Mecha Space Pirate Quest XXXI

Its for our new Ace Basil Montgomery and his stats are going to be based on what we design

Ahhh, well I'd say a mix of gun and missile with a more support utility. Those smoke and scatter grenades are damn handy after all, and solid ammo can serve a bunch of utility rolls. Would work for a former police officer if I recall.

“I wanted to keep it a surprise, make you lie awake at night wondering how I keep coming back, but you spoiled that, didn't you? You tore open my cockpit last time before I could self-destruct and you got a peek inside. You're like a kid that can't wait for Christmas and sneaks into his parents' room and finds his presents in their closet, you just can't let any of the magic survive. I wouldn't keep saying you're an asshole if it wasn't true, you know? Most people say I'm quite pleasant and treat others pleasantly, and that's because most people are pleasant at heart. You, though, you're not, and I won't pretend it doesn't annoy me. Still, since I'm on the side of justice here, I'll tell you something good. You've got it all backwards. I'm not the First Mate, and I'm not even a pirate. I never have been. The Green Skulls were a bunch of old men, their warped and insane children, and what I suppose couldn't rightly be called women anymore. Galbadie knew his time was running out, all those years in zero-g without enough time in gravity were killing him faster than the roll of years could, and he was willing to play ball with us. Mostly. The original First Mate was never as good as me...otherwise he would probably have made himself Captain and spared his fleet the fate awaiting them...and he's been dead for some time. My only sin is dealing out justice to pirates, and using pirates to deal out justice to other pirates.” It's still amazing how smug a synthesized voice can sound, "I've told you all along, you're the villain here."

[continued]

Who is Basil Montgomery? Where did we pick him up?

If I remember right he was the chief of police from the colony we saved

That colony that got blown up. He was one of the guys that joined us.

I thought they were all rookie level pilots?

Make way for best waifus. So I got a session in 30 minutes. Won't be able to work on Roarke's jacket until 4~ hours from now. Not that I even know how to draw a leather jacket.

I got to go to sleep because its nearly 2 in the morning here. Try not to get killed guys.

“Keith, I'd like to take a moment to point out what this scumball is doing here. See, he's a primitive who's recently discovered advanced sensor systems. He probably dug his out of the S-Betta since pirates can't build mecha worth a damn. He's just discovered how to record comms and sensor data, and he's going to try to put this on the holonet or put a gun to that captive reporter's head and make her run a story on it. Typical. See, because he's a backwater ne'er-do-well and it worked well the last time, he's failed to realize what's different than Suleiman 1. I liked that footage, Roarke, I'll give you that much. Lots of action, fantastic views...and not much talking. It's not easy to edit shots from so many different mecha with a big, confusing battlefield and still have it pass inspection by a trained eye. The ancients used to say that one picture was worth a thousand words, and it's true. After all, It's plenty easy to modify the comms record if you know what you're doing. Or didn't the Blanchett 'girl'...” There's just enough light to see the S-Slayer making air quotes with its blunt, jointed fingers, “...tell you that while you were torturing 'her'? That's why reviews don't tend to take the comms record into account. Personally, I think the upper brass did it on purpose, I'm sure one or more of their brats like that obnoxious little shit Merrow would have caused a scandal otherwise with friendly fire mishaps or losing their cool during a mission. Why don't you at least have the decency to kill that pustulent shut-in, Roarke? He was right there on Auditorium, it's the sort of thing you do, nobody would be surprised and nobody would blame you. I probably would have done it myself in the chaos of the battle if I hadn't had your meddling to deal with. If I ever have to be in a room with him again I'm not sure I'll be able to avoid breaking his glasses. I'm not sure I'll even try." The distorted voice is no longer smug, but angry.

>[Continued]

Not the Chief of Police. Dude's a retired Bluegill pilot. And aces in this system are usually named anyways.

He will be named once he has stats, he's flown a bluegill before, and his last job prior to joining you was as Suleiman 1's chief of police/head of colony security.

How can Keith think any hero talks like this

Dear gods.. is that Lysa or that other chick? Is First Mate Lysa dropping all that flowery prose? Because damn, this guy talks a hell of a lot.

Oi vey. Is this where he pretends all his evil was just part of his disguise as First Mate?

"Damn, you come straight out of a comic book. Only villains have dialogue that long and pointless. Who else will you shameless slander in your next speech?"

Weren't Keith and Allison previously dating before he dumped her? What if all this is just a grand revenge scheme to make up for being cucked by forcing an inevitable lethal fight between Keith, Heinrich, and Roarke?

Given how he, whoever he really is, seems to have completely misled everyone this entire time, I daresay he's good at pretending

They were, but there is only one person so far that has close to this much words. Besides, I think no matter how much she hates him, Keith becoming THE poster boy for Fairchild's campaign is likely more important. A unscathed, unstoppable hero that fights for "justice"? Great PR.

And while we wait, here's my proposed ship design for our ship. Keeps to it's roots, looks nice and sleek and pretty strong.

Counter proposal. The galaxy needs to feel fear when they see us raise our colours.

Just paint it kestrel colors and put the flag design on the head if thats the case. If I recall, the front part opens up to fire it's BIG cannon anyways.

Looking back, you actually do vaguely recall Samantha once talking somewhat flippantly about editing her flight recorder, "You sure like the sound of your own voice. Only villains have dialogue that long and pointless. Who else will you shameless slander in your next speech while avoiding explaining yourself to your subordinate?"

The First Mate's mech gives you a grateful gesture, "Oh. Right. Thanks Roarke, old pal, I almost forgot. Keith, you know what's at stake, right? The Green Men lost Mars because they couldn't secure the Belt. If what's out there comes here, the exact same thing could happen, only this time it's the entire solar system being served up on a silver platter to Avalon. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to know. If you'd approved, or accepted unhesitatingly, then it would've meant we've been wrong about you and a lot of people would suffer for it. This hesitation is good, but it's a pain to deal with in this active combat situation we're in. I might have done something different if you were there, but you weren't, and I had to make that call myself. Give me the chance to save many lives at the cost of a few and I'll take it, wouldn't you?"

"I'd rather take none at all, wouldn't you?"

"...When that's an option, I don't plan to fly anymore. You'll be ready to handle things yourself from there. Roarke, nothing snide to say? You've got us outnumbered 3-2, if I'm right and Farragut isn't actually a hostage, why so shy? Come on out and let's do this." The S-Slayer fires another rocket from its blank, mask-shaped pauldrons. "I'm getting bored." Funny, there wasn't nearly so much profanity and the language wasn't nearly as coarse as you're used to hearing from this one.

>[What say?]
>[More importantly...what do? You're currently pinned down. Your comms are working fine, though, and so is your PC]

Keep working on Keith and trying to turn him against the first mate use the fact that he said he was fine with killing an ally just because he didn't like him

>mfw it's Oda-san

Keep the pair taking and get on the comms with Siren and Cammy. With text if possible to do it silently. We need to know the exact location of the ship and we need to kick up something to buy us time to escape.

I'll think of some lines soon.

Hey Wong, quick question. Are Turbochargers a thing in this setting? If so, what about Dual Turbochargers? Further, would pirates at the Lagrange points, like L3 specifically, be close enough to Earth that the crazy ass defense mechs would come and ruin their shit?

As for the situation... I'm worried. It's not safe to call in backup. They'd just be obliterated. And we left everyone except some Harpies back at Auditorium anyway.

If we can get the people from the colony to come out in force it might make them leave or at least piss off Keith that the first mate is murdering all those innocents

Oh aye. We can just call out a bunch of people to throw themselves at the instakill mechs. Yeah, that's a great idea.

>"Tell me, then, since you're so keen on soliloquy right now: Suleiman 1. Why? And don't try to pin that on me. We both know my ships couldn't have done that, unless you're also going to propose I've been keeping a Wels-class up my ass."

Almost, but not quite.

Maybe, maybe eventually, and...I admit I'm not all that familiar with the lagrange points despite feeling like I should be. If it's anywhere closer than the moon, they're in danger.

Turbochargers have the same problem a lot of cool stuff in this system has, where they're just bloody expensive. For example, take the Knuckle Kaiser's current cost and figure out how much a Dual Turbocharger would add to it.

Here's the Lagrange Points.

Also, I'm probably getting annoying by constantly bringing it up, but once again, here's the latest Paladin G. pastebin.com/KGzw7K88

I'm trying to think of ways to make it unique and interesting while still keeping it within it's theme (huge as fuck, fast as fuck, obscenely maneuverable melee monster). Thus why I asked about Turbochargers. What do you think it could use?

This is good to keep the conversation going.

I actually like this one a lot, although the hybrid one from the other thread was pretty cool too.

The problem the system has is its multiplying costs. They could easily be replaced with flat costs for upgrades and keep things balanced within the cost band they say they want you to play in (200-300). It's needless complexity, makes many things unviable and it's one upside is what? Crazy mechs are crazy expensive?

Just look at verniers. Removing 1-5 points of weight malus on your rolls is pretty good, but only until you get to 200cp total cost of your mech. At that point, it's just flat better to lower weight. Which is stupid, since that's the play band.

Right, going to kick up a bit of dirt. Feel free to improve on this batch of lines if need be.

"So that's how it is huh? Any method is fine so long as it's for the greater good? You'll silence civilians who disagree with you, kill comrades you dislike, and blow up anyone who gets in the way? And you'll do this for what, a huge war against a foreign power so you can heap on more deaths for your cause? Is that what you want to be? A 'hero' and his blood stained sword on a eternal crusade because of some damn self-percieved notion that it's all worth it? How many people are you willing to kill to make your dream true?"

Actually, we could tweak that. If scarlet could get the chat going on the system communications, getting everyone to freak out, we may be able to make enough noise for them to escape. It's damn obvious that First Mate is going to pull some sort of threat. We just need to be smart about it.

Those would be safe. Not necessarily from Luna, but the Terran mechs don't show up until you get inside Luna's orbit.

>[More importantly...what do? You're currently pinned down. Your comms are working fine, though, and so is your PC]
Escaping to the other side of the colony would be an effective way to deal with Jesus, since he'll then have 10 kilometers to close before he can engage us again. How likely is it that we'll be able to navigate the canyon without leaving cover and exposing ourself to Jesus' fire?

The usual thing about having some method of ranged attack stands. While having MA 15 is good for closing distances, there's no guarantee you won't encounter a situation like Roarke's currently in, where you've got a ranged enemy (though hopefully without the obscene range Jesus has) that's sniping you from a distance you can't possibly hope to close.

We should have a fight club for all the machines we've made some time. Did we ever come up with a final version of Moe's mech?

Either or is fine in my opinion. I do like the sleeker designs and bigger wings since that feels more like the kestrel's thing compared to Jovian and Wels class ships. A sleek thing with some good maneuverability that can provide a good deal of support. A proper command ship.

Making a reactive shield that stops any 15 kill and lower ranged attacks costs something like 43 cp if you want to be more or less immune to jesus.

That could be pretty cool im working on one now that will hopeful turn out as cool as im picturing it

It's a big segment between two modules of the colony. You could do it, you have a shorter distance to travel than he does, but you might take one or two shots and it's almost a guarantee the First Mate will follow you. Can we even call it First Mate anymore?

I'd be up for houseruling that if anyone could work out balanced flat costs for it.

Yeah, I need to give it something. Even just some token vulcans in the forearms or something. Maybe a grapple.

Also HOLY SHIT WINGS ARE EXPENSIVE. Adding wings (and more thrusters) adds like another hundred fucking points to this thing. I mean, once I do and I deck them with thrusters, it hits MA 22 total (20 from Thrusters, 2 from Wings) but still.

That's like a hundred and fifty CP tho.

Been finishing up the Zulfiqar. Figured the MOE system could serve as a handy tool. It won't hit hard, but it's quick, linked, and will attack one melee enemy automatically. Even gave it some anti missile options.

Well, verniers not only cost CP, but also space to put them on. If you put them at 20 CP minus the 2.5 space effeciency, it'd be a possible option for bigger mechs with too much space.

Put it in Kestrel colors and I'll use it, because it actually looks maneuverable and fits my image of a Martian heavy warship.

Let's say your new ship now has four more spaces, what direction would you like to upgrade it in?

No actual science bay for reverse engineering enemy mechs and coming up with our own?

Some more Dakka plus a science bay

The Cohens and the mech bays do that on their own.

Actually, a 15 SP Ranged Only, Enclosing (since you've got no ranged attacks at the moment anyway) Reactive Shield costs 45*0.75*0.5 = 16.875 CP, unless I've done my math wrong.

Am I wrong in thinking that the only weapons the First Mate has currently that can hurt the Kaiser are his axes?

>HOLY SHIT WINGS ARE EXPENSIVE
METAFORMS, SON.

But yeah, additional servos are always expensive, since you have to armor them as well. The larger and heavier your mech, the more likely it is that you're going to have the bare minimum number of servos, (and probably lots of space efficiency).

I'm not sure whether Entangling Weapons, by virtue of having a range, are subject to the same Combat Range/Maximum Range rules that other ranged weapons are. Mechanically, they should, but the idea of a 7km-long grapple wire seems rather odd to me.

Command ship killer. Give it a spinal mount, heavy cannons and shields. We can use mechs to finish off everything else.

Correct. However, those missiles could do a number on Red Siren or Clemmy.

>HOLY SHIT WINGS ARE EXPENSIVE
>METAFORMS, SON.

WE G-RECO NOW

I forgot about enclosing, but don't forget the space reduction you'll need to fit it on a mech. You'll probably need >24 spaces reduced, so add another 12 points to cost.

Upgrading the Medium Batteries to Heavy would cost 2 points, and upgrading the shields another 1000 SP would cost 2 points, so that's actually quite feasible. You wouldn't be as damage-heavy as a Wels-class, but you would be extremely tanky.

Spaces, not points.

I'm ok with that. I know my SRW games and tanky command ships can save you from a game over.

Can you fit a core cannon in there? I'd happily give up battery fire and shields for one of those.

Pretty sure Spaces are calculated from the final cost of the system, post multipliers, to stop you from slapping something with all the fucking upgrades on for next to no spaces.

I could be wrong, though.

I thought those modifiers stacked. like .75+.5=1.25. So it's 45*1.25=56.25. Then, multiply that by the modifier, 56.25*1.57=88.31.

No, that's definitely wrong because both those multipliers are supposed to decrease its cost, not increase it.

I would actually advise against it. The core cannon has 1000K damage, but...it can only hit targets directly in front of it, where normal batteries have a 180-degree arc. It also requires three turns to prepare to fire. Or you could have two 500K Superheavy batteries for the same number of spaces, each with a fire arc that gives you at least some protection from any angle, and they have higher DPS because they can fire every turn.

In fact, if you wanted to go ultra-shooty instead of tanky, you could swap your shields for two extra spaces and make both of your beam batteries Superheavy.

Core cannons are pretty bad though. They can only fire at the front and they take time to charge.2 super heavy batteries can do the exact same without requiring charge up time. It is not worth it.

So we may need to pass clemmy to red siren and serve as the rear guard to protect the pair from a mask missile massacre.

That's for Cost Multiplier Systems on mechs. Multipliers for systems are stated to be multiplicative of the system's cost. Examples are given in various places which I can't be bothered to look up.

It's also nearly twice the range of superheavy batteries, and you can start charging it before you actually enter range. A 1k hit to start the fight off is a hell of a thing.

That's a good plan combined with moving around to the other side of the colony.

Not really. Thats 1k damage, but thats only if it hits. This is the sort of game where a bad roll can really screw you over so survivability and redunencies can save your ass. 1k to start the fight? I'd rather have 1k each turn OF the fight with arc range, especially against multiple foes.

Seconding the combination plan.

Lets do it then Wong

1k to start the fight, and probably another 1k before an enemy with superheavy batteries can enter range. That's enough to kill basically anything without shields.

I'd vote to upgrade our turrets to the 200K version. We were very lucky to the fact that we had the Jaburo guns and Not!Kycillia was kicking ass. Sometime in the future when we get the upgrades the we get the 500K super heavies

Still at risk against flanking attacks and multiple enemies. I like huge cannons, it's just there are too many cons versus pros.

And there in lies the problem. 1; if it hits, and 2; if they don't have shields. Wels class and stronger ships do have those however, and the range is not far enough to get a second hit off safely.

There is also the fact you are sacrificing surviability for this gamble. So if they get a few good hits, then we lose. There is also the fact we need to face them to shoot. If they move to the side or get us from behind, we're done for.

You just want the big wave motion gun, don't you user?

A core cannon ship functions basically like a sniper. It's supposed to weaken/kill enemies before your main line troops engage. Does it need escorts in case enemies get under its guns? Sure. But so did battleships and they were dominant until air power took over and there is no real analogue for that in mekton since important ships can't get reactor breeches.

My two cents: Core Cannons bad. Get a couple of Superheavies. They do the job better.

We do not need the giant gun that's useless for everything but one-shotting.

Im still learning the system but is their anyway to make it so that I can link two guns held in different hands, kind of like a gunslinger?

We also need to get close to unload the Knuckle Kaiser. We can't do that if our flagship hangs back. I propose a compromise. When we get another ship that we don't wanna cannibalize, why don't we make it a sniper ship?

Inter-servo Weapon Link, from the early pages of the ATM. Costs 4 CP (for ranged weapons, at least), or 3 if you don't want them Cross-Linked (which makes them both target the same servo when you fire).

Wait, we do? I thought mechs were way faster than ships.

Thanks user

Wong, would I be wrong in assuming that Starship-scale Reflector Systems would be too cheesy for this setting?

>only having one spinal mount ship
That's not how you get shit done, user.

Rolled 8, 1 = 9 (2d10)

"Tell me, then, since you're so keen on soliloquy right now: Suleiman 1. Why? And don't try to pin that on me. We both know my ships couldn't have done that, unless you're also going to propose I've been keeping a Wels-class up my ass." You turn your comms to Ally-Only, and pass Clemmy to Red Siren, both of them protesting.

"No, Roaaaarke! I want you to carry me! I only want to be held by the person who beat me when it's you, this is just weeeird!" Clemmy wails.

"She's slowing me down! Roarke, what exactly are you planning on doing?"

"You go first, retreat down the canyon towards the other side of the colony. I'll follow you and guard the rear." You try to keep your voice as reassuring as you can,

"It's big enough to fit your swollen head, it wouldn't surprise me. You want answers, Roarke, you should stop being one of the villains. Besides, I'm not the one who said you did it, and Keith's believed you all along. See, SOUL B is fair-minded, Roarke. We're allies of justice." The S-Slayer replies.

"Bullshit. The fact that my Captain didn't die of liver failure in some California Station dive surrounded by beautiful women whose names he never bothered to remember proves it." You're not innocent of killing, yourself, but some deaths are more unfair than others, "I've got some squadmates to pay you back for too. Why don't you stop hiding behind a little boy, come down here, and fight me like a man?" You make a gesture at Red Siren, and she fires up the thrusters beneath her armored skirts and zips away like a brightly colored little fish. You step out, shields raised, to block the enemies from hitting her as you retreat too.

>[Feed me 1d10+14s!]

Rolled 7, 6, 1 + 14 = 28 (3d10 + 14)

Here is your entree sir.

Rolled 1 + 14 (1d10 + 14)

Time to roll

Battleships also had more than one gun. Usually with multiple positions to cover various angles. The thing is, your entire arguement is that 'you can kill the enemy before they arrive', but thats not the case. Shields have proven to be a major saving grace, since without them we would have lost that fight. No matter what the era is, if something is important, you never skimp on defensive options and general versatility. Hell, even for a melee fighter the Knuckle Kaiser is damn versatile and that saved us.

They start at a base of 10 MA. Thats as fast as the Kaiser. They just can't turn for shit.

As a matter of fact, I feel like there's an unaccounted-for Medium Weight cruiser that got rekt in by the Rhinehawk and Jaburo's combined fire.

Gouda.

Rolled 5 + 14 (1d10 + 14)

ROCK EM SOCK EM ROBOTS

Are they? Even with the speed, The Rhinehawk still has more gun than us and shields. Plus Miles is great pilot in a fight. I see our ship as a more mid-to close range one.

Just pick whichever one you want sir. The sides are on the house.

Rolled 1 + 14 (1d10 + 14)

+3 for luck and maneuvering.