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Vote: D: Trigger Self-Destruct Sequence. Since dusting off and nuking it from orbit is a viable option, this would be the closest alternative. Also, I'd like to advise the thread to not take anything our paracasual friend says at face value, we can lie, so can he. It makes no sense actually, why warn us of the two minute countdown, unless he wants us to do anything rash based on that information?
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Oct 1, 2018 20:14
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 18:48 |
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The NPH’s threat hits the Auxiliary Legionspace as soon as its uttered, and you can hear Captain Okafor authorizing the redlining of Intrepid Dawn’s and Furious Twilight’s engines. Everyone can see that its not going to be quite enough, but it narrows the margin. If you can just give them another handful of seconds they’d be clear. You click Lt. Haile’s comm twice to get his attention and send the H/K drone over, leading 1st Recon towards the wall of the compound. Luckily the Lieutenant is quick on the uptake and follows the drone without comming you and giving up the play. That settled, you start flicking switches in Baby’s Core. Its go time for you. [1:45] One of the benefits of the EVEREST shell was that GMS eggheads have had almost five centuries to tinker with it, refining its systems. So while its baseline was your standard boring GMS default, it could withstand massive reactor overloads for short periods if needed. With one last deep breath, you hit the big red button that dumps the shell's core energy directly into the Hyperspec Fuel Injector. Radiator fins pop out of Baby’s back, already glowing dull red as her systems spike and level out. Grabbing the EVA control yoke, you slam it forward. Its not as fast as a jump pack, but redlining the jets eats up the distance to the ruined corridor and the guardian mechs. They’ve already turned slightly, preparing to fire at the infantry flanking them when you slam into the one wielding a piece of hull plating and a large earth borer. [1:29] Your impact forces the mech back, slamming it into the corner of the corridor and massive hangar door. You slam down the Deployable Cover, its its anchor-struts firing into any available surface as it unfurls. It won’t last long under determined fire, but that’s one mech dealt with for now. You spin Baby around, the EVA module making you pirouette in the microgravity. The last mech is turning back towards you, its drone system too slow for Baby’s amped up movements. Behind it you can see the H/K drone blowing holes in the facility walls and 1st Recon following quick, their EVAs on full burn. [1:10] Its closer quarters than the MC-MG is designed for, and Baby takes a pneumo-ram to the chest plating before you can wedge it into a convenient weak point and open fire. The heavy machine gun punches through the enemy mech’s (non-existent) armor and sends Core bits flying out the exit wound. [0:50] With the last bits of core energy burning through Baby, you aim a swing of the charged blade at the pinned mech’s head while providing covering fire for 1st Recon with the H/K. The charged blade goes wide, but you’re able to direct the drone well enough to shred all of the odd subaltern shells that approach the squads placing demo charges. They’re not to the Energy Source itself, but blowing the main flow coupler like they are should at least partially cripple L'Étranger’s big gun. Except they’ve set the charges, and aren’t coming back. Spinning the drone around, you see why: a large security door has come down and blocked the corridor out. You watch as Lt. Haile touches the side of their helmet, and his comm channel chimes. ”We’re cut off Pilot, but I’ve set the charges for 30 seconds. Get clear, and make sure the job is done.” [0:35][0:29] A: Roger. Just…. Roger Do as he says. Get clear and pump some HV rounds into the superstructure for good measure. B: Get Down! Use your ranged weapons to try and blow a hole through the security door. C: Not On My Watch! Use Baby as a battering ram, freeing 1st Recon and shielding them from the blast.
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Oct 2, 2018 03:08
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C
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Oct 2, 2018 03:27
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AB. We don't know when we can get another Baby printed out so I wouldn't risk taking a large blast, but the least we can do is make some holes in the Bad Thing and hope some of those holes let our allies escape.
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Oct 2, 2018 03:35
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With 30 seconds on the clock we should be worrying about when we might find the time to print out another Pilot River.
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Oct 2, 2018 03:37
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B then C if it doesn't look like it'll work in time. Losing our mech might suck, but having more people around to do stuff for us has worked out pretty well so far. Again, free drinks.
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Oct 2, 2018 03:40
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dont be mean to me posted:With 30 seconds on the clock we should be worrying about when we might find the time to print out another Pilot River. The explosion shouldn't be catastrophic. The infantry have mined the equivalent of the fuel lines instead of the gas tank. Big and nasty for anyone inside, but not Micheal Bay-grade.
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Oct 2, 2018 03:43
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B. River doesn't strike me as the sort to take a bad hand lying down (see the Catapult entry), but manna only buys so much loyalty.
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Oct 2, 2018 04:29
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B #Merclife
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Oct 2, 2018 04:35
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B
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Oct 2, 2018 04:37
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C, and do it with style
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Oct 2, 2018 04:51
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B
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Oct 2, 2018 05:25
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B but make sure to say a cheesy one liner before opening fire. Something like "The little hand says it's time to rock and roll" or "This is my BOOM STICK!"
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Oct 2, 2018 06:19
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B Worth a shot. 
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Oct 2, 2018 17:12
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C
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Oct 2, 2018 17:19
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Azhais posted:C, and do it with style 
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Oct 2, 2018 17:29
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Azhais posted:C, and do it with style agreed.
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Oct 2, 2018 20:45
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PoultryGeist posted:[0:35][0:29] Vote: C: Not On My Watch! Mechs are replaceable; indeed, they're print ready, it'd be almost no effort to get Baby II. Loyal men on the other hand, the kind like 1st Recon who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the cause, are not easily found. Besides, we're blowing up fuel lines in a hard vacuum, how much collateral damage can it actually create?
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Oct 2, 2018 22:55
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C Let's be a big drat hero!
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Oct 3, 2018 04:50
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C If we fail, we fail spectacularly!
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Oct 3, 2018 05:04
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Not Alex posted:B #Merclife
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Oct 3, 2018 06:07
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B
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Oct 3, 2018 17:55
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So very brave. And so very unused to mech-scale weapons. The H/K’s algorithms are already feeding targeting data back to you through the nexus, the key points still warm from the lock motors activating. With a quick press of the firing stud the drone begins blowing out the latches, its ammo/gun c/c pairs adjusting trajectories mid-flight for optimal impact. (Targeting vs E-defense: 16, Success) 1st Recon loses a few precious seconds watching as the momentum of the weapon-impacts causes the security door to fall over. You startle them out of their surprise with a squeal down the emergency alert. ”Solid-core hyper-velocity rounds are a hell of a lockpick Lieutenant. Now allez, bouge ton cul!” They trigger their EVAs, jetting as fair as they can in the few seconds remaining. Using the Jericho as a springboard, you push off to assist your own module in getting out of the blast zone yourself. [0:06][0:00] The detonation of the infantry charges is visually anticlimactic, just kicking up a few small dust clouds. But your sensors register the momentary spike in power output, followed by a sharp dive to zero. You can also see the black sphere expand slightly, almost touching the pylons. Lt. Haile’s comm dings, relief evident in his voice. "Thank you for that Pilot, although it looks like the shaped charges minimized the blo-” A plume of plasma erupts out of the pylon above you, raining rapidly-solidifying metal down on you all. Baby gives you an environmental alert, wild spikes coming from the Energy Source. 1st Recon has already taken cover, and you kneel Baby down in a stabilize position. Its still odd to you, the lack of a boom or shockwave. Vac-ops are weird like that. But the blowout of the pylon’s ”Pilot, we made it to the MSD but sensors are picking up a gravitational disturbance above your position. Please confirm!” Before you can snap at her about the difference between starship and mech sensor packages, Baby sets off another environmental alert. Your vertical camera feed is completely black, no Tyrant or star-field to be seen. Then it twists, and an immense starship hovers above you, far below a stable orbit. Its nearly a kilometer long and doesn’t fit any of the profiles in Baby’s com/con, showing obvious signs of modification by someone with more enthusiasm than skill. L'Étranger appears on a new holofeed. ”Well THAT was anticlimactic. Phase One FATALITIES only 32.8% of Best Case Estimates. ON to Phase Two I guess. See YOU in Phase Three Pilot River, say HELLO to Administrator Bainly for ME please.” There’s a blast of EM static, and the great black sphere launches skyward, into an open bay of the unknown vessel. The entire ship turns black itself again(blinking, its entering blinkspace without a gate oh holy gently caress) and is gone. ”Well… gently caress. Did you get all that?” Captain Okafor’s voice is tired but still firm. "We did indeed, Pilot River. I’m sending Furious Twilight out to make sure Tu- ah, the unknown vessel has truly fled. In the meantime, 2nd and 3rd Marine will be reinforcing you shortly. We still need to investigate the bunker itself, even if just to make sure this entity hasn’t left any more surprises. Are you and 1st Recon good to go?” A: Yes sir, we’ll take point! Go immediately to the bunker entrance, only repairing what you can on the go. B: We’ll hold the LZ, need to make some repairs Take a Rest (1 hour), fix everything C: Yes sir, although I’ll be dismounting for a bit. Take point with 1st Recon on foot, while Baby repairs D: Actually, I think we need to get checked out. Rotate us out please Go back to Intrepid Dawn for a medical/mechanical/computational check-up and a breather. Note: Baby is Lightly Damaged: can repair on the go Jericho Deployable Cover is Severely Damaged: requires a Rest H/K Drone Nexus is Lightly Damaged: can repair on the go
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Oct 4, 2018 02:26
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A Tip of the lance and all that. Plus these big lugs will try and nobly sacrifice themselves again if we're not around to inspire weasely self-preservation by example.
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Oct 4, 2018 02:31
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A
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Oct 4, 2018 02:34
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The weird ship's gone, the hosed up magic space-gun is gone, that bunker isn't going anywhere. Tell 1st Recon to take a knee and let's patch up our gear before we go knocking on any more doors (B).
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Oct 4, 2018 02:36
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A
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Oct 4, 2018 02:41
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PoultryGeist posted:"I’m sending Furious Twilight out to make sure Tu- ah, the unknown vessel has truly fled." Wait, Okafor knows that ship?
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Oct 4, 2018 02:43
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dont be mean to me posted:Wait, Okafor knows that ship? dun Dun DUNNN! But yes, it is something that River will have a chance to follow up on in a bit
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Oct 4, 2018 02:47
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C Get some eyes on the target ASAP, Baby can catch up
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Oct 4, 2018 03:39
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D Who knows what screwed up poo poo that dude had boiling, might want to make sure he didn't dust us with nanos with those dodgey ultili-mechs
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Oct 4, 2018 04:37
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A Access to everything but the deployable cover sounds fine to me. Would prefer to stay in the mech if possible as we're super squishy out of it.
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Oct 4, 2018 05:05
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Grognan posted:D Who knows what screwed up poo poo that dude had boiling, might want to make sure he didn't dust us with nanos with those dodgey ultili-mechs Agreed. We've done our heroics for the day, let's not look like a gloryhound or suicide-by-combat risk.
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Oct 4, 2018 05:27
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Grognan posted:D Who knows what screwed up poo poo that dude had boiling, might want to make sure he didn't dust us with nanos with those dodgey ultili-mechs
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Oct 4, 2018 05:43
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Grognan posted:Who knows what screwed up poo poo that dude had boiling, might want to make sure he didn't dust us with nanos with those dodgey ultili-mechs Sounds like a valid concern but can we do a field scan or whatever to see if there's anything first? If there's anything to be worried about we should keepnit off of our ships.
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Oct 4, 2018 06:18
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a time jumping joker-esque edgy dude? why take chances?
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Oct 4, 2018 08:00
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PoultryGeist posted: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. PoultryGeist posted: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) receive 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. PoultryGeist posted:Captain Okafor’s voice is tired but still firm. [b]"We did indeed, Pilot River. I’m sending Furious Twilight out to make sure Tu- ah, the unknown vessel has truly fled. I bet Nguvu repaired its damage using parts it stole from the Tumaini to complete the journey, leaving the crippled Tumaini for dead. It sounds like the original crew of the Tumaini died and the crazy old ship’s AI is seeking revenge. Given that it the grudge is several generations out of date I’m entirely unsympathetic. If the AI just wants revenge on all the descendents then they may be aiming to wipe out all 488 million colonists. malbogio fucked around with this message at 08:36 on Oct 4, 2018 |
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Oct 4, 2018 08:30
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That sounds like a plausible theory but it doesn't explain where it got the mega-USHTABI or why it's breaching the fourth wall or how it's blinkjumping without a gate. The last two at least are things that are significantly beyond what a garden-variety AI (or NHP to use the polite term, for Non-Human Person) should be capable of, even one that's gone crazy. Whoever this thing is, it's either picked up some new tricks or made some new friends.
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Oct 4, 2018 09:25
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B: We’ll hold the LZ, need to make some repairs I'd say we earned our pay. Let's "look busy" for a little while and let someone else take point on nosing around the crazy death trap. It's not like there's an incentive to rush.
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Oct 4, 2018 09:25
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malbogio posted:Given that it the grudge is several generations out of date I’m entirely unsympathetic. Given that whoever we're dealing with seems to be all hosed up on paracausality, they may consider the murders to be very recent or even to have not happened yet.
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Oct 4, 2018 10:34
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