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Petals of Carbon Steel -- You're a Pilot, Not an Ace. Try your best.

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We're an hour short of 48 hours, but this is very decisive, so I'm calling it here.
Adhoc vote count started by Gazetteer on Feb 10, 2020 at 11:05 PM, finished with 100 posts and 63 votes.
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Update 005: Shooting Star
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    "[...] and of course, the problem lay not with our brave pilots, righteous martyrs to the cause. They fell at the hands of dishonourable, deceitful enemies, and would have triumphed in any fair fight. But can we expect our enemies to be otherwise? Can we expect anything else from those who are so against all right thinking that they would raise a hand in violent rebellion against our beloved Divine Emperor?

    If our brave warriors are to win against such depraved blasphemers, they must have a new sword. Overwhelming technological superiority is our path to victory now and forever."

    — Crown Prince Solanis of the HSE, address on the subject of the failed Saturn Invasion    ​

    The Bridge of the AIJ improvised assault carrier Esther Strova

    "The target is showing up now, Captain," says the young AIJ scans officer.

    The Captain grins, looking at the lone dot at the edge of scan range — it's a feral expression, a hunter's smile. It adds to the wild look already created by his powerful frame and full, black beard. "Don't look so nervous, Schmidt," he says reaching across the short distance to clap his subordinate on the shoulder. "This is a good choice for your first combat — it should be relatively safe."

    "... I'm sure it will be, Captain Leski," Schmit says. His tone doesn't reflect any such confidence.

    "Let us know when it looks like they've spotted us," Leski says, knowing that this is about as good as he's going to get.

    "Yes, Captain," says Schmidt.

    The bridge of the Esther Strova is roughly tubular, workstations on every side but the one the hatch is built into. It's neither as spacious nor as secure as the bridge of a real, purpose-built warship, but it gets the job done.

    "Taking us in on the pre-established course, Captain," the woman at the helm, seated directly above Leski, says. He's long since lost any sense of vertigo from looking up to see the crown of someone's head.

    "Target is hailing us, captain," Nazaret says from the right. "Just asking who we are. Demanding, more like. Do we respond?"

    "No," Leski says, shaking his head. "Proceed with the plan." He keys something in on his workstation, bringing up a comm window for Commander Sails. "We're a go, Jennifer."

    "Understood," Sails replies. Over the video link, she's clearly in the cockpit of her Pennant already, prepared to launch at a moment's notice. Her helmet is firmly in place, face serious, as she adds: "Wish us luck, Captain."

    "You think you'll need it?" he asks.

    Sails frowns. "We're going into combat. Everyone needs luck."

    "Jen, you're not that easy to kill. And your pilots know what they're doing. We can handle this."

    She scoffs lightly at that. "Everyone's easy to kill," she says. "Switching over to combat channel now, Captain. We'll keep Nazaret appraised."

    Leski's grin doesn't diminish, but it does get a little more rueful. "Cheerful as always," he comments.

    /////PoCS/////

    Bridge of the covert Divine Navy transport, HDMS Sunspot

    "I repeat: Unidentified freighter, acknowledge!"

    Of course, it doesn't. Because, as Commander Kron, captain of this small vessel knows somehow in her bones, it's already moving into attack position.

    "I repeat," her comms officer says again, voice growing more strained. "Unident—"

    "Give it up, Sub-lieutenant," Kron says. "They won't be responding."

    "Ma'am?" the young woman's eyes are wide and confused.

    Kron's words in replying to her are pitched to the bridge in general, to her subordinates, arrayed around her in their crisp, white-and-gold uniforms, seated at workstations arranged in that classic, Imperial chevron. "Bring us to level 1 battlestations. Assume hostile intent from an armed vessel. Launch all mecha, prep all weapons." She gives a snarl of a smile at the last — her little ship, her unassuming little "Verdant" class, has fangs that this scum won't expect.

    All around her, the bridge bursts into quiet motion, her orders being carried out. The entire ship lurches as they make an emergency course correction.

    "Banner squad is away, ma'am," she's told.

    "Weapons are hot, ma'am," says another voice. "Calcul—"

    "They're firing on us!"

    This last warning is immediately followed by the shaking, bone-rattling moan of a railgun round clipping their shields, the faint echo of its vibrations making its way to the ship itself. Kron hates being right.

    ... who could possibly be sending her an emergency comm ping from the mecha deck, of all places? She opens it, trusting that it's at least important, if very likely also unwelcome news. As soon as she sees who it is on the other end, she knows that it will likely only be the latter.

    "Permission to launch, Captain?" the thin, dark-haired man asks. He glares challengingly into the camera.

    "Absolutely not!" Kron says, appalled he's even wasting her time by asking like this. "You're a test pilot, not a combat asset. And your 'unit' is cargo. Vital cargo that's worth more than any of our lives."

    Sir Salimus smirks challengingly back at her. "Doesn't matter if we don't launch the thing, if they kill us all and steal it anyway, ma'am," he says. He's already in his pilot suit, you see. The arrogance of knights — especially highborn knights — knows no bounds.

    "... have it prepped," Kron finally allows. "You are not to launch without permission. The QDI adaptor took weeks to reset from your brainwaves — do not imprint it again without due cause."

    "Sure, sure, ma'am." His smile widens. "All heretics will fall!" he adds, by way of well-wishing. Then, without even waiting to be dismissed, turns around and points to several figures dimly visible in the background, currently out of focus. They're some of the young, civilian technicians they'd been forced to press into service before departure. "You three: Prep the Star for launch!" They hurl themselves across the hangar to comply, an indistinct blur on Kron's display.

    She ends the call in disgust.

    "Enemy mecha detected, ma'am," Her scans officer says. "They've just launched one squad, heading right for us."

    /////PoCS/////

    Your Pennant's cockpit,
    Mecha hangar of the Esther Strova

    You watch the plan unfold in that dry, removed way: Just points of light on your scan map, status updates and numbers. There are many reasons why you're a pilot, but this is certainly one of them: You'd go crazy if just looking at this sort of thing were your whole job.

    The Esther Strova disgorges Squad A, even as its main weapons fire at the distant target. Your ship is moving in a long, sweeping trajectory, relative to the enemy, approaching the Verdant at an angle. The enemy ship's shields flare with the impact of railgun fire, as expected. Moments later, the faint signals of enemy mecha appear from within the vessel's stronger one. All as expected. Now, it's your squad's turn.

    Sunny is first, then Azara, then you. Sunny's Pennant detaches from its cradle with a deafening snap, followed by a bass rumble as it is maneuvered along a set of guiding tracks built into two walls of the hangar, going in the direction of the mecha airlock. Moving such large machines around in an enclosed space, in combat, in zero gravity, is dangerous enough without letting them drift free as well. The inner airlock hatch groans open, and the mecha is moved inside. Then they slam shut again, sealing him within.

    "Pennant 04, you are cleared to launch," says Nazaret's voice over the comm.

    "Pennant 04, launching," Sunny confirms a moment later, as the outer hatch, unseen, opens to let him fly out into space. You watch Azara's Pennant go next, moving through the same process, having the same exchange with Naz.

    Now it's your turn.

    You take a deep breath as your Pennant shudders its way along the track toward that colossal inner airlock hatch. As you go, you complete one last ritual. One that's been with you since your earliest pirate days, flying converted civilian mecha held together by little more than spite and ingenuity. A small, trashy charm retrieved from a small overhead in your cockpit, cheap paint nearly worn off. You slip the elastic cord it dangles from over your wrist, eyes staring straight ahead.

    You pass through the open hatch, into that rough, industrial space beyond. A compartment built for machines, rather than humans. In front of you is the armour-plated outer hatch, the only thing between you and nothing. You take in a deep breath, timed exactly to when the air around your mecha is siphoned away.

    "Pennant 06, you are cleared for launch," Naz tells you. Then they can't help but add: "Good luck out there, Princess." You can hear the smile in their voice, even though you can't see it.

    "Luck is always appreciated," you say. "Pennant 06, launching."

    The outer hatch slams open, revealing the blackness of space, and you hurtle forward into it. Clearing the hatch, your mecha's limbs finally extend, weapons unfolding where they're mounted on armoured limbs. With a twist of your wrist, you kick in your main thrusters, joining your squadmates where you can see them on your scan map. On your visual feed, the ship you just left is already rapidly shrinking to a tiny point of grey against the stars.

    "05, 06, with me," Sunny says. "Linear formation." It's what you'd agreed upon already. You and Azara fall in behind him, following at a safe distance, all three of you matching velocity with one another. You blaze your way toward the target, approaching at a vector both below and at an angle to that of Squad A's approach.

    Commander Sails' voice comes over the comm, as you see her squad collide with a set of red points on your scan map. "Three enemy Banners, Squad A engaging."

    "Understood,"     Sunny tells her. "Squad B, moving in on the target."

    "Squad C, approaching and standing by,"     adds Zhìháo.

    All three of them sound calm and collected — and well they might, this is so far going exactly as intended. None of them, neither the commander nor her two squad leaders, let themselves come across too confident.

    As you approach the target, Squad A's fight with the enemy goes from points of light on your visuals to tiny, darting figures, even as the ship itself becomes visible. A green-grey miniature, the familiar contours of a Verdant Class filling out. That same blocky, elongated design, the cargo holds outsized to the tiny living compartments perched on top of them. Or... wait. No, something's wrong.

    You frown at your scan data. Ordinarily, you trust what you see there more than you'd trust your eyes. But... There. Oh no.

    Ordinarily, you'd talk to Sunny, who would pass the information on to Sails, or to Nazaret back on the ship if it's urgent enough. Right now, though, there's something that they all need to know that's pressing enough that you don't even think before bypassing that, hitting the general comm channel half in a panic: "That's not a Verdant!"

    Too late. Before anyone can ask you to clarify this claim, you quite literally see it as the enemy ship aligns a main weapon — a warship grade railgun, holy fuck — and fires. That is decidedly not anything a Verdant of any kind, civilian or military, should have. Thankfully, it's not at any of the mecha. Caught unawares, that would have been near certain death for at least one of you. But the Esther Strova's shields flare noticeably, which is its own danger.

    To her credit, Sails doesn't hesitate. "Squad B, stay out of that gun's firing arc and finish this job — you're going to have to be fast."

    "Yes, Commander,"     Sunny says. Then, over squad comm, he adds: "You heard her."

    "What, like, this doesn't change anything?"     Azara demands, skeptically. As you approach the ship, trying to put yourself as far outside the projected cone of the railgun's range, you see Squad A's fight up close. The well-armoured forms of three enemy Banners clash with Sails and Kitty's Pennants. You catch sight, briefly, of Milo Owusu's unit — some exotic Banner variant — flitting in around Kitty, and plunging a cutter in between the joints of one of the Divine Navy units' arms. Well, he's at least good.

    "Kana?" Sunny asks you. Not ceding command, just asking for your expertise.

    "The boss is right," you tell him. "We've gotta kick this thing's teeth in fast. Faster than is really safe. You don't fuck around with that kind of firepower."

    "Its 'teeth?' Oh, the weapon." Sunny only stumbles over the pirate slang briefly.

    "So... Sunny, you and me are gonna have to go in under the shield and take out the point defence so Azara can unload on that gun. All at the same time."

    "Right," Sunny agrees. "Kana, with me. Azara, follow behind." He doesn't question your assumption of combat roles, in this. Azara has the best precision when it comes to hull-cracker bombs, for all that that wounded your pride, at first.

    "Sure thing," you say.

    "No pressure, right?" Azara asks.

    "Well, you know, if you fuck up everyone dies," you say. She laughs like a lunatic — it's more than a little unhinged, at the moment, but it's what she needs. Sunny only sighs. He's given up on the subject of comm discipline a long time ago.

    Military-grade point defence arrays are lethal. Laser weapons, their beams strong enough to sear through your Pennant's armour, if you let them — they need a target to be relatively close, though, and you can evade their tracking if you fly fast and erratically enough. It's still not exactly a walk in the park. As you and Sunny plunge down toward the enemy ship, growing rapidly from miniature to giant, you try to weave and dodge unpredictably. It's a dance you've been following the steps of for years, and you still hear a warning blare in your ears as one of your Pennant's limbs is briefly seared.

    You pull back an arm, bringing up your anti-ship cannon. It's a blunt instrument, but this is a blunt task. With every shot, you feel the reverberation in your bones, each one striking a point-defence emitter with enough force to stave it in, although not enough to pierce the hull beneath. As you fly along the length of the ship's hull, you begin clearing the surface below you of as many of the emitters as you can reach, you and Sunny covering each other, weaving in and out of each other's path. Always, the two of you are heading for the ominous bulk of the ship's railgun, the one already firing again.

    Azara follows in your wake. "I've got a lock on it," she says.

    "Understood," Sunny replies.

    The ship must know what you're doing. The enemy mecha must see the danger, but they're pinned down by Squad A, fighting for their lives while Sails, Kitty, and Owusu run interference. The SRI officer is slotting into the rhythm of his two squadmates' combat styles admirably. The enemy is determined, though, and has the benefit of formal military training.

    "Squad B, one of them just slipped past us!" Sails warns.

    The enemy Banner, damaged but not disabled, swerves away from the melee with Squad B, making a break back for the False-Verdant, for you. You prepare to shift your tactics, to cover Azara, to try and drive the mecha off before it can get into range to use its cutter against you.

    A dark shape flits into view, raining anti-mecha fire down on it. Another from the opposite side, and a third. Damage accumulating on its torso as the automatic rounds tear into it, the enemy Banner is forced to change course, even as Squad C continues to pursue. Their Lancers aren't a match for the newer machine individually, but as a group, Zhìháo, Cam and Ryan hound the lone Banner like a pack of hounds bringing down a wolf.

    "Squad B, we have you covered," Zhìháo says.

    "And thank Sol for that," Azara says. "Five seconds," she adds, for your sake and Sunny's.

    A laser sears the armour over your cockpit, but you blast open the spindly, omni-directional tower that is the emitter. It snaps in two, the dangerous end spiraling away into space. "You're all clear," you tell her.

    "Additional mecha is launching from the enemy ship," Sunny warns you.

    You note the new blip on your scans. Four was a weird number for a ship like this to carry. "It's too far out to stop us," you say, relieved. Things honestly could have gone a lot worse, nasty surprise or not — the Esther Strova's shields have taken a beating, but no serious damage yet. And no one's died.

    You and Sunny bank, coming up short as Azara shoots past you toward the rail gun. "Smashing in their tee—"

    That moment, the way she energetically called back to your earlier comment, will always haunt you. Azara never finishes her sentence. She's struck by a shooting star: The impact as brutal as it is sudden, the flying object crushing her Pennant's armour, sending it spinning uncontrollably away into space.

    "Azara! Azara! Can you hear me?" Silence. You can hear Sunny reporting what happened to Sails in a clipped tone, even as you realise that you can't afford to worry about Azara right now, however bad that looked. However much visions of her unit being melted by point defence lasers elsewhere on the hull plays through your head. Because... she wasn't literally hit by a shooting star.

    She was hit by a mecha.

    And it's turning to look at you, twin optical arrays disturbingly humanlike. Then it's on you.

    You move first, and that's all that saves you, accelerating away from it as hard as you can, laying down fire with your anti-mecha gun. Instead of charging right for you, it almost seems to melt away to the side. Thinner than a Pennant, more substantial than a Lancer, sporting a strange, thin-bladed cutter.

    "Squad B, fall back. Squad C, cover them!" Commander Sail's voice is strained, even as she manages to stave in one of the enemy Banners' cockpits with gunfire.

    You and Sunny try to comply, coordinating as before, covering for each other as you fall back in different directions. You can already see Squad C moving in to intercept it. It's like the Banner before — this thing, whatever it is, won't be able to just shrug off an attack by all three of the Lancers at once. Not while taking fire from you and Sunny as well.

    Zhìháo's Lancer flits into sight, blocks the swing of the strange enemy's cutter. Then, unceremoniously, dodging rifle fire from Cam and Ryan, the enemy snakes its sword past Zhìháo's guard, and cuts his unit in half. The cutter shears downward from shoulder to waist, barely making a detour as it encounters the stronger armour around the Lancer's cockpit. Still more or less going straight through its cockpit, though. Ryan is screaming his name, quite probably not realising he's doing so over general comm.

    "Fall back, fall back, fall back! This was not what we planned for!" The panic in Sails' voice is the thing that knocks you out of your stunned shock, and makes the real fear set in.

    "No shit this wasn't what we planned for!" Ryan doesn't sound angry. Almost more stunned.

    You leave the shadow of the enemy ship. The new mecha moves strangely, with an elegance that feels at times almost unwitting, thrust kicking in in fits and starts. If any of what the four of you are firing actually hits it, you can't tell.

    Then, Sails and Kitty are with you, Owusu still locked down with the last of the enemy Banners. Still, even without him, it's six to one, your favour. That's better. That's more than manageable.

    Then, moving like a white and gold streak, the strange mecha cuts into Kitty's unit, kicking off the motionless Pennant to move past it, straight for Sunny. To his credit, he blocks the cutter with the reinforced armour on his Pennant's arms. Not once, but twice, trying his best to level the anti-mecha rifle at it, while it's on him.

    Then, Sunny isn't fighting anymore. And it's moving on, coming straight for Sails.

    "What is that thing?" you hear yourself demand, distantly. Your voice is ragged, unconscious. You watch it race after your commander, manage to wing it with your heavy cannon. Still not enough.

    "Enemy Banner down, I'm on my way." Milo Owusu's voice is all business, now. Calmer than any of yours, with none of his smug banter from earlier.

    "I can't shake it!" Sails says. She's certainly trying her best, weaving a dizzying path, making use of all her years of experience. It's too fas— It swerves around in front of her, slashing out with that cutter again. Laying open the Commander's torso armour, before, for the first time, using a ranged weapon. To fire mercilessly into her cockpit at extreme close range.

    Jennifer Sails is unquestionably dead.

    With a spike of dread deep in your heart, you see it turn toward you again. And you know, you know that you're next.

    /////PoCS/////

    Several of your friends have already been killed or injured. You are in serious danger.

    In Petals of Carbon Steel, you have three Extra Chances. Losing them can be a consequence of combat. Burning them can mitigate serious consequences for certain votes... but they should be used carefully. Gaining them back is rare.

    Of what comes to pass in the next few moments, what catastrophes do you manage to avoid?

    Pick two or three options from the following list. Choosing three options will automatically cost an Extra Chance. Use plan voting.

    [ ] You are not seriously injured or killed
    [ ] You don't lose as many people as you'd feared
    [ ] The damages to your surviving machines are less serious than you'd feared
    [ ] The Esther Strova isn't seriously damaged
    [ ] The enemy mecha doesn't escape unscathed

    I think most of you know me as a QM well enough not to call my bluff on any given option just to see if I really go through with it. A voting moratorium is in place for the next few hours, something I'm going to try for votes like this in the future. Please feel free to reflect and discuss among yourselves before I open up the actual vote.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • And here we are again.

    Hmmm...

    Experienced and decent pilots are going to hard to come by for a resistance movement, if the ship gets damaged though... and I don't want to lose the Princess after a single update.
     
    Holy crap! we need to make this stick, for them and us. that means ships and pilots.
     
    AZARA NO

    And of course we have to vote to save ourselves...

    Hmm, well, assuming a relatively similar length and pacing to the last quest (a dangerous assumption, I'm aware), we can probably expect to face 6-8 battles in total. That means it is not unwise to burn Extra Chances about half the time - and mitigating negative events early is likely to put us in a better position to avoid needing them later.

    Therefore, we should vote to preserve as many resources as we can now to win later battles.

    Since I can't remember the names and personalities of all the characters, I'm gonna vote to thin out their ranks a little. :V
     
    Oh boy here we go again.

    [ ] You are not seriously injured or killed
    [ ] The Esther Strova isn't seriously damaged

    Basically what we need to not risk being cornered. We need an exfil and we need to not be maimed or killed. Running facefirst into a trap means that your priority at this point is escaping with your skin intact.

    Like, don't risk instant death, because that just burns a Second Chance for no real gain at that point. And making sure we can walk away from this is also critical, and that means our carrier needs to be able to limp to safety.
     
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    [] Gamble
    -[] You don't lose as many people as you'd feared
    -[] The enemy mecha doesn't escape unscathed

    Normally I wouldn't gamble the MC life at the first chance but I'm willing to risk it for a serious injury. I like the narrative of going down hard to scathe the enemy and ensure some of the others survive. And if we do die, we're not far enough in the quest that I'm seriously invested in her, even if she is pretty roguishly likable.
     
    Parzival95 said:
    [] Gamble
    -[] You don't lose as many people as you'd feared
    -[] The enemy mecha doesn't escape unscathed

    Normally I wouldn't gamble the MC life at the first chance but I'm willing to risk it for a serious injury. I like the narrative of going down hard to scathe the enemy and ensure some of the others survive. And if we do die, we're not far enough in the quest that I'm seriously invested in her, even if she is pretty roguishly likable.
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    Death is on the table.

    You want to waste a Second Chance this early on just for the chance at hurting the other guy?

    Because I'm pretty sure--just like Warhammer RPG--spending a Second Chance to avert catastrophe is far less effective than using it to avert the catastrophe in the first place. I'd expect we'd end up using it and getting 'Maimed' instead of killed in that event.
     
    [ ] The enemy mecha doesn't escape unscathed
    Sorely. Tempted.

    Also, having the main ship be horrendiously damaged at every opportunity is a Petals tradition.
     
    Alectai said:
    Death is on the table.

    You want to waste a Second Chance this early on just for the chance at hurting the other guy?

    Because I'm pretty sure--just like Warhammer RPG--spending a Second Chance to avert catastrophe is far less effective than using it to avert the catastrophe in the first place. I'd expect we'd end up using it and getting 'Maimed' instead of killed in that event.
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    The quest has barely started, I'm not gonna tear my hair out stressing over who lives and dies. If other people do too, well that's the point of voting. And I'd be cool with being maimed.
     
    Yeah, having that "don't get seriously injured or killed" option really feels like a move to force the use of a limited resource, or to accept that we are really only voting for one option.

    Like, I am going for the "everyone else who could survives" and "enemy mech gets hurt" option, but I won't begrudge people getting mad at those who vote that way.
     
    Extra chances, not second chances.

    But also, why not take the risk? We're a pirate, being potentially maimed is *very* piratical.
     
    Donn said:
    Extra chances, not second chances.

    But also, why not take the risk? We're a pirate, being potentially maimed is *very* piratical.
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    Actually it's the last thing from being piratical, because when you're cut off from resources, you can't afford to get fucked up.

    So you pick battles you can win, and run away from ones you can't.

    A pirate who dives head first into losing battles is a dead one. Soldiers have the luxury of making glorious last stands out of spite, revolutionaries and pirates don't.
     
    Oh boy! A real doozy of a choice right from the get go.
    I'm leaning toward ourselves and the ship at the moment (the Rose could take it, but I don't think we've got access to the same level of repair facilities this time), but I'm gonna need to think on it more.
     
    [] You are not seriously injured or killed
    [] The Esther Strova isn't seriously damaged
    Yeah no we need to LIVE SEEING THIS THING.
    We're the rebels, save our power for when we can use it to do more then survive.
    Edited foor mortarium.
     
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    [ ] You are not seriously injured or killed
    I'll return to it later.
    [ ] You don't lose as many people as you'd feared
    [ ] The damages to your surviving machines are less serious than you'd feared
    [ ] The Esther Strova isn't seriously damaged
    [ ] The enemy mecha doesn't escape unscathed

    Alright, full disclaimer, I'll use Anime Logic and Normal Logic on this one, I think I don't need to say when I'm being serious.
    I'll give you one hint: SHONEN!

    Firstly, the votes that shouldn't cause any controversy.

    Fuck trying to damage this thing, we'll need heavy firepower and our own Aces and Custom Mechas for this. Even if damaging it makes it easier to fight it later, that's not worth burning a vote right now. Gathering data on it and seeing how it fights is way more important, and for that we need to make it out alive.

    We also need a ship to get away, so.

    The "we don't lose as many people as we feared" means both the past and the future casualties. There are two out of four confirmed deaths, another two are murkier, Sunny just doesn't fire any longer and Azara isn't necessarily dead, maybe just unconscious and concussed as fuck.

    The mechas aren't as damaged as you feared vote will enable us to save and repair some mechas, but not their pilots, I think it's pretty straightforward. Experienced pilots are probably a little more important than the scrap we're flying in.

    And finally, the most controversial: we might make it out alive if we don't pick an option not to die, but pick two options that will let someone carry our inoperative mecha with our body stick in it into the ship and leg it.

    For that the ship needs to be in good enough condition to quickly retreat, and someone needs to survive to drag our body out of this murderblender. Besides, Owusu didn't talk to us that much, so our death will do nothing for his character development.

    So, I propose:

    [ ] You don't lose as many people as you'd feared
    [ ] The Esther Strova isn't seriously damaged

    And if we die, well, we could even get a (practically nonexistent) chance to play as Owusu!
    Come on, Omegahugger, I know you wanna.
     
    I think it would be best to use the extra chance now. Not using it means we'll have less resources and/or stronger opposition in the future, which can start to get into an attritional spiral. It is better to expend an extra chance now so that we're in a better position and less likely to need to expend one later.

    My proposed plan:

    [ ] Plan Scars Are Cool.
    -[ ] You don't lose as many people as you'd feared
    -[ ] The Esther Strova isn't seriously damaged
    -[ ] The enemy mecha doesn't escape unscathed

    Pilots are more important than machines (plus anything that might save Azara), the mecha will be easier to replace than the pilots will be. The ship not remaining intact is bad for Kana's long term health. This works on mecha anime rules to an extent, so the HSE prototype is going to be a potentially major card that can have it's potency limited.

    I'm also totally alright with Kana getting grievously injured in some way. I was absolutely rooting for Amani to get a limb pinched off by a closing blast door in PoT. :V
     
    Eh. Guys, you know what the words "vote plan" and "moratorium for a few hours" mean,
    right?
    Cute Princess said:
    [] You are not seriously injured or killed
    [] The Esther Strova isn't seriously damaged
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    Zaealix said:
    [] You are not seriously injured or killed
    [] The Esther Strova isn't seriously damaged
    Yeah no we need to LIVE SEEING THIS THING.
    We're the rebels, save our power for when we can use it to do more then survive.
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    We don't have to vote to save ourselves, because the story will continue regardless. If we really had to in order for the story to continue, it would have been autofilled, and we'd have only gotten to pick one choice.
     
    Gazetteer said:
    I think most of you know me as a QM well enough not to call my bluff on any given option just to see if I really go through with it.
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    Given this, and given that death is apparently on the table, could you clarify what that outcome would structurally mean for the quest? Assuming it does specifically turn out to be death rather than maiming, I mean. Do we just end there, or get assigned a new PC, or (as Alectai appears to be theorizing) automatically burn a Chance to instead not die, or what?
     
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