>>1874604
>>Close under fire from Sericea and Sadalahn, do what you can to discern the Jovians' capabilities.

>>1874604
>>Close under fire from Sericea and Sadalahn, do what you can to discern the Jovians' capabilities.
So are we gonna fire only if fired upon? Cos I'm thinking a couple of psycho-missiles to lead off with something pre-emptive.

>>1874604
>>Close under fire from Sericea and Sadalahn, do what you can to discern the Jovians' capabilities.

>>1874604
>Push your own remote weapons to their maximum engagement range, the Jovians may do the same.

>alright, give me a 3d10 roll
>best of 3, DC 19, critical 25

Rolled 5, 8, 7 = 20 (3d10)

>>1874708
>dat DC tho.

Rolled 10, 8, 10 = 28 (3d10)

>>1874708

Rolled 6, 6, 5 = 17 (3d10)

>>1874708

>>1874719
well then

>>1874719
Well, their enemies are the infamous Black Star and the "Princess of Axis", so it's to be expected.
>writing

>>1874751
I'm just glad the crit drought is over. Kinda appropriate that it'd fall under MS combat.

Unfortunately, I need to bail. Not feeling too well. May the odds be ever in your favor, anons.

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>>1874751
With these sorts of unknowns in the mix your first priority should be assessing the enemy's force composition in greater detail, and for that you're going to need to make visual contact. And that means getting closer into the enemy's fighting distance.

“We need cover,” you order. “Haman, have Sadalahn give us covering fire to advance. Rossweisse, stand by with psycho-missiles and the main gun, be prepared for spotting data.”

“Roger,” Rosswiesse responds.

“On it,” Haman tells you before turning her attention to her backup. “ReZEL team one form up on me, team two hold back. You're point defense on Sadalahn and Sericea.”

“What about Viola?” the lead 'ReZEL' pilot asks for clarification.

“They don't need our help,” Haman insists. “I only need to be close by to give you accurate orders.”

“Copy that,” the pilot affirms before bringing his two-man team into formation behind Haman's machine. “Accelerating to target.”

“Keep your eyes out forward,” you tell your sister. “I may need you on funnel duty.”

You suspect I'll have to serve as a counter?

“It takes a hell of a newtype to control funnels on full manual,” you remind her, “even Haman and I can only manage a handful without lapsing on mobile suit control. That means their weapons are likely on programmed control, giving you the advantage.”

I get what you're driving at... we'll see how the Jovians respond.

“Incoming fire!” Rossweisse reports as the beam cannons on the three supporting cruisers open up. “Executing evasive maneuvers.”

Thankfully the shots are all wild, owing to the difficulty of lining up two objects moving in three dimensions at relatively high speeds across a distance measured in hundreds of kilometers.

“ReZEL flight, close in and clear a corridor,” Haman orders, and the two machines in her team shift forms to a vaguely familiar, fighter-like shape. In this form all their thrust is vectored aft, pushing them to much greater acceleration than they'd otherwise be capable of.

“Contact!” the lead machine reports.
>1/2

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>>1874804
As you and Haman draw closer you can see a rapid-fire exchange between the two ReZELs and the Jovian opposing force. That includes a stupid number of missiles launched from two sources in the distance, difficult to clearly see for the range and a thin cloud of intervening stony debris.

“That's a lot of missiles!” Haman calls out, clearly as surprised as you at the sheer volume of fire. Many of this separate into tiny submunitions which explode in clouds of smaller blasts, pelting the ReZELs with shrapnel.

“Contacts are Zeonic design,” the lead ReZEL reports, sending you and Haman a visual feed of the two machines which intercepted them first. “High speed fighter types.”

You watch as two of the fighters execute a complex maneuver and combine midflight, opening fire on the ReZELs. One, clearly a Commander-type, transforms in the blink of an eye to engage at close range while his partner takes fire from the remaining fighters.

“Haman, let's help 'em out,” you suggest.

“On it!” she replies, “Funnels out!”

A trio of her remote weapons trace their way through the void, matched by three under your sister's control, which together set up an overlapping web of beam fire that damages the enemy machine before it can polish off the second ReZEL... which appears to have been relieved of one of its arms in the time it took for you to respond.

Second transforming type is falling back Catrina tells you. Probably looking to regroup and come back at us in mobile suit form.

“Withdraw and cover Schneider!” Haman orders the Command type. “We'll engage these Bawoos and close in to the target!”

Between you and Haman, the two interceptors are no match for the withering firepower you bring to bear against them. The first machine takes a crippling broadside of no less than six beam blasts to the head and torso, ruining its cameras and puncturing coolant and fuel tanks which send it spinning out of control. The second takes a shot to the front of its 'leg' section, crippling its combination mechanisms and forcing the manned upper torso section to abandon the idea. After offering a few blasts from its own beam weapon, Haman hits it with a beam cannon at fairly close range as it tries to strafe her.

The missiles launched your way meet a similar hail of fire from machine cannons and remote weapons, which destroy most and leave only the few which are clearly going to miss you altogether

“In visual range now!” you report, bringing up images of your enemies on the main HUD.
>2/3

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>>1874862
“So many...” Haman mutters as she sees exactly the same image that catches your own eye. “How?”

“That's our mystery contact,” you realize, jinking to avoid a beam blast from some sort of heavy Zeonic machine with a large beam cannon mounted over its shoulder. “I count at least a dozen beam cannons spread all over its body. Guess we know where all that power's getting used?”

“Heh, no kidding,” Haman scoffs. “What an absurd design... but clearly one meant for only one purpose. It could probably wipe out an entire battalion of standard mobile suits.”

The other machines you isolate are a squat design which appears to have missiles loaded into tubes scattered all across its body, of which you can spot two in support of the massive pile of cannons they're trying to pass off as a 'mobile' weapon. The fourth in that team appears to have few ranged weapons if any, probably specialized in close range combat to compensate for its teammates. The two cannon-types you can spot were probably partnered with the Bawoos to which you just dealt a crippling blow, which leaves the last team of four.

Three of those are obviously Zaku-IIIs, which are marked as such on your HUD, armed with rocket bazookas and beam rifles. Until now they seem to have been holding off on firing, so you suppose that marks them out as midrange units. But the fourth is something you've never seen. Larger than the others, almost the same size as the red monster with all the beam cannons, but instead of dozens it mounts only four arranged in stacks of two on either side of its cockpit. It also mounts a pair of large shields with two sets of gatling-type barrels extending past their edge... a heavy fire-suppression or area dominance type.

“What a welcome,” you sigh.

This could get messy.

>Have Rossweisse “newtype test” the two largest machines, fire a railgun at them and chart their response times.
>Engage the Midrange team of Zaku-IIIs and the... whatever it is. Surround them with funnels and dominate them at close range.
>Pick off the last two “artillery types” which are on their own, use them as cover to keep the others off you.
>Other?

>>1875092
For those of you keeping track at home, that makes these opponents two Galuss-Ks, two Zssas, a version of the Schuzrum Galuss, three Zaku-IIIs, and what is basically the Kshatriya with a different set of weapons and tricks

For those of you who may not be familiar with those names, Catrina's not being glib. This is a lot of opposition.

>>1875092
>>Have Rossweisse “newtype test” the two largest machines, fire a railgun at them and chart their response times.

>>1875092
>Have Rossweisse “newtype test” the two largest machines, fire a railgun at them and chart their response times.

>>1875092
>Have Rossweisse “newtype test” the two largest machines, fire a railgun at them and chart their response times.
>Other?
Scatter some inflatable decoys in case the missile MS or the arty MS try anything cheeky.

Info on Lombardia-class cruisers sure is scarce. The six Mega Particle Cannons were mentioned, but where they were mounted and their traverse is barely shown. Best I have is a clip from an SD GGen Game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6soSBzPNjW8

Then again, factoring in Smart Paint, there's a chance said scanner contact is a deceptive ruse.

And hey, Bawoos make their return!

>>1875107
Close range coverage provided by that Schuzrum Galuss, huh? For the rather projectile heavy composition.

>>1875136
Precisely. The whole Jovian design philosophy here is basically 'more weapon per weapon', meaning they design individual mobile suits that over-spec into one 'trick' or 'gimmick' a piece that operate in units with complimentary purposes

>3d10, DC 18, crit 24
>best of four this time for cooperation between newtypes

Rolled 4, 2, 6 = 12 (3d10)

>>1875163

Rolled 5, 1, 2 = 8 (3d10)

>>1875163

Rolled 5, 6, 8 = 19 (3d10)

>>1875152
Kinda had an inkling to that philosophy ever since Paps debuted with his "The O" (hurr T H I C C). It certainly makes for some unique looking machines.

>>1875163
Rollin'

>>1875170
>>1875172
There it is. That's more like us.

>>1875177
Still got 1 more roll if there are any takers, right?

>>1875174
I'm sure there was a reason for designing a fat mobile suit, but for the life of me? I just can't see it.

Also holding out on the last roll.

Rolled 8, 1, 3 = 12 (3d10)

>>1875163
oh, best of 4

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>>1875194
“Let's check this out,” you decide, pushing your thrusters hard and sliding out of the way of a beam shot you saw coming seconds ago. “Rossweisse, target these two larger suits. I'm patching a detailed feed through to you.”

With your assistance in targeting Rossweisse fires a massive ferrous slug at the overburdened machine covered in beam cannons, forcing it to jink well after the shot was fired. No ordinary human could possibly have managed such a feat, and in fact you can sense the momentary alarm from its pilot as they realize they've been directly targeted by a capital-grade weapon meant to put man-sized holes cleanly through cruisers.

Speaking of which...

“The cruisers are withdrawing away from the AO,” Haman reports. “Sadalahn, Rossweisse, please keep tracking them!”

“Easy enough,” Rossweisse assures her. “Round two, firing in three... two...”

The second shot is aimed at the mystery machine with the gatling cannons, which also jinks in response. The shot still nearly obliterates a Zaku-III that it only just misses... that would have been convenient.

“Both those machines have newtype pilots,” you realize. “One for each of us.”

It's like they knew just what to get us.

“They've still got plenty of company,” Haman observes. “Sadalahn and Sericea are still engaged in ship to ship, but if we can drive the cruisers back it'll free up fire support.”

>Haman is right. Harass the cruisers enough and it gives you an advantage.
>The cruisers are already a nonissue, focus on thinning out the squads at range.
>Deploy all your funnels, use them to test the capabilities of the two special-type machines.
>Other?

>>1875278
Okay, they got Newtypes too. This'll be tricky.

>>The cruisers are already a nonissue, focus on thinning out the squads at range.
The MS are quite an immediate threat. As long as the cruisers aren't in weapons range, the heavily armed MS units worry me the most for the moment since they're the most capable of putting some damage on our own two ships with sheer fire volume.

Wouldn't want it to get to the point of relying on point defense.

>>1875278
>Haman is right. Harass the cruisers enough and it gives you an advantage.

Since we had a slow bit there I'm gonna go get a snack and come back in ~10 minutes, then I'll start writing based on the votes we get between now and then.

>>1875278
>>1875308
>Other?
Oh yeah, I forgot. Have our ships deploy anti-beam chaff.

Should lessen the threat from any stray particle cannon and beam shots. And allows us to focus on any incoming missiles more too.

>>1875278
>>The cruisers are already a nonissue, focus on thinning out the squads at range.

>3d10
>dc 17, crit 25

Rolled 1, 10, 1 = 12 (3d10)

>>1875402
For all their fleet commander's bluster in the previous thread regarding taking our ships, the decision to withdraw does seem strange admittedly. At least this early in the battle anyway.

Rolled 7, 10, 5 = 22 (3d10)

>>1875402

Rolled 5, 2, 3 = 10 (3d10)

>>1875402

Rolled 7, 7, 9 = 23 (3d10)

>>1875402

>>1875419
Taking this roll. You and Haman both survive, but probably aren't going to make much headway. Not against what's about to happen.

>>1875439
>Not against what's about to happen.
Hedging bets on either nukes or their stellar engineering experiment being weaponized on a smaller scale.

Fucking Jovians.

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>>1875439
“We need to thin out that escort screen!” you order. “Without it we can close on those two newtype machines and focus on them.”

“Agreed,” Haman replies, launching the rest of her funnels. “Guess it's time to show them what the Qubeley can do!”

So that's what her machine is called, huh? Not what you would've chosen, but the important thing is what it brings to the party: a full contingent of eighteen funnels which dart in bright little zig-zag patterns towards the enemy mobile suit screen.

She gets a whole EIGHTEEN funnels? No fair, you never get ME anything with more than eight!

“We've only got seven,” you admit, selecting your own remote weapons from a wheel on the side of your right stick and hitting the stud to release them from their charging cradle. “One got turned into a sensor probe, remember?”

You're damn right I remember! Jeez... SEVEN funnels here, deploying... cheapskate.

You roll your eye as the exchange of fire begins anew, with dozens of funnels all following a mix of predetermined patterns and formations. The enemy forms one pattern to which Haman's reply with a countermeasure, which triggers a countermeasure to her countermeasure, played out like two invisible chess masters running several games side by side. The exception are your sister's weapons, which weave in and around the rest with a seemingly wild abandon to take advantage of gaps left in the enemy's strategy, picking off funnels one at a time in little clouds of burning propellant and shrapnel.

“Two of those things are huge!” Haman calls out. “They mount diffuse cannons, watch out Catrina!”

She just lost three funnels from one shot? Damn... evading.

You press on alongside Haman and her Qubeley until you approach the first handful of mobile suits: the artillery types which chose not to fall back with what remained of their partners. Beam shots lance past your shoulders, courtesy of the Sadalahn and her ReZELs, keeping the Zakus at bay just long enough for you to slice the arms off one of the mobile suits with your VSBR's heat bayonet, while Haman draws a pair of long beam sabers and quarters her own victim in the blink of an eye.

Then, the Jovians get their own back.
>1/2

>>1875510
The oversized machine with all the cannons opens fire with a wilting barrage. You count no fewer than sixteen shots, several coming from beam cannons you didn't even know were there. Your own return fire diffuses entirely against the enemy machine's defenses, a powerful blast of excited particles splashing across an invisible barrier.

“An i-field?” you realize aloud as you weave through the incoming fire. “God damn it of course that monster has an i-field generator too! Why the hell wouldn't it? Next you'll tell me it has a damn kitchen sink launcher!”

“You done now?” Haman asks with no small hint of irritation as the second newtype mobile suit sends four streams of gatling fire your way to add to the already thick barrage of incoming death. You're forced to simply accept the fact that some of these shots are going to hit you, and just be sure to have one of your beam shields in the right place as often as you can manage.

“I dunno, we may be,” you admit grimly. “Haven't seen fire this thick since the end of '79.”

“It's just a handful of machines!” Haman shouts, taking a shot at a Zaku that gets too close. The blast from Qubeley's rather small handheld beam rifle gouges out a massive hole in the Zaku's metal shield, forcing it to roll to try and save the arm behind it. Meanwhile you put a penetrating VSBR shot through one of the missile-launching mobile weapons that sets off a chain reaction, putting that machine out of commission.

Yeah, but it's a handful of machines that seem to be dedicated to putting out an amount of fire that's simply impossible to keep dodging. And the worst part about it... it's actually working. You can't keep at this forever, in fact your estimates are minutes before you or Haman make a fatal error in judgement and one of these shots turns out to be a lucky one.

>Abuse the eye hax, try to remove one of these squads from the equation before exhaustion sets in.
>Have Sericea send you some missiles, use those to attack the inconvenient machine with an i-field.
>Have your sister concentrate her fire on the rapid-fire machine before it chips you away into nothing.
>Fighting withdrawal for now, there's no need to continue a fight that's rapidly going south on you.

>>1875547
>Have Sericea send you some missiles, use those to attack the inconvenient machine with an i-field.

>>1875547
>>Have Sericea send you some missiles, use those to attack the inconvenient machine with an i-field.

>>1875547
>An i-field?
Welp, there goes beam attacks.

>>Have Sericea send you some missiles, use those to attack the inconvenient machine with an i-field.
Here's to a lucky hit to disable it, even if it's just to give an opening.

>>1875547
FIRE ZE MISSILES
3d10, DC is 20 but you get four tries.

Also on a success I will call for a second roll to see the effects on target.

Rolled 2, 9, 5 = 16 (3d10)

>>1875623
Hmm, also gotta find a way to get the dakka machine from blanketing the missiles with a wall of fire too. Something to upset its visuals maybe?

Rolled 5, 4, 7 = 16 (3d10)

>>1875623

Still waiting on those rolls. I'd say at this point coming back for seconds is fair game as of 14:12.

Rolled 1, 1, 5 = 7 (3d10)

>>1875623
>>1875708

Rolled 8, 7, 1 = 16 (3d10)

>>1875623
Ah, I guess I'll take the last one.

RIP

Rolled 1, 2, 2, 1 = 6 (4d10)

So that fails, rolling for Haman.

>>1875763
All dem 1s man.

>>1875763
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1VJ39nVIBk

“We need missiles!” you call out to Rossweisse, who obliges you by launching a barrage of two dozen psycho-missiles in your direction. But even with her ability to keep them maneuvering several are downed by the heavy machine with the gatling-style weapons, and several more run out of fuel due to the demands you're placing on their thruster motors and lose their abilities to evade. The enemy is merciless, pouring even more sustained fire out into space in flaming streams of yellow light that scythe through your incoming relief.

Not one reaches their target.

“All missiles down!” you report, an uncharacteristic tone of dread slipping into your voice.

There's too many of them. This amount of fire is insane, and this sort of strike group that's been assembled was never intended for it. With just four mobile suits the Jovians may have exceeded the firepower of the entire Zeon force at Odessa... which by number of men and machines involved remains the largest battle in human history.

How the hell are you supposed to beat this?

Your own machine takes an unlucky shot to the center of its right-side beam shield for your trouble. The defensive barrier collapses, and to your surprise that's not even the worst of it.

Haman strays too close to the cannon-covered mobile suit, and is enveloped with overlapping shots from a handful of diffuse beam cannons mounted to the sides of its chest. No single hit is fatal, but the combined effect chews up entire portions of her machine like they've been run through a paper shredder. One arm even comes under the strain of her thrusters as she moves away, spinning off into space all on its own, still grasping an ignited beam saber in its hand.

“No!” you shout, moving your own machine swiftly into the line of fire as your friend struggles to regain control after the partial loss of AMBAC. “I won't allow it!”

Beam strikes and missiles pepper the Viola's remaining shield, but thankfully it holds fast this time. More worrisome is the fact that the Zaku-type machines are clearly trying to maneuver around your flank to get a clean shot... not at you, you realize, but at Haman's badly damaged weapon.

>Use the eye. Whatever it takes, however long it takes.
>You still have a few dirty tricks up your sleeve to buy time.
>You're a newtype. Take out your rage on them directly.
>Other?

>>1875821
>>You're a newtype. Take out your rage on them directly.

>>1875821
>>Use the eye. Whatever it takes, however long it takes.

This option though. It's something.
>>You're a newtype. Take out your rage on them directly.

Alright, I'm going to go ahead and call for the rolls now. Best of three, higher is better.

Rolled 1, 8, 2 = 11 (3d10)

>>1875861

Rolled 1, 7, 4 = 12 (3d10)

>>1875861

Feel free to roll two more dice. Should have been four anyway, honestly, and it seems participation's taken a real slump.

Rolled 4, 1, 6 = 11 (3d10)

>>1875861
>>1875895
AAAAAAAA

Rolled 9, 1, 9 = 19 (3d10)

>>1875861
>>1875895

Rolled 2, 1, 4 = 7 (3d10)

>>1875895
And I'll be rolling for the ReZEL pilots

>>1875919
Jesus. Like mooks before a Gundam, I dare say.

>>1875919
The ReZEL pilots move in swiftly to try and counter the Zakus in motion, getting off a few shots before one of the Zaku-IIIs lifts its front skirt armor and fires back from beam cannons hidden there. The two shots obliterate one of the ReZELs before focused fire from your relief destroys the Zaku in turn. The Commander-type machine actually collides with a second Zaku, the two machines impaling each other with beam sabers.

But their sacrifice does more than down one suit for their two: it gives you time to remove your eyepatch.

With your sister's help you engage the Zakus in close combat, funnels blasting away even as you swipe at the remaining attackers with your heat bayonet. The blade impales one Zaku, which you rotate using your own powerful thrusters so that you can fire through it and into the remaining Zaku: a maneuver that finishes them both off in one pull of the trigger, and which was only possible with the right information and a lot of patience.

Your foresight alerts you to an incoming barrage that Haman still won't be able to avoid in time. You can tell she's injured in her cockpit but still conscious, simply limited in terms of how quickly she can react. A broken arm seems the most likely issue.

“I said no!” you roar, placing your beam shield into the path of the oncoming blasts again. Funnels take concentrated shots on the enemy's remaining missile units, Haman's contribution to the fight despite her own injuries can be manged with just mental control.

I've got a handle on these funnels, Catrina reports, shifting her attention to managing the cloud of small funnels released by that monstrous mobile weapon and their two carriers, which themselves mount two much larger beam weapons. If you're going to do something drastic with that eye of yours do it now!

>No, it's better to withdraw. I'll use my eye to guide us and Haman back to safety.
>If we target our fire we may be able to ruin their thrusters. Rossweisse and Sadalahn could finish them.
>With enough cover fire I can disable the gatling machine and use it as a bigass shield.
>Other?

>>1875959
>>If we target our fire we may be able to ruin their thrusters. Rossweisse and Sadalahn could finish them.

I feel better now, catching up

>>1875959
>>No, it's better to withdraw. I'll use my eye to guide us and Haman back to safety.
Maximize the timing and use for dummies, anti-beam chaff, flares, clay rounds, etc. Whatever it takes to land us both on deck and away from the sector.

>>1875989
Oh boy, are you in for a wild dice ride now.

>>1875989
I'll wait.

>>1875959
>>If we target our fire we may be able to ruin their thrusters. Rossweisse and Sadalahn could finish them.

Rolled 1, 3, 2, 3 = 9 (4d10)

>rolling to turn the tables
>DC 16, Crit 20 due to active EYES and MAD
>rolling for Haman

Rolled 4, 1, 2 = 7 (3d10)

>>1876035
Wow Haman. pls.

Rolled 5, 1, 2 = 8 (3d10)

>>1876035

>>1876042
OH COME ON

Rolled 5, 4, 5 = 14 (3d10)

>>1876035

One more roll...please don't let a 14 be the highest we get.

Rolled 5, 7, 7, 3 = 22 (4d10)

>>1876035

>>1876050
...I don't know how to feel about the fact that not only did the QM have to roll, he got a crit+

Also should we have been rolling 4d10 or 3d10?

>>1876052
>...I don't know how to feel
A great sense of shame on my end. And just when we started so well.

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>>1876050
The next series of shots overloads your beam shield, with one landing perfectly on the emitter just as it weakens and takes the arm off at the elbow. Now that your defenses are down you can't stay still, and Haman is suddenly forced to take evasive action. Her arm is definitely causing her problems, you can tell by the way the Qubeley is lurching from side to side in a way that's far from characteristic of her usual skill.

Her funnels are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of incoming fire, and her machine itself is raked again. She's forced to eject a spare fuel canister manually to avoid it blasting her to pieces, but the damage is really adding up fast.

“I can't see any gaps in their fire!” you admit in frustration. “I can barely keep pace even with this blasted eye!”

You eventually have to shut it. Too many variables to keep track of, too many attacks, too much movement. Your head hurts just from the memory of the strain of trying to pick out a future where you weren't pummeled by enemy fire, and too few of them out there to find.

Leave it to me.

With an unusually firm tone, Catrina launches an attack of her own. Her own funnels had fallen silent, coasting without relying on the use of their motors, which almost certainly made them look inactive to the control routines your Jovian enemies were relying on. And since a funnel has no feelings, the newtypes behind the controls had no way of knowing that they were being played.

The four remaining funnels from Viola's charging rack flare into life, slamming into their targets and firing shots which penetrate deep into the internal systems.

“We're falling back!” you shout, blitzing past Haman even as wild shots chase after you from the Jovian weapons. Their cameras may be down and their systems damaged, but they can still feel where you are. “Rossweisse, hit it!”

“With pleasure,” she replies. An orange streak lights up the darkness, and the torso of the mechanical monster which nearly claimed your life along with Haman's evaporates from a direct hit.

Its pilot barely even realized what was happening this time, and the second machine goes down just as easily.
>1/2

>>1876074
You're still in a bit of a fog by the time you manage to get back to the Sericea. Normally it would be impossible to fit two gundams onto one launch ramp, but given how much of the Qubeley has been shot away you actually manage the feat over Haman's protests.

“We're treating you on our ship,” you insist quietly, not really hearing her arguments even as you silence them. “Then we need to talk strategy. Your suit's a wreck, you're down two pilots, we're all out of funnels... I don't think this is going to work, Haman.”

Your dear friend falls silent at that admission. Even your sister has nothing to say to such an open expression of what you know you're all thinking.

For the first time in years, you've failed.

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>>1876086
And on that note... better luck next time.

Archive is up, and hope to see you next weekend. Feel free to chat, I'll be poking my head back in regularly through the week, and as always the Twitter handle is @QMKingofHearts.

>>1876095
You realize this picture makes me want you to run an AC Gundam quest, right?

>>1876095
Still get to live to fight another day I suppose, which is hopefully enough to make a difference.

In any case, thanks for the session. I am feeling drained afterwards —both physically and with dice luck. I figure this victory on the Jovian's end would embolden them with their plan.

>>1876138
You figure correctly. Even at the loss of twelve advanced mobile suits and their pilots they've bloodied Haman Karn and Carya Marseilles' noses.

They've hurt you, and they wish to go on hurting you.

>>1876151
Here's to hoping Earth, Luna, the Space Colonies, and Mars' would recognize said threat enough to provide military aid. What isn't compromised yet anyway.

And what's Bianca and Cima's reaction to the asskicking we just received?

>>1880159
>Bianca
Fairly accepting. She's more a glorified grunt pilot, she's used to legitimate Pyrrhic victories. So to her any time you sweep the opposing force and come back alive is a good outing regardless of how bad you get thrashed in the process.
>Cima
Is a little more familiar with how the CTF's Experten work. They go in fast, engage with overwhelming skill and tactical acumen, and finish quickly before their numerical inferiority becomes too much of a problem. Her concern is that Jupiter's forces, if they're ALL like that, might be something that can't be cracked with that sort of strategy.

So if you folks wanted to see an omake this weekend as compensation for no thread, what would that be?

>>1887234
Gonna be tough to think up of one without compromising anything plot relevant.

Maybe a light-hearted, nerd gushing technical breakdown of the Jovian MS encountered by Audrey April or Nina Purpleton? Leaning towards the gatling and I-field beasts.

Or pastebin updates, since it looks like we've progressed further about what was uncovered regarding the Jovians.

>>1888496
I can probably do that. Maybe some time on the weekend proper, the problem is really that I'll be busy during reasonable hours, so I can probably find a bit of time here and there to finish an omake or two.

>>1888496
That'll be written up tomorrow as an omake. Tonight's not good.

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>>1888496
“Nah, can't get a good feel,” a voice echoes through the confines of the hangar.

Nina sighs wearily, making a few notes on her pad with the stylus she'd been spinning impatiently between her fingertips. “The balance has been thrown off too much by the upgrade package, we'll have to patch the control software.”

“Aw, but that's gonna set us back at least three days!” Kou whines from the mobile suit's cockpit.

“We could let you do a systems test without it,” Nina offers sarcastically. “But only if you'd be comfortable getting splattered all over the inside of the cockpit like a bug on a windshield.”

“Well I'd have you to scrape me up and nurse me back to health, so I think it'd be okay,” Kou replies calmly.

“And what if there's nothing left to scrape up?” Nina continues. “Surely you wouldn't be the sort of cad that would leave his wife alone to grieve?”

“Point taken,” Kou laughs from his seat. “I just can't wait to try this thing out though... I'm gonna be antsy until it's ready.”

“Don't worry about it,” Nina replies thoughtfully. “I'll take personal responsibility for teasing you like this.”

“Don't make me get the firehose, Lieutenant Uraki,” Audrey April sighs, having only just joined Nina in staring at the schematics on her datapad. “Nina, I've got a job I need your help with if you're done flirting.”

“What sort of job?” Nina asks curiously trying to get a glimpse of what's being displayed on Audrey's device.

“Are you done flirting?”

Nina glances as her husband shuffles his way out of the hangar, and can't quite be sure if the forlorn look was meant for her or the mobile suit they've been working on for the last week and a half. Possibly both.

“Well, now I am,” she grumbles as Kou disappears down the hallway. “So what's all that?”

“Carrina, Rossweisse, and Haman made contact with some Jovian mobile suits, they've sent us the performance reports and what schematic readings they could get of them.”

“Ah, Jovians?” Nina muses playfully. “You always bring me interesting stuff to work on. That's the only reason why I'm okay with you... interrupting like that.”

Audrey rolls her eyes dramatically before gesturing to a nearby workbench.
>1/?

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>>1898581
“Two Bawoos?” Audrey muses in a playful tone as they watch the footage. “That's cute. Not particularly interesting, but cute.”

“Didn't last long though,” Nina observes. “I hope they fight something interesting next.”

It isn't long before they catch their first glimpse of the rest of the Jovian force, and Audrey offers a low, appreciative whistle. “Just look at the guns on that thing!”

“This makes it official, the Jovians are insane,” Nina declares. “Nobody needs to put that many cannons on a single mobile suit, I don't care how much you have to compensate for.”

“Yeah, but it's working for them,” Audrey realizes, almost struggling with the concept. “You'd agree with me if I said that overspecialization is a real limitation for mobile suit designs, right?”

“I coauthored a paper on it,” Nina reminds her, “I'm sure I gave you a copy before it was published.”

“Well, what if by overspecializing... well, by doing it hard enough,” the brunette supposes, “they came right back around to making it an asset?”

Nina considers it as they continue to watch the amount of beams that the two unique Jovian mobile suits were capable of producing, waves of energy saturating the whole area while wire-guided missiles weaved in and around the few gaps left between the beams. It's insane to think that anyone could negotiate that sort of withering barrage... well, anyone except for the upper echelon of newtype veterans.

“I can't even keep track of them!” Nina admits in wide-eyed wonder.

“I can... but only just,” Audrey replies with a frown. “I must be slipping a little.”

“You newtypes freak me out sometimes, you know that right?”

“Okay, so here's what I can tell,” Audrey continues, ignoring the comment. “The fat stupid one with all the cannons can't use its cannons all at once, and it can't use its i-Field at the same time as its weapons.”

Nina nods thoughtfully. “Considering the firing intervals yeah, I would agree with that assessment.”

“How about the other one?” Audrey asks. “It looks like it just has some really big gatling guns.”

“Sort of like the Xeku Eins series,” Nina muses before tapping the screen around the center of the mobile suit's chest. “Except these cannons. This mobile suit's been designed as a suppression-type, sacrificing speed and maneuverability in close combat for high firepower that doesn't particularly care about i-Field defenses.”

“I know, right?” Audrey chuckles. “These things are ridiculous... but the strangest part is that they worked for a while.”

“Haman lost two of her support machines?” Nina realizes. “That's... not good.”
>2/3

>>1898877
As things continue to get worse, both women are left aghast at the situation they're watching play out.

“This... doesn't end up being a snuff film, right?” Nina asks nervously.

Audrey shakes her head as Haman's mobile suit is badly battered. “There wasn't a report of... permanent casualties attached to the files, so I assume...”

Eventually the last mobile suit falls, and the footage shows Haman and Carrina returning to the Sericea. Two breaths are released in near unison as they can hear Haman responding through the footage, indicating that she was both alive and conscious if badly rattled by the damage her mobile suit received.

Then the footage ends.

For several long seconds neither one of them speaks.

“It was too sleek,” Audrey mutters, biting at her thumbnail as she considers what she's just seen. “All the power consumptions being offset, the reduced weapons loadout. When they met with overwhelming firepower across every type of weapon they just couldn't answer it effectively.”

“They got soundly beaten by quantity?” Nina asks. “I guess they were down two to one in numbers, but in terms of firepower it was even worse odds than that.”

“Karen's going to handle the narrative when this engagement goes public,” Audrey sighs, tossing her datapad onto the workbench in front of her in dismay. “Our job is going to be...”

“Do I get to see the specs of those new suits!?” Nina asks excitedly, eyes practically sparkling. “Oooh, corporate won't send me the files because of their data security policies, but I've heard about it!”

“Yeah, we need to build it...” Audrey pauses for a moment to decide on the phrasing, before grinning maliciously. “Meaner this time.”

“I was hoping you'd say that!” Nina replies with a manic grin. “Now, I have a few ideas for the leg reactors...”
>3/3

ahh geeks geeking out.

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>>1898581
>>1898877
>mfw Nina's pillow talk and MS talk are practically interchangeable

Also, that's a cool assessment for those Jovian MS. Which reminds me that I-field generators are also prone to overheating with continued use. So if it draws power for both weapons and shields, overloading the shield should (in theory) also disable the cannons.

Or just get straight to stabbing, I guess. Probably would've gotten Haman a chance to use her pile bunker too.

Shotguns or bazookas loaded with clay/pellet rounds is also up for consideration.