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Part 4: New Friends Warning:    Stop right there, pilot. You're going to have to get searched for weapons. Sorry, regular protocol.  L-lady...?I'm Captain Kayto Shields of the assault carrier Sunrider. The mean lady beside me is Commander Ava Crescentia. And who are you? Asaga Oakrun, pilot of the Black Jack. Thanks for the help out there. Eh-heh … Don't worry, those guys were nothin'! So, what exactly were you doing out there? I can't imagine a lone ryder operating out here for no reason. Oh nothing, just keeping the space ways safe! Safe...? Dunnnndadada!! Coming to the rescue wherever the weak are oppressed! It's the hero of justice, the vanguard of the innocent! For love, freedom, and just a little bit of money on the side, it's Asaga of the Black Jack! Oh good lord. Let me guess. You're a freelancer?  The space around here's pretty dangerous, so the Mining Union's been paying me to bust up pirates. Easier said than done though! Those guys are harder to kill than cockroaches! Tell me more about your freelancing. Ah, I've been wandering around the neutral rim, looking around for any odd jobs here and there. I'd like to call myself an adventurer. And you do this alone, in just a single ryder? Ah, not really. I have Chigara to help me out. She's the one who built me my Black Jack here. Chigara...? Is she an engineer? Yeah, you can call her that. She's a genius when it comes to technology, and she can fix just about anything mechanical! Tell me more about the pirates. The pirates in this sector are led by a nasty girl named Cosette Cosmos. You've already met her. What's a little girl like that doing committing piracy? Cosette may look like a brat, but don't underestimate her. She's feared in this whole sector as a ruthless pirate. I even heard a rumor the other day that she slit her own pa's throat for not buying her candy on her 14th birthday. I'm not sure if I really believe- And there's this other one about her ship, the Havoc, being filled with rats, that she keeps as pets. Really. Anyways, I've had a couple run ins with her, and I can say, she's not to be trifled with. Be careful of the Havoc's anti-matter missiles. Those will definitely put more than a dent on any capital ship's hull. The Havoc's only weakness is that it's pretty slow and sluggish, so it can be picked off by other ryders. Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. That's right. Why don't we join forces for a while? From the look of things here, you seem to be an assault carrier without any ryders. Help me take care of these pirates, and I'll join you guys as the Sunrider's first ryder. Captain, we don't know if we can trust this girl. We've only just met her! She's already saved our necks. And she's right: a carrier without any ryders is useless. I say we work together for now.  Eh-heh... I'm glad we agree, capt'n!There’s a choice to say “no we don’t need you” but c’mon, she’s got a unique model and is on the main menu screen, you know that’s a false choice. For now, the Sunrider needs repairs and supplies. We'll make our way to Tydaria and dock there. Then we'll decide our next course of action. Oh! Chigara has her workshop in Tydaria. She'll be able to fix your ship in no time! Alright, if your friend can help us, we can head to her workshop. Ava and I are going to head up to the bridge now. You should stay here with your ship. We'll call you on the comm if anything comes up. Understood, capt'n! What's the matter, Ava? Nothing! It's just … ugh … Anyways, what are you waiting for? The quicker we get to Tydaria, the less I need to worry about a fleet of pirate ships warping in around us.Later …   Ah … Welcome to the Stardust Bakery. B-bakery...? Didn't Asaga say this was a workshop? I knew we shouldn't have trusted her … Ummm … We offer cupcakes, cream puffs, strawberry cakes, and various muffins … Oh. And we might just do starship repairs as well. This is getting weirder and weirder by the minute. If I can just come on board, I'll be able to survey the extent of the repairs and give you a quote. How's that? Uh, alright, sure. I think we have a friend of yours waiting in the hangar too. *throws up hands in exasperation, probably*   Uh huh, this is Capt'n Kayto Shields of the starship Sunrider! And that lady's First Officer Ava Crescentia. Ugh … It's nice to meet you. You must be Chigara. Umm … Chigara Lynn Ashada's my full name. So what's this about this place being a bakery? Ah, the Stardust Bakery is the best place to get pastries in Tydaria. The only place! Cupcakes, cream puffs, sandwiches, we have it all. Errr … Do you get a lot of business here? Uuuu … No. Everyone seems much more interested in getting their ship fixed … So why don't you just open a dry dock instead of a bakery? It's always been Chigara's dream to run a bakery! You can't just shut a girl's dreams down like that! Uuu … M-maybe I really should consider giving up. It feels so awkward selling cupcakes next to the starship fuel …  This is a strange place for a girl to have a workshop. Not at all. Tydaria is one of the Mining Union's primary worlds. I've been renting this dock from the Union and patching up ships with Asaga for a while now. As long as I service the Union's ships, they've been very supportive of my efforts here. Well … aside from the bakery. I was referring more to yourself. Me? Mmm ... Well, I guess you can call me one of those people like Asaga. A freelancer? Oh yes, that. (Something tells me there's more to this pair than they're letting on… These girls don't exactly fit my image of freelancers…) Let's get down to business. The Sunrider's in need of repairs. Not only that, but we still need to complete our tests and resupply. I think you're understating things. The Sunrider's a top of the line military vessel. It's not going to be like scraping a meteoroid impact from a mining ship. Ufufufu... Don't worry. Chigara's a crazy genius when it comes to technology. I've never seen a single machine that she couldn't fix. Uh, well okay then. You can start repairs as soon as possible. Uhh, I think I'll leave you in charge of that. I'll be in my quarters, trying to find a way to write about this in my logs. Understood captain. I'll contact you once repairs are complete.Later …  We're about to head out again. I'm still not sure what to do about our two guests. Even though Ava still doesn't trust them, they've been an invaluable help. I think they'd do well on board the Sunrider. ... End captain's log. Well, I guess it's time to explore the ship. There’s a rudimentary map of the ship that shows where you can have optional conversations and gives you the option to move on to the next part of the game. We’re going to start down in the hanger, though.  How’s the Black Jack doing? Uwah-hah! Thanks for askin', but nothing ever troubles mah Black Jack! It's always in tiptop form! By the way, if you happen to get your hands on any ryder upgrades, feel free to arm it on the Black Jack, or on any other ryder the Sunrider's carrying. Preferably on the Black Jack. How do we get ryder upgrades? Well, most of the time I just ask Chigara to research some upgrades for me. It takes some money, but it's a pretty reliable way of getting upgrades! How did you meet Chigara? Me and Chigara go back pretty far. I think we met about five years ago, back when she was just a girl. Mmm ... Well, I think she was a refugee from a planet that was destroyed in a natural disaster. Anyways, I saw a bunch of these dirty guys scaring her in the middle of the street, so I stepped in and tried to scare them away. How'd that turn out? Eh-heh ... Let's say that I kind of bit off more than I could chew. But I swear, I was gonna win in the end! Lucky for those guys though, Chigara pulled out a gadget that zapped them with electricity, so I didn't have to space them for good. So you “rescued” Chigara. Yup, totally! And ever since then, we've been comrades in arms! So why do you want to join the Sunrider? For the adventure, of course! And the excitement! Really, is that all? Well, you're headed after PACT, right? PACT's conquered our home. Of course we're after them. What's your grudge against PACT? Mmm... Well, nothing as big as having my planet conquered by them. It's... Uhh... Something more personal. Anyways, let's just say I'm doing it for the heroics! So, are you willing to have me, capt'n? If you help me take out the pirates, I'll join you guys on board the Sunrider! All right, you’ve got yourself a deal.Okay then. Let’s check in on the bridge.  What do you think our next move should be? First things first. Like you said, the Sunrider's an assault carrier without any ryders. Our first priority should be to find pilots and ryders to fill up our empty hangar. We already have one interested pilot. You should be careful with that one. Asaga's the type of person that seeks out danger. How do you even know that? Huh, alright then. What’s the ship’s status? The repairs are already complete. We're ready to depart on your command. Carry on, Ava.Finally, to Engineering:  Sorry for surprising you. Was there something you needed? I heard from Asaga you were a refugee. Ah, that's right. I used to be a refugee from the planet Diode. Diode ... I remember hearing about the Diode catastrophe about six years ago. Didn't a science experiment go terribly wrong and open a micro black hole on the planet? It was a terrible event. Ever since that happened, I've been on my own. Well, at least until Asaga found me. I'm sorry. I don't really like talking about what happened that day. Sorry, I didn't mean to pry. My people were always experts with technology. I guess it's because I've been trained since I was really little. Unfortunately, there's not many of us left now, so it must seem really amazing to you. But back home, I wasn't even that amazing with science. What did your parents do? They were researching some incredible things. Technology to bring people back from the dead. To synthesize complicated machinery from thin air. To tell the truth, compared to what they were making, what I'm doing here is really only child's play. So you made the Black Jack yourself? That's correct. Asaga used to pilot around a military surplus fighter that she put together from a junk heap. I used to be worried sick that it'd fall apart, so I decided that I'd build a new ryder for her. The Black Jack's unlike anything I've seen in my life. You know, if you worked for a engineering company, you could change the galaxy. Ah ... But then I wouldn't be able to open my bakery … Rrrright. Do you also pilot a ryder, Chigara? I do. The Liberty's a support ryder though, so I usually fly as Asaga's wingmate and provide her with support. That's only for really tough missions though. Usually, the Black Jack's strong enough to fly by itself. The Liberty, huh... Did you also make that yourself? Uh-huh. They're both my creations. We could sure use more ryders ... I don't suppose we could also bring the Liberty on board? Eh-heh... About that … Asaga's been pumped up about attacking the pirates, so she's already arranged to bring the Liberty here. Really? Shesh, nobody's told me about that, and I'm supposed to be the captain. Thanks Chigara. That'll be all for now.All right, that’s enough talk, let’s get this show on the road.  Cosette's pirates are operating from an asteroid base near Tydaria's moon. Even with the help of our new pilots, the attack will not be easy. The base itself has been built into an asteroid which the pirates dug out then reinforced with armor and decked out with weapons. The asteroid base is impervious to most conventional weaponry as a result. Not only that, but the asteroids surrounding the base will make a natural environment for ambush. Just one problem after another … Don't worry, captain! These pirates are cowards. They're only used to fighting unarmed civilians and ragtag freelancers. They'll be shakin' in their boots once they see the Sunrider barreling towards them! Regardless, we should prepare the Sunrider's systems to the utmost before attempting any operation against the pirate's nest. This is where our new guest comes in. I've been working on getting the Sunrider's Research and Development Lab operational. I'd say that we're just about ready to open our doors. From now, you'll be able to allocate funding to research new technologies, captain. Just speak with me in the Lab and I can get started. Sounds good. But where are we going to get the money for that? There're a lot of people out there in the galaxy who need a helping hand. If we sort their problems out, usually through judicious application of our main cannon, then we can be paid in return. So we'll essentially be freelancing ourselves, huh? All right. I've already prepared a potential mission for you, captain. An ion storm delayed the arrival of the spire's guardian fleet during a switchover, and now the communication spire is undefended. If we were to warp in and destroy it, we could throw a wrench into all of PACT's war efforts in the Neutral Rim. Not only that, the leaders of at least three neutral worlds would pay us handsomely. There's been a band of particularly nasty thugs who've been kidnapping girls from Tydaria and selling them into the slave trade. More of Cosette's goons? Nah, these guys are something else. At least Cosette sticks to just killing and smuggling weapons. Human traffickers, captain. Out here, the laws protecting human dignity don't amount to much. I just got a tip from a friend in the Tydarian government that their raiding party's been spotted in the Astral Expanse. If we get there in time, we might still be able to catch them and put an end to their operation for good! Captain, as much as the trafficking of innocent girls aches our collective conscience, we have a war to win against PACT. That communication spire's clearly more important than getting rid of some low life perverts. But they're kidnapping innocents and selling them into the slave trade! Come on, captain, we can't just forget about them! Hmph. Whichever you choose captain, remember that time is of the essence for some missions. We only have a limited window of time to perform side missions, so be sure to choose wisely which mission to undertake. All right. I'll think on it and see what I can do.And think on it we shall! There’s only time for one mission, so do we: A: Destroy the PACT communications spire Or B: Stop the human traffickers Next time: Episode 3: A New Purpose Moon Slayer fucked around with this message at 23:20 on Jul 26, 2020 |
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Jul 24, 2020 18:16
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B of course. Being good people is very important. So far the game looks interesting. The art style looks like those weird cheap anime games on steam however.
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Jul 24, 2020 19:56
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Poil posted:So far the game looks interesting. The art style looks like those weird cheap anime games on steam however. To be fair it kind of is one of those weird cheap anime games. Renpy is a super-common VN program that almost all of those games use. But, I've said it before and I'll probably end up saying it on every new page, dig a bit under the anime and it's a pretty decent military sci-fi adventure. It also plays a long game, which I appreciate; some things that seem dumb and/or obnoxious now actually have a good reason for happening that you don't find out about until much later.
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Jul 24, 2020 21:23
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I have a feeling that Chigara's parents caused the disaster. While the flight suits that the ryder pilots are a bit oddly skin-tight, I like the formal military uniforms. They are a good retro-future look. Let's win hearts and minds by doing B.
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Jul 24, 2020 21:37
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Bust some criminal skulls. Also, the plot of this game takes a few notes from Starship Operators as well as the aforementioned Vandread in my opinion.
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Jul 24, 2020 21:49
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Kayto will be the only male crewmember of the Sunrider, won't he? This game does go full harem-anime. Maybe without the usual smut and we can decide that he is a professional and keeps his pants on. EDIT: Forgot to vote Be a professional hero. OutofSight fucked around with this message at 22:28 on Jul 24, 2020 |
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Jul 24, 2020 22:04
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Poil posted:
In fairness, this WAS their first game as a small independent studio. The separate sequel (Games 1/2 are sold together, Game 3 is separate), definitely sharpened up the character and background artwork. There are improvements to the Ryder artwork as well, but it's not as noticeable. Maigius posted:I have a feeling that Chigara's parents caused the disaster. While the flight suits that the ryder pilots are a bit oddly skin-tight, I like the formal military uniforms. They are a good retro-future look. Let's win hearts and minds by doing B. I wouldn't really say oddly, as skin-tight bodysuits seem to be fairly common in the giant mecha (or equivalent) genre in general. There certainly are series that use proper flight suits (Gundam), but either skintight bodysuits (Evangelion) or just wearing your normal clothing (Vandread or Galaxy Angel) seem the more common choices.
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Jul 24, 2020 22:24
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OutofSight posted:Kayto will be the only male crewmember of the Sunrider, won't he? The Sunrider allegedly has a crew compliment of over 50 people, all of whom are just off screen. Ava's talked to the navigator and helmsman a few times. Statistically speaking at least some of them have to be male.  berryjon posted:Bust some criminal skulls. Also, the plot of this game takes a few notes from Starship Operators as well as the aforementioned Vandread in my opinion. "Last military ship left after a devastating attack on the homeworld" is very Battlestar Galactica as well, hence the thread title. I've already changed some dialogue to be more BSG-like; for example the game uses "red alert" but I'm changing it to "set condition one."
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Jul 24, 2020 22:57
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Lord Koth posted:In fairness, this WAS their first game as a small independent studio. The separate sequel (Games 1/2 are sold together, Game 3 is separate), definitely sharpened up the character and background artwork. There are improvements to the Ryder artwork as well, but it's not as noticeable.
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Jul 24, 2020 23:10
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Lord Koth posted:
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Jul 25, 2020 00:53
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Moon Slayer posted:
How it should have ended. Also, B.
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Jul 25, 2020 02:48
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This Chigara girl and her insistence on running a bakery with starship repair as a "side job" that actually pays the rent reminds me of the fourth case in the first Phoenix Wright where you come across a boat rental shop that the owner insists is a noodle joint. She's not the villain, is she?
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Jul 25, 2020 09:47
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Radio Free Kobold posted:Not even out of the prologue and already those PACT bastards are committing atrocities. No moral grey area here, no sir-ee. This is a Gundam riff. War crimes are how you say "hello". Sadly, the current pilot lineup suggests our outfit's not going to be as professional as Tekkadan. ...Actually, that's a pretty good point of comparison, come to think. Gundam is the foundational work for the Real Robot subgenre, and in general, later shows followed in its footsteps. And Gundam, according to ZZ's theme song, is not an anime. While Gundam has characters who don't act like military professionals, or who even act like total comic relief nutjobs, they usually try to have soldiers act like, if not always soldiers, archetypes from military movies and Sgt. Rock issues. You can have characters with comedic gimmicks (to go with some popular recent examples, you can have a one man army type also be an obsessive clean freak, or have an enemy commander try to declare honorable duels that get ignored by the cynical heroes) but the gimmick shouldn't go so far as to strain the viewer's suspension of disbelief that these people can function as soldiers. Sunrider's new castmembers, meanwhile, feel more suited to a Shonen Jump fight manga with heavy gag aspects. The presentation of their gimmicks goes far enough that they don't quite feel in-genre. Even in goofier stuff like Macross. Anyway, B
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Jul 25, 2020 11:50
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I've played and mostly enjoyed my time with all the Sunriders, and really wish they'd keep a more consistent tone. All the stuff leading up to fighting Cosette is pretty okay, decent military sci-fi space opera stuff getting set up, and then it seemingly throws it all away for a cheap "you called me little" and just lets you punk this notorious pirate, and then you get Asaga and Chigara. It's still very enjoyable, and I'm looking forward to seeing how folks who haven't played it before feel about this kind of tonal whiplash as the game goes on.
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Jul 25, 2020 14:56
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Episode 3: A New Purpose Part 1: Trafficking Violations Before we fly off to blow up some slavers, we’re contacted by a representative from the Mining Union, who offers to sell us some stuff.  A shield generator for the Sunrider is an absolute must, but alas we’re a little short on funds at the moment so we’ll have to do without for now. But that is definitely the first thing we’re saving up for. Fortunately, that weakness is somewhat ameliorated by our new ryder, Chigara’s Liberty.  The Liberty is a support ryder, which automatically makes it pretty much the most important unit on the battlefield. Not only does it have a shield, that shield extends one hex surrounding it, so any units next to it are protected from laser attacks.  Also, the Liberty has the ability to repair friendly units.    That would be enough to make the Liberty a key part of any battle, but where it really shines is in its ability to turn off enemy unit’s defenses. Chigara can turn off flak, shields, or completely power down an enemy for a full turn. As you can imagine this is a pretty important strategy, especially later in the game after the Sunrider gets some torpedo upgrades and strategically disabling flak can let us wipe out a half dozen units at once. Finally, the Liberty also has a laser attack; not great but plenty to finish off an already-damaged unit if you need to.  I talked about the Black Jack’s abilities last update so I’ll just include the blueprint here for completion’s sake (and because I think it’s neat). The Black Jack doesn’t have much nuance; it’s there for DPS, mostly centered around the lasers. The melee attack is a nice bonus but we’ll have other, better options in that department going forward.  Warp complete, captain. We're arriving at the Astral Expanse. Scan for unregistered starships. They couldn't have gotten very far away. Pirate signatures detected dead ahead! It's the traffickers! Battle stations! Launch ryders. All hands, battle stations, battle stations. Set condition one throughout the ship. This is not a drill, repeat, this is not a drill. Our two new pilots are away, captain. We start nose-to-nose with a pirate force of several ryders. Fortunately most of them are grunts, but there are two new-ish units we need to keep an eye on:  Bombers are units that you need to be careful of. They come with several volleys of torpedoes and multiple rocket barrages. Cosette was flying a bomber-class ryder; these aren’t that strong but there are two of them.  The Liberty’s shield bubble. In late game you can boost its range to two hexes, and the Sunrider can get a similar ability, meaning that you can effectively negate laser attacks on any units that you keep inside the bubble.    None of the pirates have shields either, so lasers are the best bet.  After killing a grunt I bring Asaga into the shield bubble. Unlike a lot of games in this genre, Sunrider encourages you to keep your units bunched up for shield and flak protection. Getting enemies away from their own overlapping defenses like lions peeling off a wildebeest from the herd is pretty much the core strategy for this game.  Almost forgot, but there’s one more mechanic to manage: command points. These allow you to buy bonuses. More will be available later but for the most part you pretty much always want to be running with either Full Forward or All Guard.  The bombers are just out of range to rely on taking them out in one turn, so we’re going to have to eat at least one torpedo barrage. To keep it limited I have Chigara turn off one of them. This is a super useful ability as you can imagine but also uses up all of her energy for the turn at once.    The Sunrider and Black Jack’s flak lets me down. I didn’t get a good screenshot of it but that one torpedo dropped us to 1230/1500 HP. These pirate bombers carry a limited number, fortunately, but later on we’ll run into units that have unlimited torpedoes and also torpedoes with splash damage. Fun!  Until that unhappy day, though, this is why you want to keep your units bunched up inside the shield bubble.  Get hosed, bomber.    Pulse weapons hit multiple times for low damage individually but can really add up. They come in both laser and kinetic variety, and are good for finishing damaged units off, especially if they are unshielded or their armor has been degraded. Against a fully shielded or armored unit though they’re pretty much useless.  Aggro is based on kills, so Asaga and the Sunrider both end up drawing most of the enemy fire. Which is how it should be; the AI will target your support units too but if you’ve got a unit that’s killed three or four of their ships they’ll prioritize that first. Okay that’s enough explaining. Gotta save some for future battles. With the bombers taken out the remaining grunts and destroyers don’t pose much threat so we mop them up.      This is where the money comes from. Yes I’m playing one level down in difficulty: I want to be able to get good screenshots first, sue me.  Eh-heh, serves 'em right! Let's make an example of them and space them for good! A-ah ... But shouldn't we turn them over to the authorities on Tydaria instead? The Tydarian justice system is underfunded as it is. It'll be years until these traffickers face trial. I say we speed the process up by leaving them here to their fates.Jesus, Ava. Still, they are human traffickers. Vote time! A: We still have an obligation to the law. Pick them up and lock them in the brig.B: Let them get a taste of their own medicine. Jam the distress beacon and get us out of here.
Moon Slayer fucked around with this message at 23:21 on Jul 26, 2020 |
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Jul 25, 2020 16:23
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A. If we're going to be privateers instead of pirates, let's be punctilious privateers instead of punctilious pirates.
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Jul 25, 2020 21:20
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TheDavies posted:A. If we're going to be privateers instead of pirates, let's be punctilious privateers instead of punctilious pirates. That would apply if we were dealing with people. But our crew would be disposing of some dangerous beasts. Mere animals that just happened to resemble humans. ...that said, the method doesn't sit well with me. I'm not saying the game will do this, but leaving them alive in the escape pods is a risk. If we were doing an impromptu onboard tribunal and then kicking slavers out the airlock without suits, or even detonating the pods with lasers, that'd be one thing. This isn't that, though. And Machiavelli had a point when he talked about never leaving an enemy in position to hurt you again. Going to the courts might be less fun, but it's the more reliable of the two options. And as long as they're out of circulation, it's not our issue if the courts take a few years to actually swing the axe. A
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Jul 25, 2020 22:45
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I wanted to like Sunrider for its gameplay, I really did. Building it on renpy was what killed it for me though, it was all just so drat janky all the time and nothing really worked and I eventually gave up halfway through. Looking forward to seeing if things get any better.
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Jul 25, 2020 23:47
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A Pirate in the Brig is a Pirate that we can pump for information or resources.
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Jul 26, 2020 01:04
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chiasaur11 posted:That would apply if we were dealing with people. ... why does whether we're dealing with people or not change my enjoyment of alliteration?
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Jul 26, 2020 01:19
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A: Word gets out we're committing war crimes we are probably going to have a bad time. EDIT: Not gonna lie, this game has things I would absolutely love (space tactics, carrier operations) under a veneer of loathed anime crap. TheGreatEvilKing fucked around with this message at 02:41 on Jul 26, 2020 |
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Jul 26, 2020 01:44
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Unfortunately we cannot simply airlock the pirates as they rightfully deserve. Alas.
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Jul 26, 2020 04:47
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A, justice! Even if b was an acceptable alternative, how long until scavengers or more bandits show up to loot the fresh debris field and rescue them?
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Jul 26, 2020 08:53
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Res gestae humani, enemies of all mankind. It is perfectly legal for us to carry out a sentence on them. B.
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Jul 26, 2020 19:29
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Part 2: Base Desires We still have an obligation to the law. Pick them up and lock them in the brig. Aye, captain. I'll inform security. But captain, these guys could just bribe themselves out of jail! They're too dangerous to let live! Arrgghh, all right, all right, you're right. Asaga can get a little too excited at times, especially when people are being hurt. I'm glad you're here to keep her on the right path, captain. Alas, even after that side mission we don’t have enough funds yet to get the Sunrider a shield generator. I do, however, buy a torpedo. Right now we can only carry two.  Okay, with that out of the way, it’s time to hunt some pirates.  All right everyone. Keep your eyes peeled for any pirate vessels. The rocks here are interfering with our scanners, so I'm 120 percent sure the pirates are waiting to ambush us. Roger that! We're all ready down here in the hanger! Just give the word, capt'n! Alert, incoming pirate fleet! Apparently anyone can just phone in to our bridge.  Anyway, we’ve got a familiar-looking pirate fleet consistent of grunts, bombers, and destroyers. Behind them, however …  … is our objective. In theory we just need to blow this up, but doing so will be much easier with the other units out of the way.  Step one, eliminate the bombers.  Getting them off the board is even more important this time, because the asteroid base can fire two volleys of 15 rockets each turn.  That’s a lot of incoming, and even with overlapping flak bubbles four get through.  Fortunately, four isn’t going to do much against heavy armor. Now if that armor was, say, weakened by a few torpedo hits first, then we could be in trouble.  The grunts and destroyers can shoot all the lasers they want, at this early point in the game the Liberty’s shields are more than enough.  Still lacking shields themselves, the remaining pirate units are cleaned up, leaving just the base.  Which is why I bought this.  Chigara turns their flak off, and our torpedo one-hit kills the base.  That’ll buy our new shield generator.  Of course we do, Ava. This is only the beginning of our story. And I look forward to seeing how it'll continue. The girls should be in the hanger; you should go and celebrate with them.  Without it, their activities in this sector are practically finished. But I don't think we've seen the last of them yet. They've probably retreated deeper into uncolonized space. They'll probably come back for revenge. Sounds like we've made some enemies today. Eh-hehh ... As promised, I'll be glad to join you aboard the Sunrider. If you've got a war against PACT, then sign me up! Good to hear that. PACT is still getting stronger with each day. We'll need all the help we can get if we're going to stop them. Understood, capt'n! Asaga Oakrun at your service! We’ll need to assign you a room on the Sunrider. I'm lookin' forward to a bed! It gets uncomfortable sleeping on the Black Jack sometimes ... Ava can help you get moved in. Oh, by the way, I think Chigara's wanted to talk to you. You should go speak to her! Welcome back, Chigara. You did good out there. Eh-heh ... Really? I wonder ... What are your plans now? Umm ... Well, I guess with Asaga gone, it's going to get more lonely. And business hasn't been so good at the bakery either ... You should join us on the Sunrider, too. We could use an extra pilot like you. E-eh!? Really!? Is that allowed? Of course it is. I'm the captain. Eh-heh... Well, I guess I don't really have a choice, do I? Welcome to the Sunrider, Chigara. I've got to go now, but you can speak to Ava if you have any problems with moving in. Understood, captain. I look forward to working with you. Next time: Episode 4: The Versta Incident Moon Slayer fucked around with this message at 23:22 on Jul 26, 2020 |
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Jul 26, 2020 20:05
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Score, a baker onboard the ship!
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Jul 26, 2020 20:46
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Poil posted:Score, a baker onboard the ship!
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Jul 26, 2020 23:02
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Episode 4: The Versta Incident Part 1: Shades of Grey Begin captain's log. Despite our efforts, PACT's expansion in the Neutral Rim has continued unabated. Six more governments have “voluntarily” joined PACT and two more have been conquered. Unless something is done, the day when PACT controls the entire Neutral Rim appears to be fast approaching.*door bell* Come in. Transmission? Where from? It's from the Solar Alliance. Admiral Harold Grey is interested in speaking to you. An audience with the Alliance supreme commander, huh? I didn't realize we were so important already. Well, patch him through now. Admiral. I’m Captain Kayto Shields of the Cera Space Force. This is my first officer, Ava Crescentia. What can we do for you? You must have my condolences for the loss of your great planet. It pains me to hear that another neutral world has fallen to PACT's war machine. Thank you, admiral. PACT must be stopped at all costs. I am certain of this. I understand you've been operating as a freelancer since your government's fall. I've got a certain proposal that you might be interested in. You've got my attention. An Alliance diplomatic team has been on a mission to the neutral world of Versta to convince its people to join the Alliance. Unfortunately, it does not seem like the mission was successful, and a PACT invasion fleet is rapidly approaching. I need you to go in there and get our team out before the advancing PACT fleet finds them. Of course, I will see to it that you and your crew are rewarded for your efforts. Why do you need us? Surely, the Alliance must have other ships up to the task. Unfortunately, because of the breakdown in talks, our military vessels are forbidden to enter Versta space. It is too dangerous to get them out without an armed escort, so we had no choice but to resort to an unaligned vessel like the Sunrider. PACT imprisoning or killing our diplomats would be viewed by my government as an act of war. I've been ordered by President Alythe himself that going to war with PACT over a minor neutral rim world is an unacceptable outcome. But PACT's going to try and take over the galaxy one way or another, admiral. The Alliance must stop them. Is there really no hope of getting Versta to join the Alliance? I'm afraid the last report from our negotiators was grim. Versta's in a state of total panic regarding the approaching PACT invasion fleet and they somehow think we're responsible for it. My government views Versta as a lost cause and just wants the diplomats pulled out before PACT gets their hands on them. You have a deal, admiral. Any mission against PACT is good in my book. Good. My staff have already transmitted the details to your first officer. You have your orders, Sunrider. I expect results. Admiral Grey out. At times like this almost everyone wants a hired gun, especially if that gun happens to be very big. At this rate, we could see a new golden age of privateering. We might want to swap out your uniform with something more eye catching then. Do you have the Pirate Commander design yet? Still, it doesn't sound like the admiral is a fan of his own government. Hmm ... I get the same feeling as well. So far, the president of the Alliance has been avoiding confronting PACT at all costs. But my sense is that the military establishment inside the Alliance is already gearing up for a war. That makes sense. PACT intends to take over the galaxy one way or another. They can probably see that it's only a matter of time until the Alliance will be forced into the fight.At this point Ava dumps some exposition on you if you want it. I’m going to put it in a quote box to indicate that it’s not really “thread canon” that she stands there explaining things the commander of the flagship of a neutral world between two major galactic powers would almost definitely know already. quote:What’s the Alliance? quote:What’s PACT?  Finally. Also now that Asaga’s joined we can buy an upgrade for her ryder.  Make note of the mention of the Ryuvian Empire here. It’ll come up later.  We've arrived at the Versta system. Wait a minute ... Alert! Drop point is hot! I'm detecting PACT signatures all around us! Battle stations! Scramble our ryders! We're ready at your command, capt'n! Just give the word! One hell of an entrance ... All right everyone, let's take the enemy out! Since we didn’t do the mission to attack the communications relay, this is actually the first time we’ve fought PACT forces since the fall of Cera.  A Mook is the same as a pirate Grunt, just painted red.  The cruisers, though, are something new. Larger and tougher than the destroyers and frigates we’ve faced before now, they have one additional ability:  A shield bubble like the Liberty. That Mook is now shielded.  However, with the Liberty and our new generator, the Sunrider is now double shielded.  We pick off the Mook outside the shield bubble and way overkill a cruiser with a torpedo.     Yeah, they’re not getting through those shields anytime soon.  Contact! An unidentified ryder has just warped in! A ryder capable of warping ...? It seems to be using some sort of booster pack ... Flag? Unidentified ... It doesn't match any known designs …  For now, treat it as a PACT special unit! Take it down along with the rest of the enemy! So now we have to deal with this. It’s not really an issue though …  … because I bought two torpedoes. I think we got it! No, only the warp booster was destroyed. Doesn’t matter, they’re out of the fight. Asaga rockets the last cruiser to death and we mop up the Mooks with lasers, ending the battle.  We did it! The PACT fleet's history! Ah ... It looks like we won. (sic) And now the enemy knows we're here. Asaga, Chigara, return to the Sunrider for now. Captain, I'm still reading the PACT special unit on scanners. Left behind, huh... I guess it can't go anywhere without its warp booster. Your orders? Disable it, and then get the Liberty to haul it to our hangar. I think we have ourselves our first PACT prisoner. Understood, captain. Yeah. Uu-fufufu ... So ... You gonna interrogate the pilot? Throw 'em out the airlock if they don't spill all their secrets? Uhhh no, I was actually just planning on asking some questions and then turning him over to the Alliance after this is all done. Aw, so much for how they do it on the holovision ... Hmph. Stand back, everyone. This pilot might be dangerous. Alright, open the ryder's hatch and get our prisoner out.  Is this ... a PACT vessel? No. I'm Captain Kayto Shields of the Cera Space Force. You’re aboard the CSFS Sunrider. Cera? I thought you were conquered by PACT. Not all of us. Who are you? Were you hired by PACT? Heh ... Nothing of the sort. Was on a mission. I can't tell you more than that. You're now our prisoner. Put your hands up and turn over all your weapons. Have security escort our guest to the brig. We'll continue with our discussion there. Per protocol, we've scanned her for contraband. We found enough concealed weaponry on her person to topple small governments. I'd say we caught a professional hitman. Anything identifying who she's working for? We scanned through the database on her ryder and all of her electronics and found nothing. She's no amateur. All right. Let's try talking to her. You don't need to worry about that. Why don't you avoid all this trouble by giving us some info? Heh, what do you want? Why'd you attack us? Are you working for PACT? I already told you, I don't work for those fanatics. Haven't you been listening? I attacked you because I thought you were PACT freelancers. Last I heard, the entire Cera Space Force was impressed into the PACT fleet, and the few survivors became pirates or freelancers. If you haven't noticed, this area of the galaxy's like the Wild West. Plenty of guns for sale have thrown their lots with PACT nowadays, thinking that's the way the galaxy's gonna spin. Heh, not if I have anything to say about it anyways. You're no friend of PACT? No! Hate 'em. I would have busted up their whole fleet back there if it weren't for you smashing up my booster anyways. Ugh... Well, at least we're on the same side then. So are you going to tell me what a Cera ship’s doing here? We're asking the questions here, not you.  C'mon captain, throw me something here. Aren't we going to work this out together? All right. We're here on Alliance business. We're doing a bit of freelancing ourselves. Heh, interesting. There, you have our secret. How about you tell me yours? Hmph. All right. I suppose we could lay off your ryder. I hope so. You wouldn't happen to have been hired by an Alliance admiral who looked like a grey old statue, would you? Well, he certainly was grey. In more ways than one. Hahahaha. That bastard. You know him? Know him? I've worked for him for ages. Doing what? But you have a crazed criminal on the loose? Then you need my services. Have a sleazy dictator who's been getting too out of hand? I can set that straight too. Ongessite prices too high? I provide the stick, and the Admiral provides the carrots. If you catch my drift. You're a contract assassin. Let me guess, you're here about the diplomats on Versta right? Yes. Heh. What's a contract assassin like you doing here then? Versta's a rescue mission. Nobody needs to be shot. Rescue mission? Is that what the Admiral told you? Not so fast. That little information's gonna cost you. Nothing big, mind you. You're the one stuck sitting in the brig, not us. I'm not going to go around revealing client information unless there's security for me. And I'd say you need my help more than ever if you still think you're here on a rescue mission. If I tell you what's going on, you let me outta this cell and give me back my ryder. All right. If we're both against PACT, I'm interested in hearing what you have to say. I may be an assassin, but I'm no scoundrel. You can depend on my words, captain. War between the Solar Alliance and PACT is inevitable. Everyone knows that and they're just too scared to admit it. The galaxy's on the brink of an interstellar war on a scale it hasn't seen in one hundred years. There's a certain faction within the Alliance that understands this and wants to intervene before the entire Neutral Rim's PACT's back yard.  The Alliance needs a push. And this crisis is the opportunity everyone's been waiting for to bring the Alliance into this fight. So you've been hired by this faction to hover around Vesta and make sure that those diplomats are captured by PACT to spark a war. Is that what you're saying? Now you're catching on. You let me ensure that those diplomats are captured by PACT, and you can bet the Alliance will be brought into your war.. And if they find out I had anything to do with their capture? Who gives a drat? The Alliance military wants PACT to get those diplomats to get this war started anyways. You'll probably get a shiny medal for saving the Neutral Rim or something. ... All right, you've made your point. I'll let you out of your cell, but you'll be confined to quarters for now while we perform our own investigation. Tsch, that's the best you can do? It's not like you're going anywhere on your ryder without a booster pack. So enjoy the warm bed. Fine, just get me outta this cell and bring me something to eat. She's getting comfortable. About what she said...Time for a big choice: A: She's got a point. Sparking an Alliance-PACT war is the only way we can stop PACT.B: She's obviously crazy. We're going to complete our mission and save those diplomats.This decision isn’t final, but it will affect our attitude going forward, so choose wisely. However, while no spoilers are allowed, we don’t necessarily have all of the information on this situation yet, so we might revisit this choice. Moon Slayer fucked around with this message at 23:22 on Jul 26, 2020 |
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Jul 26, 2020 23:03
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Poil posted:Score, a baker onboard the ship! Hey, the ship's cook from IBO was one of the most popular Gundam characters in the big 40th anniversary poll. Can't hurt to have someone preparing boxed lunches.
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Jul 26, 2020 23:13
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Poil posted:Score, a baker onboard the ship! this man knows what is important. B: I ain't no spook. Radio Free Kobold fucked around with this message at 23:30 on Jul 26, 2020 |
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Jul 26, 2020 23:22
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For now, B.
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Jul 27, 2020 00:01
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I say we go with B. Let's try not to commit any war crimes.
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Jul 27, 2020 00:02
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War is inevitable, But let the Alliance start the fight on their terms, rather than PACT's.
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Jul 27, 2020 01:02
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B, war crimes bad.
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Jul 27, 2020 20:17
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So, either the Admiral is doing a big brain move, or the assassin is doing a galaxy brain one.
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Jul 27, 2020 20:48
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Note that while I agree with B., that maybe we shouldn't completely throw our morals and ethics out the window, doing an "accidentally" poor job defending and letting PACT capture/kill the diplomats is very dubiously a war crime. There are certainly things you could be charged with (treason and cowardice in the face of the enemy, for two), but negligence such as that in protecting your own side would be very legalistically shaky as any sort of international war crime. It's also not letting PACT open the war on their terms, because capturing/killing a small group of diplomats is absolutely worthless for any sort of militarily strategic reason. Whether you agree with the necessity or not, the entire point of this exercise (assuming we're being told the truth), is to outrage the Alliance enough to declare war now, when PACT is theoretically unprepared to take them on. The argument being posited is that the Alliance is currently sitting on their hands while PACT is eating every neutral power, and will only turn their attention to the Alliance when that is the only power left (or near enough) - at which point they will have their full power in position and ready to bring to bear. So opening the war now, when PACT ISN'T in that position yet, is an arguably huge strategic advantage.
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Jul 27, 2020 21:29
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B the admiral most likely has a much better overview of the overall situation. Also skin colored flight suit is a terrible idea.
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Jul 27, 2020 22:50
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HerpicleOmnicron5 posted:So, either the Admiral is doing a big brain move, or the assassin is doing a galaxy brain one. Yeah, hiring an assassin is one thing, but hiring larger forces to impede her mission is just... confusing. The point of playing both sides is to make either option a win state. Not to make it more difficult to even figure out what you wanted in the first place.
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Jul 27, 2020 23:00
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Even if the assassin wasn't on the main picture in the OP and it wasn't already super obvious that she is going to join the crew having the number 03 on her outfit is kinda giving it away. I went back a few updates to look at something else I was suspicious about.  Putting it behind a spoiler tag just in case. Pirate girl has 07 on her uniform so she'll join later too. But it was probably fairly obvious from the start as well. Poil fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Jul 28, 2020 |
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Jul 27, 2020 23:40
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I don't think I ever got pirate girl on the crew when I played this. Maybe it's some kind of branching thing?
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Jul 28, 2020 00:08
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