For notables, was more referring to corporations. As we kinda breathed new life into designs belonging to corps that were struggling to make a profit until we basically gave them a free modernization of those problematic legacy designs. Less big players and more some minor folks whom got a much needed stroke of Devin provided good luck while they were trying to make ends meet corporate wise.
Super Robot Quest G
- Thread starter Basarin
- Start date
- Original Sci-Fi
- Location
- USA
So let's roll some dice and see what spontaneously combusts today. I got caught up on chores and errands, but have some hints on what's coming!
Haruko Sasaki
- Liaison (Ground Pound, Anti-Gravity Spot Check): 3, 1, 1
- Reaction Force Monitoring (Kaiju): 2, 5, 1
Sasaki discovers that Ground Pound's implementation of the Anti-Gravity Solution is going fairly well, actually. It also gives her a close-up view of how the nanites work in relation to their Super Robot. The only real stumbling block is actually because of how well it's taken - there's some minor decision paralysis now that so many options have been cleared up. Good problem to have, though.
Additionally, now that you all have more clear indicators of how to detect kaiju infiltrators, Intelligence has begun identifying a few (though they've yet to be apprehended). Unsurprisingly, they tend to gather in coastal areas and cities, but there is no significant presence that you can hone in on yet.
Diana
- Liaison: Yukimura Institute (Mad Science Chaperone Duty): 2, 6, 5
- Liaison: Legio Galbinus (Seismic Activity): 6, 1, 5
Diana has since learned that two mad scientists shouting and screaming at one another...is actually a good sign? She has a headache now.
Galbinus himself has also come to visit on invitation to discuss the seismic activity. It confirms suspicions he and Herald have had - and he has an idea that will require some help. Just not the kind of help you were expecting to hear him ask for.
Adrianna
- Liaison (MSS, Erika, Favor): 1, 5, 4
- Reaction Force Monitoring (Where's Ocular?): 4, 3, 6
You received clarification that the offer to allow Yukimura onto DFRI grounds also extended to Mander and the Valiant crew, provided they signed the NDAs. Mander himself couldn't make it, but Erika and Patrick definitely could, and while you don't learn much of too much substance, it's a good follow up to previous cooperation.
Additionally, Ocular's signal has become much more consistent, as his signal never stopped broadcasting. And now, you think you have a much better idea of where he might be. Which leads you to wonder about how decommissioned some facilities actually are.
-Haruko Sasaki
--Liaison: Ground Pound-Topic: How are things going with the anti-gravity?
--Reaction Force Monitoring: Kaiju
-Diana
--Liaison: Dr. Yukimura-Topic: K-class materials
--Liaison: Galbinus-R-Topic: Seismic activity moving toward them
-Adrianna
--Liaison: Mander-Topic: how are things going, and about that favor we owe them?
--Reaction Force Monitoring: Westphalians
--Liaison: Ground Pound-Topic: How are things going with the anti-gravity?
--Reaction Force Monitoring: Kaiju
-Diana
--Liaison: Dr. Yukimura-Topic: K-class materials
--Liaison: Galbinus-R-Topic: Seismic activity moving toward them
-Adrianna
--Liaison: Mander-Topic: how are things going, and about that favor we owe them?
--Reaction Force Monitoring: Westphalians
Haruko Sasaki
- Liaison (Ground Pound, Anti-Gravity Spot Check): 3, 1, 1
- Reaction Force Monitoring (Kaiju): 2, 5, 1
Sasaki discovers that Ground Pound's implementation of the Anti-Gravity Solution is going fairly well, actually. It also gives her a close-up view of how the nanites work in relation to their Super Robot. The only real stumbling block is actually because of how well it's taken - there's some minor decision paralysis now that so many options have been cleared up. Good problem to have, though.
Additionally, now that you all have more clear indicators of how to detect kaiju infiltrators, Intelligence has begun identifying a few (though they've yet to be apprehended). Unsurprisingly, they tend to gather in coastal areas and cities, but there is no significant presence that you can hone in on yet.
Diana
- Liaison: Yukimura Institute (Mad Science Chaperone Duty): 2, 6, 5
- Liaison: Legio Galbinus (Seismic Activity): 6, 1, 5
Diana has since learned that two mad scientists shouting and screaming at one another...is actually a good sign? She has a headache now.
Galbinus himself has also come to visit on invitation to discuss the seismic activity. It confirms suspicions he and Herald have had - and he has an idea that will require some help. Just not the kind of help you were expecting to hear him ask for.
Adrianna
- Liaison (MSS, Erika, Favor): 1, 5, 4
- Reaction Force Monitoring (Where's Ocular?): 4, 3, 6
You received clarification that the offer to allow Yukimura onto DFRI grounds also extended to Mander and the Valiant crew, provided they signed the NDAs. Mander himself couldn't make it, but Erika and Patrick definitely could, and while you don't learn much of too much substance, it's a good follow up to previous cooperation.
Additionally, Ocular's signal has become much more consistent, as his signal never stopped broadcasting. And now, you think you have a much better idea of where he might be. Which leads you to wonder about how decommissioned some facilities actually are.
- Location
- Three feet to the left
- Pronouns
- He/They
Hang on, does Yukimura know his nephew works for us?
- Location
- alphen aan den rijn
Yes, told him a number of turns ago
Thors_Alumni
Proud member of Thors Class VII from Liberl
- Location
- Liberl Zemuria.
I remembered it last night and checked to make sure. During the meeting in the run up to the battle of the Yukimura institute. Dr Yukimura commented about the new corvette dropship class. I got the idea from his comment that he wished he had one of his own. After thinking about it, I don't think his group has their own dedicated Dropship but uses a borrowed one from the defense forces. I think that instead of building a third dropship to give to the next platoon. we should offer to build the other groups corvette dropships of their own. I know Ground Pound will want one eventually since they are still in the development stage and will eventually want to deploy their Super Robot when it is ready.
I don't know about Mander just yet but they might actually have a Dropship of their own given how wealthy that group and Lady Erika are respectively. So since all the groups will be present for a short while I think it might be a good idea for the DFRI to offer to build a dropship for the other groups for their own use if they don't already have a dedicated dropship of their own to use. Although, next time we should probably get one of the other advisors to build the dropship this time. I like the trio a lot but they went a bit too far in coming up with idea's for the second Dropship while building it when their orders were to just build the dropship while following the blueprints for the class.
Speaking of, I have mentioned it before and I will again. but due to the new tech we now have. we really need to start researching a super weapon that we can use and install in the hull of a battleship class when the time comes. the sooner we do the sooner we can get that space battleship with a super weapon that I am wanting. There's no point in getting the Battleship first if we don't have the Super Weapon for it. It'd be a nasty surprise for anyone who thinks the battleship will be an easy target. As for pilots for any new Super Robots that might come down the chain from our group and not from the other programs. It might be a good idea to share our training programs with them so that they can have the same kind of hard core training regimen for their pilots that the DFRI has for their own groups instead of just being by the book.
Realistically those groups want pilots that can actually think and not just go by the book which would probably be disastrous on a number of levels since that kind of inflexibility can be lethal to both the Pilot and anyone caught in the crossfire. Both Erika and Jiro are civilians who do not have military training and can thus think outside the box to react to changing circumstances. I want to stress this folks but we need to keep this in mind and not just take average pilots who can't do that kind of thinking when it comes to being pilots for the super robots.
During the upcoming meeting I can see a bunch of things being discussed like say giving the other groups an option to get Corvette Dropships for their own use or letting them have samples of our tech other than K-tech that we don't want to let out of our control to prevent disasters from happening such as Sheol suborning the stuff and shutting down the Super Robots at an inopportune time. We can also offer the anti gravity tech and anything else that they might want for their own groups. And then there is the Kausen. Since the other groups are visiting the base. It might be time to introduce them to the Legion and their leader since that group is functionally the fourth peace faction against the bad guy faction. Technically the Regency counts as a fifth faction but I am combining it with the Kausen for simplicities sake and the fact that it's also technically an alien as well.
I don't know about Mander just yet but they might actually have a Dropship of their own given how wealthy that group and Lady Erika are respectively. So since all the groups will be present for a short while I think it might be a good idea for the DFRI to offer to build a dropship for the other groups for their own use if they don't already have a dedicated dropship of their own to use. Although, next time we should probably get one of the other advisors to build the dropship this time. I like the trio a lot but they went a bit too far in coming up with idea's for the second Dropship while building it when their orders were to just build the dropship while following the blueprints for the class.
Speaking of, I have mentioned it before and I will again. but due to the new tech we now have. we really need to start researching a super weapon that we can use and install in the hull of a battleship class when the time comes. the sooner we do the sooner we can get that space battleship with a super weapon that I am wanting. There's no point in getting the Battleship first if we don't have the Super Weapon for it. It'd be a nasty surprise for anyone who thinks the battleship will be an easy target. As for pilots for any new Super Robots that might come down the chain from our group and not from the other programs. It might be a good idea to share our training programs with them so that they can have the same kind of hard core training regimen for their pilots that the DFRI has for their own groups instead of just being by the book.
Realistically those groups want pilots that can actually think and not just go by the book which would probably be disastrous on a number of levels since that kind of inflexibility can be lethal to both the Pilot and anyone caught in the crossfire. Both Erika and Jiro are civilians who do not have military training and can thus think outside the box to react to changing circumstances. I want to stress this folks but we need to keep this in mind and not just take average pilots who can't do that kind of thinking when it comes to being pilots for the super robots.
During the upcoming meeting I can see a bunch of things being discussed like say giving the other groups an option to get Corvette Dropships for their own use or letting them have samples of our tech other than K-tech that we don't want to let out of our control to prevent disasters from happening such as Sheol suborning the stuff and shutting down the Super Robots at an inopportune time. We can also offer the anti gravity tech and anything else that they might want for their own groups. And then there is the Kausen. Since the other groups are visiting the base. It might be time to introduce them to the Legion and their leader since that group is functionally the fourth peace faction against the bad guy faction. Technically the Regency counts as a fifth faction but I am combining it with the Kausen for simplicities sake and the fact that it's also technically an alien as well.
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NaanContributor
Provider of delicious flatbread, and nothing else.
- Location
- Hawaii
If every Super Robot task force in the world is going to need its own drop ship, then it feels like it should be the responsibility of a more appropriate branch of the United Defense Forces to be churning them out, instead of tying up a continuous portion of the DFRI's valuable time that's supposed to be used for actual Super Robot development. What's the point of being a part of an entire worldwide military industrial complex if we have to not only assemble all of our own transportation units ourselves, but for everyone else too?
Thors_Alumni
Proud member of Thors Class VII from Liberl
- Location
- Liberl Zemuria.
The class is still relatively new and the DFRI have orders from Peters to let the envy grow. It does not have K-Tech in it since that's a Super Robot only tech. but what it does have is Zirvitium armor on it. Although at this point with the class proving itself so spectacularly during the Yukimura battle. it might be time to start letting others build the class, but for now It stays in the family until told otherwise.
Sir Plusse
Overly Vicious Quester
- Location
- Kansas
Well, not sure if we've got the OK to share the Pegasus-class yet, but helping other projects design their own dropships shouldn't be too out-there, right?
Or maybe we could help Mercury get a Scrander-equivalent, assuming it doesn't have one yet? Granted, even if Yukimura does accept that our K-Class is safe-ish, I doubt he'd be willing to use it himself, but we have other ways to make it work, and Mercury's certainly got power to spare.
NaanContributor
Provider of delicious flatbread, and nothing else.
- Location
- Hawaii
I'm saying that this is something that should be brought up with Peters before we try to build a bunch of drop ships, especially when our engineers can't resist fiddling with new weird experiments in our second go at making one. Those orders to let the envy grow were before Peters changed the status quo yet again by endorsing this multiple SR development groups initiative. That envy strategy has payed off now. If it's time for making drop ships for every SR team, then it's also time to let someone else start building them.
We're not an assembly line factory, our crazy genius engineers and scientists have more unique things to spend their turn actions on than producing instances of the same thing over and over to fulfill everyone else's basic transportation requirements. Just handing over a simplified blueprint that doesn't have Zirvitium added should be fine, especially if the other teams aren't expected to have the drop ship participate in the Super Robot battles like we do.
They're still waiting on the people to break in the Sergey Gorbachev due to needing to design a new doctrine on how to even use the new class of flying ships in the first place so until it sees field action for a few months I don't see the ship data getting out.
Especially since that's the higher ups' plans. They're conservative about adapting but they want a guinea pig to break the ground for them that isn't Devins' group.
It's harder than it sounds too considering they're essentially training sailors to fly through air and also they'll probably need dry dock facilities to make the ship far away from any body of water to prevent the Westphalians from boat jacking so that's yet more things that goes against existing doctrines to account for without field success to pave the way.
Especially since that's the higher ups' plans. They're conservative about adapting but they want a guinea pig to break the ground for them that isn't Devins' group.
It's harder than it sounds too considering they're essentially training sailors to fly through air and also they'll probably need dry dock facilities to make the ship far away from any body of water to prevent the Westphalians from boat jacking so that's yet more things that goes against existing doctrines to account for without field success to pave the way.
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NaanContributor
Provider of delicious flatbread, and nothing else.
- Location
- Hawaii
Is this part of the drop ship discussion or starting a new one? Since the Sergey Gorbachev's situation as the big flying battleship is separate from the Pegasus-style drop ships.
Ah, that'd my mistake for missing the drop part.
Though the issue remains even if you scrub out the Zirvitium, no one knows how Kausen energy weapons work yet in house beaide us (not even Ground Pound and they're the most along).
They also need energy crystals to power too which means people can find a trail leading to our base if we're the suppliers and if we teach other people how to do it their bases would get attacked super fast without a super robot defending it so we'd have to play guard duty until they get their hero mechs up and running.
They also can't have AI either. So you're basically left with... a normal dropship.
Though the issue remains even if you scrub out the Zirvitium, no one knows how Kausen energy weapons work yet in house beaide us (not even Ground Pound and they're the most along).
They also need energy crystals to power too which means people can find a trail leading to our base if we're the suppliers and if we teach other people how to do it their bases would get attacked super fast without a super robot defending it so we'd have to play guard duty until they get their hero mechs up and running.
They also can't have AI either. So you're basically left with... a normal dropship.
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- Location
- A place
Can't we just ask the Navy or Air Force or Army to design a dropshiop using normal tech. We might have gone too far down the Dropship hole.
We have a ship.
Without more Super Robot teams we dont need to start building any more
We have a ship.
Without more Super Robot teams we dont need to start building any more
The problem is that we only have ONE ship, and multiple Super Robot Teams (Beowulf, Perseus, the Argonauts, Jessica, and Ichiro).
Yeah, and if we send our people off to teach other people how to build gimped versions of the ships then that's a couple of months where we can't build more of our own.
Better to just wait for Ground Pound to come online before we spread more tech since then we wouldn't be as action locked.
Also regular dropships already exist and they're incredibly precious commodities. We don't need to design more from the ground up.
Better to just wait for Ground Pound to come online before we spread more tech since then we wouldn't be as action locked.
Also regular dropships already exist and they're incredibly precious commodities. We don't need to design more from the ground up.
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Sir Plusse
Overly Vicious Quester
- Location
- Kansas
Yeah, I agree with wafer on this one. Super Robots we can just rotate which we're deploying, but if our dropship gets shot down we're stuck either hiking or begging for a ride from someone else unless we build a spare. Additionally, what do you plan to do if multiple urgent missions come up at the same time without a second dropship?
Cases in point: The Pegasus was shot down in the Yukimura battle; field repairs managed to make it able to return to base, but it was not mission capable in time for the "back Valiant up" mission. Meanwhile, the Dragon(fly) battle coincided with a Westphalian terror attack.
Besides, I'm pretty sure Peters specifically told us she wanted us to have multiple SR teams, including dropships, on hand just in case.
Getting dropships is also hard as heck so they're not anything casual like people are saying. No group wants to willingly give up a dropship at all because they're that precious and the only reason we got the Stork which became the Pegasus was because we rolled good enough to get a decommissioned one.
No one's going to let us remodel their active dropships. And even the decommissioned stock is hard to get too.
Before thinking of messing around with other people's stuff, prioritize our own first.
No one's going to let us remodel their active dropships. And even the decommissioned stock is hard to get too.
Before thinking of messing around with other people's stuff, prioritize our own first.
Thors_Alumni
Proud member of Thors Class VII from Liberl
- Location
- Liberl Zemuria.
We didn't get a whole stork. It was a set of malfunctioning stork engines that we found and then used to build the Pegasus class dropships
January Year Four: Defense Force Results
- Location
- USA
QM Note: Experimenting a bit further with the format of the posts. Let me know what you all think.
Engineering Rolls will come around Thursday.
Sasaki Haruko
Liaison: Ground Pound
Haruko had learned this point a long time ago - the Super Robot projects tended to attract the truly outlandish and borderline insane to their banners. But she supposed she was so used to the DFRI-brand of madness that she'd grown somewhat used to it. Never quite a part of it, no matter what Major Devin might treacherously claim (and how dare the man!), but she'd adjusted. From the Duo's constant experimentation, to Sam and Max's constant swerves, to the AI sisters and their own antics
(She knew what they did when they thought no one was looking, but she'd let them think they got away with it. Pranking was a time honored tradition, but the key ingredient to a good prank was timing.)
So it was something of a splash of cold water to find herself the spectator to the madness rather than trying to impose some order into everything.
"Phil!" 'Gus' Neer called up from his terminal at the base of the frame. "Gonna give 'er another run!" Gus tilted his head slightly as he heard nothing but muffled speech coming from the guts of the partially constituted frame. "Phil, I know it's darned not perfect but that's why you're wearing God-only-knows how many layers of HAZMAT!"
A moment later, a face obscured by a welding mask poked out from behind the skeletal limb that would be the Robot's arm, shaking a fist at Gus as unintelligible speech once again mumbled ferociously at him.
"Don't you give me lip about the Polymorph Nanites! You know as well as I do-!"
"Will you two shut up and get a move on, please?" Both engineers glared up at the control platform, encased in both reinforced ballistic glass and solid layers of concrete. Albert Schemming's disgruntled and annoyed look was almost as visible as his sizable mustache and balding head. "I would like to learn how well the skeletal structure deals with Anti-Gravity applied layers, if you please."
"Right, right." Grumbling, Neer readjusted the yellow hardhat on his head that had tilted a bit too far, and a thick gloved hand pushed up the protective goggles that never seemed to leave his face. "Conductin' Polymorph Reconstructive Armaments test, now with Anti-Gravity Solution. Phil, you ready?" A protesting grumble echoed ominously from the platform next to the arm. "Eh, good enough. Victor, fire it up!"
Within the skeletal frame, a simple, if bulky sphere embedded in the guts of the machine sparked and crackled to life - and suddenly the room was plunged into a dark red light. The Fulgur Particle Engine seemed to suck all other ambient light away from the chamber as streams of particles swirled around the epicenter it now represented, like so many other tests before it.
But now, hopefully, this would be different.
A swirling storm of what almost looked like pixels on an older television monitor began to form from the base of the completed leg, each tiny miniscule particle piling onto one another at speeds impossible to see with the human eyeball. More, and more, and more, a solid armored torso soon appeared, tapering off at the top with a shoulder pauldron. "Moment of truth," Gus muttered to himself, right as the arm began to form-
Gus tore his attention away from the frame as he heard Phil's shocked voice. "What!? You sure!?" A simple arm raised up from the man's console, a thumbs up the only gesture. "Victor, Al! You gettin' this!?"
Before either could respond, the Super Robot moved.
Both Gus and Phil stumbled backwards in shock as the arm moved. Where before, it was a struggle to simply lift the damned thing, now its arm raised as readily as Mercury V's might have. Yet far from celebrating, Gus stared slackjawed at the machine, as the almost skull-like visage of where the cockpit would be on its head seemed to stare past Gus, the red lights of the Fulgur Particles glowing from its eye sockets-
"Initiating emergency shutdown!"
-and suddenly, all light was snuffed out, replacing the world with colors once again.
"...I don't think I need the Fulgur Particles for a bad dream from this one," Gus muttered weakly.
Phil could only mumble meekly in agreement.
Haruko simply blinked as she watched the control platform explode into action as Schemming and Zhang's teams began to pore over the data. In the corner, Victor Forge leaned back, slightly shocked, but also with a massive grin on his face as his prosthetic hand tapped idly on the table. Yet one thought was crossing her mind:
So this is what it looks like from the outside.
Haruko had arrived just in time to watch that rather dramatic display. Afterwards, however, it was actually rather tame - the Anti-Gravity clearly worked, and the now factory gray prototype was beginning to conduct mobility tests. However, the problem soon came down to the sheer amount of options that had opened to them.
This was decidedly not helped when the pilots got wind of what had just plopped into their laps.
As Haruko learned, the cockpit was split between the three pilots. She never got a close look at any of them, but already Victor was looking far more stressed - and intrigued - at how they began to immediately push the anti-gravity treated nanites as far as they thought they could go - and then proceeded to push just a bit further. Everything from the arms changing into weapons, to redistributing body weight for increased mobility, to even redlining the Fulgur engine to create new weapons out of wholecloth (including a rather memorable moment when one of the engineers' flamethrower designs was created on the spot) - seemingly nothing was off the table.
Major Jenkins' wry reaction to all of this was simply, "I suppose this is what your boss calls a good problem."
Reaction Force Monitoring: Kaiju
It's almost a relief when she returned home to focus on something far simpler, far more straightforward. Such as monitoring for human-sized kaiju activity. That was far less disturbing than the roiling abyss generated by the Fulgur Particle Engine that Dr. Zhang had prototyped.
This is made far easier due to the fact that their fellows in the Intelligence Services had examined the remains collected from the Yukimura Institute, along with Dr. Yukimura's own notes and testimonies. At a glance, the individuals appeared human. Body language tended to vary greatly, however, depending on the state of mind of the individual and if it was intact enough to remember how to act human. But some giveaway signs remained, as discovered by Satsuma.
Skin that gave way to scales. Unnatural eyes. Sharpened teeth. Heightened aggression.
Identifying them was relatively easy. However, they were not collecting into a readily easy pattern. Aside from the somewhat understandable tendency to limit operations to coastal communities and cities, the only other pattern was that it was a very rare infiltrator that dared to go further inland.
Still, though nothing was going on now, that didn't mean they weren't planning something. And Haruko had a suspicion that heightened infiltrator activity could be the signal for a kaiju emerging - but that was mere conjecture at this point.
Diana
Liaison: Dr. Yukimura
"...and you're growing the tissue samples directly!? Are you mad?"
"Hell yeah, I'm mad! Mad that you're questioning it!"
"For all we know, the tissue samples could become autonomous on their own-!"
"-completely inert! Safe as houses-!"
"-preposterous-!"
"-ostrich-headed-!"
Ivanna gave Diana a sympathetic look as the Defense Force AI's composure finally just sagged. "Why me?" she groaned as she clutched her hands in her head. Her digital avatar was floating above the butting heads of both Doctors Yukimura and Carlson.
"It's, ah," Ivanna said, a strained smile on her face as she patted Diana's shoulder in solidarity. "It's actually not so bad?" A resounding crash echoed in the lab as Dr. Carlson brought up a holo display and a blackboard. The strained smile on Ivanna's face only grew. "No, really, it actually isn't," she tried to reassure Diana.
"How is-?" Diana tilted her head backwards as a stack of papers was flung backwards, missing her avatar by inches. "-how is this good?" she demanded.
"...good is a bit of a stretch," Ivanna admitted. "But it's not bad."
"Oh, please." Both avatars looked up to see Doctor Brand sitting nearby, a bowl of popcorn in her lap as she watched. "Understand, girls - this is mad science. It's a little difficult to explain or debate anything in calm and measured terms." Diana just shot Ivanna a look, and her eyes only twitched at Ivanna's agreeing nod.
"But-" Diana pointed at Doctor Brand, her eyes still twitching. "-but you and Doctor Carlson-even Doctor McCullough-"
"Radically different fields," she dismissed. Pausing only to grab a handful of popcorn, she chowed down on the next handful as she watched both doctors, having calmed down slightly, going over older equations and simulation charts. "The nice thing about mad science - you're typically the only one working your field, so no one really questions you. You don't get many established types who actually overlap like this."
"Can confirm," another voice cut in. Hiroki was leaning against the table Doctor Brand was sitting next to. "Doc typically is the one guy in the room who knows what he's talking about when it comes to Aeon Particles or kaiju...never seen him this worked up in ages."
"Guarantee you," Doctor Brand chuckled. "They'll be good friends afterwards." She held up the half-finished bowl of popcorn to Hiroki in a silent offering, which the pilot took her up on. "They'll be at it for awhile, though."
"And I was tasked with this because...?" Diana wondered.
"You worked with him before," Ivanna offered. "And Doctor Yukimura strikes me as the type who doesn't want to burn relationships from those he's worked with well before? The fact you're here is probably a moderating influence as well."
"Yeah, that," Hiroki agreed through a mouthful of popcorn. Swallowing, he tilted his head as another stack of papers flew past them. "But man, this is great."
Liaison: Legio Galbinus
"You seem...oddly pleased to see me."
"Sir." Diana gave a weary shrug to the Legion's leader as he entered the hangar bay repurposed for the visit. "I promise you, as heavy as the discussions are, it's much saner compared to the other job I had recently."
Galbinus's gold-colored optics flickered to a dimmer setting before brightening back to their defaults - the closest Diana could equate that to was blinking. "As you say," he said. "Though I trust you'll understand that I have my own share of...eccentricities to manage as well." Moving on, he approached the Shepherd whose flatrack trailer was repurposed as a table. "What did you wish to discuss?"
"This." The trailer expanded slightly, and the metal edges tilted at an angle to facilitate a three-dimensional overlay of the Enclave's topographical data. "A few months ago, we started to detect seismic activity along the security perimeter." Angry red circles began to materialize, showing a clear path over time. At first poking towards the DFRI Headquarters, but in recent weeks clearly making a beeline towards the Legion's facilities. "We're suspecting someone or something is tunneling directly towards the Enclave grounds."
Galbinus examined the data, his optics narrowing in a focused frown. A moment later, another holographic overlay emerged from his optics, rescaling and resizing itself over Diana's - and a similar set of data displays presented a near one to one. "We had wondered what this was," Galbinus muttered to himself. "Breakneck and Tracker had both recently come across it as well."
"How...long ago, sir?"
"I believe the human term is 'yesterday.' But your data fills in some gaps that Herald and I were not quite able to reconcile." He nodded to Diana. "My thanks, Diana. Please pass on my compliments to Major Devin."
"Not a problem, sir..." Her curiosity getting the better of her, Diana asked, "But it sounds like you know what it is?"
"A breakout attempt." Another datapacket was forwarded to Diana, who brought it up for display out of habit - a moment later, she realized that technically neither of them needed the visual data, but it was such an ingrained habit she never thought to think about it. The mostly restored form of Bandit - albeit in a very, very basic frame stripped of his usual tools - was displayed. "We expected for some time that the Free Brothers would try to spring Bandit. As treacherous and unreliable as he is, he's far too useful for Tyrannous to leave be." A savage grin crossed his face, and Diana was taken back at how the holograms' lights made his visage almost look sinister for a moment. "So we'll let them. On our terms."
Realization came over her. "Are you putting a tracking beacon or something on him, sir?" she asked.
"Something of the like," he confirmed. "The trick, however, is to make it look convincing. It does us no good if they think the randomizer was predisposed in our favor. You see, we had some ideas, and Lieutenant Callaghan and the Beowulf might help to truly sell this lie..."
Adrianna
Liaison: MSS
The Valiant was forced back as a mighty blow slammed against its arm. The limb was literally sent flying as the Dinym Currents lost its cohesive link, and Erika wrenched the controls, pihrouetting the Valiant around the follow-up strike. "You know you outmass me rather significantly!" she grumbled as she leapt onto the striking arm before launching the Valiant's frame up into the air. Crackling currents of electricity shot across the air, forcing the limb to wrench itself back into the empty socket.
"Doesn't matter if I can't hit you!" The green Centurion shook its fist, grimacing as electric currents shot across its fingers. "At least, hit you consistently. Gah, that stings."
Valiant landed gracefully, descending into a kneeling crouch before rising back onto its feet. "Wouldn't be the last time I've shorted someone out like that," Erika cheerfully admitted. "Good shot there, though. Least you're not trying to ram at me in a berserker rage."
"That was the one time." Ichiro Banner - and it still amazed Erika that she was talking casually to Artificial Intelligence personalities like him and Adri - grumbled. "You get angry and destroy a heavy walker one time, and no one ever lets you forget about it. Typical."
"Chin up!" Erika grinned. The top canopy of the cockpit opened, and Erika stood up, her upper torso sticking outwards and leaning over. "There's worse things to be remembered for." She glanced over towards the Proving Grounds' big screen. A giant, almost dirt-rally open ground, and the loons had set it up like a sports meet. "Adri, what was the score?"
"9-9!" Adri's avatar appeared on the corner as the giant bolded numbers - helpfully annotated with 'Home' and 'Away' - appeared. "Think we have to wrap up soon, so maybe make this one a tie breaker."
"Works for me," Ichiro agreed. "Friggin' starving right now."
"Before we do, though...quick question for you, Erika?"
"Hm?"
"Boss man's been wondering what your boss is going to ask him for later." Adri didn't sound or seem too concerned over it, as her avatar seemed to be hanging upside down, attached only by her legs seemingly locked to the top of the screen. "Buuuuut Mander didn't really say one way or the other, and Major Devin was curious about that."
"Afraid I'm no better off than you are there," Erika admitted. "The Chief tends to keep things pretty close to his chest."
"We could hazard a guess, however." Patrick's voice chimed in through the radio. "Creating the Valiant was a rather deep bite from the pocketbooks. Exclusive contracts only goes so far with maintenance and repairs. I personally suspect that Mister Mander may well ask for samples of engineering to improve the Valiant."
"You think so?" Erika blinked. "We've been getting along alright so far."
"What would he ask for then?" Ichiro wondered. The mech's body scratched its head. "Lana's the engineer, not me, but you'd think there's not much overlap there."
"Suffice to say, I'm sadly not privy to how Charles Mander's mind works."
"Until then, it's back to cracking heads and giving Wallace and his thugs several bad days," Erika agreed. "Business as usual, really...though wondering if we'll see more of those kaiju blokes in the coming days...and those new Westphalian walkers." As she slid back into the cockpit, she hazarded to ask, "Don't suppose you lot have found anything about them?"
"Work in progress!" Adri then procured a whistle from...somewhere and blew into it, sending a shrill note piercing through the air. "Right! Fifteen paces of separation! Tie-breaker is go!"
Reaction Force Monitoring: Westphalians (Where's Ocular?)
You blink at the data.
Adrianna blinks at the data.
Igantov blinks at the data.
All three of you look at each other incredulously. You and Ignatov more than Adrianna admittedly. "This...this brings me back," you weakly admit.
"Indeed." Ignatov continues to stare at the geolocation. "The Caribbean is one thing. This particular part of it?"
"...I, uh, don't get it?" Adrianna asks. "What's got you two spooked?"
Instead of answering directly, you zoom in further-
-and a series of rusted down, derelict oil rigs appears. "This was a warzone about seven years ago," you mutter. Even from the topdown satellite view, you can see signs of battle wreckage - dilapidated shipwrecks, scorch marks along the primary platforms, and the rust of metal having been long exposed to seawater and air. "When we were getting started, we were possibly going to have this refurbished for us."
"And to think Ocular's signal is appearing from there." Igantov frowns. "This does present us with an interesting scenario." Ignatov looks towards Adrianna. "Suppose, child, that this was a facility kept hidden from prying eyes. What would you use this for?"
"Probably a bounce off point?" Adrianna guesses. "I mean, if it's the middle of nowhere, I wouldn't use it as a main base...maybe a...warehouse? Resupply point?"
"Good guess." Combined with the previous submarine traffic that Adrianna had found a few months ago, it's becoming more certain in your mind. And if it really is what it is, you have to give the Westphalian planners their due - this was ballsy. "Have they detected his broadcast?"
"Not yet!"
"Good. Because Ocular might have to wait a bit. This isn't something we can just charge in with."
Engineering Rolls will come around Thursday.
Sasaki Haruko
Liaison: Ground Pound
Haruko had learned this point a long time ago - the Super Robot projects tended to attract the truly outlandish and borderline insane to their banners. But she supposed she was so used to the DFRI-brand of madness that she'd grown somewhat used to it. Never quite a part of it, no matter what Major Devin might treacherously claim (and how dare the man!), but she'd adjusted. From the Duo's constant experimentation, to Sam and Max's constant swerves, to the AI sisters and their own antics
(She knew what they did when they thought no one was looking, but she'd let them think they got away with it. Pranking was a time honored tradition, but the key ingredient to a good prank was timing.)
So it was something of a splash of cold water to find herself the spectator to the madness rather than trying to impose some order into everything.
"Phil!" 'Gus' Neer called up from his terminal at the base of the frame. "Gonna give 'er another run!" Gus tilted his head slightly as he heard nothing but muffled speech coming from the guts of the partially constituted frame. "Phil, I know it's darned not perfect but that's why you're wearing God-only-knows how many layers of HAZMAT!"
A moment later, a face obscured by a welding mask poked out from behind the skeletal limb that would be the Robot's arm, shaking a fist at Gus as unintelligible speech once again mumbled ferociously at him.
"Don't you give me lip about the Polymorph Nanites! You know as well as I do-!"
"Will you two shut up and get a move on, please?" Both engineers glared up at the control platform, encased in both reinforced ballistic glass and solid layers of concrete. Albert Schemming's disgruntled and annoyed look was almost as visible as his sizable mustache and balding head. "I would like to learn how well the skeletal structure deals with Anti-Gravity applied layers, if you please."
"Right, right." Grumbling, Neer readjusted the yellow hardhat on his head that had tilted a bit too far, and a thick gloved hand pushed up the protective goggles that never seemed to leave his face. "Conductin' Polymorph Reconstructive Armaments test, now with Anti-Gravity Solution. Phil, you ready?" A protesting grumble echoed ominously from the platform next to the arm. "Eh, good enough. Victor, fire it up!"
Within the skeletal frame, a simple, if bulky sphere embedded in the guts of the machine sparked and crackled to life - and suddenly the room was plunged into a dark red light. The Fulgur Particle Engine seemed to suck all other ambient light away from the chamber as streams of particles swirled around the epicenter it now represented, like so many other tests before it.
But now, hopefully, this would be different.
A swirling storm of what almost looked like pixels on an older television monitor began to form from the base of the completed leg, each tiny miniscule particle piling onto one another at speeds impossible to see with the human eyeball. More, and more, and more, a solid armored torso soon appeared, tapering off at the top with a shoulder pauldron. "Moment of truth," Gus muttered to himself, right as the arm began to form-
Gus tore his attention away from the frame as he heard Phil's shocked voice. "What!? You sure!?" A simple arm raised up from the man's console, a thumbs up the only gesture. "Victor, Al! You gettin' this!?"
Before either could respond, the Super Robot moved.
Both Gus and Phil stumbled backwards in shock as the arm moved. Where before, it was a struggle to simply lift the damned thing, now its arm raised as readily as Mercury V's might have. Yet far from celebrating, Gus stared slackjawed at the machine, as the almost skull-like visage of where the cockpit would be on its head seemed to stare past Gus, the red lights of the Fulgur Particles glowing from its eye sockets-
"Initiating emergency shutdown!"
-and suddenly, all light was snuffed out, replacing the world with colors once again.
"...I don't think I need the Fulgur Particles for a bad dream from this one," Gus muttered weakly.
Phil could only mumble meekly in agreement.
Haruko simply blinked as she watched the control platform explode into action as Schemming and Zhang's teams began to pore over the data. In the corner, Victor Forge leaned back, slightly shocked, but also with a massive grin on his face as his prosthetic hand tapped idly on the table. Yet one thought was crossing her mind:
So this is what it looks like from the outside.
Haruko had arrived just in time to watch that rather dramatic display. Afterwards, however, it was actually rather tame - the Anti-Gravity clearly worked, and the now factory gray prototype was beginning to conduct mobility tests. However, the problem soon came down to the sheer amount of options that had opened to them.
This was decidedly not helped when the pilots got wind of what had just plopped into their laps.
As Haruko learned, the cockpit was split between the three pilots. She never got a close look at any of them, but already Victor was looking far more stressed - and intrigued - at how they began to immediately push the anti-gravity treated nanites as far as they thought they could go - and then proceeded to push just a bit further. Everything from the arms changing into weapons, to redistributing body weight for increased mobility, to even redlining the Fulgur engine to create new weapons out of wholecloth (including a rather memorable moment when one of the engineers' flamethrower designs was created on the spot) - seemingly nothing was off the table.
Major Jenkins' wry reaction to all of this was simply, "I suppose this is what your boss calls a good problem."
Ground Pound is really beginning to stretch its legs thanks to Anti-Gravity - but progress is now stymied by a curse of riches regarding options.
Reaction Force Monitoring: Kaiju
It's almost a relief when she returned home to focus on something far simpler, far more straightforward. Such as monitoring for human-sized kaiju activity. That was far less disturbing than the roiling abyss generated by the Fulgur Particle Engine that Dr. Zhang had prototyped.
This is made far easier due to the fact that their fellows in the Intelligence Services had examined the remains collected from the Yukimura Institute, along with Dr. Yukimura's own notes and testimonies. At a glance, the individuals appeared human. Body language tended to vary greatly, however, depending on the state of mind of the individual and if it was intact enough to remember how to act human. But some giveaway signs remained, as discovered by Satsuma.
Skin that gave way to scales. Unnatural eyes. Sharpened teeth. Heightened aggression.
Identifying them was relatively easy. However, they were not collecting into a readily easy pattern. Aside from the somewhat understandable tendency to limit operations to coastal communities and cities, the only other pattern was that it was a very rare infiltrator that dared to go further inland.
Still, though nothing was going on now, that didn't mean they weren't planning something. And Haruko had a suspicion that heightened infiltrator activity could be the signal for a kaiju emerging - but that was mere conjecture at this point.
Diana
Liaison: Dr. Yukimura
"...and you're growing the tissue samples directly!? Are you mad?"
"Hell yeah, I'm mad! Mad that you're questioning it!"
"For all we know, the tissue samples could become autonomous on their own-!"
"-completely inert! Safe as houses-!"
"-preposterous-!"
"-ostrich-headed-!"
Ivanna gave Diana a sympathetic look as the Defense Force AI's composure finally just sagged. "Why me?" she groaned as she clutched her hands in her head. Her digital avatar was floating above the butting heads of both Doctors Yukimura and Carlson.
"It's, ah," Ivanna said, a strained smile on her face as she patted Diana's shoulder in solidarity. "It's actually not so bad?" A resounding crash echoed in the lab as Dr. Carlson brought up a holo display and a blackboard. The strained smile on Ivanna's face only grew. "No, really, it actually isn't," she tried to reassure Diana.
"How is-?" Diana tilted her head backwards as a stack of papers was flung backwards, missing her avatar by inches. "-how is this good?" she demanded.
"...good is a bit of a stretch," Ivanna admitted. "But it's not bad."
"Oh, please." Both avatars looked up to see Doctor Brand sitting nearby, a bowl of popcorn in her lap as she watched. "Understand, girls - this is mad science. It's a little difficult to explain or debate anything in calm and measured terms." Diana just shot Ivanna a look, and her eyes only twitched at Ivanna's agreeing nod.
"But-" Diana pointed at Doctor Brand, her eyes still twitching. "-but you and Doctor Carlson-even Doctor McCullough-"
"Radically different fields," she dismissed. Pausing only to grab a handful of popcorn, she chowed down on the next handful as she watched both doctors, having calmed down slightly, going over older equations and simulation charts. "The nice thing about mad science - you're typically the only one working your field, so no one really questions you. You don't get many established types who actually overlap like this."
"Can confirm," another voice cut in. Hiroki was leaning against the table Doctor Brand was sitting next to. "Doc typically is the one guy in the room who knows what he's talking about when it comes to Aeon Particles or kaiju...never seen him this worked up in ages."
"Guarantee you," Doctor Brand chuckled. "They'll be good friends afterwards." She held up the half-finished bowl of popcorn to Hiroki in a silent offering, which the pilot took her up on. "They'll be at it for awhile, though."
"And I was tasked with this because...?" Diana wondered.
"You worked with him before," Ivanna offered. "And Doctor Yukimura strikes me as the type who doesn't want to burn relationships from those he's worked with well before? The fact you're here is probably a moderating influence as well."
"Yeah, that," Hiroki agreed through a mouthful of popcorn. Swallowing, he tilted his head as another stack of papers flew past them. "But man, this is great."
Dr. Yukimura still has misgivings about K-Class Materials, but Sam has at least convinced him that it's not going to override control of the Super Robots.
They've agreed to stay in touch. God help us all.
They've agreed to stay in touch. God help us all.
Liaison: Legio Galbinus
"You seem...oddly pleased to see me."
"Sir." Diana gave a weary shrug to the Legion's leader as he entered the hangar bay repurposed for the visit. "I promise you, as heavy as the discussions are, it's much saner compared to the other job I had recently."
Galbinus's gold-colored optics flickered to a dimmer setting before brightening back to their defaults - the closest Diana could equate that to was blinking. "As you say," he said. "Though I trust you'll understand that I have my own share of...eccentricities to manage as well." Moving on, he approached the Shepherd whose flatrack trailer was repurposed as a table. "What did you wish to discuss?"
"This." The trailer expanded slightly, and the metal edges tilted at an angle to facilitate a three-dimensional overlay of the Enclave's topographical data. "A few months ago, we started to detect seismic activity along the security perimeter." Angry red circles began to materialize, showing a clear path over time. At first poking towards the DFRI Headquarters, but in recent weeks clearly making a beeline towards the Legion's facilities. "We're suspecting someone or something is tunneling directly towards the Enclave grounds."
Galbinus examined the data, his optics narrowing in a focused frown. A moment later, another holographic overlay emerged from his optics, rescaling and resizing itself over Diana's - and a similar set of data displays presented a near one to one. "We had wondered what this was," Galbinus muttered to himself. "Breakneck and Tracker had both recently come across it as well."
"How...long ago, sir?"
"I believe the human term is 'yesterday.' But your data fills in some gaps that Herald and I were not quite able to reconcile." He nodded to Diana. "My thanks, Diana. Please pass on my compliments to Major Devin."
"Not a problem, sir..." Her curiosity getting the better of her, Diana asked, "But it sounds like you know what it is?"
"A breakout attempt." Another datapacket was forwarded to Diana, who brought it up for display out of habit - a moment later, she realized that technically neither of them needed the visual data, but it was such an ingrained habit she never thought to think about it. The mostly restored form of Bandit - albeit in a very, very basic frame stripped of his usual tools - was displayed. "We expected for some time that the Free Brothers would try to spring Bandit. As treacherous and unreliable as he is, he's far too useful for Tyrannous to leave be." A savage grin crossed his face, and Diana was taken back at how the holograms' lights made his visage almost look sinister for a moment. "So we'll let them. On our terms."
Realization came over her. "Are you putting a tracking beacon or something on him, sir?" she asked.
"Something of the like," he confirmed. "The trick, however, is to make it look convincing. It does us no good if they think the randomizer was predisposed in our favor. You see, we had some ideas, and Lieutenant Callaghan and the Beowulf might help to truly sell this lie..."
Galbinus pleased to receive confirmation of what he suspected - someone is trying to break Bandit out.
He wants to let them - with a nasty surprise. He wants the Beowulf's help in order to sell the illusion of a successful escape...
New Deployment Option available next turn.
He wants to let them - with a nasty surprise. He wants the Beowulf's help in order to sell the illusion of a successful escape...
New Deployment Option available next turn.
Adrianna
Liaison: MSS
The Valiant was forced back as a mighty blow slammed against its arm. The limb was literally sent flying as the Dinym Currents lost its cohesive link, and Erika wrenched the controls, pihrouetting the Valiant around the follow-up strike. "You know you outmass me rather significantly!" she grumbled as she leapt onto the striking arm before launching the Valiant's frame up into the air. Crackling currents of electricity shot across the air, forcing the limb to wrench itself back into the empty socket.
"Doesn't matter if I can't hit you!" The green Centurion shook its fist, grimacing as electric currents shot across its fingers. "At least, hit you consistently. Gah, that stings."
Valiant landed gracefully, descending into a kneeling crouch before rising back onto its feet. "Wouldn't be the last time I've shorted someone out like that," Erika cheerfully admitted. "Good shot there, though. Least you're not trying to ram at me in a berserker rage."
"That was the one time." Ichiro Banner - and it still amazed Erika that she was talking casually to Artificial Intelligence personalities like him and Adri - grumbled. "You get angry and destroy a heavy walker one time, and no one ever lets you forget about it. Typical."
"Chin up!" Erika grinned. The top canopy of the cockpit opened, and Erika stood up, her upper torso sticking outwards and leaning over. "There's worse things to be remembered for." She glanced over towards the Proving Grounds' big screen. A giant, almost dirt-rally open ground, and the loons had set it up like a sports meet. "Adri, what was the score?"
"9-9!" Adri's avatar appeared on the corner as the giant bolded numbers - helpfully annotated with 'Home' and 'Away' - appeared. "Think we have to wrap up soon, so maybe make this one a tie breaker."
"Works for me," Ichiro agreed. "Friggin' starving right now."
"Before we do, though...quick question for you, Erika?"
"Hm?"
"Boss man's been wondering what your boss is going to ask him for later." Adri didn't sound or seem too concerned over it, as her avatar seemed to be hanging upside down, attached only by her legs seemingly locked to the top of the screen. "Buuuuut Mander didn't really say one way or the other, and Major Devin was curious about that."
"Afraid I'm no better off than you are there," Erika admitted. "The Chief tends to keep things pretty close to his chest."
"We could hazard a guess, however." Patrick's voice chimed in through the radio. "Creating the Valiant was a rather deep bite from the pocketbooks. Exclusive contracts only goes so far with maintenance and repairs. I personally suspect that Mister Mander may well ask for samples of engineering to improve the Valiant."
"You think so?" Erika blinked. "We've been getting along alright so far."
"What would he ask for then?" Ichiro wondered. The mech's body scratched its head. "Lana's the engineer, not me, but you'd think there's not much overlap there."
"Suffice to say, I'm sadly not privy to how Charles Mander's mind works."
"Until then, it's back to cracking heads and giving Wallace and his thugs several bad days," Erika agreed. "Business as usual, really...though wondering if we'll see more of those kaiju blokes in the coming days...and those new Westphalian walkers." As she slid back into the cockpit, she hazarded to ask, "Don't suppose you lot have found anything about them?"
"Work in progress!" Adri then procured a whistle from...somewhere and blew into it, sending a shrill note piercing through the air. "Right! Fifteen paces of separation! Tie-breaker is go!"
No specific idea of what Mander wants for the favor. But requests for technology or engineering is a possibility.
Valiant appears to be focusing back to 'business as usual' in the near term.
Valiant appears to be focusing back to 'business as usual' in the near term.
Reaction Force Monitoring: Westphalians (Where's Ocular?)
You blink at the data.
Adrianna blinks at the data.
Igantov blinks at the data.
All three of you look at each other incredulously. You and Ignatov more than Adrianna admittedly. "This...this brings me back," you weakly admit.
"Indeed." Ignatov continues to stare at the geolocation. "The Caribbean is one thing. This particular part of it?"
"...I, uh, don't get it?" Adrianna asks. "What's got you two spooked?"
Instead of answering directly, you zoom in further-
-and a series of rusted down, derelict oil rigs appears. "This was a warzone about seven years ago," you mutter. Even from the topdown satellite view, you can see signs of battle wreckage - dilapidated shipwrecks, scorch marks along the primary platforms, and the rust of metal having been long exposed to seawater and air. "When we were getting started, we were possibly going to have this refurbished for us."
"And to think Ocular's signal is appearing from there." Igantov frowns. "This does present us with an interesting scenario." Ignatov looks towards Adrianna. "Suppose, child, that this was a facility kept hidden from prying eyes. What would you use this for?"
"Probably a bounce off point?" Adrianna guesses. "I mean, if it's the middle of nowhere, I wouldn't use it as a main base...maybe a...warehouse? Resupply point?"
"Good guess." Combined with the previous submarine traffic that Adrianna had found a few months ago, it's becoming more certain in your mind. And if it really is what it is, you have to give the Westphalian planners their due - this was ballsy. "Have they detected his broadcast?"
"Not yet!"
"Good. Because Ocular might have to wait a bit. This isn't something we can just charge in with."
You have a good idea of where Ocular - and by extension, a potential Westphalian resupply point - is.
New Deployment Option available next turn.
New Deployment Option available next turn.
A New Armsrace runs parallel to this update.
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Man, the Westphalians hiding out in one of the options that we could have based ourselves out of at the beginning of the quest is something alright. Even if I'm getting more paranoid about options we didn't take coming back as enemy units SRW style, I have to admit it's a really good way to make use of things that are given sneak previews all that time ago!
- Location
- alphen aan den rijn
Would be interesting too know how alternet timeline thing would be had we taken that option. Oh well.