I wanna make an argument for my own vote: USMC from poor background.
+2 combat and +2 leadership gets the maximum out of the machine, the team, and everything.
And every Marine is a rifleman, so even if the mech breaks down we should be able to Improvise adapt and overcome.
-4 Maintenance is not an issue because: My Ass Rides In Navy Equipment (ie Navy mecha, steal one from some squids whenever it's too broke).
IDK about the other voters but me? I figured the inability to maintain our mecha would mean we soon no longer HAVE a mecha.
It's the RL political link, once you start introducing that stuff you kind of have to expect someone to have to foot the bill, and by someone what's actually meant is the pilot.
The idea was that you'd dominate everything forever on the battlefield with your overpowered mecha, and then almost the entirety of the quest's drama would come from begging, scraping, and stealing from everyone in the US command structure for spare parts.
I can see why that might not appeal to people, though.
In hindsight, while I wanted to keep all the options numerically balanced, -3 Maintenance may have been too crippling a penalty. The main problem with this system is that while it's simple and immediately evocative, there's not a lot of granularity with small numbers.
I wanna make an argument for my own vote: USMC from poor background.
+2 combat and +2 leadership gets the maximum out of the machine, the team, and everything.
And every Marine is a rifleman, so even if the mech breaks down we should be able to Improvise adapt and overcome.
-4 Maintenance is not an issue because: My Ass Rides In Navy Equipment (ie Navy mecha, steal one from some squids whenever it's too broke).
I was under the impression that the MARINES were the most American out of all the military branches.
Granted, I may have been thinking about this when I wrote that post.
WRIGHT: "Why do you need me to get you all this stuff?"
COLBERT: "In the infinite wisdom of whoever runs the military Post Exchange stores, they won't sell this stuff in quantity to actual military personnel. For civilians like yourself, the sky's the limit."
WRIGHT: "And why is that?"
PERSON: "To keep us angry. If Marines could get what they need when they needed it, we would be happy, and we wouldn't be ready to kill people all the time. See, the Marine Corps is like America's little pitbull. They beat us, mistreat us, and once in a while they let us out to attack somebody."
While the background doesn't have me too hot, I don't want to by hyperspecialized, and also want to keep the mech's in decent working condition... but not to that extent.
Okay, since this has been quite a competitive vote and in the interests of getting something we're all happy with, I'm going to start narrowing the field a bit.
[X] The Juvenile Delinquent.
[X] US Army.
[X] The Juvenile Delinquent.
[X] US Army.
[X] The Juvenile Delinquent.
[X] US Army.
[x] The Juvenile Delinquent.
[x] US Army.
4 VOTES
[X] The Poverty Breakout
[X] US Army
[X] The Poverty Breakout
[X] US Army
[X] The Poverty Breakout
[X] Army
3 VOTES
[X] The Poverty Breakout.
[X] US Air Force.
[X] The Poverty Breakout
[X] US Air Force
[X] The Poverty Breakout
[X] US Air Force
[X] The Poverty Breakout.
[X] US Air Force.
[X] The Poverty Breakout
[X] US Air Force
5 VOTES
[X] The Juvenile Delinquent.
[X] US Air Force.
[X] The Juvenile Delinquent.
[X] US Air Force.
[X] The Juvenile Delinquent.
[X] US Air Force.
[X] The Juvenile Delinquent.
[X] US Air Force.
4 VOTES
[X] The Unguided Genius.
[X] US Air Force.
[X] The Unguided Genius.
[X] US Air Force.
[X] The Unguided Genius.
[X] US Air Force.
[X] The Unguided Genius.
[X] US Air Force.
[X] The Unguided Genius
[X] US Air Force
[X] The Unguided Genius.
[X] US Air Force.
6 VOTES
[x] The Poverty breakout
[x] USMC
[X] The Poverty Breakout
[X] USMC
[X] The Poverty Breakout.
[X] US Marine Corps.
3 VOTES
The Air Force is by far the most popular choice for service branch, with a solid majority of 15/25 votes. I think we can safely lock that in as the final choice in that field.
As of now, votes for the Army or the Marine Corps will no longer be counted. If you have previously voted for these options, feel free to recast your vote.
That leaves us with choosing the personal background. As I type this post the count stands at:
Unguided Genius (+3 Maintenance, -2 Combat, -1 Leadership) - 6 votes
Poverty Breakout (+1 Maintenance, -1 Combat) - 5 votes
Juvenile Delinquent (+2 Maintenance, -2 Leadership) - 4 votes
I'm rather leery of calling the vote with such a tight margin between these, so I'm going to leave this up for a while longer.
EDIT: Accidentally reversed the stats for Poverty Breakout and Juvenile Delinquent, my bad. Thanks to @Thebigpieman for catching the error.
Just to be clear, these are the final stats you will have upon one of these options winning.
Okay, since this has been quite a competitive vote and in the interests of getting something we're all happy with, I'm going to start narrowing the field a bit.
The Air Force is by far the most popular choice for service branch, with a solid majority of 15/25 votes. I think we can safely lock that in as the final choice in that field.
As of now, votes for the Army or the Marine Corps will no longer be counted. If you have previously voted for these options, feel free to recast your vote.
That leaves us with choosing the personal background. As I type this post the count stands at:
Unguided Genius (+3 Maintenance, -2 Combat, -1 Leadership) - 6 votes
Poverty Breakout (+1 Maintenance, -1 Combat) - 5 votes
Juvenile Delinquent (+2 Maintenance, -2 Leadership) - 4 votes
I'm rather leery of calling the vote with such a tight margin between these, so I'm going to leave this up for a while longer.
EDIT: Accidentally reversed the stats for Poverty Breakout and Juvenile Delinquent, my bad. Thanks to @Thebigpieman for catching the error.
Just to be clear, these are the final stats you will have upon one of these options winning.
I honestly have no idea how that tally came to be. I couldn't reproduce it using any of the provided settings.
It's gone now (Xon finally fixed the bug that prevented deleting vote tallies from posts, praise Xon), so rest assured, your good name will no longer be tarnished by association.
I honestly have no idea how that tally came to be. I couldn't reproduce it using any of the provided settings.
It's gone now (Xon finally fixed the bug that prevented deleting vote tallies from posts, praise Xon), so rest assured, your good name will no longer be tarnished by association.
That would be me counting the backgrounds (since that is what's currently competing), and ignoring the names via vote management. You seem to have done the same by hand.
Always refresh your tally before posting the final count.
Maybe we could run a convoluted plot to find a better pilot, who can then disguise themselves as us, and pilot in our stead. And then we'll be the best pilot with the shiniest pants. Except even if that was possible, I would guess our malus in leadership would prevent us from doing so.
Maybe we can fade into the background and play at being a bridge bunny, no wait, that's another quest an engineer.
Then one of the mecha's legs buckles underneath it and the whole thing comes crashing down, the god amongst men transforming into a sad little pile of carbon and titanium in the merest blink of an eye.
That would be me counting the backgrounds (since that is what's currently competing), and ignoring the names via vote management. You seem to have done the same by hand.
Always refresh your tally before posting the final count.
There are a few opportunities planned to level up some of your stats during the quest, but these will be rare and won't alter the fundamental character of the options chosen here.
I decided to push a certain event into the following update to keep things moving, so the next update should be out within an hour or so.
Damned. I had an omake idea but I'm busy and Tayta is gonna beat me and update.
So have the shittiest omake version:
MC: *Repairs mech* "I'm gonna be the best pilot."
Everyone else: "Holy shit look at that mech it's the shiniest thing ever!" "That's gonna kick Amazonia's ass singlehandedly." "MC is amazing."
MC: "Taking off!"
The mech radiates a bajillion rainbows of colours unknown to mankind up to that point, awing everyone in sight.
The it rises, hovering over its enthralled audience...
And zooms away to smack an unfortunate corporal and fly right into a wall!
"MEDIC!"
"HE KILLED CORPORAL KEN!"
"YOU BASTARD!"
"IS THE MECH OK?"
"I'm fine-"
"IS THE MECH OK?!!!"
Pilot name: Ricky Eagle Buster Johnson III (sigh).
Personal background: Unguided Genius.
Service branch: US Air Force.
Final stat distribution: +3 Maintenance, -2 Combat, -1 Leadership.
Okay, that took a lot longer than I expected. In the future I shouldn't stay up so late to write like this.
----------
Separatist rebels have overrun government forces in the embattled Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, putting them on a course to recapture the critical port city of Mariupol after a gruelling two week battle.
The defeat constitutes yet another setback for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which first launched the current phase of its "Anti-Terrorist Operation" into the rebel-held regions almost four months ago. While Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko pledged that the operation would "bring about a decisive outcome to end the war and bring peace to a united and free Ukraine", repeated defeats in the field have left Kiev no better off than when it started.
Observers in the region have attributed the unexpected turnaround in fortunes to the presence of unmarked Russian-built Cy-27 mechas fighting alongside separatist forces. First built for the Soviet Army in 1985, they were exported only in limited numbers after the fall of the Soviet Union, and are currently only known to be in service in the Russian Ground Forces.
Separatist leaders have denied that the presence of mechas constitutes a violation of the Minsk II accords, which were signed in 2015 by representatives of Russia, Ukraine, and the two separatist republics. "The Minsk agreements only prohibit the deployment of tanks and heavy artillery," an unnamed spokesman for the Donestk People's Republic said. "Mechas are not tanks or heavy artillery, and so there is no restriction on their use."
Russia denied that any of its mechas were present in Ukraine at all. "This is clearly the work of local hobbyists with a deep fondness for Soviet military equipment," President Vladimir Putin said in a statement to the press. "One ought to commend them for their keen enthusiasm and fine attention to detail."
----------
The woman sitting behind an austere plastic table in an equally drab concrete room is far too young to be a lieutenant colonel. For one thing, all the colonels in movies are supposed to be crusty middle-aged men who fear a desk job and retirement more than the enemy, likely played by Bruce Willis or George Clooney. For another, US Air Force regulations clearly state that attaining O-5 rank requires at least sixteen years of service, and three in grade, just to get in front of the promotion board. You're not too good with ages a lot of the time, but with her olive skin and shiny dark hair tied back in a ponytail, you seriously doubt she's a day over thirty.
But Lt Col Maria Marquez has the silver acorn on her lapel, and all you have is a lousy butter bar. So you shut up and stand to attention like a good soldier.
"Ma'am, Second Lieutenant Johnson reports as ordered!"
"At ease, Lieutenant." Marquez gestures you to take a seat. It's a rigid plastic chair that somehow manages to be even less comfortable than the one you just spent twenty-four hours seated in on the plane ride here.
She flips through a print-out of your service record, the time-honoured ritual whenever you meet a new superior officer. It's not very long, so the same few pages end up being flipped over and over again. Some of the contents are a little embarrassing, and you just know that she's going to ask you about them.
You really hope she isn't going to ask you about your name.
"This is the first time you've been deployed overseas," Marquez states. "How do you feel about that?"
You can't tell if she's fishing for the truth, or the correct answer. "A little nervous, but also kind of excited, ma'am," you reply. "New experiences have that effect on me."
"Yes, I would expect so." She flips a page. "You scored over fourteen-fifty on the SAT, but when you entered college your GPA dropped like a rock. From three-point-nine all the way to two-point-eight. What would you say was the cause of this decline?"
Ah, so she's diving right down into it. Fortunately, you have your well-rehearsed answer on hand. "Well, ma'am, I'd say it was the abrupt transition from a highly structured environment to a less structured one. I work much better with a clear goal and means to achieve it."
"Is that right, Lieutenant?" She takes a pen and marks the print-out with something you can't read from this angle. "You'll be relieved to know that under my command there'll be plenty of structure. We run a tight ship here at H-3."
"Yes, ma'am."
She flips a page. "Let's talk about how your training at Laughlin went. I see you passed all your individual simulations with flying colours. You scored well on theory. But you nearly flunked your assault courses and scored poorly on teamwork. What do you think this tells me about your ability to serve as an Air Force pilot?"
You really hate this question; you can never quite manage to stick the delivery. "Uh… it shows that I'm a competent and dependable pilot who's well aware of his specialization and weaknesses. I can come up with a thorough plan that leaves no room for error. As a pilot, I know I will win because I will be better prepared than my enemy, regardless of the battlefield. Ma'am."
"Hmm." Marquez spends several minutes tapping the end of her pen against the print-out, scrutinizing you with that critical eye all officers possess. You do your best to stand up to her gaze, knowing the next few moments could make or break this posting.
"I'll accept that answer," she eventually replies, ticking a few boxes on the paper. "But I should warn you to be prepared to back it up. Otherwise…"
"Understood, ma'am." That could've gone a lot worse.
"One last thing," she says, and you can sense the end of this meeting in the shift of her tone. "Is it true that you were caught reprogramming the simulator at Randolph to enact scenes from Julius Caesar?"
"Yes, ma'am."
You expect her to ask how you did it, or why; but instead she just nods and scribbles something in her notes. "Very well. Acquaint yourself with your mecha and your unit. I expect an exemplary performance from you in the coming months. Dismissed, Lieutenant."
You stand, salute, and march out of the lieutenant colonel's office, only letting yourself breathe once you'd made it outside.
She didn't ask you about your name.
Thank fucking Christ.
----------
Even after flying halfway across the globe to this exotic foreign location, the atmosphere of the hangar is exactly the same as the ones you trained in back in the States. Escorted once again by Corporal Ross, as soon as you enter you find yourself immersed in all the sights and sounds of mechas undergoing thorough maintenance. The growl of hydraulic motors being exercised, the electric whirring of tiny platform elevators ferrying techs up and down various catwalks, the deeply pungent odour of machine oil being spilled, the gentle harmony of airmen and pilots swearing loudly at each other…
Yep, it's just like home.
Twin rows of titanium alloy colossi line the hangar's walls, the bulk of their slumbering forms serving to restore some of the anticipation and excitement you felt earlier, as Ross drives you down the centre of the hangar in a skeletal buggy. There's space for some thirty of the machines, enough for four squadrons to fit in here plus change. Yours is near the far end.
And at long last you find yourself standing at the foot of your very own personal mecha, the steed that will loyally serve you for the next nine months of your deployment… or a sleeping god whose terrible powers you hope to awaken in a semi-controlled manner. It can be hard to tell sometimes.
Thankfully, contrary to Corporal Ross's earlier insinuation, your mecha has been spared the ignominious fate of lying sprawled out on the scrubland, waiting to be picked over for spare parts by circling vulture engineers.
The Q-35 Rapid Surface Strike Vehicle is the latest and greatest war machine to emerge from the tortured and labyrinthine depths of American military procurement. The fact that it's technically still in low-rate initial production hasn't prevented it being deployed to warzones all around the world, its titanic stature symbolic of your country's unwavering commitment to freedom and democracy. In addition to the $3 million sword magnetically clamped on its back, it comes standard-equipped with a 30mm assault rifle that's perhaps better classified as an autocannon. With its glistening black barrel shroud extending nearly four metres long, it's optimized for long distance shots at the expense of platform stability. Just the way the Air Force likes it.
That's not the only optimization made to your mecha, of course. This particular Q-35 is carefully customized to your needs, so that you'll be able to properly fulfil the role your new squadron demands of you. But what is that role?
[] Rifleman.
A generalist, jack-of-all-trades role, which mainly exists to round out the capabilities of more specialist members of the squadron. In lieu of any special equipment, your Q-35 is able to haul significantly more 30mm magazines to the battlefield. You can also deploy with a massive ballistic shield in situations that warrant it, boosting your ability to hold the line.
The price of not being particularly good at anything is not being particularly good at anything.
Most effective against infantry.
[] Pointman.
A reconnaissance-based role, in which your Q-35 will always be ahead of the squadron and operating in unknown territory. To facilitate this, your engines and radar have been swapped out for more powerful models, while your servos receive top priority during maintenance cycles.
Your mecha is fast and light, with greater capability in close-quarters combat than peer models. However, its performance suffers against larger numbers of opponents and in longer-range engagements.
Most effective against mechas.
[] Grenadier.
A heavy weapons and area denial role, with the Q-35's signature maneuverability being sacrificed for even greater firepower. Your mecha is outfitted with a wide assortment of rocket pods, anti-tank missiles, canister rounds, and smoke grenade launchers that will make mincemeat of any massed opposition.
The only problem with this is that your mecha is really slow and heavy, less able to adapt to evolving situations. Inertia is a real drag.
Most effective against vehicles.
[] Sharpshooter.
A battlefield control and overwatch role, this variation of the Q-35 spends most of its time in the air, which is made possible by a greatly extended fuel capacity. Whenever it does sight a high-value target off in the distance, the replacement of its standard assault cannon with a heavier 120mm tank gun allows it to strike instantly and brutally.
However, you will have to pay a heavy price for this power: you will be unable to equip a sword and will have no close-quarters ability whatsoever.
Most effective against tanks.
----------
The assault rifle is, of course, a supersized AR-15.
