>>22366657

Archive:

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?searchall=mechengineer+quest

Or search foolz.

Also, Happy New Year everyone.

Happy new years! I did some research on muscles while the break was on and I think we can do something neat with the myomer, let me dig up my notes...

>>22366800

(Very nice, good to see people getting really into it. Curious to see what you came up with.)

Coffee power nap: Quickly power through a pot of coffee, hit the sack, get up in an hour.

>>22366922

You pour yourself a cup of coffee, and get one for Janine too. You walk it over to her, but you notice she's fallen asleep on your couch. Apparently she's not as resilient as you, as far as all-nighters go.

You sip your coffee, realizing your only real place to sleep is taken now. You could doze in your chair, you suppose.

Outside, you hear a rumble and some tinny clanking noises.

>>22367089
Start getting ready in case we need to help wack pirates. Jumping jacks or some other calisthenic.

>>22367301

You realize that in a few hours, you'll be probably either running or fighting for your life, and you've been up all night sitting at a computer. Taking a quick walk while you drink and smoke sounds like a good idea to you, to loosen up a bit.

You stride outside to see what's going on, and it looks like everyone, or nearly everyone, slept outside last night. There are barrels with fires in them still burning. People sleep leaning against one another, sidearms strapped to belts and thighs.

You see Hatamoto by a barrel, warming his hands. Wanda is with him. You don't see Dieter, and you don't see Ivan, but it appears that your allies have arrived. Hatamoto and Wanda notice them too.

The garrison rolls up, the Vendette in the lead with the Wasp in the rear. They are both painted grey and purple, with a gold eagle aquila on the breast of the Wasp and the side of the Vendette.

The hatch on the tank opens, and a man gets out, striding towards Hatamoto and Wanda.

File: 1357193717325.png-(14 KB, 526x281, muscle arrangement.png)

Talking about Janine's legs made me remember some of my anatomy lessons.

Basically in the human body muscles tend to be one of two types. The "normal" type has muscle fibers arranged in parallel like in your biceps. The other kind is called "pennate muscles" and in these the fibers are arranged diagonally. Pennate muscles don't contract as far but they have a higher strength ratio. The primary example would be the muscles at the top of the shoulder that raise and lower the upper arm.

In the context of building mechs we wanted to find some way to compartmentalize the myomer to make it more durable. Instead of having lots of individual strands in separate compartments I think we could make a composite muscle made of lots of shorter strands in a flat ribbon. This way if the muscle takes a hit and some strands are severed the muscle doesn't lose as much of it's strength (and be easier to repair). Since they would be flat you could bend them around a joint without any stress issues, and we could cover them with thicker armour.

The only issue with this configuration is that the myomer fibers would all need to link up to a tendon of some sort since they would not be attached directly to the joints of the mech. This tendon would be a point of weakness, but since it's smaller than a big braided myomer cable you can protect it better.

>>22367836

(That's pretty good, Star. I figured someone might do some anatomical research and realize that almost all 'Mech myomer bundles are of the 'normal' type, which has a name but I forget it. Researching the 'flat' type of muscle is worthy because it saves space and has more strength than they typical arrangement, as you stated. The issue is the weak point of the 'tendon', which would have to exist on things like the lower leg and upper arm. Working around that could lead to some interesting design challenges.)

File: 1357194343764.jpg-(41 KB, 236x342, glee.jpg)

The best time of the week is here.

>>22368041

(Hopefully it picks up. I guess I can use the lull to make food.)

>>22367434
Okay, say hi to them, see how they're doing, make sure they know everything we do and are aware of all of our preparations.

>>22367434
Walk over to meet with everyone. Might as well hear what is likely to come.

Might be slow because it's so close to new years. Regular schedules haven't started up again yet.

>>22367941
What materials do we have available to make the tendons out of?

>>22368181

You head over to join the conversation, and the officer is talking with Hatamoto.

"We have prepared as best we can. Everyone you see is armed, and we will not allow these criminals to bully our company. We are glad you have decided to help us; the news uplifted the spirits of the crew."

The officer nods. "Yeah, we've been hoping they'd commit to something like this so we can wipe them out once and for all. They've been a problem for years, but you don't hear about it in the media because the planetary governor doesn't like people knowing he's an inept boob. Don't worry, with your tin can and our Ursula, we'll do alright. Annie'll lay down cover fire and help deal with the footpounders. Should be a cakewalk."

You move in beside Hatamoto, and he nods at you. The officer nods too.

"You're the guy that reported this to us, right? The Engineer?"

>>22368353
"Yessir. What are the chances of our CEO hostage still being alive?"

>>22368328

(well, since it'll have to emulate a real tendon, it should be elastic for starters. There are possibilities but I don't wanna spoil anything; it's you guys' job to do the creating, I just roll bad and dick around with NPCs.)

>>22368353
"Yeah. I'm the Engineer, I design mechs and apparently moonlight as an investigator and do my best to deal with bandits.

Thank you for helping us.

Do you think our CEO is going to be alive? You know more about the bandits than we do."

Also, we probably shouldn't be actually fighting. Basically, if we don't have to, don't fight. I don't fancy our chances, and we've got two mechs and a tank on our side.

I'd rather spend some time chatting, and then going over tactics with everyone: use our brain, not our brawn (which we don't have)

>>22368388
This.

Also, is there a far future super fibre like dyneema today? Only, like better?

>>22368391
Hrm... Well using more myomer is the obvious answer. Or instead of a flexible tendon we could use a solid mechanical inkage made out of the same structural metal as the rest of the frame.

Thing is, if we make it too complicated it defeats the purpose of making it easy to maintain. And we can't use exotic materials because no one would keep them in stock.

>>22368388
>>22368425

The officer adjusts his hat.

"Well, kidnapping is their shtick, so probably. If things go south for them though, then they might kill him, yeah. Depends. If they think we might find their base of operations, they'll probably just bolt and leave him for us to find. No point in adding murder to your list of charges, right? Assuming they're smart, that is. This attack leads me to believe something else is going on though. Usually they'd just sit back and wait to collect. They usually only raid farms and stuff with the Banshee and APCs for supplies."

>>22368485
Hmm, this is a problem. They obviously won't bring him along when they attack us. We would need to either capture them and get the location of their base or chase them off and follow them back.

Hopefully if we curbstomp them hard enough we can intimidate them into compliance.

>>22368485
"Well, I don't know what's different. If I find out anything I'll let you know.

And I hope he lives, I happen to like the guy, though I am planning on smacking him for getting himself kidnapped.

Is there anything more we can do to help?"

>>22368578
>>22368585

"Well yeah, I guess. Just don't hit Ursula or Annie with these popguns, or these technicals, and we'll be square. We're just doing our job here after all, even if a few of us will probably enjoy it."

Hatamoto nods. "We will let you call the shots; you are the legitimate authority here. I am glad you have the sense to let us defend ourselves as well; I was concerned when they sought your help that you might take offense to our efforts, lawful or not."

The garrison officer just smirks. "Yeah, it's your right on this backwater. We can't be everywhere, so it's a good thing most farmers have a jeep with a machine gun on it or a converter and a small beam laser at the least. Keeps the calls down."

The officer turns to you. "You going to be in this rumble or are you headed back inside to wait it out?"

While doing some reading on artificial tendons and how they interact with muscle groups an idea comes to mind:

We could have a mesh of sorts made of myomer. Think an anchor point that attaches to the shoulder of the mech, it is basically a large bundle of myomer filament covered in some sort of protective synthetic covering that resists friction and electric currents and has an emphasis on stability over range of movement.

As this filament structure gets farther away from the anchor point, the bundle breaks up into smaller bundles that can be inserted into the myomer muscle of the arm.

My question is that if this method is viable, Is there a way that this 'Tendon insert' can be put in a matrix of organic material that thoroughly binds the two structures (The myomer of the arm and the myomer of the tendon together)

>>22368729
Can't risk it, anything that puts us out of action will torpedo the entire enterprise.

We should find a way to watch what's going on though.

>>22368729
"I'd just get in the way, never been in a fight like this. And if I die I can't make more mechs.

I think I'll go inside and get some work done." Jokingly "Try to keep it down, alright."

>>22368776

(well, there's no concern about organic materials for starters, since myomer is made of plastic. other than that, there might be ways to emulate what you're talking about. just don't get too crazy with it, since people with non-medical backgrounds (myself included) have to follow along.)

>>22368800
>>22368813

You shake your head, and light a smoke, offering the officer one, which he accepts.

"Not a bad idea. You don't look like the combat type. No offense. That building you came out of looks hardened; it might be the best place to hide and ride this out."

Behind you, you hear a hum, and a grinding of metal.

"REACTOR ONLINE

SENSORS ONLINE

WEAPONS ONLINE

ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL."

The officer scratches his head. "I'll be damned, I owe Thompson thirty Cbills."

The UrbanMech takes a step forward, the chassis teetering a little as the gyros adjust themselves to the new load. The feed belts, cables, and wires sway as the little 'Mech takes another slow step forward.


The officer chuckles. "Gonna bet Thompson double or nothing the Urbie gets first blood."

>>22368975
"Knowing the guy piloting it, that's a pretty safe bet."

>>22368999
can't think of anything better so +1 to this, also do we or the fuzz have any largish or crew served weapons we could mount in a window in our building/on the roof?

>>22368975
"Wouldn't be surprised. Ivan is probably going to be rather aggressive, and he's well armed.

Take care, I'm going to wrangle with the laws of physics."

>>22369054

(nothing not already being used)

>>22368999
>>22369084

The officer nods, and turns back to Hatamoto as you make your way back to the main building. Once inside, you see Janine is still asleep on your couch, and your computer is still as you left it.

Coffee's already on, and your ashtray is empty enough to work with.

Outside, the crew and the garrison gear up for the battle that will decide the fate of Skvorec Armorworks.

No pressure at all. Should be cake. If you can work through a hangover, you can work through a battle, right?

>>22368872
How high do you figure the lubricity of myomer is? I figure the facia analogue that is being proposed might allow for higher effective lubricity between myomer bundles.

>>22369193
Get a closer look at her legs for inspiration, don't touch them but see how the muscle moves and contracts. Use that to inspire the organic inspiration stuff we've been tossing about earlier.

If she wakes up and is wondering why we're staring intently at her legs just say "It's for Science, and they're pretty, but mainly Science."

And then light up and get to work.

File: 1357198430738.jpg-(173 KB, 831x962, hard_landing_by_flyingdeb(...).jpg)

>>22369193
Get to work. Sitting here worrying isn't going to do us much good.

>>22369193
Toss a blanket if we have one over Janine, otherwise our jacket, and get to work playing with schemes to improve lubricity of myomer bundles to give ourselves a little more leeway in laying things down. Look at anatomy illustrations for inspiration.

>>22369221

(well since they sit in a bath of catalyst that aids in the conduction of the signal bursts of electricity that contract the myomer, then i'd assume friction isn't a huge deal)

Can we investigate where the email came from to see if we can get a location on our enemies?

>>22369222
>>22369262
>>22369269


You grab your jacket and lay it over your sleeping coworker, and step back to take a look at her for a moment. You wonder if you'll get a chance to keep working with her, and you find yourself looking at her legs again. Seeing her lie there, curled up under your jacket, causes a lightbulb to go off in your head. Flat? Flat!

You hurry to your computer and bring up the specific leg subfile, and start re-vectoring the myomer layout to flatten the compartments instead of bundling them like you were.

(roll time, if everyone wants to go with this idea, since i didn't see any other alternate layout ideas)

>>22369391
It's roll time, go for the organically inspired compartmentalized myomer, We can do this. We've been bashing out head against the problem for hours upon hours, we should succeed this time, right?

Rolled 47

>>22369391
Oh geez, here goes.

Rolled 76

>>22369391
INCOMING FAILURE.

Rolled 40

>>22369412
Not with a roll like that bud.

>>22369391
Hmmm. What would be the advantages that flat muscles would have over the bundled idea?

If the mech we are designing is supposed to be a tough little nugget of genius then weaker legs could be the death of us. Better to have a good, strong foundation than anything, really

>>22368872
>>22369221
Oh boy, facia. I don't have any sort of medical background I just had to read Grey's Anatomy years ago back in school. It has been so long since then all I can remember is (some) of the names.

I think were on to something with the pennate muscles though. If we can make the myomer into flat strips instead of round bundles it changes what we can do with the orientation. Compartmentalized round myomer means parralel "trenches" like a comb. But with flat strips we can do things like stack them vertically with armour panels in between.

Rolled 75

>>22369453
>>22369440
>>22369412
Ohshiiiii-

Rolled 2

>>22369410
>>22369412
>>22369440

You light a smoke, and lean forward, clicking your mouse and buckling down as outside you hear shouting and the sounds of footsteps on tarmac.

It seems it's go time for everyone on the base.

(rolling for flat compartmental myomer, lower is better. penalty of 5 to the roll instead of 10 for good ideas to design around)

>>22369484
Oh damn. :D

File: 1357199450688.jpg-(23 KB, 246x138, keikakumeansplan.jpg)

>>22369484

>>22369484
Hells mother fucking yeah.

File: 1357199489187.jpg-(28 KB, 600x300, 1332811023680.jpg)

>>22369484

File: 1357199600652.jpg-(106 KB, 500x500, 1332885186044.jpg)

>>22369484
How very beautiful.

>>22369464
For pennate muscles? Well it's like a round braided cable, only flat. And, well, not braided...

This is hard to explain, I could try drawing a diagran.

>>22369497
>>22369506
>>22369519
>>22369520

(Positive Quirk! You rolled so damn low that it appears the Muse herself has settled into your lap. You realize as you watch all the test software pop green that you will always have to wear these socks, have Janine sleeping on your couch, and pirates attacking your base when you design 'Mechs, or else the magic will be gone.

You've managed to design a curious, yet simple method of making the myomer compartmental: you layered them flat in sheets, with each sheet separate like the layers in a cake. The frosting is the compartmental armor you added, and it seems the bundles easily slide along each other due to the catalyst and the way you curve the sheets to fit the shape of the calf. Since myomer is sold in bundles, and is fitted in bundles per order, making them sheets doesn't affect the easy of maintenance, and in fact makes it easier because the sheets can be fabricated quicker, which makes field repair a snap as well.

The HZP gets the Positive Quirk: Redundant Systems: Myomer. This means that even if some layers get damaged, the 'Mech can continue to move, even if slowly, without risk of further damage to the myomer, since the flat sheets offer better stress compensation than bundles, with they way they are arranged. It also lowers maintenance costs on the musculature by 10% for cost and time.)

>>22369632

So we made a mech that KEEPS ON COMING, and is fixed much more cheaply and easily on top of everything else.

It's like the bastard spawn of the Xenomorph, a Chrysalid and the T-1000

File: 1357200275111.png-(53 KB, 425x235, Untitled.png)

>>22369632
sweet mother of god
>fesking vain
don't worry captcha, we know we can't do this often

>>22369632
But Janine is our muse and she's on a couch.

We are the best Mech Engineer.

First thing to do, take research notes, this stuff is getting applied to our future mechs.

Given how well we did do we suffer a penalty for complexity for applying this to other mechs we make in the future?

Let Janine sleep for now, but when she wakes up we're going to be giddy as can be about how awesome we are, how pretty she is and how she inspired us and how we're somehow not dead. And then we'll kiss her. But that's later.

File: 1357200332228.jpg-(231 KB, 800x680, 1352901380743.jpg)

>>22369632
Zombie mech hoy!

>>22369689
>>22369729
>>22369742
>>22369747

You fistpump quietly as everything greens out, so you don't wake Janine as you do your own little personal dance of success.

The ground shakes, and you hear shouting outside. A glance tells you there is a hole in the tarmac now, where there wasn't before.

That might be bad.

You start the upload to the backup, and add it to your 'notes', for future reference. This is the kind of stuff that people emulate, and money can be made off emulation. Even a sleepsick computer jockey knows that.

Of course, now things are exploding. Janine stirs.

>>22369824
Check the status of our sidearm and take a quick gander outside.

>>22369824
"Hey Janine. Had a good kip? Things seem to be exploding now."

>>22369846
>>22369847

"OhgodwhatIfellasleepohshitiseveryoneokay?"

Janine looks a little... lost. And maybe panicky. Waking up to explosions as a non-com might do that to a body. You can't say you're faring much better. The last time something exploded near you you were expecting it, and the garbage bag full of acetylene wasn't -that- big...

You hear more shouting and look outside, checking the pistol Hatamoto gave you. You see Annie's turret turning, and you see Ursula's jump jets fire, sending her skyward. Crazy Ivan's guns start popping; brass casings clanging on the tarmac.

"What's happening? Are we winning?"

>>22369824
"Morning. Things are getting a bit festive outside, but more importantly I'm spectacular and it's all because of you.

You should consider adding 'Muse' to your business cards."

>>22369824
Hey Janine, sleep well? By the way your legs are really pretty and inspirations, oh and we're getting shot at now"

see if we can see any action from our window (if we have one)

>>22369946
"Winning investors or winning at living?

>>22369946
"Well, there's explosions, we're fighting. I'm not sure, we probably are doing alright, we prepared well for this and have backup. Nothing we can really do about it. I just finished with the myomer, and it's beautiful. Thanks for helping me with that, I couldn't have done it without you, you inspired me.

By the way your legs are a wonder of the universe."

>>22369946
"The show just started. Don't know yet.

Also, your legs are beautiful little things and helped me fix those annoying myomer problems. Thanks, by the way."

>>22369954
I like this. Say this while popping the magazine for a look.

>>22369954
>>22369961
>>22369969
>>22369988
>>22369998
>>22370036

"I... my legs what? Muse? Also when did you get a gun? I don't think even coffee can fix this..."

She leans over and looks outside, standing beside you.

"So they're here... and the garrison showed. That's good. I hope they were right about what the pirates have, else this might end fast..."

You tell her a snipit about your inspired design breakthrough, and elicit a smirk from her.

"So long as that's -all- you were thinking of regarding my legs I'm fine with that. I can't believe I'm cracking jokes in the middle of a battle..."

Outside, you see Annie's guns open up as well, and another shell lands on the tarmac, closer to Annie than before.

>>22370088
Man, we are going to have a hell of a time repaving this shit.

Oh, the piece is from Hatamoto. I thought learning a little pistol marksmenship might not hurt, what with pirates about and all.

>>22370088
"No, that wasn't all I was thinking, they're also beautiful, much like the rest of you, as well as being inspiring for aesthetics and engineering. Sorry about the rambling, I'm a bit nervous what with the explosions going on outside, but I mean what I say.

Not much we can really do about the battle, we've played our parts and everything else is up to the people fighting, I hope they don't hit Annie with those shells."

File: 1357202236201.png-(35 KB, 641x891, Aeneas II.V.png)

>>22370088
So what is that Banshee armed with? Do we know what variant it is?

Here is a little something I made in SSW. 15 tons heavier but still a 7/11 striker.

>>22370182
Well, that's not happening for a good 20 years or so.

MG arrays, ER Mediums and Streak-6s don't show up for decades yet.

They're not even recovered SL stuff; all new stuff.

>>22370133
>>22370150

You tell her the gun is from Hatamoto, and you figured it'd be a good idea to carry since the pirates might try to break in here to look for loot while the battle goes on, since you recall the garrison saying they were mostly infantry.

She sighs. "Kinda wish I had one now."

You both sit in nervous silence for a moment, watching the guns on the Ivan and Annie blaze away at an unseen target. You then see a few flashes from further up; you'd guess some of the technicals are firing rockets.

You kind of just blurt out that 'Mech design wasn't the only thing on your mind, and you hope she doesn't get to mad about it, considering imminent possible death and stress and you cut yourself off because you know you are rambling.

She doesn't seem to react to your words at all. Not as far as you can tell. Maybe she didn't hear you?

>>22370182

(you have no idea what it's armed with)

>>22370251
>Maybe she didn't hear you?

Eh. Let's not press the subject. She'll comment if she wants.

Let's go back to the computer. Play some solitaire or something.

sit with pistol in hand and wait.

>>22370267
>Play some solitaire or something.
>not continuing work on our Mech till the very last second

>>22367836
>them inefficient force vectors
>that vulnerable central shaft
shit nigger, what r u doin'

>>22370251
She probably heard us and is thinking about stuff.

"Do you want to see the Myomer muscle I laid out? I did a damn good job if I do say so myself."

>>22370312
>"Do you want to see the Myomer muscle I laid out?

Oh god that'd just be taken as a fuckmassive inuenndo

>>22370182
I think that if we upscale it to 50 tons we should stick with 6/9 instead of 7/11. It won't be as fast, but that extra point of speed costs 11.5 tons to pull off. We could use that extra 11.5 tons to give it armor befitting its size and more guns.

>>22370343
And yet we mean it in the most innocent nerdy way possible.

File: 1357203200203.png-(39 KB, 644x1006, Aeneas IIC.png)

>>22370246
I made this too just for the heck of it. This one is the same tonnage as the original but built entirely with clan tech. It's roughly twice as expensive but between the XL engine and the clan efficiency bonus the difference is pretty crazy.

bricks/10, would not want to meet on a dark night

>>22370267
>>22370275
>>22370279
>>22370312
>>22370343

You ask if maybe she wants to see what you made, but as you begin an explosion rocks the building. Chunks of plaster falls off the tarmac-side of the wall, and inside you see cracks form due to the damage.

"Oh shit... we need to get to a lower floor and take cover! Come on!"

Janine moves to exit the room post-haste.

>>22370387
oh no we need our hard drive
they are NOT taking our waifu, our HZP from us!

>>22370387
Roll engineering to estimate how long we have to keep working on our design before we have to get out.

Alternatively, do we have a laptop of some sort?

>>22370387
Get a backup of our stuff to a hard drive and take it with us. We're not losing our mech.

Then head downstairs and get to better cover. Protect the hard drive with our body.

>>22370396
>>22370402
>>22370409

You check to see if your backup upload to the black box in Janine's quonset is done, and it is, so you jet right behind her, heading for the first level, and the commissary, which is on the far side of the building, away from the fighting.

"I wish we had a basement... I hate being this helpless..." Janine glances around and heads for the far corner of the room.

>>22370297
Pennate muscles dude. Your shoulders are full of them. My drawing sucks but it demonstrates the concept well enough.

The idea still has some merit but those tendons are going to be hard to protect. Will have to give it some more though.

>>22370451
"Well, we do have the nice storage room under the tarmac, but I don't think we should head out there right now.

I hate it too, I'm rambling, nervous, scared, all at the same time. And now I can't even work to take my mind off of it."

>>22370461
But from my totally non-biological engineer PoV, those muscles kinda suck. I mean, you get the same amount of force from both types of myomer, but the pennates direct it in inefficient directions. Not to mention the muscles get weaker the closer they get to the normal.

>>22370451
use our innate dwarve- I mean engineer sight to locate a secret entrance to the tunnels below

>>22370561
STONESENSE HO

>Curses, need to go to work!
>mechengineer quest
>it's the battle one

argh dammit I stayed up half the night trying to catch the end of dead king's quest anontech why do you do this to me

>>22370510
>>22370561

You start poking around the room, looking to see if maybe there's a way into the core chamber below, since you now know that's where the depot's power supply is.

It doesn't seem the commissary is where access to the conduits and the chamber is located though, since it looks like it's just four walls, empty tables, and a slightly panicky female coworker.

>>22370451
>>22370561
[x] hear noises deep in basement
[x] realise pirates might be attacking from hidden tunnels
[x] draw gun; panic

>>22370620
Well, sit down by our panicky female coworker, try to calm her down a bit, and mentally review the blueprints of this place.

>>22370602

(I dunno, I have to work in 8 hours, and won't be heading to sleep for another 2 probably, so I'm wondering why i do this to me too. don't be late man, the archives exist for a reason after all)

>>22370620
Set up tables as cover, but don't block the doors.

>>22370667
This.

Also hug Coworker.

Panic is bad.

>>22370645
>>22370667

You drag a table and some stuff to bar the doors, and then plop next to Janine and lean back against the wall. You ask her if you can smoke, and don't hear anything in response.

You look over and she's staring sternly at you.

"You better have plenty of those." You can tell she's shaking a bit. Of course, so are you.

>>22370520
In the context of myomer it helps because you can make the myomer smaller and flatter. That makes it a smaller target, easier to compartmentalize and easier to repair since any damage will cut smaller individual strands instead of long ropes. But it does come with issues, namely the tendons.

>>22370729
Give her a cigarette, take one for ourself, light them both, try not to shake too much. Wrap an arm around her and reassure her that everything's going to be okay.

>>22370667
>>22370729

(er, wait, scratch that, you set up the tables as cover against invasion from through the doors, in case you have to shoot. sorry, misread that)

>>22370720
>let's get our co-orker to stop panicking
>by acting irrationally and out of character
real smooth

>>22370729
well give her a smoke then!

>>22370720
>>22370753
>>22370761

You offer her one, and she takes it with an unsteady hand. You put one between your lips, and hold out a lit lighter for hers first, your own hand trembling. She leans forward for the light, and inhales as you light yours. She turns to look at the door, and you gently lay your arm across her shoulders and hug her a bit.

To your surprise, she leans against you and exhales.

"Thanks." she says, but she's looking at the far door, the one to the tarmac, as she says it.

>>22370729
Always do. Light one from the fag we have going, then hand it to her.

>>22370837
Anything out there?

>>22370837
Keep an eye on the door and have our pistol out and ready to use, remember to index.

"I'm scared Janine. I don't want to die, I want to finish Hazard Pay, I want the world to see that I just improved and advanced Myomer muscle, something that hasn't been done for ages.

But there isn't anything more I can do, I can't fight, I've already done all I can do for this. All I can do is design mechs, and I can't use my computer right now. Can't even take my mind off of what's happening."

>>22370837
>>22370883
Carefully look out the window to see what is going on.

>>22370911
That there is panic talk. None of that. We can be a wreck afterwards. We need to keep up a brave face for her sake if nothing else.

Just take calming breaths, get our heart rate under control.

>>22370883
>>22370911

You confess to her that you're scared too, even if she doesn't want to admit it that she's scared herself. You lay the gun down between you, and tell her that way whoever can can grab it and defend the both of you, and you hope that having the option to defend herself makes her feel a bit better.

"I'm not afraid to say I'm scared too Daniel. I'm terrified. There are too many things left undone for me to go now. I just... I want to worry about Ivan and Hatamoto and Wanda but I can't. I can only think about myself right now, and I think that makes me feel worse than the creeping fear that I might die in the next hour ever could."

>>22370966
"It's okay, we're in a pretty damn stressful situation. All we can do is wait and hope for the best.

We have the garrison with us, we have trucks covered in missiles, we have Ivan piloting the Crazy Ivan, we'll be fine. If their Banshee still had a PPC I should have heard it by now. Not that bandits could keep something like that up and working. They're outgunned, outnumbered and are more likely to break and run than we are. We're going to win."

>>22370966

"And if the others are thinking about anything other than where there shots are landing right now, they'll probably be thinking about the exact same things we are. No-one wants to leave with their work half-done. I'll bet whereever Grey is he'll pissed that there's a chance he never saw Skvorec become what it could be, so if we all make it out of this it's back to making this the best damn enterprise we can."

"Except Ivan. He'll be having the time of his life in the Urbie. If he were to go now, he'd likely be pretty pleased."

Do we have hypernet access here?

Videos of futurelolcats are a great way to pass the time.

No sound, though.

>>22371029
>>22371047

Janine's expression is hard to read, but she nods.

"This might not be the best time to bring this up, but I guess I wouldn't want to die without clearing the air..."

She takes a long drag on the cig you gave her and looks back towards the door.

"You... I get the feeling you don't just look at me as a coworker. Do you."

You hear more explosions outside, but Janine has your full attention.

"If you don't wanna say anything, I understand. It's a strange time to bring it up..."

>>22371132
Hmm... maybe we should give this some more thought before we yea/nay.

>>22371132
"You're right, I don't.

I like you, I think you're beautiful beyond all reason, you're competent, strong, graceful. You have goals and the conviction to see them through. You also make an astounding muse, I'm not sure if it's romantic to say that you inspired me when I'm designing engines of destruction.

But if you aren't interested I'll drop the issue and never bring it up again."

>>22371152
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misattribution_of_arousal

Just saying.

>>22371152
>>22371174
>>22371183

(Well, hate to do it, but it's almost 2am, and I need to leave it here for the night. I guess you'll all have a week to think it over before the next thread

As ususal, I will archive, and stick around for questions ffor a bit before sleep)

>>22371219
Do you have any info on how myomers are shaped at the factory/repair yard and how they are attached to stuff?

>>22371219

I found the quest archives over the Christmas break and read through them in almost a single sitting, thanks for running this man, it's nice to finally post in such a good series.

>>22371219
Given that we got a 2 on the Myomer stuff is it going to be easier to apply it to stuff in the future?

Does this Myomer layout give any enhanced strength or flexibility?

>>22371132

I'm all, personally, for looking at her as a co-worker. She's an attractive woman, sure, but she's a co-worker first and foremost, and we're a slightly socially awkward engineer. If we were gay we'd probably act the same around any attractive male co-workers. Probably. Or something.

Oh damn we're about to die.

>>22371240

(they are sent to manufacturers in bulk, and aren't bundled until the factory does so, in whatever config they need for their model/models.

they are attached by special weld, as i understand it, to the internal structure of the 'mech. and they already have 'tendons' of sort; all the technical specs i've seen on myomer, albeit old, stated they used braided cables as tendons, and the myomer were bundled in sub-bundles, then bundled into the muscle proper, with each sub-bundle being shrouded in flexible metal meshing to keep it together.)

>>22371280
Strength no, it's the same amount of myomer shaped a bit differently. But I think we did get some flexibility since a flat sheet is much easier to bend around joints and stuff.

>>22371288
Hmm... So if a mech gets damaged and only one bundle of myomer out of a single group gets damaged, how do they go about fixing it?

>>22371174
add my vote to this, if we regret it afterwards we can always say it was the adrenalin and fear of death that made us say it

>>22371264

(Thanks a lot man, that makes me happy to hear that you're enjoying it enough to read all the archived threads. I just hope I can keep it fun and keep it decent for as long as it keeps interest.)

>>22371280

(You got the positive quirk about redundancy and ease of repair, especially in the field. it doesn't improve performance sadly, but it does make the mech perform at acceptable margins for longer with myomer damage)

Archive link:

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html

Vote if you enjoyed this (short, sadly) installment, and we'll have another thread as soon as I can manage)

>>22371353
See you next time then. I'll keep thinking about the pennate muscle idea. It's kind of a pipe dream, but if it worked perfectly it would have some curayzee implications for mech production and maintenance. Just imagine if all of the myomer strands in a mech were not only compartmentalized, but also modular and all the same length.

>>22371327

(They detach the bundle and replace it, but unlike with your setup, there is a chance that multiple bundles are damaged, whereas with yours, they have to penetrate one bundle to affect the next, so it's a bit like kevlar that also makes the mech move)

>>22371183
We've been spending a lot of time with her from the moment we got here, and she's attractive, she's competent, she's a damn good pick, not to mention our dating options are pretty slim considering our situation. Out of all the people we know here we spend the most time with her.

We've been attracted to her for a fair bit, it's not just us being about to die.

As for her liking us, she's probably liked us, at least a bit, from the moment we asked for nothing but a futon, an ashtray, a hotplate and a coffee pot when asked what we needed to work. Since then she's probably liked us more the more time we've spent working and creating things. The tipping point probably came when she saw us working, she's attracted to our intelligence and devotion to something we love, as she probably isn't attracted to our social skills, lack of devotion to hygiene or looks.

It's not just the fact that we're in a terrifying situation, there's been some tension for a while.

Also she's our muse, she, and her legs, inspired a major breakthrough and improvement on preexisting myomer technology.

Also we're both the type who know to not let our relationship interfere with actually getting work done.

Alright guys, good night.

Thanks again for participating, even though it was such short notice.

>>22371412
goddamn she's also our accountant stop looking her three figures and look at the figures she's got in her head

>>22371634
I mentioned her being attractive once. I suppose I did bring up her legs as well.

Also, most of the reasons I had for us going after her I put >>22371174 and didn't feel like repeating myself too much.

I'm good with saying competent and incredibly intelligent, she's good at her job, is better with people than we are, and while she isn't a mech expert like we are she is still smart as hell.

I'm far too late for this, but I personally prefer Ilsa.
She's a technician by trade, and I feel that Dan has more in common with her.