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>>22678333
Unfortunately, though, the Fourth's shiny new Crossmore will have to stay at home. Probably. It's a shame, because it would be a big help against the mavericks you've been slated to face.

You've ... made quite a dent, haven't you? Tumult Terapin, strong as he was, was the fifth you've put down, the fifth feather in your cap. You have his weapons data to try out and another near-death experience to give you pause in your quiet moments. You try to have as few of those as possible as a rule.

Having resolved to get back to work, you pull up the roster from a quiet corner, letting your teammates keep working with the Crossmore.

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>>22678353
>Solstrike Saetos (insufficient data, A- to S-rank)
Menacing and powerful, this Eagle-type maverick has killed three officers of the 7th Air Cavalry alone. Until now Command has been unable to locate his base of operations, though at the cost of an entire forward Recon team, his location has been placed on a mountain in the Himalayas. Crossreferenced reports indicate a high number of missing persons reports and disappearances in the surrounding area, corroborating. Combat records have shown that he is very cunning, and knows how to play to his strengths. Do not engage by air.

>Winter Wolfspider (A-rank)
An infiltration specialist--Polar region operatives have been after him for some time. After a failed attempt to access records from a hunter outpost, Wolfspider has been pursued to an arboreal region. Wolfspider's eight limbs are each tipped with a plasma weapon, and he possesses a potent close-combat attack.

>Splashdown Skipjack (B-rank)
Multiple coastal cities have suffered attacks on islands in the Pacific. 6th Marine has traced the activity to the site of a decommissioned research lab, and scans indicated power to the facility. Investigation revealed a sizeable maverick presence underwater, which the Marines have deployed to contain. Meanwhile, the pattern of targets has suggested another attack is imminent. The attacker, Skipjack, is responsible for torpedo attacks on shipyards and civilian liners. He is fast and maneuverable in the water, with considerable strength and a penchant for attacking on the run.

>Select maverick?
>Test weapon(s)?
>Talk with someone? Several someones?
>Other?

>>22678361
>Splashdown Skipjack
We're a toaster in his bathtub. It's a perfect matchup. If possible, request jetski, because why the hell not?

>>22678361
>Select maverick
Winter Wolfspider's the only one that doesn't seem like a specialist would do better. We might have a good shot against Solstrike - better than Schwartzhund, maybe - but that doesn't make it a good idea, and water operations just seem like a poor idea given our skillset.

Gotta go with Wolfspider.

>>22678361
Wolfspider.

>>22678353
>You try to have as few of those as possible as a rule.
Yeah, I call bullshit.

Currently leaning toward Winter Wolfspider. A zipline would *really* come in handy in a forested area. Not sure how we would go about engaging Solstrike or Skipjack.

Also not sure what pre-mission preparations to take yet; I'm going to have to reread some threads.

>>22678361
Test ALL the weapons!

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>>22678361
Heya, command. I say either Skipjack or Wolfspider.

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>>22678707
Please never stop making these. They make my day so much brighter.

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>>22678729
Don't plan on stopping any time soon.

>>22678792
Awesome.

Currently looks like two for Wolfspider, with a third leaning that way. I'll give a few more minutes for votes/backreading/context/questions.

>>22678833
Can we get any more information on wolfspider? And we should probably test our new weapon.

>>22678887
He has as much gun as your sister, which is saying something, and he's known to be potent in close combat--an all range threat, much like you. Surveillance and recon has shown that he's very mobile and skilled at using the terrain to his advantage.

>>22679004
Well, if he only has plasma, we should be able to match him long range. We've got the equipment to counter that at least.

Right, looks like we're going with Wolfspider. Any objections?

>>22679306
Nope.

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>>22679306
No but I have...

>>22679306
Sounds like we need a plan.

Did we ever properly test out the T. Shell? We do need to do that before we head out. Other than that, we're good.

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>>22678607
>>22678634
>>22678640
You make up your mind--Solstrike's mission profile remains ominous and intimidating, and you're not sure exactly what to do about a water enemy. Besides, he's B-rank. Wolfspider is an A, making him the bigger threat between the two. You'll get to them.

Before that, though... You note an interesting orange-on-blue pattern dances across your arms as you switch to your new weapon, the Tumult Shell. Firing it at the range seems unspectacular--the haptic orange hexagram-pattern projectile almost lazily trundles down the range, hitting the distant target with an unceremonious plink. Schwarz notices as you grunt in annoyance, trotting a ways over.

"Energy shield," you admit, "I guess it'll look better if--"

Schwarz shoots you.

"GWAHSDHF," you sputter, firing a shell reflexively. That same "plink" rings as the shots collide in midair, your new weapon dissipating the lone projectile and sailing blithely on. Schwarz calmly whips his coat at it as it passes, fizzling it on the armored surface.

"...That wasn't nice," you huff. He just gives you that wry half-smirk.

"Heading out?" he asks, shaking the coat once before throwing it back on.

"Yeah, going after Wolfspider."

Schwarz nods. "Good luck. Be careful."

You recharge your VWES, and then depart as Em leaves the Claymore, hopping down beside Grach. India fills the cockpit as soon as it's free with a gleeful cackle.

And with that, you make your way for the Command room.

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>>22679750
You select the mission, drumming your fingers as you wait for the requisition screen to come up.

Though it never does, instead informing you that your beam-in site will be a small Polar regional Hunter base, and you can requisition support from them. Well, whatever works, you guess. The teleport pad warms up and sends a notification to your destination--apparently, somewhere near a reserve in Alaska.

>Send them a message?
>Take care of anything else before you go?

>>22679845
>Send them a message?
Well, if the guy is as smart as we think he is, he might have tapped communications during his infiltration attempt. Better to arrive by surprise, we can tell them later.
>Take care of anything else before you go?
Well, getting Pressly as support as soon as possible would be a good thing. I'm tempted to see if we can't get Grach as a liaison for this, he's probably not doing anything important right now and he probably has some good insight on how an infiltrator would think. Unlikely though given he is still pretty much a prisoner, but nonetheless it might be worth a shot.

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>>22680038
>Pressly
No exploding consoles to be had. Did you mean Wellington?

Ah yeah, whoops.

I know I'm being pokey, but is it me or is the board a bit slow today?
>>22679750
You mull over your preparations. Rather than walk into this blind, you may as well start trying to tilt the odds in your favor before you even start. You defer leaving, instead pulling up a line to Communications and requesting Navigation support from Wellington.

"Ah, Anode," he says primly as he appears on the Command room screen, "my favorite suitor."

"Must be pretty sparse for competitors, then," you reply. "How you doing, Wellsey?"

"I can't complain. I assume this is a business call?"

"Yep, going off to the States again. Wanted to arrange some mission support."

"Well, as it so happens, my schedule's wide open. Receiving your mission parameters now." His eyes flit off-screen for just a moment as he reviews them, before snapping right back up. "Target retirement in Alaska, got it. Oh, and before we begin, Anode--" His expression turns more serious. "Are you feeling any better since the Jagwire mission?"

>Are you? What say?

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>>22680419
Rassum frassum Captcha rassum frassum picture...

>>22680419
I've been trying not to think about it too much, but I should be fine.

>>22680419
I think people might be distracted by robot highschool quest. They probably smell waifus.

>Are you? What say?
I think we have a case of "hanging in there".
Things have been heavy since then seeing with the whole "man killer" thing now.

So "Yeah, a bit."

>>22680419
We've been distracting ourself from it with work, but it's been clawing (pun intended) at the back of our mind for a while.

>>22680419
maybe, It hurts less knowing that there's people around if I need to talk about it Welsy. No lets go kill this spider idiot and go collect some more emotional scars, also keep my last know coordinates in case this asshat found some caves for us to play in

>>22680419
"Yeah, sort of. It's not the sort of thing I'll ever be happy about but I've been keeping myself busy and slowly coming to terms with it. I'm holding up okay."

>>22680419
Suddenly my earlier post is appropriate.

>>22680419
It is awfully slow, isn't it?

"Yeah. Spending time with friends helps."

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>>22680550
>>22680585
>>22680651
>>22680666
>>22680679
"Yeah," you say. "A bit. Still scratching at the back of my mind--"

"Argh!"

"--but I'm keeping myself busy." You frown. An hour ago you'd have probably been more optimistic about this. Then again, an hour ago you weren't known as Anode, Human Killer.

Still, not like you're about to go putting that on business cards. "It helps knowing that I've got people to talk to if I need them. So thank you for that."

If Wellington can tell there's something else on your mind, he doesn't show it. You're grateful for that. "Not a problem. Er, not that Communications is your personal therapist, but--"

"No, I get you. but hey, not like you're drowning in support requests."

He chuckles. "True enough. Let's get going."

You step on to the pad with that, cutting the video and switching to onboard comms, and off you go.

Waiting for you at your destination is one humanoid reploid, sitting at a desk with a drip coffee maker and a broken dartboard. "Hey there," he says, rising to shake your hand. "Welcome to the end of the world. Anode with the Fourth, right?"

You take his hand and nod. "That's me. You are...?"

"Calais, 13th Polar. And this," he waves vaguely at the cluttered, confined space around you, "Is Outpost 36."

>Ask about stuff?
>Down to brass tacks. On with the mission.

>>22680911
>Ask about stuff?

Start with any info on Wolfspider, what sort of thing to watch out for given the environment, if there has been any sight of him or otherwise suspicious things happening at the base, what Outpost 36 is used for, what resources the base has at its disposal. That sort of thing.

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>>22680911
>Ask about stuff
And by stuff I mean the clutter. And confiningness. And the base as a whole.

I'm getting the sinking feeling that
> you can requisition support from them
actually means
> you're as fucked as they are, bub

>>22680911
What should our concerns be, engaging a foe in the snow? What should we look out for to avoid ambush in this case? Any weather concerns going into this?

>>22680911
Ask if they've got a good generator we can get some charge off of. Starting the fight at 50-80% might be good.

Ask about the weather. What season is it right now anyway, still Summer/Fall? I forget.

>>22681748
this, definately. we're about as far from our hometurf as we can be

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>>22681480
This doesn't sounds like a bad idea, we should also ask for any info about the weather dont want to be cought unaware by a sudden snow storm
>Sorry I couldnt be here earlier

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>>22680980
>>22681088
>>22681460
>>22681480
"So what do you know about our mav?" you ask.

"Not much," he says. "Wolfspider was caught trying to get some info from the base in Anchorage--recruitment reports or dossiers, something like that. Apparently they have an information specialist there or something, because they found him and got a bead on his location and he had to bug out."

"And he ran up here?"

"Yeah. O36 used to be a mining or lumber camp or something. Maybe trapping? I'm not sure, I'm not a details sort of person. Anyway, we're right on the edge of an arboreal preserve."

"I heard about that. What's here to preserve?"

"'Alaskan wildlife and beauty,' or something like that. I'm told this place has the largest unmodified plant life remaining in North America." That's actually sort of interesting--most of the vegetation has been modified with cybernetics to improve oxygen production in this day and age. It was only a few years ago that they announced the efforts had made the desired effect, and they were now slowly re-introducing unmodified samples back and trying to replenish their numbers. Calais shrugs. "We haven't set eyes on him, but we know he's in this area. They've got a cordon of sensors and mechaniloids around the reserve. But that's the punchline--they're not sending them in to flush him out because of the risk of damaging the reserve."

"Um."

"Personally, if it's between a marauding hostile reploid and a few evergreens, I know what I pick."

"No, I mean--I sort of have a history of..." You trail off, waving vaguely at the air and pantomiming an explosion.

"Ah," Calais says, amused. "Not exactly 10th material, are we?"

"Something like that."

"Well, one hunter will probably do less than a bunch of 'loids and tracks and treads and what have you stomping across creation. Probably."

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>>22682101
"That still leaves me a few hundred acres to hunt him down on, doesn't it? He's an infiltration specialist, I don't like the sound of that."

"We'll coordinate, and it's not like we've been sitting here playing Minesweeper," the Polar agent replies. When we can, we cordon off an area and narrow down his playground. It's a bit spooky, laying tracking nets and hoping we don't get jumped. It's going to be a pain collecting them all again."

"How about this outpost? Looks a bit... cozy," you offer.

"Small, understaffed with pay to match? Yes, all of these things." He shrugs. "It's not so bad, but we're backwater by any stretch. We're more like a guard station or a checkpoint than a base. It's just myself, a few Lanceteamers, and Linda. She's in town getting more supplies together."

"You said something about mechaniloids? What do you have here?"

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>>22682135
"You came from Geneva, right? Mostly just old models and some weather-adapted refurbishes. And they're almost all out making up that cordon. We don't really have much work out here, just filling in area coverage. We're the Hunter version of a comm tower."

"Terrific," you grumble. Score another one for Hunter organization. "What's your story?"

"Me? Built in Marseille, sent to Quebec, transferred to my little slice of paradise here," he says. Ah--that's the accent you were picking up. "I've seen a bit of action, but the worst we usually get is a malfunctioning mechaniloid or a civilian model reploid gone off the deep end."

"Anything you can tell me about looking around in this place? Terrain, environment, weather?"

"It won't be easy, by any stretch. We're not expecting anything in the way of weather, but you probably don't want to be out there at night. At least the days are about equal this time of year. Other than that, your terrain is going to be a lot of woods and some hills. A lot of places where camouflage could be a factor. Trees mean he could hide behind or against them, or in the branches."

You look down at your bright, distinctive colorjob, designed for good visibility. "This is going to suck."

"Not necessarily," he says. "I'll get a few things together for you, before you head out. I can do that, at least."

"On that note, do you have a generator or anything I could draw some power off of?"

He shakes his head. "We're already running up against the limits of the base power supply with the tracking nets. You'd black us out." This op is off to a great start. He looks at you apologetically. "Anything else?"

>

Time to learn How Not To Be Seen!

>>22682163
Make sure to get the winter camo.

Get these guys in contact with Wellsey so they can coordinate information from the cordon and the like to us easily.

See how small an area Wolfspider is currently cordoned off into.

Jump up and down, do jumping jacks, that sort of thing to get our charge to something half decent.

>>22682163
Ask for a map you can study

>>22682163
How does that tracking net thing work exactly? Is there any chance he could bypass it? I don't want to go out hunting and then have him just run away, or worse into the base.

This Linda person sounds like human administration personnel, correct?

Arrange team, go hunting for Wolves... spiders... this sounded a lot better in my head.

Also, we totally should've called that russian bear guy for support.

...

Not that the wildlife yould handle the two of us.

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>>22682309
>bring Uralmash Ursa to a nature preserve

Are we going to try and take this guy alive?

>>22682263
What he said.

>>22682163
A map and a brief description of what ind of wild life we might run into might be nice

>>22682370
I laughed so hard I almost choked.

Seriously though, trees grow back.

>>22682474
Maybe. Obviously, the less damage done to the preserve, the better, and if that means a nonlethal takedown, so be it. Besides, if Wolfspider has info specialists (or is one himself), we might get more Maverick intel out of him alive.

I'd default to "whatever is necessary, but can't hurt if you do."

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>>22682574
He has a nuclear cannon.

Posting still in the works, just coordinating info between Cain Labs and Elk.

>>22682671
In that case, they grow back with pretty pretty flowers!

See: those plants in fukushima.

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>>22682231
Monty Python is the way to my heart.

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>>22682748
The Hunter on your telly is about to explode...

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>>22682263
>>22682272
>>22682309
"Okay then," you say. "For starters, let's link up. I've got Navigation on the line helping me out. I want you two to corroborate, if you can."

"No problem," Calais says with a nod.

"In the meantime, how does this tracking work? How much area is covered?"

He crosses the room, opening a cabinet beside the only computer you've seen in the base. "Multi-spectrum scans, including visual. Should be able to pick up vibrations, as well, but we haven't really been testing that. As for coverage, we've got teams all around the perimeter with a few borrowed units here and there. The sensors themselves cover about two hundred acres, with about fifty left to go. It's possible we've already gone over his hiding spot, we keep in close contact while we work in case he jumps one of us."

"Could he have slipped out?"

"I don't know, maybe," he admits. "We've been as thorough as we can be, and the area outside this preserve is a lot more open and visible. Personally? I think he's around."

"Okay, noted. You'd know better than me. What about your partner up here, Linda?"

"Linda's a tracker. She grew up out here. She'd be a shoe-in for the Ninth or Tenth--maybe even the Seventh, she flies an old-school spotter plane for tourists as a hobby--but she wants to stay here. She says she likes the land."

"All right, so she knows her way around. If she gets back, we can use that."

"Speaking of, here," Calais replies, tossing you a few pouches. "Snow-print, woodland, mountain ponchos. Extra-extra large." You examine them--they should work nicely for the terrain out there. "We can't do much about those shoulders of yours, but this is a lot better than going out there in greys and blues."

"Yeah, no joke," you reply. "Thanks."

He sets down in front of that computer. "I'll comm your Navigator and we'll network between the three of us. Is that everything you need?"

>Well?

>>22683152
"Can't think of anything else. Let me know when Linda gets back, if I don't find anything by then I might want her help."

Put on a poncho and get started on this mission.

>>22683152
Let's do this!

>>22683190
can't wait until we actually start fighting and the poncho burns off of us like a KoF boss's clothes.

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>>22683152
Time to go and throw our selves to the "wolves"

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>>22683152
"I think I'm ready," you decide with a nod. You'll hold off on opening up a poncho until you know what the environment is going to be like out there. "One more thing, though. You said 'almost' all your 'loids were out?"

"Yeah. Well, if you want them, they're yours."

"Sure, why not? Every little bit helps."

"Garage is around back. I'm going to get a map to you and the 5th."

You head out, into the cold Alaskan air for the first time, and look for your army.

Your army...

Of rabbits.

"You have got to be shitting me," you murmur to yourself. The ray bits hop about languidly, going through their life-imitation subroutine, grazing at nonexistent grass.

"What was that, Anode?" Wellington asks.

"Er--nothing." Fuck. Shit. Piss.

>WHATEVER. RABBITS. I WILL SALLY FORTH AT THE HEAD OF AN ARMY OF RABBITS.
>I...just...this...no.

>>22683452
...

Rabbits vs wolf?

I find this poetic enough to work.

>>22683452
Why do they even have these? Ah, fuck it. Lets use them. This going to make for a great story later.

>>22683473
they can be a distraction if nothing else.
we all know what happens to those who underestimate rabbits

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>>22683509
This is just turning into Monty Python MHQ night, isn't it?

>>22683452
>>WHATEVER. RABBITS. I WILL SALLY FORTH AT THE HEAD OF AN ARMY OF RABBITS.

Fuck it, may as well, it'll be worth a few drinks at the bar later and they might grab his attention, take a few hits, draw him out.

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>>22683452
Lead our rabbits to victory!

I'm having fun, but just do not know what to say.

So I'm debating taking a break on the main story for the night/thread. It'll give Elk a chance to make Wolfspider as horrible as I want him to be, and let me do some finer planning for the fun ahead. I have enough to go off now, but a bit more planning time isn't gonna hurt it.

I also want to revisit the idea I had on New Year's, the bonus stories? The general consensus was that they were a bit too short, and I wouldn't mind trying a more extended one. I don't know, what do you guys think?

>>22683796
im all for it. let the man work his magic

>>22683796
YUS! AND NOBLEBRIGHT TOO!

>>22683796
I'm cool with this. Wolfspider being full on horrific can only be good.

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>>22683452
We are become El-ahrairah, Prince with a Thousand Enemies.

>>22683796
As you like. It's all good.

>>22683796
Go for it.

Looks like sidestory time is go.

Any preferences or character/tone specifics? We've got at least one vote for noblebright.

We could continue with what we had, kind of sort of cut out mid action it seemed

>>22683888
I'm liking the idea of Noblebright.

Maybe Cathode and Anode teaming up against some foe, showing the power of Sibling Love, and the power of plasma.

>>22683944
I like this idea. seconding

>>22683888
I'll vote noblebright.

Not that I have anything against writing sibling teamup, but I'm gonna leave it a little while longer for more votes.

Gives me more time to practice trying to get the iceless heart in X1, I SWEAR I used to be able to do this easily...

>>22684439
just a heads up, there's probably a lot of guys just idling and waiting for stuff to happen with no strong opinions of their own.

I wouldn't mind our local russian infiltraitor messing around in the base a bit Noir style, but still light hearted detective work maybe?

>>22684439
i think its more or less unanimous

>>22684641
I generally assume we've got a lot of lurkers compared to active voters, but at the same time, I would swear up and down we usually have more activity than this. Plus with so little going on I'm actually getting kind of drowsy. I'm honestly considering postponing until tomorrow, though if so I'll commit to that so there's no obscenely long wait.

>>22684688
I'd Be more active but today is the day I final get to start my Maverick Hunter Game i've been planning on running for the past year, Im just putting the finishing touches and double checking every thing, wish me luck, If you were wondering its a die pool system using a bunch of mods and splats for the Triune Legacy system

>>22684688
MHQ is irregular so it has a tendency to be unexpected.

>>22684688
A Day in the Life of a Ray Bit.

You know you want to.

>>22684832
Only after Lieutenant Full Metool's best day ever.

>>22684898
I'd throw my hat in with Lieutenant Full Metool any day

>>22684832
...I'd do it, but it wouldn't exactly fill a thread.
>>22684828
Very true, though hopefully the twitter helps with that.
>>22684812
Good luck! That makes what, three maverick hunting games now? Bring back stories.
>>22684682
Noblebright definitely is. I'll keep that tone in mind whatever I write.

I think I'm going to pause here even though it's early, and continue tomorrow. Partially from the slow activity, partially from just getting really damn tired all of a sudden. I'm not discounting any votes, so tomorrow I'll ask again, see what people think, and go with the Anode/Cathode teamup if nothing else supplants it. And if this thread 404s, I'll make a new one. I'll archive this one as soon as I post this, so we don't risk losing it.

In the meantime, share, discuss, talk, vote on stuff for me to find. I'll stay up for a while and talk/field questions or what have you, but I'm tired enough by now that I think my writing would be impacted.

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>>22684986
Well at this point we have, Player A Tango Tengu a wind using Flight unit from the 7th, Player B an un named Human Mechanic from Brazil, Player C Nikolai Leonid an Electric using duel swordsmen Reploid Built in Russia has a kind of "Electro Slavic Knight" thing going on, Player D 34RP a Customized Steel Beret who uses twin pistols and wears a Chrome Sombrero had his voice unit broken and hasnt bothered to get it fixed, And Finally Player E who has an un-named Human Sniper from Wales. And that Makes up our Emergency Response Team that Deploys from HongKong.
And of course it is my Duty as ClericMan to lead our group to what can only be described by Bards after our corpus having long cooled
Tonight shall be interesting

>>22685312
I think D 34RP actually posted on /tg/ about his character and the campaign.

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>>22685666
Yes yes he did, look I even have the piece he gave me for his character portrait

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>>22685688
Huh. The art posted in that thread was pretty awesome. Gives me good stock images.

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>>22685748
holy fuck thats a great image,
just wow

>>22685748
That is the absolute height of class.

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This was also posted. There were some good drawfags in that thread/

File: 1358647659889.png-(1.45 MB, 1727x2353, 1357828200681.png)

See, I can't draw, so I make shitty shoops. I don't really have any actual talent beyond patience. The guys who made these, however, are great.

>>22684439
I ended up breaking out X1, too, because of this post.

Fucking Sting Chameleon's fucking danmaku fuck fuck fuck

>>22684828
>MHQ
>Irregular
Heh.
Also, damnit, I finally re-located Maverick Hunter Quest and it's on a temporary break! Figures.

>>22686390
Speaking of, has anyone seen A Self Called Nowhere recently? Haven't seen him in thread in a while.

>>22686455
No Clue but I will attempt to give out highlights of how this mess ends up once we start, just t o keep the thread alive

>>22686508
Don't leave them without a MHQ homage somewhere.

Well, I may as well give this a bump now that I've come across it. I'd like MHQ a lot more if I actually knew when the hell to look for it.

>>22686508
What's with your random as shit capitals? that aside, your story is interesting.

>>22687364
Like Hunter Command said, he'll definantly be doing it tomorrow, and if I recall, he tries to keep a twitter feed of when he will run.

I vote Lieutenant Full Metool's best day ever

File: 1358670691729.jpg-(44 KB, 500x486, X8F9f.jpg)

Alright so where to begin...So it starts with our two human character Ricardio Meldibon and Jorge Jessup graduating from the Officers Academy and receiving there deployment instructions, a new hunter out post in HongKong. Nikolai Leonid our Russian swordsmen who is being gifted to the Hunters as a goodwill gesture who was accidentally Beamed to a space station and then to Geneva where he is deployed to the HongKong outpost. We have 34rp who spent a large amount of time being shipped with other equipment to the outpost and then Final Tango Tengu who was told to meet up with the Commander of the 7th in the command center, upon arriving at the command center Tango meets up with a tall lanky Reploid Col. Strafe who informs Tango that he is being transferred to HongKong.
First to arrive is Nikolai who beams in to an empty transport room, he waits around for a bit before he decides to go and find someone, after searching the empty unlabeled halls Nikolai eventually finds the backup server room where he meets a small Asian man both of them have heavy accents and eventual Nikolai gets that he should head to the cafeteria and someone would help him out from there, and once again into the maze like corridors he sets out, (now its important to note that the base is an old unused military base built into the side of a mountain and everything has been turned off and disabled for about 20 years so none of the communication equipment has been enabled yet) Back in Geneva Tango has gathered his stuff and headed to the transport room to meet up with Col. Strafe, who wasn't there instead we meet Major. Lyra who has been rounded up from RnD and isn't pleased with her new assignment, Lyra and Tango beam over to HongKong and Lyra starts freaking out because Nikolai who was supposed to be waiting in the transport room to meat up with them. Meanwhile Richardo and Jorge who are on route via plane from the Academy finally hit tarmac and disembark meeting up with a Reploid in black suit.

File: 1358671495383.jpg-(21 KB, 270x326, 1355233538039.jpg)

>>22691851
Who takes them up the mountain by jeep, while 34rp is now on route to the base via a large cargo truck, Nikolia who is now lost somewhere in the bowels of the base decides he should probably backtrack and try and find his way back to the Transport room making a surprisingly high roll to map out where he'd been in his head eventually runs into Lyra and Tango, who then proceed to the entrance.By now Richardo and Jorge have reached the entrance to the base a large set of metal doors in the side of the mountain where the meet up with a rather upset looking Truck driver who's been waiting for a while for someone to open up and sign for the equipment in his truck, after waiting around for what feels like forever the doors suddenly start to open and shouts of "Victory!" can be heard coming from within revealing Lyra Tango and Nikolai on the other side of the doors in a large hanger like space, Lyra begrudgingly signs for the goods while complaining about how this isnt her god dam job and the truck driver proceeds to unload his truck of loading 8 Steel Beret units 3 Speeder Cycles and 1 Ride Armor. (Now before I go any further I wont you to know your supposed to be on my side here)

File: 1358673074579.jpg-(316 KB, 1920x1080, 1351693747430.jpg)

>>22691973
From here the party meets 34rp who is unable to talk and introduce himself so the party promptly decides to name him Jimmy, now that the party is finally together Lyra decides to gives a speech where she informs the party that this isnt her job she's not glad to be here, she gives a description of what Col. Strafe looks like to those who haven't met him, a tall and lanky reploid with a black and purple color scheme and if anyone see's him to tell him she wants a word with him. After telling the party to get the main doors closed Lyra and the Steel Berets head inside the base to start getting things set up.
(Now this is where everything decides to take a nosedive when the party racks up over 20 degrees of failure in only a handful of rolls)
So Nikolai goes up to a old looking computer terminal to try and close the main doors, having no computer skills at all Nikolai decides to push every button on the control panel one at a time in order and it goes on like this for a while as Richardo, 34rp or Jimmy as he was called by the party and then Jorge all take turns botching basic checks and trying to reprogram the old control panel ( The screen wasnt working and none of the keys were labeled) finally get one of the doors to close and then the gears that move the other door start to make the most horrible screeching sounds, Nikolai having decided that there were better things to do left to go and see if the little Asian man he had met earlier new how to close the door and Tango went into the base to see if he could find the housing area, And then Jorge decides that he will just write a program to turn off the power to the door and proceeds to causes a power surge that fries the Geo-thermal power generator for the base plunging it into darkness briefly before the emergency lights turn on and light arrows on the floor point to the entrance

File: 1358677464574.jpg-(185 KB, 1280x731, 1355220050353.jpg)

>>22692208
Now Nikolai having ventured into the base to find the little Asian man manages to re-find him just as the power fails terminating all the computers that he was using to activate all of the bases systems. At this point he is having a meltdown and raging about how this was all the Russian guys and shoddy Chinese construction. Nikolai returns to others in the hanger to relay that the generator is down. And in typical party fashion they promptly split into a bunch of individual groups, Tango who was already alone looking for the living quarters, Nikolai and Ricardio who set off into the base to see if they can fix the generator and 34rp who later decides now would be a good idea to explore the base and Jorge who decided to guard the still partially open door.
I forgot a great part in which they realize that there unit, The F.ar E.ast A.sia R.esponse Unit could be shortened as F.E.A.R Unit and many a joke and designs to write F.E.A.R on all there gear was hatched just before the blackout.

Anyways back to the story. The story of a Tengu and his fear of Ghosts...
After pointlessly wandering around with no really plan Tango eventually stumbles upon what appears to be a long corridor full of sleeping rooms and continues to wander to the end where he is confronted with a large set of double doors that he needed to pry open as the power has just gone out on him. Inside the room is just inky blackness as no Emergency lights are on in this room, upon entering the room the door suddenly slams shut trapping Tango in the dark room, and then in his sudden sock at being totally blind spins around and trips over something on the floor causing him to loose his barring and any sense of direction, now stumbling around in the dark and unable to find whatever he had tripped on he comes to the realization that the base must be haunted by a vengeful ghost and then spends the next hour trying to appease his ghostly overlord.

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>>22692869
(Now I know ghosts, but you have to realize that Tango Tengu is not the most stable cracker in the box of crayons, he has some social issues and is mentally unstable sometimes. It comes with the territory of being based on some crazy American Robotics team to recreate TenguMan )
Alone in the Dark with a vengeful ghost and armed only with his A-Gun (Air-gun), Stratosphere's windmill (Tango's collapsible arm mounted windmill shuriken) and his A-thrusters (Tango's back and shoulder mounted flight unit) Tango stood doing all kinds of bazaar acts including but not limited to dance and promises of sacrifices to try and calm the ghost.

Now back at the entrance Nikolai and Ricardio have ventured into the base in search of the generator now having spent less than a combined 3 hours in the base Nikolai leads them to the Asian man in hopes of learning the generators location. Thankfully Ricardio's English is not as accented as Nikolai's and is able to figure out that the generator is on basement floor 4 of the base (They are presently on the main floor 1) and so they set off to look for maintenance ladders that lead to the lower floors. after another series of botched rolls Nikolai is so focused on mapping out were they were in his head he doesn't notice that he and Ricardio has parted ways, however this gets pushed to the back of his mind as he realizes he finally found the cafeteria he was looking for before and immediately sets out to search it for clues.
(Now Nikolai is armed with his brother sabers Moralltach and Beadalltach as well as his Tesla Armor, he shares a similar ability with Anode as he has a charge capacitor that he draws on to charge electricity through his blades or emit a 360 degree discharge blast from his armor)
And so Nikolai ransacked the kitchen area looking for a set of stairs leading to a lowered cold storage area only to find a walk-in fridge and freezer both on the same level.

File: 1358679612505.jpg-(156 KB, 731x800, VileRideArmor.jpg)

>>22693022
Now at this point 34rp has been taking allot of left turns and decides to make a right turn and once again ends up back at the entrance to the base where he tags out with Jorge who decides to take a crack at finding and fixing the generator. 34rp who is now left alone in the hanger decides that in order to keep everyone safe he should move the ride armor into the open space where the right door hasn't closed.

(Now 34rp or Jimmy as the party calls him is an older Steel Beret that has been retrofitted with twin pistols named Shutter and Apache and his ChromBrero a solid chrome sombrero, he is really only designed for combat and is really incapable of doing simple tasks like driving and solving puzzles)

Now to the entire groups surprise 34rp manages to pilot the ride armor safely where he wants it by using up his only good rolls for the evening. now feeling that the base is safe with this large metal minion guarding the opening he decides now would be a great time to run back inside the base and find the other Steel Berets that had gone with Lyra to set up things inside.

File: 1358680302268.jpg-(48 KB, 224x257, 1334827373461.jpg)

>>22693156
While all this madness is going on Ricardio who had been separated from Nikolai had managed to find the maintenance shaft and had descended down to basement floor 1 where he runs into Lyra and some of the Steel Berets who give him 4 glow stick and tell him that the maintenance shafts are located next to the breaker boxes for the floor, armed with his new knowledge and glow sticks Ricardio quickly descends down to basement floor 4 only to find that the Generator room door is closed and he lacks the strength to pry it open so he decides to head to the main breaker for the entire base hoping its just a tripped breaker not a problem with the generator and starts by flipping all the switches to the off position. causing the entire base to loose all emergency power and suddenly all the lights for the entire base and the air circulation is shut down.

(Ricardio is our human mechanic from Brazil armed with his trusty T-buster [torch] capable of creating a wielding and cutting flame and firing short distance fire bolts, freshly graduated from Officer Academy is skilled at working on and repairing machines)

File: 1358680860641.jpg-(190 KB, 1024x1024, 1352033741609.jpg)

>>22693248
Just as the power cuts out is when Jorge enters the base, unlike everyone else this poses little problem for Jorge who puts on his night vision goggles and begins to wander about the base for the first time and realizing the level of challenge that was in front of him as every turn makes him more and more lost until he ends up running into 34rp in front of the elevator that's not working and so they head off together with Jorge in the lead and 34rp having tied a rope to Jorge's belt trundles along behind them until they eventually find the maintenance shaft and head down to Basement floor 1.

(Jorge is the other Human member of the F.E.A.R. Unit, A native of Wales he is also freshly graduated from the officer academy he wields a bold action sniper rifle and has a set of goggles know as sniper goggles that provide a night vision feature and digital zoom capabilities. he has knowledge of history and tactics)

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>>22693323
Having found nothing in the cafeteria and loosing Ricardion Nikolai heads out into the darkness only guided by the soft green light being let off by his beam saber Beadalltach, after a dizzying series of of turns he ends up walking down a long corridor coming to a large set of double doors, from with in he can hear what sounds like some one talking softly, so Nikolai calls out to the voice and is met by the voice of Tango calling out if this was a sign from his ghostly oppressor. After talking Tango down and convincing him he's not a ghost Nikolai pulls open the door and the two of them venture in search of a way down to the generator only to find that they are far to large to fit in the rather tiny maintenance shaft and are left to try and figure out how there going to get to the lower levels, after some debate they decide on finding the elevator and trying to use Nikolai as a battery to power the elevator, since Nikolai had managed to map most of the main floor in his head it didn't take long for them to find the elevator and after a bit of experimentation with Nikolai's electric power out put they were on there way to basement floor 4.

Mean while in a mad flurry of switch toggling Ricardio had managed to return the emergency lights to the main floor and basement floor 2 although he wasn't aware of that, then 3 Steel Berets came across Ricardio toggling like mad and managed to draw his attention long enough for him to tell them he couldn't open the door to the generator room and so the Berets left to go open the door when Ricardio managed to divert enough of the emergency power from vital systems and direct it to the elevator (Completely by accident) just as one of the Berets returned to tell him that they had managed to pry the door open enough for them to get though and so Ricardio set off with the Berets to repair the generator and keep everyone from suffocating in the dark even if they didn't know that would happen.

File: 1358683276952.jpg-(51 KB, 416x312, 1357949331642.jpg)

>>22693522
At this point Nikolai and Tango have just reached basement floor 4 and set off into the dark to find the generator. While 34rp and Jorge have been aimlessly wandering around basement floor 1 when they stumble upon the elevator and its glowing light shining bright in the darkness and catch a ride down to basement floor 4.

Now all evening the entire party has had mostly nothing but terrible rolls and degrees of failure that i could never imagine when Ricardio goes to repair the Geo-Generator, now Recardio has an ability that makes all successes that are rolled for mechanics checks are counted as double when he suddenly rolls 9 degrees of success double up to 18 to fix the generator.
There were no words as Ricardio walks up to the generator and preforms the right of percussive maintenance and simply kicks the generator causing it to suddenly sputter back to life saving the party from suffocating to death in the dark.

And that's the story of how my Maverick Hunter group nearly died on the first day without ever going into combat, I had planned a whole level and boss fight but since they basically cut off all their access to the outside world and communication they never got the emergency call and nearly got the selves killed and now some of the think the base is haunted by an angry ghost

>>22693663
And with thats its 4 am and im going to bed, someone else can keep the thread alive from here

File: 1358686842936.jpg-(168 KB, 832x512, business as usual for the(...).jpg)

Oh god.
>(Now this is where everything decides to take a nosedive when the party racks up over 20 degrees of failure in only a handful of rolls)
itbegins.jpg
>he comes to the realization that the base must be haunted by a vengeful ghost and then spends the next hour trying to appease his ghostly overlord.
itshappening.jpg
>Now 34rp or Jimmy as the party calls him is an older Steel Beret
Not to rain on your parade, but Steel Berets are actually a new rollout,compared to the older lines of Lanceteamers, Lanceteamer Assails, and Lanceteamer Bingos, but hey, whatever's fun. And it sounds like you had fun with it. Keep it up.

Anyway, I'm awake after the sun's up for a change and ready for more. We'll probably be slow again today, but hey, I got nowhere else to be. Also, just a reminder, you can suggest pretty much anything for the sidestory. It doesn't have to be one of the ones from last thread.

That said, doors are open. Hit me.

>>22694091
I think the most wanted stories are Lieutenant Full-Metool's best day ever and Sibling team up.

>>22694091
Wouldn't mind seeing Grach shenanigans baseside, or a continuation of that story last thread.

>>22694332
Looks like. It's still only 9 AM and the board doesn't pick up until further on in the day, so I'm going to continue to be lazy and wait for more activity. I think it's currently Fullmetool by a vote or two.
>>22694339
Tell you what, I'll try to do that anyway, after whatever else we do.

>>22694587
I'll vote for Fullmetool. Something lighthearted before we get ourselves dismembered and stalked through the unforgiving wilderness by a plasma-wielding death spider.

File: 1358693567053.jpg-(31 KB, 256x231, Have helmet, will travel.jpg)

You are Lieutenant Fullmetool, a proud officer of the Maverick Hunters. Your gleaming helmet is perched at a jaunty angle on your head, and your officer's bars gleam on your sides. Your normal duties comprise guarding a fellow officer's room, acting as a silent sentinel, a guardian between the denizens of these quarters and the dangers beyond. But today is going to be different, you can feel it. Today is going to be the best day ever.

Sure enough, in comes your partner--Anode, another Lieutenant, and a stand-up guy. He looks like a football lineman ate a cop, but he's a good fella.

"Hey there, little buddy," he says, "Wanna go on an adventure?"

CALLED IT.

>What do

>>22695032
Go on this adventure, of course. I'd like to imagine we're pretty good at providing backup.

File: 1358694333809.jpg-(119 KB, 659x439, bestdayever.jpg)

>>22694587
Lieutenant Fullmetool's best day ever.

File: 1358694519161.png-(783 KB, 721x779, lieutenant full metool.png)

>>22695032
Oh and incase you want it, Lieutenant Fullmetool's stock image.

>JOYRIDE! JOYRIDE!

File: 1358695375020.png-(189 KB, 679x675, son of a BITCH.png)

>>22695140
>>22695162
>>22695192
Of course you do! You don't even have time to reply before Anode nods. "Fullmetool, grab my spike!"

ADVENTURE!

You hop up on his shoulder and perch there, balanced between his ear and his spikeybit. And with that he takes off at a trot, base personnel turning to look at the two officers tearing down the hall.

"We've got a big day ahead of us," Anode says. "I've got to do some training exercises down at the range, I was going to do some practice on ride armors, then I was going to meet up with India in the cafeteria, and maybe hit the pond tonight. What do you want to do first?"

>We have to stay on top of our game and be ready for anything. To the range!
>The thud of armored footfalls resounds in my very pulse!
>Let's see India, she's always good for a laugh!
>There's always something going on at the Pond!

>>22695312
Armored Footfalls sounds bad. We should investigate that. Alternately, hit the range!

>>22695312
the armored football sounds nice

>>22695312
Voting for Range.

>>22695312
>The thud of armored footfalls resounds in my very pulse!

Armored footfalls! Armored footfalls!

File: 1358702735595.jpg-(149 KB, 582x668, assume the position.jpg)

>>22696243
oh god thank you
>>22696243
>>22695652
>>22695427
>>22696357
You and Anode are of one mind on this matter--

"Ride armor? Ride armor," he says, taking the words right out of your mouth. The two of you gallivant off with a whoop and a whirl, back to the hangar.

The boy's been obsessed with that Crossmore since they got it, and you can't blame him--not only is it new, shiny, and as of now, one of a kind, it's also only here on a temporary lease. They'll be bringing the Eighth back, you're sure of it. Part of you is a bit worried they might transfer you for your invaluable, helmet-based insight into defense. But you'll fight that order tooth and nail, if it ever comes. For now, you have some training to do.

Anode's been through the ride armor simulations, of course, otherwise they wouldn't even let him near one. He eagerly pulls the tarp off the Ride. Looks like whoever used it last (Em, probably) affixed the blade arm. So much the better, because learning to effectively fight with a set of levers takes some work.

"Alley-oop," Anode calls as he tosses you up into the cockpit before jumping up himself. You make room as he settles in, the armored frame shuddering and pulling up unsettlingly on its legs.

"Ahem," a dour voice calls from the door. It's Commander Frog! You would snap off a salute, but you don't have arms. You're sure he understands. "Before you go stomping around my base, would you like some pointers?"

That's a good point--Frog's too heavy for most Rides, but you know he was angling for a transfer to Armored, once upon a time. He probably sat through advanced operation courses or what have you. His wisdom could prove invaluable.

What do you say?

Fill our helmet with your knowledge, o frog of wisdom.

>>22696457
Say exactly this.

>>22696457
Seconding we'll take any help we can get.
Kind of curious if Mike ever got to him about that bullshit leak.

>>22696394
Sure.
About how much does frog weigh anywho?

>>22696457
we must know everything there is to know

File: 1358705495400.jpg-(242 KB, 1600x1200, hammer frog wishes for a (...).jpg)

>>22696746
A lot. Probably over five hundred pounds.
>>22696457
>>22696958
You're never one to turn down helpful advice from the experts. Sure, you'll take his pointers.

Frog blinks at you. "...Frog of...no, never mind. Right, I won't bore you with the ba...sics..."

Anode has perched you on top of his helmet. Frog perches his face in his palm. "Whatever. All right, start with the center of gravity. It's usually up top, and the Crossmore's is even higher than normal. The powerplant can handle the weight, but you don't want to go fighting on an incline. Second, get used to using the pedals and fighting defensively. Rides are expensive and easy to hit. Rookie mistake is just one-two punching with the arm levers."

"Crossmore doesn't have levers, right?"

"It's more like a joystick, yeah. Needs to have a much more precise range of motion to use a sword, which is another can of worms."

Anode finagles the sword arm, flourishing the massive blade.

"On the bright side, it's got a thrusting point and a slashing edge. Guess the techs realized finesse is hard through a prize grabber machine interface."

You shudder inwardly at the thought of a prize grabber, an unfeeling iron claw descending down into the mass of civilians, trapped in a cage of glass. You put on a brave face for your fellows, though. If Anode noticed, he doesn't say anything, instead priming the Crossmore's VWES cannon, the rotary-chamber clacking threateningly as he brings it to bear. "Thanks, boss," he says, "I think I've got it."

Frog continues like that for a while, suggesting Anode aim the weapon by turning at the midpoint, like a turreted weapon, since most common Rides use that. They can elevate and depress their arms, the Crossmore more than most. Meanwhile Anode practices the movements, getting a feel for the inertia and momentum of each action, and the time it takes to move.

"Looks like you're getting on well enough," Frog says, "Any questions?"

File: 1358706799376.jpg-(49 KB, 373x430, hammerheadhammerfrog.jpg)

>>22696984
Jousting in ride armor would be a good/bad idea?

>>22696984
not really.

>>22697325
...

Well that's horrifying.

File: 1358708105425.jpg-(127 KB, 500x392, GrachAttachesToArmoredDivision.jpg)

>>22696984
Nah, I think we got it. We aren't armored, and it is doubtful we will ever be, but having a good familiarity should the need arise is always helpful. If that is all the beginner/intermediate pointers he has for us that is.

>>22694091
Alright 34rp is more of a prototype that's been lying around and not the full assembly roll out model and it shows.
Im glad you can find joy in my party's abysmal first day on the job, Im sure people have been fired for less

>>22697833
Competence will not be the standard in that campaign will it?

>>22697885
Umm if my prior experience and knowledge of my group says anything its survival by luck or sheer what the fuckery, they ignored every obvious solution that was presented to them so its a bit hard to plan for everything

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>>22697325
>>22697422
No, you think you're good. Anode agrees. "We're all set, boss."

"Right. Now remember, the number one thing to take away from this is--"

"GHOSTRIDE THE RIDE ARMOR!" Anode crows as he leaps from the cockpit. You don't know what he's talking about, you're still up here, but, er, you can't seem to reach the controls. Anode? Buddy? Pal? The Crossmore is still--

CRASH

"...Responsibility," Frog finishes with a morose groan.

Well. You're done with ride operation for now.

>The range!
>The Brit!
>The Pond!

I think that we should stay away from India for a bit.

Like, maybe take a nice walk.

Out of the country.

>>22698152
The Range

File: 1358712861770.png-(81 KB, 378x218, greenbubblebutt.png)

>>22698253
Nah that blew over. I think I'll point out something I found drunkenly amusing. In thread 21 India says
>"and this way I don't buy you endo just to tear your hypothetical future dick off."
Next thread her endo is done.

Suspicious? I think not.

>>22698152
The Range, lets see who's doing what.

>>22698152
>The range!
>>22698799
Maybe she'll spring for our endo in the near future, I'unno.

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>>22698783
>>22699144
Quickly, Anode wisely decides to get the hell out of Dodge. Working together you quickly right the Crossmore and pack it back in. Frog opens and closes his mouth a few times, but words don't seem to come out.

So much the better, The two of you skedaddle, heading down to the range where Anode has his additional duties.

It's pretty crowded this time of day, especially with a decent amount of the enlisted attending Anode's range lessons. In the corner, you see Em and Grach, talking to the range techs--Threepenny, Alice, and Sam. You've been seeing a lot of that Grach guy, lately, and supposedly you'll be seeing a lot more. You're not too clear on the details. Anyway, the five of them are huddled around a table, looking at something or other.

You'd drop in, but unfortunately you have a job to do, too--Anode plops you down in the stands, drawing a few odd looks from the Berets, but they go with it. He pats you on the head once more before jogging down to start his work. It's up to you to supervise.

>Nothing will escape your vigilant watch.
>IS THAT A FLOWER?
>Other?

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>>22699425
Don't bet on it.

For one thing Cain would rip my soul out through my nostril.

>>22699434
>>IS THAT A FLOWER?

and mayhap a butterfly?

>>22699434
>Other?
Grab a rifle and get on the range. Show these scrubs how it's done.

>>22699434
A FLOWER? WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?! we must investigate, once we're done let's show them how to shoot strait.

>>22699489
seconding.

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>>22699489
Obligatory

>>22699489
We dont need a rifle we have our built in plasma face cannon

>>22699454
Nostril? That's oddly specific, how come?

>Unleash our imaginary pew pew on the range!

Give pep talks from the sidelines. Make notes to get hands later so that we may dole out fraternal buttpats.

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>>22700122
It'd hurt more.
>>22700431

>>22699486
this

but if outvoted this >>22699918 is the way to shoot

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>>22700478
Nah, I mean why would he do it. Some lore based reason?

>>22700621
He's got some valid concerns about making India into The Hot Chick. I think I've done a pretty decent job heading that off, but I understand where he's coming from.

Not to say I'm opposed to reploid datan gaems, but the focus is always going to be the whole 'maverick hunting' thing.

>>22700670
Well, naturally. Waifuing has been few and far between in 21XX, anyway, at least for us.

File: 1358719364777.jpg-(237 KB, 1068x763, X6Sigma.jpg)

>>22700670
Ah, makes sense. A lot of threads wind up going that way unfortunately. Fight the good fight Cain, there might be an awesome boss battle at the end.

File: 1358719500686.png-(644 KB, 753x882, I don't even know th(...).png)

>>22699486
>>22699489
>>22699607
>>22699731
>>22700122
You remain steadfast, watching the proceedings to do your part, even despite--

Wait a minute, is that...?

No, no, focus, focus, head in the game. And as a metool, you're all head.

...Though you have to admit, you're curious as to what they're working on over with the range te--NO

Keep an eye on the drilling. Keep paying attention. Keep the mechaniloid plush end up.

...And then a real metool saunters up to you, inspecting you, and bumps its noggin against yours with an unceremonious 'boop.'

You tumble end over end down the stands, wondering vaguely where it came from. You didn't even know the 4th HAD metools.

You bounce down the seats, coming to an ungainly halt at your buddy's feet. He looks down at you, scratching his head, before grinning and scooping you up. He quickly deposits you in one of the range booths with a P903 buster rifle, Steel Beret standard issue. Looks like he's wisely including you in the lesson plan! You'll show these new kids what-for.

The next couple hours go well, Anode taking the time to enjoy a day off from his hunting duties. Apparently it's ranged-range day, because he doesn't do much with the sparring circle. He makes a point of trying the rifle, explaining that a hunter should be able to competently handle any weapons system he might need in the field, and that he's still working on that himself.

Things go well--his marksmanship's almost as good as yours, now--but time wears on, and soon it comes time to depart.

>Probably shouldn't make India wait, huh?
>To the Pond! Beer and karaoke!

>>22700670
>Implying we won't die or go Maverick way before then
>Alternately implying that India won't go Maverick and we have to put her down
Please, we're gonna trainwreck this whole thing before we even get close to turning this into a romance.

>>22700897
>To the Pond! Beer and karaoke!

Let the world hear our amazing singing voice.

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>>22700897
Karaoke? This can only end well!

>>22700897
>Invite India for beer and karaoke

>>22701065
Just going to second this.

I haven't read even one of these threads, but I wanted to say congrats for keeping the Quest going for so long guys.

>>22701065
Might as well.

Right, that puts it at 4 votes, 2 and 3, all in the same spirit of going to the Pond. I'll be writing that next, though I'll be intermittent for dinner/Best Presidente.
>>22702025
I'm nothing without people to work with, yeah. Sometimes I worry it's a bit niche, even for /tg/, but I've been lucky to get a pretty damned awesome readerbase.

Popping in to remind you all that you're going to be ripped to pieces by a Maverick.

I mean awesome. You're awesome. ^_^

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>>22702406
>a pretty damned awesome readerbase.

Aw, you do love us!

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>>22700955
>>22701008
>>22701065
>>22701992
>>22702229
There's nothing you want more after a hard day's work than a nice beer, served at temp, with your comrades in arms. Well, comrades WITH arms, more like, but hey. Anode scoops you back up and deposits you on his helmet again, and the two of you saunter out of the range like victorious kings.

The Pond is even more packed than the range was--Anode nearly bumps into a serviceman with two armfuls of drinks on his way from the bar. Your partner makes his way there, plopping you down on the bartop beside him. Max raises an eyebrow--not that you can blame him, you wouldn't want feet on your counter.

"Whiskey for my men," 'Node says, "Beer for my horses."

Max stares at him for a long, slow second, before he turns and fills a glass with a beautiful pale. "So do you have a house in Audacity, or do you just vacation there?"

Anode grins. "I got it from Schwarz."

"At least you've got good taste," the barkeep replies, sliding over his drink. "So who's your date?"

"Lieutenant Fullmetool," he answers for you.

"He your wingman or something?"

"What? No. Hell no." He takes a long pull from his drink. "I'm his."

Damn straight.

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>>22702756
"Don't suppose you've seen Indy about, have you?"

Max shakes his head, turning to collect some glasses from a washer. "No, I haven't seen the Lieutenant all day. What's the occasion?"

"I dunno. Tried to comm her, but she just said she was busy. Was thinking maybe it was her pet project again."

"The jet?"

"Yeah. Has word gotten around?"

Max turns 180 degrees on his leg (you'll never get used to that) and straightens out some bottles. "Get around? Heh. Get a few in her and she can't shut up about it. Not that she's in here as much as she used to be." Another hunter approaches the bar, raising a finger to ask for another round. "'scuse me. Enjoy your evening."

From the sour old bartender, that's about as rosey as you can expect. He must be in a good mood. Anode slides you onto the barstool next to him and turns to look around.

>Hey, is that Mike? Wanna call him over?
>Hey, check out that Beret. I don't recognize that rank insignia.

>>22702756
>Drink beer, tell war stories, acquire bitches

>>22702955
Mysterious Beret? Bar or no, we're always on duty. Investigate.

>>22702955
>>Hey, check out that Beret. I don't recognize that rank insignia.

>>22702955
>Hey, check out that Beret. I don't recognize that rank insignia.
Is she hot?

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>>22703023
I can here Cain writhing from here.

>>22703222
Cain can't stop the raw sexual magnetism that Lieutenant Full Metool possesses.

>>22703266
And now I can't unhear Fullmetool as Tychus Findlay.

...I find this is somehow excellent.

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>>22702997
>>22703004
>>22703023
You're a quick learner, and it's like the Major said--be observant.

Anode sees him too--they make eye contact and he motions the guy over. You graciously offer him your stool, which he politely declines.

He looks every inch a Hunter, you decide. He wears his titular beret almost as well as you rock the helmet--almost. He salutes crisply, seeing the bars on you (and Anode, you guess). "Sir! Warrant Officer SteelTO."

"At ease," your bro says. "Lieutenant Anode." He doesn't introduce you--probably doesn't want to scare the poor kid. Plus, your reputation speaks for itself.

The beret reverts to a formal parade rest, arms behind his back. "Yes, sir, I know. I'm lucky I found you here. I've been assigned to you."

Anode blinks. "'Assigned' to me?"

"Yes, sir. I'm a recent promote, and they want me to spend some time with an officer, get a feel for the duties of the rank."

Anode frowns, processing this...and then his face splits into a grin. Oh, no. You know that grin. "No shit."

"Er. Yes sir."

"Well, I don't know what they were thinking, I'm almost as new as you are. Don't go thinking of me as some grizzled veteran just yet. But I'll do my best. First off, take a load off. D'you drink?"

The Beret, reluctantly, takes a seat. "No, sir."

"I won't tell you to start, but I'd suggest it. Relax. No need to be so formal, especially in the Fourth. Hell, look at me." He waves in your direction. "We've been out and about like this all day."

>Give the poor kid some pointers?
>No reason to overwhelm him with too much, too fast. Give him time, he'll loosen up.

>>22703393
>Give the poor kid some pointers?

Everyone could use our expert advice.

>>22703393
>Give the poor kid some pointers?
I've known Mettools less green than this kid. He needs some help.

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>>22703266
Nuff said.
>>22703393
Introduce the ole' booze to our new compatriot. Or our ole' compatriot to new booze, I forget which

>>22703393
>Give the poor kid some pointers?
Lets not scar him too much though. It looks like he's our new guy. We get to lose that title.

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>>22703440
>>22703481
>>22703579
>>22704116
You almost want to cluck your nonexistent tongue at this fella. Poor kid will get eaten alive out there. You've seen it all before, a hundred different times on a hundred different battlefields.

Damn shame.

Damn shame for the mavs, that is, that you got to him first. You'll take him under your wing, tell him what he needs to know. You'll make a soldier out of him!

You give Anode the sign. He's the talker of the pair. You know he'll set this boy right.

"SteelTO, you said? C'mere." He leans over the bar and mutters something to Max, who shrugs, pulling out a bottle and a glass and sliding them over. He turns them over to the slightly unnerved Warrant Officer. "Pour this. Right down the middle--don't dump it, you just don't want to run it down the side--there you go, like that." He nods, satisfied. "Go on and take a sip. Don't worry, I asked Max to hold the nanites, it won't do a thing to you."

Thus reassured, SteelTO takes a reluctant sip, before his eyes brighten and he nods. Anode claps him on the shoulder lightly.

"There you go, see? It's good. Relax, unwind a spell. We live a dangerous life. Believe me, I've almost died on every mission I've ever been..."

You let Anode do his thing, telling the harrowing war stories. You figure you should let him get ready, build a tolerance up before you really slam him with YOUR daring accounts. You could make a mechaniloid shiver, you could. It takes a while, but it looks like the Beret's getting used to his eccentric new 'boss.'

All in all, you think you've made some good progress on the kid. But unfortunately, time winds on, and you need to get a move on. Anode drains his glass. "Anyway, a certain someone said it to me under less friendly circumstances, but I'll say it to you, too. I know you've been here, but you're officer material now. So welcome to the Fourth."

And with that, the two of you have an appointment to keep.

An appointment with the pilot.

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>>22704235
You look in all the usual places--the hangar, the 'loid bay, the garage, even her quarters, but she's nowhere to be found. Strangely, trying to radio her directly gets the two of you an automated "Do not disturb unless everything is on fire and at least two people are dead" message. You do manage to get ahold of Crankshaft on comms, though. He tells you she made tracks for the cafeteria after they put their heads together on her flyer project.

You find her hunkered down in a corner with a few pieces of hardware you barely recognize--a personal computer. She leans in, face illuminated in the external monitor's glow, biting her lip slightly, eyes darting across the screen. Her posture is tense, hunched over the assembled machinery, fingers twitching and hitting the keys like a jackhammer as she guides an old (and you mean OLD)-school mouse around on the cleared table, barely avoiding a few emptied disposable cups.

Around her, a few enlisted mingle, some talking, but most looking at India and her strange display. One of them shushes the others and sneaks over towards her as you watch. Before you can warn her (or decide not to warn her), he strikes.

"HEAVY CORVETTES BLOW," he declares.

She whips around in her chair instantly, her face a mask of murder and hate. "SAY THAT TO ME ONLINE, FUCKER," she roars, "NOT TO MY FACE, AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS." Her eyes shift from him to you, and immediately her expression lightens. "Oh, Anode. Took you long enough."

>What on Earth is this devil box?
>Irrelevant! We are here to... what ARE we here for?

>>22704416
>>Irrelevant! We are here to... what ARE we here for?

ALL ACTION ALL THE TIME!

>>22704416
>Irrelevant!
We're here for stuff. Let's do said stuff.

>>22704416
>"SAY THAT TO ME ONLINE, FUCKER," she roars, "NOT TO MY FACE, AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS."

oh god my sides

>what manner of witchery is this accursed box?

>>22704416
>What on Earth is this devil box?
It's the betamax of 21XX.

>>22704416
If this is being held up because of the tie, I change my vote to ask about the box.
If not, I'm forced to assume that Cain killed Hunter Command preemptively.

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>>22706028
He's killed me twice, but it's early yet.

Good timing, I was right about to just say "fuck it" and write anyway.

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>>22704416
"India..." Anode begins in that classic, hesitant tone that you're sure the crazy Brit gets more than normal addressing, "What the hell is that?"

"This is a computer. It computes."

"We HAVE computers, I mean--"

"Relax, would you? It's an old-school box. Old-school style, anyway, I got the best I could afford. It actually needs an upgrade by now, it's next on my shopping list. Anyway," she raps on the case, "would you believe this baby has thirty-six different archaic operating systems and virtual boxes in it?"

"Virtuwhat now?"

She sighs. "For someone who's made of future you're kind of a Luddite, Anode. Old computer tech doesn't usually mesh well with new computer tech. But there are ways to simulate an older setup--artificial rigs that eat a portion of the total capacity to pretend to be an older hardware/software configuration."

"If you say so."

She goes on, blithely ignoring the fact that your hapless partner is left in the dark. "Oldest I've got is an old Apple II, and that's because reproductions of that thing are more common than the Clap."

"Okay, so your computer has to go deeper. What's the point?"

She rubs her temples. "Right, you know those movies you love? Imagine if you could only watch them on an old-school projector. Or a magnetic reel. Or a disc. Or a solid memory device. Or a toaster. Some people try to update them, make old stuff work with new tech, but a lot of good stuff is otherwise inaccessible. THAT is what trying to run a hundred-year-old computer game is like."

"Okay, so...why?"

She grins. "Shit's fun. Here, siddown. Siddown!" She backs out of whatever game she had been in. "Pick one."

>?

>>22706260
We should totally play Dwarf Fortress.

>>22706260
We should play an emulated Mega Man 1. Shit should get really awkward.

>>22706260
Roller Coaster Tycoon

>>22706427
>Kill Elec Man
>Entire time Anode cries about murdering his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather.

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>>22706427
>>22706571
You mean Giga Guy, right?

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>>22706260
We must play WAR-THEMED HAT SIMULATOR 2.

Monty On The Run?

>>22706260
the original Metal Gear.

Either of the D&D arcade games
And let's find a really stinky video game adaptation of a movie while we're at it

>>22707217
Oh those were FUN. Shadows over Mystara especially.

I'm seconding this.

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>>22706352
>>22706427
>>22706545
>>22706761
>>22707091
>>22707177
>>22707217
"Jesus H," Anode mutters, "how many games do you have here?"

"Paralyzed by choice" is an understatement. Anode flips through page after page of games. Even you can recognize a few of them--though you're annoyed to find an early metsploitation game on the list that you recognize. Still, despite that, it's interesting to see some titles you recognize from today. He flips through some sort of text-based game, an archaic maverick hunting simulator (you think), a theme park designer/manager, something called Realm of the Mad Hatter involving colorful, stylized soldiers fighting in gravel pits for headwear, some sort of Mole-based escape simulator (an under-represented genre, you think), an awkwardly translated, blocky stealth game, and a few high fantasy numbers based on the great-great-great-great-great grandfather of Dungeons and Dragons: 14th Edition (shame it was so poorly received by the fans, maybe 15th will fare better).

And then the screen fizzles out.

"Uh? Indy, I think I broke--"

Behind him, smiling with perverse glee, India is tapping furiously onto a handheld datapad.

With one final remote-control command, the screen winks back on.

"--It."

"...India, what the hell is this?"

"I dunno, Anode, you tell me," she says sweetly, wicked mirth dripping off every word.

"No, really, whWHOA WHAT IS SHE DOING--"

Sweet Doctor Light, he's too young for that!

India doubles over cackling. The enlisted clap, whistle, or laugh while Anode fumbles and flusters, poor sod.

"So hey, I didn't know you were into girls with disabilities!" Indy says between gasps.

"I must be," he fires back, "I hang around with a female mental patient all the time!"

"A female mental patient with a camera," she replies innocently.

"...You didn't."

"I did."

"YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUU--"

>It's on, son.
>Hold him back! He's an animal!

>>22707673
>It's on, son.

"ANODE! FASTBALL SPECIAL!"

FASTBALL SPECIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL

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>>22707673
WELP. Checkov's gun in action, folks.

>Hold him back! He's an animal!

>>22707673
>It's on, son.
Fastball Special!

>>22707673
I find this hilarious because I was about to suggest KS.

Big Rigs would have been the alternative.

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>>22707735
YOU THOUGHT I FORGOT

HUNTER COMMAND NEVER FORGETS

UNLESS HE DOES

>>22707778
Y'know, thinking about it, the fact that Anode is "playing" this on India's rig implied India had to find it and play through it first. SHE'S JUST AS GUILTY AS WE ARE.

>>22707673
>Fool! You don't prank an electronic generator with electrical equipment...

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>>22707702
>>22707724
>>22707756
You and Anode spring into action, flowing like water in the unity of your purpose. His arm is strong and his aim is true, as you arc gracefully through the air as India's eyes widen, right before you hit her square in the face.

"OH GOD!" she yells, "NOT MY FACE! NOT MY MAGNIFICENT FACE!"

She grapples with you bitterly, reeling left and right as you boldly press the assault until she finally overpowers you, wresting free and throwing you back. She takes off like a shot--towards Anode.

He doesn't see that coming, stumbling back as she plants a palm on his chest and pushes him off balance, running for--

Her computer. Tucking the box under her arm, she bolts out the door with a whoop. Anode recollects you, and the chase is on.

She tears down the hall, the two of you hot on her heels. She's more nimble--juking and weaving the hallways as she goes, dancing past staff and personnel. With Anode's upgraded dash system, though, he's faster.

The chase is long, painful, thrilling, and explosive. At one point she commandeers a flatbed, to which Anode replies with a chaser. When you've run the circuit of the base twice, Anode switches to the Crossmore and stomps around the yard after her yelling about Katana Dojos or something.

Finally, though, as always, things wind down, and the chase ends as both participants dissolve into giggles. Just as well, too--as soon as the drama of the chase leaves you, you find yourself exhausted.

The day's run late, you realize, the clock hitting midnight somewhere in the leagues behind you. You've worked, you've lived, you've laughed, you've loved.

You are Lieutenant Fullmetool, and this truly was the best day ever.

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>>22708236
And I'm ending this particular side story here, on account of "holy fuckballs I'm tired and I have things to do."

I hope it was everything you all wanted and more.

As for the Grach short, I think I will resume it, but that's a story for another day. Anything else before I go pass out?

>>22708258
Something I've been kinda wondering about, if you don't mind answering a bit of a random question, is whether or not there's a distinction between Reploids who've gone 'bad', attacked humans and such, and Mavericks. Is Maverick sort of a blanket term for criminal reploids, or what?

>>22708517
Maverick is a term reserved for dangerous breaches of social conduct, most often specifically targeting humans. You can have a reploid criminal commit a crime, possibly even a violent one, or a reploid soldier fight a human, and neither would be classified as a maverick.

>>22708567
So this is where you diverge from the canon definition of Maverick, right?

>>22708738
More or less. MHQ definitely veers off the rails in a few places. Cain Labs can provide a much more concise answer if the thread lives long enough. If it doesn't, ask again, or I will if I remember. It's been covered before.

Right now, though, I need to go be horizontal. Goodnight, gang.

>>22708898
Night

>>22708517
I think the special mission with Grach was kind of the grey area there, if that helps.