So it's been three weeks and I'm stupidly unprepared. Let's do this shit.Prior Thread: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/19378150Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Maverick%20Hunter%20QuestThe IRC: suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com, #MHQ -- Now with 200% more Cain Labs' Zero Quest!You are Anode of the SHUT THE FUCK UP IT'S UPGRADE TIME.
>>19680418A quick check with the Lifesavers, and your minor damage (cosmetic or otherwise) has been repaired. Schwarzhund's waiting for you when you get out, arms folded, leaning against the wall."Your weapons data came in," he says. "Great! Let's go see what Em can cook up." "Can't," he replies. "He's out.""Out? On mission?""No. Dunno," he answers before you can ask where he is. "Signed out properly, back by tomorrow morning at the latest. Said it was personal. I didn't pry." "Fair enough. Where's India, then? She'll want to be in on Bloodhound's data.""Out." You choke at the implication. "With R&D," he adds with a smirk (the bastard). "Rest of her upgrades. Out for at least 24 hours, maybe more.""Well, shit. Think we can ring up a Toolcircuit?""Already done. Sending us a 10-Plate.""Thanks. You're on top of things," you observe."So I'm told," he says."...I get the feeling that's not all you're here to tell me, though, is it?"
>>19680431"Seven's back." He looks up at you sharply, grin evaporating. "Don't start anything.""What's up?" you ask, immediately noticing his seriousness."He did logistics in Vienna. Civilian evac. Lot of deaths." He rumbles a sigh. "He's not taking it well."Oof. "Okay, I won't." "Thank you," he says with a nod as he turns to go. "One more thing. X sends on his thanks. ...Ordered me not to use his rank when I told you," he adds with a grumble. That gets a guffaw out of you. Schwarz stalks off ("bar," he says flatly,) leaving you to contemplate.>To the upgrademobile!>It's been at least 24 hours since I had booze in me. Let's fix that.>Other?
>To the upgrademobile!All this zenny is burning a hole in our pocket.
FUCK YES MAVERICK HUNTER QUEST.Upgrade out shit.
>>19680441Away!
>>19680478 >To the upgrademobile!Is what I meant. Apparently you're not the only one a little unprepared.
>>19680441To the upgrade mobile. Try not to break our face even more from the fact that X, the X sent us thanks. That's like your dad and the biggest war hero of all time saying he's proud of you.
>>19680517I forgot some words, break our face from smiling too hard.
upgrades. then booze. I have a feeling if we reverse this order of actions, it could end up in disaster
>>To the upgrademobile!Seven is probably drinking away his sorrows right now, don't want to disturb him.On the bright side, lets consider the fact that this is the first mission where we haven't come back half scrapped, unless you want to count being within spitting distance of that badass dude.
>>19680463>>19680474>>19680492No sense waiting, if the guy's ready.Turns out he is, awaiting your go-ahead for beamin. And in he beams. The first thing you notice is that he brought help--a little mettool. Its finish is dinged and scratched, matching the appearance of its owner perfectly. The Tenplate is mostly faded, hardy gray, with a faded, tarnished yellow helmet much like the little met beside him. His appearance is patchwork, bits and bobs of metal giving him an uneven appearance. A large tank rests on his back, with leads running to his robotic hand, bristling with tools and equipment. The bottom half of his face is covered by an industrial yellow collar piece that makes him look like he has Satan's underbite.He looks like a construction vehicle on legs."Tugg, R&D." He leans over and gives the met a scritch on the helmet with his humanoid hand. "What's the job?"You quickly introduce yourself and motion for him to follow you to the lab. "Got some weapons data and a lot of money. Thisaway."He falls in step behind you, his met buzzing (they -buzz?-) and plodding along after."This is Scratch," he says. "Did the noise throw you?""A little," you admit. He guffaws."We all mod our C-15s. Friend of mine made his trill. I know a guy who got his to whistle squarewaves."He looks over the lab when you get there, grunting in satisfaction. Like Schwarz said, no sign of Em. His case of sabers by the wall is closed and locked. Damn, perhaps he knows you too well. You double check your current balance as the 10-Plate combat engineer provides the network his credentials and inspects the weapons information. Z257,338. A quarter of a million god damn Zenny.
Fuck yes, I actually get to join in one of these!Also, I figured I'd post a few things here that I've found that some of you might find interesting.http://www.rom hacking.net/hacks/888/Here's a MMX3 romhack that allows you to play as Zero throughout the entire game.http://maverick.oc remix.org/music.phpHere's an OCRemix album for MMX.Anyways, thanks for this fantastic quest, Hunter Command!
>>19680792>A quarter of a million god damn Zenny.Oh my god I wanna spend it. I want to spend it on god damn everything!
>>19680792That last Z50,000 is from Vienna. Less than you expected for so many hostage rescues, but the hunters apparently don't even need to pay operatives for emergency threats. Still, though, damn.Tugg's tool arm rotates with a whir and a buzz idly as he turns to you. "Most of what we do is patch jobs and quick fixes. I prefer Keep it Simple, Stupid. So mostly what I'm gonna suggest is that we just improve your existing stuff, or use a stock config."First off, you've got this Lockon Hunter gizmo stock. Variable-intensity laser weapon, tuned on the fly. Can turn it up for a big hit, or dial it back in a sensitive environment. I'm also seeing this, uh, Split Laser modality? The shot forks twice. Pretty good refire rate, it looks like." And hey, two busters... Wait. Shit."Damn, I just realized. My VWES is full.""Chyeah? We could fix that up fer ya, right as rain. Comes a bit steep, but it's doable.""What else do you think you could do?" He swivels in the chair, scratching his chinplate with a set of pliers in his arm, pulling up your schematics.
>>19681085"Uh huh. Uh huh...Yeah, arrite, yer not too new to make better. Those popguns, they're primed for quickfire?" You nod. "Could let you start chargin' those puppies. There's some new stuff comin' down the horn, bit foreign to me, but we could improve yer EAS. Not too much, the legs look pretty crowded already." He pauses. "Springs? Really?" You shrug. He shakes his head and moves on. "But yeah, we could either just do a flat out upgrade on the system, or add this ... Burst Release system. Lets ya vector in the air.""So when you said improve existing stuff..." you begin."Right, right. VWES conversion's good, but it can't match the original without puttin' more effort into it. This, uh, T. Coil thing. I could add an outer spool system. Little doodads on your wrists, letcha retract the cables." Zipline? ZIPLINE. He points at the screen (smudging it so you can't see), "This here chaff missile, the system it's based off had tracking. I could use this Lockon fella's systems. That's about as far outta my comfort zone as I get on my own."You frown. "What about re-interpreting some of that data?" He stops, turning to look back at you. Both he and his mettool stare blankly. "Hear me out. That variable-penetrating trick, d'you think we could work that into my knife?""I mean, we COULD..." "And that guidance stuff, couldn't we use that for my busters? Dude had crazy angling lasers."He sighs. "I don't like it, but I'm not the guy goin' out wearin' it. Your call, kid, they just write my checks."
>>19681094Your options. Keep in mind you have only one copy of Lockon's data.-Lockon Hunter: Stock weapon option. Variable-intensity overpenetrating laser. Can be tuned for higher piercing or adjusted back for precision output in delicate environments. 16 shots, though high-power ones will consume 2 rather than 1 energy. VWES, Uses Lockon's weapons data.-Split Laser: A directed energy weapon that forks into two separate directions, then 2 more. Forks are perpendicular to the initial shot. 32 shots, but they'll go quickly if you dual-rapid fire them. VWES, Uses Lockon's weapons data.-Optical Amplified Misericorde: Adding Lockon Hunter's superlative armor-piercing qualities to the hi-beam blade will produce a weapon that slides through heavy armor like it's not there. Further refinements to the data could reintroduce the variable-intensity ability of the original weapon. Uses Lockon's weapons data.-Buster Charge Upgrade: Add charge capacity, and thus more stopping power to your A. Cyclers. Due to the tuning for rapid fire, the charge will be used to fuel a burst of empowered shots, rather than a single higher-power blast. Z100,000. -Expanded VWES: Add 2 more variable weapon slots. Z100,000.Cont.
>>19681132-Enhanced EAS 1: Using technology only recently available, a high-power discharge in midair will allow the user to air-dash. The burst of output taxes the system, preventing any EAS use for several seconds afterward while the system primes itself again. Due to a lack of free space in your legs, you only have room for one EAS improvement. Z45,000.-Enhanced EAS 2: Efficiency refinements, a larger generator, and improved hardware allow the EAS to recharge extremely quickly, allowing faster, almost continuous use, greatly improving your ground mobility. Due to a lack of free space in your legs, you only have room for one EAS improvement. Z45,000.-Motion Predictor: Smartlink busters, shots will correct for motion, improving buster accuracy. Uses Lockon's weapons data.-Wire Spool: Add retraction functionality to the Tension Coil. Allow ziplining! Slightly bulky apparatus. Future upgrades could allow you to retract the coil directly, regaining 1/2 the weapon energy spent. Z30,000-Lockon Blackout: Adds target acquisition and guidance package to blackout rockets/chaff missiles. Uses Lockon's weapons data. Z30,000Further upgrade ideas are subject to ask/answer. If you've got an idea, throw it out there and see if it can pass.And a reminder, your VWES is currently occupied by your Blackout Rockets and Torsion Coil....And on that note, since upgrade porn takes so long, I can go get myself some dinner!
ZIPLINE!BURST RELEASE!CHARGAN!
If we get the wire spool, we don't need the EAS 1 upgrade, and we'll still have room for EAS 2.Faster is better.
>>19681145TO CLARIFY since I didn't wait until the actual prices for posting thatBuster Charge UpgradeEnhanced EAS 2Wire SpoolLockon BlackoutWill using Lockon's data ruin it for India?
>Expanded VWES.Steep, but if we're going to be doing a lot of missions, we'll probably need it; cooler weapons tend to take up a VWES slot.>Wire Spool.I don't even need to explain this.>Split Laser.Turn rooms into bullet storm hellzones. Even if they're just basic shots, even stronger opponents can't take that much punishment for long.
>>19681201I like what you have but I'd switch out the rocket upgrade for the Motion Predictor, though that just might be my bias towards passive upgrades.
>>19681215Scratch that. Didn't see that the zipline needed the data. Drop Split Laser.
>-Expanded VWES: Add 2 more variable weapon slots. Z100,000.It's not like we have to eat or pay rent!
>>19681132>>19681139Save Lockon's data until we can make more copies of it, namely for India. That said, I'd take the stock Lockon Hunter option myself. Also, the more baseline upgrades will be better for us in the long run, and those are always the sorts of things I upgrade first.All that said, I recommend:- Buster Charge Upgrade (Z100,000)- Expanded VWES (Z100,000)I'm torn between which EAS upgrade to get. Unmatched ground maneuverability, or added aerial maneuverability?The Wire Spool idea seems superfluous, since that hinges on a VWES item that we may end up replacing in the future.Anode is already quite the crack shot with his busters and missiles, so I don't see why we necessarily need homing on our busters or missiles.
>>19681242The Zipline needs the data? Where does it say that?
>>19681139So many upgrades and we have so much money.First thing to get is the Wire Spool, we just need that. I'm saying we should get EAS 2, if we need more air mobility we can often use our new Wire Spool for 3D movement and if we combine EAS 2 with Lightning Dash we will cover so much distance so fast, we'll be greased lightning.Get the Buster Charge Upgrade, I prefer it over the VWES, though we should get that next time we make a pile of money.I'd like to get Lockon Hunter, if we need to cover a large area with pain like the Split Laser would do we can just unleash the lightning or use our Busters, we really lack a long range heavy armor breaker. Also modulating the penetration could be useful.We won't be able to use the Lockon Hunter until we expand the VWES but it means we can swap our what we have in VWES depending on the mission. Or we can keep the Lockon data around, make copies for friends and get the Lockon Hunter once we have expanded the VWES.>>19681242Wire Spool doesn't take out the weapon data.
Expanded VWESWire SpoolBuster Chargesave Bloodhounds data for until India gets back.
>>19681288Wrong line. My eyes are dicks sometimes.
>>19681292It seems like a good idea to just sit on Bloodhounds data for now, at least until we have more copies to share and space to put his goodies in.
>>19681292We don't NEED the Wire Spool. Besides, we won't always have something to latch onto if we need 3D movement, plus it'd waste some of the T. Coil to do so.
>>19681325I'm pretty sure that "we need it" isn't so much "this would be great tactically" and more "We can be Spider-man now!"
ZIPLINE TAKEDOWNS MUTHAFUCKAS
>>19681361Exactly. That's why people are chomping at the bit to get the Wire Spool: to indulge the inner Batman. I'm adamant on getting both buster upgrades and an EAS upgrade, since those are much longer-term investments for us on a more baseline level.
>>19681325Ok, we don't technically need it. But adding 3D movement in many environments is worth 30k. Improving our mobility in a number of ways is a very useful thing with our style of combat.
It's fucking showtime!I vote for>Expanded Capacity VWES>Buster charge>Lockon Blackout Missiles
>>19681404Then if you want 3D movement, get Enhanced EAS 1 for the Air Dash. Its only limitation is a few-second cooldown, as opposed to using up a VWES weapon to move around. Nothing's stopping us from replacing the T. Coil later on, and then what'll happen to the Wire Spool?
>>19681379Shit, despite the inherent coolness of the zip-line you have a point. Let's hold off on being the Batman for now, guys. 30,000 is easier to make that 100,000. It's piddly shit, we'll make that back next mission.
>>19681434Plus, if we're using a zipline to move all over the place to get around an arena/battlefield, it becomes pretty damn obvious where we're headed, and they can either destroy the line or intercept us easily since they can SEE WHERE WE'RE GOING IF WE ZIPLINE EVERYWHERE.At least with the Air Dash, the enemy would have to guess.
>>19681458I still think the EAS 2 is the better investment here, because even if we don't get it this time, you can bet your ass we're getting zip-lines next time.
>>19681458I prefer EAS 2 to Air Dash though, our primary thing in combat is the spear charge, and if we add the EAS 2 to Lightning Dash we will utterly fuck up anything in our way.
>>19681495>>19681516I'm more of an "offset the weakness" guy than an "enhance the strength" guy. If people really want 3D movement, then get the Air Dash. I can see the appeal of having an almost-infinite ground dash (although the Raikousen is completely separate from the EAS).The EAS upgrade is the only thing I'm stuck on. The two buster upgrades are nonnegotiable.
WAIT ON THE LOCKONWe make copies of that then we can have homing bullets, variable lasers, bend lasers, and homing missilesSpeaking of can we increase our number of blackout charges? they're sorta awesome and more is better
>>19681545An option wasn't presented to make the VWES more efficient. It doesn't mean we can't bring it up.
>>19681458You're not really thinking outside of the box here. The Wire Spool isn't only useful for 3D movement, we can use it to pull objects towards us. If you played any of the Arkham games, you know how useful this can be.
>>19681555Again, though, this uses up VWES power to do. I'm looking for upgrades with more considerable longevity and staying power. Baseline upgrades are almost always superior upgrades, and this is one of the rare times we have the money and time to get everything done at once. Like someone else said, Z30,000 is chump change. We can make that back when we go on a sortie. We won't have this kind of money again for a long time, so we have to knock out the big upgrades (buster, EAS) now. You can wait ONE mission, right?Plus, we still need to get Cathode a birthday -- sorry, activation day -- present.
Back, couple things worth mentioning.1: You can, with time and investment, get additional copies of the weapons data. It's all archived.2: The Wire Spool wouldn't be useless if you upgraded the coil in the future, since you still need a means of retracting the system. It's just a matter of an external versus internal system.3: VWES data you own can be archived, so you can change your loadout as the situation requires. Having three weapons for two slots (or 5+ for four slots) doesn't mean permanently losing a weapon to fit another.So do you guys have any definite choices while the debate continues?
>>19681637I'm aware of archiving weapons and choosing a loadout. Still, though, I'd prefer to keep our options open. I don't want some bulky shit sitting on our arm just for a VWES item.That said, I don't think there's been any real debate to getting both buster upgrades.
>>19681637I think Buster Charge is pretty decided on as is EAS 2. The problem with Motion Predictor is that it uses up our available copy of Lockon's weapon data, how much would it cost to get another one out of storage?
>>19681637I still vote for the utility of the spool, not only for mobility, but the fact you can pull items, hell, we could look affixing it to held weapons to prevent disarm and what not. Impropmtu tow cable is also a bit fun, its not like we don't have zenny to burn on it and some other things. I am not suggesting we pull Just Cause level shit at all. No Sir.
>>19681637I definitely want both busters upgrades, along with EAS 2.I think we should save the Spool for next time. Hell, we might have enough to get both Wire spool upgrades then.
>>19681692Anode is already a pretty beastly shot. We can hold off on homing busters for a little bit.>>19681715Both busters and an EAS upgrade uses up all our allotted funds. Plus, what weapons, aside from our lance and misericorde? We only threw our lance once against Guns because he ran circles around us and we thought it was a good idea at the time. Plus, it's not hard to retrieve our hi-beam misericorde assuming we're smart about throwing it, if we ever do so again. The Wire Spool can wait.
>>19681692Iterative purchases cost more, though the first is Z15,000. Don't expect a nice, gentle cost rise, though, weapons and DNA data as a whole are extremely difficult to work with. It's not as simple as just running off another copy.
>>19681637I say we at least get the Charge buster upgrade and the EAS 2.As far as weapons data goes, I like the sound of the Lockon Hunter. Something precise, fast, and powerful that we can scale up and down as needed sounds like it would come in awfully handy, and hopefully it'd be the kind of projectile that wouldn't get deflected like our shots were against that disc using asshat on the last mission.
Optical Amplified Misericorde, Expanded VWES, Enhanced EAS 2, Wire Spool. That's 175,000 Zenny. I REALLY wish we could do more with Lockon's data so we could get Motion Predictor too, but those are my choices from what we've got.Also, fuck yes, Maverick Quest.
>>19681802Ok, we'll think about getting it later.For now EAS 2, Buster Charge and VWES so we can fit more cool data in later. Next set of money we get goes towards Lockon Hunter and maybe Spool. I'm willing to drop the VWES for now and get something else, it's not that important to me.
>>19681817And I say the misericorde upgrade because anything that has significant armor fucks with us. Having something (even if only a melee weapon) that ignores even the heaviest armor would be beautiful.Also, can we even copy it? Or do anything with it?... or maybe give it to India?
>>19681870The misericorde already ignores pretty meaty armor. That's the whole point of the misericorde: to bypass armor and deliver the coup de grâce. It's better getting an actual weapon than buffing an already-situational weapon.Also, see >>19681637 about saving weapons data. India can get a copy whenever she wants, no sweat.
So, consensus seems to be keeping Bloodhound's data for later, then opting for VWES improvement, buster charge, and EAS 2?Also, as one of the officers onsite, India's got her own copy of Lockon's data available.
>>19682028We'll sleep on Lockon's data for now, though I'm fine with getting the default weapon.
>>19682028That's fine. That just about taps us out in terms of funds, yes?
>>19682028I'm fine with this. We can always order a copy of the data later to do further tinkering.
>>19682028alright, then let's get Split Laser for our Bloodhound Data. We can use it to hit enemies behind cover, right?
>>19682054We should have, what, under 20k after cleaning house like this? More than enough to get Cathode something silly.
>>19682054245,000 total, leaving you with Z12,338. Enough for thinking about some serious gifts for Cath, and you could still afford a bender afterward.
>>19682062Split Laser sounds like dumbfire to me. We already have total battlefield saturation with our A. Cyclers and their retarded ROF. Everything we have is dumbfire. Having the default weapon would be a nice change of pace.
>>19682092Yes, we need to find her the best gifts ever. Full batman costume complete with utility belt, a trenchcoat and fedora so she can reenact all of the Humphrey Bogart stuff she's always wanted to.
"All right, I'll keep Lockon's data in storage for now," you decide. "Let's make this an infrastructure overhaul." Tugg sighs in relief. "So what's your pleasure, kid?""Let's go with buster upgrades, the VWES and the charge cap. And that improved dash. The regular kind," you add. He beams."You'd be a man after my own heart, if I had one." He thumps his chestplate soundly, and his met buzzes in agreement(?). "Hop up on that table and get those busters off, I'm gonna go make a quick call home." He steps out while you disengage your armplates again, sliding the hard 'sleeves' off. You look down at the met, standing on the chair Tugg just vacated. "Scratch, huh?"It buzzes and hops over onto the table beside you. And immediately begins butting its helmet into your side. Up close, you notice that the top's paint is stripped away, dinged and pitted with shallow furrows and nicks. Ah. Scratch.The thing continues to buzz in a manner vaguely like purring. Carefully you reach down and scritch its... helmet. The buzzing increases twofold. That's...huh.You hear the 10-Plate returning and the met immediately breaks off and waddles to the edge, but can't bring itself to jump. "Hey, get offa there!" Tugg calls as he steps in, a toolbox in one hand and a brick of tech in the other. It hops with a panicked hiss of static and promptly upends itself, flailing and kicking. The engineer sighs and flips it back upright.
>>19682580"Friendly thing, isn't he?" you offer. "Heh, yeah. Anyway," he tosses a block of metal up and down in his hand. "VWES is the easy part. Just need to replace yours, make sure the power ratings match up, and make sure the WEAPON system syncs up. That part's tricky, but this ain't my first rodeo. Then I just dump the data over. Takes a minute, that's not hard."As he talks his tool hand splays out and he attacks your buster sheathes with some kind of screwdriver. "The fun part's gonna be making these charge. They're already streamed for single fire, but yer designers put some notes in the file and built anticipating y'might go this way. Sharp work.""How about the legs?""Time consuming, but nothing major. Add new parts, replace a few more, bigger draw reservoir. Lookin' like a couple of hours' time. All right, Scratch, yer on box duty..."He sets to work, chatting lightly as he does--much more approachable than the Toolcircuit you had last time.>Get the legs out of the way. He doesn't need you here for the rest.>Why be rude? Stay and chat, if the chatting's good.
>>19682595Why be rude? Stay and chat, if the chatting's good.Rule 1 of being in pretty much any organization, be friendly and polite with the engineers. It's just a good idea, and who hasn't wanted to see yourself getting taken apart and improved. He seems approachable, we should chat.Talk about Scratch to start with, tell him we didn't know that Mettools could purr or that they were usually that affectionate and adorable. Then swap damage stories, tell him about the time we came back a blackened electrified husk.
>>19682595>Why be rude? Stay and chat, if the chatting's good."So what do you guys DO in R&D, aside from make housecalls like this? What counts as a 'slow day?'"
>>19682595stay and chat
>Why be rude? Stay and chat, if the chatting's good.We didn't get a very talkative guy last time we had upgrades done. Let's see if he likes classic movies in his spare time.
>>19682595>Why be rude? Stay and chat, if the chatting's good.Personally, I'd like to know whats strong enough to put furrows in a met helmet.
>>19682633>>19682635>>19682638>>19682644>>19682652"So what's the story with Scratch? I've got a stuffed one I slapped my bars on and he blows that out of the water.""Not much to tell. 10-Plates get 'em as aides for hostile environment work. Sort of a tradition to make 'em a bit different. Apparently he's like a housecat, the boys say.""Kinda. Liberty, out of Phillie? Got one named Scruggs. Based off an old story about a squirrel.""Pffthah! Is that right?""Yeah. So I saw how he got the name. How do you...?"He grins, clacking two tools on his hand together. "The metal's not invincible or nothin'. And we need t'be able to make patch surgeries in field conditions with these. They're built strong."He works quickly and effectively even as you chat, ranging from classic movies, to gifts for your sister (he suggests saving up and buying her copies of all your available VWES data), to swapping war stories, to last night's game in the Axe League. Apparently Tugg likes his baseball.The leg upgrades take the longest (he's baffled at the linkup to your C. Capacitor, but quickly compensates), while he details your new systems--The buster charge is distributed across several smaller shots, rather than a single large payload. The VWES is simple enough, it just has capacity for two more weapons. Your dash should feel natural once you re-adjust yourself to its output. And after several hours, you're done. He closes the last panel, sealing it flush and wiping nonexistent sweat from his brow with the back of his arm. "Get a feel for that," he says. "Make sure you know what you're doin' before you do it in a scrap. Otherwise, we're done here.">Keep to the original plan. Pond!>Other?
Lets get drunk.
>>19682863First thank the man, he did a damn good job.Then go running around the yard like a maniac, get used to the new legs, try chaining our new EAS upgrade with Lightning Dash and see how it works.Give running in one direction and turning on a dime with Lightning Dash a shot to get more maneuverability.Try out running in a straight line with EAS and using Lightning Dash for short lateral hops while maintaining forward momentum. We are one crazy fast dude.Then we get drunk.
>>19682878>>19682902BEFORE we get drunk, let's go to the range and get a proper field test. Better to appreciate the changes now than when we're fighting for surivival.
>>19682863Let's go give our shit a test-run before we go drinking.
Field test. Get the motor coils all warmed up and try the new shit. Heck, since we got the capacity upgrade, we can use the baseline Lockon data to try it out a bit unless we decided to store that for a while.
>>19682863Hey, with the new and improved EAS system can we run on the walls? Because that would be pretty awesome. Another question, if we end up with metal walls and/or ceiling couldn't we turn our feet into electromagnets and run on any magnetic surface that we choose? It might burn some charge to do so but that could be pretty cool.
>>19683100We can store and release electricity. I doubt we've practiced enough with it to get into some magnetism shenanigans.
>>19683100Wallrunning you could do the 'natural' way, IE for a very limited period of time. It'd take practice. EM boots and the like already exist, particularly for spaceworthy operatives. You could get a system like that, eventually.
>>19683100I think magboots is more like an equippable item than an upgrade.
>>19682878>>19682902>>19682932>>19683009>>19683078While it's tempting to celebrate with a trip to the Pond, you may as well get business over with first. Tugg and his met come along to watch, in case anything needs fine tuning. He even obliges and uses an arc welder digit to give you a quick jolt for your capacitor. Dashing feels...smooth. Surprisingly natural. You need to adjust--it takes you further, faster, and recharges for another go almost as fast as you can get yourself ready for it--but when they say 'improved,' they mean it. You reckon you could make some serious time in a hurry, if it came to it.Charging, though, feels strange and unfamiliar. It's like flexing a muscle you didn't know you had. If you had muscles, anyway. Your buster feels like a two-stage weapon now--build, then fire. You feel your arms vibrate as the "fans" inside spin up. Very, very weird.You can't argue with the results, though. You fire, and at once a stream of bright bolts flash downrange, three from each buster. That's some appreciable damage in a very short window, if you have time to prep it. It's like a new, glorious world of blowing shit up has been opened to you. That's worthy of a drink, you'd wager.>Invite Tugg?
>>19683183Don't see why not. We've yet to see what happens when engineers get plastered.
>>19683183Hell yeah, bring Scratch along too. By the end of the night we'll be trying to wear Scratch as a hat. Tugg will have taken small parts from everyone which he swears they aren't going to miss in the slightest and turned the fridge into a weapon of mass destruction. Good times.
Hell yeah.
>>19683203>>19683217>>19683292You pause for a moment. "You're in luck, Tugg. My normal drinking buddies are spoken for tonight. Wanna come tour the Fourth's OC?""Sure, if you don't mind letting us knuckle-draggers in," he replies, tugging down that metal collar to show a wide grin beneath.Music: http://youtu.be/-jU9EFTMhbYYou're almost surprised that he's not a beer man as he bellies up to the bar. "Want some rye?" he asks. "'course ya do!"You resist a grimace at your first attempt at whiskey. He watches your reaction with amusement, then turns to the TV. "Ah, dammit," he curses. "the game's called for rain again. That's two this week." Max slides the remote across the bar (side-eyeing Scratch, who is inspecting a bowl of peanuts), and Tugg begins expertly channel surfing. You look up when you hear a familiar voice.
>>19683457"-loids, rise up here and now," says Bisanu on the feed in a familiar building. "Look at how quickly the hunters push you aside for the whims of their human masters..." The feed shifts to a reploid reporter in a very recently ransacked office. "This was the scene this afternoon, as a maverick strike force seized our own offices to spread their message of violence. Our human staff remains with their loved ones in light of the near-disaster, though they will be returning--all of them--to work tomorrow. They report that a strike team led by none other than the Maverick Hunter 17th unit commander, Megaman X, is responsible for their lives..."You realize the bar is suddenly very quiet."...along with the Fourth Overland unit's ace hunter, Colonel Schwarzhund, and the now-famous Hero of Vienna, India. And with them was a new operative, one Lieutenant Anode, of the United States, credited with bringing down the maverick that led to Doppler Labs' recent breakthrough in the so-called 'maverick virus.'"Someone starts to clap. >?
Just doing our job. Nothing more or less.
>>19683468God damn it. At the very least we don't have to pay for drinks.When the topic comes up be humble about it and just say we were doing what we were built to do.
>>19683468"...Well, that's new."
"I'm just glad I didn't come home half-slagged again."
WELP, I DON'T MEAN TO BRAG BUT I SAVED MEGAMAN'S LIFE A FEW TIMES.
>>19683526none of that shit, now.
>>19683468Hello Seven.
>>19683468You turn to look at your new friend. He just shrugs massively and downs his rye. ...Welp."I really didn't..." Too little, too late. They're already clapping and cheering and hooting and damn, guys, all you did was get shot in the face. You feel vaguely uncomfortable in your own... armor, not really knowing how you're supposed to react to this. You can practically hear Schwarzhund warning you not to let it go to your head as you turn to where he sat the night it was him getting lauded for doing his job."...d you hear me? Anode?" Wait whoa what? You key your comms. "Say that again? It was kind of loud in here.""I said, it's Frog. I just got a priority call and half the base is out of town, can you take it?"You look down at your first beer, unfinished, lip trembling in grief for nanites unconsumed. "...Do I have to?"Tugg pats you on the back. "I know that feeling, kid."With sorrow and reverence you hand him your beer, making him promise to finish it for you. That lovely curve, that beautiful amber, the daring lace on the sides of the glass...it deserves better than abandonment. With a heavy and, even worse, a sober heart, you trudge out to another round of applause and whistles to answer the call of duty.
>>19683631On the bright side, we don't have to take that "flushing agent" thing that probably goes down like antifreeze.
>>19683631And on that note, we're geared up for PLOT to happen. We're only about a hundred posts in, so more tomorrow. Pausing here. If anyone's available, don't worry about keeping the thread at the top of the board, just give it a bump every couple hours so it's alive and waiting.
>>19683685After three weeks of waiting i find maverick hunter thread and its over for the night, Just my luck
>>19683685Bumping before sleep.
Back up.
Okay, so, uh. Are we back? Or is 4chan gonna go down again?
>>19688718We're back, but I make no promises that 4chan is going to remain up, I hope it will.
God I hope so, that was annoying.
Totally unforeseen downtime at least had the advantage of keeping the thread safely preserved.
>>19683631You break into a light jog as you cross the pavilion. "Okay, so what's the story here?" "Not here. This one's sensitive.""You're not sending me off on another hostage crisis, are you? One op with heavy support doesn't make me a SWAT officer.""No, but there could be civs.""Then why not send the First? Isn't that their bag?" "Mostly busy with their track and field routine. Hang on, I'm going to discuss this with you in person. Meet me at the pad."Frog looks... tired. No surprise there, you guess. Despite the fatigue hanging off his armored frame, the look in his eyes is all business. "Okay, so," he begins. "You're going home. Little trip Sault Sainte Marie.""You want any souvenirs?" you ask."If only. No, what I want is Command off my ass, and what they want is Russia off theirs.""What the hell's Russia got to do with Michigan?""Apparently 2nd sniffed out one of their priority targets there.""Meaning he's not active, right?""Right.""So what's the big damn deal?"Frog grumbles. "They're doing their damndest to stall it coming out, but the hunters are on somewhat shaky turf with Russia lately. That'll happen when a team sets off a small-scale nuclear explosion."...Wait. What?He just shrugs at your expression. "Yup."
>>19688978...Wow, okay. Good work all around there. So are we working damage control there as a symbol then?
Alright. Let's hear our objectives then.
>>19688978"Okay, so, Russia pissed, nuclear blasts, mavericks in Michigan." "Yeah. They're leaning on us to make some of their targets a priority. Probably threatening to cut funding, hit us in the wallet. Dunno what they think that'll do other than get more civs killed, but...""Over our pay grade," you offer. He nods. "Okay, so what do we have on his guy?""He's called Chernyee Grach, and I'm sure I butchered that. 2nd only found him with a bit of prompting from our friendly Russian officials. We were hoping that'd be the end of favors, but they really want him dead. Guess I can't blame them, he has a rap sheet a mile wide. Three figures of casualties, arson, murder, demolition, apparently he's some kind of artisan with putting down buildings. Military training, some kind of psy ops experience. Nasty terrorist bent to him.""Lovely. Why 4th?""First's engaged, Ninth turned it down as outside their mandate, Tenth is relegated to advisement only. Too small-scale for the heavier hitters. Like most miscellaneous bin jobs, it landed in our lap. And..."He transfers a dossier to you. "...Boss, you sent me the wrong file. This guy's human.""Nope, that's him.""You're shitting me.""Hell of an endo job. Also how he got away from them in the first place. Dead ringer for a human. Somehow managed to get through metal detectors and get on a plane."You look at the picture again--young, with a freshly-trimmed beard and clear brown eyes. "You're sure he's reploid?""I'm sure.""So am I cleared to know the full story here?""Nope. Neither am I. Trading a favor and a case of smokes to Longshot for more intel, he'll come through with it."
>>19689215"Alright, but if they lied and this guy IS human, I'm shutting myself off as a matter of honor"
>>19689215So, we get to go play Blade Runner, huh?
>>19689359Would the Russians lie about a target of opportunity and say he's not a human?...Wait, bad question.
>>19689215Either he really human, or he doesn't have a lot of ordinance.This isn't going to be a brawl. This guy is going to be smart as hell.
>>19689215You look over the dossier. A long, long list of names, conjecture about loadout (dude apparently likes his knives), and some sparse reports of possible sightings"So what's the area like?""Depends on where you are. Big industry boom that went flat again, so there's a big industrial sprawl rusting down."You think of your pursuit of Jagwire and quickly banish a vaguely nauseous feeling. "Right, I've done that song and dance.""Keep in mind there's still civilian life there--plenty of population. And odds are good he's hiding in the abandoned area. Might have to watch out for squatters or people dodging the law. Human and reploid.""This sounds like it could be a collateral nightmare," you say worriedly."It could be, so you're going in alone." Joy. "If it helps, this guy's apparently built to blend. He can't be packing a lot of heavy ordnance. Also, you want my advice, take a stun weapon.""What, do we want this guy alive?""They sure as hell don't, but I was built in Chicago. There's some run down outskirts around the city proper. If this place is anything like that, you can expect some thugs who wouldn't think twice about stabbing a maverick hunter.""Great, always wanted to get shivved by a drug addict." "It's shanked. And you'll be fine, you're built tough. I'm more worried about a publicity boondoggle. Nothing can kill a hunter as surely as pulling the trigger at the wrong time. Any questions?">
>>19689415We're an electric power plant, right? Is there any way we can throttle our output to turn a lethal shock into a buzzing jolt? A taser punch, if you will.
>>19689415Won't he see us coming a mile away? We were just on the news.Or dose he already know the hunters are coming for him?
This guy could be Koschei.
>>19689415Does this guy have a known modus operandi? What are his combat traits aside from blending really well?Are there any noticeable traits that set can distinguish him from a human by looking at him? Since I'm doing this can I get a trenchcoat and fedora?Will have have access to explosives? Because I'm guessing he'll try to blow up the building I'm in if he gets a chance.Can he change his appearance?
>>19689471We're the Hunter that almost directly proved virus theory. I doubt a few bums in the abandoned industrial sector will recognize us.
>>19689415What's up with that Nuke, anyway?
>>19689492It's him I'm worried about. I don't want this guy to see us and slip away.
>>19689500Go see thread 14 or so for wandering fa/tg/uy's story about his group's Mega Man X campaign. Hunter Command is officially tying that storyline in with the quest.The short version, though, is that a band of Hunters accidentally found a cache of "missing" Cold War-era nukes by blowing up a couple mavericks near them.You can guess how well that went.
>>19689539The storytime as a whole starts a fair bit earlier than that, but we're roughly at the point where the storytime in thread 14 takes place.Lemme fix my synopsis, then: a team of Hunters found a Maverick mechaniloid plant in the Mongolian desert. They sabotage it and destroy the facility in an explosion.Said explosion was around 78 megatons, though, and nuclear in nature. The Cold War nukes occurred a while before that.
>>19689415"So does this guy have any pattern?""Doesn't look like it. He works quick and clean, though. He's long gone before anyone knows to look.""What about combat?""Only autopsies to go off. Apparently has a taste for military weapons, low profile stuff. A good few kills by neck snap, stab wounds on a lot of bodies."You frown. "Any obvious tells?""None. The fact that we have his picture at all is a blessing. Thus far he's gotten by with anonymity." You pause. "Can I get a trenchcoat and fedora for this? Noir it up a notch?"Frog grunts, amused. "Sure, if you can get some tailored for a reploid.""Damn. How about explosives? Odds are if he knows demolition he could bring one down on me." "You can't fight explosions with explosions, no." "...Well I want to," you mock pout. "Okay, seriously. Is he like a shapeshifter?""No, just very good at subterfuge. No one, until now, has known what to look for.""...Okay, really. A nuke?""Don't repeat this, but... Command's got this pet project where they send a team in to do the work of a 0 Unit operative.""Well, they got the collateral part down. How's it working out for them?""For them? Probably great, though if they're hitting 0-level threats they're probably in the grinder. For you, though? You get to clean up their political mess." He folds his arms. "I'm going to stay here to coordinate while you're dealing with this. I don't like having my guys tossed around. All set?">Grab stun weaponry?>Anything else?
>>19689729See >>19689461.If we can't do that, then>Grab stun weaponry
>>19689729I realized I misspelled that, I meant will he have explosives. I did not intend to try to fight one explosion with our own.
Stun weaponry, definitely. And maybe some handcuffs or something just in case.
Stun weaponry is a must, though we should still be careful. Heart problems, and all that.
>>19689768Yeah, the capacitor is a fairly lethal jolt even at low levels. Throttling the output is extremely difficult on top of that, so while it could feasibly subdue, you'd have a hard time of it.
Definitely grab some stun weaponry. Actually, when it comes down to it, mace is the best less-lethal response for humans if we end up having to do some footwork around squishies. That shit stays on you.
>>19689987What about reploids? What's their non-lethal takedown?
>>19690002Fuck if I know. Knocking their heads through concrete walls?
>>19689729"Okay, I'll get some stun weaponry. And maybe some cuffs, if we've got them?""We do. Take a few sets of reploid binders, they're one size fits... most, and they're rated for higher force. I'll get some guys on standby in case we have to deal with civilian arrests."You quickly select a stun prod, balanced and designed like a billy club. On top of that you take a pistol of similar fashion. Both are designed to quickly determine what sort of target they're striking, and then discharge a different shock depending on whether it's human or not. You'll probably be stronger than any addict or thug who might decide it's a good idea to attack you, but better to be careful."Ready?" Frog asks."I feel like a cop on the beat," you say, testing the weight of the pistol in your hand."Heh. Just remember that those stunners are effective against civ-grade targets, not so much the bigger guys. Even aside from the electricity thing, it probably wouldn't bug you much. Other than that, watch your strength. You don't want to nonlethally cave someone's skull in."And with that, you're off. Beamin is a public transit station. You draw more than a few looks from the men and women there as you walk. You can't really blame them--you're more loaded for bear than ever, with your regular arsenal and the new stun weapons.>Any particular course of action?
>>19690196Whoops forgot a picture.Also, I'm going off on a store run, bit less than a half hour.
>>19690196Assuming the local authorities know we're coming on Hunter business, we should check in with them and get coordinated first. We've got the Hunter insignia and the American flag on our chassis. Hopefully, people aren't too freaked out.
>>19690255I'd say try to do it discretely, but from the way it's described we aren't exactly good at that.What I'm really worried about is this guy just bugging out once he knows we're coming. I can't really think of a good reason he'd have to confront us when he could just flee.Hell, he could get on the first bus out of town.
>>19690418We're a reploid (that makes us big and tall as it is) with at least four different weapons strapped to us and the mandatory Hunter insignia on our shoulder. Plus, our name (and maybe our face) have been on the global news. Subtle is mildly out of the question. Hopefully, this Chernyee Grach sticks around to get his licks.
>>19690196No sense trying to be a one-man police force. You have the police force for that. The station, naturally, is close to the, er, station. A bored looking desk receptionist looks up at you and hits the pager as you approach. "Boss, that hunter's here." You don't have to wait long before a man--human, looks to be in his forties, with the barest hint of a tum on him--steps into the room. "Ed Winslow," he says, taking your hand and giving it a firm shake, "I hear you're out here looking for some bad guys.""Just the one. I'm Anode." "Got your boss relaying info to me, I guess we're after a Russian?" "Seems like. Did you get the report?""Yeah, as much as you guys could give me. You're as stingy with internal memos as we are. Anyway, I been pulling files. No Russian suspects or anything, but there is one thing..."He takes out a small PDA and transfers a file to you."The guys picked this up a few months ago. We thought it was a prank call or a story or somethin'. Dunno if it's any help."http://www.mediafire.com/?atmrbc2wi608thc"Our unit consisted of ten reploids, two for each major chess piece, one male, one female, black and white. King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, Rook. Kingfisher, Whydah, Cardinal, Falcon, and, well, Rook. It was a brilliant trick, really--naming us like animal-type models. Between that and our specializations in wetwork and infiltration, we were never found out. We had several successful operations under our belt when our division's funding was cut, and the Chessboard was to be disbanded and decommissioned."
Hunter Command, I may have found your pastebin on accident...
>>19690825Oh no! Most of them should be expired, I use those to bounce things off my partners in crime. You might spoil yourself on some stuff coming up if you look, but other than that, there should be no real harm done.On another note, hey, first thread's up to gold now.
>>19690777You listen to the tape, frowning. "Huh.""Yeah. What do you make of it?""Not a thing, but it might be related. Where do you think I should look?""Your boss thinks he might be holed up in the outskirts. It's not a bad hunch. Head out over the bridge--not the big one--and you'll get there. You need a ride?">Nah.>Sure.>Anything else?
>>19690966>Sure.Safest to get an escort.>Anything else?Any squad cars been on patrol out there? How active are the boondocks?
>>19690966Sure, don't take me all the way there, just across the bridge. If I need you to pick anyone up I'll give you a call, it's entirely possible I'll have to gently knock out some local thugs if they are dumb enough to start something with me.How much police presence is there in the outskirts and how much violence and gang activity?
>>19690966Sure. He probably knows the area better than us.Also, I have a feeling that this guy and his crew were screwed over Metal Gear style.
>>19690966"Yeah, I'll take a ride up to the bridge. Mind if I ask some questions along the way?""No problem," he says, fishing some keys out of his pocket. "I'll drive.""Just as well, I don't think they let two-year-olds behind the wheel," you joke, earning a laugh as you follow him out.You're still not used to cars. They're so...small, cramped. You have to maneuver your gear around to avoid sitting on it and you almost put something sharp through the squad car's upholstery. The rhythm of the windshield wipers and the patter of rain on your thin steel canopy accompany the occasional squawk from the car radio."Okay, so," you say, trying to ignore how uncomfortable you feel, "how often do you get out there? How active is the place?""We send a car through a couple times a night, there's still a few neighborhoods where people have stuck around. Good amount of activity, we usually pull in an arrest or two every night.""So my boss kept talking about the possibility of me getting jumped by a skinhead or something.""Pffthah, no offense, buddy, but have you seen you? You're a walking armory. Anyone with a lick of sense is gonna turn around and walk away."
>>19691266"Supposing they don't, though, I just wanted to let you know. Should I get in touch if I have to subdue someone?""Yeah, I'll give you a line. Happen to have a nice low-key one you can keep to yourself, too, won't clutter up our police comms. Ham radio stuff my dad taught me as a kid, the set still comes in handy now and then.""Thanks, I appreciate the help. I'll try not to make your life any harder. So how much gang activity is out here?""Some," the police captain admits, "well-armed, too. But we don't get as much violence as we did a few years back. Used to be a lot worse, pulling bodies out of the water every couple weeks. Murder rate's gone down the last few years. Carried an election last year, heh."He pulls to a stop at the end of the bridge. The buildings are clearly older and less well-kept, but there are no broken windows or debris--you're not in the sticks yet. "All right, here you go. Let me know if there's anything else I can do for ya." And with that, you happily exit the cramped car, and he's off, leaving you alone in the rainy night.>Keep to the streets.>Go by the alleys.>Look for citizens?
>Go by the alleys.Trolling through the alley way.
>>19691279>Look for citizensIf anyone knows the local area, it's the locals. Ask around about Russians.
>citizens"Have you seen this boy?"
>>19691279I don't think that the citizens will have much, they won't pay much attention to any new arrivals and there isn't enough memorable stuff about the guy to make anyone take notice of him.>Go by the alleys.
>>19691319Still, it'll be hard not to notice a fully decked-out Hunter sauntering through the boondocks looking for someone. Maybe they'll alert others or the gangs. There's due to be a hilarious misunderstanding if the gangs think there's a huge crackdown if a Hunter is on site.
We should find the local gang leader, they usually know about everything that goes on in their neighborhood. Then, we make up some story about how, if we fail to find this guy, the Russians are sending in a kill team that definitely won't go about it as nicely as us.
We're locked at 2 and 2. Tiebreaker?
Let's go ask some pimps n hoes.
>>19691464Alleys and citizens. Alleys are where unscrupulous sorts hang out, or so I am told.
Okay, we'll look for people in the alleys, if that's okay by you all.
>>19691279Well, you decide, might as well look in the seedier places, see if you can shake out some info. You start for the alleys and begin wending your way deeper into the maze, towards the worse part of town. And then something bounces off your head and clatters to the stones at your feet. You look up, and receive nothing but some rain on the optics for your trouble. Not that it bothers you, but that fedora would be pretty cool right about now. After carefully looking around again, you examine the object at your feet. It's a small audio device. You collect it and climb the wall hastily, but whoever was up there was long gone. Still, someone knows you're here. You're being shadowed.The device in your hand beeps once, and then plays without prompting.http://www.mediafire.com/?n4eo4qdmb420f28"We had a full workload, dealing with mavericks in-house on top of our usual duties. However, it became apparent that we ourselves were now viewed with suspicion. It made sense--If someone like Sigma could fall, then it was entirely likely that the reploids involved in such distasteful business could go rogue, and that perhaps they already were. We were given increasingly dangerous jobs. Cardinal squad went MIA first, likely killed in a small explosion outside of Murmansk."Hmm.You don't have time to think about it further, because you hear two more voices rounding the bend."...no, man, I'm telling you, I heard someone over here."Two men, human, by the looks of it. One has a rather substantial looking handgun tucked into the back of his pants. The other is holding what looks like a buster rifle.>Batman>Robbin'>Maybe not do anything flashy around armed unknowns
>>19691725Shoot a spark of electricity into the air, then appear directly in front of them in the flash. Introduce yourself as the god of thunder. Then shake them down.
>>19691725Don't be flashy, we're already about as scary looking as can be. Try to look nonthreatening and ask them a few questions.
>>19691754That's risky, it /is/ raining.
>Maybe not do anything flashy around armed unknowns
>>19691725Appear nonthreatening, but don't go out of our way to hide our firepower. We don't want our caution encouraging them to do something they might regret. Introduce ourselves as a Hunter, then ask them about our case and why they're out here armed.
>>19691901seconding this.
>>19691725Better play it safe. "Hey." You call. Their heads snap up, one shouldering his rifle for you. You notice his finger on the trigger."Relax," you say. "Maverick hunters. Hold on a sec, I'm coming down."You do so, hopping down from the top of the alley. The rifle follows you, though you make sure to land a good ways away from the two. They look nervous."I'm not here for you," you start."Well no shit. We're human," offers one."Yeah, but you're pointing a gun at me. Care to do something about that?" The rifleman snorts. His friend looks between him and you nervously. "Why the hell should I? You can't touch me.""You sure about that? I'm built like a brick shithouse and the stun-stick's not for show.""Put the gun down, dude, come on," his friend pleads, pushing the barrel down with his hand."If I wanted to, I could have just dropped on you both," you say. "Call it a sign of good faith that I got your attention. Relax. All I want is some info."Grudgingly, he lowers the weapon. "Like what?""Looking for someone. Russian, looks human. You know him?"The men share a glance. "No," they say at once.Hm.>?
>>19692072They glanced at each other? And both said it at the same time? Seems a little suspicious. Press them, just a bit.
>>19692072There's no reason that he would have a Russian accent, given that he's an infiltrator it could change. But given that they both said No and glanced to confirm beforehand it seems suspicious. Also them being completely sure that there isn't a Russian guy here also makes me suspicious.Press them a bit further, describe him, and when they inevitably say that they're sure that they didn't we'll go batman on them and tail them back to our mark.
>>19692072These guys must lose a lot of games of poker.
>>19692097>>19692119Show them a picture, too.
>shadowed>follow them back to the mark>demolition terroristThis is going to suck so much.
Maybe tell them he's a homicidial maniac who had been _built_ to backstab people?
>>19692216I think there is no harm in turning them. Since they at least know he's Russian between the tapes and the picture they might betray the guy.
I say we hold off on saying too much about him until we know what the deal is with these guys. They clearly know more than they're saying, but who knows how devoted they really are, and besides that we don't want him to know what we know about him and what we don't.
>>19692072"Bullshit," you say. The rifle comes back up."You want to start something, fucker? You come to my town, you threaten me--""Do you know where I was earlier today? Geneva. I got shot in the face taking a hit for a hostage. You know what I call that? A brisk goddamn lunch. If you think your little toy is going to do more than give me Just fucking Cause to test my batting arm, then you're delusional."Look," you continue. "The guy I'm after has killed more people than you've probably met. He blends in, has a body count in the hundreds, and that's before they lost track of him. And he's here, now.""...Use of force," the nervous one says."What?""Not just cause, that's a legal term. Just gets used that way.""...Right, thank you.""Look, I dunno if it's your guy," the rifleman finally relents, "But there's an arms runner, says he's from outside the US. Don't recognize his accent.""Young-ish, beard?" you ask. He nods. "Sold you your hardware, there?" The thug stiffens."Yeah," admits his friend. "Yeah, that's him.">?
>>19692427Do we want to flush him out and pose as a buyer for his wares, or do we just kick down his door? Decisions, decisions.
so part of this is just wild speculation. But we "know" our mark is leaving us those critic chess reference messages. Also the way they are constructed and what the Russians are doing makes me suspect the Russians are using us in a bad way. Which is obviously what the target wants. Also i think the chief may be one of the targets people possibly part of his team. Also he may be the gun runner we interviewed before. If so i think we were set up.
>>19692462door kicking. we want answers, and luring them out never ends well. unless snipers slotting our informant-to-be counts as well.
>>19692493Then get these two hoods to take us to him.
>>19692507I like the way you think! BLITZ TIME!
>>19692485http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/19207778/look for UNKNOWN // VOICE ONLYto get a read on our guywe should not go in guns blazing and we should ask for his busnis card. If it is him we he might get the reference even if he never printed them which i doubt he did except maybe as a joke. and if not heel just give us a funny look and wheel say never mined it is an inside joke. Also we should pose as a buyer.
>>19692645...Say that again?
>>19692427"Okay, then," you decide. "Take me to your leader."The two of them stare at you blankly. You're vaguely reminded of Tugg and his met."Please? I need to find this guy.""Look, hunter, president, queen of France, I don't care who you are, if we take you to see him and word gets out, we're fucked. But...""Warehouse, east end. He operates there a few nights a week, makes sales. And you didn't hear that from us.""I didn't even get your names," you offer. "Thanks.""Watch out, things only get shittier out that way. More drugs.""Right. Thanks again. ...And for God's sake, don't shoot anyone with those damn things."With that, you make your way through the city once again. leaving the two jumpy gangers behind.Music: http://youtu.be/jpfetyxVEp8The run down buildings are a sign of times gone by as you make your way out toward the warehouse. The damage progressively grows, going from closed facades to waterlogged wood boards, with occasional broken glass and chunks of old concrete upended from the sidewalks. In a strange way, as the rain falls upon you, you feel an odd sense of calm. There's only one thing in this city that might be scarier than you, and you're after it. There's this surreal feeling of strength as the water runs down your armor in sheets. Maybe it's that, or the upgrades, or being on home soil, or being new and whole in an old and broken place.You feel invincible.And before long, you've arrived at the warehouse.You hear rattling and low whispers coming from around the side.>Investigate? Wat do?
>>19692645Oh you. That is a hilarius idea, but lets save witicims for after weve bagged him, or during the firefight. In fact, if we have a shoot out with him, definatly ask.
>>19692707Scout the building. Note exits.
>>19692707Schwartz it up. Lets see wats going on while being a sneay fucker
Make lightning for lighting. Rattling suggests weapons. Arms dealer suggests weapons. Out of one of our hands.
>>19692681sorry I was trying to elaborate on this post i made>>19692485I think our target might be the guy we interviewed in a past thread "UNKNOWN // VOICE ONLY" and in any event I think the Rusions are fucking with us.The business card comment is based on something he said in the interview. Basacly i want to test mu crazy idea without coming right out and saying we think he is that dude we talked to and this seemed like a safe way provided we don't go in guns blazing or get backstabbed on general principal.
>>19692789That interview was to the audience, not to Anode. Anode has no idea who UNKNOWN is. Your plan would be sound if it weren't hilariously meta.
>>19692788uh, disregard that. I thought we kicked in the door.
>>19692707Before you head inside, better to clear behind you, especially knowing you've been followed at least once tonight.You're not exactly stealthy--especially not when hunters are meant to be plainly visible and easily seen--but with the dark, and the rain masking your footsteps, you feel you have a decent shot as you head toward the disturbance, trying to remember what Schwarzhund taught you.You slowly edge around the building to see a trio--one human, two reploids--trying to break a lock on a side door. "Come on, man, let me do it," says one of the reploids."I said I've got it," replies the other, brow furrowed as he works a pair of cutters to little apparent success. "You're sure this is the place?""Yeah, this is where he keeps 'em. You got the truck?""Just around the side," replies the human. Well. Aside from the hilarity of thieves stealing from an arms dealer, they could be a complicating factor in this. They might attack anyone they see, or give Grach an escape, or get taken hostage... How do you want to play this?
>>19692888Anybody home in the warehouse? Any lights on? If things play out like they should, the robbers will likely get theirs if they confront Chernyee Grach.
>>19692888Use it as a distraction. They are bumbling comical relief and are going to get caught. We use the commotion to mask most noises we make as we infiltrate. Door kicking is so much funner if the first door kicked in is the one with the objective in it. Also, when we see what looks like our target, is there a way to tell what the stun shot charge ranks him as? It could tell wether this is legit or if we've been setup to wetwork.
>>19692928But then what if the thieves kick into the room with us and Chernyee? Then it's no fun.
>>19692942Are you kidding? Thats double hilarious! Although i do see where your coming from. Interuptions like taht tend to leave pointy objects embedded in us. Still, the chances of his security not taking them are pretty low
We can't use them for our own ends... But, we can't exactly wave them off, either.Play it where it lies. If he's pretending to be human, maybe he won't immediately come out swinging at them. Just enough to scare them off?
>>19692888You think it over. All right, best leave these guys...but stay close, should they end up in trouble. Besides, that guy's finally getting somewhere with the lock."Just...about...there, got it." The other reploid steps past him briskly. "Okay, let's gACKPTHGDF"Whatever they were planning, it probably wasn't what happened. From your vantage point, you don't see what he set off, but the result is immediate--a plume of glittery foil puffs out of the open door with a WHUMPF, followed by a series of loud, hollow thumps that sound like grenades going off. Topping it all off is a chorus of loud bangs and bright flashes, and the poor bastard stumbles reeling out of the warehouse again, tripping over the locksmith, bowled over by the concussive force, sending the man sprawling into the human, who is clutching at his eyes.Shit is hilarious.All three stumble to their feet and run, blind, into the night, scared well and truly off. And, conveniently enough, they cleared your way. And now you know to look out for booby traps, as you slip into the side entrance they worked so hard to be driven from.
>>19693150There are no more traps. Only a table with a single lamp suspended overhead, center amidst rows and rows of crates. An ashtray and a few bottles rest on top of it.And resting between the bottles of vodka and bourbon, another audio device.http://www.mediafire.com/?cccim5qpgo2cj1l"It continued like that, White Whydah and Black Falcon were confirmed KIA during a combined operations maneuver against a maverick stronghold in the Ural Mountains. Black Whydah went AWOL shortly afterwards, and White Falcon self terminated. Kingfisher squad was called up for a black ops mission at the same time we got a call about a mission abroad. I never heard from them again."You turn the device over, and realize there's a receipt stuck to it. It's for a pawn shop, with the address printed at the top. It's back the way you came, in a (slightly) better part of town.>...
>>19693161Obviously, he knows we're here. If he wants to string us along, let him. Head for the pawn shop. I assume we've been hanging onto all these recordings.
>>19693161Looks like a meet/trap. Lets get to it. Kicking down doors doesnt really seem feasable, the russian is leaving them open for us. If were really unlucky, he'll have a file on us. Hopefully our most recent upgrades wont be on it.
>>19693177Man, I hope so. We'd look pretty stupid otherwise.
>>19693199Considering we got these upgrades no more than a couple hours ago, I'm pretty sure they aren't on any records of his.
>>19693161You're not sure you like being led along like this. He clearly expects someone. Between your shadow and these logs, you're sure he knows you're here.And as you turn to leave, it doesn't escape your notice that a cigarette in the ashtray is still burning, a slender finger of smoke rising up to meet the lamp overhead.Gogol Pawn Shop is an older building, the facade clearly designed for a different kind of shop and quickly repurposed, with heavy shutters to discourage "window-shopping." The lights are on. The sign says "Open."If he knows you're coming, there's probably no sense in kicking down the door.Probably. >?
>>19693268Let's at least try and be cordial about it. Walk right in.
Walk on in.
>>19693268Slip in the store as discreetly as we can. Open the objectives door in a way that leaves no doubts that we are not happy about this, but cannot be cosidered hostile. No kicking but a very definate slaming should do.
>>19693289like a Boss.
>>19693289Like we own the place
>>19693268Well. In you go.An old-time bell rings as you cross the threshold, prompting an old man to look up. "Ah, welcome, welcome, you... are well armed. This isn't a shakedown, is it?""'fraid not," you say. "Maverick Hunters. Do you know this man?" He looks at the picture. "Yes, that's Viktor. He's out right now.""Out?" you ask."He rents my upstairs."...Well then. "Did he say when he'd be back?""He said he might not be."Damn. That's... not good. "May I have a look upstairs?""Sure. Just one moment." He reaches under his counter and pulls out a shotgun. "No offense, but this is my establishment, and I'm still not sure this isn't a robbery."He checks the weapon, not pointing it at you (small favors), and then leads you upstairs. "In here. Viktor's not in trouble, is he?""Something like that. Can you tell me anything else about him?""Viktor Dolvich, he said his name was. He's rented here for two years now. Polite enough. Always on time with rent, even helps out around here sometimes." He opens the door. "I'll leave you to it. Try not to mess it up too much, in case he does come back. He does right by me, I'd like to return the favor."
>>19693430The room is sparse, save for a computer (password protected), a very full bookshelf (army field manuals and a lot of this Terry Pratchett), and a small shelf stocked with some good booze.And on the table, another recording. http://www.mediafire.com/?xc5erljaehetyvv"I found work as a freelance mercenary for a while, earning enough money to move from area to area, away from those who would surely be pursuing me. I was hired to a rebel force near Angola, me and a team of five mercenaries. We'd worked together for a while. Closest thing I had to comrades since my old unit. I was the corpsman, of all people. Then the government decided that there was not enough glass in Africa, and we were just outside ground zero of the nuclear explosion. I was the only reploid in the unit, and my survival alerted the NCU to my position. This prompted a wet team to come looking for me. I was already halfway to South America by that time."You turn it over as it plays, and see a simple missive--"Roof."
>>19693441Sounds more and more like the Russians left him out to dry, and now they're trying to clean up what's left. At least we know he's a reploid, if his story is to be believed. Head for the roof, but keep a mental note about that computer. We'll grab it later.
>>19693441>Alot of terry pratchetim starting to rather like this Cheryee guy. Roof it is. Lets be ready to dash. No jumping for this guy.
I'm of the opinion we should try to take him in alive, if at all possible, if only to clear up a number of matters.That doesn't mean we need to get all buddy buddy with him, granted.
>>19693483The Hunters are trying to get in the good graces of the Russians after the nuclear debacle. The Russians want him DEAD. I'm not sure if the Hunters can get away with taking into custody someone marked for death by the Russians.
>>19693492>get back in the good gracesAssuming we ever were in their good graces to begin with.
>>19693492If the Russians want him dead, then they can kill him after we take him in, in a court of law or something.
>>19693441What is there to do but go up? You make your way up onto the roof, back into the rain. The storm's picked up, and in the distance you see dim flashes of lightning, approaching fast. Dead-center on the roof is another log. You collect it on the move, just in case you're under a gun right now, and take shelter behind an air conditioning unit as it plays.http://www.mediafire.com/?1a3rylx40i67bdb"From there I country-hopped into Brazil, did freelance mercenary work again, some arms dealing. No more drug running. Ran into a man named Abram there, he told me his story. Turns out it was all lies. Just as well though, I told him a bunch of lies too. We got contracted together to find out why some of the tribes deep in the amazon were becoming more militant. Turns out it was an old friend."And then--there, you see a figure on the opposite roof, dressed in a trenchcoat and fedora (GODDAMNIT). He turns as soon as you see him, and leaps to the next roof. You're hot on his heels as the storm breaks fully overhead.
>>19693516With our improved EAS, we can't air dash, but we can make for a very meaty dash jump. Chase him down.
>>19693516Lets try them new legs, try to jump a bit on the high side though. With any luck we'll be struck by lightning and that'll help if things go south
>>19693516I cant believe im saying this, but...GOTTA GO FAST!Seriously, dash time. Be the lighting!
>>19693516Engage Warp drive on my mark. MARK!
>>19693516You hear another tape as the rain begins to pound, already playing at the edge of your hearing.http://www.mediafire.com/?fe1mx7armz8coy7"Do not get me wrong, I have done horrible things. Things I do not regret..." You pass the recorder by, still playing as you close in on your quarry--"I am not seeking absolution or penance for any of my actions. I may have found them distasteful, even repugnant at times, but my conscience is clear..." You check your weapons, ready for him to take a shot as his retreating back slowly comes closer--
>>19693602"I had no intention of leaking what I did in the NCU. The fact these recordings exist is just proof of their incessant hounding of me..." Abruptly the man changes course, jumping down into an alley as the wind howls--"I cannot see this ending peacefully, but then again, I haven't seen a lot of things coming..." And abruptly, a bolt of lightning cracks the sky, and you see someone else, illuminated in the flash."I just make do the best I can."
>>19693612Rain runs off his hood, face shadowed beneath. His rifle is shouldered and scoped down on you. The first man is instantly gone from your mind in the light of the threat. Seconds stretch into hours. Immediately you've stopped, ready to change course and spoil his shot....And the man pulls his rifle away, drawing back the hood to reveal the maverick you've been led along by all night."Sorry," Chernyee Grach says, "I was expecting someone else."
>>19693602>>19693612>>19693636Ladies and gentlemen, an exercise in trying to figure out what the fuck word was tripping the spam filter.Turns out it was "infinity." At least it didn't autoban me this time.
>>19693636So, wait, he didn't leave those tapes special for us?I'm feelin' kind of put out! Well, give him a chance to surrender, I suppose?
>>19693636Whaaa? Who was that running then? Who does one go to to get a beard that epic on a reploid?!
>>19693636"Evening, Mr. Grach."
>>19693636"You're a hard man to find, Grach," you say, eying him warily. That other man could still double around."Who, me?" he asks, accent thick. "What could a maverick hunter possibly want with me?"You just give him the eye. His expression falls."Wait, really? Are you serious?""You have a body count in the hundreds, you've caused millions in damages from destroyed buildings alone, you've been indicted for terrorist activity and connections to criminal elements abroad...""All of that was done on government dime.""...Wait. What?""I think I see what's going on here.""What about those tapes? Those weren't for my benefit?""Tapes? What are y--" He had been grinning warily, but instantly his face falls again. "SON OF BITCH! Goddamnit, Abram!"Abram, huh? That explains that. "Okay, Grach, I don't have the details here, but I'm here for you. This is your last chance t--""I surrender."...Buh?Guh?Wuh?He grins again. "Think of it from my perspective. Even if I kill you, I am now a hunter killer, they chase me all the harder. I run away, you track me, not so likely to give me chance a second time. There's only one problem."You're immediately on guard. "And that is?""I meant what I said, about expecting someone else. I saw your emblem and held fire, but I was up here waiting for a Russian wet team. And I think they've found us.""You gotta be shittin' me," you mutter."I don't think they will have problems going through you for me. Of course, you could try talk to them. See how reasonable they feel.">Well...?
>>19693782Lets call our buddy cop. See how far we can smuggle the russian before it gets out of hand.
>>19693782Well fuck, can we get frog on the line?
Well.We sure as shit don't like being set up, or used for fools. That said, how do we know this isn't some kind of elaborate ruse?Call down the heat, notify command, notify the police. If the Russians are going to make this messy, make sure they know how messy they're going to make it.This man has surrendered, and is in Hunter custody. Whether what he says is true or not is irrelevant. We'll figure that out later.
>>19693782Try to get in contact with HQ, inform them of the situation. Meanwhile cover grach with your body. If they try anything, the hunters won't like it, especially now that the man surrendered.
>>19693823Do this. Also, GODDAMIT RUSSIA!
Cuff him when we get the chance.
And now that shit is hitting the fan, I'm going to pause here. Thread should have some life in it, so I probably won't be gone too long. We'll wait a while, hope some new blood comes on to see what's happened, then take it through autosage.
>>19693911GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH okay, fine.
and you know what pauses mean! storytime!
We were sitting in the breifing room, with a pair of our superiors in front of us. Gopher, and some asshole from geneva Headquarters, from Rhodes' staff. Gopher did all the talking. "I'm really not sure where to start." he began. "which one of you wants to tell me why it was a good idea to set off a multimegaton nuclear blast within a few hundred kilometers of China's borders? what part of 'do not fuck with them' did you not understand? I'd like to bust every one of your asses, and ship you off to some remote fucking antarctic station, but I can't." he stopped, to sigh. "I've got other problems. This shit landed on my terminal the second you came back" He pointed to the projector.
"this" he said "Is the Tzar brewing company's third brewery. It was nearly demolished in the first maverick war, and the company *just* rebuilt it. They're a major player in internaional beer, and, incidentally, the major supplier of this base's bars. The opening ceremoines were today, to be attended by the President of Russia's daughters. Like I said, this is a big deal.""their on-site security was being handled by a few squads of reploids from their national police forces. We *think* they were hacked by mavs, because they turned on the crowd, gunned down a good number of them, and snatched the president's daughters, as well as most of the higher ranking corporate officials and several of the spectators and headed inside the building. We got a positive ID on a known mav- Great white Guns- and another ID on a transport setting down, and dropping off heavy mechanoloid reenforcements."
"White hasn't made any demands, but the russians know they're way out of their league. White was designed to tangle with ride armors and other heavily armored foes and come out on top, but we think he's fallen behind state-of-the art since then. Original Weapon specs pit him with two large-bore buster cannons and four smaller plasma systems, though that could be out of date. He was inactive during the first and second rebellion, and has made random attacks like this since then, though this is the first time he's seized captaives. He's no hacker, either, so he's probably got backup.""you won't have time for anything except some basic repairs, so get your shit fixed and get ready to go. Twilight and Nightfall" he paused, to chuckle "will be driving you psychos out there, it's too far to port, and we don't want to tip them off. also, in case it's not abundantly clear, we want the hostages out alive. and the Brewery as intact as possible. this means no massive explosions, understood? good. now git"
We had a team of lifesavers on duty, who kind of crash-repaired us, patching holes in armor and restocking S.weapons batteries. We loaded up on the our assault transport- A helicopter, this time- and took off. we received additional data enroute- our operators had pulled the layout of the brewery, as well as camera feeds set up by the Spetsgruppa A teams that were onsite. They'd been the ones to make the call up to hunter command- the mav was really more than they wanted to tangle with, especially with the president's daughters onsite.
We planned on the way in, with a 2 hour flight time, we'd gotten it down to rather intricate detail by then. Since we weren't rigged for sneaky for beans- well, except cobra, and, to a lesser extent, tiger, we decided to hit the place hard and fast. Corba decided to stay outside and try and shut down their communications, meanwhile, Tiger and I, who at the same time were the best armored and most likley to cause intense amounts of colleteral damage, would remain on the 'chopper, and provide air support with our guns. First priority, though, was securing the hostages, and that was what Badger and Wolf were being sent in to do- we coordinated with a pair of Spetsnaz sniper teams, who were equipped with heavy buster rifles- they'd knock out two of the hostiles in the room with the hostages while wolf and badger breached from another door and took out the other two. They'd then escort the hostages up to the roof, where tiger and I would take over gaurding them until Russian Military choppers could evac them.
Big B, meanwhile, was to bust inside the building via the front doors, cause a massive ruckus, and basically call out Great white. We hoped this would provide the needed distraction between us engaging the hostage guards and them getting reenfirced before TIger and I took responsibility of them- again, we figured in a defensive firefight, it'd be hard to top a reploid Tiger II and a Bear with four vulcans. If Great white did turn out to have support, We were going have Cobra try and lock him down in cyberspace, or, at least, prevent him from screwing with us. The issue was Great White was a major unknown- intel had him listed as just this side of hopelessley obscolescent, but we were still worried about the phrase "big-bore Busters" and on that note, if intel was wrong, and he'd upgraded, there was no telling, beyond a few general possibles, what kind of threat he was. Calling all available data on him showed only that he'd just barely missed being caught with launch octopus when X had come calling, but other than that, he'd only made some sporadic, random attacks here and there. For the most part, he'd operated alone, however. Basically? he was a big questionmark... which didn't bother us one bit, since our usual threat assessment was "IS THAT THE BAD GUY FROM THE STAR WARS?"
We dropped Cobra out of sight, behind a pair of Russian Military IFVs, where he went to work without even waiting to find a more secure area. We also dropped Big B, who began walking towards the brewery, rather nonchalantly. Normally, in a hostage situation, we'd have foregone this step, but we were thinking "hell, the guy's name is Great White guns, for fuck's sake, he'll want a fight" Our pilots circled us around, way wide, and came in behind the building, directly opposite of where B was now walking. We didn't even stop- Badger and Wolf just exited the aircraft, and Tiger and I shifted to the doors. At this point, B is hurling insults at the building, taunting everything inside with the most insane insults he could come up with. The few reploids inside- mostly former Russian State police units- had no idea what the hell he was saying, till a Spetsnaz interpreter started Translating for him in russian. When they started hearing the insults- helpfully translated, in a perfect dedpan delivery- they started getting mad. Great white spoke english, and understood without the interpreter. We could tell he understood when a pair of massive plasma blasts tore through the front wall of the building and slammed into B, doing... well, very sub-par damage, all told. Turns out he hadn't upgraded those at all. B just started laughing, mocking Great white, his mother, his lab, any siblings he had, his nation of origin, his programming, his weapons, and anything else that came to mind, I'm sure. He was playing the distraction role very, very well.
Wolf and Badger were sneaking through the building, using what stealth skills they had to either avoid detection- or obliterate anything that saw them before it could call in an alarm. THe two of them had been rolling well all night, honestly, which is probably why we managed to pull it off. between the two of them, they killed three Mavs before they made it to the office where the hostages were held.
>>19693957The deadpan translator was a nice touch.
they stacked up on the door, and made their call, breaching the door with a single kick from badger, who then, in one move, dashed across the room and bisected a mav at the waist with his Blade. Wolf was more of a disadvantage, having no hibeam blade of her own- so she opted to just blast the bastard with a railgun slug from her VWES (this had carried over, way back when she swapped from the railgun/gamma ray rifle to the buster/gamma ray rifle. the railgun had remained as the VWES alternate setting). this pushed a through-armor critical (railguns still do that!) that ended up confirming as a weapon critical. in an instant, the hostile's weapon was split in two (thankfully, it wasn't holding a charge, otherwise there'd have been an explosion) The Spetsnaz snipers engaged next, both hitting and killing their targets easily. This is where the plan started to come apart. Guns, apparently hearing something wrong, left his perch in the front of the building, and made best speed in to where the hostages were. this left us with a few options, none of them great. we elected to have tiger and I make a window entry from the helocopter, and have us escort the hostages all the way out, while Wolf and Badger moved to head off guns.
As soon as Badger had called the all clear, Big B had wasted no time busting in the front doors and wrecking the mavs in there up. this was causing enough ruckus that guns, apparently, hesitated, because wolf and badger said he wasn't where he should have been.... which is when a paired plasma blast caught Badger and burnt through most of his armor and knocked out a redundant electronics box. (out of date though he may have been, what is 'very sub-par damage' to big B is "damn near crippling damage" to our lighter teammates) a firestorm of lighter-grade plasma forced them back, both yelling they'd made contact in the Brewing floor proper, in amongst the stills. Big B was, at that point, rather busy, and Tiger and I had our own mission, so the two of them just had to hold on. Badger was Alright- armor aside, it'd still take a good two or three hits to knock him down, and Wolf was untouched. They engaged, Playing cat-and-mouse amongst the first floor of the huge stills.
Tiger and I made it to the roof, noticing that, somewhere along the line, the President's daughters had both picked up Buster rifles, and were holding them very competently. Still, they were unarmored, and VIPs, so, while we let them keep hold of the Rifles- we still had mavs unaccounted for- we still pushed them into hard cover while we took up overwatch. The airspace was clear, Russian SAMS and AA had seen to that- but we still didn't want some random mav to ruin shit. It was a welcome releif when we heard the heavy thudding of rotors and saw two big transports flying in, along with four smaller tactical choppers. The Big ones set down behind the armored paremeter, disgorging human infantry with plenty of heavy weapons- ATGMS mostly- while the smaller choppers took turns landing on the roof and picking up passengers. in a few turns they were all clear. Downstairs, Big B had joined the fight among the stills- wrecking one with a misplaced axe blow, but doing damage to guns all the same. Wolf had taken a big hit, though, and was in pretty rough shape, while badger had lost the last few bits of his armor to the rapid-cycling busters. That said, Tiger and I were both eager to join the fight, but Cobra cried a warning. spinning around, a pair of Black painted, wolf mavs were pulling the triggers on a pair of MANPAD SAMS, both shots intended for seperate targets.
>>19693965we thought so too. Tiger responded first, slamming one out of existance with a pair of 88mm shells that sent his broken wreckage to the ground, several stories below. I looked at the options, said fuck that, and split my fire, throwing a hail of superhot plasma infront of both missiles, swatting both out of the sky. The shots were only really possible because neither missile was manuvering, and both were fairly close togther. Legion's return shot, on me, did little more than scratch my paint, and tiger wiped that clone out of existance as well. Still, Cobra reported both had fired off their data packages, and he'd had no time to scramble them. We knew we'd be seeing him again. Meanwhile, down below, The fight was slowly turning against guns. He'd managed to do alot of damage- knocking out another pair of redundant boxes on badger and dropping big B to yellow armor overall, but he was fairly damaged as well. Cobra called out that warp jamming had ceased... and we lost guns contact- he'd jumped out. We Flew back in fairly good spirts, having limited the colleteral, and having made friends (in Tiger and I's case) with the execs of the biggest brewing company in Russia, and the Russian Presidents Daughters (who were both, now, supposedly considering the Hunters as a legit form of employment). As a team, we also figured we were back in the Russian's good graces, having just rescued several multimillionaires as well as the President's daughters.
Meanwhile, with Storytime done, we're that much closer to the autosage, so I think I'll be a scoundrel and end the thread proper here. That said, I'll do some Q&A and maybe an interview. Anyone you'd like to see done?
>>19694094Part of me wants to say Zero, but we pretty much know all there is to know about him.
Q?! A?!Well then, I'd best put in an appearance!
>>19695982How big a buisness is endomodeling?
>>19696434It's not quite as niche as it once was, but it's still fairly uncommon; mainly a civilian Reploid operation, and rather expensive at that.
LIVE
