Tacit Ronin vs. The World II: KRAUN Jewels

[Fyrstorm]

2026, 11 Months post-Tod der Jaeger
Neo-Seattle, Washington state (reconstructed territory of the Neo Pan-Pacific Defense Corp)

Nearly a year ago, the world ended. Too bad Seattle never got the memo.

For the past seven months, the reconstructed Mark I jaeger, Tacit Ronin, has been fighting off the kaiju menace. But they haven't done it alone. The Mark VI Autonomous Jaeger, codename "Jagdhund", soon joined the forces of Neo-Seattle after the city council offered her a place of rest, and repaired the damage she'd suffered. Eventually, this jaeger was revealed to have been created by KRAUN, the Kaiju Repulsion and Annihilation force of the United Nations, created from the remnants of the old world government. Neo-Seattle and KRAUN have since become tentative allies.

But now, the kaiju threat only looms larger. Category Vs, Seijin, and even stranger and more dangerous creatures appear, exhibiting all manner of terrifying and unique abilities that threaten to overwhelm the brave people of Neo-Seattle. Together, Tacit Ronin and Jagdhund must face this menace-- and cancel the apocalypse, once and for all.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Tacit Ronin vs. The World.


Yeah, Tacit Quest! As usual, I expect you to follow standard Quest etiquette. If you have any problems or questions, please bring them up with me in a civil manner.

Quest Index:
Thread 1: Tacit Ronin vs. The World
Thread 2: Tacit Ronin vs. The World II: KRAUN Jewels (You are here!)
Thread 3: Tacit Ronin: The Power of Three

 

[Fyrstorm]

Character Sheets:

Current Jaegers:
- Tacit Ronin, Mark III Jaeger. Theme: [link]
- N.Amr-VI-11b 'Jagdhund', Autonomous Mark VI (III) KRAUN Jaeger. Theme: [link]
- Phenom Sable, Mark II Jaeger. Theme: [link]

Neo-Seattle/NPPDC Base Camp:
City Stats and Defense Force
Item Stats
Diplomacy Dossier (by @huhYeahGoodPoint)

Other Useful Stuff:
Damage Reference Charts
Combat (Hardboiled)
(Grappling Stuff-- courtesy of HBvTW)
The Altitude System (an unofficial guide on flying and swimming in Vs. The World)
@RagnorakTres's Research List (somewhat out of date)
Another Research List (made by the GM, but open to everyone)
@huhYeahGoodPoint's Goal Document
@aledeth's Giant Robots And You (a short Vs. The World guide)
@KnightDisciple's The Spirit of The Jaeger (a look at the development and personification of the titular machines)
Tacit Ronin Vs. The World Rolz Room
@LostDeviljho's amazing Tacit Ronin vs. The World Grand Archive (an all story thread of the quest thus far)

 

[Fyrstorm]

Alright you guys, the thread is now open! I'll let you acclimate and stuff before I throw kaiju at you, as I'm kinda tired.

 

[EvaUnit01]

Neural Disruptor
2000 Resources
- Hivemind Jamming: Each Neural Disruptor affects all Cat III and lower kaiju within 20 units of the Defense Perimeter (and any inside the city), and may be activated as a Full Action or deactivated as a Standard Action. The first time a Cat I-III comes within its area of influence, they must succeed on a Toughness test (6), or suffer a -1 penalty to all stats. Each following round within the area of influence, the kaiju must take an identical test until it succeeds. Once it succeeds, that kaiju is immune to the effects of the Neural Disruptor for the rest of the fight.
Every Neural Disruptor added past the first increases the difficulty of the Toughness test by +2.
Kaiju above Category III are immune to Neural Disruptors. Effects on Seijin are unknown.
- Adverse Side-Effects: When conventional or superheavy forces deploy within the field (while said field is active), roll a 1d10 for each unit type deployed. On a 4+, that unit type may operate as normal. On a failure, that unit is considered under the effects of Hivemind Jamming, and must succeed on a Toughness (6) test to negate the effects for the remainder of the fight. Additional Neural Disruptors do not increase the difficulty of the test for conventional forces.

Click to shrink...

Ladies and gentlemen, if it is at all possible for us to do so, I want to abuse the absolute shit out of this technology, with my end thought being that if we can make it powerful enough, we may be able to use this tech - or some variant of it - to effectively cripple Cat III and lower Kaiju before we even meet them in battle, making those sorties much easier. Needless to say, this could save us a great deal of Resources that would otherwise be spent on repairing Jaegers/replenishing lost units. Which, in turn, means that we could instead invest those Resources into either 1) buffing our present Jaegers or other forces, or 2) commissioning a new Jaeger, either of which can be pretty much unambiguously considered A Good Thing.

Further information I have gained on the subject at hand thus far follows:

So I have a few questions on this.

1) It says "on failure, [...] an identical test". Does this mean that with each successive failure, the Kaiju continues to suffer stat penalties?
1a) If a Kaiju succeeds a Toughness test after they've failed one or more tests, do their stats recover to their original state? Or do they continue to eat the penalties they've incurred to that point, and are simply safe from getting any more penalties?

2) How many of these do we need to make enemy Kaiju auto-fail the Toughness roll?

3) Related to the above, is there a limit on how many of these we can use to cover a single area?

4) Do we know what kind of potential this technology has for improvement?

Click to shrink...

A kaiju will suffer a -1 penalty (non cumulative) until it successfully passes a test. After that, it loses the penalty, and their stats recover.

Four, assuming that the enemy kaiju has Toughness 1.

Not yet. I may make changes once I see how the actually effect fights.

It... could be stronger? This is basically just a prototype that K-Science whipped up.

Click to shrink...

"Stronger" as in "more easily affects them" (Kaiju fail the roll more easily) or as in "has a harsher effect on them" (Kaiju suffer larger penalties on failing)?

Click to shrink...

... Yes.

Click to shrink...

In all seriousness, if we have multiple emittors we may try to do something fancy with interference patterns. Ensure that the interference cancels out the brainwaves over the locations of our own troops, while reinforcing stuff over the targetted Kaiju.

Click to shrink...

Long-term thoughts on where the Neural Disruptor tech could potentially be taken....

1) Find a way to protect our conventional units from its Adverse Side-Effects. I imagine that this will likely involve some sort of shielding technology, or perhaps "something fancy with interference patterns" could be developed.

2) MOAR POWER! If we can give Kaiju the equivalent of a hangover now, then it may eventually be possible to upgrade to rendering them comatose.

3) I don't know if we can make Hivemind Jamming effects cumulative over time, but it sounds like a really nifty thing to investigate.

Anyone else have any thoughts on the subject?

 

[10ebbor10]

1) Find a way to protect our conventional units from its Adverse Side-Effects. I imagine that this will likely involve some sort of shielding technology, or perhaps "something fancy with interference patterns" could be developed.

Click to shrink...

Also, reading the description, I found out that the Neural Disruptor is a dish-like device. In that case, we should be able to develop the revolutionary idea of not pointing it at our own forces. Dishes are after all by design targeted coherent beams.

Another interesting idea is that the jammer works with a high power electromagnetic field. The Fangblades work with a high power electric discharge to accomplish the cauterizing effect, IIRC. Integrating the pattern from the jammer into the cauterization cycle would allow us to stab Kaiju in the brain, while stabbing them in the brain.

 

[KnightDisciple]

Also, reading the description, I found out that the Neural Disruptor is a dish-like device. In that case, we should be able to develop the revolutionary idea of not pointing it at our own forces. Dishes are after all by design targeted coherent beams.

Another interesting idea is that the jammer works with a high power electromagnetic field. The Fangblades work with a high power electric discharge to accomplish the cauterizing effect, IIRC. Integrating the pattern from the jammer into the cauterization cycle would allow us to stab Kaiju in the brain, while stabbing them in the brain.

Click to shrink...

It sounds like right now it's an AOE effect, though @Fyrstorm can correct me on that.

If that's the case, one option could be to make it a more tightly-focused transmission.

 

[EvaUnit01]

Another interesting idea is that the jammer works with a high power electromagnetic field. The Fangblades work with a high power electric discharge to accomplish the cauterizing effect, IIRC. Integrating the pattern from the jammer into the cauterization cycle would allow us to stab Kaiju in the brain, while stabbing them in the brain.

Click to shrink...

So in addition to Stabbing/Piercing/whatever damage, we could also potentially inflict some degree of bonus Mental damage as well?

<imagines stunlocking Kaiju into oblivion while hacking them to pieces>

Yyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssss......

 

[Fyrstorm]

It sounds like right now it's an AOE effect, though @Fyrstorm can correct me on that.

If that's the case, one option could be to make it a more tightly-focused transmission.

Click to shrink...

It's AoE. The augment itself is a series of dishes that are transported to the wall section before the kaiju gets there.

 

[KnightDisciple]

It's AoE. The augment itself is a series of dishes that are transported to the wall section before the kaiju gets there.

Click to shrink...

Hm....

So, thoughts to the thread on ways to upgrade that:
-Improve the wavelengths used so they only affect Kaiju.
-Allow wide-area or tight-beam transmissions, so we can switch between AOE general debuff, and a single-target "FUCK YOU" debuff.
-Mount the dishes on railways so they can always be in position, and possibly give them armored "bunkers" to go into when not in use.

 

[EvaUnit01]

Hm....

So, thoughts to the thread on ways to upgrade that:
-Improve the wavelengths used so they only affect Kaiju.
-Allow wide-area or tight-beam transmissions, so we can switch between AOE general debuff, and a single-target "FUCK YOU" debuff.
-Mount the dishes on railways so they can always be in position, and possibly give them armored "bunkers" to go into when not in use.

Click to shrink...

All three of these suggestions get all of my yes.

 

[KnightDisciple]

I was going to drop a couple of useful links into this thread, but our illustrious QM has that covered! Wunderbar.

 

[Highwind]

That wonderful smell of New Thread!

Hm....

So, thoughts to the thread on ways to upgrade that:
-Improve the wavelengths used so they only affect Kaiju.
-Allow wide-area or tight-beam transmissions, so we can switch between AOE general debuff, and a single-target "FUCK YOU" debuff.
-Mount the dishes on railways so they can always be in position, and possibly give them armored "bunkers" to go into when not in use.

Click to shrink...

I like all of these ideas. We could also go another way with the concept amd instead of using dishes to distribute the signal we could use disposable Bullet-deployed emitters. If they hit the Kaiju, they're receiving the Kamming Signal from point blank. If they miss, they're still emitting the general signal, and deploying them in enough numbers should make up for any possible loss of strength.

By the way, we need more Defense augments. Railway Cannons mounted along the Perimeter Wall would be perfect for launching this type of disruptor as well as more conventional ammunition.

 

[KnightDisciple]

That wonderful smell of New Thread!


I like all of these ideas. We could also go another way with the concept amd instead of using dishes to distribute the signal we could use disposable Bullet-deployed emitters. If they hit the Kaiju, they're receiving the Kamming Signal from point blank. If they miss, they're still emitting the general signal, and deploying them in enough numbers should make up for any possible loss of strength.

By the way, we need more Defense augments. Railway Cannons mounted along the Perimeter Wall would be perfect for launching this type of disruptor as well as more conventional ammunition.

Click to shrink...

It sounds like the Dishes are only part of the system; I'm open to trying to make "jamming bullets", but they seem like the sort of idea that's way down the tech tree.
Improvements to the existing system that focus on just refining it seem more achievable. *Shrug*

 

[LostDeviljho]

You know what would be nice? A list of the stuff we've researched with actual stats. I don't even remember when we researched plasmacasters or what they actually do.

 

[Fyrstorm]

You know what would be nice? A list of the stuff we've researched with actual stats. I don't even remember when we researched plasmacasters or what they actually do.

Click to shrink...

Note to self, assemble a list of stuff.

 

[Space Jawa]

Copy+Pasting from the other thread for people who have already unwatched it.

It... could be stronger? This is basically just a prototype that K-Science whipped up.

Click to shrink...

It's a pretty dang impressive prototype, all things considered.

If nothing else, it's an excellent jumping off point for future R&D.

I will say, though, that I can't help but be concerned by the report that apparently our Kaiju brains supposedly have formed their own mini-hivemind that may well be apart from the 'main' hivemind. Makes me wonder if that'll interfere with our ability to make the Breach Buster design work.

Would be nice to make the technology such that it doesn't run the risk of scrambling the brains of our own troops.

Click to shrink...

I don't think it should be too difficult to figure out some kind of work-around.

Hm....

So, thoughts to the thread on ways to upgrade that:
-Improve the wavelengths used so they only affect Kaiju.
-Allow wide-area or tight-beam transmissions, so we can switch between AOE general debuff, and a single-target "FUCK YOU" debuff.
-Mount the dishes on railways so they can always be in position, and possibly give them armored "bunkers" to go into when not in use.

Click to shrink...

If nothing else, we can try working on some kind of blocking system and outfit all our troops with specialized helmets that'll block the signal.

You know what would be nice? A list of the stuff we've researched with actual stats. I don't even remember when we researched plasmacasters or what they actually do.

Click to shrink...

Very much agreed. I've wanted something like this since forever.

Note to self, assemble a list of stuff.

Click to shrink...

I am very much glad to hear this.

 

[Highwind]

If nothing else, we can try working on some kind of blocking system and outfit all our troops with specialized helmets that'll block the signal.

Click to shrink...

Wait, you mean tinfoil hats will actually be standard issue? Well, that's good. Our troops will be safe from both our Disruptors and from Alien Psychic Mind Tricks!

 

[Space Jawa]

Wait, you mean tinfoil hats will actually be standard issue? Well, that's good. Our troops will be safe from both our Disruptors and from Alien Psychic Mind Tricks!

Click to shrink...

It's only crazy if it doesn't work.

 

[Fyrstorm]

Dammit, I just remembered (I think) that the superalloy costs more to repair than normal stuff. I may be mistaken, I don't know.

 

[EvaUnit01]

I will say, though, that I can't help but be concerned by the report that apparently our Kaiju brains supposedly have formed their own mini-hivemind that may well be apart from the 'main' hivemind. Makes me wonder if that'll interfere with our ability to make the Breach Buster design work.

Click to shrink...

....what if we test the neural disruptor shielding on the Kaiju brains?

Like, maybe we can use it to isolate the Kaiju brains, and that could be suggestive that the shielding tech will be effective in protecting our own dudes.

Or maybe it will prove not to be good for that purpose, but then it could give us some ideas on how to isolate full-sized Kaiju in the field from the main hivemind.

 

[Highwind]

....what if we test the neural disruptor shielding on the Kaiju brains?

Like, maybe we can use it to isolate the Kaiju brains, and that could be suggestive that the shielding tech will be effective in protecting our own dudes.

Or maybe it will prove not to be good for that purpose, but then it could give us some ideas on how to isolate full-sized Kaiju in the field from the main hivemind.

Click to shrink...

The easiest way to calibrate the Disruptor to be (mostly) harmless to humans is to put a few of our guys near the Brains and keep adjusting the frequencies until the brains are screaming while our guys aren't.

Anyway, did we switch JH's axe for Ascalon's Sword? Or was that automatic? Also, should we equip the Laser Gatlings on Tacit or wait until we improve them some?

 

[Fyrstorm]

The easiest way to calibrate the Disruptor to be (mostly) harmless to humans is to put a few of our guys near the Brains and keep adjusting the frequencies until the brains are screaming while our guys aren't.

Anyway, did we switch JH's axe for Ascalon's Sword? Or was that automatic? Also, should we equip the Laser Gatlings on Tacit or wait until we improve them some?

Click to shrink...

You did not switch it. When you face the kaiju, you will have the option to have one of your jaegers deploy with the sword. However, you can't store the sword anywhere, so Jagdhund wouldn't be able to use her gun while she has the sword.

 

[Space Jawa]

So we have Jagdhund carry the sword into battle, have her throw it at the nearest Kaiju, then shoot them while they're busy dodging and then pick it up again when melee fighting happens.

 

[Fyrstorm]

*gasp* I... *wheeze* did it... *choke* all your cool stuff... *suffocates* set out...

Here: Item Stats (it's also in your character sheets)

Also, on that note...

<ALERT: INBOUND KAIJU SIGNATURES DETECTED>
<DOUBLE EVENT>
<CLASSIFICATIONS: CATEGORY IV, CATEGORY III>

...Roll some scannas.

 

[Space Jawa]

Just one scan roll, right?

Space Jawa threw 1 10-faced dice. Reason: Scan Die Total: 5