File: 1353809062444.jpg-(117 KB, 1355x726, PrincessHeart.jpg)

>>21735676
Energy envelops Cheryl, and when it vanishes, she is left in a very familiar costume. A sort of shocked silence falls over the crowd, broken occasionally by Mouse trying very, very hard to hold chuckles in. Cheryl looks like she's about to explode.

"You! We will have words! Now!" Cheryl shouts, pushing Sylph into the shop as she blinks in confusion.

"...but that wasn't what I- ow!"

The door slams shut behind them.

File: 1353809376002.gif-(21 KB, 256x256, 812.gif)

>>21735840
As the door closes, Sylph looks over the costume admiringly.

"I didn't do this, but I wish I had," she says, smiling. "The workmanship is superb, and you look just ADORABLE in it..."

"Yeah, shut up, I know," Cheryl says, throwing up her arms. "I had a feeling this might happen, s'why I tried to tell you not to use your wand-thing on me. I got a little extra reward on that last world we visited. I appreciate the powers, but the outfit..."

Cheryl shudders. "I don't need that kind of attention."

"Well... what exactly did you want me to do, then? If you wanted the clothes I designed for you, they should be in the back. I'll go get-"

"Hang on," Cheryl says, grabbing the shopkeeper's arm. "Before we go there, I want to know something. Would it be possible to take the advantages of this... outfit, and transplant them into the new one? Minus the creepy magical girl stuff?"

Sylph considers. "I suppose I could. It might take a little while, though..." Sylph smiles again, the sort of smile that might make you feel uncomfortable. "...but why? It's so... you."

>>21735918
"THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT!" Cheryl all but bellows at Sylph. The shopkeep shrinks back a little.

"OK, OK. You're right, of course. Well, if I'm to start, I'll need-"

"Here," Cheryl says, cutting Sylph off as she presses a wand into her hand. "I was already asking the abjurers about this, there's a little bit of the work done already. The magic in the wand is prepared to accept a new... I think they said new format."

"Oh, let me see," Sylph says, taking the wand and looking it over. "Very well done. Yes, it shouldn't take me more than a few hours. Your outfit will be ready then."

"I want to see the outfit first."

"Your lack of trust wounds me."

>>21735965
Far later in the day, Cheryl exits the shop, the crowd long having dispersed. She sighs in relief, then waves to Sylph as the shopkeep waves back, then closes the door to the shop. The mysterious building begins to shake and rumble as it sinks into the floor, vanishing for parts unknown. Cheryl looks around one more time, grins, then darts off into the ship.
>End segment.

Rolled 31, 91, 67, 51 = 240

Early on Day 31, you receive a priority message from the TSAB.

>>21736025
That outfit better be magical and covered in hearts, goddammit!

Rolled 40, 36, 64, 49 = 189

>>21736045
I assure you that nothing ominous is happening behind the scenes.

>>21736058

We assure you that we don't trust your bullshit.

>>21736045

Well, answer it.

>>21736025
Thank Sylph for her time.
"Thank you very much for your work Sylph, everything was obviously extremely high quality. That everyone wasnt as happy as we'd hoped? Is Expected, nothing goes right here at Task Force 38. We'd love to have you over again for a social call if you'd like, tea biskets, wine and music, the like. Have a nice time Sylph, until we meet again."

And now, a message from our sponcers. Oh, wait, just those guys.

>>21736045

Read the message. Or receive the hail.

I fear this is something regarding NuChaos and the Void Engineers. G-man said that we only had a bit of time to research stuff, and that we would not be able to get all of the research items completed.

>>21736110
The comm screen lights up with a very worried looking Leadra Celeste staring back at you.

"Task Force 38, the situation has just jumped dramatically in threat level," Leadra says. A picture of a blue-green planet, Earth, appears beside her. "One of our long range scouts sighted a group of your Black Ops just beyond our borders. They trailed them until they were discovered and forced to flee. Their destination appeared to be this world, the one that both the Void Engineers and New Chaos have been fighting over. We are not the only ones to have detected them. Shortly after their arrival in system, the fighting escalated dramatically. I've recalled all of the ships and troops under my command and redeployed them along a defensive line that contains most of the fighting, but all my best scouts have not returned from trying to find out what is going on. What's more, we barely pushed back the last offensive. Whatever the Black Ops are doing seems to have had the effect of reminding both factions there are other groups at work, here. My analysts says the best we can hope for to contain them is four days. We..."

Leadra visibly forces the words from her mouth. "...need your help."

>>21736283
Now call us Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Engineering team, what can we have done within four days? How long will it take Kiryu to be brought up to maximum operational effiency? How long would it take to determine if there are S2 engines in those EVAs?

Prep for another horrible meatgrinder, cause we have to stop this thing from getting out of hand.

>>21736283

Damage control and salvage teams, what's your timeframe on Kiryu, replacement fighters, and the Storm's repairs?

>>21736306
We're not waiting 4 days. We should probably give it about another 2 days and then take off, just in case they exagerated.

>>21736283
Dammit, we were supposed to ask Sylphie about new fire control AI's and getting another set of her clothes made for the other Heroes we have.

As for this world, does it correspond with the world tha Kane had escaped to?

>>21736336

We can deploy parts of our fleet to help engage. Say a squadron or two of abbadons and a triage fleet. That firepower should help stem the tide for a while.

Also reminder. 32 Space Marines walking about, nekkid.

>>21736374

You... uhh.. don't know how EVE works, do you?

We don't have a triage fleet because we don't have 250 billion spare ISK to buy 100 carriers.

The armorfleet is a doctrine fleet, it's either all deployed or not deployed.

>>21736283
MetaOP, the upgrades to the Storm should have finished before the end of Day 30.
We need the Engineering Team to give us an estimate on repairing the Kiryu and if the S2 Organs of the EVA's can be salvaged.
Also, the replication and installation of transport inhibitors for the ships in our task force, and the installation of the remaining Starfleet shield generator on the AUH.

And we were supposed to be asking Sylphie for more of her clothes for the other Heroes we have, and if she has any tactical AI's that can improve accuracy of our ship weapons.

>>21736283
"Understood, Commander. Do you require us to clean up in front of your lines first, the move on that world? Or do we need to attack that system first?
"Also, our scientists and mages have made another breakthrough in Aglaophotis research. Hopefully it will be of use to you."

>>21736364
After a short exchange of information, the TSAB confirms it is the same world.

>>21736323
The Spirit can have TIE Defender ready for each of your fighter pilots in one day. Kiryu should be ready in two if your engineers focus on it.

>>21736504
"That world has priority. Every faction that knows anything about it seems to have rushed to it, searching for something. Whatever is there, it cannot fall into Chaos, Engineer, or Black Ops hands. I'd feel safer if you didn't get it either, truth be told, but I trust you far, FAR more than the rest," Leadra states. "...and... thank you for the research."

>>21736453
They did.

The AUH has its own shield generators, it doesn't need new ones.

Creation and installation of transport inhibitors will take about an hour per ship.

>>21736645

MetaOP, how long will it take to produce armour and arms for our Space Marines without them?

>>21736536
>The Spirit can have TIE Defender ready for each of your fighter pilots in one day.
Wait a minute, what construction time are you using for this?
Normally, a Hiigaran Shipyard can produce a squadron of 5 Hiigaran Interceptors in 10 seconds. You can time it from various Let's Play videos of Homeworld 2 on Youtube.

And the TIE Defender squadron was already supposed to have had its TIE losses replaced before Day 30.
Unless that anon was talking about putting the other pilots who don't have fighters into TIE Defenders for the time being.

>>21736645
>The AUH has its own shield generators, it doesn't need new ones.
Yes, but it's been pointed out that Star Wars shields were not originally modulated to keep out teleporters. It's why we were able to steal the AUH in the first place.
By installing a Starfleet shield, we provide the AUH with an additional layer of protection and an anti-teleport field.

>>21736645
How long would it take to check the Eva corpses for S2 Engines and then if found extract one?

>>21736783
I'm assuming you meaning making ships for the people that don't have anything to fly. The day is both construction time and cross training time for the TIEs, though it takes considerably longer to make a TIE-D than Hiigaran Interceptors.

>>21736988
Of course you can get around that by just... making Hiigaran Interceptors.

>>21736868
Checking was done already, there's one salvageable engine in the remains of Unit 01. Extracting it is just a matter of hours, installing it into something new will take some time.

>>21736988
>day is both construction time and cross training time for the TIEs
Ah, okay, that makes sense.

As for construction time, does 1 minute per TIE Defender sound acceptable?

>>21737014
Yes.

>>21737001
Before we install the S2 Organ into Kiryu, we need to make sure that it won't go berserk on us.

MetaOP, can we get Tosh to speak with Kiryu and see if it will be willing to work with us?

Rolled 71

>>21737066
Yes. Are you done talking with Leadra, then?

>>21737085
Seems like it.

>>21737085
"Commander Leadra, we are nearly finished with our repairs. Our intelligence concerning Chaos shows that they have teleportation capabilities. We require 1 more day to install anti-teleportation measures that we hope will work. We will then immediately transit to that world and begin our work.
"Call us if the situation changes. Task Force 38, out."

>>21737085
Can we make the production of the 32 TIE Defenders and having the TIE Defender Squadron teach the fighter pilots to use the TIE-D as well as having the engineers install anti-teleport measures on our ships that don't have them occur on Day 30? The Spirit of Triumph of sitting mostly idle that day, as was the fighter pilots. And the Engineering Team would be idle for 2 days in Elysium after installing the upgrades to the Storm.

I gotta say I'm excited to be facing NuChaos at long last. I was the one who suggested to get Egon and that Ghostbuster tech should be effective against Chaos demons. Soon I'll be able to see it in action. So excited.

Assuming that it took the Engineering Team half of Day 30 RT to finish the upgrades to the Oncoming Storm, they could have spent 6 hours installing teleport interdiction fields on the Relentless, Guardian, All Under Heaven, Hercules, Nyx, and Spirit. The Oncoming Storm, Mikasa, and Indefatigable have Starfleet shields that are already capable of blocking teleports.
But we could spend the extra 3 hours making sure that they are protected even if their shields were to go down.

That's still only 9 hours.

Then we need to decide whether to manufacture the LSE for the Tria, or repair Kiryu.

>>21737299
We can reconfigure the Indefatigable's primary phaser array to become a proton array again, but what are we going to do for a trap large enough and powerful enough to contain Warp daemons?
The last time we had to use an Al'Kesh, and they're not exactly easy to replace without Requisitions.

>>21737085
Tosh reports that what little remains of the spirit is willing. It only requires us to find it enemies that put up enough of a fight to be enjoyable.

>>21737185
I'm not sure what you're asking. The engineers aren't needed for the TIEs, only the Spirit is.

>>21737421
I'm asking if these two items (get fighter pilots into new TIE-D's and have Engineers install teleport interdiction fields) be retroactively done on Day 30, since time was advanced to Early Day 31 even though there was still time to do thing on Day 30.

>>21737462
Sure. But you don't have time to outfit every last ship with a field. Pick and choose wisely.

>>21737548
About two hours after the transmission from Leadra, your communications officer reports a spotty transmission from an unknown source. They're having trouble getting a good resolution on it, there is heavy interference.

>>21737558
MAIN SCREEN TURN ON IT'S YOU!

>>21737558
Oh, and we need to attempt to contact yellowman if this isn't him.

>>21737558

"MOUSE. Clean that transmission up, see if you can focus in on it further and jam the interference."

>>21737558
Have both the Meta-Comm Arrays of the Storm and Sector HQ try to pick up the signal and reconstruct parts of it.
Egon, Mouse, Data, see if you can use the improved Meta-Comm algorithms we got from the Great Crusade's comm unit to improve our reception.
Let's see what we've got.

File: 1353816832750.jpg-(40 KB, 427x640, satellite-dish.jpg)

Rolled 79, 24 = 103

>>21737615
>>21737606
Even through the heavy haze of static on the screen, there is no mistaking the face of Scout Commander Scott Yellowman. Nor is there mistaking the urgency on that face. Immediately accompanying the start of the transmission is a file transfer.

“Listen! I don't know how long this... ...will hold. I'll try to be quick. Black Ops is headed for the warzone, they found... ...component for that damn machine they're... on. You can't let them have it! You can't let ANY of them have it! You, you're the ones... ….use it or destroy it. Your call. When they find out, everyone else... ...there too. But that's not all. If you can beat New Chaos there, they'll probably... ... show up in person. If they do, and you can take them down, then send a team to... ...and be VERY careful! Close the Open Door!” Yellowman looks around, biting his lip. “I'll... I'll deal with... ...DAN. Take this file, just... ...it. Remember, be fast! That world is already like a beacon, and the longer... …strain will... snap it like a rubber band! So...”

The transmission cuts out, the transfer abruptly ending.

>Yellowman's File progress to 50%.
>Mysterious coordinates received.

>>21737704
Thanks to the new algorithms from the Crusade, you are able to pick up additional data-packets during the transfer.

>Yellowman's File, progress to 75%.

>>21737548
>Pick and choose wisely.
Our primary capital ships, since the dropships and Al'Kesh can stay inside the interdiction fields of the AUH hangar bays.

Relentless, Guardian, All Under Heaven, Nocturne, Spirit of Triumph, Hercules, Mikasa, Oncoming Storm, Indefatigable.

>>21737715
What can we read in Yellowman's File?

>Mysterious coordinates
Is this the same as Kane's world, and the world that the TSAB want us to go to?

>>21737757
Nope.

>>21737835
Where do the Mysterious Coordinates land on the sector map, then?

>>21737835
I say we install the S2 engine into Kiryu and have the engineers repair him. The MechaGodzilla are durable and strong, they should hopefully be able to make best use of the AT Fields.

>>21737857
Slightly to the left and down from the center of the final black blob, the New Chaos territory.

>>21737976
From Yellowman's transmission, it sounds like he's telling us to find the STOB component on Kane World, and then, if we successfully destroy whatever New Chaos sends at us, to go to New Chaos' origin and stop them there.

That's a tall order, though.
It require the TSAB and an alliance of many other Canons to be able to stop New Chaos.

>>21738079
What if we call the Crusade and ask them to help the TSAB. Tell them we're going for the heart of this, and see if they'll use their giant ass fleet to help out?

>>21738107
We can ask them for military assistance in the war zone. Especially against New Chaos.
Without the Avatar, we're down one god, facing off against 4 of them.
We can contact them, but there's no guarantee they'll be in a position to help.

>>21737835
I suppose our crew would have had their vacation from about day 24 until day 30ish, giving them plenty of time to be back for the fashion show.

>>21738159
And a suitcase of replicated cash, Coutts Visa, and American Express Centurion credit cards.
Replace the cash with gold and platinum coins, and synthetic emeralds and sapphires, for those taking a vacation in a non-modern Earth.

We should have Vitun examine everything we've looted since we've started. Some might have odd abilities we never noticed.

>fighting New Chaos in their own universe

Could be rough. What's even worse is that the energy signature will almost certainly draw in the C'tan.

Do we have anything that can fight the C'tan at their full power?

Schedule
Day 30
- Spirit produces TIE Defenders for all pilots that are currently grounded due to no vehicles
- Pilots train into the TIE Defender (including the Starfox Team)
- Engineers finish upgrades on the Oncoming Storm
- Engineers install teleportation interdiction field generators on: Relentless, Guardian, All Under Heaven, Nocturne, Spirit of Triumph, Hercules, Oncoming Storm, Mikasa, Indefatigable

Make everyone back themselves up two times; redundant secondary backup to be on secure on Sector HQ.
- Have Vitun Identify the Daikatana, and look over other artifacts and items. Especially the Mirror of Truth.

Day 31:
- Scientists finish research on power armor; switch to 50% Mass Rifle, 25% Synthetic E-115, 25% Update Database (Tomahawk)
- Engineers repair Kiryu and install the S2 Organ from Unit 01
- Engineers spend 5 hours RT/25 hours ET to install Power Armor Refit Mk. I on the power armor of KI Devastator Squad A and B
- Engineers begin construction of the LSE for the Tria

- fabricate relevant power armor to replace losses.
- Units that were equipped with Fallout Armor before they were destroyed will be equipped with Mobile Infantry or MetPharm armor depending on research results.

- Equip the two Mechwarriors with MI power armor so they can stomp around like Elementals.

>>21738714
Oh! And before Sylphie leaves! Put in orders for a tactical AI that will improve the accuracy of the weapons on our ships, and for more of her special line of clothes for: Mouse, Data, Isel, Marc, Sonya. Standardized TG uniforms this time; just pay extra to have a charm that can allow them to change the looks of the dress/suit if it bothers the wearer.
And those Arwings and Land Masters are still on back-order.

>>21738714
Oh, wait, don't forget about the Magic Engineering Team.

Can the Techno-Wizards, Guru's and Aurors also cast the Dimensional Ward spell now?
The Abjurers can only do the Lesser version for now, but being able to ward our ships would be really important.

>>21739259
The Gurus can cast the normal Ward.
Everyone else can cast lesser.

And since someone pointed out I forgot, Abjurers and Psions level up.

All troops that fought in the last world go up one level on the following scale: Normal>Veteran>Elite>Commando.

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>>21739495
Event: “Loss.”
Time: Day 24, evening.

“I half expected to find you in the bar, honestly,” Cheryl commented as she entered the small prototyping workshop. “Or maybe the armory or firing range. What the hell are you doing here?”

Her gaze was met with the light glinting off of the lenses of a gas mask and an impassive stare. Cheryl held the gaze until she finally got an answer.

“Checking the new modifications on my weapons,” Shephard said, turning back to his work. “Want to make sure they're working OK.”

“We have engineers for that, you know,” Cheryl said, walking forward. Shephard scoffed.

“In the field, you'd better know the ins and outs of every weapon at your disposal,” he stated. “If I had the time, I'd even try to learn how to disassemble, reassemble, and maintain my portal gun. As it is, I'm going to do my best with the rest.”

“Right,” Cheryl said. She paused for a moment. “Anyway...”

The helmeted head turned back, fixed her with the cold gaze of the lenses.

“Jesus, do you ever take that thing off?” Cheryl asked, scowling.

“Sometimes,” Shephard said. “What do you want?”

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>>21739672
“Well to put it bluntly, what the hell was that?!” Cheryl asked, throwing her arms up. “That thing with choking the crazy catwoman!”

Corporal Shephard did not answer, but simply stared at her. Cheryl searched for words.

“You thought... you thought STRANGLING a superhuman fighter was a good idea?” she finally said.

“It was the quickest method. It would've taken too long to have drawn another weapon, and we were in close quarters,” Shephard said, mechanically.

“You have a knife!” Cheryl shouted. “Could've at least used that!”

“What do you care? She's dead. It worked,” Shephard said, turning to face Cheryl fully and crossing his arms.

“I care because sometimes you scare the hell out of me! Look, I'm not so hot on the whole sensing-knowing aspect of being a psychic, OK? But man, even I felt the rage roiling off you then! Hell, I've BEEN feeling it!” Cheryl said, waving her arms for emphasis. Underneath the lenses, Shephard's eyes narrowed.

“What do you know about being angry?” he asked, coldly.

“A lot more than you'd think,” Cheryl shot back. “I know at least anger of that sort...” Cheryl stopped, her face going distant for a moment, memories bubbling up. “...you've got to control it. Or terrible things will happen.”

“I AM controlling it,” Shephard said.

“Most of the time, yeah, and then you go and try to strangle a she-demon with your bare hands!” Cheryl exclaimed, throwing up her hands again. “It was like you wanted to die! What, you think your squad needs you in-”

Shephard's fist slammed into the wall beside him with enough force to slightly dent the metal, enough force to produce a loud clang. Whether from the noise, the action itself, or the sudden spike in anger she felt hitting her like a wall, Cheryl fell silent and flinched. For a moment, nothing was said.

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>>21739694
“I try not to hit my comrades in arms,” he finally whispered, his voice hoarse, tight with emotion. “I try not to hit women either. But you came... awfully close there.”

Another pause.

“I'm... sorry, that was crossing a line, I know,” Cheryl finally said. She winced, thinking. “Look... A lot of us know what it's like to lose people...”

“Lose people?” Shephard asked, fixing her again with the cold stare of that mask. “Lose people. Is that all you think that is?”

He took a step forward, leaned toward her.

“A soldier is ready to die. A soldier is always ready to die. But only after fighting, and only after throwing everything he has at the enemy. They didn't want that of us. A soldier fights and dies, and everyone knows that. Everyone expects that. But...” Shephard took a shaky breath. “They didn't want us to fight, in the end. They just wanted us to die.”

Cheryl watched Shephard withdraw his fist, bloodied from the impact against the wall and clench and unclench it. The soldier was staring at that bloody fist as he spoke.

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>>21739728
“They wanted us to murder a bunch of scientists and then get killed by their pet assassins. Do you know how many soldiers heard the sounds of evac choppers leaving without them? Even then, we fought like mad, if the choppers couldn't handle it that was fine. We'd make our own escape. Then...” Shephard paused for breath. Cheryl began to wonder if he was really talking to her anymore. “When that nuke went off, all hope went with it. Jackson, Tower... My entire squad died for a lie. A stupid goddamn lie!”

That bloody fist slammed into the wall again, then again, and again.

“Never leave a Marine behind, damn it! You never leave someone behind, that's one of the main tenets of the Corps! You never do that, and they left us all to die!!” Shepard turned again, and Cheryl saw fury behind those lenses. “Loss? No, every soldier deals with loss. Betrayal. That's why I'm so goddamn mad. I lost all my squadmates not because we fucked up, but because we were BETRAYED! And the final insult, the FINAL insult, is that after nearly getting myself killed stopping a goddamn ALIEN INVASION, the man who set off the nuke and killed all of my friends forced me to be his errand boy.”

The gas mask hovered closer to Cheryl's face.

“Can you maybe see now... why I might be... just a little... mad?” Shephard got out. Cheryl held his gaze and did not flinch this time.

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>>21739735
“I read your file,” she stated, firmly. “I know that when you woke up in Black Mesa, it was after you saw a good number of your friends dragging you there. That... that you saw a number of your friends dying to drag you to safety.”

Shephard tensed again.

“They died...” Cheryl began, emotion hovering at the edge of her words. “They died so you could live. They died FOR you. That's... there's nothing so terrible a burden, to know your life was bought with someone else's.”

“What the hell do you know about it?”

“Because the same damn thing happened to me!” Cheryl shouts. “Because my dad... because my dad, the best man I ever knew died because of who and what I am. Because crazy people wanted to use me as some sort of vessel for their stupid god! He died saving me, and I've had to live with that ever since, so don't tell me I don't know about things like loss or betrayal!”

Shephard did not speak. He didn't move. The silence hung in the air for a while.

“Look...” Cheryl sighed, letting the tension drain from her. “Just... just try to deal with things a little better, OK? I don't like... I don't like the idea of people dying when they don't have to.”

Shephard did not reply. He just stared at Cheryl for a long time. Finally, she sighed and turned to leave.

“What was his name?” Shephard finally asked, when Cheryl reached the door.

“Huh?”

“Your father. What was his name?” Shephard asked. Cheryl did not turn around.

“Harry Mason,” she said. “His name was Harry Mason. The man who literally descended into hell for his daughter.”

“Strong name,” Shephard commented. Cheryl smiled sadly.

“He was a strong man.”

Then she was gone.

File: 1353825602633.jpg-(38 KB, 500x333, sadcat.jpg)

>>21739755

It tears me up, knowing that Shephard is merely being lent to us until this whole sector becomes resolved.

>>21739672
>>21739694
>>21739728
>>21739735
>>21739755

I do not like this development.

File: 1353826029745.gif-(1.81 MB, 212x173, 1350801245712.gif)

>>21739755
Our entire task force is like this, now that I think about it.
Everyone's lost someone, and usually the reason why they're here is because they died so that we could recruit them.
Loss, betrayal, having the entire world turn against you. The people that you were sworn to protect, the PLANET turning against you even as you send rookies to die with nothing but grenades against alien super-soldiers wielding plasma cannons.

File: 1353826246064.gif-(1.75 MB, 280x211, 1303739824001.gif)

FUCK.
Get on the comms with the Great Crusade and confirm that they have Kaolla Su in custody.
Otherwise, we could be in for a world of hurt.

>>21739864
Except the MechaGodzillas.

>>21739926
Well, to be fair, Godzilla had to die to become Kiryu, soo. . .

Kinda like losing yourself instead of someone else?

>>21740176
My life was bought with my life! ...Wait.

File: 1353828125748.jpg-(132 KB, 640x778, 1352630847576.jpg)

>>21739926
Speaking of...

Event: Poker Night.
Time: Day 27, evening.

“I see your bet and raise you five credits,” Data stated, pushing forward a small stack of chips.

“CALCULATING...” the sinister-looking probe droid opposite him stated. “RISK UNACCEPTABLE TO CURRENT PREDICTIONS OF SUCCESS. RETREAT IN PROGRESS.”

“No, it's not retreating, it's called folding,” the hologram of a balding starfleet officer said beside him. “Get it right.”

“Statement: He is always like this thanks to those risk avoidance protocols they put into him. I've never seen such a cowardly machine,” the silver assassin droid said from across the table. He paused. “...and I once toured a protocol droid manufacturing center.”

“THE JOB OF A SCOUTING UNIT REQUIRES COURAGE AND CAUTION IN EQUAL MEASURE,” the probe droid responded.

“Who dares wins,” a skeletal assault droid said in an oddly suave and smooth voice as he pushed a mountain of chips forward. “All in.”

File: 1353828205625.jpg-(6 KB, 236x207, AndHK50asMarsha.jpg)

>>21740219
“HK?” Data asked.

HK-50 looked at the other players before speaking.

“Impenetrable Bluff: I will be everything I have. My hand is unbeatable!” the assassin droid pronounced dramatically as he pushed his own pile of chips in. The EMH sighed and rubbed his head.

“I tried to tell you not to invite him,” he said to Data. “I said a game of friendly poker might be fun... with the right players.”

A loud hissing roar split the air as a massive metal foot clumsily knocked a pile of credits over in its effort to push them forward without destroying anything. The EMH looked up at the massive form of Mecha-Godzilla with contempt.

“Not to mention I'd have preferred we NOT have to do this in the hangar bay. What possessed you to try and teach him poker, anyway?” he asked, glaring at Data. The android did not seem to take notice of the irritation.

“I am not sure. One of the officer mentioned it a few days ago and the question if it could be done just never left my mind,” Data said, pleasantly. The EMH snorted.

“What a fine bunch of card-players this turned out to be.”

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>>21740230
“Statement: You shouldn't be surprised, snide one. This sort of agglomeration of uncomplimentary personalities is quite common. Recitation: Why my progenitor unit himself often found himself in the middle of a mass of meatbags that were unable to solve their basic personality conflicts. Be glad at least we are not bags of meat and liquids.”

“It's all the same. Matter. I'm made out of pure energy,” the EMH said, offering HK-50 a smug smile. The YVH droid reached over and turned the mobile emitter off, the EMH offering a startled yelp before vanishing.

“Good thing your off switch isn't made of pure energy,” the droid said, emitting a low laugh. “Call.”

>>21740230
Oh HK, you poor fool.

Maybe you'll have better luck gambling against an Elcor.

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>>21740230
>Impenetrable Bluff
Haha!
>>21740237
>off switch
This is hilarious!

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>>21740237

“Disgusted Curse: Two pair is all I have. How did you pierce my deception?” HK said as he threw his cards on the table.

“PAZAAK!”

Data sighed, turning to VP-99.

“No, wrong game. I told you that. Besides, you folded.”

“Fuuuuull Hooooouse,” the YVH droid said, letting the words roll forth slowly.

“Ah. Can somone check MechaGodzilla's cards for him? He can't use his hands,” Data asked.

“Amused Statement: He's got nothing. Not even a Jack,” HK-50 chortled. An angry roar and another stomp caused him to back away from the pile of chips and cards hastily. Data frowned.

“The program still needs work then... Ah, that's right. I have a Royal Flush. This hand goes to me,” Data stated, reaching over to gather up the chips.

“Sarcastic Congratulations: Wonderful job, glitterskin. I admire your luck, and in no way am considering using my built in scanner module to identify the cards as they are played next hand,” HK-50 said, taking his seat once more.

Across the bay, two technicians looked at each other.

“Should we...” one began to say.

"Let's get the HELL out of here," the other said.

>>21740271

If you think thats bad, wait till they teach the new guy how to play as well.

File: 1353830930717.jpg-(184 KB, 826x820, 1326362758748.jpg)

Event: Best Friends Part 1.
Time: Day 24, Afternoon.

“VA-CA-TION!” Lyla shouted, pumping her fist as she went around the room, grabbing clothes and throwing them onto the bed. “Elaine! Let me hear you say it! VA-CA-TIOOOOOON!”

“Vacation...” Elaine said, smiling weakly. She was leaning against the door frame in her White Mage robes. Lyla was in black and white casualwear, one of her very few casual outfits. Lyla frowned.

“Hey, hey now! We've survived, what, two months of this nonsense? Three months? Ajora, I've lost track of time on this bucket. We made it through all of that, made loads of money, and now we've got some time to spend it on stuff! Time to enjoy it! We even get to see a new world, how cool is that? Some of the Shadowrunners are going to take us all shopping since we don't know how... what'd she say.... how the 'plex works. Something like that. Someone said that Seattle rains a lot, though. I hope we get a sunny day,” Lyla said, speaking rapidly in excitement. She paced around the room, looking. “I hardly have any idea what to pack...”

>>21738775
>Order Sylphie Clothes
>Mouse, Data, Isel, Marc, Sonya
Also include Mordin Solus, and the Abjurers. Maybe the Aurors, too, since we send them into danger so much. And maybe they'll be happy to have some magical clothes instead of NOD Armor.

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>>21740627
“It's... not that,” Elaine shook her head. “I... I can't come.”

“What,” Lyla said, stopping dead in her tracks.

“I'm still working on rehabilitating the women we picked up from that last world,” Elaine said. “There's still... There's still a lot of ground to cover. Wounds to heal.”

“Oh... Elaine...” Lyla's eyes widened in understanding and sympathy.

“Even if they let me, I can't just leave,” Elaine said. “Dr. Solus says the girls are growing attached to me. Dr. Lazarus theorizes they might be adopting me as their new mother figure in place of an actual mother... I wouldn't call that monster that spawned them one.

Lyla laughed sadly, shook her head. “You never change, Lainey. You could be lit on fire on a sinking ship and you'd help everyone to the lifeboats first before dousing yourself with water.”

“Yeah, well, it's part of who I am,” Elaine said, offering Lyla a small smile. “Just like making terrible analogies is part of who you are.”

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>>21740634
“Hey, it wasn't THAT bad...” Lyla said, rolling her eyes. “OK... maybe a little. Listen, you gotta at least wrangle ad ay from the bosses to come down and vacation with us. OK? A day? Can you do that?”

“Lyla, I...” Elaine began to say. Lyla stared resolutely at her. The words faltered. “Oh... all right. The doctors can handle them for ad ay, I guess.”

“Damn straight!” Lyla said, smiling broadly as she hugged Elaine. “I'll try to save the best vacationing for last for you. I'll pick out something for you whenever we go shopping.”

“Thanks, Ly,” Elaine said, hugging back. “This... this has been one hell of a job, hasn't it?”

“Yeah...” Lyla said, pulling back. “It really has. I could've done without the vampires, though. And the eldritch horrors. And the whatever the hell those last things were.”

“But we got to meet the famed Holy Knight, Lady Agrias Oaks,” Elaine said, smiling. “And Mustadio. And all the friends we've made here.”

“And all the money!” Lyla said with a wink as she pulled a wad of cash from her pocket. “Feels weird to use paper as money. Not as pretty as gold, but I gotta admit it's a lot lighter.”

“You never change either!” Elaine laughed. “Oh... oh, Ly. I'm going to miss you.”

“You wouldn't have to, if you'd take the full vacation...” Lyla said, sing-song. She stopped and smiled. “No, I know you. It's fine. We'll take an even bigger vacation when all this is done. I'll even treat everyone I like on this boat to join us. We'll forget the bad and remember the good. We'll live in heaven for as long as the money lasts.”

“Sounds good, Ly,” Elaine said. “I'll hold you to that.”

“You better,” Lyla said. “Now that I've said it, it sounds pretty good to me too. But we don't bring Mouse.”

“Agreed,” Elaine said.

>>21740634

Elaine is mai waifu

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>>21740647
>But we don't bring Mouse.
Really Mouse. Did you expect any different?
Though I guess it's to be expected, you being the youngest besides Cheryl.

>>21740707
>Implying Mouse won't go on a hilarious slapstick adventure the moment anyone takes their eyes off him.

>>21740730

>so as to make use of his sandy tackle

METAOP! I'd like to burn one of our Bulbs for a hint!

>>21740818
IT HAS BEEN BURNT. THREE BULBS REMAIN.

"You know, boss," Mouse says as he yawns. "If you really wanted to check out the mystery coordinates, you could send a recon team to see what's there while the heavy hitters go deal with the mess at that one world. 'course you might end up sending someone that might come in handy in the other place, but worst to worse, everyone could regroup. Hopefully. Maybe. OK, I'm going to sit over there now."

>>21740865
MetaOP, when we salvaged Sector HQ, were there any Scout Ships or spare Meta-Transit Drives in the docks?

>>21740865
Doesn't our looter team have a stealth meta-capable ship?

If we tell them that we want them to steal data or something they would be perfect.

Rolled 90

>>21740898
Let's see. Be aware you need to roll very high.

>>21740918
Well there you go then.

And with that snippet, I'm guessing Lyla or Elaine won't be making it home.

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>>21740918
Welp.

There is a ten-man light transport in the hangar bay that could be made spaceworthy by Scarab repairs.

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>>21740918
>need to roll high
>get 90
Well now.

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>>21740918
OPPA GAGNAM STYLE

>>21740933
Repair it. Repair it now.
We will load it up with sensors, maybe have the RVF-25 stick with it.
It'll go in, scan from the safety of Alpha Centauri, then bug the fuck out.

>>21740933
Repair it and then shove it full of all the cloaking and scanning technology we have.

Let's strap a Hubble to that bitch. Bitches love Hubbles.

>>21740933

How long will it take for the ship to go there, observe for a while and transit back?

File: 1353833591870.gif-(319 KB, 245x236, HulkGrin.gif)

>>21740933
Well then.

Get some Scarabs on that shit right now.

Once repaired, we send some X-Com guys; maybe a YVH droid or two. That's about the right size for a Skyranger expy.

Let's enjoy the high rolls while we can gents. Rough waters ahead.

>>21740974
Hold on. What about dropping on of the X-COM guys and sending Spike with them. Considering VP-99, Ryu and Mouse too. That'll give them good recon, hacking, and still keep their combat potential up.

>>21740982
We have no idea what we're sending them into. This could potentially be a suicide mission.

Take into account that the Mystery Coordinates are deep in New Chaos territory. The Warp could be very strong there, and bleeding into the Materium.

>>21740974

I was thinking of sending some of our second liners with them. We've hardly used Pharoah Man & Skull Man, for example.

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>>21740928
Speaking of which.

Event: “Doctoral Interlude”
Time: Day 26, afternoon.

“Genetic makeup interesting. Causes physiology to naturally interact with higher dimensional energy waves. Possible intentional additional through engineering? Probable. Irrelevant, irrelevant. Current task breaking psycho-conditioning and hardwired neural instinct. Restoring some form of normalcy to the abnormal. But normalcy never existed in them. Not restoration then, on a biological level. Something more difficult. Annoying.”

“Still working on that, Mordin?” Lazarus asked, peeking over his alien colleague's shoulder. The Salarian turned and blinked.

“Doctor Lazarus, good to meet you. Reviewing genetic retro-engineering option for deprogramming of subjects recovered from planet. Inconclusive tests so far. Believe that as stand alone option will be a failure, but supplementing a larger treatment should be effective. Rewrites the sections of the brain altered to the baseline template, removing the biological imperatives that were... added.”

“Perhaps, but it's slow, a neural pathway probe should be able to make the alterations with the right modifications. We don't need to undo everything, just break enough that the other methods take hold. Between us and Elaine's help, they should have something approaching a normal life soon enough,” Doc Lazarus said, looking over and switching his own workstation on.

“Hmmm. Elaine. Problematic. Relationship growing with rehabilitation subjects providing initial boost to receptivity by subjects. Beneficial. Long term effects unknown. Possibly detrimental.”

“A surrogate mother has been proven to have numerous psychological benefits to those who find themselves bereft of a natural one,” Lazarus states. “I really don't see what could go wrong.”

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>>21741042
Mordin blinked.

“Doctor Lazarus... I think you may be misinterpreting the available data. Please consider all factors. Subjects have complete memories and personalities developed according to design of matriarchal, extremely misandrist regime. Cultural standards are extremely open sexuality and prevalence of promiscuity, combined with mandatory homosexuality for all citizens. Culture places extreme value on sexual relationships and little to none on decorum.”

Doctor Lazarus's face slowly grew taut. “...what are you getting at?”

“Doctor Lazarus, consider the final factor. Since their revival and initial deprogramming, we three have been the only contact they have had, and Elaine has been the only FEMALE contact they've had,” Mordin said.

“Oh... Oooooooooh,” Lazarus said, comprehension and horror alike dawning on his face. “Oh my. I think... I think we may have made a huge mistake.”

Mordin paused. “But... so far, the results of Elaine's sessions have been very positive.”

“Very positive,” Lazarus said, grimacing. “Should... should we...”

“Regardless of source of affection or specifics, the subjects seem to hold genuine feeling for Elaine. It is unlikely anything problematic will result in the short term barring one of them making a confession and the results being...” Mordin paused. “...awkward.”

The two scientists looked at each other for a minute.

“Keep an eye on it,” they finally said in unison.

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>>21741042
>>21741059

Oh god, wth.

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>>21741059
>“Keep an eye on it,”
Yeah, we're going to need to keep an eye on that.
Data and Douglas were supposed to eventually help with the counseling to ease the strain on Elaine. Maybe we should introduce them sooner now.

>>21741122

There is a need to introduce a few more ladies as well.

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>>21741042
>>21741059

Why didn't we consider this?
We over-analyze everything but this?

. . . I wonder if any of the abjurers know how to make a girdle of gender change?

>>21741152
Well, who?
Agrias? Lavian, Alicia? Aeshma? I doubt that the Farseers would be helpful in this situation, nor Lyla.
Another of the White Mages? Elaine's understudy?

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>>21741042
>>21741059

On my internal scale of badshithappens. I can't for the life of me, come up with one worse than getting raped by kids you became a mother figure to.

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>>21741160

Because, like Dr Lazarus, we overlayed our own social norms instead of substituting the prevalent ones they were exposed to.

Thank god, for Mordin Solus.

>>21741243
We did consider the ramifications, and we did schedule in their exposure to other personnel, both male and female.
The timetable simply needs to be revised.

>>21741195
...without spoiling anything, just so people don't think I'm treading down a dark and terrible road of bad, there isn't going to be rape. When Mordin said, "Nothing problematic should happen", it was his way of saying "There isn't going to be any sort of assault."

>>21741269
>no shota gang-rape
>close all my exhentai tabs

Dammit.

>>21741269

Then...

The next question is: is that dependant on /tg/ dice?

>>21741269

Right. There won't be any rape, because we're gonna fucking fix this.

>>21741189
Agrias might work, though she has no training as a counselor.
Possibly Aeshma, to help acclimatize the patients to a restricted section of the Oncoming Storm where they can interact with a limited number of the crew.
Throwing them into the general areas is probably too much right now.

>>21741288
Completely fixing this will require a full personality and memory wipe, and a personality reconstruction. While we may be able to do it, we would also lose the currently programmed combat training and skills for usage of their flight, energy discharge, and energy shield abilities.

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>21741288
It has already begun.

Event: “The Lady and the Sword.”
Time: Day 24, morning.

The blade was black, its edges seeming to gleam with pale fire. The symbol of the Tri-Force, the holy symbol of the Hylian goddesses was stamped on the hilt, glowing a golden counterpoint to the dark metal that made the rest of the blade. It thrummed with power. It shown with magic. There was a time when she would have been too scared to touch a blade as ensorcelled as this. That time was long past, though, had been burnt out of her along with her faith in her kingdom and the Church.

That was fine. She had a faith deeper than the trappings of that false religion, deeper than the Lucavi and St. Ajora could touch. It was that faith that allowed her to speak strongly and on equal terms with the weapon before her.

“Gurthang...” Agrias said. “Gurthang, Wand of Death. Iron of Death. Formerly Anglachel, and now, Gurthang Time-Cleaver. I have heard all of these as your name, and I have heard you can speak to your wielder if you wish it. Speak now, I would have words with you.”

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>>21741496
“Agrias...” the voice echoed coldly in her mind, the sword seeming to vibrate gently with the reverberating words. “Lady Agrias Oaks. Holy Knight of the Lionsguard. Formerly bodyguard to Princess Ovelia, and now Guard to Transpace. What words would thou have with me?”

“You killed your last wielder at his request, I am told. You hated him, I am told, did not think him worthy in the end. As you hold your own thoughts, I would know whether or not you consider me worthy. I would know if we fight as a team,” Agrias stated. “I would know how best to wield you to save those I've come to call companion.”

“I hated him, the unworthy one,” Gurthang growled. “By his hand I drank of the blood of Beleg and Brandir. If thou worry thou are like him, fear not. Thy emotions run strong, but controlled. Thy heart beats fiercely, but justly. Thy hands will guide me to glorious battle, not murder. This I know.”

“Then we are a team,” Agrias notes.

“Nay,” Gurthang replied. “Team we are not.”

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>>21741660
“So... you think me not worthy,” Agrias asked.

“Nay. Thou are worthy,” Gurthang stated. “No blade and its master are a team. A blade is a servant that heeds the call of its master as no flesh servant ever could. A blade and its master are one in combat. Thought flows from one to the other, turning to deed, turning to blood and blow. You who channels her soul through her sword, who calls down judgment from on high with a flick of the blade should know this.”

“Then...” Agrias asked. “...am I your master?”

“Until the day comes when I must return to the tomb for the coming of the final battle, thou art master to me,” Gurthang. “I have touched thine soul and found it strong, tested thine courage and found it fierce, examined thy will and found it iron. I will drink the blood of thy enemies until thy battles are done.”

“Then, Gurthang... I am told you have been imbued with hidden secrets by the goddesses,” Agrias stated. “So that we may shine brighter on the battlefield, so that the blood of our enemies and not our allies falls to the dirt, I ask you show me these secrets.”

“As thou wish.”

Loving these character interludes, MetaOP

>>21741269
>>21741189

We could also include Aeshma (and Vitun, when they are more comfortable) into the rotation. Desna did mention that she wanted more appreciation, and some converts might be just the thing. Aeshma may have a lot of experience in counseling-type situations because of her profession as a cleric and being a naturally long-lived divine being.

I don't think we'll have to worry about any funny business as MetaOP said, but I think the problem here is that the Ryoko-spawn don't really know that there's any other type of relationship other than full-on neglect and sick fapfiction daydream. Given the success of the rehabilitation/restoration, they may just need to broaden their cultural horizons and grow as individuals. Elaine is helping a lot, but exposure to other people and societies may go a long way to preventing future awkwardness and unwitting social faux-pas.

And if all of that fails and everything goes to shit, I guess we still have memory-wipes and nerve staples.

>>21743036
Actually that works. Turn them into Nuns for Desna.

>>21743036
Introducing Aeshma and Vitun into the counseling sessions should help ease the strain on Elaine.

Now, for the scouting mission to that New Chaos world, are we actually going to send Hero units on it? It seems a waste, especially when the idea was that they pop in, run some scans, and then pop out.

MetaOp? When you get back would it be possible to research meta-probes?

They might come in handy when trying to get through the realms taken by chaos. The less places we have to send people to the better.

>>21749226
Our research is currently 50% Mass Rifle, 25% Tomahawk, 25% Synthetic Elerium-115.
One of them will have to get dropped.

The Looters haven't been doing anything on Day 30.
Let's have them go and pick up 20 scientists and the complete X-COM database from X-COM: Interceptor. That way we can complete the entire classic X-COM set, and we'll get the designs for Synthetic E-115 and Psi Cannons.

>>21749226
>>21751809
>>21752071
How about we just loot a bunch of scientists? Maybe some of the Cerberus researchers from a ME canon? They seem to die in droves/go mysteriously missing all the time.
That or maybe some guys from a Stargate canon. They're pretty good at reverse engineering crazy tech, and even improving on it.

>>21749226
Possible? Yes. But it would probably take more time than you'd want to spend at this point.

Additional Day 30/31 Production:
640 TIE-D/C
- 10.6 hours

>>21739495
>The Gurus can cast the normal Ward.
>Everyone else can cast lesser.
Magic Engineering Day 31
Guru's: Dimensional Ward on the All Under Heaven, Oncoming Storm, Indefatigable

Day 32 (since if we cast it on Day 31 it would fade before we entered combat)
Guru's: Dimensional Ward on the Relentless, Guardian, and Mikasa
Aurors: Lesser Dimensional Ward on the Hercules, Nocturne, Spirit of Triumph, Hyaku-Shiki, Gaia Gear, Brasta
Techno-Wizards: Mecha-Godzilla, Kiryu, SY-3 Squadron, VF-25 Squadron

>>21752189
The point of getting the X-COM Interceptor scientists is that they have the X-COM Interceptor database, with designs for Synthetic E-115, Psi Blasters, and improved drive systems.
That way we can remove Synthetic E-115 from our research queue, and put in something else, like Baneblades or VF-25 replication.

>>21752428
There's actually like 3 or 4 different small projects that we should check on.
1. Have Dr. Cossack repair and reprogram the Upgraded Metal Man we picked up in 8BD.
2. Have Dr. Lazarus check if his nanite soldier boost treatments are compatible with the Cortical Stack and RED-2 technologies.
3. Using nanite technology improve the Nemean and Phoenix Implant technology from Fallout to remove the downsides.

>>21752201
When Cossack gets back, have him reprogram and rebuild Metal Man. He's not to activate Metal Man until he's sure he's gotten all of Wily's backdoors and backups. Hell, keep the head seperate from the body and the body in an EM field in a different block of the ship and under guard until he's done.

It's only one more Robot Master, but it'll help.

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>>21752527
Event: “Thinking of You”
Time: ??

The Soldier paced nervously on the battlements. Near him was the Heavy leaning against a wall reading a magazine, with large letters splashed on the cover, “Russian Bear Wrestling Monthly: In This Issue: Zangief Tells All!”

Sniper had his legs lying against the battlement lip, leaning back in his chair, hat over his eyes. Soft snoring sounds issued from him.

“Where are they!!!” Soldier finally roared. “This is madness! This is insanity! This is REALLY, REALLY BORING!!!”

The rocket launcher master growled and turned, throwing up his hands in the air.

“Have those cowardly BLUs all deserted?! Have they finally yielded to our superior arms and superior skill? Has our long struggle finally ended in glorious, but ultimately anti-climatic and unsatisfying victory?!”

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>>21753332
“If that were true, their fort wouldn't be all locked up.” Heavy noted boredly, reaching over and sipping beer from a straw.

“Yeah, well, mayb- FINALLY! THERE!” Soldier yelled with glee as he raced to the battlements, launching a salvo of rockets at a figure in blue walking by.

“Wait! No!” the figure screamed before being blasted to bits. As bloody gibbets rained down on the battlements, Heavy turned another page of his magazine with a bored air.

“That was Spy,” Heavy stated. “He was trying to scout ahead.”

“DAMN IT!” Soldier shouted, throwing down his launcher. “It's been WEEKS since I got a kill! I'm starting to jones, dammit! My hands are shaking! My feet are burning! I've got a fever and the only cure is BLOOD!”

“Hey guys! You'll never guess what I just found!” Scout said, racing up onto the battlements and pausing to breathe. “I found out where BLU is! Sorta!”

“What? Where are they! You give us that information right now, soldier!” Soldier roared, turning. Scout waved a hand and pulled out a small piece of glossed cardboard. Soldier snatched it out of his hands.

“What? What is this?!” Soldier shouted. Heavy got up and leaned over to look.

“I think... is postcard.”

On the cardboard was a picture of the entire BLU team, posing for the camera over a small mountain of dead Stormtroopers, power armored troops, and monsters. In bright blue letters over the picture was written...

“WISH YOU WERE HERE.”

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>>21753352

File: 1353900778584.png-(193 KB, 352x288, couragecomputerbleeaargh.png)

>>21753352

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>>21753352

I have the biggest shit eating grin on my face.

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>>21753498
Event: “Seems Familiar.”
Time: ??

Spike woke up in pain. That was something he was used to. He was covered from head to toe in bandages. That was something he was BECOMING used to. There was... singing. Spike blinked and turned his head. The singing was female, it was nearby. It... reminded him of something. He listened in silence for a while, turned his head more, ignoring the pain until he saw Lyla by the bedside. She turned and her eyes widened.

“Oh, you're awake! I was starting to think you were out for good that time. Listen, you've really got to be more-”

“You sing off key,” Spike mumbled through the bandages.

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>>21753675
Lyla blinked, then scowled, grabbing a pillow from an unoccupied medical bay bed and slamming him with enough force to rupture the case and send feathers everywhere.

“I don't know why I bother! You'd be happier dead anyway!” Lyla shouts, grumbling as she got up, uttering a string of curses as she exited the infimiry.

Spike just stared at the ceiling in silence, memories of another set of companions flitting through his mind. Memories of the strength they lent him during the struggle in Silent Hill. Memories of dreams.

Slowly, painfully, he fumbled around in the pile of personal possessions beside his bed and found a picture, stared at it.

“The more things change... the more things stay the same.”

>>21753683

In a corner of the ship, Lyla Lover's Conclave members weep and tear their hats at the development

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>>21753675
>>21753683
Should really get Julia resurrected.

>>21753946

To what end?

File: 1353904078334.png-(434 KB, 448x1059, Kalinka22.png)

Event: “Fatherly Love”
Time: Afternoon, Day 27

“Kalinka!” Dr. Cossack shouted, spreading his arms wide as he rushed towards the young girl dressed in a red, fur lined coat.

“Papa!” Kalinka cried out, spreading out her own arms and laughing with joy as her father picked her up and spun her around, embracing her tightly. In the background as the reunion took place, Pharoah Man and Skull Man looked around warily.

“Ah, my little snowberry,” the doctor said, a few tears leaking from his eyes as he set her down again. “It is so good to see you again. Are you well? They are treating you well, yes? How are your studies progressing?”

“Papa, papa,” Kalinka said, smiling and patting her father's arm. “Slow down... Everything is good, da. The school is large and I've only made a few friends, but the apartment they gave us is very nice, and I've managed to put together a few scrapbots to help keep it clean.”

File: 1353904140563.png-(804 KB, 614x1179, Drcossack.png)

>>21754244
“That's my little girl, give her a few piles of metal and some tools and she'll have a machine ready to serve her in no time!” Cossack said, planting a kiss on her forehead. “Don't worry about the friends, it always takes some time for people to get used to you. You have your father's brains and your mother's charm, you'll have more friends than you know what to do with soon enough.”

“Yes, papa,” Kalinka murmured. She looked up to her father. “How long are you staying?”
“Ah, poor snowberry, I can only stay for a few days,” Cossack said, sighing. “Papa has a lot of work he needs to do...”

“I know... I just thought... maybe since you got the new job...” Kalinka murmured. Dr. Cossack wagged a finger.

“BUT, when it gets done, then I can come home for a long, long time. I promise you, Kalinka. Things WILL be different this time,” Dr. Cossack smiled. “Besides... you haven't asked what I brought you.”

“You brought me something?” Kalinka asked, her face lighting up the way only a child's can when being told there are incoming presents.

File: 1353904202184.jpg-(14 KB, 380x376, YesMan.jpg)

>>21754262
“Of course, my treasure. Here he is!” Dr. Cossack snapped his fingers and a new robot rolled forward, spinning around in front of Kalinka. It was a Securitron, but not a Securitron, The alloy was shiny, silvery, boxy additions protruded in several places, and the scowling face of a soldier on the screen was replaced by a big smile.

“Papa?” Kalinka asked, uncertainly.

“He's yours, Kalinka!” Dr. Cossack said, beaming. “I included the basic systems, bodyguard protocols, and programming, but expanded the casing and internal slot structure as well as memory space. You can customize him any way you want!”

“And I can't complain!” the robot cheerfully said. “Whatever you do? I'm just fine with it! So go ahead! Rip me apart and put me back together again! Put all sorts of weird untested devices in me! Fill my databanks with all sorts of random programs and pictures you find on the internet! Or don't! It's your call!”

Kalinka circled the robot, looking him up and down. “What is your name?”

“I don't have one!” the robot happily said. “Or if I did, I lost it! You can call me whatever you want, and that'll be my name! Isn't that cool! You have complete control over my fate! My name could be something cool or something really really stupid, but either way I'll just smile and agree with you!”

File: 1353904348450.jpg-(21 KB, 256x479, 256px-Kalinka.jpg)

>>21754276
Kalinka smiled. “Then you'll be...Shumi!”

“Wow, what a great name!” the robot decreed. “I've never heard such a cool sounding name, and I'm not just saying that to suck up!”

Kalinka laughed. “You're funny!” She turned to Dr. Cossack. “It's great, dad! I've already got ideas for a bunch of upgrades!”

“I'm sure you do, sweetie,” the Doctor said, giving her another little hug. “Shumi there will keep you safe while I'm away, and he'll keep you company, and he'll keep you busy and your mind active while you figure out what you want to do with him. Now, come on. Let's go see what sort of restaurants this colony has, hm? It's been too long since we had a family meal!”

File: 1353904733416.jpg-(356 KB, 1000x668, 1255546773905.jpg)

>>21754306
>>21754276
>>21754244
I wonder what the school is like here.

So, additions to the schedule are:
Day 30: Looter Team, with Al'Kesh 1 and 2 support, sent to X-COM Interceptor Canon, post-War in the Frontier, to acquire X-COM scientists and a full X-COM database.

We repair the light transport and equip it with Incursion Holo-Emitters and Federation sensors take from one of the shuttlecraft from the Indefatigable.
It will be accompanied by the RVF-25, since this is the kind of scouting job that the RVF was designed for, and it can provide protection with its ECM field.

It's primary purpose is to get in, scan, then get out. It is not to engage in combat or attempt to do anything except recon.

An Observer could be sent with it to provide closer recon.

>>21756416

Did we ever decide what skill the Looter team was getting?

>>21756460

Personally, I'd go with something like...

Sneakthief

While frequently called upon to go into realities with astonishingly dangerous technology and magic and steal all their stuff, the Looter team has managed to hone their abilities of avoiding detection. They're less likely to get caught stealing stuff, and can generally pull back gracefully if the situation becomes to complicated to acquire their target.

>>21756460
>>21756493
Yes, we already voted on it.
"Transporter Discount": working closely with ships equipped with transporters has made this Looter Team far more effective in acquiring goods and resources. When paired with a vessel that has a transporter, the Looter Team will almost never fail to achieve minimum mission success (at least 1 of every asked for item).

>>21756505

Ah. That's also pretty sweet.

File: 1353915554777.jpg-(211 KB, 600x600, 1323375301121.jpg)

>>21754396
Blast from the past, I remember seeing/saving that image years ago...

Event: “Group Therapy”
Time: Day 27, morning.

“Good morning everyone,” Elaine said brightly as the rescued children of Ryoko shuffled into the room. A chorus of eager replies greeted her as the twenty twenty-somethings waved and went to their seats. Elaine had set up a circle of comfortable chairs with a desk-add on, in what she'd dubbed the therapy room. The only other adornment in the room was a stand next to her chair to rest the books she'd brought on.

“Morning Elaine!”

“Morning!”

“Ah, good morning to you as well, Elaine.”

“Mornin' El!”

“Good morning!”

The first batch to be successfully resurrected and complete the first stage of deprogramming to the point where they were no longer overtly hostile, each of the young women had been growth-accelerated to their early twenties and implanted with flash personalities, skills, and memories. Unfortunately for them, this was all done on the whim of a mad god and his henceman, so now Elaine had the dubious task of working through with the twenty women and figuring out what was part of a legitimate blossoming person, and what was leftover programming from an insane scientist. Elaine only hoped she was up to the challenge.

File: 1353915652879.jpg-(324 KB, 597x800, 1323376406175.jpg)

>>21756655
“Elaine...” a smooth voice said from beside her. Elaine turned to see one of the daughters blushing lightly, proffering her a small bundle of what looked what like flowers. Elaine recognized her as Ballistas, one of the unofficial leaders of the bunch. She, like most of the women in rehabilitation, was wearing a spare Transpace Guard jumpsuit, a simple one piece outfit similar to a mechanic's with many pockets that zipped up in the front. Hers was clearly too small for her, it looked far too tight, and the top part wasn't zipped up all the way. This may have been due to Ballistas' rather... hefty endowments, a 'gift' indicative of the nature of the people that oversaw her development. Elaine stifled a frown as she considered the woman's situation.

“Poor girl,” Elaine thought as she looked at the flowers. “Given a name like that, forced to endure all this, and to top it off, they must've run out of uniforms in her size.”

“I was working in the hydroponics bay gathering plants, and... well... I snuck these out for you,” Ballistas said. “I know we're not supposed to, but... they just looked so pretty, and I just had to thank you somehow...”

File: 1353915767871.png-(799 KB, 758x1290, 1331325047453.png)

>>21756671
She leaned over the bookstand to present them, Elaine having to swiftly avert her eyes as Ballistas almost gave her a view of something other than flowers. She took the bouquet and smiled.

“That's very sweet of you, Ballistas. Very thoughtful,” Elaine said, smelling them. “They smell and look wonderful, I'll put them in water right after today's session. Thank you!”

“I just wished...” Ballistas sighed, looking at Elaine with a pout. “I just wished I could do more to thank you.”

“You're so considerate!” Elaine laughed. “I wished Lyla was like you, sometimes. Oh, that reminds me, I'll talk to someone in logistics about your uniform.”

Ballistas looked a little confused as she walked to her seat. “What's wrong with my uniform?” she whispered to the woman next to her.

“I'm jealous of Lyla sometimes, sempai,” another one of the women sighed and smiled. Elaine took a moment and recognized her as Blaze, the single long ponytail was the give away. Blaze continued on, a dreamy look on her face. “She gets to spend so much time with you... I can only imagine what you've taught her.”

Elaine smiled. They really did look up to her.

“Now, it's not like that with Lyla and I,” Elaine said, smiling. “I'm not her teacher, we're on equal grounds. We're close friends, battle companions, and room-mates.”

“You share a ROOM with her?” one of the women gasped. A ripple of whispers and murmurs ran through the room. “Now I'm jealous of her! They keep us all in separate rooms...”

“Yes, we share a room. For the time being anyway, Lyla's suite is being renovated due to some requests she made,” Elaine answered.

“That must be great fun,” another said. “I bet you stay up all night.”

“Only when there's a particularly good piece of gossip to chat about,” Elaine giggled. “You know how it is.”

“Yeah, I do,” the woman nodded with a broad smile.

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>>21756692
“Anyway, enough about me for today. This session is about you!” Elaine said, smiling. “Today we're going to continue where we left off. Hobbies! Things you do in your spare time. What hobbies and past-times do you have?”

“Oh! Oh, Elaine! I lift weights!” a woman with short, sea green hair said.

“That's, good, Heat, good...” Elaine said. Inwardly, she once again wondered why someone thought it was just a hot idea to give all of the girls heat based names. She wondered if terrible names could be counted as child abuse. Heat continued, proudly.

“Dr. Solus let me use the gym the other night and I lifted a 300 pound weight a hundred times, Elaine! A hundred times! Here!” Heat got up from her seat and dashed over to Elaine, flexing. “Look at those muscles! Here, feel them!”

“Elaine doesn't want to feel your muscles, weight-junky!” a woman with a tall purple and green mohawk snapped, standing. Her uniform was cut up, ripped and folded to turn it into a somewhat indecent midriff baring top and short shorts. Elaine considered asking her to put on something more modest, but relented. It could be the sign of her true personality. She brought out a guitar from somewhere. Elaine blinked, she hadn't seen it be brought in.

File: 1353916052645.jpg-(124 KB, 480x600, 1329179207238.jpg)

>>21756703
“Blasta, where did you get that-” Elaine began to say.

“I took up MUSIC, Elaine! Listen to my song!” Blasta said, then launched into a guitar riff before beginning to belt out lyrics in a thunderous voice.

“Baby, baby! You driving me wild! Yeah! Baby, baby! I wanna have your child! Ow! Baby, baby, we're gonna get down tonight!” Blasta then launched into an extended guitar solo, and put the instrument down. “I'm still working on the rest, but it's a good start, right? Right?”

“That's... uh... very nice, Blasta. You might have a real gift. You know, Spike or Tosh might be able to give you actual lessons in...”

“Pfah!” Blasta shouted. “They're just men! I don't care what they think!” Blasta stalked forward and put her hands on Elaine's desk. “I care what YOU think. Do you... like it?”

“It was very spirited,” Elaine nodded. “I think your passion is admirable.”

“My passion is...” Blasta began to say with a big smile. Elaine cut her off.

“But Spike and Tosh aren't 'just men',” she said, firmly. “They are JUST men. Good men. You have to remember they exist... Blasta tell me, do you still feel the urge to kill men?”

Blasta looked hurt and confused for a moment. “Elaine, no... not kill... I just... I don't want to kill them anymore, no. I just... I just don't like the idea of them. Their grabby hands, their twisted minds, their stupid... I... I keep having dreams. Terrible dreams. They're killing everyone, torturing everyone... I have to stop them, I have to, I have to HURT them...”

File: 1353916131118.gif-(1.75 MB, 358x202, 1334973132780.gif)

>>21756692

Oh god. So pure.

File: 1353916218824.gif-(1.47 MB, 358x202, Waifu Material.gif)

>>21756692
Elaine is pure waifu material.

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>>21756740
Elaine sighed. “Blasta, come here. Take my hands.”

“I... Elaine, I'm trying to fight it, but it's like my mind is fighting itself!” Blasta howled. “Please... please...”

“Take my hands, Blasta.”

The young woman immediately complied, a look of relief on her face followed swiftly by something approaching happiness as she clasped Elaine's hands.

“Let me ease your mind a little more,” Elaine said, soothingly. “The feelings of hate are falling away... the chains of spite are broken in your mind. You are free to make your own judgments without the voices of others in your mind. Hear my voice and it will wash away the wounds in your spirit. Heavenly wind... carry us to the fountain of power... Esuna!”

“Elaine...” Blasta choked out, voice thick with emotion. “You... you care so much.... I... I...”

“It's all right,” Elaine said, smiling gently as the green wave of sparks faded over Blasta. “I'll always be here for you. For all of you. And I'm just proud that you've come so far in so short a time.”

Blasta went back to her seat and collapsed into it with a tired, but happy sigh.

“Oh! Oh! Oh!” a hand shot up.

“Yes, Flare?” Elaine asked, that same gentle smile on her face.

“Elaine, I took up poetry! Here, I wrote this just for you!”

>>21756703
>what could go wrong
It was either this, keeping them dead, or full personality wipe and synthetic memory reconstruction.
We wanted to give their personalities a chance, as synthetic as they are.

File: 1353916901845.jpg-(177 KB, 625x537, shocked_ribbon_by_redlife(...).jpg)

>>21756779
Behind a hidden viewscreen, Mouse and Spike looked on with expressions somewhere between confusion and disbelief.

“She... she really doesn't see what they're getting at?” Spike finally said.

“As pure as virgin snow, our Elaine,” Mouse said, putting a handful of popcorn into his mouth. “I told you, mate. You didn't believe me, but I told you. You owe me ten credits.”

“It's like watching a train wreck... hitting another train wreck...” Spike murmured as he watched, fascinated. “I know I should look away... but I can't.”

“It will be forever burned into my memory. The money?”

“I really have to wonder at what you do with your spare time,” Spike grumbled as he forked over the money.

“Hey, this is serious work. I volunteered for this job our of the goodness of my heart,” Mouse said tapping the control board in front of him. “If our attempt at rehab doesn't take, it's me and this here control panel prepped to flood the room with stun gas that will save the honor of our beloved healer.”

Spike looked at him dubiously.

“You really believe that. Because what I saw doesn't scream, 'potential sexual assault.' What I saw screamed, 'bizarre harem anime plot in the making,” Spike said. Mouse gave him an evil grin.

“Let's just say this is research material, and I'm in the process of changing a few names and submitting the scripts for Japan's next big hit of the season,” the hacker said. Spike blinked.

“That... that was a joke, right? Because I was joking. You were joking too, right?”
Mouse just smiled and laughed.

File: 1353917559793.png-(42 KB, 275x213, 1330368846117.png)

>>21756862
>Japan's next big hit of the season
And you know what's sad? That a drama anime about a psychiatrist and the child-soldiers she counsels has the potential to do well if they get a good studio for the character designs and merchandising.

Perhaps it's time for us to begin introducing other counselors such as Aeshma, Vitun, and Douglas. Though the last two, might need a more formalized setting rather than such an intimate one in order to minimize the initial hostile reaction to a male presence.

>>21756862
Mouse getting in hilarious slapstick adventure?
>Mouse becomes an aspiring anime writer.

>>21757058

>yfw mouse is Tomino

>>21757058

Hey, Mouse has seen enough shit that even the most bizarre of Japan's twisted imaginings seem tame by comparison. I think he could really pull it off.

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>>21757064
WHAT A TWEEST!

Event: “Best Friends, Part 2”
Time: Day 28, afternoon.

“Elaine!” Lyla squealed, running over to hug her friend. “I thought you weren't coming until later! Change your mind?”

“I...” Elaine grimaced. “I thought it might be best if I let someone else handle the rehab for a while.”

“Uh oh. What's up with that look?” Lyla asked. Elaine stared ahead for a full minute before responding.

“They love me,” Elaine finally said.

“What? Aw, that's sweet,” Lyla said, smiling. “I always knew you were the den mother type, I bet-”

“No,” Elaine shook her head. “They LOVE me love me.”

“Wha-”

“I walked in on a few of them fighting over who loved me more,” Elaine said. Her eyebrow twitched. “They... went into graphic detail.”

Lyla's jaw dropped a little. “...wow.”

“Then when I walked back to my quarters, I found two of them waiting for me. In my quarters,” Elaine paused for a moment. “They'd scattered rose petals around the bed and were... uh... in it.”

“Uh...” Lyla tried to find words and failed.

“They cried and sobbed when I asked them to leave,” Elaine said, distantly. “Asked me why they weren't pretty enough. Asked me what was wrong.”

“What did you do?” Lyla asked, grimacing.

File: 1353919804483.jpg-(51 KB, 157x292, youcantmakemehavefun.jpg)

>>21757340

“I just kept repeating 'Not now!” Elaine said, biting her lip. “I meant... I meant it in the sense I didn't want to deal with it now, I had no idea what to tell them. They... they understood it a different way. So after talking with Dr. Solus and Lazarus, I'm taking a few days off while they try to figure out what to do.”

“...I was going to complain to you about my problems, but you know what? I think I'll just listen,” Lyla said, putting a hand on Elaine's shoulder. “Come on, Lainey. I'll show you where we're staying.”

“No, let's hear it,” Elaine sighed. “It'll let me forget the fact women have been flirting with me for the past half week and I was too dense to pick it up.”

“Well... I guess we shouldn't be surprised, look at where we got them from-”

“That's really not helping, Ly.”

“Sorry, Lainey,” Lyla said, wincing again. “Look, just forget about all that. You're here now, everyone's in a series of suites in this cool place called the Gates Undersound. Apparently it's the city's best hotel, and get this, part of it is built UNDERWATER! You can look out and see the fish and everything! Oh! They call this place Seattle. Anyway, Renee, you remember Renee? One of the mages from the Shadowrunners. Anyway, Renee got the money from the Crew and set us all up with the rooms. And gave us a crash course in how not to stick out like sore thumbs.”

File: 1353919863934.gif-(188 KB, 500x375, 1327556532953.gif)

>>21757359
“That's nice, but... I need a drink, Ly,” Elaine said a look of supreme weariness on her face. “I'm being stalked by a cadre of super soldiers that adore me and I have no idea what to do. I really need a drink. And I almost never drink.”

“Well, that's something we can fix!” Lyla said with a grin. “Cheryl let slip she's never really been drinking in a bar before. Renee and I hatched an evil scheme to see what the prodigy of the Task Force is like when hammered. We're all hitting the best bars Renee knows. You've got to come along.”

Elaine sighed. “I don't know... maybe what I really need is a nice long na-”

“Drinks and food are on the Crew.”

“You make an excellent case, my dear friend,” Elaine swiftly said. “Think anyone will think to ask us for Esunas the next morning?”

“I'm not even sure people on this boat realize alcohol and its effects count as poison.”

"I think it's used for blood for some. Just look at Holtz."

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>>21757340
This is going to be problematic.

File: 1353920693098.gif-(31 KB, 351x336, 1320511208739.gif)

>>21757367
>"I think it's used for blood for some. Just look at Holtz."

>>21756416
The only Hero unit I would include with the Scout Team is VP-99, to put his Damage Avoidance Protocols to use, to know when they should bug out rather than stay a little longer.

Also, IRC confirmation from MetaOP that the Protoss Battle Fleet has protection from Warp teleporation shenanigans, so we should be able to bring them along with us.

Also, the San Francisco Nuclear Submarine is supposed to have an AI. We should check it and install it somewhere.

Before I forget (again), Vitun has a look at the Daikatana and states that it does not fully exist on this plane, a large part of it inhabiting the ethereal and some other plane, a place of dream and nightmare. It should harm spirits, demons, and things born from human emotion or thought with increased effect.

Vitun cannot divine what the secret of the Mirror is, and on trying, he is struck with a deep revelation about himself, the Mirror reflecting the spells. The Mirror's mystery deepens, but Vitun is left with a new depth of self-knowledge, at least.

>>21757538

Holtz has the body of a Futurama robot. That's almost literally true.

From the IRC:
<MetaMan> Elaine gets another ability

Due to Elaine's Blessing of Wisdom, she levels up faster, and has gained another ability.
We need to come up with one that is appropriate to her.

>>21757721

Pure as the Driven Snow

Elaine's inherent purity renders her incredibly resistant to corrupting effects (and also grants her a +20 against Double Entendre).

>>21757721

Impenetrable Defence

This pure maiden's soul is untainted like fresh snow. Innuendoes, flirtation and corrupting or evil magic have almost no effect on her.

>>21757779
>>21757793
Snowmind.

>>21757793
>>21757779

>>21756761
>>21756748

Apparently a lot of similar thinking going on in here when it comes to Elaine.

>>21757824
We're sorry, it just kind of...happens.
None of us can control it.

>>21757824

Makes choosing her special ability easy.

>>21757886

Ah, but do we want to go with resistance to Corruption, or Corruption AND Evil?

I kinda get the impression MQOP does his own internal balancing with this stuff, even if he's just winging it, so the latter'd probably be a smaller bonus than the former, 'cause it covers more stuff.

I think it'd have to be resistance to corruption, because that sort of ignorance doesn't protect you against active evil.

Might I suggest that we rotate therapists for the patients? Or perhaps have a husband/wife pair go in to show them how a healthy relationship works?

>>21758118

Do we...

... Do we have one of those on staff? A healthy relationship, I mean.

I think about the closest we have at this point is Seifer and Fujin, which is, uh.

>>21758118

Or perhaps Father Daughter pair?

We at least have that in Doug and Cheryl.

>>21758147

Well, lessee... Going down the hero list
>Char
Ahahahahaha no.
>Crowe
Fairly sure no. Canonically finds women scary.
>Pellaeon
May have had a wife at some point? If so, we ain't got her, anyway
>Cheryl
Nope
>Douglas
Divorced
>Egon
Nope
>Tosh
???? I'm guessing no, since Spectre training does not leave a lot of time for dating.
>Spike
Had a girl at one point. Then she got shot and died.
>Star-Lord
Nope
>Lyla
Nnnnope
>Finalon
???? I dunno, maybe he had a lady elf he was wooing? She isn't with us, if so.
>Mouse
Nnnnnnnope.
>Data
Pretty sure no, but my memory of TNG is spotty.

>>21758291

>BLU Team
Will not be brought into any situation involving psychological counselling, regardless of marital status.
>Gurus
????
>Lazarus
Pretty sure no, but it's been about a decade since I've gone through the Schlock archives.
>Agrias
Nope
>Agrias's Hangers On
Pretty sure no!
>Mustadio
Nope
>VP-98
If yes, that raises many worrying implications.
>Isel Yew
Maybe? We should probably ask. Never really got much background on out shadowrunning hero.
>Dr. Cossack
Pretty sure his wife is dead.
>The Starfox Crew
Having the properties of a healthy relationship explained by weird animal hybrids, PROBABLY not a good idea, given the kids previous exposure to animal hybridisation. Not Going There.
>Vitun
Do Clerics of Desna have an oath of celibacy or something? Either way, no spouse with us.

>>21758345

>Ryu
Fairly sure Ryu's only spouse is the Dragon Blade and/or Vengeance
>Aeshma
Unlikely
>Mordin
Nope
>The Crew of the Rodger Young
Maybe? We could ask.
>Marc LeCointe
Maybe? Again, asking.
>Darius
Is a Husband of the Emperor or something. Probably not helpful.

... Yeah, looks like the most normal we got is Seifer and Fujin.

Well, on the up side, we at least have a bunch of people who can teach them to be tsundere and/or pine after someone who is completely oblivious to their affections. Although I think they've got that last one down already.

>>21758377

Obviously the only way to resolve this is a plan where we take two of our heroes and have them PRETEND to be a married couple, demonstrating the properties of a healthy normal relationship, and in no way setting us up for wacky hijinks.

>>21758502

So... SpikexLyla.. No wait it would be LylaxSpike

>>21758502

I'm gonna have to nominate Lyla and HK-50 for this plan.

>>21758502
Fuck it.
Can any of the Emergency Holograms take a female form or are they tied to their default mode?
Maybe they're programmed to deal with psychological problems as well as medical ones?

>>21758532
>>21758542

If you guys want to tell Lyla to stop being so tsundere at him and just admit she finds him attractive, go ahead.

I'll be over here.

Way over here. On the other side of this extremely thick pane of reinforced glass.

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>>21758502
This is the best plan and in no way could possibly backfire.

>>21758532
+1 for this. Should be fun. Mouse gets another anime idea, probably. "He's an ex-organized crime badass turned retired bounty hunter. She's a fiery beacon of healing and shiny holy vampire death. Together they teach marriage!"

>>21758567
I'm pretty sure her spells are line-of-sight. I'll be chilling over with Paelleon while you guys inform her.

But seriously. Douglas and Cossack should give advice to those pretending. As far as we know they're the only people who've actually BEEN married.

At least we get shenanigans out of the deal.

>>21758596

>Douglas and Cossack should give advice to those pretending. As far as we know they're the only people who've actually BEEN married.

Better yet, get them earbuds, so people can shout advice at them about what they're doing wrong while they're demonstrating! It's perfect.

>>21758751
>>21758596
>>21758567
>>21758543
>>21758542
>>21758532
>>21758502

See this shit? This is why the TSAB thinks the TG leadership is comprised of a bunch of incompetent lunatics.

>>21758796

In times of madness, look to the lunatic for guidance.

You could say this is why we're the only ones in a position to fix all the shit.

>>21758567

It'd actually be ridiculously easy to convince them.

"No way." "Never!"

"Double pay..."

"No, I'm still not gonna-"

"Plus Hazard bonus."

>>21758567

Just need to tell lyla that elaine needs someone to cover her duties, she not going to decline to help.

As for spike, we just need to herd the children to visit his ward. Everything else will happen naturally. Including shenanigans.

>>21758968
>>21758957

Waaaaaait.

Wait wait wait.

The kids already think Lyla is schtupping Elaine. I'm pretty sure they'd call us on her being married to Spike.

They're recovering brainwashed, not stupid.

>>21759007

Even if they don't, "You can be happily married to a man, in a healthy, normal relationship... And still schtup Elaine!" is not a message which we want to convey.

Look, lets just have Aeshma handle this.
Maybe have Vitun summon some more Celestials even.
You should never attempt to encourage shenanigans.

>>21759028

It's possible that they need to learn that there are perfectly valid relationships that don't involve schtupping, and not every relationship has to involve schtupping. Guessing from their origins, they may only know that one type of relationship. Also that in proper relationships, you need to be considerate/respectful of the other party's feelings.

I second having Aeshma have a go at this. She's been a cleric for potentially milennia, and has probably dealt with problems of this nature in one or more of her past lives or during her time as a divine being.

Okay, so, the serious proposal for making Elaine's life easier by introducing another counselor is to bring in Aeshma, and possibly Vitun as a male counselor.

Day 30: Looter Team, with Al'Kesh 1 and 2 support, sent to X-COM Interceptor Canon, post-War in the Frontier, to acquire X-COM scientists and a full X-COM database.

We repair the light transport and equip it with Incursion Holo-Emitters and Federation sensors take from one of the shuttlecraft from the Indefatigable.
It will be accompanied by the RVF-25, since this is the kind of scouting job that the RVF was designed for, and it can provide protection with its ECM field. An Observer will go along with the Scout Team in case they need to have a recon probe.
VP-99 will go along with the Scout Team to provide his Damage Avoidance Protocols so that they know when to bug out rather than stay.

It's primary purpose is to get in, scan, then get out. It is not to engage in combat or attempt to do anything except recon.

The Spirit of Triumph replicates 640 TIE-D/C
- 10.6 hours

Magic Engineering Day 31
Guru's: Dimensional Ward on the All Under Heaven, Oncoming Storm, Indefatigable

Day 32 (since if we cast it on Day 31 it would fade before we entered combat)
Guru's: Dimensional Ward on the Relentless, Guardian, and Mikasa
Aurors: Lesser Dimensional Ward on the Hercules, Nocturne, Spirit of Triumph, Hyaku-Shiki, Gaia Gear, Brasta
Techno-Wizards: Mecha-Godzilla, Kiryu, SY-3 Squadron, VF-25 Squadron

Also, 4 small research projects we should see if we can get done:
1. Have Dr. Cossack repair and reprogram the Upgraded Metal Man we picked up in 8BD.
2. Have Dr. Lazarus check if his nanite soldier boost treatments are compatible with the Cortical Stack and RED-2 technologies.
3. Using nanite technology improve the Nemean and Phoenix Implant technology from Fallout to remove the downsides.
4. Examine the AI from the San Francisco Chinese Nuclear Submarine and see if it will be useful to us.

>>21762017
Also, we all seem to be agreed on the following skill for Elaine:
"Pure as the Driven Snow" - Elaine's inherent purity renders her incredibly resistant to corrupting effects (and also grants her a +20 against Double Entendre).

Though we might want to make her 'effectively incorruptible' like Cheryl. Elaine has gone through the horrors of a Castlevanian Ravenloft, fighting against Ebon Night and losing most of her friends, facing down Queen Zeal and the Mammon Machine, the dystopia of Dr. Grimm, the terrors unleashed by a compromised Black Ops, and the deviance of Chaosbringer's world; all without losing her innocence. I think she deserves it.

>>21762021

Here's the version for the immunity to corruption:

Pure as the Driven Snow:

Elaine has been through many trials and faced down incomprehensible evils. From the primordial terror of the Ebon Night to the destructive hedonism of the Chaosbringer, these trials have only served to temper her conviction and empathy. Her inherent purity renders her immune to corrupting effects, and serves as a shining example to all who align themselves with the forces of good in the metaverse.

But like many other exemplars of purity, she may not grasp the nuances of certain gestures until much later on.

Day 30:
Research:
Mobile Infantry/Space Marine/MetPharm Powered Armor 100%
Estimated Completion: Early-Day 31


Additional Replication:
- 3 TIE Defender to bring TIE Defender Squadron to full strength
- Spirit produces TIE Defenders for all pilots that are currently grounded due to no vehicles
- Pilots train into the TIE Defender (including the Starfox Team)
- 640 TIE-D/C

Engineering:
Install 2 Starfleet Shield Generators, 2 Starfleet Phaser Cannons on the Oncoming Storm.
BLU Engineer and Mustadio assigned to project.
Estimated Completion: Sometime Day 30
- Engineers install teleportation interdiction field generators on: Relentless, Guardian, All Under Heaven, Nocturne, Spirit of Triumph, Hercules, Oncoming Storm, Mikasa, Indefatigable
Total Time: 2 hours, 36 minutes using rotation of ships into Elysium
-- assuming that

Magic Engineering:
2 batch of Aglaophotis-B, 1 batch of Aglaophotis-C
Guru's, Techno-Wizards, Abjurers
Estimated Completion: End of Day 30

Looter Team:
- X-COM Interceptor Canon: get X-COM Scientists and complete X-COM database
- Teleporter Support: Al'Kesh 1 and 2


*** CALL THE GREAT CRUSADE AND MAKE SURE THEY GOT KAOLLA SU - SHE COULD BE LOOSE IN OUR TASK FORCE ***

>>21764759
Day 30:
- Engineers repair Kiryu and install the S2 Organ from Unit 01

Day 31:
Early Day 31 start Research 50% Mass Rifle, 25% Synthetic E-115, 25% Update Database (Tomahawk)
- switch out Synthetic E-115 since we have Looters getting the database for us.

Engineering:
- Repair the Light Meta-Transport
-- Install Incursion Holo-Emitters, Federation sensors (strip them from a shuttlecraft if we have to)
- Engineers spend 5 hours RT/25 hours ET to install Power Armor Refit Mk. I on the power armor of KI Devastator Squad A and B
- Engineers begin construction of the LSE for the Tria

Replication:
Produce MI, KI, and MetPharm power armor as needed. Troops to use Elysium time dilation for familiarization training with new suits.
- Equip the two Mechwarriors with MI power armor so they can stomp around like Elementals.

Produce 2 SY-3 Moonlights to replace the 2 lost in Chaosbringer's World.

Magic Engineering
Guru's: Dimensional Ward on the All Under Heaven, Oncoming Storm, Indefatigable (will last weeks)

2 batches of Aglaophotis-C
Techno-wizards and Abjurers
Estimated completeion: End of Day 31

Scout the Mysterious Coordinates
- Light Meta-Transport, RVF-25, VP-99, Protoss Observer, regular crew


Day 32 (since if we cast it on Day 31 it would fade before we entered combat)
Guru's: Dimensional Ward on the Relentless, Guardian, and Mikasa (will last weeks)
Aurors: Lesser Dimensional Ward on the Hercules, Nocturne, Spirit of Triumph, Hyaku-Shiki, Gaia Gear, Brasta
Techno-Wizards: Mecha-Godzilla, Kiryu, SY-3 Squadron, VF-25 Squadron

>>21758291
>>21758345
>>21758377
Ryu has Irene. The woman we promised to help him find if he joined up.

And Agrias and Mustadio have a thing that's kind of like romance going on.

>>21766024
Speaking of, Seifer and Fujin is a bad idea as an example of a normal relatonship. Fujin has Seifer pretty whipped.

File: 1353976243742.png-(132 KB, 393x396, Rucks.png)

Event: “The Vacation”
Time: Days 24-30.

“Everyone needs a little time off. Time to rest, recover, just plain ol' enjoy life. That goes double when you're in the line of work our poor kids in the Task Force are in. The rest was well deserved, sorely needed. One of the perks of working for an outfit like the Guard is the chance to see stuff you'd never see otherwise. A lot of it is bad. A lot... but not all. As that gaggle of girls led by a fiery White Mage and a veteran Shadowrunner walked through the glass-walled underwater halls of the Gates Undersound, well, it almost made all the suffering to get to that point worth it. Touring a city like Seattle in the late 2000s after the Awakening ain't a vacation to a lot of people, but to someone that's never been in a city with things more advanced that gas lanterns, it was a magical place. And well, touring a city like Seattle with a very large bank account to throw around made it that way for everyone else. A lot of fine dining, fine wining was done in those days. Everyone split up to do their own thing in small groups or as individuals, but nearly everyone gathered together at least once before reporting back. Money was pooled, they rented out one of the city's better nightclubs for their exclusive use for that one night. A good thing too. If she'd thought to use her biomancy it might've been a different story, but Cheryl learned a lesson she thought she'd already learned from vodka on the Skadovsk. Poor gal just couldn't hold her liquor. Ever see a powerful psyker drunk? It was fun times in that nightclub, but a lotta questions would've been raised if it wasn't friends only that night. Sonya and Agrias had to haul her back to her room when she finally lost consciousness. Sonya and Agrias. About the only two in that bunch that didn't get all goofy when the booze slugged through their systems. Lot of happy drunks in that bunch that night.

>>21766024
>Mustadio and Agrias
That's not really a relationship. That's a love triangle with Ramza. Not a good example there either.

As for Ryu, yes, he and Irene were in a relationship. But he's a Japanese ninja; expressing emotions (besides hatred, anger, and the thirst for revenge, with maybe sadness at the death of a loved one) is close to anathema. Trying to get him to talk about his feelings will require considerable convincing.

File: 1353976293389.jpg-(50 KB, 400x255, Cherylcredit.jpg)

>>21766149
“Lotta sad drunks too. Crowe, Douglas, Tosh, and Spike sat in a corner doing shots, remembering old days, fallen comrades. Char was amiable enough at first, but the more he drank, the more he stared into the club's pseudo-fireplace and brooded.

At least one crazy drunk. Isel wasn't that sober himself when he dared Marc Lecointe to do it, but even so, he shoulda known better. A few minutes later, the newly promoted 'Commer ran through the club naked as the day he was born, climbing on top of a table with a vodka bottle in one hand and a whiskey bottle in the other.

“KNOCK, KNOCK! MOTHER... MOTHER FUGGIN' X-COM, BITCHES!” he shouted, slurred as he tried to pour both bottles into his mouth at once and only succeeded in giving himself a booze shower. Two of his squaddies made profuse apologies and dragged him away when he fell to the floor, snoring a few minutes later. Peter Quill at least had retained enough sense of decorum to stagger over and toss a tablecloth over his naked form before they did so.”

File: 1353976380177.jpg-(41 KB, 320x220, Spikecredit.jpg)

>>21766159
“He's more burn tissue than man,” he commented. “No one wants to see that drunk OR sober.”

“Mouse drank, sure. But he remained cold sober the whole night, his nanites breaking down the alcohol before it could intoxicate him. He seemed happier... more content than he'd been in a long time, though, looking at his comrades cavorting and mingling around him.

There was a karaoke machine in that club, too. It saw a lot of use that night. Mostly from Lyla, who sang to great applause from everyone else. She grinned about as broad as a sky-barge's loading plank and turned to Spike.

“See? I don't sing off key!!!”

She wasn't the only one, though. A lot people gave it a shot, and the drunker they were, the more they tried. Later, no one could decide which was the bigger surprise. Alicia and Lavian managing a duet piece with a lot more skill than you'd think, or Isel turning out to have one hell of a fine tenor. Even Cheryl had given it a whirl, getting serious for a while and singing a heartbreaking song called “You're Not Here.”

File: 1353976423199.jpg-(41 KB, 320x220, Agriascredit.jpg)

>>21766179
“Vitun and Aeshma stopped by, but only for a while. Sensible clerics they were, they had a few drinks and left before any of the real mayhem struck. Darius was even more sensible, to the point of being a wet-rag as some commented. He and the other Space Marines declined the opportunity for shore leave, instead practicing and preparing on board the ship. Word had reached them that a confrontation with Chaos was on the horizon. They would be ready.


Well, drinking wasn't the only thing that happened in those few happy days the 'Force had to themselves. Renee led the girls on a shopping expedition that drained their credsticks and filled their closets with the latest and greatest Seattle fashions, comfort items, and knick-knacks. She showed them all the sights of Seattle, from the Space Needle, to the Everett Shipyards, to Mount Rainier itself. 'Course, she wasn't the only one to lead people there. Isel led his own rag-tag group of buddies to the same places, Mouse, Star-Lord, Douglas, Crowe, and others. Most of the team saw the sights eventually. A handful even got tickets to a game of one kind or another.

Agrias spent most of her time followed by her hangers-on as they toured the city for themselves. Lyla had dragged them along for the shopping spree, which Alicia and Lavian had delighted in, but Agrias had only carefully selected a few items, sent them back, and then excused herself for a while. When she came back, her credstick was nearly depleted. She never actually said what she did with the money, but Mouse couldn't help but notice a headline in the news the next day... “Massive Donation Left to Charity by Anonymous Donor.” For his part, Mustadio was seen consulting with Lyla, Alicia, Elaine, and Lavian, then making a few shopping trips of his own, ending with some large purchases of gift-wrap.”

Why dont we just have command crew members rotate in?
We each have our own advice to give, and we've made even SUEs wondering if they've done wrong, and those guys are pretty unflappable about that. The normalcy and frequency of male influences may help, it also helps to get them get to know us if we want them to work for us.

I'll volunteer to start off this little meet and greet. It is in no way a way to stop the faking lylaxspike fauxmarriage and to get advice from Elaine. These girls are smart enough though, they'll see through lies. Maybe just explain to them what crushes are and say how lucky they are to have to many sisters to rely on. Throw some (though warped) family values in there to help them believe more in eachother.

File: 1353976469347.jpg-(28 KB, 250x379, 250px-GiladPellaeon.jpg)

>>21766189
“Finalon was notably absent for most of this. He'd arranged quietly for a tour of Tir Na Nog, where he spent most of the week quietly absorbing the culture and customs of a people so similar, yet so different from his own. This isolation may or may not have been prompted by the incessant requests for his apparently skill as a hair-stylist. Someone had spread around the rumor that his elven dexterity lent itself very, very well to braids.

Egon stopped by only for a few days, mostly to visit the various museums and institutes, looking with great interest into how the paranormal was considered a legitimate research field with its own scientific disciplines here. He also added to his collection of spores, molds, and fungi.

And in space, Pellaeon spent a good long while sitting by the fire in the Officer's Longe, a fine snifter of brandy in one hand.”

>>21766190
If you want to speak to them directly, be my guest. Just give me the words.

File: 1353976748108.jpg-(519 KB, 2130x1841, Holtz2.jpg)

>>21766218
It's late on Day 31 when the doors to the bridge open unexpectedly, and the distinct sound of cane striking metal is heard.

"A little bird told me..." a familiar voice echoes as a bedraggled figure in a rumpled officer's uniform drags himself forward. "That I missed out on a HELL of a lot of drinking."

Holtz takes another step forward into the light, leaning heavily on his new cane.

"Why is my timing so damn poor?"

>>21766153
Not really. Ramza had little to no bit in that love triangle. Fans just like pairing him and Agrias. Mustadio actually has examples and shit in game of him and Agrias starting up a romance.

>>21766274

Clock speed off on your implants, maybe?

>>21766274
"Holtz, you alcohol-fueled bastard! You're up and about again? We've got a case of Aldeberan Whiskey we've been saving for you.
"You heard our plan for the Mystery Coordinates?"

>>21766218
Alright, beginning writing now.

>>21766318
"I just got my meat parts overhauled, don't tell me I've got to get the metal stuff looked at too!"

>>21766343
"You know what I like! Give me a glass and a bottle and give me your plans!"

>>21766383
"Alright, it's a basic plan: we fixed up a light Meta-transport from Sector HQ so that it's operational.
"We install Incursion holo-emitters and rip out a Starfleet sensor array from one of the Inde's shuttles and slap it in. We have it, the RVF-25 with a pair of fold boosters, VP-99, and a Protoss Observer transition in around Proxima Centauri.
"The sensors on the transport are good for a couple light-years, well within the distance from Proxima to Earth. The transport scans, the RVF-25 puts up an ECM field, and the Observer goes in for a closer look if the edges of Sol are safe. VP-99 monitors the data streams, and if he says to bug out, they bug out.
"And put a photon torpedo warhead on the Observer in case we need it to self-destruct.
"Get in, scan, and get out."

>>21766547
"Sounds good. You've come a long way from running away from SUE dragons and dragging the Orz around half the universe," Holtz says. When the booze arrives, he takes a long drink. "At least... I really, really hope you have."