Zeonquest Fuck Yeah!

Anyway, we seem to be okay, and so's Jolyne.

What about the rest of the team? At last count, there were 4 Gelgoog Jaegers left.

>>14991891
>>14991933
Call Nell and Option and tell them to help the others, we need to return to the ship. It's a bad thing when your MS starts to leak psychedelic colours right?

>>14991967
Well, Nell should actually stay away.
We're all in an AB Chaff field, so her bits and Elmeth mega-particle cannons won't be effective.

But yeah, we need to swat down the remaining four Gelgoogs and then concentrate all fire on the reactor of the remaining Zanzibar, to try to quench the reactor.

Anyway, current situation is this. The large explosion caused by the enemy vessel momentarily disrupted comms, luckily minovsky particles were fairly free flowing due to them being on a stealthed attack approach.

It goes without saying that turning yourself into a small sun tends to defeat any attempts at stealth. It's a fair assumption that the Side 6 authorities are going to know that SOMETHING is going on here, technically inside their juristiction.

Meanwhile the remaining enemy ship has engaged the Outer Heaven, whilst the surviving Gelgoog Jaegers were able to put some distance between yourselves and them due to you getting out of the way (or actively engaging) the suiciding cruiser. They appear to have continued on their way towards the Badu colony where Ramba Ral is attempting to set up some kind of defensive perimeter in the colony without the colonies consent.

YOU ORDERS?

>>14991993
>black ops team trying end-run on the colony
Given that's the case, I say try to raise the team, and have Nell, Option, Zolomon and David try to intercept the Gelgoog Jaegers.

I'm unsure if we should send Jolyne and Elaine to support Mauser. The Outer Heaven should be able to hold her own, but that Zanzibar is probably going to be suicidal, and the OH might need MS support.

>>14991993
David and Jolyne return to the OH to both assist them and get repairs. The Outer Heaven has that big shell firing turret so they should be doing plenty of damage vs the Zanzibar II which will have to rely on missiles and 120mm point defense guns.
Option should form up with everybody else and they all go after the Loyalist Gelgoogs. Have Nell remain at range but still try to keep up with the others.
Wait does everyone have enough ammo to continue?

>>14992078
If our Newtype powers are to be believed, David only has 20 bullets for the bullpup left (but will jam at 19) and Elaine's gatling only has enough ammo left for 36 seconds of firing. If we get out of AB-Chaff, then we have 6 shots from our beam rifle.

>>14992078
>Wait does everyone have enough ammo to continue?

Aside from Elaines stolen Super-Gatling, which is down to about 30 seconds continous firing.

>>14992078
I'm with your deployment plan in general, but I think we should switch Elaine and David.
Elaine only has 36 seconds of ammo left, so should probably unload it all on the Zanzibar and then either reload with the OH or switch out for another weapon.
David can still fight, if his Newtype analysis is to be trusted.

>>14992078

So, have Option stop escorting Nell and rejoin with the main group.
You and Jolyne return to the Outer Heaven to assist it and also for repair and rearmament.
Meanwhile everyone else will attempt to catch up with the enemy Gelgoogs. Presumably you don't want to wait for Option to rejoin the group.

>>14992161

Do keep in mind that you didn't have time to pick up more ammo for the Gatling, once it's gone, it's going to be gone until you can return to Pezun.

rolled 36265 = 36265

:D

ZEONQUESSSSST

>>14992184
Does Elaine have a back up ranged weapon, or just the gatling gun?

>>14992176
Well he's got the beam chaff launchers in his shield so he should be okay. Sure.
>>14992184
Right, okay.
>>14992161
36 seconds can be a long time for a gatling weapon with a high rate of fire.
Pic related, it's Elaine right now.

>>14992176
Well, unless someone seconds either of our suggestions, you'll have to flip a coin between mine >>14992161 or Arty's >>14992078
I know that once the ammo for the heavy gatling is gone, it's gone till we pick up more at Pezun.
But I don't want Elaine to be holding an empty gatling if there are still Gelgoog Jaegers buzzing around.

>>14992238
Wouldn't this one be more accurate?

>>14992231

Yes, a Beam Rifle.

>>14992283
Okay, agreeing with Arty, that beam rifle will be more useful outside the chaff zone, which I assume the Jagers are rocketing out of.

>>14992078

seconding. Our suit is likely good and mangled after that explosion.

>>14992298

Okay then.

You quickly give out orders for the rest of your squad to pursue the Gelgoogs whilst you and Jolyne go back to the Outer Heaven. You order Option to rejoin with the main group and for Nell to use her best judgements.

You bear down on the enemy ship as it continues to duel with the Outer Heaven. Missiles and heavy shells streak between the two in a testament to pre-mobile suit space battles. Whilst the enemy Zanzibar has larger engines and can put out more speed, the manouvering thrusters of the Outer Heaven give it a maneouverability that few Zeon ships can match. Nevertheless the battle appears to be at a stalemate. Both sides have taken light damage, but it appears that with the heavy armour both ships sport, penetrating that tough outer shell is proving difficult for both of them without their beam weapons.

Meanwhile the rest of the group continues it's pursuit of the enemy. Therein lies a problem, the performance of the Jaeger is exceptionally high, whilst Zolomon certainly can overturn them in speed, Elaine will have more difficulty since she essentially has an equal performance envelope. Rance himself is at an even great disadvantage due to his Zaku Kai having a slower thrust rating and if they keep together at his speed, the enemy will get away.

Neither your's or Jolynes Mobile Suits appear to be damaged all that much, a few flak hits here and there and little else. Ammo is a little low in places admittedly. Even her Rail Gun is running out. Luckily you still have a few disposable munitions like grenades and Panzerfausts remaining.

YOUR ORDERS?

>>14992392
Okay, for David and Jo, go for the engines/weapons.
As for the other situation, Zol should be able to pick off the rear suit, and hopefully slow the others down so the rest of our team can catch up. Risky, but at this point we need to finish this before Side 6 joins the fray.

>>14992392
We have to split up the group chasing the Gelgoogs if we want to intercept them before they reach the colony. They're crazy enough to possibly set their suit reactors to overload if that's what it takes to destroy the evidence.

Zolomon and Nell to chase down the Gelgoogs so that Elaine, Option, and Rance can catch up with them. Switch to beam weapons (except for Elaine) as soon as they clear the AB Chaff field.

As for David and Jolyne, Jol fires at the bridge while David fires everything he has to create an opening in the armor protecting the engine block.

>>14992392

Would "FIRE EVERYTHING" be too cliche?

Could Jol snipe at the enemy zanzibar's bridge? Or is the bridge actually protected by more than SPACE GLASS in this alternate timeline?

>>14992392
David and Jolyne stay behind the Zanzibar II and try to damage its engines. Stay at range as much as possible.

For the rest of the team no so certain. Try to get in as many shots as possible now before they get out of range. Zol and Elaine can match their speed so it might be best for them to keep up and for Rance to link up with Option. If Zol thinks he can land some beam lance throws from this distance go for it but leave 1 spare. Elaine should just go for unloading all of her remaining ballistic ammo since this may be the last chance, trying to hit their thrusters if she can. If they can slow down the Jaegers at all it should buy some time for Rance and Option to catch up.
Not ideal but it's better than just letting them escape.

Honesty, I think dealing with the Zanzibar is the lower priority here. The suits are the spear point of the enemy operation, while the ship is (for the moment) stuck fighting ineffectively with the Outer Heaven. Leave one, maybe two suits (Rance?) to mop it up in good order while we send everything else (preferably our fastest everything else) after the Gelgoogs.

>>14992539
David and Jolyne are already out of position; they can't intercept the Gelgoogs.

Same with Option.
Nell's bits might be able to fire on the Gelgoogs, but there's no guarantee.

>>14992459
>>14992462

You have Zolomon head off to try and draw the enemy into a prolonged rearguard engagement so the rest of the team can catch up. Meanwhile you prioritise targeting the engines to try and secure a mission kill on the enemy Cruiser.

You dart around as the two ships continue to duel with each other. Pulling out your Panzerfausts you fire a pair of them into the rear of the ship. Defensive flak crazes around the two of you as you pour fire onto the target. You aren't sure how much damage your doing, but one of the verniers eventually dies out from your attacks and the ships begins to list. With it's speed advantage gone, the Outer Heaven is now able to concentrate on pounding more precise areas with it's guns.

YOUR ORDERS?
I'M OFF TO HAVE MY DINNER. BRB.

>>14992586
Give Nell a call and see if she can maneuver her bits to intercept the Gelgoogs, and if it comes down to it, do a 'drive by' to take out the lead one.
As for us, keep hammering their weapons and other vital areas.

>>14992719
>Give Nell a call and see if she can maneuver her bits to intercept the Gelgoogs
Agreed
>and if it comes down to it, do a 'drive by' to take out the lead one.
Worried about doing this. If they're out of the beam chaff field now they can just pull their beam machineguns.
We need to to get a message through to the Colony and Ramba Ral so that he know's what he'll be up against.

>>14992768
Yeah, but the drive by is a last, last ditch thing. As for calling, comms might be a little busy at the moment, but we should try anyway. Hopefully they won't be able to trace it.

Uhh...guys.
Got a problem here.
Remember the auto-ban and its weird word-filter hate of "possessive noun" followed by the word 'engines'?

Yeah, it's still there, and pretty much seems to work for any noun. I've used carrier, Zanzibar, and car, for examples.

>>14992932
Feel free to report it, but the mods likely wont do anything about it.

>>14992719
>have Nell try to head off the Gelgoogs
Agreed. We should at least try.

As for David and Jol, move away to a safer distance if we can. The Zanzibar's crew may self-destruct the ship.
David keeps hitting the engine block, and Jol tries to take out the bridge.

>>14992932
that's fucking weird.

so "ship's" followed by the E word would get an auto ban?

that's.... random. very random.

>>14992988
Ship's, carrier's, car's, Zanzibar's.

Followed by the other word for drive systems.
Very weird, and inconvenient. No response from when I tried telling mods about it.

>>14992719

You ask if Nell can interdict the Gelgoogs, she says that she will make an attack run as soon as her bits have caught up with them.

Meanwhile you opt to put some distance between yourself and the enemy ship to prevent them from self destructing again. The enemy is launching large amounts of chaff at this time and appears to be attempting to retreat away from the Outer Heaven, damaged as it is, it can still put out a fair bit of pace, although there's no question that the Outer Heaven can catch them.
At the present time, it appears to be heading towards the earth, probably attempting to use the gravity well to increase it's speed.

"The Captain want's to know if he should pursue or not sir, he say's that he doesn't want to get too far seperated from the rest of you if at all possible. Also, I've received word that Zolomon has engaged in a running battle with the enemy Gelgoogs, they currently have the range advantage, but he's making targeting as awkwards as usual." reports your Operator over the laser comm.

YOUR ORDERS?

>>14993291
Pursue for a while and fire at it. Don't get too close though, fire at range. Don't get too far away from the rest of the group though, we don't want it walking into an ambush.

>>14993291
I think we should let them escape, and then go and help Zolomon.

We don't want to push them into a corner or they'll self-destruct, and we can't waste our time here. They can't fulfill their mission and are probably retreating if they've plotted a course towards Earth.

Unless, of course, they're going to use the extra speed to try a slingshot and then ram the colony with their reactor set to overload.

>>14993306
Agreed. Cripple it if possible we can come back for them later if we do. Ask Ookawara if he thinks we can go after those other MS without repairs. He should be able to see the damage readouts over lasercom right?

Everybody else do what they can to catch up to Zol. Keep trying to contact Ramba Ral.

>>14993355
>>14993373

You tell Mauser to give whatever parting shots he can and to return on station. We can keep an eye on them in case they try anything.

You send your updated suit telemetry to Ookawara and ask him if the suits aren't too badly damaged to join in.

"Both suits look fine aside from the usual thruster and joint overworking I've come to expect from you guys. Ammo seems a little low, but once you leave the AB-Chaff field that should mitigate itself."

You opt to pursue the enemy whilst the Outer Heaven gives a few more knocks to the target before pulling around behind you.

Up ahead you can see that the remaining Gelgoogs are firing their rapid fire beam guns semi-erratically in response to return-fire from Zolomon. As you charge in you see a web of glittering light as Nell's bits finally catch up with them. One of them explodes instantly and the rest of the group split up, trying to make themselves a harder target whilst they try to engage the rest of the bits. From this distance you can't see if they're successful or not.
Another explosion follows hopefully from another enemy Gelgoog exploding. From this distance you are just beginning to see Rance and Elaines mobile suits, still trying to reach the combat zone. You push on. No sign of Option, but he'll probably pop up sooner or later.

>>14993484

You eventually see Option pushing his Gyan fairly hard above you. His mass production spec Gyan doesn't seem to have quite the same sort of speed as the rest of yours, not usually all that much of a problem but when you need him to redeploy over long distances, perhaps we should consider some sort of transport option. In any case, ahead of you, you make out Elaine and Rance reach the combat zone. Further explosions and flashes follow.

By the time you arrive it's all over. Zolomon's Gyan is sporting a criss cross of scorch marks from numerous close shaves, whilst the other two are relatively undamaged.

"Mission accomplished sir!" Zolomon reports as a floating Gelgoog head drifts by.

"Any good salvage?" You ask casually.

"I wouldn't mind snagging one of those Beam Machinegun things if we can find one..." Elaine states.

"You'd better make it quick if you do guys, we have two Side 6 cruisers inbound. They don't look pleased either" Anita interjects on the intercom from the advancing Outer Heaven.

>>14993648
Grab up whatever we can, and hightail it back to the Outer Heaven. We don't want to get our suits impounded.

Look especially for those beam machine-guns they had, and maybe some flight recorders, though the latter is gonna be a real stretch.

>>14993648
Salvage the shit out of EVERYTHING. Pritty much all the Gelgoog parts will be UMP capable. Even if all of the other suits blew up there should be enough left over to build 2 (or more) whole suits.
Pic related.

>we have two Side 6 cruisers inbound.
I was meaning to ask, what kind of ships does Side 6 have? I imagine they'd have something to deter the Federation designed Pre-war, plus anything they've built up since January to protect the colonies should they be dragged into the war.

>>14993648
>>14993713

You snag as much as you can and return to your ship. Once you get back you've managed to haul a pair of Beam Machineguns, and some various pieces of scrap and salvage.

>>14993718

>I was meaning to ask, what kind of ships does Side 6 have?

Outdated military ships and converted civilian vessels. The two ships in question appear to be a pair of Block V Salamis Cruisers from roughly 15 years ago. They lack beam cannons and instead feature heavy missile banks. In a post-minovsky world, it's likely these have been configured to fire dumbfire rockets.

>>14993767
What's the status of the Loyalist Zanzibar?
What's the ETA on the Side 6 cruisers intercepting us?
Have we been able to raise Ramba Ral on comms?

I think we should retreat to just beyond the Side 6 border and then open communications there.

After loading up on the Outer Heaven, Anita patches you into the conversation between Mauser and the Side 6 representative.
For reasons you can't discern Mauser has decided to adopt a deep south accent.

"This is the Side 6 military vessel Gregorio del Pilar to unidentified Zeonic Vessel please explain your circumstances."

"Mah circumstances young man?" you note that from somewhere he has produced a fake pointy beard and mustache, reminding you faintly of some earth fast food chain.

"...wai ah do declare that ah am a little lost, mah ship has taken a few too many knocks to tha noggin and my navigational transpondahs are all sorts of messed up. Can help me young man with where we ah?"

"Unidentified Zeon vessel you have strayed into Side 6 space, prior to our arrival we observed a large nuclear explosion can you shed any light on this?"

"Side 6? Well lawks a lawdy are we evah off course..."

You can't help but snigger out loud at this. Elaine patches through to you on a closed commline.

"Oh sure. To you this is funny. Try living with it for 15 years."

unaware of your conversation Mauser continues with his spiel.

"...weil we must be farther off course than ah anticipated. As for that large explosion that you saw back there, ah am in as much of the dark as you are. We were simply minding ah own business, tryin to get ah bearings when something astern of us just plum dixie exploded."

"Unidentified Zeon vessel, you will be escorted outside of Side 6 space to a friendly port. Failure to comply and you will be shot upon."

"Sir, should we try to bluff our way into the colony or should we retreat back to deal with that last Zanzibar. It's possible we don't need to head back to the colony now." Anita asks you over the intercom whilst Mauser blathers for time.

YOUR ORDERS?

>>14993968
Hopefully this has provided Bernie the distraction he needs to get out of Side 6 with the Alex.

I think we should keep up the act, and get escorted out. We need to find and deal with that Loyalist Zanzibar, after all.

>>14993968

Do we have any idea how the side 6 forces would react if we revealed our identity and informed them that we'd just defended ourselves against an attack by rogue forces?

If we can patch them the info on that retreating Zanzibar, I think we should.

>>14993968
...why the hell would he do that? We may need to come back for Bernie if he needs help getting out of Side 6. That'd be easier if we could have impressed upon them that Gihren was trying to blow up one of their colonies.

Whatever, we need to track down that last Zanzibar.

Would saying this get us into trouble with them? "Side 6 Forces, be aware that we sighted what looked to be a black painted Zanzibar following the Explosion. It is NOT with the Legitimacy forces."

>>14994068
>>14994039
I share your concerns about Bernie being able to get out. It's just that I don't think that the Side 6 cruiser captain would be in any mood to listen to our requests if we outed ourselves as an elite Legitimacy MS team.
Also, maybe Bernie can still use whatever plan they had in place to get the Alex out; the explosions supposedly pulled Side 6 defenses away, possibly from Libot colony as well.

>>14994068

You agree to be escorted out of Side 6 space, after claiming that you had spotted a second Zanzibar with similar damage in the area.

After being closely escorted for about 30 minutes you are directed to the nearest naval base (Grenada in this case) and the ships that escorted you return back in the direction they came.

You give the impression of limping onwards towards Grenada until your sure you've passed out of sight of the two cruisers. This takes another hour. You use this time to rearm and repair. Elaine's Gatling is of course unreloadable, however the Beam Machineguns seem to be easily compatible with her suit if you want to swap over to that.

Tracking where the Black Zanzibar went proves problematic. You're observation posts believe they caught sight of a large object in a controlled re-entry pattern to earth.
If correct, the calculated trejectory would place them in Africa, which is still largely Loyalist country. However, the ship sustained damage, trying this maneouver with damaged engines and a possibly cracked heat shield is a damn ballsy manouver. It could have just been a feint, some automated ballute gear designed to give a similar size and shape as a descending vessel.

In any case, even if the ship DID make this feint, it would still have to repair itself before even thinking about making an assault on a space colony. ESPECIALLY now that it's lost it's mobile suits. Top priority would be to find a way of ressuplying itself and repairing damaged systems.

The big question is, did the ship flee to the earth, or is it still up here, and if so, where?

YOUR ORDERS?

What about the political ramifications of the Zeonic Civil War spilling into Side 6 territory? Regardless of whether we were protecting Side 6 or not, we can't deny that we fought a Loyalist strike force within Side 6 territory.
We need to consider if this would put Ramba Ral's investigation at risk.

>>14994239
Well, first, since we can't reload the gatling until we get to Pezun or we wait here in Grenada for them to build more bullets, give Elaine one of the beam machine-guns.

Should we scramble our transponder ID and go back to Side 6 space under the guise of some other Legitimacy Zeon ship, trying to get in touch with Ramba Ral for a priority military communique?
It would also let us get to a position where we could help Bernie escape, especially if we go in like that black ops unit did, relying on a black paint job and radio silence.

>>14994239
Sounds like we need to do some running around. I'm for keeping the impression that we still 'trust' Kycilia and the old man and inform them of the attempt by the Loyalists to attack Side 6. Nobody onboard who knows about the Hard Drive we've got are to be allowed off the ship should we dock in Grenada.
Once we've reported the incident the real question is of we should head for Pezun in the hope of hearing anything from Bernie or head for Solomon.
The sooner we unload that Hard Drive the better but at the same time we're lacking gatling ammo.

>>14993968
I'd say Ral can handle it from here. Let's head back to the OH for now.

>>14994068
>Why?

Because it's been a hella long time since there was some decent comedy. Last thing I can recall on a similar level was us eating rock candy during briefing. I for one welcome it.

We still need to talk to Ramba Ral. Can we get a com to him in Side 6 and ask him to come see us?

>>14994357
Unlikely that he would come. He's got to babysit those nukes, and that's the only reason why his presence is tolerated in Side 6. I doubt that they would allow him to come and go as he pleases, especially after the recent fighting that occurred.

>>14994318
I agree that we have to keep up pretenses for now, and that informing Kycillia in private that Gihren sent a black-ops team to Side 6 is probably in order.

As for where to go: if we're not going to try to sneak back to Side 6 to pick up Bernie, then why not go to Solomon and send off a message to Pezun, requesting that they send a big load of Gatling ammo ahead of us?
That way, we get to Solomon and there's a big huge pile of Heavy Gatling ammor for our resident Heavy Weapons Girl.

>>14994439

So the general gist is to return to Solomon or Grenada, inform Kycillia of Gihrens attempt to assault Side 6 and order Pezun to make up a good stock of ammo for your Gatling and forward it to wherever you're going?

>>14994637
Sounds good.

>>14994637
Granada's the closest Legitimacy Zeon base, so let's go there.
We'll report to Kycilia what Gihren tried to do to Side 6. Maybe we'll get lucky and Bernie will report in here.

Then, we should head to Solomon and request Pezun forward our Heavy Gatling Ammo there.

Also, do we have beam machine-guns in Legitimacy production? If not, maybe we should turn one over to Granada or Pezun for analysis.

Realising that the window for this operation has probably passed for the Loyalists, it's probably safe enough to entrust the safety of the nuke to Ramba Ral.

You send a message through the secure lines to Pezun for them to construct a large order of bullets for the Gatling.

The big question is where do you want to send them? Do you want to go to Grenada and inform Kycillia personally about Gihrens latest attack? Possibly confront her about other things? Or do you wish to head straight to Solomon, and risk a more interceptable form of communication?

YOUR ORDERS?

>>14994763
Go to Grenada, it is closest. Tell about Girhen operation.
DO NOT TALK TO HER ABOUT CHAR'S NUKE.
Send 3/4 of the ammo to Solomon. The rest can stay at Pezun should we stop there.

Can we get moving before the end of this session?

>>14994763
I vote head to Granada, but only that we're here to report about Gihren's latest plot, and to fill up on H3. We need to report to Solomon for our orders.
Keep up the pretense that we still trust in Kycilia and Degwin. Also drop off one of the beam machine-guns for analysis and reverse engineering.

Have the Pezun shipment sent to Solomon, which will be our next stop.

>>14994763
I say we go to Solomon. A few threads back it seemed the consensus was to tell Dozle in person about the nuke.

>>14994811
Yes, the consensus is that Dozle gets told in person.
But that doesn't mean that going there right now is the best idea.
Besides, it was mentioned that Mauser had the Outer Heaven's engines on full burn when going to Side 6 from Texas Colony, that our fuel tank is nearing empty. We need to go to Granada for fuel, if for no other reason than that it's the closest fuel station.

Dozle has to be told in person. Kycilla can't. Not at all. Keep any data on it on our person. No computer backups on the ship or anything. We don't know what they might be able to read off of the OH.

>>14994800
>>14994810
>>14994811

You decide to head for Grenada first to make your report and then straight on to Pezun, then Solomon.

The journey takes two hours. During which time the crew make busy repairing what damage they took at Side 6.
Eventually you arrive at the Luna base. Although Kycillia is apparently too busy to meet you, a rear admiral you haven't met before does. After about an hour to deliver your report on your activities in Side 6 you're allowed to go about your business.
You're also able to glean some facts from the aftermath of the Texas Colony mission.
It seems that the Trojan Horse was able to apply for neutral harbour in Von Braun, and although it made it to the port under the protection of Von Braun, the outside of the space port is now under a major blockade by the Grenada fleet. The ship itself is going to have to run through a massive gauntlet if it wants to escape now.

Char himself was picked up by units in Hawaii as he managed to escape from falling colony fragments after re-entry. He is currently assisting in the defence of Hawaii as they continue their operations to vacate the base and join up with the geurilla forces in north america.

Afterwards you quickly depart on your way to Pezun.

>>14994931
This is...surprisingly good news.
I am now waiting for the other shoes to fall.

>>14994949
The other shoe is that they didnt abandon the ship at Texas Colony and fleet aboard the civillian rescue ships. Despite the other zeon ships waiting to shoot it to pieces there.

>>14994999
No, no. See, that's just one shoe.
I mentioned shoes, plural. That can't be the only bad news that Apologised has in store for us.

>>14994931

The ride to Pezun is similarily uneventful. It feels very much like the calm before the storm. A feeling that, to be frank, you could have done without being so familiar with.

Anyway, another hour and half of journey time later you manage to dock in Pezun. Strauss greets you at the docking bay.

"We got your order through David. We've got about 18000 shells for you here, and the rest we sent ahead on the ressuply transport to Solomon. Also we've been getting some interesting rumbles from up above."

"Such as?"

"It seems that the Loyalists have offered a cessation to hostilities, with the possibility of a combined military agreement."

"The higher ups think that's legit?"

"The general concensus is Girhen's political cachet has been all but exhausted in several high risk maneouvers and his political circle want to now distance themselves from him. They're also looking out for number one, immunity from prosecution or safe haven in Axis seems to be the number one request of many of them."

"Axis?"

"It's a space fortress redoubt for Zeon VIPs to escape the federation should the war end in a total loss."

"Well, if they think that Gihren isn't still the hand that rocks the cradle then the Legitimacy are dreaming. We only just got back from a putting paid to ANOTHER one of his..."

Whilst you're speaking, the tannoys crackle into life, overriding whatever it was you were going to say.

"NOW HEAR THIS. NOW HEAR THIS. As of 35 minutes ago, we just received word that Federation forces assaulted the first defensive line of Space Fortress Solomon. As of now, we are in high alert. Any Solomon stationed units are ordered to return to Solomon and engage the enemy at once. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. I repeat..."

So. It has begun.

TO BE CONTINUED

--OMAKE--

Watch Overseer Jachin Dan slammed the counter of his command chair in frustration.

"Try again dammit!" He ordered his comms officer.

"It's no good sir! Radio wont penetrate the minovsky density of the debris field that their passing through, and we can't reacquire them long enough for a laser-communications link!"

"Shit!"

He'd already stated three times in the past that it should never have been standard for any ship, to take a route that put it out of the tactical loop. Each time he got the same response: Normal procedure would forbid this, but as needs must.
As needs must indeed.

Just because that transport had it's priority bumped up a grade that meant that it had to travel as the crow flies, right through an old battlefield did it?

Thanks to "as needs must" that Transport Ship carrying vital supplies would come out of radio contact just in time to walk straight into the Federation Forces.

Well, it was out of his hands now, all that was left for him to do would be to pass the buck up the food chain.

>>14995086
And thus Dozle will die before we can inform him of what's happened.

>>14995086
>All out Federation assault on Solomon
Yup, there it is. The other OTHER shoe dropping.

Well, at least we got SOME ammo for Elaine.
It would have been really good if we could have picked up Bernie and the Alex before this happened.

here's something for Bernie, since it probly wont come up in the quest proper

>>14995183
Yeah, that's true. He did successfully gundam-jack the Alex.

--OMAKE--

Despite somewhat lurid rumours to the contrary, the Flanagan institute was not a crowded asylum full of psychic moon babies and horrific experiments of the kind that usually ended in b-movie horror film style consequences.
It was actually fairly spacious.

However, sometimes, for whatever reason, a room that was not currently in use might have to be repurposed from time to time. Nell Dylands isolation room was one of them.
It was not an isolation room in the strictests sense, it had lights, and the walls weren't padded, basically it was intended as part of an experiment to test her predictive abilities. The results as it turned out had been somewhat ambiguous, but nevertheless there were some interesting kernals of information.

The walls were covered in crayon scribbles, although the room was to be retooled into something else for some other project, the worth of these scribbles; made from a person with the ability to predict future events with shocking accuracy could not be properly valued. So, as a result, they had to be properly documented. Photographed first, and then a more comprehensive 1:1 scale scan that would be stored on a secured hard-drive.

This was the task that fell to two Orderlies.

"Man, I can't believe they're making us record all of this junk." one said to the other as he took digital photos.

"Well, the whole point is that we don't know it's junk. Hell for all we know the entire history of man might be on this wall."

The other looked at him sardonically.

>>14995234

"Really. You think 'The Destroyer has a white mustace' is some kind of warning do you?"

"It might. If I see a guy with a white mustache I'll let you know."

The wall was covered in various scribblings, symbols and line charts. Small, seemingly nonsensical words and lists and charts. In one place a girls name halo'd by the sentence "a mans name for a man" in another a list of names, hard to make out as she'd scribbled the words PURUPURUPURU over the top again and again.

"Hey, you recognise any of these names?" The attendant said to his friend as he took a photo of it.
His partner peered at it.

"I see, Casval? Minni? Minee?, is that Lalah and Cusco? Hrunting, Arronax, Gato, Heman? Homan? What does that look like to you?"

They peered at the mass of writing and gave up. Then turned their attention to massive chart that dominated half a wall. It was huge, stretching up to the ceiling thanks to the low gravity of the moon. It sprawled in furious desperate strokes, with heavy multi-coloured writing and corpses of several broken crayons from where she had pressed to hard...

"What the hell do you think is up with this one?"

>>14995330

"God only knows. It looks like she was trying to find a way to prevent something or cause something."

"Can she do that?"

"To a limited degree. She can't predict acts of god for instance. But yeah, according to her case files this was what she was working on right before she insisted on being transferred into combat. God what the hell is going on here?"

There were skulls all over the diagram. Sometimes they had crowns. In one segment underneath the lines a baleful eye of fire could be seen. The tree was filled with dead ends, ending in a skull or a skull with a crown. Sometimes the tree continued, but you could tell she wasn't all that bothered at this point. The words "Schalten Ritter" were visible in places. If you looked you could trace a single line to the ceiling, at which point the paths went crazy. About 40 to 50 seperate lines, each ones ending in skulls. Some stray element seemed to come in out of nowhere, a skulls decorating the it's strange and unexpected path as it wove through already existing lines.

The attendant looked at the macabre tree of things that were yet to be, or pehaps already happened.

"So, a dead end huh."

He took another snap with his camera.

>>14995144
Owwwwwwww fuck.
>>14995330
Newtypes are looking at the liner notes again!

>She just kept screaming "It's not my fault!" over and over

Was wondering when that would come back up.
Freakin Feddy disco mirror.

>>14995330
So who has a white mustache?

>>14995433
She saw every one of David's kills?

>>14995475
This guy.

>>14995433
So Nell is the unexpected element, trying to manipulate the timeline to a better outcome to the war?

>>14995538
Little does anyone know, but David was not supposed to be here. He was supposed to die in the first session, as he was rocketing towards Earth. It as subtle intervention by Nell that allowed him to land safely and live on and fight.

>>14995568

So Nell's the GM and apologised is just an instrument of her manipulations?
>my mind is full of fuck

I'm trying to stat a Zaku, but then I read that part on MAHQ that MSes aren't supposed to survive one or two direct hits from a beam weapon. So I'm thinking that maybe I should strip the armor down to 10% coverage or something?

>>14995568

I think I've already discussed that. The Butterfly flapping it's wings in Honshu was that the giant cannon in the first episode of IGLOO was never constructed, and instead you got the Loki pod attatched to the back of your Gallop for Operation Elephant.

As a result of this, numerous things in the battle of loum never transpired. One of which was Strauss getting hand-picked by Dozle to be his other Bodyguard along with Shinn.

>>14995589
Here, official stats.

>>14995619
I don't know how to read that.

>>14995589

Beam weapons aren't Lasers in this, they're closer to massive PPC's that weigh as much as a light PPC.

>>14995690

In fact, let me clarify. It's something with the Light PPC's weight and size BUT A NAVAL PPC'S DAMAGE BLOCK. Not the range thank god, but still.

So, about that ammo shipment.

Should we try to follow the supply shuttle in, and try to catch up with it? Or go to Solomon from another vector?

How is it that the Nacht Mechs can carry so much extra crap into battle, and never have a glancing blow ignite that shit?

I mean fuck.

>>14995888
FFFFFFFF- Did you really have to bring that up? Do you want pic related to happen?


Also white mustache has to be Challia Bull who was supposed to be a Ramba Ral style recurring character until the series was cut down. I mean it's either him or the Bandit. Did he have a Mustache?

>>14995619
Neat. Do you have the rest of these?

Alright, writing this out now in preparation for next week:
David knows that most of the ammo and other supplies we requested were sent towards Solomon.
Nachtmaren has just been ordered back to Solomon to fight back the Federation assault.
The most reasonable course to take for him would be to catch up with the supply shuttle, get his stuff, and then make the rest of the way to Solomon. Maybe escorting the shuttle if it carries more UMP parts than can be fitted in the OH.
Which is another thing to do. It really seemed to help the Zeon cruisers at Texas Colony when we showed with spare parts and ammo for everybody; maybe we should do the same here, load up on UMP parts and ammo from Pezun and take it along with us to help Solomon's defenders.

'oly shit. Zeon quest!