Mecha Space Pirate Quest XLVI

You would have to move a fair distance forward to turn, however, it doesn't let you simply pivot.

yes, except you forget that missiles are limited and even if you hit, it does not mean your entire volley will. Oda's crazy salvo of 10 hits requires him to pump in a ridiculous 10 luck to work and still beat Galbladder's roll.

If that 1 500 misses, we do no damage. If one of our cannons miss, we can still do 200.

>pls. I commend your effort, and you aren't wrong, but it is not a significant improvement.
There are advantages to having a single dice roll, mainly in that you can spend your luck offensively to greater effect. And I don't deny it has weaknesses, though I honestly consider that a good thing. Weaknesses that would require us to use maneuver and tactics instead of just sitting in our optimum fire range and blasting away like we usually do. Our combat setup is so boring.

>If that 1 500 misses, we do no damage. If one of our cannons miss, we can still do 200.
The math is still fundamentally in favor of the single superheavy though.

Reread the archives. When the Rhinehawk was upgraded, we were given two choices, either change it to a Jovian layout with a superheavy battery in front or keep the Martian layout with option to further increase it.

I wonder who Dozel left to babysit Athena since he came with us?

Which thread was that?

Uh, yeah. I wasn't calling that into question. Between our current layout and that one isn't a significant improvement. Since they were both direct upgrades at the time and were comparable.

To be fair, we didn't have anywhere near the maneuverability when we made that choice, and the increase in maneuverability significantly changes that decision.

Only in a straight situation and only against a even foe. It does not count for wasted damage, like say.. having to destroy several smaller ships. For the most part, our battles have done well against better foes because of surprise and taking out secondary enemies like the cruiser and drills to limit our enemy's chance of hitting us with good rolls.

Those numbers likely don't count the chance of criticals, which can turn the tide immensely as we have seen. A single 10 on the crit chart gives a ship a 50% chance of catching a case of the explosions.

Another thing to consider; we will not always have the tactical advantage. A sturdy design with contingencies and full cover help us a lot more if we are stuck or surrounded.

Well, duh. The Rhinehawk isn't a main battleship like the Wels-class, it's a light mech carrier that packs enough firepower to annihilate a cruiser, but not a battleship.

I also had another design, but I'm pretty sure that Wong would shoot me If I proposed making a superlight with a Deluxe CWIS, with the plan of ramming it through a 200+ mech melee and horrifically abusing the fact that it gets a free shot at any enemy mech than enters its range.

Its actually is in the same weight class as a Wels class.

Meanwhile, back on the Rhinehawk...

"I don't like her. Not one little bit." Rosita crosses her arms under her bosom, "A mech with a skirt is MY aesthetic, and she's trying to out-princess me. Nobody out-princesses Red Siren."

"For once, you're right. Did you hear her? 'How dare you make me unleash ze full power of mon Paladin', 'le bucket of ze rusty bolts, honhonhon'. She insulted the Kaiser!" Karen huffs, doing the same.

"I really don't like some of the jokes she made about the UJCIDF. Even if some of the upper brass are playing dirty, we aren't the ones worshipping Green Men." Samantha remarks, gazing with muted dislike at the damaged Avalonian ship.

"She's an enemy of the whole Solar System." Clemmy agrees, returning from her bunkroom. Her face is flushed and she's panting a little, shifting around as if her flight suit is uncomfortable, "She thinks of us all as a bunch of silly little peasants, and Roarke as a silly peasant with some muscle. She'll steal him and double-cross us at the very first opportunity. Unless..." The former Lieutenant's gaze shifts to the comms. She strides over, as graceful as a cat, and puts in a call to the Rhinehawk, "Hey ho little cake-eater, are you there?"

"If Roarke could bake like Maya you'd have trouble with your weight too." Avi grumbles over the line, "What's up?"

"...You uploaded the footage of that fight to the holonet yet? You've uploaded them all so far, and you do a good job, really! I'm just wondering how long it takes you." Clemmy's voice is sweet and utterly free of violence for the moment.

"Well, actually I like to re-dub the music in for a more high-def sound experience. You don't always get that perfect quality just from what you hear over the Admiral's comms. I was working on that now." Avi replies, uncertainly, "...Can't you just wait until he gets back if you're going to do something obscene?"

[Continued]

Thats one of the cheesiest ideas we've had in this quest have Karen build two of them

>Clemmy blackmail

Nice.

Run Avi! Run before she does to you what that one chick in Iron Blooded Orphans did to Biscuit!

What's really great about Avi uploading everything is that everyone sees all these mecha with special capabilities and advanced gear

and Roarke is punching them to death without any other real gimmicks.

That'll change once we get our fistibits but still. Damn son.

Just imagine how many other aces are watching these and trying to find the Kaiser's hidden weakness

That's not even the most abusive thing I've learned. Did you know that Point Defense can apparently shoot down missiles?

That increase in maneuverability was a last-minute patch that I've had some cause to regret. I might nerf it, you haven't actually fought in it yet.

One thing about this system, and I realize it's a huge cop-out to say, is that it isn't balanced and really shouldn't be. A lot is on the GM's shoulders as far as what is and isn't allowed. This is the kind of game I would never, ever play with an optimizer allowed to design their own mech, because so many options are flat-out better than others that the only way to stay sane is for the GM to decide what is and isn't kosher. Consequently, there are frequently "better" setups for mecha and starships that I straight up ignore.

For example, you've all noticed Paladin guy's obsession with Verniers, because Verniers are really, really good. You've all also noticed that when I get a design like that I accept it with changes and then strip out most of the Verniers so that its base tonnage actually matters.

And here I made another mistake, that should be "back on Yum-5", I'm too used to everyone being on the flagship.

And we just scored enough points to get our mid season upgrade. More punch! An Active shield! Stuff I can't remember! The chance to get better things!

"I know, let's use a sniper and never face him up close!"
one fight later
"IT ONLY MADE HIM ANGRIER! ABORT! ABORT!"

I stand corrected then. It was before Red upgraded the entire Rhinehawk to a heavier ship-class and it's not like we don't have the option to get Superheavy batteries.

What will we call the fist bits? Apparently "Fist cloak" is "Faust mantel" in german, which stays in line with the "Kaiser".

>A bunch of aces have the same idea and come to our tourney with a sniper build
>They don't know we just got a massive upgrade
>Roarke kicks the shit out of them with his bits
>Good times had by all

I still the Polaris system would be a cool name

I may be a tad behind, but what's up with planets beside Venus, Earth, Mars, and Jupiter. Why isn't Saturn a power like Jupiter? It has plenty of nice moons.

Pretty much.Early on, a lot of options for the modifiers are actually pretty good. Engines, verniers and the like are viable. Once you get to 200 cp base machine, those options start to fall off. Which sucks because there are some neat things.

Why not a coat of arms?

Faust Mantel, with the Polaris O.S.

What do people think about selling some of the avalonian mechs to various interested parties in Sol? I wonder if we could get some Thoroughbred MPs from that one company for our noncore aces. The people stuck with stuff like master harpies and Pumpkinseed twos.

"Nope! Can't make any promises, today, sorry! It's just...nfff...the way he took that thing apart. All the sparks, seeing him rip apart those fancy weapons with just...just his fists and...an-and hold it together, Alice, you're better than this..." She takes a deep breath, "Just send me the footage. I know someone who needs to see this. Immediately." She grins cheerfully, and hangs up.

Five eyes stare suspiciously at her, she looks innocently back at them, "What are you all looking at me like that for? I'm not doing anything weird, I'm just solving two problems at once. I'm gonna make my darling husband some money...and make him a hero...and I'm gonna make sure the Countess gets what she deserves." She grins cutely.

The other girls consider. Samantha and Red Siren both look as though there's something they want to say, but can't quite articulate it.

Karen just smiles, "Wonderful. I have some expensive repairs to make. Alice, I'm proud of you, you're really starting to think like a pirate!"

Clemmy laughs, "Call me Clemmy. We're friends now, right? Besides, I'm not really thinking like a pirate, this time..." Her smile acquires a rather unpleasant edge, "No, quite the opposite." Her PC bwoops, and she checks to make sure that's the right file Avi just sent her. Whistling cutely, she patches into Auditorium's ansible system, and forwards the file to another one of the names on her contact list, "Yay~ Everyone will be so happy~" She hugs herself gleefully.

Karen nods, adjusting her glasses, "Actually, Clemmy...since we're friends now, I have a secondary proposition for you. How's the Flowerhorn flying?" A villainous light gleams off the lenses of her spectacles as she whispers her plan into the Butcher's ear. The two girls share a hearty laugh.

[Continued, back with you. Any questions you have for her, please share, additional options are always a great thing for me to include!]

Jupiter became the capital of the Solar System after it spearheaded the victory against the Green Men. Neptune and Uranus are mining colonies for Helium-3.

We do have that old speech for the duke that didn't get used that you liked a lot. Lemme dig it up:
"One man's hero is another man's monster I fear. While your Lady in the Woods seems to embody the best of what we knew as the Green Men, at their worst they were monstrous. I will not claim to know which side is correct, but be cautious of that certainty sir knight. The worst acts of humanity were committed by those that KNEW they were in the right."

Subtly bring up augmentations and see how she reacts and if she has any

Use it only when she brings up converting to worshipping the Lady.

Also, ask about the War between the SSL and Avalon.

Also ask her about her life, where she grew up, hobbies, stuff like that

Well, asking her what she was told by other people from the solar system might be good to figure out her views. While she likely heard about our hate of the green men, she may not have been given a clear reason why or why we stick to 'primative' weaponry.

Gassing colonies, using people as nothing more than cpus for their machines, straight up mind control.. and the fact that those who actually saw the war were so traumatized that weeds were something that freaked them out.

She might be a good one, but the whole 'crying for her people' but not for those who suffered in the war as whole really does not help people.

Maybe bring up the fact that that bucket of bolts she disparaged is a heavily modified mech with Thoroughbred MP and a few parts from the original Thoroughbred X. The man may be dead, but the design team didn't die with him after all.

Yeah, one of the reasons I like the other speech is that it doesn't claim that she's evil or even wrong. It implies things to get her thinking, and once she's thinking rather than just reflexively worshiping the green lady we can make progress. Just straight up telling her that the green lady is probably an evil bitch would backfire horribly.

Is there some inspiration for Avalon from that mod for CKII set in space?

pretty much. This entire thing is culture shock and they don't understand why their efforts at spreading her love are being met with disdain because no one is willing to sit down and explain things to them.

The Countess shivers as if she just felt a cold wind on the back of her neck.

As for you, you're staring around in awe. The room where Eustace entertained you and Samantha was very highbrow by starship standards, but you're beginning to realize his tastes were spartan for an Avalonian noble. This is better than a luxury hotel. The blue and gold coloration is here, too, but even more obvious, with hanging tapestries and paintings and rooms clearly intended for large gatherings of partygoers. You feel strangely diminished by the size and emptiness of the sitting room you're in, with its clusters of couches and the huge portrait of the Countess in classical armor and holding a lance, with a beatific smile on her face and a halo of light behind her head.

"Owwchee, I must have twisted mon ankle and not realized. Rowarc~ Could you be most dear and massage it for moi~?" She extends her foot invitingly as she slumps back on the couch, her skirt slipping up a little. Her skin is pale, but those legs are very toned. She catches you looking, and hides her grin behind her gloved hand.

Caught, you have no choice but to accept, rubbing her foot as she leans back on the end of the couch with her arms behind her head, "Oui, perfection~ Now, why must a man like you be trapped in the solar system and hounded by the dogs of Jove? You are someone zat could be a hero, non? To hear you are called the criminal most common, it tears at me. I am insulted by its very implications, as one who has lost to your...your..."

You help her out, "Knuckle Kaiser."

"Pfwah! What kind of name is that?" She laughs.

You frown, mildly hurt, "It's a good name."

"Of course it is, mon petit duckling, of course it is." She assures you. "Tres cute, ohoho. Are there many Kaiser Knuckles in the solar system? It is, shall we say, much like a Strider of dark renown from our history, piloted by a knight of no honor."

[Continued]

Does the Knuckle Kaiser's mid season upgrade form get a new name? We could always go with the classic and call it the Knuckle Kaiser X or XX. Would be a nice reference that the Avalonians would likely instantly get.
When do we reach the tier where Mooks scream "Its the Kaiser!" before getting punched and exploding?

>Did you know that Point Defense can apparently shoot down missiles

...Isn't that the entire point of point defense? why would that be a surprise?

> piloted by a knight of no honor."
That sounds like a sore loser to me.

Pretty sure we're already at that tier.

We've been kicking ass left right and sideways since we started this quest.

Undefeated too I might add.

If we're not on that tier already with the Knuckle Kaiser as a mech we sure as hell are there as a pilot and pirate.

>Implying mooks have a chance to scream
I say Knuckle Kaiser Klaudus
Corruption of the name of King Claudus of the Franks of Arthurian Legend

We could call it the Siegfried mark 1

Do people still think its called the Black Ogre?

I hope so. Because if we get command armor, I have an idea of using the head armor's thrusters and verniers as a mane of hair and a pair of thruster horns.

You're now at 9 Mecha Piloting/Fighting, meaning you've reached that level of renown where everyone has heard of you, and even prior to that you were exceptional enough to have an official UJCIDF designation, "Black Ogre".

In other words, you're very close to hearing it rather a lot, and the only reason you didn't hear it on Mars was because you were sitting in the Kaiser and then beating up Rashad. Poor General Fairchild, though, had to sit through "Look, it's the Black Ogre!" "Black Ogre!?" "By Allah, it's the Black Ogre!" "That's the Black Ogre, the demon mech that destroyed the Scarlet Talons in a heartbeat and stole Lady Fatima!" "Kyaa, Roarke Starwind~" "BLACK OGRE!?" The entire time you were posing. It was very frustrating for her and she didn't enjoy it.

Nigga, tell me how good is our pose game? We on JoJo level yet?

The better question is, are we on Ginyu Force level? And if so, why don't we have four backup posers in colorful mechs?

We do though their called waifus

I gotta increase my draw game, cause that a mental image that begs to be put to paper.

Damn shame I can't do it justice.

"It should. Floyd Beck, right? The Duke mentioned it to me. His mech, Thoroughbred-X, was so successful that the design was simplified for mass-production during the War. Except that all of the original pilots met disastrous ends, and they got a reputation for being cursed."

"A cursed Strider!?" She listens wide-eyed, seeming to actually believe the talk of curses, "Then you need a new one!"

"It saved my life, so have some respect. I was shot down and given up for dead. My mech was on the verge of exploding from a destabilized reactor core when I found the Kaiser in a crater, since then it's been good to me." You can't help sounding just a little defensive. Nobody has the right to criticize your mech after you've beaten them.

"Oui, I see your point. The familiar sword fits better in the hand, non?" She winks, "Perhaps the curse was reversed, since you had escaped death with it right away. I could believe it is cursed, after the butchery Sir Beck inflicted with its predecessor. No matter. I will vouch for you, and the Duke will vouch for you. The Queen will surely make you a noble, that will undo the harm caused by my insult of proposing to make you a squire. You are worthy of it." Oddly, there's a note of sadness in her voice.

>[Ask her what's wrong]
>[Talk about the Lady]

Well.. we have a Red, a Blue, a Yellow, and Karen's hair is purple. Considering how Zams are green, Fatima can be that. Now to get their machines to pose.

>>[Ask her what's wrong]

You tried to cross your arms and jojopose when you first encountered the Knuckle Kaiser in thread 1, the only thing that stopped you was the fact that your Harpy was missing an arm, and your abilities have increased with your Mecha Piloting skill since.

Yes, that affects your ability to pose outside your mech too. Why wouldn't it?

>>[Ask her what's wrong]

>>[Ask her what's wrong]

>>[Ask her what's wrong]
We really aren't one to be bound down by one thing or another, though I really hope thats not a worry of 'oh dear, they are going to blow up the solar system because it blocks her view of alpha centauri'.

Now we just have to figure out the right time to pull this out with Oda

Vs fairchild, Blind the bitch with sheer unadulterated Fabulous.

That motherfucker had better not die! I haven't finished it yet!

and make her deft when her entire crew starts shouting "It's the Ogre!"

>"Kyaa, Roarke Starwind~
One of these is not like the others.

Since Lori was the secret boss for this section, who were some of the other ones we could have fought in earlier parts?

How could a Zam do a Guldo pose? It's all in the arms!

>He was just a hardworking young man! Just a young man!
>Oda!
>Starwind-sama, you stay back! I'll handle this myself!
>[̶O̶d̶a̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶c̶e̶e̶d̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶j̶o̶b̶]

Head stand my friend. Head stands. Now imagine the Big Zam beat boxing and doing the head spin.

Add funnel technology and give it hover arms?

Can I imagine it wearing a du rag?
We should have a secondary mech that's a Zam with fists in place of cannons, and prehensile, five-fingered feet.

"As are you. You put up an amazing amount of fight." You smile sincerely at her.

She blushes slightly, "But I lost!"

You shrug, "I recently fought an entire ship full of UJCIDF mecha, including five prototypes. You did more damage to the Kaiser than they did."

Her cheeks color further, "But...but I lost..." She bites her lip, then pulls her leg back and blurts out, "You compliment me much too quickly, monsieur! I already know about pirates, and I am sure your intentions are not entirely pure...although, if you knew what that shapely leg you ogle so looked like before I was made pilot of the Anseis, perhaps you would not be so quick to touch it." She pulls her legs under her body, sitting up, "I was not worthy. Not before receiving the augmentations of a noble. I was born a cripple, with the...the twisted legs and clubbed feet. I never ran, never danced, until the Lady lifted me up and the Queen placed her sword upon my shoulder. The first time I took a step was in my Anseis." She smiles. There's a trace of bitterness, but the memory is so clearly a happy one that it's only a trace, "I may despise the family of the Duke, but we are both alike in that we were nothing before we were elevated to the nobility. The Duke, he was a son illegitimate, raised on the farm by his mother. Me, I was a deformed younger daughter who was not expected to inherit, or even to marry, or live a full life. Neither of us would have received the genetic superiority of a noble without this new dynasty. Imagine how strong you could become with such a blessing, you who is already strong, and who dances so well." She reaches over and ruffles your orange hair.

Outside the viewport, you see one of the lance-bearing, smaller Avalonian mecha from earlier. It's not very fast, they look more like ground models than proper space mecha, and it's having a hard time as it fumbles for the Anseis' floating head.

[Continued]

Yes you can so long as I can imagine the hand zam combining with the big zam to form Zam Man.

And the image of seeing that knight trying so hard to get that head makes me smile.

Not many, and few had the same kind of direct choices involved.

You could have fought the S-Slayer early.

You could also have theoretically fought Caesar, Pierre, and Colonel Stern at one point.

You could have chosen to pursue Jesus when rescuing Clemmy.

None of these are necessarily good ideas, and the Anseis is really the first secret boss of its type.

>messing with the purity of the Roarkian form

Absolutely disgusting.

We could have fought that one guy in the blue bluegill, but we were in no condition to do it.

> "I recently fought an entire ship full of UJCIDF mecha, including five prototypes. You did more damage to the Kaiser than they did."

I thought the only mook mechs we fought so far was the Green Skulls?

Is another secret boss a clone the Jovians made of us piloting a Punch Zam, in a zone only accessible via exploits?

>and Colonel Stern

Also Caesar's dad coming after us if we offed his kid.
Also, considering how many times we've been told that Floyd Beck is definitely dead, I expect him to show up somehow.

So less actual secret bosses and more like trying to have a go at bosses you SHOULDN'T be fighting considering the situation. Like early game Granzon or Ezlam while he's in his drill ship.. that can dodge like a mech.

Its been a while since we've done once but since were doing breather threads for a while, do you anons want to make another mixtape for Roarke?

>inb4 music ree

I'd rather figure out tapes for the waifus.

not enough ELO songs
Mr.Blue sky and Turn to stone need to find there way onto a mix tape

user, you're a genius

>yfw there is a Floyd Beck EXAM system out there somewhere

He's talking about the reporter.

>EXAM

sweet jesus no