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Super Robot Quest

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Basarin said:
...anyway. My opposite's apparently been maintaining a communications block over all Dominion encryption keys. Hotwire's been trying, but he didn't have an Oracle to help him really identify what the Free Brothers were doing, so he's just been trying to brute force it in the hopes that this time he might get through. But now that we know what they're doing, and with the Institute and my sisters helping out, I just might be able to help punch through and get a distress and report signal back to the Dominion.
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Oh god, that's the SMAC Progenitor faction win condition. Summon Alien Fleet
 
veekie said:
Oh god, that's the SMAC Progenitor faction win condition. Summon Alien Fleet
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I promise this does not involve destroying all non-Mekaen life as we know it. Besides, you don't have any angry alien fungus trying to kill your settlements.

More on the end game conditions will be revealed as we go. It's a bit more layered than just "get signal out to Dominion," but it's a first step.

Okay, one interlude down, three to go! Tomorrow you all get to see the madness that is the Seeker.
 
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Seeking the Solution
  • Threadmarks
    • Well, here we are. The Seeker has strayed a little bit from its original mission, but the idea tickled me too much not to include.

    The CR-11 Seeker has been added to the build sheet, so you may refer to it there as well. I hope everyone's having a good weekend so far.

    "Okay." Yukimura Jiro, once again looking over the plans. "You took the basic chassis of the TMU, and tried upscaling it. Not a bad start..."

    0214, 13 May A.D. 2072
    Engineering Bay

    By all rights, he should have been asleep by now. He could still hear Uncle Rin berating him in the back of his head, wondering why he was still awake, for god's sake go to bed, the solution will be there in the morning why are you doing this.

    But that was just not how Jiro operated. He knew - he knew - that the best solutions came when you least expected it, and not according to a nine-to-five schedule. Hell, Uncle Rin knew it too - but he was a constant worry wart about his employees and his family. And when something really caught Jiro's attention, he wasn't too eager to just let it go. The many, many stacks of canned coffee next to him stood testament to that.

    Yet he felt like there was something missing here. Lana, by all accounts, had taken on a project that even she underestimated. She, a bonafide Supercomputer Artificial Intelligence, was having trouble with developing this. That she could try at all spoke a lot about just how advanced the Institute was and far far it had come. And she'd done an amazing job so far. Everything was straightforward as could possibly be, and on paper it all should work. Yet when it came to prototyping, not even the vaunted K-Class Materials could stand to the structural failures that seemed to reoccur for a variety of reasons.

    One failed model's picture was tucked away in the corner - it failed for catastrophic collapse of the wing structure. Another was next to it - it also failed because the wings inexplicably snapped during reconfiguration. More and more workarounds were tried, with most having been shelved and the rest kept tentatively onboard. The most promising solution so far seemed to be a shoutout to the mother chassis of the TMU - the mission packs. But while perfectly serviceable, it fell far, far short of the original vision. Sure, you could slap on Longboat packs to create a temporary new form, but if they blew up, you were stuck again with just the fighter form and the Mecha form.

    To anyone else, this would have been fine. Hell, maybe even Colonel Bernard would have just taken it without too much fuss.

    But Lana and the Engineers were not content with that. It fell far short of their standards. And Jiro respected the hell out of that. So here he was, late at night and-

    "Seriously. You're still up." Lana's avatar appeared. Literally shoving aside the pictures of the failed prototypes, she crossed her arms at Jiro. "I can afford to stay up at all hours. There's only so much a clown can stay going on liquid caffeine."

    "I point you to the Major, shorty," Jiro mumbled. It might have been the exhaustion, but he just couldn't summon up the usual rancor to go with the nickname this time. "I've been over this a few times, just trying to figure out what went wrong, and what we can do to actually fix this damned thing."

    "...well, if you're gonna stay up, might as well." Turning around, Lana summoned up windows, all full of reports that flickered in and out of existence. "Find anything?"

    "Wing collapse," Jiro responded. Lana winced slightly, but he kept going. "Wing collapse, wing structural collapse, engine seizing up from what looks like crossed wires, structural collapse from bad..." Something about that seemed to catch his eye. "...from bad configuration around the chest component."

    "...huh." Without missing a beat, Lana brought up the report she knew Jiro was referring to. "'Structural collapse from the chest and cockpit zone. Recommend relocation or different reconfiguration process involving the cockpit.'" She mulled that over for a few seconds - fairly long time for AIs. "I was frustrated here, so I didn't think about it too hard. Some of the engineers were complaining that there wasn't enough free space to go around in the cockpit."

    "...huh." Mirroring her words, Jiro seemed to perk up slightly, his attention well and truly grabbed. "Lana, bring up the specs of the cockpit." When she did, Jiro's eyes raised. "...why is it taking up that much space?"

    "Safety mainly. We incorporated the same thing in the Jackals, the Bucklers and the Centurions. It's the only cockpit template that works with everything. The MMI, whatever new forms of crazy beardo and hatman are cooking up-"

    "But we do have another one." Lana, normally annoyed by being interrupted, sharply turned towards Jiro. Despite the red crisscrossing his eyes from lack of sleep, despite his disheveled nature, he was well and truly alert and awake. "We have one. We just...have to play Russian Dolls is all."

    "Wait." Lana pointed at him. "Are you saying we use the Steed?"

    "That's exactly what I'm saying. It has everything built into it!" Jiro pulled up the Steed's schematics, and overlaid it with the standardized cockpit. "It's still smaller than the cockpit, and it's a ready made ejection system. All the system has to do is work around it!"

    "...this...this is crazy." But Lana's words belied the same glint that was crossing her eyes that Jiro's displayed. "Tell you what. You get some sleep, clown. I'll crunch the numbers tonight, and we'll tackle this in the morning." When she heard no response, she turned around, only to see Jiro having already fallen asleep face first onto the console. "...or...y'know...fall asleep right there and we'll pick up when you wake up. That works too."


    1158, 18 May, A.D. 2072
    The Proving Grounds

    You had a feeling that Jiro and Lana were onto something when a veritable hailstorm of requisition forms impacted onto your desk. Diana sifted through them, and highlighted what they were looking for - Steed chassis and all the spare parts for the TMU that they could requisition. From years of long experience, you knew when your subordinates were on some mad quest for something that would produce what you wanted, and also learned to just stay out of their way while they were doing it. You immediately signed off on it and moved on.

    What followed after about a week's worth of something has led to today.

    The CR-11 Seeker was ready.

    CR-11 Seeker-class
    Cost: 5 RP
    HP: 10
    Strikes:
    - Can Strike an enemy at 2d6 (Threshold of 5-6) for 1 HP.
    - Additional Weaponry: Can Re-Roll one failed strike against Enemy Target at disadvantage (1d6). Can be applied once every turn.
    High Velocity Agility:
    - May roll to avoid a successful enemy attack at 2d6, Threshold of 4-6.
    - Diminishing Returns: After two successful agile rolls, Threshold increases to 5-6.
    - High Velocity Agility: You may ignore the effects of Diminishing Returns, and continue to roll for Agile rolls. However, you must roll an additional 1d6, Threshold of 5-6. Failure to meet Threshold will incur 1 HP of unblockable damage.
    Ramming Speed:
    - Counts as One Action. May roll to ram an enemy at high speeds at 2d6, Threshold of 5-6, inflicts 2 HP. Success may have additional effects if declared prior to attack, to be ruled by QM.
    Ejection Core:
    - On receiving a Mortal Strike, unit will eject with the basic Steed configuration and stats.
    Combine Compatibility:
    - Is a suitable Combinable Configuration candidate.
    Upgrade Slots: Has 3 Upgrade Slots

    ...you were not expecting a Mecha-Fighter Jet-Armored Buggy combination, but here you are.

    Jiro had indeed breathed fresh life into the project from the most unlikely of angles. The cockpit template, which serviced almost all of your frames, was literally getting in the way of the project living up to what was promised. His solution was even more unorthodox: slot the Steed into the frame as the cockpit, and build the whole thing around it.

    You'd have called it stupid if it didn't work.

    But no. One moment you see a sleek fighter jet cutting through the clouds like a knife. The next, you see it reconfigure midair, and land with a resounding crash and dustcloud as a similarly proportioned armored buggy with only slightly less maneuverability than a Jackal (even if it has far less armor than your venerable frame). Skidding into a power turn, it then immediately reconfigures into its Mecha form. Far more slender than your usual frames, but there are plenty of spots that you see that are not filled - the Seeker was clearly designed for modularity.

    You...don't know how to take this. Your organization has effectively created an all-terrain all-situation mecha that can navigate the ground, the air, and mecha-to-mecha combat without missing a beat.

    And Jiro and Lana promise you that it can combine with the Combine Units that you have. The Shepherd, the V-33's that the Seekers are based on...other mecha. You just need to add the work into it.

    If Colonel Bernard complains about this, you're chucking him into the damned ocean.

    CR-11 Seeker completed!
    Colonel Bernard is satisfied...and confused.
     
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    • I'm expecting lots of orders since this mecha is basically the mainstay mech in how universally useful it is.
     
    Basarin said:
    The CR-11 Seeker has been added to the build sheet, so you may refer to it there as well.
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    Speaking of the build sheet, besides the actual statistical stuff, would you be willing to also note what the base vehicle type is for that design? Because we're starting to pile them up and its been a while, and otherwise eventually we're going to start confusing a tank for a car, or vice versa.
     
    Gyahahaha! Success we have completed it. its beautiful, Just look at it. The enemy are not going to know what hit them when these things start showing up in production numbers. Armistead eat your heart out.
     
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    God damn. That thing is amazing. An actual, working triple former, which can both combine and equip mission packs for increased versatility, and when it goes down the pilot just hops out in a Steed.

    Definitely worth it.
     
    Basarin said:
    ...you were not expecting a Mecha-Fighter Jet-Armored Buggy combination, but here you are.
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    A... *takes breath* combinable Mecha-Fighter Jet-Amored Buggy that can combine further and has a transforming bike as an emergency pod.

    I wish we had a picture or two depicting this monstrosity, paying that Transformers guy if necessary.

    Basarin said:
    High Velocity Agility:
    - May roll to avoid a successful enemy attack at 2d6, Threshold of 4-6.
    - Diminishing Returns: After two successful agile rolls, Threshold increases to 5-6.
    - High Velocity Agility: You may ignore the effects of Diminishing Returns, and continue to roll for Agile rolls. However, you must roll an additional 1d6, Threshold of 5-6. Failure to meet Threshold will incur 1 HP of unblockable damage.
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    I know what you're going for the last option, but IMO it requires a different name to help differentiate it further. For example: Redlining Engines.

    Basarin said:
    Ramming Speed:
    - Counts as One Action. May roll to ram an enemy at high speeds at 2d6, Threshold of 5-6, inflicts 2 HP. Success may have additional effects if declared prior to attack, to be ruled by QM.
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    What do you mean with this? Also, didn't the Pilum have a variant of this ability that did extra damage if it was used in the first turn?

    Massgamer said:
    I'm expecting lots of orders since this mecha is basically the mainstay mech in how universally useful it is.
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    It's a (not)Gundam!!!
     
    @HeavyBane

    That's language ripped straight from the Beowulf/Jackal version. On its own, that means the Seeker can transform into buggy mode to attempt to ram whichever SOB you want to put out of your misery. But if you want to try ramming for a specific purpose (i.e., knocking Bandit's weapon off of him or trying to slice off the acidic dragon's horn), you can use it and try, but I'll decide based on the rolls.

    And @Alectai's about right in that you're just breaking into the second generation of this stuff. The Seeker is always going to be something of a unique case, but Jiro and Lana might have started something by integrating a motorbike/power armor as the cockpit unit.
     
    HeavyBane said:
    I know what you're going for the last option, but IMO it requires a different name to help differentiate it further. For example: Redlining Engines.
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    2 FAST 2 FURIOUS, in honor of Guld.

    Basarin said:
    That's language ripped straight from the Beowulf/Jackal version. On its own, that means the Seeker can transform into buggy mode to attempt to ram whichever SOB you want to put out of your misery. But if you want to try ramming for a specific purpose (i.e., knocking Bandit's weapon off of him or trying to slice off the acidic dragon's horn), you can use it and try, but I'll decide based on the rolls.
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    Flying full speed at a target then transforming into an armored car to use yourself as a projectile is metal as fuck.
     
    Basarin said:
    That's language ripped straight from the Beowulf/Jackal version. On its own, that means the Seeker can transform into buggy mode to attempt to ram whichever SOB you want to put out of your misery. But if you want to try ramming for a specific purpose (i.e., knocking Bandit's weapon off of him or trying to slice off the acidic dragon's horn), you can use it and try, but I'll decide based on the rolls.
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    GilliamYaeger said:
    Flying full speed at a target then transforming into an armored car to use yourself as a projectile is metal as fuck.
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    Can we research some sort of deployable hi-tech battering ram to improve these charging attacks? Orky tech-approved!
     
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