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PoultryGeist posted:Is that acceptable Pilot, or do you have… other orders?” Vote: C: Nah, We Need To Keep Pushing We can't get reinforcements until we take down that paracasual weapon, and in an establish a 'anything-head' operation, not getting reinforced means being wiped out at the LZ if you dither long enough. Being on deadly ground means you push ahead. ***** edit ***** Kai Tave posted:The USHTABI for those who don't know is a gun-that-isn't-a-gun. The black sphere isn't the weapon itself, it's the containment field for the weapon. Nobody's quite clear how it works, simply that it does, period. For those of us unfamiliar with the setting, how does this work? If no one really knows how it works, how does it get built? CourValant fucked around with this message at 22:56 on Sep 25, 2018 |
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Sep 25, 2018 22:54
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CourValant posted:***** edit ***** The USHTABI Omnigun is a weapon created using Paracausal sciences, which means the normal laws-of-physics/cause-and-effect rules don't apply. Basically, the Omnigun was created at some point, in some timeline, and through the wonders of Weird Scifi Bullshit its plans got uploaded to the Omninet for use by thouse with HORUS licences. From the beta pdf: HORUS weirdos posted:--funny thing. See, right now, this weapon technically doesn’t even exist. You’re shooting them with a BTW, Union (the Big Unifying Government) has classified the USHTABI Omnigun as an existential threat, mainly because of this kind of bullshit
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Sep 25, 2018 23:05
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CourValant posted:For those of us unfamiliar with the setting, how does this work? If no one really knows how it works, how does it get built? The USHTABI is a product of a decentralized techno-anarchist collective known as HORUS, which in-game serves as one of the four major license sources after GMS. A number of the equipment they offer to those who get deemed worthy for one reason or another defies conventional explanation, such as mech frames which contain five times the volume of internal components than should be possible and advanced electronic warfare systems which have a tendency to spontaneously achieve enlightenment. So-called paracausal technology is an emergent field of study following the Deimos incident where a whole bunch of crazy poo poo went down following the self-instantiated creation of a godlike artificial intelligence. At any rate, nobody really needs to know how a thing works to construct it so long as the appropriate printer fabrication plans exist for it. Did someone invent the USHTABI? Is it a weird leftover of the Deimos event? Was it gifted to HORUS by the AI they may or may not worship? 
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Sep 25, 2018 23:16
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Thanks for the explanation!   So, the reason is timey-whimey-wibbly-wobbly-bigger-on-the-inside, got it.
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Sep 25, 2018 23:46
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“Yeah, that sounds good. Make it quick though, I don’t want to give… whoever the gently caress a chance to regroup. I’ll set up overwatch on that bit of high ground there to give my sensors and the hook better range.” Lt. Haile is unable to keep the relief out of his voice as he acknowledges and gives the orders to his troopers. The scouts double-time it across the wreckage-strewn open area, hitting the maze of buildings on the other side of the tower-stump in good order. Lt. Haile’s squad quickly sets out turning rubble into barriers, and clearing space for more transports to land. A few puffs from your EVA module augments Baby’s hop enough to get up on a squat building. The plascrete groans slightly but holds. Flicking a few switches sends the H/K drone up to station-keeping and slides the HMG up to its firing position. As data from the scouts’ feed and Baby’s sensors begins to roll in, you study the visuals while feeding the EM into the com/con. (System check: 14, Success. Investigate roll: 20, Success) The scouts pick their way through the rubble, pausing occasionally to investigate or make sure an area is clear. But its odd, the wreckage is entirely to light for a vacuum installation. And overlaid with the EM data, there’s not nearly enough power draw for- Its automated, of course! No humans with their fragile systems to protect. There is a fairly powerful Energy source not that much further into the complex. Its interlinked with several others around the perimeter of the ‘Omnigun’, a good place to start if you wanted to wreck things. Which you do! ”Ah, Pilot River? Could we get a consult?” The scout squad leader, tagged as… Sgt. Okafor. Huh, small world. You look at her feed, they’ve cleared through to were the zone of destruction you caused ended. A few stray bits of debris have made it into this interior corridor, smashing a handful of subalterns. Subalterns that are… wearing clothes? As you expand the holofeed, you begin to understand the sergeant's worry. They're old model units, but each is wearing a distinctive set of clothing and have been painted to resemble humans. A trooper nudges one of the subalterns, and to your horror you can see wires poking out of the strap of a sundress. You hit the alert and scream into the comm. “GET OUT NOW! RIGHT THE gently caress NOW! The scouts move instinctively, not getting confirmation before acting. This saves their lives, as the bombs attached to the subaltern frames detonate. The shockwave is muted by the lack of atmosphere, and your warning meant the scouts were far enough away for their hardsuits to protect them from the shrapnel. Baby’s com/con squawks as it registers the reactor signature of four mechs, two in the access corridor and the other two further away on either flank. Before any orders can be shouted, a ear-shattering squeal comes over the comm. Its deafening for the split-second it takes for Baby’s Pilot Protection System to kick in and dampen the signal, and while your ears are still ringing a new holofeed opens up. Its a tight-beam signal, originating from the omnigun pylon closest to you. A shadowy pixelated figure, with a menacing (if slightly odd) voice.  ”Ah, spoilSPORT. Ruining THE surprise I made for the MURDERERS. No MATTER, I’ll get them IN the end. BUT you, Pilot… Un? No. Safar? No. Okafor? Mayb-no, not her. RIVER then, you’re Pilot River this TIME. This is YOUR chance, Pilot River. YOU are not one OF the murderers, I GRANT you safe passage. Just WALK away, and you MAY live.” A: Yeah, How About I gently caress You Up Instead? Charge into combat before the enemy mechs can react. B: Wow, That Sounds Neat! Tell Me More! Fast-talk Whoever-the-gently caress until Delta-1 can frag the flanking mechs and 1st Recon can get into a favorable position. C: gently caress You, You Can’t Hurt What You Can’t Hit Fuckface! Hit-and-run tactics to provide a distraction while Delta-1 and 1st Recon do their thing. D: Everyone, Book It! Try to push past the mechs in the corridor to get to the Energy Signature before any further response. PoultryGeist fucked around with this message at 04:17 on Sep 26, 2018 |
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Sep 26, 2018 01:35
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A
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Sep 26, 2018 01:37
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B
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Sep 26, 2018 01:46
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B. We made ourselves a smooth criminal after all, let's see if that charm works on disembodied mechanical voices as well as people.
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Sep 26, 2018 03:30
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B Yeah well...I can't...hold on, I'm sorry, I have to ask - why do you look like a bright red floppy dong? You really need to fix your lighting.
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Sep 26, 2018 03:41
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B I bet distracted villainous monologuing transcends humanity.
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Sep 26, 2018 03:50
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B
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Sep 26, 2018 04:34
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A reach heaven through violence
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Sep 26, 2018 04:39
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Kai Tave posted:B. We made ourselves a smooth criminal after all, let's see if that charm works on disembodied mechanical voices as well as people.
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Sep 26, 2018 04:50
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We've got a giant gently caress-off sword and a viscous heavy machine gun. ChArge!
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Sep 26, 2018 05:55
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Kai Tave posted:B. We made ourselves a smooth criminal after all, let's see if that charm works on disembodied mechanical voices as well as people.
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Sep 26, 2018 10:38
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PoultryGeist posted:” BUT you, Pilot… Un? No. Safar? No. Okafor? Mayb-no, not her. RIVER then, you’re Pilot River this TIME.” I think our interlocutor may have spent too much time around the USHABTI. He appears to be somewhat unclear which timeline he's occupying.
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Sep 26, 2018 10:55
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The Lone Badger posted:I think our interlocutor may have spent too much time around the USHABTI. He appears to be somewhat unclear which timeline he's occupying. Paracausality, not even once.
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Sep 26, 2018 11:01
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Kai Tave posted:Paracausality, not even once. I prefer Paracausality is a helluva drug , but this is also acceptable
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Sep 26, 2018 13:41
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B!
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Sep 26, 2018 15:19
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PoultryGeist posted:I prefer Paracausality is a helluva drug , but this is also acceptable Paracausality is, was, will be and has never been a helluva drug(s)
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Sep 26, 2018 16:30
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PoultryGeist posted:Just WALK away, and you MAY live.”[/b] Vote: B: Wow, That Sounds Neat! Tell Me More! "I'm sorry, we appear to be having sunspots, can you please state your name, occupation, who the murderers are, and how they wronged you?" "Would very much appreciate it if you can articulate clearly into the microphone."
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Sep 26, 2018 20:17
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B. Who where at the what now?
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Sep 27, 2018 05:25
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Yeah, like you’d just drop a pay-day on the say-so of some rando. Its going to be a bit longer before the reactors on the enemy mechs finish charging, but even with that advantage you don’t like your odds. You have backup, best to give them the time to get into position. Putting Baby into overwatch, you open up your side of the transmission and give them a big ol’ Smile #1. ”That’s a bit of a tall order mon étranger. Not that I’m saying no, but some details would be nice. A name maybe, maybe what the Liyongese did to justify me breaking my contract? My superiors like to ask all sorts of troublesome questions like that. You understand, oui?” (Swindle roll: 10, Success) The digital artifacting clears up on the holo-field, and you can see that the… Non-Human Person is looking at you with a bemused expression.  ”I’m GOING to stop you there Pilot RIVER. While I haven’t QUITE narrowed down which VERSION of you you are, I know THAT the choice to be REASONABLE and agree with me is was not PART of that decision matrix. Only Pilot UN has that OPTION, possible why I like her the most. PILOT Okafor also has the option to LIE like you just did, although SHE’S so bad at it. It made her SCREAMS of terror when I vaporized her AUNTIE along with rest of Intrepid Dawn so much MORE satisfying.” The digital image shifts a bit, now looking thoughtful. ”AND I should punish you as well, as you’ve sided with the MONSTERS that murdered my children. BUT, you’re very good AT lying and it seems COUNTERPRODUCTIVE to punish you for being GOOD at something. ALTHOUGH, since you only care about MONEY parenthesis which is kind of SAD by the way CLOSE-PARENTHESIS, killing THE murderers won’t really be a punishment FOR you. Yes, that Is the ticket.” Baby’s threat matrix pings you as the two flanking mechs begin to move. Oddly, they’re heavily modified civilian models, one spinning up a multi-barrel mining excavator and the other firing jump-jets and bringing a massive tree-cutter to bear. Neither of which matter as the craft of Delta-1 rise up out of the canyon that had been covering their approach and hit the two mechs with high-V flechettes. Combined with the fire from the now-entrenched 1st Recon, its enough to hole the two mechs. Oddly enough, L'Étranger is laughing on the feed, silently clapping his digital hands. “OH, well done Pilot RIVER! You are good at LYING, I was completely misdirected! WZ-4J-ABNeg-G07Y-219/Fi-ZZZ9 it is then, I SO enjoy dealing with you! So let ME set the stage!” The image waves a hand idly, and the great black sphere before you twitches. At the same time, three of Delta-1’s five-craft wing simply expand into large clouds of grey dust, mottled with pink where the pilots once were. L'Étranger gives you a #5 Wink and grins widely. ”There, pests dealt WITH. A challenge for YOU, Pilot River! I am recharging and releasing the safeties on my MEGABOOMER!ONE! In TWO minutes Volley Mode will be enabled and I will HAVE sufficient power to annihilate the murderers’ PATROL fleet. At their current speed they WON’T reach Minimum Safe Distance until two minutes and FIFTEEN seconds. WHAT do you do?” poo poo. You look across the multiple tac-feeds, letting your mind take it all in like they taught you at Pilot Training. Options, there were options. None of them that great, but you work with what you have, oui? You trigger your comm and fill in the Auxiliary. A: Cut the Wounded Loose The other two ships can make it to safety if they leave Eternal Dusk. Convince Captain Okafor to save who she can. B: Oh Yeah! The walls of the compound surrounding the MEGABOOMER!ONE! are relatively thin. Have 1st Recon distract the remaining two mech while you bust through a wall and try to get to where you can damage the Energy Source/critical mechanisms. C:Pick and Roll Charge into the two corridor mechs, giving 1st Recon an opening to get into the MEGABOOMER!ONE! facility and do damage. D: Trigger Self-Destruct Sequence Baby is carrying a 680 megawatt fusion reactor. Get to the exterior segment closest to the Energy Source and set the reactor to go critical. And run, don’t forget to run. PoultryGeist fucked around with this message at 02:04 on Oct 2, 2018 |
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Sep 30, 2018 00:56
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I'm going to go with C. Human-scale attackers can probably get into the gribbly bits and sabotage things better than a mech can, and commandos like these are probably trained in it.
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Sep 30, 2018 01:12
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Oh good, the hosed up magic space-gun is about to get unshackled. Gonna vote for C with option D in reserve. These guys are commandos but they're also unfamiliar with weird paracausal tech (to be fair so are most people) and we can always print new mechs.
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Sep 30, 2018 01:28
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C but but send the hunter killer drone in with 1st Recon to help clear out out the internal defenses and such.
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Sep 30, 2018 01:55
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Kai Tave posted:they're also unfamiliar with weird paracausal tech Meh, just push random buttons and shoot anything that looks expensive.
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Sep 30, 2018 01:59
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Blasphemaster posted:C but but send the hunter killer drone in with 1st Recon to help clear out out the internal defenses and such. This.
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Sep 30, 2018 02:00
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Kai Tave posted:Oh good, the hosed up magic space-gun is about to get unshackled. +1
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Sep 30, 2018 02:39
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B
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Sep 30, 2018 04:35
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Blasphemaster posted:C but but send the hunter killer drone in with 1st Recon to help clear out out the internal defenses and such. Ding ding ding! It's a little creepy that this rear end in a top hat keeps chatting about the other characters we could have chosen.
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Sep 30, 2018 05:59
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Dude (AI, transcend, whatever) probably doesn't even understand why it's creepy (anymore?).Blasphemaster posted:C but but send the hunter killer drone in with 1st Recon to help clear out out the internal defenses and such. Sounds good!
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Sep 30, 2018 06:11
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Blasphemaster posted:C but but send the hunter killer drone in with 1st Recon to help clear out out the internal defenses and such.
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Sep 30, 2018 07:09
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Deadmeat5150 posted:It's a little creepy that this rear end in a top hat keeps chatting about the other characters we could have chosen. True, but that's what makes it so good.. Since I'm here, I'll throw in another vote for C.
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Sep 30, 2018 07:47
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Kai Tave posted:Oh good, the hosed up magic space-gun is about to get unshackled. I like this but add in the HK drone
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Sep 30, 2018 08:14
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C and A? We can try to relay this info up to the ships at the same time.
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Sep 30, 2018 23:38
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hollylolly posted:C and A? We can try to relay this info up to the ships at the same time. We'll be warning the fleet in all options, in A we're spending time trying to convince Captain Okafor instead of other actions. Baby's com/con isn't smart enough to perform complex tactics by itself.
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Sep 30, 2018 23:47
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D, nuclear bombs are the best answer to paracausality!
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Oct 1, 2018 00:02
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neaden posted:D, nuclear bombs are the best answer to paracausality! They're a pretty good answer to a lot of things, really.
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Oct 1, 2018 00:18
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PoultryGeist posted:We'll be warning the fleet in all options, in A we're spending time trying to convince Captain Okafor instead of other actions. Baby's com/con isn't smart enough to perform complex tactics by itself. Ok, that makes sense.
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Oct 1, 2018 02:19
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