azoicennead
Overly-Affectionate Zombie Squad
- Pronouns
- He/They
Considering how Superman acted in the first season of YJ, I'd be surprised if Connor didn't at least give it some serious consideration.
Whirlwind Productions (Cyclone's snippets & update announcements)
- Thread starter Cyclone
- Start date
Cyclone
Robotech Nerd
- Location
- Earth, Sol System
Prince Charon
Just zis guy, you know?
He may be thinking about another Dinah, such as the one from Worm.
BrokenAscendent
Unum prae omnibus aliis
- Location
- Auld Lang Syne
Yes.
Itd be funny if they were the same.
BerserkerZeroOne
(Unexploded Supernova)
- Location
- On your left!
The teenage girl in Ollie's shower would be Artemis.
Although...
Dinah: Who are you?
Dinah: There's a 90% chance that you'll sleep with him again in the next hour.
Dinah: What does that have to do with who you are?
Dinah: There's an 81.548% chance that you won't care in the next sixty seconds.
Dinah: You know what, I'm gonna ask Ollie for some answers, since you, apparently, can't give straight ones... or ones that have anything to do with what we're talking about. *stands and leaves*
Although...
Dinah: Who are you?
Dinah: There's a 90% chance that you'll sleep with him again in the next hour.
Dinah: What does that have to do with who you are?
Dinah: There's an 81.548% chance that you won't care in the next sixty seconds.
Dinah: You know what, I'm gonna ask Ollie for some answers, since you, apparently, can't give straight ones... or ones that have anything to do with what we're talking about. *stands and leaves*
(Battletech/Earthsiege) Into the Fire
Cyclone
Robotech Nerd
- Location
- Earth, Sol System
Reposted from here.
March 15, 3010 (Inner Sphere Calendar)
Delacruz, Draconis Combine
A long time ago, his name was Victor Petresun. Now, he was Harabec "Phoenix" Weathers, though he was using yet another alias at the moment. In another timeline, another world, he would have infiltrated, then defected to lead a rebellion against his true father, Emperor Solomon Petresun -- the Fortress Earth Proclamation of 2770 would have ensured it -- but a lot of things can change in fifty years, and the pirate attack on Mars thirteen years ago changed everything. Temporal displacement, dimensional rifting, no one was entirely sure what had happened, but one thing was clear: No matter how much the Emperor wished it, Earth and Luna alone could never stand up to the threat now lurking beyond the stars. What had happened at Tharsis City proved it. So, while Mars and the other colonies weren't free, they were now benefiting from the fruits of their labor, and support for the Free Martian Alliance and other rebel groups had withered away.
He glanced up at his HERC. Even after two hundred years, the Apocalypse Mk V was still the workhorse of the Imperial Legions. At sixty tons, it was classified as a low-end heavy by local standards and provided an excellent balance of speed, firepower, and durability. Like all the HERCs on this mission, it had been heavily modified. It still had proper HERC technology hidden within its armored frame, but it could now work without some of them in order to blend in. His particular HERC was armed with two Kandala 90mm rotary autocannons, two Sioux Firecoup-9 standard lasers, a Sunfinger-ND compression laser, and a particle beam weapon. At full power, the effective range and yield on the PBW easily eclipsed its local equivalent, the PPC, and the standard lasers were notably more powerful than the medium lasers they resembled. The compression laser had been modified so that it could fire singly instead of the resonant triple pulse that gave them their name, effectively turning it into another medium laser equivalent while the modification was engaged, and the heavy autocannons had been retrofitted to accept either standard Imperial munitions or the local 90mm stock.
The DropShip's deck plating shuddered beneath his feet. They were nearly there.
"All right, people, let's mount up!"
Within minutes, the DropShip had landed, the ramp lowered, and Harabec pushed the holographic throttle forward. Unlike the local equivalents, HERCs had computers with the processing power to analyze the terrain and walk or run without direct input from a neuro-helmet or foot pedals. The HERCs' paint was deliberately slapdash and haphazard, their armor worn and dented, the entire machines treated to the liberal application of a sand blaster, in only minor contrast to the faded parade ground paint jobs of the four armored warriors that greeted them, three lights and a heavy. Still, he wasn't about to underestimate them. For all their shortcomings, BattleMechs easily overshadowed HERCs in sheer ruggedness; he still had trouble wrapping his head around the fact that some of them remained battleworthy despite being literally centuries old.
Harabec's Apoc automatically tried to identify the 'Mechs in the squad -- Lance, he corrected himself, they're called lances here -- before them, but he only gave the readout a cursory glance.
"This is Captain Bek Storm of the Storm Knights," he transmitted. "I understand the Draconis Combine has a job for us?"
They'd do what they were sent here to do: hire on with and investigate the so-called Successor States, one House at a time. Eventually, the whole house of cards that was the Inner Sphere would fall, if not to the Empire, then to the Cybrids.
Bek wished there was another way.
A/N: Note, I picked a world at random; I actually know very little about Battletech, so if this is ever going to go anywhere, I would need a co-author who's much more familiar with it than I am.
Into the Fire (Battletech/Earthsiege)
"After the chaos of the First Succession War, mankind stood in the ashes of what they had wrought, and for two hundred years, the Five Houses struggled against each other, unaware of the greater dangers lurking in the darkness. Out beyond the Periphery, time and space itself warped and twisted. Kerensky's Clans and the Dark Intellect watched and waited, each with their own agenda. When Prometheus finally launched an offensive on the Inner Sphere, the Successor States were unprepared for the Cybrid onslaught. I tell the story of the Great Human Empire and the coming of Prometheus. I tell the story of the rise of the Sixth House."
March 15, 3010 (Inner Sphere Calendar)
Delacruz, Draconis Combine
A long time ago, his name was Victor Petresun. Now, he was Harabec "Phoenix" Weathers, though he was using yet another alias at the moment. In another timeline, another world, he would have infiltrated, then defected to lead a rebellion against his true father, Emperor Solomon Petresun -- the Fortress Earth Proclamation of 2770 would have ensured it -- but a lot of things can change in fifty years, and the pirate attack on Mars thirteen years ago changed everything. Temporal displacement, dimensional rifting, no one was entirely sure what had happened, but one thing was clear: No matter how much the Emperor wished it, Earth and Luna alone could never stand up to the threat now lurking beyond the stars. What had happened at Tharsis City proved it. So, while Mars and the other colonies weren't free, they were now benefiting from the fruits of their labor, and support for the Free Martian Alliance and other rebel groups had withered away.
He glanced up at his HERC. Even after two hundred years, the Apocalypse Mk V was still the workhorse of the Imperial Legions. At sixty tons, it was classified as a low-end heavy by local standards and provided an excellent balance of speed, firepower, and durability. Like all the HERCs on this mission, it had been heavily modified. It still had proper HERC technology hidden within its armored frame, but it could now work without some of them in order to blend in. His particular HERC was armed with two Kandala 90mm rotary autocannons, two Sioux Firecoup-9 standard lasers, a Sunfinger-ND compression laser, and a particle beam weapon. At full power, the effective range and yield on the PBW easily eclipsed its local equivalent, the PPC, and the standard lasers were notably more powerful than the medium lasers they resembled. The compression laser had been modified so that it could fire singly instead of the resonant triple pulse that gave them their name, effectively turning it into another medium laser equivalent while the modification was engaged, and the heavy autocannons had been retrofitted to accept either standard Imperial munitions or the local 90mm stock.
The DropShip's deck plating shuddered beneath his feet. They were nearly there.
"All right, people, let's mount up!"
Within minutes, the DropShip had landed, the ramp lowered, and Harabec pushed the holographic throttle forward. Unlike the local equivalents, HERCs had computers with the processing power to analyze the terrain and walk or run without direct input from a neuro-helmet or foot pedals. The HERCs' paint was deliberately slapdash and haphazard, their armor worn and dented, the entire machines treated to the liberal application of a sand blaster, in only minor contrast to the faded parade ground paint jobs of the four armored warriors that greeted them, three lights and a heavy. Still, he wasn't about to underestimate them. For all their shortcomings, BattleMechs easily overshadowed HERCs in sheer ruggedness; he still had trouble wrapping his head around the fact that some of them remained battleworthy despite being literally centuries old.
Harabec's Apoc automatically tried to identify the 'Mechs in the squad -- Lance, he corrected himself, they're called lances here -- before them, but he only gave the readout a cursory glance.
"This is Captain Bek Storm of the Storm Knights," he transmitted. "I understand the Draconis Combine has a job for us?"
They'd do what they were sent here to do: hire on with and investigate the so-called Successor States, one House at a time. Eventually, the whole house of cards that was the Inner Sphere would fall, if not to the Empire, then to the Cybrids.
Bek wished there was another way.
* * *
A/N: Note, I picked a world at random; I actually know very little about Battletech, so if this is ever going to go anywhere, I would need a co-author who's much more familiar with it than I am.
Last edited:
Fr the Battletech side, I will point you this guy: CSS Stravag. Very knowledgeable about the setting.
- Location
- United States
Just as long as you don't try to invade Outreach. The Dragoons don't like that much.
- Location
- Over the hill and far away
The giant robot part of the franchise really does need love, but, yeah... it didn't really speak to me as much as your other works. Mostly because I like your works for the characters, and we didn't really have time to get attached to any of these. Like, okay, the guy is a spy. He's spying for his faction. We don't really know yet if we want his faction to win, or if we want him to turn coat, or... whatever. We know he's long lived, but we don't know if we care for him as a character yet. If you took it up for a longer work I'm sure that all those things would be answered though.
I don't have that problem as much, but that's in part due to the fact that "another life" mentioned at the start? Yeah, that's the events of Starsiege. And in Starsiege, Bek is your direct CO for at least the first part of the story, when it's human vs human. Once the Cybrids show up, you actually get some orders from Bek's brother, who's his opposite number on the Empire's side.
And past that point... I honestly haven't played. What, I was playing it on a system that was new enough that XP was standard by that point, and the controls were more "mech FPS" than the "mech sim" of ES1 and 2.
Sorain
The eternal DM
- Location
- Nexus, looking down over all there is.
HERC's vs Mech's?
High tech/High performance vs rugged, durable and clumsy?
Oh yes, I do want to see this.
And furthermore The Word of Blake must fall.
Historical reference there.
I am, and always have been in love with cyclones works...
My one small complaint.... can be summed up as follows:
"I read you loud and clear. There IS another way, and we'll help you find it."
Bek shot out of his seat, and began demanding answers. First and foremost, "Who are you, and how do you have access to this frequency?!"
The reply made little sense...
"Call me Jayce. Me and my wheeled warriors are here to help. Tell your guys to brace themsekves, reinforcements have arrived. Jayce, out."
A/N: No Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Am I the only one who watched that show?
My one small complaint.... can be summed up as follows:
"I read you loud and clear. There IS another way, and we'll help you find it."
Bek shot out of his seat, and began demanding answers. First and foremost, "Who are you, and how do you have access to this frequency?!"
The reply made little sense...
"Call me Jayce. Me and my wheeled warriors are here to help. Tell your guys to brace themsekves, reinforcements have arrived. Jayce, out."
A/N: No Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Am I the only one who watched that show?
Last edited:
Cyclone
Robotech Nerd
- Location
- Earth, Sol System
Today's updates kick off two fresh arcs.
First, the third arc of Phenomenal Cosmic Power begins with Checkmate 3.1.
And second, the second arc of Way of the Open Hand begins with Assessment 2.1.
First, the third arc of Phenomenal Cosmic Power begins with Checkmate 3.1.
And second, the second arc of Way of the Open Hand begins with Assessment 2.1.
Cyclone
Robotech Nerd
- Location
- Earth, Sol System
I'm not so sure I'd characterize 'Mechs as clumsy compared to HERCs. While HERCs are generally faster except when comparing the lightest of light 'Mechs, the data I've seen suggest 'Mechs may have an edge in acceleration and mobility. Plus, jump jets.
The difference between them can really be traced to two things: their power plants and the HERCs' shields.
HERC reactors run much cooler than 'Mech reactors and appear to be much lighter, but they also appear to be less stable; if you kill a HERC with a torso hit, it will Stackpole. Shields, in turn, provide another massive power sink on said reactors, while also altering priorities in tactics and weapon mixes; a classic BT-style alpha strike against a shielded HERC is a great way to leave yourself open for a counterattack while their shields recharge, for example.
The main thing that tickled me about this idea was the question of how the Wolf's Dragoons would react to a(nother) mysterious mercenary company surprisingly well-equipped with exotic 'Mechs (none of which have hands) and a preference for long-range combat showing up out of nowhere.
It doesn't help that some of the artwork has the Wolf brothers bearing vague resemblance to the Weathers brothers if you squint just right and write off the differences as differences in art style.
- Location
- United States
The main thing that tickled me about this idea was the question of how the Wolf's Dragoons would react to a(nother) mysterious mercenary company surprisingly well-equipped with exotic 'Mechs (none of which have hands) and a preference for long-range combat showing up out of nowhere.
It doesn't help that some of the artwork has the Wolf brothers bearing vague resemblance to the Weathers brothers if you squint just right and write off the differences as differences in art style.
The resemblance might be deliberate. BT is the older of the two franchises by almost 10 years.
But the Wolves have WarShips while the HERCs would be stuck chartering civilian JumpShips for transit.
Sorain
The eternal DM
- Location
- Nexus, looking down over all there is.
Point. I always forget the shield generators. (I am a blaster using fiend.) Perhaps they'll leave the shields off unless/until they need them then? Blend in but not risk their survival.
Deliberate nothing! The entire Metaltech franchise was until recently entirely done by Dynamix, aka the devs of Mechwarrior 1!
(Incidently, "recently" in this context means "everything up to and including Tribes 2, but not Tribes Vengence or Ascend".)
Cyclone
Robotech Nerd
- Location
- Earth, Sol System
It was something I had figured on them doing, along with being able to disable those listed modifications from the cockpit, just in case. Me, I pretty much fell in love with the plasma cannon, and I'm still annoyed the Razor or some descendant of it never appeared in Starsiege.
My preferred load out in early ES2 was a Apoc with (from top to bottom) twin PBW2s, twin Las300s, twin AC50s and another AC50 in the dedicated Autocannon slot. The missile bays were fitted with a Shield Pod and a Energy Pod. When I got access to the Orge, I simply swapped everything over and added a Turbo Pod in the third missile bay.
As for the Razor... My Sidewinder 3D Pro made flying that fun. Preferred load out was PBW2s on the wingtips, Las300s on the underbelly, Razor missile pods loaded with ARH in the missile banks, and a Shield Pod in the pod slot.
...It says something about how much I like Earthsiege 2 that I remember that by heart, despite not playing it for around a decade and a half. In other words, please figure out some way to continue this one!
Cyclone
Robotech Nerd
- Location
- Earth, Sol System
I preferred plasma cannons and ATC50s on my Razor. If I could get the Earthsiege games to run with a modern HOTAS, I would so play them again. I used a Thrustmaster FCS II. Still got it somewhere, actually, but the lack of a throttle was always a pain, and I'd be more inclined to upgrade to something like the HOTAS X.
Nice thing about the 3D Pro was the setup. 8 buttons, a throttle, a hat switch, a rotating stick... That stick and ES2 were practically made for each other! Shame it had issues with ES1; the 3D Pro used Win95 trickery for full functionality and needed to enter a selectable emulation mode for DOS games (it could pretend to be either a CH Flightstick Pro or Thrustmaster FCS).
- Location
- Over the hill and far away
...I only played the turn-based strategy with the hercs. There was a mech simulator with them, too?
Holycraaaaap why didn't I know this?
Holycraaaaap why didn't I know this?
Cyclone
Robotech Nerd
- Location
- Earth, Sol System