You resign yourself, much as he has, drawing your lance and holding it at the ready. "All right, then." He draws his pistols with the same solemnity. You get the feeling that's as much a formality as anything.

And then suddenly, he springboards forward, bounding off his repulsor and barreling down at one of your recruits. He dive-rolls away and catches a shot in the back of his head, putting him down. By the time you've answered his move with your own, he's vaulted overhead and it's all you can do avoid being strafed as he lands beside your next Beret. Poor bastard at least has the courage to try to get a shot off, which Wallaby counters, fizzling it out. He tries to club him with the stock of his buster rifle. It doesn't go well. Two Berets down. Damn...

The other two have gone to ground, moving like hell to avoid Guns. Can't blame them. You're too slow to catch him, and a shot whizzing by your head reminds you that you've got your own problems.

Cont.

You quickly follow the shot to its source and finally see your enemy--it's a Lanceteamer Bingo. LTBs--the last generation of hunter infantry--are older and lower grade than your team, but you'd bet anything Guns has trained them up personally.

Trying to play catch-up isn't going to go well, but you can't just let them keep taking potshots. You break from cover, rolling as another shot passes close by. You break into a sprint, making for the LTB in your sight. Unfortunately, Guns sees you. Plasma rains down on you, forcing you to dive for the next bit of cover. You see him land on a catwalk and quickly give a shout. Your Berets pop up at your direction and deliver their own volleys, combined with your own. He can't dodge them all, so he leans back and raises that repulsor again. But now he's pinned--your SBs duck, barely avoiding the fire from the enemy LTBs. You're free to charge one, who looks up to see you just in time.

He raises his weapon, a small beam-blade igniting on the end of the rifle. You batter the weapon aside with a swift strike of your own and cut him down with the backswing. You crouch behind your new cover, noting that the second downed Beret is hauling himself back up. He's still in it.

No posturing, no banter, no words need to be exchanged. You lock eyes with Guns again from across the warehouse. He's too fast to pin down in melee, especially in this maze of crates. It's five on three, now, but you still don't like your odds. What's your next move?

Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5xxSmuiaQs

Good to see you alive!

I'll wait for someone else to show up so we have the option to pick from. This guy isn't actually teleporting is he? Cause that's the schtick of the guy in the music.

Also, charge %, and do we have any control over how much we use, or is it one and done?

>>17922088
Wallaby is using those repulsor fields to make huge jumps. He doesn't teleport, he's just quick. He can lean back and direct the repulsor forward to negate fire.
Charge percentage is 74%. It's enough for a big hit, but if you miss, you're probably not going to be able to build up that much charge again. As for the release, it's kind of like a firehose. You CAN turn it off before it's fully released, but it's hard to do, and by the time you manage it there's usually only a little bit left anyway.

>>17922156
Wait, he can Matrix dodge? Oh crap.

Well... I know what I'm going to suggest when we get another choice.

Oh sweet, this thread again. Send one of the berets to the back to bring in the the backup, make sure to cover him.

>>17922366
What backup? Did you not hear all of them getting shot to hell outside? Or is that my imagination?

>>17922366
Might be a problem. The facility doors started sealing and they shut behind your team. And as long as I'm the bearer of bad news, this far into the building your comms have been jammed.

Let's get some boss music up in here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_89pbrKYDo

That said... how's using the crates for cover, or pushing them around?

>>17922366
Also, as much as I think he WANTS to give us a lesson in tactics the gruff commander way, I think he's programmed right now to NEED to kill us. (Or at least will act as such until the end of scenario.)

We can still communicate with our SBs inside, right?

We'll need to zone him with their fire- granted, he's not going to fall for this for long- hopefully enough to get inside of his guard and stab him. Set the electricity to only ZAP on a hit. Because seriously, unless we can SHOOT the stuff, I don't think we can ensure it will reach him otherwise.

Also, do we know how many more friends he has with him?

>>17922504
Kind of assumed. You're basically dealing with crack shots and a pistoleer who can fire at an unreal pace. The crates are simultaneously saving you and ruining your chances of getting at Guns. As for weight, you're a combat-model reploid. If you gave one a really solid shove you could knock one down. Not all the crates weigh the same, of course.

>>17922540
He's definitely trying to kill you and you're definitely trying to return the favor. He's rejected surrender out of hand.

As for your capacitor discharge, you can launch it at range, but from too far away he'll have plenty of room and time to dodge.

You can talk to your SBs, but it's vocal range only.

You counted four shots and you've gotten one confirmed LTB kill. He has at least 3 more.


Also, since it might have been unclear, the battle inside the warehouse is where everything's gone down. The mechaniloids you brought inside were taken out. The rest are outside with the remainder of your team securing the perimeter. Again, though, you're a bit stuck in here.

Can we get enough cover fire from the remaining SBs to tie up Wallaby's shooting?

>>17922616
Man, what I would give for a Soul Body right about now. A decoy would be great. But there's almost no way he'd fall for it.

Ok. Operation Box Cover go. I guess we better take out at least 1 more sniper before going after the big guy.

could we smaybe blow out his repulsion jump by shocking the ground?? or would that hurt our side too

>>17922909
We'd have to catch him COMPLETELY off guard for it to even be worth the attempt. Don't discard the option, but it should be low on the priorities. We'd be trading our trump for his maneuverability, but he'd still have his shield-guns.

I say we get rid of the other LBTs

>>17922648
You frown, quickly taking stock. He's too fast to tie up in melee--if you have any hope of catching him, you're going to need your SBs. You duck despite yourself as another shot rings out and burns a hole in the crate beside you. You're also going to need to deal with his backup.

You break cover and run again, staying as low as you can and straining to hear the shots coming. There--up on the end of one of the catwalks, another LTB. You open up on him, forcing him to duck against the railing. Fire rakes the struts holding it up, and after a moment it gives an unhappy groan, twists, warps, and finally snaps free. The Lanceteamer makes an equally unhappy noise as he scrabbles first to balance, then to hold on, and then to land safely. He manages one of the three, but not before you have a bead on his location. One of your Berets jumps out and rakes his front with fire, bringing him down. He gets shot in the shoulder for his trouble, unable to dart back into cover in time.

And then you realize--shit. You've lost sight of Wallaby.

Two downed LTBs to your 1 Beret, but you also have two wounded. What next?

>>17923125
Make a sudden movement to the side (in case he's behind you) then look for the high ground. At least ONE enemy is sure to be there. Prolly a sniper, but it'll be one less thing to worry about when he finally shows himself. We don't want to get into an air fight with him and then get shot in the back do we?

What's in the crates, anyway?

>>17923361
Oh, you know.

(You don't know. You probably could hazard a guess that it's supplies, ammunition, maybe replacement parts or ordnance, but it depends.)

>>17923433
HINT: We're inside the Enigma station. You know, that Junon Cannon/Sister-Ray that's due to take a shot at a dropping Colony sometime in the future?

Blowing shit up is probably NOT a good idea.

>>17923227
You need to get a decent vantage point, you decide. It's risky, but so is letting Guns run free. That LTB's post will do. Once again you break cover at a sprint, shots quite literally hot on your heels as you only just avoid enemy fire. One side of the damaged catwalk has fallen to the ground floor, providing a handy, if steep, ramp up. You pass your wounded Beret, nursing his wounded shoulder--he sees what you're going for and quietly nods, shouldering his rifle with his functional arm. You start the climb at a run, and the potshots at you are quickly answered with a suppressive fire, keeping you relatively clear. Carefully, returning fire yourself to keep their aim off, you scale the catwalk until you reach the top. From here you can see the general area of the remaining Lanceteamers, as well as the positions of your other Berets--the severely injured one is checking on his downed compatriot, and the only uninjured one still standing is slowly making his way for one of the enemy positions while he can.

...And there, in the back, is Guns.

He's going for the Enigma.

>Orders? Attack?

>>17923657
Oh shit. Shoot. If only to get him to come after us. Repairs to Enigma are a lot easier to explain than it firing off. SHOOT HIM! SHOOOOOOOTT HIIIIIIIIM!

Can we try running electricity through the floor to stun the Bingo's?

Just enough for your team to move in and either take them out, or move to a higher position.

(and the requester was me, btw)

>>17923700
Dash and shoot! If it comes to it, fry his ass with the lance once he's started to close in; it'll either take him out if he doesn't get out of the way, or the console if he dodges.

>>17923700
>>17923751
Oh, shit.

You unload on him. He turns and rolls, coming up with his guns trained on you well before your shots land.

You duck as his return fire whizzes overhead. ...And then you realize, he didn't miss. The catwalk lurches again. Only this time, there's nothing else mooring it to the ceiling.

You're knocked senseless temporarily by the impact. Reploid or no, that did some damage. Slowly, you haul yourself back up, wincing. At least the force of the landing charged your capacitors. They're nearly topped off.

...Shit. Gotta focus. There's still two LTBs out there. You've still got a bigger team, and Guns is heading for the Enigma.

>Sweep and clear. Better to have nothing at your back.
>Leave the LTBs for the Berets. They're at half-strength and Guns is nearing the objective.

>>17923941
We have to trust the Steel Berets to take care of the LBTs. We CAN'T let Guns fire off the Enigma.

We can only hope for the best.

>>17923941
Shoot at the Dingos while ordering you team to advance. If possible, spends some of our charge to try and blind the enemy.

However, only stick around for a few seconds, we need to break off and get after Guns.

Maybe use electricity to give us a speed boost, like the dash from the games?

I've already said my piece, so I'll bump with an image and something I've been burning to ask.

...Did anyone else in this thread ever make lists of adjectives and animals and try to make mavericks out of them to pass time? Ever?

>>17924417
not yet, no

....

Spike Urchin.

>>17924417
I think that's an MMX fan rite of passage, honestly.

>>17924007
Bingos, but you know what? The squad of four elite LTBs that accompany Wallaby are now officially Lance Team Dingo.

Also, can't electrodash. You could try to modify your systems to let you in the future, though.

>>17923973
There's nothing for it. Wallaby getting the cannon means not just mission failure, it means that Kiloton has to follow through on his orders and bomb the shit out of you, and then everybody loses.

"Watch each other's backs and keep them busy," you call as you start to move. "I'm going for Guns. Follow me up when you can."

Easier said than done. If you can keep him away from the cannon, that's something, but as far as you know, it's just you and him. You make good time while no one is trying to shoot you, jumping and climbing over boxes, sprinting, and finally, making it to the Cannon. Guns, at least, waited, knowing you were coming.

>Strategy?

>>17924525
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6BQKFs3-VM

The time for words has come and gone, if it was ever here in the first place. I don't know if we can outdraw him, but maybe we can juke him somehow, fake him out.

>>17924647
He's had our number since the word go. No reason to think that it'll change now. He's toying with us.

Circle strafe and apply pressure with buster shots and some weak zaps. Try to get him to jump strait in the air, or close to it. Electrify the floor if you have to.

When he does, run under him and make like we're jumping strait at him. Shoot off an electrical discharge to obscure his sight, and at the last moment...
Throw our beam lance at him.

and now, music while we tango
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRbavZM23h4

>>17924683
I really don't think it's a good idea to throw away our primary weapon unless we're damn sure we can hit him. But I like the rest of that plan.

>>17924818
We don't have much choice. This guys a veteran and will pick us apart if we let the fight drag out.
It's a gamble, but we pretty much got to go all or nothing on this one.

>>17924647
>>17924683
Consider yourselves lucky that it's not http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL-X53ze5O0.

You're going into this at a disadvantage. Both of you know that. Still, he's not pulling any punches, which means you're a credible threat.

That, or he's just a hardass. Maybe both.

You begin to circle. Wallaby keeps his pistols trained on you, while you keep your lance at the ready and a buster leveled. Behind you come fits of plasma fire--the slower pulses of your Berets' P903s, and the higher-pitched whine of the Bingos discharging their P880s.

As it turns out, both of you fire at the same time, though Guns is a little faster. You both break away, plasma chasing one another across the fields. You aim low, both hoping to avoid his phase shots canceling yours, and get him to jump, but he proves difficult to cajole. Finally you level your beam lance and surge forwards--

Only to feel the sharp sting of plasma raking your back and side. You tuck and roll, firing blindly behind you and narrowly avoiding another barrage from Guns. A quick look behind you answers--a small training ball, up-armored and equipped with a genuine weapons-grade buster. So much for catching him in melee.

>?

>>17924965
Goddamn. He's good.

How good are WE? Can our Beam Lance, say... Deflect shots? Can we bunt that thing's shots into him?

Or if that's just too impractical, take that thing out with a small, electricity-boosted swing of the lance. We can't have that thing on our ass while we're dealing with Guns.

what the shit hes got little uilt-in gun spheres?

>>17925062
Some of the converted training equipment mentioned in his records. Apparently he gave the training ball a real gun.
>>17925061
Reflect, no, but you can probably parry/negate them, but it'd be difficult. Again, later upgrades might give you better means to foil ranged attack.

>>17924965
k
we're kind of screwed. Alright, roll behind any cover thats available
I'm assuming we can arc electricity from one object to another?

If so, put power to the floor, arc up to the ball and disable it. Hell, if we can, take control of it. We can use it on him the same way he did us.

If we disable the ball he'll probably be able to replace it. And in the meantime he'll have tons of free shots on us.

Get out of melee?

Sparkflash, blind them somehow. We can't hold up with getting shot at from both sides.

Alternatively, shoot electricity at both of them, assuming we can fire at 2 different directions.

it's time for some LIGHTNING

>>17925061
>>17925121
>>17925156
You take off again. This time dodging is all you can do between Guns and his training drone's concentrated fire. So, melee is going to be even harder because he can flank you with the damn thing. You get a moment's reprieve as you finally get some cover between you and them, and assess the damage. You're mostly okay, but that didn't feel great.

Guns doesn't say a word. Either out of professional courtesy, or simple sense. No goading him into revealing his position like Weasel. You don't want to waste your trump card, but you're out of options. After a moment's pause, you kick down the crate, then step atop it and vault, triggering your capacitors. Guns dodges aside as you come down, crackling with electricity, and slam your lance down. Sparks fly and lightning arcs from surface to surface, including up to the training orb, which quickly explodes. Guns, on the other hand, is too fast, leaping clear.

You understand why he wasn't jumping--once he makes a bound, he's committed. As you haul yourself up and turn, you cock your arm, lance ready and still charged. His eyes widen as you track his landing and throw--

--Only to raise his repulsor as the lance hits. With a bright flash and a loud snap, the lance deflects.

Cont.

>>17925419
ib4 Game Over
Retry?

>>17925419
It spins to the ground, embedding in the warehouse floor, smoking. Wallaby hops down after it, legs hissing and sparking--maybe you blew out the repulsors. He looks you in the eyes one more time.

And raises his pistols.

You stagger backwards as he opens up, firing off shots so fast you swear it's automatic. He doesn't let up on the barrage, practically pushing you back as he advances, guns blazing. You stumble, trying to get out of the line of fire, your whole body burning as a cascade of plasma washes over you.

Behind you, stray shots go off, impacting and detonating delicate components behind you as he makes sure you can't dodge out of the killzone. Finally, searing with pain, you feel your back hit something. Your eyes snap open.

It's the Enigma.

Cont.

>>17925527
Mission failed, part of you guesses. The cannon's hit. He doesn't let up, blasting holes in you, the cannon's hull, and everything in his way, sparks flying as--

Sparks?

The Enigma's damaged, its conduits exposed and arcing, each salvo of plasma scorching the armor, and in many places, breaking through. Struggling to raise an arm, warnings blaring in your head, you manage to look Guns in the eye one last time as he moves in for the kill...

...And you plunge a hand into the Enigma's bared workings.

Your systems scream another set of warnings as your capacitors reach 237% in .3 seconds. You immediately begin the venting process, outstretched hand crackling. For once, even on full blast, your systems are charging faster than they can empty.

It hurts like fucking hell.

With all the effort you can muster, you turn your hand towards Guns, and unleash the sum total of the power needed to run a massive laser weapon battery.

>>17925635
OH SNAP

If there's anything left of this guy to salvage, I will be VERY surprised.

>>17925635
Loose the juice! Partial victory is better than total defeat!

>>17925635
This time, his eyes don't even have time to widen. His plasma volley is instantly overcome by a massive wave of ionized electricity, the temperature in the facility rapidly rising. Your paint burns off your armor and you feel your hands starting to melt as the electricity begins blurring into a continuous, almighty stream of plasma. Your sensors, all ionized and distorted, can't even begin to make out what's happening in the face of the white glare filling your optics.

It's over in seconds, but it felt like hours. Your attack only stopped when your arm was completely destroyed and your channeling system burned out. Guns is nowhere to be found--because there's nothing left of him. All that remains of him is a single pistol, perhaps thrown aside as he moved to activate another training ball. It's not much of a memorial.

>I...still...function!
>Black out for hours.

>>17925719
Try our damnedest not to black out. We don't know how our team fared. We can hope that they've won, but we can't count on it.

>>17925741
Your senses slowly return to you, and all of them say "ouch."

You look down, taking stock. Your armor is burned down to bare metal, and full of rents and scorches from the plasma gunfire. Your arm is... not there. Okay. That'll happen when you grab hold of a free conduit to an orbital-grade weapons platform. You can at least use your other to--

--WARNING: BUSTER MECHANISM DISABLED.--

Okay, maybe not. Slowly, you stagger over to your lance, still driven into the floor. With great effort you manage to work your servos, slowly grasping the hilt. You pull, dizzy from pain. It won't budge. You try again, putting all the force you can muster into it. Huff...okay... just...

You slowly put your head down, resting it against the pommel. Just... just a little rest, and...

"Commander?" A hand on your shoulder--what's left of your shoulder--startles you. It's one of your Berets.

"Sir. Sir? Stay with me. Mission complete. The last enemy combatant has stood down and disengaged."

"...Casualties?" You manage.

He shakes his head. "No fatalities." Not even...? "Components are in are torsos, sir, not our heads. We're sweeping for the jammer now, sir."

"...Pretty sure my comms are out." You're pretty sure your everything is out. You were not built to do that.

"Acknowledged, sir. Let's get you out of here."

"The doors...?"

He smiles. "See for yourself."

Well, there are doors there. And then there's a giant gaping fucking hole in the roof just over them. Your beam probably kept going until it hit the ozone layer. And maybe kept going. Your Beret throws an arm around your shoulder and helps you walk. As you get closer, you see two more stacking crates and building a hasty stairwell rather than try to override the doors.

>Oh god, stairs.
>I'm just gonna...rest here a little while.

>>17925886
Man, we're gonna get some shit for this one, I can just tell.

>>17925886
>stairs
Let's do this. It's gonna suck.

>>17925886
Goddamn, did WE do that?

Go up the stairs. Make some small talk with the Beret to distract us from the pain.

I mean hell, at least we're not blind again.

I hope this isnt the start of a trend where we keep coming back from missions worse and worse for wear

Is the Enigma based on the "Sphuper-Blastar" from the American Mega Man cartoon?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSDNEZUrlU4

You heave a sigh. No getting around it. You're either climbing up those steps or getting ferried out, and damn it, you don't have an arm or a buster or a lance or your conduits but you still have your pride.

"Let's just do this," you grumble, making for the steps. As you stagger onto the first crate--ow damn shit FUCK--your support-Beret puts a hand to his ear.

"I've got comms, sir. 15th is requesting our status."

"Alive, is a start," you rasp. "Let them know not to open fire, job's done." He relays your message as you slowly start to haul yourself onto the second box. You look up at the next fifteen crates, stacked high like Satan's Tetris, with the sun starting to reach through the haze from outside.

Third stair. Okay, easy, you can do this.

"Officer Kiloton asks for a status update, sir."

"Severely injured, natch. Enigma cannon...probably fucking fried. Several casualties, enemy combatants likely KIA."

Next stair damn it ow. IT KEEPS HAPPENING.

----

Getting you fixed is a fun adventure. Your teleporter is completely slagged and half your insides are melted, so they have to send in a couple Lifesavers to do some fieldwork. Kiloton refrained from heartily clapping you on the back when he saw you, so there's that, at least. Once they've done some emergency triage, you're fitted with a teleporter (normally used to transport freight, someone cheerfully tells you) and finally sent back home. Your gear is collected and sent along after, along with that sole phase pistol. You can worry about that after you're done being mostly 'armless.
>Repairs. You're owed that much, at least.
>Medbay can wait. Debrief.

>>17926099
Debrief, as long as we can do it from a wheelchair or a stretcher or something.

Repairs first. Anode is half slagged to fuck and not likely to get any better trying to man it out.

Remember to tell our temporary crutch thanks.

Debrief and hope we don't get canned.

>>17926127
>>17926148
>>17926296
Grimacing, you decide repairs can wait. Let's get all the unpleasantness out of the way. With effort, you stalk off to see Frog--

Whoooo is rapidly approaching with a reploid with a light armored coat that looks rather like an old human aristocrat. He raises an eyebrow.

"Well," he says in a familiar voice, "I suppose this shouldn't surprise me terribly, given our first encounter."

Fuck. It's Wellington.

"He stopped by to give his regards," Frog says. "You should be in medbay."

"Should be. I'm not. Let me give my mission report so I can be done with it."

"...All right."

"So I'll just bugger off for a few minutes, then?" Wellington asks. Despite his words, he doesn't particularly seem to mind.

>"...Yeah, if you don't mind."
>"Didn't know you were dropping in."

>"Didn't know you were dropping in"
Dude was a bro when we were stumbling around blind, and we don't blow off bros.

>>17926441
This.

>>17926395
You sigh, letting the anger buoying you ebb away.
"Wasn't expecting company. Okay, chief, you win. Let's go talk in the medbay."
Honestly, you tell yourself, this is probably the better decision. Part of it was just wanting to know the deal about Guns.
Wellington nods. "And, as long as we're being formerly introduced, Navigator Wellington, Communications. Put 'er there." He extends a hand.

The wrong hand.

"You bastard," you manage over your painful, painful laughs.

"Charmed," he says blithely, taking up position at your side to help you down to the bay.

In hindsight, it's definitely better that you went in for repairs. When you ask a Lifesaver about your auto-repair and he just shoots you a look and asks "What auto-repair?" it's usually a good sign you need help. Despite the damage, you even managed to stay conscious for most of it.

"So, are you looking to replace as much of your original components in as short a time as possible?" Wellington asks, casually tossing a replacement arm up and down.

"I got my ass kicked, Wellsey," you grouse. "Dunno how much I can talk about it."

"Probably shouldn't," Frog adds. "That said, Comms get access to mission reports regularly anyway, and then forward them to Intel. Target's a matter of public record. What did you want to talk about?"

>?

"How bad did I fuck up?"

Weren't we gonna ask him if he found out anything about our first target?

>>17926636
Might as well tear the band-aid off in one go. Not that you have any business anywhere near that analogy, being made of metal and silicates.
"So how bad is it?"
"Bad," Frog says plainly. "Could be worse. Frankly the fact that you won and came back vertical is enough for me." He breathes a deep sigh. "Enigma cannon's heavily damaged. The lens got superheated and completely wrecked the focus it was specified to, the powerplant is shot, the emitter coils melted, and they had to disconnect it from its hydrogen cells to avoid an explosion under the city. It's not a complete wreck, but it's not going to see repairs any time soon."

>?

>>17926732
Better that than fired on innocents. Would have still preferred not getting half slagged.

Still think it's hilarious all that's left of Guns is one of his guns and some molten crap.

>speaking of guns
"When did Guns go rogue? I tried to get some info out of him by offering him a chance to surrender, but no dice."

Something that ties into the question I want to ask, but isn't.

What's the Maverickism rate amongst hunters? Though the viral theory isn't confirmed yet in this timeline, it makes sense that Mavericks would see Hunters as very attractive targets for infection, as they come into contact very regularly and are usually militarily equipped (as clearly evidenced by Chaff and Guns, in their own ways.)

Things that should be asked now.

Will we be resented? Will things get weird? It sounds like a rookie question since there's no room for allowance as far as surrender goes for Mavericks (we probably shouldn't have even offered him surrender since he only used the time against us and endangered our men), but it merits asking. Probably nobody likes having to retire someone who used to be in the hunters, nevermind in the unit. Frog probably knows that.

Things that should be thought about:

What's the deal with anthromorphic reploid names? Are they all named like that? Don't they ever run out?

>>17926787
>>17926732
In fact, instead of getting it to fire on civilians, we just created valuable job opportunities for the civilian sector!

Stopping terrorists and fixing the economy in one fell swoop, the Anode way.

>>17926906
Also aided continuity by breaking it so that they have to fix it in X5 I think...

... What were Wallaby's demands anyway? Did he just want to kill people?

>>17926810
>>17926787
"What's the story with Guns? He seemed...reasonable."
"Mind who you let hear that," Wellington warns. "Good way to get flagged for review."
Hammer nods. "Not that we're questioning your loyalty. And to answer your question...I don't know." He folds his arms and looks at the medical screen showing the (improbably severe) damage to your systems. "Guns was never formally part of the unit; he was strictly a contractor. He'd done work for everything ranging from human infantry to police, up through military. I still knew him for a few years. I was actually going to thank you for taking the op. I was just about to grab it when you came in. We weren't close, but he was solid."

"I asked him to surrender. Is that a problem?" He shakes his head.

"You're not the first, and you won't be the last. Nine-tenths of the time it's not any good, but we do have authority to take prisoners. It's just..."

"Retirement rate and rehabilitation rate are almost in perfect step," Wellington adds.

"And Guns was dangerous. Too dangerous. He knew too much--leaving his expertise out there now that there have been not one, but two unified maverick forces...that would be a force multiplier we'd pay for in spades."

"Dangerous, huh." That's one way to put it. "He shot me about a couple of dozen times, yeah."

"Hundred," adds the ever-present Lifesaver as he tinkers around with something you'd rather not think about elbow deep in your chest cavity.

"There you go. Hundred. Not counting his squad and his damn remote gunball..."

"He was rated A-class on his own, without upgrading his equipment. You did fine, Anode. You even brought your Berets home."

"That was him, not me," you confess, a bit stung. "He could have killed them all, but he shot to wound, and had his team take out my 'loids." Frog lapses into silence, just as pensive as you are.

Cont.

>>17926959
"Okay, a little closer to home. How fucked am I? Mission was fubar, collateral damage for days, and I blew through half an army of mechaniloids."

"Part of the job," Frog says. "I'll vouch for you. And the worst we'll have to deal with is wheeling some older 'loids out of storage until we can get a restock. As for Command... they're going to be harder to convince. But their damn gun isn't lost, it didn't get fired, and whatever the reason, you made it out with zero fatalities at great personal harm. Hell, even the 15th can speak for you. I hear you made friends with Kiloton."

"Generally a good idea to get on the good side of a man made of missile," you note.

"The upshot is, don't worry about it. I'm not about to let a new guy get crucified for winning a fight outside his weight class."

>>17926940
Wallaby was attacking to seize or sabotage the cannon. His motive is unclear, but it speaks to a higher purpose.
>>17926810
Exact Maverick numbers are hard to define, and Command makes them a well-guarded secret. Generally the hunters themselves rarely if ever turn, with two gigantic outliers--Sigma's rebellion and then the maverick counteroffensive six months later. It's safe to say, though, that every unit has had at least one traitorous son.

As for anthromorphic nameschemes, it's not a universal rule, but it's almost a tradition. There are of course multiple iterations of single species, built for different functions and capacities. A good deal of the anthromorph models serve in a military capacity.
As for why animals? A lot of them are going or have gone extinct. Building machines in their image is the best humanity can do to replace them.

"So what do you guys think the maverick virus is? All I can come up with is 'it's a math error."

>>17927037
Little too meta, best to leave that alone. We'll just chalk up Guns going renegade as "his own reasons" until we get more data.

Estimated time we'll be sitting on the injured list?

Also, good to have you back.

>>17927088
Couldn't think of anything else to say and decided to do a mass effect reference.

>>17927088
"Next question, how long am I going to be tapped out?"

Frog stares at you. "...Anode, you just melted yourself."

You can't entirely suppress a chuckle. "So?"

"One Tanker is enough," he says, "But your actual wait-time isn't up to me. Do you know enough for a diagnosis?" he directs at the Lifesaver. How much has he pulled out of you?

He makes a low 'hmm' noise. "Several days to a week with a series of repair sessions. Twenty-four uninterrupted hours if he goes under to complete it all at once."

"There you go," says Frog.

>>17927037
"Okay, one more. About virus theory again. What do you guys think?"

"Too convenient, " Wellington says. "If we can blame every renegade on an external force, it cheapens the individual decision. Both ours and theirs. Plenty of reasons to go be a homocidal maniac besides brain damage."

"Why not?" Asks the Lifesaver--this one's chatty--"Humans suffer from hundreds of diseases and maladies that cause aberrant mental signs."

"Or it could be a mix," Hammer adds. "A combination of infected lunatics and self-determined sedition."

"Ain't that rosy," you add.

"You asked." So you did.

>?

>>17927148
So all we have to do is get reploid happy gas for 24 hours and we should be good to go? Sounds like a plan to me. We should probably have India and Em stationed at our door in case Seven gets any funny ideas.

Speaking of which, what's scuttlebutt around the Fourth about our "success?"

>>17927169
I'm gonna second this then sleep. It is fuck late here.

>>17927209
Was just thinking the same thing, it's 5 AM in Hunter Commandland.

Pick it up tomorrow or lapse out the 24 hours between this thread and the next?

>>17927217
Archive for safe keepings, then go sleep. If the thread still lives, we can loop the 24 hours when you get back.

Mid-day bump.

Aqualung Cougar: most self-loathing Maverick ever.

Pressure Hippo, a powerful foe underwater

Monsoon Seagull. Runs an operation along the coastline.

What is this, a thing that we're doing now? If so,

COLD MANUL: Far too serious and majestic to hold with ice puns. Will likely drain off all of your heat with cryokinesis, slowly and painfully, and then break off all of your limbs if one even slips past your lips.

COMMANDO RATEL: Supersoldier badass killing machine. Adapted for all environments. Doesn't give a shit. About anything.

To make these bumps more palpable to the rest of /tg/; what would be the best system for running a game in the MM/MMX universe? I was thinking Mutants and Masterminds, but I don't know if you could just waive off the cost of everybody being robots or what.

>>17934735
You'd think reploids would just be treated like any other humanoid for mechanics purposes.

>>17934735
>I was thinking Mutants and Masterminds, but I don't know if you could just waive off the cost of everybody being robots or what.
You could because *everyone* would have them, so it doesn't really matter if they get it for free.
M&M is also a really great system for it because of the ability to model damn near everything in it, including busters.

So how would a repliroid that wasn't strictly humanoid (like an octoped or a serpentine) function? But within the rules and within the actual game. (and by 'the actual game' I mean this thread).

>>17938463
But = both. Stupid damn fingers.

>>17938463
If we're talking M&M...
Since most humans are really low PL in the Megaman series, they're basically the same as the creatures they're based off of but with their stats buffed up a couple of PLs and with mechanical aspects added.

I accidentally a day, is that bad?

You guys want to continue?

>>17939130
You're here, and the thread's still here. I don't see why not.

>>17939130
Sure thing.

Right, let me get squared away, take something for this headache, and figure out what I'm going to do. While I do that:
>Slow recovery
>Just fix me in one go, you clowns.

>>17939350
Let's take the reploid equivalent of happy gas and get it over with. Request India and Emerald to keep an eye on us, assuming Seven has any more funny ideas on hazing the newbie.

>>17939350
I gues we could just get it over with.
Its not like they're relying on us. Yet.

Also, guy who keeps suggesting we blind people. Even assuming we can actualy do that with our current abilities, is that even a valid tactic? Reploids obviously arent people, so I don't know if their optics would be hindered by something like that.

>>17939350
This, assuming there's no catch.

>>17939509
I missed out on that MHQ drawfag thread. What came about of it, outside of Guns up top?

>>17939377
No ,this life saver can hang with us for a bit. He seems pretty cool. Besides, they probably have better things to do.

>>17939734
Fair enough.

>>17939677
That was done over in /m/. A few more got requested and drawn as well. Here's Greenmarine's rendition of Chaff Weasel.

>>17939677
that was pretty much it, someone drew chaff weasel in the tg drawthread, though it doesn't quite have the same impact.(i forgot to save it too)

>accidently a day

I've been there, man, oh god have i been there

>>17939781
I'd heard it was in /m/ and that they loved it.

>According greeler

>>17939820
I made a request in both forums

Sorry for being so slow, some shit came up.

You eventually consent to go under for the full repair job. The Lifesaver assures you that you'll be rebuilt to your fullest tolerances, including the newest upgrades on file. Hammer leaves with Wellsley, saying he'll try to get Chaff's weapons data to you by the time you're up and running. He also said he'd pull together whatever he could for the mission report in advance to save you some time later.

The repairs go well, or so you assume, because you wake up from them alive, and un-hazed. You've even had your armor painted back up. You find a small note waiting for you. Your lance is waiting for you in the labs, along with new weapons data to process. You've also got your report to make.
>Toys!
>Job.

>>17940130
Business before pleasure, unfortunately.

Also, nice picture.

>>17940130
Get that report filed before we reward ourselves with new swag. I'm sure Command is wondering how a lone Hunter nearly slagged himself by reportedly channeling the Enigma weapons' system directly.

>>17940183
The system's power, I should clarify.

>>17940130
>Job. Always time for toys on our off time.

>>17940130
Well, if they're going to find fault with the mission, no need to give them any more ground in the follow-up. Business first.

Frog's not in, but he receives a page that you're back up and on standby, and he's with you inside of ten minutes.

"Ready?" He asks. You nod, and begin.

"Fifteenth artillery was first on scene, holding back as per orders and monitoring the facility should the Enigma come under hostile control. Commanding officer on site was one Kiloton. Enemy infantry--Steel Berets--had taken defensive positions on the ramp up to the Enigma facility."

"Berets are a relatively new rollout," Frog says. "Some time ago, a new team went missing in transit, and I guess now we know why."

You continue. "Advancing with some artillery assistance and mechaniloid suppressive fire, my team worked its way up to the facility, taking out the enemy nests as we went."

"Kiloton recorded most of that. Pretty good work. He said something about an ambush?"

"We were hit while crossing the prefabricated cover, slow going for the mechaniloids. Another Beret squad abseiled from the top of the bluff, dropping grenades and neutralizing half of my mechaniloid force, and damaging most of the rest. I decided I would rather lose more of them than reploids, so I gave the order to fire."

"Good thinking, if expensive. It's what I'd do."

Cont., any details you want to focus on in particular?

>>17940697
Bring up what Guns said.
About how he didnt have a choice for what he was doing.

>>17940697
Comment that the operation is proof-of-concept how defensible the Enigma site is. Don't forget the renegade Berets' admirable training and tactics. Even on the losing end of a siege, they still had bite to them to the very end.

>>17940737
That'll come when we get to the showdown with Guns himself, but yes, this is an important point. No one but him really knows why he turned Maverick, and he took his reasons to the grave (or scrapheap, as it were).

I think we should state plainly where we fucked up before someone else can bring it up. We sort of endangered our men by talking instead of shooting at the beginning, though we didn't know he had a firing team up.

>>17940745
seconding

>>17940697
"We called in some further artillery support from Kiloton for our final push up the bluff. A walking artillery barrage, followed by some low-collateral mortars at the top. No damage or casualties to speak of at that point. From there, it was a straight shot into the building. The doors had begun sealing, so I posted the remainder of my force outside, gave them permission to request support in my stead, and took six Berets and some fast attack 'loids with me inside."

"The enemy defense, on that note, was surprisingly comprehensive given their very limited resources. Guns trained his team extremely well, and without mechaniloids or heavy support, a handful of infantry managed to hold on against a disproportionate force."

"The inside was a maze of crates that made for ideal cover and concealment. That of course cut both ways." You momentarily wish you could reference another old human movie, but something tells you the humor would be lost on Command. "Guns was waiting. When I asked for his reasons in attacking the facility, he told me he had no other choice."

"You hear that a lot," Frog replies grimly. "Whatever the reason, most will tell you that going renegade was their only recourse."

"I offered surrender, which was rejected out of hand. During the interlude Guns made it clear he had the drop on me and my team. His squad of four Lanceteamer Bingos shot down my remaining mechaniloids."

>>17940825
We were outgunned the moment we stepped inside the complex. It couldn't be helped. And at least no one can say we didn't give Guns and his men the option to come peaceably. We may be called "Maverick Hunters," but that doesn't mean we aren't reasonable.

Also, mention that goddamned sphere.

Because that was a hell of a trick.

>>17940847
At this point, we might as well admit that Guns pretty much whipped our ass for most of the fight. His soldiers were smart and used strong tactics, and Guns himself was as far from a slouch as could be: he was too fast for us to engage in melee, originally seen as the only viable course of engagement; his repulsors stopped our fire and kept him mobile; he jury-rigged training equipment with lethal ordnance, speaking to Guns's resourcefulness; those pistols of his were TERRIFYING in his hands.

>>17940847
You sigh. "Frankly, I was stupid to get into it with him and he punished me for it. Those could have been my Berets he killed."

"Could have, but he didn't." Hammer replies evenly. "Continue."

"We got into a fight among the crates, using them for cover. Guns used his mobility to bring down one Beret and wound another. I managed to take out one of his LTBs. The fighting continued like that for a while--I damaged a catwalk and climbed it to get eyes on Guns when I lost him, and saw him making for the Enigma. I tried to slow him down with fire, which he answered, taking down the other half of the catwalk."

"Ouch," Frog offers.

"Yes sir. I ordered my team to keep each other alive, reasoning I would need their backup, and went to buy some time by engaging Guns directly."

"Did your team manage to help you?"

You wince inwardly. "No, sir. They stayed in combat with the remaining two LTBs, bringing one down. At the time of Wallaby's death, there was still one active combatant, who retreated."

"Tell me about the fight."

"With respect, he had me outclassed and we both knew it. When I tried to catch him in melee, he rolled out a remote and flanked me."

"Training ball," Frog explains. "Used for fire exercises. Like the rest of his instruction equipment, he upgraded it for war."

"Not seeing any other option, I emptied my capacitor reserve and forced him to make a jump, then threw my lance after. Unfortunately, he was ready for it and deflected my throw.

And then... he shot me."

>>17940967
"A lot."

>>17940967
"A lot." Hammer nods.

"Medical reports have been forwarded. Go on."

"During the hail of gunfire, as well as I can make out, the cannon was damaged. Several conduits were exposed, and not seeing much option other than death..."

"You tapped into the gun," Hammer says.

"I tapped into the gun. I'm given to understand that did more damage to me than Guns ever did. He didn't survive the experience, to put it bluntly."

"Okay," your CO says. "Pretty cut and dry, we have cause and explanation for just about everything. Formal report states that Enigma cannon is heavily damaged but functional, in need of repairs. Single enemy combatant escaped, and dispatched hunter operative returned with severe damage, but acceptable casualties. Is there anything else you would like to add to the report?"

>?

Why was this the last available mission? Was something else going on at the same time with as big or bigger impact?

>>17941043
Not many people were available. Hammer was gona do it himself, but we were like 'Hey, I got this.'

As far as facts go, I think we've hit all the bullets. Conjecture time y/n?

>>17941010
One of his guns was left behind. I'd like permission to keep it, Sir.

>>17941010
"If my word is not enough, then let the words of those who served with me fill things in." In spite of mechaniloid losses, we started this mission with fifteen Steel Berets, and we came home with fifteen Steel Berets. That has to count for something.

Outside of concern for Guns's reasons, that's all I can think of.

>>17941068
Men who only survived because Guns let them. Let that be added to the record.

>>17941068
Despite less-than-stellar odds, Anode is two-for-two on operations now. We're still new and still getting the hang of things, but is it safe to call him a scrub at this point?

Y'know, we should find out what scuttlebutt is saying about us. We're probably just "that Hunter who damn near fried himself tapping into the Enigma like a dumbass" at this point, but it's better than nothing.

>>17941010
"I don't know sir. It's like...he was testing me, up to the very end."

>>17941124
This is true. The whole time, Guns was treating the encounter as a training exercise, a proverbial school-of-hard-knocks for Anode to either survive and get stronger or stumble and die.

Even to the bitter end, Guns was a teacher.

>>17941146
Perhaps we triggered some paternal instinct in him, being a fresh member

"Whatever his reasons, Guns had my men where he wanted them and he knew it. He could easily have butchered my entire team and didn't. He was committed, but the fact that all my men came home is as much because of him as me. If there's any way we can learn what drove him to do this, I would like to see it done. It was like...I don't know, he was gauging me, testing me. He wasn't mocking or insulting, it..." you trail off.

"No one likes losing, and no one likes being reminded there's bigger fish out there," Frog says. "I'll add it to the record."

As the lights come back up and your briefing ends, he looks over to you again. "Do you know what we use those cannons for, Anode?" You shake your head. "P-Class threats. Enemies strong enough that they're too much for any personnel. When it's preferable to lose a location if it means taking one with it. The P stands for 'Perfect.' The last time we dealt with one, it was Sigma himself." He stands up. "In any case, without the Enigma, the "Congo" has been brought back online, and someone from Unit 0 sent to safeguard it. Spider, I think."

"Sir."

"Anyway, we're done here. Sorry you got saddled with that mess. Salvage is as normal, and waiting on you in the labs. Oh, and I got Weasel's weapons data released. You can get two for one while you're there."

>Onward?

I really think we ought to watch ourselves about saying too many good things about a maverick. Some things are better left unsaid.

Not as talented as... Anyone over on /m/, but artist's impression of what a beam lance maybe looks like (rendered shittily in MSPaint)

>>17941187
Toy times!

>>17941196
I pictured it more as an actual polearm than anything. It's a beam lance, not a beam claymore.

>>17941187
Onward! To new tchotchkies!

>efficiency ontnedi
Hopefully we do become more efficient after this, Captcha.

>>17941187
>implying anyone wouldn't go get upgrades.
You head down to the labs once again, eager to have your lance back. It feels weird not having your equipment handy. You walk in, and there's Em. ... And he's injured. If he cares, he doesn't particularly show it. One arm is missing the armoring at the shoulder, and the other is dented and smashed. His helmet is off on one of the back tables, forehead-gem cracked and broken, and his armor is covered in burns.

"Oh, hey," he says. "I think this is yours." He grabs your lance off a rack and tosses it to you lightly.

"Thanks," you manage. "Uh... are you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, fine, just got back from mission. So I took a look at that while it was here, looks pretty solid. Bit bigger than what I use. We could do delicious science to it."

>You sure you're okay?
>Delicious science, you say.

>>17941266

>You sure you're okay?
BRO OPTION

>>17941266
Delicious science while we hear your extraordinary tale of valor.

>>17941291
This. Best of both worlds.

>>17941288
Seconded!
ENGAGE BRO MODE

>>17941266
"Oh no. Noooo nononononono. You don't walk in here with damage like that and expect to neither ignore it nor ask how you got it. You DID see me coming in yesterday, right?

"Let's hear it, Em."

>>17941288
This. No reason not to give a shit about our teammates more than our weppins. We can replace weapons a LOT easier. At least we THINK we can.

>>17941308
expect me to*

>>17941318
I'll making a big deal about is going to do is hurt his pried. What we should do is let him beat his chest over what he did to the other guy.

Story time Em, lets go!

>>17941187
Science!
(he'll just tell us what happened later)
Apply phase pistol tech to beam lance. Delicious jedi action.

You raise an eyebrow. "Is this how everyone felt when I was walking around half-dead yesterday?"

Em laughs. "Pfft, I'm not nearly as badly off as you were. I didn't stick my dick in cannon. Speaking of, this is yours too." He tosses you a familiar-looking pistol. "Was just wrapping up the scans on it. We can take it apart for its weapons data, or you can just keep it as is, or integrate it or something. Busters aren't my specialty."

"Thanks." You're momentarily morose about the reminder of Guns, but force it down. "So, a mission? How'd it go?"

"Eh, could have been better. I picked a fight with an elephant in a trash compactor."

"Only in the Maverick Hunters," you say. Hell, you just had a Mexican Standoff with a wallaby and brought a macrocannon to a gunfight.

"Just about. So the dude's name is Depot Derm and apparently he's trying to salvage usable equipment from a recycling facility. He'd managed to make a bundle of scrap metal 'loids. We didn't even know he was there."

"Yeah? How'd you find out about him?"

"I shit you not, he tried to catch a bus. I mean, literally, catch it. He was going to put all the civvies inside in the compactor."

>Contribute anything? Continue banter?

>>17941423
As if there weren't enough reasons not to take the bus.

>>17941423
"So how'd you bring him down finally? I don't imagine he came down easy."

>>17941423
>Depot Derm
"Sometimes I wonder if the people in charge of naming reploids are trolling us"

>>17941423
I'd quip about all the civvies being nuns, but that might be lost on these folks.

On another note, I'm wondering what reverse-engineering Wallaby's pistol could net us. We already have dual busters, so a pistol seems redundant. He also mentioned "delicious science" when it came to our beam lance. Consider my curiosity piqued.

>>17941423
So you tore off your own are and beat him to death with it!

>>17941450
>>17941475
"No shit. How'd that go?"

"Ever see an elephant try to catch a bus? 'Nuff said. Anyway, he hauled ass home, and then I got sent after him. Turns out they burn off flammables before they compress it. He'd made this flamethrower-incinerator thing and chased me around for like ten minutes with it."

You try admirably, but ultimately fail to withhold a laugh at that mental image. "I thought--oh god my sides--I thought you said he was slow."

"I can't outrun a bus! You try that shit! Dude had long legs, okay?" Despite himself, he's laughing too. Oh man, I wonder if he knows what Benny Hill is. "Okay, all right, so. I finally get an opening and cut the thing's nozzle off, and it promptly explodes. He barely notices, but I weigh practically nothin'. The blast sends me flying and I land right in that damn garbage compressor. He hops down after me and his weight triggers the compressor."

"Not exactly bright, was he?"

"Crazy as fuck, yeah. Anyway, he hit like a couple trucks, but he was fairly clumsy. Once I got him up close, it was mostly over with."

"What's with the name? I swear they do it to mess with us."

"Right? Though I guess there used to be a Press Packderm in the Hunters, so maybe all the easy names were taken."

"How about 'Eavy 'Elephant?" Em groans.

"Anyway, fairly typical. He was only B-class and I didn't get... compressed."

"So what's this you were saying about science of the delicious variety?"

"Ah, yeah. Well, it's a lance. Still works for a beam sword, but it's balanced for thrusting and it's got a long grip. No, that isn't what she said." Damn it. "I can see a few ways you could work with this to make it a lot nastier."

>Like what?
>Contribute some of your own ideas.

>>17941632
"'Nastier' is an awfully broad term, Em. What'cha got in mind?"

>>17941632
see>>17941387

So we've got Guns' and Chaff's to work with? Let's see what ideas Em has, first.

>>17941677
>>17941690
"Well, I was thinking the phase stuff Wallaby worked out could work..."

"That was one of my ideas, yeah. Okay, the upshot is that it disrupts the magnetic envelope a plasma shot is stored in--that's what keeps it in one piece instead of just dissipating."

"So, wait, don't beam sabers use similar technology?"

"Yeah, but the difference is that the field generator is in the hilt and constantly renewing itself. So you wouldn't be able to disrupt another saber blade or anything. It's not like popping a bubble, like it is with actual projectiles."

"So it could work?"

"Yeah. This is some ingenious shit. I think that guy really knew his plasma. Basically you'd have this little wake of disruption around the blade. Any weak shots would fizzle on hit, or just passing through the trail."

"Definitely appealing. What were your other ideas?"

"More for working with the lance as it is, rather than weapons data. You could try to modify your arm's conduits so you could actually slot the hilt into your buster.

"Now THAT'S what she said."

"Damn it." Em facepalms.

"But seriously, what would that do?"

"You familiar with couching a lance? If you don't have to worry about your grip, you could just run someone down like that, really ruin their day. Then you could just eject it for normal close-quarters. Was also thinking we could try to mod your legs, give you a powered dash using your capacitor charge. Imagine using them in tandem and charging someone with your lance."

Ooh. Nasty.

"Chaff's data came through, as well," he says. "Still thinking about stuff you could do with that. Want me to show you the module?"

I dig me some elecro-dashing

>>17941801
I REALLY like the built-in lance and charging idea. Really REALLY like it.

And HELL YEAH show us the module!

Also, what was the verdict on Weasel's out-the-gate Maverickism?

>>17941801
Yes.
To everything.

>>17941913
So now we can hide our lance in our body, and we can either pop it out for traditional melee, or we can stick the end out of our buster for quick-shank action. Combined with an electro-dash, it could lead to some serious damage.

Our lance is already attuned to our systems, right? We've done electro-stabs before, I think.

Keep in mind: Emerald's specialty is melee. We should find someone who does general research or specializes in busters (man, what if we get an audience with X himself?) and get some extra opinions.

>>17942008
It's less concealing it, more slotting it down the buster. Think like an old-style plug bayonet. Most of the work is in actually designing the buster mechanism to accommodate shoving something in it. The lance can work with your conduits, but that's through a contact in your hands. That said, it shouldn't be too hard to modify since the channeling equipment is already there.

>>17941913
No information on Weasel as of yet, just that his weapons data was released.

>>17942056
Well, we have time until we get deployed again, so I'd like a second opinion from anyone in R&D, just to see extra options we have.

Plus, if we're adding Wallaby's phasing tech to our lance in order to stop enemy shots, wouldn't we have to be crazy coordinated to get any real use of that function?

>>17941842
>>17941913
>>17941962
"That...is pretty god damn great." You admit. "Is that all possible?"

"Should be," Em stretches his shoulder, examining the unarmored balljoint. "We'd have to scavenge the phase pistol to get the weapons data from it. You could probably order duplicates in the future, but you'd have to pay for it. Speaking of, there's no real limit on modifications, but you'll probably have to pay some of your wages to do it." Oh right, you get paid. "Incorporating the phase system into your saber I could do myself. I could redesign the back of the pommel to socket into your arm, but the actual power lines and connections would need an expert. As for the dash...there's a lot of important bits and it's getting crowded down there already, between your EAC and the kinetic coils. Oh!" He brightens up. "How did the K-Coil test run go?" He leans over the counter excitedly, eager to hear how his pet project went.

>>17942083
You know how in Megaman X and Megaman Zero, your saber leaves a trail behind it, and when you have shot-blockers, just hitting the trail negates the shot? It's basically like that. Your weapon will have a wake behind it that negates shots for around a second or so. Much less precise than having to actually bat them away with direct blade contact.

>>17942102
Worked like a charm. Turns out most any sort of Newtonian force, including shockwaves from explosions, powers the coils to generate a charge. A little slow, but for what it is, it's good to have in an emergency. If we could make it charge more efficiently and maybe have some larger capacitors, that'd be gravy.

>>17942124
Ah-ha. I thought the saber trail was just for show. Well, that makes me more confident in adding phase tech to the lance. Although we may have to test the definition of "weak shot."

>necessary tallsi

Whee, 4 AM migraine.
>>17942137
"Definitely worked," you say. "There was some shaking from 15th's guns, hitting stuff charged it up pretty well, and at one point I took a pretty hard fall and it almost topped off my capacitors. If I'd landed on my feet, it probably would've. It was a bit slow, but it added up."

He nods. "Your capacitors have a pretty high tolerance, so the fact that it helped at all is a good sign. Plus, hey, I bet if you hit someone with this dash, it'll build up a pretty decent charge at a whack. Thanks for helpin' me out."

"No problem, and thanks for helping me out. So, how about Chaff's module?"

"Ah! Right." Em hops over to his computer and pulls up the information. "So the weapon is called a Blackout Flare, and it looks like it fires a field of metal foil. Sharp metal foil. It's like flak. Also does wonderful things to sensor equipment caught in the cloud. You'll probably want to talk to an expert if you experiment any with the weapon data. Unless you just want to start carrying a bunch of sabers like I do. My first idea was a sensor-wrecking beam knife. You could always just hold onto the module and use it as-is."
>Figure out more details/contribute your own ideas.
>Maybe I'll do that.

>>17942265
Figure something out.

Also, could we like, get a shoulder shield-plate thing for ramming on one shoulder? Would probably charge our capacitors faster.

Also, if we got a booster we could do boost->ram->boost->impale.

Double ramming action!

>>17942265
A sensor-scrambling shotgun? So not only would an enemy take some buckshot to the face, but anyone caught in the residual cloud of foil gets scrambled. This sounds like a utility tool more than anything; it'd be the closest thing we have to a smokescreen while we beat feet.

It sounds a little niche by itself. Certainly it has its uses, but part of me thinks we should get a professional to look at it.

Scrambling aside, a shotgun is a shotgun. And ain't nothin' wrong with a shotgun.

>>17942306
Let's try and keep our passive charging natural. We use a beam lance, a weapon that requires finesse. We shouldn't be charging recklessly at everything just because we want a charge. We can get a charge doing yoga, for pete's sake.

We're Anode, not Tunnel Rhino.

>>17942311
Second. It's good to have a buster option in addition to our lance.

>>17942346
As long as it's 4 AM and things are a bit slower, let me share with you my pain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9JQxhvFO5M
About 12 seconds in.
TUN-NEL RHI-NO, TUN-NEL RHI-NO, TUN-NEL RHI-NO
DERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP

>>17942375

>>17942346
It's a lance. Not a spear. We go in and lance shit, not dwiddle around like some kungfu guy twirling that piece of twig with a pointy tip.

>>17942360
>>17942346
>>17942311
>>17942306
"I'll have to talk to a specialist, I think. I mean, it sounds pretty good, but I'd just as soon get all my options. Anyone you'd suggest talking to?"
Em frowns. "Truth be told, I couldn't tell you. If you wanted to do the couched lance and charge, though, we'd need to ring up R&D anyway, and maybe whoever they send could help."

"How much would that run, anyway?"

"Hrm. I don't know how much exactly, but you've done two high-risk ops. That'd probably be enough. How much do you have?"

"No idea. Let me check." A quick confirmation tells you that you're able to access your information, and you have... "Seventy-five thousand zenny."

Em whistles. "Not bad. That's actually a bit more than two missions, general going rate is something like 30,000 per engagement. Pending what you do, of course. We could go ahead and try to ring up R&D if you're willing to put the money down."

>Y/N?

>>17942462
We've got downtime, we've got zenny burning a hole in our pocket, and we have so many options for new tools.

Let's bring in some pros.

DO EEEEEET

Also, err, silly question but could we like... reverse capacity (trekkie speak hooooo!) on those dampeners to act as boosters? Put energy in, get motion out as opposed to put motion in, get energy out.

>>17942483
That sounds finicky and kinda runs against what the character does, which is store up a mighty electric charge and then just explode white-hot electricity everywhere.

Very Yes.

>>17942483
That's basically what you're trying to get done with the energy-assisted dash.
As for using the K-Coils that way, not really. The act of unwinding them after they absorb kinetic energy is what charges you up.

>>17942501
While that's fine, we NEED boosters. Every hunter does.

If it's one thing I've learned from the games, you get the boosters first.

Is there any way to get these little metal shards to do a stun, too?

>>17942546
And we're getting those with our upcoming upgrade: converting our systems to permit an electric dash.

>>17942551
I wonder how they'd synergise with a lightning attack. Would probably up the conductivity a bit. If they penetrate, all the better.

>>17942567
Dozens of metal flak shards
+
Coursing electricity
=
Electric net?
Electric shotgun?

>>17942546
I typo'd it EAC earlier, but you have an EAS: Emergency Acceleration System. You're covered.
>>17942553
The electro-dash (we may need a proper name for it) is going to be your standard dash on crack.
>>17942567
Meta-protip: Very well. Very, very well.

>>17942505
>>17942480
>>17942483
"Hell yeah. Let's do it." Say what you will about the crazy runt, but he knows how to sell an idea. He starts typing away the request.

"Aaaand...away. R&D is pretty busy, they may not be able to send someone out straight away. Probably by later today, though. I could get started on the hardware modifications to your lance, that's the easy part. Though given how much they'll need to do, time isn't exactly at a premium. We could go shoot the shit at the Pond or something."
>May as well get started.
>Eh, it can wait. To the Pond!
>There's probably other shit I should get done. (Write-in)
>You still need a trip to medbay, chief.

>>17942666
You need that arm back bucko.

>>17942731
Might have mis-communicated, but Em's got his arm. He's missing the shoulder armor that goes over the bare joint. He did get beat up, so it's not just superficial boo-boos. Zero here's showing off the pauldron/joint thing pretty well.

>>17942666
Let's get Emerald checked into the medbay, then we'll trawl around the 4th's complex. Hell, maybe we'll grab a bike and check out the other divisions.

We haven't checked in with our sister Cathode in the past few days. Considering we nearly bit the dust twice, she'll want to know we're still in one piece.

Alternately, we can trawl about for scuttlebutt and see what the word is around Hunter HQ.

>>17942666
To the Pond!

>>17942773
>>17942768
>>17942731
Compromise: Shoot the shit with Em in the medbay?

>>17942838
Acceptable. We're a day behind, so it'd help to get caught up.

"Hold up, man, you're hurt."

"I'm fine, I'm fine."

"Yeah, bullshit. Come on, you big baby, I don't want you bleeding all over my lance."

"I'd need blood for that," he grouses.

"You know what I mean. I'll come with you. You can get me caught up on everything."

"Wow you're so generous," he says dryly, but he relents.

The Lifesaver sizes Em up quickly and tells him he won't need much. And then immediately lectures him about prompt medical attention when required. You suppress a smirk behind his back as Em covertly flips you the bird. Kicking his legs off the side of an operating table as he's repaired, he fills you in on the base.

"You really didn't miss a whole hell of a lot. India was out for your blood because of the mechaniloids you lost, but she always chews people out about that since she's the only one who bothers stocking them. You didn't lose any Victoroids and I hear your team came home, so it's nothing, just letting off steam."

"What's so important about Victoroids?" They were damn handy in the fighting, though.

"They're not just tough and powerful, they're the most intelligent mechaniloid ever put into service. And they're pretty damn dear. What else, what else...Tanker's been and gone again. You keep missing him since your introduction. Oh--shit, that's right."

Cont.

>>17943060
"What?"

"I just remembered why India was so pissed. We got word that Crankshaft's coming back."

"Who the hell is Crankshaft?" Em starts to get a grin.

"India's arch-fucking-nemesis. He's an old Gomeister--you know, the famous 53s--first-gen reploids designed for transport operation. They fly our birds."

"Why 53s?" You ask. "Serial number?"

"Go-San. Don't look at me, I didn't come up with it. Anyway, Crankshaft is the king of them all. He's practically an urban legend. Made a huge name for himself with increasingly ridiculous stunts in the Sigma rebellion, and he's our guru for all things vehicular."

"So why does Indy hate him?" Em's grin grows implausibly wider.

"Because he just loves using vehicles as improvised weapons. The tenth has filed thirteen formal grievances against him being anywhere near urban centers. Apparently they named him an 'honorary Shinobi' because of his tendency to wreck things. Last I heard he painted that on the side of his personal bike, next to his motto."

"And what's the motto?" You're starting to see why India might have an issue.

"'Anywhere But Here.' Anyone who has to work with him says that means 'please, please, let him be anywhere but here.'' Anyway, Cranky's a character. You'll like him."

"So where was he? Why wasn't he on the roster?"

Cont.

>>17943068
"He gets shunted around a lot between the two main Hunter bases. For that matter, there's a lot more 4th you haven't seen, but most of them are permanently assigned to the other base.

Anyway, Cranky... He volunteers to do a lot of test-driving, convoy operations, and supervision. He's a loose cannon, but he's the best driver we've got, hands down. Heh, rumor has it that he keeps getting transferred back and forth because he drives the commanders crazy. Last time he tried to borrow one of India's chasers, she sicced a Roader on him and chased him all over the base. I think they're fond of each other."

"Like with Sev?"

"Man, no. She just hates him. With Crankshaft... it's something of an art. I think they're friends, just friends with one big point of contention over how to do their jobs. It's great."

"This entire base is insane, you know that, right?"

Em sits back on the table, smirking. "Welcome to the Fourth, buddy."

>So what's the word about me now that I'm settled in?
>Anything else going on?
>Other

>So what's the word about me now that I'm settled in?
Like many /tg/ quest protags, Anode likes to know how people think of him.

>>17943178
A few people were wondering and I hadn't had an opportunity to work that in yet.

Also, it's 6 AM again. I think I'm good to continue, but /tg/ might be going to sleep. What do you guys think?

>>17943187
really I'm only up cause I couldn't sleep, so yeah, sounds good.

>>17943187
I'm up for another hour or more, but I don't know about everybody else.

>So what's the word about me now that I'm settled in?

We need to build a rep and maintain it, time to find out where we stand with everyone else.

>>17943222
>>17943178
"Okay, so now that I've gone off on a couple missions, what's the word about me?" You have to admit, you're curious.

"You're still pretty new. I mean, don't get me wrong, you've gotten into the muck and that's gotten you some points with everybody. But a lot of us have been at this for years now. That said... I'm pretty sure Tanker would say something like 'I've never met anyone in such a hurry to work off that factory-new shine.' Or something. How much of your original parts have been replaced at this point?"

"A lot." You grin. The Lifesaver shoots you a disapproving glare. "... Probably more than I should be comfortable with." Funny how you were staring death in the face a day ago and this is just so much more intimidating. You swear they program stern authority into the damn things.

"You're pretty well liked, at any rate, though if this keeps up you're gonna get a reputation for coming home half-ruined. Next time they'll be bringing you back in a coffee mug. Plus, call it chance or whatever, but you made friends with not one, but two guys outside the unit. Not everyone does that, but we're all supposed to. Builds cohesion and all that."

>?

>>17943335
"What can I say, I'm charming and I like to talk."

>>17942551
>>17942311
>>17943187
Onwards I say!

Meanwhile, That Chaff Blackout thing is bruning a whole in my brain.
Like, I wonder if we could apply the Phase gun data to it somehow, so we could do the shotgun idea only having it also phase things, so like, the smaller buck can phase weak busters, but taking a full burst can block bigger stuff.
Or turn it Into some kind of EMP weapon, Electicity being our thing and all. Forget sensors, If we could make THAT work, unshielded bots could get really messed up by that.

>>17943371
>Be a walking EMP grenade
>jack into powerlines
>EMP Bomb

I do believe I am okay with this, just gotta beware that there collateral damage, and make sure our own innards don't get scrambled.

>>17943350
"I can't help it. I'm just too likeable and friendly."

"And so modest!" Em notes, lightly punching you in the side. "You're not bad, I'll give you that. Try not to fricassee yourself any more than necessary, you're fun to hang around."

"On the subject of hanging around," adds the Lifesaver in a gravelly voice, "You're done. Both of you, get out of my bay."

Yikes. Em hops off the table and skedaddles, you hot on his heels. "Well, that's done with, nanny," Em says, "What now?"

>So about this Pond...
>Well, now that you're not at risk of keeling over we could start work on the upgrades.
>What the hell else is there to do in this dump?
>I should probably see if anyone else is looking for me.
>Other

>>17943472
>>Well, now that you're not at risk of keeling over we could start work on the upgrades.
This , and perhaps This:>>What the hell else is there to do in this dump?

Lookin' pretty 7 AM /tg/. I can probably work with >>17943513 when next we resume, or just put the prior option to more votes, or something. But I guess I'll cut off here for now.