Winning Vote:
[X] Hem in.
[X] The Dragonar Team and a squad of Nemos.
September UE 0083
Kawasaki City, Japan
You are Inez Fresange, and to say that this development is highly unwelcome would be putting it lightly.
You're currently watching the forces that the Solar Vanguard sent over to provide security fight the newly emerged Jovian machines alongside the local garrison forces. Erina Won has a radio that can listen in on the Solar Vanguard frequencies, and you have a pair of binoculars that survived the Jovian machines' rampage throughout the Boson Jump testing facility.
In the distance, you see the M9 and Aries squads fire on one of the Jovian machines. All of their rounds ricochet off of its Distortion Field. As they peel off in an attempt to lure the Jovian machines toward one of the abandoned slum areas, you hear a groan come from the radio Erina is carrying.
"What the hell are the garrison forces doing?!" One of the M9 pilots shouts.
You turn your binoculars over to see most of the garrison forces charging head on at the Jovian machines. Oh dear, you see quite a few Aqua GMs and not much else aside from a few fighting vehicles in the first wave.
Aqua GMs, Bulldog missile trucks, and self-propelled Linear Howitzers vs Jovian machines
vs
Distortion Field DC 13
Roll 1d10 + 3 (Aqua GM ability) + 1 (Bulldog missile truck ability) + 1 (Linear Howitzer ability)
Roll 1
1 + 3 + 1 + 1 = 6
Jovian machines return fire with Gravity Blasts
vs
Aqua GM mobility DC 7 = 3 Ability + 4 Mobility
Bulldog missile truck mobility DC 2 = 1 Ability + 1 Mobility
Linear Howitzer mobility DC 1 = 1 Ability + 0 Mobility
Roll 1d10 + 6 Ability
Roll 7
7 + 6 = 13
Results: The Garrison forces accidentally damage the surrounding city as a result of incompetence, are unable to dodge the ensuing Gravity Blast in time. All Aqua GMs, Bulldog missile trucks, and Linear Howitzers are destroyed
The Aqua GMs open fire first, a volley of harpoons and missiles sailing forth from their weapons. Most of the harpoons ping off of the Jovian machines' Distortion Fields, and quite a few missiles bounce off of them instead of detonating on impact, exploding against the surrounding buildings. A particularly foolhardy trio of Aqua GMs charges forward and fire rocket anchors at the closest Jovian machine. Instead of letting them uselessly impact against the Distortion Field, the Jovian mech lets them wrap around its arm, whereupon it swings it in a wide arc, slamming the unfortunate Aqua GMs in to the side of a building before firing a missile from its hand at the crumpled mobile suits. At this point, the fighting vehicles with the Aqua GMs open fire as well. Half of the missile salvo from the Bulldog trucks misses entirely, slamming into the surrounding buildings, while one of the Linear Howitzers overshoots, instead creating a massive crater in the street. One of the other Jovian machines fires a Gravity Blast at the remaining Aqua GMs and the accompanying fighting vehicles. Caught flat-footed, none are able to evade, and they explode after their fuel and ammunition cook off from the sheer crushing force.
"God damn it, someone get in touch with the idiots from the garrison and bring them up to speed on our plan, we need to-oh Christ, move!" The M9 squad leader shouts as one of the Jovian machines suddenly Boson Jumps behind him and one of his squad mates.
Leap for dear life! M9 pair attempt to evade Jovian Gravity Blast
Jovian fires Gravity blast at the pair of M9s
vs
Mobility DC 14 = 5 Ability + 7 Mobility + 2 (AS in urban environment)
Roll 1d10 + 6 Ability
Roll 9
9 + 6 = 15
Result: The M9 squad leader is able to evade, but his subordinate is not as lucky
What you assume is the M9 commander's AS quickly leaps into an adjacent alley as the Jovian machine charges its Gravity Blast. His subordinate makes to follow, but having to leap over a crashed fuel tanker truck in his path costs him precious milliseconds. Unfortunately, those few milliseconds end up being the other M9's undoing, as the Jovian machine fires its Gravity Blast and crushes the AS while it is meters from the alleyway.
"Inaros!" The M9 squad leader says in dismay.
The Jovian robot's attempt to go after the M9 squad leader is sidetracked when a pair of Aries strafe it with bullets, distracting it enough for the M9 to make a clean escape.
As you take another look around the battlefield, Erina taps you on the shoulder and points in a specific direction.
"Looks like the Nadescio's here." She says.
You look and see the ship in question hovering over the city's harbor, a group of six Aestivalis units deploying from its hangars. Ryoko has outfitted her Aestivalis with an artillery frame, Hikaru and Izumi are using ground combat frames, Akatsuki is using an air frame, Gai is in a ground frame, and a sixth, stark blue Aestivalis you don't recognize is equipped with another artillery frame.
"Who's the new pilot?" You ask Erina.
"Itsuki Kazama. She was meant to be Akito Tenkawa's replacement in the Aestivalis pilot roster once he agreed to take part in the Chulip experiments." Erina says.
You give a tut of disappointment recalling his response to the proposal before turning your attention back to the ongoing battle.
Is the plan working?
DC 5, 8, and 11
Roll 1d10 + 2 for degree of success
Roll 5
5 + 2 = 7
Result: The plan is working, but only on an incredibly semantic level
"Come on, no protective field is going to stop me!" You hear Ryoko yell over the radio.
You see her shove her artillery frame's cannon against a Jovian machine's Distortion Field. After getting the tip of the barrel past a visible distortion in the air, she fires, only for the enemy Super Robot to Boson Jump the instant she does so. It reappears behind Ryoko's Aestivalis, firing a missile at her and sending it flying down the street.
"Ryoko!" Hikaru yells in alarm. She sprays bullets at the Jovian mech, the rounds ricocheting off its Distortion Field. The enemy machine Boson Jumps behind Hikaru's Aestivalis, and she's barely able to avoid a beam weapon that the Jovian Super Robot fires from its head.
"Just keep moving! As long as they're paying attention to us, they're not wrecking the rest of the city!" The commander of the Aries squad says.
You see the snag that the Solar Vanguard's plan has run into: they've managed to get the attention of the Jovian Super Robots, but with how often they Boson Jump, coupled with the sheer difference in firepower, the best they've managed to do is keep the enemy's focus on themselves. Luring them into an abandoned slum area for a no-holds barred barrage is impossible under the current circumstances-the best they can do is try to run in a circle to minimize damage, which is...having mixed results, to put it charitably. Of the remaining garrison forces, only most of the Rick Dias squadron and some of the Linear Gun tanks have survived up to this point. The main problem seems to be that the Jovian Super Robots refuse to stay put for very long.
"I have an idea. Aries team, can one of you get its attention from the air?" Itsuki asks.
"Please don't tell me you're going to try and attach yourself to it. Nergal didn't tell us much about how Boson Jumping works, but they emphasized the fact that we don't have a way to do so safely with humans! If it Boson Jumps while you're grabbing on to it, who knows what'll happen to you." The Aries squad leader responds.
"I guess that's out. Wait...the Distortion Field is spherical, right? If I get close enough to it, it shouldn't matter whether or not it the Distortion Field is active!" Itsuki says.
"Alright then, your funeral. Connors, with me! We're going to get the attention of the one that almost roasted Amano!" The Aries squad leader says.
You see a pair of Aries mobile suits peel off from the main group and charge at the Jovian machine in question, the squad leader firing his machine gun while Connors fires a hand missile launcher. As expected, the enemy machine Boson Jumps to avoid the projectiles, but because its opponents are airborne, it can't actually teleport directly behind them without immediately falling out of the sky. The best it can do is to reappear in the street below while still being behind them, where a waiting Itsuki rushes forward.
Itsuki attempts to thread the needle
DC 11 to not go out in a blaze of glory
Roll 1d10 + 6 Ability
Roll 10
10 + 6 = 16
Result: The Jovian machine is utterly incapacitated, and Itsuki survives the attempt unscathed
You see Itsuki's Aestivalis rush the Jovian machine from behind, leaping forward not a moment too soon as the enemy machine's Distortion Field manifests. While in the air, Istuki fires her artillery frame's cannon, hitting the enemy Super Robot in the waist. Realizing its mistake, the Jovian machine disables its Distortion Field. Itsuki sails between the enemy mech's legs, landing on the ground spinning around to go backwards in a way that would make any Knightmare Frame Devicer proud, while unloading all of her artillery frame's missiles. The missiles sail forth and slam the Jovian machine in the torso and, judging from the way it slumps over against the side of a building, they broke something important.
"Hey, hey, we're here, guys!" You're pretty sure that's Kaine Wakaba you're hearing over the radio now.
You and Erina look around the skies to see where they're coming from.
"Look!" Erina points to the northwest.
You bring the binoculars up, and see a pair of mobile suit transports approaching side by side. The one on the left opens, and the three Metal Armors of the Dragonar team leap out to the city below. You see the other transport open its bay doors before it goes below the skyline and out of sight, and see a glimpse of a Nemo's head.
"I hope beam rifles aren't the only thing those Nemos are equipped with." You muse out loud. Beam weapons fare even worse against Distortion Fields than conventional ammunition.
Tactical update
The Dragonar team and a squad of Nemos have arrived as reinforcements
One Jovian machine is disabled, the other three are undamaged
Damage to the city: extensive, but mostly in a relatively small area around Nergal's research facility
Available forces
Dragonar Team
-Dragonars 1, 2, and 3
-Kaine Wakaba, Tapp Oceano, and Light Newman
Nemo Squad
-Nemo x8 (4 armed with beam rifles, 4 armed with 170 mm cannons)
Mithril AS Squad
-M9 x11 (5 armed with assault rifles, 2 armed with bazookas, 3 armed with shotguns, 1 armed with sniper rifle)
OZ Aries squad
Aries x10 (6 armed with machine guns, 4 armed with hand missile launchers)
Local EFF Garrison Forces
Linear Gun Tank squad
Linear Gun Tank x3
Rick Dias Squad
Rick Dias x5
What is your strategy now?
[ ] Up close and personal
-Try to rush the Jovian Super Robots at every opportunity and engage them in close combat. So long as no one actually grabs onto an enemy machine, they should be fine.
[ ] Take a moment to consider
-Try to figure out patterns in the way the enemy is Boson Jumping, and any limitations this might cause, and then capitalize on that.
-Dragonar-3 will make this easier due its range-detection and electronic warfare equipment
[ ] Write-in
A/N: And here is the update. Itsuki is the purple-haired girl who is seemingly killed in episode 13 of Nadesico when she grapples onto an enemy Jovian mech and it Boson Jumps, seemingly killing her. What isn't stated, and you'd only know if you played one of the Nadesico games that was only released in Japan, is that this didn't kill Itsuki, it just sent her into the future. Now, given that I think they made a big mistake in massively shifting the tone for Prince of Darkness, in addition to not releasing any of the supplemental material that explains why things are the way they are in Prince of Darkness outside of Japan (which is why it was so poorly received), and that you all are planning to derail the antagonist of Nadesico's plans at the first opportunity, I figured I'd give just you another Aestivalis pilot. Please vote, discuss, and critique!
