Super Robot Quest

0858, 30 March, A.D. 2070
Outskirts of Defense Force Research Institute, Makeshift Landing Pad

We could do with a proper landing pad, you muse as you see the Yuri Gagarin make a lazy approach towards the 'landing pad.' Really, it was just a fancier way of saying, "big patch of dirt that won't have a giant vertical landing craft crush something expensive." The designated area for the pilot to really land in was, in fact, marked entirely by reflective tape and safety wires, along with a signal mirror.

Then you mentally snort at yourself. Right, we can get to that. After we invest more heavily in Variable Configuration, finding out what the hell Ignatov dug up, more secrets behind ESP, finding out if there really is anyone out there in our area, and oh yes, the kaiju sample. You sigh, which is thankfully drowned out by the engines of the Gagarin. There really was so much to get done, and not nearly as much time as you'd like.

As such, you practically sent Sasaki into a fit when you immediately struck down any and all attempts by her to set up some big ceremony for Peters. There were plenty of things you were willing to work with her on, but this was a big "NO" moment for you. The only concession you made was a small escort of guards, and nothing else.

Sasaki, incidentally, is studiously ignoring you as she watches the craft land. Whether it's due to lingering annoyance, or nerves regarding some possible inspection, you couldn't say.

You reflect, as Peters descends from the ramp with an aide, that you aren't worried. Your people produced some amazing results last month, and you'll let them speak for themselves.

"Ma'am." "Major." No pleasantries, just a simple exchange of salutes in the midst of somewhat high winds.

She gazes around the university with a raised eyebrow. "I distinctly recall the grounds were in a deplorable state," she says.

"Our Engineers," you say. In the corner of your eye, you see Sasaki's attention be abruptly grabbed by a message on her tablet. Dismissing it, you say, "It took about two months, Ma'am, but they made it work."

"Then perhaps I'd like to congratulate them at some point," she says. "But in due time."

"Right you are." As you turn to lead her to the grounds, Sasaki subtly – but with unusual haste – hands you the tablet. It is a short message from Lieutenant Wilde.

PLZ TELL MAJ TO REDIRECT TO SCIENCE FIRST. WE BUSTED IT AGAIN.

Busted what?

…

And again?

---

0915, 30 March, A.D. 2070
Motor Pool, Engineering Bay

"…okay, that's not supposed to do that," Wilde said with a concerned expression.

The CRX-01A was going to be a demonstration piece for the Brigadier. Was being the operative word here. It'd done fine in the driving test, configured to walker mode no problem, and could even grab and manipulate tow cables.

The problem today, it seemed, was configuring back into a car.

For one thing, the legs weren't supposed to bend that way.

"Think I found the problem," Henry called out from the innards of the CRX. With heavy work gloves, he held up a component that was heavily scratched and gouged. "Ripping out the patrol trucks' actuators to power the standing action didn't do them any favors," he said. Somehow, despite being waist deep inside several cars' engines, his clothing was still immaculately clean. "Singular point of failure. Once this went down, the rest of it lost too much power to go through."

Wilde walked over to examine it more closely. "Yeah, that looks pretty bad," he said with a wince. "Man, we just fixed this!"

"And that was after we had to replace the engines when you fell on it in walker mode," Henry agreed.

Wilde sighed. "We busted it again," he groaned. He scratched the side of his head as he thought the problem over. "Okay, okay…we can fix this. We have enough excess power from the engines." Tapping Henry on the shoulder, Wilde rushed towards the spare parts pile. "We're gonna need more of these."

"It's not going to hold," Henry protested as he hurdled over the engines.

Wilde just looked up as he held up two more actuators in his hands. He actually giggled slightly as an idea started to form. "Yeah…but what if we made it tougher?" Grabbing his welding mask, he added, "This only has to be a quick fix. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Now you're just asking for something to go wrong, Sir."

---

0945, 30 March, A.D. 2070
Carlson Laboratories

You shiver as a sense of dread crosses your path. "Something the matter, Major?" Peters asked.

"No, Ma'am," you say. "Just a lot on the mind, is all."

"Poor choice of words, Sir," Sasaki mutters. She abruptly steps backwards as a servo arm juts out in front of her. It is brought back into control roughly, engines whining the whole way, as the test candidate wrestles with the controls through her helmet interface. "Especially knowing where we are," she adds.

"Still, this is rather intriguing," Peters murmurs. Turning to Sam, she asks, "Do you think you could transplant this technology for conventional weapons or vehicles?"

"Too soon to tell, honestly," Sam says bluntly. "The Captain nearly getting beaned in the head earlier should tell you enough. We've figured out the whole 'how to make things move with our brains' part. Sort of." Gesturing to the rest of the test candidates all operating different manner of machines, he adds, "Now we're figuring out how to do it reliably. I should have something in a few months."

As Peters is engaging in conversation with Sam, you quickly whisper to Sasaki, "Are the Engineers good?"

"They…have not responded back," she whispers back, looking a little concerned. "And-"

"Major!" Both of you look up as Peters stares directly at you. "I've seen enough here. I would like to see this 'variable configuration' concept your Engineers have devised?"

You and Sasaki glance at each other. This is either going to be amazing or horrible.

---

0958, 30 March, A.D. 2070
Motor Pool outskirts

"This is a horrible idea, LT," Henry said flatly over the radio.

"You're saying this now?" Wilde asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah," Henry admitted. "Granted, I'm going along with it. If just to see what happens."

"Aw, don't be like that," Wilde said back. "Heheh, I really wanna see what this many actuators do."

"After you reinforced them all with steel plate, then welded them all together?" Henry sighed. "You did fill out your insurance claims, right, Sir?"

"Oh, ye of little faith!" Wilde laughed. "Now, this here wild beast is going to roar right up to these here – "

"Just start the car, wiseguy," Henry said as he spotted certain figures approaching. "They're on their way."

The only answer he heard was an utterly primal-sounding roar echoing from the motorpool.

"What in God's name was that?" Peters demanded as she approached.

"Ma'am," Henry greeted the general with a salute. He could only shrug as Major Devin and Captain Sasaki gave him inquiring looks. "We had some technical difficulties with the Variable Configuration, but Lieutenant Wilde had an idea for a fix. He's-"

Henry was immediately cut off by the sounds of screeching wheels along the driveway behind him. Uh oh, he thought.

A moment later, he could see the CRX approach rapidly. Too rapidly. Whatever the lieutenant did to the engines, it clearly was overshooting their original intent. He could make out Wilde's expression through the windshield as he approached.

It was a difference of opinion, but a giggling laugh was probably not the right response here.

Fully expecting Wilde to tumble into a burning wreckage, Henry blinked in surprise as the car abruptly configured mid-skid, the front of the car rising and leaning heavily against the back sets of wheels. Very rapidly, but in jagged spurts, the 'torso' and 'arms' rapidly unfolded, all the while skidding to a halt as the legs finally stood tall. Wilde had judged it to a nicety, as he managed to estimate the right distance; the CRX halted but six feet away from the officers.

"Lieutenant Wilde and Sergeant Henry, reporting in the CRX-01A!" Wilde announced triumphantly, the CRX proudly spreading its arms in triumphant pose. As much as a stubby car-mech hybrid could, anyway.

Henry blinked. But it only disoriented him for a moment. "This is our project, Ma'am," he said, going straight to business. "Variable Configuration. This is one step towards making a Super Robot. This is just a proof of concept; we put this together with available parts, and while they sort of work, they aren't ideal."

As if on cue, one of the arms abruptly snapped and fell off with a large CLANG sound.

"Now, this proves the concept works," Henry kept explaining, doing his best to maintain a straight face. "But it is going to require some custom fabrication from us to really make it work. But we think we can upscale this to larger vehicles, and of different functions." He resolutely ignored the sound of the other arm clattering to the ground. "Pending further questions, Ma'am."

"No further questions," Peters said. "But you may wish to help your lieutenant get down."

"Oh, he'll be fine, Ma'am," Henry dismissed.

Turning to Major Devin, Peters said, "Major. I would very much like to see further progress made on this."

"…little help?"

---

0900, 5 April, A.D. 2070
Motor Pool, Engineering Bay

"So." You are standing in front of the scrap heap that used to be the CRX-01A. At the moment, it was heavily dismantled. The arms were still propped up along the wall, it was in a "sitting" position as nearby cranes lifted the engine blocks out of the chest, and its innards were just strewn along workbenches as Wilde and Henry's assistants worked to fix them. "You seem to have impressed Brigadier Peters with this."

For this month's meeting you decided to hold it in the Motor Pool, in front of the CRX. More than anything else, as hodgepodge and broken down as it is, you are certain that the CRX had convinced Peters that you were onto something with getting to a Super Robot. You would probably have it marked down for the record that Combine that with Sam's ideas for a man-machine interface...you're curious to see where this is going.

It was a point you wanted to reinforce. You're here to make a Super Robot, and the CRX was the first, tangible step that you had.

"We also weren't lying about needing to fabricate things, Sir," Henry says with a shrug. "We proved it can work, but not with factory standard parts you find for regular vehicles. We'd have to take the frame of a vehicle, and then custom-build it from the insides so it doesn't have these problems."

"Okay." You nod as you examine the disassembled CRX. "I assume you have options for where to take this?"

"We do, Sir," Wilde says from the crane operator's cab. "Like the sergeant said, this was just a test, y'know? Now we've got a much better idea of what to do."

"Good. Send them to me and Captain Sasaki," you say with a nod. You turn to Ignatov. "Doctor?"

He wordlessly gives you a printout. Glancing over it quickly, you see it's a list of requirements he needs to begin safely decrypting the server hub you discovered awhile back. There really aren't any words necessary; you simply nod back and tuck the printout away.

"Sam?"

"Still working on it," the boisterous scientist assures you. "Should have some more results by the end of the month, but I'm thinking at least end of May before I call the ball game here. Got some more ideas we can try if you think we've got the resources for it." He shrugs. "I'm happy with how we're doing with ESP, but we've got that giant chunk of kaiju tuna just sitting in the lab. We might want to start looking into it, but I'm not promising that I can make a home grown kaiju or anything."

"Captain?"

"I am expecting a full report of the local area by the end of the month," she says calmly. "In addition, now that our infrastructure is well established, I have a few ideas in mind." She glances at the Engineers. "Though we are still distant from creating our Super Robot, we should begin considering infrastructure to deploy it. It is more than likely we will retain operational command of it when it becomes combat-worthy."

You nod in satisfaction. Good, solid forward thinking. Even if, by her admission, you were still probably half a year off. At least.

"We've been doing great, everyone," you say. "Brigadier General Peters was pretty happy with what she saw, so she was able to send us a nice early Easter gift. We have a few more resources to play around with thanks to her. I'm not expecting this to happen a lot, so let's make the most of it."

---

---

Defense Force Actions

The Research Institute is secure. A strong Defense Force presence has been established, and active patrols ensure the peace of the campus and the surrounding areas. Yet there is still so much more that could be done.

So it's a good thing Captain Sasaki has more than a few ideas to future-proof the Super Robot project.

Spoiler: Security Net - Local Area Investigation

COMPLETES THIS TURN

Spoiler: Defense Force Actions

[] Candidate Observation – ESP – Captain Sasaki seems pleased enough that the candidates she sent last month are helping. But a problem many scientists have is that they tend to study the principles of their field in a vacuum. This is an ideal time to attach Defense Force observers along with the research staff to see how you can incorporate ESP control into a tangible benefit.
Cost: 1 RP (1 RP investment locked next turn)
Duration: 2 Turns
Lowers Success Threshold of ESP rolls to 4d6

[] Landing Pad - Sasaki sees this as more of a long term idea than something for immediate consideration, but presents it to you regardless. The creation of dedicated landing facilities for vertical landing vehicles is something to consider, especially considering that the Gagarin makes a lot of trips between here and Unity Station. Creating a dedicated landing pad would perhaps enable more resources to come in.
Cost: 4 RP (One Time Investment)
Duration: 3 Turns
Progress to Security Net, Unlocks Aviation Actions

[] "We Are Professionals" - The Engineers' Variable Configuration, against all logic, works. You have given them approval to upscale their next attempt, but you aren't too sure you want the Engineers to be driving them (see: demonstration of the CRX). If this is going to be a part of the Super Robot project, someone other than the creator is going to need to know how to use it. Having test pilots to vet it would help.
Cost: 1 RP (1 RP investment locked next turn)
Duration: 2 Turns
Lowers Success Threshold of Variable Configuration rolls to 4d6

[] A Helping Hand - Restoration - Sasaki sees the necessity of restoring the bunker complex beneath the Engineering Bay. As such, much like with the Motor Pool, she is willing to detach her combat engineers to help with the effort. In turn, she has an idea that will both help Ignatov's efforts, as well as begin a longer term project.
Cost: 1 RP (1 RP investment locked next turn)
Duration: 2 Turns
Reduces 'Restoration' Duration by 1 Turn

[] Security Net - Reinforce the Walls - This is very much a longer term project. All the critical infrastructure is secured, but intruders could still sneak in wherever Wilde and Henry did not get to a few months ago. Sasaki wants to be thorough. A good reinforced set of walls with enough room to expand within, combined with wide ranging patrols as afforded by the motor pool, would cause a severe headache for infiltrators trying to get in.
Cost: 3 RP (One Time Investment)
Duration: 3 Turns
Progress to Security Net, Unlocks Actions

[] Information Gathering – Threats – The Research Institute is in a good spot right now. Rather than focus on internal security, which is as good as it will get for the moment, Sasaki wants to send out agents to observe the threats available. While you are far from being combat effective, Sasaki points out it's better to at least be in the know.
Cost: 1 RP (One Time Investment)
Duration: 2 Turns
Gain information on Significant Threats

[] Information Gathering – "The Distinguished Competition" – Additionally, Sasaki notes it would be prudent to send observers to gather some information on the existing Super Robot teams. If nothing else, they can see what works (at least from a distance) for the other teams, and what doesn't. As with observing the Threats, better to stay in the know.
Cost: 1 RP (One Time Investment)
Duration: 2 Turns
Gain information on Super Robot teams

---

Engineering Actions

The Engineers are in a very good mood this month. The Duo have solid proof that their ideas work, and were able to demonstrate it to the visiting general. Dr. Ignatov discovered old pre-Unification data that was deliberately kept off of written records. For the Engineers, there is no where else to go. Except forward.

Spoiler: Bonus

Gained Ecstatic this turn. Each Action may reroll one failed dice. This turn only.

Spoiler: Engineering Actions

[] Restoration - Server Bank - That this happens to coincide with an ongoing request from Dr. Ignatov is a happy accident. Before he can even begin to access the data in the server, he requires a rather extensive set of equipment. A combination of older technology that can interface with the data safely, along with more modern equipment to begin establishing a base-wide supercomputer network. Ignatov is a firm believe that you can knock out two vital tasks with a single set of means if you're creative enough.
Cost: 3 RP (One Time Investment)
Duration: 3 Turns
Chance for Breakthrough, Test Roll (2d6, Threshold of 5-6; Ecstatic, May Re-Roll one failed dice)
Progress to Supercomputers, Unlocks Supercomputer Actions

[] Variable Configuration - Refinement - It wasn't pretty, but it worked. Now knowing what they do, Wilde and Henry want to try a variable configuration test on something...bigger. However, how to go about the next test is something of a question. Wilde is of the opinion that they should immediately try large-scale tests. Henry, however, thinks that designing and creating a skeletal frame with configuration in mind first is the way to go.

They settled on combining their efforts and doing both at once.
Cost: 4 RP (One Time Investment)
Duration: 2 Turns
Chance for Breakthrough, Test Roll (2d6, Threshold of 5-6; Ecstatic, May Re-Roll one failed dice)
Progress to Variable Configuration, Unlocks Variable Configuration Actions, Progress to Super Robot Chassis

[] Variable Configuration - Which Button Makes This Thing Go? - Wilde's control scheme for the original CRX was...a steering wheel, pedal, brake and clutch. This is not exactly ideal for having other pilots learn how to pilot a giant robot. The cockpit also was rather awkwardly placed. Wilde agrees, and has a few ideas for establishing a template for the cockpit. Compared to the other projects, it's a relatively simple idea.
Cost: 2 RP (1 RP locked in investment next turn)
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance for Breakthrough, Test Roll (2d6, Threshold of 5-6; Ecstatic, May Re-Roll one failed dice)
Progress to Variable Configuration, Progress to Super Robot Chassis

[] Science – Biology Lab – Sam is focused on developing the basics on ESP Theory, but that doesn't mean the kaiju sample should remain neglected. Investing in the restoration of the biology labs on campus will finally allow you to put the sample in a safer area and begin unlocking its secrets. That said, this is a section of science that is yet unexplored, leaving Sam a little wary of plunging in headfirst. He claims he wants at least 'diving protective gear' before he does.
Cost: 3 RP (One-Time Investment)
Duration: 3 Turns
No Bonus (Unfamiliar Territory)
Chance for Breakthrough, Test Roll at Disadvantage (1d6, Threshold of 5-6; Ecstatic; May Re-Roll one failed dice)
Unlocks Kaiju Biology Actions

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Science Actions

Sam is making steady progress with his testing into ESP. More invested into the field is always good, but he has been also showing interest in studying the kaiju sample. The Variable Configuration results has also been piquing his interest.

Spoiler: Science Actions

Broadcasting Live - Locked Until End of Turn Five

[] ESP - Where in the World? - Now that the testing of all possible candidates is underway, Sam reckons to run an additional study alongside the broadcast tests. If he can find consistent data (the best kind of data!) in his current test subjects, finding future pilots is going to become much simpler. Training them is an entirely different issue, but that's what the first sets of tests are working on anyway. This would be a smaller project since everything is already in place at the moment.
Cost: 1 RP (One Time Investment)
Duration: 2 Turns
Chance for Breakthrough: Test Roll Each Turn (2d6, Threshold of 5-6, Successes may lower time)
Progress to ESP Theory

[] ESP - A Matter of Mentality - The demonstration of the CRX has Sam curious. The tests are nowhere near finished, but now he's curious if he can modify a car to respond to psychic signals. Wilde and Henry are more than happy to assist in this.
Cost: 3 RP (One Time Investment)
Duration: 2 Turns
Chance for Breakthrough, Test Roll Each Turn (2d6, Threshold of 5-6)
Progress to ESP Theory, Progress to Man-Machine Interface, Progress to Variable Configuration, Actions Unlocked

[] Biotech - Should we…start on that thing? – The Kaiju sample has been sitting there for months, looking all menacing and quite thoroughly frozen at the staff the whole time. Sam recommends it may be a good idea to start soon.
Cost: 1 RP (One Time Investment)
Duration: 1 RP
Biotech Theory
Chance for Breakthrough: Test Roll at Disadvantage (1d6, Unfamiliar Territory)
Progress to Biotech Theory, Unlocks Actions

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