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You have an IV drip in your arm. Your eyes are closed. You are plugged into the Imperial Remote Operations networks through the implant in the back of your head.

This time, you have some time before the hostilities begin. A green-on-black screen pops up and beckons you to choose one of two Third Stage perks. This is your right as one of the 50 top Operators in last year's War Palace Assambly, the final stage of the IRO tournament. The next 50 get to pick from two Second Stage perks and places 150-101 get their choice of two First Stage perks.

One of your choices is a whole new class: Berserker. This was introduced last year. A Berserker piece is moderately armored and highly agile, owing this mobility to an experimental type of artificial muscle fiber. They're equipped with a melee weapon and a bulletproof shield, as well as some very nice explosives. The specifics probably changed from last year, so this is all you can say with certainty.

The other choice is a new vehicle type: the spidertank. The "Arachnid," specifically. It's the first and most basic of all spidertanks, but it possesses the most important features: limb-based locomotion and a tank turret. High mobility, all-terrain movement and a number of neat tricks to use.

You are highly proficient at using both of these. Fortune smiles on you today. Which do you choose?

>[] Unlock the Berserker piece class.
>[] Unlock the Arachnid spidertank.

Rolled 47

>>32196589
>[] Unlock the Arachnid spidertank.
fuck yeah tonk

>>32196608
woops left dice on

>>32196589
>>[] Unlock the Berserker piece class.
I like sword and board

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Rolled 1

>>32196608
[1] Without hesitation, you go straight for the spidertank. The GUI shows you the tank model as soon as you make your selection. Variable "feet" for true all-terrain movement, exposed joints, well-armored turret. Its caliber is too small for your tastes, but at least there's a machine gun on top.

OR

[2] With all the speed of a starved rat, you pick the Berserker class. The GUI shows you the model along with some notes on the equipment. In one hand, a simple length of steel that looks like nothing more than just a rod. In the other, a riot shield made out of some newfangled alloy. Perfectly transparent, can withstand rounds from most Recon firearms. No word on Engineer RPGs, though. Must be pretty susceptible to high-brisance explosives.

Man, it feels like it's been forever since you last selected upgrades. If luck is on your side, you'll get to choose a new one by the end of this match.

You proceed to the loadout screen, basking in the wire frame models of each of your pieces. Before you can get into the groove of micromanaging your micro army, a pop-up intrudes on you like a bad parent on their kid's fap session. Your mission is a "search & recover" type. You skim through the text.

"Something something, be the first to find the flare, blah don't fuck up blah, light it, win."

Gimme a sec to roll the tiebreaker.

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>>32196799
Spidertank wins the tie.

Finally, you can get to work on maximizing the destructive potential of your squad.

As this mission involves searching, pieces with better sensory equipment will be more desirable. That's one way to look at it. Another is that the flare you need to get won't be hidden all that well - nobody says you'll have to rummage through sand or snow for it.

Since there's only one flare, only one Operator will end up winning. The others decide their ranking in this contest by lasting the longest. You briefly wonder what happens if more than two squads are alive by the time somebody lights the flare, but perish the thought. First place is the only thing that matters to you.

Back to the mission. Supports have only slightly sensitive equipment. Engineers and Recons have very powerful sensors, while Assaults' is somewhere in the middle.

You can have as many or as few pieces of each class as you like. Your only restriction is six of them. What is your loadout?

>[] Custom

>>32196874
2 recons, 2 assaults, 1 engi, 1 support, lets go versatile and adaptable on the light side of things

>>32196874
1 Assault
1 Support
2 Engineers
2 Recon

Rolled 2

>>32196891
With some deliberation beforehand, you make your selection.

[1] 2 Assaults, 1 Support, 1 Engineer and 2 Recons.
OR
[2] 1 Assault, 1 Support, 2 Engineers and 2 Recons.

Looks plenty balanced for a mission like this one. A feeling of confidence wells up in you.

Once you confirm that this is, in fact, your final decision, the system knocks you out. Of course, you can't feel it. You don't even know for a fact that this happened, since from your point of view the match started the moment you made your choice final. It's just something you were told once and haven't seen a reason to disbelieve. If it's a lie, then how likely is it that every single time the match starts the very moment you finish your preparations?

Once the blackness lifts from your eyes, you find yourself on a circular clearing on the side of a mountain. It is snowing heavily. Your vehicle is in the center and the six pieces are on the periphery. On one side, a steep, rocky surface. On the other, trees abound below in splotches, evergreens that threaten to impale or catch whoever falls on them. If one was to slip during their descent from the mountain, these trees would break the fall nicely.

It's a good thing you brought the...

>[] Goodfella tank.
>[] Ornithopter VTOL gunship.
>[] Arachnid spidertank.

>>32197000
>>[] Ornithopter VTOL gunship.

This doesn't sound like a good place for land vehicles.

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Rolled 1

>>32197019
You've got an all-terrain spidertank, though. Admittedly, the Goodfella is less than good for this particular match. You're on a circle situated on what is basically a vertical pillar jutting straight up out of the mountain.

Piloting that bastard will require dice rolling every goddamn time you try to do anything.

>>32197000
>1
>[x] Arachnid spidertank.

>>32197000
>[] Arachnid spidertank.
lets give the shiny new toy a run

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>>32197019
>>32197054
>>32197078
It's a good thing you brought the spidertank. Without it, you'd have had to risk being shot down by enemy rockets or tumbling down, down, down the mountainside.

A short while passes while you silently thank whoever organizes this shit for giving your two Recons cloaks. Without them, the biting cold would've been torturous. A red light flashes in your six pairs of eyes, signaling the start of another fight to the death. The snowstorm dies down.

You get an ominous feeling in the back of your head. It's a tingling sensation behind your ears. In olden days, people would decry this is as a sign of anxiety or the laughable concept of "intuition," but in modern times, Extrasensory Theory explains it as subconsciously processed information. Information you pay no mind to and filter out, but information that you still thumb through in the back of your head before labeling it "unnecessary."

Cha!

A round flies by the head of your Engineer and ricochets off the craggy wall in front of him. Sniper fire.

>[] Hide behind the Arachnid.
>[] Jump down from the platform.

>>32197171
>>[] Hide behind the Arachnid.

>>32197171
>[] Hide behind the Arachnid.

godamn fucking capcha

>>32197171
>other
>Climb down away from the sniper and have the tank open up in the general direction of the enemy.

>>32197294
>>32197315
>>32197318
You throw yourself behind the only piece of armor at your disposal - six times over. You bring the Arachnid closer to the ground to provide better cover, but the attack begins in full force as rounds clatter against the hull and turret armor. The joints are easily visible now.

You need to do something about this, before your spidertank is out of commission.

Seeing no other way to do this, you open 105mm fire in the general direction of your enemy. Your Support and Assault dash out from behind cover and go in opposite directions - each to either side of the Arachnid. A few bullets embed themselves in the wall as your opponent takes the bait. You muster all the strength you can in the four squadmates and one tank left behind.

The Arachnid leaps forth! It disregards safety. It sails through the sky. It leads the other four pieces, which jumped right after it in a desperate gambit.

You succeed! The maneuver is coordinated well and only a couple of shots manage to strike the Arachnid, down from the dozens that were constantly smashing against its hull while you thought of what to do. Simultaneously, four metallic bodies move in an arc, first rising from their platform, then descending dozens of meters onto the unwelcoming ground.

It's a rough landing.

You barely manage to keep the Arachnid level while the rest of your squad drops onto it. Mostly. One piece in particular doesn't quite make it: an Engineer. Thankfully, it dives straight into the snow, which breaks the fall enough to accommodate the piece's continued functioning. The other pieces latch on to the legs as they're about to strike the surface. Their arms are structurally overstressed by the harsh circumstances, but at least you're behind trees now. Your Assault and Support make it to the landing site shortly thereafter.

How do you proceed?
>[] Move forward, down the slope.
>[] Move laterally, attack another squad.
>[] Custom

>>32197603
>[] Move laterally, attack another squad.
lets put some of the competition out of the fight

>>32197603
>>[x] Move laterally, attack another squad.

>>32197638
>>32197639
Ha. Ahahaha.

Shit.

>>32197666
>Ha. Ahahaha.
>
>Shit.
Now I'm worried...

>>32197638
>>32197639
If the whole mission was about being the faster son of a gun down the mountain, that six-Recon Operator from the prelims will have smoked the competition, you included, fifteen minutes from now. Hell, his only rival would probably be the one dude smart enough to make a "ghetto gunship" out of an Ornithopter and two Supports or Assaults hanging from its guns.

You're in no danger of losing in that manner. With your years of experience, it's extremely likely that there's either some sort of arena in the center or some sort of structure surrounded by flatland. A bloodbath is guaranteed, even if it's bound to happen some minutes and miles away.

Why not make it happen now?

Your Recons dismount the Arachnid, the Assault and Support taking their spots on the makeshift APC's large turret. Guns bristling, with one Engineer (the one that didn't eat a faceful of snow) manning the MG.

You start off to the side, strafing the tip of the mountain. Strangely, you don't seem to be curving around it. It's more like a flat slope, really. One that stretches to either side continuously. Perhaps this is a mountain range? You couldn't really see before.

As you ponder this, you hear a threatening rumbling coming down the mountainside.

Roll d20.

DC is 15.

Rolled 1

>>32197747
Shit.

Rolled 4

>>32197747
DICE GODS HEAR MY PRA-

>>32197775
FUCK

goddamnit, second action and we crit fail it...

well so much for Generalisimo...

>>32197775
Welp. Quest over.

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>>32197775
>>32197795
pffftahahahahaha

>Shit.
is right

That guy who said the dice gods will bide their time to strike was right. This is fucking ridiculous!

Rolled 4

>>32197806
I hope not anon, though I'm pretty sure thats a land slide/avalanche about to kill us all :(

rolling again to make it 3 rolls, even though its fucking useless

fuck you dice gods

Rolled 17

>>32197795
>>32197825
I roll two 4's

fuck these dice, fuck them this early into this fight...

>>32197820
Well now you know how terrible /tg/ d20 are...

4 rolls of d6 totaled and subtracting 4 is much better, gives a much more even and smoother clustering instead of swinging from one end of the spetrum to the other, though I doubt it matters with this roll killing us.

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>>32197825
I laugh at your misery along with the dice gods.

>>32197836
We'll try this out in the next fight, which might be next thread or not. It depends on whether you want DRAMA or ACKSHUN. I honestly look forward to writing critfails and crit successes, because it justifies exaggerated HAPPENENINGS and ANAL DOMINATION.

Writing in any case. This might be a two-parter.

>>32197850
>This might be a two-parter.
I'm not looking forward to this much fail...

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>>32197775
>>32197795
>>32197825
You look to your left to-

BANG! BLAM! CRUNCH!

An anti-armor shell comes out of nowhere and enters Arachnid's turret head-on, making a nice flower out of your only piece of armor. It travels further, breaches the reloading mechanism and detonates all the other ammo. The Assault and Engineer that were piggybacking are flung a very good distance in different directions, as the turret holds together, even if just barely, while a blaze of fire erupts from the orifice that was once the barrel's base. They roll unceremoniously down the sloped surface of the mountain range, their tumbling bodies finding trees to break their pathetic descent. To add insult to injury, the Goodfella that fired its fateful shell proceeds to ram the fuck out of your spidertank. With a wet crunch, the only other two pieces on the makeshift APC - the "too heavy to be bothered with an explosion" Support and the "I'm riding (MG) shotgun!" Engineer - are flattened against the already mangled hull of your Arachnid.

The fucker doesn't even stop.

As this demon of a "good fellow" drives down the slope, undaunted by the considerably-sized roadkill it now pushes before it, two more Goodfellas follow it. One passes by. Another drives by.

You watch this grotesque parade of devastation in full HD, as your two Recons stand awestruck. You can't really find it in you to move, having just witnessed this shameful defeat and wanton whimsy of destiny completely unmake any chances you had at winning this thing. Seriously, what the fuck? Whoever watches these matches in recording will have more than a couple laughs at your misery, what with the extremely sophisticated equipment on your Recons providing first-rate comedy material. How you are going to live this down if it gets out, you do not know.
[1/2]

>>32198037
>Down to 2 recons
...

welp, there go our hopes of being Generalissimo

>>32198037
how does one operator get 3 vehicles when theres a 1 vehicle limit?

>>32198037
Well, not all is lost, at least. You still have two Recons. Not only that, but your Assault is alive and kicking. That's more than you can say about the Engineer, though.

You don't lose your head, though. You don't have much left to lose in the first place, actually. Your Assault picks up the Engineer's quiver and rocket launcher, allowing his rifle to hang from it's sling.

It is at times like these, times when a man has next to nothing, that he can truly prove his worth. Any fuckass with enough tanks can win a war, but it takes a true Generalissimo to bring down a high-orbital kill-satellite with sticks and stones and cajones.

You rush down the mountainside as fast as you can. There's not a moment to lose! You wisely decide against letting off a rocket in pursuit of the Goodfellas. Foolish moves like that will only serve to undermine you. Some minutes pass. Minutes, dozens of 'em. You begin to wonder why the match isn't over yet.

Once you make it down to the flatland, your suspicions are both confirmed and proven wrong. On one hand, you were, in fact, on one side of a mountain range. On the other, there's another in front of you, stretching high into the sky. You can see a few starting platforms with your Recon vision. You're in a valley. What's more important, though, is that this valley is filled with all sorts of junk. There's a ruined building or two, most likely hangars, but mostly it's just crashed planes. Big 'uns.

You strain your memory a little. If it serves you right, this arena must've been modeled after the infamous "Plane Graveyard" in the Chinese mountains. It's pretty well-known among military history nerds - an iconic stage of Imperial-Confederate warfare was signified by extremely effective AA defenses on one side and overwhelmingly successful airspace infiltration on the other. The Empire won this part by saturating Tibet with installations, which was cheaper than fielding a fuckton of planes.
[2/3, whoops
final part is real short]

>>32198210
Could've been a Third Stage perk, a la "trade two pieces for extra vehicle."

>>32198242
You turn to the wreckage. Bodies are splayed out in front of you, everywhere: at your feet, in the distance, impaled on metallic protrusions, hanging off edges.

Somebody did a very nice job. You can't help but feel that this scene of ruination and your previous shameful display are connected.

You see a few pieces prowling the field of iron waste. They bend down to rummage through the junk once in a while. You remain hidden.

>[] Custom.

>>32198281
I say we have 1 recon and our assault pick off some enemies one or two at a time and whittle them down while our remaining recon covers them from a bit back and hidden in cover

>>32198307
You open silent fire on the two nearest pieces, bringing them down instantly. Your Recon, meanwhile, falls back and begins to circle around in order to find a better vantage point.

The plan to whittle down enemy forces falls through, as three more pieces spring up. They climb over wreckage like a battleship climbs over the horizon. They have their guns up and stare down the sights, frantically searching for their ambushers. An Assault and two Engineers, adding to the one Assault you didn't yet drop.

You have to act quickly, or else you're toast. The battlefield is eerily empty save for you and your opponents, meaning that they haven't found the flare yet. If you kill them, you'll have a shot at victory, yourself. The time for victory is now. Victory... but where are those Goodfellas? Could such an offensive have been brought down by a few stray rockets? It seems unlikely.

You snap out of it. You focus on the enemy once more. Your firearms seem as ready to deal death in volume as you are. First shot. Second. One kill. Two.

The final two pieces turn to you the very same moment you turn to them.

Roll d20 and tribute a hamster.

Rolled 18

>>32198430
> tribute a hamster.
I just sacrificed a goat for the Dice Gods

>>32198492
Your tribute is accepted, apparently.

Whew.

where'd the other anon go?

Rolled 6

>>32198582
Worry not anon, while the other anon has left, I, the new anon, have arrived!
I bring with me my skill at dice rolling and an uncanny ability to get a nat one at the most inopportune times

Rolled 13

>>32198605
don't you dare joke about that, you know how the Dice Gods get

rolling again because it looks like theres only 2 of us

Rolled 18

>>32198635
Kinda sucks there seem to be way less people than this quest deserves

Rolled 6

>>32198650
Welcome to every quest that isn't lolimonstergurl pantsu fapquest

And apparently I'm no longer b&

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>>32198492
>>32198605
You stare down the length of your barrel, one piece at a time. Your Recon in the woods will play a crucial role in this.

A fraction of a second passes. In that frame of time, your frontline Recon pulls the trigger and brings the might of Newton to bear on the-

>>32198650
Fuck you for making my heart go doki doki.

Rolled 3

>>32198650
indeed, also sucks that the timezones conspire against me so its almost 1am here, but I'll stick with this for another hour or more if I can

>>32198675
another anon? HOORAY

>>32198492
>>32198605
>>32198675
You stare down the length of your barrel, one piece at a time. Your Recon in the woods will play a crucial role in this.

A fraction of a second passes. In that frame of time, your frontline Recon pulls the trigger and brings the might of Newton to bear on the only too slow gunman. Your armor-piercing round splits the frozen air with a red-hot bullet, it, in turn, closes the distance with a swiftness inherent in humanity's best weapons. There is no time to move, none to dodge. You smile warmly at the thought that whoever is on the other hand can appreciate the beauty of this moment.

The other Recon sends a similar, but unique shard of death into the other enemy's knee. This throws him off balance and your Assault handily pumps the adversary full of lead.

Some more minutes pass while your Recons scope the bloodied battlefield out. Aside from literally tripping over all these bodies, you find it largely empty.

The wind howls. It's strange, but standing amid crashed planes in a clearing, right between two elongated, massive spines of stone, while snow lightly descends upon you... It's charming. Charming, and oddly melancholy. The wind dies down and a deafening silence fills the air. Your ears are sharper than any human's, but still you are left alone. It feels as if there is no one in the world but you. Three of you. A snowy valley in a Chinese mountain range can really make you feel, can't it?

You resume your mission, albeit reluctantly. Turning over wreckage, rummaging through rubble, you find yourself doing the same thing your prey was doing mere moments ago. The irony is palpable. Perhaps you need to look in the actual planes.

You whittle down entire hours, searching for the damned flare. Finally, you find it buried beneath a lifeless body.

You don't light it right away, though. There's no need. You take in the scenery. Battery fluid everywhere. Casings all over. This is... war, isn't it? What a wonderful sport.
[1/2]

>>32198835
dropped your trip OP

>>32198835
inb4 those 3 tanks come charging in, hurry up and light the flare

>>32198864
Ahaha, whoops. Clumsy, clumsy.

>>32198835
Mankind has finally perfected its blood sport of choice. Nobody dies in these matches. Nobody feels pain. You inflict harm upon others, you dominate their bodies, you map out how to most efficiently brutalize the largest possible number of victims. And then you go home to eat the same food as everyone, talk with your friends just like everyone and entertain yourself, just. Like. Everyone.

Funny thing, that. Sounds like a recipe for disaster. A society of sociopaths, ticking time bombs. But... That's a lie, right? You can arm the populace, but murder rates won't go up. You can create any culture you feel like, and it'll work out, somehow. Society perseveres.

>>32198883
Tanks, though...

You look around and find them: the three Goodfellas. Ambushed, most likely. Overwhelmed by a simultaneous, multi-pronged assault. This is what it comes down to. Fight harder, fight always. You love it. You can't get enough of it.

You lie down in the snow. They won't pull you out until the match is over - that's what the IVs are for. Everybody out of commission is unconscious. This can last for days. However, something interrupts your peaceful contemplation. Your aural sensors pick up a noise. A soft whir.

You look in the direction of the source.

>[] Investigate. Why would anything... whir?
>[]Leave it be.

>>32198936
>[x] Investigate. Why would anything... whir?

Finally caught one of these quests live. Nice work so far.

Rolled 4

>>32198936
>[x] Investigate. Why would anything... whir?
Be prepared to pop the flare at any time

>>32198966
Wat dis fello sed

>>32198936
seconding >>32198966

have one of our recons investigate while the other recon is ready to pop the flare

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>>32198956
>>32198966
You pick yourself up, suddenly full of adrenaline. Determined to find the source, you peer inside a plane tail, one that belonged to a real behemoth, and catch just a glimpse of a cylinder retracting into the grimy floor. It was polished.

You approach it, keeping one Recon at the entrance, a seam created when the aircraft made forceful landing, and use the strength of your two other pieces to try and pry it open. It's no use. Whatever it was, it's not willing to show itself again. You crouch, trying to look from the same exact spot the cylinder was just a second ago. It can just barely see the place where you were lying down seconds ago.

You give the floor a few punches. It doesn't take. You approach the floor from below, this massive structure evidently being part of a three-story flier. There's no trace of anything. At last, you resign yourself to simply blasting the thing open. A number of rounds encircle the place where the cylinder drew back and you grip it resolutely, with four hands.

Though the strained effort requires tremendous will, you finally manage to pull the thing out. It waxes and wanes in and out of its receptacle, giving two inches and taking back one. Eventually, something starts clicking, creaks, breaks, and before you know it, the cylinder pulls out fully. Your Assault holds it up effortlessly, alone.

You inspect it carefully. It's a peculiar contraption, but you notice two things clearly. One, it is constructed with technology that was definitely not available during the Plane Graveyard's heyday. Two, it's a camera. In a VR environment, you can film from any point of view.

So why would there be a camera?

You hold it in your hand like Goliath's head as you step outside. You light the flare. You wonder what will happen to you, now that you know.

"YOU ARE VICTORIOUS." The voice gives you no comfort. "PREPARE FOR TERMINATION."

Rolled 5

>>32199116
Ah shit
So what are the bets they are not actually machines?

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>>32198956
>>32198966
>>32199080
>>32199090
Thread end, everyone! I'll see you next Thursday. This time, I should be able to deliver!

Questions? Comments? I'm all ears.

Oh yeah, and how many threads do you think we should have between OPERATING? One, two? A few consecutive operations? One every several threads?

>>32199145
One to two threads downtime between OPERATAN seems to work well, any longer and things drag on and feel slow paced as we ache for the thirst of battle.

Thanks for the thread OP, cya next time.

>>32199145
Sorry I suddenly dropped out, OP. I was watching a movie.

Rolled 11

>>32199145
What this>>32199184 anon said.
Thanks for the thread OP, pls don't be kill
I hope you get more players, you really do deserve more

>>32199116
>So why would there be a camera?

Oh dear.

>>32199145
Thanks for running.

>>32199184
Yep, that was the plan. There's a lot of operating to be had until in-universe WAR PALACE. It's early May there.

>>32199206
B-but isn't OOQ sort of cinematic?

>>32199214
Thanks! I'll try to deliver for the Khorne in all of us.

>>32199220
>Oh dear.
There was that one guy in the first thread. He promised me internets.

>>32199270
This it?

archive.foolz.us/tg/thread/31749898/#q31754976
>I've got 20 Internets on some sort of great overarching threat rearing it's ugly head and this going full Evangelion.

>>32199270
Not as much as Gangster Squad, no.

>>32199302
That's the one.