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>>36450571
The drones rip through the air, passing Shenzhen a mere 15 minutes after launch, and the data they begin relaying back sends dread rocking through my circuitry. It seems that the infantry holding the gap weren't quite dead. Yet. I watch through the eyes of the drones as a misshapen vehicle rivalling my own size rammed through the hills, eliminating what humans survived with harsh bursts of gamma rays and a continuous stream of missiles. It takes a few seconds of analysis, but I manage to match it somewhat to a very early model Melconian Surtur. It had been extensively modified to use Tezrach weaponry and technology, but I could extrapolate the ability of the tank to a Mark XXV Bolo. A bruising fight for me alone, and exceedingly dangerous if supported or in numbers.

I quickly relay this information over the datanet, hoping that my human allies could look for the distinctive energy patterns I had picked up to see if there were any more of these vehicles, and then turn my attention back to the forces arrayed against me around Raleigh.

Unknown Tezrach Vehicle

3 x Gamma Lasers - 1d6 each
1 x Howitzers - 1d6
1 x Point Defense Systems - 1d6 against infantry
Command Module 1/1
Treads 2/2
Armor 3/3
Shields 2/2

How to open the battle:
[ ] Engage the 50% infantry and eliminate it (5d6)
[ ] Bombard the artillery and attack the 50% infantry (3d6+1 on infantry, 2d6-1 on artillery)
[ ] Smash into the fresh infantry to the south of Raleigh (5d6 on undamaged infantry)

Rolled 1, 6, 5, 1, 1 = 14 (5d6)

>>36450579

>Bombard the artillery and attack the 50% infantry

Hmm. Not many people on /tg/ today.

Rolled 1, 4, 5, 1, 1 = 12 (5d6)

>>36450579
> [ ] Bombard the artillery and attack the 50% infantry

Rolled 4, 1, 5, 1, 1 = 12 (5d6)

>>36450579
>bombard artillery, attack 50% infantry

Rolled 2, 1, 4, 6, 4 = 17 (5d6)

>>36450579
>[ ] Engage the 50% infantry and eliminate it (5d6)

Rolled 6, 5 + 2 = 13 (2d6 + 2)

>>36450934
>>36450858
>>36450633
Softening up the foe a bit and trying to bash up the infantry it is! Writing now!

Enemy roll:

>>36450579
If it's been heavily modified to use their weaponry and whatnot, mayhap it isn't held together quite so well. perhaps we can destroy the mountings for it? maybe we can do that when the time comes.

>[ ] Bombard the artillery and attack the 50% infantry (3d6+1 on infantry, 2d6-1 on artillery)
dice+5d6

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>>36450977
I decide to eliminate the softest target that I have available to me, the battered Tezrach infantry that had attempted to flank Raleigh. I roll behind the scattered human defenders, letting their breastworks and fortification keep my armored bulk out of sight, before swinging into line in the gap that the Enemy had threatened to pour through. My mortars open up first, the heavy base notes of the 30cm mortars playing counterpoint to the cough of my anti-personnel clusters as I advance, and my infinite repeaters reap a fearsome bounty on a small squad of skimmer craft that had been attempting to probe the break in the human lines, sending the flaming wrecks rolling across the landscape.

I attempt to add my VLS launchers to the attack, hoping to do some damage to the Enemy artillery before I close, but the damage was more severe than I feared. A few missiles lift on their wings of fire, but it seems that the grazing hit from the destroyer's gamma lasers had thrown breakers and blown fuses along the entire array of my launchers, and it takes full minutes for my self repair functions to bring the undamaged tubes back online. I wince internally as I use an optical pickup to scan the weapon system and see the still-molten armor covering an extensive number of the launchers, and begin the laborious process of routing the remaining ammunition to magazines able to actually launch.

Just as I have flanked the Enemy infantry and pressed it against the human trenches to begin cutting down the last of them, I detect the all too familiar discharge of a fusion warhead, and a harsh blast of x-rays gouge into my shields. They shudder and warp, but the easy engagement with the Tezrach armor earlier had given me enough time to bring them to full power, and they hold. My foe is not so lucky, and the hellish wash of heat from the weapon rip the heart out of the defense.

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>>36451449
I attempt to bring up my battlescreens once I ensure the last of the Enemy are dealt with, but a sudden wash of missiles smashes into me, keeping me from bringing them anywhere near full strength. It seems that the artillery has given up on killing the last of the defenders, and is persuing the real threat.

{Shields drop to 1/3, stay there due to counterbattery fire. Enemy infantry take 20% damage from you and 10% from the bomb-pumped x-ray laser and are destroyed. The enemy artillery takes no damage}

What next:
[ ] Aim for the full strength infantry to the southeast (5d6)
[ ] Drive through the 40% infantry and go for the artillery (2d6 on infantry, 3d6+1 on artillery)
[ ] Destroy the weakened infantry (2d6 on farther 40% infantry, 3d6+1 on nearer 40% infantry)

Rolled 4, 5 = 9 (2d6)

>>36451480
>[ ] Drive through the 40% infantry and go for the artillery (2d6 on infantry, 3d6+1 on artillery)
infantry

Rolled 1, 4, 1, 3, 4 = 13 (5d6)

>>36451480
>[X] Drive through the 40% infantry and go for the artillery (2d6 on infantry, 3d6+1 on artillery)
Need to get those screens up.

Rolled 3, 5, 1 + 1 = 10 (3d6 + 1)

>>36451511
>>36451480
artillery

Rolled 4, 4, 6, 5, 5 = 24 (5d6)

>>36451480
>[ ] Drive through the 40% infantry and go for the artillery (2d6 on infantry, 3d6+1 on artillery)

Rolled 1, 6, 3, 2, 3 + 1 = 16 (5d6 + 1)

>>36451480
>[ ] Drive through the 40% infantry and go for the artillery (2d6 on infantry, 3d6+1 on artillery)

Rolled 2, 6 = 8 (2d6)

>>36451480

>[ ] Drive through the 40% infantry and go for the artillery (2d6 on infantry, 3d6+1 on artillery)

Rolled 2, 1, 6, 1, 2 + 1 = 13 (5d6 + 1)

>>36451480

>Drive through the 40% infantry and go for the artillery

Rolled 6, 5, 6 + 1 = 18 (3d6 + 1)

>>36451480
>>36451593
arty huntin time

Rolled 2, 4, 5, 3 - 1 = 13 (4d6 - 1)

>>36451511
>>36451526
>>36451531
>>36451560
And by unanimous vote, fuck that artillery in particular.

Enemy roll (2d6-3 for infantry, 2d6+2 for artillery)

>>36451480
This might be a stupid question, but what does that cavalry symbol represent? And where are we on the map?

>>36451859
we're next to raleigh. the capitol building looking thing.

Not sure exactly what the calvary is. I missed the last couple of quests

>>36451916
cavalry is probably the power armor marines

>>36451916
Man, we need a better symbol.

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>>36451976
we could make it a spider.

spiders are cool.

That and the symbolism of a giant fucking tank spider destroying everything with lazer web shooters is horrifying

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>>36451698
My next target is obvious, and I turn to deal with the greatest threat to both the Shantian defenders and myself: the Enemy artillery. My treads churn through the offal that was once an enemy infantry regiment, and I charge for the guns like the fabled Light Brigade of ancient Terra, an analogy that brings a wash of humor through my personality core. A bit dramatic, but the poem had always been a favorite of mine, as I was all too familiar with the central theme. All too many of my kind had died without question at the behest of our human masters, the very concept of refusing to sacrifice for the species that had created us anathema. A tradition that I may very well uphold in the defense of this world.

I find the poem at last as I hit the forward lines of the foe's infantry, and begin reciting it through my speakers as my forward flechette batteries chew through earth and flesh alike. A steady barrage of Enemy missiles slam into my screens, and what remaining point defense lasers and missile arrays simply cannot keep up with the deluge of fire and shrapnel. With a resounding pop, my shields disintigrate as the system's breakers are overloaded, and the missiles began to find purchase in my armor. For the most part they are shrugged off, but a burning flare of pain shoots through me as a rocket streaks in from above and slams into one of my mortars, lighting the ammunition off in a agonizing chain reaction. My frame shudders, making Lisa stir somewhat, but I praise my designers as the vast majority of the explosion is directed away from me by blow-out panels in the magazine.

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>>36452174
I raise my attention from the mere infantry scattered before me and unleash the full weight of my armament against the guns that had drove a spike of plasma into me. Infantry, trees, and carbon based armor burst into flame around me as my hellbore fires, the searing heat of the plasma clawing its way through the atmosphere before finding purchase in the Enemy missile launchers. Pleasure shoots through me as my tremor sensors pick up the distinctive vibrations of secondary explosions, and I drive forward, grimly continuing the ancient poem.

Cannon to right of them,/Cannon to left of them,/Cannon in front of them/Volley'd and thunder'd;/Storm'd at with shot and shell,/Boldly they rode and well,/Into the jaws of Death,/Into the mouth of Hell/Rode the six hundred.

{Shields are at 0/3, mortar batteries are at 2/3 and you will suffer an additional -1 on all barrage rolls. Enemy infantry is at 30%, enemy artillery is at 70%}

Our primary goal:
[ ] Eliminate the infantry, keep up indirect and hellbore on the artillery (2d6+1 infantry, 3d6-1 on artillery)
[ ] Annihilate the artillery (5d6-1 on the artillery)
[ ] Withdraw from the engagement and attempt to bring up your shields (2d6-2 on artillery, shields will go to 3/3 but might drop to counterbattery fire, turn ends)

>>36451916
>>36451928
>>36451859
Cavalry is the power armored marines. Sorry, I'm pretty limited on the symbols that Hexographer gives me.

>>36451976
Noted, I'll look for something nicer.

Rolled 5, 5, 4, 6, 2 - 1 = 21 (5d6 - 1)

>>36452205
>[ ] Annihilate the artillery (5d6-1 on the artillery)

Rolled 4, 3, 2, 5, 1 = 15 (5d6)

>>36452072
Maybe a rook? Or a queen.
Perhaps just take the tank symbol and make it bigger.
>>36452205
>Murder artillery

Rolled 5, 4, 4, 5, 3 - 1 = 20 (5d6 - 1)

>>36452205
>[ ] Annihilate the artillery (5d6-1 on the artillery)

Rolled 5, 4, 2, 2, 5 + 1 = 19 (5d6 + 1)

>>36452205
>[ ] Annihilate the artillery (5d6-1 on the artillery)
fuck it up!

Rolled 3, 4, 4, 6, 4 + 1 = 22 (5d6 + 1)

>>36452205
>[ ] Annihilate the artillery (5d6-1 on the artillery)

OP, why do you even ask? you know it will always be to fuck the artys

>>36452205
>Annihilate the artillery

Rolled 2, 4, 1, 6 = 13 (4d6)

>>36452234
>>36452259
>>36452276
Step 1: destroy artillery
Step 2: everything else dies

Rolling for enemy: (2d6-3 for infantry, 2d6-1 for artillery)

Rolled 1, 3, 6, 2, 5 - 1 = 16 (5d6 - 1)

>>36452205
>>36452462

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>>36452464
I ignore the desperate and ill-coordinated fire from the infantry around me and focus my full fury on the artillery that had been foolish enough to duel me. My active sensors lash the woodlines and depressions that they have attempted to hide in, and every piece of metal larger than a cubic meter dies. Mortars and missiles slam into soft skinned vehicles, rocking the earth as secondary explosions erupt from their ammo-carriers. My hellbore eats through hillsides and into valleys, burning their guns wherever they tried to hide from me, and the skyline glows a dull red as the grasslands catch fire and sends gouts of smoke into the air.

The response is weak and disorganised, and the few operational batteries can barely muster enough missiles to get through even my weakened point defense systems. Still, not matter how intricate the algorithms I run to track the incoming trajectories and intercept them, a handful of the rockets make their way through and gouge into my armor, stripping antenna, optical pickups, and a few radar masts. The sudden blindness is irritating, but my myriad of other methods make up for the damage, and I set my self repair functions to bring up replacements as I track where the fire is coming from and extract my revenge.

What is left after the furious exchange is pitiful, a few lingering squads of infantry and some guns that attempt to scatter and flee. I detect a sudden spike in radiation as I advance towards the last of the enemy guns, though the shot is poorly aimed and I manage to catch the glancing shot on my ablative armor.

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>>36452861
Flash'd all their sabres bare,\Flash'd as they turn'd in air,\Sabring the gunners there,\Charging an army, while\All the world wonder'd:\Plunged in the battery-smoke/Right thro' the line they broke;/Cossack and Russian/Reel'd from the sabre stroke/Shatter'd and sunder'd./Then they rode back, but not/Not the six hundred.

{Sensors are at 2/3, but you have enough spares to keep your systems operational. If you take one more damage, your 'sight' range will drop to 1 hex rather than your current 2. Enemy infantry is destroyed, enemy artillery is at 30%}

Your next move:

[ ] Clean up the damaged artillery and infantry (2d6-2 on artillery, 3d6-1 on 40% infantry)
[ ] Turn and engage the full strength infantry (turn ends, 2d6-2 on artillery, 3d6-1 on infantry)
[ ] The artillery is not a threat any more. Destroy the full strength infantry (turn ends, 5d6-1 on infantry)

Rolled 2, 2 - 2 = 2 (2d6 - 2)

>>36452888
>[ ] Clean up the damaged artillery and infantry (2d6-2 on artillery, 3d6-1 on 40% infantry)
never be messy also holy shit we need some reinforcements soon.

Rolled 1, 4, 2 - 1 = 6 (3d6 - 1)

>>36452923
>>36452888

Rolled 6, 2 + 2 = 10 (2d6 + 2)

>>36452888
Oh fuck, there's a lot of shit coming

>>36452923
Agreed. No need to leave survivors to regruop. kill what's nearby, and get Raleigh Evacced

>[ ] Clean up the damaged artillery and infantry (2d6-2 on artillery, 3d6-1 on 40% infantry)

roll for arty

Rolled 6, 4, 2, 3, 6 = 21 (5d6)

>>36452888
>[X] Clean up the damaged artillery and infantry (2d6-2 on artillery, 3d6-1 on 40% infantry)
They might still consolidate and threaten Raleigh.

Rolled 1, 3, 1 + 1 = 6 (3d6 + 1)

>>36452957
>>36452888
Goddamnit. meant to hit -2

>>36452888
Whooops, didn't mean to post the GM only images, but I suppose that's okay. I'll make something in story for it.

>>36452888
...What's the ETA on standing up those volunteer infantry companies?

>>36452992
OP dun fukked up

>>36452957
>>36452943
I did

>>36452992
Bolos are innately good at ELINT, being giant supercomputers and all. Plus, with all this destroyed equipment around it would be easy for some clued-in militiaman to salvage a set of cryptographic equipment.

>>36453003
Hey, random question, but are there air and sea assets in this universe? I realize the invaders probably didn't bring a bluewater fleet with them (that sounds like an utter bitch to transport, but the PDF probably has a coast guard or something.

>>36453017
I was saying my roll was for the arty.

>>36453003
That'll be something you'll have to discuss with the leader of the planet, Chancellor Pacquette.

>>36453039
Air assets don't usually last long since everything the size of a tank has lasers on it. Kinda hard to keep something in the air when you've got 20 speed of light weapons tracking it. If it's fast enough and stealthy enough though, they might exist. Blue water is usually kind of up to what kind of planet it is, mostly land or mostly ocean.

>>36453035
Sure, maybe say that since you guys knocked down the destroyer, the humans managed to get a spy satellite up long enough to report back.

Rolled 5, 5, 5, 6 = 21 (4d6)

>>36452888
And voting is closed, we're mopping up the enemy forces.

enemy roll: (artillery 2d6-3, enemy infantry 2d6-3)

Rolled 6, 5, 5, 4, 1 = 21 (5d6)

>>36452888
>[ ] Clean up the damaged artillery and infantry (2d6-2 on artillery, 3d6-1 on 40% infantry)

>>36453163
>Rolled 5, 5, 5, 6
Fuck...

We need to withdraw back to oosterbeek and repair as much as we can as soon as we're finished here

>>36453440
Do they even have the materials, manpower and knowledge to even repair a BOLO? They were pretty much a peace loving place so I doubt it. Many quick repairs but nothing decent.

>>36453635
they don't need any of that, hell we might not need any raw materials ourself, I'm sure we dropped stocked with enough stuff to keep us running and repaired for a long while, we are a continental siege unit afterall

but if not they just need to give us the raw materials and we'll repair the rest ourselves, a Bolo's self repair ability is fucking magical and right now what we need after dueling with that cruiser and this fight and if we're going to go up again't their Bolo-equivalent we need to be in top form

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>>36453163
Leaving any of the Enemy alive, no matter how battered or broken, would be the height of folly and pride. I act accordingly. I advance through the battered moonscape that the rocket barrage had created, bogeys screaming and tracks clattering as I dip and roar towards my foe, mortar shells, missiles, and bolts of plasma reaching out to beat the two enemy units into the ground as I continued reciting The Charge of the Light Brigade.

They do not go easily. A small battery, hidden in a copse away from the main body of artillery, opens up and rains devastation on my point defense arrays, stripping the few laser turrets away in a maelstrom of shrapnel and shaped fusion charges. I loathe to lose such valuable equipment, but stabilizing the defense around Raleigh is worth any price, and I have no time to spare for bringing my shields up. Still, the attack has benefits, namely that it gave away their position. I lash the small copse of trees with a return barrage, pounding the centuries old trees into pulp and ruin as I rain vengeance on my foe.

The Tezrach infantry fare little better, entire platoons disappearing into constituent atoms as my hellbore rips them from the landscape. I manage to kill one of the bomb pumped lasers before it could fire, but a second one manages to go off before I can react in time, gouging through my communications mast. The defiant blow was short lived however, and I the remaining alien creatures die a swift and brutal death. I rock to a halt, armor steaming and weeping in multiple locations as I finish the poem of a time long passed.

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>>36453735
When can their glory fade?\O the wild charge they made!\All the world wondered.\Honour the charge they made,\Honour the Light Brigade,\Noble six hundred.

I take a few moments to repair the worst of the damage to my communications array, and an urgent message blares through the moment I reconnect to the datanet. "Captain Moreno, Captain Moreno! This is General Bradshaw, I have some terrible news. We managed to get a spy satellite up long enough to get a look at the enemy landing zone, and the results aren't good," the florid man said, his eyes even more haunted than the last time we spoke, "Two more of those strange super-heavy tanks that you identified earlier, and another division of infantry and armor. I...don't know what you can do really, but please, we need to coordinate some kind of response, and soon."

I at first want to respond myself, but stop after a few milliseconds of reflection. The Shantians were always skittish around me and would not listen to my advice. Captain Moreno had to be the one to say it. Reluctantly, I nudge her awake and quickly fill her in, and what tension she lost during her nap quickly returns to her shoulders as she caught sight of the true threat facing us. "Catha, that's just-I don't know," she said helplessly, looking at the static image that the short-lived satellite had fed us, "How do we stop that?"

{Point defense destroyed, comms damaged by 1, infantry and artillery destroyed}

What is the first step we can take?
[ ] Draft the refugees. We need more bodies to slow them down.
[ ] Try to pick off the super-heavies
[ ] Blunt the advancing armor
[ ] Other

>>36453774
>[ ] Draft the refugees. We need more bodies to slow them down.
and
[ ] Other
We find a good place to act as arty for the boys in combat right now.

>>36453774
Can we harbor some of the Refugees? Maybe there are some engineers who are able to help the Self repair systems. Even if not, we've taken lots of damage. they could shoot out from the useless areas.

>>36453774
>[ ] Draft the refugees. We need more bodies to slow them down.
>[ ] Try to pick off the super-heavies

>>36453774
Additionally, you do carry fusion and limited gray goop heads onboard. These are massively unpopular though,e specially for a pacifist planet like this. It will take a great deal for anyone to agree releasing these weapon systems, though the fission is the least despised of the two.

This one is more of an open ended question folks, so please feel free to discuss.

>>36453774
Factory symbols are super-heavies, I take it?
>[ ] Try to pick off the super-heavies
>>36453812
>>36453844
>trying to slow down modern war machines with untrained bodies
Y'all are fucking morons. Besides, that obviates the entire reason we're here, which is to keep them alive. You disgrace the Regiment by even considering it.

>>36453910
you underestimate the willpower of people fighting to defend their homes. Shame upon you for thinking them lesser for a lack of military training.

>>36453843
You could certainly take an hour or two to patch up some of your more easily reached systems. Maybe mount a few point defense lasers, break open the melted armor covering the VLS hatches, that kind of stuff. Some damage is irreparable though like the hit to the mortar.

>>36453774
Anyway folks, I'm going to grab a quick bite to eat. Please feel free to discuss for a bit, this is a pretty heavy point in the defence that needs some planning.

Rolled 4, 5, 2, 3, 4 = 18 (5d6)

>>36453774
>[ ] Draft the refugees. We need more bodies to slow them down.
Meatbag make good armor

>>36453926
>Shame upon you for thinking them lesser for a lack of military training.
For military purposes? Yes, they would be effectively useless.

I think we definitely need to make some repairs before engaging more enemies.

>>36453926
We are here to save the people, regardless of our own fate. I do not think it wise to send them to their deaths.

>>36453774
>>36453812
>[ ] Other
>We find a good place to act as arty for the boys in combat right now.
This

>>36453871
Time to let loose our atomics then, who gives a fuck what the retarded natives think, we're trying to save them and their fucking planet and I'll be fucked if we let ourselves and our Captain die because they are too skittish for proper weapons.

>>36453871
Right then, time to use some of our fusion/fission you mixed those up weapons on those super heavies

>>36454071
agreed on atomics. We have our objective. We'll save the natives, against their will if necessary.

Let the Pacifists see what war looks like.

>>36453774
>[ ] Try to pick off the super-heavies
With our atomics after
>[ ] Other
Head to Oosterbeek and help shore up their defense, here is fine for now, and we need a breather to repair and rearm, then we can start flinging ordinance at the superheavies

>>36454142
Seconding.

>>36454060
>>36454057
Look these guys are fucking monsters since they apparently don't give five fucks about civilian casualties, so if we bite it or get overrun most of the civilians will get slaughtered. what I'm saying is to arm the civilians to defend themselves should the worse happen.

>>36454156
But that isn't what you're saying.

>[ ] Draft the refugees. We need more bodies to slow them down.

That means they are only to slow them down. if you want to arm the natives, then say that. I DO care about civilian casualties. I would vote to ask for volunteers but nothing more.

>>36454156
Oh, I've got no problem with that, in and of itself. It's just the way the suggestion was phrased: drafting more -bodies- to -slow them down- implied that they would be used as, effectively, meat shields on the front line. As third-line troops they'd be... acceptable.

>>36454006
>>36453844
>>36453812
What would we arm these refugees with, exactly? This is a pacifist colony, remember. We got massively lucky finding those armored troopers earlier, we'd be fortunate if our new conscripts had more than a crate of rifles between them.

And as >>36453910 pointed out, we're here to keep those people from dying, not accelerate the process. Without training and equipment, they'd die quickly and for nothing.

Now, getting some engineers aboard to help us get back into a more fit fighting state would be another story. We've taken a black eye already, and we have at least three super-heavies to fight with infantry and armor support. We're going to need to be as close to fighting fit as we can be if we're going to pull through this, let alone turn it around. Worst case, we get interrupted during repairs, they can all pile in. Our command center is probably the safest place on the planet right now.

>>36454270
>Worst case, we get interrupted during repairs, they can all pile in. Our command center is probably the safest place on the planet right now.
You would dare let the filthy peasants dirty the air our precious commander breathes?

I jest, I also imagine that getting into our C&C centre to be a long and arduous task

>>36454270
Definitely agree. Best suggestion by far. Hell, maybe we can even get some psychiatric help for Captain Moreno.

>>36454270
We have the armored troops weapons, (which we voted to have reequipped to some volunteers a few threads ago) as well as battlefield salvage from the enemy.

>>36453774
>[ ] Draft the refugees. We need more bodies to slow them down.

>>36454390
>battlefield salvage from the enemy.
Do we have time? I'm under the impression that this will all be taking place in a few hours, and the battle as a whole will be over in a couple of days tops.

>>36453774
Hello all, I'm back! As for drafting: most of the refugees are ex-military from the Melconian wars, and are not totally helpless with a gun. They would be reserve troops around Tiperrary and would have the full 100% health but roll at 2d6-2. It would take some convincing of the Chancellor for this to be approved. You could probably get some volunteers if you asked the right people though.

Fission heads would probably be approved after some negotiations (add a 2d6 to your artillery rolls), but grey goop would be a much harder sell since it devastates entire regions.

>>36454532
Does the place have any military boats? That's one of the few things that can take on superheavy tanks.

>>36454532
Well then while we head wherever we're going, presumably to Oosterbeek to repair, we should get the negotiations going for Fission warheads.

Let's save the grey goop for when we really need to fuck up whats left of the continent, and if it gets to the point where we need to use it, then fuck asking for permission.

>>36454532
Right. Ask for volunteers first. Also, find somewhere to get repairs. Even a quick patch would be better then nothing.
Combat- swing into Oosterbeck and relieve it first, then pick off Super-Heavies.

>>36454532
Ask for volunteers. Remind them that they enemy is willing to slaughter innocents, including their families and them.

My argument for full authorization of all weaponry we carry, do you really want YOUR land falling into the hand of murderers who did not hesitate a second to slaughter cities of civilian pacifists?

Besides, Battle devastate regions regardless.

>>36454582
Not really. They're a pretty new colony and are mostly land based. This is the only continent they've settled so far, so the need to police the waters if fairly low. They have a few patrol boats, but nothing that could throw enough ordinance to scratch the superheavies.

>>36454369
I think they already tried the psychiatric help thing while she was off duty. Seems to have been of...variable effectiveness.

>>36454390
Must have missed that. Do we know if there are any defensive weapons among the salvage? I'd wager we need heavy support more than more people running around complicating our firing solutions, and it'd be safer for the volunteers as well.

>>36454598
It'd be better for relations if we can get approval. we should at least try.

If they don't approve it, Oh well. they aren't the ones driving the tank

>>36454654
>It'd be better for relations if we can get approval. we should at least try.
When the planet is about to fall and we're about to die, I could not give a shit about relations or approval, we use whatever the fuck we have and can use to save these ungrateful fuckers and ourself

>>36454702
>>36454654
Fair, but once you blatantly break rules of engagement like that, you probably won't see any volunteers draftees, and coordinating defenses become much harder.

Still, if it gets to that point of desperation, it wouldn't really matter.

>>36454702
they'll be more cooperative if we ask. cooperation of the natives is worth a lot, methinks.

>>36454744
>rules of engagement
Yeah, let's be all high and mighty while the planet burns around us and be content in our death with our moral superiority.

If it comes to the point where we need grey goop, then fuck the rules, fuck whatever anyone thinks, we're saving this planet whether they like it or not, and fuck them if they think their petty morals will save them and they get us killed.

>>36454532
Right, at this point I'll be calling the vote for now. The plan so far that I'm getting is:

Return to Oosterbeek and keep it stable
Repair some of our damage
Try to negotiate for fission weapons
Talk to Colonel Moreno and see if we can get some volunteers

Keep in mind you can modify this as circumstances change and things get more desperate.

>>36454825
Sounds good to me.

We need to get things organised so we can go sniper those super heavies without everything crumbling the moment we leave the defenses

>>36454818
I think you may not be fully on board with the Bolo mentality, dude. Granted I'm fairly new to this whole setting, but moral superiority seems to be part of the deal.

>>36454825
yeah this is good.

>>36454852
I'm fully on board with it.

Moral superiority means utterly nothing if we let this planet, its residents and ourselves fall to the enemy.

We're the motherfucking Dinochrome Brigade, we're the best at war fullstop. Whether the tiny teensy little squishy creators like how brutal and terrifying is not our concern, what is our concern is protecting them, and the best way to do so is to ensure our own survival, and by extension their survival, by killing whatever is trying to kill them and us.

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>>36454825
Seconds pass as the endless maze of my circuitry churns through the available data, algorithms and projections springing into existence inside my mind as I try to look for something resembling a solution to the devastating force about to fall upon us, but no matter the variables and assumptions I make, there are few good choices. Finally, before the awful, animal fear I see Moreno's eyes can grow into panic, I speak. "We must find more volunteers like Colonel Fowler. While I can engage the enemy with a high likelihood of success, I need support to keep the entirety of their force off my back. Additionally, we must speak to Chancellor Pacquette and release my fission heads for use. I must have every weapon available to deal with the Enemy superheavies. Finally, we must return to Oosterbeek for repairs. Several of my systems have been heavily damaged, and I will need as many advantages as I can get to deal with such a massive force."

The panic slowly drained from Lisa's face as the warm mezzo-soprano of my voice outlines something resembling a plan, but she still worried at her lip as she looked at the static image displayed on her screen. "That's not all that much," she said wryly, finger absently tracing a route that the massive enemy column could take straight to the heart of Tiperrary, "But better than nothing. I guess it's better to start small with the Chancellor before we get to know her right, warm her up a bit?"

I blink the LED on my optic, the closest to a nod that I can get, and say, "Agreed. Shall we contact Colonel Fowler first? The sooner that we begin recruiting volunteers, the better chances we have of saving this planet."

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>>36455372
I begin to roll north towards Oosterbeek as Lisa ponders this for a moment. "Sure, open a line Catha," Lisa said, leaning back into the command couch, and I can feel the tension in every muscle of her back and from the stress pheremones pouring from her skin.

"Colonel Fowler here, I'm a bit busy," comes the snapped reply, the visual a close up on the commander's face inside his suit.

"Colonel, we need bodies and right fucking quick. We just got an update from a spy-sat and it looks like Tiperrary's going to cook within the day unless we act soon," Lisa said.

The colonel looks at the map that I send to his tac-display, and his eyes widened in horror. "Colonel, you know many of the veterans correct," I interject, and at his nod I continue, "Then may I suggest contacting them and convincing them to take up arms again?"

How to convince the people:
[ ] Appeal to duty: they spent time defending humanity, the call has come again
[ ] Appeal to emotion: send the records of the refugee columns that were butchered

>>36455394
Why not both?

>>36455394
whoops, seems the choices cut off.

[ ] Appeal to their pacifism: if they do not fight, the planet that they tried to keep beautiful and pure would become a pawn in the Concordiat/Melconian war
[ ] Other

>>36455394
>[ ] Appeal to emotion: send the records of the refugee columns that were butchered
and
[ ] Appeal to duty: they spent time defending humanity, the call has come again

Rolled 2, 2, 5, 6, 1 = 16 (5d6)

>>36455394
Both, in that order.
>[ x] Appeal to emotion: send the records of the refugee columns that were butchered

>[ x] Appeal to duty: they spent time defending humanity, the call has come again

>>36455394
>>36455420
All three, in order of
>emotion
>pacifism
>duty

get their emotions running, get them thinking about defending the live their have chosen and their way of life, then get them remembering what it was like to have a cause to fight for, a purpose to guide them, and the skills they used to carve their new life for them, if they want their peaceful ways, they shall have to fight for them

>>36455394
Right, duty and emotion it is!

Writing now.

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>>36455741
I skim through the many thousands of photographs that I had taken along the way to Carthen and choose the most striking images before sending them along to the Folwer; while such blatant emotional manipulation makes me feel dirty and deceitful, there simply is no other way short of a full out draft to get the units we desperately need to hold Tiperrary long enough for the relief fleet to arrive. "You may want to forward these to your contacts. If you can spread these images, we may be able to convince your citizens to volunteer," I say

Lisa glances through the images I sent, her face twisting in disgust as she catches sight of the more heinous shots of corpses, before focusing her gaze onto the display screen in front of her. "So why did you and your boys volunteer," she asks quietly, "That might help convince folks to join up."

"Duty," he said simply, "We were already tainted by the glassing campaigns, what we had done. No sense in making some poor bastard who had always lived a peaceful and good life fight. No shame in us sacrificing ourselves to save something beautiful like Shanti. It's given us so much more than we deserve, it's only right that we return the favor."

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>>36456298
Lisa stares at the screen, lips pursed pensively, before nodding. "Yeah, kind of all we leftovers are good for right? Making sure the people who deserve it live, buying them some extra time."

"Something like that," Colonel Fowler says, a wan smile pulling the scars on his face tight, "I'll forward all of this along to some of the folks I know in Tiperrary. I've got some friends in the media, maybe they can distribute this quickly."

"Thanks Colonel," Lisa says, before cutting the connection and turning to my optic, "Now what's next on the agenda?"

What next?
[ ] Try to get the fission approved through Chancellor Pacquette
[ ] Set up a supply station in Oosterbeek through Ferdinand Yang
[ ] Read up on the Tezrach, see if we can find more info on the superheavies
[ ] Other

>>36456332
>[ ] Set up a supply station in Oosterbeek through Ferdinand Yang
we need supplies NOW!

>>36456332
>[ ] Set up a supply station in Oosterbeek through Ferdinand Yang
and
>[ ] Try to get the fission approved through Chancellor Pacquette

while we're repairing we can read about the superheavies

>>36456332
Why not all three? We're a supercomputer, we can multitask. Lisa can handle Pacquette.

>>36456332
>[ ] Set up a supply station in Oosterbeek through Ferdinand Yang
Cute tank needs food badly

>>36456332
Right, supplies/repair first, then we'll contact the chancellor.

>>36456332
[ ] Set up a supply station in Oosterbeek through Ferdinand Yang
We need somewhere reliable to get a refit, and I expect we're not the only ones. That'll let us use Oosterbeek as a proper staging point for launching sorties, and a fallback position if all else fails.

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>>36456671
"I suggest supplies first, commander," I reply, already skimming through the dozens of repairs that could be done within the all too short time that we had left, "The sooner that our allies start preparing for my needs, the better."

"Fair enough. That, and I want to see the guy unlucky enough to get tagged with a name like Ferdinand Yang," Lisa says, gaze settling firmly onto the screen as I set up a connection the Shantian armor commander.

The image that greets us is...interesting. The slovenly man looks young, early thirties at the absolute most, and the dim glare of his display highlights his face unflatteringly. "The hell do y'all want," he mumbles absently, eyes twitching from side to side as he read something off screen.

Lisa is shocked into silence, but recovers her voice after a few seconds and saying, "Um, I'm not seeing a rank here...so Mr. Yang?"

"Speaking," comes the immediate, irritable reply, and I spend a few seconds digging through the man's record before throwing it up on the screen for my commander.

Captain Moreno scans the information, eyebrows lifting in surprise as she noted that he really had no rank, he was just a repair tech who had spent years on the vehicles he was now leading. "Sorry to bother you Mr. Yang, but I'm the Bolo commander, and my girl's taking a bit of a black eye after bringing down that destroyer outside Raleigh. We're headed up your way now. If we can drive the slimeies back, do you think we could get some quick patch jobs on the bigger holes in her?"

The mention of 'Bolo' seemed to catch his attention, and for the first time he looks directly at the screen. "Never got to play around with one of them," he mumbles absently, before glancing at another screen, "Sure, yeah. My tanks took some roughing up and we need a bit of touching up too. You get her up here, we might be able to get a few things done on her. Can't promise much though. We got whatever's in our supply train to patch her."

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>>36457304
"Thanks," Lisa says, dragging the vowel out uncertainly before putting on a semblance of a polite smile, "We'll contact you once we get close."

"See ya," he shoots back, and the line goes dead.

"Fucking weird people on this planet," Lisa mutters before sighing and rubbing at her temples.

While she gets herself together, I pull relevant information on the Chancellor and begin setting up a connection, working my way through the bureaucratic red tape to reach the leader of this planet. Her actions early in the conflict certainly matched those of her profile, or lack of actions I reflect sourly, a pacifist through and through, she was from the original stock of religious settlers and was an ardent practitioner of the traditional beliefs.

I chime the tactical display to warn Lisa when I secure a connection to the Chancellor's office, and my commander takes a moment to compose herself before the leader of the planet appears before us. Her face is lean and cheekbones high, and her eyes are distrustful and drawn as they lock onto the rank at my commander's collar. "This is Chancellor Pacquette. What do you need, Captain," the woman says, her voice clipped and icy.

How should Lisa approach this?
{Bit of an experiment folks, give me some arguments, things to stress, what have you, and I'll lash them together into a conversation with the Chancellor}

[ ] Write in

>>36457349
Things to stress.

1. We're losing, slowly but surely because the enemy simply has more men.
2. There are three near bolo class enemies on the planet that we know of.
3. We're beat up and need access to all of our weapons.
4. If we don't get to use those weapons we're all going to die so it doesn't matter to us what shape the planet is in.
5. Contamination is not permanent, even though it is fricking messy to clean up.
6. They aren't going to stop and they've already killed x% of the planetary population.

>>36457349
alright
"Mam i'm going to be frank with you, there are three super tanks(or whatever their called) heading right for us at oosterbeek, now my girl and I can take these on no problem, unfortunately we have sustained damages protecting our comrades and destroying the enemy."
pause let info set in
"We request the use of Fission weapons to better destroy the marauding group that, should I and my girl here fall, would rape and destroy everything that you have created here, make no mistake when I say this for this is no jest, we need those weapons."

something like this.

>>36457349
"I need you to let me save this planet and our people."

Start by telling her about the forces that are on the way, about how Cathen has ceased to exist and Raleigh is in ruins but barely holding on, tell her about the super heavy that rivals some of our own power heading to Shenzhen and how more super heavies have dropped in with an infantry division and armor backing them up.

Convey the gravity of the situation to her, then tell her that as things are, this planet will not last through the night, let alone the remnants and residents of the cities not yet fallen.

Then tell her that we have a fighting chance, but only if we're allowed to use our atomics to nail those super heavies, and rally a defensive line adjacent to Oosterbeek. If we can't, then the enemy will be at the capital in hours.

>>36457349
Explain that we are currently assembling a battle plan to engage the three enemy super-heavy tanks. Unfortunately it is the Captain's opinion (no need to mention to the hard-line pacifist that the sapient death machine thought of it first) that the defense forces currently available will not survive long enough for us to engage and destroy all three with only our primary weapons. Therefore, in the interest of preserving the lives of the soldiers and colonists, we are requesting clearance to engage the enemy super-heavies away from any settlements with our fission warheads.

>>36457349
Right, wrapping the vote now! Good experiment, I'll be sure to use something similar for future votes.

I'll get to writing. Next vote will be the last of the evening.

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>>36457726
Lisa stiffens, and I can read the myriad of tiny facial twitches that she is trying to keep from betraying her disdain for the woman in front of her, but she does an admirable job in keeping her voice steady as she speaks, "Hello Madame Chancellor. I got in contact with you because we just received a report from a satellite that General Bradshaw got into orbit. There is a full infantry division and a full armored division currently making its way towards Oosterbeek as we speak. Frankly ma'am, even with the forces we have right now, that would be a tough fight that I'm not sure we'd walk out of. The satellite also picked up three Tezrach superheavies though, and we simply can't stop those with what we have right now. The planet won't last the night as things are right now."

The woman's mouth drew into a tight frown, and the furrow between her brow deepened. "I am assuming you aren't just calling me to convey the imminent death of my planet, Commander," she said, turning the last word into a vile curse as she locked eyes with Lisa.

Captain Moreno, to her credit, does not flinch, but answers back smoothly, "No ma'am, I think I have a plan that might save us, but I need your permission before I can use it."

Chancellor Pacquette stared at Lisa for a moment, as if trying to make her break and admit the crimes she had committed, before raising a hand helplessly, "Then out with it Captain, don't let me hold you back from your bloody-minded planning."

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>>36458330
"I need access to my fission bombs and grey goop heads," Lisa says, trying to keep her face straight as the woman on the dragged her breath in sharply, "Catha and I can bring down those superheavies by ourselves, but we need our heavy guns to do it."

"You would contaminate my world for decades, centuries," the Chancellor snarled, her icy mask completely shattered.

"And if I don't, then this 'utopia' that you've been working on, all of these peaceful people, will die. Every single one. The Tezrach have not spared a single civilian life that we have seen. They've butchered refugee columns, set Cathen to the torch, and bombed Raleigh into a crater. Ma'am, the contamination will damage your world for a while, but we can fix that. Otherwise your ideals will last for all of hours before we are all so much meat."

The woman stares at her hard, trying hard to rein herself in, before settling back at her desk with a weary sigh. "Fission only. Those disgusting nanomachine weapons of yours would irreparably damage this world, but we can at least scrub radiation," she says, expression such that it seemed each word dripping from her lips was poison, "I hope you are happy commander, destroying this garden that we have made on this planet."

Any last requests (choose 1, she doesn't seem to want to deal with you right now. I brought up the grey goop heads as a ask high, then barter down method, it didn't make her that much angrier):
[ ] Supplies for the volunteer regiments (2d6 instead of 2d6-2 on rolls)
[ ] Send more supplies to Ferdinand Yang (one system repaired to full strength when you reach Yang)
[ ] Bring up the potential for the draft (will make convincing her to start a draft if necessary a good deal easier)
[ ] Other

>>36458330
Man we really need to get an audience with this cunt after this is over, and 'accidentally' suffer a problem with one of our anti personnel clusters.

After all we would be protecting the rest of humanity from her incompetence and criminal negligence

>>36458356
>[ ] Supplies for the volunteer regiments (2d6 instead of 2d6-2 on rolls)

>>36458356
>[ ] Send more supplies to Ferdinand Yang (one system repaired to full strength when you reach Yang)
All the guns in the world can't help this planet if we are not in fighting form and can bring down those super heavies and stop those divisions.

>>36458356
>[ ] Supplies for the volunteer regiments (2d6 instead of 2d6-2 on rolls)

Probably the one she'd be most agreeable to, if only because it directly benefits people who aren't us. And let's be real, our boys on the ground could use all the help they can get.

>>36458356
>[ ] Bring up the potential for the draft (will make convincing her to start a draft if necessary a good deal easier)
It's going to happen sooner or later, might as well make it easier

>>36458356
>[ ] Supplies for the volunteer regiments (2d6 instead of 2d6-2 on rolls)
We can handle the heavies with damaged systems but we need the infantry to hold the lines.

>>36458356
[ ] Supplies for the volunteer regiments (2d6 instead of 2d6-2 on rolls)
We need those guys to hold the line and they need supplies.

>>36458356
And I'll be wrapping it here! We will ask for supplies for our new regiments (read: poor, poor bastards).

Thank you so much for reading and voting everybody, I'll stick around for any questions, comments, etc.

>>36458662
Thanks for the thread, any idea when the next will be?

CathaXLisa cuddlefic when?

>>36458662
Thanks for running.

>>36458691
Oops, thanks for catching that. I'll probably run same time same day, 6pm EST next Friday.

Work hard enough comrade, and your spoiler might be the epilogue!

>>36458727
We need to give the good Captain back massages to 'relieve stress' during battles, I'm sure we could delegate a small subroutine to do it.