Mecha Space Pirate Quest XLIII

Welcome back, everyone, to Mecha Space Pirate Quest's forty-third installment. You are still the undefeated champ, Roarke S. Starwind, now with another military supermech reduced to yet another notch on your shield.

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Last time, as previously mentioned, you ended not just the career of Commodore Rashad Abujamal, Fatima's former betrothed, but also his life.

You also made the fateful choice to aid a young woman in the pursuit of Mohammed's fluffy head. May Jove have mercy on your souls.

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Do we still only have 7cp Wong? We've been putting off that Advanced Fisticuffs System for a while

I was messing around with some expensive mech ideas myself yesterday and holy shit does it make clear how much Rashad ride must have cost.

You have much more important things to worry about than Mohammed's romantic problems. Namely, you have your own romantic problems, one of which needs you immediately.

Still, going this far for someone you care about is noble. You hold up one finger to cut off her cheerful babble, "One moment, I'll check with the crew. You have a name, right?"

"Of course! Doesn't everyone." The tips of her feet press together as she places one splayed hand on her collarbone, "I am Shukriya Ahmad."

"Shukriya, right." Nope, you've never heard Mohammed mention her. You get out your PC as you walk towards the infirmary with her trailing in your wake like a bouncy shadow.

>[Warn Mohammed]
>[Make it a surprise]

>>[Make it a surprise]
Learn to think on your feet Moe

You're building up to the mid-season upgrade and are, indeed, most of the way there. The Kaiser's fists were mis-statted, so it's not actually the 100-point upgrade it will likely look like on paper

I can only imagine how frightening were going to be once we get a higher cp mech, were only like 240 now and were kicking the shit out of 400 cp mechs

>>[Make it a surprise]

>>[Make it a surprise]

240 with a few nonstandard upgrades, crazy high stats and a lot of luck.
Also helps that no one has tried the real roarke fucker of running away while shooting him.

Jesus did and gloated about it, only he'd already ran away and was in position when we started getting shot at from 10km away.

Technically we were running away there.

>>[Warn Mohammed]

You bring up your contact list and select the image of Mohammed, before lifting it to your ear.

"No sign of further pursuit, Admiral." His voice is crisp and professional. You smirk a tiny bit, the gleam in your eye hidden by both distance and your improved shades.

"Excellent, get back to the ship. It's very, very nearly time to go." You hang up, and smile at the girl, "Second Mate Mohammed will be back at the mechbay along with the rest of your cousin's original escort soon, although I suppose it's expanded rather a bit since we all came to save her."

She squeals happily, clapping her hands together, "Cousin's brave knights all came!? Oh...oh that is wonderful news! Thank you, sir pirate! Thank you!" She bows several times, very deeply, and skips back towards the bay.

You whistle innocently, interlacing your fingers behind your head and strolling onward. Your good mood doesn't last long, though, because you enter the infirmary to see Fatima laying in bed with her eyes open and blank, blinking occasionally. Electrodes have been attached to various points on her face and neck, hooked up to a bank of holographic monitors.

Cornelius, though, is smiling, "Good news, Admiral! She won't die, and she won't come to life as a horrible zombified monstrosity possessed by the dreadful shade of her remarkably unpleasant fiance intent on killing us all in our sleep!"

[Continued]

>she won't come to life as a horrible zombified monstrosity possessed by the dreadful shade of her remarkably unpleasant fiance intent on killing us all in our sleep!"

Thank God I was worried that was going to be the next arc

Strap her up when she wakes up. Say every word and combination we can think of. Just to make sure she isn't a sleeper agent.

Yeah, really I think the critical flaw with rashad's mech was simply the active shield on the chest. Because he kept parrying our blows, each hit went right for his chest. Our armor piercing fists made the lightish shield even weaker and the sheer number of hits just wrecked his shit.

Made me look into Commander armor as an alternative.

Just out of curiosity, and not because I spent time putting it together without really understanding how the combat works, but does that apply for all torso mounted shields? What about beam shields?

"I suppose that's good news." You understate it, adjusting your sunglasses.

He nods, the loose skin of his neck wobbling like the dewlap of an elderly iguana as he shuffles over to one of the monitors, "Even better, you didn't try removing the circlet yourself, which would have jostled the harmonic resonance needle inducing this state of extreme suggestability. You could have given her brain damage."

You wince a little as he rambles on, "There's a needle in Fatima's brain?" You try to sound clinical and detached, but even you can tell you've failed at it.

His dewlap wobbles even more as he nods impatiently, "I would have to perform surgery to remove it. Even then, she won't be unscathed."

[Continued]

Shes gonna lose all of her memories of us isn't she

seems that the blow will go straight to the servo the shield is attached to if what I looked at is true. Not an issue with things like reactive shields which eat the attack and go down if I recall.

It makes sense really. If your shield is on your arm and the attack goes through it, of course your arm will get hurt. Really, the entire mech is a testament to Rashad's stupidity and greed. Quad linked beam sabers instead of two quick beam sabers, causing the attacks to be decided on one blow instead of two, the torso mounted shield, and no support measures like ASP. And as a REAL kicker, 0 DA shields can block blast attacks. Mind you, the bastard sneak attacked us with his damn villain speech, but hey, still ended badly for him.

Shit. Well my heap of junk had command armor with an automated EMW in it as well anyway so it should still be fine.
tfw you stat mechs you will never use

really, after rereading GBFQ and following all this mechanics talk I'm wondering how a build fighters quest would look like running on this system.

Probably be pretty high CP because every fucking mech in gundam has multiple weapons.

"What is that supposed to mean?" A sudden, awful thought strikes you, "...Could we have saved Galbadie's...?"

You don't get to finish the sentence, Cornelius tuts loudly and glares at you, an expression oddly tortoise-like and enhanced by the roadmap of wrinkles across his baggy face, "Dude McCool, don't you even start that line of thinking." He wags his finger at you, "I'm the last of the very original Kestrels left, so I'll tell you what Jeremy would if he was still alive. You couldn't have done anything for them. There was no way you could have saved them and even if you somehow breached the Agamemnon to try and kill Galbadie personally they would have died in droves trying to stop you. Even if, by some miracle of science, you did manage it and destroyed the neural link he was using, they would simply be brain-dead, stuck like this forever. They had been enslaved for years, some for decades, unable to think an original thought." He sniffs disapprovingly, prodding you in the chest with his cane.

You haven't heard Captain Ozark's first name used in a long time, he preferred to go by Ozark. He said it was exotic and made beautiful women ask him questions.

[Continued]

Anything can be used, its just a matter of how to deal with it. Rashad's mech is indeed a damn nice mech. If the enemy used blast or ranged weapons, it would have a hard time fighting it due to how many targets it has. Problem is that the materials fell into Rashad's hands and he basically decided to fight a foe who was pretty much his anti thesis while in a rage.

Command armor is really neat though. systems as extra hp, and if you fill half with balancers and half with thrusters, you could make the Kaiser into a speeding ball of metal and hate. Even more so if we used the maximum sized armor for the Kaiser's frame.

The OG speaks wisdom, listen to him.

Reactive shields actually eat as much of the blow as they can and then go down, if I recall correctly. There are small, subtle differences between beam shields and reactive shields.

Also, the option for reactive shields to serve as a field of ablative Kills like a starship's defensive screen is an interesting one, I wish I'd seen it sooner.

You'll use them if people start running more games of MZ

I was thinking yesterday that you could effectively make a very fast heavy mech if you just took a small, lightly armored, unarmed mech and slapped command armor two sizes bigger on it and installed all your weapons into the command armor since it wont count towards your weight. Might not work out as intended if I actually took the time to look at it though.

Yeah, ablative armor, while normally a bad idea, can work pretty well with the reactive shield. since the shield recharges, it can serve as a nice buffer of hp. Could be a possibility thanks to the tarrasque and our own shield systems on the kestrel.

As a side note, I tried making a better 'harpy' using the 140 point limit. I'm kind of scared of the results.

not if I dont play any games outside Veeky Forums

An NPC beat you to it.

Well, once we get those Arabians and the tournament, I know who we're looting next!

Transformable jets are for real. Especially if you give them the ability to switch forms without using an action.

Does it go fast?

I'm trying to make an upgraded Harpy that's basically the RGZ-95 ReZEL

Hmmm.. could of done that. As is it's striker size with an overcharged power plant, verniers, and designed to hold 16 cp and 8 tons of weaponry. It's MV is -1 at 34.5 tons.

What armaments does it have?

Your hands tighten into fists. If you were an emotional teenage protagonist from a simdrama, you might have argued with him or somehow changed the way you operate, but you're a grown man with a strong enough back to bear the weight of the lives on your shoulders. He's right, but... "You didn't answer my question, Doc. Will Fatima be like that? What do you mean by unscathed? Can she be controlled like they were?"

He blinks owlishly at you from behind his tremendously thick glasses, "I don't think controlling her would be possible with this circlet. If I'm right, which I am because I was around for the earliest models of the HMIS, Galbadie had a neural link with his victims and could control them the way you control your mech, only moreso. He could feel what they felt, see what they saw, touch what they touched. There isn't any receptor for such a link here, which makes me think that it was simply intended to put her into this state to begin with. Perhaps he didn't want to experience himself through her senses, and for that one thing I can't blame him."

"Cornelius..." You growl softly.

"Alright, alright! It's very unlikely that she will be permanently like this. Once I sedate her and remove the device, she should wake up and recover in time." He grumbles, robbed of his chance to be dramatic, "She hasn't been under its influence for very long, I shouldn't think."

"Will. She. Be. Alright?" You growl a bit less softly.

"There will be a small scar. Easily concealable, completely cosmetic and easily fixed through modern methods." He grumps, crossing his arms.

[Continued]

Standard stuff. Anything a harpy or bluegill can one hand, it can fit into it's arm. With the lighter harpy options however, you could mount a shield to the same arm for extra defense. It still has the same little bits to it. Head mounted enviromental pod instead of a eject seat, manipulator arms, striker class armor, ect. Could also give it beam sabers if the kestrels can Mass produce them. Like I said, bigger harpy. Well, bigger harpy mixed with my failed Knightingale design.

You explicitly cannot have negative MV by the rules.

I mean a -1 to maneuver checks. Not actually giving it bonuses or anything. apologies.

Is this going to lead to us having to go into her head and then weird naked Newtype stuff happening?

It might get weird and you might get naked, but that's every day for Roarke.

I hope not, or Fairchild is going to do that to some girl named Kamille.

>some girl

The last person that called Kamille "Manliest Protagonist" Bidan a girl died alone without even getting to be a serious rival after seeing everyone he was friends with and everyone he loved die at Kamille's hands.

Him being a girl or mistaken for one is probably the only way for Fairchild to get close without REEEEEing.

So to beat Fairchild we have to find a bunch of traps to infiltrate her headquarters

Could you mount a beam gun and small missles?

Yup. Like I said, this thing can equip the sort of stuff the blue gill could due to it's larger arms. That includes rocket launchers and the like. If it's 4 CP or less it could fit in, and the extra cp could allow for shoving some extra stuff in thanks to space efficiency.

"Can she hear us?" You wave your hand in front of her face a little. Her eyes follow it.

"Not really." He shrugs, "Well, no, she can, but anything that isn't directly telling her to do something, she won't register. It would just be irrelevant information."

You sigh heavily. "We're going to get through this, Piano Girl." You squeeze her hand, "We're going to make it all better."

Much to your surprise, her fingers close around yours, tightening slightly. You feel hope flicker in your heart.

"Cornelius, how long will the surgery take?" You glance at him.

He shrugs, "An hour, maybe two."

You shake your head, "By that time, who knows what the Martians will send after us? Even if he was at fault, the General isn't going to hold back from calling this another kidnapping and I can't see the Holy Militia taking a pirate ship on their planet lightly. We'll have to do it on Auditorium, for now we need to go. Can you strap her in for launch?"

The old man looks at your joined hands and nods solemnly.

You awkwardly extract your PC from your pocket with your free hand and inform the pilot that she has the helm. You also get a status update from Karen, all of the mecha are back onboard and locked down.

You give the general order to prepare for launch, strap yourself in, and continue holding Fatima's hand in silence. You killed a man in a duel over her today, you think it's alright if you just stay with her for a while.

[Continued]

Possible artwork?

That could work. Here's the pastebin of the thing and some fluffy story. pastebin.com/N0LGAz5t

...Which is when the door bursts open and Mohammed darts inside, putting his back to the wall and glancing surreptitiously out into the corridor.

"Momo~ Where are you~? Come out now, I haven't gotten to show you how much my singing has improved yet~" You hear Shukriya's singsong voice.

Mohammed hits the button to make the door slide shut, running his hands through his fluffy hair and making it stick up even more in his panic, "She's here. Shaitan take it all, how did she find me!?"

You gaze at him mildly, refraining from scolding him for playing around in a sickroom only because you're ultimately to blame for everything.

>[What say?]

>Oh she meant that Moe, I thought she was asking me about Moe in engineering. You know this does make a lot more sense

>Say nothing and give him a thumbs up.

>Say nothing and give him a thumbs up.

If he truly is our disciple he shall overcome.

I think Rosita looted her along with the wedding gifts, not sure though. (Be completely nonchalant about it. The girl did climb out of the Archen's cargo compartment.)

Second.

Silently, you raise your hand, giving him a comradely thumbs-up.

His eyes light up with gratitude, "Thank you for hiding me, Admiral. May Allah bless you with endless bounty and many strong children for this." He kowtows, before finding a set of cabinets, the kind where the interior is one large empty space with no dividers, and climbing inside.

Cornelius' face furrows in a scowl, "My granddaughter's uterus is not for your deity to impose an endless assembly line of great-grandchildren on. She has machines to work on! Inventions to make!"

Fatima's cousin enters the room, "Momo? Has anyone seen M-oh..." Her face twists with worry, seeing Fatima. Then she notices you holding her cousin's hand and smiles gleefully, clapping a little, "Eee! Sir Pirate! That's so romantic, have you taught Mohammed to be so chivalrous?"

>[What say, before Cornelius gives away Moe's location out of pique?]

I would hope so

>Of course, but I didn't need to really do much Momo already is pretty well loved by the ladies
>Point to where he's hiding

We caused this, Its only Right that we're the ones to point him out

"In a few ways it seems. Still, we will be heading into orbit shortly. I suggest you head to the others and secure yourself. If this is your first flight out of orbit, this will be rough."
Don't sell out Moe. That is not what bros do.

What user said

Don't point out Moe but after she leaves give him a "A man doesn't hide from his woman's love", gotta teach him right on how to rightly love a harem.

DO NOT sell out the Moe. Seriously. Dude's our lil' bro.

Honestly, with how mad science the old man is, I'm surprised he hasn't devised an auto-womb so Karen can still invent while her kids are being grown. We'll get our Purus yet!

Implying he wouldn't create an improved womb to increase growth speed

Guys, if moe's just not down I say we strike while the iron is hot. she said her singing "improved" yeah? maybe it's time for red siren to branch out and start her own stable of fresh faced idols all under a new independent label! Hear me out guys, she could hold auditions and recruit at the same time as our tourney! Plus that way she has an understudy of sorts if we roll shit and not!Lacus offs her

That.. could work actually. Pirate idol groups singing what they want so long as they have talent, maybe a male group as well..

Muscle daruma men group vs bishounen boy group.

Of course my mech would fight in the tourny so that the muscle darumas would win.

Talent being the operative word.

10 bucks says that Lysa has someone sing for her and can't sing for beans.

My 10 bucks says that her music is downright hypnotic, bordering on mind control

"I would hope so, in a few different ways. At any rate, we will soon be launching. I suggest you head back to the mechbay, find our Scimitar squadron, and secure yourself. If this is your first flight out of orbit, this will be rough." You smile in the most charming way you know.

You see Cornelius starting to raise his cane off the floor to point at the cabinet, and surreptitiously step on its tip to prevent him from betraying your disciple.

"Oh, thank you sir pirate! I wanted to visit with Fa for a while, but...I'll leave you alone with her and the doctor." She curtsies prettily and scampers off.

After a few minutes, Moe hauls himself out of the cabinet, disheveled and meticulously fixing his clothes.

"Hey, Mohammed." You say gravely, "What's this you're doing?"

"What do you mean, 'what am I doing?' I'm hiding from her." He brushes dust off his black leather Kestrels jacket.

You shake your head slowly, "A man doesn't hide from his woman's love."

"She's not my woman!" He sputters.

"Oh, isn't she? She seemed like she was to me. Or at least, she wants to be." You stretch a little without releasing Fatima's hand.

"Admiral. Sir. When I was in Lady Fatima's employ, she would often have me accompany her to visit the orphanage Lady Shukriya volunteers at. She teaches the children songs, sir. Obnoxious songs about friendship and tomorrow and understanding, most of which she either made up herself or learned from that one Jovian idol she likes. Lacie or Loretta or one of those names Fleur. It was endless. Her tastes are awful, and I had to stand there nodding politely and listening the WHOLE time because I was in Lady Fatima's service. I am a free man now, a pirate officer! Surely I do not have to put up with this anymore." He protests. Calmly at first, but by the end his voice is slightly frenzied, "She is incessant and clingy and relentlessly attempts to mold me into her ideal of a pious Martian man."

>[What say?]

"Damn...Okay then, Dibs."

>Then you have to tell her how you feel, you don't mess around with a woman's feelings like that, unless its a scam or you really need that extra 10 dollars off that bill

For a start tell the man to grow a pair and talk to her.
Running from her won't do shit, you want her to stop trying to change you straight up tell her "this is me, this is who I am, and I'm not about to change for anyone."

Let her know if she's going to love you, she needs to love you, not some ideal version of you that doesn't exist.

If she can't handle that then chances are she'll leave on her own to find her 'better man.'

If she can then you've opened up the avenue of dialogue and you can nip any other problems in the bud before they grow into another problem like this one.

Whooo boy.. yeah, thats a understandable reason to want to flee from her. A Lysa fan and wanting to make him 'ideal'? Not a good sign. Still, part of being a man is standing up for yourself and being mature about it. Chivalry is one thing, but you should not be a doormat. Just explain to her that she is not your type and that while she is a nice girl, you do not see yourself having a relationship with her at this time.

She's 14. We are not Char no matter how much we want to drop a colony on the earth.

Pfffffft, we have a ton of experience waiting for young ladies to blossom.

He's right, he is a pirate officer and he can do whatever he wants. Including hiding in cupboards from girls.

We kind of are Char though
>80s style
>Chick Magnet
>Always wear glasses
>Personal grudge due to family being killed
>Lalah

Aside from making our own real faction and paint the Kaiser Red were pretty much there

this works

She was, what, four or five years younger than us?

>"Then tell her. You are indeed a free man now and you can go and leave her behind. But as a gentleman you should leave her with an explanation, not just cowardly running away."

If she can't respect you for who you are then fuck her. Er, don't fuck her. You know what I mean.

"You're right, Mohammed. You're an officer of the Iron Kestrels and a free man. You can do whatever you want. Including hiding in cupboards from girls." You say, shrugging heavily.

"Keep in mind, this is the same young rapscallion who locked himself in his Harpy once, with my granddaughter beating on the hatch with a wrench demanding to know why he didn't want a perfectly good spitfire gatling cannon mounted under the nose." Cornelius comments unhelpfully.

"Thank you, Cornelius, but-" You try to get a word in edgewise.

"...And another time he climbed into the vents because she wouldn't stop asking which of her outfits he liked better..." Cornelius chuckles in remembrance, "Ahhh, he got stuck and it took two Kestrels and a stick of butter to get him out. Yes, I remember quite clearly."

"THANK YOU CORNELIUS." You clear your throat loudly, "The point is, I didn't realize how good what Karen was giving me was until I was staring down a missile barrage that had just torn apart two of my comrades." You laugh a little, ruefully, "It's funny, the last thing I thought about before they hit was how angry she'd be that I'd gone and got my mech damaged." You lean forward, looking him in the eye.

[Continued]

Kill jester

I am now picturing Ozark hitting the vents with a broom to try and get Roarke out and I can't stop giggling.
"Hey, this place is stuffy enough as it is without you clogging the vents."

We need young Roarke stories

Part of me makes me wonder if this is what Space madness causes in teenagers. Sure you get the occasional Caesar, but I'm sure the Jaburo's medbay is full of rookies hiding from their 'love interests'. Like cockroaches.

>Jovian idol she likes. Lacie or Loretta or one of those names Fleur

That taste is so shit, oh no. She either needs rehabilitation or to be abandoned on the nearest inhabited rock.

"And then there was that time she taught Roarke how to repair a busted piston with minimal tools and he got hit in the face with a jet of hydraulic fluid doing it wrong..." Cornelius continues reminiscing.

"Doctor, please. I'm trying to teach him to do BETTER than I did." You glower at the old man until he stops. "Thank you. Mohammed, first of all, you can't hide from her forever. You are, as you said, a man. Find your balls and talk to her. You don't like her music, but I'm not an S-Pop fan and Rosita and I fit together fine. I bet you've never told her it isn't your genre, right?" You keep your tone sympathetic.

"Well...no...but..." He sputters.

"Exactly." You steamroll onward, "She probably thinks you like it, or maybe that the problem is her voice, and does it so much because she's trying to improve. For you. That said, don't give in and stay true to yourself. If she can't accept the man you are, she isn't worth it and you need to be clear that there isn't a future for you together. Let her know that this is who you are, the real you, and if she wants it...well, I'd say you should at least give her a chance, but I like a girl with persistence." You conclude.

"Which is why I'm going to live to see great-grandchildren and hopefully a wedding." Cornelius hints about as subtly as a brick to the noggin.

You ignore him, "Do you think Shukriya's pretty?"

"Well, yes, of course. She's a beautiful, highborn Martian girl. I'm sure most men would find her beautiful." Mohammed scratches his head.

"Most men aren't here and don't matter. You think she's pretty. She thinks you're a brave young knight and, I assume, bribed Rosita to bring her onboard for your sake. Granted, she might also see you as a scruffy street urchin with the potential to be something more...but she's not wrong, I saw the same thing." You grin and give the kid a thumbs-up, "You just need to show her the true shape of your manliness."

[Continued]

> "You just need to show her the true shape of your manliness."

Real subtle Wong

God even Cornelius is getting on the marriage bandwagon, what next Athena

>what next Athena
We are a brave knight that just rescued a princess.
If space has any good old fairy tales, she very well knows what follows after.

Who rolled the crit to seduce the girl that got all the others started on marriage by talking about how Roarke is her husband, again?

I don't know probably some faggot