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malbogio
Jan 19, 2015

C

The sooner we can reduce our opponent's damage output the better.

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Rockopolis
Dec 21, 2012

I MAKE FUN OF QUEER STORYGAMES BECAUSE I HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH MY LIFE THAN MAKE OTHER PEOPLE CRY

I can't understand these kinds of games, and not getting it bugs me almost as much as me being weird
Charge!

Blasphemaster
Jul 10, 2008

The Lone Badger posted:

C is the only strategy that makes it look like we were doing this on purpose.
Bonus if we land like we're riding a pogo stick.

Azhais
Feb 5, 2007
Switchblade Switcharoo

Blasphemaster posted:

Bonus if we land like we're riding a pogo stick.

We got all that flash, better make use of it

C

hollylolly
Jun 5, 2009

Do you like superheroes? Check out my CYOA Mutants: Uprising

How about weird historical fiction? Try Vampires of the Caribbean

C

I have doubts about our ability to slow down anyway

Quornes
Jun 23, 2011
C

Dog Kisser
Mar 30, 2005

But People have fears that beasts do not. Questions, too.
C Honestly now.

Also I'm an enormous fan of both the setting (though I haven't actually read the Lancer handbook I have yet!) and how you're writing it! Do we have a sense for which mech we're piloting?

super sweet best pal
Nov 18, 2009

B

The Lone Badger
Sep 24, 2007

Dog Kisser posted:

Do we have a sense for which mech we're piloting?

Baby is currently built around a General Massive Systems Standard Pattern I core. Old tech but the blueprint isn't DRM'd and it's solidly functional. If mechs were 20th century guns it'd be an AK-47.

quote:

Most humans don’t think to ask about the history of the water they drink, the earth they walk, or the air they
breathe. And yet without water, earth, and air, there would be no place for Humanity to make their home.
The Everest -- officially, the General Massive Systems Standard Pattern I -- is a plainly designed chassis.
Simple lines. Functional grace. Sturdy bulk. Its use-name, “Everest”, comes from one of the names of the
tallest mountain on Cradle. Of the surveyed, named mountains in known space, Mount Everest -- or
Sagarmatha, or Chomolungma, as it has been called in Old Human tongues -- is neither the most
prominent peak, nor the even the tallest in Cradle’s local star system; and yet, pilots the galaxy over learned
to call their GMS-SPi’s by that ancient name. Why?
The sentimental answer is that the Everest is called the Everest because it is a reminder of what was once
the limit of human endurance, of what once was the peak of human achievement. To summit Everest was
to stand atop the world, the culmination of months -- maybe years -- of training, investment, and effort,
defying death and injury upon your quest to summit.
The real answer is probably much less intentional. Somewhere along the line, GMS’s plain naming
convention coupled with Union’s anthropocentric emphasis lead a cadet, having graduated to a full pilot, to
paint EVEREST across their GMS-SPi’s flank. Maybe it was meant to be their callsign, or maybe it was
meant to represent their success following grueling training, but either way the name stuck in the insular
pilot culture. Other pilots adopted the name, and over five centuries it has grown to become the officialunofficial
designation for all GMS-SPi chassis.
Veteran pilots may never return to crew an Everest after they’ve moved on to other chassis, but they’ll
always remember when they reached that first summit, when they proved they were worthy of planting their
own flag on at the peak of the world.
The Everest may not be the most specialized chassis in the galaxy, but it is the backbone of the galaxy, and
humanity steps to the stars from its shoulders.

The Lone Badger fucked around with this message at 05:45 on Sep 22, 2018

Kai Tave
Jul 2, 2012
Fallen Rib
To elaborate a bit, General Massive Systems is the primary provider of standard, general-purpose military equipment to Union forces. They're a bit like if Amazon got into the arms business and then got nationalized. The Everest is a generic workhorse model that does nothing particularly well but it can still accept pretty much any sort of upgrade and modification we manage to collect along the way and it has a decent selection of weapon hardpoints. Something to note is that we aren't really locked into a single particular configuration for our mech. As long as we have access to a printer we can always respec our gear into whatever configuration we want based on the licenses we have access to (and as a certified combat pilot we have access to pretty much the entire GMS catalog by default) so for instance if we decide we need something more suited for close-quarters later on we can swap our loadout for something different without any real hassle. In fact, depending on circumstances it's not uncommon for pilots jumping from one theater to another to simply recycle their mechs in order to travel light and then print a new one once they arrive at their destination, similar to what it looks like River did earlier.

Cloud Potato
Jan 9, 2011

"I'm... happy!"
C. A flashy, risky manoeuvre? How can we lose?!

PoultryGeist
Feb 27, 2013

Crystals?

Dog Kisser posted:

Also I'm an enormous fan of both the setting (though I haven't actually read the Lancer handbook I have yet!) and how you're writing it! Do we have a sense for which mech we're piloting?

Yes, as others have said we're in the 'starter' mech as River is still a relatively fresh pilot. If we survive this mission, River should qualify for some more licences which means more options.

golden bubble
Jun 3, 2011

yospos

C Better to die than to look like we don't know what we are doing.

From the twitter feed of the Lancer's author:

golden bubble fucked around with this message at 01:51 on Sep 23, 2018

PoultryGeist
Feb 27, 2013

Crystals?
Excerpt, The Canny Mercenary’s Travel Guide, 14th Ed.

Liyongo

Classification: Transitional Colony System
System Population: 48.7 million planetside, 1.1 million various orbitals
Governing Structure: Ruling Council - Meritorious
Financial System: Command Economy, w/ additional compensation for special duties
Monetary System: Liyongese Credits: 1₡ is equivalent to one (1) Calibrated Printing Unit.

History
the Liyongo colonization mission was launched in 4808U by Anasi Biodynamic Futuristics, as a subset of the DURANGO REACH Settlement Initiative. Unlike the five other ventures, ABF chose a non-standard colonial outlay. Forgoing much of the heavy equipment and computational infrastructure, they instead focused on a top-tier genebank and advanced genetic engineering licenses. The company wanted to prove that a venture that shaped its settlers to the environment instead of the standard method would be much more efficient.

Contact was lost with the colony ships Tumaini and Nguvu shortly after launch. 28 years after the projected colonization founding, Teagan’s World (the closest Core world to the Reach) received a message from Nguvu and the new colony of Liyongo. A massive gravitational disturbance had caused extensive damage to Nguvu in transit, and it had taken the settlers several decades to recover once they reached their destination.

(Ed. Note: no sign of the Tumaini has ever been recovered)

After its shaky start Liyongo has grown rapidly, expanding from the one habitable world to place orbitals and extraction stations near the two other terrestrial worlds, as well as the system’s gas giant and Oort cloud.

Society
Liyongo was designed to be a communal society, with all decisions higher than family-level made by councils of skilled individuals. Local councils feed into regional councils, which feed into the Excellencies’ Council. The Liyongo Defense Force is lead by High Command, whose members are split between those appointed by the EC and those that earn a seat via commendation.

According to their sociological patterning, the Liyongese value actions that benefit the group over individualistic motivations. Self-aggrandizement is a major faux pas, and will cause a great loss of social status.

Special Note:
Liyongese SP greatly discourages the use of recreational chemicals, and the standard varieties found in most civilized systems will be hard to acquire without a medical exemption.

PoultryGeist fucked around with this message at 01:24 on Feb 2, 2019

The Lone Badger
Sep 24, 2007

PoultryGeist posted:

(Ed. Note: no sign of the Tumaini has ever been recovered)

Well I think we found them!

Kai Tave
Jul 2, 2012
Fallen Rib
"Self-aggrandizement is a major faux pas, and will cause a great loss of social status." Well I have a feeling we're going to wind up inspiring some mixed reactions once all is said and done because it's gonna be kind of hard to not brag about launching ourselves out of a magrail sword first into a gun emplacement. I get the feeling our dude doesn't do humble.

Jossar
Apr 2, 2018

Current status: Angry about subs :argh:
C

Ever bold, ever onwards (to getting our blade crunched)!

PoultryGeist
Feb 27, 2013

Crystals?
There’s silence on the comms for a few moments after you lay out your plan to create a safe LZ. Then Lt. Haile’s voice, full of barely hidden confusion, comes back over the line.

”Copy that Pilot, we’re adjusting course to follow you in. Ah… good luck sir. Pilot.”

Chit-chat over, you put your full attention on Baby’s sensors. The PDW systems have begun to notice you, and you don’t have the best maneuverability. But you do have a velocity higher than what the P3s were built to deal with. You steady your descent, counting on straight-line speed to get you below the minimum range before they can connect. Alarms sound as flack rounds begin to detonate closer and closer to you until-

(PDW Attack: 4 vs your 8 Evasion. Miss)

-you're clear, Baby registering small shrapnel impacts as the last rounds detonate a few meters above you. But now the ground is approaching fast. You activate the charged blade, the ionic edge igniting as it swings out from the under-armature mount. The EVA pack goes full-burn as it tries to counteract your velocity, and you swing the blade down on the roof edge of the gun-tower.

It bites into the reinforced plascrete, your momentum sending it slicing down the exterior. With a twist of the armature you angle the blade a few degrees, causing Baby to start traversing the face of the tower. You yank the EVA yoke inward, keeping you close to the wall as you come to the corner. Ground impact warnings duel with weapon overstress alarms in Baby’s core, but you keep cutting down the tower. Around the first corner, the second. 75 meters to impact, 50 meters. Blade stress at 98%, 101%-

(Hull Roll: 11. Success)

-and you hit the ground, Baby’s shocks absorbing most of the impact and translating the remainder into a slide away from the tower. Which is good, as it seems you hit several key systems on your way down and the slide takes you out of the detonation zone. And a quick check reveals the charged blade survived intact, although its monitor-system is recommending a full maintenance check before using it again. It looks fine to you though, the friction-reddened surface already cooling to a nice shiny metallic.

Baby’s IFF pings again, drawing attention to Able-1 and Able-3 landing. 1st Recon disembarks in good order, their two subaltern fire-teams taking up overwatch positions in the rumble. Lt. Haile’s command squad approaches, using the slowly settling dust as cover.


Reinforced heavy hardsuits and selectable-fire gauss rifles, according to Baby’s com/con. And with heavy-weapon backup. Infantry, but with a decent bite.

“Ah… well done Pilot River, thank you for the clean LZ. Delta-1 is reporting no effect when it tries to fire on the target pylon, some sort of distortion field. They can still provide close fire support, but it looks like its down to us to take this monster down. LDF doctrine would have me fortify this position while my scouts gather intel. Is that acceptable Pilot, or do you have… other orders?”

A: Yeah, that Sounds Good
Let the scout work while you create a defensible fall-back point.
B: Ok, But I’m Going Too
Dismount, set Baby’s com/con to overwatch, and go with the scouts to see what’s what for yourself.
C: Nah, We Need To Keep Pushing
If we stop, whatever ground forces/defenses might have a chance to rally.

PoultryGeist fucked around with this message at 04:27 on Sep 24, 2018

Azhais
Feb 5, 2007
Switchblade Switcharoo
B

Let baby provide cover so they can focus on fortifying and go out ourselves, trust our own eyes.

Don't want to rush in with people that have a Pegasus just lying around

JesterOfAmerica
Sep 11, 2015
C

No quarter given

super sweet best pal
Nov 18, 2009

A

malbogio
Jan 19, 2015

A

I’m more worried about stumbling blind into entrenched anti-infantry and anti-mech defenses than I am about the enemy rallying.

hollylolly
Jun 5, 2009

Do you like superheroes? Check out my CYOA Mutants: Uprising

How about weird historical fiction? Try Vampires of the Caribbean

A

Blasphemaster
Jul 10, 2008

B/C Combo. You do that, I'ma go blow poo poo up but stay within support distance of your dudes.

Quornes
Jun 23, 2011
C. "They were ready and expecting us to easy pickings. Time to turn the element of surprise to our side. Besides, every moment we waste is one they're firing and killing our comrades back at the ships."

malbogio
Jan 19, 2015

My understanding was that our capital ships had all moved out of range.

Do we have any idea of what level of damage the anti-air defenses are doing right now?

Is the big gun still firing?

Do we have a clear path of attack to any of the other anti-air towers?

Kai Tave
Jul 2, 2012
Fallen Rib
The cap ships are trying to move out of range but one of them has taken heavy damage and needs to be towed, so they may not be clear just yet, it's hard to say.

As rolicking as things have been up until now, I'm gonna vote B. This mission has already taken some unpleasantly surprising turns with the revelation that a bunch of pirates have their hands on hosed-up magic space artillery, now that we have some boots on the ground let's see if we can get a clearer picture of what we're up against before we run face-first into it. If we need to we can always tell our mech to drop what it's doing and come meet us.

Not Alex
Oct 9, 2012

Cut loose before the god eaters show up.
B Why have a C/C plug if we dont use it?

PoultryGeist
Feb 27, 2013

Crystals?

malbogio posted:

My understanding was that our capital ships had all moved out of range.

Do we have any idea of what level of damage the anti-air defenses are doing right now?

Is the big gun still firing?

Do we have a clear path of attack to any of the other anti-air towers?

Yeah, the patrol ships are currently moving out of range, but they are still not quite there. The anti-air defenses are working against the fighter wings, but aren't doing too much damage because the wings are staying out of range. Us taking out one of the emplacements may alter the how the other wings operate though. The Omnigun is still firing, but its fire-cycle is fairly long. Its not an automatic weapon or anything. And we may or may not have a clear path to the other anti-air emplacements, this megastructure was not on our tactical briefing and we are the first to get this close. Orbital-view says there should be ways to get around on the ground, but you don't have any ground-level intel.

neaden
Nov 4, 2012

A changer of ways
Another vote for B.

The Lone Badger
Sep 24, 2007

Instead of going ourselves, can we patch the video from one of the subalterns through to our cockpit? That way we can see what's going on while still being ready to provide supporting fire.

We're also have a recon drone we can launch IIRC.

PoultryGeist
Feb 27, 2013

Crystals?

The Lone Badger posted:

Instead of going ourselves, can we patch the video from one of the subalterns through to our cockpit? That way we can see what's going on while still being ready to provide supporting fire.

We're also have a recon drone we can launch IIRC.

If we go with A, River will have access to the scout squad's video feeds through Legionspace/ the Omninet hook. B is just the more hands-on, see-for-yourself, no-comms-interference option.

dont be mean to me
May 2, 2007

I'm interplanetary, bitch
Let's go to Mars


that was sick as hell

No vote yet, just wanted to say that was sick as hell.

Deadmeat5150
Nov 21, 2005

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLAN
Go with A but be prepared to supply fire support.

Blasphemaster
Jul 10, 2008

Can we have retroactively ended our slide from the AA tower in a Saturday Night Fever Disco Pose? That would be pretty rad.

Jomo
Jul 11, 2009
A, we need to get tactical intel if we're to stay on top of things, especially now that we've used up our element of surprise.

Send the scouts out, deploy the drone to patrol around the perimeter of the rally point we're setting up. Delta-1 can provide fire support from above if scouts/drone bump into anyone.

Also, can we get a quick summary break-down of who was in Able-1 and Able-3? So far I count 2 fire teams of ??? soldiers each and 1(I think) scout team of ??? scouts. Like I don't expect anyone to keep track of them all individually, just some quick numbers so if we bump into other NPC parties we can do Z>Y and know where we stand in man/firepower.

golden bubble
Jun 3, 2011

yospos

A

Blisster
Mar 10, 2010

What you are listening to are musicians performing psychedelic music under the influence of a mind altering chemical called...
A

Let's let the scouts do the scouting and focus on our job of protecting the troops. We have already run into one unexpected super (non)weapon. Once we have some intel we can charge in again!

PoultryGeist
Feb 27, 2013

Crystals?

Jomo posted:

Also, can we get a quick summary break-down of who was in Able-1 and Able-3? So far I count 2 fire teams of ??? soldiers each and 1(I think) scout team of ??? scouts. Like I don't expect anyone to keep track of them all individually, just some quick numbers so if we bump into other NPC parties we can do Z>Y and know where we stand in man/firepower.

Sure thing. Its also a good time to let folks know that I won't be running the default LANCER combat. As much as grid-based tactics is very my jam, it would be too slow in this format. So fights will come down to narrative skill/attack rolls informed by our gear and tactics.

But anyways, 1st Recon is in game terms 2 Infantry Squads. An Infantry Squad is an equivalent threat-level to a mech, is Resistant to non-area damage, and does decent damage to low-armor mechs. Their damage output is tied to their hp though, so if they get hurt they wont be as effective.

The scouting choices (A and B) would send one of the Squads out to check the area while one stayed behind to fortify the LZ.

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dont be mean to me
May 2, 2007

I'm interplanetary, bitch
Let's go to Mars


BC

We'll have plenty of downtime later. Now is the time for us to go forth and do poo poo.

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