Hmm... Is there a disadvantage to letting Tacit take it?
Cause we're more likely to finish Abram off with the killzone, but that could damage the salvageable bits more than if Tacit made a called shot to the shoulder.
I'm tempted to have Tacit just keep taunting and shouting while the Conventionals take the kill. Maybe have the pilots make a badass speech while we're at it. Something about how the Kaiju is not even worth drawing his blades against and how normal men and women were more than enough to defeat him.
It would be one hell of a Morale boost, wouldn't it?
Edit: Here are some Tentative plans.
[] Plan "With Hearts of Steel and an Iron Will"
-[] Tacit is to keep drawing Abram's attention and prepare to Charge forward if Abrams tries to make a ranged Attack against a Conventional Unit.
--[] Badass speech optional.
-[] All others are to fire again and keep firing until Abrams is defeated.
[] Plan "Slay Evil Swiftly"
-[] Conventional Units are to fire once more.
-[] Tacit Charges Abrams.
I'm not sure which one we should go for. On one hand, having the Conventional Units kill the Kaiju effortlessly would be one hell of a Morale booster, especially considering how fast we managed to find and kill it. On the other, Charging Abrams should kill it quickly and stop him from pulling another surprise. Also, possible research samples.
With your current tactics (punches and kicks? What are those?), it'd probably result in kaiju guts everywhere. Currently, all the fire damage is preventing any bleeding wounds, minimizing the cleanup.
With your current tactics (punches and kicks? What are those?), it'd probably result in kaiju guts everywhere. Currently, all the fire damage is preventing any bleeding wounds, minimizing the cleanup.
Oh yeah. Let the Conventional Units take this one, then.
[X] Plan "With Hearts of Steel and an Iron Will"
-[X] Tacit is to keep drawing Abram's attention and prepare to Charge forward if Abrams tries to make a ranged Attack against a Conventional Unit.
--[X] Badass pose and speech optional.
-[X] All others are to fire again and keep firing until Abrams is defeated.
[X] Plan "With Hearts of Steel and an Iron Will"
-[X] Tacit is to keep drawing Abram's attention and prepare to Charge forward if Abrams tries to make a ranged Attack against a Conventional Unit.
--[X] Badass pose and speech optional.
-[X] All others are to fire again and keep firing until Abrams is defeated.
Good news is that we can punch him if we have to, and blunt damage causes much less mess than slashing.
edit: Upon further thinking, a grapple would be even better. He's already taking stat penalties from strikes, and those are twice as potent when resolving grapples.
[X] Plan "With Hearts of Steel and an Iron Will"
-[X] Tacit is to keep drawing Abram's attention and prepare to Charge forward if Abrams tries to make a ranged Attack against a Conventional Unit.
--[X] Badass pose and speech optional.
-[X] All others are to fire again and keep firing until Abrams is defeated.
[X] Plan "With Hearts of Steel and an Iron Will"
-[X] Tacit is to keep drawing Abram's attention and prepare to Charge forward if Abrams tries to make a ranged Attack against a Conventional Unit.
--[X] Badass pose and speech optional.
-[X] All others are to fire again and keep firing until Abrams is defeated.
Tacit's loudspeaker crackles on, the mighty machine planting its hands on its hips with more 'tude than an 80-meter-tall mech has right to.
"Now, you see-
Before Tacit's pilots can finish speaking, the remaining forces open fire! The kaiju's joints practically shatter, its ruined eyes blown to pieces, the entire monster toppling to the ground with one final screech before the kaiju's stamina runs dry.
Abrams takes 3 Strikes!
"-Now, wait a second, I-"
Kaiju SE-26-006, "Abrams" Defeated!
"Oh, come on! I was going to improvise a badass speech and everything!"
Ta da! I'll slap together a downtime post tomorrow or something, don't worry.
While Alec is understandably miffed about being unable to carry out his speech, there's no denying that this was a rock-solid victory for the NPPDC! Due to the usage of only cauterising wounds, next to no kaiju blood was spilled, relieving the overworked cleanup crews of a dangerous duty.
Tacit Ronin has some nasty melting around its conpod, but a quick scrub down reveals that most of the damage was cosmetic in nature.
Repairs to Tacit Ronin will cost 1 Action and 50 R. However, given that it's one strike, Tacit's perfectly operable without the fixing.
Upon return, the crew of one tank squadron in particular, and receive noticeable commendation for their performance, having landed several solid hits against the kaiju. Of course, the efforts of the ever-valiant brigades are also made aware of, as without them the battle would have certainly been longer and bloodier. The tank squadron receives a ceremonial maroon paint-job for their vehicles, distinguishing them from the pale white and red standard tanks.
1 Type 100 Anti-Kaiju Tank Squadron promoted to Type 100 ELITE Anti-Kaiju Tank Squadron!
Elite Units explode any Natural 10 that they roll, as Jaegers and Kaiju do.
Abrams' corpse is eagerly examined by the scientists, who run their grubby little science hands all over it. The kaiju actually has some fairly interesting stuff going on, which K-Sci believes they can adapt to function with the NPPDC's existing technology. Abrams' petrochemical bile could be easily refined into a potent fuel, allowing for all sorts of uses-- long-ranged missiles, rocket-propulsion, or simply an accelerative boost for ground units. Also of interest is the kaiju's ablative armour-- which allowed it to weather several tougher wounds from its foes (though, against the sheer overpowering firepower, this was fruitless); something like this could easily be fashioned to protect Tacit Ronin!
However, this sort of research will be very intensive, and eat up any sort of opportunity to use the kaiju's data for different project.
Abrams Token Gained! This token may be redeemed during any Research Roll to roll an extra 1d10 for any research roll involving...
- Refined Petro-Bile Fuel
or
- Ablative Protection
Once used in this fashion, the Abrams Token is discarded.
Kaiju Stats:
Abrams
Class: Category II Kaiju
Another hexapedal kaiju, Abrams' stance is similar to that of a mantid, with its forelegs raised off the ground to act as arms. Its head mounts a pair of short, heavy mandibles, while its body is coated in a carapace, with thicker armour along its back.
Stats:
HtH: 1
Ran: 2
Str: 3
Tou: 4
Agi: 2
Dex: 0
Structure:
Dura: 3
Stru: 8
Weapons:
Petrochemical Bile
Built-In Ranged Weapon
Attack Dice: 2d5
Armour Penetration: 0
Damage Type: Fire
Damage Bonus: Strength
Range: 2/5/10
More Manufacturing means more money means we can do more stuff. Fix Tacit because never go into the weekly attack with a dinged Jaeger if we can possibly help it IMO (though if anyone has a cool research idea to swap in there that could be done), and scan for local Kaiju because we don't know anything about our neighbors.
I think we're actually at a point where we might want to take an upgrade to science right now since it's the one major stat that's still at ground level yet. Then we can upgrade Manufacturing again next turn.
[X] Plan SCIENCE!
-[X] Improve Research (-1000 Resources)
-[X] Fix Tacit Ronin (-50 Resources)
-[X] Build 8 T-95 Anti-Kaiju Artillery Teams! (-400 Resources)
-[X] Research Improvements to Tacit Ronin's Toughness*15 (-300 Resources)
(1750 Resources Total)
Natural 1s still result in point gain, but only for stat levels of 0-2. Past stat level 2, nat. 1s no longer give points. 9s don't give points at all any more. It's a balancing mechanism I'm implementing, making it easier to bring your jaeger up to competency quickly, but forcing you to work harder once you're past basic improvements.
Basically, any stat of 0 to 2 gains a point from a 10+ or a natural 1, while stats being improved past 2 only gain points from 10+s.
[X] Plan SCIENCE!
-[X] Improve Research (-1000 Resources)
-[X] Fix Tacit Ronin (-50 Resources)
-[X] Build 8 T-95 Anti-Kaiju Artillery Teams! (-400 Resources)
-[X] Research Improvements to Tacit Ronin's Toughness*15 (-300 Resources)
(1750 Resources Total)
For once, the long-unattended R&D division gets some financial love. With the new influx of people, more scientists, engineers, and others have arrived, and Branch 01 receives accorded attention. A fresh supply of instruments is constructed, as is a test bay for any prototypes devised by the men and women of science.
Tacit's semi-melted conpod also receives attention, new components being installed to replace the internal damage and distorted sections of the visor. It's a relatively simple job, compared to rewiring the jaeger's entire arm after Tanken. Humorously, one of the technicians has slapped a bandage on the mecha's browline, right on the center of the bile strike.
The city's auto-jigs aren't just building research equipment, however. Forty eight new T-95s are constructed, rolling off the assembly lines bright and early. Their teams have all been selected by the now-retired tank crew, who have been put in charge of artillery training. The new guns are a welcome addition, as even if they lack armour and mobility, they still pack a punch.
With the improvement in Branch 01's capabilities, work can resume on the impact gel once more-- though it'll take a bit before the new equipment offers any noticeable improvement. The results are far more promising this time-- by adding a 12% solution of silicon dioxide, the gel no longer suffers from decohesion when exposed to water! On the downside, J-Tech disagrees how best to apply the impact gel; one team proposes a series of shock-absorber-esque pads filled with gel and attached to Tacit's inner frame, to increase how much damage it takes to cause catastrophic damage to the frame; the other proposes electromagnetically binding the gel to vital components alone, to increase how long the jaeger can function before experiencing decreased performance. Clearly, this will have to be decided before the impact gel can be equipped.
Research increases to 2!
All Strikes repaired!
6/10 points to Toughness 2!
Of course, there's other things that'll have to be dealt with before upgrading Tacit...
Fun bit; that argument your research teams are having? Team 1 wants to increase Tacit's Structure, while team 2 wants to increase Tacit's Durability-- seeing how boosted Toughness can do either.
