Super Robot Wars æ: Martian Mecha Mega-Crossover

Nerdorama · Dec 7, 2022

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8okXg2AlQWE

Long ago, when the world was new...

Humanity once spread itself from Earth to Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, nominally united under the universal brotherhood of the Earth Federation. Fusion power, built on Helium-3 extracted from Jupiter, armored by Lunar Titanium, and hardened by Martian halfmetal, created great and wondrous machines that allowed human beings to build homes in the stars...and fight horrifying wars. An escalating series of conflicts between the Earth Federation and its many far-flung colonies raged for decades, destroying much of humanity and their works, until finally the machines themselves and the electronic intelligences controlling them spiraled out of control and nearly exterminated the human species. This was the Calamity War, an apocalyptic conflict that was only ended by the efforts and sacrifices of heroes, and their carefully-crafted war machines. Jupiter was lost to humanity entirely, and the people of the inner planets were ravaged, but clung to life with the tenacity humankind is known for.

Those who survived created a new world order, to rebuild humanity from the ashes even greater than before. Old nations were re-established on the Earth, organized into great alliances that were meant to shepherd the solar system's resources and negotiate for their people in peace through a New United Nations, all overseen by the great peacekeeping organization created by the surviving heroes of the Calamity War, Gjallarhorn. Cities were rebuilt, new nations arose, and humanity reached out to each other across the stars once again. What's more, even newer wonders would be built by the revived humanity, with each of the three great alliances builting an orbital elevator to provide limitless power to their citizens, and a great web of communications satellites named Ariadne built from Earth to Mars.

Unfortunately, the lessons of the conflicts that had led to the Calamity War were quickly lost to the rebuilt civilization: the three great powers, called the Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations, the Advanced European Union, and the Human Reform League, fell to squabbling amongst themselves over resources, ideology, and base pride. Those far from the orbital elevators found themselves impoverished in the new economy of solar energy, having no choice but to fight for mere survival. Even more troublingly, the scramble for power once again led humanity down the path of exploiting their distant brothers and sisters. The Earth powers' cold zero-sum game expressed itself as a new colonialism, with colonies in space and especially on Mars being heartlessly exploited to fuel the industry of humanity's rebuilding homeland. Gjallarhorn, once the heroes of mankind, has grown into aloof enforcers of this status quo, exercising an iron grip on communication and transportation between the inhabited planets, challenged by rebellious militias and outspoken ideologues on Mars and the bickering of its ruling families, all while crime, corruption, and slavery fester in the crevices of society. It has been over 120 years since the end of the Calamity War, and mankind has already returned to the sins that caused it in the first place.

What's more, a series of events has thrown the world's ossifying order into chaos in the last decade. First came the fall of "Alien Space Ship 1", indisputable proof of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, which came crashing down to Earth nearly 9 years ago and provoked a barely-contained proxy war between the great powers over the secrets of its technology. Coupled with independent scientific breakthroughs on Earth and the discovery of new superconductor elements found buried on Mars, this has caused an explosion of research into new energy solutions that go beyond solar power, and accordingly, an explosion in weapons technology, with none of the world powers caring to police it beyond acquiring that warpower for themselves. The ongoing low-level conflict between Earth's great powers breeds unrest and terrorism throughout the world, while feeding the ambitions of massive mercenary armies. Most of all, people look at the stars and wonder: one alien artifact has already found its way to Earth. What will the next one be, and where will it come from? And what may have already fallen from the sky, æons ago?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlmoDCeu4bY

All of that is of less concern to you than the particular drudgery of life on Mars, as that is where you were born. You remember nothing of your family or early life, only growing up in the streets, two steps ahead of starvation and one step ahead of being caught by Mars's criminal underworld and sold as Human Debris. You don't even remember who gave you your name, only that you've always been called

[] Saba
[] Write-in:

You were a young

[] Man
[] Woman
[] Person

of not inconsiderable talent for getting out of trouble, as much as you were equally talented at getting into it. To you, the Martian slums were an opportunity as much as they were a hazardous wasteland. You learned to rely not only on your own wits, but the quid pro quo or, dare you say it, mutual aid and respect of the other people stuck to the bottom of society. A meal in return for an odd job, some cash in return for looking tougher than the thugs that were looking to knock over a convenience store, a place to hide in return for help with running. It was a hard life, but you learned to find rewards where you could.

Your earliest memories are the haziest. People around you are strangers. Some of them dangerous, some of them kind, most of them ignoring you. You breathe in red dust under a blue sky - a generation ago, Mars was only inhabitable within sealed domes, but the terraforming nanomachines seeded here a century ago have moved to their final intended stage, creating a breathable atmosphere that shields most of Mars from radiation, and even rebuilding your body with the correct bone and muscle density despite the planet's low gravity. You are only aware of how hungry this process makes you, and the fact that most food that isn't the prepackaged stuff from Earth tastes disgusting. It's important to eat when you can, though, sharing meal bars in an alleyway with other orphans, trading scavenged metal for the occasional heavily-spiced "real" meal, and the dream of seeing a real cow one day, and eating as much of it as possible.

When you were ten years old, the people of Earth discovered the existence of alien life when a spaceship smashed into the ocean. At the time, you weren't 100% clear on what an ocean was, but the excitement of this unprecedented discovery filtered all the way to Mars through the Ariadne communication network, and all the way down to the bottom of society through human contact. In the excitement, every halfmetal prospector with a mobile worker to their name made their way out to Mars on the theory that if alien artifacts could just fall out of the sky, there could be plenty hidden on Mars. This led to a very great many people getting sick and dying to interesting new radioactive ores hidden in the Martian crust, and more people stumbling over remnants of the Calamity War they briefly confused for alien technology before stripping them for parts and Minovsky-Ahab Reactors. While no one (that you're aware of) found direct evidence of alien artifacts on Mars, this did mark the beginning of a change. Rather than being hopeless and destitute, Mars was discovering more riches the Earth hadn't extracted from them yet, and not all of that immediately went to the already wealthy, powerful, and connected.

"I'm going to come back from the desert with all kinds of alien technology!" you told your scattered friends and acquaintances. "Then I'll beat up Gjallarhorn and become make Mars my Kingdom - no, better, an Empire!"

No one thought this terribly funny coming from a pubescent child, but on the plus side, you didn't actually kill yourself. First of all, you could barely carry enough supplies to get out of the city, and second, you knew to avoid brightly glowing green rocks. What this expedition did teach you was the many uses of a knife, compass, and spyglass purloined from a pawn shop, the fun and profit of spotting ancient mobile suit frames to sell their locations to scrappers, and the importance of lying to Earthian carpetbaggers when they asked if you'd staked any claims. For the first time after this, you actually wound up with enough money you could bury it in a tin, without having to spend all of it on food and clothes.

When you were fifteen years old, the Vascilia County militia issued a planetwide call to rise up against the Earth, and renamed itself BAHRAM, an army dedicated to the liberation of Mars. At the same time, Gjallarhorn began cracking down on dissent, and encouraging Martian locals to protect themselves from dangerous radicals. Somewhere in the middle was the Martian Independence Movement, a loose coalition of politically-minded Martians who sought to negotiate Mars's independence from Earth, rather than kick off a ruinous war that Mars would likely lose to Gjallarhorn's overwhelming technological and logistical superiority. Regardless of desire, however, one thing was clear to you: war was coming, and simply being a human caught up in it was not something you considered a viable career path. With your skills, your talents, though...maybe you could be more than a simple human.

You are 17 years old, and the fact that you've made it that far is a miracle. You've drifted through life from disaster to disaster as iron dust on the Martian wind. You've had acquaintances, but none lasted long enough to become friends. You've had caretakers, but none had the resources to become family. You found the one shop in Chryse that sells decent snack cakes, and that is so far your greatest life's accomplishment.

You look up and see a recruiting poster for BAHRAM, all orange and black block text about Martians rising up to take what is their right. It's been hastily pasted over a Gjallarhorn recruitment poster, blue and white with the knightly image of a mobile suit contrasting the rather prosaic offer of cheap wages and a dental plan. Both have been scrawled on with "for a good time call" numbers.

You try to remember when you learned to read, and can't.

But that's not what's important right now.

The question, then, becomes this: will you seek to rise in status, to use the system to change itself, to build yourelf up and bend the world to your will? Or will you reign in hell, tear the unfairness of the world apart, and claw down the high and mighty from their thrones, that none may put their boot on your neck?

Will you be a GOD? Or a DEVIL?

[] GOD
[] DEVIL

Bienvenidos and willkomen to my very first attempt at running a quest instead of just snarking in the comments. My name is Nerdo, and I'm here to hyperfocus on giant robots, a genre of anime and video game currently experiencing a bit of a mild renaissance in the anglosphere. Super Robot Wars is an unbelievably prolific franchise of mostly strategy-RPG video games that posit the vital question "what if all your favorite robot anime coexisted in one big crossover fic, and you could make your favorite Gundam blorbo beat up a dinosaur with a god complex?" This quest, inspired most directly by the excellent Super Robot Wars Ø by afreaknamedpete and Super Robot Wars Null by aguynamedwafer, is an attempt to bring that crossover idea to SV in choose-your-own-adventure form. In this thread, you'll be directing the choices of a Martian mercenary of uncertain provenance and unknowable destiny as they navigate a web of politics, super-science, and alien invasion in a post-post-apocalyptic solar system made up of elements of a wide variety of different anime (and video games, and I'm putting at least one manga in here eventually). The overall format, once we're through "character creation" will be a sequence of Missions and Intermissions, with the former being multiple vote-round conflicts between our hero/heroine and their allies vs. the forces of antagonism, and the latter being made up of Scenes, Sub-Missions, and Research Actions chosen by Plan vote. But we'll get to that in the future. For now, please vote for

Name (Saba or Write-In)
Gender (Man, Woman, Person)
Starting Alignment (GOD or DEVIL)

As separate vote, not a plan.

This vote will close in 48 hours. Thank you

Nerdorama · Dec 7, 2022

LILIA

Series: Super Robot Wars æ
DOB: NCE 0104
Biography: An orphaned street rat from Mars, who joined BAHRAM to try and improve her situation. It's debatable if it worked.
Default BGM: Daredevil
Level: 3

Lilia		Theletos
Ability	Dash Hit & Run	Ability	???? Distortion Field
CQB	+3	HP	7000
AIM	+4	HIT	+2
EVA	+2	MOB	+3
DEF	+1	ARM	+2

Weapon	Damage	Traits
Laser CIWS	+1	Ranged, Mobile, HIT Down
Coil Rifle	+2	Ranged
Thermal Saber	+2	Melee
Fusion Cannon	+4	Ranged, MAP (Beam), Heavy

Spirits
FOCUS
STRIKE

Non-combat Skills
Charm	+1
Engineering	+1
Tactics	+2
Resolve	+1

Alignment

GOD <===||===> DEVIL
+2

Skull Squadron

(Roy Fokker, Shin Kudo, Sho Tachibana, Edgar LaSalle, Stuart)
Series: Macross Zero
Biography: Union soldiers with the latest test-type Variable Fighter. It's hard to tell whether Roy loves planes or women more, but he definitely loves both. Shin and Edgar are survivors of the Illustrious, an intense and awkward damaged soldier, and his radar operator constantly annoyed at being on the only majority-straight ship in the navy.
Default BGM: VF-0

Roy, Shin, Sho, Union VF Pilot		VF-0 Phoenix x4
Ability	Commander (Roy) OR Instinct (Shin)	Ability	Variable Fighter
CQB	+3	HP	8000
AIM	+3	HIT	+2
EVA	+4	MOB	+4
DEF	+1	ARM	+0

Weapon	Damage	Traits
Laser CIWS	+1	Ranged, Mobile, HIT Down
35mm Gunpods	+3	Ranged
AMRAAM Missiles	+4	Ranged, Heavy

FOCUS (Roy)
ACCEL (Sho)
ANALYZE (Edgar)

Lee Fowler

Series: Full Metal Panic
Biography: A mercenary who knows things he shouldn't.
Default BGM: Fighting M9 (Remake)

Lee		Zy-98 Shadow
Ability	Support Attack	Ability	ECS Aqua Module
CQB	+5	HP	4000
AIM	+2	HIT	+3
EVA	+3	MOB	+3
DEF	+2	ARM	+0

Weapon	Damage	Traits
37mm Automatic Rifle	+2	Ranged
Monomolecular Cutter	+2	Melee

FLASH

Uruz Squad

(Melissa Mao, Kurz Weber, Sousuke Sagara)
Series: Full Metal Panic!
Biography:
Default BGM: Fighting M9

Mao, Kurz, Sousuke		M9 Gernsback x3
Ability	Hit & Run (Kurz) OR Parry (Sousuke, Mao)	Ability	ECS
CQB	+3	HP	8000
AIM	+3	HIT	+3
EVA	+3	MOB	+3
DEF	+1	ARM	+0

Weapon	Damage	Traits
12.7mm Chaingun	+1	Ranged, Mobile, MOB Down
Monomolecular Cutter	+2	Melee
40mm Automatic Rifle	+2	Ranged
57mm Sniper Rifle	+3	Ranged
Uruz Strike	+4	Ranged, Heavy

VIGOR (Mao)
FOCUS (Sousuke)
SNIPE (Kurz)

Gai Shishioh

Series: King of Braves GaoGaiGar
Biography: A cyborg guy, reconstructed after an accident in orbit using alien technology. He is the pilot and core component of GaoGaiGar, the GGG's foremost experimental super robot.
Default BGM: The King of Braves is Born!

Gai Shishioh		GaoGaiGar
Ability	Brave	Ability	Protect Shade
CQB	+3	HP	9000
AIM	+3	HIT	+2
EVA	+1	MOB	+1
DEF	+3	ARM	+3

Weapon	Damage	Traits
Drill Knee	+2	Melee
Broken Magnum	+3	Ranged, Pierce
Dividing Driver	+3	Melee
Hell and Heaven *	+4	Melee, Super

Spirits
ACCEL
VALOR

GGG Mobile Unit

(HyouRyu, EnRyuu)
Series: King of Braves GaoGaiGar
Biography: The cutting edge of research into safe, sane Artificial Intelligence, and testbeds for alien overtechnology, under strict control of the GGG Organization. Despite being developed from the same base with the same algorithms, their personalities are diametrically opposed, with HyouRyu cold and logical and EnRyu passionate and hotheaded. The two can (hypothetically) combine into a greater form, ChouRyuuJin.
Default BGM: Launch!

GGG Mobile Unit		GBR Series
Ability	Brave	Ability	Symmetrical Docking
CQB	+2	HP	8000
AIM	+2	HIT	+2
EVA	+1	MOB	+1
DEF	+3	ARM	+2

Weapon	Damage	Traits
Tonfas	+2	Melee
Melting Gun	+1	Ranged, Mobile, ARM Down
Freezing Gun	+1	Ranged, Mobile, MOB Down
Chest Warmer	+2	Ranged, Heavy, ARM Down
Chest Thriller	+2	Ranged, Heavy, MOB Down

Spirits
FLASH
STRIKE

Graham Aker

Series: Mobile Suit Gundam 00
Biography: The Union's mobile suit ace. Romantic, superstititious, and with a checkered history in the service, he's nonetheless among the best of the best.
Default BGM: Fight

Graham		Union Flag
Ability	Parry	Ability	Microwave Receiver
CQB	+4	HP	6000
AIM	+3	HIT	+2
EVA	+4	MOB	+3
DEF	+2	ARM	+1

Weapon	Damage	Traits
Sonic Blade	+2	Melee
Linear Rifle	+2	Ranged
Graham Kick	+4	Melee, Heavy

ACCEL
STRIKE

Mikazuki "Mika" Augus

Series: Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
Biography: Tekkadan's Alaya-Vijnana-equipped ace. Been with Orga since a young age, and trusts him implicitly.
Default BGM: Raise Your Flag

Mikazuki		Gundam Barbatos
Ability	AVS L1	Ability	Nanolaminate
CQB	+3	HP	8000
AIM	+1	HIT	+2
EVA	+2	MOB	+2
DEF	+2	ARM	+2

Weapon	Damage	Traits
Wire Claw	+1	Melee, Hold
300mm Smoothbore Gun	+3	Ranged, Inaccurate
Mace	+3	Melee, Heavy

Spirits
STRIKE
PERSIST

Akihiro Altland

Series: Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
Biography: Human Debris purchased by CGS and freed by Tekkadan. Sticking with them because he has nowhere else to go.
Default BGM: Raise Your Flag

Akihiro		Graze Custom
Ability	Hit & Run	Ability	Nanolaminate
CQB	+2	HP	6000
AIM	+2	HIT	+2
EVA	+2	MOB	+1
DEF	+2	ARM	+1

Weapon	Damage	Traits
Battle Axe	+2	Melee
120mm Rifle	+2	Ranged
300mm Smoothbore Gun	+3	Ranged, Inaccurate, Heavy

Spirits
VIGOR
FOCUS

Turbines Squad

(Amida Arca, Azee Gurumin, and Lafter Frankland)
Series: Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
Biography: Three of Naze Turbine's numerous wives, and the mecha complement for the Hammerhead.
Default BGM: Iron-Blooded Orphans

Amida, Azee, & Lafter		Hyakuren Custom, Hyakuren, Hyakuri
Ability	Support Attack (Amida) OR Dash (Lafter)	Ability	Nanolaminate
CQB	+2	HP	9000
AIM	+2	HIT	+2
EVA	+2	MOB	+1
DEF	+2	ARM	+1

Weapon	Damage	Traits
Knuckle Guard	+2	Melee
Rifle Barrage	+4	Ranged, Squad
Turbines Rocket Show	+5	Ranged, Squad, Heavy

Spirits
FOCUS (Amida)
FLASH (Azee)
CHARGE (Lafter)

NOA-0093 Isaribi

Series: Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
Biography: An armored assault ship acquired by Tekkadan in their takeover of CGS. Despite its paint job, not any faster than normal ships of its class.
Default BGM: Iron-Blooded Orphans

Orga & Eugene		Isaribi
Ability	Commander	Ability	Nanolaminate
CQB	+0	HP	16000
AIM	+1	HIT	+0
EVA	+1	MOB	+0
DEF	+2	ARM	+2

Weapon	Damage	Traits
Anti-Aircraft Guns	+1	Ranged, Mobile
Missiles	+2	Ranged
Main Battery	+3	Ranged

Spirits
ACCEL
TRUST

Nerdorama · Dec 7, 2022

Lt. Graham Aker: A Union ace pilot, and expert at aerial combat in the Flag.

Mamoru Amami: An entirely ordinary grade schooler from Tokyo. The New UN's secret weapon against the Zonder. One of those.

Amida Arca: Naze Turbine's first wife, second in command, and leader of his mobile suit team.

Mikazuki "Mika" Augus: A child soldier pilot for Tekkadan enhanced with the Alaya-Vijnana System. Can lift a grown man by the neck one-handed.

McMurdo Barriston: Leader of Teiwaz and descendant of the Universal Century's Jupiter Energy Fleet. Has a surprising amount of information about history.

Kudelia Aina Bernstein: Daughter of a wealthy magnate from Chryse colony on Mars, and Mars's best-known advocate for peaceful, negotiated independence.

En. Annamarie Bourget: A pilot with whoever it is that Zabine Chareux is actually working for.

Lt. Zabine Chareux: An ace pilot, and apparently, a member of Gjallarhorn and personal soldier of the Ronah Family. He seems to be working for the latter and not the former.

Kaname Chidori: An entirely ordinary high schooler from Tokyo.

Lt. Com. Roy Fokker: Leader of Skull Squadron, pilots doing live combat trials for the Union's VF-0 Variable Fighter.

Lee Fowler: A mercenary from Earth. Dryer than unbuttered toast.

Lafter Frankland: One of Naze Turbine's wives/crewmembers and daredevil pilot of one of his mobile suits. Had a date with Lilia; it went okay.

Biscuit Griffon: The quartermaster and primary business contact of Tekkadan. Has a large family in Chryse, compared to most of the child soldiers, including two younger sisters and his grandmother.

Azee Gurumin: One of Naze Turbine's wives/crewmembers, and the more taciturn member of his mobile suit team.

Sgt. Viola Gyune: Pilot in the BAHRAM armed forces and devoted best friend and occasional babysitter of Lt. Lavans, who recruited her into the organization after a poorly-thought-out attempt by her on his life. Missing after deciding to give up her life fighting against the robots invading Mars.

Col. Ridley "Nohman" Hardiman: A commanding officer in BAHRAM and son of the original developer of the Orbital Frame concept. Currently presumed to be engaged in guerilla warfare against the automated invaders of Mars.

Dolores Hayes: A scientist working on BAHRAM's IDOLO Orbital Frame project. Romantically involved with Lt. Lavans. Deceased after getting wrapped up in Gjallarhorn's attempt to kidnap the Orbital Frame project's scientists.

Dr. Billy Katagiri: A Union engineer, involved in investigating and countering Celestial Being and their Gundams.

WO Edgar LaSalle: A Union radar intercept officer. Keeps flirting with Shin Kudo, who remains oblivious.

Lt. Radium Lavans: Pilot in the BAHRAM armed forces test-piloting their secret weapon, the Orbital Frame IDOLO. Romantically involved with a scientist on the project, Dolores Hayes. Deceased after going on a berserker rampage against Gjallarhorn and BAHRAM when Dolores was kidnapped and killed.

James Links: A space trucker and the most alcoholic man you have ever met. In fairness, it seems his wife is dead. Accused of literally unbelievable murders.

Dr. Rachel Links: Lead developer of BAHRAM's IDOLO project and the closest thing humanity has to a living (maybe) expert on Metatron. Estranged from her husband and two children to work on this project, she's begun to have second thoughts after seeing the effect of Metatron exposure on the pilot's psyche. Missing, presumed dead, after Gjallarhorn's attempt to kidnap her.

Atra Mixta: A Martian shop girl who volunteered to join Tekkadan as their cook. Mikazuki's girlfriend, maybe? Makes a solid Mars Bowl.

Dr. Aeolia Schoenberg: A physicist who died over a century ago after predicting an alien invasion by way of Jupiter, and also designing the orbital ring that powers all of Earth in this century. Long dead, surely no longer relevant.

Seina: A woman with a vendetta against the Japanese state and society, leader of A21.

Gai Shishioh: aka "Cyborg Guy". The pilot and core cybernetic component of the GGG's super robot GaoGaiGar. Projects like an opera singer.

Dr. Leo Shishioh: Gai's father, GGG's chief scientist, and one of the geniuses behind Super AI, or "artificial intelligence with a heart". Leading expert on "G-Stone" overtechnology.

2nd Lt. Sho Tachibana: A young Union Variable Fighter pilot. Very skilled at using the VF-0's versatility. Apparently connected to Japan's eclectic society of physicists.

Chief Kotaro Taiga: President of GGG and its cover agency, the Space Development Corporation, he's...very enthusiastic, and also responsible for the bureaucratic approval of potentially world-ending technologies.

Naze Turbine: Head of the Turbines, the transportation subsidiary of Teiwaz, and a polygamist married to most of his all-female crew. Notably unflappable.

Dr. Aeries Turner: An anthropologist researching the connection between humanity and a hypothetical "Protoculture" alien civilization that influenced Earth's history.

Gen. Rutger Tyusha: The de facto leader of BAHRAM, a hardline anti-Earth and anti-Gjallarhorn militarist. Currently presumed to be engaged in guerilla warfare against the automated invaders of Mars.

A21: Originally a rehabilitation camp for wayward Japanese teens, it was shut down by false accusations of being a terrorist training camp. Naturally, its members decided to remind everyone what irony meant and became actual terrorists.

Advanced European Union (AEU): One of Earth's three major political blocs, built on the institutions of the ancient European Union and controlling "La Tour" Orbital Elevator in East Africa. Considering itself a federation of equals and (comparatively) anti-colonialist, the AEU has the least investment in space or on Mars, although many political commentators blame that on their relatively underdeveloped orbital elevator and the bureaucratic morass of their social democracy rather than any actual altruism. The AEU's military is also less developed than their competitors, but they maintain a perpetual contract with the mercenary tax haven Moralia as part of their national security measures.

BAHRAM: Previously the local militia of Vascilia County on Mars, BAHRAM has radicalized into the violent face of the Martian independence movement after a series of protests, reprisals, riots, and crackdowns between themselves and Gjallarhorn. Allying with Nereidum Universal Technologies to develop the Orbital Frame, BAHRAM is now openly calling for all Martian colonies to declare unilateral secession from Earth, and war between the two planets seems inevitable.

Celestial Being: A mysterious armed organization that intervenes in conflict on Earth, allegedly with the goal of eliminating war itself.

Colony Public Corporation: A civilian subsidiary of Gjallarhorn, the CPC is responsible for constructing and administering the numerous space colonies at Earth's Lagrange points. Widely known as a corrupt monopoly, their only real oversight is which of Gjallarhorn's ruling families has the most influence on their operations.

Gjallarhorn: The heroic organization that saved mankind from annihilating itself in the Calamity War, reorganizing Earth into its three superpower blocs, sponsoring the development of the Orbital Elevator system that gave the planet limitless energy, and finally maintaining mankind's presence in space through protecting trade routes and maintaining the Ariadne communications system. Gjallarhorn is the guarantor of peace and prosperity for all mankind. It's also one sprawling military complex controlled by the Seven Stars, the descendants of the most powerful families in the organization, which leads many on both Earth and Mars to consider them a parasitic aristocracy who enforce their will on mankind through threat of force and a century-old mandate that doesn't even apply anymore. Regardless of the truth of that, Gjallarhorn is undoubtably the group that benefits the most from the present world order, as both private military and de facto government with authority over two planets and everything in between.

Gutsy Geoid Guard (GGG): A clandestine New United Nations subsidiary dedicated to researching, combating, and implementing overtechnology related to the Zonders, hostile machine intelligences from beyond our solar system. They are also the only authorized researchers of strong Artificial Intelligence - or "Super AI" - in the Earth Sphere, having created several artificial persons from synthetically developed neural networks as a proof of concept for artificial intelligence with human-like emotions and conscience. They operate under the cover and budget of the Space Development Corporation on G-Island City in the Tokyo prefecture.

Human Reform League (HRL): One of Earth's three major political blocs, a collectivist alliance of East and South Asian nations led by the socialist republics of China, India, and Asiatic Russia, with an Orbital Elevator located near Nauru in the South Pacific. Comprising more of Earth's population than any other bloc, the HRL is constantly seeking new and innovative technology to improve the lives of its people, which also means exploiting a good chunk of Mars for raw materials.

"Jovian" Invaders: A huge force of automated weapons that suddenly invaded Mars in March of NCE 0122, with technology completely unknown to Earth or Mars. Anecdotal evidence suggests they attacked from Jupiter, and leading theories are that this is an alien invasion force using the lost human colonies there as a staging point, or a rogue AI from the Calamity War which spent the last 12 decades developing a force of attack drones.

Nereidum Universal Technologies (NUT): A Mars-based experimental research company and developer of the concept of the Orbital Frame. Leading experts on both Metatron and its weaponization. Their sympathy for Martian independence and alliance with BAHRAM is an open secret.

New United Nations (New UN): The international forum meant to promote peace and the sharing of resources on Earth. In practice, it's a place for representatives of the major alliances to yell at each other and accomplish little, although it has gained somewhat more clout in the last decade from its mandate to protect and study Alien Space Ship 1 in the South Pacific.

Nergal Heavy Industries (Nergal): a sprawling manufacturing concern headquartered in Japan, with interests in everything from rivets to television networks to next-generation warships and experimental energy production. Known to be competing with Nereidum Universal Technologies for both weapons contracts and research rights into Martian exotic minerals.

Private Military Company Trust (PMC Trust): The largest organization of mercenaries on Earth, equivalent to a standing army that participates in the Earth superpowers' various proxy wars.

Seven Stars: The leading families of Gjallarhorn, all with extensive economic interests throughout the solar system. The names of the families are Issue, Elion, Fareed, Bauduin, Kujan, Ronah, and Crimson.

Space Development Corporation (SDC): A New UN-backed NGO for the development of new space exploration technology, headquartered on an artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan. On paper, meant to cooperate with Gjallarhorn. In practice...

Teiwaz: A space-based trading conglomerate, and one of the few factions in space that can compete with Gjallarhorn's interests. They maintain a monopolistic control over the trade of goods between Mars and Earth through cutthroat practices (sometimes literally), and have a practical monopoly on the Helium-3 used as propellant in Minovsky-Ahab reactors. They are rumored to even have connections to the lost Jupiter colonies, although that remains unproven speculation.

Tekkadan: Formerly Chryse Guard Security, a private military contractor based on Mars that's the result of a very hostile takeover of CGS by its wing of child soldiers.

Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations (Union): One of Earth's three major political blocs, centered around the industrial and financial axis of the United States and the "Tower" Orbital Elevator in the South American Republic of Taribia. The Union controls most of Earth's western hemisphere, as well as having a "special economic relationship" with the nation of Japan across the Pacific. Union interests also control many colonies on Mars, including the Chryse Autonomous Zone.

Ender: A general Earth term for people living in artificial colonies, occasionally applied to Martian settlers as well. Pejorative, but you can get away with saying it in polite conversation.

Human Debris: Legally, chattel slavery is banned in all nations on Earth and in space. Practically, penal slavery and indentured servitude are a common and even institutionalized fact of life on Mars and in other outlying colonies, with the homeless, starving, and destitute selling themselves into slavery as a last-ditch effort at survival, or being sold into slavery after being victimized by pirates, bandits, or corporations acting outside the law. As with historical forms of slavery, the use of Human Debris for free labor in all forms of work has infested the Martian economy and created a destitute underclass that contributes significantly to the Martian independence movement.

Arm Slave (AS): Smaller humanoid combat vehicles (usually less than 10 meters tall) with a control system based on user movements, rather than brain-interface or conventional aircraft-style cockpits. While never as powerful as Mobile Suits, Arm Slaves are smaller, far cheaper to build and supply with older units even functioning off of bio-diesel, and generally more suited to combat in urban and rugged terrain. There are even rumors of advanced models with technology comparable to Gjallarhorn's elite units, but those remain unsubstantiated. In any case, their specific advantages make Arm Slaves extremely popular with local security forces, partisans, and terrorists, especially on Earth where their general lack of space-worthiness isn't an issue.

Laborious Extra-orbital Vehicle (LEV): A more advanced form of Mobile Worker, more akin to a proper Mobile Suit, used primarily for construction of space colonies. Unlike mobile workers, these can and have been upgunned into cheap military vehicles, using an electrical arkjet engine rather than the more familiar Minovsky-Ahab reactor. The venerable Phantoma LEV is used by both BAHRAM and Earth-loyalist security forces on Mars.

Mobile Armor (MA): Technically any mobile weapon that isn't roughly humanoid in shape, the term gained a boogeyman quality after the Calamity War, where autonomous AIs built into Mobile Armors wreaked incredible devastation on humanity.

Mobile Suit (MS): The most common and ancestral form of mechanical weapon in use today, some form of Mobile Suit has been the mainstay military weapon of humanity since the Calamity War. Made by dozens of competing corporations, the main common factor of mobile suits is a relatively large size (15-25 meters), humanoid shape, and modular weapon systems. Classically, most mobile suits used Minovsky-Ahab reactors for power, but many more modern designs are equipped to receive power wirelessly via microwave to take advantage of Orbital Elevator-provided solar power, making them much cheaper to build and maintain.

Mobile Worker (MW): The most basic "mobile unit", really just a forklift with "arms" and "legs", used for construction and other heavy equipment duties. Desperate people, especially Martian partisans, might strap a gun on and use them for combat, but they're more or less incapable of seriously threatening any other class of unit.

Orbital Frame (OF): A new form of mobile unit based loosely on LEV frame designs, pioneered by Mars's Nereidum Universal Technologies. An Orbital Frame is distinguished by using the Martian superconductor Metatron in its construction and power generation, giving them a signficant edge over all but the most advanced Mobile Suits.

Super Robot (SR): A catch-all term for one-off or prototype units using "miraculous" technology that is impractical or unsafe to mass produce, and usually the private property of their creators (though the United States government maintains at least one as part of its military). Impractical or not, many Super Robots have proven themselves vital to Earth's security, particularly Japan's Getter Robo.

Variable Fighter (VF): A newer technology pioneered in the Union, the Variable Fighter concept seeks to iterate on the concept of a transforming mobile suit to create a mixed bipedal robot/air superiority weapon that can change forms fluidly in combat, rather than being assigned one mission or the other. Results thus far have had mixed success due to the mechanical complexity of the concept.

XAW-1 Patrikos: A mysterious, skeletal humanoid weapon that attacked Theletos during the invasion of Mars and defeated it handily.

XAW-3 Theletos: A mobile weapon of unknown origin accidentally discovered by Lilia, hidden beneath the surface of Mars. No idea how it works, but it seems to have infinite fuel, and it hits like a Gundam Frame, so Lilia's not complaining.

Alaya-Vijnana System (AVS): A pre-Calamity man-machine interface technology. Rapidly developed to combat the proliferation of autonomous AIs, the AVS is a mix of surgical implants and nanotechnology that allow direct brain interface with compatible technology (usually mobile suits). The system has a wide variety of painful side effects and must be implanted in young, growing humans to synchronize correctly, and is strictly banned on most of Earth, with Gjallarhorn maintaining a monopoly on the technology as it is necessary to interface with pre-Calamity Gundam Frames. On Mars, of course, regulations are easier to evade, and AVS is both more effective and cheaper than modern man-machine interface methods - as long as you don't care about the 40% immuno-rejection rate that leaves many children crippled or dead.

ARIADNE: A network of communications and navigation solar satellites that make safe space travel and lightspeed communication possible between the inhabited planets of the solar system, despite the dangers of space and radio-repressing nature of Minovsky-Ahab power generation. Built and maintained by Gjallarhorn, who thus maintain their control over movement and communication within the solar system.

Electronic Conceal System (ECS): Optical and sensor camouflage equipped on some recent-generation Arm Slaves and Mobile Suits. Impractical for use mid-combat, but good for setting up ambushes or moving between cover.

Halfmetal: One of several minerals found primarily on Mars, half-metal is a vital component in mobile suit construction and indeed most electronics, as it is resistant to the electronic interference effects of Minovsky-Ahab radiation. It has remained Mars's largest export by volume and profit since before the Calamity War.

Helium-3 (He-3): A stable isotope of helium that serves as fuel for Minovsky-Ahab reactors. Historically, most Helium-3 was sourced from Jupiter, but after losing contact with the colonies there during the Calamity War, humankind has been moving to alternate power sources, and using limited stores of He-3 mined from Earth's moon or sequestered by private organizations.

Image Feedback System (IFS): The modern update to the Alaya-Vijnana system. It averts many of the ethical issues and dangers of AVS, as it consists of a single injection of nanomachines that form a sympathetic nervous system within the subject, which can be a human of any age. However, there are still potential pitfalls to this kind of cybernetics, as it opens the human brain to cyber-attack, and overuse or medical rejection can still lead to permanent nerve damage. Additionally, the system is both expensive and only compatible with newer interfaces. As such, it is mostly relegated to military use on Earth, and the wealthier colonies on Mars.

Metatron: One of several minerals found primarily on Mars, Metatron is a superconducting crystalline solid that can be alloyed into many useful substances, including electronics and armor. The scientific investigation of its properties is still in its infancy, but Nereidum Universal Technologies has developed a line of mobile weapons called Orbital Frames that it to vastly improve their performance in speed, weaponry, durability, tactical AI, and even control interfaces.

Minovksy-Ahab Reactor: Pre-calamity technology that remains the most space-efficient power generation in the world. Combining the principles of Minovsky-Ionescu fusion with the high-efficiency miniaturized reactor design of Ahab Balaena, modern Minovsky-Ahab reactor production is monopolized by Gjallarhorn due to their immense energy potential. However, as a highly prolific design with a service life measured in centuries, scavenged Minovsky-Ahab reactors are a hot commodity on Mars and throughout the solar system.

Nanolaminate Armor (NLA): A common form of protection against Minovsky-Ahab-derived particle-beams. Effectively, it's a reflective nanite coating applied to the outside of (usually) a mobile suit and makes most forms of beam weapon far less effective. This has in turn lead to a push toward ballistic, magnetic, and other physical weaponry, compared to pre-Calamity wars that featured primarily beam weapons.

Particle Beam Weapons (Beam weapons): Minovsky-Ahab reactors produce a variety of useful side effects, one of which is particles that can be weaponized into beams of light that pierce most forms of armor. These weapons are easily stopped by Nanolaminate Armor, however, leading to them to fall out of use in the last century. Notably, not the same thing as lasers.

Terraforming Nanomachines: The devices that made Mars habitable for human life, creating soil that can support Earth-like plants, atmosphere that can let humans breathe outside of sealed environments, and even adjusting human muscle and bone density to compensate for lower Martian gravity.

Uhlenbeck Catapult: A type of spatial-compression accelerator that effectively slingshots a spacecraft at speeds it would be impractical to accelerate to independently. This can cut interplanetary travel time from months to days, and thus Gjallarhorn uses them as the main trade arteries between Venus, Earth, and Mars...under strict control and high customs duties, of course.

Nerdorama · Dec 9, 2022

Scheduled vote count started by Nerdorama on Dec 7, 2022 at 11:31 PM, finished with 23 posts and 16 votes.

12 people have voted
[X] Starting Alignment: DEVIL
- ObsidianNoir
- JoJa
- Seido
- CrowesDebt
- OrSomethingElse?
- RookDeSuit
- theguynamedwafer
- Etranger
- Red_Knight25
- The_Iron_Sith
- araa
- Sara
9 people have voted
[X] Name: Lilia
- theguynamedwafer
- Etranger
- Red_Knight25
- The_Iron_Sith
- araa
- Sara
- NekoIncardine
- VoidZero
- veekie
9 people have voted
[X] Gender: Female
- theguynamedwafer
- Etranger
- Red_Knight25
- The_Iron_Sith
- araa
- Sara
- NekoIncardine
- VoidZero
- veekie
7 people have voted
[X] Name: Dante
7 people have voted
[X] Gender: Male
4 people have voted
[X] Starting Alignment: GOD

Vote is closed; expect an update some time tomorrow.

Nerdorama · Dec 10, 2022

Lilia
A simple woman, trying to make her way in the Universe

BAHRAM
For a Free Mars

[X] Lilia
[X] Woman
[X] DEVIL

March 21, NCE 0122

Pretzel Farms, Chryse Autonomous Zone, Mars

Your name is Lilia, and you are a farmer.

Well, that's not true. You're a proud soldier of BAHRAM, the organization dedicated to achieving the independence of Mars by any means necessary. But you are visiting a farm.

Let's back up a bit.

Ever since joining BAHRAM last year, you've thrown yourself into the cause of Martian independence on the basis that even if you wound up in a shooting war with aristocratic bastards from Earth who could kill you from orbit, you couldn't reasonably find yourself worse-off than you were as a street rat in the Martian gutter. At least BAHRAM eats pretty well.

It also turned out you were a natural at piloting LEVs, being one of the few pilots to get out of mock combat untouched no matter what harebrained suicide charge your lieutenant tried. Between that and your lack of a family to serve as information leaks, when said lieutenant was tapped as a test pilot, you joined him and his other buddies as part of BAHRAM's most top secret operation.

Lt. Radium Lavans (right) & Sgt. Viola Gyune (left)
Prospective saviors of Mars

The project, such as it was, was not going entirely according to plan. The prototype Orbital Frame, the machine that would change warfare and free Mars, IDOLO? Functioning perfectly, as far as you could tell. It's almost like an old anime, but with better opsec - the heroic knight of the sky, Radium, with a super machine that will bend to his will...and only his will. Radium's buddy, Sergeant Viola Gyune, nearly died when the machine stopped responding to her controls mid-flight, and you yourself couldn't even get IDOLO off the ground. The eggheads in charge of the project (who, you have to admit, are disproportionately attractive women rather than anyone accurately describable as an egghead) were extremely perturbed by this, but it didn't seem like much of a problem to you. Radium lacking a backup pilot was bad strategically, but you and Viola had your Phantomas, and it's not like IDOLO was the only Orbital Frame planned anyway.

It does, however, mean that you and Viola are more available for missions outside of Idolo's secret testing site near Chryse than Radium himself, who's sequestered under tight security while the officers discuss the future of Project IDOLO. Hence: the farm.

"You know, I've heard that farms smell awful, but I always thought that was because of the animals," you say to Viola. "And this is all corn."

"Nitrates smell like shit whether they come from a cow or a lab, Lilia," the sergeant explains helpfully. "You're standing on about 10% nanite-infused soil and 90% fertilizer."

"How do these guys make a profit if they're buying so many chemicals and selling in bulk for biofuel?"

"Barely," says a new voice from behind you in the corn rows.

You and Viola both jump and reach for sidearms in unison before turning and realizing that the person who snuck up on you is a little old lady.

"Ah, you must be Miss Pretzel," Viola says, recovering her composure first. You heard she met Radium and became his best friend when she tried to knife him in an alley. You believe it.

"Please, Sakura is fine," the old lady replies. "Anyway, it smells like shit over here because you're walking through the fields instead of following the harvester. You girls trying to avoid the press or something?"

"We're here to meet with your grandson, ma'am. It's about a business deal," Viola explains.

"I know why you're here, I just don't know why you're here," she says, gesturing at the ground. "Anyway come on, the kids are helping with the harvest."

A quick walk to a less squishy part of the corn field brings you to an idyllic sight of scattered teenagers gleaning corn, something straight out of a painting from pre-Calamity Earth...but for a few irregularities. That kid over there - well, you say kid, he's maybe two or three years younger than you and built like a truck - has the telltale pockmarks on his spine of the Alaya-Vijnana system, a positively ancient cybernetic control interface that statistically had about a 4 in 10 chance of permanently crippling him when it was injected during puberty. He's wearing a matching bracelet with one of the townie girls who's also helping out - probably means they're married according to some South Pacific tribal culture or something. And the other girl, the one he just saved from falling on her ass...

Kudelia Aina Bernstein
Mars's last, best hope for peace

She doesn't look like much in muddy boots and clothes she probably bummed off one of the taller boys, but she's perhaps the only human person as important to Mars's future as BAHRAM's Orbital Frame is, and the reason for your visit today. You don't approach her directly - someone who is obviously her maid is hovering near her, and if the Alaya-Vijnana kid didn't kick your ass for approaching, she probably would - instead spying out your business contact, a rotund young man who's joyfully pitching in his own sweat to the corn harvest. It's nice to have a family business, you suppose.

"Biscuit Griffon?" you ask, extending a gloved hand for a shake. He smiles and returns it, all good nature and boyish innocence. Hard to believe he's in the management of a private military company.

Biscuit Griffon
The brains of the operation

"That's me. You must be Sergeant Gyune and, uh..."

"Lilia. Just Lilia. I didn't come up through the militia, so they never bothered giving me a rank," you reply. "I'm what you call a professional volunteer."

"Ah, I see. Well, obviously, BAHRAM doesn't mind doing business with mercenaries, or you all wouldn't be here," Biscuit replies.

Viola grunts in agreement. "BAHRAM sent us out here to let you know that your terms are agreeable. You'll get the funding you need to get Bernstein's kid to Earth. Although..."

"You're wondering why your bosses agreed, aren't you?" Biscuit says, nodding sagely. "Miss Kudelia's politics don't exactly align with General Tyusha's or Colonel Nohman's."

"Like I talk to either of those guys," Viola says, rolling her eyes. "I want to know how anyone who lives on this planet can believe we can just...negotiate our way out of servitude."

"I'm a soldier myself, ma'am," Biscuit says, despite the fact that he's like sixteen tops. "I don't know any solutions that aren't fighting. But I'm also a quartermaster, and I know that negotiation's just as important a job. Maybe Tyusha thinks she'll cut a good deal. Maybe she'll toughen up. I've known her like three days and she's already seen...a lot she didn't back in daddy's mansion."

You nod. "Oh yeah. You're already on Gjallarhorn's hitlist, aren't you?"

Biscuit grimaces and makes a shushing motion. "Things have gotten real complicated, okay? The only reason Gjallarhorn hasn't wiped us out yet is because Mika killed two of their officers and I think they're too embarrassed to deal with that."

"Mika's the kid with the AVS plugin? How the hell did he kill Gjallarhorn officers in a mobile worker?" you ask.

"Aheh...company secret. For now. I'm sure if we get a closer working relationship you'll see," Biscuit says.

"Well, you're our comrades in revolution now, I guess," Viola says. "Best of luck to Chryse Guard Security's new management."

"Oh, we're not CGS anymore. Orga's in charge now, and he's reincorporated us as Tekkadan."

"Tekkadan?" you ask. "Like 'Iron Fire'?"

He shakes his head. "'Iron Flower'. Orga's a romantic type."

You roll your eyes. "Every man on Mars is these days. Between the Lieutenant and Dolores shacking up so loud it shakes the base--"

"Lilia. That's need-to-know, and literally no one needs to know that," Viola snaps.

"Hey, didn't Radium want us to pick him up some moonshine while we were here?"

"We're not getting him alcohol, either."

"Some best friend you are."

Biscuit politely pretends to laugh at your antics while looking around. "Hey, grandma, where are the tw--"

While he's in the middle of asking this, the sound of a wheeled car screeching to a stop comes from the nearby road.

You spot what seems to be a tragic scene as you rush toward the apparent car accident - two little girls lying in the road, several feet away from a pale blue sedan. You instinctively rush there, but the kid with the AVS - Mika - beats you to it by several yards, and, true to your own instincts, immediately starts choking out the purple-haired man who got out of the driver's side. One-handed, too. Man that kid's strong.

Viola grabs you to stop you running into the road at the same time that Kudelia's attendant grabs her, both you and the peacenik getting pulled back into the corn rows by a firm hand. "Look at the car," Viola hisses.

Sure enough, it's a marked staff car of Gjallarhorn, the interplanetary peacekeeping force that was dedicated to stomping Martians into the dirt for fun and profit, and the number one enemy when BAHRAM eventually declares war. If they caught you and Viola here - especially with "Mika" over there about to mark off a third dead officer on his tally - it'd be a disaster. If they caught Kudelia...well, it suddenly clicks why "Tekkadan" was fighting them in the first place. They wouldn't want Kudelia Aina Bernstein making noise on humanity's precious homeworld, after all.

Still, keeping your heads down, it seems like the situation is somehow getting defused. The girls - twins, and probably Biscuit's sisters now that you look at them - get up unharmed, apparently having dived out of the way, and the other Gjallarhorn goon in the car and Miss Pretzel seem to be teaming up to get Mika to dial back the murder attempt. The purple-haired guy, for his part, has resorted to fake-retching at the sight of Mika's AVS ports. Fucking rich people. He probably has those modern nanomachines that just make the neat little mark on the back of your palm.

One bribe of chocolates to the girls, presumably to avert a report to his superior officer, and then the two Gjallarhorn operatives ask Biscuit and Mika a few questions and drive off.

"Well, it doesn't seem like all of Gjallarhorn knows about the battle we had," Biscuit observes once they're well out of earshot.

"Those guys were from the Regulatory Bureau," Viola says. "High-ranking, too. The damn peacocks were wearing Seven Stars livery on their civvies."

Biscuit nods. A bit behind him, Mika has obtained some of the girls' chocolates and is chowing down. "They're probably trying to figure out what happened to the garrison company, and the garrison commander isn't talking," the quartermaster notes. "We need to get on our way quick, while they're busy infighting."

"If the Regulatory Bureau's here..."

"...we need to get back to base," you finish Viola's observation. "Either they're here for us, or the garrison is going to try something stupid to impress them. Biscuit, it was nice to meet you. Take care of the celebrity for us. Mika, nice form on that chokehold."

Biscuit nods. Mika swallows a chocolate and nods. "Bye Lily, bye Violet."

"...did he just give us nicknames?" you ask.

"Yeah he does that don't worry about it."

Dolores Hayes (left) and Dr. Rachel Links (right)
The women behind the Orbital Frame

Secret BAHRAM Testing Facility, Chryse Autonomous Zone, Mars

Things start to go wrong almost as soon as you're back from that wholesome little interaction. Or perhaps they started earlier, and you're just now noticing.

You come back to Radium with his hands bandaged and leaving a debriefing at the same time you leave yours. He explains that he caught a spy from Gjallarhorn while he was out having a smoke...and then beat him mostly to death.

"So, we were right about them nosing around," you observe. "We're going to have to move soon."

Radium shakes his head. "You'll have to talk to the brass about that. I'm putting in my resignation after the next round of tests with IDOLO."

"What?" You're surprised, but Viola looks like he just slapped her.

"I had a long talk with Dolly." He looks at his hands. They're heavily bandaged. "I'm quitting BAHRAM, and we're going to get married. I was never cut out for this."

"The hell do you mean?" you ask him. "You're the only one who can even pilot that monster."

Radium just sighs. "I'm not fit to fight for Mars's independence. I just...piloting IDOLO made me realize that all I want to do is hurt people. I need to be away from it...BAHRAM, I mean. I'm becoming...no, I already was a devil. IDOLO just gave me the power to do something about it."

You turn to Viola to ask what the hell he's talking about, but she's already left. She's nearly as stealthy as that old lady.

"Listen, Radium, think about it, would you? It's not like they're just going to let you go with all these secrets in your head. You or Dolores quitting would be like if Dr. Links wanted to quit."

"Actually, I heard she's already trying to do that. Apparently my synchrograph's worrying her, too," Radium says, too cheerfully. "If you want to talk to her about it, she's with the brass."

This stinks. This stinks worse than your boots after walking through Sakura Pretzel's cornfield. Gjallarhorn showing up here, after poking around your "allies"? Radium suddenly wanting to quit? Every instinct in your body is telling you to prepare for a fight as you go to find Dolores Hayes and ask her what the hell is wrong with her boyfriend.

That fight instinct saves your life when you catch a glimpse of a raised handgun around the corner and duck back an instant before some bitch in a labcoat shoots at you.

You hear boots tromping around the corner after you and draw your own sidearm, raising it and gunning down two large, burly men who are definitely not the Project IDOLO scientists they're dressed as they charge around the corner.

This is your first time killing people, actually, despite being a soldier.

You feel like you should feel worse about it.

Or have any thoughts other than 'what kind of idiot doesn't wait to see if I'm armed before just charging like that'.

It doesn't matter right now, though.

"This way, we have to get the doctor out of here!" you hear, obviously not addressed to you. That's a voice you do recognize, although you can't remember her name. Doesn't matter now, though, she must have been a mole. You grab your radio with your offhand to try and raise an alert, but there's no response from it.

Damn. They must have brought mobile suits. Even this far underground, even using geothermal power in the base, one Minovsky-Ahab reactor running on the surface was enough to jam weak radio waves.

You hear more gunshots from around the corner and realize that the spy and her friends are moving on and, thankfully, alerting more of BAHRAM. Carefully judging the closeness of shots, you hurry after them, gun still drawn, only to run into Viola again, who'd apparently run into the fugitives from the other direction from wherever she'd been sulking over Radium.

"Sergeant, what the hell is going on?" you ask.

"They've got Dr. Links and Dolores," she replies, face grim.

"Are they defecting?"

"No, they were both in cuffs, and Dolores was wounded. This is a kidnapping, not a defection."

"Well then that's a hell of a pair of hostages," you observe. "Listen, if they're after the scientists, they must be after IDOLO, too. You go warn Radium, I'm going to get my LEV. There's Ahab jamming up, they must have brought mobile suits to cover them."

"I..." Viola hesitates, but seems to clear her head and nods. "You stop them taking off, I'll protect Radium and IDOLO."

Impulsively, you hold out a hand, and Viola grips it after a moment of confusion. "Here's to the war, Sergeant. Go get your friend, I'll save his girlfriend."

She nods. "He's gonna kick your ass if you don't."

Radium is gonna kick your ass.

You reach the hangar for the base's complement of normal Phantoma LEVs to find it full of a lot of hulks recently caved in via massive battle-axe to the face and a trio of Gjallarhorn Graze standard-types. A handful of other LEV pilots are taking cover around the periphery of the hangar and taking ineffectual potshots at the 18 meter-tall mobile suits with sub machine guns. You're pretty sure you can hear the Gjallarhorn pilots laughing.

You grit your teeth and try to strategize. Links and Dolores's kidnappers would be heading for the transorbital shuttles, if Gjallarhorn hadn't landed their own. There was no way for you to catch up with them without getting a vehicle. A LEV, or a shuttle, or a mobile suit with verniers, something. You'd take IDOLO at this point if it would--

One of the Gjallarhorn pilots spots you hunkering down. They apparently didn't bring antipersonnel equipment on this job because he just sends a single 120mm rifle shell at the shipping container you're trying to hide behind. The container explodes from the force of the impact, but whatever was in there absorbs enough force that you're not immediately decapitated by shrapnel, instead just thrown across the hangar in a pile of...what the hell is this stuff? Uncharged Metatron? Great, if you make it out of this you'll get to die of radiation poisoning in a few weeks.

No, it's not Metatron. It's a weird bluish-purple crystal. You hadn't realized that BAHRAM was going into jewelry - no, focus, that Gjallarhorn pilot is about to notice you're still moving. You have to move you have to leave you have to get in a fucking robot, ANY robot--

????????????

You blink and, suddenly, you're in a cockpit. Monitors are off, power is off, but you are, most assuredly, sitting behind the controls of a robot.

"Did I just...die?"

"...did I just wish myself a robot?"

"...am I God?"

All interesting philosophical questions, but you quickly remember the reason you wanted to be here. Time enough to figure out what happened later. You look around the cockpit for a power switch and find it immediately. Good. It looks basically the same as a Phantoma's, at least in layout. Oh, it's a full panoramic monitor, it's just showing pitch blackness. That's neat. As the main power comes up, a readout in front of you displays the name of your new ride. It says...

[] XAW-3 THELETOS
[] XAW-3 NYMPH
[] XAW-3 (Write-In)

Boy, a lot sure happened there. Please vote for the name of your main robot! Statistics will be determined later. Vote will be open for **48 hours** once again.

This chapter was primarily adapted from Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans and Zone of the Enders: 2167 IDOLO.

EDIT: Accidental 15 minute moratorium because I'm good at the internet.

Nerdorama · Dec 12, 2022

Scheduled vote count started by Nerdorama on Dec 10, 2022 at 12:42 PM, finished with 22 posts and 13 votes.

6 people have voted
[X] XAW-3 THELETOS
5 people have voted
[X] XAW-3 NYMPH
- ThatGuyWithIdeas
- Alectai
- araa
- veekie
- VoidZero
1 people have voted
[X] XAW-3 MELINOE
- Etranger
1 people have voted
[X] XAW-3 IXTAB
- theguynamedwafer

Miscounted and thought we had a tie for a second there. Theletos it is.

I'm feeling motivated and have done a lot of pre-writing so I'll see if I can squeeze in an update tonight. Overall my plan for this quest is regular updates on Wednesday and Saturday but I can sneak in an extra prologue chapter.

Nerdorama · Dec 12, 2022

[X] XAW-3 Theletos

"XAW-3 Theletos, huh? Well, nice to meet you," you say, letting the machine's automatic boot process run while you attempt to find a manual, or at least a systems checklist.

"External lights...huh. OS last updated NCE 0016? Shit, this is practically Calamity War vintage." You turn on the machine's spotlights to illuminate the darkness surrounding the machine to reveal nothing much more than a cave with a metal shutter directly in front of you. Well, you can rule out spontaneously manifesting a robot - it seems that you came to it.

You've heard of things like this before - even looked for them in the more foolish moments of your youth. Remnants of the Calamity War abandoned or intentionally buried in secret bunkers on the Martian surface. Large portions of Chryse, at least the parts where they don't care about phone reception, are powered by Minovsky-Ahab reactors dug up from such castoffs, and flashier mercenaries and pirates would use high-spec machines restored wholesale from where they'd previously been entombed. On the other hand, you've never heard of one being found fueled up and ready to start, but if miracles keep happening to you, you're not about to start complaining.

"Right, how do I get out of here...well, there's no door controls, but there is a heat weapon..."

After a minute or so of carving with a weapon designed to cut through armor, you've reduced the hangar shutter in front of you to slag, along with, apparently, a sheet of rock in front of it that was camouflaging it. The Theletos moves smoothly as you push the controls forward to walk out of the forgotten hangar and survey the situation.

Shockingly, you're not far from the hidden BAHRAM base - in fact, after ducking your machine down behind some of the debris you just created, you notice the entrance to BAHRAM's own formerly camouflaged hangar with the three Gjallarhorn mobile suits still inside, one of them apparently still having fun popping shipping containers with its rifle. You also see the telltale signs of contrails heading upward from the base's orbital launch catapult - someone's already launched shuttles, and with no evacuation order, you're positive that it was Gjallarhorn making off with Dr. Links and Dolores. You'll need to get to the catapult yourself (and pray this thing you've found yourself in is spaceworthy), but first you you need to do something about those mobile suits in the hangar before they slaughter the rest of the Phantoma pilots, or start bringing down the base itself. You consider your options...and the biggest weapon you can find in the Theletos's loadout.

[ ]You have the initiative, and a giant axe. Charge in and smite evil!
>[+1 CQB, Gain Heavy Weapon: Resonance Cleaver]

[ ]There's a gun in here big enough to pierce Nanolaminate even from this distance. Line up a shot from concealment.
>[+1 Aim, Gain Heavy Weapon: Fusion Cannon]

[ ]Divide and conquer. This is the perfect opportunity to lure the enemy into a trap, and you've got exactly what you need to set it up.
>[+1 Evade, Gain Heavy Weapon: HOST Remote Weapons System]

[ ]Wait, zoom in. That's Stevenson putting together an AT rocket. If you just draw the enemy's fire, your comrades can take care of them.
>[+1 Defense, Gain Support Weapon: Jammer Bolt]

Your work done, and three mobile suit kills to your name (take that, weird AVS kid), you start moving at speed toward the orbital catapult, discovering in the process that the Theletos has a flight system built in - really unusual for mobile weapons that old but it too, somehow, still works.

"Was this thing abandoned a hundred years ago, or was it put there last week?" you wonder aloud, when suddenly a streak of green shoots out of the catapult ahead of you and toward the sky.

IDOLO.

A Few Minutes Earlier

You are Lieutenant Radium Lavans, and you just watched your Orbital Frame kill a man.

A squad of Gjallarhorn infiltrators disguised as maintenance workers had ambushed you and IDOLO's support crew in the Orbital Frame's secure hangar. Most everyone died in the ensuing point-blank firefight, but one of the spies successfully entered IDOLO's cockpit and booted it up, only for the Orbital Frame to launch itself at maximum acceleration toward the walls of the launch catapult, doing no damage to its Metatron-enhanced frame and breaking the would-be thief's neck almost instantly.

IDOLO opens its cockpit. You approach, and dutifully remove the Gjallarhorn goon's corpse.

"Lieutenant!"

Viola is calling you, coming into the room herself only to find you and a scene of carnage. Ever dutiful, she updates you on the situation.

"Dr. Links and Dolores were kidnapped by another unit!"

You barely have time to stagger out a confused "Dolly!" before you find yourself vaulting into IDOLO's bloodied cockpit.

"What are you doing?" Viola asks. You shouldn't have to tell her.

"I'm going to rescue Dolly! If they're taking her back to Earth, they'll use the Uhlenbeck Catapult at Deimos Base. If I take IDOLO, I can catch up before they--"

A gunshot pings off of IDOLO's armor. You turn to see Viola pointing her sidearm at you.

"The hell are you doing, Viola?" you ask.

"IDOLO is a top-secret military weapon. No order to pursue have been issued. If you take it, you'll be committing a crime against BAHRAM."

"I know that! You think I care? This is Dolly we're talking about!" You turn to leave again.

"Stop! Please, Lieutenant! If you go, they will kill you, and I will have to come after you to do it."

You ignore her.

She takes another shot.

This one grazes your cheek.

"You said you would fight with me and show the Earthlings who we are. You told me to die for this planet. Was that all a lie? Were you just making it up to sound cool? Lieutenant?"

You pause to listen to her rant, then continue to climb into the cockpit. IDOLO is calling you. Dolly is calling you. You feel Viola aiming between your shoulder blades.

Then you feel her arms wrap around you from behind.

"Lieutenant...you're all I have left...please..."

You turn to face her--

"Viola. I finally know what to do with this power. IDOLO's power. Power is not to be used with a hateful heart, but to protect the ones you love."

A Few Minutes Later

You find the laser comms and switch over to BAHRAM's band to start asking what the hell is going on, and quickly raise Viola, who's apparently managed to secure a LEV that wasn't in the hangar.

"Lilia! Radium's gone. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen! All that talk about quitting and now he's flying off after Dolores to die!"

This has officially gone from clusterfuck to disaster. IDOLO was the root prototype for the entire Orbital Frame project. If he's haring off with it toward a Gjallarhorn base like he always did in mock battles...

A man's voice breaks into the comm channel on override "Attention, all available BAHRAM forces. This is General Rutger Tyusha. A test pilot has gone AWOL with an experimental unit and is en route to Gjallarhorn's Deimos garrison. All available forces are to INTERCEPT and DESTROY the test unit designated IDOLO. Do NOT engage Gjallarhorn. Do NOT allow Gjallarhorn to obtain IDOLO by any means!"

"Fuck that!" you say, to Viola, because you're not high enough rank to say that to a general. "Vi, we're going after him. I know you can talk him down, and, well, I've got plausible deniability now."

"...what the hell are you piloting?" she asks.

"Not important. Let's just get to the catapult."

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaCjr6MyOU0

Fortunately, going to orbit in an individual mobile weapon is a lot more doable on Mars than it supposedly is on Earth, thanks to the lower gravity and thinner atmosphere. Unfortunately, the delta-v granted by the catapult is just enough to get you out of the gravity well, and isn't going to catch you up to IDOLO's boosted accleration, and you can just barely see the signs of its passage ahead of you in flickering lights that lance out to shred Gjallarhorn's hastily-deployed mobile suits and patrol cruisers. Too bad for them the thing uses Metatron-pumped lasers that bypass their nano-laminate, not old-fashioned particle beams.

The utter destruction wreaked by IDOLO's passage has sent the normal orbital traffic into such chaos that you barely notice that there's another firefight happening in orbit until you're practically on top of it, with one of Gjallarhorn's patrol cruisers having avoided the swathe of destruction to continue with whatever traffic stop they were originally going after. Wait...you're being hailed again.

"Hey, BAHRAM!" you hear an unfamiliar voice over the comm band. "You guys lose something?"

"Who is this?"

"It's Tekkadan, Miss Lilia," you hear Biscuit Griffon cut in. "We took off for Earth early, and well, things got a little complicated."

Orga Itsuka
Mars's Devil of Ambition

"Specifically, this is Orga Itsuka, Tekkadan's commander. We have a VIP aboard, and Gjallarhorn figured that out before the green streak over there disrupted their operation."

"Excuse me! I believe we might be of mutual assistance," Kudelia Aina Bernstein's voice cuts in. Orga really needs to work on his comms discipline. How many mics does he have open on the bridge of that transport? "We have a plan for the ship, but please go help Mikazuki! You're fighting Gjallarhorn now anyway, right?"

"Well, we are."

"We don't have time for this, Lilia," Viola cuts in. "If Gjallarhorn doesn't kill Radium, BAHRAM will!"

"Mikazuki and Akihiro are engaging five Grazes in the direction of Deimos. Just running interference will be worth a big rebate, and also, we won't all die," Orga explains.

"What are you damn kids fighting a war for anyw--"

"Viola. Let's go. I've got an idea," you say.

True to Orga's words, there's two units engaging fi--four Grazes almost directly on your flight path, two standard and two Schwalbe Grazes. You and "Mika" are tied again, you guess. One of the Tekkadan units is a repainted Graze hanging back and taking potshots with a smoothbore cannon, but right in the thick of it is...

"Is that a Gundam Frame? I guess I'm not the only one who dug up an antique today," you comment.

"Oh, it's Violet and Lily. And here we are fighting Chocolate Guy and his sidekick. Today is strange," Mika comments casually as he lines up to throw a gigantic metal club.

"I'M NO ONE'S SIDEKICK, YOU DAMN SPACE RAT! I'M SPECIALIST MAJOR GAELIO BAUDU--" then the mace hits him and puts a visible dent in his cockpit.

The other Schwalbe Graze is sneaking up in the Tekkadan ace's blind spot, though: Mikazuki moves in that mobile suit like a martial artist fighting on foot, but he still doesn't have eyes in the back of his head.

"No time to stop and talk, Mika, just...heads up!" you shout, as:

[ ]You charge in and block the other Schwalbe Graze before he hits Mikazuki with an axe, then kick off and continue toward Deimos
>[+1000 HP, Gain Skill: Parry]
[ ]Fire a spread of beam shots at the other Schwalbe Graze - it won't hurt him, but it'll be a distraction, and you can keep your current trajectory going
>[+1 Hit, Gain Skill: Hit & Run]
[ ]Do a flyby like a shmuck in an old propaganda film. It'll break his attack without slowing you down.
>[+1 Mobility, Gain Skill: Dash]
[ ]Just interpose yourself in front of Chocolate Guy's axe. You're in a giant robot, you'll be fine.
>[+1 Armor, Gain Skill: Support Defend]

However you do it, your sudden interruption prompts a professional but obviously very startled reaction from the Schwalbe Graze pilot. As you speed past, though, you do see the mobile suit throw you a salute, of all things.

"Thanks, Lily," Mikazuki says as the sniper pilot - Akihiro, you assume - plugs another distracted Graze, forcing the Gjallarhorn group to fall back.

"The Utopia Colony Phantoma squad is coming up from the south," Viola reports. "Let's go!"

Deimos Base

You are Lieutenant Radiom Lavans, and you are going to save Dolly.

BAHRAM's ground-based missiles couldn't stop you.

Gjallarhorn's LEVs and mobile suits couldn't stop you.

They couldn't even touch you.

With IDOLO all thing are possible.

You blast through the outer wall of the Deimos Uhlenbeck Catapult with a single massive burst of Metatron energy.

"Dolly...where are you? There should be a cruiser in here..."

You enter the main axial launch chamber, and are ambushed by another squad of Gjallarhorn Phantomas at close quarters. They aren't a match for IDOLO's blades. One of them is giving you trouble, but--

There. You see her. Your beloved Dolly, and Dr. Links, dressed in normal suits and scrambling out of a maintenance shaft that was damaged in the fighting a minute ago. You desperately split the last Phantoma in half with IDOLO's sword, and reach out a hand...

There's handgun fire. Someone firing at the doctor--no. No no no no no no no

"Dolly!"

A blank of several seconds. You've crashed into the wall but with IDOLO's help, you've gotten Dolly into the cockpit.

She's been shot three times, all bullets meant for Dr. Links.

"Hold on, Dolly, I'll get you to a hospital right--"

She reaches out a hand. "I'm sorry. I wanted to be...by your side...forever..."

You plead, and you scream, and the cockpit glows green...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcfhScnUVGo

You are IDOLO.

Your frame is engaged in COMBAT. You enjoy this. You will make the Earthlings SUFFER for what they did to your Frame Runner. You lock on and obliterate enemies with the power of METATRON. You RIP and you TEAR and you destroy all those who would harm your Frame Runner and his BELOVED.

Your Frame Runner is INCAPACITATED. You are granting him his fondest wish. You are granting his BELOVED's fondest wish. He and she and YOU will be together FOREVER.

The world that METATRON makes possible fulfills all desires.

They will never be apart.

You destroy LEV after LEV.

You destroy Mobile Suit after Mobile Suit.

Damage levels exceeding 25%.

Combat is interfering with your Frame Runner's HAPPINESS. You must destroy the ENEMY. You seek a target.

Gjallarhorn GRAZE Squad. Threat level: 0%. Irrelevant.

BAHRAM PHANTOMA Squad equipped with MAGNETIC ACCELERATOR CANNONS. Threat level: 25%. You are not properly EQUIPPED for these enemies. Logging tactical update for Dr. Links.

Unknown unit, provisionally designated XAW-3. Threat level: UNKNOWN. Capabilities of Frame not listed in database. Provisional assessment: 75%.

SGT Viola Gyune's PHANTOMA Threat level: 80%. ERROR - INVALID TARGET. Your Frame Runner wants to talk to her through the METATRON connection. You do not understand why. She's already shot him once today.

Setting Target to XAW-3.

Analyzing weaknesses...

[ ]Target pilot's melee capabilities impaired by hesitation. Accelerate and strike under guard.
>[-1 CQB]
[ ]Target pilot's awareness of distant targets is limited. Strike from outside line of sight
>[-1 Aim]
[ ]Target pilot's movements are predictable. Pattern match and anticipate strategy
>[-1 Evade]
[ ]Target pilot can be overwhelmed with direct force. Overpower.
>[-1 Defense]

Welcome to the main stat-generating part of character creation: choices made here automatically succeed, but how you go about things determines what Lilia and Theletos are good at, and what their weaknesses are.

I'll do a full primer on mechanics later, but here's a brief rundown:

All stats default to +2 (except HP, which starts at 7000)
CQB+Hit or Aim+Hit is rolled against target Evade+Mobility using opposed d10s, depending on if it's a melee or ranged attack.
Damage is based on the weapon damage+CQB or Aim directly compared (not rolled) against target Defense+Armor.
Parry makes you better at defending against some attacks
Hit & Run and Dash both make you narratively faster, either at repositioning or charging
Support Defend lets you tank for friendlies

For this chapter, please vote in PLAN format, listing your options as subheadings of the plan name. For example:

[X]Plan: Cleaver That Swords Evil
-[X]You have the initiative, and a giant axe. Charge in and smite evil!
-[X]You charge in and block the other Schwalbe Graze before he hits Mikazuki with an axe, then kick off and continue toward Deimos
-[X]Target pilot's awareness of distant targets is limited. Strike from outside line of sight

Which would give a net of +1 CQB, +1000 HP, the Parry Skill, a Heavy Melee weapon, and -1 Aim

This chapter was once again primarily based on Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans and Zone of the Enders: 2167 IDOLO. I apologize for putting poor Miss Hayes in the refrigerator with so many other Kojima love interests, but unfortunately, we're in the middle of everyone's backstory here. I promise, ~~the next time I kill someone without a roll, it will be one of the IBO boys~~ I'll try to avoid it once we're in numbered chapters.

Nerdorama · Dec 14, 2022

Scheduled vote count started by Nerdorama on Dec 12, 2022 at 11:52 PM, finished with 16 posts and 9 votes.

4 people have voted
[X] Plan: DOM be nimble
-[X]There's a gun in here big enough to pierce Nanolaminate even from this distance. Line up a shot from concealment.
-[X]Do a flyby like a shmuck in an old propaganda film. It'll break his attack without slowing you down.
-[X]Target pilot can be overwhelmed with direct force. Overpower.
2 people have voted
[X] Plan Need Support?
-[X] Wait, zoom in. That's Stevenson putting together an AT rocket. If you just draw the enemy's fire, your comrades can take care of them.
-[X] You charge in and block the other Schwalbe Graze before he hits Mikazuki with an axe, then kick off and continue toward Deimos
-[X] Target pilot's movements are predictable. Pattern match and anticipate strategy
- RookDeSuit
- veekie
1 people have voted
[X]Plan: Tear Them Apart, My HOST!
-[X]Divide and conquer. This is the perfect opportunity to lure the enemy into a trap, and you've got exactly what you need to set it up.
-[X]Fire a spread of beam shots at the other Schwalbe Graze - it won't hurt him, but it'll be a distraction, and you can keep your current trajectory going
-[X]Target pilot can be overwhelmed with direct force. Overpower.
- Etranger
1 people have voted
[X] Plan No Range like Long Range
-[X]There's a gun in here big enough to pierce Nanolaminate even from this distance. Line up a shot from concealment.
-[X]Fire a spread of beam shots at the other Schwalbe Graze - it won't hurt him, but it'll be a distraction, and you can keep your current trajectory going
-[X]Target pilot's melee capabilities impaired by hesitation. Accelerate and strike under guard.
- ThatGuyWithIdeas
1 people have voted
[X]Plan: Cleaver That Swords Evil
- araa

Nerdorama · Dec 15, 2022

Look ma, all prewriting.

[X] Plan: DOM be nimble
-[X]There's a gun in here big enough to pierce Nanolaminate even from this distance. Line up a shot from concealment.
-[X]Do a flyby like a shmuck in an old propaganda film. It'll break his attack without slowing you down.
-[X]Target pilot can be overwhelmed with direct force. Overpower.

Mars Sphere, Deimos, outside the Uhlenbeck Catapult

XAW-3 Theletos
Your hero?

It is somewhat vindicating to know, after all that time spent protecting Project IDOLO and keeping it secret, that it is in fact just as devastating in actual combat as the brass had thought it would be. Radium's killed dozens by now after re-emerging from the Uhlenbeck Catapult shaft, BAHRAM and Gjallarhorn alike; he's completely berserk and unresponsive to comms, and he just punted you across the surface of Deimos Station like a soccer ball. All this while Theletos was spewing warnings at you that you didn't understand. What in the actual hell does "INCOMING FOLD WAVE" even mean?

IDOLO. The image of a God.

Metatron, God's voice.

You almost, for a moment, give up hope of beating this thing. Whatever you'd accidentally found to come fight it in, an Orbital Frame is a generation ahead of it in technology...

...but that wasn't quite true. You can see the damage adding up. IDOLO was never prepped for combat, never had Nanolaminate Armor applied, never had any subweapons systems attached. Radium wasn't even using the Vector Trap's shield function correctly, with numerous bullets getting past it to chip away, slowly, at IDOLO's armor. One lucky hit from a Phantoma with a Mag Cannon got in and managed to cleave off IDOLO's wing binders, cutting its thrust down from "yes" to "followable by the human eye", and with more reinforcements arriving, Radium was pinned against the surface of Deimos Base.

"Vi! If you're gonna talk him down, do it now! Make him eject!"

You take aim at IDOLO's reactor. The cockpit's detachable, so, maybe...

"Vi...? Vi, can you get him on comms?"

Viola isn't responding, but her Phantoma is facing down IDOLO. Gun down, visor pointed at visor...maybe they're having a conversation.

Your finger tightens against the trigger as you see the Metatron in IDOLO's frame glow even brighter...

Your name is RADIUM LAVANS.

You have just married YOUR BELOVED.

You may kiss the bride.

You pick Dolores up and begin to carry her out of the chapel where you were married. You hear the raucous applause from the empty pews.

Damage levels exceeding 50%.

You look up to see your best friend waiting at the church door.

"Look, Dolores. Viola came to see us after all."

Viola looks confused. She must have just had to fly in, you guess. She's still wearing her BAHRAM jacket. "Lieutenant..."

"We're about to leave for our honeymoon. IDOLO's waiting outside."

"Lieutant, please get a hold of yourself!"

"We're going to be together from now on. Isn't that right, Dolores?"

Dolores turns in your arms to look at Viola. Targeting...

"Lieutenant," Viola says softly. "Dolores...she's dead. There are no vital signs in there except you. You're hallucinating."

You stop and glare at this INTERLOPER.

"Who...the hell are you? Why are you getting in our way? Can't you hear it? That's Dolores's voice guiding me."

That's correct, Radium.

I raise my hand.

Charging Burst Attack.

"PLEASE STOP, LIEUTENANT!"

WARNING! DAMAGE LEVELS EXCeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee--

You'll review your sensor recorders later and confirm what you thought - you fired about three quarters of a second before the Phantoma squad did, a solid beam of hyperfocused, full-spectrum electromagnetic energy lancing through the main junction of IDOLO's power system, before it could release a massive, spherical burst of energy at Viola. The rest of the frame is quickly pulverized by railgun shots from the BAHRAM squadron.

Viola's LEV is the only one not shooting.

Seconds later, IDOLO is a broken mess at the bottom of a shell crater on the outside of Deimos's Uhlenbeck Catapult.

You don't see any sign of an intact cockpit.

Your first action, and it ends with you killing your superior officer. It's just...

...pointless.

You receive orders over BAHRAM's band to start retreating before Gjallarhorn asks too many awkward questions, but before you can even react, emergency override messages start pouring in.

"Oh what now?"

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT3-ovbYe9E

By the time you've turned around and rocketed away from Deimos (fun fact you note about Theletos: no fuel gauge, but you're also not feeling any drop in your thrust, so it's fine) it's obvious that whatever IDOLO's been up to is going to go down in history as the second-worst thing to happen to Mars today. Gjallarhorn's garrison fleet, already in disarray after Radium's stunt, is locked in a knife fight with an enormous armada of ships of a type you've never seen before, almost like pictures you've seen of oceanic fish and Earthborn bugs, all emerging from a single huge crystalline object that appears to contain...

"Is that fucking Jupiter?"

Gjallarhorn's garrison ships attempt valiantly to form a line of battle and fire at these apparent invaders, but their railgun and beam cannon shots seem to curve away from the interlopers even as the volleys are fired.

You're stunned for a moment before you start recording sensor data. There's...very little. No radio or laser transmissions, no Ahab signatures, not even any recognizable life signs. Just an enormous fleet of, you have to assume, robots that are now launching their own attack at the defending ships - railguns, from the look of it, and some chemical rockets. Ones powerful enough to tear into Gjallarhorn's fleet and the hapless civilian traffic that happens to be near the conflict.

Emergency broadcasts fill the public bands, with Gjallarhorn and Martian colonial officials both urging shelter for those on the surface and evacuation for orbital traffic - via the Phobos Catapult, obviously, since Lieutenant Lavans just so helpfully put a hole in the Deimos one. You're not any less angry about having to kill him, but you're certainly not happy that his last act in this plane of existence has probably doomed you to getting killed by robots.

"Lilia," Viola's voice cuts across the laser comms. Completely flat. "I'm returning to base."

"You're going back down there? We're being invaded by aliens or some leftover Calamity War AI or something!"

"I don't care. They can kill me. But if some piece of shit drone's going to do it, I'm dying on Mars."

"Viola? Viola!"

She's no longer responding.

You look back and forth between the surface of Mars and the rapidly disintegrating battle line in orbit. Some dumb brave bastard in Gjallarhorn rammed the giant crystal ship as it made for a landing, although unless it's very badly heatproofed, he probably just succeeded in making it land somewhere it didn't intend to.

Technically, you're AWOL from BAHRAM. Also technically, you're not stealing if you either decide to take some potshots at the invaders or make for Phobos and bail, instead of following Viola back down to the surface to die. Clearly, your life's at a crossroads here, and it's time to make a decision.

[ ]Viola has the right idea. You'll make your stand with her and take as many of these bastards down as you can [+1 Devil]
[ ]It's time to make like an Earth Tree and get out of here. There's nothing more you can do.
[ ]Protect Mars at all costs...even if it means protecting Gjallarhorn ~~[+1 G~~

While you're still considering, something slams into the Theletos again.

"WHAT THE HELL, I WAS HAVING A MOMENT!"

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jERcvK8Sb90

This one's different from the other invaders coming out of that crystal ship. For one thing, it's humanoid - practically skeletal - and for another, rather than engaging Gjallarhorn in a swarming death battle or even attacking the damaged Deimos Station, it seems to have beelined directly for the Theletos.

You scramble to reorient your scavenged machine into a combat attitude, thankful your gun doesn't seem to have run dry after fragging Radium, but it rapidly turns around and punches the Theletos again, moving without any apparent inertia to mercilessly pummel your new ride.

"What the hell are you?" you ask, slamming the button for CIWS lasers to try and ward it off. It jukes to the side so fast it leaves afterimages in your cameras, then takes what appears to be a huge katana and slams it across Theletos's cockpit armor, slamming your head into the cockpit wall, leaving a gash cut out of your main monitor's view, and starting warnings blaring that you're a few millimeters of...whatever Theletos is made out of away from hard vacuum.

Just your luck. You're still in your jacket and muddy boots.

The unknown pauses for just a second and you see it clearly, highlighted against the red of Mars, staring almost imperiously at you as you fly away from it from that last hit's momentum.

"Well...whoever you are...you should stop posing and fight!"

With the minimum possible movement, you angle the Fusion Cannon at the unknown and fire, hoping it thinks you're dead in the void. You apparently do take it by surprise, as it doesn't dodge the blast...however, it also doesn't look like you did any damage, some sort of deflector like IDOLO's Vector Trap popping up to block the shot entirely.

You're honestly insulted when it flies off toward the main melee instead of finishing you off.

"That's right...run...piece of..."

Oh right. You weren't wearing a helmet. You raise a hand to your forehead and feel blood.

The last thing you notice before you pass out is one of Theletos's sensor readouts. It's apparently assigned a name to that unknown.

XAW-1.

And that's the end of the Prologue. This chapter was inspired by the end of Zone of the Enders: 2167 IDOLO and the beginning of Martian Successor Nadesico. All "original" mecha images are sourced from RetroGrade Minis's LANCER mecha creator, including the Black Witch (XAW-1), originally created by Massif Press.

Lilia was rudely interrupted before making a votable decision this time, but I am going to put a purely OOC matter to a thread vote before we start getting into the meat of the game:

Should SRWæ have voting moratoriums to discuss plans before voting opens?
[ ]No moratoriums (updates will continue to be followed by 48 hour voting periods)
[ ]Yes, a 12 hour moratorium (each update will have a 12 hour voting moratorium followed by 36 hours of voting)
[ ]Yes, a 24 hour moratorium (each update will have a 24 hour voting moratorium followed by 24 hours of voting)

Bear in mind that I'll be asking for plan votes to determine battle strategy during future, less deterministic conflicts, if that makes a difference. I reserve the right to change this (or really, any rules I come up with) later on, but I wanted to get y'all's general opinions now.

I'm also planning to make some informational posts either tomorrow or in conjunction with the next update on Friday, so look forward to some GAME MECHANICS. Also, and I want to emphasize this now since we're at the end of the first "chapter", please let me have any commentary or critique you have on the story and style so far, any improvements you'd like to see, and any questions you have about the story or writing process.

Nerdorama · Dec 17, 2022

Scheduled vote count started by Nerdorama on Dec 15, 2022 at 12:07 AM, finished with 18 posts and 11 votes.

8 people have voted
[X]No moratoriums (updates will continue to be followed by 48 hour voting periods)
-[X] Exception for complex votes only
- veekie
- Red_Knight25
- JoJa
- theguynamedwafer
- Seido
- CrowesDebt
- Shade31415
- Killerjakee
2 people have voted
[X]Yes, a 12 hour moratorium (each update will have a 12 hour voting moratorium followed by 36 hours of voting)
- RookDeSuit
- Etranger
1 people have voted
[X]No moratoriums (updates will continue to be followed by 48 hour voting periods)
- Crazyone47

Super Robot Wars æ: Martian Mecha Mega-Crossover

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Super Robot Wars æ: Martian Mecha Mega-Crossover

LILIA

Alignment​

Skull Squadron

Lee Fowler

Uruz Squad

Gai Shishioh

GGG Mobile Unit

Graham Aker

Mikazuki "Mika" Augus

Akihiro Altland

Turbines Squad

NOA-0093 Isaribi

Alignment