How quickly would ALICE be able to run simulations on the best course of action?

>>2023422
Without more detailed information it would only be a best guess.

>>2023386
>>Anders' plan has merit. Concentration of firepower and speed of action are powerful weapons.
Just gotta preempt their deployments by knocking out as much as of their MS carriers as we can on the onset. The last time, there were some hang-ups with whether we should take the peaceable approach or not, which I feel wasted out opportunity to land a first decisive strike. Now, we're very sure where the Jovians stand.

>>2023434
Let's go with this, sound enough reasoning for me.

>writing

>>2023386
“Anders has a point,” you admit calmly. “Speed and concentrated fire will serve us well, we should be able to blow our way right through any unit the Jovians can throw at us.”

“Are you sure you just don't want to...” Commander Bong begins only for his Captain to cut him off.

“You're dismissed, Commander.”

Once he realizes that Captain Pike is serious, Bong leaves the frame.

“My apologies,” Pike sighs. “Commander Bong is a climber... it's all about him. I agree, Captain Anders' idea does give a reasonable chance of mission success without putting any specific faction at unduly elevated risk.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Anders nods. “Which of course leaves one point open for consideration...”

“Rules of engagement,” you sigh.

“Precisely. Your report seems unambiguous that the Jovians attacked first, however you expressed some doubts as to the extent of the Jovians' unity. Care to clarify?”

“Yes,” you nod. “It seemed that the Jovian ships were each manned by vastly different types of machine, with each team of four clearly intended to function as a team of four rather than as part of a larger order of battle.”

“Many Zeon special forces units operated along similar principles,” Cima adds. “Even the Federation forces had their 'Moore Brotherhood' unit, if memory serves.”

“That's right,” Bianca affirms, leaning way back in her own seat so that she's practically staring at the ceiling from sheer boredom. “They were drawn from survivors of the first weeks of the war, who lost their home colony.”

“My own marines were the same,” Cima continues. “If it seems like the Jovians are organized more along militia lines rather than as a standing army there is precedent.”

“So how does this affect our engagements?” Pike asks, growing impatient with all the exposition.

>We run with our IFF tags active. Any armed ships or mobile suits that approach us are to be considered hostile.
>We run with our IFF tags off. Avoid contact as much as possible, only fire if fired upon.
>Run with IFF tags off, call up vessels and demand identification before attacking.
>Search and destroy. If it's militarized at ALL it's a valid target of war.

>>2023513
>>We run with our IFF tags active. Any armed ships or mobile suits that approach us are to be considered hostile.

>impasse detected
>10-minute extension applied

>>2023513
>>We run with our IFF tags active. Any armed ships or mobile suits that approach us are to be considered hostile.

>>2023549
Fixed your impasse :p

>impasse resolved apparently
>writing why not

>>2023553
“We'll run IFFs active,” you decide. “Turn it into a self-selecting process. Anyone who comes at us under that circumstance is clearly looking for trouble... they either turn tail when we show force or they get hit.”

“It's one way to answer the question,” Cima sighs. “Kind of efficient too. Put it entirely on the enemy to decide who we fight.”

“Any objections?” Rossweisse asks.

“I would rather run silent,” Anders grumbles, “it's more the traditional operating procedure for capital ships in unsecured territory.”

“We wouldn't be able to discern which vessels we'd need to strike that way,” you sigh. “Sorry, but if we're going to commit our forces immediately at the start of any engagement we can't afford to waste time with sneaking around or identifying targets.”

“Fine,” Anders shakes his head. “We'll play it your way.”

“How do we know we've succeeded?”

All eyes turn towards Rossweisse, who asked the pressing question. And it's a fair point... on a mission like this there's no set goal aside from neutralizing the Jovian threat. But what does that actually mean?

It means capturing or killing the Jovian leader. The one who's been directing funds and materiel for the terrorist groups and who sent the Colorado to K2-18. That's how we win.

“Someone sent the Colorado to K2-18,” you reply, echoing your sister's sentiments. “We define our victory as capturing that individual, the one with the political capital to organize the Jovians at that level.”

“What about the other Jovian weapons systems?” Cima asks.

“If they still have a warmaking capacity...”

“A handful of ships and mobile suits hardly constitutes a threat,” you interrupt Captain Pike. “Without the big man who's been coordinating all of this effort, the Jovians cease to be an effective threat.”

“Until a new warlord rises to power,” Pike counters.

>Then we'll take efforts to disarm the Jovians once we've collared their leader.
>You can do that if you want. Our business is limited in scope, and difficult enough.
>No. Expanding beyond a strict, defined, attainable goal is a fatal mistake.
>Other?

>>2023613
>>You can do that if you want. Our business is limited in scope, and difficult enough.

>>2023613
>>You can do that if you want. Our business is limited in scope, and difficult enough.
Don't he need to swing this line of thought to his boss anyway?

>>Other?
There is precedent for the grievances though. Extend the less radical Jovians a beneficial out. Though, again, that would be up for the respective heads of government to decide.

>writing

>>2023663
“If you can get that cleared with your superiors more power to you,” you shrug. “But our mission here is pretty limited in scope, and it'll likely be difficult enough with the forces we have on hand.”

“De-militarization is not our business,” Haman immediately agrees with you. “Best if we took care of a single discrete mission and withdrew... that is how our organization conducts itself.”

“I have no intention of lingering,” Anders adds. “My orders are to assist in the CTF mission and report on the Everest's performance. Anything else clearly exceeds my orders.”

Completely unsupported, Pike drops the idea. “Very well. If I have no support for it, there's no way our vessel alone could be sufficient.”

A man wanders into Captain Anders' frame and hands him a tablet.

“Our advanced fighter screen is reporting long-range contact,” he announces. “Switching our IFF to broadcast.”

“We'll do the same,” you declare. “I want all mobile suit teams standing by for full deployment.”
>3d10, taking the second roll only

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

>>2023701
Alright, here we go.

Rolled 10, 8, 7 = 25 (3d10)

>>2023701

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

>>2023701

>>2023712
You hear the order to battle stations as you hop into the cockpit of your powerful prototype mobile suit. Its form has changed a little since the last time you fought in it, with the charging racks for your more powerful beam funnels having been moved to the legs where they can be powered by sub-generators, and the single rifle it carries that's been plugged into the movable pod on the back of its waist.

The six new funnels will serve as your main weapons, with beam sabers mounted in the wrists supporting you in melee combat, and the new beam rifle rounding it out. This rifle is based on the old beam machine gun carried by the Gelgoog Jäger you flew at the end of the One Year War, the last machine you fought with for Zeon. There are three main differences however: the fact that it can be powered directly by your machine's secondary reactor being one. The weapon can also be adjusted from a firing rate of about 180 RPM with power not too diminished from that of an early beam rifle to an RPM of nearly 1200 if you don't particularly care about power. The latter setting is ideal against slow-moving missiles at long ranges, remote weapons like funnels, and even lets you fish for damage against the emitters of a beam shield. Under its long containment shroud and barrel is the last difference: a four-shot rocket launcher which serves as a mid-range counter to i-Field defenses.

Where many of your previous machines also served as testbeds, this RX-type is bred for one thing: to deny the existence of any and all challengers to its dominion. This is truly a weapon of war.

A pity it seems so necessary.

“We're coming into range,” Rossweisse reports. “Getting a clearer visual now.”

The three ships you've picked up come into view on your own monitor... they don't seem like warships.

Standard-pattern transports. Could be converted to mobile suit carriers.

“ALICE, report,” you order. “Are we on a crossing course?”

“Affirmative,” the AI responds, he red-haired idol avatar appearing at the corner of your screen to project courses onto your HUD. “We will cross within firing distance in approximately twenty minutes, and will remain in range for five minutes.”

“They're crossing from our starboard,” you sigh. “They have right of way.”

“It's possible they don't see us as a threat,” Haman observes. “Damn.”

>Hail them, tell them to adjust course on our Z-axis. Tell them to keep their distance.
>Slow our forward momentum, stick to the accepted maritime laws.
>Sortie all forces, tell those freighters to prepare for boarding.
>Other?

>>2023809
>>Slow our forward momentum, stick to the accepted maritime laws.
Be nice, for now.

>>2023809
>>Slow our forward momentum, stick to the accepted maritime laws.

>>2023809
>>Slow our forward momentum, stick to the accepted maritime laws.
>>Other?
All the scanners. Multiple reactor readings is a red flag.

>>2023836
This guy has a good point. Scan the fuck out of them.
Give them cancer.

File: Sericea.jpg (78 KB, 810x316)

78 KB JPG

>>2023809
“All ships slow forward velocity in accordance with maritime law,” you sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose. “What, ALICE... you think 5 percent should be fine?”

“That would be appropriate,” ALICE replies, before disappearing from your viewer.

“Make that a 5 percent reduction,” you declare. “We'll accelerate again when this convoy crosses our course. Meanwhile, keep our sensors active. Keep an eye open for multiple reactor signatures, heat blooms... anything suspicious.”

“Aye,” Rossweisse replies from the cockpit. “Catapult still primed, ready on your orders.”
>3d10, DC 17, best of three

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

>>2023844

Rolled 3, 7, 8 = 18 (3d10)

>>2023844

>writing

>>2023883
“Let's just all be friends here...” you mutter to yourself.

Thankfully, the tense half hour or so passes without incident. The trio of cargo ships cross your task force's course without changing their own course or speed, and you never actually enter firing range. Which is good, it lets you continue your mission. You tell Rossweisse to increase her speed, and the rest of the group follows.

“We're passing Lysithea,” Rossweisse eventually informs you. “Picking up some signals, same band the task force we ran into last time was broadcasting on.”

>Ignore it.
>Fire on it at range.
>See if we can eavesdrop.

>>2023903
>>See if we can eavesdrop.

>>2023903
>>See if we can eavesdrop.

>>2023903
>>See if we can eavesdrop.

>3d10, best of three
>DC 18, Crit 21

Rolled 8, 1, 3 = 12 (3d10)

>>2023912
Next step is comms jamming, I reckon. It's like a counter-insurgency operation with starships.

Rolled 2, 10, 6 = 18 (3d10)

>>2023912

Rolled 4, 4, 7 = 15 (3d10)

>>2023912

>>2023912
“I wanna know where they're broadcasting to,” you declare. “Haman, Rossweisse, ALICE, we'll need you all on this one.”

After a few minutes Rossweisse shares the initial results. “We believe they are attempting to contact a colony cylinder near Io, and a facility near or on Europa.”

“The latter may be the same facility we noted last time,” Haman suggests.

>Chart a course for Europa, cut the bullshit and face the Jovians head on.
>Chart a course for the colony, try to gather some intel there.
>Other?

>>2024012
>>Chart a course for the colony, try to gather some intel there.

>>2024012
>>Chart a course for Europa, cut the bullshit and face the Jovians head on.

>plan involves turning Jupiter to a mini star
>have a base on a moon that'll soon be waterworld
Something to think about.
And inb4 the transport we passed were the facility personnel and The Plan is on countdown already

>>2024012
>>Chart a course for Europa, cut the bullshit and face the Jovians head on.

>>2024061
“Chart a course straight for Europa,” you order. “We'll never have a better shot, and if we lose any assets in a diversion we may lose that shot.”

“Agreed,” Haman replies. “Setting course.”

“Everest, Minas Geraes, please stand by to sortie all forces. We're advancing on the Jovian forces at Europa.”
>3d10, Taking the third roll

Rolled 1, 10, 4 = 15 (3d10)

>>2024081

Rolled 10, 1, 1 = 12 (3d10)

>>2024081
>Taking the third roll
Yeah, I'll take those early bad rolls thankyouverymuch

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

>>2024081

File: Carrina_concept_codec_view.png (377 KB, 637x634)

377 KB PNG

>>2024097
Your fleet manages to slink its way through Jovian space towards Europa, with only fleeting contacts at extreme sensor range. As soon as these ships get close enough to pick up your IFF tags they seem to change course, heading in any direction except towards you. It seems that you were right to broadcast like this, it's really cutting down on the number of close calls and false alarms you might otherwise be dealing with.

Finally, Europa starts to come into range of your fighters' long-range sensors. You get a panicked report from Everest.

“It's a Seven-class!” Captain Anders informs you. “Broadcasting as Nelson!”

Another ship of Nagato's type... so they do have more than one in operational condition? That could be bad news.

“That ship is a serious threat,” you think aloud, “but it isn't unbeatable. Get us in sensor range, let's get a good look at what we're dealing with.”

Twenty minutes later Sericea is in range to see Nelson for herself, and what you see gives you some hope.

“She has no escort!” Rossweisse insists. “No other drive signatures detected within a hundred thousand kilometers!”

“How many mobile suits does she have?” Pike asks.

“Forty,” Haman replies. “Unless our sensors are missing something, it's about two to one in their favor... which is bad odds for them if you ask me.”

“Those odds are insane,” Anders says, shaking his head. “And it's not even factoring in the ship's own anti-MS guns.”

“We have a target,” you reply, “and we have the materiel to attack. This is what we came here for, mister Anders, whether you realized it at the time or not.”

“That colony cylinder nearby must be the seat of their government,” ALICE reports. “There is substantial traffic coming from inside, much of it on diplomatic channels.”

“Calling for aid,” you guess.

That would be my guess as well... if they are allowed time to regroup, we will never get a chance to deal with them again.

>Press the attack as planned, move all assets into firing range against Nelson.
>Hold the battleships in reserve, clear a path through to target using the mobile suits.
>Use your artillery and remote-weapon mobile suits to silence Nelson's big guns.
>Other?

>>2024202
>>Use your artillery and remote-weapon mobile suits to silence Nelson's big guns.
>>Other?
Scour its launch bays while we're at it.

>>2024215
In with this

>>2024202
>>Press the attack as planned, move all assets into firing range against Nelson.

>3d10
>dc17
>crit21
>best of three

Rolled 2, 3, 3 = 8 (3d10)

>>2024235

Rolled 7, 2, 2 = 11 (3d10)

>>2024235

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

>>2024235

>>2024245
You have saved us!

>>2024235
“This is it boys and girls,” you announce, spamming the whole fleet via Sericea's psycomm systems. “We're moving in on the Nelson. I'm transferring data on the locations of their fire control systems and main armament, disable that so we can move the warships in. We're expecting heavy opposition... launch on my orders, form up, then attack.”

“Captain Marseille out.”

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaYk-lmysEc

The target information has been transmitted... I hope it's enough.

“One can only hope,” you mutter. “Hey, Bianca. You ready?”

“As I'll ever be,” she replies. “I'll be right behind you, boss.”

“Haman, you good?”

“We'll coordinate with your team,” Haman declares. “Move as a unit. Rossweisse, you ready?”

“Affirmative,” your partner declares. “Psycho-missiles standing by.”

“Alright,” you acknowledge, taking a deep, cleansing breath. “Captain Marseille, launching!”

With a familiar slam of force that pushes against your whole body at once your mobile suit is shot out of the Sericea's launch deck and into open space, where you perform a playful roll by way of a salute to Rossweisse before taking off towards the rally point Haman has sent you.

Qubeley soon joins you, even as multiple drive signatures light up at the extreme range of Sericea's sensors, linked to your HUD in real-time by ALICE and Rossweisse's combined efforts.

“You ready, Carlyle?” you ask.

“Born ready, boss!” she replies cheerfully. “Bout damn time I got back into the thick of it... and what a machine this thing is!”

“Execute full-power burn in five, everyone else match Carlyle's acceleration,” you order. “Mark!”

On your mark seven mobile suits of the Colony Transit Fleet accelerate, rapidly closing in on their shared target. At a range of two hundred kilometers you start having to strafe to avoid scattered defensive fire, which thankfully inflicts only slight damage to a few of the mobile suits in your supporting force. Then, finally, the fire stops.

“Incoming mobile weapons!” you report. “This is it, let 'em have it!”

Launching funnels! Contact in ten seconds!

“Funnels out!” Haman reports. “I've been engaged!”
>1/2

>>2024285
Twelve mobile suits. Three full teams dedicate themselves to taking your squad down. In addition to your monstrosity and the Qubeley you have Bianca's advanced GM-III derivative on your side and two of the ReZels from Sadalahn, rounded out by two old Rick Dias that have been upgraded over the years. Those were all Anaheim could drum up on short notice. Against you are a mix of bizarre mobile weapons seemingly derived from Zaku or Gelgoog-type machines, each heavily personalized to the point where nothing they could pull out against you would come as a surprise.

>Light them up, concentrate on destroying as many of these mobile suits as you can.
>Take advantage of your fast-firing weapons, hose down any slower projectiles or remote weapons.
>Move closer to the MS from one of the other ships, provide mutual fire support.
>Concentrate on driving through to the target so your capital ships can move in.

>>2024299
>>Light them up, concentrate on destroying as many of these mobile suits as you can.

>>2024299
>>Light them up, concentrate on destroying as many of these mobile suits as you can.

>>2024299
>>Light them up, concentrate on destroying as many of these mobile suits as you can.
B E A M S P A M

>3d10, DC 18, Critical 21
>best of four due to team dynamics and shit

Rolled 8, 4, 2 = 14 (3d10)

>>2024355

Rolled 6, 8, 1 = 15 (3d10)

>>2024355
>team dynamics
Time to see how Bianca fares with her machine.

Rolled 3, 6, 10 = 19 (3d10)

>>2024355

>>2024367

Thank god someone came along and succeeded where we failed

Rolled 3, 4, 5 = 12 (3d10)

>>2024355
and just to give a fourth roll..
I was making supper...

>writing
>last post of the evening because early morning bullshit tomorrow

>>2024397
“Hey Haman, let's thin the ranks a little!” you suggest. “Have your team provide covering fire, Bianca do the same. Hold those missiles of yours in reserve if you can!”

“Acknowledged!” Haman replies.

“You plannin' something special?” Bianca muses. “Alright then. I've got other toys to play with anyway.”

You unleash a barrage of beam fire on the nearest Jovian mobile suit, tearing into its armor and ripping off its arm at the shoulder, before leaving it for your sister to clean up.

One down. Shifting fire.

The next mobile suit seems to take no damage from your barrage as you close in, each beam flashing as it expends its energy against an unseen barrier.

“I-Field!” Haman calls out.

“Got it,” you reply, closing in and firng a warhead that splits into a dozen submunitions midflight to avoid the retaliatory spot fire. The blasts cause enough damage and distraction for you to close in and put your beam saber through the bulky machine's torso, then draw it through and out of the shoulder armor.

Two down, your sister reports. Haman's bagged one and damaged another, the support team's dropped another two.

Sure enough you do seem to be making surprising headway, at the loss of just one binder off a Rick Dias. You can't help but think that this is going entirely too well, so well that it's legitimately shocking.

Then you take a beam blast in the back.

“Damn,” Haman curses, “they got a remote weapon behind us? But none of them are newtypes!”

“Must be a wire-guided weapon,” you realize. Switching modes on your beam machine gun lets you saturate one arc at a time with fire, which damages or destroys a couple of the offending weapons... but it doesn't remove the threat entirely.

The damaged Rick Dias loses an arm this time, distracted by the wire-guided beam fire flashing all around you.

We need to focus on taking out the suit controlling them... if we divide our attention the casualties will be worse.

“Close and destroy, people!” you order. “Those remotes aren't worth shit if their controller is dead! Pour it on 'em and let's get out of here!”

>>2024429
And that's where I have to leave off for now. Archive's up, and thanks for stopping by!

Keep an eye on twitter, I may have a chance to update a few times during the week.

Rolled 7, 9, 3 = 19 (3d10)

>>2024467
>update a few times during the week
Involving spooky Jovian Newtypes?

>>2024490
Potentially, if we get that far.

So I like where the last thread ended in terms of having a fresh start this weekend, and my schedule is twelve kinds of fucked for the rest of the week.

I'll do an omake though if anyone can come up with an idea to work with.

>>2031654
how about anything interesting Dom got up to before he met CC?

>>2031717
Dominic's first day on the North American front, CC's first day on the European front it is then.

>>2032107
>August 15, UC 0079.
>Outside Bozeman, Montana
A relative newcomer to the Federation's forward operating base on the North American front stands in an open hangar, appraising an equally new delivery: one of the first handful of RGM-79[G] mobile suits, a GM ground-type. Its armor is in perfect condition, its paint factory-fresh... the interior of its cockpit probably smells brand-new, too.

“That'll change,” the newcomer smirks, before heading into a low-slung metal hut adjacent to the hangar.

Inside he grabs a beaten metal tray and a mug, then sets about serving himself breakfast. His youthful appearance and ill-fitting uniform attract the attention of several of the men already seated at the tables, one of whom quickly approaches him.

“Hey, beat it kid,” the man grumbles. “This is an officer's mess, brats like you'll get in trouble if you get caught stealing a meal like this.”

The boy continues pouring himself a cup of coffee, before setting the tray down and tapping lightly at a pair of silver bars on his collar. “See this, Ensign?”

“Yeah, I see it,” the much larger man replies angrily. “What I wanna know is how you got it. How old are you anyway, brat?”

“Sixteen,” the boy replies calmly. “What about it?”

“Hear that, boys!?” the Ensign calls out as the other men at his table laugh. “He's got this under control, he's sixteen! Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“First Lieutenant O'Hara, transferred in from the EFSF Carentan.”

“Hey, Jocko,” one of the men at the table mutters, peering carefully at the newcomer. “Wasn't there some nutbag kid aboard the Carentan, offed a bunch of Zeek mobile suits in a Ball?”

“Five and a half in two days,” O'Hara mutters to a nearby female medical officer. “Watch 'em get it wrong.”

“What, the 'ball ace in a day' story?” the Ensign called 'Jocko' chuckles. “Yeah right, I'll believe that when I see it, Ramirez.”

Meanwhile, the boy has taken a seat at a table where the EFF nurse has been sitting. “This seat taken, miss?”

“No, not at all sir,” she replies.

“Thanks. Coffee always this lousy in the ground service?”

“Most days, sir.”

“... I miss space sometimes. Wonder if the Zeeks have it this bad."
>1/2

>>2032375
>August 15, UC 0079
>Outside Sofia, former Soviet Union
“Excuse me, ma'am,” a cook dressed in a Zeon uniform interrupts a young woman in a tank top and fatigues. Her appearance is almost as beleaguered as the bullet-riddled aluminum hut she's sitting in, with bandages around her head and over her eye, as well as wrapped around her wrists. More bandages are visible under her shirt where her ribs are healing.

“What is it?” she asks, turning her good eye to the cook and revealing a dark circle under it, as though she hadn't slept in days.

“Are you... okay?” he asks, genuinely worried about the health of his unit's new ace mobile suit pilot.

“I'll be fine,” she insists, trying to muster a reassuring smile. Then her eye narrows for a moment as she glances over her shoulder. “Go get some sleep, sergeant, that's an order. Don't worry about the coffee maker.”

“Are you sure, ma'am?” he asks.

She nods. “Yeah. Least I can do for you, keeping the kitchen open late for me.”

“Will you be here for breakfast, Lieutenant Marseille?”

“Unless there's a mission,” she shrugs. “So you'd really have to ask the Feddies.”

“Right. Well, good night ma'am.”

“Sleep well, sergeant.”

A few minutes after the mess sergeant left, three more grizzled-looking pilots find their way into the mess hall. “Hey, there's still some coffee out.”

They pour three cups of lukewarm coffee and sit at a table across the room from the Lieutenant. “So that's her, huh?”

“She looks like shit.”

“Hard to pin a girl that young as an ace.”

“Apparently she's a newtype.”

“Bullshit. If she were a newtype why'd she be here?”

“She's all covered in bandages.”

“Must've washed out of Flanagan.”

“Why waste a customized Dom on a failure?”

“Least the damn Earthnoids'll take care of her for us.”

“I know, sister,” Carya mutters quietly as the other pilots continue to blabber at each other. “I know.”

Then she glances over her shoulder again, before getting up and shuffling out the door with her cup in hand. The door to the mess hall clatters closed behind her, and she walks across the dusty compound towards the mobile suit hangar. She doesn't even flinch when a 180mm shell hits the aluminum hut behind her, finally putting it out of its misery and reducing it to scrap metal.

“Looks like another sleepless night, sister...”
>2/2

>>2024285
You are Captain Carya Marseille-O'Hara, an ace mobile suit pilot and a powerful newtype, and this drive against the Jovian military has met even stiffer resistance than your first abortive assault several days ago. This time you face not a surprised patrol of a few light cruisers, but the full might of a heavy “Seven”-class capital ship, a ship whose appearance within an area of sovereign space could itself be considered an act of war. The Nelson can outshoot most battleships in service, carries more mobile suits than most carriers, and even possesses its own manufacturing and resource extraction facilities which in theory allow it to operate independently for months or even years.

The first exchange pitted you and your team against twelve Jovian mobile suits, and despite the odds your side made off well. Your remodeled Viola and Haman's Qubeley have both tasted first blood, and combined with the efforts of Haman's support team and Bianca in her new GM-type the numbers have been thinned out dramatically. Twelve machines have become seven, with one of those left damaged by Haman's funnels, in exchange for moderate damage to an old Rick Dom that's been serving as support.

The sixteen mobile suits fielded by the Mars Navy's flagship Everest and the Lunar force's battleship Minas Geraes have encountered heavy resistance as well, meeting the remaining 28 mobile suits out of Nelson's full compliment. One of the Jegans fielded by the Lunar battleship has been destroyed and three of their kitted-out cousins from Mars have sustained damage, likely due to their pilots' inexperience. In exchange their well-coordinated but unremarkable firepower has only claimed two enemy mobile suits, the remainder of which seem to be much more maneuverable and powerful than the standard-issue types they're facing.

“Keep in formation!” a voice shouts over an open comm band, which you recognize as belonging to Lieutenant Harding. “Keep it spaced at two hundred and fifty meters, eyes open for remotes!”

“They came out of nowhere!” Commander Bong's voice joins Harding's, the beginnings of panic obvious in his voice.

“That's enough, Commander,” one of the Martians replies firmly. “Harding's right, panicking gets us nowhere.”

“That you, Orville!?” Harding asks aloud as he seems to recognize the other pilot's voice. “Never thought I'd be glad to hear a Martian over the comms.”

“How about a friend?” the man replies.

“Yeah, that'll about do it!”
>1/2

>>2043107
On your own front, you've decided to push through the incoming remote weapon fire and take out the remaining mobile suits that have come at you. Your reasoning is that wasting time trying to spot and shoot down the enemy's remote weapons will just give them time to wear away at your own force, possibly even take out your support fireteam before they've really had a chance to hold their own.

“Keep moving!” you order as beams pierce the blackness around your mobile suit, each briefly illuminating your otherwise dark cockpit as they pass.

The undamaged Rick Dias takes a fatal hit from a beam weapon as your team members each struggle individually to maneuver into a favorable position, flashes of light marking them out when their maneuvering thrusters fire.

“Fall back, Perkins!” Haman orders. “They're targeting our support team, get out while you can and I'll cover you!”

Seven mobile suits... and an unknown number of remote weapons. How do you want to handle this?
>Close in to saber range. Their remote weapons will be useless against you if you're in a melee.
>Use your funnels to bunch the Jovians up, then light them up with your beam machine gun.
>Turn the machine gun on the slower opponents, use the funnels against the faster ones. All out attack.
>Use your maneuverability. Nothing can match you in a turning fight.
>Other?

>>2043109
>>Close in to saber range. Their remote weapons will be useless against you if you're in a melee.
Easier to sever connections on the wire guided remote weapons when closer to the source.

>>2043109
>>Close in to saber range. Their remote weapons will be useless against you if you're in a melee.

>>2043109
>>Close in to saber range. Their remote weapons will be useless against you if you're in a melee.

>3d10, dc 18, crit 24, best of four

Rolled 3, 7, 2 = 12 (3d10)

>>2043156

Rolled 7, 6, 7 = 20 (3d10)

>>2043156

Rolled 4, 9, 3 = 16 (3d10)

>>2043156

So who's gonna be the guy?

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Rolled 5, 2, 2 = 9 (3d10)

>>2043183
I wanna be the guy

>>2043185
You could not be the guy.

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699 KB JPG

>>2043183
“I'm closing to saber range,” you declare. “Sis, cover my advance.”

Understood. Funnels will be in position on my mark. Three... two... one...

The second Catrina gives you the go-ahead you fire all your main thrusters at once, accelerating towards the nearest Jovian mobile suit. She fires past you with the funnels, keeping your enemies off you for a few precious seconds while you use the compact four-point thrusters on your backpack to avoid incoming fire from multiple angles.

Your own fire isn't especially accurate, but you do notice the moment when your Jovian enemies stop firing at you due to your proximity to their own mobile suits. And that's when you truly begin your assault.

The beam saber on your left wrist ignites in its forward-facing rack, and you use it to engage your victim's own melee weapon while you place your beam machine gun on a rack atop the mobile booster pod which rests behind the Viola's waist. Then you ignite the saber stored on your right wrist, using it to slash away the hand of your opponent's machine... what appears to be a Zaku-III derivative configured for midrange combat.

The Jovian pilot backs off and fires a beam from the 'mouth' on the front of his Zaku's head, which narrowly misses the sensitive electronics of your own gundam's head as you jink out of the way.

“I'm closing as well,” Haman decides. “Covering fire, keep those Jovian machines dodging.”

With the enemy entirely in motion they struggle to maintain a formation that can provide mutual covering fire, allowing Haman to slip in close and draw a pair of beam sabers. They clash with the blade of a lightly-built custom job, which looks like a Gelgoog with half its armor stripped away to reduce weight and allow for it to carry heavier weapons.

In a flash of insight she deactivates one saber, then quickly reactivates it with the emitter pointed straight at her opponent's torso. The blade of roiling energy melts straight through and out the other side, and as Haman retracts her Qubeley's arm she spins with a kick of her thrusters to leave a deep slash through the machine's cockpit block.

Your own opponent floats away a few seconds later, deprived of all four of its limbs and most of its AMBAC maneuvering capabilities.

“Any decrease in fire?”

None. It seems these were not the controlling machines.

>That leaves only five mobile suits it could be. Call in full fire support and overwhelm them.
>You should save on ammunition, particularly Bianca's missiles. Keep engaging one at a time.
>Use your newtype senses to their full capacity, see if you can discern the right target.
>Other?

>>2043239
>>Use your newtype senses to their full capacity, see if you can discern the right target.

>>2043239
No kidding about those Jovian MS being heavily personalized. Gonna guess at least one of those five is a Rozen Zulu derivative.

>>Use your newtype senses to their full capacity, see if you can discern the right target.

>>2043239
>>Use your newtype senses to their full capacity, see if you can discern the right target.

>vote accepted early
>3d10, DC 18, critical 22, best of 4

Rolled 6, 3, 6 = 15 (3d10)

>>2043269

Rolled 1, 2, 2 = 5 (3d10)

>>2043269

Rolled 8, 9, 7 = 24 (3d10)

>>2043269
Shell game MS edition. Smart Paint usage perhaps?

>>2043274
...ow.

>>2043275
Nice!!

>>2043275
>critical accepted, no need to roll again

>>2043280
“Haman, sis, cover me for a moment...” you grumble into your microphone. Then you take a deep breath.

Your hands are light on the controls, and your machine almost moves more with your thoughts than anything else. Your senses extend, taking in the chaos of the battlefield around you, the desperation and the fear and the anger that radiate through the empty darkness of space.

The Everest teams lose a Jegan to a shot through the torso that ruptures a fuel tank, washing the inside of the cockpit in fire and killing the pilot instantly.

Haman directs her funnels to shoot at a strangely-configured machine that looks like one of the old Kämpfer-type machines, taking its shoulder armor off and damaging the machinery underneath.

One of the transforming types is destroyed in a barrage of missiles, wire-guided. Commander Bong's wingmate. The Commander's mental state deteriorates even further into genuine panic.

Another Jegan off the Minas Geraes is destroyed by a powerful beam rifle shot.

Then you find it.

“Is that a newtype?” you realize, your eye flying open. “No... that's not possible. I'd have noticed it before now if it were.”

“What are you saying?” Haman asks, jinking to avoid a large rocket-propelled warhead.

“It's like... an impression,” you explain, trying to find the right words for your feeling. “Sis, can you feel it too?”

It feels... familiar. Not like someone I know, but it's almost like...

“There,” you declare, tagging a mobile suit. “This one, and this one as well.”

Three mobile suits, the three that are undamaged so far. Those are the ones you're getting this strange feeling from, a feeling you can't quite shake.

>Saturation fire with missiles from Sericea and Bianca. Wipe them out or tie them down.
>Send out your new funnels to attack the Nelson directly, divert their attention.
>Focus fire on one of these three suspicious mobile suits, discern what this feeling is.
>Other?

>>2043342
>>Focus fire on one of these three suspicious mobile suits, discern what this feeling is.

>>2043342
>>Focus fire on one of these three suspicious mobile suits, discern what this feeling is.

>>2043342
>Three mobile suits
Oh boy. 2nd gen Puru clones?

>>Focus fire on one of these three suspicious mobile suits, discern what this feeling is.

>3d10, DC 18, critical 24, best of four

Rolled 7, 9, 9 = 25 (3d10)

>>2043415

Rolled 10, 8, 5 = 23 (3d10)

>>2043420
...Well shit.
>>2043415

>>2043420
>writing

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>>2043429
You pick out one of the mobile suits which has been hanging back, firing modest beam shots for the entire fight, and close in on it rapidly.

This thing... it's almost like...

The mobile suit's pilot notices you... no, the mobile suit notices you. Its maneuvering thrusters snap its body round to face you faster than any sane oldtype pilot would ever willingly do, and through the visor-like optics slit in its head a menacing red light glows.

“A Gyan,” you realize. “No, the Krieger variant?”

This machine is like me...

The Gyan charges you with its powerful thrusters redlined, igniting a massive beam lance that you're forced to parry, knowing that if you simply dodged it that would be the end of you. It pushes hard with the weapon, trying to move you into a position where it can turn the beam guns built into the back side of its shield on you, but you use your Viola's foot to kick the arm away and disengage. Your head vulcans roar and the beam emitter on your free left had spits fire at the Gyan, which deftly raises its shield and absorbs the light damage while you reach for your beam machine gun and retrieve it.

The pilot isn't in control anymore. Someone made an EXAM system.”

“EXAM?” you repeat. “Shit... Haman, these three have got EXAM systems!”

“Not good,” Haman realizes as one of her ReZel guards takes a hit that severs its leg and sends it spinning. “We need to down them before the other two go berserk!”

“EXAM?” Bianca asks. “The hell is that and why does it make these three pricks impossible to hit?”

“Part of a newtype's soul is bound to each of 'em,” you explain quickly before the Gyan Krieger reengages with its beam lance. “Nasty tendency to go berserk, like this one has!”

>That's all there is to it. Saturation fire is the only solution now, kill them before the other two go berserk.
>Deal with this one first then link up with the other teams, push forward using a single formation.
>Use your funnels to attack the Nelson, make them think you've gotten reinforcements.
>Disengage, dash for the Nelson and use your funnels to ambush the three EXAM suits as they give chase.
>Other?

>>2043486
>>Disengage, dash for the Nelson and use your funnels to ambush the three EXAM suits as they give chase.

>>2043486
>>Disengage, dash for the Nelson and use your funnels to ambush the three EXAM suits as they give chase.
Going for keeping distance from that lance. I-field covers for any surprise beam attacks. Taser funnels as the trap to fry the system, I reckon?

>>2043486
>>Disengage, dash for the Nelson and use your funnels to ambush the three EXAM suits as they give chase.

>>2043540
>3d10, best of four, DC 18 crit 23

Rolled 8, 3, 3 = 14 (3d10)

>>2043557

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

>>2043557

Rolled 6, 6, 2 = 14 (3d10)

>>2043557

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

>>2043557
Taking the 4th?

Welp, there goes that crit streak mojo.

>>2043565
You're good.

I'd actually intended to lower the DC and Critical by 1 each due to the previous critical, but kinda hoped you'd just hit the 18 and not cut it so close.

>>2043595
Oh King, surely you've learned not to have any hope for good dice in this quest by now, haven't you?

>>2043595
“Haman, let's disengage and draw these three along with us,” you suggest. “Rossweisse, you still monitoring us?”

“What do you need?” she replies.

“Funnels,” you tell her. “The sea serpent specials.”

“You have them” she replies, as the distant weapons appear on your HUD. “All yours.”

“I've disengaged,” Haman reports. “Moving in on the Nelson.”

“Sis, take over the funnels from Rossweisse as soon as they're in range,” you tell your partner. “Think you can manage the extra strain?”

Absolutely.

“Alright, disengaging.”

You use an extended, high rate of fire burst to force the Gyan back, then break off at full acceleration. It takes the Gyan a moment or two before I commits to chasing you down... and when it does it accelerates far faster than your own machine can. It's designed that way of course, and it slowly reels in the distance you've gained.

“Looks like our first contestant,” you tell Haman.

“Then we'll turn and fight,” she decides.

The special funnels are still out of range.

>Turn and counter with your beam sabers.
>Turn and fire with your beam machine gun as it closes.
>Use your regular funnels and Haman's to chew the Gyan apart.
>Other?

>>2043626
>>Use your regular funnels and Haman's to chew the Gyan apart.

>>2043626
>>Use your regular funnels and Haman's to chew the Gyan apart.

>>2043626
>>Use your regular funnels and Haman's to chew the Gyan apart.

Rolled 5, 5, 6, 10 = 26 (4d10)

>3d10, DC 18, crit 23
>qm also rolling

Rolled 2, 4, 3 = 9 (3d10)

>>2043691

Rolled 4, 2, 4 = 10 (3d10)

>>2043691
>Rolled 5, 5, 6, 10 = 26 (4d10)
Woah, is that for Haman? She got her groove back.

Rolled 5, 8, 7 = 20 (3d10)

>>2043691

>>2043728
phew.

>>2043691
“Funnels, now!” you shout, rolling your machine over to avoid a chunk of debris on short notice.

Haman's funnels open fire in time with Catrina's, their powerful beam blasts casting a proverbial net around your onrushing foe. One shot connects with its backpack immediately, another destroys the head, and a third takes off its weapon arm. A fourth melts into the Gyan's shield, and a fifth strikes from the opposite side and destroys the hardpoint mount that kept the barrier affixed to the machine's remaining arm.

You can feel the fragmentary newtype soul straining within the machine's circuitry, much like your sister... but trapped there. Helpless. You're not even sure how much of the newtype victim still exists, only that it's still fighting by choice or simply out of pure mindless rage.

... you're hesitating.

>The Gyan is all but helpless. Destroying it like this would be wrong.
>Finish the job. No part of what that machine is is okay.

You know you'll have to choose quickly, the other two machines are approaching firing distance now that you've slowed to engage.

>>2043776
>>Finish the job. No part of what that machine is is okay.
end its misery

>>2043776
>>Finish the job. No part of what that machine is is okay.

>>2043776
Hard call on this one. The other two units 'zerking out is equally possible for both choices.

>>Finish the job. No part of what that machine is is okay.
Too much of an unpredictable factor to leave out there I suppose.

>>2043776
“Pull the plug,” you decide. “No part of what that thing is is okay.”

After a fraction of a second where you feel your sister considering the situation, the Gyan's cockpit is speared from four different directions. The pilot's presence disappears instantly, and the sensation of the EXAM system's presence follows soon after.

>Reverse course, attack the EXAM machines head-on and sandwich them between you and your support.
>Push on towards the Nelson. Repeat the process when one of the EXAM suits catches up.
>Draw the EXAM suits towards the Everest and Minas Geraes teams.
>Other?

>>2043826
>>Reverse course, attack the EXAM machines head-on and sandwich them between you and your support.

>>2043826
>>Reverse course, attack the EXAM machines head-on and sandwich them between you and your support.

>>2043826
>>Other?
Still got that saturation fire available from Bianca and our ship?
>>Reverse course, attack the EXAM machines head-on and sandwich them between you and your support.

Rolled 2, 1, 6, 2 = 11 (4d10)

>3d10, DC 17, critical 24
>best of four this time

Rolled 2, 8, 10 = 20 (3d10)

>>2043874

Rolled 2, 10, 4 = 16 (3d10)

>>2043874

Rolled 3, 5, 4 = 12 (3d10)

>>2043874

>waiting for the fourth

Rolled 3, 7, 9 = 19 (3d10)

>>2043874

>>2043906
“Haman, reverse!” you call out.

“Already ahead of you!” she calls back as you use your backpack thrusters to kill your momentum, then push to accelerate back towards the oncoming EXAM suits.

Rossweisse already knows what to do, the missiles are on their way. You can hear her signaling to your support teams. “Bianca, open fire on the two pursuing machines on my mark.”

“Standing by!” Bianca replies. “Rocket grenades ready!”

“Fire.”

Bianca's projectiles join the barrage of missiles, which the EXAM machines turn to fire on. While they do manage to shoot down most of the incoming weapons, it leaves them open to your own assault.

Your beam machine gun tears through armor and servos, and the beams from Haman and Catrina's funnels blast away from all angles seemingly at once. Metal boils away, the onrushing mobile suits lose momentum, and secondary explosions shatter them right down to their frames.

The two EXAM systems disappear.

“Rossweisse, how are the other teams faring?” you ask, pushing your machine's thrusters to rejoin your own team.

“Everest team is down two Jegans, Minas Geraes is at half strength,” Rossweisse tells you. “Sixteen mobile suits from the Nelson remain, and they are entering firing range on Everest.”

>Then we'll move in with you, finish off the mobile suits before closing on Nelson.
>We'll reinforce the mobile suit teams, you can start to fire on Nelson at extreme range.
>Other?

>>2043988
>>Then we'll move in with you, finish off the mobile suits before closing on Nelson.

>Minas Geraes is at half strength
RIP. Wonder if it's mostly the Jegans or a couple Anksha's got caught too?

>>2043988
>>Then we'll move in with you, finish off the mobile suits before closing on Nelson.

>>2044012
I rolled for their fight offscreen, they're at LITERALLY half. As in they've lost two of each.

>>2044044
And I'm going to have to call it here. Next weekend we'll probably conclude the battle, so looking forward to that.

Thanks for stopping by, and see you next week!

>>2044081
Thanks for running.

I was under the assumption that the Ankshas running a ferry duty formation would lend to their survival slightly more than the Jegans. In hindsight, it just increases the odds of taking out one or both units.

Well, that's for their team to assess and mull over.

>>2044111
Partly their losses are due to their reduced mobility in mobile suit form. Aerodynamic surfaces don't exactly contribute as much as a limb covered in thrusters.