpies are smaller, so they tend to fly in the five-mech lance, like Martian military. The UJCIDF has sturdier machines, which also tend to cost more, so in general we use three-mech squads for easier management. After all, we have the infrastructure for a proper officer corps that can direct multiple squads from a battleship or command mech." She smiles a little, "Don't worry, between myself and Karen, the Double Girl Alliance won't fail you. I've seen what she's done for the Black Ogre, it's very impressive."
>[Persuade her to join your crew?]
>>47126053
Sure or at least attempt to. Bring up the points of keeping our word and not harming civilians.
Rolled 7 + 5 (1d10 + 5)
>>47126053
Sure what do we have to lose
>>47126053
But will we try to make her a double agent or keep her with us?
>>47126053
No, don't persuade her. I have a feeling she's gonna say no, and being in the military to help people is what she wants anyway.
Plus, SOUL A turning rogue like the Izumo crew is something I wanna see
>>47126114
Double agent only until she can convince the rest of her team and we can convince Clemmy
>>47126147
Why do you guys have such a hard on for Clemmy?
>>47126053
Alright anons. I'll help you out. Just promise me that you'll help me protect Clemmy's and Red Siren's smile.
"Sam. You know what our crew is about. We rob civilians but we don't kill them. Our last missions had no civilian casualty and we made sure to escort them safely to california station. The UJCIDF has been withholding information from you. Information that let these people that had families on the Station suffer. It's not about being a hero. It's about doing the right thing. You helped them Sam. The doc and his kid. That's why I know you have a good heart. Come and join me. I am on a crusade to destroy the Green Skulls. They hurt people and right now they want to hurt a good friend of mine. "
>>47126165
We like crazy bloodthirsty bitches. Well I do.
>>47126147
Convincing Clemmy will be easy
>"Hey, come here, I'm going to beat the everliving shit out of you in mech combat, then hand to hand combat, then I'm going to fuck you into the dirt and you have to join my crew. Or you kill me and do whatever. Deal?"
>>47126165
Why don't you? Hot blooded girls are great, next your gonna day Aduka is worst girl
>>47126180
The easier and less fun way would be just saying
>look at what I get to fight wanna join my crew
>>47126200
Fucking mobile is the worst for my spelling
>>47126137
I agree. For the time being we shouldn't force her. It would put her team mates in peril. However, we should get some info leaked. Tarnish the Soul B team a bit, specificly Jesus and get the Soul A team to be ready to turn once corruption rears it's head.
Getting a Titans feel from the Soul B team.
>>47126179
I don't like crazy and she definitely seems crazy.
>>47126200
Bloodthirsty is a polite way of saying fucking mental. And Asuka is best waifu in Evangelion.
>>47126180
I think letting Clemmy join is the only thing the crew would completely object to
>>47126200
There's a difference between 'hotblooded' and 'murderous ball full of space madness'
You chew over what to say next for a moment. So far, honesty has worked well with Samantha. She's good at reading people, "Maybe it's time you left the military. I can't promise to be a knight in shining armor, I'm a pirate to the core and we both know it, but what you've seen of me is what there is. I keep my word, I don't have any ulterior motives besides making the Iron Kestrels better and wiping out the Green Skulls, and I don't hurt civilians unless they're doing their best to kill me and have a credible chance of success. After all, live people are worth credits, dead ones usually aren't. I care about you, and it's obvious you care about me. Why shouldn't we be together?"
Samantha stares at you. She blushes. She pokes her fingertips together and looks away, "Maybe it is time. I want to, Roarke. I want to be with you. I want to support you. I want to see you smile and hear the sound of your voice when I wake up every day for the rest of my life. I know something rotten is going on, and it's something I'm only helping by inaction." She throws herself across the table and hugs you, "I accept, but I can't just go, I have to talk to my brother first. Naomi is a friend, and I have the deepest respect for Colonel Stern, but I don't love them the way I..." She blushes brilliantly scarlet, "A-Anyway, my brother is family, he at least deserves to know before I fake my own death or something. At least let me talk to him before I really finally make up my mind. I know what my heart is telling me, though, and one of the things it's saying is that you could be a truly great man with someone to keep you from becoming a monster. I'm open to your suggestions about what to actually do, though, I didn't think you would really want me along just yet."
>[What say?]
>>47126231
I think they would rather have her on our side and not have to fight againat her
>>47126200
>The easier and less fun way would be just saying
>>look at what I get to fight wanna join my crew
>implying she would join just to fight small fries
Nah nigga, she's going for the shark, not the salmon.
>>47126165
Well, for starters, she has a fantastic voice that the pictures really don't convey, but that youtube probably has examples of. Like a cutely murderous sheepgirl.
>>47126246
Well if you think you could convo ever your friends and brother to join us then absolutely go ahead. I wouldn't want you to go against them in combat. But only if you think there is a credible chance of success. Talk to them anyways. Just maybe don't mention me yeah? Bad influence and all.
>>47126246
better have her stay in for now. see if she can't dig around for info and convince her group to defect.
>>47126291
Convince not convo phone what the fuck?
>>47126246
Well then we should tell her to take her time, maybe see if she can't get the others on our side, or at least not against us so openly.
She should be careful, though, because damn girl you gonna get imprisoned.
>>47126246
>Willing to throw her old life away
>Willing to become a criminal
>Thinks she can be the morality pet to a bad boy
Honestly, this is setting off all kinds of alarm bells of the 'Jesus restrain yourself and think it through' kind.
>>47126333
>>47126303
Supporting these.
>>47126246
Take her time I guess. Tell her that if she is hesitating then its fine not to as well. It's not like we'll ever leave her. Give her another job. We need to find out who's the mole in the UJCIDF. Also who the fuck is this Naomi? Is she the mole? I think she's the mole. Lol we found the mole.
>>47126291
Pretty much this
Wong can we still get that sensor upgrade that we would have retroactively
"You helped those two at extreme risk to your own life, the doc and his kid. That's just confirmation of what I already knew, that you have a good heart. If you sat by knowing the people here were being abandoned and did nothing, I wouldn't have asked you to stay with me. Even so, for your own sake, think this through. Talk to whoever you need to talk to, see if your brother is as fed up with what's going on as you are because I don't ever intend to give you the order to fight family...but be careful. Think about what you're risking. Just, ah, don't mention me." You wink at her, and pat her on the back.
"I've studiously avoided telling anyone about the date they know I went on. None of them know it was with you...otherwise the Butcher might have done something really unpleasant to me." She shudders a little, and rests her cheek against your shoulder, "Thanks, Roarke. I really was right about you. You do care about other people."
>[What now? Yes, you retroactively have the Advanced Sensor Package, I can also give you the Sensor Range Advancement upgrade, if you want it]
>>47126559
Forgot my picture.
Things to consider, who do you want to talk to next? Do you want to strategize, or go play Bluegill Joe with Richard and Oda and have bro talk to distract yourself?
>>47126559
Now we have Oda text Clemmy a bunch of random weebshit and see how she reacts. We can just say we left our PC on when we went to the fridge and someone took it and shitposted.
Otherwise I got nothing.
>>47126579
Lets go talk to Karen and see if she can rig up one of those gamma bombs for us I have a feeling were gonna need some heavy explosives
>>47126579
Would it be possible to secure the Colony of Suleiman 1? As in clear out the remaining green skulls and have time to set an ambush against the Tarrasque?
>>47126579
Talk to our Setsuna clone and see how he's getting along.
>>47126656
Agreeing to shoot the shit with Mohammed, see if he's picked up weebisms
>>47126604
Yes. It might not be immediately apparent, mea culpa, but you've wiped out most of the Green Skulls on the colony itself in your two encounters with them. Some are still there, obviously, and the logical place for them to be is hunkered down inside the military facility end of the colony proper...but in terms of numbers and power you have an overwhelming advantage. As for what's on the asteroid? You don't know yet.
>>47126559
Send Clemmy the first person view of us fighting 20 harpies. With an attached "Something special you won't find on the net, for you. Just the first of two. If I survive you'll love what I'll send you next."
Go and drink with the doc. We might be able to get him to join us. He wants to make his name. Give him the chance to make the strongest close quarters mech to have fought in space.
>>47126602
I'll back this if we can
>>47126679
Cool. Then let's go and secure the damn colony then.
>>47126705
Whoops meant this>>47126688
>>47126714
If were going to do this then we need to do it without alerting the asteroid to whats going on plus we should evacuate all the civies so we can bomb the place if needed
Obviously Oda isn't good enough, but are there any melee pilots out there who RULES OF NATURE! ?
>>47126755
Woah there, matey potatey. Oda is pretty solid. He actually has more skills than us. We are just slightly better at hand to hand while his gunnery blows ours out of the water.
>>47126714
Good plan. Do you want to go yourself, and have another Harpy fight (remember, you will no longer acquire CP from Harpies) or send Miles and Richard so they can gain some command experience and get used to their new machines?
Richard's, by the way, is damnably difficult to finish statting because the system is remarkably obtuse about how buying reloads for missile launchers work. If I'm doing it right, his is basically a danmaku machine of relatively low-cost, low-weight missile launchers filling most of its spaces.
Mohammed's, incidentally, is primarily a melee mech and based off one of my favorite grunt units in all of gundam. Fuck yeah 'murrica.
>>47126812
Exia when?
>>47126802
He's not pure Melee build, and we were beating the shit out of him. He isn't good enough to Zandatsu.
>>47126812
Let's send all three to give them experience, while we hang back
Keep the Rhinehawk close by in case we need to recall mechs
>>47126755
Maybe.
>>47126802
This is quite true. For instance, rather than owning a wallhanger, Oda has a monofilament katana or several and a collection of antique swords from Earth.
>>47126812
Lets send Miles since I want to take what we can from the complex without destroying everything
>>47126812
I'd send Rich, Miles and Mohammed so thy all get some experience while standing by. Maybe throw Oda out there as well?
>>47126812
i'd prefer to send miles, richard and mohammed to secure the colony while we make plans and stuff.
are we still planning how to deal with the tarrasque or is that phase over? can we try to preemptively hit it with sensor noise or an emp or something like that?
>>47126851
So, wait, does Oda just stick a sword into the wall to hang things from the wall?
Dude, why you fuckin' up your walls like that?
We need a cool finisher anons any ideas?
>>47126928
We get a fist attached to Knuckle Kaiser's crotch and pelvic thrust things to death.
>>47126953
Does it have a catchy name we can yell while doing it because thats the most important part
>>47126928
we hit them with their own arms.
>>47126928
I just assume we ORA ORA ORA them
![Red_Oak_Bokken_with_Saya_and_Tsuba_2__46141.1438843652.1280.1280[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/aACaIbH.jpg "Red_Oak_Bokken_with_Saya_and_Tsuba_2__46141.1438843652.1280.1280[1].jpg")
Once you're disentangled from Samantha and she's gone off to eat lunch, you start fiddling with your PC.
You worry briefly that one of your officers might be a little spooked by all of this, and that he might have been corrupted by an overdose of Oda Yoritomo. So you decide to check up on him, then the Doctor...
...but first, you have something to do. You've downloaded the sensor data from your battle with the Harpies in space onto your PC, and in the face of all common sense and without telling Samantha and risking her and Karen being angry at you, you do what any man with hot blood in his veins would do. You use it to impress a cute girl. 'Something special for a special woman. You won't find this view on the net. It's the first of two, I'll send you the other one if I survive long enough. Stay beautiful.'
With that concise message, you forward the sensor feed to Lieutenant Alice C. Farragut, who Samantha calls the Butcher and you call Clemmy. You're able to patch into the colony's ansible feed now that the Harpies at one end of the colony are gone, and send the message, but it might take you some time to get a reply. Despite the risk, you grin like a buffoon. It feels good to remember half of them shooting in vain at you while the other half got shredded up close.
Then, you call Mohammed. He answers remotely, his PC turned on as he spars with three of the Storm Dragons. They're dressed in black martial arts attire, with curved wooden swords. The kid is, thankfully, not wearing one of the ridiculous metal forehead protectors his three opponents are wearing, instead glad in a white version of the martial arts outfit and using a shorter sword. He's wielding it one-handed, more Martian than Oda's...whatever he calls his style. Battosomething? Keno?
"Salutations, Admiral. Please forgive me, I have been very busy trying to meet the Mad Captain's expectations. He follows a strange religion and keeps a shrine to a goddess I don't know."
[Continued]
>>47126900
A wallhanger is a cheap mall katana. You know, the kind that isn't made of proper high-carbon steel folded into layers based on different grade, but is actually made of cheap stainless steel. The kind most weebs have.
>>47127025
>and keeps a shrine to a goddess I don't know."
Oh god, don't be the martian girl.
For fucks sake, please.
>>47127025
>He follows a strange religion and keeps a shrine to a goddess I don't know
He really loves his waifu
>>47127050
I like my interpretation better.
![RobotTamashii_UnionGNflag_custom_no[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/nTCzzx9.jpg "RobotTamashii_UnionGNflag_custom_no[1].jpg")
"If you feel like converting, you can be his subordinate from now on."
"No! Please, Admiral, do not make a joke like that! Several times, I have feigned urgent business to avoid discussing it with him. He is very strong, but I have chosen to walk the path you follow as closely as I can with my blade. His is too bizarre for me."
You consider for a moment, "It's not a shrine to Fatima, right?" You pray it isn't.
"Of course not. She is...how did he say it...she is 'three dimensional, as are pigs and other unclean animals', or something. Apparently his muse exists on some other plane." Mohammed blocks a hard downward strike from the Storm Dragon closest to him, whirling away from a lunging stab by the second and slapping the third across his wrists with his sword to make him drop his weapon before he can attack, "Can we discuss anything else, Admiral? Fanatics unnerve me...do not shout, companions! I was not insulting your good Captain, his piety is his own affair!" Mohammed is briefly busy fending off a very harsh series of blows from the three Dragons before you get the chance to give him his orders.
"Mohammed, it's time for you to prove yourself. Suit up, and get back to the Rhinehawk. I hear your machine is ready...you used parts from your Tulwar, didn't you?"
"Yes, Admiral. By chance, I am the one who had the honor to receive the original chassis of the man I am told was your mentor. The others preferred to use their old Harpy Customs as a base, I understand. I will do honor to Great Captain Ozark's machine, although it is now much different than it was."
>>47127200
>Too bizarre for him
>3D pigs
pic related
Also, can we ask him how it's different from Ozark's form?
>>47127200
Oda your slowly becoming the best side character
>>47127200
yes the glorious machine of Bushido.
He fucking went out like a bad ass in the movie.
Do we get Trans-am?
>>47127200
You've done well to prepare yourself. A great man used to ride that machine. Do not worry if you feel unsure about yourself. With you drive I can already see your potential. Within time you too will be considered a great man by many and a greater warrior on the battle field.
Can we check up on Fatima? She might know a thing or two about the machine her sister would have piloted. Maybe we can get something like "My sister always hated how often the shield projectors shut down when the particle cannon was used intensively."
![88830bba16cf17252b5f3852d44089ea[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/qsmvNjh.jpg "88830bba16cf17252b5f3852d44089ea[1].jpg")
"Good. He'd be proud to have it killing Green Skulls. Meet up with Miles and Richard, they'll see you through this alright. You'll be raiding the colony with them and a detachment of a dozen Bluegills, plus ten Harpies from the Yamato. I'm sending orders to Captain Oda and the other two now, but you might as well get a move on."
"God is great! I won't let you down, Admiral, I swear!" Mohammed ends the fight with a quick flurry of attacks, steps back, bows, and grabs his PC before running out of the room. Funny, you've never seen him smile before, but he's smiling now.
You message the others and relay your orders.
So, now it's time to find Doctor Clancy.
Much to your surprise, he isn't at the bar. Asking around with the bridge bunny on duty (Brunhilde, today) reveals that he's still in the temporary room given to him and his daughter.
[Continued]
>>47127234
You would have seen it in the hangar, it's roughly the same as in the picture there.
>>47127262
Well Setsuna was taught the basic of CQC with a knife in the anime
>>47127262
Get the little one a sweet treat!
>>47127286
Agreed. Sweets for little Minerva.
![mineva_400x400[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/erDF5KX.jpg "mineva_400x400[1].jpg")
You also bring along a sweet pastry from the mess hall. It's not candy, but it has icing and jelly filling.
"Dadda uppy!" Is the first thing you hear, followed by laughter. The dour scientist is carrying his daughter around on his shoulders when you come in, taking advantage of the zero-g environment to drift above the floor while the little girl uses his ears like mecha joysticks.
"UNSTOPPABLE DADDA ZAM LEAP!" He sticks one fist out and kicks off the wall, catching himself with a deft turn and getting his feet on the other wall while his daughter shrieks with laughter and pulls on his ears. Then he notices you, and looks abruptly self-conscious. Athena makes a concerted effort to hide behind the bulk of her father, little eyes peering at you over his shoulder.
Doctor Clancy lands, coughing into his fist and trying to recover some dignity, "Yeah, whaddyawant?" He growls, while Athena continues hiding behind him.
You smile, "Not much, just seeing if you were doing alright. There's no problem, is there?"
"...Why is your hair like that? It's pretty." Athena opines, before trying to hide behind the Doctor's head again.
"Some men grow it out." You shrug, still smiling, "It used to be very cool."
The Doctor runs a hand through his own decently long hair, "Never liked mine too short, always thought it made me look military." You both nod, in solemn agreement, although from what you've seen some UJCIDF pilots wear theirs long too.
"I brought you something, little buddy." You offer Athena the pastry. She hesitates, hiding behind her dad until he sets her down and nods. She gives you a shy, childish smile and scoots forward, one foot at a time, until she can reach the pastry...which she snatches before darting back to hide behind Doctor Clancy's legs, munching on the edge of the treat while peering at you around his knee.
[Continued]
>>47127439
she's gonna be a good pirate captain in the future.
>>47127439
I would drop colonies for that smile... and I am now picturing a Knuckle Kaiser upgrade thats the Sazabi with fist bits.
>>47127472
Indeed. She's got the hair color for it. Just need to teach her the right taste in music to ward off space madness.
Rolled 6 (1d10)
>>47127439
Rolling to resist headpat
>>47127535
6 vs DC 20.
>>47127514
>the right taste in music
>Older Athena leads 80s Neo-Zeon
![latest[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/h8EOMSU.jpg "latest[1].jpg")
"Are you Sammy's husband?" She asks. Right when you were about to ask her father about those override codes.
You choke a little, "We didn't meet that long ago. That sort of thing takes time."
Athena looks disappointed, "Oh. I'm 'thena!" She waves a little, with a big smile, "This is my daddy." She pats Doctor Clancy's knee, "This is our room." She says as if it's some big announcement. You nod solemnly, as if she's dispensing profound wisdom.
"You're on my ship, where you're safe from those people. You're welcome to stay, just remember to listen to your dad, because we might have to fight."
She squints at you, "Are you gonna fight? Sammy said you saved us. She said you were really cool and her face got red and the S-Besta almost fell down."
"Yes. Don't worry, though." You flex your bicep, "I'm strong, my Knuckle Kaiser won't lose."
She giggles at the name, "Are you gonna win?"
"Yes, I've always won so far." You keep the uneasiness out of your voice, and make eye contact with the Doctor, "I just need to talk to your daddy. He's helping me with a very important strategy to beat the bad guys."
"Dadda help him and the Buckle Keister!" She pushes the Doctor forward a little. He looks embarrassed.
"Uh, what do you need? I gave you the blueprints already." He rubs the back of his head.
"Are there any override codes, any way to shut it off remotely?" You ask, just on the off-chance.
He scowls, "That's the last thing we install on a SOUL machine, after the pilot's been set. No pilot meant no one to use for the voice-recognition software, so no. If there was, I'd have shut it off myself or let it explode before letting those bas-" His eyes dart down to his daughter and her innocent ears, "Baaaad people have it."
[Continued]
>>47127611
I've seen ZZ. Neo-Zeon was already pretty 80s, I can only imagine what Athena's version would be like.
>>47127611
While wearing her teacher's old aviators and using a giant punching mech.
>>47127647
In the mean time she is god damn adorable. I'd show her all the old 80s robot shows.
>>47127647
>How big of a bomb needs to go off in the cockpit to disable it
You nearly swear as well, "When you've got time later, see if you can stop by the mech bay and talk to Cornelius, our chief technician. He's the old man with no hair left and a face like an albino raisin. As for your daughter, I bet the bridge crew would love to meet her. They're nice girls and they love kids."
Doctor Clancy chuckles, "Sounds just like my dad. I'll be sure to." He leans down to pick his daughter back up and pats her on the head. You wave to them both.
That was infinitely more pleasant than your next task. Dealing with Fatima.
You make your way to the brig with her food tray, glancing longingly into the bar. The Martians are everybody's best friends since the fight with the Harpies, and now that their helmets are off you recognize one of them as the crewman you almost walked in on with one of the nurses shortly after bringing Samantha aboard. The Scimitar pilots are drinking and laughing with the other Kestrels, and you finally give in and grab yourself a beer before going to face the Beast from the Red Planet in her dire lair.
She scowls at you from behind the plasteel door of her cell, and announces petulantly, "I have several complaints."
>[How do you express your sarcastic disbelief?]
>>47127738
Of course you do. Anything really groundbreaking?
>>47127738
Let me get my pen and note pad
>>47127738
"Please file all complaints through customer service."
>>47127738
"Hang on, let me get a pen, paper, and my bingo card of complaints. Going for a full card."
>>47127611
>"Humanity's souls must not be weighed down by the mass-produced R&B/Pop/Hip-Hop hybrid abominations of the early 21st century!"
