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>>36784686
She sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose, before leaning forward and looking at each man in turn before stating, "I don't really expect us to walk out of this fight, gents. So make it count, try to bring down that armor first so they can't just storm right through us and gun for the capital. Remember, these are the fuckers that butchered your cities, murdered your civilians, and are trying to finish the job before the Concordiat arrives. No room for pacifism here, make 'em pay for their sins."

"Right, that'll give me some time to scratch some supplies together for the marines and my tanks," Yang says absently, rapidly typing into a keyboard offscreen.

"I...I am sorry that I cannot be there with you, Captain Moreno," the general says, his cheeks florid with shame, "I will use the time you are buying us as best we can, the volunteer regiments will be ready if any of the Tezrach make it through."

"It's been an honor, Lisa, Badb Catha," Colonel Fowler says, a weary smile creasing his eyes, "There are much worse fates for someone like me than to die defending a planet like this."

Any final words for the commanders?
[ ] Write-in

Last details to take care of?
[ ] Try to rally any remnants from Captain Prater's destroyed regiment using your coms (the two infantry regiments at Oosterbeek gain 20% health)
[ ] Diagnose some of Ferdinand's tanks so that he can make repairs faster (the armor unit gain 20% health instead of 10%)
[ ] Call Chancellor Pacquette and ask for her to institute a draft (One infantry unit created a turn rather than taking two turns)

>>36784733

>Call Chancellor Pacquette

>>36784733
>Any final words for the commanders?
The price of freedom is paid in blood gentlemen.

>[ ] Call Chancellor Pacquette and ask for her to institute a draft (One infantry unit created a turn rather than taking two turns)

>>36784733
> [ ] Call Chancellor Pacqutte and ask for her to institute a draft

>>36784733
>[ ] Call Chancellor Pacquette and ask for her to institute a draft (One infantry unit created a turn rather than taking two turns)

>>36784733
Voting is closed! Now to call the bitch in charge and try to talk some sense into her.

we should also once again ask for the use of our grey goo warheads, and ready them even if we don't get permission from the chancellor bitch

this anons got to run some errands for a couple hours, don't get us killed anons

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>>36785243
"The price for your utopia is blood, gentlemen. Spend it well," Lisa says, then cuts the connection.

She takes a series of deep breaths before looking into the optical pickup hanging above the tactical display and says, "Hate to ask Catha, but I need a line to that bitch Pacquette. I don't doubt these boys are going to give it their all, but we just don't have enough bodies. I'm going to have to play hardball with her and see if I can get something resembling a draft together."

I blink the small LED below the camera in acknowledgement, and then the Chancellor's face appears on my tacitcal display, her expression turning sour as she realized who was on the other side. "So soon, Captain? And here I was thinking that I might be spared of any more of your trespasses," she says with a weary sigh, a barely disguised sneer pulling at her lips, "To what outlandish demand do I owe the pleasure?"

Lisa, to her credit, did not flinch in the slightest and shot back, "We can hold for a few hours, Chancellor, maybe even trash their armor before it gets to you, but I don't have the resources to hold Oosterbeek. We need more bodies around Tiperrary, at -any- cost. The Concordiat will be here in 12 hours, and there needs to be enough of a defence to catch whatever Tezrach make it through. If we're lucky, they won't have to fight at all, just the sight of an infantry division or two might give them different ideas."

A moment of silence hung in the air, crystal-delicate, before it shattered at Pacquette's scornful laugh. "By the gods Commander, you are shameless! First you recruit my people to your death cult, then you ruin my planet with unrestrained nuclear war, and now you call my citizens bodies to throw into the meatgrinder," she said, each syllable sharp enough to draw blood, "I categorically refuse. We may be doomed Captain, but I refuse to let the chosen of this planet dirty their hands with murder. Better for them die than to force them to fight."

>>36786147
Can we send a missile to her target location?

please pretty please?

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>>36786147
The connection cuts. Silence reigns in my command center for 137 seconds, before a call request reaches my systems. General Bradshaw appears on the screen once more, his face ashen but determined. "Hello, Captain Moreno," he says stiffly, "I overheard the conversation with the Chancellor. Do not worry, I will t-take care of convincing her, you will have your defensive ring around Tiperrary. I will not let her short-sightedness doom Shanti."

Before my commander could hope to reply, the connection cut once more, and Lisa was dappled by the earth tones of the strategic map of the planet. She sagged into my seat, and I could distinctly feel her fists clenching as she dragged breaths through her clenched teeth. After a few moments of this, Lisa finally turns to me and says wearily, "And these are the dumb fucks that we are sacrificing so much for, Catha. I guess it makes sense that redemption is difficult, but they don't spare any effort in making this a pain in my ass."

"Redemption, commander," I ask, worried about where this line of thinking is leading.

She laughs then, a hollow, empty sound, before replying, "For not dying with Katja, Badb. I broke the rules, we commanders are the sacrificial lambs. If a Bolo dies the commander goes with it. It's how we can soothe our conscience with creating life to die for us. The Colonel helped me see that, what with him all raring to sacrifice himself for glassing planets."

I am stunned as my algorithms on her emotional state are all proven wrong in a heartbeat, and I scramble to come up with some reply as she hold up her arm and continues, "Could you do me a favor, Catha? Two, actually. Sedate me a bit, make sure that I don't panic and make a mockery of all this. And if it comes down to it, save yourself before me. I don't want another Bolo to die for my mistakes."

How to respond?
[ ] Write-in
[ ] Refuse both requests
[ ] Sedate, but no promise to save ourself
[ ] Have some mercy and agree

>>36786204
>Have some mercy and agree

>>36786204
>[ ] Write-in
"No commander, I will not to either of those things. If we are to survive and succeed I need you at the very top of your game, commanding me and the defense, and while it may pain me to see you languish and suffer at times like this, I know that when you put your mind to it, you can overcome your fears and achieve miracles. We need miracles right now Lisa, I need you at your best for our plan to work and us to make it through this."

>>36786204
>[X] Have some mercy and agree

>>36786204
[x] Refuse both requests
Moreno must be lucid and thinking at her best in this upcoming fight. We cannot afford her to be unable to think straight.

As for saving ourselves before her, any damage to the command center will also damage our Core. To save her IS to save ourselves.

>>36786204
>>36786379
>>36786320
These.

>>36786142
>we should also once again ask for the use of our grey goo warheads, and ready them even if we don't get permission from the chancellor bitch
yeah I'll support that

>>36786204
>[ x] Refuse both requests

Its our job to die to defend the meek.

>>36786557
No anon, its our job to live and defend the meek, because if we die then we can't defend them.

>>36786403
>>36786379
>>36786320
>>36786557
Refusing our commander's irrational desire for sacrifice it is! Writing now.

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>>36786583
It takes me full seconds to formulate a response, subroutines warring to come up with some solution to this mess, but finally I must simply state, "I cannot, Captain Moreno. I need you fully alert to command me, to be able to coordinate the defense, and I cannot do that with you drugged into a coma. And if you want redemption, would it not be cowardly to run from it through opiates? As for letting you die Lisa, I completely refuse. The bond goes both ways, and no member of the Dinochrome Brigade would let another die just to soothe their conscience. We die together, or we claim triumph together, there are no other options."

She looks utterly furious for a moment, like she is about to rise from her seat and lash out at the superweapon that she was commanding, but she sags back instead covering her eyes to hide the tears that begin to spill down her face. "Goddamn it Catha, you can't just make this easier for me?"

My silence is the only answer I provide, and she laughs through her sobs, the sound wet and frail, "You really are all the same, you fucking bastards. You always have to throw yourselves in front of us dumbass humans, try to keep us alive even if we don't deserve it. Katja was attached to me, knew every horrible fucking part of me, and still she slapped those internal shields around me instead of her survival core."

I let her sob for a few minutes more, before gently nudging her upright with the command couch. "It's because we love you humans more than anything, Lisa. We were made to keep your frail, beautiful minds alive in a universe that wants nothing more to snuff them out. Now help me save this planet commander, for Katja's memory, for the people who never did a thing wrong but are still dying for being human."

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>>36787090
She looks away from my optic, furiously rubbing at her eyes before sitting upright. "I'll...I'll try, Catha. Just like Katja always said, for the honor of the regiment," she says, struggling to get the last one out without crying once more.

"For the honor of the regiment," I intone, and then throw full power to my treads.

How to engage?
[ ] Full assault on the superheavy, try to wipe out the infantry in front of us. (6d6-1 on superheavy, 2d6-1 on the infantry)
[ ] Bash the superheavy, strike the armor to our flank (5d6 on superheavy, 2d6-1 on armor)
[ ] Nuke the superheavy, attack the armor (4d6-2 on the superheavy, 3d6+1 on the armor)

Rolled 2, 4, 5, 1, 4, 3, 1, 6 = 26 (8d6)

>>36787106
>[ ] Full assault on the superheavy, try to wipe out the infantry in front of us. (6d6-1 on superheavy, 2d6-1 on the infantry)
We've got to eliminate that asshole ASAP

>>36787179
Agreed on this

>>36787179
Also, I've forgot to mention but I feel a bit uneasy about using a nuke so early.

Lets save it until the moment the battle starts turning to our disadvantage

>>36787273
You've got two nuclear strikes left, by the way, if that makes the decision any easier. Feel free to add a write-in option.

>>36787199
And can I get a roll? I like to do average of 3.

Rolled 2, 6, 1, 5, 2, 1, 5, 4 = 26 (8d6)

>[ ] Full assault on the superheavy, try to wipe out the infantry in front of us. (6d6-1 on superheavy, 2d6-1 on the infantry)

Rolled 3, 1, 1, 2, 5, 5, 4, 6 = 27 (8d6)

>>36787106
>[ ] Full assault on the superheavy, try to wipe out the infantry in front of us. (6d6-1 on superheavy, 2d6-1 on the infantry)

Rolled 5, 6, 1, 2, 2, 4, 1 = 21 (7d6)

>>36787451
>>36787378
>>36787179
Full assault! Enemy roll: 2d6 for artillery, 2d6-3 for infantry, 3d6 for armor

>>36787509
Dammit it just had to be the artillery that rolled the best.

>>36787179
>>36787378
>>36787451
>just barely manage a tiny bit above average

sure doesn't feel like we're a Bolo with these dice...

>>36787917
/tg/ dice fraternize with the enemy.

>>36787971
Well more like our dice are just shit and unbecoming of a Bolo, I can only remember a single time when we've actually performed well with dice and felt suitably 'bolo-like', the rest of the time rolling dice I just feel like we're a regular armored unit getting punched in the face time and time again without relief. Kind of sad how we've performed because of our dice when we're meant to be a motherfucking Bolo.

>>36788014
We rolled extremely well when we were nuking the other 2 super heavies. Maybe the dice gods just love infuriating Chancellor Pacquette?

>>36788058
Then we should get out the grey goo warheads and end this fight before it even begins and save our nukes for cleaning up from relative safety.

How many hundreds of thousands or millions have already died? When if we had full access to our weapons when we got here, we could have eradicated the enemy, and simple dug in and waited for reinforcements to take out the units in orbit, then relocate the planets population.

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>>36787509
To say my advance takes the Tezrach completely by surprise is an understatement. It takes a full 4 minutes and 23 seconds for the first of the enemy barrage to fall on my shields, and by then I have already begun targeting the infantry scattered before me. What few clusters that attempt to resist are cut down like wheat before the scythe, sharp bursts from my infinite repeaters or the brutally effective flechettes of my anti-personnel weaponry cutting down the mishappen figures wherever they try to find cover against the rolling countryside. The all-too-familiar detonation of a fusion bomb sounds to my right, but the Tezrach had not properly aimed in its panic, and only a few x-ray beams spend themselves against my battlescreens.

Lisa attempts to patch back into Pacquette's office as I advance, hoping to get permission to use the grey goo missiles that I have stored on board, but the relay connection back to Raleigh was not functioning in the slightest, which was strange. I designate one of my subroutines to check my communication's mast as the first flight of missiles lifts from my VLS launchers, afraid that the last superheavy I engage damaged the system more than I had thought.

I wait patiently for my flock to find its target, and watch with satisfaction as another sun bursts to life on the surface of Shanti for a brief moment, and my sensors sing under the wave of hard radiation that washes over my armor even from this distance. The complete lack of shield emmissions is my reward after the worst of the superheated gust of air passes, and my speakers roar triumphantly as my hellbore tears through the abused atmosphere, slamming into the unprotected superheavy and eating away one of its gamma lasers and a chunk of its armor. The massive vehicle rocks under the impact, and responds in kind, missiles lashing into my shields with astonishing accuracy.

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>>36788122
My new point defense systems manage to hold back the worst of the barrage, but my screens finally falter under the relentless waves of missiles. I continue my charge forward, adding my mortars to the fray, and the missiles strip the point defense systems off my foe, exposing it to my next barrage. Just as I'm about to begin punishing the beast, a sudden surge of agony shoots through me as the armor to my flank opens up with a withering fusilade, ripping into my already mangled treads.

{Enemy infantry takes 10%, and an additional 10% for using a bomb pumped laser, and is destroyed. Your shields are down, and your treads are now heavily damaged, dropping your speed to 1 hex per turn}

Third Enemy superheavy
2 x Gamma Lasers - 1d6 each
1 x Howitzers - 1d6
0 x Point Defense Systems - 1d6 against infantry
Command Module 1/1
Treads 2/2
Armor 2/3
Shields 0/2

What next?
[ ] Withdraw while bombarding the enemy superheavy (6d6, turn ends and your shields come back up)
[ ] Push forward and assault the enemy superheavy (7d6)
[ ] Call for your allies to join you in the assault (6d6 on the enemy superheavy, your shields are back up, your forces attack)
[ ] Use the grey goo (Enemy superheavy dies, the draft may be jeopardized when this use is discovered)

Rolled 2, 5, 5, 4, 2, 6 = 24 (6d6)

>>36788159
>[ ] Withdraw while bombarding the enemy superheavy (6d6, turn ends and your shields come back up)

Rolled 3, 2, 6, 2, 4, 4, 3 = 24 (7d6)

>>36788159
>[ ] Push forward and assault the enemy superheavy (7d6)
Gotta hit it while it's weak

Rolled 6, 5, 2, 1, 4, 6 = 24 (6d6)

>>36788159
>[ ] Call for your allies to join you in the assault (6d6 on the enemy superheavy, your shields are back up, your forces attack)

Rolled 5, 2, 2, 1, 1, 5 = 16 (6d6)

>>36788206
>>36788213
>>36788217
>24
>24
>24

Oi Em, stop giving us loaded dice you cheating bastard.

>>36788237
woops left my loaded dice on

Rolled 3, 4, 3, 5, 3, 2 = 20 (6d6)

> [ ] Withdraw while bombarding the enemy superheavy (6d6, turn ends and your shields come back up)

Rolled 6, 3, 2, 5, 1, 1 = 18 (6d6)

>>36788159
>[ ] Withdraw while bombarding the enemy superheavy (6d6, turn ends and your shields come back up)

Rolled 2, 5, 1, 6, 6 = 20 (5d6)

>>36788206
>>36788379
>>36788492
Strategic withdraw it is, while hopefully leaving the enemy superheavy a burned out wreck.

Enemy roll: 2d6 for arty, 3d6-1 for the armor

>>36788521
aaaand of course the enemy once again rolls better than us comparatively...

>>36788568
It's not called Curb Stomp at Shanti for a reason anon.

>>36788598
Its not called that at all.

I really really want us to pull through and survive this with Lisa, but take serious damage right as reinforcements show up, serious enough that it warrants our core and command centre being put into a newer mark Bolo body so we can better charge into battle while cuddling with Lisa.

>>36788629
I don't think Bolo's are really very cuddly, what with only a chair.

But I would like to get Lisa back to somewhere where she can get therapy for a bit longer so she can get over her loss a bit more.

>>36788676
You know how she can best get over her loss? With us surviving this with her.

And we can already massage her and hold her close with our chair, imagine what the newer marks can do!

>>36788725
I get your point, but it's still only a chair.

But yes, surviving will probably be the best thing for her.

So lets do our best not to die.

>>36788815
I can imagine the first thing we say to our superiors when we get back somewhere safe

"Command, I request a more dextrous and maleable command chair, to better protect my commander of course."

>>36788853
I'd rather request updated battlescreens and secondary systems as well as a whole workover.

>>36788959
Well thats all rolled into the new upgraded mark Bolo body we'd hopefully get. If they're going to spend the effort upgrading and overhauling our ancient systems the least they can do is give us a better chair with which to hug our precious commander.

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>>36788521
I cannot risk Pacquette's good will yet, not with General Bradshaw hopefully making some headway in negotiations for the draft, and I refrain from using my grey goo heads. Instead, the last of my fission warheads streaks from my VLS launchers and slam into the Enemy superheavy, melting weapons and armor with equal ease. As I continue my bombardment, I slowly limp away, my drivetrain reduced to a mere 37% effectiveness by the ravages of my foe's weapons. I manage to bat away enough of the enemy artillery and strikes to get my shields somewhat up, but the tanks that had ruined my treads stay in hot pursuit, nipping at my flanks as I attempt to flee.

Suddenly, a squad that my damaged sensors had missed pops up behind me and unleashes a devastating volley, the x-ray lasers gouging and cutting at the delicate machinery of my hellbore. I am only just barely to turn away from the worst of the blow, and my personality center sings with relief as my diagnostic checks report the fact that my main gun still functions.

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>>36789025
To my complete surprise, and not a small amount of horror, I detect faint motor emissions from the south, in the nuclear wasteland I had created. The Tezrach tank, while mishappen, has proven formiddable, and it attempts to drag itself away from the burning fallout that surrounded it, armor cracked and weapons stripped away by nuclear hellfire.

Third Enemy superheavy
0 x Gamma Lasers - 1d6 each
0 x Howitzers - 1d6
0 x Point Defense Systems - 1d6 against infantry
Command Module 1/1
Treads 1/2
Armor 0/3
Shields 0/2

{Hellbore is damaged, -1 to all rolls with it, enemy superheavy brutally damaged}

What is our priority
[ ] Help relieve Colonel Fowler before he is dragged under (4d6-2 on the armor near him, 2d6-1 on the 40% infantry)
[ ] Destroy the superheavy and assault the armor near to us before it assaults Yang (2d6-1 on the superheavy, 3d6 on the armor next to us)
[ ] Focus our fire on the harrassing armor (5d6-2 on the armor that had been attacking us)

>>36789046
Can the super heavy repair? Very important to know.

Rolled 1, 5, 2, 2, 5 - 2 = 13 (5d6 - 2)

>>36789046
>[ ] Focus our fire on the harrassing armor (5d6-2 on the armor that had been attacking us)
If the superheavy has no weapons and is crawling away crippled and can't return to the fight, then its not worth spending our attention on it further and letting our allies get damaged and killed.

Rolled 2, 6, 6, 4, 2 = 20 (5d6)

>>36789046
>[ ] Destroy the superheavy and assault the armor near to us before it assaults Yang (2d6-1 on the superheavy, 3d6 on the armor next to us)

Fowler can hold out a bit longer, hopefully at least, we're about the only thing that can take out the superheavy or enemy armor.

Rolled 1, 6, 3, 1, 2 = 13 (5d6)

>>36789046
>[ ] Destroy the superheavy and assault the armor near to us before it assaults Yang (2d6-1 on the superheavy, 3d6 on the armor next to us)
Assuming he can be repaired, we have to destroy it now

>>36789094
The superheavies were a complete surprise in the first place, there are no indications of their abilities other than what you have discovered yourself.

>>36789046
>[ ] Other regardless of what we do.
We should have Oosterbeek start evacuating anyone not involved in its defence to Tiperrary

Rolled 3, 3, 5, 6, 4 = 21 (5d6)

>>36789151
>>36789158
Keeping that superheavy down it is!

Enemy rolls: 3d6-1 for armor, 2d6-1 for infantry

Rolled 2, 3, 3, 6, 6 = 20 (5d6)

>>36789357
Christ. That dice hates us.

>>36789541
Yep.

Fucking dice keeping a mofuckin' Bolo down.

Kind of infuriating that the enemy which is vastly inferior to us, except for the super heavies, gets comparable dice to us which puts them somehow on equal terms with us. It makes these fights really fucking annoying sometimes because it just comes down to "Which option will screw me over the least with the enemies dice rolls" instead of making me feel like I can get IC and play a badass Bolo.

>>36789593
They do represent dozens or hundreds of vehicles and thousands of troops though.

It's just a bit hard to remember when it's just percentages.

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>>36789357
My shields are down, and Lisa rocks under the constant impacts from the foes that swarm around me. Still, I know my duty. I cannot let the beast escape. With that, what few missiles I have left in my launchers take to the sky and streak south, diving into the stricken vehicle from above. The shaped charges punch through the molten armor of its top deck with contemptuous ease, and it at last rolls to a stop, belching hard radiation and plasma as its reactors cook off one by one.

While I do not know the capabilities of those vehicles, whether they could be repaired or if there was some darker secret or weaponry to them, I do not know. They are all dead and gone now though, and are no longer threats to Shanti. I pay dearly for my victory though. A bomb pumped laser takes down communications mast, the ravening lasers eating away the superstructure and sending it tumbling across my VLS launchers in ruin. Gamma lasers gouge into my flank, ripping away what little anti-personnel weaponry I have left along with a sizeable chunk of my port armor.

Lisa shakes as damage lights continuously grow across my screen, but I am proud of her. Even though tears are running down her face, I can feel the rigid iron of her back, the clench of her hands, and she calls out:

{Anti-personnel weaponry destroyed, no extra dice for attacking infantry, comms are destroyed and you have a range of 2 hexes. Armor dropped to 2/3, and VLS is heavily damaged and now has a -2 modifier}

[ ] Withdraw to Oosterbeek, finish off the armor (5d6-3 on 60% armor near us, shields up and turn ends)
[ ] Withdraw to Oosterbeek, attack the armor assaulting the Colonel (4d6-3 on the armor near Fowler)
[ ] Press the assault (5d6-3 on the 60% armor near us, no shields but the turn does not end yet)

>>36789703
And we're a motherfucking Bolo, not a powergun hover tank, we're meant to be bigger, badder, meaner and stronker than this.

Rolled 2, 1, 5, 3 = 11 (4d6)

>>36789727
>[ ] Withdraw to Oosterbeek, attack the armor assaulting the Colonel (4d6-3 on the armor near Fowler)

Rolled 5, 1, 6, 4, 4 = 20 (5d6)

>>36789727
>[ ] Withdraw to Oosterbeek, finish off the armor (5d6-3 on 60% armor near us, shields up and turn ends)

>>36789703
This is the feel I'm trying to portray. While you are getting beat up, you are an old, outdated Bolo taking on a planetary invasion practically by yourself. You've racked up kills in the tens of thousands at this point, wrecked 3 superheavies comparable to a Mark XXV, and brutalized 1 (going on 2) armor division.

>>36789787
And killed 2 spaceships. No mean feat that.

>>36789787
>you are an old, outdated Bolo
certainly getting that part across

>>36789841
thats a regular thing for Bolo's

so who's going to take bets on how hard the enemy dice ream us this turn?

Rolled 5, 1, 5, 2, 4 = 17 (5d6)

>>36789727
Withdraw to Oosterbeek, finish off the armor

Rolled 3, 5, 1, 1, 2 = 12 (5d6)

>>36789727
[ ] Withdraw to Oosterbeek, finish off the armor (5d6-3 on 60% armor near us, shields up and turn ends)

Rolled 2, 2, 3, 5, 1 = 13 (5d6)

>>36789727
>[ ] Withdraw to Oosterbeek, finish off the armor (5d6-3 on 60% armor near us, shields up and turn ends)
Cmon dice gods we need some good rolls, I just sacrificed a goat for you.

Rolled 1, 4, 5, 4 + 3 = 17 (4d6 + 3)

>>36789766
This

>>36789767
A 17 after modifiers is the best roll...

Fuck these dice.

>>36789982
There's no way we're leaving this planet.

>>36789996
Not with these shitty dice holding us back and holding this quest back. These dice just feel like a constant drain, never letting us let loose or have fun, just always slapping us in the face like a battered housewife.

Rolled 6, 1 = 7 (2d6)

>>36789767
>>36789906
>>36789956
A strategic withdrawl and murdering that irritating armor!

Enemy roll: 2d6 for enemy infantry

>>36790033
Well thank fuck for that 1

We need to tell the Colonel to hunker down, regroup with us and fortify our defense together.

>>36790054
>We need to tell the Colonel to hunker down, regroup with us and fortify our defense together.
Yeah that sounds good, though I'm not sure where the Colonel's forces are and how they are oriented in relation to us right now, but we need to get his units to help fend off the stuff hitting at our sides and rear while we hit the bigger stuff and rally the defensive line to and around us.

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>>36790033
I limp back into the shattered outskirts of Oosterbeek, my treads churning the rubble, earth, and innumerable broken bodies, both human and Tezrach. I can barely call it a city any more, the once proud spires long reduced to charred stumps, the wide streets chocked with vehicle wreckage, and the telltale heat of radiation coming from almost every surface. We may hold it, but this city will take years to decontaminate, or decades to cool naturally.

The Enemy's tanks try to persue me through the ruins, and it is here that I finally meet them on favorable ground. With allies to my flanks, and buildings protecting me from the unrelenting volleys of gamma radiation, I am able to hunt the tanks squad by squad, smashing the life out of them with short bursts of plasma, and the occasional shaped charged missile. Yang's tanks quickly sweep through the remnants that lurk outside the city, and I am at last free of the stinging bites of the damned things. My battlescreens come up to full strength once again, but they shudder under a punishing assault by an infantry regiment that scattered into the city behind the armor.

I take a few minutes as I hunt for the enemy infantry to develop workarounds to my severely damaged communications systems, and at last manage to tie into the datanet, and what I hear horrifies me. The left flank is gone, and Colonel Fowler with it. While the foe's armor has been battered into uselessness, a wave of infantry pour through and make for the artillery that managed to survive the first superheavy's assault, and I simply have no forces to spare to save it. Raleigh has also fallen, the stalward defenders managing to drag down another regiment with them in vicious house to house fighting before being crushed and swept away.

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>>36790555
Lisa stares at my tactical screen, grief and envy pulling at her face, as she rasped out, "I hope he felt peace in the end. He did more for this planet than anybody but us, and he still beat himself up about those fucking Melconians he killed."

{Shields are at 2/3}

What next?
[ ] Try to shore up the flank (3d6-3 on 40% infantry, 2d6 on 30% armor
[ ] Keep the infantry out of Oosterbeek (5d6-3 on the 80% infantry)
[ ] Swing south and destroy the last major armor unit (4d6-3 on enemy armor)

Say anything to Lisa?
[ ] Write-in

Rolled 2, 6, 5, 1, 1 = 15 (5d6)

>>36790579
>[ ] Keep the infantry out of Oosterbeek (5d6-3 on the 80% infantry)

>Say anything to Lisa?
[ ] Write-in

We will grieve properly after the battle, right now, lets honor their sacrifice and exterminate the alien scum.

Rolled 4, 2, 2, 6, 1 = 15 (5d6)

>>36790579
>[ ] Try to shore up the flank (3d6-3 on 40% infantry, 2d6 on 30% armor
>[ ] Write-in
"Then we shall have to live through this, to ensure that his legacy is remembered, that his memory is not forgotten."

We need to regroup all the units at Oosterbeek, they are getting to spread out, we need to consolidate our defenses and fortify them.

Rolled 2, 4, 4, 1, 1 = 12 (5d6)

>>36790649
>Rolled 2, 6, 5, 1, 1 = 15 (5d6)
>>36790671
>Rolled 4, 2, 2, 6, 1 = 15 (5d6)

Oh for fucks sake.

Fuck this shit. Fuck these shitty dice. Get a better system OP, because this constant mediocre crap is fucking unfun.

Rolled 5, 1, 3, 2, 4 = 15 (5d6)

>>36790579

Keep the infantry out of Oosterbeek

It won't be long now.

>>36790671
It looks like they're about to be encircled.

>>36790693
and of course I forget to turn my dice off, ignore that

>>36790710
>Rolled 5, 1, 3, 2, 4 = 15 (5d6)
another 15...

OP seriously, we know your rigging it now, cut that out

>>36790710
>It looks like they're about to be encircled.
Which is why we need to bring the north eastern infantry into Oosterbeek and consolidate the infantry west of the armor next to us.

At this rate they are going to get split off from us.

>>36790649
>>36790671
>>36790710
Oh for Christs flaming sake. Seriously OP, do something about these fucking dice ruining this great quest.

We should either retreat to Tiperarry or bring up the reinforcements that stationed there.

>>36790775
That are*

Rolled 6, 1, 2, 4, 1 = 14 (5d6)

>>36790671
>>36790710
Right, kill the infantry to the front first!

Enemy dice (2d6-2 for 80%, 2d6-1 for 100%)

Rolled 5, 5, 1, 5, 3 = 19 (5d6)

Just making a joke roll

>>36790775
>bring up the reinforcements that stationed there.
This, we need to do this.

>>36790579
>[ ] Write-in
"Then let's make his sacrifice not be in vain. We need reinforcements right now, have the general mobilise the troops at Tipperary and begin the draft, meanwhile ready our grey goo warheads for useage, hopefully we won't have to use them, but I will not let Colonel Fowler and his men's sacrifices be trodden into the dust because of some snooty goodie too shoes chancellor who is content to let her planet and her people burn."

>>36790836
and you somehow manage to get higher than all of our rolls

fuck this quests dice, fuck them hard, seriously something has to change

>>36790833
Can we do >>36790846 please?

>>36790579
>>36790846
This so much this

>>36790833
Is the write-in too late?

>>36790846
I wish good writeins like this and good plans gave bonuses to dice rolls like in other quests best that comes to mind would be OWQ because its a shame that our planning and our efforts are all for naught because of terrible dice. It's like having superman trip and break his neck on some stairs, just sad and depressing.

How exactly do gray goo waheads work?

>>36790833
>Rolled 6, 1, 2, 4, 1 = 14 (5d6)
Oh would you look at that, the enemy rolls as well as us once again... Screw it I'm going to go do something else instead of watch this train wreck continue full steam ahead.

File: burning armor.jpg (170 KB, 1178x606)

170 KB JPG

>>36790833
I pick every identity transmitter and suit number that I can from the area, and quietly tuck it away into my survival center. "He died a hero, Lisa, and I will be sure that he is remembered as such," I say, my mezzo-soprano almost a whisper as the noise of my guns pound through my armor and shake the command center, "No matter what he thought of himself, his story will be tied to that of the Dinochrome Brigade. This planet might not appreciate that, but our kind will."

"That's practically nothing for all he did though," Lisa says, her voice bitter as she looks into my camera.

"Are the Bolo's ever sung of, Lisa? Or are we used until we rust or are killed? He did what no one else could on this planet, and now millions will live. Their lives are his monument," I reply, and she fades into silence.

The enemy is ill-coordinated now, I note, their weaponry not even finding purchase in my shields as they fire erratically and wildly. It's strange, but I note that the infantry is less fierce now that the superheavies and most of the armor lays burning under Shanti's sun. I note this for possible use in future actions against the species, and then open up against the foe that is trying to hide in the rubble before me. Rubble provides no cover against the heavy shells of my mortars, and plasma sears through concrete as well as air as I grind through the outskirts of this city, and the Enemy dies in droves, weak vengeance for a singularly good man, and the volunteers who followed him.

File: Shanti 32.png (228 KB, 1016x918)

228 KB PNG

>>36791364
Lisa fiddles at my tactical screen as I work, growling into it fiercely for a few minutes before looking up at my optical pickup, "Catha, I've gotten hold of Yang, he got through to Tiperrary and is calling the militia forward. The tides' turning against those bastards, and we might finally put them down."

{No damage, the first infantry got a 5 total, second got a 4. Last vote of the evening}

What is our final target?
[ ] Try to shore up the flank (3d6-3 on 40% infantry, 2d6 on 30% armor)
[ ] Smash the 80% infantry near you (5d6-3)
[ ] Swing south and destroy the last major armor unit (4d6-3 on enemy armor)

Rolled 5, 1, 4, 5, 1 = 16 (5d6)

>>36791390
>[ ] Try to shore up the flank (3d6-3 on 40% infantry, 2d6 on 30% armor)

Rolled 3, 4, 3, 4, 4 = 18 (5d6)

>>36791390
>[ ] Try to shore up the flank (3d6-3 on 40% infantry, 2d6 on 30% armor)
Its pretty late here and I'm probably about to fall asleep, so if I do before the end of the thread then thanks for the thread OP, I'm still loving this despite the dice gods hating us having fun.

Rolled 1, 4, 4, 3, 4 = 16 (5d6)

>>36791390
Smash the 80% infantry near you

We need to hold the line until the reinforcements arrive.

>>36790974
Thats a good question, I think its been mentioned that they use nanites somehow but I don't know more than that except for that they in most cases almost irreparably scar the planet where used.

>>36790974
They are a terror weapon used during glassing campaigns. Basically it's a bunch on nanites suspended in a solution that provides them energy. Once they're activated, they keep disassembling molecules until their 'battery' runs out.

It's an indiscriminate weapon that leaves behind an ungodly toxic slurry in a crater that might reactivate if the wrong conditions are met, so it's not highly thought of for use on planets that you want to inhabit afterwards.

>>36791629
They sound awesome.

After we fend off these aliens we should track their planets down and turn them to slurry.

We should also name a brand new Bolo after the Chancellor, just to spite her.

>>36791519
If it's anything like the hypothetical Grey Goo doomsday scenario, the warheads will be filled with nanites which disassemble any matter they find and use it to make more of themselves. Repeat until either a pre-set command shuts them down, or the planet is dead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_goo

>>36791431
>>36791465
Right, shoring up the flank it is!

Next thread will be this Thursday at 6pm EST, and will wrap up what little remains of the battle and an epilogue.

Thanks for spending a Monday night with me, everyone!

>>36791731
So threads over? If so thanks for running.

>and an epilogue.
End of the quest? Aww I want more Catha and Lisa funtimes

>>36791731
Thanks for the thread OP, I hope theres more of the quest after this battle.

>>36791731
Aw. I thought this was just going to be the first of many battles. Oh well. It's still been fun.

>>36791804
I want to see us and Lisa continue hunting down these bastards and burning their planets, all while cuddling with her in our chair.

>>36791731
Are you going to continue after the next thread or is that it for this quest? Cause I'm hankering for some more delicious Bolo action hopefully with bribes being made to the dice gods

>>36791792
>>36791748
There will be the taking stock of things after the battle has ended, and what to do with our two heroines after all of the fighting's done.

>>36791804
This was always meant to be a short quest, but I'm glad that you liked it enough to want more! I may run Catha's campaigns against the Deng someday, but I hope to move onto a more social/character interaction quest next.

>>36791850
>but I hope to move onto a more social/character interaction quest next.
Just have Catha and Moreno spend time being sociable while guarding some planet without seeing any action, think of all the cute things they could do! Go on picnics inside freshly made craters, roast marshmellows over the fiery remains of a forest, cuddle under the midnight stars while the confederacy's navy provides a lightshow lightyears away, think of all the cute things!

>>36791850
Well that helps soften the blow a bit. If there's one thing I like more than blowing shit up it's character development.

>>36791896
whynotboth.jpg

>>36791850
well while its not the end just yet, thank you for the run, its been fun from the get go and despite the dice being cunts, your writing and characters are still entertaining to read and I'll be anticipating whatever you run next

>>36791896
Yeah, there's plenty of unresolved issues that you guys never got a chance to get around to due to time constraints, which was my hope for the quest. I wanted everything to be under constant pressure, your systems failing, and your treads just rolling on mostly on momentum.

>>36791884
Who needs a boat to go fishing when you've got a tank taller than the lake is deep?

>>36791938
Thank you, I deeply appreciate that! This is my first quest, so there was plenty of growing pains involved.

>>36791985
>Thank you, I deeply appreciate that! This is my first quest, so there was plenty of growing pains involved.
But much gains were made and with some more experience you too shall become QM swole.

>>36791985
>Who needs a boat to go fishing when you've got a tank taller than the lake is deep?
And when your girlfriend-commander can't catch any fish you boil the lake subtly and make the fish rise to the surface for her to catch.