So, does this mean that projects that last multiple months can be rolled each time if the first roll fails? What happens if the time's up and no roll was succeeded?
From this point forward, yes. Succeeding in breakthrough rolls means you get more out of the action, and don't have to invest as heavily. But if you don't get successes, you still make progress, just not as fast.
I was honestly wondering when someone would catch on. That said, which continuity?
From this point forward, yes. Succeeding in breakthrough rolls means you get more out of the action, and don't have to invest as heavily. But if you don't get successes, you still make progress, just not as fast.
Figured I'd find you in here," you comment as you walk in, another cup of coffee in your hand. Someone (you're not sure who) decided that apparently it was more sanitary to give you a proper metal coffee cup.
We need to ask the Doctor if some of his SCIENCE! modifications can let us sleep less or nothing at all without severe downsides.
That way we'll have more time to do stuff!
Eh, the alternative is that in Battle Network everyone is so stupid, that Willy didn't win because he wasn't really trying.
Also everything having Internet connection with overtly unstable AIs that make Mavericks look tame.
I sorta expect this to be Ivanna's catchphrase, being the one who prepares the solid foundations of math and science... before Sam Carlson smashes through it with Extra-Over Tech.
Carlson: "Good news, guys! I managed to figure out a way to safely cover the Timberwolf's fist with explosive gel, for EXPLODING PUNCHES!"
Major Devin: *incredulous stare*
Ivanna: "I've already checked the math. It's all good."
???, 4 November, A.D. 2070
<ERROR, LOCALE NOT RECOGNIZED>
"Stupid, misaligned, defective humans."
"Aww, is someone upset they got their aft smashed in?" a mocking, cultured voice said from above.
Bandit took that moment to reactivate his optics, having been in rest mode prior. The smug, pale form of Scrapheap greeted him. "Get bent, Scrapheap," Bandit groaned. Shaking his head, he looked down to see that the damage to his chassis was mostly done. "I'd smash your face in if you weren't good for the shards."
"Oh, of course, of course," Scrapheap said with a dismissive wave of his bone-like claw-manipulator. The 'medic' glanced down at him, balefully-blue optics staring right at him. "I take pride in my work, and it's no good if someone thinks I short-circuited them."
"Bad for business," Bandit reluctantly agreed. As much as he thought the medical Kausen had more than a few haulers short of a convoy, he had to admit that they both had a very similar business outlook on life. "How long was I offline?"
"Three rotations, sure enough," the medic replied. "I made sure your plunder was stored away. Safely. You did pay for the insurance, after all. Though, I must say." The image of one of the human warforms in the hold appeared, hanging in front of the medic's grinning face. "That is most intriguing." Bending slightly to begin welding on a fresh plate to Bandit's chest, he asked, "Did the Solarians actually build something worthwhile?"
"Humans," Bandit corrected him. "The little pests call themselves 'humans.' And yes, they built them." He didn't need to go into the story of how he got these injuries, so he left it there.
"Fascinating," Scrapheap said. Applying fresh adhesive, he said, "…there. Now hold still until I say so." Turning his attention back to the warform, he frowned. "…you left a bit of local still in there."
"Hmm?" Bandit turned to the image. Sure enough, there was something of a red stain near the chest. "Oh. I'll have to clean that out. Guess there was still something in there."
"A quick pressure wash will do just fine," Scrapheap agrees. Bandit deferred to his opinion; he was an expert, no matter how crazy. "That said…how does it work? I know the Legion dirt-side has been trying something similar."
"They have," Bandit confirmed. "Only think one or two of 'em got it right. Dunno, though." He shrugged, and promptly winced as some of the adhesive came close to undoing itself. Thankfully, the paste righted itself quickly. "But the humans…this is new. This wasn't anywhere back when the solar cycle started."
"But you don't know how it works?" Scrapheap pressed.
"Not yet…" Bandit then paused. "…hmm. Might be good if I had a better idea of how this works before I give another one to the boss man."
"Ohhh. You're giving this to Tyrannous?"
"Wouldn't you?" Bandit smirked. "The first sample from earlier? Curiosity, he paid well enough, but, eh, not important. Now there's even more? Now it's a point of interest, yeah?"
"I would say so," Scrapheap acknowledged. "…tell you what. I will waive this fee…if you let me study this."
"Deal," Bandit said quickly. He didn't even have to make the first pitch this time! A new record. But… "Sweeten the deal some? You study this, we both go to the boss man and present this in a rotation or two. You give me the next patch job on the house. Eh?"
"I suppose…" Scrapheap thought it over, a claw-manipulator tapping against his chin. "…deal. I trust you will also bring me any additional samples?"
"Sure, sure," Bandit, but his processor was already wandering away from the conversation.
The damage was just about fixed. You could hardly tell it was ever there. But.
But.
The vision of that damned human warform refused to leave his memory banks. So unlike the ones he'd captured. So unlike the 'resistance' the human pests put up when he walked right up to their base while Tyrannous' boys kept the Legion distracted at that power plant.
And that combination warform…he'd barely hurt it. He could clearly remember burning out great gouges from it, but it didn't seem to care all that much.
He could clearly remember the strange beast-like scorch mark his weapons left behind on its chest.
"Timberwolf," the pilot had announced.
Bandit clenched his fists. Whatever name that damned thing would go by…this wasn't business.
This was personal.
"Oh, they'll get what's coming to them," he muttered under his breath. "One way. Or another."
The Jackal should be augmented into either the Anubis or the Set, they're both similiar canid-gods and it carries the theme onward into its actual Super Robot Core state, with future augmentations being in the form of upgrades rather than a massive paradigm shift.
The Shepherd is something we can carry the name over, because its a dedicated support unit rather than a core, standalone unit itself. But the completed, augmented version should very well be the Fenrir Formation, because alliteration.
That should be our overall pattern I think. The "Human Piloted" unit gets a mythological hero or deity name, and the combination forms using the Not!GaoMachines being mythological monsters. The final, Voltron-style Form though is something we should just go maximum scenery chewing for, and will need further consideration. A mission statement rather than a name grabbed from somewhere.
Yeah, that's how it should go, we have our pilots using core, standalone units, we have the support units ready for in-field specialization, and we have a full out Gattai form for the really big fights--which should work once we have the Psionic Concert trick laid down.
It lets us shift elegantly from grudge match fighting and situational response to full out Monster of the Week throwdown state.
3 days then? I suppose they're somewhere in space. Or in the dark side of the moon, keeping company to the secretive space nazi base that totally doesn't exist.
"Hmm?" Bandit turned to the image. Sure enough, there was something of a red stain near the chest. "Oh. I'll have to clean that out. Guess there was still something in there."
I'm not sure about this line: Is Scraphead pointing out that some of the blood from the operation stuck on Bandit, or Timberwolf? It mentions "the image".
I'm not sure how that happened. Did the heavy weapon strikes somehow made a symbolic scratch on Bandit, or is he talking about Timberwolf's mecha emblem?
Anubis and dogge names are good. However, I would like to start a separate mecha line using cat names to have a counterpart of some sort. That, and because I would like to see another giant robot named Madcat.
RE names: I mentioned using Siegfried as a name for the super robot, but the more I thought about it the more dissatisfied I became.
I would like to suggest\repurpose it as an inhouse code name for the Kaiju armor project given that it's literally using the remains on the enemy to become super tough.
Also it can be an injoke on how Siegfried ate the heart of the dragon to gain the gift of prophecy and how we found Katarina and Ivanna at the heart of the abandoned coplex that probably belonged to unsavory characters.
(And if you tilt your and squint really hard you can draw parallels between the MMI and Siegfried's ability to speak to animals)
"Captain Winsor, requesting assistance with the communications panel."
"You could just say 'Grandpa, could you give me a hand again?"
"Yes, if I wished to send my dignity overboard. It's bad enough we're as reliant on Valiant as we are out here, I don't need to be thought of as some sort of incompetent child who never grew up. Can you imagine what it would do to my reputation!?"
"Ah, let an old seadog have his fun. It's not like you wouldn't be on the fast track to promotion even if you weren't my grandson! So let's see...Oh there's your problem, you turned it off again."
"Thank you. It's hard to believe you aren't shielding me from my own mistakes when it comes to these newfangled devices..."
"There's less to protect you from then you'd think Micheal. And you're still one of the finest naval commanders I've had the pleasure of serving alongside. Best of your generation!"
"It would not do for a man of Winsor house to be incapable in his chosen vocation! And as my cousins are less then interested in our ancestral traditions of protecting Her Majesty England's waters it falls to me to do so!"
*WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP!*
"Battle Stations!"
I'll do more with this guy later I think, but yes, he's a Naval officer.
Currently playing host to houseguests. I'll be fairly busy for awhile. Posts will come when I can get them, but I'll be taking a break by necessity for now.
It's big, black, and a brawler. Yeah... Not Valiant's "conduit of electricity"/modularity, which means interesting possibilities for a mad scientist who specializes in biology...
And that combination warform…he'd barely hurt it. He could clearly remember burning out great gouges from it, but it didn't seem to care all that much.
CPT Sasaki: "Please state your name and rank, please."
CDT Satsuma: "Jessica Satsuma, Cadet, First Response Corps."
CPT Sasaki: "You were with the Fort Brenner garrison?"
CDT Satsuma: "Since January. It was part of training, before I go to the academy."
CPT Sasaki: "I see…alright. So, just to complete the official portion of this debriefing: I am Captain Sasaki of the Air Defense Corps, and Executive Officer of the Defense Force Research Institute. You are being debriefed regarding the Grand Coulee Dam and the Fort Brenner garrison. You may speak freely, but anything you say will be placed on official record."
<Pause>
CPT Sasaki: "Now, unofficially, we are a Secret-level clearance. We have more leeway over what is recorded and what is not for 'relevancy' to the mission."
CDT Satsuma: "So that means-?"
CPT Sasaki: "Anything you say that you know about the Kausen stays with this organization. No one else outside of our chain of command is in a 'need to know' status.
<Pause>
CPT Sasaki: "We are also just curious. How long have you known…'Cavalier'?"
CDT Satsuma: "Since August."
CPT Satsuma: "How did you meet him?"
CDT Satsuma: "We were part of an operation to help rebuild a power plant that was hit by the Kausen. I got separated when we were trying to reconnect some of the main power lines, the ground was unstable."
<Pause>
CDT Satsuma: "I literally landed on top of him. It was…uh, kind of a shock. To both of us."
CPT Sasaki: "I…see. What happened then?"
CDT Satsuma: "I was scared out of my wits! I mean, you would be too, Ma'am, I'm sure. You hear nothing about the Kausen except that they show up, they raid or loot something, and leave. They blow you up if you're unlucky…Cav wasn't like that, though. I mean, he was as shocked as I was that I landed on him."
"What the-!?"
"Eeek!"
Both red-lensed optics and green eyes stared at each other blankly as both parties came to grips with realizing this scenario was even happening. Jessica had literally bounced off of the Kausen's shoulder only to land on an open palm.
"…uh, are you okay?" the dark blue-colored giant asked.
Jessica blinked as she sat up. The face was metal, but it was moving like a real face. "I, uh, I mean…I'm okay. I think. Yeah, okay, I'm okay. How are you?" She was more than a little discombobulated at that point. And more than a little scared.
"…fine? I think?" The giant robot just stared at her, his head tilted somewhat. "…um, not to be rude? But how'd you even get here? I thought you rebuilder types were over-" he pointed a giant hand over the cliff-face, "-thataway."
"Before I say anything…why aren't you attacking me?"
"Why would I do that?" The Kausen's optics blacked out for a moment before lighting back up to a cheery red. It was almost like he was blinking. "You haven't been part of an ongoing civil war tearing my people apart while trying to raid a pre-spaceflight civilization, have you?"
That was an oddly specific question. "Uh, no?"
"Then we don't have a problem."
"Oh. Good."
Both parties just sat in silence for a minute, the awkward moment stretching further and further.
"…how are you speaking English?"
"Auto-translation software."
"That's cool. I have to speak into my phone and wait for a bit before the translation kicks in."
"…how do you put up with that? It's-"
"-really slow? I know. But it's the 'best thing on the market.' No one else's come up with anything better."
"That's a load of scrap."
"Tell me about it."
CDT Satsuma: "He was surprisingly chill about everything. He even got me back to my patrol, though he asked me not to tell anyone…I mean, that was fair. I didn't want him to just get cut up or anything."
CPT Sasaki: "How confident were you that he was not just trying to deceive you?"
CDT Satsuma: "Fairly sure. If he really wanted to set us up, he would have been asking about the base itself. Patrol routes, time schedules, all sorts of things. He never did."
CPT Sasaki: "Even if the possibility existed that he could try to hack into your communications?"
CDT Satsuma: "I'm a cadet, Ma'am. They don't trust me with anything remotely important."
CPT Sasaki: "…that is a fair point. I was there a long time ago."
CDT Satsuma: "I met him a few more times. And…we just got to talking. Told me about where he was from, what he was fighting for. He asked questions about Earth, but not things I was expecting. Like, he asked about things like, 'why do humans eat things growing from the ground?' Or 'why are your machines so clumsy?'"
CPT Sasaki: "You mean it was a general curiosity about…ourselves?"
CDT Satsuma: "Yeah."
CPT Sasaki: "Did you ever meet any of his allies?"
CDT Satsuma: "Another big guy…well, they're all kinda tall compared to us. Their leader, I think. They called him 'Galbinus.'"
CPT Sasaki: "What did he say to you?"
"So you are the one helping Cavalier with his scouting efforts," the green-clad giant said.
Jessica blinked as he knelt down to face her, though the size difference meant she was craning her neck to look up at him. "I…guess?"
"He means you're helping us to understand humans better, Jess," Cavalier said in an easy manner. "And how not to spook them or rile them up. We don't want any trouble with them."
"Indeed, we do not," the green mech said. His gold optics seemed to give the impression of being really, really tired. Exhausted, even.
But also determined to not simply roll over.
"I am Galbinus-R," the green giant said. "And I am grateful for your help."
"I, uh, I mean sure," Jessica said. She was confused. What help? "But I didn't do anyth-"
"You do not judge us." Galbinus shook his head. "You do not call us monsters out of hand. You speak with us. You educate us on human culture, norms…tastes." Jessica could hear Cavalier cough something behind Galbinus, but she couldn't hear, and Galbinus chose to ignore it. "You are taking a risk of faith with us…and that means so much more to us than you realize."
"So…does that mean there's another group that really is just trying to make trouble?" Jessica asks.
"They call themselves the 'Free Brothers,'" Cavalier says. She could practically see the quotation marks. "Led by a fragging gangster. Likes to call himself Tyrannous these days."
"'Tyrannous?'" Jessica raises an eyebrow. "That's just screaming 'I am a bad guy!' already."
"Tyrannous is a menace and a threat," Galbinus rumbled. "And it is our mission to stop him from damaging this world any further than he has." He emitted a small grating, rasping sound that Jessica had learned to equate as 'sighing' from her interactions with Cavalier. "So it is that I ask you for help. Though we can and will take the fight to the Free Brothers, we do not wish any confrontation with your Defense Forces. Any assistance you can provide would go a long way to helping us avoid unneeded damage."
4 November, A.D. 2070
Engineering Bay
"They rely on processed energy," Satsuma says briskly as Wilde and Henry roll in additional equipment. Ignatov and Sam are also present; the former is ensuring all the electronics are in working order, the latter because studying the Kausen later on will fall to his department. "They have a specific way of processing it, but they can generally get by on how we make it. Oil, electricity – you name it."
You stand near Ignatov as he enters a final command prompt, arms crossed in front of you. This particular warehouse in the Engineering Bay was specifically emptied out to make room for your rather large patient, and you and Ignatov are elevated pretty high up on a reinforced platform. "And how do we use that to help him?" you ask calmly.
"We hook it up to him like an IV bag," Wilde says through the radio. Manipulating some controls, a servo arm begins gently attaching a series of jumper cables to the Kausen's – you correct yourself, Kaus' – wrist. "Only problem is, we don't exactly have the right ratio of what's ideal for the Kausen as a whole. So we're kinda winging it, but we know enough that any kind of processed energy will help a bit."
"On station." Katarina's avatar appears and hovers dutifully near Ignatov. "I'll monitor the energy flow and adjust accordingly."
"We'll probably need it, Katarina," Henry says from his monitor. "You can adjust power flow much faster than we can."
"Flipping the switch!"
The room lights flicker temporarily as electricity fluctuates between the attached generator and Cavalier. "Steady…steady…" Wilde cautions. Cavalier's body jerks slightly from the injection of energy, but otherwise is remaining unconscious…or offline.
The wording with the Kausen is going to take some getting used to-you blink as you hear a higher pitched noise from the generators.
"No, no, nonono slow it down!" Jessica says frantically. "He's absorbing too much!"
"Is that bad!?" Wilde says incredulously as he tries to cap the flow.
"Yes! It's bad! Slow it down!"
"It's not us! He's trying to draw it in faster!"
"Standby." The flow abruptly plateaus, and the cables spark violently before the flow resumes a regularized flow. You can see from Ignatov's monitor that Cavalier's body – which is trying to draw energy at a faster rate – is actively being resisted by Katarina's efforts.
"…I don't know what you did, but that definitely worked," you comment.
"Cavalier's body looks to be trying to overload itself with energy to hasten its recovery," Katarina says, sounding somewhat distracted. Her avatar gives the appearance of frantically typing something on her own keyboard. If the situation wasn't what it was, you'd comment on that. "I don't want to risk either hurting him or overloading and blowing up something important…but I think I've got the right flow this time."
At that moment, the black slits where the eyes would be on Cavalier's face abruptly flare to life. Bright red optics slowly come into focus as the Kaus gives the sense of groggily coming to life. "…u….*zzzkrt*"
"Cav! You're okay!" Jessica cries out. The giant's head sharply turns to focus on Jessica, before visibly relaxing, all tension fading away. "You're safe, you're okay, alright? They're the ones who got you back online."
"Standby," Katarina says. "His voice system looks to be too damaged…I'm linking him to a local console. With your permission, Sir?"
"Granted," you agree. "Let's hear what he has to say."
Ten seconds later, a "SOUND ONLY" window appears on Ignatov's console. "…huh. This is different," the voice says. The voice sounds metallic and digital as you'd expect, but…also rather young. That you didn't expect. "What happened?"
Below you can see Wilde's platform moving closer to Cavalier's body, though not close enough that the equipment could pose a danger to either himself or Jessica. "It was Bandit," Jessica says grimly. "He got the jump on us. You remember?"
"…yeah, I do," the voice says in a low tone. You can see Cavalier's fists clench slightly. "Fragged me pretty good."
"What were you thinking!?" Jessica all but screams. "You could have died out there!"
"And leave you and the others alone with that creep? No chance, Jess," the voice says.
You find yourself nodding in agreement with Cavalier despite yourself. He sounded young, but he was thinking like a Soldier. "You are Cavalier?" you ask.
"…yeah? Who's asking?" the voice asks cautiously.
"Major Johnathan Devin, United States Army, Defense Force Research Institute," you say. You pause when you think about just how long-winded that's starting to get. "…and I'm now seriously wondering if I should even bother with a business card…anyway. We extracted you and Cadet Satsuma from Fort Brenner, near the Dam. You looked to be in a bad way."
"…heh. I'd say you should have seen the other mech, but you beat me to the punch, it looks like," the voice says ruefully. "I'm still kind of feeling out of it, but…thanks."
You simply nod. "I'd like to say 'welcome to Earth,' but this First Contact hasn't exactly gone the way anyone wanted it to."
"Yeah," the voice says with a chuckle. "None of us should even be here. But Tyrannous' goons are just trying to loot the place…we're trying to stop 'em with what we have."
"Take the time to recover," you encourage him. "But whenever you try to contact your leadership…we would like to be there. I ask this as a professional courtesy, and for security reasons."
"Secret lab, huh?" Cavalier's optics stare directly up at you, where they can see you simply shrug. "Heh. Fair enough, Sir. I'm honestly not going to be up for it for Metatrine knows how long. I'll be sure to let you know."
"That's all I can ask. We'll be asking you more questions, but we'll make sure you're kept in as good a shape as we can manage."
Gained Information on the Kausen! Gained additional information on Kausen factions!
Cavalier healed! Wounded, but on a fast road to recovery. Gained relations with Legio Galbinus!
New Actions Unlocked!
Took quite a while to get this one out, mainly due to lots of interruptions and things needing to be resolved. But here you go!
Science interlude to come either tomorrow or Sunday. Can't say which just yet. But here you are!
