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Tacit Ronin vs. The World

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Week 4: Downtime
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    • [X] Plan Investing for the Future
    -[X] Begin Cleanup Operations (-1050 Resources)
    -[X] Upgrade Population (-2000 Resources)
    -[X] Research Kaiju Harvesting (Further research Kaiju Biology to increase the number of resources we get off of each Kaiju we kill.)
    -[X] Research Improved Kaiju Cleanup (Research more efficient and cost-effective methods of cleaning up after Kaiju messes)
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    Not a second after the strip-harvesters are done do the cleaners move in, bringing a great deal of supplies with them. The entire operation is costly, ugly, and expensive-- but ultimately sound in its results, as Arbalest's corpse is turned into a pile of sterilized bones over the course of the week.

    For the first time since the NPPDC's birth, survivors begin to arrive at the city-- as it really can't be called a camp anymore, not with its size. Construction and expansion begins almost immediately, new housing blocks, resource cashes, and hydroponic bays being practically scratch-built by the reworked auto-jigs. Of course, there's no shortage of jobs around, allowing for quick assignment and employment. A newly-taken census reads the population as nearing 40 thousand people-- births and immigrants combined.

    Not all of these survivors are civilians, of course. Quite a few people versed in biology, mechatronics, ad other fields have joined the city's scientific community. And they've got themselves a job.

    One concern of the council is the fact that kaiju decompose too quickly to harvest in their entirety. Past a certain point, they're just too toxic to safely continue work on. It's this same decomposition that also makes kaiju corpses such a threat-- their rapid breakdown creates several highly caustic chemicals that wreak havoc on conventional biology. The research division's task; find a way to fix this.

    Despite the odds against them, the scientists actually do churn out some worthy results; a few small-scale prototypes and a set of blueprints.

    The first set consists of several parts: adapted trucks with sterilizing storage bays on their backs, designed to keep pieces of kaiju fresh enough to make the journey back to the city with time to spare. Once they reach the city, said trucks would be brought to a modified warehouse, where the second part would come in. This second part involves various pieces of equipment in an auto-sterilizing environment-- such as laser cutters, bio-extruders, and bonding chemical synthesizers-- allowing for more worth to be drawn from kaiju components. Unfortunately, the stage-two equipment is far too heavy to be made mobile, so the stage-one equipment will have to bring the kaiju pieces back into the city.

    The second set of blueprints and prototypes is supposed to solve the other problem; the difficulty of efficiently dealing with the kaiju's decay. Their solution: another reworked facility, designed to produce a chemical that should neutralize spills fairly rapidly. The only problem is that its efficiency has been noted to drop rapidly; when it was tested on two same-sized samples of Blue that came from different category kaiju, the higher category sample lost 20% efficiency! This suggests that the differing categories of kaiju may have some differences in their blood's chemical composition. While they can't figure it out quite yet, this is still the best solution they were able to come up with in this amount of time.

    Population increases to 4!
    New Augment available for purchase: Kaiju Salvage Facility
    - Kaiju Salvage Facility (Manufacturing):
    Cost: 1000 Resources
    Provides +10% Resources from a slain Kaiju, independent of Morale. Each further-constructed facility adds +5% to the bonus Resource gain.
    New Augment available for purchase: Xenofauna Sterilization Plant
    - Xenofauna Sterilization Plant (Population):
    Cost: 1250 Resources
    Automatically discounts cleanup costs for Kaiju by a percentage equal to 30-(5*Category)%
    Discounts: Cat 0 - 30%. Cat I - 25%. Cat II - 20%. Cat III - 15%. Cat IV - 10%. Cat V - 5%.

    Three days later, the Kaiju alert goes off.

    <ALERT: INBOUND KAIJU SIGNATURE DETECTED>
    <CLASSIFICATION: CATEGORY II>

    You know the drill; throw me some scanners!
     
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    • Time to Rock!

    EDIT: City Scanners confirmed to like Rock music. Do I explode the die?
    Highwind threw 1 10-faced dice. Reason: Scanners Total: 10
    10 10
     
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    Scanner roll: 10+10+3+1= 24
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    The scanner crew (newly promoted) must be supernaturally lucky. The old systems are given an emergency tweak, and the modified wavelength results in an astonishingly sharp reading. Just as impressive is the fact that the reading's even further than normal high ranges-- by almost 30%!

    The Category II kaiju-- SE-26-006, codenamed "Abrams"-- is nearly twenty kilometers away, and far further inland than any kaiju than Tacit's ever fought has been. While the scouts are dispatched, the readings are examined.

    Abrams is an insectile kaiju, even matching the hexapedal build. The kaiju's stance is similar to that of a mantid-- though with far thicker limbs-- with its forelegs raised off the ground to act as arms. Each of these 'arms' is tipped with a pair of scissor-shaped talons, held close to its chest. Its head mounts a pair of short, heavy mandibles, while its body is coated in a glossy brown carapace, with thicker matte armour along its back. Spectrometer readings show that the matte plating is actually a separate layer from the glossy stuff, and has detectable layers to it. Another oddity; Abrams has a measurable thermal signature-- concentrated around its upper body and head, but a thermal signature nonetheless.

    The kaiju is currently showing noticeable aggressive behavior-- actively tearing down nearby structures and vocalizing at the loudest and most mobile things besides itself. When the oddness of this is questioned, someone points out that quite a few kaiju just stride forwards dumbly until presented with military forces. Additionally, Abrams isn't approaching directly-- rather, it's zig-zagging its path, seemingly seeking out the most active nearby areas-- though its destination is, without a doubt, Seattle.

    Abrams is approaching roughly from the South-East, and is approximately 200 Units away-- though it will be closer by the time your deployment finishes.
    What is your course of action?
     
    Right. Okay. A tank Kaiju. With a pair of Scissor blades, a surprise on it's mouth and a Nasty Attitude.

    I don't think our Tanks will be of much use unless they hit the head, but maybe they can be a distraction?
    ...Maybe it is blind? It'd explain why it attacks whatever comes near, it can't tell what is near it. Do we have any readings of it's head?

    If it is indeed blind and just seeking out whatever makes the loudest noise then we may be able to use our Tanks and some fireworks to draw it within Charging distance of Tacit so we can try to end this quickly.
     
    Highwind said:
    Right. Okay. A tank Kaiju. With a pair of Scissor blades, a surprise on it's mouth and a Nasty Attitude.

    I don't think our Tanks will be of much use unless they hit the head, but maybe they can be a distraction?
    ...Maybe it is blind? It'd explain why it attacks whatever comes near, it can't tell what is near it. Do we have any readings of it's head?

    If it is indeed blind and just seeking out whatever makes the loudest noise then we may be able to use our Tanks and some fireworks to draw it within Charging distance of Tacit so we can try to end this quickly.
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    It also has an extra layer of armor on at least the spine area. I'm not quite positive from the description, but it looks like it doesn't have hands, just scissor blades on the end of the arms, in which case we could try to grapple it if we are in a pinch.
     
    aledeth said:
    It also has an extra layer of armor on at least the spine area. I'm not quite positive from the description, but it looks like it doesn't have hands, just scissor blades on the end of the arms, in which case we could try to grapple it if we are in a pinch.
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    That's why I called it a Tank :V
    But Yes, Grappling might be viable. Unless the Heat Signature we detected is a flamethrower or something. This is still a Cat II, though, It shouldn't be overly though.
     
    LostDeviljho said:
    didn't our first fatalities come from a Cat II?
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    IIrc, our first fatalities were from using a Scout Chopper squad as bait. That's a huge risk in and of itself.

    I kind of want to research Unmanned Distraction Drones sometime later. We could use a vehicle near the battlefield to burn through the interference from the Magnetic storm thing that damages Jet Planes and make long range communication difficult, which would double as a vulnerability and limitation to the Drone's deployment, for better Gameplay Balance.
     
    Highwind said:
    Do we have any readings of it's head?
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    Yes, yes you do. The scouts made out a pair or two of beady black eyes. They're pretty darn tiny.

    aledeth said:
    it looks like it doesn't have hands, just scissor blades on the end of the arms
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    That is correct. Abrams has massive scissor blade pincers. They're pretty thick around the joints.

    Highwind said:
    I kind of want to research Unmanned Distraction Drones sometime later.
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    This is perfectly viable.
     
    Fyrstorm said:
    Yes, yes you do. The scouts made out a pair or two of beady black eyes. They're pretty darn tiny.


    That is correct. Abrams has massive scissor blade pincers. They're pretty thick around the joints.


    This is perfectly viable.
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    Alright, the Kaiju has tiny eyes, so it's vision shouldn't be that great. And the way it attacks whatever is large, fast moving and/or loud means it might be mostly blind, so drawing it close and into an ambush is a viable tactic.

    We should send our forces out and station them in a semi-circular formation on one side and Tacit in the other. Get the tanks to lay low and partially hidden if possible, and then they hit Abrams all at the same time when he's in range and moving to Tacit, who should be jumping, being loud (while possibly insulting the Kaiju just for laughs) and generally being very attention grabbing.
    What do you all think?

    @Fyrstorm can we tell how fast Abrams is moving?
     
    Fyrstorm said:
    No, its speed varies regularly. It's not a car or anything like that.
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    Not even an average or something? I just wanted to know in case we could use the AKBs or a Tank as bait instead of the Scout Helicopters, because the poor bastards aren't getting paid nearly enough to be the bait every other Kaiju Alert.
    Then I checked our units and their speeds again and saw the Helos move at 15u/Turn while the AKBs can move only 5, so I guess that's irrelevant. Depending on the final form the plan takes, the Scout Chopper squads will have to be Bait again, the poor bastards can't catch a break.
     
    Fyrstorm said:
    Squad. Singular. You only have one, and every pilot in it has several wills written up already.

    And you could use the Carryalls, ya know. They move at 10u/turn.
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    Carryalls are expensive, have more uses and are noticeably slower. The calculus of war and whatnot.
    I'm going to push for the Distraction Drones and a Research Upgrade next turn because damn son those guys deserve a break.
    I'll try to think up a plan that doesn't involve putting our last Scout squad in mortal danger trying to lure a hyper-aggressive murderbeast from another dimension tomorrow.
     
    So, the Kaiju attacks anything that is,
    a) large
    b) loud
    c) fast.

    So the Scouts don't need to act as bait, we can just use something loud to lure the Kaiju into a killzone, and when it comes close enough we won't even need the lures, just have Tacit shout and jump around a bit and he'll charge right into our trap.

    One unit is about 100 meters, right? so Abrams is about twenty kilometers out, and will be anywhere between fifteen and ten klicks away from the base when we're ready, given it's zig-zagging towards us. I propose we send our units about five klicks way from our base and have them position themselves spread out in a semi-circle around Tacit, so their guns ' effective ranges overlap at the center. When they see Abrams, have Tacit jump up and down, shout, insult and generally be very loud and fast-moving to catch its attention. Then, when it starts to move towards Tacit, he should move back, away from the conventional units' line of fire, wait until they fire the first salvo and then finally charge into the fray.

    If the Kaiju is still far way or moving away from the ambush point, we load up a carry-all with some crates of fireworks and explosives set with a long-ish fuse.The carry-all is to get within visual range of Abrams, light the fuse, drop the crate and bug out. The explosives should catch the big dumb alien's attention and get it on track. Have the carry-all repeat the luring until the Kaiju reaches the Ambush point.

    ...Or we could do it the boring way and just have the conventional assets take formation around Tacit and have the whole group advance until they meet the Kaiju however far away that is. That's probably easier, actually.

    Edit: @Fyrstorm Do we know roughly how many turns it'll take for Abrams to reach our position? It'll help us plan how far away we should deploy our units.
     
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    Space Jawa said:
    I'd be down with the more interesting plan if we can come up with something that's viable in the time we have to work with.
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    Because sometimes, logic and sensible planning need to take a backseat. Because sometimes, the plan really is Crazy Enough to Work.
    That reminds me of when Wild Ronin tried to dropkick an alien ship back in that other quest on TV Tropes. And Then they succeeded and Inazuma kicked the ship in half.

    By the way, when we get around to building a new Jaeger, I'll propose an expy of Wild Ronin. One slashes and dashes, the other shoots and smashes.
     
    Highwind said:
    Edit: @Fyrstorm Do we know roughly how many turns it'll take for Abrams to reach our position? It'll help us plan how far away we should deploy our units.
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    Let's see... 200 Units -50 is 150 units...
    150/10-- let's say 5, because of zig-zagging...

    About 30 turns. It's be 15 if Abrams acted anything like other kaiju. So... roughly 35-40 minutes to act. Turns are kinda abstract    .

    Highwind said:
    Because sometimes, logic and sensible planning need to take a backseat. Because sometimes, the plan really is Crazy Enough to Work.
    That reminds me of when Wild Ronin tried to dropkick an alien ship back in that other quest on TV Tropes. And Then they succeeded and Inazuma kicked the ship in half.

    By the way, when we get around to building a new Jaeger, I'll propose an expy of Wild Ronin. One slashes and dashes, the other shoots and smashes.
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    Do the impossible, see the invisible...

    Sure thing, but you're not calling it Wild Ronin v2. You're calling it something original. Yes, it can be a reference.
     
    Vandal Ronin? Might as well stick with the "Ronin" naming scheme we got.
     
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