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You are Sergei Boystov, rogue mech pilot and current owner of the RB-001 Cognis; an experimental super mech with as yet unknown strategic capabilities. It’s been a few hours since you stole the Cognis and fought your way out of the base it was housed in.

Since then you’ve hunkered down in the forest, switched on the adaptive camouflage and waited. After a while you see a single contact on your sensor scope, moving along the old forest road about half a click south of your position. You wait a few more minutes, the contact stops, nothing seems to be following it.
A transmission comes over your secure channel.

“Sergei I’m at the rendezvous, where the hell are you?”

“Close Lev. I have you on my sensors hold position and wait for me.”

Lev Durchenko; A friend of yours who was close to some high ranking people in the Cognis project. He was alright as pencil pushers went, without him it wouldn’t have been possible to steal the mech.

When you reach his position you see that he’s stolen a large supply truck complete with a repair arm, good thinking on his part; Cognis had a much larger operational range than most mechs but sooner or later it would need resupply.

Lev exits the cab and you climb out of the cockpit to greet him, from round the other side of the truck walks a woman you don’t know…

>”Nice save back at the base Lev, who’s the lady?”
>”What the hell Lev!? I thought it was just the two of us?”
>”Wanna tell me what’s going on Lev?”

>>40760786
>”Nice save back at the base Lev, who’s the lady?”

>>40760786
>>”Nice save back at the base Lev, who’s the lady?”

Alright lets roll with the first option. Hopefully more players will come in as the night goes on.

Writing...

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“Oh her, she’s…”

“Anya.” The woman states. “I take it you’re the pilot Lev told me about. I saw how you handled yourself back at the base. I suppose your performance was adequate, although you seem to have damaged the mech.”

Your eyes narrow as you look Anya over. She’s an older woman, probably a high ranking exec, she certainly has the condescending demeanour to match.

“All the important parts are intact, they might not be if you didn’t have an ‘adequate’ pilot to help you out.”

Lev is quick to jump in and diffuse the situation.

“Hey! We’re all in this together. Sergei knows what he’s doing.” He looks back at you. “Anya is the one that got you the access codes for the Cognis, she also pulled a few strings to make sure fewer units were combat ready when you made your escape. We can trust her.”

>Smile “Well then, nice to meet you Anya.”
>Nod “Alright, shall we plan our next move?”
>Glare “Listen lady you may be hot shit in the board room but out here I’m the one keeping you alive so quit acting like my boss!”

>>40761581
>Nod “Alright, shall we plan our next move?”
Don't kiss ass, yet there's no reason to be rude to someone who is potential our cash cow. Be polite, be professional, and have a plan to kill everyone you meet. We have a sidearm right?

>>40761581
>Nod “Alright, shall we plan our next move?”

>>40761581
>Nod “Alright, shall we plan our next move?”

Looks like we're keeping cool.

Writing...

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Anya returns your curt nod. ”I’m glad we could come to this understanding. Mr. Boystov.” Lev looks relieved.

Anya pulls out a map and examines it. “Where we go next depends heavily on who we want to sell the Cognis to. Two obvious choices are the International Forum or the Republic of Zanvra. The former are going to be very interested in us, after all the Cognis was designed to threaten their satellite network; we can use that to squeeze them. On the other hand they’re just as likely to send in a commando team to eliminate us. The Zanvrans are power hungry and would love to have some leverage over the IF, but they’d be more willing to walk away from the deal if we ask for too much.”

You nod. “Good to know.”

Lev opens up the back of the truck. “Oh hey, Sergei, in addition to some supplies I also managed to pick up some kind of sensor package we could mount on the Cognis.”

That got you attention, you walk round the back and take a look inside. Beside extra missiles and railgun ammo you see…

>An ECM pod. (Enables hacking and decreases the likelihood of the enemy locking on.)
>An Extended Sensor Pod. (Increases missile range and grants a bonus to locking on.)

As to the next course of action… “Anya…”
>”Tell me more about the Republic of Zanvra.”
>”Tell me more about the International Forum.”
>”Before we can even decide where to go next we have to get out of Surden Nevik.” (No more exposition, move on to the next scene.)
>Write in

>>40762340
>>”Before we can even decide where to go next we have to get out of Surden Nevik.” (No more exposition, move on to the next scene.)

>>40762340
>An ECM Pod. (Enables hacking and decreases the likelihood of the enemy locking on.)
>"Tell me more about the Republic of Zanvra."

>>40762340
>”Before we can even decide where to go next we have to get out of Surden Nevik.” (No more exposition, move on to the next scene.)

(Looks like you guys aren't really fans of visual novels or long cut scenes. :P)

Writing...

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Anya shrugs. “I suppose it really isn’t your job to think ahead Mr. Boystov. Still we don’t really have to make a decision till we cross the border.”

“We need to get moving soon. I want to patch up the Cognis’s armour and move out ASAP.”

Lev looks a little disappointed “Don’t you want to install the ECM? It could be a great help…”

How to prepare? The Cognis will receive some repairs regardless of what you pick.
>Do a more thorough job of patching up the armour. (Roll 1d10)
>Install the ECM.
>Reload the Railgun and Missiles.

Cognis Status:
>Cognis Armour Integrity:14/30
On Board Munitions:
>Missiles:5/6
>Railgun Rounds:19/20

>>40763065
>>Install the ECM.

>>40763065
>Install the ECM.
I dont wanna make our buddy feel bad getting it for nothing

>>40763065
>Install the ECM.
They better be worth it.....

ECM it is!
Writing...

File: Ersatz_Anya.jpg (26 KB, 399x224)

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Using the truck’s repair arm you quickly patch up some of the bigger holes in the armour, then install the ECM pod. Lev helps you out but he doesn’t seem to know much about mech maintenance. You mostly direct him to move the arm while you handle the details.

Anya for her part just sits around reading an incredibly thick book. It looks like a telephone directory but you can’t make out the title.

Finally you’re satisfied with the results and make ready to move out. As you start climbing into the cockpit you catch Anya following you.

“Did I forget something Anya?”

“Not at all, I’m coming with you.”

Well the Cognis did have a co-pilot’s seat but would Anya be of any help?

“You know how to pilot this thing?” you ask skeptically.

Anya holds up the massive book revealing it to be the Cognis’s user manual.

“I’ve been reading this while you and Lev were performing maintenance. It should be simple enough to control some of the secondary systems. It’ll allow you to focus more on other things.”

>”Fine get in, but don’t pull any triggers unless I say so.”
>”If you want a ride, then ride but don’t touch anything!”
>”Get in the truck. I can handle this myself.”

>Cognis Armour Integrity: 20/30

>>40763431
>>”Fine get in, but don’t pull any triggers unless I say so.”

>>40763431
>>”Fine get in, but don’t pull any triggers unless I say so.”

>>40763431
>”Fine get in, but don’t pull any triggers unless I say so.”
I get the feeling she wont take no for an answer

Alright, you let Anya on board.

Writing.

File: Mission_2_P1.jpg (1.25 MB, 4267x2133)

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Anya straps herself into the co-pilot’s seat and you start the Cognis moving towards the border. Lev drives the truck behind you at a safe distance. Before long you come up on a small border outpost. The garrison looked minimal: two Alligator class mechs and a trio of armoured fighting vehicles standing around an early warning sensor. Once you try to cross the border they would inevitably detect you.

The Gators looked like they had been up armoured but frankly nobody used vanilla Gators, the design was practically obsolete, still relevant only because they were so damn cheap.

You hear Lev over the comm. “Okay Sergei let’s just neutralise the garrison so we can head on through. These guys should be no problem right?”

“Of course, but they’ll likely call for re-enforcements. Get ready to floor it as soon as I give the all clear.”

[Tactical Combat Mode Activated]

Cognis Armour Integrity: 20/30
Missiles:5/6
Railgun Rounds:19/20

What to do:
>Close in and use your laser. (Roll 3d20)
>Take cover in the left forest and use the Railgun. (Roll 1d20)
>Take cover in the right forest and use the Railgun. (Roll 1d20)
>Charge! (Move faster, get a bonus to defense.)

What to target:
>The nearest mech.
>The the nearest AFV.

Rolled 2, 19, 13 = 34 (3d20)

>40764049
>Close in and use your laser. (Roll 3d20)
>The nearest mech.

Rolled 11, 18, 10 = 39 (3d20)

>>40764049
>Close in and use your laser. (Roll 3d20)

>The nearest mech.

You have until this song plays twice before I resolve the turn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_8vs8ZLwnU&list=PL5OpFuATFqPciF13J88j8D4rdLqqTRp2P&index=2

Rolled 7, 5, 1 = 13 (3d20)

>>40764049
>>Close in and use your laser. (Roll 3d20)
>The nearest mech.

Rolled 5, 10, 16 = 31 (3d20)

>>40764049
>Close in and use your laser. (Roll 3d20)
>The nearest mech.

Layzors it is. Oh and since I'm a new QM, I'm still experimenting with how to best run these things. So I'll be doing things a little different from how they were in the last session. Please bear with me.

Writing...

Resolving Player Phase:

You rush forward and train your laser on the nearest Gator. You manage to keep the beam on it for the full duration burning away a good chunk of its armour. It’s not quite enough though. Just as the mech moves to return fire your HUD pings with a target lock and a missile slams into the stricken mech from above, obliterating it.

“Anya what the hell!?”

“It was still active. I believe you military types call that a ‘double tap’.”

“Can you not fire off the missiles without my say-so, we don’t have a lot of them.”

Resolving Enemy Phase…Standby

File: Mission_2_P2.jpg (1.23 MB, 4267x2133)

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Forgot the picture, derp. >.<

>>40764534
Hopefully we'll have enough time to loot the place?

>>40764569
I really doubt it, we started a timer as soon as we started attacking and these guys probably have us marked at the top of their shit list

File: Mission_2_E2.jpg (1.23 MB, 4267x2133)

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Resolving Enemy Phase:

The second mech moves up and opens fire with its auto-cannon, as does the nearest AFV. Fortunately their fire is undisciplined and more rounds miss than they hit. The other two AFVs swing round into firing position. You suddenly realise that all the AFVs are equipped with auxiliary missile launchers and the two that haven’t opened fire were most likely trying to get target locks. Your ECM seems to be holding you in good stead so far…

[Tactical Combat Display Online]
Cognis Armour Integrity:16/30
Missiles:4/6
Railgun Rounds:19/20

What to do:
>Move into the forest and take cover, while attacking the nearest AFV with a weapon of your choice. (3d20 for HMGs and Laser, 1d20 for Railgun or Missiles.)
>Move into the forest and take cover, while attacking the nearest mech with a weapon of your choice. (3d20 for HMGs and Laser, 1d20 for Railgun or Missiles.)
>Attack the mech in melee.
>Attack the nearest AFV in melee.

What to tell Anya:
>”Just lock on to my targets but don’t fire anything!”
>”Take control of any weapon I’m not using and fire at will!”
>"Fire a missile at the enemy mech!"
>”Hack the enemy mech!”
(Just so you know the co-pilot can’t operate the railgun as you have to turn the entire torso to aim it, hence only the pilot has control.)

Rolled 4, 2, 10 = 16 (3d20)

>>40765046
>>Move into the forest and take cover, while attacking the nearest AFV with a weapon of your choice. (3d20 for HMGs and Laser, 1d20 for Railgun or Missiles.)
>”Hack the enemy mech!”

>>40765046
>Move into the forest and take cover, while attacking the nearest AFV with a weapon of your choice. (3d20 for HMGs and Laser, 1d20 for Railgun or Missiles.)
>”Hack the enemy mech!”

Rolled 14, 6, 3 = 23 (3d20)

>>40765132
Oh crap, forgot my roll

I'm pretty sure all the players I'm going to get tonight are watching intently already so lets go with one playthrough of this song before the next turn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccy-eIBegOY&index=3&list=PL5OpFuATFqPciF13J88j8D4rdLqqTRp2P

Rolled 11, 18, 19 = 48 (3d20)

>>40765046
>Move into the forest and take cover, while attacking the nearest AFV with a weapon of your choice. (3d20 for HMGs and Laser, 1d20 for Railgun or Missiles.)
>”Hack the enemy mech!”

Rolled 15, 7, 3 = 25 (3d20)

>>40765046
>>Move into the forest and take cover, while attacking the nearest AFV with a weapon of your choice. (3d20 for HMGs and Laser, 1d20 for Railgun or Missiles.)
>”Hack the enemy mech!”

Wow, a unanimous decision. Are some of my options obviously much better than others or something?
BTW I'm assuming you guys chose the laser.

Writing.

>>40765273
Great minds do think alike. Maybe just in this situation there was a best option

File: Mission_2_P3.jpg (1.23 MB, 4267x2133)

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Resolving Player Phase:

You fry the nearest AFV with a solid burst from your laser. Behind you Anya struggles to carry out your orders.

“Ugh, how did this work again…um…isolate the supplemental cloud thread…DDOS requests…arrgh! This isn’t as simple as just firing missiles.”

[Hacking attempt failed.]

You groan as you strafe sideways into the cover of a nearby clump of trees.

Resolving Enemy Phase Standby.

>>40765426
guess we'll have to call her rookie or something as long as we are in the cockpit.

>>40765426
we need to take out that comm tower. Ask her to get a lock on it and missile it.

>>40765835
It's more than likely too late for that. It'd be better to just get out as soon as we can, I think

File: Mission_2_E3.jpg (1.24 MB, 4267x2133)

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Resolving Enemy Phase:

Things were looking bad. The remaining enemies had started to encircle you, holding off at maximum range and concentrating fire. They weren’t great shots but the sheer weight of rounds going down range was starting to take its toll even with the cover from the trees.
As if that wasn’t enough you could see a new hostile moving in on your scope. Probably a cirrus class rapid response variant. It was the only mech you knew that could move that fast.

[Tactical Combat Display Online]
Cognis Armour Integrity: 10/30
Missiles:4/6
Railgun Rounds:19/20

What to do:
>Evasive Manuevers! Run behind the nearest building and put some something between you and your attackers. (Move faster, Big defensive bonus.)
>Fall back further into the forest and firing back at the mech with a weapon of your choice. (3d20 for Laser, 1d20 for Railgun or Missiles.)
>>Fall back further into the forest and firing back at the nearest AFV with a weapon of your choice. (3d20 for Laser, 1d20 for Railgun or Missiles.)

What to tell Anya:
>”Just lock on to my targets but don’t fire anything!”
>”Take control of any weapon I’m not using and fire at will!”
>”Keep trying to hack that mech!”
>”FIRE ZE MISSILES!”

>>40765878
probably true. Best to have her man some of the extra weaponry then. Or paint targets for us.

>>40765937

>Evasive Manuevers
>Take control of any weapon I'm not using and fire at will.

Now for something more metal. Next turn will be resolved after this plays twice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnvqcSKho5w&list=PLD4FDCB0263F7EFCC&index=32

>>40765937
>Evasive Manuevers! Run behind the nearest building and put some something between you and your attackers. (Move faster, Big defensive bonus.)
>”Keep trying to hack that mech!”

>>40765937
>Evasive Manuevers
>”Take control of any weapon I’m not using and fire at will!”
I wouldn't trust Anya with the hacking anymore. If she didn't know how to do it a minute ago, she wouldn't know now.

A unanimous decision to evade, followed by a majority vote for Anya to fire.

Writing.

File: Mission_2_P4.jpg (1.23 MB, 4267x2133)

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Resolving Payer Phase:

Anya takes control of the laser opens fire but instead of hitting anything the beam goes wild and leaves a nasty scorch mark on the tarmac. You don’t have time to admonish her as you turn the Cognis round and sprint for the building.
The good news was that the AFVs weren’t tall enough to get line of sight to you anymore, the bad news was… well you were sure you were about to find out…

Resolving Enemy Phase Standby…

File: Mission_2_E4.jpg (1.24 MB, 4267x2133)

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Resolving Enemy Phase:

You seem to have a smart move. The enemy AFVs have to take time to swing round the building and draw a bead on you. The gator closes in and opens fire, fortunately the building takes the brunt of the shots and the Cognis only sustains minimal damage.

Meanwhile the Cirrus keeps getting closer. You notice yet another sensor contact closing in, it’s big and fat and…

“Dammit Lev what the fuck do you think you’re doing!?”

“You and Anya don’t look like you can handle one more. I’m gonna try and distract it.”

“And just what are you planning to do.”

“Well the truck has an HMG and I think we have a rocket launcher in the back somewhere.”

Oh Gawd seriously…

[Tactical Combat Display Online]

Cognis Armour Integrity: 9/30
Missiles:4/6
Railgun Rounds:19/20

What to do:
>Turn to engage the top AFV with a weapon of your choice. (3d20 for Laser or HMG, 1d20 for Railgun or Missiles.)
>Engage the AFV in melee (roll 1d20)
>Move towards the right forest while at the nearest AFV with a weapon of your choice. (3d20 for Laser, 1d20 for Railgun or Missiles.)
>Exchange Fire with the mech with a weapon of your choice. (Comes with penalties, the cover works both ways.)

What to tell Anya:
>”Just lock on to my targets but don’t fire anything!”
>”Take control of any weapon I’m not using and fire at will!”
>”Keep trying to hack that mech!”
>”FIRE ZE MISSILES!”
>Write in

Any words for Lev?
>”…” Let the crazy bastard do what he wants.
>”Back off Lev, I don’t want to lose you (and that truck with all our stuff in it.)”
>”You got balls man, good luck.”
>Write in

You have until this song plays twice before I resolve the turn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFXL-1t6qk0

>>40766794
>Engage the AFV in melee (roll 1d20)
>”Keep trying to hack that mech!”
>”Back off Lev, I don’t want to lose you (and that truck with all our stuff in it.)”

Rolled 7, 3, 6 = 16 (3d20)

>>40766794
This is getting a little tight.. We'll need all the help we can get
>Turn to engage the top AFV with a weapon of your choice.
>"Anya, lock on to the AFV ahead (bottom one) and fire!"
>"You got balls man, good luck."

Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>40766940
>>40766794
missed roll

Rolled 2 (1d2)

Looks like everyone has taken a dinner break. I'ma roll a d2.

1:First Anon
2:Second Anon

Writing...

File: Mission_2_P5.jpg (1.23 MB, 4267x2133)

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Resolving Player Phase:

You strafe to the side and melt the front off the nearest AFV with the laser. As the AFV’s ammo cooks off you tell Anya to launch a missile at the other one.

“I can’t see it, the targeting system needs a line of sight to gain a lock, I’ll fire on the mech instead.”

You weren’t certain if you liked that she showed initiative.

The missile fired, arcing upwards before coming down on top of the gator, blasting off a chunk of its armour.

Resolving Enemy Phase Standby

File: Mission_2_E5.jpg (1.24 MB, 4267x2133)

1.24 MB JPG

Resolving Enemy Phase:

The missile strike makes the gator think twice about pressing the attack and he starts to back off, smoke pouring from breaches in his armour. The final AFV swings round the building giving it a clear shot against you.

Meanwhile the Cirrus finally arrives on the scene. Lev drives the truck forwards. For a moment you allow yourself to hope. Cirrus mechs were fast but had paper thin armour, maybe the dumbass might actually take it down.

Lev opens fire with the truck’s HMG but he’s spraying bullets everywhere, everywhere except his target. To be fair a Cirrus moving at that speed was very hard to hit… at least he had distracted it…

[Tactical Combat Display Online]
Cognis Armour Integrity: 9/30
Missiles: 3/6
Railgun Rounds: 19/20

What to do:
>Turn to engage the AFV with a weapon of your choice. (3d20 for Laser, 1d20 for Railgun or Missiles.)
>Engage the AFV in melee (roll 1d20)
>Move to engage the Cirrus with a weapon of your choice. (3d20 for Laser, 1d20 for Railgun or Missiles.)
>Finish off the Gator. (Comes with penalties, the cover works both ways. Roll 1d20 for railgun or missile.)

What to tell Anya:
>”Just lock on to my targets but don’t fire anything!”
>”Take control of any weapon I’m not using and fire at will!”
>”Keep trying to hack the (Pick one)!”
>”FIRE ZE MISSILES!”
>Write in

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>40767830
>Move to engage the Cirrus with a weapon of your choice. (3d20 for Laser, 1d20 for Railgun or Missiles.)
Rail
>”FIRE ZE MISSILES!”

ROOLZ OF NATURE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3472Q6kvg0
Next turn resolved when this song plays twice.

Rolled 12, 19, 20 = 51 (3d20)

>>40767830
>Move to engage the Cirrus with the HMGs, I feel like riddling something with bullets.
(I'm gonna assume it'd be the same roll as lasers, but if it's not I'll just reroll)
>”Take control of the laser and fire at the gator!”

Rolled 2 (1d2)

Wow... it really looks like we've gone into two player mode. Time to break out the d2

Writing...

>>40768146
It's a bit of a shame, this is a good quest! Hopefully there will be a better turnout next time

>>40768146
Sorry been busy irl. Had to fiddle with some shit. We need to give this woman a crash course in firing a weapon asap.

File: Mission_2_P6.jpg (1.23 MB, 4267x2133)

1.23 MB JPG

Resolving Player Phase:

You tell Anya to fire on the Gator.
“It’s out of range. I’m switching targets to the AFV.”

To her credit Anya actually manages to hit the thing this time, though not for long it enough to destroy it.

You decide to take what you can get and move forward to attack the Cirrus. As you close to gun range you open up with the twin HMGs, blasting off the Cirrus’s armour. You don’t manage to hit with everything though and the Cirrus manages to weather your assault.

Resolving Enemy Phase Standby

>>40767967
Hmg don't hit hard they're mainly anti -infantry

>>40768342
see?

>>40768451
Either way it wasn't useless. Maybe Lev will take it down this time around.

>>40768451
well presumably they're good on light armor as well. HMG is a heavy machine gun, those are used to take down light armor as much as they are to kill off loads of people.

With any luck, Lev will just ram into the fucker and finish it off. ANything fast enough to move like that is going to be mostly fiber glass and shit with key sections covered in armor to protect vital parts I bet

File: Mission_2_E6.jpg (1.23 MB, 4267x2133)

1.23 MB JPG

Resolving Enemy Phase:

The Cirrus turns to face you, warning chimes sound as it locks on. Seconds later you feel the impact of a missile followed by half of your systems suddenly going offline. Shit! An EMP missile. Your railguns and laser were useless and you barely had motive power.

Just as it looked like the Cirrus had you a missile slams into it from the side, knocking it out. You see Lev sitting in the truck’s hatch with a smoking launcher and a stupid grin on his face.

Behind the building the crew of the damaged AFV decide to bail out and flee.

Your EMPed state seems to have emboldened the gator who advances on your position once more, gun blazing.

[Tactical Combat Display Online]
Cognis Armour Integrity: 3/30
Missiles: 3/6 [Warning Targeting System Offline]
Railgun Rounds: 19/20 [Warning System Offline]
[Warning Laser Offline.]
You’ve only got the HMGs left, that makes this simple:
>DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA!. (3d20.)
>Stomp im (roll 1d20)

What to tell Anya:
>"See if you can reboot our systems while I kill this mofo!"
>Write in

Rolled 2, 10, 7 = 19 (3d20)

>>40768815
>Dakka Dakka Dakka
"Anya, reboot this damn thing. at the very least -that- should have been in the damn manual!"

Rolled 6, 1, 4 = 11 (3d20)

>>40768815
>>DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA!. (3d20.)
>"See if you can reboot our systems while I kill this mofo!"

Rolled 9, 13, 20 = 42 (3d20)

>>40768815
>DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA!
>"Reboot"

Rolled 18, 2, 5 = 25 (3d20)

>>40768815
>DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA!. (3d20.)
>"See if you can reboot our systems while I kill this mofo!"

The decision is clear, let's wrap this up...

Writing...

File: Mission_2_P7.jpg (1.23 MB, 4267x2133)

1.23 MB JPG

Resolving Player Phase:

You squeeze the trigger on your HMGs and spray the front of the gator. In your desperation you fail to control your weapon properly and end up missing most of the shots.

Fortunately for you the enemy seems to have lost his nerve now that your attention is turned back to him. After landing a few hits you see the pilot bail out and run like hell for the comms tower before shutting the door behind him. You briefly wonder if it was even possible for a human to move that fast.

A minute later Anya manages to reboot the system and you breathe a sigh of relief. So far the scope was clear of hostile contacts but it wouldn’t stay that way for long.

“Lev, wipe that grin off your face and follow me. We have to get out of here before more enemies show up.”

Anya is mercifully silent, sitting back in her seat looking pensive while massaging her temples. She’d had to learn a lot in a short period of time.

With that you turn the Cognis south and march across the border…

Okay session's over guys. I'll linger a bit for some Q&A.

How's my QMing?

What did you like?

What didn't you like?

How can I do better?

>>40769241
>>40769277
WAIT WAIT WAIT!

Before you do that.

Can we put a missile into the comm tower please?

And we need a twitter. I'm liking this a lot so far!

>>40769277
It was good, tense, but good.
By the way how nimble is our mech? Maybe we should strife while firing if such a thing is capable?

>>40769319
This, or tell Lev to do it if he got ammo?

>>40769319
The twitter is in the OP.

>>40769277
First things first, when's the next session gonna be do you think? Or will you announce that on the twitter?
Also, when do you think we'll be out of the mech and on foot?

>>40769277
First part seemed a bit slow. What if you had like, intermission sessions where we could learn more about the world and had more free form, less crunch 'on foot' segments with less stress on you and such?

>>40769319
>>40769364
Neither Sergei or Lev have any fucks left to give and Anya would rather they conserve ammo.

>>40769424
I'm planning the next session on wednesday, but stay tuned to the twitter. I'll post final date and times there.

Depending on how the story goes there will likely be sessions that take place outside the mech. The intermission here wasn't long enough to warrant a full session on it's own so I folded it onto the skirmish part.

>>40769490
I'll probably alternate between intermissions and skirmishes. But frankly I wonder how much you guys give a shit about that. This session didn't really pick up until the battle started.

>>40769494
Can we hear some more about the nations we're heading into?

Foskaedal and Eblansk seem like the two biggies we need to know about?

>>40769277
what's up with Nevik? WHy are there three of them? You said something about nobles in Surden Nevik?

>>40769630
>>40769768

You'll learn more details as the story unfolds. For now I'll give you some cliff notes.

Nevik used to be united and have a great empire. Then there was a civil war, and another giant war after that. Needless to say Nevik split, the empire crumbled and now there's a bunch of minor nations where the empire used to be. Foskaedal is a democracy that gained independence from the empire. Eblansk is a constituitional monarchy run by minor nobles of Surden Nevik descent who wanted to do their own thing.

Norden Nevik and Surden HATE each other. Like North vs South Korea HATE. They have a DMZ and everything. Wessen Nevik kinda just sits on the side and plays the other two against each other.

>>40769494
It's possible you just caught the wrong crowd for exposition and such. Either way though, I'm looking forward to the next session. Have a good night

>>40769867
So what's the big thing between the three? If it's north v. south korea hate then there's got to be more going on than just 'fuck those guys' right? I mean major cultural and governmental differences?

>>40769867
Well before I actually leave, one more question! Who would be the USA and Russia of the world, in this case? I.F. and the Republic?

>>40769940
I'm trying not to make too many direct analogues here buuut...

This world no direct U.S.A. equivalent (at least not in my mind). The I.F. is what the U.N. would be if it actually had teeth. The Republic of Zanvra is basically Not!China, at least in terms of it's political ambitions.

>>40770033
Can we at least get a brief history of the world? Just the highlights real?

I mean I get the lack of a USA analogue, there's no massive isolated continent that could have avoided land trade and massive industrialization early on (which is why the USA exists, the small pox plague nearly exterminated the local population and imigrants came from all over to populate what had been left almost entirely bereft of human life). But you obviously have some serious history built up here. The Exclusion Zone, The Republic and Kingdom of Zanvra, the 3 Neviks... you got some story building here.

Also you might want to move Norden Nevik in this map >>40762340 onto the actual land mass? it looks empty otherwise.

>>40770033
>I'm trying not to make too many direct analogues
Fair enough, it wouldn't entirely be your story otherwise

>>40770111
Oh I kinda dun goofed there. Initially I planned to show a cropped map but they I thought: "Fuck it, let em see the whole world." And I forgot to move the label back.

That's the annoying thing about building modernish fictional worlds. They need to be presented fully formed because satellites. You can really just show a single a continent and say everything else hasn't been explored.

While I'm glad you appreciate my world building efforts I'm too damn tired to spout the abridged history. Maybe next time. Gnite.

>>40770352
If the thread is still alive when you come back can we get that history then?

>>40770352
sure you can. Abandoned, regressed space colony that is sealed in by harsh geography and bad weather. Keeping people sealed into small areas.

>>40770381
bumping in case this is a thing.

>>40771364
so anything you other guys want to see in this quest? I'll frankly be very disappointed if there aren't rocket mounted insertion backpacks like in front mission 4.

>>40773532
I want to know what the hell this thing can do that makes it a threat to what has been called "The UN with teeth"

If an organization like the UN was given teeth, and all that implies, it would be able to take on just about any nation on the planet, otherwise it wouldn't realistically be referred to as 'having teeth'.

So I want to know what they have that gives it teeth, apparently enough that you have an entire trillions worth of dollars military project specifically made to counter act that threat.

>>40762340
or what the hell the Exclusion zone is. Why the hell would nobody want to go onto the largest landbridge in the area? The place must be a major trade nexus after all, or once was, like constantinople was. Unless their equiv is in that cluster of nations like Tiber and Asmana?

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>>40770381
Wow this thread is still alive. Alright since there's clearly a demand for it I'll indulge you guys and give you a brief overview of the world's recent history.

Gather round children... for it is grand story time!

A century ago, the world was dominated by several large empires: Landum, Nevik, Neromius and Zanvra.

One day, Nevik and Zanvra decided being unified empire ruling nations was boring and decided to have a civil war.

When the Nevik civil war ended, the North was ruled by a government that tried to build a meritocratic society, where anyone, no matter their background could rise to the top if they proved themselves worth. The system wasn't perfect but at the time it was popular among the commoners who were sick of getting shit on by the nobles.

Wessen Nevik became an oligarchy ruled by rich merchant cartels of non-noble descent. While Surden Nevik was the last bastion of the old Imperial Families.

Zanvra became a communist republic. (And as with all communist republics, it wasn't really communist.) Like Surden Nevik the Kingdom of Zanvra is where the old nobility ended up ruling after losing their empire. There are also many other minor nations ruled by displaced Nevik and Zanvran nobility.

Natural all this lead to the collapse of their respective empires. In the midst of the turmoil, Landum snapped up all their former Nevik territories and became the greatest single power in the world. This was basically how this world's 19th century ended.

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>>40778046
During the start of the 20th century the Emperor of Landum went a little nuts and decided that because his nation was the biggest then it was the best and he had the divine right to rule the world. This was the beginning of the Great War. To give you an idea of how bad it was imagine a conflict with the scale of the 1st and 2nd World Wars, combined with the brutality of the Vietnam war. Neromius and the Neviks teamed up to fight Landum. Zanvra helped too but their contribution wasn't as great since they were still dealing with internal power struggles.

The turning point came when Landum started developing nuclear weapons. At this point the Emperor was well and truly bat shit insane, and all his advisors could see it. They knew that if he could the Emporer would scorch the world with nuclear fire rather than lose the war. And so several high ranking officials defected, taking examples of the nuclear weapons technology with them.

In order to end the war quickly the allies made the decision to nuke Landum's industrial and political heartland, which was also where Landum was keeping their own nukes and stockpile of fissile material. The result of that fateful decision is the exclusion zone, which remains uninhabitable to this day.

In the aftermath of the Great War the International Forum was created in the hopes of averting another war like that. The I.F. immediately banned the creation and possession of nuclear weapons. The major powers let it happen. No one wanted anyone else to have nukes. Neromius, Zanvra and the Neviks initially thought that they could use the I.F. as a platform to continue jockeying for power, they often tried to fuck with each other by backing independence bids in each other's colonies. Many minor "buffer" nations were created as a result. But then a funny thing happened: the minor nations started to form their own voting block within the I.F. and started backing resolutions that went counter to the interests of the major powers. Collectively they backed and funded an independent I.F. peace keeping army. Over the decades the I.F. took on a life of it's own, becoming a kind of quasi nation with it's own special administrative region. While the I.F. keeps the major powers muzzled some say it's gotten a little too sanctimonious as of late and despite it's intervention small scale wars still happen across the planet.

There’s a bunch of other important shit that factors into all this, but that’s enough lore dumping for now and I have to leave something for the exposition spouting during the quest.