>>18938517
You make your way after Vince, keeping a steady course. Still not in radio range. You go over your layout on the HUB. The Stealth Shield is currently offline, and you have 75% ammo remaining, as well as all your micro missiles.

Eri showed you the Stealth Shields inner workings, and it might be possible to repair it on the fly, if you put the drive system on auto. It would slow you down slightly to do so, though.

>Try repairing the Stealth S. on the move
>Do without it
>Others

>elsewhere
Vince darted away from another barrage as he moved back and forth in front of the enemy formation. The Houndsoldier was living up to its base design's name sake, hearding the enemy zoids into a tight formation, while staggering their advance. He had already used his two rear missile pods up, and managed to defeat another Guysack, but he was really feeling the lack of long range presence he had.
"This is what I get for being frugal..." he mutters to himself, wincing as a stray hit managed to find its mark. The enemy zoids weren't remarkable by any stretch, but there certainly were a lot of them. He wondered what they would do, even if his team mate did catch up in time.

ZOIDS QUEST, F YEAH.

Also, repair the stealth system and hope Vince can hold out long enough. Against these numbers we're going to need the advantage.

rolled 9, 8, 3, 6, 10, 10, 4, 10, 4, 8 = 72

>>18938932
You take a deep breath, and have the shell guard raise up, and open the canopy. The still cool air of the desert night races past you, as you secure a line around you and the cockpit. Carefully climbing your way out, you grab a hold of the armor support structure, being wary not to have your safety line catch to the main Driver wheel.

You reach the main body, and manage to crack it open, crawling into the inner workings. You reach the SS component, above the Zoid Core containment mechanism. You see a power connecter cord, the main component box, and the stealth distribution layout.

>Secure the power cord
>Open then component box
>Adjust the layout.

>>18939192

Secure the power cord then the layout. Whatever repairs we make aren't going to matter if the power isn't relayed properly. Do we have a manual or something we can take a look at to get some hints at this?

rolled 9, 4, 7, 4, 8, 2, 7, 4, 6, 5 = 56

>>18939238
You only remember what Eri told you before, about the circuitry being easily jarred.

You reach for the power cord. As you thought, it's come loose. You deactivated the Stealth.Shld. as soon as your HUB gave you a warning, so the unstable power supply didn't damage the other systems. Carefully pushing the connecter in, there's a slight jolt of power as its secured into the port, but you moved your hand away in time. The component box beeps, and you know that the system is back online. It still may give out on you if you continue using it, but this will have to do for now. You start making your way down.

>Meanwhile
"KH!" Vince grunted through grit teeth. Even though he focused on evading, he'd taken 6 hits, 3 doing considerable damage. Those blasted Heldigunners and Malders were making things dicey. He was considering pulling out for now, when he eyed the lead zoid. "If I could take that one out..."

Opening his remaining Chase Missile pods, he launched all the remaining ordinance at the Twinhorn. Just when he thought they would hit their mark, though, the red Zoid raised its trunk, spewing forth a spray of fire that detonated the missile short of their target. Vince cursed at his failure.

>>18939452

Can we tunnel underneath and make the ground unstable underneath the twin horn? If we do that and fire a few well placed shots we can trap it and focus on the rest of the zoids. Might be our best bet right now

rolled 1, 5, 3, 2, 3, 7, 5, 10, 10, 10 = 56

>>18939452
Making your way back down into the canopy, you close it after you, and lower the shell on top of it. The lost drag causes your speed to surge somewhat, and you continue on your way. You eventually spot a wrecked Guysack, guessing it to be Vince's handiwork. You continue on, and shortly you see the convoy in the distance. The sight is horrifying. 18 Active enemies, kicking up a large amount of dust as they march forward. Vince is ahead of them, his Zoid worse for wear. The strong outer armor has been peeled of in some spots. He's still holding on though.

>What do?

>>18939588

How damaging are our micro-missiles? How many do we have? If we can target multiple units, fire as many as we can at as many Guysacks as we can, at their legs to immobilize them. Also see if we can't get a few helcats in our barrage. Then engage stealth systems and tunnel. We're going to have to play psychological warfare if we want to win this.

rolled 1, 3, 3, 3, 9, 8, 1, 7, 8, 1 = 44

>>18939647
Not very, and they're fairly short ranged. And you only have 2. They're meant to cause a distraction at close range, either obstructing sight, or jarring an enemy enough for you to get away from a grapple. They're purely defensive nature

Also, the Twin horn is only a Light Scale Zoid, between you Molga(Small) and the Houndsoldier(Medium). A hole under it would be considerably less effective.

rolled 2, 3, 9, 6, 10, 7, 10, 10, 3, 10 = 70

>>18939730
that's me, btw, dont know where my name went

>>18939730

Crap. Okay, take as many potshots at the Heldigunners as we can, then borrow and prepare for trench warfare. Get Vince to fire some shots at the twinhorn to keep up the distractions

rolled 10 = 10

>>18939853
You decide to focus on the Heldigunner units. You move in closer, activating your stealth shield as you do. You pray that it holds while you continue advancing. You line up a shot and open fire on the nearest Heldigunner, managing to hit its turret, though this doesn't destroy it. You then quickly dive as they panick over the sudden attack. They recover quickly though and readjust their formation.

The Guysacks form an out ward vanguard all around, the Malders stay on the flanks, and the Twinhorn and Heldigunners sticking near the center. The helcats stay grouped together and shift inside the formation constantly.

["Nice of you to show."] Vince says in a direct channel. ["Got a plan?"]

>What do?

rolled 7 = 7

>>18940101
Come up directly under the belly of the twin horn and give a blast with the sucker punch cannon? Kinda wish that det cord was already installed, we could get them all at once

>>18940175

Seems like the best plan. Have Vince keep the rest of the zoids busy.

rolled 10 = 10

>>18940175
They're still moving, just in a formation. It would take time to burrow under their formation.
Still give it a go?

>>18940101
I'm going to point out that we don't actually have to win this ourselves. We trashed their base, so what we should to is force them to expend most of their ammo fighting us and escape. Actually, if Vince hasn't gotten word about this group to our employer he should break off now and do so, with this many enemies they might have a legitimate reason to call in police support or something of the kind

>>18940215
Why do you keep rolling tens?

>>18940263
This is not a bad idea. Vince can use his speed to warn the town and factory and spare his zoid from more damage (we need to have it repaired for our battle against Stone Age, can't risk too much damage) While he's doing that we'll harass this group with pot shots while cloaked to keep them moving slowly.

>>18940215
Ehh, Would it be possible to burrow under the outer ring and fire on the Helcats with the sand shooter while using their own Guysaks as cover against return fire??

rolled 1 = 1

>>18940337
Because dice hate you.

You ask Vince for a distraction while you try to attack from inside the formation. He thinks its risky, but goes ahead with it.
The Hound faces its foes and fires a barrage from its triple Burst cannon. The fire is effective, even knocking out another Guysack.

Seizing the opening, you tunnel under the first line and make your way toward the lead Twinhorn. Then your seismics give a warning.
["Gerald, get out of there!"] Vince screams at you, as you instinctively veer away from the seismic blip. It tears its way past you, narrowly avoiding contact as it comes back around. You already figured out what it is. It's one of the Heldigunners. It must have noticed you on its own sensors, and submerged to intercept. It's an aquatic base zoid, so its maneuverability and speed surpass your own in the sand.

And now he's coming back around after you.
>What do?

rolled 8 = 8

>>18940612
Dive, but in the same general direction that the TH is moving. I'm pretty sure that the deeper we go the more sand will turn to dirt, which a Molga shouldn't have too much of a problem going thorough but the Heldigunner will. We can lose Heldigunner deep underground and then swing up underneath the Twin Horn.

rolled 9 = 9

>>18940612
He can't shoot underground, we face him and blow his cockpit with the sand shooter.

rolled 2 = 2

>>18940786
ZM some clarification: does the sandshooter actually have the power to pull this off?

rolled 5 = 5

>>18940724
>>18940786
You bring your Molga into a gradual dive as he closes in on you.
He misjudged your position, and keeps going strait over you.
"Checkmate." You fire the 35 mm in near point blank range. It flies through the sand between you, the tunneling zoid making a nice loose patch above you for the shell to punch through. You fire 3 times, one shot hits under the cockpit, the other two hit in the underbelly after the Heldigunner slowed down. He goes still, and you move away to follow after the formation.
>Achievement:Sand-to-Sand Combat.

The enemy has split its forces in two, the slower Malders and half the Guysacks fall back, leaving the faster zoids to push forward.

>What do?

rolled 81 = 81

>>18940949
Find the Twin Horn and take him down, our priority is to deal with the ones who are a current threat to Vince. Fill him with Sand Shooter bullets from below.

rolled 2 = 2

>>18940982

The twin horn has heavier armor. That's why I originally said we should come up right under him and hit him with our high impact "sucker punch" beam cannon. Also, if they are splitting for better speed then Vince should really run ahead and warn the factory.

rolled 2 = 2

>>18941121
>>18940982
If we are really going to send Vince ahead to warn everyone then we will have to cover him, this doesn't just mean taking out the Twin Horn but also distracting the other zoids that could chase him down. Those would be the Helcats I think. Another reason to take out the Helcats is their stealth capabilities, which could let them wreak havoc with the factory defenders. So, yeah, shoot the Helcats.

rolled 4 = 4

>>18940982
>>18941121
You call Vince, and ask him to run ahead to get reinforcements.
["Alright, I'll be as quick as I can, you be careful."]

You open up with your 35mm, shooting while submerged. You hit the Twinhorn, and suppress the other nearby zoids. You currently have 21 shots remaining. Vince breaks off, heading towards town. It should only be 5 minutes before he gets in range.

You see the unit of Helcat's break away and chase after him, cloaking mid stride.
"Vince!"
["I see them."] he assures you. ["They can't fool my partner's nose that easily. Worry about yourself, especially the heavy weapons in the back."]

You are currently in between the two groups' left flank.
>What do?

rolled 2 = 2

>>18941358
We can deal with the slower ones later, priority is to halt their advance as long as possible so the town can get their zoids to support. Focus on the lighter armored ones, leave a pile of wreckage for the slower ones to have to crawl through.

rolled 9 = 9

>>18941435
You attempt to take out the lighter Guysacks in front, but fail to hit. Your HUB beeps a warning and you instinctivly turn away to avoid the Electromagnetic beams fired from the rear. The front formation shifts, and the remaining Guysacks form up as a screen while the remaining zoids push ahead. They'll outpace you if you stay underground.

>What do?

rolled 7 = 7

>>18941358
We should try and reduce as much mobility for the group as possible try and take out the legs/treads of as many zoids as possible so even if we are forced to disengage Vince will have enough time to get reinforcements.

>>18941358
I'd say take out the Twin Horn, but how many other Heldigunners are there? We really ought to deal with those before they sneak up on us again,

>>18941602
Jump out like a mad fucker. Blast a hole straight through the Guysack line with the blaster cannon. Then we harass the faster ones with fire from behind while trying to outpace and dodge the ones behind us.

rolled 3 = 3

>>18941602
We do still have the cloak. Pull out of sight of the screening zoids, surface and go after the heavies. The cloak is still functioning, right?

>>18941659
Aren't Guysaks faster than Molgas over land?

>>18941604
There should be 1 more Heldigunner, I'd say we do what we can to distract the front group.
If we surface are we still close enough that the back group can hit us? If not attack from behind and try to limit mobility of the front group.

>>18941659
But if we use the blaster it will make the cloak ineffective. They'll be able to see us on thermals.

>>18941683
Not in the least, Molga has a top speed of 200 km/h and Guysacks are 120, they're faster if they're above ground and we're burrowing of course.

rolled 8 = 8

>>18941718
as he says. also, you actualy burrow slower in sand than in actual dirt, do to the Molga not being aquatic based.
>>18941701
The other Heldigunner is moving with the lead Twinhorn

(also can everyone roll d10's for actions?)

Maybe we ought to taunt them a bit over open channels to try and get their attention. Like: "Hey, just in case you were wondering, the reason we're came from behind is because we shot up your base while you were out. Those Iguans you left behind were really pathetic, or maybe it was the pilots. I mean, took them all out with a freaking Molga of all things. And come to think of it, I'm doing the same thing right now. Man, you all suck.

rolled 5 = 5

>>18941659
>>18941773
We need to catch up, we can outpace the Guysacks once we pop out, so jump out, blast a hole through them, turn on all of our GO FAST and stealth up as soon as we can.

rolled 2 = 2

try to Slwo down the Twin horn with some Laser Cutter to the legs.

rolled 7 = 7

>>18941813
I'd say surface but stay right on their tails, that way they'll have to slow down to effectively attack us and the group behind would risk hitting their companions if they shoot at us. Meanwhile we have easy shots at their exposed rears.

rolled 7 = 7

>>18941659
>>18941718
Instead of puching through lets go under, then surface and spray the Guysaks with our laser turret and missile while we go full speed for the heavies. When the Guysaks are turned around enough to fire on us we cloak.

rolled 10 = 10

>>18941856
I meant *Slow*

>>18941871
Shame that won't count as your actual roll.

rolled 6 = 6

>>18941813
>>18941871
>>18941861
I'm feeling generous, so...

You surface behind them, veering to the side.
"You know," you say, sliding the panel of the Blaster back. "You really shouldn't be lined up that."

The off yellow beam lances out right as you speed after them. It sheers off all three's tails, rendering them immobilized. You speed past them, heading toward the Heldigunner and Twinhorn, bracketing them with you laser MG.
The Heldigunner submerges, and the other shrugs off the fire thanks to its armor. Despite its bulky looking design, its almost as fast as you, making catching up dificult.

More incoming fire warnings, seems to be missiles this time. The Twinhorn also aims its rear beam guns at you, as well as trigger its smoke dispenser.

>What do?

rolled 2 = 2

>>18941978
Machineguns are on the tail right? is we can fire backwards, let off a spray towards the missiles while diving underground

rolled 7 = 7

>>18941978
Evasive maneuvers, see if we can't dive again.

>>18941978
CLOAK! EVASIVE MANEUVERS! HOPE THEY AREN'T USING THERMAL SCANS!

And keep going for that Twin Horn, sadly the impact of the missiles will temp screw our tremor sensor but if we stop to fight the Heldi then we'll lose the Twin Horn.

rolled 8 = 8

>>18942169
Borked my dice

rolled 1 = 1

>>18942067
Not on the tail, but they can be aimed backwards
>>18942080
You fire backwards as you dive, the sand making a nice little barrier for you as the missiles impact. You loose sensor feed momentarily, then you realize that you lost where the Heldigunner is.
>What do?

rolled 2 = 2

>>18942203
Circle under and pop back up

>>18942203
Dive a little lower, then move SLOWLY in the directipn the twin horn was going. the Heldigunner is probably lying in wait.

rolled 4 = 4

>>18942203
Well now we're stuck fighting the Heldigunner, we can't risk surfacing immediatly while they have our position locked for more missile barrages. I say go deeper again. He doesn't have our depth capabilities and chances are he lost us too.

You forgot to roll

>>18942272
>>18942285
So I did

rolled 8 = 8

>>18942312
...really?

rolled 9 = 9

>>18942203
CRAZY IVAN!

>>18942342
It's a valid option even when you're not in a plane!

rolled 10 = 10

>>18942203
>Meanwhile
"This is Vince, Bursberry do you read?" Vince repeats once more as he keeps the Houndsoldier in a steady run. There's some static, and finaly a response.
["This is Joshua."] come in Rightward's head of security. ["What is your situation?"]
"Hostiles inbound to town, over fifteen strong." Vince responds hurriedly. "We're doing what we can, but we're at our limit." There's a pause over the line.
["Understood."] the other man responds with his usual monotone. ["I will personally mobilize to assist."]
"Thanks." He skids to a halt and turns around. "Now then," he says, eying the horizon, "where did my playmates run off to?"

The Helcat ground circles the other zoid cautiously. He had stopped, so he must be waiting for them to attack. They all silently came to the same conclusion, and got into position. One lined up their guns behind him, when suddenly he jumped backwards, twisting around and landing on top of the smaller zoids.
"Even if I can't see you, I can still smell you." he says, disabling the Helcat with his claws. "Figuratively speaking, that is."

>>18942378
Really hope we don't have a traitor in the security forces.

rolled 2 = 2

>>18942378
(Well, shit)

You decide to slowly go after the Twinhorn, starting to dive deeper. Then your seismics blare a warning, but too late, as your jarred in your seat as the Heldigunner hits you in the side. His jaws clamp down on your tail, your cloak useless under the sand. Although not designed to shoot underground, it won't matter at this range.

>What do?

rolled 6 = 6

>>18942457
What weapons do we have on the tail, or those that could be fired backwards easily. Use those and blast it off of us.

rolled 7 = 7

if he is clamped on our tail that means our missiles are in his mouth so we shoot them. also machine gun.

rolled 4 = 4

>>18942457
Start tunneling through the Heldigunner while shooting our sand shooter at it when whenever we get a shot.

rolled 7 = 7

>>18942457

If it's possible, twist around and chomp the claw off with the Laser Cutter

rolled 7 = 7

>>18942488
>>18942504
You fire the missiles, only one actually in his mouth, and pivot the turret around. While the laser mgs aren't really effective, the Sand Shooter is. You fire until you feel him let go, and hit the throttle to be anywhere but there. You couldn't get the cockpit from that angle, and going by the blip heading after you, he didn't freeze either.

["You're good."] comes a communication, much to your surprise. ["Your friend was tough too, but that's more his machine than anything. But you, holy shit, man. You already got 4 of us."]
"I don't suppose you'd surrender?" he chime back.
["Hah, sorry, but no. I don't get paid for surrendering."] He comes in again. Seems he's diving under neath you. You get the feeling this guy is also Sandwise, and won't get caught off guard like the other one.

>What do>

rolled 9 = 9

>>18942504
Won't that damage us as well?

>>18942457
Use the laser machine gun, it should be right in his face.

rolled 3 = 3

>>18942634
"So, when I kick your ass too, care to go legit? I could always use another decent pilot."

rolled 10 = 10

>>18942634
MOLGA STRONG bitch, dive onto him and push him into the harder soil that he can't dig through. While firing.

rolled 1 = 1

>>18942638
Damn, I was late.

>>18942634
Well, I don't imagine we'll be able to beat him to depths more suitable to a Molga. We need to treat this as a submarine boss battle: In this case I'd say Dive right on top of him almost straight down if possible and hit him with the sand shooter, then ram him with the cutters

rolled 9 = 9

>>18942701
>>18942714
He's in a heldigunner, too fast to catch for CCC. Our only hope is to make use of the sandshooter.

rolled 4 = 4

From a combat perspective he wont expect our sucker punch canon so use that if we get a shot. On the banter side "Hey thers no need to dule like this if you or your guys brake off then im cool with letting you go. besides if i win your alies are probably toast"

rolled 5 = 5

>>18942701
(Nat ten. Crazy awesome idea. You know what I must do)

You pull your Molga into a dive, and head strait down at him.
[",,,what are you doing?"] he says, sounding confused. ["If you head right at me, I'll tear you to shreds."]
"That's the difference between us." you answer, sliding back the Blaster's panel. "I know how to think outside the box."

The cannon fires, plowing away the mass of sand, making a clear tunnel down. At about the same time, he pops into the tunnel, floundering a bit when his arms find no purchase.
["The Degunning he-"] he begins to stammer, but cuts off when your Molga freefalls a good twenty feet, ramming into him with your front armor shell. The impact is greater than an Iron Kongs giant fist, and his zoid freezes up. You think the shock made him pass out on top of it. As the sand starts conforming back around you, you back the Molga up through the sand. You make your way to the surface, and find the Twinhorn has pulled far away, and the second group is nearly upon you.

>What do?

rolled 9 = 9

>>18942923
Go Ninja Stealth Molga and chase after the twin horn. We need to drop some serious pain on the guy.

rolled 2 = 2

>>18942972
>>18942923
We're only 20 Kph faster than the TH. We either chase it now or we bust up those mass firing snailsI think we should take out the snails, myself

rolled 8 = 8

>>18942972
this is a good idea but if we are no fast enough we should take out the Guysak because they can burrow.

rolled 1 = 1

>>18943085
>>18943157
The Twinhorn is by itself now. It won't be too much of a threat, unless Vince still hasn't beaten the Helcats that went after him.

You turn back and snipe at one of the Guysacks, knocking it over, but not freezing it. The Malders attempt to blast you again but you manage to avoid their fire.
4 Guysacks, 2 Malders. 16 shots remaining. You need to let your Blaster Cannon cool for a little while. Thankfully its heat won't go through the still cool sand. The sun is now nearly fully up, though it's still dawn.

>What do?

rolled 2 = 2

>>18942923

My vote goes to the snails, the defenses the Vince can handle the Twin Horn and Helcats but the group of Guysacks and Malders could be a problem.

rolled 7 = 7

>>18943300
Work on the Malders, go to town on them, Show them that Caterpillars are superior to Snails.

rolled 6 = 6

I vote Guysak.

rolled 8 = 8

>>18943332
You circle and fire through the ground. You knock out the unprotected cannon, but do little noticable damage to the zoid itself. A Guysack has moved in front of you and has burrowed down. Their burrowing speed is poor, but it will still hinder you from moving ahead.

>What do?

rolled 1 = 1

dive under the Guysak te=hen come up using teh sand shooter and laser cutter if need be.

rolled 6 = 6

>>18943429
Blast it with the Blaster Cannon and use the wreckage that is left afterwards as a ramp. Then acquire a new target.

rolled 4 = 4

>>18943429
We're going about this all wrong. Malders are the slowest of the slow, we should pop the guysaks with our 20mm and laser machine gun and save the malders for last.

rolled 6 = 6

>>18943429

This guy wants to fight a Molga underground?

Let's oblige him.

rolled 3 = 3

>>18943530
no the canon needs to cool still

rolled 8 = 8

>>18943300
move around to fire on them from the top of them and fire them burro into the sand wiving in and out hit them from every side the rear then engage the clock and fire from right in fount of them

rolled 5 = 5

>>18943582
Hey guy, finaly decide to take a break? didn't see a AC thread earlier
>>18943530
"Yeah, no." you state, diving, then coming up under him with the force of a thousand angry caterpillars. So not really that hard, I guess.
Your cutters take care of that though. This guy lost the moment he thought he could take you submerged.

Or so you think. You defeat the Guysack, but you then realize that he never intended to win. You've been slowed, and the Malder near you has a shot, and he takes it. The impact rocks through you and your zoid alike.

>Roll d10 to avoid a system freeze

rolled 1 = 1

>>18943778
Oh fack

rolled 3 = 3

>>18943778
Freeze? I think not.

>>18943804
That's just great. Real good going there buddy.

rolled 6 = 6

>>18943804
>>18943816
Pretty please someone roll better than this.

rolled 1 = 1

>>18943816
>>18943804
You both suck.

rolled 7 = 7

>>18943778

Have a crunch thread live since yesterday, regular thread usually goes up about now-ish. Which I just did.

Also, rolling to not die.

rolled 1 = 1

>>18943845
Oh dear lord the irony.

rolled 6 = 6

>>18943845
And apparently so do I.

rolled 3 = 3

>>18943778
May the dice gods have mercy.

rolled 10 = 10

>>18943863
>>18943804
>>18943845

STOP ROLLING 1'S

rolled 7 = 7

>>18943889

DONE.

>>18943889
TAKE THIS NUMBER

rolled 3 = 3

>>18943804
>>18943816
"No...." you say in disbeleif. The HUB does not care for your whims, though. Command System Freeze. Your Molga is down, with 5 enemies right next to you.

["Real impressive there, man."] one of them says, as they circle around you. ["Took down half of us by yourself, even got our best guys, but that's as far as you go."]

You're going to die. In a misserable place in the middle of no where, you're goin to die in this pathetic way, after you fought so hard. You entertain begging, but that likely wouldn't help. You await the end.

Gunfire. More gunfire. You open your eyes. You're not dead. You look up. Heavy gatling fire rocks the Marder in front, and blows away another Guysack.

A private com signal come up. You flip it on.
["Hey, hon, watcha doin?"] That voice! ["You fightin' bandits?"]
You can hardly believe your fortune as you manage a response.
"...Mom?"

["Huh huh."] the woman on the other end of the line hums. ["I think I can show these boys a thing or two."]

And with that, the cutom Sabre sweeps right through the remaining enemies, before taking position in front of you.

>How feel/what say/do?

rolled 10 = 10

>>18943994
>swept pass, blah

>>18943994
We had to be saved by our mom? This is so embarrassing! All the kids at school are going to make fun of us now

>>18943994

"Mom, just in case i've never made it clear to you, I love you."

rolled 7 = 7

>>18944131
If it makes you feel better, she could have probly solo'd the whole group. actualy, that will likely just make you feel worse, my bad

rolled 5 = 5

>>18943994
Hey mum, thanks for delivering some lead to these fucks, did you also bring lunch and cookies?

But seriously thanks for bailing me out of this one. I took out most of them but then Molga, who is usually MOLGA STRONG wasn't.

What are you doing here anyway?

>>18944147
This, but add on: "But let's make sure noone ever finds out you had to save me. All the other kids would make fun of me."

We should probably dig those Heldigunners out from under the sand before the pilots can reboot their OS and get away. Actually a Heldigunner is just what we need for that aquatic sleeper mission we're supposed to do.

rolled 5 = 5

>>18944147
>>18944193
["I know hon, love you too. As for why I'm here, I got a call from your grumpy father, and found out you'd be up here. I was in a town 200 miles away, so I thought-"] she has to duck her Zabre's head as a Guysack with some fight left in it shoots at her with its beam cannon.
["...Excuse me."] she begins, agitated. ["I'm."] the Zabre throws some sand up with its forepaw and leaps to the side as the other pilot tries to get a lock on her.
["Talking."] her zoid pounces onto the Guysack, its maw clapsing down onto the head.
["TO MY SON!"] the Zabre rips the head off and flings it far away. The few remaining bandits back away.

["Who the hell are you?!"] they stammer in fear.
You hear her give an arrogant huff. ["The Scarlet Gale. You may have heard of me."]

There is dead silence, before the Malder turns and ejects its cockpit. ["Screw this! I'm done!"]
The others seem to follow his example, and bug off.

["Anyway, are you ok, sweety?"] she says tenderly, though half of you wonders if she's taunting you.

>What do?

>>18944450
Quite alright, mum. Just need to make sure our friend Vince is in as good a shape as we are. Prefferably better.

>>18944450
I'm fine Mom, I took out 3 Iguans, a couple of Heldigunners, a lot of Guysacks, some Malders and other assorted Zoids, I did alright except for that last bit.

I'm cool, I'm guessing Vince is, he's got a Houndsoldier, but we ought to check on him anyway.

rolled 4 = 4

>>18944485
>>18944512
["Gerald, dear, it doesn't matter how flashy you routine was if you can't stick the landing. Didn't I tell you not to push your luck? I know your father always went on about how 'there's no such thing as an unwinnable battle' but you should know your limits."]

You sigh in resignation. You didn't think about the Guysack being bait. You're still green, you guess. You continue fiddling with the console till it boots up. It's shaky, but you can move it at least.
"We need to check on a friend of mine. He went off by himself."
["Sure thing, but I'm not letting you out of my sight while your ride's in that state."]

You both make your way towards town, leaving the wrecks of your enemies behind.
(continued)

rolled 5 = 5

>>18944917
>Meanwhile
"That's the last one..." Vince states, exhausted. The final Helcat lay still at his feet. Despite being able to find them, he'd still taken a few hits. His zoid groaned. "Easy there, boy, hold it together."
Warning signals.
"Shi-!" the missiles impact and knock him over. The Hound struggles to right itself.
["You..."] a voice over the channel comes over his com. The Twinhorn draws closer as the Houndsoldier barely stays up. ["You ruined everything!"]
Vince swore under his breath. Normally he'd eat this guy for breakfast, but in the current state, he's a sitting duck.

["I'm going to enjoy this."] the other pilot said as he leveled his beam guns. However, his savoring is short lived, as a whistling sound cuts through the air. The ground in front of him erupts, and his zoid is rocked back.

["Mr. Mcman."] Joshua's sober voice come through Vince's speaker. ["Apologies for the delay. Please move away from there."]
Vince looks back, then cracks up laughing. "You bastard, why didn't you say you had something like that?"
["I told you,"] Joshua says in reply, ["we have no high speed zoids."]

The Gojulas fires once more. The Twinhorn backs away, the pilot openly cursing as he deploys smoke. The long range cannons fire a thirds time, blowing the screen away. The Zoid is no where to be seen.
"Running away, huh?" Vince comments. "Typical."

(huh, i didn't lose my image the first time)

>>18944917
Make some small talk with mum as we head towards Vince. See how she's been doing, let her know we're on a team now, let her know about Eri, that ought to distract her from being lovingly mocking.

rolled 4 = 4

>>18944943
You caught up to where Vince was. Some police vehicles have showed up and are arresting the pilots from the wrecked enemies.
"Vince, you ok?" you say concerned. He hops out of his zoid, and looks at it mournfully.
"I'm fine, but this guy's took a beating."
You join him on the ground. "I got it just as bad. My computer froze up."
He spins around to you. "What? Then how'd you make it back?"
"That would be my doing." your mother states, dismounting her Zabre. She saunters over, and gives Vince a once over. "And what's your name, handsome?" she asks, easing up against his arm.
"Uh, I-I'm Vince."
"Hello, Vince, you can call me Gwen." she coos with a mischievous smile.

>What do?

Immediately tell him that she's our mom. We don't need him getting any ideas

>>18945217
Walk up behind our mom and give her a good hug.

Mother dearest, could you please stop hitting on my teammate.

Mom, meet Vince, Vince meet my dear loving mother.

Make eye contact with Vince to be sure he gets the general idea.

rolled 5 = 5

>>18945240
>>18945265
Your mother pouts a bit as you pry her away.
"Spoil my fun, will you?" she gives you an angry, but playful noogy. "Team mate, huh?" She looks him over once more, and gives an aproving look. "He's got the smell of battle, seems reliable enough."
"Uh, thank you, miss DeFlynn." he says uncomfortably.
"Walton." she corrects.
"Excuse me?"
She holds up both her hands, which are bare.
"Gwen Walton. Divorced." she explains.
"Oh."

She walks over to you and pats your shoulder. "We still got work to do, Gerald, so don't dawdle getting patched up." She goes back to her zoid. Vince walks up to you.
"So that's your mom, huh?"
"Yep."
You're both quiet. "She's kind of hot." he admits out loud.
"Dude! Not cool!"
"Hey, I let you go after Eri, didn't I?"
"No you fucking didn't, and that's my MOM, Zizus!"
"Okay, okay, sorry."

>What do?

rolled 2 = 2

>>18945391
dig up the aqutic zoids then head home for our transport than load up as much as we can

>>18945391
There's so much salvage that there's no way we'll get it all back in time for the mission and the match. Fack who even knows whether Eri will be able to fix our zoids in time for the match. But we do need those Heldigunners. Maybe some will let us rent a couple of gustavs?

>>18945391
In case you were wondering why I never really told you about my mother it's because she's the Scarlet Gale, quite a name to try to live up to. Yeah, that Scarlet Gale.

So lets bag up this job, we have giant piles of Zoids to loot, hell we ought to be able sell some of them off to here given that we can't really drag them back with us, maybe the nice ones we want they'll let us store here and we'll pick them up later.

>>18945391

Go back to the caves, one trip at a time, and haul out all the manufacturing stuff.

All of it. Take everything that isn't bolted down, and then go back with a wrench for that that is.

Seriously, that equipment is worth a hundred times what any of those Zoids are. Even if we just turn around and sell them, we can turn around and by a solid gold Death Saurer with the money.

rolled 5 = 5

>>18945391
>Meanwhile
"DAMN IT!" the bandit swore, as he made his way westward. His zoid was slightly battered, but that hardly mattered. His men were beaten, his hideout discovered. He was ruined. Only thing left to do was to clear out what he could and leave.

As he came up to the cave, a shadow appeared before him. He readied his weapons, but the shadow stepped out. An Iron Kong shuffled toward him.
"S-sir!" the man stammered. "I'm so sorry! They found out about us, we need-"
["Quiet, you useless insect."] came a gravely voice. The Kong's fist swung and knocked the smaller zoid over. ["After you fucked up at the mine, you begged me for another chance. So I left you here to watch over the factory. Not only did you blow our cover and alert others to our presence, you. Lost. All. YOUR MEN." The man did not yell, his voice only got deeper. ["This could have been a gold mine for me, and you turned it into mud."]
The Iron Kong grabbed the other zoids head, and began squeezing.
"SIR! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!" the other man pleaded pathetically.
["Do I look like Buhda?"] the pilot of the Kong said coldly. ["I will forgive you once."] The other hand clasped down on the Twinhorn's head. ["And only once."] The head tore off, before being crushed like an empty can. The immense zoid casualy tossed it aside.
["Finish cleaning up, we don't have much time."]

rolled 2 = 2

>>18945533
>>18945542
>>18945568
Vince nods. "I've heard of her, she's pretty famous, as a mercenary and bounty hunter. Thought she'd have retired by now, though."
"She has, more or less. Just goes on the occasional romp when she get's board." you say. "Anyway, we got a lot of prime salvage out there, be a shame to let it go to waste."
"Yeah, but I'm in no shape to go back out. I think I'll take my buddy back to Rightward's and get him patched up."
"I can go with mom, but it will be slow going with just us."

"No need to worry." Joshua interjects. You jump away. How does such a large man move so quietly? "We will give you our full assistance. We apologize as well, we never imagined the threat to your lives would be so severe."

You thank him, and see a few Gustavs carrying Guysacks modified for digging. Joshua tells you they will cover all costs.

>What salvage?

>>18945714

Everything. Starting with the manufacturing equipment in the mines.

>>18945714
Well the easy answer is EVERYTHING WE CAN. There's all that cool mechanical gear in the Cave that might be worth something. The Iguans as well they ought to be worth something and are decent things to pilot. We might want to keep the Heldis that we can so we have some underwater stuff for that salvage mission. The Guysacks, Malders and Helcats I don't care about, store them here and sell them off.

>>18945714
Definitely the Heldigunners, we should get a whole one up and running from the parts of the two. We'll also need a Helcat or two to upgrade it with a stealth shield. Guysaks and Malders are not so great. That's why we let Sarah have the Malders with our last bandit bust up.

>>18945781
STEALTH SYSTEM. We can take the stealth systems out of the Helcats and put them in other zoids.

>>18945781
We might want to rip a stealth system from one of the cat as it's proven so useful.

AMMO!

Salvage any ammunition we can use, anything to cut costs. Also there were a ton of zoid parts at the base. Might be some stuff there that could speed up repairs on the hound soldier.

rolled 4 = 4

>>18945781
>>18945749
>>18945813

You saddle up with Joshua and take a route to the area you had been fighting. The Helcats are almost a stone throw away, so he suggested leaving them for the time being.
"Regretably, we ca not let you take everything." Joshua says in that same montone way he always speaks. When you ask why, he shakes his head sadly. "Mr. Rightward insists on recovering his losses. He was going to simply triple your reward, and send you on your way. I convinced him to give you pick of your salvage, and to repair your damaged zoids. Please understand."
"Hey, it's fine, thanks for sticking up for us like that."
He hums in apreciation. "I was born before the Cataclysm. I lived through all the devastation and chaos, and fought in it as well." You understand what he means, dad had started his mercenary company up because he was frustrated with how the government was handling the efforts to stabilize the nation. "Mr Rightward only knows business, it is sometimes trying to work with him."

You stop at the battle field. You have his Guysacks fish out one of the Heldigunners, while you and your mother fish out the one you headbutted. After some time, you get it up to the ground. The cannopy opens and a man tumbles out, breathing heavily. Seems he'd run out of air.
>Aquired 2 Heldigunners

>What do?

>>18945922
The Iguans in the Cave available, they seem nice, and would you mind looking the other way while we rip the stealth systems out of random Helcats as that's the only bit I really want from them. The rest isn't all that important though if I can fit them I'll grab some.

>>18945922
Nudge him with our toe. "This is what happens when you work for bandits."

>>18945981
With that logic we should rip all the guns off the zoids and sell those as well. Also ditch the guy with security and load up his zoid.

rolled 8 = 8

>>18945981
>>18945986
"Indeed, to do such work is foolish." Joshua leaves a salvage team to work the battlefield and take you toward the caves. You patch up the Molga on the tow while you wait to arrive. Not as good as new, but you could handle yourself if things got dicey.
"Those Heldigunners are yours." he assures you. "As for everything else, I'll make sure you can at least pick out a few things that get brought back."

You make your way to the caves, and cautiously make your way in. You unload the Molga and make you way to the elevator was. It's not there. You move up to the edge and look down. Your jaw drops. It's gone. All the equipments, all the zoids, nearly every last bit is gone. Joshua comes up and takes a look as well.
"The so called factory?" he says dryly.
"I swear, it was here!" you answer.
"I believe you." he says. "Look closely, there are traces. I see scraps, and evidence of explosives."

You take a closer look yourself. He's right. What they didn't take, they destroyed or buried. They didn't leave anything for you, at the very least. Joshua can't bring the Gustav down without an elevator. If there was something left to salvage, you'd have to get it yourself.

>What do?

>>18946111
Those cockmongling sons of bitches.

How good is the Molga to dive and is it at all possible to bring anything up with us?

Even if we can't bring stuff with I'd like to know if there's anything left down below, very cautiously go down there, keep a close eye on our seismic readers.

rolled 1 = 1

take the molga down and use the seismic sensors to look for anything good they missed.

>>18946111

Have a little 'moment' over the fortune that just got taken away.

Make a mental note to beat info about who it was from that one surviving bandit.

Then salvage what we can.

>>18946111
I think all we really want are the helcat's stealth systems. They can keep the zoids themselves, but we need enough stealth systems for the entire team.

And we did get our aquatic zoids right? I say the next thing we do is work on expanding the base...and security again.

>>18946111
Whoever they are, they're good. Moving all that equipment that fast is no small feat.

rolled 9 = 9

>>18946148
>>18946164
You tell Joshua you're going to take a look. He takes out an AZ rifle and sets up on the cliff, just in case. You tunnel down, the same tunnel you used on the way up. You carfuly make your way around the room. You find the structures you yourself damaged earlier. You find the area that you fought the Iguans, picked clean. The half constructed zoids are also gone.

You see movement. You quickly bring your gaze around to follow it, but only catch a shadow.
Then you see a gun barrel in your face.
["I would kill you now,"] a voice stated over a speaker, ["but our contract has already expired."] You swallow a bit as the barrel moves away. You turn round just in time to see something pull itself up the opposite cliff was.
["Well done besting my men."] the voice praises you. ["Maybe we'll meet again, if you live long enough."] The bizare zoid ducks away, and you are alone.

>What do?

>>18946317
Sigh, I wanted those Iguans. Jerks, taking away what was rightfully my loot.

Tunnel back up, tell them that it's picked completely clean. We'll tell Vince later about the mysterious dude. At the very least he was very professional about it.

Well, get out of the caves, grab whatever zoids we want and the most money to weight efficient parts they have, guns, stealth systems, the expensive hard to get bits, stuff them on a transport, get some repairs and head on home.

I say we should call pops after this. Tell him the mission went well, but let him know there might be more going on here. We should also ask him about the duck zord, and also thank him for telling mum.

rolled 10 = 10

>>18946317
You make your way back up, telling Joshua it's a no go. He doesn't question you, and you both leave. You get back to the battlefield, your mom's barking orders at the salvage team. after getting up what you could and taking it back, to Rightward's, you find yourself unoccupied.

>Talk
>Phonecall
>Go over salvage

>>18946462
The mystery zoid mentioned a contract. See if mom or dad know of any mercs who pilot a zoid like the one we encountered.

>>18946462
Talk to mom. Catch up. Let her know theres a lady in our life and we're entering tournies and stuff.

Y'know, making something of ourselves.

rolled 1 = 1

Talk to mom, let her know what's been going on, tell her about the team, etc. Tell her we maaaay have pissed off a shady organization by taking their best pilot and if you could give us any info on them that'd be great.

Also call Eri, I think we promised we would

>>18946462
Talk to Mom, catch up with her see how she's been doing lately, let her know about the team,

Talk about the fact that shady organizations seem to keep popping up in our life. That an we probably have at least one organization who has a direct goal in killing us and taking away someone we took in. She'll find it funny.

>>18946462
We should probably also mention to Joshua that the people attacking were under contract. Somebody was either after their resources or trying to hurt the company itself and they had the money to hire a well-armed force to do their dirty work.

rolled 9 = 9

>>18946496
>>18946500
>>18946518
You find your mom, who's hugging you Molga. That would sound weird out loud.
"Aw, poor baby." she says affectionately. "Do you remember me? Looks like my boy is being rough with you."
"Excuse me for being rough." you say in irritation.
"Ah, there you are." she turns to meet you. "How's my old zoid been doing?"
"As good as a hand me down can be expected."
She jabs your forehead. "Don't call my generous gift a hand me down. What's with all the kit-bash? No way you did that yourself."
"I happened to have met a very talented young lady."
She leans in eagerly. "Oh? Can expect grand children soon?"
"Not that soon. Maybe though. We're, sort of together..."
She hugs you tightly. "Oh, my baby boy's growing up, discovering what his dangly parts are for." you remind her you had girlfriends before, she doesn't listen.

You serious up and ask her about mercenaries who might be more into shady dealings. "All kinds." she says. "Mercenaries aren't known for their moral compasses. There are exceptions like me and your dad, but most just do whatever work pays."
Makes sense, you suppose. You catch up some, and excuse yourself. Time to make a call or three.
>Call Dad
>Call Eri
>Others

>>18946657
Call Eri up.

rolled 1 = 1

check on salvage then call Eri

>>18946657
Tell Joshua that these were hired mercs not bandits.

>>18946657
Call up Dad, let him know how the job went, tell him we saw mom. Tell him thanks for the job, though it got more exciting than expected. Ask if he knows anything about the weird zoid we saw.

rolled 7 = 7

>>18946713
>>18946727
You dial the base's number. It rings once.
"Hello?!" Eri says frantically as the video screen comes on.
"Was my call expected?" you joke. She visibly pouts.
"You. Didn't. Call." she gripes.
"I'm calling now, aren't I? It was night when we got here."
"Lame excuse. I bet you already fought the guys you were after." She's right, of course. You try not to wince.
"Anyway, we got some pretty nice s-"
"Oh! Aren't you just adorable!" you freeze in place. You turn rigidly to see your mom, who had nothing better to do than follow you. "Is this her, hon?"
Eri's eyebrows narrow. "Gerald, who is that?"
"Why, I'm the most important woman in his life, dear." your mom teases. Eri starts fuming.
"Eri, this is my mother. She helped us earlier." you explain, before she looses rational thought. Her face softens a bit. "Your mom? She looks awful young."
"Had him when I was 17. You can thank his skirt chasing father for that." she says over your shoulder, as you try to hide your embarrassment.
"Wouldn't that make you 44?"
"41, Gerald's only 24."
"I thought you were 27." Eri says inquisitively.
"That was a typo." you add.

>What do?

>>18946853
Mom, stop teasing my sexy mechanic girlfriend. It's impolite.

We came, we saw, we conquered. Lot more than anyone expected, mysterious shadowy organization involved all that stuff. I'll give you full details when I get back.

Salvage, I'd like your opinion on a few things. I'm already picking up some Heldigunners, figured they'd be nice for the underwater stuff. There's a large pile of Helcats, Guysacks and a couple Malders. I'm not particularly interested in any of them, but given that we have first pick at the salvage what are the most expensive parts from these guys per weight, I was figuring I'd strip the stealth units, nice guns and so on, stuff it in a bag and bring it with.

>>18946917
This said pretty much everything I wanted too. Do we want to tell her that Vince and us trashed our zoids?

>>18946953
Aren't the repairs covered by the factory owner?

>>18946962
They are, but we should probably tell her that they got hurt, but someone else is paying for repairs, that should make her happy.

rolled 7 = 7

>>18946917
She thinks the stripping, the zoids that is, is a good idea. can always do with some more guns.
"Don't get greedy," she warns, "stay on there good side, or your stuff might get 'lost'."

You nod and exchange some pleasantries. She tells your mom she's welcome to stop by. You wish she didn't.

You go over the salvage, and eventualy you come out with this:
2 Heldigunners, patched up.
1 Malder
1 Guysack
2 Stealth Shields.
1 Electromagnetic beam gun
1 beam gun(Guysack)
Some missiles, and various spare parts for Guysack.

Sound good?

rolled 2 = 2

>>18946989
AHAHAHA!

>>18946994
Sounds good.

Call up Dad, let him know how the job went, give him the details concerning the weird shadowy organization, he might know something. Tell him Mom came by and helped us out a lot.

How amicable a breakup was it between our Mom and Dad?

>>18946994
I guess? I suppose we could train Eri's maneuverability with the Guysak, apart from the Helcat it's the most maneuverable and easy to pilot zoid we've owned.

>>18947020
She doesn't seem too bitter about it. It was probably just a fling between two mercs.

rolled 3 = 3

>>18947020
>>18947033
They divorced when you were 10, and didn't get married properly till you were five. They loved each other, but couldn't help fighting with each other constantly.

You ring up your dad. Mom sticks around, and his face comes on. He's relaxing this time, but his expression sours a bit when he sees her.
"Gwen." he says.
"Andrew." she returns.
"Hey dad," you interupt. "Know anything about Iguans?"
He raises an eyebrow. "Why'd you ask? They're ok, but anything they could do, 3 Molgas could do better."
"I ran into some, I think they were pros. Mercenaries, maybe." You go in detail. At the last bit he gets up from his seat. "It had hands? Hand held weapons?" You nod. He rests his chin on his hand. "You met up with someone dangerous, son. Those things are ghost stories from before the asteroids, a secrete hit squad of the empire."
"They're that powerful?" you inquire. He shakes his head.
"It's not the zoids, so much as the pilots. Highly trained, morally ambiguous. The best of the worst kind of people, all ready to carry out genocide for the brass that commanded them. If that guy you met was one of them..."
"He didn't seem to mind letting me live."
"Hmm." your dad taps his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe not one of them, but someone who inherited it? Can't say for sure, but listen here, he keep your guard up. No telling if he'll come after you or not."
"Thanks dad, I'll be careful."

>Talk about other stuff
>Get ready to go home
>others

I made a thing. A terrible, terrible thing.

rolled 8 = 8

>>18947149
why do i keep typing he instead of you?

>>18947149
Well, he said that his contract was expired so he wasn't going to kill me. At least he was professional.

Given that he said contract I doubt he was the people who set the place up. Pretty large group, 20-30 or so guys, mainly Guysacks and Malders. They had set up a factory operation thing, there was a lot of machinery and half made zoids, in the caves.

By the time after the battle that I got out there everything was gone. That speaks to how competent the people I pissed off today are.

If you have any ideas about this let me know.

The pay ought to be good for this though, their tripling the fee, paying for repairs and I get to keep whatever I can drag off, shame the Iguans I took out were taken from the caves, I wouldn't have minded having one around.

Speaking of Zoids I'm doing good on cash, what would you suggest as an upgrade to the Molga, piles of weapons, not slow, stealth and dirty tactics preferred.

rolled 6 = 6

>>18947215
(They actualy aren't paying you triple, the salvage you took alone is worth five times your contract, not to mention repairs)

"I was always partial to my Red Horn, myself, not sure on the whole fighting dirty bit."
"I actually have a Red Horn, though it needs fixing up." you comment.
"Oh yeah? Actually I had a schematic I was gonna have worked on before I retired. Have a look." He brings up some blueprints onto your screen. Your eyes go wide. 2 72mm AZ beam turrets? 2 Linear cannon batteries? Fucking grappling arms.
"Zizus fuck, dad, how were you going to afford this?"
"Hey, i your drawing up custom plans, you might as well go nuts with it. I'll give these schematics to you, maybe you and your honey can come up with something."

>Crimson Horn data acquired

You say good bye, and meet up with Vince, who's all ready to leave. The Zoids aren't fully repaired, but in good enough shape to head out. should take less than half a day to finish.

And with that, you both head home, your mom promising to stop by sometime.

>To be continued

rolled 10 = 10

bah, i stayed up way later than i needed to. Started the thread 3 hours later than I wanted.

Just to let you all know, I wont do a thread this Friday. Life happened, and I'll be needing some me time.

>>18947300
See you then, take care ZM. That Red Horn looks fun though it'd take a large pile of cash out of our pocket, but look at all that DAKKA.

>>18947300

Okay ZM, when can we expect the next thread? Also, feel better ZM. Life happens.

Probably way too late for this but FUCK YEAH, Zoids Quest!