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>>736696
“Fighter escort, I want a screen six hundred meters aft of my location. Equidistant, sixteen-hundred meter dispersal. Favor the ventral angle, and spot our fire.”

There's a brief break in transmission as the three escorts relay their acknowledgment to your mothership's signal and begin to take up the positions ordered by your partner. She's not done yet.

“ALICE, calculate likely attack vectors and relay them to our screen before M-particle density hits combat levels.”

“Acknowledged! Are we... going to help Carrina?”

There's another moment of silence. “Negative. Fire strays too close and we might hit the Viola by mistake, but we can at least keep the enemy contained if they try and break contact.”

So that's her plan: treat the Sericea and its crew more like a carrier, meant to defend itself but not engage directly. As much as it might seem like Rossweisse's abandoning you, you know that there's a lot of sense to that approach. It may actually make the situation better for you, as it certainly relieves you of the need to defend the much larger Sericea from sustained attack from more nimble mobile suits. You've seen that sort of situation play out dozens of times in the decade you've been flying, and though you certainly respect your partner's skills you'd rather she not have to fight from such a disadvantage. On top of that it's not just her life riding on the line, but those of your entire crew.

You can feel the three mobile suits closing in, and you push hard on the throttle to meet them.

>Meet them with a flyby maneuver, force them to have to reverse to engage you.
>Take a perpendicular course as they close in, lure them into a turning engagement.
>Open fire at long range. Even if you miss it keeps them from forming up at all.
>Release your remote weapons to cover as many angles of approach as you can.
>Let Rossweisse control your remote weapons, she'd be happy to watch your back.
>Other?

>>736717
>Release your remote weapons to cover as many angles of approach as you can.
Oh, I thought Rossie was gonna go for a Psycho-Missile salvo, and we'd have to hijack it midflight to their targets.

Also, it's finally back!

>>736732
It has indeed. We'll see how many folks come back after all the nonsense on my end.

>>736717
So, a quick reminder: rolls will be 3d10 vs a target DC specified when the roll is called for, best of the first three attempts. Two rolls on the 3d10 have to meet the DC for a success.

And as always if anyone needs clarification about a technical detail or plot point, just ask. I'll take the first few updates a little slower than usual to gauge turnout.

>>736717
>>Release your remote weapons to cover as many angles of approach as you can.

>will update when we get a third vote
Seriously considering whether I should just adopt a slower pace in general, spread this out over a few days.

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>>736824
It's up to you how you want the pace to go.

Board seems slow enough to allow that for QMs that update infrequently. As long as it's buoyed enough so it does not get hit by the... 3 day autosage, was it? Yeah.

>>736848
40 minutes is about as long as I can even tolerate waiting, so I'll ask for a 3d10 vs dc 6 to fend off the incoming attack, using remote weapons to cover Carrina's blind spots.

Rolled 8, 8, 8 = 24 (3d10)

>>736874
Alright then.

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>>736883
... that'll do nicely.

Rolled 1, 9, 3 = 13 (3d10)

>>736874

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>>736893
You've never really been one to verbally order your remote weapons around, despite the fact that aside from a small corps of veterans all newtypes seem to do it as an unconscious habit: as if the machines were literally listening to their voice. For you however, that's a rather backwards way of looking at it. The weapon doesn't listen to an experienced newtype pilot. This isn't a dialog. To someone who really knows what they're doing, a properly-tuned mobile suit is an extension of the body.

Why should you shout at your arm, expecting it to raise your glass for you? Same logic applies as four of your compliment of six funnels release themselves from their charging cradles and take up positions behind your mobile suit. One high and one low, protecting the relative “upward” and “downward” approaches from your aft quarter, and the other two at your sides to protect your lateral quarters.

“Come and get some,” you growl, readying your grenade rifle as the trio of black, mirrored mobile suits assume a familiar attacking pattern.

From what you can tell the machines all share a bulky frame, probably Zeon-descended judging by the curves where the reflected light from Luna, Earth, and Sol betrays some hint of a profile. They form a loose line, with the first raising a mirrored metal shield. The second fires off a rocket bazooka, which you easily dodge by a hair's breadth, and judging by the flash of burning powder the third is firing solid slugs at you from some sort of machine cannon. Hang on, you've seen this before...

“A jet stream attack?” you snort, almost in disbelief. “Seriously? All that tech and the best they can do is ape the Tri Stars?”

Having recognized the pattern you engage the final machine as the other two overshoot you, their blurred black forms are briefly illuminated by a flash of light before they pass aft of the Viola. A beam saber ignites and clashes against your own beam shield, and you can feel the pilot's shock as you leverage the wide plane of energy against his blade to push his suit's arm out of the way.

Unfortunately his momentum carries him past you as well, but you're able to slice off what looked to be a broad slab of shoulder armor in retaliation before he leaves melee range. Ammunition stored on that slab cooks off, blooming in a series of small fireballs that obscure his retreat. By the time you've turned the first two suits have peeled off and all but disappeared into the rubble fields surrounding Cuithe, but the lead machine is just finishing its own turn. He seems to realize he's back-lit and immediately maneuvers laterally, but it's enough to learn two crucial details.
>1/2

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>>736981
>A jet stream attack?
Unknown enemy confirmed for Zeon fanboys.

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>>736981
“They're using a trio of Xeku Eins!” you report across the psycommu. “Maximum turn rate is 1.8 seconds by my count, max linear acceleration somewhere between one and two gee.”

Three small x-marks are projected onto your HUD as ALICE updates the tactical display, each labeled RMS-141(s): presumably to differentiate this stealth model from the base. What you can't say for sure however is whether these are originally from the Pezun asteroid itself, or whether they're piloted by any of the former Titans flight instructor corps who were stationed at that base during the war. If it's the latter, this fight could get nasty if it drags on any longer.

The other piece of information? The Cuithe pirates take painstaking measures to reduce orbital fouling... meaning the guidance wires they use with their rockets and grenades incinerate themselves. That explained the brief flash as they overshot you, and gives you an easier way to locate at least one of their firing positions.

Now, how to actually use that information to your advantage...

>Try and use your observations to locate and down one of the Xekus in a turning engagement.
>Leave your aft quarter open, try and lure them into attacking into the area covered by your funnels.
>Engage the melee specialist. If they're really aping the Tri-Stars that may be their wing leader.
>Start taunting them over an open comm. Try and draw them into using another Jet Stream Attack, which you're pretty sure you've got figured out.
>Other?

>>737052
>>Start taunting them over an open comm. Try and draw them into using another Jet Stream Attack, which you're pretty sure you've got figured out.

>>737052
>>Engage the melee specialist. If they're really aping the Tri-Stars that may be their wing leader.
Does this mean CC would engage in a saber duel?

If so, then the other two can't shoot if there's a chance one of their own might be caught in the crossfire. And while they're attempting to jockey for a firing position, let the funnels take care of that end.

>>737052
>>Start taunting them over an open comm. Try and draw them into using another Jet Stream Attack, which you're pretty sure you've got figured out.

>>737104
Essentially, but the other pilot would likely try and make it a hit-and-run style engagement. Remaining in melee for more than one exchange doesn't suit his weapon's design.

>>737052
>>Start taunting them over an open comm. Try and draw them into using another Jet Stream Attack, which you're pretty sure you've got figured out.
Sorry I'm late, gents.

>>737129
No big deal, I'm running a bit slow myself.

3d10, DC 7 this time to both lure them in and to counter the Jet Stream. And if you've got any write-in dialog I'll consider it.

Rolled 6, 5, 7 = 18 (3d10)

>>737206
Surely they ain't that daft to try the same trick again?

For dialogue, I'd probably call out their fanboying first.

>>737112
Ohh. Now some of the options make sense.

Like this one...
>Leave your aft quarter open, try and lure them into attacking into the area covered by your funnels.
... is essentially pulling off a matador's trick.

Rolled 7, 8, 1 = 16 (3d10)

>>737206

>>737233
>1
Erk.

>>737233
>>737244
Hey guys, remember that time I got us all nuked? :D

Rolled 9, 6, 9 = 24 (3d10)

>>737206

>>737248
Believe it or not I do remember that.

>writing

>>737283
Oh! Right I forgot to put in the insult.... Ehrm! "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!"

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>>737288
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUUchxqHIpM

You set your comms to spam everything in range, hoping that the enemy Xekus can all hear you this way. If you can draw them in for another jet stream attack you're fairly confident you can use your reflexes and superior weapons to counter them. If you play your cards right you may even be able to down all three in one shot.

“You know,” you sigh, shooting for a tone of quiet derision, “we really can't understand this. Like, at all.”

With a touch of reverse thrust you avoid a rocket aimed at you from somewhere to your right, and roll to fire your left VSBR as you watch the guidance wire burn itself to dust. Your own retaliatory blast strikes a meters-wide chunk of dirty ice, vaporizing it in an instant but missing the mobile suit that took the shot at you from that area. The Viola vibrates as high-caliber rounds slam into your right leg, doing little damage but forcing you to take a few shots in that direction with your funnels. None of them hit, but you can tell by the pilot's reaction it was a close thing.

This is going nowhere. If you can't get them to rush you again soon one of them might actually get lucky.

“You're just aping the real Tri-Stars!” you accuse them, finding what feels like some genuine anger there as you jink to avoid another missile and take a potshot with your funnels. “Those guys may have been assholes, but we knew they were all aces in their own right. You pirate assholes can't even land a solid hit with the jet stream, it's a fucking joke!”

You move two of your remote weapons back to their cradles and replace them with the ones you've kept in reserve to keep their power caps charged and ready... and that's when these Tri-Star wannabes make their move.

Forming up on their wing leader they make another attack run from behind you, and you pivot to face them down. Beams from your funnels keep them from straying too wide, but your VSBR shot only causes them to briefly disperse then re-form... you lined up just a little too early, giving them a visible cue to evade before you could actually hit the firing stud. A beam saber ignites, your vulcans and machine cannons blast away at a pair of rockets, and you meet the wing leader's blade in the midst of their detonations. The mirrored armor glistens as you and your opponent both open up on each other with your respective CIWS, which he comes out definitely the worse for. One side of his machine's head melts away before he can disengage and overshoot once more, which leads to something of a stroke of luck.

Perhaps because you've damaged his cameras, the other pilot rams full-tilt into one of your funnels.

The tiny weapon's indicator winks out on your HUD, and you lose mental contact with it.
>1/2

>>737465
A burst from your remaining funnels meets a second round of rockets fired by the trio of Xekus after they overshot.

“They're not splitting this time!” Rossweisse warns you, no doubt having spotted the incoming fire. “You must have touched a nerve.”

“Aww, did we huwt youw widdle feewings?” you taunt the enemy pilots once more over open comms, unleashing another pair of blasts from your VSBRs to keep the psychological pressure on them. “Reality can be a cold bitch, can't it?”

This time it's the trio who make the miscalculation, and you're immediately ready to punish them for it. One of them lights off a rocket way too early, alerting you to his firing position by the telltale fizzle of the guidance wire after it flashes past your machine.

Gotcha.

This time your VSBR strikes home, blasting the arm clean off one of the Xekus and unleashing a chain of sympathetic detonations: you must've not only hit the rocket-armed machine, but also taken out a spare launcher or magazine. As the trio pass the wing leader occupies you with a halfhearted swipe of his beam saber, mostly to cover for his damaged teammate, but you can still see the damage as they fly by: the Xeku you've hit was badly toasted, exposing part of its internal frame like a metallic skeleton and scoring the armor all over its left side. The camouflage there's much less effective, causing the ambient light to dance and glisten strikingly around each individual crease and tear in the armor.

>Keep on the damaged one, go for the kill.
>Fall back, make them come to you again as a team.
>Split one off and lure it into a funnel-trap.

Also,
>Let Rossweisse take over the funnels
>Continue managing all your weapons yourself

>Keep on the damaged one, go for the kill.
>Let Rossweisse take over the funnels

>>737516
>Keep on the damaged one, go for the kill.
>Let Rossweisse take over the funnels
Only got five left, so splitting the task allows us to focus on piloting and combat more.

>dice+3d10 for killing
>DC 7 to do so with no complications

Rolled 6, 4, 2 = 12 (3d10)

>>737683

Rolled 7, 5, 5 = 17 (3d10)

>>737683
But what if I like complications?

Gonna be afk for a bit, getting my hair cut

>giving it a few minutes for the third vote

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>>737722
Give a third roll first. And seal our fate.

Rolled 3, 4, 1 = 8 (3d10)

>>737683

Rolled 10, 2, 3 = 15 (3d10)

>>737846
And there we go. I was just about to roll myself to move things along.
>writing

>>737855
CAN I PLEASE POST NOW HIROMOOT?

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>>738051
Apparently that's a yes, it's back on. You just have to know how to talk to people.
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLqhF2wswYk

“Rossweisse, take our funnels and keep these three separated,” you suggest, sending all five of your remaining remote weapons out and feeling their presence disappear from your mind as Rossweisse picks them up. “We're going after that damaged Xeku.”

“Leave it to me.”

You turn and execute a hard burn to keep up with the Xeku whose arm you blew off, rapidly accelerating and reeling in the narrow lead your target had on you.

Debris drifts across your flight path, and you're forced to roll and weave through the gaps or else blast away at smaller bits that aren't worth dodging. Alarms blare as you frantically try and keep track of the tumbling mess around you, telling you what you already know: that a lot of these have been close calls.

At least Rossweisse's managed so far to keep the other two Xekus out of your hair, blue beams lancing through the darkness at targets you know are there but can't quite see.

The fleeing pilot scrambles to face you, using his thrusters to roll his undamaged side towards you and lob a rocket. But it doesn't even slow you down, as you nail it with a burst from your head vulcans and hit the firing stud for your right VSBR. A piece of debris takes the first shot, but a follow-up from your left punches through the Xeku's center of mass and sets off its remaining fuel in a brilliant explosion.

But you've strayed too close, leaving yourself no time to evade the blast.

“Shit!” you shout as the remaining debris pings off your machine's armor. Amidst the expanding gasses and shattered armor a human figure clad in a pressure suit slams into the Viola's head camera, and your viewscreen distorts from the series of impacts all across its metallic body.

“Carrina, report!” Rossweisse shouts. “Are you hit!?”

“We took some damage to our cameras,” you tell her, rolling out around a piece of rocky debris and holding position for a moment to try and readjust your display. “Warn us if they come after...”

“They're already moving in on your position! I did what damage I could!”

Damn it all... at least you were already having trouble spotting them the first time, so it's not a huge loss. But this situation's rapidly getting out of hand.

>Lay a trap where you are with Rossweisse, using your own machine as bait.
>Open up with wide-angle blasts, just cause mayhem.
>Call in Rossweisse's psycho-missiles and hope there aren't any reinforcements.
>Other?

>>738058
>Open up with wide-angle blasts, just cause mayhem.

Make some space junk for the space junk haters

>>738058
>>Lay a trap where you are with Rossweisse, using your own machine as bait.

>>738058
>Open up with wide-angle blasts, just cause mayhem.
Seems to me that they're not as maneuverable in a pinch, judging from the turning circle analysis. Maybe a bit of debris has a chance of knocking out the cameras of the last intact Xeku? The lead's head is already scoured.

>>738058
>Open up with wide-angle blasts, just cause mayhem.
4chan on a tablet sucks

>introducing a little anarchy
>3d10, DC 6.

Rolled 3, 3, 10 = 16 (3d10)

>>738213

Rolled 4, 5, 7 = 16 (3d10)

>>738213

>>738219
Ayy

>>738219
>>738220
Wow. This just isn't a good night for you guys so far.

Hope the third roll does something for you.

Rolled 9, 9, 2 = 20 (3d10)

>>738213

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>>738271
Clutch outta nowhere.

>>738271
You saved us!

>>738271
Okay, so you have to admit it: these guys can fly pretty good, and their machines have kept pace with you so far. It's honestly pretty impressive. But can they dance, too?

“Rossweisse, let's ratchet things up a notch shall we?” you suggest, swinging both of your VSBRs into a firing position. “Spam your PDS turrets, blow shit up with my funnels, go nuts. Just give these two sons of bitches something to test their maneuvering.”

You swear you can hear a trace of excitement in Rossweisse's voice. “Roger that, Viola. Ordnance inbound!”

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2W1Wi2U9sQ

The resulting lightshow is nothing short of spectacular.

The bolts from dozens of laser turrets light up the perpetual night with flashing neon, channeling out holes in some pieces of debris but shattering others as the energy finds a fault point. Those fragments tumble wildly through space, spiraling into each other without any sort of detectable rhyme or reason. At first the Xeku pilots must have thought you crazy, or desperate.

They were mistaken.

To their horror you begin targeting regions of relative calm within the chaotic debris cloud, atomizing entire swathes of space with each shot. You're no longer even bothering to aim for where you think they are, though your senses give you a rough estimate of that, but rather for where you think they're going to flee to escape the larger chunks of space debris. And it's not long before you score your second kill.

A Xeku disappears in a blast of barely-focused plasma, its silhouette briefly visible before its metal boils away into nothingness. You can hear its pilot cry out for a second in terror as his life is snuffed out, his cockpit hatch reduced to slag and caved in onto him an instant before the rest of the suit gives way. There are no secondary explosions this time, as the ammunition and propellant are vaporized along with the armor and frame.

His wing leader clashes with you once more, enraged beyond fear or even rational thought as you turn to sweep his blade aside with your beam shield. In a mad attempt to inflict any lasting damage he even fires off a grenade from his shoulder armor, which impacts the swinging arm mount of your right VSBR. It's not separated, but the status indicator on your HUD tells you not to expect it to move again until you can get some repairs.

“I don't give a damn if I die anymore!” you hear the pilot roar. “You ruined my career once already, and now you've killed my wingmen? I'm taking you with me to hell, bitch!”
>1/2

>>738423
>You ruined my career once already, and now you've killed my wingmen?
Woah, who is this guy? Don't tell me it's Monsha.

>>738423
Ah, so they were Titans. That explains a lot, but it also serves to add that much fuel to your fire as the Xeku reengages with his beam saber.

“Carrina, we've got multiple contacts inbound! They've scrambled reinforcements!”

Rossweisse's right. Even as you duel the Xeku Eins your HUD alerts you to what ALICE seems to think are eight conventional mobile suits, likely a mix of Gelgoog and Zaku-III models. In this sort of situation lingering much longer puts your whole crew at risk, but you can't disengage this pilot yet. Doing so just invites a shot to the back, or a cheap shot at the Sericea: and now that you've killed two of his buddies the Titan pilot's in no mood to not do one or the other. Any notion of honor here went out the airlock a long time ago.

“Fire the missiles,” you decide with a nod as you narrowly avoid a sweep of your foe's saber.

“Firing missiles,” Rossweisse confirms. “I'll pass you control in three... two...”

>Focus the missiles on the incoming mobile suits, nobody can follow you
>Pay some attention to Cuithe too, wreck the joint a little in general terms
>Spread the missiles between the mobile suits and Cuithe's construction facilities
>Go for a kill shot on Cuithe, leave it uninhabitable and end the pirate threat

ALSO, PICK ONE
>Use a missile on the Titans pilot
>Use your eye hax to save a missile

>>738453
>Spread the missiles between the mobile suits and Cuithe's construction facilities
Or at the very least the hangar bay.

>Use your eye hax to save a missile

>>738453
>>Focus the missiles on the incoming mobile suits, nobody can follow you
>Use your eye hax to save a missile
Use that 'spare' missile to gank the shipyards/hangars/etc.

>>738453
>Focus the missiles on the incoming mobile suits, nobody can follow you
>Use your eye hax to save a missile
Definitely over stayed our welcome.

>>738452
If it were, Carrina would recognize him. She'd feel kind of icky just being on the same battlefield. No, there are SO many disenfranchised Titans pilots out there who'd pin it all on Carrina and her teammates and it could be any one of them.

She's deeply unpopular in certain circles.

>>738453
>>Spread the missiles between the mobile suits and Cuithe's construction facilities

>>738487
Didn't we kill him anyway?

>>738502
If memory serves yes? It was a while ago.

>>738502
Yeah Dom killed him while he was launching from a Titan ship during their gas attack on a colony.

>>738502
>>738513
Oh, my bad. I thought it was some other guy she killed in that.

>>738490
>dice+3d10, best of 4, DC 6

Rolled 1, 10, 8 = 19 (3d10)

>>738540

Rolled 8, 9, 8 = 25 (3d10)

yay, finally back on my desktop. feels good, man. Anyway, I know this is totally irrelevant to SoZ but I really want to share this video, its a cover of Space Lion from Cowboy Bebop, and the saxophonist *slays* it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00nvJv6gno4
Sorry for being OT, KoH.
>>738540
Rolling

Rolled 2, 1, 6 = 9 (3d10)

>>738540
Time for some good old can of kickass.

Rolled 9, 1, 1 = 11 (3d10)

>>738540

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>>738545
>Titans detected
>Running NOBRAKES.EXE

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>>738572

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>>738609
“Got 'em,” you announce as the missiles streak past you and the embattled Xeku, and you briefly disengage to give yourself time to pop your helmet and remove your eyepatch.

“You got a problem with us,” you growl over the open comm channel, “then let's settle this like soldiers!”

With your full newtype powers unleashed and only one opponent left standing it's not even a challenge. Psycho-missiles slam into distant mobile suits, wiping out each of the incoming hostiles one at a time. And because you saved yourself a missile by not slamming one up this Titans pilot's crotch you take the chance to leave a little calling card. The last missile darts straight into the Cuithe fabrication plant and sets off a massive explosion, probably rupturing a fuel tank or setting off munitions. For a moment you swear the entire 'working half' of the base is going to shatter, but somehow the force of the blast finds enough channels and releases to keep that from happening.

Now you turn your attention back to the Titan scum with the chip on his shoulder, producing your own beam saber and igniting your beam shield. His initial attack is parried by the shield, and with a wrenching motion of your left arm you use the edge of the barrier to take off his machine's damaged arm entirely. Your own beam saber cooks off two massive propellant tanks as you slice off his leg, and the blast sends him tumbling out of control. Your vulcans, machine cannons, and spot guns pepper the mirror-coated Xeku all over, marring and ruining the finish as slag flows freely from the holes.

Somehow the pilot manages to correct his attitude and raise what looks like a beam pistol from behind his remaining armored shoulder, only for you to slice off the hand his machine is holding it in and deliver a kick that threatens to cave in his cockpit hatch. As he reels through the void you grab hold of your VSBR's handle and take aim.

Looks like he's going to hell alone.

“When you see 'em in hell, tell Bask and Jamitov we're still kicking,” you spam the comms one last time before incinerating the third and final Xeku Eins.

>>738660
And speaking of splitting headaches, I'm sharing Carrina's pain right now. I need to call it quits this evening, but I'll continue this at some point soon. Either tomorrow or next weekend depending on whether I decide I want SSQ tomorrow or this.

May be a coin toss. Thanks for turning out, archive's up, and see you next time whenever that is!

>>738682
banzai!

>>738660
Damn. That's stone cold. The top gun escorts must feel so inadequate at this point from viewing the action from afar.

Welp, time to drag an MS carcass back for further study, and GTFO.

>>738682
Thanks for running.

>>738684
>>738695
I'll do a follow-up session, same time today. But as announced on Twitter I've come down with something, so it'll have to be short.

>>741462
Alright. Will the session progress right up to the conclusion of the entire quest? Or will you settle into writing sporadic updates on this thread after the end of the session?

>>741647
I'm not 100% sure whether it'll end in this session, next session, or a future session. But this session will end with the weekend, and I'll take some time during the week to assess where I feel things are and where they can go.

Now that I'm sort of back into it I feel I can make those decisions, whereas the board migration and intervening personal bullshit had really thrown me off before.

>>741670
The remaining attack forces from Cuithe have been left in disarray as the Sericea begins falling back, and so you take off your helmet and slide the patch back over your eye. The familiar exhaustion sets in immediately, which is predictable considering how much you've abused your eye so far today. The escape from Cuithe wasn't really pushing it at all, but this last time you kept it active for a bit too long and split your focus between too many targets. It's hard enough when you have to sort through three or four possible futures to solve one problem, but to do it for ten problems all at once?

Not sure you ever want to have to do that again. Your head hasn't hurt this bad since you lost that eye in the first place, and your remaining eye can't quite seem to bring the world around you into focus.

“You should raise the crash net,” you suggest as you begin your approach to the Sericea's open landing deck. “Standard procedure.”

“Got it,” Rossweisse confirms, “crash barricade up. Is it really that bad?”

“The damage probably isn't,” you admit quietly, “but we're having a little trouble seeing straight. Doesn't help that our cameras are damaged.”

“Can you come in under those circumstances?”

You consider the situation carefully for a few moments, during which you close distance with the Sericea predominantly on instinct. The occasional beep from your instruments confirms that you're more or less on the right course... or at least you assume if you weren't on course the beeping would be much more annoying. “I guess we'll see in fifteen seconds, won't we?”

You hear Rossweisse sigh. “Just don't ruin the paint, okay?”

“Trying our best here... five seconds.”

“Brace!”

With a touch of reverse thrust you reduce your forward velocity to nearly match the Sericea's, and feel yourself strain against your safety harness as the webbing of the crash barricade absorbs the Viola's remaining momentum and brings you to a full stop. There's one final, hollow thump as your helmet drifts into the inside of the cockpit hatch.

“We have capture!” Rossweisse announces over the Sericea's PA system. “ALICE, close all exterior hatches and spin up our engines. Get me any clear outbound vector, flank speed.”

“Flank speed aye!” the AI replies cheerfully.
>1/2

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>>742302
The lighting inside your cockpit dims as the panoramic monitors around you flicker once then die as your mobile suit powers down. Annoyingly it seems your cockpit hatch pistons are stuck, so you have to prep a series of explosive bolts to pop the hatch that way. The blast leaves your ears ringing, and you tumble out of the Viola gracelessly until you're able to grab hold of the crash webbing with your left hand. Your good eye closes, and you take a deep, calming breath.

By the time you're able to find your way to the floor, the technical staff are already hard at work securing your gundam for repairs. You can't help but smart off a little, even in this condition.

“We left the keys in the ignition,” you smirk at a technician whose face is too blurry for you to recognize. “You drive for a while, keep an eye on the cameras and the right VSBR. They gave us some trouble out there.”

“Yes ma'am!” he replies a little too loudly, before fading out of focus entirely as he heads off to relay your orders. Two more familiar presences join you not long after.

“If you're down here, dear, then who's piloting the ship?” Cima Garahau asks in confusion. “Is it that AI of yours?”

“I'm flying the ship,” Rossweisse replies calmly. “Newtype, remember?”

Cima sighs testily. “Why do I ever ask when I already know the answer is newtypes?”

“Let's get you back to your quarters,” Rossweisse suggests, and an arm wraps itself gingerly behind you. Without enough focus to object, you merely loop your own arm over her shoulders and allow yourself to be led from the hangar.

“You really overdid it this time.”

“Overdid what?” Cima asks, still following behind you and your partner. “What did she even do?”

“This eye of ours sees the future,” you explain simply. “All of the futures, in fact. It lets us pick and choose which ones will work the best, but the strain all that information puts on the human mind...”

“We've taken to calling it 'eyestrain', Miss Garahau,” Rossweisse concludes. “She gets it every time she looks too far, or for too long, but it's rarely this bad.”

“Shall I file your contact report, Carrina?”

>No. We're exhausted Rossweisse, not crippled.
>We'll file ours after we get to Luna. We'll rest until then.
>Sure, we doubt ours would be coherent right now.

>>742319
>>Sure, we doubt ours would be coherent right now.

>>742319
>Sure, we doubt ours would be coherent right now.
Rest up for the journey, let the escorts do their escorty things, and point Cima to the liquor cabinet as long as the good stuff isn't taken.

>>742319
>Sure, we doubt ours would be coherent right now.

>>742319
>Sure, we doubt ours would be coherent right now.

I haven't actually delved into SoZ at all even thought I have followed SSQ from the start. I will have to archive binge this soon.

>>742319
>Sure, we doubt ours would be coherent right now.

>>742384
It was my first quest, and I'll admit the first series can be kind of rough depending on your tastes. This second attempt has been pretty different in terms of tone, scope, and focus.

>>742395
I liked it. It suffered from the lack of a really good villain, but the MC was fun to play as.

Also,
>writing

>>742319
>>Sure, we doubt ours would be coherent right now.
>>742384
You're in for a ride, especially naked newtype space shenanigans.

>>742412
See, I feel that needs some contextualization for anyone who's not already into Gundam. Naked newtype space shenanigans are a canon, established thing in the 'main' continuity of the franchise.

>>742419
Yeah. In hindsight I should've said 'especially when I got us all nuked', but I didn't want to spoil. :)

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>>742419
“Yeah, feel free,” you nod carefully, trying not to hurt your head. “We don't really think we'd be coherent right now anyway.”

“Alright, I'll file it as soon as we're clear of Cuithe,” Rossweisse agrees. “They'll probably have to repaint the Viola once the repairs are complete. Any requests?”

“We're feeling a little nostalgic,” you sigh, coming to an immediate conclusion. “Tell them they can paint it any color so long as it's black.”

Your quarters are painfully bright inside, and you wince in discomfort as the light sets off a burst of pain in your skull. “ALICE, lower light to ten percent, increase temperature by three degrees, and reduce local diamagnetic field intensity to minimum settings.”

“Warm, dark, and floaty?” Cima asks as ALICE complies with your requests. “If you wanted to serve on a Musai you shouldn't have defected.”

She does have a point, the conditions you've requested really are similar to the norms for a Zeon warship. But it's certainly not because you're pining for the 'good old days' of serving the Zabi's crazed ambitions. In reality this just makes sense to speed your recovery, as you've learned from trial and error over the years.

“The low gravity eases strain on our cervical vertebrae,” you explain, “and the low light relieves strain on our 'normal' eye. The warmer temperature helps us sleep.”

“I see. Seems you have this problem a lot.”

“More than we'd like.”

You set to work peeling off your pilot suit, allowing it to drift in a lazy arc into the corner before falling back just as slowly onto your bunk. The warmer air keeps you just comfortable enough that even if you fell asleep in midair you'd be fine.

“Are you just gonna sleep?” Cima asks. “I thought you had a mystery to solve?”

>We'll be better off if we take a break from it all to recover.
>Fine, you can work on the data we stole while I rest if you need something to do.
>We've been meaning to work out an upgrade package for our gundam.
>Other?

>>742470
>>We'll be better off if we take a break from it all to recover.

>>742470
>>We'll be better off if we take a break from it all to recover.
>>Fine, you can work on the data we stole while I rest if you need something to do.

>>742470
>>Fine, you can work on the data we stole while I rest if you need something to do.
>>Other?
Cima can go over what ALICE dug up, trade notes and go over them with Rossweisse if she has something to add.

Also I totally forgot that Cima was onboard the Sericea. Sorry, Cima!

>>742470
>>Fine, you can work on the data we stole while I rest if you need something to do.

>>742470
>Fine, you can work on the data we stole while I rest if you need something to do.

>>742470
Rossweisse politely bows out, excusing herself to go file a contact report to fleet while leaving you to rest. Cima however stays behind in your dimly-lit room, apparently quite bored already.

“If we're going to be on our feet again any time soon we need to rest,” you insist quietly, practically floating just above your mattress and pillow and shutting your good eye. “But if you really feel a burning desire to do something useful with yourself there's a terminal in here. You can look through the data we stole from Cuithe.”

“I guess I've got nothing better to do,” Cima admits with a sigh. “I'll let you know if I find anything.”

“ALICE, make sure she doesn't go rooting around anywhere she shouldn't,” you briefly warn. “Nothing personal Cima, but it's standard protocol.”

“Never took you as one for standing on protocol.”

You turn onto your side. “We're not. But then again, with any luck we won't be awake either five minutes from now. So a little undue caution isn't out of the question.”

“Want me to wake you if I find anything?” she asks, settling into the chair in front of your terminal and switching it on. ALICE immediately adjusts the screen brightness downward to keep the room dim for you.

“Sure, but it better be important,” you grumble, settling in to try and rest.

What follows can hardly be termed 'rest' at all, fitful sessions of unconsciousness where thoughts and worries and stabs of sharp pain flit through your mind. Even with the precautions you took it feels like trying to sleep with a migraine strong enough for two people, and there's no way to position your head and body that doesn't hurt.
>dice+3d10, DC 6

Rolled 4, 1, 2 = 7 (3d10)

>>742569

Rolled 1, 8, 10 = 19 (3d10)

>>742569

Rolled 3, 6, 8 = 17 (3d10)

>>742569
Oh, is this gonna be Newtype dreams?

>>742575
Now I feel like I'm getting too predictable in my old age.
>writing

>>742579
Actually? Just gimme 1d10 to sort out one more detail. Taking the second roll.

Rolled 2 (1d10)

>>742579
Well, PTSD nightmares are viable too considering the setting.

>>742605
Rollin'

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>742605

>>742605
test

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>>742605
>>742612
In the midst of your unease, you hear a familiar voice.

“It's been a while, hasn't it?”

“It has... I was beginning to think maybe I'd said something wrong.”

“Nah, it's just what we kinda both thought might happen sooner or later.”

“I've really missed you, and I'm not upset to hear your voice again. But why now.”

“I figure it's probably the condition you put yourself in, using that eye of yours too much. Can't be good for your health.”

“Death isn't good for my health either.”

“Fair point. So what do you think about this whole mess?”

“I honestly don't know. There's too many details that don't match up in a way that makes sense.”

“I guess there's just one piece missing that could let you put it all together?”

“That's the way it seems. But why are we even talking about that? How have you been?”

“About the same as you have, of course. It'd be pretty hard for me to be doing badly if you are.”

“So are you... you know. Aware?”

“Not... not in the sense you probably mean. I remember all the stuff we've done since the last time we spoke as clear as if I were the one doing it, but when we were doing it I don't think I could have like disagreed with you or anything.”

“So it's like we were making the same decisions, or like an over the shoulder sort of perspective?”

“It's more like a really nice dream I occasionally wake up from, and realize I don't actually have my own body anymore. But hey, it could probably be worse right? I'm rather dead after all.”

“We've seen some weird shit. Being dead-dead might not be all that bad.”

“Are you saying I should just let go?”

“Not at all. Just pointing it out, in case you're... you know, suffering at all.”

“Look, whatever comes next is something we'll both have to face sooner or later. So until it's your time, I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be than right here. Dream, reality, whatever this might be it's been what I wanted ever since the accident. So even if my consciousness fades again, I'll be okay with it.”

“Catrina...”

“I'm still here for you sis, and I always will be. Don't you ever go forgetting that.”

You don't know how long it lasts, but for a while you manage to find some small amount of comfort.
>1/2

>>742707
Aww.

>>742707
You feel something tugging at your consciousness, an irritating voice insisting on your full and undivided attention. Your feeling of comfort and security begins to slip away from you.

>Try to hold onto that feeling, resist the annoyance and stay asleep for a while longer.
>You don't want to lose this, try and take something with you when you're forced awake.
>Try and wake up.
>Other?

>>742737
>>You don't want to lose this, try and take something with you when you're forced awake.

>>742737
>>You don't want to lose this, try and take something with you when you're forced awake.
Could be important.
(us waking up, that is. Sister-time is important by default.)

>>742737
>You don't want to lose this, try and take something with you when you're forced awake.

>3d10, best of four, higher is better...

Rolled 6, 4, 8 = 18 (3d10)

>>742798

Rolled 5, 5, 8 = 18 (3d10)

>>742798
Bring back a sister smile.

Rolled 5, 1, 10 = 16 (3d10)

>>742798

Rolled 6, 4, 7 = 17 (3d10)

>>742798

You know... those are clustered a bit too close for my liking and they're all incredibly mediocre. If I were GM'ing a pen and paper session I'd call bullshit.

So I'll consider one fifth roll, just this one time.

>>742845
And yes, one of you can re-roll if you want.

Rolled 9, 9, 3 = 21 (3d10)

>>742859
Well, don't mind if I do then.
>inb4 triple 1

>>742871
That'll do. And it has entirely to do with the fact that your roll and the first were so close in terms of post time and results. I mean just look at that nonsense.

heading out for a bit, see you guys on mobile

>>742893
And back

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>>742874
I didn't even notice until you pointed it out.
Dice Illuminati confirmed.

>>742910
Coincidence? I think yes.
>still writing

>>742947
No, this can't be the end already. It's not a matter of being afraid of losing her, you've long since made peace with that eventual outcome.

This has been your entire adult lives, one long struggle not just to exist but to carve out a place for yourselves and others like you where you can be safe from a civilization that fears you for what you are. All the battles, all the political posturing and alliances, the victories and the losses... they all led up to that moment. You and the ghost of your sister Catrina played a huge role in shaping this future, and you were proud of it. The trauma of the accident that stranded her in your body was all but forgotten.

And then you lost her.

For years her voice, her distinct presence, was gone. You didn't want to admit it, continuing to force the habit of referring to yourself in the plural 'we' despite the fact that anyone you could honestly call a newtype knew it was wishful thinking. You silently mourned her loss even as the rest of humanity moved on. And now that you've finally found her again, now that she's come back, you're going to lose her again just because Cima can't keep whatever she's learned to herself for another five goddamn minutes?

Fuck. That. Bullshit.

You can't simply let your sister fade away into the dark, unconscious corners of your mind again. That's not how her story's going to end. You refuse to allow it, not after all this time. And it's with that last, desperately focused thought that you find yourself waking from a deep sleep.

“The fuck do you want?” you hear yourself grumble as a dull ache returns to your head, a pressure just behind your eyes. “I was doing something important.”

“First of all, I?” Cima asks, puzzled at your choice of words. “And you were crying and muttering in your sleep, I was... I was worried, alright? You seemed like you were having a rough time, even before we escaped Cuithe.”

“Yes, I”, you reiterate calmly, rolling over to try and fish some fatigues out from the drawer under your bunk. “It was a very deliberate choice. You see...”

At that very moment Rossweisse bursts in through the door, staring at you with wide eyes. “Carrina what's going on? Did what I think I felt just happen happen, or am I finally losing my mind?”

“You're unusually talkative,” Cima observes with a furrowed brow. “What did you think happened? What the hell's going on here? Will one of you crazy newtypes actually explain for once!?”

“You're right, Rossweisse,” you grin, pulling your tangled hair back into order. “There's two of us in here again.”

>>742992
Woo!

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>>742992
And I'm calling it a weekend at this point. I'd rather go for another hour or so, but I feel like that's just not in the cards because I'm feeling pretty shit.

The upside? I'm finally feeling more positive about continuing SoZ for a little while longer. So I'll run SSQ next Saturday, and try this week to decide whether I want to alternate weekends or run one session of each per weekend. Until then shoot me some questions if you've got em, but otherwise see you next weekend. Hope you enjoyed!

>>743017
Righto, thanks for running.

I'm just happy enough that this one isn't resigned to oblivion, especially since I don't use a Twitter account and ask.fm has that required mandatory login crap. And I have mixed feelings about bringing it up in SSQ, though I do follow it too.

So it's starting to shape up based on the hostile encounters we've had (like the train ambush) that the military arm at least are former EFF/Titans. I'll probably need to backtrack the other threads first too, since a lot of clues might have been missed and could put a dent in that theory.

And since Carya and Catrina are separate entities occupying the same headspace again, should we expect any additional strain in utilizing her future eye, Axis shock warp, or general use of the MS remote weapons?

>>743178
>since Carya and Catrina are separate entities occupying the same headspace again, should we expect any additional strain
In some regards yes, but you can also expect the Sisters to be better at mitigating that strain at least to a certain point. As for exactly how independent Catrina really is, you'll find out next session. Don't expect too much, at least not right away.

>>743499
Though ironically, I expect they'll have to call Dom and tell him the good news.