Super Robot Quest

Basarin · Feb 18, 2019

Moving, settling in, and making coordination eats up a lot of your time. Barely leaves you time to write quest updates, or have another round of Slay the Spire. *nods sagely*

Still, here we are! Now, I'm pretty sure I missed something somewhere, so I'm sure you all will let me know. But I won't get to it tomorrow - I'll be occupied with the move pretty much all day. So for that, I'm also going to let the vote run for awhile this week.

Sorry again for making you all wait, and for those who are sticking with it, thanks again.

1500, 1 June, A.D. 2072
Commandant's Office

Success begets more work. It's a sad fact of life, that if you show you are competent, more and more work will be poured onto you. Without really any regard as to if you're getting overburdened. You learned that lesson pretty early on as a lieutenant, and you learned to stay a little below the radar after that.

Unfortunately, you don't really get that option with this job.

You sigh as you stand in front of a whiteboard hanging on the wall of your office. As much as holotechnology and haptic feedback make things easier to manipulate on computers, you just get a much better feel for organizing things when you write it down.

But the sheer spaghetti chart that faces you makes you question that sometimes. To writ:

- An entire battleship wreck has gone missing.
- Bandit and his roving swarm of Drones continue to plague the North American District.
- Kaiju activity continues to run rampant, though thankfully it's being kept in check by Mercury V...so far.
- You are on the cusp of researching space faring technology. [Note to self: have Sasaki look into making this a second dropship option]
- The new AIs need to get some acclimatization going to settle in properly.
- More coffee.
- ~~Dragon's Horn~~ K-Fang complete; need to do something with it.
- More coffee.
- Marine Expeditionary Forces mustering for new formation soon. Must dedicate chassis' for new formation.
- Combination of Perseus. Progress? Look into it.
- ~~More~~ ALL OF THE COFFEE.

"Sir?" You glance over to see a concerned looking Katarina. "You...you can't have all of the coffee." She shrivels slightly as you just fix her with a look. "...can you?"

"Watch me."

Landing Pad Roll = 4.

Base Income - 20 RP
- Modifiers
  - Landing Pad - Generating +3 RP
  - EUGDF Commission - Generating +2 RP; One Turn Remaining)
  - Energy Shard Processor - Generating +5 RP. Will cap at +6 RP at Turn Eight, Year Three
- RP INCOME – 30 RP
- Expenditures
  - The Oracle - 1 RP – Locked for 1 more turn
  - A Sheepish Request - 1 RP – Locked for 4 more turns
  - Over There - 1 RP - Locked for 1 more turn
  - Excavation Again - 1 RP - Locked for 1 more turn
  - Pilot Training – Medium Investment - 1 RP – Locked for 1 more turn
  - Pilot Training – Heavy Investment - 1 RP - Locked for 3 more turns
  - Experimental Projects – Heavy Investment - 2 RP – Locked for 2 more turns
  - Variable Configuration - Heavy Investment (Perseus) - 2 RP - Locked for 2 more turns
  - C-Crystals - 2 RP – Locked for 1 more turn
  - Gift of the Regent - Early Space Flight - 1 RP – Locked for 1 more turn
- RP EXPENDITURE - 13 RP Locked This Turn

Total Income - 17 RP

Special Actions

Katarina's Support: You may add +1d6 to any Action this turn. This can only be applied to one Action. This will refresh next turn.

Streamlined Resource Flow: For One Action this turn, you may discount the Cost by -1 RP (you cannot reduce a Cost to 0 or below). This will refresh the next turn.

Comtesse de Valor - It's almost done. The Regent assures you that you will soon have an independent agent who can respond to hotspots quickly.

Given how things are going, you have a feeling you're going to need Satsuma fairly soon.

Duration: 1 Turn

The Oracle of Gasparton - Delphi is almost ready for prime time. Galbinus and Patch are already quite pleased with the preliminary diagnostics, and with her on board they can actually begin launching more than just disruption operations against the Free Brothers.

Cost: 1 RP Locked
Duration: 1 Turn
Upon completion, Galbinus will offer you a selection of boons to call upon

A Sheepish Request - You will not ask what the Engineers are doing to the innards of the super carrier. You will not ask what the Engineers are doing to the innards of the super carrier. You will not ask what the Engineers are doing to the innards of the super carrier.

The less you know, the more the Naval Defense Force representatives look agitated.

Cost: 1 RP Locked (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 4 Turns (Remember that bit about long-term? It's still a thing.)
Chance for Breakthrough (2d6, Threshold of 5-6)

Over There - Colonel Bernard's people have already arrived, and you've spent the last month simply getting them acquainted with the various pieces of equipment that they might be called on to use soon. You'll have to make a decision on how much to invest in what sort of formation they will be in, but this will soon be another unit that can defend the base, or support the outings of the Super Robots.

Kind of him, really.

Cost: 1 RP Locked
Duration: 1 Turns
New Support Formation - Options to be presented at Reaction Force Post

Excavation Again - How the hell does an entire sunken monument from the twentieth century go missing? Something like that hasn't happened since the Olympic Flame was stolen back in the 2050s!

Ichiro and Anna are now all but expecting something interesting to happen. Explosions are likely.

Cost: 1 RP Locked
Duration: 1 Turn

Super Robot Construction - If you want to start in on a new Super Robot or bring one up to code, you know how by now.
Cost: Variable (how much do you want?)
Duration: 3 Turns

A Friendly Visit - You have a...competitor of sorts. A competitor that you have had at least two years of headstart on, on an entirely different development track than what you have already developed. To your knowledge, they don't have anything remotely close to K-Class Materials, they certainly don't have the Super AI, and they're reverse engineering the Westphalian line of mecha.

BG Peters was rather irate about the whole thing, but there's no sense over antagonizing them outright either. Let the bosses above both of you have their turf wars. You at least want to see what's going on, and to see if you and your counterpart could come to some sort of understanding.

[] A Friendly Visit
Cost: 2 RP
Duration: 1 Turn
Gain insight over new mecha project

Well, since you're here... - Something is about to go down in the coasts of northern France, what with Anna and Ichiro scouring the area for...heavens only know at this point. That said, while there's no guarantee that they'll oblige you due to competing contracts and schedules, the European District is the area of responsibility of the Valiant. Why not reach out to them and see if they can't lend Anna and Ichiro a hand?

Anna's tunnel vision seems to have forgotten them, but that's your lot in life as a logistician...

[] Well, since you're here...
Cost: 3 RP
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance for success (1d6, Threshold of ???)
Gain some measure of support from Mander Security Solutions

Settling In - Charlie, Frankie and Iris are now the newest additions to the team. You've been letting them just explore the area while still in their Jackal frames, and letting the wider staff get acquainted with them. At the same time, some of the Legion have also been frequenting the grounds a little more when they're not busy with whatever it is Galbinus has planned for them - some are just legitimately curious about the newcomers.

Patch, of course, is a familiar sight as he worries over the mecha's health.

That said, they were developed with supporting the Perseus in mind, and the pilots of that very chassis are still in training. Even if you're not exactly going to field them as Jackals (Beowulf scale or not), there's an opportunity here.

[] Settling In
Cost: 3 RP
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance for breakthrough (2d6, Threshold of ???)
Chance to learn/add traits to the Trio; smaller chance to aid in trait development for current Pilot Training projects)

After Market Scrounging - The old saying of 'it fell off the back of a truck' really doesn't work these days. Not with the advent of global trackers, inventory sheets with very specific serial numbers, and the dreaded word of accountability. Even the decommissioned stuff, as you found out with the Pegasus, can be guarded jealously like a mother bear watching her cubs.

But even today in the 2070s, people find a way.

For example, you're not sure why your staff is asking you for the old, really old, massive rocket engines used on space shuttles at the turn of the century. Nor do you understand the various laundry list of things they're asking for. Is it going to help? Or is this a case of the chuckles for the sake of Science?

SCIENCE!

After closing the window, you get your thoughts back on track. Logistician: Well, the bottom line is that you can reach out to people, but you still see this as having rather dubious return value. But you're not investing much into it, so...

[] After Market Scrounging
Cost: 1 RP
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance to find something useful (1d6, Threshold of ???)
One-time chance to make something out of old, decommissioned equipment - results will vary

Defense Force Actions

Diana's Creativity: You may reduce the Success Threshold of any one Defense Force Action by -1.

Pilot Training - Medium Investment
Cost: 1 RP Locked
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance for breakthrough (2d6, Threshold of 5-6)

Pilot Training - Heavy Investment
Cost: 1 RP Locked
Duration: 3 Turns
Chance for breakthrough (3d6, Threshold of 5-6)

Reaction Force - Now fully operational, and with a Super Robot ready to go, you are in a prime position to start scanning the world for any potential hotspot to intervene in. Brigadier General Peters has assured you that there will be no conflict of jurisdiction; you are only going to be diverted to an area which really needs a Super Robot that no one is going to complain.

At least, not as much as the Naval Defense Force asshats.

Reaction Force
Cost: N/A
Chance for detecting something of worth (1d6, Threshold Unknown)

Pilot Training - The Pilot Exchange Program is sending back out its first set of graduates. All of whom have earned their certifications in the fiery hellpits of the DFRI's simulations. That said, you aren't entirely heartless (just mostly). You did give them about a week's worth of off-time before sending them back to their units.

Sasaki and Diana still weren't too impressed by the majority of the candidates.

2LT Zhang is also undergoing additional pilot training. She might be assigned as Tellison's co-pilot for now, but you want to know if she has any additional piloting talents that the earlier simulations haven't accounted for just yet.

You may choose one. If you have an investment project ongoing, you may still choose one and run concurrently.

[] Pilot Training - Light Investment
Cost: 2 RP (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance for breakthrough at Disadvantage (1d6, Threshold of 5-6)

[] Pilot Training - Medium Investment
Cost: 3 RP (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 2-4 Turns
Chance for breakthrough (2d6, Threshold of 5-6)

[] Pilot Training - Heavy Investment
Cost: 4 RP (1-2 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 3-5 Turns
Chance for breakthrough at Advantage (3d6, Threshold of 5-6)

Security Net – You really should find the time to rename this line of projects. With all of your investment, it will literally take the most overt, blatant and blindingly obvious army to come knocking at the doors of the DFRI. And with years of investment layered on top of it, some from the very first month of the DFRI's existence, along with the living terror that is Adriana [Thanks, chief! ^_^], there is practically next to no possibility of anyone infiltrating you.

Now? Now you supplement the Reaction Force Network. Now you go looking for trouble before it comes to find you.

This is understandably a large shift in priorities from what has been standard from the last two and a half years, but Sasaki and Diana assure you that they'll have something more specific lined up by next month.

[] Security Net - Light Investment
Cost: 2 RP (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance for breakthrough at Disadvantage (1d6, Threshold of 5-6)

[] Security Net - Medium Investment
Cost: 3 RP (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 2-4 Turns
Chance for breakthrough (2d6, Threshold of 5-6)

[] Security Net - Heavy Investment
Cost: 4 RP (1-2 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 3-5 Turns
Chance for breakthrough at Advantage (3d6, Threshold of 5-6)

Frontier Justice - Bandit is still out there, and he's still out there causing chaos with his brand new batch of Drones. This state of affairs continues to...irk you.

Callaghan agrees, and has a suggestion for you. This won't out and out take him down, but he's presented the idea of patrolling with the Beowulf himself, and using himself as bait. He'll likely draw the attention of his drone minions first, but this will make a follow up operation to track down Bandit and his posse all the simpler when the time comes to mobilize for it.

[] Frontier Justice
Cost: 3 RP (1 RP Locked)
Duration: 2 Turns
Chance for breakthrough at Advantage (3d6, Threshold of ???; Advantage due to Bandit's enmity with Beowulf)
If taken, Callaghan and Beowulf will be unavailable outside of Reaction Force options

Engineering Actions

Stubborn Lana: Rolling a 1 on any dice will prompt a Re-Roll of that particular dice. This applies to all Engineering Actions taken this turn, but will only take place once per Action.

Engineering Expert (Jiro): Choose one action. Critical Success is now 4-6 (applicable depending on Success Threshold). Applies ONLY to selected Action.

Experimental - Psychic Echoes - Wilde and Henry have Sam's notes in hand, and they're also noticing that the Psychic Echoes phenomenon is not just a fluke. This only applies to machinery that is operated with the MMI helmets, but it feels like things are becoming hardcoded physically into the materials depending on what actions the MMI expects out of them. Almost like wearing in a brand new pair of shoes.

This bears further investigation.

Experimental Projects - Heavy Investment
Cost: 1 RP Locked (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 2 Turns
Chance for breakthrough at Advantage (3d6, Threshold of 5-6)

Variable Configuration - Heavy Investment (Perseus)
Cost: 2 RP Locked (2 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 3 Turns Remaining
Chance for breakthrough at Advantage (3d6, Threshold of 5-6)

Variable Configuration – There is a lot of ground to cover here. Wilde and Henry have created all sorts of new designs, but they haven't exactly been tested properly yet. Before properly handing them over to the test pilots, they want to run some additional tests, and they certainly would like to see if they can come up with something new.

Wilde also has a few specific projects he thinks requires your attention and approval. Though the Beowulf is now fully online and active, it's still missing one feature, something they're not sure they can reliably activate just yet.

You may choose one, plus the specific projects listed below. If you have an investment project ongoing, you may still choose one and run concurrently.

[] Variable Configuration - Light Investment
Cost: 2 RP (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance for breakthrough at Disadvantage (1d6, Threshold of 5-6)

[] Variable Configuration - Medium Investment
Cost: 3 RP (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 2-4 Turns
Chance for breakthrough (2d6, Threshold of 5-6)

[] Variable Configuration - Heavy Investment
Cost: 4 RP (1-2 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 3-5 Turns
Chance for breakthrough at Advantage (3d6, Threshold of 5-6)

The theoretical triple combination of the Beowulf's support platforms is much closer to a reality. Jiro has shown a lot of interest in this project, with predictable loud rejections and complaints from Lana. Given that their mutual antagonism seems to be a force multiplier when it comes to these things, you might well just sic the two of them on this one since the Seeker worked out so well.

[] Triple Combination
Cost: 4 3 RP (2 RP Locked Next Turn; discount due to insights provided by the Seeker)]
Duration: 3 2 Turns (Thanks, Lana!)
Beowulf will be able to call on a theoretical final formation, to be summoned in times of dire emergencies.

Supercomputer AI – Still plenty to be done going around, but Novgorod Computing Solutions' workload has just lightened considerably with the completion of the Trio. They've since transitioned to just monitoring their mental wellbeings, and Ignatov is happy to take on additional work.

You may choose one. If you have an investment project ongoing, you may still choose one and run concurrently.

[] Supercomputer AI - Light Investment
Cost: 2 RP (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance for breakthrough at Disadvantage (1d6, Threshold of 5-6)

[] Supercomputer AI - Medium Investment
Cost: 3 RP (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 2-4 Turns
Chance for breakthrough (2d6, Threshold of 5-6)

[] Supercomputer AI - Heavy Investment
Cost: 4 RP (1-2 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 3-5 Turns
Chance for breakthrough at Advantage (3d6, Threshold of 5-6)

Experimental Projects – The sky's the limit with new, strange experimental projects. With the addition of what is being called the K-Fang class of kaiju materials by the engineers, all sorts of ideas are now being entertained. Of course, it's still up to you to approve them.

QM NOTE: I will allow you to add a preference towards which bit of science you want to lean towards as a preference, but that's no guarantee that the results will come out that way.

You may choose one. If you have an investment project ongoing, you may still choose one and run concurrently.

[] Experimental Projects - Light Investment
Cost: 2 RP (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance for breakthrough at Disadvantage (1d6, Threshold of 5-6)

[] Experimental Projects - Medium Investment
Cost: 3 RP (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 2-4 Turns
Chance for breakthrough (2d6, Threshold of 5-6)

[] Experimental Projects - Heavy Investment
Cost: 4 RP (1-2 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 3-5 Turns
Chance for breakthrough at Advantage (3d6, Threshold of 5-6)

Science Actions

Calm - Ivanna's help enables you to re-roll one failed Science Action Test this turn.

Kausen Researcher – Choose one Science Action this turn. You may add +1 to the value of the lowest rolled d6. Add +1 if focusing on Kausen technology.

Gifts of the Regent - C-Crystal Development - Lots of energy and an internal and complex AI system that manages it. Max is fairly certain that this means it's got its own methods of developing new C-Crystals, but requires outside input.

In short, time to drag Ignatov into this project to see if you can bridge the gap between alien operating systems and our own.

Cost: 2 RP Locked
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance for Breakthrough at Disadvantage (1d6, Threshold of 4-6)

Gifts of the Regent - Early Space Flight - Exactly as it sounds. It boils down to basic design principles for space-worthy vessels - engine designs, stress tolerances, even some pointers on how to ensure survival in the eventuality of void combat. Max really can't comment much more on it until she's given the time and resources to really dig into it, but from everything she's seeing, she should be able to make something out of this.

You are flabbergasted by the amount of resources Max is asking for, but she just gives you a flat stare whenever you bring it up. "Super Robots are expensive as it is, now you're asking us to tack on a Space Program. From scratch."

Well, when she puts it that way...

Cost: 1 RP Locked (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance for Breakthrough (2d6, Threshold of 5-6)

ESP Theory - Sam is ecstatic, since Psychic Energy now has the potential to alter the composition of materials. Granted, it's probably a hell of a lot easier to do with K-Class for whatever reason than with standard building materials, but that gives Sam an idea.

So psychic energy, you've established, can already link with computer systems through the MMI. Heck, psychic energy interacts with standard materials ALL THE TIME anyway, but only if they're considered 'part of the wider machine' by the user. So what if you tried to alter some of the machine?

What if you wanted to try and supercharge the machine?

You may choose one, plus the specific project. If you have an investment project ongoing, you may still choose one and run concurrently.

[] ESP Theory - Light Investment
Cost: 2 RP (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance for breakthrough at Disadvantage (1d6, Threshold of 5-6)

[] ESP Theory - Medium Investment
Cost: 3 RP (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 2-4 Turns
Chance for breakthrough (2d6, Threshold of 5-6)

[] ESP Theory - Heavy Investment
Cost: 4 RP (1-2 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 3-5 Turns
Chance for breakthrough at Advantage (3d6, Threshold of 5-6)

Kaiju Biotechnology – The K-Fang addition to K-Class Materials is promising all sorts of new ideas. Sam literally has too many to filter out, and at this point he's happily 'throwing science at the wall and seeing what sticks.'

You may choose one. If you have an investment project ongoing, you may still choose one and run concurrently.

[] Kaiju Biotechnology - Light Investment
Cost: 2 RP (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance for breakthrough at Disadvantage (1d6, Threshold of 5-6)

[] Kaiju Biotechnology - Medium Investment
Cost: 3 RP (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 2-4 Turns
Chance for breakthrough (2d6, Threshold of 5-6)

[] Kaiju Biotechnology - Heavy Investment
Cost: 4 RP (1-2 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 3-5 Turns
Chance for breakthrough at Advantage (3d6, Threshold of 5-6)

Xenotechnology Research - You're...not sure if pairing Zulu with Max was the wisest idea you've ever had. Zulu's deadpan nature contrasts and balances Max's more manic moments, and the chaotic spark that is her mind suddenly is a bit more grounded, and more directed.

Welp.

You may choose one, plus the specific project listed below. If you have an investment project ongoing, you may still choose one and run concurrently.

[] Xenotechnology - Light Investment
Cost: 2 RP (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance for breakthrough at Disadvantage (1d6, Threshold of 5-6)

[] Xenotechnology - Medium Investment
Cost: 3 RP (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 2-4 Turns
Chance for breakthrough (2d6, Threshold of 5-6)

[] Heavy Investment
Cost: 4 RP (1-2 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 3-5 Turns
Chance for breakthrough at Advantage (3d6, Threshold of 5-6)

You have quite the wealth of technological options to pursue thanks to your negotiations with the Regent. The only question is which one to pursue first.

Max is very blunt with you when you ask about her chances of success with the new technology. "This is literally alien space magic. Space Flight is honestly going to be the most familiar ground we're dealing with here; we at least started in the past hundred years on it."

Fair point. You suppose you've been spoiled by your team on how they've made the impossible happen before.

[] Gifts of the Regent - Empathic Focuser - You refuse to hold a discussion on this with neither Sam nor Max until you see some results. Especially after how crazy they were during the discussions. You could theoretically link this to the MMI, but first you have to figure out if you can even get this to work with the human psyche. The Regent certainly wasn't sure if it was a viable option or not, but it was very curious to see if the laboratories could make it work.

Guess the Institute is just a pioneer in about everything these days.

Cost: 4 RP (2 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 4 Turns
Chance for Breakthrough at Disadvantage (1d6, Threshold of 5-6)

Basarin · Mar 5, 2019

So my job is already having me go on a week and a half long trip, which has thrown something of a wrench in my efforts to get this posted on time. But better late than never.

That said, if I ever do a quest again, I'm going to have a much, much longer think about how I format this. Because these do take awhile, and I know I've made mistakes that you all catch (which I'm grateful for you pointing out). I did also see the posts about Lana's rerolls on the Psychic Echoes, and I went and added it - still a no go, but it's there.

Turn Six, Year Three Results

Special

Comtesse de Valor - It's almost done. The Regent assures you that you will soon have an independent agent who can respond to hotspots quickly.

Given how things are going, you have a feeling you're going to need Satsuma fairly soon.

Duration: 1 Turn

It's done.

Cadet Jessica Satsuma, formerly of the First Response Corps, has become the first EUDF personnel to bond with a C-Crystal.

With the firepower to match.

Interlude: Call to Courage

The Oracle of Gasparton - Delphi is almost ready for prime time. Galbinus and Patch are already quite pleased with the preliminary diagnostics, and with her on board they can actually begin launching more than just disruption operations against the Free Brothers.

Cost: 1 RP Locked
Duration: 1 Turn
Upon completion, Galbinus will offer you a selection of boons to call upon

Delphi is online, and she's been fully integrated into the Legion's Enclave. There was something of an adjustment period lasting a week as the Oracle Matrix adjusted to working with the loyalist Kausen, but by the end of it everything seems to have gone smoothly. The Legion is now much more active in launching counter raids and spoiling Free Brother efforts to plunder and loot the Union's infrastructure.

Galbinus, as he explains to you one day, stresses just how much this has relieved pressure on his efforts.

"Delphi is able to automate much of our efforts," he said. "What it took myself, Patch and Herald to do manually, Delphi can streamline in a fraction of the time. And this frees us to take offensive action against Tyrannous, and not simply play for parity."

He'll reach out to you by the end of the month about the agreed upon boon.

Options to be presented in Reaction Force Post

A Sheepish Request - You will not ask what the Engineers are doing to the innards of the super carrier. You will not ask what the Engineers are doing to the innards of the super carrier. You will not ask what the Engineers are doing to the innards of the super carrier.

The less you know, the more the Naval Defense Force representatives look agitated.

Cost: 1 RP Locked (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 4 Turns (Remember that bit about long-term? It's still a thing.)
Chance for Breakthrough (2d6, Threshold of 5-6)

You suppose that simply brushing off the Navy's representatives is going to be much, much more difficult to do now that you've gotten a much better look at what the engineers have begun doing to it. It's no longer just the internal mechanisms or the inner superstructure that they've begun to modify.

You didn't even know that they made tarp and barriers of that size, but the entirety of the Sergey Gorshkov has become something of a restricted area within the Naval Base. The gist of what you've managed to work out so far is that now they've begun on life support...which also means adding more armor and sealing for an airtight atmosphere. They've also been making sure that no one outside of the DFRI personnel working on it - beyond a few select engineers from the original crew - are allowed to see what's going on.

At this point, you feel like the engineers are baiting someone - the Westphalians, the Free Brothers, even a followup Kaiju raid - to stumble across it just to see what was going on. But since you do have the capability to defend the base - not to mention that the new leadership since the last raid have refused to skimp on active patrols - you're not as worried about it.

Just slightly worried.

3 Turn Remaining

Over There - Colonel Bernard's people have already arrived, and you've spent the last month simply getting them acquainted with the various pieces of equipment that they might be called on to use soon. You'll have to make a decision on how much to invest in what sort of formation they will be in, but this will soon be another unit that can defend the base, or support the outings of the Super Robots.

Kind of him, really.

Cost: 1 RP Locked
Duration: 1 Turns
New Support Formation - Options to be presented at Reaction Force Post

Options to be presented in Reaction Force Post

Excavation Again - How the hell does an entire sunken monument from the twentieth century go missing? Something like that hasn't happened since the Olympic Flame was stolen back in the 2050s!

Ichiro and Anna are now all but expecting something interesting to happen. Explosions are likely.

Cost: 1 RP Locked
Duration: 1 Turn

Interlude: Monumental Madness

A Friendly Visit
Cost: 2 RP
Duration: 1 Turn
Gain insight over new mecha project

It somehow doesn't surprise you that the new program has also settled down in the North American District. Aberdeen Proving Grounds, not far from where the attacks - and, not coincidentally, the precious salvage - had taken place. You had Katarina gather up some additional information before you, Ignatov and Henry set off to take a look for yourselves.

What comes your desk does surprise you. At least, in a 'that does make sense' sort of way.

The other program has apparently started its own development path, not that dissimilar to how you and the DFRI began with almost nothing. Your opposite number has also began recruiting heavily, reaching out to experts and specialist teams, in order to create what is effectively a bipedal walker machine with clear roots from the Westphalian models. Where the DFRI prides itself with adaptable, configuring machines, 'Operation: Ground Pound' is going for a much simpler design philosophy:

Punch the problem in the face until the problem ceases to be problematic.

It's still very much in prototyping, but you also notice a few gaps in the design team's roster - at least, from your perspective. There isn't an obvious angle of superscience that you were fortunate to have with Sam and his team, though an Engineering expert - one Doctor Schemming - has clearly done some work on the walker's superstructure.

You won't know much else until you get there.

Interlude: Site Survey

Well, since you're here...
Cost: 3 RP
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance for success (1d6, Threshold of ???)
Gain some measure of support from Mander Security Solutions

Your efforts to reach out to Mander Security Solutions came at apparently an awkward time. They were apparently already engaged with separatist hotspots with a preexisting contract, and the Valiant is unlikely to make good speed.

Unlikely being the keyword. The hotspot in question: Lyon. While the Valiant has dispatched most of the active walker and mobile tank platform presences in the area, it's apparently overseeing the cleanup phase of the operation that typically takes a lot of time, handing responsibility back to the local constabulary, so forth and so on.

Mander responded back to you personally, insisting that 'it's damned well on the way back home,' and promises that the Valiant will make an effort to divert over to Brest as soon as valiantly possible.

He only smiled when you planted your face into your desk at the pun.

The Valiant will attempt to be on hand if - or when - things go pear shaped with Anna's team.

After Market Scrounging
Cost: 1 RP
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance to find something useful (1d6, Threshold of ???)
One-time chance to make something out of old, decommissioned equipment - results will vary

Log: 14 June, A.D. 2072

<Adriana>, 11:22:14:56 - Why's the bossman shouting like that?

<Katarina>, 11:22:14:61 - Um...you know how a lot of everything we do here doesn't make much sense if you think too hard about it?

<Adriana>, 11:22:14:66 - What, like us?

<Katarina>, 11:22:14:70 - Yes, exactly. He's speaking to old colleagues of his, and-

"Why do you even have these!?"

<Adrianna>, 11:22:17:08 - *screenshot saved*

<Adriana>, 11:22:17:14 - Okay, that was totally an awesome picture. He looks like he's gonna flip the table!

<Katarina>, 11:22:17:26 - Adri!

<Katarina>, 11:22:18:33 - ...mind sharing?

Options to be presented in Reaction Force Post

Defense

Pilot Training - Medium Investment
Cost: 1 RP Locked
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance for breakthrough (2d6, Threshold of 5-6)

Pilot Training - Heavy Investment
Cost: 1 RP Locked
Duration: 3 Turns
Chance for breakthrough (3d6, Threshold of 5-6)

2LT Zhang has learned about as much as she's going to under current circumstances. She's in a similar enough position that Tellison was when he was training to operate the Jackal frames, but had yet to see live combat against the Warlord's base raid the other year. Enough of a basic understanding on how to operate the machine in tandem with Tellison, but until she sees live experience this is where she peaks. Albeit with maneuvers that will very well come in handy.

The Trio, on the other hand, are just getting started. Their consciousnesses are still flickering between different frames to see what they prefer to operate in, but they understand that what they prefer might not be what they are ultimately assigned to. Wilde (filling in for Henry as he attends to the site visit) is making notes on what works, even as he and Jiro are figuring out just what the Perseus can actually be supported by.

2LT Zhang learns Parry! Details listed in Reaction Force Post

Skills still being determined for Trio.

Security Net - Light Investment
Cost: 2 RP
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance for breakthrough at Disadvantage (1d6, Threshold of 5-6)

Though you didn't sign off on Callaghan's daring/reckless plan, you did agree that Bandit needed to be tracked down further. You subsequently gave some resources over to Sasaki and Callaghan, and told them simply to find Bandit, then begin putting together a plan to kick him out of your backyard. By now, you get the feeling that while he's out to officially track down the Legion Enclave, you wouldn't be surprised if he also really wanted to take down the Beowulf a peg or three. You'd think that after almost two years since the encounter he would have let it go, but a Kaus apparently can harbor grudges for a long time.

After about a week of searching, Sasaki - fed information reported by Callaghan in the Beowulf - thinks she's found him. He and his goons have pitched camp not far from Death Valley, which goes a long way to explain why a standard sweep didn't simply catch him like in his previous raids.

Now all that's left is to put together a plan.

Bandit's encampment identified. New Reaction Force Option Unlocked.

Engineering

Experimental Projects - Heavy Investment
Cost: 1 RP Locked (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 2 Turns
Chance for breakthrough at Advantage (3d6, Threshold of 5-6)

There was something of a snag with the Psychic Echoes examination. Despite Wilde and Henry's best efforts - combined with Lana's haranguing - the echoes are defying attempts to really discern consistent explanations. As Wilde explains to you one day, "We know x leads to y in circumstance z, but we don't know why x doesn't lead to y in circumstance x^2 even though it should." Apparently things just don't scale up by a set number, or the actual specifics just aren't lining up with what other problems normally would.

Then again, you are also trying to cheat the laws of physics with psychic energy on materials made from the flesh and bones of a dead kaiju.

Wilde will continue to crack on with it, but even with this delay, the results you have would be 'good enough.' You might not understand why the psychic energies lead to increased reaction speeds or greater endurance under certain circumstances, but you can definitely at least finagle ways to make it work.

Progress stalled; 1 Turn Remaining

Triple Combination
Cost: 3 RP (2 RP Locked Next Turn; discount due to insights provided by the Seeker)]
Duration: 2 Turns
Beowulf will be able to call on a theoretical final formation, to be summoned in times of dire emergencies.

You know for a fact that multiple units combining is possible. You'd go as far as saying that it's one of the bedrocks behind the DFRI's success, earning it one of its first battle victories against a Free Brother engagement. But while you know that multiple mecha can combine with each other - Axiom is a living example of this - this is a function that you are still overcoming the initial hurdles of.

Take the Beowulf. As Henry explains to you, the Beowulf has enough hardpoints to combine effectively with the Shepherd or the V-33 - but only one at a time. The reason for this was simply that the Beowulf was meeting immediate needs, and that thinking that far ahead wasn't on the top of their list. Which, fair enough - you really did need a super robot right then and there. But that leaves you now with what is effectively a First Generation Super Robot that will become harder and harder to upgrade - and harder to have it keep pace with the newer technologies.

The solution is fairly simple right now - add more hardpoints. But the V-33, while it can provide enough lift to help the Beowulf fly, is not going to have power to make the Timberwolf fly. "Crazy talk." The real consideration he is overseeing, with Jiro and Lana taking the lead, is determining if the V-33 should act as a sort of emergency power pack, or to allow for 'jumping' great distances. A vertical drop kick with the falling mass of a super robot is a tempting prospect, but they don't know if that's feasible or not, even with K-Scale.

Either way, they're working on it.

1 Turn Remaining

Science

Gifts of the Regent - C-Crystal Development
Cost: 2 RP Locked
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance for Breakthrough at Disadvantage (1d6, Threshold of 4-6)

While no additional insights for the 'line' production model (and doesn't it feel weird to think of it that way?) of the C-Crystal have been unlocked, at this point what you have is more than sufficient.

You now have C-Crystals, exclusively for service in defense of the Earth Union.

Interlude: Call to Courage

Gifts of the Regent - Early Space Flight
Cost: 1 RP Locked (1 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 1 Turn
Chance for Breakthrough (2d6, Threshold of 5-6)

This month has honestly been a watershed of a sort. You now have your C-Crystal 'Prime' in Cadet Satsuma. The C-Crystals as a whole can now be generated properly, something that the Regent is quite pleased about.

And now Max has cracked the secrets behind Varulne's methods of interstellar travel...with a bit of a twist.

Interlude: Call to Courage

Kaiju Biotechnology - Heavy Investment
Cost: 4 RP (1-2 RP Locked Next Turn)
Duration: 3-5 Turns
Chance for breakthrough at Advantage (3d6, Threshold of 5-6)

"Sam here."

"First of all: Carlson Laboratories thanks you for your continued contribution to making the laws of physics cry. I reckon with enough funding, we could probably put a toll booth around gravity one day and get a fraction of a penny for every object that falls to ocean level! Heh, we'd be rich bastards."

"But to make a long story short: we're taking your current contributions to what we're collectively dubbing the K-Fang, derivative K-Class Material from Sample One. Myself, Max, Ivanna and Zulu are looking into refining applications for the K-Fang, and if you've been paying attention you'll know we already had some ideas lined up."

"First port of call: melee weapons. Given how fond everyone seems to be of punching Kaiju in the face or stabbing them with swords - think you're crazy in some cases, but whatever floats your boat - we might as well give an advantage here. We'll begin starting with the basic weaponry - adding serrated edges, ensuring conductivity with the Spark Plug, all that good jazz. Your gear will be 100% backwards compatible! Or, at least, we'll damned well try."

"Just, uh, don't ask Zulu about the test dummies we used to start us off. He's a little too interested in breaking down just how badly each module suffers as if they were human ligaments. Good science, don't get me wrong, but not something to hear on a full stomach. Trust me on this."

"This is Sam, we're done here."

Testing on upgraded weapons with the K-Fang begins!

Basarin · Apr 8, 2019

So, as I've hinted at before, the quest is going to go through a significant rework. I'll go more in-depth about it later, but at this point both in-game and in-universe, resources really aren't much of a problem for you anymore. The quest will focus more on taking an active stance on the threats facing the Earth Union, while also still retaining the focus on managing the organization. Actions and time, not resources, will be your main constraint going forward.

This is a bit of a two parter. This is just to see who actually Galbinus detaches to you, and it will influence the narrative flavor of the next update.

Otherwise, thank you again for your patience. So help me, I will bring this to an endgame.

Galbinus is satisfied with Delphi's performance. Now that she's online and patched into the Legion's Enclave, Galbinus feels that they are now ready to prosecute their shadow war against the Free Brothers on a level playing field. While you're a little skeptical about simply taking on Tyrannous with 1:1 odds, this is a fight that the Legion is apparently quite comfortable dealing with.

Galbinus, however, hasn't forgotten his promise to you. He promised something in exchange, and he's ready to provide. What he is promising this time is no longer simply technology - he's recognized that the DFRI are catching up quickly on that front. What he is promising now is expertise. These rewards are not quite as tangible as the initial first exchange you've had with the Legion before, but you recognize it for what it is: Galbinus is offering one of his own on a part time basis to serve as a support combatant for you. And even with detaching one of his own temporarily, he still feels confident that he can take the fight to Tyrannous as is.

If that's how he feels, you're not going to turn it down...

[Vote for one.]

[] Breaker - Breaker is a salvager by trade, originally a Kaus who made a living by breaking up the remnants of broken shipwrecks and vehicles scattered across the Dominion. However, now pressed in as a Legionnaire, he applies his lessons of breaking up derelict wrecks to those of the Free Brothers. By no means a frontline combatant, he is still a very capable support unit who applies his own special mixture of Corrosive Gas to degrade enemy armor. It's not perfect, and consistent results aren't really...there. But either it causes the enemy to start having bits and pieces of them fall off of them, or it leaves them vulnerable to the frontliners and the heavies. Breaker counts it as a win either way.
- Breaker counts as a support unit, and takes up one slot as a result.
- Corrosive Gas can be used once every three turns. Roll 1d6. On a 1-3, Enemy Target loses 1d6 to their next defense roll. On a 4-6, Enemy Target takes 1d6 each turn (defensive rolls and effects apply). Both effects last for two turns.

[] Drifter - Drifter is, for lack of a better word, crazy. A veteran of many, many battles in Mekaen's past history, he's seen enough that he's apparently snapped at one point, but still remains functional...if nonsensical. Galbinus describes his fighting style as a skirmisher; Cavalier describes the Kaus' fighting style as 'punch them in the face and draw them away while laughing.' Having your own band of crazies to work with on a daily basis, you can see some glimmer of logic in the madness - this is a Legionnaire who can distract and draw away enemy fire from your main combatant.
- Drifter is...crazy. He's also a support unit who takes up one slot.
- Over Here! Drifter is also very, very good at drawing enemy attention. Choose one Enemy Target, and roll 1d6. On a 4-6, Enemy Target will focus their next action on Drifter. Drifter will maintain the Enemy Target's attention if he can roll a 5-6 on the next turn. If he fails this roll or the next, Enemy Target's attention will revert to main combatant or other support units. Over Here! will refresh in two turns.

[] Ocular - Of all the alternate modes for a Kaus to choose, a spy drone was the last thing you were expecting. Ocular is tiny compared to most Kaus, and that's taking Architect into account - he's only slightly taller than you. But the quiet Legionnaire, who normally operates in tandem with Herald, is very, very good at gathering information. You can easily see linking him into the Pegasus' command and control suite with Sasaki to gather more information during a battle.
- Ocular is the Legion's version of a scouting spy drone. Very quiet, very factual and to the point - but acquiring information is his skillset. A support unit who takes up one slot (he himself may be small, but he brings a lot of sensory equipment with him).
Scramble Communications: Force one enemy to reroll attack roll. The enemy will keep the new result.
Predictive Algorithm: Select one enemy. Roll at Disadvantage, 1d6, Threshold of 6. Success will unveil upcoming intentions.
Tactical Analysis: Will reveal additional details of enemy forces over time. Passive skill.

Basarin · Apr 28, 2019

Nothing like posting your first big update in awhile, only for SV to eat the post right when you posted. >_<

Now to see if I can post it again from memory...

Okay, with that having been sorted out...I have the next few encounters lined up, which we'll go through before I unveil the new turn system. But for now, emphasis will be more on encounters. You've all built up your infrastructure, and you can probably be considered more or less fully funded and sufficient. Time and effort will be your main constricting factors from now on.

I hope everyone enjoys this one!

<Passive scan detected-target: Axiom-Increase encryption>

"How do you manage?" Delphi grumbled as multiple screens materialized and immediately dissipated as she processed them at the speed of thought.

<Request: Hotwire-power reallocation-priority: communications cluster-processing>

"Hm?" The window displaying Katarina's channel showed her glancing up from her work. "What do you mean, Delphi?"

<Request: Architect-allocation-zirvitium plate distribution>

"What I mean," Delphi huffed, "is that I'm dealing with the Legion with all their little quirks and-oh, for goodness' sake."

<Alert! Probe detected-data breach-contain-delete. STOP THAT>

"On top of all that, now that I'm online the other Oracle knows something's up, and she won't stop sending probes this way." She sighed, and her avatar mimicked rubbing the bridge of her nose. "It's such a pain. How do you manage it all, Katarina?"

"Oh, that's not a fair comparison, Delphi," Katarina replied with a smile. "Sure, maybe at first, but we were much smaller a few years ago. Now I have Ivanna, Diana, Lana, and Adriana - bless her, really - who all help and handle different work loads. I can help with all of that, but they're the experts in what they do. And you've got a different job than us."

"Yeah, yeah," Delphi grumbled.

<Command Priority: Galbinus-R-dispatch Axiom-mission execution-authorization Tryze-Vor-Zahn>

"But it's good to vent about it, even if you're just getting started, Delphi," Katarina said kindly. "If you just want to talk, or if you want advice, just ask any of us. We're always here to help, alright?"

Despite her workload, Delphi smiled. "Thanks, Katarina. How about you, though? How's everything going?"

"Well..."

Ocular isn't exactly what you were expecting. Sure, you were briefed earlier by Cavalier that he's a scout like him, but much more along the lines of a remote drone than anything else. The fact that his alt-form is practically a ring-in for the UAVs of the first half of the century makes absolute sense to you even. No, that's not the part that weirds you out about him.

What weird you out about him is that he's perched on Herald's shoulder and staring at you with his head tilted heavily to one side.

Ocular's 'default' form is...a bird. Or at least it looks like one. It's not exactly like anything you'd recognize from any species on Earth, but more like a highly stylized raptor or bird of prey. Yet the image is partially marred by the fact that his head tilts enough to bring into mind the image of an owl.

"Ocular: non-traditional chassis," Herald notes. "Reasons: not clarified. Effectiveness: sufficient, despite quirk." Ocular takes the moment to stop staring at you to glare at Herald, before smacking his head against him. Herald stoically bears it for a few moments before sighing. "Insistent Chastisement: you know that doesn't work." ...so an argument they share normally. Right.

Clearly, even the Legion has its share of weirdos.

Galbinus, meanwhile, is listening into some communicator nearby. "...understood. Axiom Team, exercise extreme caution. If Rangefinder is nearby, then there is every possibility he is as well. Observe, and do not engage." He pauses, listening to the reply. "Yes, Breakneck, that means you. Do not rush in without support." With that, he cuts off the communicator before glancing down at you. "You have my thanks for Delphi," he says with a weary smile. "She simplifies things greatly."

"Happy to help," you say back. "The more you keep the Free Brothers on the backfoot, the more breathing room for us." That, and if the Free Brothers were too focused on the Legion, then that gave you more time to really reestablish the space program...which you still find weird that it became your bailiwick, but here you are. Life made no damned sense these days.

"Still, with Delphi's assistance, I am seconding Ocular to you," Galbinus says. "It would normally pain me to lose him, but your need is greater, and Delphi is able to multitask to his duties." That this was also his part of the deal was left unsaid - you both understood that implicitly.

"He'll probably see action soon," you comment. Ocular stops glaring at Herald long enough to lean down to stare at you, curious. "We've gotten the lead on Bandit and his goons. We're going to make a move on him soon-"

"-and you want his operations to cease," Galbinus finishes. He cautions you, "Do not underestimate him. I understand that you have faced him before and got the better of him. He may be a rusty coward, but he only takes action if he thinks he holds all of the advantages."

"Or he might be that sparked," Patch comments. Closing up what looks like a Kausen medical aid kit - with so many hoists, drills, shard containers and other things you have no words for - he adds, "Bandit's the type to hold grudges for a long time. He's had it out for some of us since we were separated from the home world."

"Commentary: Bandit holding a grudge from perceived slights? Conclusion: not beyond norm," Herald says dryly. Ocular simply nods enthusiastically next to him.

Information you didn't already know, but if they were emphasizing that this much, then that was another tool in the bag for dealing with him. You already knew that Bandit has a massive ego, but to hear that it was also somewhat touchy...well, that was an option you could go over with Sasaki and Callaghan later. For now..."Ocular, welcome to the team," you say. "Just...don't freak out everyone, will you? We're used to Legionnaires walking around, but don't overdo it."

Ocular simply stares at you. A moment later, your phone buzzes with a message. Staring at it, you see:

FROM: OCULAR
MESSAGE:

That...doesn't fill you with confidence.

Basarin · May 1, 2019

1258, 24 July A.D. 2072
Aberdeen Proving Grounds

Aberdeen. Longtime home of the U.S. military's proving grounds for new technologies and testing, it has since opened room to share with the EUGDF. The integration, so far as you know, was pretty painless - aside from new sets of paperwork, life more or less carried on with the exact same type of work it had for over half a century.

You're waved in without much fuss. Not that you expected any trouble as your concealed Shade drives you through. Nor do you expect any trouble inside this particular area - you're only cleared to come in thanks to the Proving Grounds hosting quite a few of BG Peters' other projects. That, and you made damned sure to get clearance long before you came anywhere near the base, much less Maryland.

That, and if anyone does hassle you, you secured Peters' permission to unleash Adriana on them for exactly fifteen seconds.

That said, it was quite nice to get away for a few days. Even nicer that you could remotely talk to your staff onto the dashboard. "So, what updates do we have, Diana?" you ask as you slowly make the drive towards a particular part of the base.

"I'll start with your counterpart, Sir," she responds crisply. Her image is replaced by a quick dossier snapshot, revealing a woman with bob-cut hair that had not quite gone gray yet with stress. "Major Lenora Jenkins. Weapons development overseer. Recently had a string of difficulties, most recently of Project: Maverick's attempts to create infantry-scale powered armor. That is, until General Kapoor arranged for her and her existing contractors from Morgan Solutions to shift focus towards 'Ground Pound.'"

Glancing at the image, you note with amusement that she looks just about as stressed as you. It's a particular stress, that of having to manage conflicting and rather manic personalities. One that you're quite familiar with.

Such as the image of the next individual to appear. "...do you have a professional work image of him?" you ask idly. The man appears to be wearing coveralls, a hardhat, and...welding goggles? Said image is of him leaning dangerously close with a cocky grin next to an impractically large cannon. "WHEN IN DOUBT: USE MORGAN" is emblazoned on a large, cheerful sign behind him.

"...this is his profile image from Morgan Solutions' website, Sir."

"Oh."

"Yes." You both share a long-suffering sigh. "Norton Gustaff Neer. Prefers to be addressed as 'Gus.' Described as 'highly unorthodox and unpredictable, but efficient.'"

"Oh. Good." Anna's analyses were probably going to be spot-on. For once, in this case, you wish it weren't. "And the other?"

The image is replaced by an elderly gentleman. Despite having lost his hair on the crown, large wild patches of hair jut from the sides and frame a rather large mustache. He appears hunched over and with his hands crammed in his laboratory pockets, which barely conceal patchwork jeans beneath. "Doctor Albert Schemming. A mechatronics engineer, head of Bremen-Industriemaschinen. He was recently experimenting with robotic frames when he was recruited by Major Jenkins." Diana makes a face. "Described as 'manic.' That's all I'm getting."

You don't ask about the specifics of Ground Pound, because of course they would be keeping a tight lid on it. Aside from the fact you're working on it, you sure as hell didn't blab about the Jackal until it was actually ready. For that matter, aside from the method of 'punch it in the face and laugh at their punches' scant details about Ground Pound have come out.

You just know that they're expecting you to arrive.

Your attention is going to be taken up primarily by talking with Major Jenkins. From one head of a crazy development team to another, you're quite possibly the one person in the world right now who can appreciate the position she's in. That said, you're also here to scout out what you can, and what the project as a whole will let you see. You have a few minutes before you arrive, so you have a little bit of time to think about how you're going to approach this.

[] Try to establish cordial relations with Major Jenkins. Whether she succeeds or fails, at least it's another Super Robot project under the Union's flag. No need to get antagonistic right out the gate.

[] Focus your attention on learning as much about the project - and the officers backing it - as possible. BG Peters wanted you to gather as much information as possible, after all.

[] Focus your attention on Neer and Schemming. You're competing with this project, and you'd like to see what you're up against, even if you can't see the Super Robot itself.

Basarin · May 4, 2019

1320, 24 July A.D. 2072
Ground Pound Facilities

You've decided on one thing: apparently you have to be just a little bit mad in order to even think about making a Super Robot. If Wilde, Henry and even Ignatov weren't a convincing enough argument about this, then Sam and Max are. Hell, you're fairly certain that Zulu would be considered a somewhat cracked physique by Kausen Drone standards (that he gets along decently with Max only lends to the argument in your opinion).

Such as it is when you are making your way towards Jenkins' office that you hear a large explosion coming from one of the warehouses. A moment later, you're more worried about the fact that your first thought was 'huh, haven't heard those in awhile' rather than 'oh, crap, an explosion.'

A man in a hardhat strides out from the smoke clouds coming from the warehouse, seemingly utterly unconcerned about the fact that he was covered in soot from an explosion. "Hmm, nope," he muttered to himself as he adjusted the hardhat back to a proper angle. His voice sounded like it came from somewhere further south on the coast, but you're not sure from where exactly. "Five fusion generators still ain't givin' us the proper power for locomotive action." You realize with a start that, after seeing the goggles, this must be Neer. Putting up a gloved hand to his face, he called out, "Phil! Gonna need to write up that attempt!" He frowns as a largely muffled voice, so distorted you can't make out any of the words, calls back. "Phil, structural degradation's the last of our darned worries right now!" He finally looks up and notices you. "Don't you mind this none," he says in a cheerful voice. "Cleans up in a jiff. Experimental trial and error at its finest, don't you know."

"I'm used to it," you say in a dry tone. "Major Devin. Just looking for-"

"Ohhh, right, right," Neer says, still in a cheery tone despite the firefighting teams desperately putting out the flames behind him. "No, you're not looking for that admin building, she's hardly ever in there. Down two warehouses and make a left. Can't miss it."

"Thanks." As you continue to make your way down, you internally grumble about how even in a different Super Robot project, you're just used to this sort of thing. You wonder if Jenkins is yet.

1334, 24 July A.D. 2072
Ground Pound Administration
Office of the Development Coordinator

The answer, as it turns out, is sort of.

"And I'm still wondering when he's going to report that particular incident," Lenora Jenkins grumbles after you casually mention what you just came across. Her office is a little more cramped, but that's to be expected - you got to inherit a Dean's office. She's making do with existing military facilities. Not that it's stopped her from accumulating a lot of tea bags and paper cups all over the office. "The only good thing about that is that it's the last data we need to show that conventional power sources aren't going to cut it here."

You'd already decided that you weren't going to be a colossal jerk about it - as far as you could tell, Jenkins was the only person in the whole EUDF you could technically call your peer. Someone who had unconventional thinking, and was immediately saddled with making something on just this side of impossible. So while you'd opened up with some pleasantries, she immediately noticed some of the smoke and soot had latched onto your uniform. "I'm pretty sure that was Neer," you say with a shrug. "But you're running into problems with generators?"

"Issue of scale." She shrugs as she sips at her tea. "You guys went for the configuration deal. The vision my guys have is a brawler, kind of like Mercury. And between my engineers and the scrap parts from New York, we have enough to start on a prototype." She grumbles in frustration as she tosses away the cup, the disposable paper bouncing into a nearly full waste basket. "But we want it armored, we want it with firepower, and we want it without busting the budget. And we want it to walk."

You silently thank your lucky stars that the engineering mad geniuses of Wilde and Henry managed to get around that problem with jury-rigging multiple vehicle engines together to the point it was becoming standard. But your frames are at least of conventional vehicle size for the most part. Jenkins was aiming for large scale, at least from what she's said. And you know she's speaking her mind and her complaints, but not enough to really give specifics to a potential competitor, no matter how friendly. Sensible.

"Word of advice?" you caution. "Don't let the engineers run roughshod over you." She makes a questioning noise. You explain, "I'm assuming your guys are the best at what they do. And that they think outside of the norm. That's great, but you have to keep them focused on what you need, not on what they think is just cool." That Wilde and Henry's ideas qualified for both was a happy accident. "I'll say this. Our guys went in relatively blind, and we can more or less fight whatever we have to. You are early enough that you can think about what your mission loadout is. Kaiju? Separatists?"

"All moot points if I can't find a good power source," she points out mildly. Which is a fair point, really. "I'm going to be honest. As much headway as Gus and Schemming are making, you've been this way already. My boss doesn't have as much pull as yours does when it comes to finding experts, and I'm going to need someone who can give me that extra angle of crazy."

You snort in laughter, but hold up your hands to forestall any angry outburst. "Crazy's the right word for it," you say. "I'm pretty sure everyone in my staff is nuts in one way or another. Also pretty sure they have to be - no one sane can make these things, and make these things work."

"...god, I wish you were wrong there," she mutters. "Seriously, though. Help me, and I'll find a way to pay you back. Don't particularly care for any of the political turf wars going on with the officers on the star-levels; I'll make sure we have your back down the road."

Still, even as you wrap up the conversation, you've gotten a pretty good feel for things.

It's enough information for your purposes, especially since you weren't fishing too hard anyway. You have a broad mission statement, and you've heard enough open information to know where she's at. Anyone who hadn't spent the last few years developing a Super Robot would have a harder time, but even with a drastically different scale, you know she's still a fair way from unveiling anything.

Broadly - they're making progress, but they're struggling, and Jenkins is trying to find alternate solutions since her own chain of command doesn't have the influence yours does.

You're in a position to help. And while having the gratitude of an adjacent unit is usually non-critical (if nice to have)...it might be worthwhile to make the effort anyway. Quite honestly, another functioning Super Robot is far from the worst thing to have online. And you still don't trust Armistead to not cause trouble, or worse, trying to strongarm Ground Pound into his sphere. Getting them on side now would certainly help...

Gained MAJ Lenora Jenkins as a contact.
Gained rough information on Ground Pound's progress.
New options unlocked!

Basarin · May 5, 2019

1620, 27 July A.D. 2072
Vicinity of Brest, European District

Ichiro Banner - SAI-01 - is a young mecha. Or a 'local Kaus' if you believed Patch and Cavalier. By human reckoning, he's incredibly young - barely even a year old. By AI standards, he was adjusted enough to have learned a few things here and there, yet wise enough to know he wasn't all-knowing.

For instance: he didn't know why exactly the Intelligence people around him were growing more and more...confused. Concerned. Something along those lines. They'd been putting together a picture of what exactly had been going on beneath their noses, and they clearly were not liking what they saw. What Ichiro did know was that he was relatively happy he didn't know what they were finding in detail. He had one specific job: subdue any trouble that came their way.

Which was probably going to be pretty soon, knowing his luck.

"So!" Ichiro didn't jump - he was in tank mode, idling beneath an alcove concealed in tarp - but he still had no idea how Anna did that. In a huff, the blonde-haired woman sat herself down on a chair next to the idling tank, looking incredibly annoyed. "People were turned, sure enough. Barely any funding in maintaining an old wreck like the Bismarck, so that's easy enough to understand. But they just disappeared."

"As in, thin-air disappeared?" Ichiro asked skeptically.

"Trust me, it makes no sense for us either." Biting down on a sandwich in hand, she angrily chewed before muttering, "Irnmrycycss uvvgtnthn." Vaguely translating from mouthful - "In any case, I've got nothing." Swallowing her food thankfully, she added, "Barring some bullshit new method of travel they have, there should have been no way for anyone to get away, much less a derelict. It's a peninsula, there were no traces of submarines or aerial transport or underground drilltank or anything."

Hearing all this was giving him all the details he was blissfully unaware of before. Ichiro...wasn't fond of that. But for whatever reason, Anna was venting to him. That, and he was mildly concerned that she even was considering underground drilltanks as a viable method - until he remembered that she was talking to a sentient configuring tank. Anything's possible, he guessed. "What, like teleporting?" he asked warily. "Dumb as that sounds, I know."

"Of course not," she scoffed, "Teleporting is-"

Her next words were interrupted as an alert sounded on her phone. "Oh, what now?" she muttered as she pulled out her phone -

-and her face blanched at what she saw.

"What?" Ichiro asked, but before he could say anything further, she wordlessly sent the message straight towards him. A new window opened at the corner of his vision, displaying what looked like a priority transmission:

NOT SIMULATION - THIS IS A PRIORITY ALERT - NOT SIMULATION

-BRK-

SEPARATIST FORCES DETECTED

-BRK-

HEADING - BREST

-BRK-

ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL - SIXTY-FOUR MINUTES

-BRK-

COMPOSITION - APPROXIMATION OF JACKAL CHASSIS, NUMBERS UNDETERMINED AT THIS TIME

NOT SIMULATION - THIS IS A PRIORITY ALERT - NOT SIMULATION

"...okay, then," Ichiro muttered to himself.

"That's it? 'Okay, then?'" Anna parroted. "This is-"

"-what you brought me here for," the tank responded. The engine abruptly flared to life, and the restraints holding the tarp in place began to become undone one by one. "This part's my job, remember?"

It wasn't exactly how he imagined it would go, but Ichiro was ready to do something other than just sit around and do nothing.

1633, 27 July A.D. 2072
<ERROR: LOCALE UNKNOWN>

"Hydraulics check!" The massive frame groaned as the internal systems began to cycle through once more, the gigantic jury-rigged monster shuddering as any final errors were filtered out. The skeletal frame inside belied the hulking, harshly angled behemoth of armored plating presented the outer world, lights bright as mirrors reflecting onto the dulled steel.

"Hydraulics good to go, Bruce!"

"Engine check!" Immediately a dull roar emanated from within the frame. Adding its tortured voice to the hydraulics, it sounded nothing less like an ogre rudely being awakened from a long nap - and wanting to snap the neck of whoever disturbed its slumber.

"Aye, Bruce! Engines warmed up ready and proper!"

"Targeting check!" The bright, white lights of the room found themselves immediately clashing with the dull red glare of the 'head' of the beast - for that was what this thing was, a Beast. The gunner's targeting HUD immediately flared to life - dummy targets, artifacts from its previous foray in the European District, were ruthlessly extinguished as the system parsed through the many false positives and associated weapons groups were properly linked in. Soon, the screen was blank, save for the updated HUD.

"Targeting's a good 'un, Bruce!"

"Hydraulics, Engine, Targeting all checked out! Standing by for final launch!" The chief of the motley crew paused - the bastard from higher wasn't due for a few more minutes, and they had to wait for the bloody Tank-Mobile things to do the initial work. And since they were just waiting while the last of the ammo was loaded up proper..."eh, why not?" he muttered. "Beer check!"

As one, the sound of three beer cans hissing open echoed inside of the Beast's cockpit. "Cheers to Westphalia, lads!" came back the pre-launch toast.

0144, 27 July A.D. 2072
Command Center

The only warning you received that anything was going on on your return trip home was a hurried, terse message from Anna. That something was bearing down on them, likely Separatists, and Ichiro was already rolling out to intercept them.

Because of course this couldn't have waited until things panned out from what you and Sasaki had planned earlier.* It sounded like some sort of copy of the Jackals...which, in a twisted sort of sense, was bringing this whole affair full circle. Callaghan surprised them with the prototype Jackal, and now they were pushing out their responses to it.

Sasaki was already rushing back and forth with Diana, bringing online (and rousing awake) as much information and support as possible, but there was only so much you could do from a continent and an ocean away. There wasn't any chance of sending the Pegasus across in a timely manner, and you doubt that Anna is going to be appreciative of anything more explicit than Ichiro arriving to blow what's left of their cover.

You just had to trust Anna and Ichiro. But that said, there was at least one thing you could do:

[] You immediately reach for the communications frequency of Mander Security Solutions. You're probably jumping a few chains of communication, but this is frankly an emergency - and they did promise support earlier. Let's see if you can't get their support just a little bit sooner, even if you have to barter a favor or two.

[] Reach out to General Li about sending reinforcements. He's close enough that something along the lines of 'Separatist attack' should be within his jurisdiction. There's no guarantee his forces will make it in time, but at least it's something...

HP:
- 16
Heavy Weapons:
- Can mount the basic Heavy Weapons Pack at no cost. Equipping later models will incur an additional RP Cost during deployment.
Arm Cannon:
- Has an arm cannon as part of his chassis. Can make a Heavy Weapon Strike as a free action at Advantage (3d6, Threshold of 5-6, damage depends on package) every three turns.
Strikes:
- Counts as One Action (Notable Bonus may apply).
- Roll 2d6, Threshold of 5-6, inflicts 1 HP on success.
Relentless:
- If about to take a mortal strike, roll 1d6. A 4-6 will negate that damage.
Upgrade Slots:
- 1 (Unslotted at this time)

SAI-01 Ichiro Banner

Actions per Turn:
- 1
Notable Character:
- Can make two attacks per turn at 2d6 for 1 HP each. Counts as a single Action.
Hot Headed:
- Major Devin's calm nature is normally the personality that's reflected. However, this AI understands rage, and tends to bottle it up until he's had enough. Once every three turns, you may activate "Rage." For one turn, the AI will inflict twice as much damage, but also take twice as much incoming damage.

INFORMATION NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME
CLOSEST APPROXIMATION: JACKAL CHASSIS
MORE FORCES POSSIBLY FOLLOWING UP

Basarin · May 10, 2019

Apologies in advance for this being somewhat short. This is just setup for now. I have guests coming in tonight, so I'll be busy with that till Sunday. That should be enough time to discuss a course of action and vote on it.

1730, 27 July A.D. 2072
Outskirts of Arsenal de Brest

Ichiro was having a strange sense of deja vu.

Here he was, the representative of the DFRI, at a pretty major center of Defense Force power. Alone, he noted as his tank form trundled along the eerily empty thoroughfares not far from a once-bustling Naval Defense Force port, against an enemy of unknown capabilities. Only this time, it was a Separatist threat, not a giant scaly kaiju.

At least the authorities here listened and evacuated everything and everyone to a safe distance. No one wanted to be 'that guy' to recreate the incident at San Diego. It also helped that Anna made some not-so-subtle threats by reminding people about said guy's career path being discussed in a disciplinary tribunal. They became very cooperative after that, even if Ichiro thought it wasn't really needed.

Speaking of the devil, her voice chimed in. "We're clear," she said in an innocent, cheerful voice that certainly couldn't have been involved in mafia-style threats. "Non-essential personnel evacuated, and we have additional security assets mobilizing. But they're going to take a bit. Initial show's all yours, Ichiro."

"Fantastic," he muttered. Any additional mirth was cut off as his HUD alerted him to incoming contacts. The lens on the tank's rangefinder zoomed in, to see multiple dust clouds interspersed with flying chips of gravel growing ever-so-closer. "Confirmed contacts. Multiple, grouped in squads, and..." He paused, as the outlines looked really off. "...yeah, those look like Jackals," he confirmed. "If you gave a Jackal to a a gun and chopshop enthusiast."

None of the Jackal ripoffs looked alike. There was no uniformity with them all - Lieutenant Wilde probably would have compared it to an old post-apocalyptic movie he saw back in the day when everyone - for some strange reason that possibly made sense - did battle in cobbled together cars with highly unlikely weaponry. Sure, these 'cars' looked a bit more modern, but they still felt utterly cobbled together compared to the engineers' work.

Not that it let him doubt their efficiency yet. Before the Beowulf was a thing, the Tank-Mobiles were dangerous after all. "What is this, a mark two?" he muttered.

"Moving Shade teams into the area," Anna confirmed. "I'm also going to try and talk with home station about getting something in here, but you're gonna have to hold them off."

"Right." The roar of a growling engine roused to life echoed all around. "No pressure." Yet Ichiro's subroutines couldn't fight off the grin that was forming on his face. The Westphalians were clearly trying to one-up the constant arms race that was now developing between them and the Institute, especially when their cobbled together black market machines were utterly smashed by the Beowulf.

They wanted to try something new? As the new machines began to close into firing distance, Ichiro knew that he would be more than happy to smack them down.

You half expected to hear a call waiting menu. Seventy plus years after the turn of the century, and automated call menus were still a plague on the world. They were 'sophisticated' nowadays, sure, but you shudder at what the early systems must have been like. Probably fit somewhere in Dante's descriptions of the lower hells, you're sure.

Thankfully, you don't get that. Anna had been thoughtful enough to get you a direct line to Mander himself...not that you would discount that the man would put a call waiting menu on his personal phone anyway. The man was apparently about as eccentric as anyone in the Institute, so you wouldn't-

"If this is another telemarketing scheme, I will accidentally-on-purpose fry your bloody holo," an annoyed voice growled. The wizened old face of a man in his sixties appeared on the screen, a scowl marring the otherwise stern look of someone who subconsciously held himself with military bearing. "...hang on. Unless you lot have been getting remarkably clever, you don't look like a telemarketer."

"What gave it away?" you ask dryly.

"The look of murderous intent on your face when I mentioned 'telemarketer,' for one," came the response.

"Fair." Shaking your head, you introduce yourself. "John Devin, Defense Force. Short notice, Mr. Mander, but we have a situation in France, and we're going to need the Valiant."

"Lots of things happening across the Channel that needs the Valiant's attention," Mander pointed out mildly. "I've got Drake sorting out another issue in France already, and unless I'm off the mark, you know these bloody things damned well need maintenance after you use them. I'm going to need a damned good reason beyond 'bloke in fancy uniform told me so.'" Before you can say anything else, he cuts in, "And it's not funding, we've actually been having a good year - damned shame, really - so I'm going to need a really good reason, and something worthwhile. Hate to haggle while you're dangling over the plank, but I have to be careful with how I commit things, you understand."

You can't even throw any of that back at him. In his shoes, you'd absolutely be doing the same. "Separatist attack notwithstanding," you say slowly, mainly to keep a lid on your patience, "what would it take to get the Valiant on station within the next hour or so?"

"And not at full capacity," Mander adds, "Not without post-battle maintenance, but yes I can rush the lot over. I'm going to want, in writing, a favor from the Research Institute. Because if it's this damned important to make me even consider risking the Valiant to further damage, I want some kind of guarantee from you that I can make good on it. Otherwise I'm afraid we don't have much else to discuss. I'm not risking any nonsense with overloading Dinym Currents, and that's my final word on it."

Well. Worse than you were hoping for, but better than you were worrying about as well.

What's your decision?

[] Accept his offer. You owe one favor to Mander Security Solutions, to be cashed in at a later date. Valiant will arrive anywhere between Turns #6 and #9, to be subject to 1d6 test, and will lend support to Ichiro.

[] Turn down his offer. Ichiro will have to make do without the Valiant's support rushed ahead of time. Valiant unlikely to arrive before the end of battle.

[] Write-In (Subject to QM approval)

Additionally, how will you proceed?

HP:
- 16
Heavy Weapons:
- Can mount the basic Heavy Weapons Pack at no cost. Equipping later models will incur an additional RP Cost during deployment.
Arm Cannon:
- Has an arm cannon as part of his chassis. Can make a Heavy Weapon Strike as a free action at Advantage (3d6, Threshold of 5-6, damage depends on package) every three turns.
Strikes:
- Counts as One Action (Notable Bonus may apply).
- Roll 2d6, Threshold of 5-6, inflicts 1 HP on success.
Relentless:
- If about to take a mortal strike, roll 1d6. A 4-6 will negate that damage.
Upgrade Slots:
- 1 (Unslotted at this time)

SAI-01 Ichiro Banner

Actions per Turn:
- 1
Notable Character:
- Can make two attacks per turn at 2d6 for 1 HP each. Counts as a single Action.
Hot Headed:
- Major Devin's calm nature is normally the personality that's reflected. However, this AI understands rage, and tends to bottle it up until he's had enough. Once every three turns, you may activate "Rage." For one turn, the AI will inflict twice as much damage, but also take twice as much incoming damage.

CLOSEST APPROXIMATION: JACKAL CHASSIS, PENDING EUDF TARGET DESIGNATION
TARGETS: 4, SQUAD SIZE ELEMENTS
HP: UNKNOWN
CAPABILITIES: UNKNOWN
MORE FORCES POSSIBLY FOLLOWING UP

Basarin · Oct 16, 2020

@codeRR, @Absoloot, you're both fairly spot on. I agree that the definitions kept changing - not a good thing. My only explanation is that I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do with SRQ. I had a very vague idea of it going in, mostly because I wanted to jump right into the deep end and write about super robots. That mentality probably didn't help the stability of the quest, and having re-read it myself a few times there are still parts of the quest I feel I could have definitely done better in.

The hiatus has done some good for me in that I have a much firmer idea of what I want to do, and I've taken some time committing thought to paper on how to make this work. Is it going to work?

Well, I have no idea. I hope you'll all keep providing feedback if I'm doing something really silly (or on the off chance I'm doing alright).

0950, 24 May A.D. 2072
Vicinity of Brest, European District

"...and in sum, we'll treat this as a standard investigation," Anna finished. Inside of the requisitioned Shade modified as an impromptu command vehicle, the agent stood hunched over a mobile holographic display propped onto a few stools, the three-dimensional image canted at a slight angle as a result. A few of the other agents' portraits - mostly grayed out for security purposes - were on display, each portrait attached with a red line to specific areas. "Fan out, find out anything we can get our hands on. Schedules, record logs and timestamps, even rumors or strange sightings would help."

"And the wreckage?" one of them asked, the voice filtered through modulating static.

"I somehow doubt they were able to smuggle an entire shipwreck out of the ocean's depths without drawing some kind of attention," Anna said with a dry tone. "But since everyone's been cagey with us about it, it's probably something good. If you find something, let me know." She glanced at her watch, before nodding to herself. "Next check in is same time tomorrow morning, audio only. Good hunting everyone!"

With that, Anna slapped down on the console, disconnecting the call - and sending the entire console flipping head over teakettle onto the floor, the three dimensional rendering of the area sent flying in all sorts of interesting angles. By the time Anna was able to turn that off, her face red with embarrassment, it seemed as if someone had decided they were tired of the Continent and had just tableflipped it in one whole go.

"Really glad no one saw that," she muttered to herself.

"I did-"

"Shut up, you don't count." She glared at the tarp covered mass just outside the doors - she could swear that the smug bastard underneath was smirking at her. Shaking away the odd lock of blonde hair covering her face, she pointed an accusing finger at the mass hidden beneath. "And you don't share video of that anywhere - I know where you and your dad live."

"Not deleting it, though," Ichiro replied, the same tone of amusement filtering through his voice. Despite her annoyance, Anna couldn't help but smirk, the idea that the very first Super Artificial Intelligence battle platform was developing a mischievous streak. Devin's going to hate this, she thought. Said thought did absolutely nothing to dissuade her from encouraging this behavior outright. "Still, was it really necessary to bring me out here? I don't have muscle tissue or anything, but-" The engine block gave out a small huff, a simple revving up before calming back down to idling, "-even I'm starting to feel a little cramped in here."

"You're here in case it's a Separatist plot," Anna pointed out. Putting the holographic display back onto its charge port along the Shade's wall, she pulled out a keyboard from the wall beneath the charge port, the tablet shifting to a conventional - and slightly oldschool - display monitor. "Once we start narrowing things down and tighten the noose, we'll eventually kick open a hornet's nest. Then you can put all that firepower to good use."

"Won't they be expecting something like me, though?" With the display up and running, Ichiro was able to simply tap into the local - and isolated - network, his portrait showing on the corner of the screen. His face very much reminded Anna of the Kausen from the Legion - metallic, yet clearly a face that could produce expressions despite their metallic natures. Granted, the fact that his eyes were a glowing purple was a little offputting, but she knew that like the other AI personalities in the Institute, his was based on an individual - Major Johnathan Devin's, to be specific. That meant that he was a fairly decent sort, who had a deep well of patience despite wishing that he didn't - the only difference she could notice so far was that he usually vented his frustrations through means that weren't caffeinated. So far, anyway.

"Sort of, but not really." As Anna continued to type, her fingers rapidly tapping against the keyboard as she sorted incoming reports into respective folders to make sense of them later, she pointed out, "Ever since the Institute's made their big splash, it's public knowledge now that there's basically transforming robots in the Defense Force. The Jackals are kinda old news, the Centurions are making Westphalians come up with new curse words until they make a counter for them, and the Phalanxes are just being rolled out to line units." She shrugged, highlighting a specific report of suspicious activity logs for analysis at a much sooner time - important, but not quite urgent just yet. "They'd treat you as dangerous, but a tank turning into a robot isn't unheard of anymore."

"And all that from Rich taking a prototype kiling a dragon-type kaiju in San Diego," Ichiro commented dryly. "Still wish I was there for it, though."

"Don't let him hear you say that about the Beowulf," Anna chuckled. She knew how defensive the rising star in the DFRI was of his mecha, though he'd admittedly earned the right. "He's a first in a lot of ways, you know? First to fight off a Kausen, took down the Warlord plus crew-" She winced slightly, just relieved that that sneaky bastard was too dead to cause anymore trouble, "-and took down a kaiju and made you all famous."

"Kinda surprised it hasn't gone to his head," Ichiro grumbled, "but then again he's too humble for that sort of thing. Glad for him, I really am. But I wouldn't mind at least some action, if just so Galbinus can stop pestering me about 'getting me ready for a real fight.'"

"Oh yeah, how'd the last spar go-?"

"I'd rather fight five Cavaliers with one arm behind my back and an excavator shovel."

1312, 27 May A.D. 2072
Vicinity of Brest, European District

"What do you mean the Bismarck is gone!?"

Ichiro sighed. Be careful what you wish for, huh?

1641, 27 July A.D. 2072
<ERROR: LOCALE UNKNOWN>

"Gentlemen." The individual known as 'Wallace' stared at each screen, his face concealed by a face mask and a pair of heavily tinted goggles. It was not the ideal choice of disguise, but to remain static in appearance and location was death. His namesake had learnt that lesson the hard way, and plenty of would-be freedom fighters were all too proud to proclaim themselves as symbols. Easily identifiable symbols. Easily identifiable symbols that could be shot, or just have the cities they happened to be in simply saturated with bombardment. Wallace wasn't much for history, but if the Unification Wars taught anything, it was that. "I have received your reports, and I am pleased to see everything is in as good working order under the circumstances. I know these machines are untested - and for those of you in the old reliables, these new weapons are odd. But they will pave the way for even better designs - resistance should be light, but even if the oppressors put up a stiff fight, consider this a test. Give them a bloody nose. Wallace out."

As he disconnected the call, each screen showed what he already knew. Koenig, and by extension PJH, had been good to their word. The strange new contraptions that they were aping the new Jackal frames that Burr so loathed all showed readiness on their displays. PJH had (in his caustic, unhelpful way) reminded him that these were prototypes and concept frames 'not representative of the final product,' but they were all that were available on such short notice. But against what should only be an intelligence surveillance team, it should be more than enough. He was counting on surprise and complacency from their previous efforts to pave the way to cover their tracks.

But if that failed...well.

Wallace sighed as he turned his frequency to them. And before he could even speak-

"'ere, Bruce! We have us a call!"

"Well, why are you pissing about with it and not getting us stuck in, Bruce? Bruce needs to get up close and proper to flush out the Uni bastards!"

"You're the bloody pilot, Bruce! Stop telling weapons how to do their job, Bruce!"

Wallace sighed. He loathed dealing with Bruce. "Are you operational?" he asked through gritted teeth. His aides glanced up, knowing that particular tone.

"Oi, Bruce. The posh git wants to know if we're good to go-"

"I told you already, Bruce! Engines are up! Now can we please get a bloody move on so we can-"

"Stand by for my signal," Wallace cut them off. "You will hear from me soon." He unceremoniously cut the call off before his brain could start questioning which Bruce was which. Just thinking about that particular crew was taxing to the mind.

"Sir?" Glancing up, Wallace noted one of his aides asking with a wary voice. One of the newer ones promoted to the position, clearly. "Why...do we tolerate having them?"

"I ask myself that question every day," Wallace admitted. "But against the likes of Valiant, and any new machines the Defense Force begin to field...who the hell else do I have that's suicidal and stupid enough to pilot what are effectively walking death traps?" One look at the giant metal monster they were ensconced in, even just a simple wireframe diagram, was enough to prove his point. No sane pilot would even want to pilot was effectively a deathride.

But time and time again, Bruce somehow got away with only a few scratches and bruises...Which one? Yes.

1730, 27 July A.D. 2072
Outskirts of Arsenal de Brest

NOT SIMULATION - THIS IS A PRIORITY ALERT - NOT SIMULATION

-BRK-

SEPARATIST FORCES DETECTED

-BRK-

HEADING - BREST

-BRK-

ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL - SIXTY-FOUR MINUTES

-BRK-

COMPOSITION - APPROXIMATION OF JACKAL CHASSIS, NUMBERS UNDETERMINED AT THIS TIME

NOT SIMULATION - THIS IS A PRIORITY ALERT - NOT SIMULATION

That message had come in not too long ago. Anna, for all the frustration at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation (and having been paired with a sentient transforming robot tank, that was saying something), she had already repositioned her Shade to feed in tactical updates - with more teams promised to filter in, though what good they would do was academic at the moment. As it was...

"We're clear," she said over the communications link. "Non-essential personnel evacuated, and we have additional security assets mobilizing. But they're going to take a bit. Initial show's all yours, Ichiro."

"Fantastic," he muttered. Any additional mirth was cut off as his HUD alerted him to incoming contacts. The lens on the tank's rangefinder zoomed in, to see multiple dust clouds interspersed with flying chips of gravel growing ever-so-closer. "Confirmed contacts. Multiple, grouped in squads, and..." He paused, as the outlines looked really off. "...yeah, those look like Jackals," he confirmed. "If you gave a Jackal to a a gun and chopshop enthusiast."

None of the Jackal ripoffs looked alike. There was no uniformity with them all - Lieutenant Wilde probably would have compared it to an old post-apocalyptic movie he saw back in the day when everyone - for some strange reason that possibly made sense - did battle in cobbled together cars with highly unlikely weaponry. Sure, these 'cars' looked a bit more modern, but they still felt utterly cobbled together compared to the engineers' work. He zoomed in further, and if his face could be seen, his eyes would have been narrowing. "And what look like some of the 'Walkers' they've been talking about," he added. The squat machines, with their reverse-jointed legs, were loping along the terrain at a steady gait, their torsos squat boxy things with arms, and what looked like humanoid arms wielding weapons. Some he could recognize - rocket launchers and cannons at a glance - others he couldn't tell...not yet. Either way, they were here to throw down alongside the Tank-Mobile pluses.

"I'm also going to try and talk with home station about getting something more in here, but you're gonna have to hold them off." Anna paused, before asking, "Did Lana's modifications settle in alright? It was a rush job, and it's probably not going to last past this fight-"

"It's fine," Ichiro replied. Though hidden beneath the tank alt-mode, the temporary 'gauntlets' plated with zirvitium had slid on just fine. It was a rush job, a slapdash thing by Lana's standards and had to be practically rushed through whatever channels Anna had available to her - but it would give him an edge for this fight at least.

Despite everything, Ichiro grinned as he revved his engines. No longer bound down to hiding beneath tarp. No more having to listen to others talk about their exploits. It wasn't the way he wanted to cut his nonexistent teeth, but now he would have a sortie that was his to fight, his to recall, and his to find whatever wisdom he could parse from it.

...dammit, he was starting to sound like Tracker now.

As this is the first fight of the 'reboot' under the new system, Ichiro as is could use a bit of a boost. As it stands, Ichiro gains the following:

Zirvitium-Plated Gauntlets: Adds +1HP damage to Strikes. Equipment will last for this battle only.

Tactical

SAI-01 Banner is currently facing against four formations of Westphalian units, bearing down at full speed towards him. From their perspective, he is just a single Centurion tank - possibly more than what they expected to find, but with the assumption that weight of numbers will carry the day for them.

Prove them wrong.

Anna Smith
Intelligence

Call Out: Can reduce an enemy's attack rolls by 1d6. Effect lasts for three rounds of combat. Refreshes after six rounds of combat.
Linked Telemetry: Can allow Banner to completely re-roll one failed roll (players indicate what type of re-roll this would be applied to). Refreshes after nine rounds of combat. Banner must keep the new result.
Tactical Analysis: Will reveal additional details of enemy forces over time. Passive skill.

SAI-01 Ichiro Banner
Centurion-chassis
Assigned to: SAI-01 Ichiro Banner
HP: 16

Heavy Weapons: Can mount the basic Heavy Weapons Pack by default. Equipping later models will incur additional post battle downtime of 1 Turn.
Arm Cannon: Has an arm cannon as part of his chassis. Can make a Heavy Weapon Strike as a free action at Advantage (3d6, Threshold of 5-6, deals 2 HP) every three turns.
Strikes:

Counts as One Action (Notable Bonus may apply).

Roll 2d6, Threshold of 5-6, inflicts 1+1 HP on success.

Zirvitium-Plated Gauntlets: Adds +1HP damage to Strikes. Equipment will last for this battle only.

Relentless: If about to take a mortal strike, roll 1d6. A 4-6 will negate that damage.
Upgrade Slots: 1 (Unslotted at this time)

SAI-01 Ichiro Banner

Actions per Turn:
- 1
Notable Character:
- Can make two attacks per turn at 2d6 for 1 HP each. Counts as a single Action.
Hot Headed:
- Major Devin's calm nature is normally the personality that's reflected. However, this AI understands rage, and tends to bottle it up until he's had enough. Once every three turns, he may activate "Rage." For one turn, the AI will inflict twice as much damage, but also take twice as much incoming damage.

"Walkers": Capabilities Unknown

"Tank Mobiles (?)": Capabilities Unknown

So this is a retooling of combat as discussed in the thread previously.

Combat rounds play out as normal. Each post will cover three rounds of combat. Combat begins with an initiative roll (2d6) between DFRI and Enemy forces - whoever wins the roll starts those three rounds of combat.

Players no longer give specific plans to the Super Robot. The Super Robot's pilot(s) will operate according to their temperament and mindset. They will accept advice and additional insights of the enemy from the players, but they will operate independently (or outright ignore given orders if it goes completely against the grain for them). Individual skills will be triggered at the pilot's discretion.

Players more assume the role of tactical support - in this particular combat, Anna Smith supporting from her Shade command vehicle. She has skills available to her that players can use to support Banner's efforts. Broadly define what you wish the skill to be used for (i.e., reserve re-roll for failed attack or defense). In the event of the players having additional options (i.e., launching support units, combine units, supporting fire, etc) those will be triggered at the players' discretion. Players can still suggest 'called shots' for the pilot to attempt (i.e., destroy enemy's cannon, burn acidic pores, etc.) - those will be an attempted roll as standard.

I chose to use Ichiro's fight as a test case for this new system. Hopefully this works, otherwise I will have some more tweaking to do. I hope you all enjoy - it does feel good to write for this again.

Basarin · Oct 20, 2020

Is this the longest non-turn non-option post I've written?

It might be.

This started as something I began on my lunch break, and then it swiftly morphed and grew into something much larger. I was never quite satisfied with earlier drafts, so I kept writing and writing.

Is this any better? I'm not sure. I hope you all enjoy regardless.

1732, 27 July A.D. 2072
<ERROR: LOCALE UNKNOWN>

"Arrow 1 moving in. Be advised, engines are acting a little strange."

"Arrow 2, no issues so far."

"Arrow 3 here. Be advised, target identified...tank."

The last word from the third group's lead pilot was practically dripping in confusion even over the radio. Wallace couldn't blame him - what should have been an isolated Intelligence team and an easy and substantial victory was already packing an unusual surprise. These damned things had better work, he thought to himself. But even if he had the finished models that Pak had promised to deliver on, asking them to take on a freaking tank, giant robot edition or not, was still a very tall order. "Rush in and overwhelm it," he decided, relaying that order to his aides. "Don't give them any breathing room to fight back." The alternative - which was one Wallace did not want to think about - was the possibility that there were more hiding nearby.

Combat - Round 1

Wallace tuned out the chatter as he focused on the battle, the Tank-Mobiles of Arrows 1 and 2 already screeching towards the tank opening fire. Even if Westphalia's usual tricks of smuggling in heavy weaponry beneath the Union's noses was being turned back on him for once, between the prototypes and the Walkers, he should have enough to overwhelm the tank without committing his reserves. Or Bruce. He didn't want to commit Bruce, even if he was ready to. Some of the rounds from the autocannons were already pinging off of the Centurion's plates, some scoring some minor gouges along the edges...

"Hurry up and finish it off," he ordered. "Before the intelligence team can get away!"

1735, 27 July A.D. 2072
Combat

"Somehow I don't think they realize we already got away," Anna commented cheerfully over the radio link.

"Little. Busy!" Ichiro growled, wincing slightly as he felt the fired shells ping off of his plates. For all that the Legion was making energy blasters look like the next big thing, conventional weaponry still stung. "Hold still," he muttered to himself as he rushed forward, plowing through the miniature dust plumes kicked up by the many, many rounds that were aimed his way. The Walkers - we need a better name for those - was walking slowly towards him from further back, arm-mounted rotary guns spinning constantly as they spat out round after round in one, long unending burst, literally leaving a trail of shell casings that scattered all around it as it continued moving forwards.

But they weren't doing much, not yet. No, his attention was towards the armored buggies. They really, really looked that much uglier up close - anywhere from conventional-ish looking armored cabs all the way to what almost looked like a patch job that might have started life as an SUV frame. All mounted with heavier autocannons, and the ones that were actually scoring hits. "Hold still," he growled again - the turret whirred as it turned about slowly, attempting to lead the target group as he felt his internals load a high explosive round. "and-!"

Ichiro felt his whole frame kick back slightly and shudder as the turret spat fire, a fiery, yellowish bolt hurling towards the group of cobbled together vehicles. Yet before the shell could impact onto the ground and release its high explosive energy, the vehicle pilots scattered almost immediately, one vehicle even somehow still operating despite the force of the impact having flipped him pot over tea kettle. Even through the scattered debris and the fire of the explosive impact, the vehicles kept plodding on through, their cannons still aimed and firing annoyingly at him.

"Okay, that's it."

Already accelerating towards the fight, and already at ranges that a traditional main battle tank might find less than healthy, Ichiro charged.

1736, 27 July A.D. 2072
<ERROR: LOCALE UNKNOWN>

"What-?"

That was the only word Wallace could muster as he saw the next few seconds unfold through Arrow 1's video feed. He knew, intellectually, that the new Union tanks could transform.

But this!?

Before his eyes, honest to god rockets below the chassis ignited, sending the tank upwards in defiance of gravity, and with the chassis tilting forwards as if it were about to roll over. Yet instead of having the decency to simply collapse and crumple to spare them the trouble, the goddamned tank changed. The front of the tank unfolded, forming into arms that the damned cannon had latched onto whilst the back extended and unfolded into legs. A humanoid head emerged, and its fist was already reared back, oddly tinted forearms glinting in the setting sun as it was about to land onto the nearest concentration of Tank-Mobiles. "Arrow 1, evade-!"

1736, 27 July A.D. 2072
Shade Command Vehicle

"Ouch." Anna winced as she saw the utter carnage that was on display. With a really impressive jump and forward momentum, Ichiro's first battle configuration saw him slam into the formation. Ichiro's fist smashed through the first Tank-Mobile, barely even meeting any resistance. Without missing a beat, Ichiro just kept going, his fist flying through the scattering debris as the Zirvitium-lined fist then slammed into another of the improvised machines. Anna just barely caught the fist leaving behind an impact crater right outside where the engine block might be, moments before it simply shattered, sending parts and debris flying all about him.

Ichiro was far from done - in fact, despite some of the battle damage showing in his humanoid form, he seemed to have a grin on his face as he laid waste into the machines with every evidence of glee - but Anna's mind was already moving on. Why do those components look kind of familiar? she wondered, fingers already scrambling across the keyboard as she sought to bring back footage from just seconds ago. "Freeze frame, magnify on point of impact after impact," she muttered to herself...

Wait a minute. On the freeze frame, bits of vehicle and ammunition were scattering, yes. But those were...hands. Joints. What might be a head mount. "Well, shit," she muttered.

"Anna? You, uh, noticing something about these guys?"

"The humanoid bits?" she replied grimly.

"Yeah...was kind of hoping you were gonna say I was-"

"-joking, but no. You're seeing it. They're prototypes for configuration-!"

Combat - Round Two

As if realizing that the cat was out of the bag, the exteriors of the machines began to explode off of them, plating simply falling off as limbs began to unfold. The machines were still rolling along, but the machines were rearing upwards, entire chunks of the former cars simply being shed like a second skin and left behind on the field. A blocky, bulky 'head' unit was revealed mounted on the top, just simply a square metal block with a large camera unit mounted atop it as the drivers' compartments righted themselves. It was...eerily similar to the footage of the old CRX models that Wilde and Henry had shown them-

The moment ceased as the configurations abruptly halted midshift. Here, one arm simply refused to unfold, the beginnings of what looked like a rocket launcher peeking out before folding right back in. Another's leg was seemingly stuck, leaving it with one leg extended and the other still stuck in wheeled form. All around, the group that Ichiro had smashed into were having difficulties configuring, even if the one left untouched had unfolded their mecha forms without too much difficulty. "They're not finished," Anna noticed, filing that thought about the similarities for later, for future mulling. "They can't be - they're leaving too much of themselves out behind to go back to car modes..."

1738, 27 July A.D. 2072
Combat

"Yeah, kinda noticed that too," Ichiro noticed. This was...well, it was a nasty surprise. He'd grown so used to the Institute having the monopoly on these things - but with the Major so deadset on ensuring the Union also had access to these machines, he supposed it was inevitable that the Westphalians would get their hands on some of them. As it was... "There's not enough car left to turn back into-"

If Ichiro could have blinked, he would have at that moment. One of the Tank-Mobiles simply exploded, a fireball from the inside simply immolating the poor machine before it collapsed. The driver frantically dove out of the machine, miraculously surviving whatever had triggered the explosion. But even as the small figure risked broken limbs over sure death by barbecue, more of the machines were launching what looked like disposable launchers. Ichiro was already running through as fast as he could, barely noticing that the rockets that did manage to fire and detonate around him were of a particularly powerful punch, military grade even. But they couldn't have that many of them, not with those kinds of frames. He just had to-

*SLAM*

What felt like the world's largest basketball slammed into Ichiro's left shoulder, knocking his sense of balance off and sending him sprawling to the ground. Gritting his nonexistent teeth, Ichiro looked up from having eaten dirt to see the Walkers had decided to change tactics, large shoulder cannons firing solid slug rounds his way. His vision shifted suddenly, as another targeting window through his optics surfaced - Anna's own target telemetry of the Walkers, the trajectories of their next few salvos highlighted around him. "Thanks," he muttered with a slight smirk. At least, for however long Anna could keep this up, it was less likely he was going to get bludgeoned in the face again. He liked his face the way it was, thank you very much.

Ichiro curled himself up - and abruptly he was no longer lying down face first, but he was already rolling back along as a tank, ignoring as best he could the few rounds that did connect and simply ricocheted off of his natural armor. "Come on," he growled to himself. A moment later, the volume increased to a challenge. "Come on! You think you're all that!?"Just like that, the calm veneer slid away to reveal the simmering anger that was kept beneath a lid. He didn't even bother with loading a round this time - the malfunctioning, scattered survivors of the first group were desperately attempting to ready their weapons at him. Ichiro wasn't going to give them the time.

With a loud crunch, Ichiro simply slammed into one of the Tank-Mobiles, slapping it aside with the force of his mass and momentum without even looking back. Even as the remains of the vehicle came apart at the seams, Ichiro slammed into the remaining machine. To its credit, despite missing a functioning leg the Tank-Mobile attempted to hold its ground. Foolishly maybe against something that outmassed it so considerably - the machine held for one second before it simply collapsed, pinned to the ground.

Ichiro's fist configured back to humanoid first, and with a sound that resembled torn paper rather than screeching metal, Ichiro's fist slammed through the engine block, the fist using itself as a crutch to stabilize the rest of his form as he configured back to humanoid mode. Kneeling, and crouched next to the 'cockpit,' he said to the pilot, "I think you should leave." His optics, glowing a brighter purple, flared slightly to emphasize the point. "I'm not going to ask twice."

Combat - Round Three

Already dismissing the pilot (and leaving him to be picked up by Anna's crew, wherever the hell they were), Ichiro abruptly stood his ground as more rockets screamed in from the direction of the other group. The various debris and shrapnel pinged off of Ichiro's metal hide - he hoped the ungrateful pilot that had just ejected the glass shielding of his 'cockpit' appreciated the gesture long enough to be grabbed by Intelligence. A mess of projected rounds superimposed themselves between Ichiro and the Walkers, but he continued to walk through - it still stung, but more like how a human would react to having to walk through a heavy rainstorm. Unpleasant, but not harmful in actuality.

"Okay, I've had enough of you bastards," Ichiro growled. Unaware that he was subconsciously imitating Galbinus's firing posture, Ichiro braced his legs as he raised one arm towards the remaining Tank-Mobiles desperately firing their weapons at him. "Go away!"

Ichiro's vision was immediately obscured in smoke as the supercharged shot roared, even more exhaust billowing from the rear of the weapon...

1743, 27 July A.D. 2072
<ERROR: LOCALE UNKNOWN>

"Good god."

Wallace ignored his aides' shock, his own hand squeezing tightly on his command throne's armrest until his whitened knuckles were probably bending into the soft metal outright. The damned machine - and that had to be a machine, not a human in that thing - hadn't even waited for the smoke to clear. By the time it had dissipated, it was already charging towards Arrow 3, the ruined wreckages and scattered, defeated pilots left in his wake. They'd dealt it damage, certainly...but what kind of monsters were the Union creating!?

"This is Arrow 3. We need backup! Right now!" For a moment, Wallace didn't even notice the screaming coming from the usually calm pilot. "Now!! Do you hear me!? I need backup now or we'll all gone!"

"...dammit." This was not how the operation was supposed to go. The Intelligence team wasn't supposed to find anything about the acquisition. They weren't supposed to be guarded at all. And they were certainly not supposed to have the Union's best imitation of a Kaus tearing apart his vanguard. This was not what was promised...

...something he was going to have to talk to Koenig about. At least I'm in the right, here, he thought glumly. But I still have more. I can commit them all, and withdraw with honor. For whatever comfort that was worth. "Bruce!"

A trio of voices replied immediately. "Bruce standing-by, aye!"

"You are cleared to launch." Wallace just knew he was going to regret this...

1745, 27 July A.D. 2072
Combat

"Apologies for the delay." Ichiro looked up from the remains of the Tank-Mobiles he'd just wrecked. Or, more accurately, he looked down. He could do that safely, as the Walkers were desperately attempting to gain some distance - and for the moment, Ichiro needed the breather.

More of the pilots that had bailed out of their destroyed rides were already being rounded up - by Steeds. The armored compartments were unfolding long enough for the drivers to simply yank the dismounted Westphalians inside, presumably into custody from that point on. One machine had slid to a stop next to Ichiro's foot, and immediately configured into power armored form. I wonder if this is how Galbinus sees everyone else, Ichiro wondered - the smaller machines barely came up to his knee. "Westphalian intrusions here were more...intense than we expected."

"About time you all made it here!" Anna's voice chimed in. "What kept you?"

"Very militant records keepers. Westphalian strike teams were neutralized."

"The historians were Westphalian?"

"No, just very dedicated to their jobs, and irate to unscheduled walk-ins. The Westphalians were just a convenient excuse."

Before the conversation could get any stranger, the Shade rolled up, and Anna's head poked out of the driver's seat. "Paddy wagon's here!" she announced cheerfully. "Also, Ichiro - here!" The side door slid open, revealing a black rectangular case. "Katarina insisted I bring some just in case something like this happened!"

"Perfect." Ichiro opened the case, and his face immediately was illuminated with the bluish-green glow of processed Energy Shards. The shapes looked slightly different from the ones Galbinus and the Legion toted around, but they were Shards all the same, and made from the base's (relatively) new generator! With a practiced ease he didn't realize he had, he grabbed one immediately and slid it into the chest cavity that had opened. Indescribable, yet soothing - guess it's my caffeination - the shard dissolved as its nourishment spread along his circuits, with some of the damage mending itself as the Kaus-like body fixed the worst of it. He closed the lid, satisfied that there were at least two more Shards in there, and attached it to his hip. "Thanks, Anna."

"Thank your sister later." Her eyes narrowed, even if the smile remained on her face - a dangerous combination. "Someone thought they could round us up and take us out like we were tonight's takeout menu. This was a smash and grab, with maybe some follow up in case the first wave failed. This is going to require some more investigations, but...for now, we still have a job to do."

"Indeed." The agent piloting the Steed - Ichiro never caught his name, and Anna never bothered to introduce him - agreed. "Agent Smith and two of us can secure the pilots. The rest of us are at your disposal, Banner."

Before Ichiro could grow annoyed at his involuntary 'surname,' Anna's smile vanished as she read something on her console. A moment later, Ichiro learned why as the data was shared with him - additional contacts about to enter the battle space.

Including a big one.

"Clear out," Ichiro said. "Our turn again."

1749, 27 July A.D. 2072
"The Brute"

"Oh, we got ourselves a lively one, we do, Bruce!"

A giant metal foot slammed into the ground, leaving a shaped crater in its wake. A nearby tree unfortunate enough to simply be growing where it was abruptly uprooted, tilting to the side as the metal monstrosity simply passed by.

"Well, if you could hurry up and get a targettin' solution, Bruce, then he won't be so lively now, would he!?"

All about them, almost like hyper active asteroids or planets orbiting a star, more of the new fangled Tank-Mobiles were cruising along, making sure to stay well away from the footsteps of the mighty metal monster that led their charge. The unshackled beast, finally allowed free to play.

"Now, listen here, lads. You too especially, Bruce, you hear? All I'm saying is that this was all so very unnecessary. We were all doing just fine without some poncy gits on a floatin' tub tellin' us what to do." Another titanic crash heralded another step, with large chunks of earth and vegetation sent flying. Giant, boxy, and metallic. Weapons pods lining its flanks, no considerations made - or wanted - for a humanoid aesthetic like its smaller charges. Even the cockpit seemed stylized along the lines of a giant metal monster, jagged lines mimicking a wicked set of jaws as a single monocular camera glowed menacingly, scanning this way and that as it visibly cast its baleful glare along the battlefield - and towards its targets. "But then they have to go regulating, giving us rules, and when they don't like us complainin' about 'em, making posh and fancy super robots to put us all down. Well, I say no more, Bruce!"

"Aye, Bruce! Engines at maximum capacity so Bruce can close in with the proper weapons!"

"For the last bloody time, Bruce, I'll fire the weapons appropriate for the situation!"

"Settle down, Bruce." As one, three grime-encrusted faces inside of the jury rigged cockpit grinned as their respective stations lit up to life. "Alright, lads! One good charge, then! Westphalia!"

"Westphalia!" With a mighty groan of metal, one that almost sounded like a roar, the Brute strode forward, ready to enter the fray...

SAI-01 Ichiro Banner
Centurion-chassis
Assigned to: SAI-01 Ichiro Banner
HP: 13/16

Arm Cannon: Has an arm cannon as part of his chassis. Can make a Heavy Weapon Strike as a free action at Advantage (3d6, Threshold of 5-6, deals 2 HP) every three rounds - refreshes on Round Six.
Strikes:
Counts as One Action (Notable Bonus may apply).
Roll 2d6, Threshold of 5-6, inflicts 1+1 HP on success.
Zirvitium-Plated Gauntlets: Adds +1HP damage to Strikes. Equipment will last for this battle only.
Shard Kit: Consumable. Restores +3HP per use as a Free Action. Two Charges remaining.
Relentless: If about to take a mortal strike, roll 1d6. A 4-6 will negate that damage.
Upgrade Slots: 1 (Unslotted at this time)

SAI-01 Ichiro Banner

Actions per Turn:
- 1
Notable Character:
- Can make two attacks per turn at 2d6 for 1 HP each. Counts as a single Action.
Hot Headed:
- Major Devin's calm nature is normally the personality that's reflected. However, this AI understands rage, and tends to bottle it up until he's had enough. Once every three turns, he may activate "Rage." For one turn, the AI will inflict twice as much damage, but also take twice as much incoming damage.

Alert! Defense Force airwaves indicating clearance of ground and airspace around battlefield. Protocols align with standard practice for MSS cooperation, additional support inbound. Exact arrival unknown.

CR-04 Steed-class (Intelligence Team)
Actions: 1
Strikes:

- Counts as One Action. Roll to Strike at an enemy at Disadvantage for 1d6 Three Times, Threshold of 4-6. Can inflict 1 HP per Strike. Can target multiple enemies if desired.

Flares:

- Counts as One Action.

- Can launch distracting flares to divert enemy attention. Will force the enemy to re-roll any Action of the Steed's choice.

- Guarantees the targeted enemy will dedicate next attack or Action towards the Steed.

- Can be used once every three combat turns.

Super Agile: May roll to avoid a successful enemy attack at 2d6, Threshold of 4-6. Diminishing Returns do not apply.
Support: Has no HP value. However, if Super Agile roll is failed, Steeds withdraw for two Combat Rounds before returning.

Anna Smith
Intelligence

Call Out: Can reduce an enemy's attack rolls by 1d6. Effect lasts for three rounds of combat. Refreshes after six rounds of combat - refreshes at Round Five.
Linked Telemetry: Can allow Banner to completely re-roll one failed roll (players indicate what type of re-roll this would be applied to). Refreshes after nine rounds of combat. Banner must keep the new result.
Tactical Analysis: Will reveal additional details of enemy forces over time. Passive skill.

"Walkers"
Formations: 1 remaining
HP: Unknown
Rotary Cannon: Can strike 2d6 for up to 2 HP (exact figure unobserved). Additional traits unobserved.
Main Cannon: Heavy Weapon Strike. Success deals 2 HP.

"Tank Mobiles +"
Formations: None Remaining (Additional groups arriving on Round Five, suspected two additional groups)
HP: 5-7 (Exact figure unknown)
Conventional Weaponry: Can strike 2d6 to inflict 1 HP.
Lesser Agility: May re-roll a successful enemy attack at 2d6, Threshold of at least 5-6).
Configuration-capable
Malfunction? - The machines are not fully ready, seem to suffer in transition from vehicle to mecha...exact consequences unknown.
Disposable Rocket Tubes - Can strike at advantage (3d6), Inflicts 3 HP.

"The Brute"
Capabilities Unknown
Arrival estimated Rounds Five-Six

Ichiro is back to 13 HP because Ichiro already used one charge out of three. He has two remaining.

Super Robot Quest

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