Mecha Space Pirate Quest XI

Well, until it's got a working archive system, you're better off running the quest here.

This sounds ok

>1/3 of a mechabay

A brief note on this. Not all mecha bays are created equal. Yours each hold 25 mecha because the Rhinehawk has a Heavy Striker hull. The Yamato, with its Medium Weight hull and the same number of mecha bays, can hold 35 in each bay for a total of 70, even though the Storm Dragons never managed to fill both of them even at maximum strength. A single mecha bay on the Cincinnatus contains 65 UJCIDF machines.

Oh woops it is 57. Forgot to add the difference of 2 to the base 5 of a harpy. Is there a way for us to add more CP total to the Knuckle Kaiser? Or will we have to eventually move to a new mech. I hope we get to design our own mech someday.

BTW Do you want discussions like this at the end of the quest or during?

You hit your jets at full throttle, gripping hard on the twin handlebars jutting out from your cockpit's seat and shoving them forward. The HMIS plugged into your helmet controls a lot of your movement, but a human body doesn't have thrusters and having some kind of control that can be manipulated to control your speed (and weapons systems if you didn't use your fists and nothing but your fists) makes maneuvering a lot easier.

"Miles, behind you!" You roar in your best commanding-officer voice over the comms, cutting through the chatter. As you approach, you can see SOMETHING there.

It's big, bigger than the Master Harpy, and from what you can tell it's mostly blue and white with a pair of horns or antennae visible.

The Master Harpy has a cable attached to the backside of its Sniper Cannon's scope running up to a port on its faceplate where it plugs into the forehead. When it's plugged in, Miles can see through the scope directly for improved accuracy and make those crazy long-range shots she loves so much...but systems like that are common enough for you to be aware of their biggest flaw. A nearly complete lack of peripheral vision.

You hit the override button on the comms to cut through any remaining chatter, "Rhinehawk, shoot that transport ship out of the sky! Yamato, burn void and get here as quickly as you can, I want us in formation before that battleship gets here!" You bark, flexing the pistons of your fighting gauntlet. It's taken some damage from the Harpy blitz, and your shield arm and right leg are also a little battered, but so long as it can crush and tear you're confident in your own skills.

[Continued]

The 250 CP cap is a restriction of the Rhinehawk's facilities and not the Knuckle Kaiser's frame. It can be upgraded as much as you have space and CP for, and you can also add a Pod servo and paired Wing servos to it. Telling you anything else would be a spoiler.

These quests tend to run late, so I honestly prefer discussion during the quest itself.

Uhh... Hypothetically. Can we... Uhh... cut... off... Karen's arm? Just one. Then replace it with like a swiss army knife prosthetic? Will that boost the Rhinehawk's CP cap? Please user, I don't hate your waifu. I respect your choices of waifus and even help Roarke towards get laid to other waifus.

>Karen if you really love me, cut off one of your arms

We should just upgrade the facilities on board user

user, Karen is a facility.

Almost forgot to post our mixtapes

drive.google.com/file/d/0B6iimHE85EZZWjJCLXRLem1mQ2s/view?usp=drivesdk

So get her better training, or give her a third arm don't take a perfectly good one

My waifu is the magnetic grappling harpoon, who is indisputably the best girl. However, if you're into meatbags, and all the Karen fans didn't jump ship to Red Siren or are plotting my death for not making Roarke's semi-childhood friend the default waifu (and I might deserve it, Karen works hard), Karen is a good girl who sadly wouldn't work any faster with a swiss army hand. Overworking her can cause temporary nerd girl collapse, however.

Now, if you made the Rhinehawk significantly larger, or took over a colony, that's a different matter.

its the facility that i use to activate my dick

Not until we sleep with her and get whatever upgrade she provides, man. We've been on one date and she fell asleep at the end. We really should put in some effort with her today if we have time.

The mech floating just off the hull a few meters behind Miles' Master Harpy is blue and white, and so Bahamutcorp it has fins.

Literally. Two long, slender ones set on the sides of its metal skull, joined to the head servo by swiveling mounts. One fixed one on the back of each forearm and each calf. Its limb fins remind you a little of a helicopter seed...you're not sure that's the exact name for the plant, but you don't come from a farming background like Richard. One of those seeds with the little wing that makes it spiral towards the ground when it comes off the tree. It's primarily a bright, robin's egg blue, but its fins are white, so are its fingers, the first segment of its feet, and its fancy flaring pauldrons whose battlemented lower border reminds you incongrously of a pair of epaulets or the lacy border on a maid's apron. It's also as big as the Knuckle Kaiser, with powerful cylindrical forearms that extend outward below the hand, probably each containing a weapon system of some kind. Proudly displayed on the left pauldron are blocky letters that read SOUL-02A, with the UJCIDF sigil on the right shoulder. Its head looks at first like the standard twin-eye Jovian model, but closer inspection reveals that it has far more than two eyes. In fact, it has ten, set all over the upper face and forehead like the eyes of a hunting spider, glowing brilliantly red. Its feet remind you a bit of a bird's, with a long 'toe' in front and two smaller 'toes' extending off to the sides. Despite its size, it gives off an impression of being slender and graceful with its long limbs and narrow waist, especially when compared to the blocky bulk of the Knuckle Kaiser.

Miles, to her credit, doesn't hesitate or ask what you're talking about. She whirls around, and only the fact that the newcomer is so close allows it to duck the shot she reflexively fires in its direction. A stream of utterly profane language rattles like gatling fire across the comms.

[Continued]

"Wait, we don't have to fight-" A staticky voice rings out over the comms, likely from the newcomer, the sound quality somewhat degraded by distance and the fact that Miles isn't hesitating at all.

She drops the Sniper Cannon, letting it float by the cord attaching it to her head and (you assume) transferring sensor control to the backup one in her Master Harpy's torso. The two smaller but still heavy-duty fire-linked cannons installed over its shoulders ratchet forward into position. The larger blue-and-white one grabs one of the Master Harpy's arms and wrenches it back to foul the shot, and manages to twist its own body away as Miles fires off a shell with her unobstructed gun, "FUCK YOU, STAND STILL SO I CAN KILL YOU!"

>[How do you want to intervene?]

Miles wait a sec. Contact the blue machine. Decline now or we will shoot and Sam if that's you, what the hell!??!

Grab both of them so we can hold back Miles and have a grip on the other one in case it isnt sam

It the voice Jesus?
Try to establish coms but do not lower defenses any and get ready to intercept if it tries anything

"If you didn't want to fight you shouldn't be sneaking around like some kind of assassin."
Get close and separate the two.

Miles. Get ready to eject if I give the order to fire. All crewmen focus on the stranger. DO NOT FIRE UNTIL I GIVE THE COMMAND!

Name yourself and you better not make a move. You so much as hurt Miles and I will track down who you are and exterminate your family line to the third generation.

"All Kestrels, aim but DO NOT fire at the intruder unless I give the signal." Right, this calls for some order. You send a vidcomm request to the blue machine, which is straining to hold Miles back from blasting it.

You land on the hull, the electromagnets in your foot servos activating to give you leverage as you grab the two and throw them roughly apart. "If you don't want to fight, don't sneak up on us in an active combat situation."

Samantha Blanchett's face appears on your monitor, frowning behind the visor of her helmet, "I told you I put in for vacation time...and honest, Roarke, I tried to tell you I was here. I de-cloaked and was about to hail you when my brother sent me a message through my PC, asking where I was and saying the Cincinnatus was deploying. You immediately started pulling out of the bay, though, and I'm not stupid enough to distract you while you're running so I just had to cling on for dear life and ride your ship through the gate. Although getting close to the gate interfered with the system, it must have looked like something was bouncing in and out of your range" She's looking a little woozy and sounds just as badly off. A jump can be hard on some people in a ship, doing it in a mech is absolutely awful from everything you've heard from people who claim to have done it.

She continues speaking, "Then we arrived, and I tried to again, but you were immediately going into a combat situation and I didn't want to get shot up. This was the earliest I could do anything. But if you mean 'why am I here', because I'm not going to send someone I really, really care about into danger on my behalf without helping out as much as I can." She holds her arms up in the universal posture of surrender, "Do you want me to power down and eject my cockpit so you can formally take me prisoner, or can I just come aboard? I'm trying not to throw up in my helmet here, I don't ever want to make a jump without a ship's hull between me and THAT again."

Fuckigg called it!!

Congratulations.

In order for her not to get imprisoned by the navy let take her "prisoner" and confine her as close to our quarters as possible

Accept surrender but land in the bay. Go to the docs afterwards. I will be interrogating you later. Wink though.

What did I just say about possibly destroying your career?! Getting videos leaked of this battle will mean you will be a traitor to the UJCIDF and your brother will get discharged at the very least. Act as if I'm taking you prisoner as a failsafe if the GreenSkulls get a video on this. Lucky for you we aren't going to be fighting with mechs, go and rest inside the Rhinehawk.

Weapons down! It's a friendly. We're putting on a play, no one get hurts. After that all Harpies get back in the Rhinehawk it's time to deal with the battle ship.

She's clearly not in fighting shape. Bring her aboard to rest up and we'll deal with her later. Also have the technicians scan her mech to make sure it's not bugged and to steal as much data as possible

Rib Miles abit for getting caught with her pants down. Get Sam and the harpies inside the Rhinehawk. Aren't we blowing shit up with the Rhinehawk and Yamato? Don't think we need mechs outside in space for that

We should look into upgrading her Harpy's sensors so she retains her full field of vision even when sniping.

"Beep Boop, you bout to get F'ed in the A"

Prolly just need a proxy alarm that warns Miles if a non friendly ID shows up near her. I doubt this will be the only cloaked mech we can find especially with all this SOUL project shit going on.

"This was stupid, Samantha. Your career could be..."

"I know. I'm still not letting you go into this alone when my S-Betta is made for reconnaissance and stealth work and would be useful to you. I'm not my brother, I know how to edit the flight recorder for this thing." She affectionately pats the wall of her cockpit, which has been painted with an old-fashioned floral pattern around the edges of the monitor screens. "People's lives are more important than my career."

"WEAPONS DOWN!" You send the order to your pirates, "You jumped, didn't you Miles?"

"Fuck off, Cap'n." Your First Mate responds jovially, "My eartips were itching, I knew something was watching me."

"Anyway, Samantha, I'm formally taking you prisoner for your own good. Get your butt inside." You deactivate the electromagnets and guide her over to the bay, while Miles organizes the rest of the crew to fly back inside in an orderly manner, "Once you're in, go see the ship's doctor and get some coffee. He'll find you some empty quarters for the time being. You aren't confined there, but it might be good to stay there to avert misunderstandings. I'll, uh..." You flip off the crew-wide comms and set it to private, "I'll be by to interrogate you later."

Her frown turns into a smile, and although the glare from her helmet obscures it you suspect she might be blushing, "Hmm...I...I think I'll look forward to that." She winks, blows a kiss to the monitor with her fingertips, and flies into the mecha bay.

You heave a sigh of relief. You've got ship-to-ship combat to worry about and don't need any distractions right now. Fortunately, Karen is supposed to be asleep, so what are the odds they'll run into each other?

>[Next post, I explain ship combat]

>Fortunately, Karen is supposed to be asleep, so what are the odds they'll run into each other?
I'm going to bet very high, because comedy.

>Fortunately, Karen is supposed to be asleep, so what are the odds they'll run into each other?
Damn near 100%

Who do you think would win in a cat fight?

The one with an extra tail.

Sam, as a soldier, should know the basics of CQC, unlike Karen. And probably has a hidden gun.

On the other hand, Karen has power tools of various kinds. So who knows.

Clemmy

I'd go with Karen too. She'd fight dirty and I get the feeling she might just be physically stronger from working with machines all the time. Those over sized wrenches ain't light.

But, user. It's in space, everything is relatively "light". Those wrenches probably wrench themselves too, we aren't barbarians.

>Clemmy also followed us.
>She's been watching us the whole time.
>She's jealous she cant fight us and get "captured."

Nice dubs. Also I can't imagine all of her work would be in zero-g. even if it was she'd probably have strong hands and fingers from high intensity and high dexterity work. Hands that are great at crushing and holding

The Rhinehawk's to-roll bonus isn't determined by Roarke's stats, but rather by the quality of the crew. The Iron Kestrels are experienced veterans, although not ultra-elite quality, so they get a +14 to all of their rolls. Ship initiative is slightly different than mech initiative, because it's 1d10 plus the crew value instead of 1d10 plus Mecha Reflexes (Roarke's Reflexes - the first tonnage digit of the Knuckle Kaiser). However, ships automatically act after all mecha during a turn.

To ablate a ship's armor takes at least a 100K attack, which reduces it by 1d10.

Due to being crewed by upwards of a hundred people, a ship is not bound to a limited number of Actions, it can perform any and all of the following that are applicable.

It can move its full speed.
It can launch up to 1/10 its maximum mecha complement (the Rhinehawk can carry 50 maximum, so you can launch 5 per turn)
It can fire any and all main weapons (CIWS arrays fire automatically when an enemy enters range) up to two times per turn.

The transport ship is not a very threatening vessel, however. Its hull has 600 Kills, you'd estimate, with SP 30. If it has two bays, like yours, those 20 Harpies were its full maximum loadout. It might have a CIWS, but aside from that all you see is a single forward-mounted light battery doing 50k per hit and it's running from you at a speed of 700 meters per turn versus your 800. It's currently 3km away. However, it only takes 150 meters to change its heading 60 degrees, compared to your 250 meter turns.

Chase and shoot the transport but keep an eye open for anything on radar

>She vents her pique by doing the same thing with whatever SOUL machine she's riding to the Rhinehawk's hull that a bored cat does to your curtains.

Lets close the distance and shoot directly at its propulsion system

Draw them close to us. Then have our ship provide cover fire as our mechs board there ship and take it to sell or add to the fleet.

Dear god the horror!!!!!!!!!!!! She must be put down!

Stay within 2km - 2.5km Distance. Enough distance that it doesn't turn into a dog fight and it can't run away from us easily. The transport has no value on the ship. It's mech bay is empty and it only has a shitty light battery. Fire main batteries then if we hit fire CIWS (Even with long range penalty).

"Oda! The Rhinehawk will match your speed once you get here! Send volleys towards the transport. Save the missiles for the battleship. I want that transport gone so we can attack in formation without any disturbances."

>The crew keeps hearing the sound of screeching metal every time Roarke comes back from a mission.
>The crew begins to believe that the ship is haunted by the spirits of the dead Roarke killed.
This is how our first mutiny starts.

Get the Rhinehawk to start firing. The enemy ship's already within range.

However, 50 km away lies the real danger.

A big, green monster of a similar make and class to the Yamato. It's a Medium-Weight, with 1200 Kills and 60 SP armor, plus whatever mecha it's carrying. You can't see it well enough yet to determine what kind of armament it's sporting, or whether it's more of a gunship or a troopship, but if it's anything like the Yamato it moves at a sedate 600m-per-turn clip.

The Yamato itself is trying to keep up, but is still about 20km away (I may have got some distances wrong last thread, but these are the final ones) and moving at full speed towards you.

Your cannon batteries, incidentally, have a 4km range. You're at an angle where you can only hit with the starboard guns, but that will change next turn.

Feel free to plan out what you're doing next turn. For now, you close the gap to 2900m with the transport ship and get off two shots.

So roll me some d10+14s, first come first served.

Rolled 6 + 14 (1d10 + 14)

Rolled 10 + 14 (1d10 + 14)

Rolled 3 + 14 (1d10 + 14)

Starboard and Port batteries! FIRE!

The CIWS doesn't do enough damage to do more than scratch the paint even on a transport. Its strength is anti-mecha, not anti-ship. It would be a symbolic gesture, but you're welcome to do it if you want because all of the Rhinehawk's weapons are beam-based and have effectively limitless ammo.

Rolled 4 + 14 (1d10 + 14)

Do star ships never lose their armour? With 2 hits from our batteries we should reduce their 60 SP to 0SP. Meaning CIWS would be able to at least give some damage.

Rolled 6, 10 = 16 (2d10)

+14 both

...

If we got close enough could it be used to take out their windows/sensors?

Uh what??

Oh. Okay.

It takes an attack that does at least 100 Kills to damage a starship's armor, reducing it by 1d10 SP. That's the reason why the transport saw the Rhinehawk and decided to get the fuck out of there. Also, the transport has 30 SP, and it would take at least three hits rolling a 10 to damage their armor to completely destroy their protection.

By the way, in case it was unclear, the Green Skulls actually had a pretty viable strategy. The battleship is close to the colony, guarding it, while the smaller ship patrols. Upon seeing the Rhinehawk, it realized how a fight between the Rhinehawk and the smaller ship would go, and deployed its full Harpy complement with the intention of slowing the Rhinehawk and forcing a mecha battle to delay you while the battleship approached. When the Knuckle Kaiser charged, they were delighted and assumed standard encircling formation to tear up an enemy ace and get as close as possible to you so that the Rhinehawk's other mecha wouldn't risk firing. They didn't count on the Knuckle Kaiser being as strong as it is, or as resistant to fire as it was, but even so they managed to inflict damage which proves their stategy had merit.

Guess we should also maneuver the Rhinehawk to put the transport ship between us and the battleship. Stay as far away as possible until the Yamato can help.

For the moment, you are not Roarke Starwind.

Your name is Avi Silversmith, and you have the best job in the galaxy. Despite being a teenage rookie, you're the helmsman of a fast and aesthetically appealing pirate ship, recently upgraded to pirate FLAGship. Your work environment is full of beautiful women, most of whom dote on you because of persistent rumors that, like at least one of the ship's other crew, you are Captain Ozark's illegitimate child. Personally you don't care. The Ca-ADMIRAL, you have to hastily correct yourself, just sent you a comm message confirming that your sensor screens work perfectly and something about a prisoner, putting your mind at ease and letting you focus on something you really, really like.

Shooting down enemy ships with the Rhinehawk's underslung beam cannon batteries.

You roll your palm across the sensor ball that sends a crosshair target flickering across your screen. Coordinate numbers flicker across the crosshairs as it moves, and it flickers red as it calculates that you've led the shot perfectly. Starships don't have HMISes, forcing you to rely more on the computer, but that's okay with you. You've heard about how messy the experiments with starship HMIS got, and you don't want to end up brain-dead or insane.

However the enemy pilot is very, very good, and adjusts his course just enough that the six streamers of blue-green plasma that cut through space like knives avoid his hull by mere meters. It's a perfectly efficient dodge, and with a confident grin you adjust your silly little cap to meet the challenge.

You're going to bake this fucker like a biscuit.

Yamato -- 2100m -- Rhinehawk -- 2900m -- Transport -- 48,700m -- Cruiser

By the way, yes, the distance between the Yamato and Rhinehawk went up. It should actually be 2200m, not 2100m. The Rhinehawk is farther ahead, faster, and both ships are traveling the same direction at maximum speed.

Just confirming those figures ARE correct, I goofed up when I said the Yamato was 20km away, I meant 2km.

We are stuck at this range. We can't gain distance or lose distance at max speed. The more we can get the transport to panic and try to outmaneuver (barring non serpentine) us the more time we buy ourselves before the battleship arrives. The chase is 0 sum unless the transport tries to 180 in the other direction which is counter productive for it.

Rolled 10 + 14 (1d10 + 14)

Another volly

Rolled 10, 9 = 19 (2d10)

I shall need more d10s soon.

Rolled 3 + 14 (1d10 + 14)

Rolled 5 + 14 (1d10 + 14)

Rolled 7, 8 = 15 (2d10)

Dodge attempts.

You're gaining 100m per turn on the transport. The problem is, that involves gaining on the cruiser too.

Rolled 4 + 14 (1d10 + 14)

We have 32 turns-ish until the cruiser arrives. Fill this transport with hot plasma.

>We can't gain distance or lose distance at max speed
But we move faster than the transport ship. We're gaining on it.

Rolled 10 + 14 (1d10 + 14)

Rolled 10 + 14 (1d10 + 14)

Apparently it does.

Why yes it does.

Oh so we are. I stand corrected then. I imagine the transport would at least try not to go in a straight line? 60 degrees just so one of our batteries can't hit it. We can match its maneuver though and the distance becomes 0m. If it turns more than 60 degrees in a turn then it would just be running away from the BattleShip.

...

You were already turning, and you come about far enough to line up both batteries on the transport's tail.

He's good. Damned good. Both of the portside battery's shots miss, but the first Starboard battery clips him. The transport is down to 530 Kills and its armor has been reduced to 25 SP.

You feel excitement rushing through you. You were never one for mecha, despite finding them cool in a sort of detached way. For you, it's always been about the battleships and cannon batteries, and despite the enemy pilot's skill he's greatly outmatched when it comes to firepower.

Yamato -- 2300m -- Rhinehawk -- 2800m -- Transport -- 47,400m -- Cruiser

Rolled 4 + 14 (1d10 + 14)

Tear their armor in half

Rolled 9 + 14 (1d10 + 14)

Keep shooting!!!

Rolled 3 + 14 (1d10 + 14)

Rolled 3 + 14 (1d10 + 14)

Dust this fool. Get some of the bridge bunnies on your personal joystick once they see how well you can line up these shots.

Rolled 7, 4, 5, 8 = 24 (4d10)

Let loose from the noose. Admiral's orders.
youtube.com/watch?v=pAgnJDJN4VA

Now you have the range. Neither of you are exactly going in a straight line, both juking back and forth slightly. Him, to try and stay out of range of the field of fire from at least one battery, you to match him and keep him squarely in front of the Rhinehawk. Hot plasma digs deep furrows into the lime-green metal of the enemy's hull. You've been dreaming about shooting down some Green Skulls for a while now, and you're absolutely satisfied at the thought of just how much damage you're doing.

Let that cruiser fucking come.

>One 75 damage hit, One 84 damage hit, leaving his armor at 13 SP and his hull with 371 Kills remaining.

Yamato -- 2400m -- Rhinehawk -- 2700m -- Transport -- 46,100m -- Cruiser

>FEED ME D10s!