>>18603659
NO. Don't you dare think like that. I told you last night, but I guess I have to say it again, I LOVE you. YOU didn't do ANYTHING wrong. The ones to blame for this are those traitors. They let the Black Rocks in, and they kept us from saving the colony.
We'll get them all, Elsie, I promise you. They won't get away with this. But we need to be there for each other.

>>18603738
Seconding.
And while we shouldn't say this, if she was in the barracks there's a good chance she would have been killed in her sleep like all the other pilots.

>>18603659
Brian, apparently you're a cock.

It's not your fucking fault, none of us could have seen this coming. If someone here is to blame it's me, if I was faster, stronger, more skilled maybe I could have stopped him, but it's not your fault.

I love you, I'll keep saying it until you understand it's not your fault.

Now what we are going to do is track down the people responsible for this and hang them with their own entrails, no matter how far they run or where they hide we are going to kill them.

>>18603738

She spends a long moment in silence.

"Maybe. Maybe there was nothing wrong with what we did, but...."

She looks you in the eye.

"If we didn't.... if we were there.... do you think we might have stopped this?"

>>18603791
Probably not, we might have been shot in our sleep and even if we weren't, as much as I hate to say it that red core was absurdly strong.

He toyed with me and he prioritized the death of innocents over his own life, I never had a chance. We couldn't have seen it coming and with that man there we couldn't stop them.

Excellent! I managed to get in at the start of a thread.
>>18603791

If we were, we would probably be dead.

>>18603791
"I... I don't know. But there's no point in dwelling on it now. We have to keep moving forward. If you look to the past all the time, all you'll ever see is the place where you started getting further and further away. That's no way to go on with our lives."

>>18603791
Against a carefully planned out assault like this I'd love to say that we'd make a difference but from where I'm standing we did the most we could from where we were...

You take a minute to seriously consider her question.

"I don't know. If we were in the barracks we might've just had our throats slit with the others. And if we were elsewhere... I don't see how things would be much different."

She looks at you a moment more before pulling you in for a quick kiss.

"Maybe you're right. But... this is exactly the sort of thing we were supposed to prevent. No matter how you cut it, this happened because the Militia failed to do exactly what we were supposed to. Hell, if what your sister said was true some of us actually fucking turned on the colony."

At about this time, Mooch waves at you from beside your wreck.

[ ] Go talk to him and Josh.
[ ] Ignore him for a minute, stay here with Elsie.
[ ] Other (Please specify)

>City on fire
>Rip guys face off
>Guy hugs bomb
>Makes big boom
>Mooch completly safe
>Can slightly hear giggling from his comm as the station falls and crushes everyone
>I laugh in mental glee knowing myself that well
>Later AC guy will slap us for posting this
>General around shenanigans.

Anyway other then that. Lets DO THIS
ENGAGIN Chat mode!

>[x] Ignore him for a minute, stay here with Elsie.

>Go talk to him and Josh

Because JOSH as a buddy would be the best.
should prolly warn him bout mooch too.

>>18603983
Ignore him for a minute, whatever it is it can wait for just a bit longer. Hell we need this hug just as much as she does.

>>18603993
...Yeah Mooch can wait, Elsie needs the attention right now.

>>18603993
>>18604013

>Yeah, there's a reason Mooch has had a slight personality judgement as a character in this quest.

>Ignore
>Ignore
>Ignore

Okay I must say im face palming, at this point Josh probobly thinks we are an asshat, and that we're here for the womanz. Its either that or he thinks we're cool for being a gentlemen. But either way.
WHITE GLINT PILOT ANYONE?

we better befriend that man.
I want Friendship

>>18604069

>This is what's called meta-gaming, Mooch.

>>18604092

This is how you can tell I need to get my man priority's straight.
Aight stoppin.
Lurkin.

>>18603983
>Ignore

You opt to ignore Mooch.

"I think he's trying to get your attention."

"He can wait. You gonna be ok?"

".... Maybe? I don't know. I don't think it's really sunk in yet. I mean, it seems hard to believe that everything's gone. Just like that. I'm surprised you're so calm...."

"I'm about where you are. I think I'm too shocked and hopped up on adrenalin to fully appreciate what's going on here. I'll have a break-down later, right now I think we need to work."

"SPEAKING OF WORK..." Mooch's voice cuts in "We need to discus the fate of your AC here. I hate to cut in like this, but this is REALLY important."

You sigh as the two of you walk over to him.

>>18604315

"What's the verdict?"

"Well, I got some good news, and I got some bad news."

"Let's start with the good news."

"Good news is that the AI control black-box is intact. This means your synch data's there, as well as the combat data from the last fight."

"More intel's always good."

"Yeah, then there's the bad news. That's about the only bit that isn't fried. You're missing most of a leg and BOTH arms, your targeting system's shot, your blade got busted by the landing, all of your thrusters are melted down.... The cost of fixing this thing is about what a new core would. I mean, I can make it new good for the same price.... but we don't exactly have oodles of space to spare in our refugee convoy we've got going."

"Can't you just cut out the Black-Box?"

"With the proper gear? It'd take me a couple of hours. With the proper gear that I don't have. The only set of precision tools like that we had were back in Hope when... well...."

"Shit."

Josh clears his throat. "If money's an issue, it wouldn't be too hard to talk the Omar boys into coughing up some money for the salvage rights to your core. Even if it's all busted up they can melt it and make some decent money off of the base components."

"And what're the odds that they'd give us the black box?"

"Slim to none."

"Well there you have it. How 'bout it Alex? If we're just going to leave it here, we might as well sell it to those guys. But it might also be worth keeping JUST for your synch score when we pop that into a new AC."

[ ] Keep it.
[ ] Sell it.

>If you want, I can explain why things like the synch score matter OOC before you make the choice.

>>18604482
Please tell us about Synch score, this seems like an important decision.

>>18604482
Explain first, decide later.

>>18604482
please do. I imagine the Synch score works similar to the Synch Ration in Adeptus Evangelion?

>>18604514
>>18604516

>Alright, give me a sec to write it up.

>>18604523

>Haven't played it, so no idea. Kinda want to.

>>18604551
Basically, in AE the higher your SR, the easier it is to do things like attack, and a high enough SR can allow you to reroll certain actions.

I think the whole feed back thing is similar as well, only in AE the pain is all in the pilots head and doesn't actually effect the pilot's body.

>>18604613
In the show itself you had to hit a minimum synch ratio to operate the Evangelion, and hitting above that target (but not too high) would allow you to control it more easily. The higher the synch ratio, the greater the feedback from damage, to the point where, at high enough levels, the "your mind makes it real" effect causes actual injury to your body. At levels even higher than that, you merge with the Evangelion and whether you come back or not is an open question.

>>18604551

>On the topic of Synch scores...

[The reason that AC use isn't the ONLY means of waging war can be boiled down to two things.]

[Cost: ACs are HELLISHLY expensive to buy and maintain.]

[Pilots: Not everybody is capable of piloting an AC. Linking to a core requires some sort of genetic and psychological predisposition, that while fairly easy to detect, is hard to explain or quantify.]

[While linked to the core, there becomes something of an overlap between the on-board AI systems, and and the pilot's conscious. This allows the core to use certain aspects of the pilots highly evolved instincts for thing like balance, while the pilot gets the machine to react faster. The problem is that below a certain synch score, some parts (such as jointed arms, or quad legs) simply can't be used. While at the higher scores, you begin to 'feel' what the machine does. Some things like, say, getting your arms ripped off hurts like you actually just had your arm ripped off. At High enough synch levels, the sympathetic pain can be great enough to cause black-outs, seizures, and even heart failure.]

>>18604917
Will our AC eat our soul if our Synch score gets too high?

>>18604917

[There are other effects as well, some beneficial and some detrimental, but you don't know a lot of the details in character, and this is taking long enough to type WITHOUT the problems my computer is giving me.]

[As far as the game mechanics themselves go, high synch scores help with things like exploding your effect dice, and you also get a small bonus based on your synch score as well. Every ten points above your core's minimum operating score gives you an additional plus five to pretty much all action rolls.]

[The thing is, you can only be effectively syched with one AI core at a time. The more you use it, the higher the score gets over time as the two of you get used to each other. So your choice here is between mechanical benefits, and some extra dosh to help you and the refugees.]

>It should be noted that neither is a bad choice. It's not like choosing to keep your AC will get you lynched.

>There are some differences in how the game plays out in the short term.

>>18604939
Keep it.
It may seem silly, but I want to take that bastard down using the same AI core I had when he took out Hope.

>>18604939

[x] Keep it. We can benefit, and it's not like it's going to make repairs more expensive than buying a new Core. That, and we have a good synch ratio. We shouldn't just throw that away.

>>18604937
>>18604658

>I'll admit some inspiration comes from Evangelon here, but it's also rooted in AC canon. In AC4 at least, there were a couple of pilots who had arms that WERE guns instead of arms that held them, because their mind couldn't process the extra data.

>>18604939
Keep it, for the synch score if we don't are we going to have to work our way up from pretty much zero?

Hey AC guy, id be willing to help you draw up charts data, info, and other stuff for a AC RPG. Normally having more then one person wanting to work on a project tends to get sheit done.

Just tell me later if your interested.

I may be voting completely against everyone else, but I'mma throw ina vote for selling it.

>sell it, give everyone money to move to somewhere nice. Or even better try to get them to a place that will just let them live there for free, use the money to buy yourself a bitchin Core.

>>18604990

>I'll think about it.

>>18604983

>Not Zero, but your score will be noticeably lower.

>Right now, you place solid in the high 40s, low 50s.

>The minimum ratio for piloting a core like the one you just totaled is somewhere in the range of 25%

Our sync ratio was damn near as good as White Glint's with our old machine.

I get the feeling it'd take a LONG time for us to sync that well with a new machine.

[x] Keep it.

>>18605026
Voting we keep it.

>>18605056
whoops, didn't mean to quote. Sorry,

>Seems like the vote is to keep it. I'll write the next bit up in just a sec.

>>18605040

>Actually, in the Meta.. Josh's Synch score [in this canon. Since a lot of this stuff works a bit different...] is at about 70%.

Can't wait to roll 90s when we need low rolls

>>18605086
All the more reason to keep our AI core.
Our luck is mud, so we need every edge we can get.

>>18605078

"I think we should keep it. At least to get the computer if nothing else. The intel about the people who attacked us alone is worth it. And that's before considering the synch score."

"Yeah, sounds like a plan then. I'll finish rigging it up real quick and we can skedaddle back to camp."

Mooch gets back to work, and you turn to look at the other two standing there.

Josh looks like he wants to ask you something, and Elsie still looks a bit shaky.

[ ] Speak to Josh, you have the chopper ride back to talk to Elsie.
[ ] Speak to Elsie. Comforting someone who's your friend/lover/wing-man is a priority.
[ ] Help Mooch.
[ ] Other.

>>18605178
>[x] Speak to Josh, you have the chopper ride back to talk to Elsie.

>[ ] Other.

Give her a hug then talk to Josh

>reading last thread
>Joshua O'Brien
>Omar
>Omar
>a
I haven't finished getting caught up yet but I hope that gets corrected.

>>18605196

seconded

>>18605178
Speak to Josh.

>>18605178
Speak to Josh, we should get to know him better, especially given that he saved our life and we've been ignoring him, for good reason, but still ignoring him.

We have a chopper ride to talk more to her and we shouldn't become a recluse who only talks to one person.

>[x] Speak to Josh, you have the chopper ride back to talk to Elsie.
We don't want to get too clingy.
She's a strong girl, we should respect that.

>>18605178

Quick comforting gesture to Elsie now, talk to Josh, more talk to Elsie after.

>>18605200
It didn't. Dang.

And I might be reading this wrong, but I do believe the thread just passed up on sweet Omer tech. No Lahire for us, then?

>>18605200
>>18605259

>Don't be absurd. Clearly they're a different corporation not in any way designed to be a reference to the one in AC4.

>It wasn't a silly typo caused be me not having played AC4 in over a year, it a was a deliberate choice in design.

>*cough*

>My blatant lies aside, Talking to Josh is the clear winner. I'll get on that in just a sec.

>>18605301
I was actually hoping it would be a different company. One that wasn't based on blackmailing your colony to force you into trying to kill your Brother In Arms with an experimental xboxHUEG Core, yet still make all the delicious parts and weapons I hold so dear.

"So, thanks for picking up on that distress signal."

"Nah, I couldn't just leave somebody to die out here. 'Sides, the Omer boys have a bounty for any choice salvage like that."

"Well, thanks anyway."

"Least I could do. But if you're worried about paying me back..."

"Yeah?"

"Like I said, I had friends in Hope. I'd like to know if any a them survived. And maybe, just maybe, you find out who was behind all this...."

"I get ya. We'll keep in touch."

"Appreciate it. So what're your plans from here?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. We're going to need money from somewhere, and we need somewhere for our people to be safe."

"Hmmmm.... I see two real options before you. Vegas is the place to go to make a name and money fast, between the merc work for people wanting defense like salvage ops, bounties on the various outlaws hiding in the desert here, and the Arena fights..."

"Arena fights?"

"Yeah, core-to-core battles in a rigged battlefield. It's one part stage show and one part gladiatorial combat. They telivize it, and gamble on it left and right. Big money, and a great place to test experimental tech, so the big corps are behind it too."

"Damn. Sounds crazy."

"Whole damn world's crazy."

"Fair enough. What's the other choice?"

"Go north instead of south. Oregon's a further trek, but it's politically stable, peaceful, and you could probably get one corp or another to give you decent chunk of land to rebuild on for your sob story about your colony and pocket change."

"Thanks Josh, I'll keep that in mind."

He waves as he walks back to his core "Watch your back out there brother. I'll be in touch."

>>18605485

A few moments later, Mooch tells you that you're all ready to go. Getting on the chopper Mooch asks you to help him control the lift of your Core out of the sand before you go back to the passenger compartment.

Before too long, you're airborne and headed west towards the Camp.

>Talk to Mooch...
[ ] Vegas or Oregon.
[ ] About what happened.

>Talk to Elsie...
[ ] Vegas or Oregon.
[ ] About what happened.
[ ] How she's feeling.

Talk to Mooch about Vegas/Oregon

>>18605543
Talk to Mooch about Vegas or Oregon, we need to look forward for now, we can mope when these 300 people are safe.

Afterwards talk to Elsie about Vegas or Oregon.

Once we have a heading talk about how she's feeling.

>>18605575
Seems good to me

>>18605485
>even considering going to Oregon to work for one corporation
Blasphemy. What would Jack-O think of that?

>>18605575
Sounds good.

>>18605575
This guy has it right.

>>18605543

"So Mooch..."

"Yeah?"

"We can't keep everybody living in a camp forever."

"I was thinking the same thing. Problem is we need money. I've got some Rainy Day funds squirreled away, but not enough to build a colony."

"How much money?"

"Between favors I can pull, cash in hand, and the shit Hope had tied up outside our walls? Enough to get your core mobile probably. And enough to get our Camp the hell out of the desert."

"Or further in."

"How so?"

"Talked to Josh. Apparently Vegas would be a good way to make money fast."

"Or lose it all just as quickly. Still, it's a good thought."

"Apparently we could probably get some land in Oregon under corporate protection, be a bit safer."

"At the cost of signing ourselves over to the Corps."

"It's a nice offer."

"It's a comfortable leash."

>>18605868

He's quiet for a moment. "Either one would be good for the short term, but I'd wanna see us rebuild somewhere NOT under corporate control. I was proud to be part of the INDEPENDENT colony of Hope for a reason."

"You hate the corps?"

"Read a history book. Corps are fine, as long as they don't get too much power. The problem is, their priority number one isn't exactly the welfare of the common man most of the time."

"Yeah. It's the safer of the two for the average Joe though."

"This is what I think is called 'being caught between a rock and a hard place'. For now, I'll think about this. You're gonna want to go bother Elsie for a while and let my fly though."

"Alright."

You open the hatch and drop into the cargo bay. Elsie doesn't notice your approach. She looks like she might be crying.

[ ] Approach slowly, ask what's wrong.
[ ] Be obvious about walking up. She doesn't seem like she wants to share this.

>>18605874
[x] Be obvious. Knock on the bay wall to let her know you're there.

>>18605874
[X] Be obvious about walking up. She doesn't seem like she wants to share this.

Ask what's wrong, don't sneak up on her.

>>18605874

Be obvious, but still ask what's up.

Be obvious

Sneaking in won't help

>>18605874
Don't sneak up. Let her know we're here. But still ask if she wants to talk.

>read this mooch moment.
>silently wish he was more awesome
>Why isnt he more awesome.
>Cry

>>18605977
>>18605874

Appears i'm not only a goody two shoes now.
But I don't have an opinion, I'm never prepared.
And people don't love me anymore.

If only AC guy knew the 120 rules of being Mooch.

You give a quick yell. "Hey."

You look at the wall as she looks back, and pretend you don't notice her fussing over something when you sit next to her and buckle up.

"We need to start thinking about what to do with the survivors of what happened."

"What do you mean?"

"We can't exactly leave them in a camp in the middle of desert. They're going to need something more permanent."

"Shit. I didn't even think of that. What can we do?"

"I got some advice from Josh on the topic. He said our two best choices are Vegas and Oregon."

"Vegas?"

"It's the basis of most commerce in the area, and has lots of opportunities to make money."

"Makes sense I guess. What about Oregon?"

"Corporate protection, and decent land for the colony to rebuild."

"Yeah, I guess that does sound nice."

"You alright?"

"Yeah... I'm fine. It's just... Last couple of days haven't exactly been gentle on me."

"Know how you feel."

"Yeah." She looks you over. "Christ, look at you. First thing when we land, we need to get you to a Doctor. You look like you've been run over by truck."

[ ] I'll live. I need to see how my family's doing.
[ ] I feel like it. But my problems can wait until I've seen my family.
[ ] Probably a good idea. But afterwards I need to see what happened to my Mom and Ari.

>>18605977

>You were having a serious talk about serious things.

>Don't worry, Mooch has plenty of awesome left in him.

>[x] I feel like it. But my problems can wait until I've seen my family.

[X] I feel like it. But my problems can wait until I've seen my family.

>>18606096
[X] I feel like it. But my problems can wait until I've seen my family.

Proper mix of admitting there's pain, toughing it out, and love for our family.

>>18606096
>[x] I feel like it. But my problems can wait until I've seen my family.

Makes sense.

>>18606111
this

>>18606096
Family first.

>I feel like it. But my problems can wait until I've seen my family.

HOW UNSELFISH OF US

>>18606029

>[Goodie two shoes]
>Had to be talked out of making a zombie virus for shits and giggles.

>[Don't have an opinion]
>Actually said 'options are shit', but stated a preference for avoiding the major corps as much as possible.

>[Not loved]
>Not everything can be extremely awesome, all the time. It's Armored Core. There's more 'war is hell' then 'giant robots are awesome' most of the time.

>>18606122
By which I meant, "my shit'll wait, family"

Rule number 156:
If its a serious discussion try to make it funny. If you cant make it funny, try to put in a snide comment. If you cant do that, Well damn, Refer to rule 108

>>18606147
I guess for you these would be more like Guidlines anyway. Because yeah. AC.

Mooch is really a negative person all the time, which is why hes so happy, Knowing him in this universe he's probably just decided to give up.

>>18606147
Obligatory: which of the 120 rules/guidelines covers there being more than 120 of them?

"Honestly, I feel like it. But I can live with it long enough to make sure my family's alright."

You see her flinch at the word 'family'.

"Hey." She looks at you. "What's wrong El? Talk to me."

She looks at her feet.

"Elsie?"

"My Father's birthday is next week. I was planning to go visit him." She leans back in her seat. "He died protecting Hope from the same sort of bastards that just destroyed it. I just... I feel like I failed. I failed the colony, and I failed him. I know you're gonna say something about it not being my fault, but.... This is just something I have to live with. A burden to bear."

"Not alone."

"... yeah." She settles into your side, oblivious to the pain it causes you in your cracked rib. You ignore it and put an arm around her. "Thanks Alex."

>>18606194

>The first rule of living with mooch logic: Don't ask, because you don't REALLY want to know. You think you do, but you don't.

>>18606212
d'aawwwww

>>18606194
Thats actually rule number 120....Belive it or not.

>>18606220
Maybe not, but I'll still be compelled to ask.

>>18606212

>>18606256

>In the same way the Investigator is compelled to ask about strange happenings in CoC. With roughly the same end result.

>>18606256
>>18606238
>>18606220
>>18606194
>>18606147

Might end up making me make a thread about the 120 rules.

>So then, while I get started on the next bit, feel free to ask questions about the characters, the locations, and/or the world in general.

>>18606288

>Be better just to type it up in paste-bin, and post a link. Get the same effect done without wasting everybody's time with a full thread.

>Plus then you can just post a link when somebody asks.

>>18606298

What ever happened to Laurie.

Hes like your assidine sidekick right?
Has he been replaced by Dave?
Cause he didnt do jack, and we havent heard of or about him after the BOOM!

>>18606298
Who exactly is Nine Ball? I've never played any of the AC games, so I don't really know what makes him so frightening.

>>18606311

>After the boom you were thrown violently through the air for several miles. And then were knocked unconscious.

>He was out looking for you in his core, since he's more or less dedicated recon support and already saddled up.

>>18606298
What is likely to happen if we choose Oregon?

>>18606284
Yeah, that sounds right.

>>18606238
Seems logical.

>>18606346

I was more interested in the Now.

He ridin in our MoochMoChoppa?

>>18606346
>>18606311

>Also, as recon he wouldn't be as much help in a fight as Dave would be. He's mostly long range support and ambushes.

>>18606357

>Right now he's just received word that you've been recovered, and is either at or returning to the camp.

>In case you're wondering, Dave opted to stay behind so that there was still dedicated AC support in the area.

>>18606357
Perhaps he and Dave are riding herd on the rest of the refugees?

>>18606347

>You'd avoid a good chunk of the Vegas events, and go down the Oregon route.

>You aren't getting any advance spoilers.

OP, you kind of promised a map (chart or something) About our decisions in the prologue. When could we see that chart?

>>18606379

Ah cool, at least hes not dead.
Hate it when our wing man dies.
or betrays us.
Damn you pixie.

>>18606397

>When I finish editing the spoilers free version.

>I did give a vague overview towards the end of the last thread.

>>18606392
I was thinking more along the lines of whether we'll be prostituting ourselves to a corporation as Mooch says, and what will happen to the people that are left.

>>18606128
I actually do have a reply for this.

>[Goodie two shoes]
>Lets be honest not the worst I could do, Kindergarteners can make a zombies virus if they understood how.

>[Don't have an opinion]
>Rule number 85
NEVER BE NEUTRAL, ALWAYS HAVE AN OPINION

>[Not loved]
>Giant robots are always awesome, Hence why we are okay with them trying to kill us.

The rest of your ride is thankfully without incident. Mooch sends you and Elsie on your way while he gets the remaining engineers to work breaking your core into more manageable chunks for transport.

It only takes about ten minutes asking around to find your family.

Zack's set up a sort of temporary hub for people to try and get what they need out of your supply cache. Dave's there as well, stirring a pot with some sort of a stew, and your Mother and sister are there as well. When she sees you Ari runs up and jumps on you, crying with joy and only semi intelligibly praising some higher power that you survived. She also slams her knee right into your rib, and while Elsie doesn't notice your wince, your mother certainly does.

She walks up to you, eyes full of concern. "Alex? How bad does it hurt?"

[ ] I'll live.
[ ] A lot.
[ ] I've had worse.
[ ] (plead with your eyes to have her get Ari off your cracked ribs)

>>18606576
[X] A lot.

>>18606576
[x] I'll live.

> ive had worse
>Plead with YOUR EYES, GIVE HER THE CAR SALESMAN EYES!

>I'll live

>[x] I've had worse.
Alpha as FUCK!

>>18606576
I've had worse, still remarkably painful though.

>>18606576
The eyes. It's all in the eyes.

>>18606576
Plead with our eyes, we can't let our little sister know she hurt us right now.

>>18606576
[X] I've had worse.

Eyes, don't want to make her feel bad.

>>18606343
Basically, he's the That One Boss of the Armored Core series. Doesn't show up in every game, but for the ones he is in he pretty much rapes your face.

[X] I'll live.

Also, ask them if they are ok and if they need anything.

You sir. Mr. Alex, was it? Listen, the people have been talking, and I think I represent them all when I say that we don't want you and your people around. It brings the fighting to us and we don't want to have any of it. So go away now.

A lot

>>18606728
DIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

>>18606677

That fat mayor needed to die in that game, and now he needs to die in this question.

>Alex shoot that fat mayor, dont say anything but "Family first"

>>18606728
BRENNERS BLOOD IS ON YOUR HANDS YOU FAT FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

>>18606752

>Fail quote.
>Autospell.
>Cannotcontainthismuchfail.jpg
>wait im Mooch.
>YesIcan.jpg

"I've had worse."

"That's not an answer."

"I'll live." You wince as you pat Ari on the back, prompting her to squeeze harder.

"Is that why you're hiding a broken rib?"

Ari lets you go when she realizes how much pain you're probably in. "How-"

"I'm your mother. I was there for the 'worse'. When exactly were you planning to see a doctor?"

"After I made sure you two were fine."

Her expression softens considerably. "We're fine. fine as we can be under the circumstances. Thanks to Mister Brenner here."

"Brenner?"

Laurie's brother walks over. "We didn't exactly get a proper introduction last time. I'm Zack. Zack Brenner."

"Alex Raston." you reply as you shake his hand.

"Been keeping an eye on your family for you. Least I could do given the fact that you saved us and a lot of other people." He pulls you in closer. "My daughter was on that bus you grabbed. Don't worry about your Mom and Sis, anybody looking for trouble will have to go through me and Liz first."

"Liz?"

"Ex-Wife. Parted on good enough terms, we were just never meant to be as a couple."

"Oh. Sorry to hear that."

"Don't be. We had a couple of good years, and we've got Alice too. Now get yourself to a doctor before your mother kills me for delaying you."

"Heh. Alright. Thanks Zack."

You look over at Dave, who seems to have left the job of pot-stirring to your Mom.

"Hey Dave, where can I find a doctor in this camp?"

"You're lookin' at him."

"What."

>>18606752
>>18606757

>Game was awesome.

>Was looking for a good last name for Laurie's family.

>Working on typing the 120 rules of Mooch.
>on 85
>Wondering if that fatass mayor killed this quest thread.
>Dammit now he has another victim to his body count.
>BASTARD!

>>18606889

Its either him or Mooch.

Trust me you'd prefer him.

>>18606889
DAVE'S A DOCTOR?!

I am confused with all this Mooch business

>>18606931
>>18606922

Mooch has a PhD. in many things. (Normally) Not sure due to this thread. Tends to end up as Picture shown.

>>18606889

"I'm a Doctor Alex."

"What? Since when?"

"Since... Always? I got my M.D. about six months before I moved to Hope. I just didn't practice much because people we already HAD a decent handful of good doctors. So I went to the other thing I was good at."

"Before you moved to Hope? That was two years ago, and you're MY age."

"I'm 23!"

"What!?"

"The fact that I came from a relatively well off family and went to medical school at 15 seriously never came up? I just sort of assumed you knew."

"Dave, if there's one thing nobody would expect you to be, it's a fucking medical prodigy."

"I wouldn't go that far, I am just a general practitioner. It's not like I can do brain surgery. Now come on, there's a field medic tent that way a bit. Sooner we get you patched up the sooner we can move on."

>>18606973
pic related is for Dave, and Dave only...

>>18606973
This is the sort of thing that should come up, I just figured you just were a damn good AC pilot, now you also are a child prodigy and a Doctor, I thought I knew you man, I thought I knew you.

>>18606942

>Mooch as a character is something of a running joke with me and some of my friends.

>It'd take too long, and is frankly way off topic to explain in detail, his presence is something of an inside joke.

>Then the 'real' Mooch showed up to participate.

Dave confirms your suspicions of the cracked ribs pretty quickly, and adds a minor case of whiplash and some hard-core bone bruising to the mix as well.

After some basic tests to make sure the synched pain feedback didn't do any lasting neurological damage he gives you some pain killers.

[ ] Get his take on the Vegas/Oregon thing.
[ ] See how he's coping.
[ ] Realize the last thing you ate was a bottle of wine about 20 hours ago.
[ ] Suddenly realize that you don't actually know what Dave's last name is.

>>18606995
>>18606942

You started an AC thread and proceeded not to even TELL ME.
You also added me as a minor side character without even TELLING ME.
Figured I'd participate.

If I get carried away,AC-Guy will Let me know, I'll close the window.

>>18606995

So Mooch is like Boxcar Joe? I'm more than ok with this.

>>18607036
[X] Suddenly realize that you don't actually know what Dave's last name is.

Err, whoops?

Option 1 ask his opinion but casually ask for his last name

Then get food

>>18607036

>realise last that you ate was booze.
>THEN SUDDENLY REALISE you dont know what daves last name is.

In that order.

>>18607036
>[x] Suddenly realize that you don't actually know what Dave's last name is.

>>18607044

>Running joke about Mooch and Boxcar Joe being the one who taught him.

>story for another day.

>>18607036
Suddenly realize that you don't actually know what Dave's last name is. See how he's coping.

Then get some stew.

[X] Get his take on the Vegas/Oregon thing.
[X] See how he's coping.

Also:
>[ ] Realize the last thing you ate was a bottle of wine about 20 hours ago.
>Implying that we didn't ate something else after the wine, if you know what I mean.

>>18607044

>Kinda. Mooch's thing was he originally came from a story where he was an aspect. Specifically he was like some sort of guardian/embodiment of IMAGINATION. Since his powers worked by what he believed, he could do a lot of crazy shit. Like doesn't need to reload guns because running out of ammo honestly never occurs to him. He just expects it to shoot hen he pulls the trigger, so it does.

>99% of the time he's comedic relief and/or a lethal joke character.

>>18607098
>due to the Imagination bit, Hes pretty much able to be found anywhere, cause he can pretty much get away with anything.

>With Science, and Duct Tape.

>>18607129
>>18607098
>>18606995
>>18606942
>>18607044

>ANYWAY seriously Enough about me, This quest thread has a actual plot. Lets concentrate on that please. I'll stop derailing now.

>>18607098


So he's a 40k Ork?

As Dave gives you the pills you decide to broach an uncomfortable topic. "So, uh, 'Doc', can I take these on an empty stomach?"

"Probably not a good idea. Have a bowl of stew first."

"Yeah...."

"Something bothering you?"

"I mean, I never knew a LOT about you apparently. Like the fact that you're a doctor. Or that you can from a well-to-do family."

"You didn't know my family had money? Huh. I kinda left that behind, but I kinda figured you'd know as soon as you heard my last name."

"About that..."

"...."

"...."

"You.... you don't even know my last name? How the FUCK did that slip by you?"

"I don't know! It's never come up! I mean, I guess I should have picked up that you were a DOCTOR or something..."

"You know what else you should've picked up on? MY FUCKING LAST NAME!"

"Yeah, I know. I honestly don't know how that happened."

"Yeah, yeah, alright."

"So what IS your last name."

"Not telling."

"Fucking seriously?"

"YEP. You're gonna have to live with that little mystery. FOREVER."

"That's a little..."

"FOR. EV. ER. Now, is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

>>18607179

>Mooch would make Gork and Mork cry.
>Hes worse, on a huge scale.

>I'll make a thread about him someday, just later. Back to armored core.

>>18607179

>In some ways. I'd prefer to keep this on track a bit more though, even Mooch thinks his is going a bit far.

>>18607191
>>18607201

>Starting to loose the armored and the core part and starting to become "Tells us more about Mooch" Thread.

>>18607191
Is it "Tucker"?

>>18607233
My bet is on "Lister"

>>18607240
>>18607233

>.......Oh god, this is just too good.

>>18607240
It's Sarif.

>>18607266
Nah, it's gotta be Jensen

>>18607266
>>18607240
>>18607233
>>18607249

I think its Dave.

>>18607272
Possibly Jensen-Sarif.

>>18607266
>Sarif

Hey Aleeeeeex.

>>18607283
>>18607276
>>18607272
>>18607266
>>18607240
>>18607233

>David Tennant. MD.
>Problem solved.

>>18607311
DAMMIT BOSS, get your voice out of my head!

>>18607191

"Actually yeah, long term plans for the survivors of the colony."

"How so?"

"I activated my emergency beacon, and got a hold of another Pilot in the area, named Joshua O'Brien."

"No shit?"

"You know him?"

"Not personally. He was an arena fighter back in Vegas scrapping for dosh to send to a hospital for orphans or something. Made a pretty penny betting on him, used the money to get a place in Hope."

"He's good?"

"Damned good. They were calling him shit like 'The Devil in White' and 'Glint'. He was so fast they barely had time to spot his charge before he was behind them and putting a sword in their back."

"Wow. Anyway, when he found out what happened at Hope he gave me some advice."

"How so?"

"He said that the two best options were to either go to Vegas and try to make some bank what with all the gladiatorial shit, trade hubs, bounty boards-"

>>18607329

"And so on. Smart move, the refugees can easily claim asylum, we make some Dosh, get started over again."

"He also suggested Oregon."

"And what, get a corporate Sugar Daddy? Less enthusiastic about that. We put ourselves on their radar, we'll be pawns. I guarantee that within a week there will be some sort of tragic press release about what happened, they'd hold a charity drive and act all patronizing, their stocks will jump by about 10% for their 'selfless deeds' and we'll get swept under the rug as soon as we stop being something they can point to and talk about what good people they are."

"It's the safer route, the civvies would be better protected."

"Beware the protection of wolves my friend."

"Fair enough. Thanks man."

"No problem. Let me know if the drugs mess you up too bad."

You move to get some food, and see Lawrence is now at his brother's camp.

>>18607318
>>18607311
>>18607266
>>18607283
>>18607272

>I never asked for this.

>>18607240

>If that were the case, he'd sepnd a lot of time running from giant ass explosions.

>Wait...

>>18607341

>>18607372

Its dead now....

......Sooo freakin dead.
COME ON AC GUY YOU CAN DO IT!
PULL THROUGH!

>>18607466
It's not dead, I'm here, I just needed to do some stuff for 15 minutes or so.

>>18607332

When he sees the expression on Elsie's face, he turns to look at you. Suddenly you realize why he wears those stupid fucking shades and always tries to act like a smug bad-ass.

Underneath those Aviators, he's a VERY pretty man.

You think you get why he hate's being called 'Laurie' so much.

"Hey Alex. Feeling better?"

You almost let at sarcastic jab when you realize. There was no slimy undertone like most of your conversations.

Bloody fucking hell, Lawrence is actually serious AND concerned for your well-being.

"I'm fine. Thanks."

Without another word, he hands you a bowl of stew and moves so you can sit next to Elsie.

>>18607490

"Talked to Elsie. She brought up the whole 'what next' thing. Since you're apparently collecting opinions on the topic, I'm throwing my vote towards Oregon. I don't much care for the idea of being a corporate man, but Vegas seems like way too many risks to be taking right now."

"You're against Vegas?"

"It doesn't seem like the best move. Whatever we decide on though, we should tell the people we all agreed it was the best course of action."

"What? Why?"

"Because right now, we look like heroes. When the shit hit the fan, Mooch organized the defense, my brother saved a lot of civilians along with you and Elsie, and then you and Dave went head to head with the fuckers attacking, and damn near won. And then almost got yourselves killed getting the last few survivors out. Including my niece. Right now, dissension between us might kill the little bit of Hope that's left in them."

He claps you on the shoulder. "I'm gonna go help deal with logistics. Whichever way we decide, we're going to need to move."

You just had an honest, serious conversation Lawrence Brenner.

You don't know how to feel about this. You do know that you have some free time.

[ ] Spend it with Elsie.
[ ] Spend it with Family.
[ ] {With Elsie}
[ ] Go help (team-mate).

>Fucking Captcha, fucking field-too-long.

>>18607496
Sit in awe for a bit and finish our stew.

Go get whatever work needs to get done with Elsie.

Whether they need help moving or repariring ACs, making sure people are fed and have somewhere to sleep, organizing people and dealing with any small conflicts that arise between them or anything like that.

>>18607530
Second.

>>18607496

Spend all of our time helping Elise, talking to Elise, and giving Elise the most romantic dinner we can. We are a thing now. We need to show commitment.

>>18607589

>Grrrr Auto-spell.

>>18607530
>>18607535

You eat your stew, discovering that Dave's cooking skill is another thing you never knew about him.

You're starting to feel a little bad about that.

After you take a couple of pain-pills, you ask Zack what all needs doing. Elsie joins you as you spend the next couple of hours walking around doing what you can to help. you don't get much done personally, but pretty soon people start asking you how they can help. You send them to Zack, and pretty soon there are dedicated teams running around and organizing people properly.

Looks like all they needed was a little push to help make the situation better.

Before long though, you can feel your fatigue and injuries catching up to you. Elsie tells you to talk to Mooch about where you'd be sleeping, and he points you to a small- bunk-room on one of the carrier transports for the Cores. It doesn't take long for you to fall asleep.

You wake up once in the middle of the night. Looking down you realize that Elsie joined you at some point in the bed. She looks like she's been crying again.

Tomorrow you need to make a decision that will affect the lives of a few hundred people. But tonight... tonight you kiss her on the forehead, and pray tomorrow is better day, before you drift back off to sleep.

>>18607666

>And that's it for tonight quest-wise.

>Somebody asked at the end of the last thread about ranks. The long and short of it is this: The regular militia had ranks and shit, but due to how small the Pilot corps were for hope, there was never really a need to bother with it. None of the Squads were ranked over the others, and one guy (Richter Sells, your CO from the first thread) oversaw the lot of you.

>You do have a proper pilot rating, if anybodies curious about that.

>>18607698
What is our proper pilot rating?

>>18607666
>now that we're at what looks like a break area, For >anyone still interested.
>http://pastebin.com/nBJqWaPd
>Thats your link for the first 120 rules.

>>18607706

>Now that I think about it.
>Its just gonna make more questions then awnser them.
>God Damnit Me.

>>18607705

Pilots are ranked by several factors: Synch scores and track record are the biggest one though, as well as how well you stack against comparable threats.

From lowest to best you've got D, C, B, A, SA, S, SS.

D classes are people who routinely get their core wrecked regardless of success, C class is about the point where you're considered a 'real' pilot, B's are about as high as you can climb without SERIOUSLY wrecking people's shit, preferably in Core-to-Core Combat.

Pretty much everybody A-Class and above is an Ace. Ace status determined by kill count: Taking a core/pilot of your rank in single combat puts you as a rookie ace, and doing five makes you a full. Beyond that nobody counts kills unless the numbers get's stupid high, like in the 50s or better.

The 'S' classes are the REAL horror shows in combat. Nine-Ball from the Games was a solid S, White Glint from 4 was an S MINIMUM, and the protag from 4A, with the multiple Arms-Fort kills, insane body count, etc was probably bordering on SS by the time the game ended. DEFINITELY was if you went the Old King route and single-handedly killed everyone ever.

Your team is as follows:
Alex: B
Elsie: B
Lawrence: C (technical, since he's not really a DIRECT combatant most of the time. He's probably actually an A in terms of skill)
Dave: B+
Mooch: A

For people you've met:

Josh: A+
Nine-Ball: ??? (Possible SA, you clearly didn't see his full abilities)

>>18607841
>Read Mooch is an A
>Cried tears of Joy.
>Wish I could have seen that glorious bastard in a AC.

>>18607841
>Read that.
>Not sure if you mean A at overwatch or A at AC to AC combat
>Maybe thats why hes on Overwatch?

>>18607876

That's actually how you met him. He totaled his core trying to do a HALO drop. He woke up a week after you found him in the desert in one of the hospitals in Hope and immediately took one of the nurses hostage.

After he was assured that he hadn't been captured by 'the commies' he actually tuned out to be mostly the harmless kind of crazy, and pretty damn useful with technical work.

His abilities on overwatch were discovered purely by accident, and by the time anybody discovered he was 'technically' the best pilot in town, the team dynamic was more or less set in stone.

>>18607936

>Mooch and the Commies.
>Damn that is a long story.

>>18607966


There needs to be a Mooch thread
Someday

>>18608087
I actually kinda have planned for soon. Probably after tomorrow. I got Game day Tomorrow. So I cant do it then. Maybe if I get home early or something

Hopefully someone archives this.
I have no freaking clue how.