Interlude - Call to Courage
- Location
- USA
1427, 18 July, A.D. 2072
The Proving Grounds
"...so...any clue what they're better suited for?"
Diana shakes her head, the holographic representation of the AI focused on the simulated battlefield the Proving Grounds had become. From demonstration zone, to a designated cage match with Cavalier and the pilots of the DFRI. Except this time you were using the entire field - more than a few of the pilots and AIs were out there trying to figure things out after all. Such as this one - a diagnostic battle, just simply trying to discern how the newly onlined siblings did in a safe and controlled environment.
Oh, you all could have set them to one on one challenges, but the whole point was that they were supposed to be a support team for Tellison and Zhang. And like any drill instructor would tell you, the best way to iron out any problems early on was to throw them into exercises and get the worst of their tendencies knocked out early. To whit - how did they deal together as a team against a single large target like a Centurion?
"The Engineers are still crunching numbers on what works better for them," she shrugged, "But if you can't figure out how to work a Jackal, you're probably going to have a hard time figuring out any of the others. So that's what we started with for them."
"Just like we planned." Charlie's voice remained level and calm, but was on the verge of breaking out into an excitable tone. "Okay, go-!" Immediately, two Jackals from opposing dugouts pop out, unloading onto the single Centurion chassis with the training rounds. "Iris, go!"
Even as the Jackals' rounds continued to pour into the Centurion as it slowly stomps through the waves of fire, another Jackal emerges from another dugout, its vehicle form all but using it as a glorified ramp. Immediately, it begins to skid around the Centurion, creating a smokescreen like effect, obscuring the taller mech. A moment later, configured into mecha form, Iris rolls of the dust cloud, skidding to a halt on one knee as she ducks an incoming blast from the Centurion. "Beacon on," she says in her usual taciturn way. "Charlie?"
Charlie is already charging in, all but diving into the smokescreen as he began to wade in. Frankie opts to stay back, pulling out one of the Energy Blasters set aside for the exercise. "Keep him busy," you can hear him mutter to himself, watching the faint outline of the Centurion fighting in - admittedly a one-sided - melee with Charlie. "And-!"
Yet even as Iris and Charlie converge to fight the Centurion, you can tell that their teamwork isn't quite there just yet - not for lack of trying, mind, just from lack of experience. Iris is striking a little too early, Charlie's efforts a little too eager - and Frankie's shot just a little too late. A few moments later, Charlie and Iris both were sent flying out of the smoke screen. Even as the energy blast plow through the dust, scattering it in its wake, it'js clear that the Centurion had ducked it all - and its arm blaster is now aimed right at Frankie. "Uh oh." A moment later, Frankie dives out of the dugout, having to abandon the Energy Blaster as his position all but evaporates from the explosive round. "...ow." Frankie steadily gets to his feet, even as Iris and Charlie join suit.
"You all can do better than that!" You can't see it, but Ichiro is clearly having a good time. Lana had been able to stream him into the Centurion chassis for this one - even though his physical body was still locked down onto the maintenance dock, he at least was able to join in on the fun. "Come on! Another try!"
"That went poorly." Iris's prognosis is characteristically blunt as she got to her feet.
"Well we're not letting our big brother show us up!" Charlie, by contrast, is characteristically fired up by the experience. "We're doing this again! We gotta combine our efforts, guys! C'mon!"
You just chuckle. "Guess Galbinus knocked him around enough that he's learned a bit," you comment.
"You clearly didn't watch some of those fights, sir," Diana answers back. The holographic display is dismissed for now. The siblings are doing well - you have others you need to check in on.
The next display showcased something slightly different. The Perseus, standing tall and proud, was stomping through another part of the Proving Grounds. One arm held a mounted shield, deflecting strikes and ammunition sent its way while still plodding on without showing any signs of stopping. As the Perseus's shield smashes through one of the training drones, the other arm independently lashes out, forearm-mounted cannons shredding a flanking attack in a miniaturized storm of lead and shrapnel, even as the shoulder-mounted heavy cannon fired at yet other targets. Fairly standard, all things considered - it's performance from the Phalanx-chassis that you've seen before.
No, the interesting events playing out are what was taking place between the pilots.
"The Psychic Choir seems to be holding up well," Dianna comments. An overlay of the two pilots' MMIs displays in the corner, showing a steady output of both pilots focusing on different tasks. "They have a good division of labor when it comes to piloting the Perseus." You're able to see that for yourself as Dianna launches a flight of dummy-controlled TMUs in a flanking maneuver. Nothing too crazy - their arrival is highly telegraphed as they swoop in, then make a show of configuring into gunship form as missile warheads filled with paint and colored dust aim at the singular Super Robot.
In response, the MMI displays change...drastically.
Up to this point, Tellison was clearly in control of the majority of the 'body' of the Perseus, and responsible for wading into the general melee, and Zhang was in control of the one gun-arm and the heavy cannon. Yet the response was interesting - almost immediately, a split-second was spent as permissions over certain functions were reset and shuffled, the MMI display a dizzying display of reattaching connection nodes moving at the speed of thought -
- and just like that, Zhang is suddenly in control of the body, immediately pivoting the Perseus on one foot and backtracking behind a nearby dugout mound. Tellison's mind is now operating the heavy guns, his firing pattern already much different than Zhang's as his eagerness to simply empty rounds into the nearest targets become apparent. Zhang's movements over the Perseus, by contrast (and with the advantage of having spotted the V-33s) is weaving the mech through more of the terrain features, and letting the drones and their simpler pathfinding logic funnel through chokepoints while also shielding them from the majority of missile splash.
"...huh." You raise an eyebrow as you see how relatively seamlessly the two are able to pass roles between the other. "Curious to see how that applies in actual combat-" You don't get to finish your statement, as Dianna takes direct control to simply swarm the Perseus with the drones, forcing them to simply climb over the terrain their default programming didn't allow. "Do they owe you money or something?" you ask.
"Testing something," the AI responds in a slightly distracted tone. The Perseus's movements are now somewhat uncertain, the two pilots clearly caught by surprise as the connection nodes in the display sputter and struggle to stay connected. "Curious to see what they do if they both are focusing on the same task..."
It takes them another minute of attempting to throw drones off of the mech, but you soon see the fruit of this method. For a full two seconds, each MMI abruptly connected to all pathway nodes in the programming, the displays flaring a brief splash of red warnings-
-followed by a brief tremor that you feel even in the Command Center. As the static clears from the screens, you see the crushed remains of the drones attempting to swarm the Perseus with numbers...and the tectonic rearrangement of the immediate area surrounding the Perseus. "...make a note of that," you comment. You glance at the display - output had shrunk to near zero from both pilots. "And maybe give them a break for today."
But the real star of the show isn't even in her mech yet. Heck, she isn't even fighting drones just yet - that's supposed to be next month.
On the opposite side of the Proving Grounds stands Jessica Satsuma. So far, no one has observed any additional quirks resulting from the C-Crystal, but given this is alien technology - no matter how much it hews towards justice or any values of the sort - you still weren't 100% sure on this. But, bedecked in silver-specked armor granted by the C-Crystal itself (worthy of any on-foot combat engagement, so the Regent assures you), she is already conducting movements that you would normally expect to see from the power armor trials that had been conducted some years back. Leaping greater distances with speeds normally reserved for cars, and sustaining impacts that would have left you wincing with anyone else...well, you can certainly believe it.
But the bonding process had completed - and by the Regent's reckoning, future processes of the sort would go more quickly now that the central control system had a template to go off of for baseline humans. And with that... "Is the Thunderbolt ready?" you ask Dianna.
"It's ready. I mean, it stopped glowing red about an hour ago." That's about as close to a verbal shrug as you get from Dianna - she seems about as skeptical about it as you are. "I'm still not sure how this is going to work, but..."
You nod, and you reach forward, pinging Satsuma's comms just as she makes another potentially bonecrushing landing. "How's it coming along?" you ask.
"I...think I'm getting the hang of it now, Sir," she answers. The C-Crystal gleams a bright, cheery red from the slot embedded in her armor's chest. "I think I'm ready to give this a shot, but-"
"Whatever the Crystal did to the gunship earlier seems to be done," you comment. Satsuma visibly perks up at the message. "So if you want to call it out through...however the heck you do it. This is a safe, controlled environment, and I'd rather you make any mistakes here rather than whenever a Kaiju decides to come by."
Satsuma nods, and closes her eyes. "I...I think I got it." The crystal - you swear to the divine that you can't be making this up - begins to glow even brighter, as if reflecting the rays of the sun. "I...think I can tug at it..."
The comm link cuts off. But as you glance at the ready status of the Thunderbolt, you blink.
It's not even there anymore. "What-?"
"Thunderbolt! Come Here!"
You blink - again - as the gunship simply dives from a cloudbank that you know it wasn't in before just now. In a flash of red light, Satsuma disappears - you can only assume she was teleported inside. And as the Thunderbolt continues to dive at velocities you would consider unhealthy, its retrojets fire with strengths far above what WIlde and Henry were projecting. The wings begin to turn, the cockpit folds downwards to form the chest unit, and all the million and one ways that configuration makes possible...yet you were sure those hadn't existed after you refurbished the Warlord's ride.
Yet here you were. Hovering just above the ground, Satsuma's super robot unveils itself. And for...reasons you can't discern (and would likely give Max an even bigger headache), the area immediately around Satsuma is being whipped about with strong winds - you can even hear the distant sound of thunder...on a clear day.
"...no, Sir. I've got nothing either."
With that insightful analysis, you shrug - you've gotten used to the strange taking place here. "When were her combat trials?" you ask.
"Next month. Why?"
"...might as well start now."
The Proving Grounds
"...so...any clue what they're better suited for?"
Diana shakes her head, the holographic representation of the AI focused on the simulated battlefield the Proving Grounds had become. From demonstration zone, to a designated cage match with Cavalier and the pilots of the DFRI. Except this time you were using the entire field - more than a few of the pilots and AIs were out there trying to figure things out after all. Such as this one - a diagnostic battle, just simply trying to discern how the newly onlined siblings did in a safe and controlled environment.
Oh, you all could have set them to one on one challenges, but the whole point was that they were supposed to be a support team for Tellison and Zhang. And like any drill instructor would tell you, the best way to iron out any problems early on was to throw them into exercises and get the worst of their tendencies knocked out early. To whit - how did they deal together as a team against a single large target like a Centurion?
"The Engineers are still crunching numbers on what works better for them," she shrugged, "But if you can't figure out how to work a Jackal, you're probably going to have a hard time figuring out any of the others. So that's what we started with for them."
"Just like we planned." Charlie's voice remained level and calm, but was on the verge of breaking out into an excitable tone. "Okay, go-!" Immediately, two Jackals from opposing dugouts pop out, unloading onto the single Centurion chassis with the training rounds. "Iris, go!"
Even as the Jackals' rounds continued to pour into the Centurion as it slowly stomps through the waves of fire, another Jackal emerges from another dugout, its vehicle form all but using it as a glorified ramp. Immediately, it begins to skid around the Centurion, creating a smokescreen like effect, obscuring the taller mech. A moment later, configured into mecha form, Iris rolls of the dust cloud, skidding to a halt on one knee as she ducks an incoming blast from the Centurion. "Beacon on," she says in her usual taciturn way. "Charlie?"
Charlie is already charging in, all but diving into the smokescreen as he began to wade in. Frankie opts to stay back, pulling out one of the Energy Blasters set aside for the exercise. "Keep him busy," you can hear him mutter to himself, watching the faint outline of the Centurion fighting in - admittedly a one-sided - melee with Charlie. "And-!"
Yet even as Iris and Charlie converge to fight the Centurion, you can tell that their teamwork isn't quite there just yet - not for lack of trying, mind, just from lack of experience. Iris is striking a little too early, Charlie's efforts a little too eager - and Frankie's shot just a little too late. A few moments later, Charlie and Iris both were sent flying out of the smoke screen. Even as the energy blast plow through the dust, scattering it in its wake, it'js clear that the Centurion had ducked it all - and its arm blaster is now aimed right at Frankie. "Uh oh." A moment later, Frankie dives out of the dugout, having to abandon the Energy Blaster as his position all but evaporates from the explosive round. "...ow." Frankie steadily gets to his feet, even as Iris and Charlie join suit.
"You all can do better than that!" You can't see it, but Ichiro is clearly having a good time. Lana had been able to stream him into the Centurion chassis for this one - even though his physical body was still locked down onto the maintenance dock, he at least was able to join in on the fun. "Come on! Another try!"
"That went poorly." Iris's prognosis is characteristically blunt as she got to her feet.
"Well we're not letting our big brother show us up!" Charlie, by contrast, is characteristically fired up by the experience. "We're doing this again! We gotta combine our efforts, guys! C'mon!"
You just chuckle. "Guess Galbinus knocked him around enough that he's learned a bit," you comment.
"You clearly didn't watch some of those fights, sir," Diana answers back. The holographic display is dismissed for now. The siblings are doing well - you have others you need to check in on.
Ichiro's assistance (2d6): 4, 3
The Siblings are beginning to develop their combined tactics. Potential options to be revealed next turn.
The Siblings are beginning to develop their combined tactics. Potential options to be revealed next turn.
The next display showcased something slightly different. The Perseus, standing tall and proud, was stomping through another part of the Proving Grounds. One arm held a mounted shield, deflecting strikes and ammunition sent its way while still plodding on without showing any signs of stopping. As the Perseus's shield smashes through one of the training drones, the other arm independently lashes out, forearm-mounted cannons shredding a flanking attack in a miniaturized storm of lead and shrapnel, even as the shoulder-mounted heavy cannon fired at yet other targets. Fairly standard, all things considered - it's performance from the Phalanx-chassis that you've seen before.
No, the interesting events playing out are what was taking place between the pilots.
"The Psychic Choir seems to be holding up well," Dianna comments. An overlay of the two pilots' MMIs displays in the corner, showing a steady output of both pilots focusing on different tasks. "They have a good division of labor when it comes to piloting the Perseus." You're able to see that for yourself as Dianna launches a flight of dummy-controlled TMUs in a flanking maneuver. Nothing too crazy - their arrival is highly telegraphed as they swoop in, then make a show of configuring into gunship form as missile warheads filled with paint and colored dust aim at the singular Super Robot.
In response, the MMI displays change...drastically.
Up to this point, Tellison was clearly in control of the majority of the 'body' of the Perseus, and responsible for wading into the general melee, and Zhang was in control of the one gun-arm and the heavy cannon. Yet the response was interesting - almost immediately, a split-second was spent as permissions over certain functions were reset and shuffled, the MMI display a dizzying display of reattaching connection nodes moving at the speed of thought -
- and just like that, Zhang is suddenly in control of the body, immediately pivoting the Perseus on one foot and backtracking behind a nearby dugout mound. Tellison's mind is now operating the heavy guns, his firing pattern already much different than Zhang's as his eagerness to simply empty rounds into the nearest targets become apparent. Zhang's movements over the Perseus, by contrast (and with the advantage of having spotted the V-33s) is weaving the mech through more of the terrain features, and letting the drones and their simpler pathfinding logic funnel through chokepoints while also shielding them from the majority of missile splash.
"...huh." You raise an eyebrow as you see how relatively seamlessly the two are able to pass roles between the other. "Curious to see how that applies in actual combat-" You don't get to finish your statement, as Dianna takes direct control to simply swarm the Perseus with the drones, forcing them to simply climb over the terrain their default programming didn't allow. "Do they owe you money or something?" you ask.
"Testing something," the AI responds in a slightly distracted tone. The Perseus's movements are now somewhat uncertain, the two pilots clearly caught by surprise as the connection nodes in the display sputter and struggle to stay connected. "Curious to see what they do if they both are focusing on the same task..."
It takes them another minute of attempting to throw drones off of the mech, but you soon see the fruit of this method. For a full two seconds, each MMI abruptly connected to all pathway nodes in the programming, the displays flaring a brief splash of red warnings-
-followed by a brief tremor that you feel even in the Command Center. As the static clears from the screens, you see the crushed remains of the drones attempting to swarm the Perseus with numbers...and the tectonic rearrangement of the immediate area surrounding the Perseus. "...make a note of that," you comment. You glance at the display - output had shrunk to near zero from both pilots. "And maybe give them a break for today."
Unforeseen effect of Psychic Choir possibly on display. Will be revealed next turn.
But the real star of the show isn't even in her mech yet. Heck, she isn't even fighting drones just yet - that's supposed to be next month.
On the opposite side of the Proving Grounds stands Jessica Satsuma. So far, no one has observed any additional quirks resulting from the C-Crystal, but given this is alien technology - no matter how much it hews towards justice or any values of the sort - you still weren't 100% sure on this. But, bedecked in silver-specked armor granted by the C-Crystal itself (worthy of any on-foot combat engagement, so the Regent assures you), she is already conducting movements that you would normally expect to see from the power armor trials that had been conducted some years back. Leaping greater distances with speeds normally reserved for cars, and sustaining impacts that would have left you wincing with anyone else...well, you can certainly believe it.
But the bonding process had completed - and by the Regent's reckoning, future processes of the sort would go more quickly now that the central control system had a template to go off of for baseline humans. And with that... "Is the Thunderbolt ready?" you ask Dianna.
"It's ready. I mean, it stopped glowing red about an hour ago." That's about as close to a verbal shrug as you get from Dianna - she seems about as skeptical about it as you are. "I'm still not sure how this is going to work, but..."
You nod, and you reach forward, pinging Satsuma's comms just as she makes another potentially bonecrushing landing. "How's it coming along?" you ask.
"I...think I'm getting the hang of it now, Sir," she answers. The C-Crystal gleams a bright, cheery red from the slot embedded in her armor's chest. "I think I'm ready to give this a shot, but-"
"Whatever the Crystal did to the gunship earlier seems to be done," you comment. Satsuma visibly perks up at the message. "So if you want to call it out through...however the heck you do it. This is a safe, controlled environment, and I'd rather you make any mistakes here rather than whenever a Kaiju decides to come by."
Satsuma nods, and closes her eyes. "I...I think I got it." The crystal - you swear to the divine that you can't be making this up - begins to glow even brighter, as if reflecting the rays of the sun. "I...think I can tug at it..."
The comm link cuts off. But as you glance at the ready status of the Thunderbolt, you blink.
It's not even there anymore. "What-?"
"Thunderbolt! Come Here!"
You blink - again - as the gunship simply dives from a cloudbank that you know it wasn't in before just now. In a flash of red light, Satsuma disappears - you can only assume she was teleported inside. And as the Thunderbolt continues to dive at velocities you would consider unhealthy, its retrojets fire with strengths far above what WIlde and Henry were projecting. The wings begin to turn, the cockpit folds downwards to form the chest unit, and all the million and one ways that configuration makes possible...yet you were sure those hadn't existed after you refurbished the Warlord's ride.
Yet here you were. Hovering just above the ground, Satsuma's super robot unveils itself. And for...reasons you can't discern (and would likely give Max an even bigger headache), the area immediately around Satsuma is being whipped about with strong winds - you can even hear the distant sound of thunder...on a clear day.
"...no, Sir. I've got nothing either."
With that insightful analysis, you shrug - you've gotten used to the strange taking place here. "When were her combat trials?" you ask.
"Next month. Why?"
"...might as well start now."
Satsuma is going full sentai hero at this pace, courtesy of the C-Crystal. Possible elemental expressions of storm. Results to post next month.
Apologies for the delay. Real life shenanigans got in the way of this update.
For reference on how I visualize Satsuma and the Valkyrie, I take a lot of inspiration from Brave of the Sun Fighbird (very readily available on Youtube for reference). I hope you enjoyed the update, and I will get to posting the first post of the combat turn soon-ish.
I hope everyone is having a safe and healthy December so far.
For reference on how I visualize Satsuma and the Valkyrie, I take a lot of inspiration from Brave of the Sun Fighbird (very readily available on Youtube for reference). I hope you enjoyed the update, and I will get to posting the first post of the combat turn soon-ish.
I hope everyone is having a safe and healthy December so far.
