And I'm aware that if I drop off the net too often people will just stop participating. That's understandable. Either way, I'll keep posting until either people decide they've had enough, or we all decide on a suitable stop-off point for the story.
Just don't expect the daily upload rate I used to maintain. Those are long bygone days sadly.
B.G. Peters' hands immediately signed off on the next monthly budget for the DFRI. The remnants of the old powers might noticed the potential the Super Robots represented, but it was far too late for them to change course.
Plans to restore the satellite laser project - denied, and a note to send to Intelligence at a later date. I know where that line of thinking goes. No thank you.
Welcome back. I would like to know that as well @Basarin. Her comment on the Satellites is either a bit of forshadowing or something that will be irrelevant to the quest.
Welcome back. I would like to know that as well @Basarin. Her comment on the Satellites is either a bit of forshadowing or something that will be irrelevant to the quest.
B.G. Peters was actively involved with the Unification Wars at their closing years. That and there was a lot of shady stuff getting thrown around before the whole Day of Starfall unpleasantness.
That's all I'll reveal about it at the moment. So! Just as a quick road map going ahead, and to set expectations and to hold myself to meet them:
- Turn posts are going to be set for weekends.
- Sidestory snippets will vary.
- My immediate priority is to reestablish my old notes and narrow down the path to the end game. As such, expect the majority of upcoming posts outside of dealing with Yukimura Jiro to be a mass reorganization of the assets page, the Character Sheet, the build sheets, etc.
- Some features I'm looking to insert into here includes highlighting the activities of the enemy factions and the other Super Robot teams. But in a way more tangible for you all to see. That's a work in progress, so it might be a bit before that shows up.
With that...I really should get around to finishing SRW X. Especially since SRW T was just announced, with the trend continuing for series you normally wouldn't expect to show up in an SRW game.
And @Blonddude42, I totally hear you. I had additional corrections to make on my master's thesis. And when said thesis is 80 pages long, including bibliography...well. It makes you never want to touch that topic EVER AGAIN.
Then I listen to the Mazinger Z Infinity theme, and everything is all good. Still, glad you're enjoying what you've read so far! I just sadly can't keep up the almost daily posting rate I used to.
Such is life, really.
0903, 30 May A.D. 2072
Trail Cafe, Gasparton
You take a few moments to think about how you're going to approach this. Yet for some reason it felt like months rather than minutes. Dismissing this quirk of time dilation as a result of the higher workings of the universe you have no control over, you approach the young man's table.
"Morning." Jiro looks up to see you. You casually sit down in the seat opposite to him, Anna taking a seat to your right. You can see his eyes flash up in recognition at Anna - which made sense, really, she's the one who set up the meeting - but he gives you a more discerning look. "Heard you were looking for me. Jiro Yukimura?"
"Yup, that's me," he admits freely enough. "I know her - " he juts a thumb over at Anna, who just cheerfully waves in response, " - but...eh, you kinda have me at a disadvantage."
"Not as much as you'd think," you shoot back. You point towards the sets of notes and magazines on his side of the able. All on the various new mecha that have cropped up from the past few years are displayed. Plenty of original photographs as well. "May I?" you ask with some of the photos. When he nods and shrugs, you look over some of the photographs -
- and you're impressed, actually. Anna had mentioned he'd been in the New York attacks. Yet you weren't expecting to see second-story level photographs of the Valiant, the Westphalian walkers, and the Jackals of the FRG. You look back up at him - as if he knows what you're thinking, he just shrugs with a nonchalant 'so what?' look. He had guts, you had to give him that. "You clearly know about our work. Enough that you made it here," you point out gently. "So...here we are. Johnathan Devin. I run the herd of cats that make these things possible."
It's Jiro's turn to stare at you. "You're okay with just saying that out in the open?" he asks.
"Considering that I had an intelligence agent vet you several times over-"
"-and a few more just for thoroughness' sake," Anna cuts in.
"-we wouldn't be having a conversation if she thought you were a danger," you finish, as if she never interrupted. You'd call her out on it, but you realize she knows where your coffee supplies are. Best not to risk it. "So let's hear it. Your thoughts so far?"
"My-?" Jiro shakes his head, even as the waitress passes by to drop off a cup of coffee. Mmm, dark roast. You try to ignore the hazelnut your intelligence agent picked up. "Well, they're...good," Jiro starts. "But they're first generation, aren't they?"
"For the most part."
"It kind of shows." You raise an eyebrow at him, but he sticks to his claim. "The Jackal works, but that's all it is. It's a workhorse type from what I can see. You can use it for just about anything, but if we were the bad guys, it'd be a mook mech." He quickly warms up to the topic, and you can't bring yourself to interrupt him. "The same goes for the giant mech that the news was harping on about at San Diego. Everything looks like the individual pieces came first, and then you kind of purpose-built things to work around it."
"...is this in our favor in your opinion?" you ask slowly.
"Oh, it's great," Jiro grins. "This is first generation stuff that you're just trying to figure out. You've got good engineers."
"Don't tell them that," you warn him, "or it'll swell their heads more."
"Heh. I'm used to technical-minded guys with big egos." His expression sours slightly. "Apparently runs in the family."
"...something you want to talk about?" you prompt.
"Not too much." Shaking his head, he explains, "It's nothing personal, really. Uncle just wants to use Mercury as a shield. Just react to whatever shows up, you know? But Sheol isn't going to go away if we just react like it's a monster-an-episode approach. That's why I went out. Just to see what I could see." His expression hardens. "Uncle's stubborn, and insisted that his way was the best. I disagreed with that. We agreed to disagree, and I went out in the world. Then...well." He gestures to the pictures. "You know."
"Yeah. I do." You fix your jaw at the memory. That day really left you wondering if Sheol and the leadership of Westphalia were communicating with one another. And wouldn't that just be the icing on the crap cake? "It's a real kick in the teeth, isn't it? Knowing there's more than one group out there that wants to see the Union burn?"
"Yeah. I do."
The both of you are silent for a few moments (ignoring that Anna is slurping her coffee after adding an unholy amount of sugar and creamer, the heretic). "...what if I told you our group was looking into being just a little more proactive about this?" you float.
"Yeah?" Jiro looks...not convinced, but willing to hear you out. "From what I'm seeing, it feels like you're reacting to threats around. That's not an insult," he hastily adds, holding up his hands, "It's got to be done. But...how? How do you plan on doing that?"
"It's something we've been trying to do," you grimace. "But we don't just have Sheol to deal with. We've got the rebels, and...other threats." Even in this secure environment, you keep a careful lid on your words. "We're looking for good people to help us out. Like you said, this is all first generation technology." You and Anna share a knowing look. "We have even more in the works, but...we can use every edge we can get. What do you say?"
"What? Work for you?" Jiro doesn't seem as unconvinced as before, but still seems a little hesitant. "What's the job?"
"Well, aside from providing room, board and daily doses of insanity - " you ignore the indignant look from Anna, "-we need good people. To pilot the next generation of equipment and make sure it's up and running, and to make sure the crazy visions of the tech department become reality. What do you say?"
Jiro thinks it over for a few moments. When he answers...
[] "...first generation tech. We can make it better, you know? If you're offering, I'm willing to help." Gain Jiro Yukimura as an Engineer.
[] "...you need another pilot to stress test these things? I think I could give it a shot if you're willing to train me up." Gain Jiro Yukimura as a Pilot.
[X] "...first generation tech. We can make it better, you know? If you're offering, I'm willing to help." Gain Jiro Yukimura as an Engineer.
Considering who his Uncle is. Lets go with Engineer rather than Pilot since it would be Cliché in the extreme if we made Jiro a pilot. I hope we are planning on letting Jiro's Uncle know that we have recruited his Nephew.
