>>76076
Just for the record, exactly what kind of mech do you pilot? As for advice, I guess the only thing to do is get in range and try to hail them.

Toki 2009/11/12(Thu)11:22 No. 76080 ID: 30a68f
File 125805372156.jpg - (8.59KB , 505x338 , overdrivemap1.jpg )

It's not like there are rules for pronouns with AIs - lots of people build them with personalities - but I'm also pretty sure that Seven was never designed for that. I must have misheard it.
As for the mech - it used to be of a mass-production variable fighter called a Murasame, but I've modified it so heavily that there's only one thing to call it: the Overdrive Seven, it's original callsign in my unit.

>>76077
"Seven, power down the weapons systems and go to passive radar. Once we're in range of them, try and raise a tower..."

No sooner are we in range, though, then my com goes off.

They're hailing us, instead.

I hold up my hand to tell her to wait, pausing long enough to take another drink from the left-floating bottle before telling her to patch it through on voice.

'Cease your motion. You are violating our air space without permit. State your name and purpose.'

Well, that's friendly. Guys?

>>76080
"Overdrive Seven, I read you."
"...You wouldn't happen to know where this is, would you?"

>>76081
I tell him that (though I say 'Overdrive',since it's not like there's anyone else left to be ahead of me...); he has a brash voice - sounds pretty young actually, maybe late teens/early twenties, same as me. And then...

'Ha! A woman! No wonder you're lost.'

Son of a bitch!

Totallynotsamefag!!V1AJL5LzHl 2009/11/12(Thu)11:52 No. 76083 ID: 92ffbc
File 125805554738.jpg - (16.69KB , 256x352 , laughinglink.jpg )

>>76082
*ahem* Just tell him you are badly in need of repairs.

>>76082
Tell him you have a penis, and would really like to be on the road to a Transsexual Mech Pilot convention and incidentally could we get your name and address for reasons not in any way related to potential criminal activities involving enthusiasts of military hardware?
Then ask him for the damn coordinates and time already.

Toki 2009/11/12(Thu)12:17 No. 76085 ID: 30a68f
File 125805707088.jpg - (58.62KB , 400x400 , mvf-m11c.jpg )

>>76084
As much as I'd like to, I DON'T do that.

>>76083
"Look, spare me the crap. I'm in bad need of repairs and I just want to know when and where I am, okay?"
There's a pause; I can almost hear the prick smirking.
'I'll give you a flight path to one of our communal drydocks. The rest you'll have to do yourself; I don't have time to babysit WOMEN.'

I curl my fists, but have Seven follow the flight path he gives me, cutting off his mocking laughter.

The hangar bay is the usual kind of affair like you'd find on any battlecruiser; not surprising if this is for random freeloaders who come by. Most of the people stop to look as my fighter transforms into it's mecha mode - so much easier to store; I dock it into one of the spare bays.
Mostly these are holding machines that look relatively out-of-date; they seem old and clunky, like a beat up Volvo compared to my Lamborghini of a mech.
"Seven. Lock it up. I'm going to look around."

Before I exit the cockpit, I take my spare clothes from the under-chair secure compartment; anything to get out of this sweaty flightsuit, and so I head for the bathrooms, thankful for whoever decided that installing showers was a good idea.

So, now that I have a nice hot shower stall all to myself:
Thoughts? Plan of action?

>>76085
Yea, at the very least this is some kinda seedy place, I'd suggest keeping out of attention and not asking 'stupid' questions like what year it is. It'll probably be easier to find a newsstand or corner-shop with a newspaper. You do have some money right? Might grab some grub too.

After we get an idea of when we are I'd say outright walking the streets for a repair shop. More asking means more attention, and attention isn't something we want when we don't have a place to go yet.

Um, about the money... no, I don't. I don't exactly bring my wallet with me when I'm flying (the change of clothes is in case we have to camp somewhere overnight; overused flightsuit = distraction = death), and it's back on our cruiser, Lancedrive, which is not here, obviously.

So I guess I need to make some quick money, first?

>>76085
Does your mech have protection from ruffians breaking into it? If so you should probably turn those on before finding a repair person, don't want to come back to no mech, now do we?

>>76087
Just a glance at the newsstand should let you figure out if timefookery has taken/will take/is taking/will have taken place.
Then we can decide on a course of action.
Unless you have to pay for the showers?

>>76089
Yeah, I had Seven lock it; she won't open up for anyone but me.

>>76090
>Unless of course you have to pay for the showers

Haha, if I do, then I'm not going to!

Well, if I do, I can always sell some parts from the Overdrive. For example, some of the weapons systems are designed for taking on large units - such as the hi-mega cannon and the missiles. Or, I could just sell the ammo while keeping the weapons systems intact.

>>76091
You could try to sell the highly damaged systems to the repair guy to offset the cost slightly; lots of good spare parts to be had that way and a nice return profit if he can actually get them fixed, so he should be interested.

>>76092
I'm not selling my psycommu. Definitely NO. I won't give that one up.
The hi-mega cannon can go, though; I don't actually need anything like that for just exploring a system.

So, shower, change, news stand, mechanic shop?

>>76094
Sounds good Toki.

>>76094
Seems fine to me.

Toki 2009/11/12(Thu)13:31 No. 76102 ID: 30a68f
File 125806147472.jpg - (63.24KB , 720x576 , snapshot20091113082924.jpg )

Well, if we're all in agreement; I clean myself up and get changed.
Looking much better now that I don't have blood and sweat all over my face; my black hair is hanging straight down to the small of my back, and I'm dressed in comfortable clothes - white camisole top, black shorts, long white socks and boots, with a black hoody tied around my waist, and woolen fingerless gloves (also black. I like black and white. Even my mech is painted black and white).

Exiting the hangar, I'm just amazed at the colony... hell, I can't even describe it, just look at the bleeding picture.
It's like I'm back on Earth... well. Everyone looks normal, they speak Basic, and this is definitely and Earthlike atmosphere...

It doesn't take me long to find a news stand; a grungy little thing selling far too much porn. Actually some of it is kinda good... but now isn't the time. I pick up a newspaper and the little old guy behind the counter smiles at me, happily allowing me to browse as long as I don't go past the front page.

... huh. The date is apparently SA24. That's... not useful. At all. I put the newspaper back and glance around; since nobody's there, I decide to risk it and ask him about any mecha-oriented repair shops in the area.

Maybe it's just the way my top clings to my chest, but he's only too willing to help, and gives me three options:
The Pegasus Club, which is generally considered the best shop in the place (and the most expensive).
The Hotrod, which is of lower quality and price, but the staff have a reputation for being, well, overpaid fratboys.
And finally, one last dingy shop in the bad part of town that gets virtually no attention due to it being operated by what he calls "Junkers"; though there's not much information on it.

The Pegasus is halfway across the colony, while the Hot Rod and Junkers stores are much closer.
Anything else to ask him, or shall we decide on a shop?

(Also, apologies if I'm sucking. This is my first quest. ^^; )

>>76107
(I think you're doing fine)

I like the sound of the Junkers for some reason, but we should probably head to both of the others as well for possible estimates of repair costs.

Also, why is SA25 unhelpful? Is that not how the calender used to work?

Not at all, and last I checked, it was in the 2000 ADs. So the calender is totally different; I dunno where I could be.

As for comparing prices; I should add that the colony is a big place and I am literally broke - and I still haven't eaten. Personally I'd like to save going to the Pegasus unless it becomes absolutely necessary, but I'll listen if you think it's a good idea.

>>76115
Lets go to the Junkers then, and look for possible ways to make money as we wander about the city.

If you get really hungry eat at place that seems to be managed by someone slightly kindhearted, cue sob story about dead parents, wandering about the stars all by yourself; get free food.

(Going to bed now)

Hrm, so how did you make money before?

(and don't mind the low players, text quests don't get the kind of attention others do, just a fact.)

>>76117
I'm still a bit too proud to throw myself out for mercy like that, but I'll start walking to the Junker's shop - apparently it's just a few blocks away.

>>76131
Overdrive was a mercenary corps.; we made our money hiring ourselves out to anyone who paid. It wasn't pretty, but it was a living.

Any other questions before we plunge into Mos Eisley?

('kay, thanks.)

>>76132
Hrm, so was earth just moving into space travel before? This place looks more advanced than that for sure.

also: who would have needed fighters given that case?

We had a moonbase and a few permanent space stations, but there's always some fight or another going on over one resource or another. In this instance...

Well, there was one weapon more feared than biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons: dimensional weapons; bombs and missiles that fractured time and space to destroy their targets. Well, what they actually did was create an incredibly shortlived (less than two tenths of a second) black hole.

And yet more feared than even those were the ability to create antimatter weapons - something nobody had managed yet.
Overdrive was called in and paid an exorbitant amount of money to guard a midspace research station that had collected materials that could be used for that purpose; I happen to know that they were actually experimenting with warp technology.

However, there are always radical groups who oppose any technology that could turn out dangerously - I kind of have to agree with them, but regardless - and they bought a dimensional weapon with them, the Space/Time Oscillation Bomb.

... to be honest? I don't really remember what happened, but it must have hurt a lot.

>>76139
hrm, well I'm good for now. let's hit that shop.

(heading home, sorry. bbl)

Toki 2009/11/12(Thu)16:47 No. 76147 ID: 30a68f
File 125807326567.jpg - (55.39KB , 800x600 , overdrivepause.jpg )

Well, I think I can get there easily enough, and to be honest, keeping in contact for this long is putting a strain on my powers, especially without a working Psycommu being used to balance it.

I'll call on you again when I reach the repair shop; thank you for everything so far - I'd be lost without you guys!

Toki 2009/11/13(Fri)06:24 No. 76202 ID: 30a68f
File 125812228538.png - (36.43KB , 192x192 , Chen Long.png )

Aaaand we're back. Can you guys hear me okay?
This 'shop' looks like a crappy old garage, the kind of stuff you see in 80s B-Movies servicing those lovely old cars.
For all that they said this was the 'bad side of town', it's actually pleasant enough, if you ignore the... well, crass graffiti.

I stick my head in the door and call out gently.
"Hello? This is the Junkers autoshop, right?"
A muffled male voice from out the back tells me to wait, so I do; after a moment, a young man wearing black cargopants and tanktop over a muscled frame walks out to greet me, drying his hands on an oilslicked rag.
"Yeah, you found us. Something I can help you with, woman?"
"Yes; I'm -"
I pause and look up. That voice...
"... son of a bitch!"
"You!"

We glare at each other; he's that sexist traffic controller! Grr...

>>76202
Alright, he may be a dick, but if he works here, you need to get over that. Strictly business. Just see if they can repair your mech, and for how much? And for that matter, would they accept parts in lieu of payment?

>>76210
I guess you're right.
"Like I mentioned earlier, I'm in need of repairs..."
"Money upfront." he cuts me off, throwing the towel aside.
"I don't have any. I can pay in parts and ammo from my machine."

When I say 'ammo' his eyes light up.
"You a merc?"

... nobody asks that question unless they have a job in mind.
Thoughts?

>>76224
Well we need a job to pay for food/bills, so why not? Say you're a merc.

>>76224
You're a merc if you want these repairs. Go for it?

>>76224
fix my mech and ill do whatever job you need

"I am if it'll get me repairs."
He smirks. "Self-serving as expected. You up for anything?"
"I'll fly any mission you like as long as you fix my mech."

That seems to please him greatly, and he folds his arms. "That's a good answer - and a surprising one, coming from a woman." I'm already opening my mouth to answer rudely, but he cuts across me. "What's your name?"
"Toki. And you, grease monkey?"

That seems to strike a nerve; his eyebrow twitches slightly, but he keeps his cool. "Chen Long. And I'm not a grease monkey; I'm a Junker."
"And I'm a pilot, so you'd better start remembering that." I tell him.

He seems somewhat stunned at my attitude; think I should ask him anything while I have the chance?

>>76235
Get an estimate on how long it will take, we might need to know in case we need to eat before its done

>>76238
Sorry, I meant about things not mission related.

>>76235
"what makes you so proud to be a junker anyways?"

>>76241
Also, what year is it in Anno Domini numbers please?

>>76240
Maybe try to figure out where you are. If you got hit by one of those dimensional weapons, you may have been thrown into another dimension or something.

>>76251
Phrase this as "What's this colony called? That is if you even know."

>>76235
Why he works as Traffic Control and at a shop like this?

>>76251
If I'd been hit by one of those things, I wouldn't be talking to you right now; it was just the shockwave that caught me.

I can find out the rest later, so...
>>76269
"Anyway, why are you working in this shop and as a traffic coordinator?"
"Fft." he laughs at me somewhat mockingly. "Because if I'm working there, then I hear about anything that can be salvaged before anyone else does. You've never heard of the Junkers, have you?"

So do I admit no and ask him what they are?

>>76301
Never hurts to be informed, I suppose. It's not like it'll be detrimental to ask.

Toki 2009/11/14(Sat)12:28 No. 76466 ID: 30a68f
File 12582304887.jpg - (89.85KB , 700x400 , junkersbanner.jpg )

(sorry guys, busy + had the worst friggin' day. inb4/LiveJournal link.)

Well, alright. "No, I haven't. I'm..." I can't exactly tell him the truth, can I? "... not from around here."
"What, you a Jupiterian or something?" Chen has a haughty, superior smirk on his face; I'm stuck for a reply (there aren't colonies at Jupiter! There can't be, nothing could move that fast!), but fortunately he carries on without any input from me.
"Junkers are a loose-knit group of salvagers and mechanics, like a guild, almost. Our particular shop is called the Clockwork Hand, as you may gather from our banner."

I turn and study it closely; it's not in very good nick, and there are bits where the paint has worn slightly, showing the white paint beneath it.

"Basically, we're seperate, but we can call on each other for aid if need be, and we sometimes cooperate on salvage missions - or missions pertaining to the creation of salvage, if you catch my drift."

Uh-oh. He wants me to blow something up. ... I mean, it's not like I have objections to this, but I'm also conscious that ruining any reputation with some groups before it's even made could make things hard. What should I do?

>>76466
(It's okay; sorry to hear you had such a lousy day)

Might as well find out what the job is before rejecting it out of hand.

Without whatever crazy engine tech this universe has, we're gonna be stuck in the vicinity of this colony anyway; its unlikely he's gonna make us blow up something that the colony as a whole cares about.

>Without whatever crazy engine tech this universe has, we're gonna be stuck in the vicinity of this colony anyway
Actually, the OverDrive cruise mode on my mech could get us to the moon or the planet from here if we desperately need it to, but I wouldn't be able to fight for hours or days afterwards. It's... powerful, but limited.

>>76466
Of course that all depends on what, if anything, he wants you to blow up.

>>76470
Ah, I see. Anyway, lets see what (and maybe who) he wants us to blow up.

Alright.
"Yeah, I get it." I nod affirmatively. "What's the target?"
Chen nods back - he seems a lot less of a prick when it's business; I guess that's kind of a good quality (not like he possesses any other ones) - and turns to call out to the back of the shop. This front bit - containing the banner and a few 'display works' - is relatively small, but there's a dimly-lit garage (where he came from in the first place) leading in from the large roller-door beside the normal-sized door I entered through.
"Alexandra, get out here!"

From said garage emerges an absolutely stunning woman - she's maybe five or six years older than me, long-legged and fit and lithe, wearing the same clothes as Chen (obviously she's been working on some kind of repairs, as the light oil stains on her creamy skin attest to); champagne-coloured hair that falls in a waterfall to the backs of her knees, and deep emerald eyes.

Shit, I'm staring. I think I like this place.

I gather myself (literally) and wipe away the drool (figuratively), greeting her with a genuine smile. "Hi there..."
Crap, could I be any more lame?
Fortunately, she returns the smile, speaking with a voice that surprises me - a deep, husky voice with a rich Russian accent. Wait, Russian? That's... curious...
"Hello." she says coolly, then looks at Chen, frowning. "You are mispronouncing my name. It is Aleksandra."
He pretends to correct himself, smirking rudely. "Alexandra."
"Da bog da trazio detzoo Gaygerovim broyachem." she snorts, then turns back to me. "You are asking about the mission, yes?"
"Y... yes." I swallow, shaking away my nervousness. "What are we blowing up? And who's the client?"
"Ah, we won't be blowing it up." Aleksandra shakes her head. "Just disabling it. It's an unmanned weapons station; it has some parts I want. Oh, the client is me, obviously."
"Who owns it?" More information, right?
"Ah, the target is a Rayleonard facility. They don't have much business putting it out there in deep space, and in fact it has no support, which is why I'm targeting it."

I nod and fold my arms. "Alright. What's the pay?" I ask this even though I have no idea what the currency is.
"If we succeed, five thousand. If we fail and both make it out alive, I'll pay you half that." Aleksandra tells me. "The parts from the station will be my portion of the payment, yes?"

Alright, guys. How does that sound?

Totallynotsamefag!!V1AJL5LzHl 2009/11/14(Sat)15:32 No. 76547 ID: 8ec3f9
File 125824154166.jpg - (108.01KB , 1280x1024 , Ohyea.jpg )

>>76537
>Rayleonard


Yea, sounds pretty fair, especially that she'll pay you even if we fail.

I have an idea. How about if I ask them to repair my mech and pay five hundred up front, and only take the half penalty on a success? Of course, they might not go for it, but at least that lets me eat and get a working craft, right?

>>76575
Hrm, that works too. Definitely safer but it gives us less options with what to do.

Well, at least that way I get to eat and get repairs if they go for it.

Which option do you guys like better?

>>76593
sure, try the repair route. It's what you asked for in the first place anyhow

Toki 2009/11/15(Sun)18:49 No. 77241 ID: 30a68f
File 125833974217.jpg - (1.07MB , 1840x1232 , Hong_Kong_de_noche.jpg )

>>76597
Alright.

"Okay, then how about this. My mech is way too junked to fly a mission at the moment - if you'll repair it and pay me say... five hundred up front, then I'm in." I tell her confidently, leaving the part about taking the failure penalty instead of the full pay out as a later chip.
Aleksandra glances over at Chen, who shrugs in a 'I don't care' manner, while she looks hesitant.
"I'll help with the repairs." I chime in quickly. "... the reason I asked for the money upfront is because I'm completely broke and haven't eaten in what must be at least a day."

Aleksandra raises a long eyebrow at me and shakes her head, pursing her lips. "You are stupid. I'll accept those terms, though we'll discuss your total payment afterwards. Here." she reaches into her pocket, then takes my hand - I almost jump, I expected her skin to be soft, but her hands have the hard callouses and creases of a veteran pilot - and presses what appears to be a blue credit card into it; it has a small data display on it consisting of a blue gem with '250' written next to it.
"Tell me where your mech is, and I will collect it and bring it back here. You will go two blocks over to the Workers Markets and buy yourself a good meal. Yes?"
I'm too surprised at the sudden contact to disagree, so I just nod and tell her the bay number - Seven is smart enough to figure out what's going on and to stop her if she tries anything funny, anyway; Aleksandra merely nods and walks out the door - I hear an engine starting up, a big meaty thing; must be a flatbed truck.

Once she's gone, I shrug at Chen with a hot face, ruffling up my hair embarassedly, a lame little chuckle escaping me. He just smirks.
"Oh, everyone has that reaction to her first, but it doesn't normally last so long for a woman. You must not be used to NEXTs yet."
To what?
"What's a NEXT?" I'm outright confused, and that bloody annoying expression returns.
"Shit, you really aren't from around here. Nano Enhanced neXt Type. Otherwise known as BTH, or Better Than Humans, though not their faces." he folded his arms and nodded. "They're basically humans who recieve nanomachine enhancements before birth and during their formative years. Designer people. Hellishly expensive to get done, though there are rumous - and these are just rumours, because there's no way this could work; your body would reject the nanites, but anyway, apparently some adults have done it." Chen snorts and turns back to the garage. "Well, put simply, Alexandra -"
"Aleksandra." I correct him without thinking and he throws me an annoyed look.
"Hard Bitch, just outright smells sexy. Not literally 'smells', think pheremones. I think her body has been hyper accelerated judging from her reaction time, but that's just a guess. Well, get outta here, I have work to do."

I nod and leave, following the signposts to 'Workers Market'.
--! Holy crap!
... well, we have 250 credits to spend here, and I'm guessing we're eating Chinese?
Any other things we should do with that money?

>>77241

I'm still all for getting a newspaper to get some information on what's going on, and maybe allusions to how tech has developed.

Newspaper it is. Man there sure are lot of newspaper stands in this place. The one I visit only has one newspaper written in basic - the rest are in what I'm guessing is Chinese (that 'world of the future' idea is getting more and more likely) - called "Colony Gazette".
From there, I find a relatively unassuming place to eat and find myself seated with a combination of sweet-and-sour pork and rice. Yum.~

Now, about the newspaper: the date isn't helpful, obviously, and neither is the sports page (it's certainly not Grey's Sports Almanac); what I do glean is that first and foremost, the leader of the unified colonies is an old guy calling himself Mayor Manx. The second thing I learn is that there is one hell of a war going down on Earth (yes: they call it Earth. We are definitely on Earth, whether in the future or dimensionhopped) though the only information I have is that a faction calling itself 'GA America' stomped all over another named 'the Miralite Clan'... dear god, this is not good.

So, that explains why Earth down there looked so screwed up. As for who either of those sides are, there isn't any good information in here, but GA seems pretty big; the newspaper is painting them as the bad guys, too, saying that these Miralite Clanners are basically gypsies who want no part in the war.
How does news like that reach the colonies? Especially since it seems like they're trying to stay out of the war.

Anything else I should look up? I can't really find much information on the current technology, but it doesn't seem too much more advanced.

>>77569
I can't think of anything else; so you should probably go get some food before you have to go back to the shop to help fix your mech.

>>77569
I'd search the classifieds for rooms for rent too. We might stay a while, we might not but it doesn't hurt to have options.

>>77569
I just thought of something. If stuff's all different, what'll they think when they repair your mech?

>>77625
Good plan. I jack the section from the newspaper, but I won't look at it just yet - I want to see just how impressed the Junkers are with me; I might be able to abuse their hospitality a little. Or even join them if they suit me. More options are better, right?

>>77627
Um. Hell. I guess I'll just have to convince them that I'm really not from around here.

>>77572
On it. Om nom nom Column A and B.

>>77977
Don't eat the newspaper you madwoman!

>>77996
I'm talking about the menu! D=
Really.

So anyway. I'm no longer starving, we have information and 215 credits to kill.
Anything I should look up or for while I'm here? Or shall I just go back to the Junkers shop?

>>78846
If you need to buy anything else (you'll probably be staying somewhere in here for a while) go ahead, can't think of any more info to look up right now. I say head back.

oh uh, maybe look from some new clothes too (You did say this set was kinda lame right?), and a bag to carry stuff in.

Toki 2009/11/19(Thu)11:17 No. 79130 ID: 30a68f
File 125865822941.jpg - (71.52KB , 728x517 , travel_bag3.jpg )

>>78900
Good call. I manage to find a nice large travel-bag, a more heavy-duty change of clothes, a heavy jacket for dealing with rain (does it rain in the colonies? There's breeze and clouds, so...?), and some black overalls since I intend to help with the repairs.

This brings me down to 150, but I should get paid fast, right?

Well, I head back to the shop, only to hear Chen yelling violently in Chinese and Aleksandra giggling at him; I'd guess he's cursing like a sailor from the look on her face and the fact that he's storming up and down yelling at my mech.
I walk over to Aleksandra and hitch the bag up over my shoulder. "What's wrong with him?"
"He says he can't wrap his head around the weapons system on your mech. The burned out one in the cockpit that's linked up to the weird guns on the back."
Oh... that'd be the Psycommu; sounds like they don't exist here - which implies that people like me don't exist here. What should I do, tell the truth or come up with a lie?

>>79130
Might as well tell the truth; its very likely they won't believe you anyway...

>>79130
well the truth is that has been broken for a while and is a very rare part... so yea. I'd avoid the fact you're psychic.

"Uh, Chen? Don't worry about it." I stick my nose in. "It's a very rare part and it's been broken for a while..."
"Right, then I'll strip it out and -"
"NO!" I'm very adamant about this, cutting him off quickly. "Now, look. Here's what I want repaired..."

... um, guys? What do I want repaired/sold/etc.?

>>79563

Fix for sure:
Panoramic Camera: YELLOW.
Radio: YELLOW. Short Range only.
Radar: YELLOW. Short Range only.
M16M-D4 Gunbarrel x4 - YELLOW.

Try to fix more perhaps, don't push much though.

What's the "Weird guns on the back"? We'll prolly have to sell that one if it needs the psycom

>>79563
Fix whatever you think you'd need to run this mission.

Toki 2009/11/20(Fri)14:38 No. 79825 ID: 30a68f
File 125875670986.jpg - (33.31KB , 400x276 , vicviper-flight.jpg )

>>79575
Aleksandra's talking about the Gunbarrels; they won't work without the Psycommu. But I'm also not willing to get rid of them... hm.
"Chen."
"What, woman?" he gives me a death glare that I'd normally see on a drill seargant.
"Repair the camera, radar, and radio, and I'll sell you all the ammo in the wingmounted CIWS guns, as well as the topmounted megaparticle cannon - it's burnt out, but I'm sure you can repair it and sell it on."
Much as I hate to give up a big weapon, at the moment it's just not cost-effective to keep it around - it's dead weight on my machine and repairing those things is damn near impossible.
"As for those 'weird guns', do you have a storage bay for long-term customers or something?"

Chen's look has turned to minor shock that I'm being bossy. I love it. "Uh, yeah, but -"
"Then you can take the gunbarrels off and store them there. I'll put them back on when it's time. Now."
Even as I'm saying this, I'm kicking my bag into the corner and slipping into the overalls that I had tucked under my arm. "Let's get started on the repairs. I assume there's not a timeframe for the mission, Aleksandra?"
"Not really." she's nodding approvingly at me. "We have plenty of time to do this, yes... okay."

This turns into a two-day job without much talking between us; I'm pretty much out of cash and out of sleep by the time we're done, and end up curled up in the Overdrive's cockpit.

Morning sees a very light breakfast before Aleksandra and I get underway; she flies a completely AWESOME looking jet that can keep up with my machine easily. "So how far off is this thing?"
"A couple of hours." Aleksandra is far less mindboggling when she's not in my immediate presence. Actually she sounds bored with it all, but judging from the fact that she doesn't even look at the camera, her craft doesn't have anything resembling autopilot.

"Alright..."

Shall I wait, or can you think of stuff we should be asking?

>>79825
Well, figure out exactly what the mission is, like what specifically you're needed for. Maybe ask her about her jet, find out how far off the norm your mech is.

Toki 2009/11/20(Fri)19:52 No. 79965 ID: 30a68f
File 125877555482.jpg - (114.67KB , 640x544 , borg-cube-voy.jpg )

>>79827
"So what exactly are we disabling?"
Aleksandra doesn't bother to repeat what we already know, but instead links me a picture of a fairly standardized large-scale defense platform and it's location - far out past the colonies, and not near any asteroid belts or anything. "Aleksandra. Isn't this the kind of thing normally used to defend an NRS?"
'NRS' stands for 'Natural Resource Satellite', better known as an asteroid.
She nods, and that just confuses me.
"But there's nothing out there, if this is right."
"Which is why we're targetting this one." she tells me cheerfully.

Well, that doesn't quite sit right, but... "Well, tell me about your jet?"
"What, this thing?" She laughs fondly, waggling the sticks and causing the machine to dip it's wing as though she's waving. "Couldn't really say, to be honest. Some lady with pink hair, golden eyes, and an alcohol problem sold it to my mum at her Junker shop, called it the Dis Viper. It's been my partner for as long as I can remember."

Huh. Aleksandra is almost certainly a very good pilot if she's piloting that since she was small... she's probably much better than me. I look up, talking to Seven, quietly enough that the com unit doesn't pick up my voice.
"Seven. Can you scan her mech?"

Negative. Her unit is equipped with a generator that is blocking my readings. Output does not correlate to any known energy source.

Oh, that sounds friendly. Anything else?

>>79965
That's... quite suspicious actually. Both of those things are. Can't think of much else myself until you get there.

>>79965
so What does disabling it entail?

>>79984
"So about disabling this -"
"Shoot it until it isn't shooting back." she responds cheerfully.

>>80126
works in my book. Although for you that'd probably be slash the shit out of it instead since we only have one operating gun.

Only one if you count the fact that they're twin-linked...
And yeah, I always did prefer going into melee combat.

Well, I'll sign off for now. See you at the battlefield!

>>80271
Good luck, Toki!

(*presses Play button*)

"I hope you're ready, Toki! Here it comes!"
"Ah, I'm good for it!"
We're there; it's maybe another two minutes flight in to actual combat range, but the cube is covered in long-range beam cannons and it's already taking potshots at us, firing massive green lances of energy.

I snaproll and weave through them, while Aleksandra flies like a maniac, dodging with only the barest of motions and flirting with their deadly caress - she's amazing.

"Seven!"

Battle Mode Set Up. Commence Combat.

TOKI'S PARTY has mutually engaged with RAYLEONARD ISOLATED DEFENSE STATION

TOKI'S PARTY

TANAKA TOKI is piloting OVERDRIVE
Equipment: CIWS x2, BEAM SABER
Stats: Melee B, Range A, Defense C-, Dodge B+, Luck S, Senses A
Ability: NEWTYPE (Range, Dodge, Luck, Senses UP)

ALEKSANDRA is piloting DIS VIPER
Equipment: VARIABLE MISSILE SYSTEM, VARIABLE GUNNERY SYSTEM
Stats: Melee F, Range S, Defense F, Dodge A, Luck C, Senses B
Ability: VETERAN PILOT (Find weak spots in enemy units)
-----
RAYLEONARD'S PARTY

RAYLEONARD AI is piloting DEFENSE STATION
Equipment: POINT DEFENSE LASER xMany, LONG RANGE BEAM CANNON xMany, GATTLING LASER EMPLACEMENT xMany
Stats: ????
Ability: ????
----

WHAT ARE YOUR ORDERS?

>>81437
Sounds like fun! Both of you should continue until you are in range, Aleksandra should hang back once you are and fire all she can while you rush up and try to disable all the weapons you can find with your saber.

>>81440
"Aleksandra, can you hang back and fill it with boom?"
"Yeah, but those long range cannons will keep me suppressed pretty well. If you take them out..."
She hardly even has to say it; undercover of a barrage of missiles that emerge from concealed panels on her Viper, I transform and crash feet-first into the surface of the cube-station, landing by one of the giant cannons.

It's like a giant lance, easily bigger than my mech, with a twinpronged design like a railgun. I rapidly draw my Overdrive's golden beam sabre and slash it at the base, cleaving through it like a hot knife through butter; without a barrel the gun isn't going anywhere.

Aleksandra's long-range shelling and large-calibre machinegun fire is doing a good job at keeping the point defense and laser gattlings off me, so I make quick work of the beam cannons in this vector.

What next?

(FROM NOW ON, PLEASE ROLL 1D20, +1 FOR EVERY PREVIOUS COMBAT POST, EACH TIME YOU RESPOND.)

rolled 1 = 1

---

>>81442
get all the weapons on this side, then repeat for each side! Seems to be an effective plan.

Alright, that seems to be good; I'm using my verniers to basically treat the surface I'm on as the ground and skimming all over it while Aleksandra clears a path from afar.

This will take a little while, but I don't think we'll have any trouble at this point.

ROLL D20+7!

rolled 11 + 1 = 12

---

Fire on sector of cube sent to you by Picard!

For srs, let's do this UNICRON STYLE! Into the belly of the beast! Focus fire on one small area of the station and see if their defences can deal with something inside.

Toki 2009/11/25(Wed)07:42 No. 81450 ID: 30a68f
File 12591637227.jpg - (35.81KB , 500x283 , twinkle.jpg )

>>81449
Heh, good plan; I'll get Aleksandra to
TSHREAAAK
What the FUCK WAS THAT!?

Seven hits me up with a proximity alert - coming from Aleksandra's right side. "Aleksi, to your right -!"
She gets there in time and goes into a rolling dive just in time for a massive pink blast of energy to shoot through the space she occupied a moment ago.
Whatever is firing it moves in a twinkle of light and sprays another shot at me; I manage to dodge it by curving over onto another plane of the cube, but the thing has set up on the corner 'above' me.

"I ain't hit, but I don't like my chances of getting in." Aleksandra warns me. "If you can keep that busy, whatever it is, I think I can take care of the station myself now that you've softened it up."

Alright, looks like it's up to us. If you imagine the cube as a T, we are about one third of the way up and slightly to the left of the vertical line, while our hunter has set up shop at the joining point of the two lines.

Orders?

Actually, I how easy would it be to burrow into the superstructure of the station? And how much damage did Char's beam weapon do to the cube, if it hit?

>how easy would it be to burrow into the superstructure of the station

Dunno, but these things are pretty solid, and trying to cut through would leave me pretty well open.

>how much damage

It missed; he fired along the plane of the cube instead of into it - which implies that he actually cares about it's wellbeing.

rolled 6 + 2 = 8

---

>>81453
She can take care of the station itself, you need to deal with that. If there's any cover, try to advance behind it so that all potential shots will be likely to hit the station. With a weapon like that against you, it's best to close the distance to melee range, likely firing ahead to give yourself a bit of covering fire.

(no need to roll anymore.)

>>81455
There are a number of gattling gun emplacements and point defense lasers I can use as cover - the gattling guns can't target me if I'm right up next to them, and the point defense lasers don't angle this far in.
Plus they're spread across both sides of the 'edge', so I can cut across planes of the cube to improve my dodging.

He fires at me a couple of times as I'm coming up, wrecking a gattling once; his aim is uncannily good though: he doesn't waste shots when I'm behind cover and the ones that he fires only miss because I get the hell out of the way.

I'm a little over halfway up now. I duck behind one gun, start to jink one way, suddenly switch and go out the other and -
BAM!
I'm sent tumbling back down; Seven quickly rights us and gets us back behind cover as another of those powerful blasts echoes through where I was about two seconds ago.
"Son of a bitch!" I'm frustrated; even with my fakeout he still managed to get one step ahead of me. One of my wings is gone - not an issue at the moment, but it's still extremely annoying, and it'll cut into my maneuverability slightly.

WE ARE HALFWAY UP THE CUBE. ORDERS?

>>81456
Go towards it in-directly, circling around the corner and slowly approaching. Make sure to keep yourself a hard to hit target!

Toki 2009/11/26(Thu)02:26 No. 81757 ID: 30a68f
File 125923121498.jpg - (64.66KB , 400x400 , msa-0011.jpg )

>>81529
The erratic motions caused by my single-wing thrusters are a bit hard to control, but fortunately they also make me hard to hit.

I pop up onto the plane that he's on and we both freeze, sizing each other up...

OHHHHH THIS IS BAD

He's carrying a giant-ass beam smartgun on top of the rest; at our distance he'll get off a shot before I get there, but I'll be able to jump on him before the next comes at me.

ORDERS?

Open up with the head gun as you rush him! Hopefully it will knock off his aim.

>>81758
I let loose a blast that mostly pings off his armor while I ramp up the thrusters, boosting towards him with a slight jink -
WAPYUUM
- and he takes off my right leg; if the shelling hadn't kicked off his aim, it would have been right through the cockpit.

As I reach him, I take a rapid slash with my saber and cleam his beam smartgun in two; he quickly discards it as it explodes, then raises his arms, catching two bright pink beam sabres that are ejected from his backpack.

This is actually quite bad; he's at full maneuvering and AMBAC and I'm... totally not.

ORDERS?

(ALEKSANDRA is now free to be ordered)

>>81760
Get Aleksandra to open up on him! If he turns to face her, try and sneak in a blow. If he pursues you, EVADE! RUN!

>>81761
"Aleksandra, I could use some help here if you're free...!"
"I am now!" she calls back. "Get relative high!"
I immediately ignite my thrusters and launch myself up off the cube, just as a blue laser wrapped in white lines rakes through space towards him.

Unfortunately, the sudden jump on my part tips him off and he manages to boost backwards, out of the way - but he turns to fire the two backpack-mounted beam cannons out at Aleksandra's Viper. She rolls around it, and I take the chance to dive at him from behind and above, but it's as though something warns him and he twists out of the way, catching my saber on one of his and slashing at my remaining leg. I barely parry it away with a swift twist, but he pushes with both blades and forces me away, spraying easily-dodged cannon fire from the backpack as he does.

Damn, he's really good.