>>19025951
You are currently on your way to the command room to take on a mission to subdue or retire the known maverick, Lockon Bloodhound. With you is India, a former officer of the 11th Space Command, known for a combination of massive gravitas and utter lunacy. So, typical fighter pilot.

"So I had a peek at the boards," she says, "apparently there's no beam-in available because a setup team would tip him off."

"Yeah? So what, are we hoofing it?" you ask.

"Like hell. We'll load up a transport with grunts and do it the old fashioned way."

To that end, with two officers on site you have a sizable force between you. The intel suggests your target is likely well-entrenched in his base, an abandoned missile silo. While no exact plans are handy, a quick check suggests you'll want to leave detchments as you go to prevent exits from being cut off or areas re-populated by hostiles.

Unfortunately, mechaniloid support may be limited, as many of the heaviest guns are also the largest, and would take up too much space. By the same token, those smaller than a humanoid form tend to be built for special environments, and a decommissioned missile base suggests your fliers and fast-attackers would be ill-equipped for the task at hand. Adding more complication, the standard Hunter transport can only carry 14 standard human-size soldiers after crew. You can fly in additional reinforcements, but they'll take some time to make the journey.

What kind of force disposition do you want to deploy with? Bear in mind many soldiers and mechaniloids are still securing Vienna.

>Requisition: 60 total troops
>SELECT LOADOUT

>>19025965
This guy is some sort of sniper, right? If he's alone, not a big team. 5 or 6 at the very most, might be prudent to just go in by yourselves.

>>19026063
I mean, for the actual fight with him.

>>19025965
What are our options?

>>19026063
From your report: A solid B-rank and not to be taken lightly, Lockon Bloodhound is an expert tracker and threat profiler with an elaborate guidance weaponry system. Noted for his ability to 'get the scent' of opponents, he is thus able to fight with disproportionate effectiveness relative to his threat class. Lockon was implicated in a coordinated attack against three human cities, and sources put him at a decommissioned missile base.

>>19026097
Here are a few possibilities:
Amenhopper: Grasshopper like waterskimmers.
Gun Volt: Slightly larger than a humanoid, able to take a good amount of punishment and hold down an area, particularly bottlenecks.
Mettool: Compact and resilient, these are good for harrying and buying time, but lack effective mobility and punch.
Tombot: A simplistic dragonfly-shaped bomber. Good for hit and run, but fragile.

Barite Lastar: Slow, but able to cover walls and ceilings. Good secondary support.
Crash Roader: Basiaclly a rolling, ramming wheel. Good in open territory, less so in confined areas.
Tiranos: A tricerotops-y looking minitank. Good armor in front, but slow to turn and vulnerable to attacks from behind.

Head Gunner: Only mass-produced versions available. Basically a missile pod on legs. Good for fire support on demand, but they fire too slowly to act as a deterrent alone.
Notor Banger: A hopping cannon on legs. Clunky, but good for directed fire.
Walk Blaster: As India cheerfully put it, a dick on legs. Shoots lasers forward, can press itself flat to evade fire. A bit slow.

Keep in mind that mechaniloids are simple machines that can only obey basic directives.

>>19026285
And whoops--
Your reploid infantry includes Steel Berets and Lanceteamers/LTAs/LTBs.

Mechaniloid support is a bit more complicated, see above.

>>19026389
Do we have any information on the missile silo site itself? Any word of old decommissioned warheads and live materials? Basically, how often should we expect to check our fire?

>>19026687
To say nothing of the overall layout of our soon-to-be warzone. I'm thinking the vast majority of our assets will be infantry, with mechaniloids specifically set up only for our various checkpoints. If we're dealing with guided weapons and missiles, we need folks able to think on their feet for the final showdown, assuming India and Anode don't just go it alone.

>>19026731
From where we'll be landing our transports to Lockon's potential location, how many checkpoints should be anticipated between here and there?

>>19026687
The base should be fully decommissioned and long past empty. Any ordnance kept on site was long ago removed.

Funny how mavericks never seem to care about 'should,' though...

>>19026731
>>19026773
Adding to the complication, you don't know. You don't have exact layouts for this base, but similar ones you have on file suggest there will be at least several positions where you can make a strongpoint.

>>19026773
Just from the info we have now, I think the best combination is to leave groups of infantry with support of larges, heavy fire mechanaloids like the Notor Banger and the gun volt.

>>19026795
You'd think Command would keep track of this sort of thing and have schematics on hand for a missile silo.
Is there any information on previous incursions against Lockon, if any such thing happened? Deployment, things like that?

>>19026819
I'm thinking leave a couple infantry with a sizable mechaniloid complement for checkpoints. Infantry will be prioritized for the push against Lockon. Maybe our full deployment would be 80% infantry.
Side note: India should work with the Lanceteamers, since they may not deal with us (unless military discipline overrides wariness of the new guy), and any Steel Berets we get should fall to our command.

>>19026869
Lockon went to ground fast after the attacks he helped stage, knowing the hunters would be hot on his trail. Leave it to a tracker to cover his own steps.

As for deployment, 48/60 as an assortment of reploid infantry, and the remaining 12 providing heavy gun support? Head Gunners are smaller, but much less durable, while Gun Volts have superior versatility in their weapons and can take more abuse, but each one is basically going to take the room of 2 troops, meaning it'll take one more transport run to get them all on the ground.
Basically, you're looking at 5 flights versus 4.

>>19026956
The longer we take to move, the more likely Lockon will figure out the Hunters are making their move will act accordingly. Still, we can't afford to be cut off, especially against Lockon and his likely guerrilla tactics. If anything, the longer we wait, the more likely he'll take the fight to us.

...
It'll be worth it. We'll just figure out how to stagger the transports so that downtime is minimized. We should grab as many Gun Volts as we can. If we can't immediately get ahold of any others, replace the rest with Head Gunners. Again, we can't afford excessive downtime against an enemy like Bloodhound.

>>19027065
A quick check (by which I mean rolling the dice really fast) tells me you have a full eleven Gun Volts available. Since Vienna is a sweep and patrol sort of operation, the more stationary heavy weapon platforms were largely left at home.

FINAL TROOP LOADOUT:
48x Infantry (LT0s/As/Bs and Steel Berets)
11x Gun Volt
1x Head Gunner
>CONFIRM?

>>19027065
sounds good to me.

Fine for now, I suppose, we can request additional troops as we progress, right? Some extra artillery would be good as we get the place further surrounded.

Also, can we get a check on what India's working with personally? Weapons, armor strength, and so on.

>>19027341
No, I'm pretty sure that's our full loadout for this sortie. It's just that we can only take so many troops per transport, so deployment will be a little staggered.

>>19027240
Sounds fine.

>>19027341
The 60 is your total projected needs after pooling both yours and India's requisition authority, and it actually represents a rather sizable force. Asking for more is doable, but discouraged--both because a great deal of your unit assets are already committed, and because they want to have a decent number in case of a priority call. If the situation went absolutely tits-up, you could request emergency assistance.

As for India's loadout, you can ask her. Which I'll have Anode do in the next progress post.

>>19027240
It's as good as it'll get. Let's move out.

>>19027398
ah, in that case, for the first drop, bring a gun volt or 2 to held establish strong points more quickly.

Every drop, have 2 or 3 mechaloids come in. Keep things praportional, the last of the infantry can keep the strongpoints guarded as the currently stationed infantry move up

>>19027398
We are taking an awful lot of infantry. Maybe we should replace some of them with Barite Lastars just as a matter of courtesy. Besides, hallways are the best place for checkpoints, and these tings seem tailor made for them.

>>19027492
We have a major complement of infantry because Lockon will be a highly irregular opponent, and mechaniloids don't think on their feet like reploids do.

>>19025965
You punch up the requisition. India looks it over before you submit. "A bit less big gun than I normally put in, but then there's lots of them and the two of us."

"That, and if we're sweeping the complex we want checkpoints, not firing lines. Speaking of, what exactly are you packing?"

She grins. "Figures you'd try to get into my holster. I've got a fucking beautiful buster rifle, came out this year. Got a link to my core for power draw, practically doubles the damage on the fucker when I engage it. Top of the line shit already, the extra oomph is just icing on the cake. Then there's Frank."

"...Frank?" you ask. Impossibly, she grins even wider as she pops the snap on her old-style holster open, and produces the biggest damn pistol you have ever seen.

"Good ol' Frankie. Short for A Frank Exchange. Modified, customized, supersized, and Indy-ized. They give 'em out standard issue at the 11th, along with a survival knife. Got that, too. And then..."

"And then what?"

"A surprise," she says. "I'll go warm up a bird." With that, India buggers off to grab her gear and hit the hangar, still full of manic glee. Just what did you get yourself into?

You double-check your own loadout--your cyclers are primed, your VWES is loaded with both your Chaff Missiles and the Tension Coil, and you've got both the lance and your new, powerful misericorde.

>Mission Start
>Wait, one last thing... (specify)

>>19027915
Yeah, like that pistol isn't compensating for something A HUR HUR HUR
Outside of meeting the troops and getting them briefed, all that's left is to ship out.

>>19027915
[X] Mission Start

Play beach volley ball while waiting

Let's get to it. Guts and Glory, lads!

Let's light this candle.

>>19027915
While your partner's off preparing your ride, you head for the hangar yourself, and before long you see your troops assembling as called. Mechaniloids are loaded onto a pair of transports, one of which you assume has India inside it. You look over the forty-eight reploids, arrayed in neat rows. Mostly LTBs, you notice--most of the Berets are probably in Vienna. And more than that, though, you think you recognize more than a few.

"Show of hands, who here was with me on the range this morning?"

After a moment, hands start rising. Many, many hands. You count...

"Forty." Damn, that's more than you expected. "Our mission is to arrest or retire a tracking specialist, Lockon Bloodhound. We have a basic guess at the layout of the abandoned silo he's claimed, but no concrete plans. Due to the nature of the facility we'll be leaving pickets as we go to keep the area locked down and secured. You'll have heavy mechaniloid support in holding these checkpoints while India and myself pursue the primary target. Any questions?"

Silence.

"Then, any concerns? Say your piece now, because our landing could be hot."

Finally, a meek little voice from the back chimes up, and you're sure you recognize it. "...Just don't let them throw their swords at you this time. Sir."

There's a chorus of raucous laughter, breaking the pre-mission tension, and you grin.

"Duly noted. Move it out, Fourth. 10 to a craft with 2 Volts apiece. We'll take the Head Gunner."

With that, you hop aboard the first transport as the hangar doors slowly open, sitting down in the cockpit beside India. "Real inspirational," she says.

"Well, they don't think we're gallivanting off to our deaths, so it's a start."

"True enough. Strap yourself in, newbie."

>>19028413
With that, you're off.

The trip isn't terribly far--though at the rate India flies at (Jesus fuck!) for all you know you're going to Mars.

The facility is on a relatively small, artificial island a few hundred miles away, off of France. Not long after it's come into view, a worrying alarm begins to sound and India curses.

"What?" You ask, trying not to sound too terrified.

"Damn it, leave it to a tracker to have radar operational..." India mutters, tapping a few commands on the dash. The alarm shuts down and she takes the controls, banking slightly as you draw in closer. "He's gonna know we're coming. Yeah, they're already on the surface, see 'em?"

You squint. "Not a damn thing."

"Well, we're still a few clicks out, and..." she trails off. You look up at her just as she does the same to you.

Slowly, a smirk blossoms, going from a slight smile and growing, her eyes lighting up with some sort of combination of malice, glee, and insanity. You're not sure if it's terrifying or sexy.

"Hey, Anode...I've got an idea."

Uh oh.

"Open the side hatch and strafe the fucks."

UH oh. "Uh, do we even have the guns for that?"

"Mounted? No, but you've got busters."

>DOOR GUNNER ANODE REPORTING FOR DUTY
>What no

DOOR GUNNER ANODE REPORTING FOR DUTY

>>19028709
FUCK IT. We've got dual rapid-fire busters. It's no MG42, but it's something. Let's do it.

>>19028709
Do iiiit!

Throw a few Blackouts in the mix, while we're at it. Might cover our advance. We have weapon refills available, right?

PKEW PKEW PKEW

>>19028762
You mean WEAPON pods? Maybe. Though I should think we should keep the LZ clear, so no Rockouts in the area. Besides, this is an open area, so it may not have as strong an effect.

>>19028762
No Blackouts. We want to have a surprise trump card for Mr. Tracker McFancypants.

>>19028803
This, too. Our Blackout Rockets are our number one answer to Lockon's tracking. We intend to ruin his day in glorious fashion, so let's not spoil the surprise.

>You're not sure if it's terrifying or sexy.

Terrifyingly sexy?

>>19028709

Door Gunner.

>>19028709
Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3Yc3HhSl1Q
Finally, mind made up, you grin back. "Keep us from getting our asses shot off."

She scoffs. "If they even scratch the paint job I will pay you ten thousand goddamned zenny."

With that, you unhook yourself from the copilot seat and head into the back. "Everyone make sure your feet are planted and you've got a good grip." You position yourself at the door controls. "Get the Gunner up front, if anything gets hit it should be that. Ready?"

Your crew shuffles around, making arrangements, before those nearest the door give you a nod. They ready their guns as you prepare a buster. With that, you slam the handle over to OPEN.

The air howls as the cabin is bared to the evening outside, and your team opens fire. You follow suit, leveling both arms outside and opening up with a heavy salvo of your own.

You barely have time to register the enemy presence before you've shot the shit out of them. A half-dozen humanoids try to return fire, only to be cut down before they even get a shot off. One unfortunate is crewing a ride armor--with nothing but its melee weapons. You all heap the fire on, raking across it until a cascade-explosion rips through its midsection, one side collapsing down on itself before the entire frame goes up in a massive explosion.

You hear India over your comms. "Second wave! Heads up, they have a big fucker!"

What's bigger than a ride--

Oh.

Rising out of a service elevator is a massive combat mechaniloid. You start to direct your fire its way, but abruptly your ride lurches up and back as counterfire from more troops slices through the air where you were.

>>19029588
We'll worry about the fatass. Everyone else deal with the incoming enemy infantry.

>>19029588
Use cables to latch onto something, dash out of the craft and get above it/behind it, and dragoon lance the bastard.

>>19029702
And jump right into the middle of the enemy infantry that our boys are currently raking with heavy fire? That's an easy way to incur some friendly fire charges. We don't need to be a hero. We're just clearing the LZ.

>>19029702
I hope we get to take something down by the legs like an AT-AT in the course of this fight.

>>19029702
>>19029660
I love how you guys are pretty much exactly on the same page as I am. Feels good, man.

Less good feels, though: I haven't eaten and Team Jerkass wants to demand some of my attention. Next post is the last for a little ways.

>>19029588
"Can't shoot shit, Cap'n!" you call.

"Lieutenant," she replies calmly, "And yeah? They can."

She half-turns (you nearly falls backwards into the Head Gunner) and banks, avoiding another stream of fire. You can see small shapes in the sky. Suddenly one streaks by you, and you recognize it as a primitive, mass-produced harrying mechaniloid.

"If I see that fucking bat one more time..." you mutter.

"What was that?" she asks through the comm.

"Nothing. We can't get a proper shot off here, all we're doing is wasting time."

"Copy. We need boots on the ground to distract them."

You look down. India's maneuvers have cost her some altitude. Enough for an idea of your own. "Hey, Indy? Keep her steady for a sec."

You look down, steeling yourself for a moment as your arms take on a splotched, black/brown pattern.

Beat him at his own game. Turn his own toys back on him.

Take it, run with it. Turn it into God's own anti-son-of-a-bitch machine.

Save some lives. Do some good.

"Shove it up your ass, Spin," you whisper, inaudible over the roaring gale.

And then you grasp the lip of the transport and throw yourself out.

>>19029888
You flip around, holding yourself in by the fingertips with one hand as you fire your Tension Coil from the other.

"What the fu--" India's question is drowned out as you feel your line strike its target and go taut. Latching onto the heavy mechaniloid, you continuously spool more wire to avoid yanking India off course.

The deadly, high-tension cable whips around on the ground violently, and you send mavericks sprawling as they're sliced through by the bladed cable, or dive to avoid the same fate. India picks up the gist quickly and swings around, lashing the other side of the LZ with your improvised tripline.

You swing your legs to build up speed as India slows down for you. Pumping them like a human kid on a swingset, you wind up and then launch yourself as India just barely clears the treetops around the clearing. At the height of your swing, you relax your fingers, and instantly feel the transport tear away, climbing over another volley as you fall beneath it.

You straighten out your body as you plummet, feeling like your scant few seconds of freefall are hours, before finally you feel the shock of your landing jolt through your legs. You lean forward, absorbing the shock, and in an eyeblink your capacitors have climbed to 65%.

>>19030144
You rise to your full height as the roped mechaniloid slowly turns. You hear a faint whir and a click as it levels its heavy-bore cannon on you.

You nonchalantly cock your arm and haul it back like a fisherman's reel.

The massive Cannon Driver lurches as you upend it with a single burst of strength, pulling its entangled legs out from under it.

It flails for a moment before you offload your capacitors through the cable. Though not a perfect conductor for the charge, the ailing machine, already damaged from a fall it was never built to take, spits static and death as its internals burn out in a massive cascade failure. Whipping your arm back, you detach the cable, disengaging your VWES and calmly going for your lance.

"Boots on the ground, India."

>>19029888
>>19030144
>>19030169

Welp, I'm satisfied with this event.

Satisfactory event is indeed quite satisfactory.

Cool.

>>19030641
Have Mavericks ever been subtle before?
I don't mean subtle in the sense that they hide out in abandoned facilities like Lockon is or are out in the middle of nowhere where they can't be found. I mean subtle in the "social rogue" sense. Those who stay among people and talk their way through checkpoints and whatnot.

>>19030768
Oh very much so. A lot of the best ones have relied on social engineering to "grow the cause," as it were. Others are very good at passing unnoticed, and there have been some who keep their activities almost scarily clean.

>>19029773
WISH GRANTED

>>19030800
Any notable examples?

Also, looking around at the Mega Man Wiki, I just noticed that Mega Man Xtreme, one of the Game Boy games, takes place roughly around this time (between X2 and X3). Is that being addressed or is that thrown out the window?

>>19030901
A few of the rogue SPECTRUM members were very good at flying under the radar. Sigma, obviously, pulled it off for quite a while. Camera Calico traveled heavily without his involvement in Maverick incidents being revealed; HASHtag less so but still quite enough to accomplish some super dickery.

If I am not mistaken, and I'll need to check with Hunter Command on this but I think I'm right, Xtreme 1 has just transpired, a few weeks before Maverick Hunter Quest kicked off.

>>19030901
Not involved in the quest thread, but...
Xtreme/Cyber Mission takes place between X2 and X3 (introduces Midi and Techno)
Xtreme 2/Soul Eraser takes place between X3 and X4 (introduces Gareth, Berkana and Iris continuity-wise)
Command Mission takes place between X7 and X8

>>19031271
So Anode and Cathode joined the Hunters right on the heels of the events of Xtreme 1.

For those who are unaware, the gist of Xtreme 1 is that there are twin hackers who work for the Maverick Hunters, Middy and Techno. Techno was swayed by Sigma to hack the central computer, spreading viruses that coincidentally acted like old X1 and X2 bosses. X stopped these viruses and prevented Techno from uploading himself into the Mother Computer. In the process, though, Techno's CPU was fried, and because the twins were inexorably linked, both Techno and Middy died.

>>19031271
>Sigma, obviously, pulled it off for quite a while.
Sigma, one of the most iconic of the Hunters who became arguably the world's most famous Maverick, was an undercover agent?

Only in video games does a billowing cloak count as sufficient disguise. Yeesh.

>>19031457
He doesn't ALWAYS use a large, bald Obviously Sigma body. Though I was more referring to his long stint as commanding officer of All Good and All Evil simultaneously.

Hey guys, I'm back at a computer a-
>SWQ
welp
>>19030169
"...Holy SHIT, Anode," India breathes over the line.

"Mind the bats," you reply casually.

"Ahhh! Holy Jesus what are these goddamn animals?!" she hollers, followed by a brisk "Kidding," as she banks around and climbs, pulling the troops out of the fire for another pass.

...Which gives you something like thirty seconds of dancing to do with the hostiles on the ground. Your tension coil trick worked superbly, but the survivors are pulling themselves together and getting ready to take up the matter with you.

This close, you can make them out--simple humanoids with distinctive triple-optic visors. Switching from their relatively ineffective busters to their trademark throwing weapons, you count four--and a fifth lacking an arm--circling around you. And you don't doubt more reinforcements are on their way from inside the base.

>India, close gun support, swing around for another strafe!
>Drop off the troops and we'll catch them in a crossfire!
>Other?

>Drop off the troops and we'll catch them in a crossfire!
Let's give the boys some playtime.

Also, related artwork bump.

>>19032543
We've got them paying attention to us. As long as we make enough of a ruckus, they won't notice our partner coming up around them.
>India, close gun support, swing around for another strafe!

>>19032543
Improvised weapon? She is Crankshaft's freind....

Otherwise, strafe, but try to land soon, so they don't get knocked out by something you can't see

>>19032543
"So, India, got one more pass in you?" You spin your lance in your hand once and snap it alight, taking a defensive stance.

"You kidding? They haven't let me off the leash like this since I landed."

"Don't go overboard, no telling if they've got some AA to go with that radar."

"Don't I know it," she replies. "Copy that, me and the boys will come around for one more swing and then we'll put down."

"Copy that. Put 'em down on the other side, opposite me."

She chuckles. "We used to space backseat drivers, Anode. Worry about your own ass."

And come to think of it, that's pretty good advice. Disk Boys. The nearest one to you raises his shield, while the second and third wind up and throw their bladed wheels.

...what is it with mavericks and bladed wheels?

At any rate, you have two of them flying at you in parabolic arcs, going crossways.

>React!
>HC drives home to resume updating at a decentish pace for a while!

>>19032543

>Swing around

Maybe we can take care of some of those bats for her as well.

>>19033397
We should be quick with our lance, so swat those spiked wheels out of the air and charge them before they reload.

>>19033397
GO HOME AND BE A FAMILY MAN

HC drives home to resume updating at a decentish pace for a while!

Head home dude.

Deflect/dodge, then shoot with one buster to keep their attention.

Or better yet, catch them with the Tension Coils and throw them right back

>>19033722
>Tension Coil fuckery
YES

figures, I get home late from our new campaign to find MHQ up. haha! win. double megaman quest for me tonight!

>>19033795
Speaking of, I believe there was a promise of gory details?

And on a similar note, I've begun hashing out my own system. If I get it into something resembling coherency, I'm going to occasionally roll things out using the system and let the dice decide how shit goes.

>>19033819
Be careful with letting dice decide things. They can be merciless if handled improperly, and from a narrative point-of-view, these engagements have been exciting enough.

>>19033819

after three games, 'gore' is about right- we've lost two characters so far. Ursa is not among the dead. haha!

he has, however, gone from 'borderline insane' to 'completely deranged in a lovable, huge-russian guy kinda way' I don't wanna jump in and start posting while the quest is running though, haha.

>>19033890
Well, truth be told I was up early taking my sister to the doctor's and to bed late ... being an insomniac. I could get us through part one of the operation and then put it on pause for the night for story time.

>>19033972

sounds like a win to me. go till you wanna stop, then I'll take over.

(that's what she said)

ha!

>>19033783
>>19033722
>tension coil fuckery
Hey Mikey, I think he likes it!

>>19033397
Right. You've got some time before India can loop back around for another attack.

Let's see how little you can leave her to clean up.

You time yourself and come in perfectly, just as the two disks nearly intersect, and with a single sharp swing, you cut both of them out of the air. As you come back up, you transit to a single-handed guard, wheeling the blade around once as your arms cycle back. You can't quite catch a disc on the wire, but you can sure deflect it off. Whipping the cable back and forth like a serpent, you ward off the advancing mavericks, mentally checking the gauge as you do so--Out of a (relative) 32 units, you've used only 8, and most of that was spooling more line to properly rope up that Cannon Driver. You're feeling pretty glad you took the base weapon.

And speaking of--you bat another disk away, giving a satisfying 'crunch' as it hits the thrower in the chin. While he's stunned, you sling the cable forward, spooling out more cable and pinning the end to his chest. You momentarily wish you could retract it again and haul him over, but you settle for wheeling him overhead and slinging him headlong into one of the others. Another pair realize hitting you with the discs is dicey (heh), and instead opt to switch back to their slow-firing busters. A simple lance stroke fills the air between you and them with a neon-glow haze, fizzling the plasma shots out of existence as they pass through the disrupting wake of the Phase blade. You sling the cable skyward one last time, switching off the weapon at the height of the throw and pepper the unfortunate flying Disk Boy with rapid-fire plasma. He crumples to the ground with an unhappy noise and doesn't get back up.

>>19034473
>spooling out more cable and pinning the end to his chest
What exactly is at the end of these Tension Coils? A grapple, a sharp shaved point, what?

>>19034558
End of the cable can grab onto things, and when fired with enough speed is able to punch through material to some degree.

I really want to suggest we just play with these guys for a while and shout shit like "Kneel before Zod!" but we're on a schedule, and we can always save it for the bossfight.

>>19034653
Is this really the Strike Chain? If so, it was suitably awesome if used correctly.

Also, has anybody ever wondered what happened to the Black Zero from X2 when you didn't collect the parts?

>>19034895
I will reiterate from previous threads:
At some point, when someone says something to the effect of "What the hell is that?" Anode must respond with "Your worst nightmare, butthorn!"

>>19034907
I think if you didn't collect all the parts, you fight Black Zero. If you have all the parts, real Zero comes in and destroys Black Zero.

>>19034907
It really is a much more versatile, much more painful Strike Chain. Fortunately you're mostly using it for utility, not to be a sadist dickweed. And this one doesn't have a case of the useless.

>>19034473
You still have a minute before India makes it back around, but now it's your turn.

The kinetic shocks through the cable have helped juice up your capacitors a little more--nothing serious, but enough for you to close the gap on the nearest Disk Boy in an eyeblink. He doesn't have time to raise his shield before you cut him in half. The second raises his, so you rake it with fire to keep him hunkered beneath it until you can shoulder into him, pushing him off balance and letting you dispatch him with a lance-thrust into his stomach.

You feel a lash and a burn simultaneously as a thrown disc finds its mark on your side right as plasma hits just beneath it. You fire another, shorter T. Coil, feeling a shock run through your arm as it impacts the maverick's shield. This time it's nearly taught, so you give the line a sharp yank and send him stumbling into you.

A quick dance around him and he's tightly wound in the cable. You give him a solid boot as you disconnect the line. "Don't struggle," you tell him flatly, "that thing's sharp."

You look up at the last two--one of which is the previously wounded one. The unharmed one makes one last attempt with the disk, and you just slap it out of the air. They share a glance, and quickly put their hands up.

>>19034943
No, you actually fight a mindcontrolled/maverick Zero, not the black copy. You only even SEE the black Zero if you DID collect all the parts.

>>19035019
And then there could be only one!(Zero)

>>19035008
Awesome. Ask if they've got any more buddies. Otherwise, take them into custody.

Do they count as mechaniloids or highly specialized infantry?

>>19035019
I haven't been to the end of X2 in a long time, so my memory is shady.

>>19035008
Before you can even belt out one self-congratulatory one-liner (SOMEDAY), you hear a motor whine behind you and turn just in time to see another ride armor clear the deck from a service lift. You look back at the surrendered Disk Boys. They look back at you.

They shrug.

"Welp."

You hop backwards as the ride armor plunges its weapon--a rotary-spiked-drill-thing--into the ground where you stood.

>INDIA, HALP
>Everyone chill the fuck out, I got this
>JOINT STRIKE

>Everyone chill the fuck out, I got this
Aim high, son.

Don't we get bonuses for captured enemy equipment?

>>19035083
We have multibarrel blaster built into us for a reason you know. Should go down in seconds as long as it doesn't have plot armor.

>>19035102
Something like that. We get hazard pay, plus likely some salvage bonus.

>>19035129
>>19035102
You also get points with Command, because hey, guess who's trying to rebuild their Armored division from scratch?

And if they don't want it, Em would probably love a Punchy III.

>>19035165
So the best option is to keep the Ride Armor itself intact.
Jump into the cockpit, stab the pilot with the Beam Misericorde.

>>19035165
Do we aim high to take out the rider?

>>19035165
Question: do Disk Boys count as infantry or mechaniloids?

>>19035083
We got this. Rider Jump. Lightning Fall. Aim for the dude's head, either wire rap and tap him(electrify), or just spear him.

Comical option: Boot to the head. Engage CES(or whatever that dash thing's called)

>>19035236
EAS. Emergency Acceleration System.
We used the EAS Kick to knock Tanker way off-balance during our spar.

>>19035230
When I started this I was assuming mechaniloid, but midway through I reconsidered, I'm going with them being reploids. I reserve the right to a later Cain Labs retcon, though, because I don't just fly by the seat of my pants, I surf the asspulls and ride the wave all the way to bullshit harbor.

>>19035236
>comical option

Damn it, I actually wanted this to be something akin to a serious miniboss but you've gone and given me a mental image. I hope you're happy with yourself, young man(?).

Writing now.

>>19035303
I am actually.

A man, that is. sorry if the name confuses you

>>19035303
So by extension, you're saying that the entire Joe family are reploids as well?

>>19035432
I'd have to go through them piecemeal. But a great many of the more humanoid-looking models are probably going to be full reploids.
>>19035327
Just being all gender neutral and granola and shit.
>>19035083
You leap backwards as the thing makes another jab. "India, the hell am I looking at?"

"Rabbit ride armor," she replies, "Not exactly new but it's still almost as good as they come standard."

"Why the FUCK," you yell as you leap over another massive smash, debris clattering around you, "did they name it RABBIT?"

"I'm guessing the thrusters in back," she replies, "Mind those, thing's got some speed to it."

You're grateful for her warning a split-second later when you hear the ride armor's powerplant double-time it, and those spikes begin to whirl. You only just leap aside in time as it careens past you. It wheels around, using its momentum to get itself out of your reach as it charges up again.

"Like hell," you mutter, waiting--

Waiting--

It surges forward with the distinctive chuff of a RA's vents.

You leap--

Backwards.

>>19035449
"45 to assistance," India calls--if the pressure's getting to her you sure can't hear it--"got us tied up shooting down bats."

Meanwhile, the ride's high speed charge carries the lumbering armored frame straight to you, just as planned.

Just as planned for both of you. The operator doesn't know what the fuck, as his charge runs down a hair's breadth short, and your leap puts you on level with the cockpit.

Angling yourself in midair, you pull yourself up into a perfect dropkick as you engage your thrusters, and you blast him clear out of his seat.

The ride's momentum carries it forward, the cockpit windscreen passing scant inches under you as you come back down, sitting in his chair.

The former pilot pulls himself off the ground--and looks up at you manning the controls of his ride.

"Um," he manages.

"No," you reply. "This is mine now."

There's a long pause. He slooowly starts to raise his buster arm.

"...So c--"

"NO."

>The next few seconds are vid related http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RGjab76TJ3c#t=10s

>>19035516
That was very satisfying. Let India know the LZ is clear.

>>19035516
Perfect. Give India a wave and tell her to come on down.

>>19035516
...So, considering that pretty much all of Anode's bad-assery this thread has snuck up on me and was completely unplanned until it was perfect for the scenario, I'm pretty sure MHQ started using Stunt Dice when I wasn't looking.
>>19035542
>>19035550
"Nix the run," you reply, "I'm done here."

"You don't say," she says drily. "Setting down."

After an eventful few minutes, things finally wind down. The surrendered Disk Boys are disarmed and subdued (including bindings with less chance of dismemberment for the one you caught in the Coil), the first load of troops are on the ground, and India comes to inspect your work as your team sets a perimeter.

"Anode," she starts, "do you know how much a Cannon Driver weighs?"

"No, but I bet you're gonna tell me."

She shoots you a look. "Let me put it this way. I started banking around because I thought you were going to pull the innards right the fuck out of my plane."

"Really? I thought you just saw what I was going for there."

"Had to wing it, but it worked pretty well. It was stupid and ballsy, Anode." Her expression brightens. "We might make a pilot out of you after all." And then she playfully punches you in the side you got hit on ow ow ow ow.

"So what's our next move?" you ask, checking on your (minor) injuries.

"Once we're confident they're not popping out around here, we can go in. Since the tunnels into the facility are too small to use it, I'm gonna go disable the ride armor until we can get it back to base. By then our second lander should be here with another load of troops for our push in. Sound good?"

"Works for me. I'll organize the boys."

>>19035652
Aaaand with that, pause for the night.
Story time story time!

>>19035662
Don't forget a quick archive.

>>19035662

alright.

it only now occurs to me, I should have written this in notepad first. ballocks. anyway.

Meet the crew!

>>19035681
Done. Thanks.
>>19035729
Thread will probably be around for a few days if you don't want to type it all up in one massive go.

Clandestine Cobra

played by one of two prior service bros, Cobra specializes in (you guessed it) Covert ops. as far as gear goes, he's actually fairly standard, EAS and 2 point VWES charging buster. Lighter armor. He blew nearly every last BP on active camo, EM sensor bafflers, and (oddly enough, we thought) EMP hardening above and beyond standard- though not much more than standard (a single point in that defense box, roughly equivalent to a medium armor class unit)

Dammit, missed the quest.

>>19035813

>>19035813
Pretty sick.

Gamma Wolf

Played by one of our two ca/tg/irls.

Midweight unit, she took no VWES, no inbuilt weapon, and no charge flaws, which freed up a LOT of BP. then she proceeded to dump it all (ALL THE BP!) into "unique weapon"- which just so happens to be a "radiation rifle." It's a fucking gamma-ray blaster.... thing. Does utterly retarded damage to biologicals and non-hardened units, but it gets pretty worthless pretty fast outside that specialty. Supposedly our other "midrange" fire support character. that translates as "totally isn't a midrange firefight character". Played mostly in the shortrange bracket, up close and melty-like.

>>19035849
>no VWES
>no inbuilt weapon
>no charge flaws

>It's a fucking gamma-ray blaster.... thing. Does utterly retarded damage to biologicals and non-hardened units, but it gets pretty worthless pretty fast outside that specialty.
disniggacrazy.jpg

Sabre Mantis

Played by our underage b&. but he's a cool kid, so we let him play (plus his big bro is GM)

Carbon copy of EVERY CHARACTER HE'S EVER MADE. Lightweight, high speed, very high damage output character without many tricks. pretty much bog-standard lightweight close combat guy, Built to get in, kill things, and get out.

>>19035886
So, a smaller version of that dude from MMZ?

>>19035918
He could at least detach his claws for a surprise kill or two.

>>19035886
>>19035918
Christ, it might as well be Emerald.jpg.

Sounds fun as all hell, though. And you said no one actually tried to take Metal Gear-esque animal picks until Repli-FOXHOUND happened?

>>19035849
Gamma Wolf has my vote for "First to go Maverick"

>>19035941
>Snake
>Wolf
>Mantis

Son of a bitch...

>>19035967
Seriously. A gamma radiation gun that works on biologicals and unshielded enemies and not much else? That's just something that's begging to get turned against you.

>>19035969
just need a bird and a cat, and you're set

>>19036055
everyone always forgets octopus.

Didn't someone said they'd make a sprite/datasheet for Anode at some point?

sorry bout the delay

I'm pretty sure three or four of them were in on a MGS thing. they didn't tell me though.

Lancer Coyote

Played by our resident metalhead. dude always, ALWAYS wears a shirt from some metal band I've never heard of, and is constantly talking about concerts or shows at these small places with bands called like "corpsegrinder 9000 fetish' or someshit. He's a bro though, so I don't say anything.

Anyway, middle-weight unit, Build around spear and sheild combat. Dropped the inbuilt weapons for a Buster pistol- no VWES, but otherwise, functionally the same as an inbuilt (except it can be lost). used the BP for a Lobeam Naginata and a shield with ablative armor. He also took ablative armor himself, though not much of it- enough to blunt the first round of shooting, say, but not much else. dropped a lot of BP on his EMS, so it's doubly effective compared to a standard one. Also beefed up his inbuilt teleport unit, and took redundant systems, same as me.

and last, but not least, the other ca/tg/irl

Panzer Tiger.

She's a history major, can you tell? also, her granddad was a Panzer ace. Cool guy to hear stories from, even if he constantly jokes on me. Wehrmacht, not SS, in case anyone was wondering.

Long-range, Direct combat. Dropped Busters completely, uses a advanced 88mm cannon. This is *technically* a flaw, since she's ammo-limited regardless. She took up heavy armor (not *quite* on par with what I have) and had enough spare BP for a limited EMS, though it's probably a quarter of what a standard one can do.

side note: she's a late addition to the party, showing up on our first game night (last monday) to play with a concept, but no mechanics hashed out.

Where's the system for these, again? I've got a character I've played elsewhere I'd like to translate into a proper setup.

>>19036290
He said it's a kinda-sorta homebrew for this, last I checked.

>>19036302

basically? it's 3.5 D&D mechanics running under a homebrew system. Character creation takes a baseline (mediumweight, EMS 1, VWES 2 buster, NSA) reploid with a couple hundred buildpoints, and a huge list of flaws/attributes and lets you run with it. I'll see if i can get a copy of the rules again, since it's all hardcopy.

of course, You've already met my character, Uralmash Ursa. Think "heavy weapons guy, except a 2 ton robot bear with miniguns under both arms" and you're pretty much spot on. or what it's worth, I've completely based him off of the trailers, not having played TF2 myself. ha

>>19036380
Ursa = Heavy
Tiger = Soldier
Coyote = Highlander Demoman
Mantis = Scout
Wolf = Pyro
Cobra = Spy

Yeah, that fits.

>>19036380
I'm going to need to start pinning down numbers soon, but I've got the basics of my own system more or less down. I'll go into what I've got a bit later, for now it's your show.

>>19036380
What's NSA again? I gather that EMS is electro-magnetic shielding.

>>19036283
>>19036217
>>19035886
>>19035849
>>19035780

Dude, that sounds cool as hell. What system are you using?Ideas to try out, got my gears turning with nowhere to go

>>19036726
See >>19036380

Okay, so, I need to take my sister to another appointment tomorrow, so I need to bow out now.

Or that's the plan, anyway, just like it was the plan last night before I gave up sleeping right around now.

By all means, keep going if you want and I'll look forward to seeing the story in the morning. That, or I'll just come back tonight and see it when sleep fails.

Thanks for playing, /tg/.

>>19036604

alphabet soup, haha. No Special Attributes.

Our first game, last Monday, had us doing the usual meet and greet and non combat RP stuff. For what it's worth, our GM is pretty damn good, so RP is pretty fun.

we're not all assigned to the 4th, BTW. Myself, the tiger, and the wolf are. the 'yote is 1st, the mantis is 'listed as 14th' but not really, since he's specced the same as us. the cobra is 2nd.

We're based out of Japan.

sorry, got called away from the computer for a bit.

first, on the RP end, We're set up as a Special Tasks Force. Basically, if Command thinks one Hunter can't handle it, or it needs a special team to get the job done, we're it. new tactical doctrine, we're sort of the testbed for the plan. we get limited, at best, Infantry and mech support- odds are, if we can't handle it, either a shinobi gets the call, or they nuke the site from orbit. just to be sure. Basically, we're the last non-drastic measure available. However, we also get priority on base equipment- dropships, transports, teleport, sim time, you name it. kind of balances out the whole "don't screw up, cos if you do we're glassing the site" thing.

ok, not really, but I tell myself that.


We're allowed a 'day' of time, in-game, to get squared away. it takes us very little time to realize 1) we're broke and 2) booze is free on post. needless to say, we're in the local watering hole (O'Henrys, supposedly named after some legendary human hunter who died taking out like 5+ S rank mavs. More likely it's the GM Doing his usual "self inert as bartender" routine.) We spend some time roleplaying- no brooding loners, yet. the other servicebro, he likes to "develop" his characters, meaning they see some shit and get some hardcore movie or tv-movie style PTSD. so we'll see. otherwise? Wolf's a loudmouth braggart, 'yotes... a lot like em, actually. 'cept louder and far, far less tech inclined. Tiger and myself get into a drinking contest (nanobots only) Snake and Mantis sit in a corner, chatting with NPCs.

Cue alarm.

Turns out, 2nd got a solid fix on a pair of mavs- Railgun Raven and Hailstorm Tomcat- at the old FDI plant. That'd be the Nuke plant that suffered 4 partial meltdowns last April.

Of course, by the time the game is set, FDI's reactors have long been secured and cold. The corium is still there, of course, but the place is no real threat- short of blowing up 4 old fission reactors, there's damn little you can do to make the place threatening, and even doing that is questionable since there's not that much dangerous shit left to release! Still, these two are doubtless up to no damn good, and we're going to damn stop them.

also: did I mention they're both classed S? yeah....

well, six of us, two of them. can't be hard, right?

we work out our inbound port- Cobra, then 'yote, mantis, and wolf, then myself and tiger. Cobra would have time to do some recon, and if shit went south, there was a good chance a follow on group would be able to do something about it. and if they couldn't, the wave before them could wave them off. Makes sense, right? haha.

anyway, everyone but Cobra leaves the garage. we're sitting outside for a while, maybe five minutes, and the GM calls for the other three to come in. They go in, and myself and tiger's player sit outside and chat for a while. A while later, we get called in.

We get called into the middle of a shitstorm. Pretty much line-for-line what Ursa was built to thrive in, and Tiger ain't so bad at it herself.

Because we play it a bit differently, on-site hunters have beacons that incoming teleport waves can use. this is, currently, tied into their own teleport systems, instead of separate. that's good for us, because normally, with jammers up, we were going to have to port in separate from the main group. Coyote's higher-grade inbuilt teleporter let us drop in on his beacon.

We dropped in behind cover to find cobra sprawled out on the deck, several round entry wounds through his torso (probably important to note, Railguns, especially Extremely high velocity hunter-grade railguns, have an insane armor penetration value. where armor subtracts points from incoming damage dice, Railguns can ignore that- and also allow for through armor criticals). He was deep in the red- his armor was shot through and he'd lost some critical systems, but wasn't dead... yet. Coyote was in better shape, deep gouges across both his legs and spear arm, and he'd had one ear shot off. Mantis was in better shape, having some dents and dings in the armor, but not much. Wolf was, apparently, untouched, but was also busy acting as a combat medic, rigging a parasite feed to Cobra's reactor's magnetic bottle to keep it from going critical.

Did I mention this all takes place inside the reactor's containment structure? and the thing's been cut open, so the whole area is lousy with well-past-lethal radiation?

>>19038135
>Two S-Rank Mavericks
What was the rankings of your Hunters?

We're brought up to speed real fast. Raven's got... well, a railgun. it's also fairly speedy and hard to detect. the cat's the easier of the two- paired rapid fire busters, but he's also apparently got a cold-based attack that sums up as "swarms of things are good, right?" it's short range, in here, and no one's been hit by it... yet, but it's still a threat. He's also fast, though easier to detect. However, his close combat ability is pretty fierce.

so we're down by one, have one moderate damaged unit, one with cosmetic damage, and three undamaged units, but wolf's out of the picture for a few turns. Our only lucky break is the two mavs are bottled up inside the reactor vessel itself, and have no room to escape. that'd be a lot better if raven's gun couldn't punch holes in the damn thing. except, it could, and the cat jumped anyone who tried to get inside to take raven out in close combat.

Tiger and I rapidly worked out a plan- we'd assault in, and mantis and wolf could follow us in. we were banking on our armor to stop any fire leveled at us, and those two, in that close, could do the killing, if we went down. We popped up, and wolf started slamming suppression fire into the hole torn in the side of the reactor. didn't take but two turns at a dead run (for me, one for mantis and tiger... need an EMS) to go barging into the side of the reactor.

this is a good place to say two things. 1) I'm former USMC. I was taught, when running to get against a wall, let the wall stop you. you'll be fine. 2) things work differently for a two ton robot bear.

Instead of stopping against the side of the reactor, I go barreling right through it. fuck.

>>19038338
Two ton reploid bear > radioactive core shielding
Who'da thunk it?

>>19038257

Well, the BP we got to play with was for "A", but it's not playtested, so it could be low, or could be high.

>>19038338

Thankfully for me, surprise cuts both ways, and all three of us were flat-footed. Combat begins, initiative is rolled. I score a nat 20, beating out the 12 and 16 (raven and cat, respecively) the GM rolls, and the 12 of Tiger and 14 of Wolf.

Raven's bonuses kick in, and the order ends up as me->raven->cat->wolf->tiger.

Having 0 wiggle room, I take a 5 foot adjustment back- right squarely in the hole I just made coming in. then I level both weapons- at the cat. while I lose an action to charge and spin them up, I can spend my remaining action to get in some licks- four shots go downrange, and all of them connect, Dropping the damaged cat deep into the red. I roll crits and get a "cascade failure"- more to the point, His reactor quenches when failsafes kick in.

>>19038363

I didn't think the GM would call me on it. I was incorrect. ha!

>>19038468

Raven proceeds to blast my shit- only to find (to the GM's dismay and my eternal glee) his rolls suck, and armor pen or no, he does cock/all for damage- and my redundant systems eat the critical. Wolf makes an EAS move- closing the 40 feet between our old cover and the reactor in an action. She charges her (fucking gamma-ray) rifle with her next, which will allow her move-shoot on raven. as damaged as he is, it's unlikely he'd survive that. Cat's turn is spent as auto-repair tries to stabalise him and bring the reactor back up. it does so, allowing him to get back up, though he's now last in line. Tiger rolls right in front of wolf, and punches two more shots- EVAP rounds- into Cat, which sends him flying through the reactor, very, very dead. (in game terms, he was deep in the red, with almost all his armor gone. the EVAP- extreme velocity armor penetrators- scored through-and-through criticals, basically gutting him.

That brings it to turn 2. Order remains the same, though flat-footed no longer applies. this means (among other things) Raven's ECM kicks in, and he suddenly goes from "pathetically weak target" to "WHY CAN'T I HIT HIM JESUS DICKS" Note that broadcast ECM like this only applies at range- melee takes no to-hit penalty here.

On my turn, I burn both actions I get, without making any kind of move, to attack. I get two per action (two gun) and rapid fire at the rank I have it means I get three bonus ranged attacks per action per gun. (4 attacks/action per gun, for those counting at home) Eight dice hit the table, and I land... a hit. Fucking ECM. Still, the hit Drops his armor over his torso down deep into the yellow, threatening criticals from here on in. His turn, he moves 40 feet- out the back of the reactor, through the hole his (very dead) partener made when he was shot last turn. This breaks line of sight for me, but leaves tiger and wolf able to see him- and be seen in turn. he slams a railgun round downrange. It hits, armor pens, and gets a weapon critical.

Gamma ray fucking gun? blows the fuck up, taking wolf's arm with it and releasing an intense Gamma-ray burst that briefly scrambles every sensor I have. it also turns wolf into reploid hellen keller and shorts tiger's sensor package as well. Tiger's turn, her auto-repair tries... and success to bring sensors back online.

Tiger's turn, she adjusts 5 feet, standing in front of, and over, the crippled wolf. The 88 barks, and a HVAPFSDS round screams downrange- chemically propelled, it packs nearly as much energy as Raven's railgun. that said, it's much more massive, and slower, and imparts a lot more KE to whatever it hits. it slams into the fucker dead on, ripping off his legs at the waist, obliterating his movement systems.

Turn 3 rolls around.. and I roll around, taking a five-foot step to line up on the damn near dead raven. He's deep, deep into the red, armor's effectively gone, ECM is way offline, and his auto repair is burning everything his reactor can crank out just to try and stabilize him.

Both vulcans, still spun up, sing their eerie wailing song, and, since he's prone, unmoving, and in flat-footed (in shock, effectively), everything auto-hits. Eight mid-strength plasma shots hit him, all scoring criticals, and his reactor goes, with the local damage catching myself (armor shrugged off most of it, had some paintwork burnt off though)

Now, I know what you're thinking. "he totally forgot mantis!"

actually, as it turns out, during play, Mantis was handed a note- the 5th had contacted him and notified him they'd gotten a convoy on sensors, headed away from the plant. he'd moved off to chase it, by himself, without telling us. He'd done alright- mav SBs aren't much of a match for an A rank, especially untested ones that are acting... strangely.

Field lifesaver units are ported in to work on Cobra and Wolf- her gun going also caused severe internal damage, and irradiated all of us to the point where decontamination was both hilarious, and "in my case" traumatizing. I mean, have YOU ever seen a two ton robot bear trying to sing, with a thick Russian accent, no less (and dance to) poker face while being hosed down by several high-pressure water jets?

the convoy? full of corium. No idea, yet, what it was for. Mission success, if a hair easier than we were expecting.

>>19038800
>Two casualties
>Notable damage on others
>The entire team irradiated
And that was "easier than we were expecting?"

>>19038811

Slightly. but, first fight of a new system, so it's to be expected.

Upgrades! We all rated one, since six goes into two... about 1/3 of a time. go figure.

Cobra added a ECM suite, which, Combined with his EM bafflers basically made him a walking equipment void. If it's not a laser comm, when he's got that shit switched on, you aren't sending data across it.

Wolf went in for repair/upgrade. when she came out, it was with an under/over blister mounted gamma-ray fucker rifle and a smaller, slower railgun rifle. Though the railgun is a solid weapon, and so uses ammo every shot (as opposed to energy weapons only using it for non-native weapons) it gives her utility against all targets.

Mantis added an EM baffler suite, similar to Cobra. It's pretty beefy though, making him pretty scary at ambushes.

Coyote took the hailstorm upgrade... for his Naginata. Basically, it converts the weapon to a shortrange Saigia-12 that shoots plasma hailstones at things. well, when it's used.

Tiger also added an EM baffler suite. go figure.,

Me? I added a railgun option via VWES. Eats through weapon energy though, so I get, maybe 2 turns of full autofire before I can't use it anymore.

the RP for the next session found us discussing Geneva over alcohol. The general (in-character) feeling was that, being a prototype for a new tactical doctrine, we should have been assigned where support was best. we all eventually settled on "command has no fucking clue what they're doing" and fell to discussing our first op.

more to the point, we wanted to know what they were planning to do with that corium. It's not really useful as anything- too much shit mixed in- there's better material for, well, everything. We just went back to "mavs make no sense" and drank in relative silence.... well, till we got called up.

A mission by one of the base's 14th hunters had gone wrong, and we were going to be sent in to get him out. Tactically, we were looking at 'at least one, maybe as many as four' S+ hostiles, plus significant mech backup. to compensate, the rest of the base had been put on-call, and were ready to deploy on our call.

Targets were unknown, but the area was an abandoned military post in Russia, at the hariy edge of teleport range. we opted to jump in on his beacon, dropping myself and tiger in first. Due to range, we had to go in waves, and we figured, hey, if it was bad in there, tiger and myself had the armor to last till reinforcements got onsite.

>>19039235
I'd want to know why a team-mate was walking around with a nuke gun that can blow up, and nuke you.

>>19039294
Apparently, that "nuke gun" was the wolf's entire gimmick, and it wasn't even attached to her. Besides, I'm not sure the concept of "biological Mavericks" ever came up.

>>19039294

Reason it was as bad as it ended up being was she had it charged when it got critted- and Our GM just so happened to roll "catastrophic capacitor discharge". She's actually lucky it wasn't inbuilt, if it had been, she quite possibly would have lost that character.

>>19039314

I don't think they do- the gimmick is for two reasons, both meta, of sorts. Her dad is works in the nuclear power industry. IDK what he does, but I know he's part of the 500rem club.

the second is she figures it's not something that units are going to be usually shielded against, since gamma radiation relys on massive shielding, as opposed to alpha and beta.

>>19039375
In that context, then the weapon might work. It still sounds rather niche.

>>19039391

oh, it is, no doubt. that's why she ended up using her first upgrade for a underslung railgun on the rifle. I think she was considering having the whole thing inbuilt, but that would have counted as 2 upgrades, so...

>>19039235

So, pre-jump, Tiger brings her new EM bafflers online, meaning, basically, I'll catch the brunt of the first turn fire if we jump into trouble. The rest of the players are sent out of the room for the first couple of turns.

We jump into an old hangar, the doors up front are shut, though they're pretty battered, and rusted through in some places. Outside, a brutal storm is beating the hell out of the base. Inside, there's a single, Shot-up Rabbit reploid, his paint all charred away and one of his arms shot off. His other arm, ending in a charged buster, was leveled at My chest.

From an In-game standpoint, this is probably slightly disconcerting, even if I know I'm built to take it and could probably shrug the shot off. Still, I make no sudden moves, and he drops the weapon to his side, breathing a sigh of relief. He tells us what's going on- how a simple mission to take out one mav turned into an ambush of four hispec models, plus heavy mech backup and not a few Lance teamer units. how he'd damaged one, but lost his blade doing it, and had holed up in here.

We decide to stay holed up till the rest of the team is brought in, since, between our firepower, armor, and the fact that there was only one door, we figured we'd be fine. Unfortunately, due to atmospherics, we couldn't radio out for a strap-on teleport beacon to send the rabbit home, so he'd have to wait.

The rest of our team showed up with no issues, and we hurriedly briefed them in. the base, an old mechanized post, was long abandoned, and very wrecked, but we had no idea what kind of forces the mavs had onsite. Cobra took off into the storm, using his sneaky bits for all they were worth.

He says the base is crawling with hostile mechs and C and lower class threats, but nothing major. we decide, hey, we've got the chance, let's do some damage, and leave the hangar, with the rabbit coming along. as shot up as he was, we was probably safer with us than alone in the hangar. Still, tiger and myself made sure to stay fairly close, given that our relative size and armor would keep the rabbit safe if we came under heavy attack. There were, afterall, still several class S threats out here.

A couple of short firefights later, we've made some headway. hostile units are thinning out, being evacuated, it seems like. we're hunting for the source of the ECM with cobra on point, and the rest of us spaced along as we followed. It's not exactly like we weren't looking for an ambush, but still, when we sat the first midnight-painted wolf, we knew we were in some shit.

Looked pretty standard, as far as these things go, and we weren't exactly caught flatfooted, but neither was he. We roll initiative, and I go second to last, right before Tiger. Laying out the board, we're in between two buildings- a bad spot to begin with- and there's crossing roads behind and ahead of us. Theoretically, our lines of retreat are fine, but it's hard to tell in built-up areas like this.

Cobra lines up a few shots, moving for the cover of the building on the left. they do some superficial damage, but between the range and the fact that they were uncharged snapshots, they do little more than scar the paint on the target. Mantis hits his EMS, screaming down the road to stop at the base of the building the hostile is on top of. Coyote gets behind his sheild and moves to the right, putting himself up against the building there. Rabbit ducks into the building on the right- he knows he's in no shape for a firefight in the open.

The target moves back a hair, gaining 75% cover from the ground, but doesn't do anything else. that we can see

I plant my feet, level my weapons, and spin up my guns, and shoot. Four shots, two hits, not bad given the range and cover (he failed his saves) . Still, my shots don't do much more than Cobra's did, though they do end up dropping his torso armor down to yellow. Not deep enough to threaten criticals, but if tiger shoots, and hits him, he's in trouble. Tiger shifts right, and bangs off a shot with her new railgun, but misses.

bumping for everlasting peace!

Turn 2 begins, and the buildings to the left and right of us blow up. Reflexes are rolled, damage is taken, and Coyote is lost, crushed under part of the building he was covering against. I roll miserably low on reflex, but a combination of my weight class, armor, and position in the middle of the street save me. I get some dings and dents from debris, but I'm protected from the worst of it (leading to a round of jokes centered on the phrase "the bear don't care")

Three more hostiles are added to the mix as well, though two of them go after tiger and myself. they were hidden in reinforced rooms in the buildings, waiting for the trap to be sprung. with them, a small swarm of mechs and infantry emerge.

Cobra, not built for this shit, goes into panic mode, slams on all the jammers, engages the optical camo, and cuts to farther to the left. Mantis switches targets and half EAS-charges half out-of-control wildly skates his way into a pack of infantry, who he begins laying into with gusto. Wolf, who had been pulling tailend charlie, enters the fight from down the road, EAS-Charging then meltifying an unlucky LTB in her path. Rabbit, now critical and laying in the rubble,... lays there, dying.

our first hostile jumps down the side of the building and lands in the road, then EAS charges me, pulling a beam saber. However, or GM was having a bad night, and couldn't count, and he ends up 15 feet in front of me. in the open. with no actions left.

So I proceed to shoot the piss out of him.

I take a 5 foot step forward, and unload with both guns. Eight attacks, point blank range. He goes from yellow to critical red in one shooting phase, holed through.
out of 8 attacks, 8 hit, and all did respectably well on the damage rolls. only way to have really out and out killed him would to have had a charge ready to go, and shot on mid or full charge. But, that would have taken two actions from none to mid then from mid to full, so whatever.

One of the new hostiles moves to engage me, EAS charging (and making it into contact with) me. He gets three attacks with a hiblade beamsaber, and lands two of them, damaging my armor on both the torso and legs, but not dropping me to yellow.

Tiger re-tasks, hitting one of the newcomers with an HEI shell. his armor takes the worst of it, but it still drops him to overall yellow (gotta love high explosive rounds) her railgun, however, misses.

the other two new units move one after the other. the first, a larger model, fires a beam at tiger, hitting her and doing pretty heavy damage to her armor over her left arm, but not getting through. he uses his second action to shift right, getting partially behind the rubblepile of the building. the other one attacks our wolf, pelting her at range with uncharged buster fire. no real damage, but her armor gets scratched up. I take fire from a few LTBs, but my armor shrugs it off, and they fail miserably to land hits on mantis in close combat, while our wolf takes a hit or two, but really ends up none the worse for wear.

Cobra, seeing a chance on turn 3, charges up to medium and blasts a hostile LTB, blowing it's shit away. Mantis Drops a pair of his hostiles, now clearly in his element. Our wolf Gets revenge on the hostile that had shot at her, firing both a gamma ray blast and a railgun slug at him. While the slug fails to do any real damage, merely taking out some armor, the GRB hits the target full on in the face, frying his head-mounted sensors. Now blind, deaf and dumb, he's also red in the head armor, and yellow in the torso. he's also effectively out of the fight.

Now, I'm not built for close combat, but I like to think I'm no slouch. Roaring, I throw my attacks back, bare (haha, bear) handed. I don't have beam weapons, but I do have reinforced bearclaws. I get two, and the first is a miss. the second, though is a critical hit. that rolls a 20 to confirm, and then a 20 to confirm that. 20/20/20 crit, in house, is an instakill. So I proceed to punch through the hostile, smashing his reactor and vitals while i do so.

Tiger fires a pair of shells at the hostile with the beam weapon, hitting him with a EVAP round. this scores a through-armor critical, destroying his weapon, but not threatening a critical on the weapon itself. it also blows his arm off and throws him down, taking him out of LOS behind the rubble.

...hooooly shit this sounds awesome.

I love your VWES rail minigun idea.

Page 8 already? /tg/ is moving right along. Survival-bumping this again before I head out to the doctor's, so I can resume when I'm back.

If it weren't such a bitch to post from work I'd tell the rest of the story, but, well it's a bitch to post from work. Ha

A thread in distress? Cain Labs to save the day!

>>19042113
This works out well for me, because Team Jerkass just gave me a ring as soon as I got back in the door. (Taking my sister back to the doctor's tomorrow, as well, just a little more notice in advance.)

I'm just gonna go ahead and turn the thread over to Cain Labs for Q&A and maybe an interview, if he wants. (Hint: He probably wants.) I can provide some distracted Q&A/assistance as well, once I get over there.

>>19042113
You heard the man. I can field questions, or run another interview (having run Magna Centipede earlier). Make your requests!

rolled 9 = 9

>>19043379
ooh ooh!
Hammer!
Hammer Frog!

>>19043876
Unfortunately, as per the earlier interview, Hunter Command is in charge of all 4th Division interviews. Hammer Frog is outside my jurisdiction, I fear.

rolled 7, 5, 6, 3, 8, 4, 9, 2, 6, 2 = 52

>>19043897
curses!
ok, uh, Striker Cobra. He seems like a cool dude, and is our sis's commanding officer

>>19043897
>>19043876
Well, I'm here enough to try that, if needbe.

Things seem kinda slow today, anyway.

Just got through reading the previous threads. Is it just me, or are Anode and Cathode kind of like Bit and Byte from X3?

I've got a question for you Cain Labs, how do you and Hunter Command come up with all this extra setting information you've been using to flesh out the quest? I'm sure some of it could be kind of inferred from the games, but alot of this I couldn't have guessed at despite having played the games.

rolled 10, 9 = 19

>>19043939
I would think the game leaves the fluff open enough to play around with it. There's 18 whole divisions in the hunters, it leaves a lot of room to work stuff in.

also, even, hammer, odds Striker

>>19043939
Anode & Cathode's relationship is nothing like that of Bit & Byte.

My job is mostly setting detail; much of it I derive from the games and ancillary materials when possible, but a substantial portion came from never-realized fangame planning that I had been working on, including the extensive rosters of the Maverick Hunters and a lot of the background on the original series and how it carried forward. Hunter Command also had a group of characters he wanted to incorporate, and a wealth of opinions on X and Zero. He's also the powerhouse behind the "foreground," as it were. Each of us handles a bit of everything.

>>19043934
Let's wake the snake!

The radio connection crackles on, and the Maverick Hunter emblem appears on the console screen, followed by the 1st Division insignia. A low, rough voice comes over the speaker.

"Cobra here."

rolled 8, 6, 2, 10, 3, 3, 6, 9, 5, 3 = 55

>>19044102

How long have you been active? What sort of gear do you use?

rolled 5, 7, 7, 5, 4, 10, 3, 10, 1, 10 = 62

>>19044137
meant to link here
>>19044102

>>19044137
> How long have you been active? What sort of gear do you use?

10 years, four months, few days.

"Striker Snake" tracking shot buster, "Cleopatra" homing missiles, cyclodyne DIDFE cord, "Sidewinder" military machete, emergency beacon, OMNI environmental scope, classified recon equipment, various radios, compression scatter mines... anything else I can carry in one run.

rolled 6, 1, 10, 5, 9, 7, 1, 7, 4, 9 = 59

>>19044329
When did you become the head of the 1st? was it as eventful as Hammer's?

Also who would you say was your greatest foe that you fought against

>Get caught up again while on a break from my quest.
>Discover active thread.
>Pop in.
>quest over for the day

SON OF BITCH.

>>19044329

Since it seems to be the 'go to' question, what was your most memorable mission?

>>19044329
(Striker is commander of the First, right?)
Is there any concern for the effectiveness of the First? Considering the division is designed to create beachheads and throw the first (or second) punch in a full engagement, is there concern that the First is little more than a one-trick pony? A "one and done," as it were.

>>19044397
> When did you become the head of the 1st? was it as eventful as Hammer's?
I'm the only head of the 1st. There was no 1st before me.

> Also who would you say was your greatest foe that you fought against
Tossup between Alexander and Weisshund, for Reploids. Nothing worse than a defected 17. Worst Mech was Giganzellar, a huge ambush thing surrounding the drop site on this deep mountain mission. Lost twenty to that.

> Since it seems to be the 'go to' question, what was your most memorable mission?
That Giganzellar one. Closest after that would be the drop to the X-Hunter base. Giganzellar was just a brutal reminder of how bad things can get and got us all to look sharp. X-Hunter base was unlike anything else; naval advance with the 6th into freezing cold waters, relying on the 13th to get the drop ready and prepare inroads, Cannon Drivers, Ride Armors... heavy stuff.

>>19044570
> Is there any concern for the effectiveness of the First? Considering the division is designed to create beachheads and throw the first (or second) punch in a full engagement, is there concern that the First is little more than a one-trick pony? A "one and done," as it were.
Kid, do you call a baseball player who only hits home runs a one-trick pony?

How do you feel about the fact that the first doesn't seem to get the same appreciation and respect as the 17th and the Shinobi?

I mean, yeah they're supposed to be the special forces badasses but it seems to me that the first gets a lot more of a headache. I mean you're supposed to be the first ones on the ground 90% of the time, and half the time you go into it blind. Does X's and Zero's relative celebrity ever.... bother you?

rolled 7, 7, 10, 10, 7, 7, 6, 3, 1, 6 = 64

>>19044654
How's the newbie, Cathode, doing? Is she popular?

>>19044724
> How do you feel about the fact that the first doesn't seem to get the same appreciation and respect as the 17th and the Shinobi?
We get it where it counts: from within the ranks.

> Does X's and Zero's relative celebrity ever.... bother you?
Zero's an honorary 1st. Not his fault he's famous. Can't blame young Eggs for his rep either. Boy does a hell of a job and is, of course, the Root One.

>>19044728
> How's the newbie, Cathode, doing? Is she popular?
She gets along. Team still wants to see her once the factory shine's worn off. Nice girl. Got to open her eyes a bit, get some more drops on her clock.

>>19045350
What is it that you or Command look for in an entrant to the First Advance? What makes you decide that this Hunter should be part of the first volley against an enemy?

Do you ever fear that today is going to be the last day of your life? Such a dangerous job as hunting must have an alarmingly high death toll, do you ever think of giving it all up?

Ever had a day that you just wish you could do over, an op that you wish you could have done differently? Could you do it, knowing that it might change the person you are now?

Any hobbies, particular ways you spend your free time, sparse as it must be? Ha, maybe a special girl or something, though she must worry a lot...

There any rivalries between the 1st and other units, or personal rivalries between other Hunters? Would any of them ever take it further?

How do you remember Sigma; did you look up to him? Anything you wish you could say to him before he went wrong?

Leadership must be hard; some have it thrust upon them, some take it by force... Really a very hard role, have you ever have any problems settling into it?

Enemies... Zounds, Maverick Hunters seem to make a lot of enemies, some which used to be friends; have you ever retired a rogue element of your own unit?

Serpents are an beasts laden with symbolism; magic, temptation, betrayal, guardianship, poison and medicine at the same time (the dose makes the poison, after all). Insofar as that, do you think your creators have any of this in mind when they made you?

So many questions, so little time... Ever so thirsty, could someone get me something to drink?

>>19045396
> What is it that you or Command look for in an entrant to the First Advance?
Need Hunters willing to face overwhelming odds. Face huge risk. Got to be quick with a weapon. Tough enough to take a hit from anything and keep going. Unflinching when a soldier falls.

> What makes you decide that this Hunter should be part of the first volley against an enemy?
Overwhelming firepower. Touch of recklessness. Readiness to take a shot for the team. We've got to know you'll jump in and never jump out until the job's done; that when the zone's clear you'll go searching for more trouble. You need to push the boundaries in every way.

>>19045350
>Can't blame young Eggs for his rep either. Boy does a hell of a job and is, of course, the Root One.
...Wait, *Eggs*?
I know who you're referencing, but...Eggs? Really?

>>19045658
> Do you ever fear that today is going to be the last day of your life? Such a dangerous job as hunting must have an alarmingly high death toll, do you ever think of giving it all up?
Never. Accepting that is part of being on the 1st.

> Ever had a day that you just wish you could do over, an op that you wish you could have done differently? Could you do it, knowing that it might change the person you are now?
You can always do things differently. I regret some bad moves, some risky commands, but could I make them any different? I can't say. And I can't say that going back and changing them would have made them better.

> Any hobbies, particular ways you spend your free time, sparse as it must be?
Like to shoot. Fast cars. Vacations in Rio. Vintage Super Family Computer, managed to get some archival games in working order. Great stuff, classics like Super Metroid, Secret of Mana, Contra III, Giga Guy W, Mario... there's this one, Street Fighter, where these low-res raster guys in limited color palates mime Reploid fighting, damn I'm good at it. Nobody on base has beat me yet.

> Ha, maybe a special girl or something, though she must worry a lot...
No comment.

> There any rivalries between the 1st and other units, or personal rivalries between other Hunters? Would any of them ever take it further?
We've got a bit of tension with the 2nd; it's pretty professional most of the time, but it can be a real love-hate thing. Personal rivalries crop up all the time; Scorpion and I have a bit of a competition on for retire count. I'd like to say people don't get too involved, but it does happen.

>>19045658
Koschei pls go

>>19045918
NO

>>19045856
>Highly advanced Maverick Hunter in the far-flung future
>Working SNES
I like him already.

>>19045856
>there's this one, Street Fighter, where these low-res raster guys in limited color palates mime Reploid fighting, damn I'm good at it. Nobody on base has beat me yet.

>X with Hadouken/Shoryuuken upgrade walks in
>Street Fighter
"...Huh. Well, that's awkward."

Part of me thinks Anode should challenge Cobra.

>>19045658
> How do you remember Sigma; did you look up to him? Anything you wish you could say to him before he went wrong?
We all looked up to him. He was the guy, you know? But I'll tell you this. I worked with him in that last month, and there was nothing - NOTHING - that would have gotten through to him. Don't get me wrong here, but with Sigma, and ONLY with Sigma, when he went Maverick, it was like he didn't go crazy, he went... sane. Again, don't get me wrong, I'm not endorsing him or anything he did. But he was just so level... I can see why a lot of good officers decided to stick with him.

> Leadership must be hard; some have it thrust upon them, some take it by force... Really a very hard role, have you ever have any problems settling into it?
Nope. I created this job. Knew what it would entail. Paperwork's a bitch, but I've got flunkies for that. **radio static** Yes, you're a flunky, shaddap. Anyway.

> Enemies... Zounds, Maverick Hunters seem to make a lot of enemies, some which used to be friends; have you ever retired a rogue element of your own unit?
Alexander. Robin. Trapjaws. Never good.

> Serpents are an beasts laden with symbolism; magic, temptation, betrayal, guardianship, poison and medicine at the same time (the dose makes the poison, after all). Insofar as that, do you think your creators have any of this in mind when they made you?
Kid, check the model names of my gear. Nobody calls a homing missile "Cleopatra" unless they're digging for symbolism. Gotta say though, I like the hood. And so do the ladies.

>>19045717
>...Wait, *Eggs*?
> I know who you're referencing, but...Eggs? Really?
SssSssSss, yeah, he got that one years ago. Someone wrote something about the "egg from which sprang the Reploids" or however it was written, and about that time a few of the boys noticed how fragile he was, so... SssSss. The name stuck for a while. Us old hats never really forget. 'course, he's not fragile anymore, oh no. I'd burn a lot of zenny to get body armor half as good as his. Kid's so far beyond the standard that the new standard that they created in reaction to his new armor is STILL inferior to his.

>>19046117
What's your opinion of the Fourth Overland? As I understand it, your division and the Fourth are among the most common (and perhaps iconic) of combinations where tandem ops are concerned.

I'd continue storytime, but 1, I don't want to try and jump in the spotlight here, and 2, I'm so completely blown from work I'm only staying up till the girlfriend gets home, then it's to bed for me.

fun fact- the preceding paragraph took 8 tries to clear of typos.

>>19046326
It'll be good to spread things out. We can hear more later.

>>19046240
> What's your opinion of the Fourth Overland? As I understand it, your division and the Fourth are among the most common (and perhaps iconic) of combinations where tandem ops are concerned.
We're a pretty common combo, yeah. I think we're among the divisions that best get, right at the gut level, what the other does. When we're at our best together, the battle stage transition is practically seamless. Frog's got a good team, though he's short on the initiative that a lot of division commanders have. Not to sell him short, I know the job's not really his thing. Overland's chief problem is logistics, really; they sometimes get hung up somewhere and don't mobilize properly, or get rerouted or detoured, or just aren't timed right to take advantage of a secure zone before the line begins to break. They need to shore that up.

>>19046401
Fourth Overland, the most infantry-focused of all the divisions, lacks proper coordination. I believe it. Although that might also sound like a Command issue as well.

To that end, any thoughts or grievances you'd like to air about Maverick Hunter Command itself?

>>19046502
> To that end, any thoughts or grievances you'd like to air about Maverick Hunter Command itself?
Rhodes deserves the General's stars and is a good commander. Same as all good Commanders, though, he doesn't want the job. These ideas they have of dividing the Lifesaver Corps, or mandating Navigators on more missions, or even this one about centralizing operations. Ask me, I think what you need is X, Zero and a small support staff working directly out of HQ with the commander, and other divisions spread out. Command's still too wishy-washy about militarizing us properly; they've got us part police, part peacekeeper and part army. I say if you can't decide, then get a separate army to react to Maverick war forces - because yes, they have existed in the past, they're going to again and there's a point where we just need large numbers of Berets and what have you to engage a big force directly, no muss, no fuss. The Council hasn't got a clear enough mandate to set in front of us and say "this is it, this is who you are," so we're missing that real top-level focus. Rhodes knows it, you can tell, and I think it guts him to know he's not the guy to solve it either.

>>19046734
In other words, Command doesn't know what the Hunters should be and tends to half-ass any sort of administrative doctrine.

Tell us about the First itself. Who serves in it, what you've been up to since Vienna, Vienna itself, things of that sort.

>>19046871
> Tell us about the First itself. Who serves in it, what you've been up to since Vienna, Vienna itself, things of that sort.
We get a lot of crazies, all I'm saying. Cathode, the newbie. Breakliner Ox, eats weapon emplacements for breakfast. Shieldspin Shroom; currently MIA, but never seen anything make a dent in him yet, he'll turn up. Couple of aces, got some PMOs like Lancelot and Iron Cap, plenty of production models in, yada yada. We've landed some classified drops since Vienna that are going to remain that way, but the big one you've already seen was the strike force that went after Dr. Shiva at the Cairo base. Ugly business, the target took down the entry teams and broke the drop zone. GA-Class threats are nothing to take lightly.

Vienna was a lot of garbage. We staged a trio of major beachheads and the Deploy Corps planned out risky insertions to challenge that Skyjammer directly. That target, another of the wonderful "Philosophers," got away too. We kept the drop zones clear enough though, and losses stayed low for the 1st. Sort of an unusual engagement for us when the target comes to the Hunters and not the other way around. Given what those three have gotten up to though, all I can say is I'm glad Doppler gave up on building colleagues and switched to more reliable work. Good idea, bad in practice, junk it. That's my policy.

>>19047216
Does Cathode talk about her brother any, out of curiosity?

>>19047639
> Does Cathode talk about her brother any, out of curiosity?
He comes up.

>>19047659
If there was one thing you could change about the First, never mind the Hunters in general, what would it be?

Is there anything you'd recommend to a prospective looking to join the Hunters?

What's the one thing you want to do before you turn to rust?

>>19047659
Who is the number one Maverick you'd like taken down at the moment?

Ever have to deal with a rogue human Hunter?

>>19047739
A "human Maverick" would just be self-loathing, wouldn't he? Mavericks are a reploid supremacist movement, aren't they?

>>19047759
sorry, clarification: a Hunter that is a human, who has gone rogue

>>19047814
That'd just loop around to "criminal with professional training," I think.

>>19047714
> If there was one thing you could change about the First, never mind the Hunters in general, what would it be?
I'd like a crew with a skillset geared towards the surgical strikes required in urban and sensitive areas. Right now insertion is either explosive or narrow; no middle ground.

> Is there anything you'd recommend to a prospective looking to join the Hunters?
Train. Hard. You are not strong enough. There is no strong enough. So train. Hard.

> What's the one thing you want to do before you turn to rust?
Rent the Autobahn. Just a few hundred miles of it. Get the latest concept model, the SOE Bugatti-Lamborghini Grand Tour 778, hack out the limiters and just tear it open. Gel pressure hydrocarbener fuel. Dio blasting Stand Up And Shout on the speakers.

>>19047739
> Who is the number one Maverick you'd like taken down at the moment?
Dr. Shiva.

> Ever have to deal with a rogue human Hunter?
Not personally, but I saw Chicago after he took down a rogue ace. Unbelievable damage. Chick didn't see it coming. Ace died en route to the hospital; Chick retired a week later with 60% replacement parts and a permanent sensor tick.

SssSss... there's an old saw about building a better mousetrap; in a lot of ways, that's really where Hunters are at. We're built for all these situations and permutations and everything else, but goddamn if nature didn't sort out the best model right from the get-go.

>>19048337
>I'd like a crew with a skillset geared towards the surgical strikes required in urban and sensitive areas.
Isn't that squarely in the prerogative of the Tenth? They're the ones who specialize in zero collateral.

>>19048337
Jesus fuck thats terrifying. Staying down and moving must become skill number uno for the humans in the hunters. Any thoughts on the Eighth, and ride armor in general?

>>19048383
> Isn't that squarely in the prerogative of the Tenth? They're the ones who specialize in zero collateral.

And they've got to get in, too. Whenever it's a squeeze, I send a soldier or two to kick in the doors, and oftentimes keeping it clean and quiet means getting killed. **radio static** -king going to call it "retired," let's be honest here, I send a girl or guy in to get killed to buy that opening. What we do needs preparation, assessment and a lightning-fast plan of action that can change any second. The 10th relies on support working with handcuffs; what I'm saying is I want officers capable of doing what's needed without handcuffs, 'cause that's how they're geared. Where it's not someone pulling their punches, it's doing something completely different from punching. Are we clear?

>>19048458
One last unpleasantry.

What do you consider to be your greatest failing?

>>19048442
> Any thoughts on the Eighth, and ride armor in general?
The Eighth needs to reorganize in a big way, but they're more than just Ride Armor. They're the heavies that make the 4th. the 3rd, the 15th and even in some ways US work on the battlefield. The 8th is necessary to make the kind of serious, long-term battlefield commitments that we alone definitely couldn't manage, and holds down safe zones better than we can. I have no shame saying that. Credit where it's due. They make us better at our jobs.

Ride Armor's got its uses, but I'm of a size where it's just not there for me. I buy my cars big and get 'em configured right, but I haven't seen the Ride Armor yet that I'd rather be in than out of. Good equipment to have on your side, but it's given my division a ton of trouble when it falls into Maverick hands. Still, if they're going to have it, we've got to match that threat.

>>19048491
> What do you consider to be your greatest failing?
Alexander was rough; I didn't like being put into that position, and it didn't go well for anyone.

Greatest, though? The failed drop zone into Sigma's fortress. Vile disabled Zero because we couldn't crack that nut in time, and we just... never recovered. I don't know how Eggs made it past the line of Bospiders protecting the primary ring on his own, but that was a savage beating he took. We cracked into the main gallery with the 17th, but again, just couldn't keep it together and lost a lot of forces in the skirmishing. Ride Armors, Batton Bones, those goddamn Hoganmers everywhere... not one but TWO recommissioned A-Class Mavericks getting the jump on insert teams because we couldn't break the perimeter clean enough. Complete failure in the inner towers... Eggs did some sort of infiltration through the support architecture all by himself while we were still trying to break through the main doors. If it weren't for a long line of miracles from that kid and Zero's return from the scrap heap... look, we took a pounding, we lost our footing in a big way, we didn't get the job done and I lost a lot of men trying. As learning experiences go, it was damn crushing.

>>19048634
Hey, if it weren't for you guys, X wouldn't have gotten his openings to get inside and deal with Sigma, who still got taken care of at the end of the day. The job still got done, but you got the short end of the stick, as it were.

On a different, slightly lighter note, what is your single fondest memory?
What would you say is the future of humans and reploids?

Helllloooo???

... No one here to be jealus of me possesing jelly filled doughnuts?

Also, insomnia bump

>>19048695
> On a different, slightly lighter note, what is your single fondest memory?
Invited onto this media series in Britain called "Top Gear." First Reploid ever to appear. Tested a tasty number called the Vulture; good times.

> What would you say is the future of humans and reploids?
We're there. This is the peak point, here. Anything beyond this is them becoming us. We're not going to replace them. Either we coexist or Reploids vanish and something new comes forward.

This is Striker Cobra, signing off.

>>19048990
It'd be hilarious if Clarkson, Hammond and May still existed.

Dam, i forgot to ask if he saw The Dasterdly Andode and Evil Emerald team up against Sherif Sev.

>>19049067
Andode?

>>19049067
He did. He facepalmed. It was great.

>>19049073
Meant Anode.
Now i feel silly

>>19049123
Oh cool thanks! You done any major pranking yet, or is the first big one aimed square at your brother?

>>19049181
Let's save the Cathode interview for another day. Hell, Hunter Command may want to run that.

>>19049202
Oh yeah, thats a good idea.
I really need to remember to think before i post when i get excited.

>>19049181
>>19049202
Probably for the best.

Hunter Command is also trying to get himself three sheets to the wind presently.

Any other questions? Want another interview? I'm not going to run while I'm getting soused, but I probably have some more content in me and I feel bad for not doing anydamnthing today, justifiable reasons or not.

>>19049239
Who's the poor bastard stationed at one of the Poles right now? Is he doing anything?

>>19049252
There's a lot of poor bastards on both Poles. The 4th's own Glacier Gibbon has been basically out continuously.

The plus side is he has more or less has a microbase to himself. The downside is he more or less has a microbase to himself.

>>19049260
Maybe someone should ring him up.
"HOW'S THE PENGUINS, FUCKFACE?"

>>19049239
When are we going to run into Sniper Joes? I need to draw up a list of things to call them mockingly, like Shotgun Joes or cotton eye Joes.

Actually, Shotgun Joe doesnt sound half bad. Now im thinking of ways we could catch us a sniper joe and get it on our team.

>>19049290
The Disk Boys we just dispatched are part of the Joe family, I'd say.

>>19049290
Old school Joes are long dead. Armor Soldiers and their ilk are a bit similar. Hoganmer and Disk Boys are rather similar in form and function.

>>19049361
Oh. Sadface and all that. Does the Phillie Phanatic still exsist? That thing is awsome

>>19049410
I always did kinda picture Anode shouting "GO PHILLIES!" out of nowhere.

>>19049410
>>19049420
...

You just gave me a mental image of a reploid designed to literally be the Phillie Phanatic.

This should not be.

I'm reasonably sure I like this idea specifically because I'm getting drunk.

>>19049290

Stop it, you're half stealing my idea of playing a Sniper Joe in a Megaman X game I'll never join.

But still I too would like to see the Sniper Joe still hanging around. Are any of the old models still hanging around? Not descendants mind you, actual old things still in service.

>>19049277
No, if we want to mess with them then we send them a copy of The Thing.

How dose Anode handle horror movies, anyways? Do they actually scare him?

>>19049450
There may be a few serviceable models around, but sadly not abundantly. There might be a museum with an active model or two.

>>19049410
Oh, and to directly answer your question, yes, the Phanatic still exists. Baseball is quite popular, too. There's the Axe League, composed entirely of Axe Maxes, most all of whom are ex-laborers.

>>19049450
You mean a Robot Master-era Sniper Joe?
Never mind that an original, first generation Sniper Joe is not a reploid, but also, in this day and age, he'd be outclassed by almost everything in the world today. The world has progressed in leaps and bounds since then.

>>19049479
how do they run the bases?

>>19049435
I could buy that, actually. Nostalgia is powerful.

>>19049435
And i can safely say its because the Phillie Phanatic is too absurd to dislike. We should totally do a sim run in a Phanatic costume.

Sigma VS. Phillie Phanatic!

>>19049498
Anode would have to be really REALLY drunk. Like "Hitting on the cigar store indian" drunk.

>>19049491

Hilarious as it would be to see a Robot Master Era Joe still causing trouble for those crossing chasms nah. More a reploid Joe with years of being Joe in its development history and being a Hunter.

Points if instead of hunting, it does odd jobs like driving trucks. Even if pilot Joes are broken as hell.

>>19049465
Reploids have an interesting relationship with horror. They're a lot less squicked--usually--by physical gore, seeing it as sort of alien and approaching it clinically.

At the same time, it gives them that same clinical appreciation for the horror in it. They love psychological horror, generally.

Anode is actually a little bit of a wimp about horror. Funny, because he generally keeps an extremely cool head in combat.

>>19049496
That foot is a hover-pod thing. They can plunk themselves down and anchor before a powerful swing, good for clearcutting trees, demolishing buildings, and trouncing disorderly barhoppers. When they "run" they boost just over the ground as they go.

>>19049515
So? We wouldnt be any drunker than when we brainstormed a prank and got a masterpiece. Hell, forget sigma, just record sim runs on anything. Its Mavricks versus the Phanatic.

Is Wondering still here?

Can it be more storytime now?

>>19049531
So you'd be a modern Joe working in the Hunters. Call him Joe-X or something.

>>19049612
I could see it working. Callsign "Average," or "Working Man." A project inspired by the designs of the past and designed to modernize them. Hell, I might try to make that as a test run of my MMXRPG system.

>>19049612
Holy crap that pic is badass

>>19049621
So that's how you'll be number-crunching? With Joe-X?

>>19049624
Once thing you can always count on is that there's never a shortage of awesome Megaman fan art.

>>19049635
Among other things. I plan to stat out Steel Berets, a handful of mavericks, some cast members, Anode of course, and a list of concepts a friend sent me that should help test the versatility of the system.

If I do it right, the total chargen points will end up producing a class rating on par with the story.

And if the system implausibly comes out excellent, I'll start using it here and there for events in the quest.

>>19049644
iknorite

>>19049651
some aquatic concept art

>>19049644
I know but... Fuck me, for years ive seen Joe as a comical, robotic stormtrooper.

Now i know that any storm trooper that tries to off this thing is gonna need a missle launcher and a truckload of luck. A picture speaks a thousand wordz, and all if them say Sniper Joe just got 10 times more awsome

>>19049690
That's not a marlin. That's a gator with a lot of fins that thinks having a sharp nose makes him a marlin.

Fuck him.

>>19049710
>suckmydiiiiiiiiiick.jpg

>>19049670
Sniper joe confirmed for lion
Get in the ride chaser

>>19049710
hah, i agree, really, it looks more like some kind of dinosuar. It's a reploid, so I just shrug it off. That's what the guy named it, that's what he thinks it is

>>19049705
Speaking of Sniper Joes, it's probably no surprise at all to you that I'm a massive Protomen fan. I know lately 4chan's started disliking them somewhat, victim of their own hype and whatnot, but nonetheless.

At any rate, a friend helped me make a totally awesome helmet inspired by Joe and the assassin robot of Act II. That's an LED in the visor, though I need to rewire the fucking thing with an on-off switch so I can just put batteries in and leave the case closed.

On another note, all these reploid pics are really cool, where all are they coming from, just assorted artists?

>>19049765
I found >>19049612 and >>19049670 just by googling "Sniper Joe."

>>19049765

That glow is the glow of a Joe in a mech during Wily Castle 4 in Megaman 2 before the stupid wall boss.

It terrifies me.

>>19049765
You better wear that on Halloween. And if you don't, find a kid who will.

>>19049765
more or less, I had to sift through deviant art for most of them. for every good pic, theres a mountain of teribad, don't do it. I'll just share what I got as the threads move along

>>19049803
Too much bling in one place. Shit, man. Way to paint yourself a target in any sort of daylight.

>>19049789
I need to try the full costume again. I borrowed my friend's heavy leather jacket, put on a tee-shirt (two, actually, it was summer), and wore heavy duty pants. Added an improvised underarm holster and a similarly painted nerf gun (A Maverick, appropriately enough), and motorcyclist-style fingerless gloves. When people asked for photographs, I'd do a shushing finger-over-visor motion, because Keep Quiet.

At this point I'm semicoherently rambling, in no small part because of delicious beer, so have a little more MHQ artwork from my friend. Everyone give a big thanks to "ELK," who I consider a part of the team after everything he's done for the story.

>>19049765
Nice! I've actually got a bit of Protomen wear my girlfriend made for me. She took this basic black hoodie, put the hood on a zipper, and added some shoulder pads and extra pockets to make it into a sort of utility jacket. It's got "Joe" embroidered on the collar and "Don't Turn Your Back on the City" stenciled on the back.

I wear it all the time. People (who have heard of the band anyway) probably think I'm some sort of nutty super fan, but the truth is that aside from looking badass, the thing is stupid comfy.

>>19049818
I bet he's meant to draw fire away from hunters sneaking up on the ground, and is fast enough to dodge. He joined the hunters because the show business life wasn't fulfilling.

At least, that's what I get from him.

>>19049856
You could always do this.

>>19049878
Or this.

>>19049878
>>19049886
Funny, the green shirt never occurred to me.

Another ELK sketch of Guns.

>>19049912
Guns has guns. I mean damn.

>>19049912
Was he built with the mustache, or did he have it custom installed?

>>19049912
Even in death, that wallaby humbles me with how hard he kicked our ass. And we finally got to see how effective his phase tech was in live combat

>>19049912
Was Elk the one who made the Anode/Cathode/India sketches? Maybe someone can clean those up sometime. I picture Anode's eyes as similar to X's eyes, not those giant doe eyes the sketch has.

>>19049920
As our glorious friend from /m/ never really put any reason to it other than "fan-fucking-tastic," I'm going to say he was built with it. Something like a simple comm antenna for shortwave communication and troop coordination.

>>19049938
We've got to have a sim rematch. Just to see how far we've come.

>>19049948
ELK has drawn Chaff Weasel, Anode, Cathode, India, Schwarzhund, and so on. I have a few I'm saving for appropriate moments, and let me just say, damn are they doozies.

He's lately expressed his intent to draw more formal profile pictures, particularly for Anode.

>>19049938
When plugged into our lance
Dam, im all sorts of outta wak tonight

>>19049948
The eyes are my favorite part of the picture. Big, friendly, with just a hint of absolute nutter lurking in the background. I think they suit him.

>>19049988
Makes him look a little too young, though, especially for a dude of Anode's admirable figure.

>>19050007
Keep in mind--Anode IS young. He's not a child, but like many reploids new to existence, he's a little naive, and slowly growing out of it.
>>19049988
Nailed it, incidentally.

>>19050034
Fair enough.

And on that note I'm good and drunk. Everything-was-beautiful-and-nothing-hurt drunk. I'm gonna go sleep, now that I've chased that down with a glass of water, so I'll be relatively coherent for taking my sister to the doctor again. G'night /tg/, and thanks again. I couldn't run this game without you.

>>19050367
This thread is almost at 300 posts, so it's likely best to start a new thread when you get back.

I'm up way, way too early. however, sweet tea and cold sammiches are awesome in the morning. shall I continue with the story?

>>19052341
This thread is pretty much dead and will start autosageing, since we're about at 300 posts. Best to wait for Hunter Command to start the new thread.