>>32128036
"I heard the EU is reprioritizing melee training," Elaine says as she gets accustomed to the controls and interface. "I also heard that they're moving to clear out Lyon by the end of the year."

"Fortunately, figuring out how to make that happen is not our problem."

"It's your problem unless you don't mind getting swarmed and eaten by aliens." Dressed in her fortified suit, Vivian comes up from behind you. She walks right past you to kiss Elaine.

"Nope, still not my problem," you say. "You provide the plan, I execute it. I don't need to think about anything else."

"Your career is going to stall if you don't become more interested in these things," Elaine chastises you.

>"I suppose I could provide some technical advice..."
>"I have complete faith in Vivian's talents."

>>32128042
>>"I suppose I could provide some technical advice..."

>>32128042
>>"I suppose I could provide some technical advice..."

Might as well.

Also is Vivian's also BI? or just accommodating for Eleaine since she also likes us?

>>32128042
>"I have complete faith in Vivian's talents."

>>32128121
It's more like she's accommodating for Elaine because she likes Elaine, much like Mordin isn't interested in sex, but would try it with Shepard if he was interested, regardless of Shepard's gender.

Elaine and Mary have a similar stance.

>>32128042
>>"I suppose I could provide some technical advice..."

>>32128179
So Elaine and Mary like us?

Viviain is just along for the ride?

>>32128042
"I suppose I could provide some technical advice..." You sigh. Everything would be so much easier if all you had to do was kill aliens and build robots.

"Good," Elaine says. "Women don't like men without ambition, Julian."

"I'm not exactly command material, Elaine," you say. "Honestly, this is probably as far up as I should go."

"Don't worry about it, I'll make all the hard calls," Vivian says. "We could use someone to make sure our plans are feasible from a technical perspective though. I've been asking Mary for advice, but she's busy with her usual work and you really came through against those BETA carriers in Italy."

"Of course, I would fall victim to my own success," you say. "If that's all you need, you can ask me anytime. Just don't expect miracles."

"If you don't want me to expect miracles, then you should stop performing them." Vivian kisses Elaine again, who kisses her back. "Be careful out there."

"You too."

With that, you leave Elaine to get the Typhoon ready and perform basic checks on the Excalibur. You haven't taken it out at all during the last few days, but you have your first live combat evaluation in a bit more than an hour and you don't want to take any chances.

"The command console is working perfectly," Vivian says. "How are things on your side."

"No issue with flight or weapon controls," you say. "We're good to go."

You've got time to kill before you have to launch and you don't particularly feel like sitting still for one hour.

>Go back to talk with Elaine.
>Chat with Vivian.
>Find Mary and ask her if she wants to accompany you.

>>32128565
>>Chat with Vivian.
I wonder how much our career figures into her plans for the future

>>32128541
They all like each other and Julian, but they don't like each other because of Julian. Basically, I'm trying to show that the three of them have an actual relationship independently of Julian's involvement. They're not together just so Julian can have a harem, they genuinely love each other. The good harem series usually work because they don't revolve entirely around the male protagonist.

>>32128565
>>Chat with Vivian.

>>32128565
>Chat with Vivian.
>>32128636
Oh, I gotcha. That kind of makes sense for this series

>>32128565
>>Find Mary and ask her if she wants to accompany you.

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116 KB JPG

>>32128565
"So, how's your career progressing?"

"As fast as can be expected, I suppose," Vivian says. "I should be able to make Flight lieutenant by the end of the year."

Camelot group's still down a squadron and that won't change until you get a new Squadron leader. Vivian's the most competent candidate, but the difference between OF-2 and OF-3 is a lot bigger than it looks on paper. You might be able to pull it off and just let Vivian gives the orders, but you'd still need a major accomplishment to get another promotion so soon. Either way, the two of you are going to need to pull off something big. Something like taking out a Hive.

"Although now that I think about it, I don't mind if you order me around a bit," she says.

"Oh, I know exactly what kind of orders you like," you say. "I hear them three times a week."

"Do you, now?" You can imagine the teasing look on Vivian's face. "I thought you were just sleeping through it."

"I'll have you know, I pay very close attention," you say. "I don't have much choice in the matter. My situational awareness training was very thorough."

Vivian stays silent for a few minutes. You load up the mission information and flight data. Then you hear Vivian stand out of her seat and she moves next to you.

"Julian," she says, "how do you feel about me?"

>"I don't know."
>"I like you."
>"I love you."

>>32129198
>>"I love you."

>>32129198
oh good lord here we go.

>"I love you."

>>32129198
>>"I love you."

>as if there were any chance of us picking the other options

>>32129198
>"I don't know. But I think it starts with I L and ends with U."

>>32129198
>"I love you."

>>32129198
"I love you."

Vivian smiles and sits straddling you in the pilot's seat. You put one hand on her back to support her, but Vivian slowly slides it down her back until you're firmly grabbing your ass. Then she places your other hand on her chest and plugs her suit into your console.

"Switch your UI to my vitals," she says.

You bring up your respective vital signs of your HUD and turn back to Vivian. She firmly cups your face and kisses you. She slips her tongue into your mouth, gently bites your lip and sucks your tongue. In the brief moments when she lets go of you to catch her breath, you open your eyes to see her heartbeat spike. You don't know how long she keeps kissing you, but eventually she stops and leans her weight against you.

"You saw my vitals, right," she asks. "That's what it feels like when I have sex with Elaine and when I kiss Mary, but what we're doing now? That's my favourite part. I'm sorry, if you've been feeling lonely."

"You don't need to apologize for that," you say. "If I couldn't cope with it, I would tell you."

"Thank you." Vivian lightly kisses you again and gets off you to return to her seat.

As if nothing had happened, you go back to checking your mission parameters. It's nothing special, just...

>... hunting a few very small pockets of wandering BETA.
>... eliminating a mid-size group of BETA.

>>32129747
>>... eliminating a mid-size group of BETA.

We have to give something called Excalibur an appropriate first blooding.

>>32129747
>>... hunting a few very small pockets of wandering BETA.

>>32129747
>Eliminating a mid-size group.

>>32129747
>... eliminating a mid-size group of BETA.

>>32129747
>... eliminating a mid-size group of BETA.

>>32129747
>>... eliminating a mid-size group of BETA.

well our bodies are warmed up, why not?

>>32129747
It's just eliminating a mid-size group of about a thousand BETA heading towards Calais. They're not in the detection perimeter yet, but they'll be there in a few hours unless they change course. Arthur squadron is heading out to intercept them if they get to close, or run them down and kill them if they do turn away. You're not supposed to stray too far out, but that shouldn't be a problem. The herd doesn't have any Lasers and it seems heavy on infantry-level strains, so it shouldn't be too much of a challenge.

You start up the Excalibur just in time for Hall's orders.

"Arthur squadron, this is Arthur 1," he says. "We are heading out now. Arthur 2 is on point and will provide further coordination once we reach the area of operation. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

You walk out first and lead Arthur squadron to the ferries that will carry your TSFs across the Dover straight. It's a bit embarrassing to ask for such a short lift, but TSF fuel is expensive and you don't want to waste it. You certainly don't want to run out in the middle of your operation.

So you cross the water by ferry and walk a fair distance away from Calais before activating your jet engines and charging at the BETA, who are still heading towards the warning zone and will most likely reach it before you intercept them.

You immediately notice that the Excalibur is a fair bit faster than the Tornado. Elaine is only just barely keeping up with you in her Typhoon, and you have to slow down in order to maintain the squadron's formation.

"I have confirmed the position of the BETA," Vivian says. "Time to intercept is 30 minutes and there are no Lasers in the area."

>Rush in ahead and go into melee range.
>Rush in ahead and engage the BETA with your assault cannons.
>Maintain formation and attack the herd as a squadron.

>>32130258
>Maintain formation and attack the herd as a squadron.

I'm not exactly sure what to feel about this whole harem thing. It kinda feels like they won't give a damn if Julian ever kicks the bucket, since they have each other to sex up.

I dunno, it might just be me.

>>32130258
>>Rush in ahead and engage the BETA with your assault cannons.

Isn't this live combat evaluations? We had to take on much bigger swarm when we did those with the Typhoon.

>>32130258
>>Maintain formation and attack the herd as a squadron.

>>32130258
>No Lasers
This is going to be a good day!

>Maintain formation and attack the herd as a squadron.

>>32130258
>>Maintain formation and attack the herd as a squadron.
Then I say we break formation for bigger targets we can take head on. Then reform when need.

>>32130258
"Vivian, I'm maintaining formation," you say. "Give the order to break once we get into combat range."

"Understood," Vivian says. "Contact is in 15 minutes."

You're beginning to see the general shape of the BETA herd on your cameras. From this distance it looks like a standard composition, with Destroyers front and centre and Forts further back. Other strains must be in there, but you're too far away to see them yet. Assuming the Destroyers accelerate as you get close - which they usually do - you can just kite them and then turn on the rest of the BETA. It's open ground with no major obstacles around here, so you have plenty of room to work with so long as you keep your wits about you.

You keep your fingers near the triggers and stay focused on the incoming herd as it gets bigger. You've had some simulated battles against BETA, but the simulation never quite lives up to real combat.

"Arthur squadron, this is Arthur 2," Vivian says. "We have enemy contacts. Break and attack."

Your tactical network shows the Arthur TSFs, Elaine included, break sideways to circle around the Destroyers and hit them from behind.

>Join the circling manoeuvre and gun the Destroyers down.
>Switch to melee and hit the charging aliens head on.

>>32130709
>>Switch to melee and hit the charging aliens head on.

Lets get a feel for our new girl.

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1.45 MB JPG

>>32130709
>Join the circling manoeuvre and gun the Destroyers down.

>>32130709
>>Switch to melee and hit the charging aliens head on.
Why not lets save some ammo.

>>32130709
>Gun the Destroyers down.

I'm not one for melee.

>>32130709
>>Switch to melee and hit the charging aliens head on.

>>32130709
>>Join the circling manoeuvre and gun the Destroyers down.

>>32130709
>Switch to melee and hit the charging aliens head on.

Rolled 19

>>32130709
You look at the approaching line of Destroyers and find a small gap in their formation, just big enough to fit the Excalibur. With your TSF's right hand, you draw one of the large combat daggers that came with the Black Widow's designs and hold it in a reverse grip. With your left hand, you draw your combat halberd. Then you jump a little sideways to line up with the gap and punch the afterburners.

Either Vivian hasn't noticed what you're heading into, or she doesn't care.

>(roll 5d20)

Rolled 6, 11, 17, 3, 7 = 44

>>32131067
This should be fun.

Rolled 7, 20, 5, 10, 6 = 48

>>32131067
This is why you don't charge in, idiots!

Rolled 16, 17, 4, 3, 8 = 48

>>32131067

Rolled 14, 20, 15, 14, 4 = 67

>>32131067
I guess that's each of us.

>>32131067
You only just barely manage to squeeze the Excalibur in between two Destroyers. You charge forward and use your momentum to slash the one to your right with your dagger, while you swing the combat halberd in your left hand backward into another Destroyer, and then rotate your TSF's wrist to drag your blade through the alien's flesh.

The two Destroyers keep charging as if nothing had happened. At least you've established that the Excalibur's current melee weapons don't penetrate deep enough to cause significant damage to Destroyers. That's something.

The rest of the squadron, meanwhile, is much more successful. It takes a lot of bullets, but the Destroyers are soon reduced to a handful of stragglers.

"Destroyers have been rendered combat ineffective," Vivian says over the squadron's channel. "There are still some isolated stragglers, but you'll be fine so long as you don't get blindsided."

You look at the BETA that are still coming at you. Looks like the Grapplers are next.

>Stay in melee.
>Switch to guns.

>>32131324
>>Switch to guns.

So the melee options are gonna have to get upgraded

>>32131324
>>Switch to guns.

>>32131324
>>Switch to guns.

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>>32131324

>Switch to guns.

>>32131324
>Back to guns please.

I think the Grapplers type are the ones that like to come at us in large waves. I don't want to be in melee for that. I could be wrong.

>>32131324
You decide to switch to guns. You'll need to make a note to upgrade the melee weapons later, maybe steal some upgrades from the Berkut design. For now, your priority is to make sure the assault cannons can actually shoot at what they're pointed at.

You rejoin the formation next to Elaine as Arthur squadron gets ready to meet the grappler swarm. Without Lasers around, this is going to be easy. You just need to fly over them and shoot the unarmoured parts.

>(roll 5d20)

Rolled 1, 10, 19, 14, 4 = 48

>>32131571
roll

Rolled 1, 17, 12, 16, 7 = 53

>>32131548
Now that I think about it, I guess that's true for every type of BETA that attacks us. LOL

>>32131571
And rolling.

Rolled 19, 8, 12, 14, 7 = 60

>>32131571

Rolled 2, 13, 20, 7, 10 = 52

>>32131571

Rolled 18

>>32131571
Rolling...

>>32131608
>>32131596
and this is how we die.

Death flag unlocked after we said "I love you." Should have known better!

>>32131571
You lift up just as the Grapplers charged and successfully stay out of their reach. Your spray of cannon fire, however, fails to score any kills. Elaine is much more successful, but even so, there's only so much one person can do against so many aliens.

That, however, is not the problem. Soon after you gain some altitude, you hear Arthur 14 scream over the channel and his IFF turns red in your HUD. He's gone.

"Goddamn it!" Vivian swears behind you. "Arthur squadron, abort the attack and regroup! Now!"

>Regroup with the squadron.
>Hit the Grapplers to cause a diversion.
>The Tanks are coming in fast. Intercept them.

>>32131792
>>Hit the Grapplers to cause a diversion.

Aruthur 14 ate that death flag for us. We will make him proud.

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>>32131792

>Regroup with the squadron.

>>32131792

>Regroup with the squadron.

>Regroup with the squadron.

after archive binging i have finally caught up and only just now did i finally look up muv luv to figure out what the aliens are supposed so look like and now i am pretty sure i am going to have nightmares

>>32131792
>Hit the Grapplers to cause a diversion.

So do we have a lot of newfags in this quest tonight? The votes are incredibly cautious compared to our normal courses of action.

>>32131792
>>Hit the Grapplers to cause a diversion.

>>32131792
>Hit the Grapplers to cause a diversion.

>>32131936
I think the first melee choice kind of killed our momentum. But it looks like we are now going in for the diversion.

Rolled 11

>>32131792
"I'm staying on the Grapplers to cause a diversion," you say. "Get the squadron back in shape."

"I'm working on it!"

You circle over the Grapplers and then drop your altitude low enough that they'll be able to come at you. It's dangerous, but it won't be much of a distraction if they're not coming after you. You raise your assault cannons and get ready for another pass.

>(roll 2d20)

Rolled 17, 12 = 29

>>32132101

Rolled 1, 13 = 14

>>32132101

>>32132132
This always seems to happen. Routine, low difficulty mission? Everything fails. We nearly die.

.00001 chance of victory fight with no way out? We rock out with our cock out.

Rolled 1, 14 = 15

>>32132101

>>32132132
>>32132191
You guys are terrible

Rolled 20, 9 = 29

>>32132101

>>32132213
Yeah, I'm just going to take pity on you and let this one count.

>>32132225
/tg/ dice wants us dead.

>>32132101
You dive into the mass of Grapplers and open fire almost indiscriminately, holding back just enough to avoid running out of ammo too soon. Your distraction works, and the Grapplers immediately swarm around you, giving Arthur squadron the time it needs to regroup.

Unfortunately, the Tanks and Forts are almost on top of you. If they get any closer, they'll join the fight and become a threat to Arthur squadron. You can cause another distraction, but you can only stop either the Tanks or the Forts.

>Stay with the Grapplers.
>Attack the Tanks. They'll be easier to deal with.
>Attack the Forts. They're the biggest threat.

Rolled 10, 6 = 16

>>32132235
Maybe the dice want us to join them.

>>32132270
>>Attack the Forts. They're the biggest threat.

Reformed Arthur squadron can handle the rest.

>>32132270
>Attack the Forts. They're the biggest threat.

>>32132270
I say
>Stay with the Grapplers.

File: 1358126217659.png (1.17 MB, 2736x1372)

1.17 MB PNG

>>32132270
>Attack the Forts. They're the biggest threat.

>>32132270
>>Attack the Forts. They're the biggest threat.
Forts are the sort of thing that are way easier to handle for a more competent pilot, so it's probably better for us to try and divert them while the squadron is addressing the more basic strains.

>>32130306
I kind of know what you're talking about. I can't really pinpoint what's pinging on my senses though. Maybe it's because Julian feels so...hands-off on the whole thing? It seems like he's an outsider to the whole thing lately.

>>32132270
"Vivian, I'm going to intercept the Forts," you say. "Tell the rest of the squadron to deal with the Grapplers and Tanks."

"Got it," Vivian says. "I've got the squadron back in shape and heading for another pass."

You boost out of the mass of Grapplers and turn to engage the Forts, switching to your 120mm ammo. If it was just a matter of killing Forts, you could easily do it without ever entering harm's way, but since you need them to focus on you rather than the rest of the squadron, you're going to need to get in close.

>(roll 5d20)

Rolled 4, 3, 17, 18, 19 = 61

>>32132516

Rolled 19, 15, 2, 12, 8 = 56

>>32132516
Let see how badly the dice want us dead.

Rolled 20, 1, 16 = 37

>>32132516
Rolling...

Rolled 4, 19, 13, 2, 4 = 42

>>32132516
Lets kick some ass!

>>32130306
Yeah.

It seems that Julian is the one making miracles and doing bullshit impossible things in the settings.

But all he gets is blueball and having more work. Like Julian just some dude renting a room in a apartment and the girls are the ones living in the apartment.

We see many bad ends with julian being the only survivor, there the worst bad end...but what if there even something more depressing.

What if the girls survived but Julian died?

Rolled 5, 14, 13, 4, 16 = 52

>>32132582
>>32132529
>>32132528
>19,19,17,18,19
We should be oka.....

>>32132535
>20

we're all going to die.

>>32132516
You risk a quick glance at your tacnet. The Tanks have joined the battlefield, but their path is barred by the Grapplers, who are now being rapidly gunned down. It won't take much longer for Arthur squadron to mow their way through them and get into a scrap with the Tanks.

Meanwhile, you harass the Forts. There's only about a dozen of them, so it's actually quite easy. If you stay above their heads and keep your distance, there really isn't much they can do against you. You manage to down most of them before running out of 120mm bullets.

Glancing down, you see Arthur squadron is engaging the Tanks.

>Switch to melee and keep on the Forts.
>Switch to 36mm bullets and get on the Tanks.

Rolled 20, 2, 12, 14, 6 = 54

>>32132645
>>Switch to melee and keep on the Forts.

>>32132645
>>Switch to melee and keep on the Forts.

>>32132645
>>Switch to 36mm bullets and get on the Tanks.
Our melee was insufficient for Destroyers, I doubt it'll help against forts.

>>32132645
>Switch to melee and keep on the Forts.

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1.33 MB JPG

>>32132645

>Switch to melee and keep on the Forts.

>>32132596
>What if the girls survived but Julian died?
I'm not sure that'd be more depressing at all, at least from a completely divorced perspective.

Having to cope with loss is a lot easier when you've still got a support structure in place (though that support structure also being affected by the loss probably has even odds of making the situation more or less difficult.)

>>32132645
>Switch to 36mm bullets and get on the Tanks.
The rest of the squadron should still be mostly well-stocked on 120mm, which means the remaining Forts should still be easy enough to deal with from distance once the Tanks are dealt with.

>>32132645
>>Switch to 36mm bullets and get on the Tanks.

>>32132645
come to think of it, probably should switch to the
36mm guns on the Tanks

Rolled 5, 12 = 17

>>32132645
"Vivian, let the squadron know I'm heading in for the Tanks," you say. "I've cleaned up most of the Forts, but I'm out of heavy ordinance. We'll need to finish them off once we're done here."

"Understood," Vivian says. "I'm alerting the squadron and updating your targeting data."

You turn away from the Forts and switch to your 36mm cannons.

>(roll 5d20)

>>32132884

Rolled 15, 6, 2, 16, 6 = 45

>>32132884

Rolled 14, 20, 11, 1, 19 = 65

>>32132884

Rolled 4, 19, 3, 18, 6 = 50

>>32132884

Rolled 7, 3, 10, 17, 7 = 44

>>32132884

>>32132702
They may have a support base but they don't got the balling skills of Julian.

Remember this is James Bond/Demon Lord/Mobius 1/Einstein in the making. That how bullshit is Julian.

>>32132884
You link back up with Elaine and begin gunning down the Tanks. Circling over them makes it a little difficult to lock on targets properly, but there are so many of them that it doesn't even really matter.

"Nice to see you back, Julian," Elaine says. "I thought you were going to leave us behind for a minute there."

"I just ran out of bullets," you say. "I thought about going at the Forts with my melee weapons, but I'm not too sure about them at the moment."

"The joys of trying out a prototype." Elaine guns down a few more Tanks and then disengages. "Personally, I'm having a lot of fun with this Typhoon. I'll go finish off the Forts and come back when I'm done."

"Got it," you say. "We'll probably be done by then though."

Elaine departs towards the Forts while you and the rest of Arthur squadron finish off the Tanks. It doesn't take you much longer and you do manage to finish just as Elaine returns from her own errand with the Forts. Finishing off the stragglers takes a while longer, but it's mostly just tedious work. Infantry BETA can be hard to spot, but they're easy to kill.

At long last, you run out of hostile. You lean back and let out a sigh of relief. You'll have to take this data back to base and tweak the Excalibur accordingly once you're finished with all the paperwork, but once you're done with that, it'll be worth it. Hopefully.

>>32133040
MISSION REPORT:
- Richard Hall survived. (1XP)
- Julian Reber survived. (1XP)
- Elaine Robinson survived. (1XP)
- Vivian Knight survived. (1XP)
- Evaluated the YEF-19 Excalibur's melee weapons. (1XP)
- Evaluated the YEF-19 Excalibur's ranged weapons. (1XP)
- Created a diversion against the Grapplers for Arthur squadron. (1XP)
- Created a diversion against the Forts for Arthur squadron. (1XP)
- Eliminated the BETA force. (1XP)
- Total: 9XP

NOTES:
- Arthur squadron completed its mission without suffering unacceptable losses.
- Test flight data will further improve the development of the YEF-19 Excalibur, particularly its melee weapon suite.

CHARACTER STATUS:
Julian Reber (Main Character)
Level 8 (35/80XP)
Skills: TSF Piloting, Gunnery, Melee, Engineering, Computers
Resources: Budget 2, Connections 7 (Cerberus Battalion, Swiss Government, RAF, Crusaders, MI5, British nobility, Cherno battalion), Gear 5, Personnel 1, Rank 2

>>32133063
how many people left in the squad?

>>32133063
And that's it for today. Next thread will be Sunday at 7PM EST. We're probably going back to engineering.

>>32133085
Thanks for running!

>>32133075
Thirteen total. One loss isn't very difficult to replace or just ignore in the short-term.

>>32133103
when will we be getting replacements?

You know, with how much stress Julian has to deal with everyday (MI5 shit, TSF shit, BETA shit, shit in general), you'd have expect him to just end up caving in and go berserk.

Add the fact that every fucking day he sleeps with his "harem" and he still gets blueballed out of the action...

>>32133085
Thanks for running RC.

>>32133063
>Arthur squadron completed its mission without suffering unacceptable losses.

Rest in peace number 14.

>>32133234
*half expect him

He doesn't feel real, to be honest. Kinda like Tatsuya from Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei.

>>32133234
>Add the fact that every fucking day he sleeps with his "harem" and he still gets blueballed out of the action...
just wait until he does sleep with the girls, he's going to render Arthur CIC and Arthur Vanguard combat ineffective overnight