Discuss getting a forum instead of spamming /tg/ with a slow-updating thread

>2 armor model
A dedicated tank killer would be a great addition to our arsenal
Other than that though...

>Alt loadout
I'm going to say scout and assault

>Logistic Pieces
Could you clarify that for me I don't really get what you mean.

Oh lookie here, Ironhearts thread.
Welcome back to the land of the living IC.
So new Armor? Gunther's gonna have a field day.
As for Alt Loadouts, I'm excited, curious about Logistics.

In the last thread before it 404'd I was discussing upgrades with Rip. I was thinking something along the lines of Light AP/HE rounds as an upgrade for my [A]'s as utility for Armored-types. Have a good bit of fluff in my head ready for Oderrkuun if I have clearance.

On another note, the guys were discussing a group portrait of some kind. Anyone wishing to take part, email me whatever your desired character specifics are.

I hit 35 xp. How about them caster aspects?

>>15926436
Sorry for pushing another precious 40k or MTG thread off the front page for a minute or two.

Wow, I get back from a resupply run, and here we are. The timing gods are with me today.

New armor might be cool, Gunther does need a Mk4, after all.

Our next target is an airfield, IIRC, so those Mortar buildings for engineers will come in handy.

On aspects, are you sure you want Canary to work like that? You seemed a wee bit addled at the time of writing it, and someone mentioned Iron Snail getting a rewrite. Also a list of Caster aspects would be appreciated, Al certainly earned it.

>also made Helena in Scoul Calibur 4 while waiting for posting to come back online

So what's the word on the IronSnail aspect for pilots? Will it be kept slightly nerfed or just dropped altogether. Because I like the benefits it brings, but if IronSnails is not an option I'll go for Mouse.

Not many ideas for new armor except for maybe a heavier version of the current BiTank and a light but heavily armed ambush vehicle.

>Aspects.
Posting for good measure
>Vanguard Aspects
Armadillo: Auto Face any attacker ! Auto Attack each one. +1 cover bonus
Lion: +1 Melee STR , +1 Attack Rating , +2 Health !
SwordFish: Piercing attacks Attack the enemy behind ! +1 Dmg on Charges ! +2 Cover when Charging ! Inexplicably able to swim and dash
Mongoose: Immunity to infections and ailments. Extra Speed. Extra Action. -.5 Health

>Assault Aspects (Specific abilities not listed)
Coyote- Movement and Damage increase !
Wolf- Increased Hit rate per teammate
Hound- Increased Rate of fire and detection !

>Mobile Artillery Aspects
Salamander / All weapons can be incidienary. Gain Fire immunity. Crawl Speed increased by 1.
Monkey / Reload automatically at the end of Turn. Running unhindered by climbing. Steal items automatically as you pass by enemy. +1 Action.
Scarab/ All weapons are [crushing] and destroy terrain completely or knock back organics. Explosions proof. +1Health

>Scout Aspects
Fox: +1 Speed, +1 Radio Intercept, Enemy Detection: Smell, Take DIsguise.
Hawk: Double Sight, +1 Accuracy, Wind Resistance.
Serpent: +1 Melee, Camouflage, Silenced Weaponry.

>Heavy Weapons Aspects
Camel - Carry Twice as much ammo and can run with a pack on without tiring.
Turtle - When set up in a prone position, you have twice as much HP. And for unfathomable reason, you can swim with your pack on. So Dig in !
Rocket Frog- You can Jump your move from a setup position with your pack on. You can now also jump 2 levels up. You can crush infantry where you land. This can be available as an Hr
ArcherFish- You get an extra overwatch action or take a full action to double your firing range. This can be available as an Hm

>Engineer aspects (Name known, but abilities not stated that I could find)
Ants
Bees
Termites

>Investigator
Canary- UNLIMITED AMMO. +1 Exp Per battle
Black Cat- +1Spd Ability to Copy investigated units as well as Aspects
Retriever- +1Hp. Ability to find anything you put your nose on. Digging Ability.

>Pilot
Rabbit- +1 Teammate. When Armored added crew can add to vehichle actions. On singles this adds another wingman.
Mouse- Hijack Success rate is instant. Fearless, Vehichle regains health at 1 armor per turn.
Squirrel- Glide Ability, Abiliy to jump onto other vehichles when ejected. Aerial Vehichles are a +2 bonus instead of a +1
IronSnails- +2 Armor, -1hex Vehicle speed, On-Board Weapons kill undead.

>>15926483

Wait for the ALT weapon loadouts, you might find something you like.

>>15926636
To clarify, Canary's Unlimited ammo, does it only apply to primary weapons, or do A's SMGs, grenades, or C's Crystals count as well?

Also Al said it's infinite reloads, not infinite clip size, is that correct?

>>15926657
Copy that IC.

>I really do think visually.
Pic related, was my initial idea. Pretty self explanatory.
A round consisting of a Low-grade Ibonyte slug that detonates to propel a Ibo-crystalline penetrator into Vosski's.

Also dream gun. An [A] always needs to have a dream gun.

>>15926892
To send a payload (such as a slug) through armour you don't put a "booster" charge behind it (most of that energy will just be lost), instead you put a shaped charge in the front of the projectile. This blast open a hole in the armour without reducing the speed of the projectile all that much, opening up a path for the projectile.

For larger weapons (RPG and whatnot) the ain projectile will then be a chunk of HE set to detonate with a slight delay after the first charge goes off, but I doubt that's practical for a rifle round, not enough space for a HE charge worth mentioning, so just go with lead and let kinetic energy do the job.

Or you make it all a single shaped charge warhead, the molten copper jet won't be kind to whoever it hits after all. Still, the dependence on diameter will make this less suitable for rifle rounds.

>>15926727

Immmm gonna limit it to weapon ammo.
Grenades count as items if that makes sense.
Though Ibonyte crystals count as ammo....

>>15926892

HODR, your AP Rifles are approved.

The ALT to the SMG was gonna be a semi automatic Slug gun, which replaced your lovely automatic.

I think I got an idea for Scouts. Maybe a heavier caliber anti-tank rifle. Longer range and more stopping power means they've got a better chance at taking out vehicles and undead. The only problem is such a weapon would be bigger and heavier than their standard rifle.

>>15927125

I like zis.

>>15927125
>>15927332
So what, -1 move?

>>15926983
So in essence just flip the slug behind the intial shell into a penetrator while that outer casing into a primary shaped detonator?
Thanks for the clarification my friend!
The setting runs on the principal of Ibonyte being an Unobtainium-trope, it heals, it explodes, it hardens into armor, it's basically magic. Fashioning it into a magical AP round is within bounds I think.

>>15927045
>Approved.
Hoorah! I like the SMG's more than the rifles actually, they offer quick damage for when things need to go down FAST.
Anyways, Revised ICAP fluff to follow, gonna meet Oderrkuun finally.

>>15927352
Either that or it requires an action to set up.

>>15927376
Well then you're basically making a less efficient Heavy Weapons team.

If I may, there are two alternate loadouts I'd like to suggest be considered.

Engineer Mortar
Once built, allows engineers to fire on almost any open-ground hex on the map with a dmg 3 projectile. only five projectiles per kit, firing more will require resupply from another Engie or a flag. Requires an action to reload. Cannot be effectively used while the engineers are in a forest, or a cave.

Admittedly, this next one is just because "Damn, that'd be cool"
Investigator Cruciform Sword
Can replace either Shotgun or Pistol. Functions like the Vanguard's sword, except for the fact it can be used to vanquish undead, and deals half damage to armored vehicles instead of them being immune.

For the new armor models, there was mention of fliers. Not sure if there's helicopter technology in IH, but a ground attack gunship to fill a role similar to the Predator from SQ would be useful. If we got something like that I might drop Striders to take it.

Aside from that, I have a few ideas. A Self Propelled Gun to provide long range indirect fire support would be useful in certain circumstances.

An actual tank, with treads rather than legs, would be nice too, probably to fill the heavy armor role. Heavier armor and more powerful, longer ranged main gun than the BiTank, but harder to maneuver because, lacking legs, it wouldn't be able to jump or sprint. Or if it did sprint it would only be able to do so in a straight line.

And lastly, maybe a variant of the Scout Strider that focuses on supporting (and destroying) infantry rather than scouting. Reduce the movement speed, remove the pneumatic hands and vision bonus in return for heavier armor and an armored cockpit that prevents the pilot from being called shotted, or at least provides a cover bonus against called shots to the pilot. Of course if I wanted this I could just take IronSnail and call it a day.

Gonna throw in my 2cents

>Caster
Portable Ibonite Cluster :: Removes Access to Array usage. :: Must deploy - action. :: Access to Raw Energy Element.
Caster now carries his own energy array. Uses raw Ibon-energy to create 1hex-AoE magic fields. (support fields, attack fields, protection, etc.). Ammo 2R. Each turn active expends ammo, then must be "reloaded" by caster refocusing.

>Assault/Scout/Mobile (can be anyone)
A flamethrower of some kind. Range 3. 5x1. Applies [Burning]. Panics Living. Incinerates SOME undead. Overheats vehicles. Causes friendly fire, explodes on death.

>>15927795
Vehicles by default are immune to fire, IIRC

rolled 2, 8, 2 = 12

>>15926483
>you can draw soapworth how ever you want.
Hey command would logistics be able to improve a investigation rolls benifiet?

Logistics pieces are things like artillery strikes, right? Maybe Solstice can start using their giant array for something useful to the war effort again? Long range magical strikes/support?

>>15928236
Heheheh...Magical Nuke.

In all seriousness, calling in a Fog Strike, or asking for rain, would be abso-effing-lutely awesome.

Well I was planing using one of the logistic upgrade to get a mobile workshop for Oderkonn, other than that? I'm open to suggestion

>>15928326
I was thinking of adding some more guns to our artillery section, or upgrading their ammunition so they fire airburst shells.

>>15928326
>>15928236
I'm gonna go ahead and support the magical backup idea, as a logistics choice. Rain or shine on demand is too good to pass up.

>>15928496
Hm, yeah, now that I think about it, weather control would be extremely useful for us. I remember the clusterfuck at Solstice when the Voss casters made an artificial night. It'll help stave off their meaner undead baddies.

>>15928326
ooooo.. workshop..
What kind of effects would it entail?

as for other ideas.
Magical backup is awesome.
But an Artillery Upgrade like Gunther mentioned would be nice too, you can even use fluff-flavor to make it super utilitarian.
>airbursts, smoke, Holy Water (temp zone denial vs. Undead?). Ibonite-jamming bursts (temp anti-magic zones). Mine dispersal.
(As you can tell I'm into mechanical vs. magic)

Oderkonn, we've started production of these new designs like you said. Made a few tweaks here and there in order to maintain cost effectivity.

The Heavy slugger gun, capable of packing a super heated punch designed to take down armor and corporeal horrors,

and the Anti Material Sturm Rifle, a bit on the heavy side, but it was needed to absorb the damage and armor piercing potential that it has. It should be good enough for a single scout to carry, however, making this the lightest of the heavier weapons classes.

>>15929150
As a former scout, I can't help but drool over that rifle.

>>15929150

I'm going to have to find a way to make my Strider beefier, one shot from that thing would kill a Strider.

Before I forget though, is the Strider a 1 man vehicle, so Rabbit aspect would add an extra wingman?

>>15929241

Yes, as a matter of fact.

>>15929150
Holy firkin cool. The emergence of heavy tools has me frightened at what the hell we'll be going after in the coming missions.

Are sluggers confirmed for AP? or just Heavy Concussion? You sneaky man IC, making me have doubts about my Hellghast Specials.. (or just slight modifications.. mwahaha)

>>15929150
Himiko? Welcome to team, it's will be a pleasure working with you from now on.

>>15929324
Heavy Concussion includes armor as its list of victims, unless armor has damage reduction, it will take the damage in full. To date, the Voss only has a few existing models of this size, and Chief Oderkonn will begin production of our version of it as well.

Oh, crap. We're hitting an airfield next, right guys? We need an AA tank or something.

>>15929331
AH- !

The p-p-pleasure is mine, sir.... Rescuing Chief Oderkonn during the horror of Stilemar is to HellGhast's credit ..... as such, my Clovis employers would have me aide him in honing Ragnyllian deconstruction techniques.

>>15929361

Well, if I do decide to take Rabbit aspect, I doubt any aircraft will be able to withstand 24 gatling cannon shots per round, even with armor. Sure I'm better at clearing infantry but I can fill the sky with some lead in a pinch.

>>15929403
I'd prefer ma'am to be honest, I may have died but I'm still a woman and we'll get to see each other regularly due to this body need for maintenance. As for Oderkonn rescue, I can only say I prefer him being alive on our side than dead and on theirs, he's a real asset to this unit and he did save my life...

>>15929358
Thank you very much for the confirm, Miss Peppers, was it? Name's Hodr, just Hodr, S'was going to wait till the Chief, but I see with your talents and my insight we might be able to found a whole new school of Voss Disposal Engineering..
>writing finalized upgrade requisition now.

>>15929424
Heh, a BiTank cannon works just as well on those Voss airships. Plus since we presumably have Clovis air support now they should not be nearly as big a problem as they were in Solstice.

Welp, we made out like bandits last mission. i'm sitting on a pile of four upgrades to spend.
Already bought
+1 squadmember
Srpnt aspect
purchasing
>+3 action for a total of 4
>+1 move for a total of 5

Also I don't know who I need to thank for it but the things that allow me to move are now working better than they did before I got the armor upgrade.

(buying 2 Move 4xp left in pool, 6xp to 100!)

Yeah, netted the aspect that makes my much tougher, as well upgrading my pilot ability to make me +2 to hit, and I still got my extra crewman.

Life, however, will not be good until I rebuild Isara.

OH ! I see you noticed th- the Orihalcum platings, it's something I picked up from Aeon metal priests, The material is as thin as skin but tougher than tanks. It's also an effective conductor for faster response time and.... and I hope y-you like azure ~<3

>>15929830
>>15929765
>>15929493
You know what, I think I'll just step out of this room now...

>>15929859
...and wait by the window with a spy camera, right? Right?

>>15929889

Shuushh joor rooning ze moment !

>>15930208
There is no moment you dogs, now get back to work, if you have nothing to do... let's just say that I'm waiting for your reports. Now if we could get back to the matter that preoccupy us, I still need another idea for an armor seeing as we're getting a dedicated armor killer.

Alright, I know I want a +1 to pilot rating bonus, but I honestly can't make up my mind on which aspect to take.

Rabbit aspect would let me maintain my mobility, and would also greatly increase my squad's firepower, but just about anything would be able to cripple or destroy a Strider and cut my squad's firepower significantly. In addition, it would be harder to maneuver 3 Striders in cramped quarters than just 2 Striders.

IronSnail would allow my Striders to wither some fire, and actually be able to survive a direct hit from a BiTank cannon, but would limit my mobility and wouldn't help to increase my firepower. It would also give me those anti-dark weapons, which I can see being extremely useful.

" Sir It's late afternoon, you shouldn't be up and around at this ti- "

"VELL ! I VILL VANDER IN THE DAY AS MUCH AS A DAMN VIL PLEASE ! But I see joo bought an umbrella how kind of you !"

> Deploys Umbrella

" Ahaaah, as joo can see, my terrible sunburn problem isn't goving avay anytime soon but I couldn't stand being buried for zat long eizer "

>>15930326
Speaking of that very problem, sir...How are you going to deploy on day missions? Could you wear some kind of full-body suit or something?

rolled 1, 5, 6 = 12

>Sitting with his mooks he spots the Lt
Now in unison Hanse and Fran...
>Rollan Another Impersonation check once again!
"Va Leuitenzant can Valtz all he vant's around ze
camp no matter vat time of day iit iiz! BLEHH!"

>>15930389
>Awwww yea, going Hodr 2 for 2 critical success on the I'M-THE-Lieutenant Impersonation count. Hanse and Fran have naaaathing on me!

>>15930326
>>15930362
>>15930389

"NONNE, Armor's too chafing. An umvrella shall suffice, I suppose a bullet proof one is preferrable, vat so long as I stick to shadows eet is like a day at the beach vithout getting wet ~ "

>>15930441

" Sides... all I need is line of sight of my targets "
>Head cranes towards Hodr from beyond the bushessssssss

Uuuuooohhh Ragnyyyll!
s'feels like death just sized me up..
FRAN! HANSE! S'BOUT TIME FOR DRILLS! yes.. drills!
>The three strange troopers hurridly begin working out. (aka lifting rocks and ammo crates above their heads.)

>>15930310
Like I said earlier, maybe a heavier BiTank or even a full on multiped. There's only so much firepower we can fit on the current BiTank chassis.

My second idea would be some kind of Universal Troop Carrier. An armored vehicle that's hardier than the recon bike and can carry an entire platoon.

>>15930453
Willhelm snickers at Hodr's flawless impersonation. "Heh, save it for the enemy, Lt, or we might have to put you back in your box." he says, as he makes a gun with his fingers, and mimes shooting Rip, only half jokingly.

>>15930593
We're already getting the first option as I said, so you may want to wait before making mk.4

The dedicated transport is a good idea, the question is will we have enough coordination to use them properly.

Ah yes-- Armor models. We have a few options.

We've already started on a dedicated armor superiority vehicle thats about as strong as a Voss MD tank but with more potential for Gun.

We've also lined up various frames and parameters with Chief oderkonn. His Bitank designs have a capacity for Modularity, so the concept of giving it anti air would be a simple matter of modification;

However we also have a few more frames lined up along with other weapon combinations and functions that can mix and match from here to next July - all we need is a direction... Ma'am "

Parts DOssier:

> Man Portable Armor Rig: Good for close quarters assault.
AAA capable, No
Long Range Capable, No

> Bitank Rig: Good for maneuverability and toughness
AAA Capable, Yes
Missile Launch capable, Yes
Long Range Capable, No
Heavy Loads, No.

> Octoped Platform: Great for setting up on any terrain, can even attach to walls.
AAA: Yes
Missile Launch: Yes
Long Range Capable: Yes

> Flatworm Armored Body: Perfect for digging through terrain and absorbing hits. Med to light weaponry can be attached, as well as a dual rotary engine that can be used to drill through the ground.

>>15930703
>Octoped Platform
>SPIDER TANK.
>Oh god. I would've been happy with just 4 legs, I LOVE multi-leggers.

>>15930703
...Waaait...Waitwaitwait...MAN PORTABLE? As in, a mechanized suit of armor? You mean there's something that would make Mana even MORE invincible, or can only pilots requisition armor?

>>15930703
I'm going to wait for gunther feedback, but I think we should get the Octaped and the flatworm.

>>15930789
Correction, seeing as we already have a quad legged tank comming in, I think the flatworm is the best Idea seeing as it can be used as a transport

>>15930806
On the subject of gigantic rolling targets...I don't feel comfortable with a mass transport. It seems like a damned good way to get a bunch of us killed at the same time.

That was weird, sorry

Ah man, I wish I had gotten here earlier.
I've have tossed around ideas for exciting new rockets!
...What? Just because Scouts outnumber me 3-7 to 1 doesn't mean I can't hope!.

>my transport idea was stupid compared to >>15930703


Also, Rip thanks for snagging my old post >>15926629
As a small note, Coyote's specific abilities were revealed last thread;
+1 Damage to direct hit projectile damage
+1 Move
+ Double Mentality: Coyotes will avoid moving into dangerous hexes or stop altogether if there is an ambush.

>>15930878
As tempting as the octoped sounds, if we've already got a multiped model lined up, then we should probably go for the flatworm. It sounds like the perfect platform to insert troops behind enemy lines.

>>15927045

You said AP rifles are approved.

So does that mean I can pick one up as an ALT to my standard rifle?

Would my upgrades (+1 Rifle Ammo, Double Tap Rifles) still apply?

>Can we make them AP with a silver core inside to fuck up dullahans and armored undead real good, with enough upgrades?

>>15931037
Then flatworm it is, we can get the other option laters when we have more time and ressources.

>>15930768

It's Armor and it does require Pilot training, but it's capable of Jump Jets, and a close quarters combat loadout. We contemplated flame weapons, you know for the ghouls.

>>15931055

>You dont need an Alt to upgrade you dont need an upgrade for an alt the two are different things like an Hr choosing between a machinegun or a rocket launcher

>>15931055

To answer your question AP rifles was an upgrade. not an alt

>>15931108
Are alts only available after clearing missions, or are there other ways to attain them?

Also, would both Investigators in my squad carrying a pistol be possible?

>>15931201
" You can capture certain items on the field, enemy weapons and the like, or find them in odd places, I tell you, when I see a custom prewar job, my imagination goes in hyperboles "

>>15931390
"Hmm, Looks like I get to play scavenger. oh, that reminds me, Can I still wear this coat you made for my M kit while doing my Investigator thing, or will I need to get something more film noir? I really dig the extra protection."

>In English, can I keep my M health upgrade while doing other classes due to how I fluffed it?

>>15931529

nope. Fluff is a great mnemonic device for letting me remember your stuff though.

>Hodr, huffing from his workout and barely escaping the Lieutenant's wrath finds himself at the camp's Engineering pit.

Chief? Miss Peppers?
I'd s'like to requisition some of your fine handiwork while the mooks are still doing their rounds. Y'see, I've got some imaginitive experience with th'old machines back home.. Now if you'll just take a lookit these ideas of mine..
First, y'know that new shipment of boom tubes miss Peppers got in? I'ma need 3. With this heavy barrel, a hardened BiTank actuator rod to extend the recoil buffer.. and one of them shinguards them slicy types love wearing, 'm thinking we can get the slugger to reach out and touch a Voss something violent.
>Requesting +1 accuracy on Sluggers
On top of that, I'd like s'more armor plates for the boy, the girl, and m'self. Seems the Vosskoni are stepping up the game, and I'll be damned if I ain't bringing those hooligans back home alive..
>Requesting +1Health.
>23 XP from mission. 3xp left.
>IC I LOVED your Slugger Design so much I HAD to draw it.

>>15931587
Nuts. Had a feeling that was the case.

As a hypothetical, could I spend an upgrade on increasing the revolver's ammo capacity (say,adding 4 bullets, just for purposes of the hypothetical)

>>15931605

FUNDIT

>>15931634

A 10 shot revolver ? You cra cray.

Just buy an extra reload.

>>15931055
I'm so glad someone is using the ICAPs after I went ahead and pushed for their approval -before- the boss posted the alts. Ashamed I do feel.
>>15931655
Yeeeeaaaaahooo

>>15931681

I haven't yet, though getting some delicious AP/Silver plated rounds as an upgrade is on my to-do list.

Mainly because Dullahans can go fuck themselves.

>And with my fire output, I think I might be able to disable a tank if I have a platoon.

>>15931665
>I like big guns and I cannot lie.

Right, Buying an extra reload for the revolver, and the Scarab aspect, because health, immunity to bombardment, AND Crushing revolver shots are just too good to pass up.

>Still twiddling his thumbs, waiting for those new armor designs.

Updated with the Terran transport:

The Terran Transport maybe key in fighting the Ourubos worm and other underground enemies with face, Equipped with powerful drills, the Terran Wyrm transport can plow through walls or propel itself underground where it will continue in a straight line until it emerges from the ground again. Its given crew operated turrets in order to allow for covering fire before inserting into hostile territory through its steel teeth.

>>15931963

Ah ... well it seems our shift is over, get some sack time everyone We begin tomorrow at 0900

> Next up, the Griffin Tank.

>>15931963
I can't be the only person thinking it.

>>15931988
Oh lord, we're painting our Transport light blue.
And we're painting a wizard on the hood.

>>15931988
>>15932061
HELLGHAST HOOOOOOOO!

>>15932061
Something just occurred to me, the insignia on all the flags in the =IRONHEARTS= image series are Ragnyllian flags, right? Where's our unit pride? We need a Hellghast flag/Insignias for our tanks. After all, we must be a pretty famous unit by now.

With that thought, I'm hitting the sack. See you all in approximately 9 hours.

>>15932136
Gunther
GUNTHER
GUNTHERTANKS, HOOOOOO!!!!!!

Ok seriously, I'm off.

>>15931605

>Looks like watercooled barrels.
>It's like I'm really playing Valkyria Chronicles.
>In a good way.

Winters sits in the cockpit of his Strider, drinking something out of a metal canteen cup as he stares into the distance. He still feels bad about those wingmen he lost, and is thinking about it so much that he fails to notice the other Strider stalk up next to his, and park right next to him.

"Hey, Winters was it? I was thinking of getting some practice shots off, to align the guns. You should, too."

Winters looks up abrubtly, rubbing his eyes.

"Wha- huh... oh, right. Yeah... Good idea."

Several minutes later, Winters and his wingman are firing rounds in short bursts at a hillside between calibrating their guns. Winters hasn't been talking, so his wingman speaks up.

"Something's got you down. What's up?"

"I... I feel pissed off about what happened at Kolstec. I can't believe I lost two wingmen on my first mission..."

"... Well, you didn't."

"... Hah?"

"That was me the entire time. I ejected. Twice."

"... Oh. Oh! Ha...ahahahaha!"

Winters perks up visibly at this revelation. Then feels dumb for not having noticed his own wingman ejecting in the heat of battle.

"Wow, that's a load off! So what's your name?"

"Summers."

"..."

"Yeah, I know."

Right, so I'm sitting at 18 exp after that last mission. Command what do engineer aspects do exactly? So I can decide if I'm going to hold out for an aspect or just buy an upgrade now.

rolled 3, 9, 7 = 19

>>15934971
>>15932151
[8 legacy God rest Iceval]
[3 Dulahans + 1 vampire=8kp]
[4kp from completing Kolestec part 1]
[10kp from Kolestec part 2]
[2kp from 2 tentacle assists]
[2kp from 5.am]
[-6 from "alleged dead miners"]
28kp total
>Hrm so many choices on what to do.

"Ey Willhelm what the hell you just up an abandon the paranormal investigation unit, you off all people should know this is more than a job it's a calling yo."

I think I'll spend ten xp on upgrading health again and save the rest until IC develops the caster aspects.

This means I now have:

+2 health
+1 action

Helena emerges from the ground unraveling a cast around her arm. Sorry I'm a bit late last night everyone. But I figure I that I can take a chance with the morning light like Rip here, and give you all the memories needed to unlock more aspects.

Engineers:
Ants: The collective amount of actions a unit has is increased by 25 percent. Fire immunity.
Bees: Gain Flight. +1 Spd.
Termites: Units get a dig action and can traverse through terrain at 1 hex per 2 man. Attacks are Armor piercing. +1 Jump

>>15932151

I got your insignia right here.

Kidding, but I could try to design one. I'm a pretty terrible artist though, so not sure if I could convey what I wanted it to look like, but I'll try to come up with something suitably badass and thematic.

>>15934994
"Abandon? Not sure what you're talking about Soap, I just commissioned an extra reload of revolver ammo, and made sure I won't get blown up while I dust some ghouls."

Elemental Casters
Octopus- Arrays override other arrays. +1 Water proficiency. Water Spells learned.
Pig- Arrays are twice as powerful. Earth Spells Learned.
Magpie- Knows how to steal arrays. +1 Wind Proficiency. Wind spells learned.
Wyrm- Is a walking fire array. +1 Fire Proficiency. Fire spells learned.
Sunflower- Arrays can be within 2 hexes of each other. +1 LifeSpell Proficiency. Plant spells learned.

*Those with Elemental proficiencies are treated as if they have an array of that element handy, allowing them to do damage potential.
*Spells learned means they can perforrm these spells outside of their class, the lack of Ibonyte Crystals means there has to be a heavy presence of said element, however.

>>15935850
>Wyrm
>Sunflower
>Oh god the possibilities.

Sunflower, does it affect all arrays laid by anyone, or just arrays you lay down?

>>15933565
>Iknowright?
The setting gives off the vibe, Fantasypunk WWII + Metal Slug + Valkyria. All with less sappy cliches and more humor.
>as if that isn't awesome.
It was actually hard drawing the Slugger while trying to keep within the odd visual image I have of Ironhearts since no such historic counterpart exists. Next upgrade shall look more original, meswears!

>>15935850
"Oh, and welcome back, Helena. You had a couple people worried there for a little while. What possessed you to stay behind while the worm exploded?"

I was attending a family reunion.

>>15935999
I do hope it turned out like you wanted it to. I don't even know where I'll start once I meet mine again...

>>15935999
"Oh, really? That's not cryptic sounding at all. Oh well, did you learn anything that can help us win this fight?"

>>15935850
A biomancer I will be!

> -20 xp, Sunflower aspect purchased

>>15935031
Gonna change my mind about this purchase, will instead buy more ammo. I suppose 1 ibonyte upgrade only gives one more crystal? Since we won't always be fighting in an ibonyte mine, I'll just have to make what I have last.

> -10 xp, Extra ibonyte purchased

> 5xp remaining

>>15935892
Seconding this question.

>>15935850
What does 'arrays override other arrays' mean?

>>15936487
I think it means that instead of laying an array down within range of another both cancel each other out, the new array replaces the other.

Plant based life magic as a focus eh?
Interesting twist, our casting power so far has mostly relied on earth-heavy effects.
Excited to see what kinds of of crazy you'll be bringing about Ser Alphonse.

" Ah. It's finally finished. The Gryffin super armor unit, it sports twin Odin cannons capable of High explosive or armor piercing yields. WIth its doubled magazine size, it can fire single rounds without letting up or use its twin cannon features to generate a barrage effect that double its explosive force. A machine this big is on the barebones in terms of pilot accessibility so only Trained Pilots can use it properly meaning that its hijack proof to simple ruffians.

Because it's so big , it takes up 2 unit slots no matter what. And the only way to have it delivered to a battlefield is by aerial delivery, road transport or on sight construction. It would cost a team of Engineers 5 kits to construct one. It could also platform 2 units for close fire support.

>>15937341

>>15937341
http://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=VxLacN2Dp6A

Un...freaking..believable.

>>15937341

That's a magnificent work, I thank both of you for working on it.

>>15937341
It's... it's... *sniff* It's BEAUTIFUL

Oderkonn, Peppers, you truly are gods among men!

Just a quick question, though. If we choose to single shot with the cannons, can we fire two shots at two different targets if we have enough actions?

Anyways, time to go build Isara Mk4!

>>15937341
"Whoa, looks like Isara got some work done."

>>15937856

I had thought that the Iron Snails modification took off only 1 hex speed ?

I'm gonna have to start stocking up on more pilots and upgrade the engine, though. With all that extra armor plating we're bolting on, she's only moving 1L a turn. Then again, I'll no longer have to jump over obstacles when Isara can just WALK THROUGH THEM.

Plus I should remember to implement anti tow cable countermeasures as well.

Also, was it bad that the first thing I thought when I saw it was this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlQvZ6TFq1s

>>15937813

WIth the extra primed barrel its possible to fire at two different targets.

Well, now that we've got our armor...Now we just have to settle on the logistics, then we can get back to kicking Voss in the ass-end, right?

>>15937918
Oh, well in THAT case I guess I can only move 1.9L or something.

>>15935487

How exactly would this Bee flight work?
Also would carrying more than four kits have an effect on it? (Like my first upgrade lets me do.)

>>15938048
>>15938048

Slowed down I suppose but not robbed of your power.

Well...We've got our Loadouts and our Armor units...Now all we need to decide on is logistics, and hear the story bits, right?

My vote for logistics is the magical artillery, that way we could call in for rain, or fog, or severe wind, etc.

Also Captain Mana said something about a mobile workshop for Oderkonn..What would that do for us?

>>15938879
Oderkonn got an assistant out of the deal, also we're getting one artillery upgrade, what it is? I do not know.

>>15938879

You mean me ?

>>15938879
By magical artillery, do you mean some sort of large off-screen array or something?

>>15938922
Yes, yes I do.

>>15938922
>Now imagining fudging a roll will turn the entire country into a philospher's stone

Question for IC; what exactly do the anti-dark weapons of the IronSnail aspect do? I assume it makes vehicle weapons deal more damage to undead and the like, but I want to be sure.

For everyone else, does Hellghast have a unit motto? I'm designing an insignia and I'm thinking of incorporating a motto into it.

>>15938940
"Maybe we could use it to pay back CLovis."

>>15938940
>Oh god, I remember that...Suddenly gigantic offscreen arrays don't sound so hot.

>>15938908
I'm sorry to tell you this, but when I asked command for a new workshop, they told me "Didn't you get a new engineer recently? You won't need that workshop then."

>>15938940
*considers the option*

Well, at least there will be no one left to execute me for treason.

>>15938940
>on a side note, Monster Hunter, FMA, AND being an awesome drawfag...does your awesome know no bounds?

>>15939006
If we had a motto, it was either something Iceval doodled on a flag while drunk, or something to do with our Immortal Valkyrie, Mana. Or possibly both, knowing Iceval.

>>15939112
>Flag is now Mana riding my rock snake into (or out of) battle.

>>15939132
>I swear, the first time I read that post, the r looked like a c.

>>15939006
>>15939112
>>15939006
If you want Iceval's last words they're here

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/15848189/#15881572

I guess you could use.

"heaven won’t take us and hell can’t hold us"

>>15939189
"Heaven won't take us, and Hell can't hold us."

>>15939181
>I'll be in the background giving a thumbs up.

>>15939189
The old boss' last words definately has my vote.

alright, I have to know, are there rules for this or what?

Pick character, participate in battles.
Next one will be tuesday night since I run Zombie quest on Mondays.

Oh look, ingame footage <3

>>15939298
It's basically the Skirmish Quest system.
d10 rolls, hex grid.
(If you need more info just ask, the folks in here are quite helpful)
Pick a name, we all start as Privates, post with a trip so IC can keep track of you, enjoy the ride.
On mission nights, just show up for role call.

Here are the basics.

Part two

Part three

Last part

Also here is a list of our old battles

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Iron%20Hearts

Forgot pic

>>15939404
>Feilds

I'll keep spamming unhelpful pictures

>>15939421
Alchohol is a prominent benefactor in squad life, thus our instructory aides are often open to language deviations.
More importantly, at least the guns still make loud noises when they're supposed to.

okay, awesome, and how do ratings work? is that a roll-below target number?

and does AP ignore all armor or just a certain amount?

>>15939538
Yes you try to roll under the rating as for Ap i think they ignore armor reduction.

>>15939538
Yup, ratings are what you roll under to nail a target with the weapon, rolling 1d10. Rating decreases for every hex beyond the Range (the little bullseye) in most cases.

About armor piercing, good question, I should probably know that considering I have AP rounds in my gun.

>>15939573
Okay, awesome and the little shields, do they act like hearts and get depleted with damage or does armor work differently?

>>15939616
Vanguard shields act as support cover, reducing the rating of most attacks by 2 and blocking against most AOE. effects. When used, the unit acts as cover for those behind them.

Swords are not AP :<

>>15939557

AP works thuslyyyyyyy
Most small arms do little to no damage to armor. Units with AP qualities will damage armor in full. Though Damage reduction is a different thing entirely that is inherent in most heavy armors.

>>15939649
>Swords are not AP :<
That sounds like a challenge, Command. The hunt for the sword in the boulder is on.

>>15939670
"Your gonna need a retriever aspect for that."

>>15939649
Axe are though, and Duallahan eat armor all day erry day.

>>15939776
I was just about to ask; where can I find information on aspects?

1 million hours in MS paint, preliminary as fuck.

I was gonna add a bunch of other little details and things but that would have made it look overdone and tacky. A better artist could probably make the whole thing look better.

>>15926629
Check this post.
>>15939807

>>15939865
oh, hey, ty

>>15939776
No I don't, unless the field manual is outdated. I can investigate/examine/loot/arrest and interrogate stuff until I find something nifty.

>>15939835

Yoink

>>15939835
>>15940025
Time to strike the fear of Hellghast into those Voss bastards. We'll have them running in fear at the mention of our unit.

Oh...I had a thought. Would it be a good idea, next time we see one, to capture an enemy commander alive, and pump him for secrets? I'd prefer not to have a surprise as nasty as that worm dropped on us again.

>>15940345
That may be possible if our scouts didn't shoot them in the head as soon as they appeared.

>>15940373

Joor Velcome !

>>15940373
>>15940345

Well, now that you mention it...

Does the S mark on the pilots' gas gun indicate that it's silenced, or that it puts targets to sleep? I thought it was the first one but I'm thinking it's possible it might be the second one.

>>15940441
Hey Rip, maybe go for the legs or something next time, don't you want a new toy?

>>15940441
Awesome Lt is awesome.

>>15939330
Any time planned?

Oh god, I've been reading this all weekend, I have never so fervently needed to get in on a *Quest. Seriously, you guys, holy shit. Just, wow. This is so awesome

Now that I stop and consider, Scarab may not be the best aspect for me.

Could I get clarification on the Retriever aspect's abilities?

Also, what would a sufficient amount of element be for purposes of ammo-less casting outside of class? Could one conceivably cast fire spells if there was a 1 or 2 hex sized lava pool on the map with an array over it, without consuming crystals? Also, can you allow other casters to use your personal array energy to cast?

>>15940869
We usually get cracking around 7-9pm EST, and in some cases, we start at around 12pm EST. I'm sure someone else can give a much better timeframe.

>>15940869
Game is more or less confirmed for tuesday.

Mana's Unit Portrait because Im bored and awesome characters needed to be drawn.

>>15941016
Bamp. Hey Command, you got an instant messenger or something so I can quit cluttering the threads with rules questions?

And once Gunther gives me a description to work off of, I can get started on his.

>>15941556
That is sufficiently creepy.

>>15941556
Cool. Do you have an email or anything for me to send it to?

>>15941575

Naw here is fine.
We can listen to alllllllll your secrets.

>>15941615
A cruel master, you are.

>Concept-wise, he's like a really young version of the TF2 engineer with hair. Short/medium length black hair that's really messy as if he hasn't bothered combing it in a really long time. Usually wears the pilot headset and those goggles tankers almost always seem to be wearing. Also has a bolt in his mouth like a person would have a cigar.

>>15941648
>>15941615
Cruel indeed. Also not answering questions. I need to know if I get to shout "FUEGO!" in context.
>>15941016

>>15941016
Retriever ability allow you to smell things out of place, for example if you smell a normal sword you could know from a sniff that a sword is not normal.

oooooh
sweet images boss.
I must be productive too!

>>15941790
So It's basically a passive Investigate action on things that don't smell right? Like freshly buried landmines, corpses, Vampires, disguised enemies, and creepy magic stuff? Meh.

Now If only I knew what the minimum necessary presence of fire was to cast fire spells out-of-class, as a Wyrm aspect. If it only takes one or two lava pools to power spells, count me the hell in to that. Frying ghouls after running out of revolver ammo sounds delightful.

Here you go a sheet with all of Gunther's emotional spectrums:

Murdermode and OhshitOhshitEject

>>15941965
As a wyrm you are a fire array.

>>15941978

>>15941982

It is you.

>>15941982
I was under the impression that Casting spells while not being a Caster required a certain amount of said Element be present in order to cast without crystals. For Earth, Life, and Air users, this is not a problem. Water and Fire users get kinda screwed on that front if the battlefield isn't a river, or the earth's molten core, respectively.

>>15941965
You could also find.. things that match the stuff you smell.

Like an officer's cap for example......

>>15941986
You sir, in addition to Oderkonn and Pepper, are a God among men.

>>15942017
Yeah, I had that idea. Though Rip might not forgive me if I made it too easy for him to snipe the enemy commander. I know that's one of his favorite hobbies.

>>15941999
>>15941982
So what I'm hearing is Crystals or no Crystals, I'm a walking fireball no matter what class I am. I like this. I like this more than should be humanly possible, let alone sane. Gonna go ahead and say balls to Scarab, and change to Wyrm, because dammit I love pyromancy. That's it, no more flip flopping. From now on I am sticking to I or C, as situation demands. Now all I need to do is make a sufficiently large boom to be portrait worthy.

I'm off to go practice my fire-breathing.

>>15942222
Of course I forget to re-type my tag after checking the page.

Thought long and hard about it, and NOT putting out as many bullets per turn as humanly possible was weighing heavily on my mind. So I'll go with Rabbit aspect to get the extra Strider, and make up for the loss of durability with an armor upgrade to the Striders, bringing each to 2.5 armor.

Besides, Gunther already has IronSnail, might as well get some variety.

rolled 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 = 25

>>15942531

FYI, the maximum number of dice you can roll in a single post is about 25 I think.

Case in point, I will now roll 100d1's.

>The sum will be 25 or so, meaning that is the maximum number of dice I can roll. Easier to see one number than to count all of them.

rolled 5, 8, 4, 7, 9, 1, 2, 6, 8, 2, 7, 4, 8, 7, 7, 3, 3, 3, 4, 8, 3, 5, 4, 2 = 120

>>15943122

Bah, there goes my plan to make one of my upgrades a RoF increase to the Striders' gatling guns. Just so, as it stands right now I can put out 24 gatling shots per round, so I'll go ahead and stick with that and make up for it with rating increases.

>>15945580
Be sure to note these kinds of upgrades in your orders. Because shot calculations are done and forgotten in a single action for me.

>>15945580
you could say the ammount of shots and have command roll them for you, only thing is you have to rely on the luck of his dice.

>>15945625

Will do. That being said, I'm guessing it'd just be annoying if I did get the RoF increases and just made two separate posts to get all the rolls in. Also, would a rating of 10 result in a 100% chance to hit under normal circumstances, or would shots still miss on a 10 and that extra rating would only help overcome penalties, like firing at targets in cover or shooting beyond effective range?

>>15945891
10's are always miss, higher bonuses help with distance penalty only

Was reading something in the archived threads about upgrades. (note i'm not switching anything right now, i've locked in my choices). It was saying you could possibly buy gear not typically found within you class.
Note.
>Now this is speculation on my part, but it may also be possible to get new gear as well. For example a Vanguard squad could use the upgrade point to buy grenades for themselves.

I'm wondering down the line if it's possible to purchase [V] shields, or [M] demo packs.

>>15948755
It would probably either take one slot of your inventory. So taking that demo pack or shield, mean you'd lose either your grenades/smg/rifle.

>>15948970
hmmm, good to know captain.
>Now envisioning a team of shield toting slugger heavy shock troopers.
>droooooool
Everyone in Hellghast have these neat and unique role eccentricities, I think I've just found my path.

>>15948755

Assaults with shields would be useful, but since Vanguard shields require an action to set up, any turn spent shielding would result in reduced firepower. The way I see it working is one member of the squad shielding to grant the cover bonus to the others while the other two fire their weapons, making them more resilient but putting out less firepower per turn.

A good way to do it would be to alternate which squad member shields, so they all use their ammo at the same pace. A squad firing SMGs with 2 ammo would use up their ammo over 3 turns this way.

And now I'm rambling again. I'll stop.

>>15948755

that and..


The otherweapons aspect would typically be a different weapon that sorta made sense with that class and makes very little alterations to the stats of the pre existing weapon.

Example being that a Vanguard can get range on their "sword" and fluff it as getting a spear which changes their weapon properties from slashing to piercing and gives context to their range. Otherwise its just fluff to make sense of your numbers so I can give it a face. "Oh hey its that guy with the broom as a weapon etc "

In the case of Rip Van Vinkle, he's opted for a compound bow meaning they dont need a "reload" but have a limited ammo size [6 arrows]. Otherwise his weapon is as deadly if not more deadly than a scout's hunting rifle and the only real upgrade applied to it is its [Silence] upgrade.

Did you know brooms come with a Non lethal and Incidienary weapon upgrade ?

It's true.

>>15949056
Seeing as the slugger take the place of both rifle and smg you probably would lose the grenade.
>>15949057
Shields doesn't stack with each other, so unless you wan't to cover "3 hexes" It only cost one action from one of your unit.

Ahh, enlightening.
>Just to make sure i'm getting it.
By what Mana is saying, it should be possible to use KP to swap out secondary gear, as long as you have a piece of gear TO swap out? Or no?
And as IC clarified, main weaponry can only be modified within reason but NOT swapped (very understandable).
>So an [I]'s [Incendiary] Shotgun being explained as a flamethrower - Within Reason.
>Vanguard with a Rocket launcher - WATCHUDOIN?

Just grasping the bounds of freedom we have, no demands or the like here.

>Fluffing the Rabbit aspect and Armor upgrade.

"So I'm thinking we get some of that modular armor plating and slap some on the Striders. You got blown up twice, we should do SOMETHING to prevent that."
Winters and Summers are reporting to the Motor Pool armory, which houses such requisitions. Winters is walking backwards, looking at Summers who is walking in a more normal, straight forward fasion.
"Modular... That stuff's for BiTanks, not Striders. How do you suppose the chicken walkers will handle the weight of something that heavy?"
Winters scoffs. "I'm sure we can make it work. Reinforce the leg joints and bolt the armor on or something, I dunno. You worry too much."
"Yeah, ok. Before that though, unit messenger told me we're getting a new squadron mate, brings us to three. Something about rabbits? I dunno. Anyways we're supposed to train together for a while so we can fight effectively as a team."
"Yeah, let's hope this guy doesn't blow up as much as you do. Think he'll be named something to go along with our... uh, theme?"
"What? No, Winters and Summers are completely normal names, but have you ever met anyone named Springs or Autumns or something? That's retarded. You're retarded."

FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER

"Hey, you guys are the Striders right? I'm supposed to be the new addition."
Winters and Summers look down from Winters' Strider, which they're currently bolting a modular armor kit to, seeing a girl of average height, with tanned skin and brown hair. Winters speaks.
"Oh yeah? Welcome to the team! What's your name?"
"Springer."
"Oh."

rolled 3 = 3

>>15949397
hah.

September 06th 656th year of Terra;

A dirt strip had been cleared no shorter than a mile . In the hot September heat Ragnyllian and Clovis soldiers sat around looking up as several planes over head made multiple passes before finally touching down on these now-seemingly-short road strips as these metallic birds plowed into the dust of the dirt run way not once, but 3 times. However when the roars of the 4th plane came, it glided down with barely any noise and strode across the length of the strip without kicking up any dust at all. The small white jet came to a stop, and a parade of soldiers lined up to greet this one.

Marshalling yells echoed as out came a full bird Colonel of Clovis, accompanied by a man with heavy dark shades and a finely tailored suit.

Some cheered and soon it swelled to a hurrah, and then out strode an woman in what could definitely be placed as Aeon inquisition. The metal greaves, the blood red cape and a white uniform could not say otherwise. And soon the hurrah intensified even more , out of hatred ? out of joy ? It couldn't be placed.

Mana sits at her designated position, Alphonse not far behind her to assist during the meeting.

>>15949510
>>15949610
Alphonse remains standing there, not taking a seat until the Colonel and Inquisitor also sit.

In the vacant floor of a factory , a giant table was prepared, Ragnyllian generals and a handful of captains sat along one side while the Clovis staffed the other, presiding was the Inquisitor whose business was yet to be declared.

" Let me start by thanking you for offering your aide to us," I began, " If it wasn't for your and my troops' efforts this chasm would have fallen victim to the Voss' parasite and their power would have been a power greater "

Colonel Peregrin's chair scrapes back as he stands up to offer his hand across the table, " Ma'am if it wasn't your tough as nails peoples we would not have stood up against such a - "
The man with dark shades clears his throat. The excitable colonel's grandfatherly demeanor tightens to a business frown.
" Let me begin, that on behalf of the Clovis and the Black Water Company, that securing Kolstec's mines was well worth the manpower expenditure to keep it off from Voss control. In that regard we all win. " He motions inclusively to the Inquisitor " However, as this has now been made our business, our boys are more than jazzed to set up shop here and earn some bit of warbonds. Your superiors agreed to a percentage of the mine's output as its one of the only few natural deposits of Ibonyte, we came here to make sure that in light of this Wyrm problem that that is still the case "

The inquisitor turns towards Ragnyll officers begin a murmer amongst themselves without breaking eye contact with the glasses man nor the tight necked colonel.

>>15949664
Mana tries to keep both the shaded man and the inquisitor in her field of vision before saying.

"I doubt an imediate payment would be in both party favor at this moment, the voss are far from beaten and unless you plan on us losing the war because of a lack of ressources by you claiming your share now, it would be better to at least wait until we win this war. Unless you want to deal with Vosskian for it."

" They're just mercenaries " One General replies, our men, real men, are dying out there and they come here thinking they can traipse around in our fight ? Graciously give them a ragnyllian soldier's salary and show them the door "

" You fool, we NEED allies like the Clovis to fight the Voss with them we can get back in the market "

" The market !? Ibonyte's our only Market and just like the Aeons that shunned us they will simply have to wait in line like everyone else "

" I say give them the mines if it gives us an ally, we never needed Ibonyte and we can be happy to get rid of it if its the only reason Voss would turn against us "

Alphonse leans in to whisper to Mana. "The deal was originally between us and Clovis, yes? The mercenaries were hired by Clovis, anything they get will be paid to them by Clovis from their share, I think"

Mana motions forward with a suggestion, the glint of her metallic face making the Inquisitor's immovable stance agitated. But before her curiosity reached its peak I stood up with a clearing of my throat.

" I have declared the Clovis to be valuable allies in our fight, but it would only enchance our trust with each other if such business terms be set aside for more immediate urgencies like a war that threatens to not only consume the Valknyre region, but the rest of this continent," I beam a glare at the inquisitor.
" Furthermore, to say that we are in a position to give away much needed resources at this time would be similar to us winning the war against the Voss. So I ask that if you wish to stake your claims on this mine, or any other mile of our ravaged lands, I ask that you help us fight the monsters that ruined the lives of those outside right now.

The man in glasses chews on something invisible, the bite in his jaw travels up to a smile. And then a wide laugh.
" WUHELLL WHY didn't you say so, ma'am All you had to do was give us a ring and we'd have been over faster than you could say Qrloon Express "
He gets up and hastily clasped hands around my gloved ones.
" On Behalf of my men, my country, and my company, Joshua Irons accepts your challenge."

" And Col. Raneckan Peregrin does as well," His large hands extend, but I gave a few of his fingers a shake.

" Though I must say, that before Clovis can invest their efforts to this war in full, we sort of have a little /thing/ that we gotta confirm before we can all move forward.... " Irons looks to the Inquisitor who had already stood up , one of her scribes handing a scroll in her hands...

I can already tell, it's one of those damnable decrees that neither anyone on this table knows that could ruin the party.

Mana nods at the quick resolution of the problem, then switch her full attention to the inquisitor far more worried about her presence than the other points of the meeting.

" To Ragnyllian High Command and her enforcing bodies,

We of the Aeon Church of Puritas have acknowledged that the Voss have not only used brutal, dark, and heretical means to conduct their wars, but they have also made the cardinal sin of betraying their brother of the Valknyrs, our sympathies extend throughout.
However, it is with deep regret that in your struggle to fight the good fight, it had also come to our attention that no more than a month into the Vosskon invasion that you have resorted to using the undead as a means to fight, where a noble warrior would bury their dead, and have them go forth into the gates on High.
While I may not speak for all of Ragnyll's armed forces, and surely not everyone in this country is suspect of such treachery, It is evident that the taint of undeath has reached its tendrils among your ranks and would threaten to rot the tree of your foundations. Produce the heads of these so called warriors of yours within a week or we will motion for our purges to cleanse these lands along with your Vosskon ilk:

The Skoll Unit ; charged with 89 counts of animal mutilations with 14 of them being civilian

The Black Deserters; cannibalism, sent behind enemy lines to distract the enemy only to consume 3 townships, and infect half a city.

The Hellghast Unit: Known for housing an infamous killer during the purge of northern Aeon, believed to have been executed by river dashing. Believed to have sired one other among your unit.

Should you fail to atone for the majority of these crimes, we will decree Ragnyll an unholy cesspit needing of a purification

- Signed, Archlord Puritanis the XVIIIth "

>Is this what shit hitting the fan sounds like?

Unbeknown to the diplomatic party, Sgt. Gunther and his gunner Paskal were in the same factory working on getting Isara Mk4 built. Since they were mostly working the machine's interior, it was embarrassingly easy for security teams to miss them as they cleared out the area. None of the Ragnyllian, Clovis, or Aeon participants paid Isara any heed. She was so huge that they undoubtedly thought she was just more of the factory's machinery.

However, the acoustics of the building meant he and Paskal could hear the meeting fairly well if they kept the maintenance hatch open.

"I don't like that Aeon inquisitor." Paskal says, shivering visibly as she peeks out of the hatch. "She really gives me the creeps."

"Eh, that's just how those Aeon types are. Cockblockers, all of them." Gunther shrugged as he connects another hydraulic line.

Not one word was said among our peers.

Without looking, I can already feel what one of my captains is thinking....

O spirits.

>>15950239

"I am sorry to tell you, that the officer you mention as potentialy "sired" died during the attack by my own hand, lest he became a ghoul. As for Helena, she is a citizen of ragnyll and didn't commit any crime during her stay in our unit."

>>15950308

" I see. You are of the Hellghast correct ? Heavy augmentations have touched your being, one would question if you are still human "

Her eyes squint and wander. Was she looking for a tell ? A lie on the Captain's face ?

No. The Captain was metal. I contained an inward chuckle.

Peregrin's brow raised and Irons blue eyes stared bewildered at the metal vanguard. Keep staring, I'll make you pay by the second....

>Testing a post

>>15950352
Alphonse raises his voice. "As a skilled biomancer and someone who has served with Captain Mana, I can vouch that she is unquestionably still human, augmented or not."

>>15950352
"Human? as much human as someone who saw death and lived can be." Mana makes a show out of removing the mask, revealing muscle and bones.
"As you can see, the fight took his toll on my body."
As she puts her mask back she remark:
"As for Helena, I will gladly answer for all their action during the war and will make sure she not set foot on Aeon territory as long as you do not attack us for it, she is an asset I do not want to lose after all."

>>15950408
" So you admit to having her under your custody," Inquisitor Valerie gasps under covered mouth. She was visibly pale from the sight.
" Then it looks like you haven't lost your humanity yet ? Very well, Captain, look around you, your peers have pierced an accusatory gaze on you. In their minds they want you staked and burned so they could save themselves from your filth. This is also a human trait- but to stand so boldly before the inquisition means you are not swayed by such cowardice. So I will offer your unit the only oppurtunity I will give to your kind. Find these units, prove your humanity, exterminate them for their crimes ! They are your brothers NO LONGER !"

" Do you accept ? "

"And now it finally comes out."

The gruff trooper had been eavesdropping from one a perch above the factory floor, his two fellow troopers quietly in tow.
The moment he heard Clove and Aeoh brass were going to be meeting with the higherups he knew something was up.

"None of these bastards arnt the better compared to even the Vosskos"

"Those Pondhoppers want to set our economy up as a puppet while we die jumping through hoops like dogs as they fight half a war.

"Now those Fanatical Clergymen want to start executing our own because we kept our own alive? Sure, lets dismantle our forces, let the Vosskos tear us apart, and roll out the red carpet for everyone to have a 3-way battle atop our bloodied ruins."

By this point, his two troopers where holding him down, just to keep him from crashing the meeting.

"This stinks worse than rot'milk cheese strained through a ghoul's scalp. We're sitting with a smile on our face while they debate on how best to get rid of us.."

>>15950239
"Whoa, cannibalism, animal mutilation? And I thought we had it bad HERE." Gunther muttered.

"Are you sure it's a good idea for Captain Mana to be doing all the talking?" Paskal asked nervously. "After all, she's... well..."

"Let me put it this way. Our old CO, Iceval, would NOT have handled this situation well AT ALL. First of all, he would in no way in hell be sober enough to stand straight, let alone attend a meeting, and second of all, all that crap that Aeon chick just spouted would've put him in a drunken berserker rage that would leave half the attendees unconscious and the other needing to go to the hospital."

"...how the hell did a guy like that live?"

"Gloriously."

>>15950511
"The moment they started commiting war crimes, they stopped being brothers and became rabbid animals that need to be put down, if this is to be Hellghast duty we will take care of it. While we're doing this however the Voss army is going to finish building that giant airship. So I'll have to as you to wait until we took care of that.

>>15950555
>Don't forget to add "I'm sure that Aeon would greatly appreciate us destroying Vosskon's local air power and minimizing any possibility of them encroaching into their lands."

>>15950555

The table hushed after Hodr had been put away, his voice rang across the hollow metalworks of the factory before a door had finally shut. The guards were pale white with embarrassment.

" There will be no need to wait, Captain " The inquisitor exclaims softly. Her eyes dart to one of the other commanders, an intelligence chief. " One of you have already asked these units to post a diversionary position on Albane Airfields did you not ? Very close to an Aeon mission no ? "

" I swear those men would do no harm to that villa-"

" SILENCE. The captain can make the extra effort to dispose of them enroute to recapturing Albane, and you ALL will help her or all of Ragnyll becomes condemned- "

"WITH WHAT ?" I yelled out. " We punish criminals , we fight wars the same as YOU, we're trying to save our very LIVES because you yourselves would NOT. We will clean up our own messes, and you needn't deign to show yourselves just to shakes us down to do OUR job. Am *I* understood inquisitor !? "

" . . . " She gives a short smile as if a hope in her had revived, " Yes.. sir"
She turns away trailed by her aides and body guards.
" I will wait here 10 days, Fight the darkness no matter what form they take brave warriors. Your next battle will decide this war more than you know "

>>15950802
"I'm happy to see we reached a conclusion, now unless there is anything else to talk about. The unit need to be briefed, and we must prepare to move out."

" Wehell " Irons adjusts his glasses.
" Continental women, they're something else aren't they eh bird ? "
" Ahh eheh sure, Irons " Peregrin slumps down clearly in need of a new glass of water.

" Well it seems you all dodged the bullet with that one, " Irons offered, " I should also be getting back to my boy's ball game, if I can prep the jet to go faster than Terra turning, It'd be like I'm only gone a few minutes. Ladies " He gets up. Peregrin still seated where he was.

" It would seem that the boss has given me the full go ahead- can I say that I'm honored to fight alongside your men ? "

" . . . . . ."

Hodr had been dragged off by his own comrades. His own Ragnyllian troopers. He was laughing now, putting unease into Hanse and Fran.

"Hahaha, damned to do their dirty work. But in the end we're still labeled as unclean traitorous taint. The Captain, the 'tenant, and Miss Helena all deserve better than this."

"Now we're gonna slaughter our own."

"This is just the tip of the iceberg, Skoll? The Black? Just wait, some poor sap in the 11th Regular's gonna get bit and we'll be the ones sent off to dishonorably discharge the whole battalion."

S'a damn witch hunt.."

Soapworth lit another cigarette.

The meeting wasn't going well, but when you deal with the Aeon that was the best you could hope for.

He dialed the volume on the radio some more. The microphone he had hidden was far from sight but it also barely caught any of the conversation.

It was disturbing how much the Aeon knew about Hellghast. He never thought the Aeon were that well-endowed in the Intelligence department, still apparently they knew how to keep their ears open.

"Or their pockets" Soapworth thought to himself.

The Capt. was doing a good job, better than Iceval that rat bastard may he rest in peace. Still the Aeon's weren't the type to give up anything. And he worried if any deal they made would just delay the war with Aeon not avoid it.

He took a deep drag and let out a sigh. Those were worries for command. All he could do was his best to find the answers to some burning questions, the origin of the vossian monsters, the mysterious Helena and where Aeon was getting their info from.

So many questions and increasingly fewer time to solve them. He went back to listening to the radio. Oh well in the end the truth always comes out even if sometimes it takes a war to make that happen.

>I apologize for being, but also relish being, the disturbed old nationalist. It's fun.

>>15950897
A parasol's shadow looms over Hodr.

"Ze Lion won't fight ze bear because eet's bigger, but it vill chase down the rabbits and the hares because it feeds ze bear. But ze Jackals.. zat is the vun you must watch out for. " He flashes a toothy grin. Zey vill eat the rabbits, and the hares, and ze deer, starve the lion, eat ze lion and finally come knocking at ze bear's door "

He looks on at the marching procession of Aeon knights from the safety of his parasol glinting an unbearable amount of sun to his shade.

" But vey vont see how wrong zey were, not until we rabbits are gone "
" And ve will never be gone "

Winters, Summers, and Springer barely noticed the political happenings, still attaching armor plates to their Striders, talking as they did so.

Winters: "We need a squad name."
Summers: "No. We're Strider Team 1. That's the end of it."
Winters: "Three Seasons... no that's totally lame."
Summers: "STRIDER. TEAM. ONE."
Winters: "How about GATLING FURY."
Springer: "Gay."
Summers: "See?"
Winters: "Well you try to come up with a better name!"
Summers: "Ok. Strider Team 1."
Springer: "FISTS OF FURY."
Summers: "NO."
Winters: "LAME."
Springer: "What, Gatling Fury was better?"
Winters: "... I love gatling guns."
Summers/Springer: "YES, WE KNOW."

>>15951102

ahhhh this is what happens when you're roommates with oc u _u

>>15950897
"I don't buy it. All we have is this Aeon dame's word to go on. What if the Voss are disguised? Or their spies are faulty? We should at least stall until we can launch our own investigation. I know a guy in the Skolls, they aren't terrible people, they're good Ragnyllians just like us!" Willhelm says angrily. "It just doesn't fit."

>>15951434
"Not to mention we know that the Voss have experience in mind control. Willhelm looks like we got a case on our hands."

>>15951494
"Right..I'll look into my academy buddy from the Skolls, see what you can dig up from the egg-heads about mind control magic." Willhelm says, walking outside and picking a tall piece of grass to chew on.

"Harrison, go tell Der Kommissar and The River Lady to keep their heads down for a while...Something tells me Aeon's god sees more than we'd like him to."
>"Right away, Will."

>>15951552
"You see, this is why I like machines. Nobody's got anything against them. Though it does bother me that Aeon thinks it can boss us around like they think they're plain better than anybody else. Can't blame 'em though. They're probably used to thinking that way.

>>15951650
"Hah. If I had a few more stripes on my collar, I'd ask that she be interrogated, but NOOO that'd be harassing a foreign diplomat..."

"Hey Sarge, I know our radios are supposed to be secure, but I'm not so sure Aeon isn't listening. You're a mechanical genius, can you get me a private line to someone in the Skolls?"

Mana makes her way to where Helena is supposed to pass the worst of the day, when the sun is at it's strongest.

"I hope I'm not waking you up. I have some information for you about today meeting, first it seem like Aeon heard about Rip, second I would like to know what happened during the Purge of North Aeon. This is not an order, I won't press you for information either. Lastly, it seem we have one unit that is made up of cannibals and the other that started mutilating animals and civilian. I don't know about the former but the later sound a lot like transformed werewolves."

>>15951894
>On his way to warn Helena to lay low at Willhelm's request, Pvt. Harrison sees the Captain enter the sanctuary, and decides to wait by the entrance and see what he can overhear.

>>15951706
That sounds like something you'd want to bring up with Rip or Vipera, seeing as how they've got the training on how to intercept radio signals.

No guarantee on comms, though. It was already troublesome enough getting landlines and transmitters out into the border regions, and the fact that the place is crawling with Voss doesn't make it any easier. What few comm lines remaining are all under military control.

>>15951946
Alphonse, who had been following the captain (having not yet been dismissed) taps Pvt. Harrison on the shoulder.

"I think there has been enough eavesdropping for one day. You should move along."

>>15952083
Harrison jumps six feet in his own skin

>"Uh..Right..Will told me to let Helena know Aeon's out to get her, and that if she could keep Rip out of the way as well, it'd be a bonus. You'll tell her for me, right?"

Without waiting for an answer, Harrison scurries off back towards the comms building to meet back up with Willhelm.

Hodr lay sprawled on the ground, contemplating the Lieutenant's words.

"I think I understand sir."

"When the hare seems all but gone, the Lion, the Jackal, and the Bear will tear at eachother's throats. And thus the hare emerges from his burrow, unscathed."

"Let them think we're prey. Let them underestimate the resolve of Ragnyll. Let them rot. Rot till the moment the glow of our barrels, the flash of our muzzles, and the glint of our blades light their path to hell.."

"I.. I'm sorry for my behavior. Ragnyll deserved better than that, I couldn't keep quiet."

" I remember those charges .. " Helena's voice projects.
" Cannibalism charges for those stricken with ghoul taint, Animal mutilations would be weres or another demi-human they do this by counting up the bodies of victims done in by various ways before burning the body .. but I doubt you're here to hear a science lesson are you ? "

" How about some history, then ? A few centuries ago a band of knights had been sent out to clear the Aeon continent of the demihumans, on the whims of a mad Lord. One sided battles were fought, demihumans and darklings forced into the same corner were forced to fight together until they fled to what we know today as Iffram. Shamed, those knights were welcomed with stones, chains, and stockades. Our methods were too brutal, they said, the purge had killed too many of their loved ones, they cried. But faith held us together, and we knew that what we did was right. All the Aeons of the Holy Empire were shoved on us when the outcry of the demihuman had rang loud enough for everyone to hear.

And so, to wash themselves of that sin, the last of us who hadn't succumbed to treachery signed off our belief save for one. That person was executed by way of river planking. In the violent tides, rocks and water disfigured my humanity beyond repair until I had woken up at the other side of the river. My body whole, and a bite on my neck from who, I did not know. Every day I would attempt to kill myself while uttering the prayers I recited on that river. But I could not do it. I wouldn't do it. After 3 moons I had finally given in and decided that the people to suffer for their lack of faith for their actions would be my traitorous unit, and finally those above who denied us our proper humanity. But, I can see that someone is taking up my old post and wishes to suffer my same fate ?"

>>15952446
Mana tilt her head, one of the only way she has left to show expressions.

"Let them hate me, let them kill me at the end of this war if this is what they want. My objectives are saving ragnyll and keeping as many of my men alive as I can by the end of this war. I should have died at Solstice and yet here I am."

>>15952559
" I have one question. Did the decree happen to be written by a one Puritanis descendant ? "

The Strider pilots stand back, witnessing their handy work on the trio of up-armored Striders.

Summers: "... It actually doesn't look that bad. And we only used one BiTank armor kit to do it all."
Winters: "I dunno... something's missing. Hang on, I got an idea."
Winters starts heading to the quartermaster.
Springer: "Where you going?"
Winters: "You'll see."
After several minutes, Winters returns with a spray gun and paint canisters in blue, red, and green, then proceeds to paint a colored, diagonal stripe across the front of each Strider, bisecting the left headlight, obviously refraining from actually painting over the headlight itself. He'd noticed some time ago that the shape of the nose and the positioning of the headlights made the Striders look as if they had a pair of eyes. After doing so, he stands back. Blue for Winters', Red for Summers', and Green for Springer's.
Summers: "Huh... simple. I like it."
Springer: "Now we need to name them."
Summers: "Uh... Strider 1, Strider 2, and Strider 3."
Winters: "...Could you use your imagination at least ONCE in your life? This is why I'm the squad leader."
Summers: "What? Who said you were the squad leader? They only put you in charge last mission because they needed people who are either suicidal or blood thirsty to pilot these things. And you're suicidal AND blood thirsty."
Winters: "Right! That's why I'm in charge!"
Springer: "We're all going to die, aren't we?"
Summers: "Yep."

>>15952651
"Yes, the 18th of the line if it has any meaning."

>>15952651
"One Archlord Puritanis the XVIIIth, if I recall correctly."

>>15952716
>>15952676

" I see, it's of no concern to you. But I suppose you should know that that person had descended from one of my comrades. A grand nephew I suppose, who now probably leads the anti-heretical acts that is driving Aeon's zealousy with more force behind it than the first purge. And he'll use this war as a tool to drive people's fear higher than any man should in order to finish an ancestral grudge. You'll find friends in Aeon yet, if only you could make them speak out."

".... it definitely worked on us "

>>15952832
"I do have some family there, but I rarely see them. I also doubt they have enough influence to do anything... I'll try to get a talk with my father soon then."

" Krrrrscht cht chello ? hello ? one two, Hello ? "

" Willhelm buddy, this you ? "
" Hhahah it is how's it been ? listen, I dont think I can chat for long.... theres kind of a a thing that we're doing out here and we kind of can't hear you from all the overhead noise "
" Ahahaha... that ? It's a bombing run. 8th one this week. We couldn't stay in the town any longer cause they were bombing that shit too and so now we're out here... in the woods. Yeah "
" But just they wait... when nightfalls those damn voss will regret not hitting us. Numbers? Yeah we got numbers. A lot in fact. We've been recruiting since this whole damn attack started. Heard your exploits in Stilemar, you know ? Gave us ideas. Real good ones. Only problem is, I can't really write it up on a report. "

A laughter

" Hey- listen buddy, listen. I don't know what they're saying about us, but you, The HellGhast, Vander's Rolling Thunder, Unit 0, Hell even the Black Deserters, we're all in this togeth-- "

An explosion.

" ---- fit wasn't for us we wouldn't know how deep in Ghoulshit we'd be you know ? No one's coming to help us, and you seem to be the only guys to believe that there are those that's gonna give us a helping hand. But hey, if its what gets you to kill giant worms and lets you sleep at night, I can't judge you. We dont even sleep. Spirits help those who cross the night against us friend "

>>15953225
"Good to hear you're doing well..take care of yourself, and go kick some Voss ass. Willhelm out." He puts down the receiver, and switches off the transmission, the grass stalk in his mouth igniting from the anger-fueled magical discharge.

Dammit. Dammit dammit a thousand times dammit. His best friend was a Were. The friend who'd been with Willhelm since before he could remember, and he had orders to kill him and everyone he knew.
What's worse, it was his unit's success that had pushed the Skolls to adopt lycanthropy.

It was time to talk to Helena.

Following Harrison's lead, Willhelm stalks over to Helena's sanctuary, spotting Alphonse standing guard outside. Guess he'd get to share his findings with Mana as well.

"Pardon Al, I have news about the Skoll unit, I'd like to get Mana and Helena's angle on it." He sidesteps Al and projects into the darkness, "Pardon me, ma'ams. I have news I'd like you both to hear. It's about Skoll. Call me in when you're done speaking privately, please."

>>15953384
"So Al" he says, turning to the silent caster.
"Thanks for scaring the hell out of Harrison, he should know that the Captain would never keep important information from us." he looks impatiently through the doorway. "Wonder what they were discussing."

>>15953384
Of course Gunther heard Willhelm's conversation with his "friend" over the radio. It was difficult tracking down a frequency that the main military wasn't using already, wasn't under heavy surveillance, and still had the range to reach the wherever the Skolls were. However, he was a bit uncomfortable. While they were smart enough to leave out most key details, they still left too much information like personal and unit names. It would be plainly obvious to anybody who might have been listening about who was involved. There chances of somebody intercepting the transmission were low, the risk was still there.

Not surprisingly, Willhelm quickly ran off, presumably to inform the Captain and Helena about his new findings.

"Shit, looks like we're going to have to frag the Skolls after all..." Gunther frowned. Fortunately, some of the new perks from liberating Kolstec was access to its ammunition factories. Already, some of them were producing special anti-undead ammunition like silver bullets and cannon shells filled with silver shrapnel. He made a note to stock up on extra cases of those soon.

>>15953629
"Not my place to say. Word has already gotten out about Skoll and the others I take it. We'll get all the information at the next briefing."

>>15950981
"Requesting the Retriever aspect command, always had a nose for finding things let's see if i can't put it good use."

Also let's make sure Aeon doesn't have any claws in our unit. Let's see if we can't sniff out any spys.

The puzzle pieces were there, albeit with a few missing.

The Aeon Inquisition, and their uncanny knack at knowing things they shouldn't.
The Skolls, and the other units, who because of Hellghast sheltering and using Helena, adopted demi-human powers as a means of fighting the Voss.
The Worm, the great monstrosity in the Kolstec mines.
Now it was just a matter of figuring out how they all fit together. Unfortunately, all he could do right now was relay his findings to Captain Mana, and hope she could persuade the Inquisitor to permit us to do a full investigation before taking military action.

>Operations soon, Fellow HellGhasts. See you all for the next battle.

Actually, there's one thing that concerned me. Willhelm's friend mentioned both Vanders' unit and another unit called "Unit 0". I suspect Vander was associated with us since we've done joint ops before, but who or what the hell is Unit 0?

>>15953949
You caught that too eh?
The playing field just flipped about umpteen dozen times today. Traitors, Purges, Spies, you name it. HellGhast is being toyed with.
I don't like the feeling of walking blind into a gunfight.

>IC confirmed for diabolical mastermind.

>>15954031

Toyed with? Hodr, we're soldiers. That's practically why we exist.

Aside from being pointed at very dangerous things and expected to not only fight but kill said dangerous things.

Nothing changes for us grunts, Hodr. We follow orders and chain of command; no ifs, thens, or buts. And if those orders mean we have to kill someone? We follow them, Hodr. We're soldiers. We follow orders; not question 'em. Especially the politics behind them. Just do your job and maybe, this war will end faster.

No seriously, do your job and help me unload these munitions. Because of your stunt the rest of us got slammed with munition hauling detail.

>As if there's a way to walk into a firefight other than blind.

The Strider team had finished up the modification jobs to their Striders, and now they were making some tweaks to the joints and other such locations, to ensure the added weight of the armor wouldn't compromise the mobility of each unit. From where he stands, Winters notices the other pilot, Sgt. Gunther. He looks up to Summers, who's in the cockpit of the red striped Strider, tinkering with the controls.
Winters: "Hey Summers, could you come down here?"
Summers: "Can it wait? I'm in the middle of some calibrations."
Winters: "You've been in the middle of calibrations for like thirty minutes, dammit. Just come down here."
Summers: "... Is it something you could do by yourself?"
Winters: "Uh... well, I guess..."
Summers: "Then DO IT YOURSELF."
Winters: "But higher ranking people make me nervous!"
Summers raises an eyebrow, then looks over, noticing the sergeant as well. "... Weren't you supposed to be the squad leader? Talking to higher ups is your job."
Winters: "Pff... fine."
Winters starts making his way over to where Sgt. Gunther is. He has in fact noticed that things have been different today. He figures the officers and NCOs are the ones that know what's going on right now, and despite his demeanor, he really is one to follow the chain of command. He hasn't seen any other NCOs around, so this is the logical first step. At least they could find common ground in being pilots. Maybe. Hopefully.
"Uh, hey, sergeant? I was wondering if you knew what's going on right now. Are we getting ready for another mission?"

>>15954184
Yeah, well I'm not afraid of charging headfirst into a firefight as long as I know the guns are in front of me. Makes it easier to figure out where the enemy is. It's the possibility guns behind me that I get really worried about.

>>15954188
"Kid, there's ALWAYS another mission." Gunther grunted, wondering why he had referred Winters as a kid and suddenly feeling very old for doing so. "But, I honestly have no idea where we're going next. They barely tell us NCOs any more than you."

He considered telling Winters more details, but decided against it. The things he had heard were sensitive stuff that technically was not supposed to know. Either way, he'd figure it out via typical trooper gossip, or when Mana felt it was the proper time. No reason to put his ass on the line for a risk he didn't need to take.

He then caught sight of the trio of Striders that Winters was sprucing up. While he personally would not be caught dead piloting one of those walking toothpicks they certainly did have their place in the field. However, he frowned when he saw that they just had plain, boring numbers splashed onto their sides.

"Just a bit of advice, kid. You should go through the effort of giving your vehicle a decent name. Make her your own, you know what I mean? You show her some love and care and she'll show some back in respect."

"Oh yeah," He added as he walked away. "Don't forget those fancy jetpacks they gave you in pilot training can let you punch out before your ride gets wrecked. Those things can be lifesavers."

>If one of your wingmen gets hosed, unless otherwise specified, you can assume they just bailed out via jetpack, since it's a pilot special ability.

>>15954184
>>15954196
Don't doubt for a second that I won't follow a direct order.
The Boss, the captain, the Lt says jump, I say how high.
But I'm not ashamed of my stunt.
The brass had to play tight lipped. The captain herself was the target of those Aeon nutjobs. And those sonsofbitches needed to know: We follow Ragnyllian orders. Not Aeon. Not Clove. Not Vossko.

The Sarge gets what I'm saying. I'll bleed for Ragnyll. But it's as'f it's not Ragnyll that's pulling the strings. Off the field I'll call a stink order if I see a stink order. But that don't mean I won't hesitate when the shit hits the deck.

>Damn man, Slugger ammo's a back breaker.

>Actually sluggers conceptually scare me, a rifle-carry semi-automatic short-barrel high caliber Anti-armor infantry weapon? I feel like a damn Spess Mareen. I just need [HighExplosive] and I've got bolters. And several-RoF upgrades later... HEAVY BOLTERS!

>>15954295

In Gunther's defense, Winters does look very young. Younger than the average recruit, really.
"O-oh. Alright."
Listening to Sgt. Gunther's advice, he nods. He's never really seen vehicles as anything more than tools and weapons to be used, but he can kind of understand where he's coming from. Vehicles tend to be a little more sentimental than things like rifles and swords.
He does take good care of his Strider of course, but that's because he doesn't want it to break down in combat, not because he has an emotional connection.
"Right, Sergeant, I'll do that. Thanks for the advice."
Winters turns to head back to the others. Summers looks up. "Any news?"
Winters: "Nah. He's as in the dark as we are. But he did tell us to name the Striders."
Summers: "What's wrong with Striders 1, 2, and 3?"
Winters: "Hey, he's the one with the experience. He said if we show them love, they'll pay it back. Maybe there's something to it, I dunno."
Summers: "But we are showing them love. By upgrading and maintaining them. But whatever. We need to come up with names that aren't stupid."
Winters: "Hmmm..."

>>15954522

Winters steps back, smirking. "Most. Awesome. Names. Ever."
On the blue striped Strider he'd stenciled "Frost," on the red one, "Blaze," and on the green one, "Gust."
Summers: "... For some reason I think the callsign Blaze fits you better than it does me. Because Frost definitely doesn't fit you."
Winters: "Yeah well we can't trade our actual names. So we're sticking with this."
Springer: "I get Frost and Blaze. What's up with Gust?"
Winters: "Would you prefer Leaf? Or Bloom? Or something else that has something to do with Spring?"
Springer: "...Forget I said anything."
Winters grins at the personalized Striders, nodding in satisfaction. "Guys, we are not just a Strider Team. We are a force of nature. Grass grows, sun shines, birds fly... and we kill people."
Summers: "Think that one up all by yourself, huh?"
Winters: "Shut up."

>>15954360

>You'd need to be Aeon. So you could shout "HERESY."

" Raise your arms "
" Vat I just "
" Raise "

On days where Rip's boredom took him to the prisoner interrogation rooms, Helena had a different idea of blowing off stress.

It's been some nights since the inquisitorial band had taken up camp in an old Kolstec church which meant that the two vampires had to get a few soldiers to relocate them, by ibon covered minecart to a nearby seamstress's workshop.

Helena had the capacity to work quickly and deftly with fingers moving faster than the human eye. But lately she's taken to slowing down while Rip stood with arms high as she made painstaking and glacial adjustments to his outfit.

" As my charge, I forbid you to dress like a feral child and while I can't do a thing about your hair, I can definitely make you a different class of officer and give you a modicum of class while doing it-
Lieutenant "

" Vat this is var, vhy vould I have to put up with something this... ti- AHA !" She pricks him with a silver needle. Another component to her eccentricities.
" Because you can, and because I will tell you to. And before this week's out you will like it and come back to it everyday."
" Vair enough....but why iz it froofy here ?"
" So you can hold a bow. It's not like you're gonna sweat. You are a corpse "
" Joo mean I haff to verr zis during battle !? "
" Again, yes. Now turn "
" ..... "
" What do you think ?"
" You know vat I think "
" I want you to say it. "
" my pants... are really high... "

>>

[Comissioned from a napkin. IC I will buy you 10 more cups of coffee if we can have a ww2 fashionweekholyshit]

It seems Like I can't post that letter for some reason, so It'll be on ice I guess.

>>15956486
Now without the autocorrection...

Letter adressed to the Captain father Scipio Lanista, third son of the Lanista noble house in Aeon now living in Ragnyll.

>>15955444
>you know I didn't think it was possible, but Rip just got even MORE girly.

Willhelm sits in his quarters, thankful he had a desk and some chairs this time, pouring over his notes and various reports, still looking for some way to get Aeon off their backs.

Speaking of Aeon...They're ready to go guns blazing into Ragnyll and purge everyone on the mere suspicion of corruption...where was that zealotry towards the Voss, whose main tactic is the use of demi-humans and undead, which has been confirmed already? Why weren't the Inquisition paying more attention to the invading Voss?

>>15955444
>have a ww2 fashionweekholyshit
the best soldiers always need fashionable swagger.

Mana, assemble the troops in the makeshift Briefing room.

"From what I could gather a lot of you seem reluctant to attack other ragnyllian units. You can be happy to know that I understand your plight and will propose this alternate solution, a night attack. I'm sure all the hesitation you have about killing your friends will evapore when faced with the option of becoming their snack...."

>>15958304
Vipera's looking through numerous files, still trying to unravel the labrinthine nightmare of Iceval's papers, figuring out what to keep and what to burn. "Personally have no qualms attacking another unit when we've got a kill order, but I will say, I see the night attack as a bad idea. It's better to kill them when they aren't charged with supernatural power."

>>15958304

eh, fool hardy plan to say the least

is a diplomatic option out of the table?

> We are late.
The trio skulks about nearby, unsure on what to do. Not even Cochrane dares a peep- Okay, when Hodr started hollering, Baek had to put her on a chokehold, again.

"Yer bloody fault." The feisty gal gave him a kick to shin. Asuryan didn't even notice, even as the gal pranced about on one foot. Baek just... Sighed.

> Do you think we can get on the next mission?
"If you don't leak anymore tomorrow morning..." "Darned right we will!"

>>15958304
>>15958377
"All due respect ma'ams but are you listening to yourselves? These men made the choice to use supernatural powers because of us, and now we're going to exterminate them on the word of some Aeon Inquisitorial NUTCASE? What's worse, they'll probably find out about some other nonsense, and tell us to kill more people or risk war with them, they won't be satisfied!"
Willhelm's beret bursts into flames, which he promptly extinguishes, scowling at the ruined hat.
"Great, now I need a new hat. Point being ma'ams, I'll take a court marshal and summary execution before I turn my gun on a Ragnyllian without a proper war crimes investigation"

>>15958426
Unless we want to either fight Aeon, get killed by the main army or both at the same time? Then yes there is no diplomatic option.

Summers and Springer weren't present for the brief; being the de-facto squad leader meant Winters was the one responsible for getting the info. He looks over his note pad, on which he's taken notes on the upcoming operation.

"Weres... Do they even make silver bullets chambered in 20mm? Uh, in any case, the day attack would make more sense, yeah."'

He doesn't actually voice his opinions on the matter. He's still a soldier, so he'll follow orders when told to do so without letting his feelings get in the way.

>>15958445
Then I'll be happy to call the Military Police after you refuse to show up for the mission, I don't need soldier who don't follow order.

>>15958465
Yes it would, but it seem the only way to get some of the men in this unit to fight this fight will be to put them in front of a half-ton wolf and give them the choice to shoot or die.

>>15958445

agree with this

we have ten days, might as well use it to make sure we're not being tricked into doing rash actions

>>15958445
Line

Line

Line

Circle

A small array in the sand, the iron ring flashes to silver before Alphonse picks it up and places it on a finger.

"If these troops have slaughtered civilians, they are out of control and are now a danger to fellow ragnylls. Have you no faith in our own intel? I our intelligence would not likely just send us out without verifying the information themselves.

Regardless of how you feel about werewolves, we can NOT have ragnylls using ghouls."

>>15958516
"So that's it? We're just wiping them out? What happens when Aeon smells a rat in the Regulars? or Vanders? Or Unit 0 whatever that is? Do we kill them too? All I'm asking is if we can wait to go in guns blazing until after an investigation. I just want to talk to them first. If they're really just animals, I'll burn them to cinders, right away, ma'am, but I'm sure everyone here would feel better about having our own facts to go on, not some Inquisitorial twat's"

>>15958304
>Hodr promptly places a hand on Willhelm's shoulder to calm him down. Stepping before his fellow troopers.
We all understand we're in a bind ma'am.
My actions yesterday were inexcusable, but I stand by them.
But we know our duties, and our pledges to the Ghasts ain't one bit weaker because of some stink political foreplay.

If your order is to clear our own, we'll clear our own.
Day. Night. Just point us in the direction that needs some redeco.
We didn't join this outfit to be cleancut heroes.
We joined because we get things done.

So what're the details ma'am?

>>15958516

"Oh, uh, you don't have to worry about me, ma'am. Not dying is incentive enough."

Winters chews on his pencil, still looking through his notes.

"They're a Ragnyll unit, so we should have information on their numbers... do we know their unit strength and composition?"

>>15958580
It's them or we have to kill Rip and Helena, if they decide to spare any of us. So yesI'll wipe them out and be happy that we get to live another day.

>>15958611
Willhelm sighs, defeated, and begins loading silver bullets into his revolver.
"Living another day huh? So it's really us or them. I just hope we can live with ourselves during that extra day."

He finishes and looks up at the circle of Hellghast members. "If you see a Lt, let me know, He's mine."

>>15958664
Then I'll assume the night attack will not be necessary and that your conviction will not falter during this fight can I?

>>15958698
"A night attack would get more of us killed than it would save. All I'm asking is if any one of this unit has to put down Wilders, let it be me, so at least I can't blame any of you for it later."

"If they feed on civs, they're no longer on our 'sides, so we can blew 'em away, rite!?"
> . . .
"Sometimes I wonder why her accent keeps changi-"
"Wutwas that?"
"Then I have better things to think about."
> Same here.
"Like keeping the squad leader in working condition."
> It was not my fault the cave roof decided to tip most of its weight on me.
"Yer augmetics' jus slowin' us down. How'd you get to be squad lead anyway?"
> Family fortune.
". . ." ". . . Bollocks."

>>15958735
I have no problem with it but only if it's an option that will not cost the live of one of the unit under my command, I hope you understand.

>I find this picture strangely appropriate.

Very well then, now that we all agree here's the real plan:

"We will attack 10 to 15 minutes before sunrise, that way they will close to us in wolf form before transforming back into human. It will prevent their use of armors and allow us to actually get first strike."

"Exactly how smart are weres when they transform? Cause if they're smart, I doubt they'll just rush at us before they turn back into naked unarmed humans."

>>15958950
"Sounds...like a plan."
"If we're done here, I need to get some sleep, since we won't be sleeping the night before the operation"

>>15959013
Then we'll simply be free to close in and get a get free ground, this is a win-win situation.

>>15958735
Soapworth waits for Willhelm to be alone.

"Dat my friend was some display of bravado."

*Slowly claps

"Tell me did ya really think dat ya speech was gonna melt da ice cold heart of da commanda' and get her ta show some compassion? Or were you just not thinkin' at all?"

"Still ya got a point, Aeon is just stringing us along. I've been on da streets long enough ta know a shake down whens I see it and let me tell ya da Aeon ain't too bad at it."

"The higher ups may not wanna ta say it but as soon as we take care of da voss, Aeon is going to come down on us like a holy vulture picking up where the voss left off. By dat time we are just gonna be scraps. And do ya think our allies are gonna help us out, hell they practically piss themselves at da thought of war with da Aeon.

"But enough small-talk ere's da heart of it all. We need ta start preppin' for the holy hell that's fo' sho to folla. Listen I figure da Aeon showed der' hand so ta speak when dey told us ta go hunt our own. See the voss have a way ta control der' monsters and I figure the Aeons worried dat we might have picked up on dat' little secret."

"Dey don' want ta have to face off against us if we gots Ibonyte and the undead at our disposal. So I'm thinkin' dats our only hope. We need ta figure out da secret o' how the Voss are able ta keep a chain on deir' monsta's. And dat's where you come in. You wanna save your friend well dat's da only way. So here's da deal you help me figure dis' out and I'll help you get your friend back."

"Anyway I'll give ya some time ta think about it. Hell i could be wrong and the Aeon could be legit, in that case all we got is some info on the Voss we could use against dem. But if i'm right dat da war with Aeon is comin' and like it or not if we don' got an Ace in the hole, then you can kiss our country good bye."

"Oh dis probably don' need ta be said but les' keep this talk between us. Kapish"

>>15959086

"Sounds good enough to me Captain, I'll have the boys run a few more drills then get some rest."

Any word on if command will requisition us some silvered rounds for the op just in case?

> On one note, are all of troopers supplied with silver-lined or silver-flecked or silver-tipped-
"The standard ones."
"Indubiutably be."
". . . What?"
> I have no idea either.

>>15959138
Willhelm nods.
"So If we find out how the Voss control their monsters, we survive Aeon's holy war. Makes sense. I don't see how this helps my friend whom we're killing in the next day or two, but I trust you know what you're doing Soap, I'll figure out how the Voss are doing it."

>For shits, did a size comparison between the vehicles based on the size of the pilots.
>That thing is HUGE.

>>15959244
"Ya ain't thinking like an Investigata'. Da Capt. may want us to wipe your' friends all out but she can't object if arrest one so we's have a witness to the account and conincidently our first piece o' puzzle to controllin the undead."

>>15959301
"Oh, that. Why do you think I requested I be the one to face Wilders? I'm not a COMPLETE rookie, Soap."

>>15959330
"Den you betta bring a muzze and some tranq. bullets laced with wolfsbane."

>>15959258
The Gryffon, for when two legs and one cannon just simply isn't enough.

>>15959350
Willhelm opens his mouth and raises a finger, as if to retort, then decides against it. "Right...Right, wolfsbane..tranq rounds..Yeah, I'll go pick some of those up. Thanks."

>>15959258
Holy hell..
>Noticing the machine gun on the rear is the freaking size of a BiTank's main gun.

>>15959379
>>15959537

This is why humanity wins. Werewolves and vampires may have supernatural powers, but we've got the biggest tanks.

>>15959700
>Humanity, Fuck yeah!

>So command, what's the estimated time to start operations?

>>15959700
>>15959720
Pic related, was what I was expecting.
Instead we got GRYFFIN
>everythingwentbetterthanexpected.png.exe.tiff

>>15959537
>Dude, the turret alone is big enough to fit an entire BiTank in.

>>15959766
>didn't you know? When a Gryffin goes down, the pilot doesn't eject, a pilot riding a BiTank does.

>>15959786
>Damnit. Now I'm tempted to make that an actual upgrade! It'll be just like the BatTank in The Dark Knight on STEROIDS.

>>15959808
>Terran Transport with [Stealth] & [Jumpjets] that shoots out a RigCycle.
>Gunther, YOU ARE THE HERO THAT RAGNYLL DESERVES.

>>15960013

>.........HEY JATHAN I GOT A PROJECT FOR YOU!

>>15960013
>http://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=lEx9r5enZsk
>because goddamned Batman.

Lankest paced in front of the barricades his squad had assembled. Mattan and Nattam, twin brothers and the newest members of Lankest's squad, sat perched atop their respective barricades like matching gargoyles. They were an odd pair what with the way they mimicked each others behavior, finished each others sentences, and the complete lack of emotion present in any form. As long as they could build a decent turret though, Lankest didn't care what they did.

Jathan on the other hand fidgeted nervously in front of his barricade. The young man was always doing that, fidgeting, flinching, cringing, whatever you wanted to call it. He was like a timid field mouse, jumping at every sound. Lankest couldn't figure out why the man had joined the military at all.

“So, can anyone tell me why we build barricades?” Lankest asked, stopping in front of Jathan.

“Because they...” “...Provide cover,” Mattan and Nattam said in the same exact monotone.

“And cover saves lives. Lives like Mirin's and Brenil's,” Jathan stiffend at the mention of his dead friends, “SO CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG WITH THESE ONES!?”

Mattan and Nattam only stared blankly and Jathan looked ready curl into a ball.

“...That's what I thought. Tear them apart and when you're done, build them again! Keep tearing them apart and building them until you can tell me what you did wrong.”

As the three scrambled to begin the deconstruction, Lankest went in search of coffee.

>>15960013
This needs to be drawn, like, RIGHT THE FUCK NOW.

>>15959380
>>15959350

A hand reaches out to the shoulders of the two Investigators.

"... Got your backs... kneecaps... hard to run on one leg..."

And with that, the silent Scout stalks off towards the shadows.

>>15957009

I

I had to..

>>15961661
I still can't get over just how FRIGGING HUGE the Gryphon is.

>>15961746
I think it's actually still SMALLER than it would actually be in that comparison...

>>15961767

Unless the Gryphon pilot is a midget. Always a possibility.

We're talking Hobbit sized.

>>15961856
>Hobbits
>In tanks
>Mother of god.