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>>24622755
Specifically, the remains of a small maverick force, under the command of your target, Winter Wolfspider. Though well dug-in, you managed to breach their defense of his lair. Unfortunately, your only real backup on this op--a B-rank human hunter named Linda and a C-rank reploid named Calais--just ran in after you and told you that Wolfspider has returned.

"Does he know I'm down here? What if he bails while we're all here?"

"It was my call," Linda says, and it's here you notice the Polar Operations tracker is favoring one of her sides. "I'll take full responsibility if he does. And no."

"He shot the damn branch out from under her," Calais says, noticeably the more panicked of the two. "I think her arm's broken."

"Yeah," she says. "I can still fight."

Impressive and all, but Wolfspider is still an A-class threat--one only you're technically cleared to engage. They can provide support, if you want, but only while you're on point.

And for that matter, you have an unknown threat up at the mouth of the cave, maybe following them in, maybe making a getaway. What do you want to do?

>

Do we have any of the scout bots left?

>>24623103
The ray bits? Yeah, though not with you. You could send Calais and/or Linda on the snowmobile to go round them up, if you can get them to the snowmobile.

>>24623130
That sounds like an okayish plan. Get them to round up the raybits, have them scout out our unknown threat.

>>24623337
Well, you know he's up there, and to get to the snowmobile you'll have to get the O36 pair past him.

I think we should wait it out down here and see if he comes down. so far all he knows is that one reploid, and one injured human are down here, so he might come down and try to finish them off while they are on his turf.

>>24623998
That's what I'd try and do, but what if he knows we're down here to and just bails.

Try and get Linda to play it up a little. Not to much, just enough to where he'd be able to hear a slight whimpering.

>>24624061
Playing it up might set make him think that something is up, though. An experienced hunter probably wouldn't be whimpering like a scared puppy.

Really we have two options, go out and try to attack him head on, or wait for him to come to us.

See if we can set up a trap for him using the raybits to help corner him.

>>24624061
Rather not use THEM as bait.
Were there any blind alleys or branching paths to this lair? If we can set the two up in that, and then pull the shitbird further in they can get behind him and make for the exit. Its a gamble, but more than having them with us.

>>24624226
We should see what he's going to do. If he hasn't made any sing of coming in soon, we should go to him. They and creep as quietly to the front of the cave as possible so as not to spook him then engage fast and hard.

Try to pin him down as the other two get to the snowmobile, so they can round up our rabbits and bring them in as backup.

>>24624319
>>24624226
I'm just saying, so heavy breathing or slight sign of distress on Calais's and Linda's part could tip the scales from "I'm running off" to "I'm going into this cave to finish off some weak hunter scum."

They don't have to be bait, it doesn't have to be dramatic, just something that might tip the scales if he's wavering on the issue.

Oh good, some nice conversation happening. I was getting kinda worried.
>>24624399
The cave's not super shallow, so he wouldn't hear it from outside. There was a slope down and then the main body proper. It was deep enough to mask thermal signatures from the mechaniloid support Wolfspider had waiting in reserve.

While I'm at it, down here you notice some other stuff he had hidden, including some machinery and a very small beam-in pad. That's probably how he got the support in the first place.
>>24624319
Just a single entryway in and out of the cave.

>>24624477
Quick question: If we contact Wellington could HE contact the Ray Bits?

>>24624530
Similarly, could Wellington help us use the beam-in pad in in any meaningful way? (Either as a way to get those two out of here, or a way to bring in support mechanolids)

>>24624477
What kind of Machinery? Anything relevant?

>>24624530
You could, in fact. They'd still take a while to get here. Delivering them by snowmobile would still expedite that in either case.
>>24624592
>>24624566
This, not so much. It's a concealed system and everything seems to be encrypted to prevent easy access.

>>24624695
We could use the bits to surround him in the cave, if we could just get him into the cave.

Wait, does he know all his men are dead? So far as he knows, and pair of hunters just ran into a Maverick filled cave. Maybe if it sounded like a pitched fight was happening, it would draw him in to help his men kill the hunters. Fight's are loud, they would echo out of the cave.

Then we rush him in a confined space where he can't run away, keep his attention so Linda and Calais can get out, and have Well call in the rabbits behind him.

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>>24624695
It would probably be wise to do seeing as he is likely going to try and trap us in either the back of the cave or between him and more mavericks further inside. Turn back towards the entrance and have the two of them keep eyes looking down towards the inside of the cave. Keep between him and them and slowly proceed inside, have the raybits follow him if he enters and harass him from his rear.

Sounds like you guys are crystallizing your next move, can I get you to agree on the finalized version and sum up everything involved in the next couple posts?
>>24624764
It's a good plan, but I do feel the need to remind you that a picket force of ray bits is still just a bunch of mechaniloid bunnies. They'll be useful to flank or distract him, but on their own he'll just blow right through them without any problem.

>>24624906
The main point is that he's in the cave, within punching distance. The Rays are really more of a bonus.

>>24624906
I'm thinking the consensus is to try and draw him in, possibly via wellington fucking with the beam in pad if possible (either more support, or disabling it to prevent this shitbird from getting away), getting engaged with him while our support slips away to get the 'loids.

Point of order when it comes to engaging him will be disabling as many weapons systems as possible as efficiently as possible (If only to try out the Schwarz-Grach method we learned last downtime) while letting our support disengage. Then, if he is still up by the time the rabbits get here, pushing him up into the combined fire of them and our 2 associates for the finisher. Better still if the beamin pads are disabled.

>>24625188
I endorse this plan and cannot wait to see how it goes wrong for us.

>>24625268
MHQinanutshell.jpg

Writing now. And I think that's a record in how long it took to get to the second post after the starter.

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>>24625188
"Right, here's what we do," you decide. "Wellington, you hear me up there?"

"Barely," he replies, "A lot of interference from the stone."

"That's fine. How many ray bits do I have left up there?"

"Five, one of which is lightly damaged."

"Better than nothing. Get them moving toward our location. Calais, Linda, two stage plan. First off, we're going to make some noise. Get your guns out." Looking at the remains of the surprisingly able hoganmer leading the mavericks, you heft the ball-and-chain from where it fell on the floor. "Part two: We draw him in, then while I keep him busy you get to our ride, round up the 'loids, and drop them off back here. After that, engage at your discretion. Sound good?"

The two of them nod.

"Okay. Sell him on it. Make him think you ran into this lot." With that, you whirl the length of chain as much as you can and slam it into the wall with an echoing clang. Linda fires a few rounds (one-handed) from a long rifle she must have been using to snipe with, while Calais lets loose a few buster shots into the remains of the barricades. You carefully fire a few limited shots, trying to mask the distinctive triple-burst of your cyclers with other fire to sound more generic. You mix up your targets between walls, fortifications, and a few pieces of metal and equipment left from the last fight.

After a short burst of activity, hopefully enough to simulate a pitched, intense firefight, you motion for the Polar operatives to move to cover. They do so, still firing intermittently to keep the "battle" going. You're slightly horrified when Linda twists her own broken arm, drawing an exceptionally realistic yelp of pain from the woman. She shrugs at your reaction as she recollects herself, and mouths "more realistic."

Fucking humans, man.

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>>24625562
After a moment, you hear footsteps. Waiting near the cover of the broken barricade, you let the ball and chain (and the hoganmer's arm) fall and whirl 'round the shattered wall.

You don't know what you were expecting, but it wasn't that.

Standing there with a look of momentary surprise on his face is a compact, civilian-framed reploid, dressed in a camouflage poncho very much like yours. He has a stylized mustache faceplate, giving him the look of a mountaineer or alpine man. His "cap" has a few auxiliary optics that look like drop-down goggles, giving him the many-eyed look.

"Oh," he mumbles on seeing you, still looking faintly shocked--and then raises his hands over his head. "I surrender."

That's... unexpected. You try not to look at the other hunters from the corner of your eye, lest you give away their position. They're probably just as surprised as you are.

>?

>>24625659
"Oh... ok... well then, that went better than expected!" Prepare for inevitable trap.

>>24625659
Order him into a corner, away from the exit, against a wall, continue with plan, keep buster leveled on him, let the two exfil after a cursory glance if the way is clear. We have no detention equipment and I don't want to be caught off balance. This is likely a draw to lure out the other two.

>>24625659
Take him down hard but non-lethally. Like, as hard as you can without it being lethal. Let's hope our backup stays in cover in case this is some sort of trap.

We got anything to bind him with? In a pinch, we could use that chain.

Also, call up Wells to confirm this is indeed our man.

>>24625659
Wolfspider is an infiltration specialist. Could we be looking at an infiltration mode?

>>24625830
Quite possibly. If we are keep Grach watching him when we get back. I bet Wolfspider can't out infiltrate him.

>>24625659
"huhu, drop any and all weapon you may have on you then get along the wall over there( point at the wall which would give us the best advantage if it's a trap), be aware that if you make any violent movements I will disable your arms" then use what's left of the chain to make a makeshift handcuff

>>24625863
>Grach
Man that nigga be everywhere.

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>>24625873
Yessir, he sure is.

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>>24625873
he is essentially a robot spetnaz of course he is everywhere

>>24625659
Rip that poncho off, I want to make sure he isn't planning a surprise for us.

Infiltration model and a spider... I can only imagine this ends with him unfolding a few more limbs the second he gets a chance. Honestly the wisest course of action might just be to hit him as hard as possible right now, but sadly I don't want to suggest we bash a dude who's already surrendered. Even if it is totally, obviously a trap.

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>>24625712
>>24625761
>>24625799
>>24625830
>>24625869
You remain silent for a moment. "Wellington, is this our guy?"

"That sensor interference is right on top of you, so most likely."

"...Well, all right then," you say, still on guard. "Okay, Wolfspider. Drop any and all weapons on you--"

"Busters," he replies. "Can't."

"...Fine. Just get over to that wall, slowly, and keep your hands where I can see them."

He acquiesces, shuffling over slowly, one foot then the other, keeping his hands up, palms out, eyes on you the entire time he sidles around to where you point. "You must be the one who threw the rabbit."

"I might be, yes," you admit, changing to your T. Coil. You're midway into wondering how best to apprehend him when his poncho bursts open from inside. It explodes into ribbons and tatters as he unfurls the limbs hidden beneath it, his face SPLITTING down the middle as the "helmet" slides into place, revealing a maverick crest beneath.

You were expecting something, of course--which is lucky for you, because he's on you in a second, even with being on your guard. Your eyes widen as he pounces you, sharp blades shunting roughly through your chestplate--and with them, a feeling of something very, very wrong pumping into your armor. You don't have time to think about what as he body-slams you, sending you flying back into the wall with a solid crunch.

With a ringing snap, your heavy armor shatters right off of your body. If you had been a moment slower, the cold washing over you would have made it through your armor and into you, and you would have shattered just like your chestplate.

"Sturdy, aren't you? No matter. All of you," Winter Wolfspider says lightly, fully unfurled into a nightmare of talons and eyes, "are going to die."

>Go.

>>24626167
Well, I don't think we have time to switch away from the T. Coil, so if we managed to use that to wrap some of his legs up, it would limit his mobility immensely.

>>24626227
yep then we can go bug zapper on his ass.

>>24626227
Not the bulk of the legs, the shits strong, but not that strong, see if we can't get the shit into the joints. Fucks him up worse if it slips in.

>>24626167
Oh it is ON!

Keep between your backup and him. I'm wondering which of our subweapons would be most effective at this range. I'm tempted to call for a point blank Lockon Hunter.

>>24626167
Okay, take our T-Coil and wrap it around that motherfucker. as much as we can. Then Zap him with some electricity and yank him towards us and reel in the T-Coil at the same time so he's getting zapped, is tied up, and is getting flung towards us.

While we pull him towards us put our Lance in the couched position and engage Raikousen to impale him like a motherfucker.

>>24626167
That Ice is going in our lance.

>>24626167
Lasso that sucker. He may be a spider, but we have the web. Use our speed to our advantage, he may be a bit faster, but we are a right pain in the ass, especially now that we are lighter, just keep moving, DON'T GET HIT.

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>>24626227
>>24626274
>>24626294
>>24626344
Before he can pounce again, you snapfire a T. Coil at him, catching one of his many, spindly limbs. You haul on it, and he pulls back with surprising strength, keeping his footing. Without even looking, the remainder of his limbs all point at the chain and fire as one, seven plasma blasts striking the chain in the span of a tenth of a second, with the eighth flying your way. You easily dodge, but the coil is melted through and cut away with ease. You circle around cautiously, lance at the ready with your buster still trained on him.

Reflexively, you find you've put yourself between him and the Polar operatives. Wolfspider chuckles. "You sure that's a good idea?" His body segments slide up and down, rearranging and resettling like a twisted mockery of breath as he stretches and rolls two shoulders.

"First day on the job, my eyes shattered," you reply. "You're going to have to do a little better than that."

He chuckles again, a rattly, hissy noise like pistons sliding back and forth. "As you wish--"

He suddenly ducks aside under a sudden volley from behind you, contorting his body to avoid shots as he skitters up the wall of his cave.

"Anode," Linda says, bracing her rifle across her broken forearm, "Orders?" Calais looks between you and Wolfspider nervously, buster smoking.

That's a good question. You don't have much time to think it over, either. On the one hand, he can walk on walls and ceilings, and he's damned fast. On the other, you've seen how he moves out in the trees, and you're not sure you could keep up with him. That said, at least losing your body armor means you're carrying a lot less weight--you're probably faster. It's just that he's turned this into a game of rocket tag.

>Engage him in here.
>Try to get to the exit, fight him topside.

AND:

>Stick with the plan, Sergeant. Get you and Calais out of here.
>Stay with me. Keep up the pressure.

>>24626598
Or maybe the misericorde.

>>24626829
Stick with the plan. They are not qualified to deal with somebody like this, and we're already down our chest plate. We can beat him, but hopefully not at the cost of two other operatives.

>>24626829
>>Engage him in here.
>Stick with the plan, Sergeant. Get you and Calais out of here.

Only one of us is walking out of this cave. Once they gt out, they can call up some reinforcement. Even if we get ripped to pieces, they have him trapped.

>>24626829
>Engage him in here.

>Stick with the plan, Sergeant. Get you and Calais out of here.

Get the squishies out of here. In a game of rocket tag the one with a murder lance and a super charge of death wins.

We should try to trip him up for just a fraction of a second with another T-Coil and use that opportunity to shove a fully charged Lockon-Hunter through his gut. And firing a few Rockouts up on the ceiling would be good, we aren't going to be going up there so this just forces him to stay off of the ceiling.

How much charge do we have?

>>24626938
Not much, unfortunately (though you can't help but notice you gained about 10% getting bodyslammed into the wall after the snapfreeze). You spent most of it keeping up with Wolfspider to draw him away from his lair earlier.

>>24626938
Yeah, let's just go with this.

Deflect any of his shots with our lance, and fire some blackouts at him while he's on the ceiling for area denial, then try to T. Coil him and dodge to the side when he inevitably jumps us.

Using the momentary pause while he frees his limb(s), hit him dead on with the lockon hunter.

>>24626829
Stick to the plaaaaaaan.

Also, that Hoganmer had a shield right? we shoudl see about cutting that off and using it, Not feeling great about matching 8 busters with our inner chest workings all exposed

>>24627391
This is a good idea.

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>>24626938
>>24626889
>>24626875
>>24627167
It's not a hard decision, especially now that you know what Wolfspider's capable of. "Get clear, you two. I've got this."

"Do you, now?" He taunts as the two disengage. As he drops from the ceiling, he readies those eight busters again, each angled to come from a different approach. With another menacing, gleeful hiss, he fires.

You trigger your dash, chasing the two hunters up the ramp and once again interposing yourself, lance crackling as you sling it in front of you, weaving a distortion field. Each of the shots destabilizes, radiating into the air before you as they dissipate harmlessly. "Yes," you reply calmly, "I do."

"What was...?" For the first time (since you threw a ray bit at him, anyway), Wolfspider hesitates. Just for an instant, though, before he leaps back to the ceiling with an angry hiss. "No matter. Your tricks won't save you."

You follow the move with your buster. "Neither will yours, and the difference is, if you kill me, you're still going down."

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>>24627440
"Not if I make this quick. And it will be quick. How did you like the liquid nitrogen injectors?"

"Cute. Real cute." He moves slowly back and forth, and you keep your gun on him, well aware he's looking for an opening to pounce.

"Anode, was it? Do you want to hear a secret?" His plates rattle as he rearranges himself again, trying to unsettle you--"After I kill you, I'll track down your friends to their little cabin in the woods, and then I'll kill them, too. And then--"

He lunges--you fire a T. Coil in his path--it hits once again and alters his trajectory, and you feel those injector-spikes miss you by inches. He crashes into you and you both go tumbling, for a moment the spider poised atop you, face to face with his clicking mandibles and gleaming eyes. "And then," he finishes with a murderous whisper, "I'm going to wear you."

With a grunt, you hurl him aside and he skitters around to face you, tearing himself free of the coil. You keep your lance at the ready--then raise your buster and fire as he leaps.

He hisses in pain and surprise as he leaps directly into a cloud of razor flak as you fill the ceiling with chaff. He recoils and drops to the ground again, all eyes fixed on you with a hateful glare. You've finally bloodied him a little. And now, he's angry. You allow yourself a vengeful grin. "You? Pretend to be me? Not a chance. You don't even know what a huckleberry is, dipshit."

>Beat him down.
>Cut him apart.
>He'll want you close for that LN freeze. Outrange him.

>>24627451
>>He'll want you close for that LN freeze. Outrange him.

Fire everything!

>>24627451
>>He'll want you close for that LN freeze. Outrange him.
Efficiency, keep him off balance, if he overextends to get into melee we capitalize on it. I really want us to be on the other side of the "telegraphing" bit like schwarz did us.

>>24627506
This. If he lunges too hard, he's leaving his legs wide open to being chopped off.

>>24627451
Hit him with our most powerful weapon and be ready when he dodges. In fact, try to make him jump with a weaker shot, then hit him with the good stuff when he jumps.

>>24627451
>>He'll want you close for that LN freeze. Outrange him.

Keep him at bay by using Chaff Missiles to keep him on the ground instead of taking the walls or ceiling. Once he's on the ground we can maneuver just as well as he can. So just keep on shoving Lockon Hunter shots through him and using the T-Coils to keep a razor sharp whipping coil betweening us and him so he can't just charge us.

Eventually he'll get tired and try to recklessly close the distance, so we oblige him with a Raikousen couched Lance charge and impale him to a wall.

>>24627451
>>Beat him down

Problem with outranging him is that he's got 6 Busters on us, even if he is almost blind, and he's still GOT his Armor.
Fake him out with a faint and cover fire, then grab the Hoganmer's Morning star thing and Go at him with lance in on hand and big abll of solid metal in the other. We can Block and keep distance with the lance And hoepfully damage his legs with the hammer.

>>24627581
This. If we shoot, so's he. So when we shoot, it should be a Shell. He hasn't seen that trick yet.

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>>24627573
>>24627548
>>24627543
>>24627506
>>24627493
The chaff doesn't seem to have done much more than superficial damage, but still, it's something.

And something more, you caught him off-guard with the phase lance, countering his strongest(?) ranged barrage. By itself, you'd never be able to stop them all, but with the wake of distortion left in your blade's path...

Abruptly, he kips up backwards, and a quartet of micromissiles sail out at you. You dash aside, noting that they bend to follow you slightly before impacting against the walls. There's a cold snap and a cloud of fog with each detonation--more freeze tech, joy. He fires again--this time you counter with a barrage of fire, taking out two in midair and diving under the other pair. He lunges, predictably--you conserved your dash expecting he would, twisting in midair to fire a lockon hunter behind you. He jerks to one side, the beam passing by harmlessly before he bounds after you--you wheel your lance around and bat him out of the air, sending him rolling--he fires another volley of missiles, one catching your leg and pinning you to the spot--he contorts and re-angles, leaping at you as the injectors spring out--you trigger your capacitors and melt your leg free as he collides with you, suddenly hissing in pain at the electric blast coursing through your body--you both disengage as he re-angles himself, shifting his body from side to side while you bring your lance forward again for another exchange.

There are no words now, just rising ferocity as he vaults again and you step aside, raking his side as he fires half of his plasma cannons, raking your side with two. You backdash, avoiding the worst of it and firing a tumult shell, negating his followup and preventing him from leaping. He moves for the wall instead, this time flinching away from a volley of your own charged shots, making another unnatural move to dodge. You keep up the fire, scoring a few hits as he jumps from surface to surface.

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>>24627900
He leaps again, this time stalling himself in midair by firing all eight of his cannons, actually pushing him back a hair. You respond with a tumult shell and your lance as he drops down and shoulders into you, unable to line up the injectors. Still, you're slammed, hard, into the wall, and he tries to angle one of his shorter arm-busters up into your chin--

And then screeches in pain as you draw your misericorde with your off hand and slice the bastard's limb off. You take advantage of his recoiling to make another slice, gouging his midsection. He leaps off you, firing another point-blank volley, and you can't dodge all of this one, but your insides remain mercifully unfried. You get clear of the wall as you restow the misericorde, kicking his severed foreleg aside.

He comes in close again, this time more cautiously, covering his approach with LN missiles (now only three, minus that arm), which you shoot out of the air--he shoulders in, shoving your arm aside and actually punching you across the face with one of his many arms--you roll with it, grabbing him by two arms and half-circle-swinging him to throw him clear, firing after. He twists and contorts again, avoiding the fire and returning some of his own. Block with the lance, return with another lockon hunter--this one drilling a hole through one of his larger arms. He hisses more in rage than pain, and fires the works--four buster shots, three missiles. You fire a tension coil and whip it across their path, clearing most of the projectiles without being forced into evasive maneuvers. He tries to come in close again, this time your fist meeting his faceplate, shattering one of his eyegems. He responds by spearing your hand on his mandible and twisting, pulling you forward, off-balance. The injectors spring out--

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>>24628084
You wrap your arms around him and trigger your raikousen, smashing your leg INTO his torso. One of the injectors painfully jabs your leg, but you smash through it with the sheer force of the dash. He actually hacks and coughs, spatters of blackish fluid spraying on the floor of his lair. You tear yourself free and go for your misericorde, but he's already torn away and disengaged.

You glare at each other from a short distance, both wounded and fatigued by the heated exchange. Both of you know, though--even without your armor, of the two, you have the better gear to best the other. You've taken the initiative, but he's a hard fighter, and he isn't going down quietly.

>?

>>24628096
Slice off his other arms.

>>24628096
He might try to make a run for it, so keep ready to intercept him if he goes for the exit. If we have a feeling he's about to 23 skidoo then we fill the exit with chaff, grab him with a T-Coil and charge the fucker.

For now keep up the offensive, keep his movement options locked down with fields of chaff and make him move in straight lines, in straight lines we can fill with with Lockon Hunter blasts and Lance him.

If he tries to close and freeze inject us again just AES/Raikousen him into a wall and/or stab him.

>>24628096
"You can still give up."
How much tension coil do we have left, if we have enough we could probably run him dogged latching to the walls to create a makeshift net of pain. I really, really, want to web the shitbird up and try to take him alive.

>>24628096
what is in VWS slot w we have the chaff missile, Lockon hunter , tumult shell, and what else

surprise him if we have any thing different left

>>24628210
second

>>24628216
T. Coil.

>>24628210
Seconding.
If we can lock him down, hit him with Lock-on Hunter.

>>24628210
Really emphasize this. We've kept him here too long, he never going to get away now especial with injuries like that.

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>>24628210
Catching a spider in a web? Im not sure if thats stupid, brilliant, both or something I already said.

DO IT

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>>24628206
>>24628210
>>24628229
>>24628453
You catch your metaphorical breath as he does the same. "Let's try this again. Feel like surrendering?"

"Depends. You feel like being an idiot again?"

"Didn't think so," you say. "Think it over. Even if you kill me, you're out of time."

He narrows his remaining eyes. "Then I guess they'll remember me for my heroic last stand when the Mavericks wipe you off the face of the Earth. You won't take me alive."

This time, you go on the attack, charging forward--he springs to the ceiling as you twist around and fire, skidding across the ground as you renew the field of flak on the roof before he can jump after you. The missile catches him in the chest, but he doesn't flinch, instead dropping through the cloud sporting a half-dozen new wounds as you kip back up. He springs forward again--only to be battered away as you slam the corpse of the hoganmer into him from the side. He fires reflexively, blasting the the body in half. You step forward and bring your lance down for his head, forcing him to retreat once again--you take advantage of the gulf to forcibly cut the shield from the hoganmer's arm. He charges again while you're busy, no surprise there, this time smashed to the ground as you bring your left arm around, using the shield at the end of a coil as a bludgeon of your own.

He staggers backwards, reeling, and you whirl it around again, firing a burst into his chest and then smashing him in the side with the shield once again. He grabs hold of it and yanks, pulling you off-balance again as he opens fire with six busters--this time you dig in your heels and retract the cable into the wire spool. He's forced to let go as you reel the shield back in, negating the volley of plasma. He charges in after it, and you slam the shield into his face with enough force to dent it. Letting the weapon and coil clatter to the ground, you pin another of his limbs to the ground with the misericorde.

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>>24628601
Wolfspider screeches again and leaps away, ignoring the shrapnel to avoid a kill-shot. Still, he can't stay in the cloud long. You fire a coil in his path, catching him in the midsection in flight. You quickly fire another, and another, and another--he scrambles to escape, body shifting and sliding as he works himself out of the snare--until with a roar you pour all your remaining power into a final full-body tackle, crackling with energy. That stuns him well enough, and you can see the cable he was caught on has dug deep into his back. You fire all the cables you have left, every which way, wrapping limbs and neck and body alike, building a snare around him, and with that, the spider is caught in a web of your own.

"What was that about taking you alive?"

Wolfspider looks up at you, half his optics broken or nonfunctioning, oily reploid "blood" dripping from his jaws as he struggles in vain to raise his busters until finally, defeated, he goes slack.

...And then the mandibles quiver and he raggedly chuckles once again as he starts shifting and morphing, worrying the coil blades deeper into his body. Still laughing, the maverick taunts you one last time even as they dig through his joints, arms clattering to the ground in an ever-growing pool of gore.

"What was that...about taking me alive?"

And with that, he tears himself apart, head falling from his shoulders to your feet.

>>24628622
He was a crazy son of a bitch, sure, but that was an awfully hardcore way to go out.

>>24628671
Don't praise stupidity.

>>24628601
>>24628622
Damn. On the one hand, he was a crazy fucking Maverick who was going to wear us as an Anode-suit; on the other hand, that's some hard core devotion. Respect, our batshit insane spider foe.

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>>24628622
I KNEW I WOULD FIND A PROPER USE FOR THIS IMAGE!

Damn dude. Thats one hell of a death.

>>24628622
Welp, we're hitting the Pond tonight.

How sad is it that that was only the second most fucked thing we've ever seen?

Now, spitballing here... how do we feel about a liquid nitrogen injection lance and/or misericorde?

>>24628686
So ensuring that he couldn't be interrogated or reprogrammed was stupidity? As far as a Maverick's concerned, being captured is even worse than death because they can literally search through your mind. Like he said when we told him we'd held him up long enough, it was always a last stand for him.

>>24628724
That sounds bad as hell but we should wait to see all our options.

>>24628709
>>24628694
>>24628671
>>24628707
>>24628728
Just remember who we got the tension coil from and try not to feel sick.

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>>24628622
Still in disbelief at how he chose to ... massacre himself, you can only stare down at the severed head as the optic lights go dim.

...And one winks on. And begins blinking.

Oh, shit, what did that bastard--

You're about to flee when a deep rumble courses through the mine, bowling you over as stones and dust rattling free as they rain from the ceiling. It dopplers far and away, beginning close and rippling down until you can't hear it. A cave-in? He must have--

"Anode, Anode, Anode!" It's Calais. "He--charges in the hills, up over the snowline, it's--"

"An avalanche," Linda adds grimly. "He just triggered an avalanche."

Oh, god damn it-- "How much time do I have?" you ask, pulling yourself up out of the puddle of Wolfspider's blood.

"Not you--" You can hear the strain in her voice. "From here to--to just outside Anchorage."

>>24628750
Yeah, this is a pretty huge failure for the Tension Coil to redeem its horrible past by serving as a non lethal weapon... but on the other hand we stopped an insane spider robot from wearing us as a suit and hunting people down with our face. So, silver lining.

>>24628758
".....fuck"

>>24628750
...oh.

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>>24628758
And on that lovely note we're--ahem--cutting off for the moment.

More tomorrow and possibly later tonight as well. Team Jerkass has a special guest star tonight who normally can't make it, so I want to go see him.

Before I leave, though, would you like me to leave you the upgrade options from this battle, so you can start working out ideas while I'm out?

>>24628750
FUCK!

>>24628808
Please do.

>>24628808
May as well. How bad's the collateral we looking at too?

>>24628808
I'm all for working out weapon ideas ahead of time, if only so that Anode can be uncharacteristically decisive when the time comes to choose upgrades.

>>24628758
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

Jam our misericorde through that eye socket, no knowing whats up in that thing.

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>>24628829
Could be worse, could be a hell of a lot better.

Upgrade options:
You find that the notification is flagged with all sorts of red highlights--apparently someone in R&D has been chewing on this and having trouble. Evidently, Wolfspider's data is temperamental and difficult to work with, limiting its versatility. Trying to combine it with your other VWES systems is apparently right out, and that isn't even the worst of it. Still, you do have a modest number of options available to you.

Stock: Cryo Missile: This semi-guided missile has a payload of liquid nitrogen, dispersed in a small radius on impact. It snap-freezes the air and makes armored targets more brittle. By itself it does little to no damage, but any follow-up is sure to cause more damage between physical force and thermal shock.

Winter Web: The techs have flagged this upgrade as "poorly optimized" with your systems--apparently, combining cryogenic weaponry with powerful electric systems has always been a challenge in robotics. The result is that this weapon will both be less lethal and have a more limited ammunition count to compensate. If you were built to fire the original, or if your systems were more compatible, they would be more happy with the projected results. As it stands, though, what you do have is a four-count VWES weapon that fires a snare-net that quickly offloads an LN payload, chilling its victim while they're caught.

Cont. next post.

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>>24628864
Flash Fog: Underslung nozzles mounted on your busters will allow limited-release of LN capsules, launching a freezing spray in a short range in front of you. This could technically do damage if you catch an enemy very, very close, but the primary benefit is a rather instantaneous fog wall. It doesn't run on VWES, which adds to your versatility but limits its offensive power. This could be overcome with future upgrades, and perhaps you could even contrive your own LN Injector system, similar to Wolfspider's.

Flash Freeze: By priming your targets with a quick blast of LN, you could improve your misericorde's damage and penetration even beyond that of a hi-beam weapon. Due to the C. Capacitor channels built into your primary weapon, this is unavailable to your Ascent Lance.

Buster Supercoolant: By incorporating the LN into coolant lines in the inner workings of your busters, you could temporarily boost your heat mitigation capacity and fire your busters for long, continous bursts without risk of overheating, damage, or melting. This would give you a brief burst of damage output--the file projects that you could match even Guns Wallaby's volume of fire for a few seconds.

Dash Supercoolant: This option is greyed out, with a notice from the techs--there simply is not enough room in your legs for this option any longer. Unfortunate, because it sounds useful. Still, maybe in the future? The LN system would be used to cool your EAS when engaged, temporarily giving your dash a near-zero turnaround time before you could engage it again. On top of your already-improved dash systems, this would permit insane mobility for a brief amount of time.

>>24628808
We should totally get extra limbs.

Imagine: FOUR beam lances

>>24628876
Flash Fog: Underslung nozzles mounted on your busters will allow limited-release of LN capsules, launching a freezing spray in a short range in front of you. This could technically do damage if you catch an enemy very, very close, but the primary benefit is a rather instantaneous fog wall. It doesn't run on VWES, which adds to your versatility but limits its offensive power. This could be overcome with future upgrades, and perhaps you could even contrive your own LN Injector system, similar to Wolfspider's.

This looks fucking brilliant. Especially in the jack of all trades sense, and we don't have to swap out our VWES for it.

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Anyway, have fun, discuss amongst yourselves, dread the dick move Wolfspider just pulled on humankind, all of that good stuff.

Back later tonight!

>>24628864
>>24628876
Where's the fuckers ability to completely kill a victory buzz? I want that.

>>24628928
sadly I believe this is a maverick only ability

>>24628876
Either the Flash Fog or the Buster Supercoolant. It would be interesting to be able to PEW PEW even faster. The only real issue I have with Flash Fog is the idea that we basically use chaff clouds as a smoke screen already.

>>24628876
Buster Supercoolant: By incorporating the LN into coolant lines in the inner workings of your busters, you could temporarily boost your heat mitigation capacity and fire your busters for long, continous bursts without risk of overheating, damage, or melting. This would give you a brief burst of damage output--the file projects that you could match even Guns Wallaby's volume of fire for a few seconds.

Is the one that interests me the most. It means we can just pump out major damage when we need it.

We already can throw chaff clouds around and the like.

>>24628985
>Buster Supercoolant: By incorporating the LN into coolant lines in the inner workings of your busters, you could temporarily boost your heat mitigation capacity and fire your busters for long, continous bursts without risk of overheating, damage, or melting. This would give you a brief burst of damage output--the file projects that you could match even Guns Wallaby's volume of fire for a few seconds.

I like this ability better than Flash Fog because I love passive upgrades and Guns Wallaby.

>>24628985
>>24628973
>>24629014
I like the modular nature of flash fog. Provided we get enough money later on. I can see it being a good mounting point for both the supercooled busters, AND as a modification for the misericorde as our injection method. Basically we'd have a reservoir of Liquid Nitrogen we can choose to commit to whatever we want if I am reading it right.

Whatever we decide to do, we should probably get a copy of the Buster Supercoolant data for Cathode. Nothing says we're thinking of our sister like the gift of more Dakka.

>>24628758
Okay, that dick move? There was nothing we could have done about that. It seems like it was on some sort of deadman switch.

In fact, trying to take him alive like we did was everything we could have done.

>>24629014
It only lasts a short amount of time, so it is an active buff not a passive.

Misericorde is currently the only thing currently at baseline. I think we should buff that if anything.

>>24629211
See
>>24629042
I like the idea of it. Especially if we can combine it with a misericord delivery system/temporary swap of buster coolant like was suggested. Ups our versatility and seems to be the best of both worlds. Plus if we do it right we get the injection bonus too, which looks nasty.

>>24629070
That is true. Note for future live-capture attempts, make sure they don't have anything they can use to move with. Like, if we can keep them alive as JUST a head, that may be the way to go...

Also, I like the idea of the Flash Fog. It might be handy when we go up against Solstrike...

Personally, I think the fog's got the best combo potential. Chaff can block their scanners and fog can block visuals.

Plus, being able to quickly freeze enemies at close range could be handy.

>>24628876
>Flash Freeze
>Buster Supercoolant

One of these two is the only real option

>>24628864
Possibility: Replace current wiring system for kinetic charging system with superconductors, use LN system to maintain crit temp.
Otherwise:
Cryo missile: We fight guy who can shoot down missiles most of the time.
Winter Web: Why don't we integrate this into the T Coil instead of being standalone?
Flash Fog: Great for running away, which we haven't done much of. We don't have fog penetrating sensors, it'll hurt us in a fight as much as it helps.
Flash freeze: Decent upgrade to choose if all others aren't attractive.
Buster supercoolant: Seems great, how many times can it be used before requiring LN replacement?

>>24629601
Fog potentially lets us do both with some modifications.

>>24629688
>Superconductor KE charging

Why didn't anyone else think of this?

>>Flash Freeze: By priming your targets with a quick blast of LN, you could improve your misericorde's damage and penetration even beyond that of a hi-beam weapon.

I really like the idea of this. The Misericorde is great, but an extra boost will make it stupidly lethal. And since we have that S rank to take down in the future, stupidly lethal seems important to me.

Looks like we've narrowed it down to 3 choices (Flash Freeze, Flash Fog, and Buster Supercoolant) and one theoretical (Superconductor KE charge).

Once we get back I think we should chat with our favorite weapon smith.

>>24629047
True fax

>>24629688
>Possibility: Replace current wiring system for kinetic charging system with superconductors, use LN system to maintain crit temp.

This is brilliant and you should feel brilliant.

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Good news: Home!
Bad (predictable) news: Exhausted!

The superconductor system is probably the coolest idea we've had for an upgrade and totally doable, but it would face the same limitations as other applications of Wolfspider's data: Limited uses. It also uses a completely different architecture than the K. Coils themselves do. You could probably make a miniaturized oneshot (per-mission) backpack generator that wasn't too obstructive. Anyway, I'm open to the idea, so we can hash it out more fully when you get back to base.

That's going to have to come tomorrow, I think. I slept like shit (that is to say not at all) and hanging with Team Jerkass is always fun but exhausting. Any questions or comments before I go lie facedown in a puddle of my own drool?

>>24632801
Sounds like we might want to hold off and save the Superconductor KE charge system for K.Coils MkII.

>>24632801
Save the superconductor for later.

>>24629688
I want
Flash freeze or Buster supercoolant