>>882076

>You got to get the job done. Just get the job done.

>>882076
>>You got to get the job done. Just get the job done.
WE'RE WORKING!

>>882139
>>882147

You remind yourself that you need to get the job done. Just get the job done. That's what Lucas would have told you...

"We're working!" You shout as you head to the hallway.

"We're working..." The apple replies.

You rush down the hallway and stop before a lift. The red light above the doorframe tells you to wait while Zodrak reconfigures itself for battle. You hear your heel bang against the brass floor as you try to be patient and think of what you have to do now in this very moment and not what just happened and what you'll have to do when the danger is over.

But try as you might thoughts creep in.

Lucas is dead. He's really dead. There's probably nothing left to even bury. And the kid Ana Clara...if she was lucky she passed out before she saw too much.

You think there's going to be a service in the cafeteria later, like that time a group of oranges got crushed between a transformation gear. There's no way Lucas was the only one who died today...God you hate services like that. You always feel so awkward and you freeze up if anyone asks you anything and everything you do feels somehow inappropriate...someone will have to take care of his flowers. You'd like to help but you don't know about plants. They're living things and require a lot of care. Lucas said they were like his pets...they can't just throw them out now, can they?

"Ahhhoowww..." You groan as your ears pop. The inner workings of the Zodrak make a high pitched whine as metal polymers flex under the changing air pressure.

"You have got to chill." You tel yourself. "Don't think about any of this now. You got a job to do. However the hell this geyser happened the important thing is that it happened. Dagons are bound to be showing up. That means you'll be forming Mung. Think about that. Think about tactics..."

"The Nessa and the Vanna were on ring 6 last time you checked but they're so fast they'll be here before the Orome and Tulkas. One of the Carter's is with you on ring 4, and the other Carter is with the hunters on ring 5. You aren't sure where the equipment ships are. They're usually on rings 3 or 2 and hopefully whatever is happening won't be so bad to warrant Big Al and his equipment doing more than providing supporting fire. If its bad enough to warrant more than that it means Cathys, and that means its likely you're going to lose even more friends today. Hell, knowing your luck its going to be a Blake and everyone is going to die..."

The door finally opens. "Good." You think. "Now I can throw back some of these feelings at the Lovecraft..."

"...Unknown waterspout sending Lovecraft deep in the Hodgson biome to the surface..."
"...Unknown number of Dagon class Lovecraft detected..."
"Casualty reports coming in, unknown how many are confirmed..."

The radio inside the lift tells you a lot of unknowns.

But you know something you're sure about.

Whatever is happening you got a fleet on your side.

The doors open, and you enter the sand tables...
-cont

>>882296

Your radio and communication skills are put to use managing Zodrak's:

>Weaponry. Zodrak isn't built to fight, but you can't always rely on other ships to fight your battles for you.

>Robot Coordination. Zodrak is armed with a micro-fleet of support vehicles, most of them unmanned drones. Coordinate robots to attack Lovecraft and repair ships.

>Repair. The primary function of the Zodrak is to provide fast and reliable repairs in the heat of battle. Its not the most glamorous job but it is an incredibly vital job. Lovecraft can disable a ship in a variety of ways and you have to determine the best way to put the fleet's ships back into action as quickly as possible.

>>882321

>Repair. The primary function of the Zodrak is to provide fast and reliable repairs in the heat of battle. Its not the most glamorous job but it is an incredibly vital job. Lovecraft can disable a ship in a variety of ways and you have to determine the best way to put the fleet's ships back into action as quickly as possible.

Maintaining our fleet allows us to fight longer and it saves casualties and material. Good in long run.

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>>882326
Being a heal unit okay with everyone?

While awaiting confirmation on whether or not we want to play White Mage here's some helpful lore as we're about to enter a fleet battle:

LOVECRAFT CLASSIFICATIONS

Glaaki: Utterly harmless to properly equipped humans in outside suits except in extremely large numbers. Irrelevant at the Rig level.

Tekelli: Named after the warning cry of HP Lovecraft's shoggoths with the last li dropped form the end to make it easier to shout over comm channels. They pose a danger to suited humans and drones but not to small vehicles. They are utterly irrevelevant at the Rig level, although large herds might get in the way of fine repair work or block shots from guns.

Yuggo: Named after the planet Yuggoth. They pose a threat to small vehicles but not to Rigs save in large numbers. They're what Rigs fight and kill the most.

Dagon: A single dagon class Lovecraft poses a serious threat to an entire Rig. Although 9/10 times a single Rig is more than a match for a Dagon two or three Dagons attacking a Rig at once or in succession can utterly destroy a Rig. At this level of classification Lovecraft begin exhibiting meta-spacial abilities such as teleportation, telekinesis, and the common "space shield" which teleports harmful projectiles away or shreds nearby objects through a process known as "tele-cutting". The space shield necessitated the development of photon based weaponry such as the light spears on the Orome and Tulkus. It seems light passes through the space shield, which has lead scientists to hypothesize that photosensitivity must somehow be a vital part of Lovecraft development and evolutionary history. It is theorized that Dagons might be a form of highly complex plant-life evolved to thrive in the Hodgson biome.

Cathy: Named after the big squid head himself. A single Rig is no match for these titans and their vast array of reality warping powers. It takes the combined efforts of several Rigs or even an entire fleet to kill a Cathy.

Blake: The Fleet committee considered naming them shoggoths after the horrible amorphous creatures of HP Lovecraft, but the monosyllabic Black was chosen to help separate it from other Lovecraft classifications and as reference to Fleet 5's admiral's words upon encountering the first recorded Blake: "Only William Blake would have the words to describe such a creature." Blakes are singular in power. Water and air swirl around these creatures in bands and some have theorized that these "crowns" are somehow apart of the creatures biology: seemingly external, invisible, and intangible organs that move water like blood through veins and wind like air through lungs. There is very little data on Blakes. They have only now begun to be sighted and have only been encountered in battle by the Fleets once.

Fleet 5 and Fleet 2 were ostensibly able to kill a Blake after losing a handful of Rigs. But the creature simply vanished, and who is to say what that means.

>>883240

THE RINGS

The current system of rig positioning was devised by Fleet Committee scientists including Daedalus. Although he doesn't deserve all the credit for its optimal design it is still often called his Labyrinth in his honor, especially in his home Fleet.

The rings measure distance away from "ring zero" where the "home islands" sit. The "home islands" contain the majority of a Fleet's population and industry. It is sometimes called the bird's nest.

Ring 1 lies a little ways form the home islands and includes several industry based islands that require rapid and constant contact with rigs such as the fishing industry and weapons industry. The flagship Alveric is positioned at this ring during high alert.

Ring 2 is clear of all islands. From here on out there are only Rigs. Alveric is positioned here when the Fleet is not on high alert to better respond to calls for assistance from Rigs further out on rings. At times of high alert the equipment ships are posted here to quickly supply the Alveric.

Ring 3: During high alert this is as far as any ship not a scout is allowed out. When there isn't a high alert the Zodrak is often positioned here to accept shipments of supplies from Ring 1 and to keep docked rigs far from the more dangerous rings, but when fully stocked and without a "patient" to wait on the Zodrak often moves up to Ring 4 to more quickly receive freshly wounded Rigs.

Ring 4 is the maximum any ship is allowed out during times of high alert. Only the Nessa and Vanna are allowed here when on high alert due to their speed. When the Fleet isn't on high alert this Ring is occupied by the Zodrak and the Carter gun ships so that the Zodrak can quickly give repairs to the hunter and scout ships on further rings and the Carters can provide artillery cover when requested by the hunter and scout ships.

Ring 5 is for the hunters Orome and Tulkus. They prowl waters already scouted by ships in Ring 6.

Ring 6 is for the scouts Nessa and Vana. This is the furthers any ship can be allowed from the home islands. Any ship that ventures further than Ring 6 risks being unable to respond and regroup with the other rings in a timely and efficient manner.

>>882326
Supporting this to progress the story

>>882321
>Repair. The primary function of the Zodrak is to provide fast and reliable repairs in the heat of battle. Its not the most glamorous job but it is an incredibly vital job. Lovecraft can disable a ship in a variety of ways and you have to determine the best way to put the fleet's ships back into action as quickly as possible.
We're the repair ship. White mage is a fucking go.

>>883240
So our threat board goes something like;
>Not a problem.
>Not a problem.
>You've got an issue.
>You're fucked.

>>885149
>Its what they're serving in the cafeteria
>Not a problem
>Goombahs
>A problem
>Holy shit call for backup
>RUN

"Tell the John Carter we're not ready for docking yet. Get the Eilowny to cover them...not, the Elbereth is busy firing a volley out into Ring 6 to cover the Scouts...I think. No, don't take my word for it, get in touch with the bridge!" Your second in command is doing her best to cover for you at your chair, hands gripping her headset tight.

Below her the sand table churns and shifts creating three dimensional models of the rings, the Lovecraft, and the Rigs. Tiny clear beads combine and fill with color, the magnets that move and assemble them attuned to the electricity from the computers and your brains. Your crew works around the table delivering instructions to models of assembly crews and getting the prep work underway.

"Oh thank God, Alex!" She exclaims holding hand over her speaker. "We didn't know what happened, your name was greyed out and-"

You look over at a corner of the sand table. A chart displays the names and locations of your crew and the reserves. Yours changes from grey to green.

There are way too many greys. And two reds.

"Alex...what's happening out there?" She asks you as you take the headset from her.

"I don't know Maria. I just know we have work. Thanks for keeping the chair warm."

You sit down. Below you Zodrak finishes its final transformations. Its enormous square head breaks above the water line, propelled by leg mounted thrusters. The plasma guns around the port gate in its stomach wink to life. The missile silos in its back form like a layer of scales. Zodrak's one round eye glows with photonic energy.

The lighthouse is lit. The port is open for business.

You look at the Rings on the sand table:

Ring 6: 30 Yuggos. 2 Dagons. The Scouts are evading on their way down the Rings.

Ring 5: 60 Yuggos. 1 Dagon. Hunters are engaging hostiles. Confirmed kills count 1 Dagon and 30 Yuggos. The hunters are waiting for the scouts to escort them down the Rings.

Ring 4: Where you are. Unfortunately it seems to be the focal point of this waterspout. 200 Yuggos. 3 Dagons-all detected, none in range...one possible Cathy judging by the spacial distortion readings.

Maybe more....

The Carters are here to protect you. This is the line.

Ring 3: The equipment ships located here. The Welleran is protecting the Eilonwy as it sets up a bombardment. The Elbereth is heading to Ring 1 to join with the Alveric and provide firepower support. 175 Yuggos. 2 Dagons, currently being engaged by the Welleran.

Ring 2: No rigs. In the process of being shelled by the Eilonwy and Alveric to create a safe fallback for the rest of the Rigs. It's impossible to tell how many Lovecraft or what kinds are here until the firing dies down.

Rig 1: Alveric confirms Home Islands are secure with minimal damage. 100 dead Yuggos and 1 dead Dagon. Is holding position to make sure nothing else rises up to threaten the Home Islands.

>>885829
"John Carter here." The voice over your receiver matches the silent figure on the sand table. A young Captain with her red hair tied in a ponytail under her white cap speaks to you calmly. But you can see fear slowly crowing behind her blue eyes. "Requesting permission to dock Repair Team. We've taken a light pounding from a swarm of Yuggos that got inside our firing line, some of the guns aren't responding."

"They got damaged by a swarm of Yuggos?" Maria frowns. "Surprise or no surprise that's pretty embarrassing...

Lewis, one of your chief engineers, looks up to you from managing his teams at the sand table. "It might not be as bad as all that Alex. You know Captains on the John Carter are green as fuck. She probably got a little dusting and it spooked her, do we really want to dock them for the sake of a few busted guns?"

>Say/Do?

>Grant Permission. There's no time to ask for specifics. Get the crews ready to do whatever needs to be done.

>Ask for details and for it to hold position. Only one Rig can dock at a time. You might want to hold off on docking a ship if the damage isn't too severe.

>>885832
>
>Grant Permission. There's no time to ask for specifics. Get the crews ready to do whatever needs to be done.
If it's a quick fix better to get them in and out now while we have he chance.

>>885832
>Grant Permission. There's no time to ask for specifics. Get the crews ready to do whatever needs to be done.

>>885832
>Grant Permission. There's no time to ask for specifics. Get the crews ready to do whatever needs to be done.
Come on, now. If you're trying to limp back here you aren't blowing things out of Lovecraft.

Rolled 15, 3, 8, 3 = 29 (4d20)

>>885898
>>887496
"Just the guns right?" You ask.

"Yes. It seems to be very minor damage but with potential Cathys in the Ring we want to make sure we're at our best if one emerge."

"Alright. Permission granted."

"Thank you Repair Team! Docking now!" The captain says with a look of clear relief on her face.

"Freaking teenage captains wasting our goddamn time..." Lewis grumbles.

On the sand table the John Carter glides across the water, untransformed for maximum speed, and docks inside the Zodrak's belly. Your team goes to work commanding repair teams to respond as quickly as possible.

The Randolph Carter, four long octopus like arms circling around itself bristling with weaponry, stands nearby to protect you. You see the photon cannons snap to position and fire at something beyond the range of the sand table, the bulb shaped cannons shining with brilliance.

The Scouts and Hunters are on their way. But they're reporting that the Lovecraft are pursuing them.

The Welleran is still engaging the 2 Dagons on Ring 3 with assistance from the Alveric. The Eilonwy cannnot fire until its Ring is clear. The Elbereth is navigating around the bombardment impacting Ring 2 to join with Alveric on Ring 1.

>ROLL 1D20+3 FOR REPAIR JOB

On roll this time to keep things going faster.

I'm also rolling for other ships in the fleet to do their jobs.

Rolled 1 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>888320
Rolling dem bones.

>>888330
Oh shit I broke it.

>>888320
Woah nelly that's a lot of bad, even with the bonuses!

Randolph Carter is pulling its weight though.

A corner of the sand table shows the target of the Randolph Carter's attack. The Dagon is of the sub classification Unicorn. Its domed head with several sucking mouths encircling it is topped with a single white horn. The horn is beautiful, and incredibly valuable as a metaphysical instrument. The Elberteth uses several to add power its rail gun, winding the projectile through more path than the Elbereth can naturally allow. The Unicorn somehow uses it to bend things into spiral patterns using telekinesis. Although very powerful it is normally easy to ambush. It leaves strange spiral patterns on the sea floor and water wherever it goes. Scientist theorize that this might be a form of beneficial environment modification. The whirlpools and spirals might make it easier for the Unicorn to attract prey or they might be a way to communicate to other Unicorns. Maybe the spirals serve as a way to mark its territory?

It doesn't really matter, because the Randolph Carter just blew it up.

The photon cannons turn the surrounding water into mist. Through the mist you can see the Unicorn frantically ripping spirals in the air as pieces of it melt away. It attempts like all Dagons trapped in a bombardment to regenerate itself, but to no avail. Against the bombardment it is as useless as the space shield.

A follow-up burst of white super-plasma makes sure any metaphysical organs are destroyed. If such things have souls then its soul just died. There's no chance of this Dagon pulling itself back out of thin air. Its as dead as the rapidly cooling water it left behind.

Unfortunately the rest of the Fleet has less luck. The Scouts are being slowed down Dagons and are having difficulty evading their attacks. The Hunters are moving up a Ring to engage. They're be late arriving here to form Mung, late and wounded.

The Welleran has yet to kill one of the 2 Dagons, although it reports one of them is weakening as its vibrational weaponry slowly shakes it apart.

The Elbereth is damaged by a Dagon that escaped Alveric's bombardment. The Alveric is attempting a rescue. Damage is reported to not be so bad...yet.

DAMAGE TABLE:

You: Ring 4

Nessa: Damaged engines, Ring 6
Vanna: Damaged engines, Ring 6

Elbereth: Slight hull damage. Ring 2

John Carter: Slight damage to weaponry. Ring 4

"Repairs are complete on the John Carter!" Maria exclaims. "Awaiting dock door to open...awaiting dock door to open...It won't open!"

"There's something wrong in the magnet shell. Some kind of force is pressing against the dock!" Henri tugs at the brim of his baseball cap. "Damn...do you guys think this means..."

"Oh of fucking course. When it rains it pours right?" Lewis yells.

The sand table confirms your fears.

Cathy's are unlike other Lovecraft. They tend to be exhibit cunning if not outright intelligence. They try to escape when wounded.
-cont

>>888450
They try to gang up on Rigs with other Lovecraft. And when at all possible they try to come after you, because they know how you work. They know you heal other Rigs.

"Incoming Cathy type! Sub-type Hades!" Maria exclaims.

A tall, curving, almost humanoid body rises out of the water. Light passes through its clear form. The sunlight refracts inside it into iridescent cavities and hollow spots-its organs.

"Damn thing is focusing its telekinetic bullshit on the dock doors! It would be crushed if not for the magnetic shell!" Lewis yells.

The Randolph Carter begins to spin its arms. There's no time for a bombardment. This calls for a melee engagement...

Slick rainbow patches begin to appear in the air around the Hades. A shimmering collection of golden flecks appears alongside it.

It is creating weapons.

"Damn it! We need more than the Randolph for this!" Lewis yells.

"Alex, what do we do?" Maria asks.

>Try to get the doors open. Let's stay calm about this.

>Tell the John to blow a hole in the doors. We got to get it out of us NOW.

>We need to make the best of this. We got artillery in our belly....and they got armor...tell everyone to start routing firing paths through our exhausts, connect their power supply to our searchlight cannon! Today we combine with the John Carter!

>>888509
In for a penny, in for a pound.
>We need to make the best of this. We got artillery in our belly....and they got armor...tell everyone to start routing firing paths through our exhausts, connect their power supply to our searchlight cannon! Today we combine with the John Carter!

>>888509
>>We need to make the best of this. We got artillery in our belly....and they got armor...tell everyone to start routing firing paths through our exhausts, connect their power supply to our searchlight cannon! Today we combine with the John Carter!
GATTAI!

>>888571
>>889135

"We need to make the best of this..." You say.

"Fucking HOW?" Lewis complains.

"Reports from the dock teams coming in aren't good boss." Henri says. "Damn monster has bonded the doors together with molecular welding. We can't cut through with our tools and if they blast out we risk the force recoiling and totally disabling the repair dock."

"Think of it this way." You smile slyly. "They aren't trapped within us. Instead we got artillery in our belly. And they got armor. We combine with other ships all the time, why not the John Carter?"

"Boss...I'm not following..." Henri says.

"Tell everyone to start routing the John Carter's firing paths through our exhausts! Connect their power supply to our searchlight cannon! Today we combine with the John Carter!"

"Woah..." Henri gasps.

"I'm going to have to run that by Captain Thiago..." Maria says quickly establishing communications with the bridge.

"Hey Alex! The plan is to try and NOT die!" Lewis says. "How the fuck are we supposed to convert our exhausts into photon canons?"

"Easy! Just send bots to coat it with Sand Monster skin."

"And then what? Send them back up to clear the residue away after a shot?"

"Exactly! We alternate heat venting with firing cycles like we do when we form Mung for the photon chains and it'll be fine!"

"Hmmm...it would be slow firing but it does sound possible..." Henri says.

"Or it could blow us all to hell!" Lewis says. "What are we going to do routing so much power through the searchlight? We'd likely to melt the entire gun with a single blast!"

"It's worth the risk." Henri says. "Its better than the John Carter just sitting there or having it shoot a hole in our side."

"That's the spirit Henri!" You say.

"Oh god Alex, your insanity is spreading..." He groans as he slouches uncomfortably in his seat.

"Captain Thiago incoming!" Maria says as the captain's form materializes on the sand table. The Captain's scarred face scrunches itself into a half smile, part of it seeming to sink into the scar, as he hunches forward on his cane and speaks. "Sounds like a crazy plan you got cooking Repair Team. Do you think it can work?"

"I have no idea Captain. The match checks out and I know our men are up for the task but we've never done this before, not even as a drill."

"Heh. Sounds like most things in life. Gentlemen!" He shouts banging his cane on the floor. "Delay searchlight fire while we combine with the John Carter!"

"Oh god I'm going to actually die a virgin..." Lewis says.

"You were going to anyway. Now lets get those firing ports set up! Henri tell the drone team to give us all their standby robots! Get their engine connected ASAP, that should be the easiest thing!"

The Captain of the John Carter appears on the sand table.

-cont

>>889151
"What? No! Tell them not to touch anything! Restrain them if you have to!" She shouts to someone off the display. "Repair Team what is the meaning of this? This is unprecedented! Our weaponry isn't designed to be used this way!"

"We're working outside the operations manual today Ma'am." You say.

"No! Absolutely not!" Her ponytail lashes angrily behind her as she gives a defiant shake of her head. "We'd be better off blowing a hole in the ship and fighting like we're built to fight!"

>Say/Do?

>Abandon the plan.

>Use diplomacy. This plan will work. She just has to trust us.

>Scare her into cooperating. This is life or death.

>Tell her if she doesn't play ball you'll take her to Naval Court over this and everyone not dead from her mistake will judge her order.

>Roll 1D20 for your chosen course of action. Good responses will grant bonuses to this roll.

Rolled 2 (1d20)

>>889159
>Scare her into cooperating. This is life or death.
>Tell her if she doesn't play ball you'll take her to Naval Court over this and everyone not dead from her mistake will judge her order.
Her inexperienced uncertainty is what got her into this mess, and it's what'll get us out of it. Just need to play on it.

Let's see here...

"Damn it woman, think! You blow your way out of Zodrak and you'll destroy the dock completely and cripple it! No one else getting repairs, people dying, ships sinking, all because of your selfish decision! If you sink the fleet's only repair ship because *you* were afraid for *your* own life then you'll lose your command and rightfully so, and you'll be able to count yourself lucky if that's all that happens! You pull that shit and anyone that's actually left alive in your wake will stop at nothing to see you pay for your cowardly milquetoast rookie command decision! And that's if you live and this Cathy doesn't have you for lunch, which it WILL without our support! You're scared for your ship and I get that, but it's not the only ship in the fleet and it's not all about you. We all have to pull together. *THAT* is what we're *ALL* built for. Literally. Now let the repair teams do their jobs and we'll make sure you can do yours and together we'll sink this abomination to the bottom of the ocean."

(inb4 my dice suck and render that pointless)

>>889193
GODDAMNIT I KNEW IT.

>>889194
>>889193
That was good, you've earned yourself a re-roll.

Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>889196
Thanks. Here goes...

>>889200
Well. It was *technically* higher.

>>889200
>>889201
>>889193

"Damn it woman think!"

"E-Excuse you?"

"You blow your way out of Zodrak you'll destroy the dock completely and cripple it! No one gets repairs, people die, ships sink, and all because of your selfish decision!"

The Captain bites her lip and glares.

"If you sink the Fleet's only repair ship because YOU were afraid for YOUR own life you'll lose your command and rightfully so and you'll be lucky if that's all that happens to you! You pull that shit and anyone that's actually alive in your wake will stop at nothing to see you pay for your cowardly milquetoast rookie command decision!"

"ENOUGH!" She shouts. "How DARE you question my authority over my own ship you...you...you convict grease monkey!"

"Ouch." Lewis says with a smirk.

"Threaten ME with a court martial? Unlike YOU I didn't wind up in charge because I'm a criminal! I earned this command! And I will NOT let you destroy both our ships because of some harebrained scheme to jury rig some sort of combination!"

"You don't combine with us then this Cathy will have you for lunch! We need you firing and you need our support to get you firing!"

"And that's assuming its the only one...Randolph is giving it a hell of a fight though..." Henri motions to the sand table. You see the Randolph Carter's four arms shine with photonic energy. It spins like a wheel moving closer in spurts to the Cathy. The old veterans on the ship know how to fake out an opponent. The Cathy's surrounding rainbows vanish and reappear where the Randolph stood only a second ago. The two titans feel each other out, neither registering hits...

"We have to work together." You explain. "THAT is what we're ALL built for! Literally. Now let use do our job and we'll make sure you do yours and we'll kill this thing!"

"No! I won't be party to some suicidal unapproved stunt! You be glad that we don't fire through the dock! We'll hold positions...for now."

Captain Tiago appears on the sand table. "You have my full support, whatever you choose to do Repari Team." He says with a nod of his bald head. "We can all worry about the headaches later."

>Say? Do?

>Begin exhaust port conversion and engine routing...in secret.

>Threaten her one last time. You WILL bring her up against the court and you WILL see her punished. (Roll 1D20 for this)

>Forcibly remove her from her command utilizing Fleet directive 22 which gives you authority over all ships in your repair dock. (Roll 1D20 for this)

>Let it go. Focus all resources on getting the doors open.

>>889217
>"How DARE you question my authority"
>"Threaten ME with a court martial? Unlike YOU I didn't wind up in charge because I'm a criminal! I earned this command! And I will NOT let you
Me me me. Good grief, there's no salvaging this girl. How the fuck did she end up with any amount of responsibility?

>>889294
Good grades at the academy, fiery spirit and pluck, and Daughter of the Fleet Admiral's mistress

Rolled 16 (1d20)

>>889297
Of course. Just what we need, a combination of nepotism, booksmarts and ego.

Alright, she wants to throw a hissy fit about rules, regulations and proper procedure then we'll just have to throw the book back at her.

>Forcibly remove her from her command utilizing Fleet directive 22 which gives you authority over all ships in your repair dock.

"Your authority? Your command? How dare I question you? How dare YOU call yourself a captain if all that concerns you is your own ego! All that ranting about yourself and not once did you mention the lives of your crew, or ours! This out to have been the first thing you learned at command school: This! Is not! About! You! I might be a convict grease monkey, but even I'd sacrifice my life, never mind my reputation, if it gave my ship and my fleet a fighting chance. All of us would. But since the potential fallout of this decision is of such concern to you, I have good news: it's no longer your decision to make. You want to do things by the book? Fine, I'll throw it at you if it's what it takes to save our asses. Per Fleet directive 22 I am temporarily relieving you of your authority over your ship for the duration of your stay in the dock. There, now anything bad that happens is my fault. Now let my people do their jobs, we're trying to work here."

I might blow the roll and she'll refuse, but this fleet directive should vindicate us even if she does, and the Captain has our back, soo...

>Begin exhaust port conversion and engine routing...in secret.
Regardless of the outcome of the previous option. She doesn't actually have the authority to stop us from doing this.

>>889317
"Your authority? Your command? How dare I question you?"

"Yes. How dare you question me!"

"How dare YOU call yourself a captain if all that concerns you is you own ego!"

"My only thought is for the safety of my crew!"

"Really? All that ranting about yourself and not ONCE did you mention the lives of your crew or ours!"

"That...that was implied!"

"This ought to have been the first thing you learned at command school: This! Is not! About! You!" I might be a convict grease monkey but even I would sacrifice my life never mind my reputation if it gave my ship and my fleet a fighting chance!"

"How dare you say such things to me! You stubborn fool! I'm not going to let you play Frankenstein with the John Carter, not while I'm in command! You'll blow us all up trying out theories in the middle of a battle! My decision stands you...you...you criminal!"

"Well then I have good news. It's no longer your decision to make."

"WHAT?"

"You want to do things by the book? Fine, I'll throw it at you if that's what it takes to save our asses from your ego. Per Fleet Directive 22 I am temporarily relieving you of your authority over your ship for the duration of your stay in the dock."

"Ha!" She smirks. "I know the entire Fleet Directive code by heart! You can't relieve me of command unless we're under repairs within the dock and you finished repairing the guns!"

"Actually you'll want to look at it again. The status of a ship in the dock is determined by the head of the Repair Team. And guess who that is?"

"But there's nothing wrong with the John Carter!"

"And that's not for you to decide, is it? The way I see it the John Carter has a big failure in its deck area. It might even be terminal if we don't start taking steps to fix it right now."

"I'm sure there's a busted lightbulb somewhere that needs fixing..." Henri adds.

A look of fear crosses her features before she quickly suppresses it under a scowl.

"I...I...Fine. You win." She grimaces. "I'll see you prosecuted for this...this MANIPULATION of the Fleet Code. I'll see you in prison for this!"

Everyone in your crew chuckles.

The captain's face turns as red as her hair.

"You know what I mean! It was a mistake for them to ever allow criminals the authority of ship command! I'll see you in irons for this!"

"Henri, tell the boys to go ahead on the operations." You start giving directions as you ignore the captain. "Lewis get me a sit rep every minute on the exhaust pipe conversion. Maria continue to update the list of possible repairs on the Randolph Carter."

"Are you listening to me?" She growls.

"Anything bad that happens is my fault." You shrug. "Now let my people do their jobs. We're trying to work here."

"Any of my men die today because of this FOOLISHNESS I'm coming after you..."

>Say? Do?

>Extend an olive branch. She's young and scared and she's been powerless sense this all started. Tell her everything is going to be okay.

-cont

>>889429
>Tell her you'll see her in court if that's what she really wants. You're more concerned about the giant monsters trying to kill everyone right now.

>Tell her you're looking forward to it, in fact you have your own charges you'd like to bring against her. Maybe some time in Zodrak under your command will teach her how not to be a bitch.

>Really go to town on her. Fuck her. Her attitude is not befitting a leader and you're mad as hell because of what happened to Lucas. Take the opportunity to embarrass her in front of her entire bridge.

>>889429
Man, I'm glad I blew that first roll, this was way better than just getting our way from the start. Also:

> The way I see it the John Carter has a big failure in its deck area.
The way *I* see it it has a big failure in its bridge area *badum-tish*

>>889437
Ho hum, decisions. I'd like to make nice with her, but I doubt her pride would let her accept it. And as unbefitting of a leader as her attitude is, it's just as immature to make a point of humiliating her in the middle of a fight. We can let her superiors decide later whether she's unfit for command or just scared, we've got bigger sea monsters to fry. Besides, that's not how we do things here. We're from Zodrak, we don't get into pissing matches over points of personal pride, we work. So let's work, and be the bigger (wo)man.

>Tell her you'll see her in court if that's what she really wants. You're more concerned about the giant monsters trying to kill everyone right now.

>"Any of my men die today because of this FOOLISHNESS I'm coming after you..."

"Hey, not bad. That's the first thing you've said since you rolled in here that makes you sound like a real captain. You'll get the hang of it yet. Anyway, you want me in court, let the Fleet sort this out? Okay, I don't care, I'll gladly go, and if anyone dies I'll bear the responsibility for that. IF we live and AFTER we kill this thing. Now let's do this.

>>889477
Sounds good, just waiting to see what other anons think.

(Note to self-stop sleeping during evenings. I think that's when most of my anons are active)

>>889658
Yeah, I think most posters are occupied during the afternoon on weekdays. I'm only here right now because I'm on GMT and I have the day off.

Good quest tho.

>>889687
Yeah, I post between classes (and sometimes during classes, but don't tell my professors!)

Rolled 1, 1, 1, 2 = 5 (4d2)

"Hey, not bad. That's the first thing you've said since you rolled in here that makes you sound like a real captain. You'll get the hang of it yet."

She simply glares at you, face vibrating with rage.

"Anyway, you want me in court to let the Fleet sort this out? Okay, I don't care, and if anyone dies I'll bare responsibility for that."

"You better believe you will..." She replies icily.

"I'll bear that responsibility IF we live and AFTER we kill this Cathy. Now lets do this!"

>ROLL 1D20+3 TO COMBINE

>CHOOSE WHICH COMBINATION FEATURE TO PRIORITIZE: PHOTON TUBES OR SEARCHLIGHT UPLINK. THE PHOTON TUBES WILL GIVE YOU A RELIABLE BUT SLOW BATTERY OF ATTACKS TO AID THE ZODRAK. THE SEARCHLIGHT UPLINK GIVES THE ZODRAK ONE RISKY BUT POWERFUL ATTACK.

>>891628
Oh boy, this doesn't bode well for the fleet...

What is it with this quest and abysmally low rolls?
Can the Lovecraft influence probability?

>>891628
Well, given our luck we should probably go with the less risky option.

>>891641
>>891667
It might help if you roll d20 instead of d2...

Rolled 6 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>892398
Forgot muh dice. Let's try that again

>>891628

Rolled 13, 19, 14, 3 = 49 (4d20)

>>892401
>>892398
We might be saved by my own stupidity!

>>892490
And indeed that is MUCH better!

>>892490
>>892491

RING 4:
Your roll: BAD

"Progress is stalling boss." Henri reports. "Exhaust ports are converted by we aren't sure on our estimates of how much we need to cover the tubes to avoid internal damage. Basic science yeah-we don't want too little coating or we might as well be shooting ourselves with the photon energy, but too much will trap too much heat and cause the metal in the exhaust tubes to expand."

"I told you this was foolish..." The Captain of the John Carter hisses.

"Well nothing wrong with the hookup between the searchlight and their power supply." Lewis reports. "It's really just like wiring in the power supplies from the Vanna and Nessa, it's just slow because the kids on the John Carter don't know how to do SHIT!" He bangs a fist against the arm of his chair.

"Don't badmouth my men!" The captain yells. "They're top graduates from the academy!"

"Shame they didn't teach you kids how to think on the fly then!"

"That's enough Lewis. We're safe. Don't cause a panic. So the searchlight link is slow, its still coming." You say. "I want us to prioritize firing tubes for now. Get them operational."

"Understood boss." Henri says.

RANDOLPH CARTER ROLL: 13+0, GOOD

You see the long glowing tentacles of the Randolph slice into the Hades Cathy. They refract into thin, misty rainbows as they pierce its transparent skin. The Hades is particularly annoying for its ability to weaken photon attacks-the only kind of weaponry that works against it in the first place-but the experts on the weaponry brush against an organ cavity filled with rainbows. The Cathy recoils in pain as the organ shakes.

It's attending rainbows leap from the air and streak toward you like missiles, but the Randolph is on the ball and with a sweep of one of its tentacles projects a wall of white plasma higher than the wave of water it kicks up. The rainbows explode against the wall as it dims, buckles, but holds firm! Through the now-grey construct you see the Randolph continue to engage the Hades Cathy.

"Fucking A!" Lewis shouts.

"Look at them go!" Henri shouts.

"Dagons! Dagons incoming!" Maria spoils the mood by pointing to an edge of the sand table.

Two enormous rubbery bodies inflate themselves above the waters. You can see the long snake like shadows of Yuggos swimming crawling under their red skin.

"Oh great. Battleships. Just what we needed." Lewis says.

"So that's why they've been so quiet..." Maria says.

"Shit. Good call on prioritizing those firing tubes boss." Henri nervously tugs the lip of his prized baseball cap. "We're going to need consistent long ranged firepower for this..."

>>892516
Battleship Dagons are named so because of their symbiote Yuggo "crews" that crawl and "man" the Dagon under its first protective layer of flesh. In close combat they project their Yuggos covered in a kind of acid to consume whatever is nearby. Scientists theorize that their Yuggos serve as a kind of external digestive system, breaking down prey and taking it back inside the Battleship as nutrients that the Battleship slowly absorbs from their own bodies, sometimes even consuming entire Yuggos if it is desperate for a quick surge of power.

In the early days of the Fleet their close-combat focus made them rather easy to deal with. But they have recently evolved the powerful ability to rapidly consume Yuggos as "ammo" for a powerful burst of bio-electricity that can project out in a web for miles upon miles or focus to a single bolt that can crack hull plating clean in two.

"Why are they just sitting there? Freaking corpses and their maggots..." Lewis says.

"They're like hunting dogs waiting for their master..." Henri says. "They're here to make sure we don't move, and to shoot at us in case we do. Animals like wolves and lions used to do that. They don't chase prey until its good and weak. They wait them out."

"So they're like...its dogs?" Maria asks.

"In as much as a God forsaken hell monster can have pets..." Lewis says. "Whats the matter Maria? Want to give them a hug?"

Maria grimaces. "N-No...its just that...the Cathys are so smart at times and..."

>ROLL 1D20+2 TO CARRY OUT THE CONVERSION

>SAY/DO?

>DO YOU APPROVE OF SYMPATHIES FOR THE CATHYS? ARE THEY POSSIBLY MORE LIKE US THAN WE REALIZE?

>DO YOU TAKE A NEUTRAL STANCE? THEY'RE INTELLIGENT, BUT THEY ARE ALSO THE ENEMY AND WE SHOULD NEVER FORGET THAT.

>THE CATHYS ARE GIANT MONSTER HELLBEASTS. THE ONLY GOOD CATHY IS A DEAD CATHY.

File: RADAR.jpg (23 KB, 638x480)

23 KB JPG

SAND TABLE UPDATE:

RING 6:

Roll: 19+2= VERY GOOD RESULT

The Scouts get their act together and shake off their pursuers. The Hunters confirm another dead Dagon and all 20 Yugos on this Ring dead. There is one Dagon left pursuing them to Ring 5.

Ring 5: Empty since the Hunters left to help out the Scouts on Ring 6. Its 1 Dagon and 30 Yuggos are heading to Ring 4 where you are....

Ring 4: Your location. John is still in your belly, Randolph is kicking ass.

Ring 3:

Roll: 14+2= VERY GOOD RESULT

The Welleran confirms a kill on a Dagon with no damage sustained. The Eilonwy has cleared itself to start projecting its photon orbs...but they won't be providing support to you because poor Elbereth on Ring 2 needs help more. There is 100 Yuggos and 1 Dagon left on this Ring.

Ring 2:

Roll:3+0= VERY BAD

The Eilonwy is being crushed in the tentacles of what is now confirmed to be a Cathy, NOT a Dagon as originally assumed. The Eilonwy and Alveric are working together to rescue the Eilonwy. You're going to have to make due until they save her.

Ring 1: Alveric is holding location and providing limited long ranged support due to the Cathy literally being on top of the Eilonwy. The Admiral is holding fast to not leaving the home islands undefended for the sake of the Eilonwy but has started a vote for all leaders in the Fleet, including you.

There are a lot of people on the Eilonwy.

DAMAGE TABLE:

Nessa: Damaged Engines
Vana: Damaged Engines

Elberth: Significant hull damage, significant damage to primary weapon.


>THE FLEET LEADERS ARE CALLING A VOTE. SHOULD THE ALVERIC MOVE UP FROM RING 1 TO ASSIST THE ELBERETH? YES OR NO?

Rolled 17 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>892521
>THE ONLY GOOD CATHY IS A DEAD CATHY, BUT THEY CAN BE SMART.

>BELAY THAT, ALVERIC; SIT TIGHT.

>>893290

YOUR ROLL: VERY GOOD RESULT

"There we go!" Henri exclaims. "We just got ourselves some added weaponry! The coating in the exhaust tubes should hold. And look at that! The John Carter's power supply is routed to the searchlight!"

"We've figured out who the hell fires these things?" Lewis asks. "Captain Thiago? Weaponry? Us?"

Captain Thiago appears on the sand table.

"I'll leave the actual aiming and firing to the Weaponry Team. The're the experts. But this is your creation. You should be the ones to decide when we use them."

"As if we weren't responsible for enough..." Lewis complains.

"Its technically our guns and our power supply. Shouldn't we be the ones to use them?" The captain of the John Carter asks.

"Hey. Its our everything-else." Henri says.

"And our command!" Lewis reminds her pointedly.

>Keep command of the HYPER SEARCHLIGHT and EXHAUST CANNONS

>Give command to the John Carter.

>>893465
Well, technically Lewis is right, we are in charge of her ship right now, but at the same time I feel like we can throw her a bone and trust the captain of the combat vessel to know when to shoot, and it must be maddening to sit there helpless while the medics do all the fighting. Besides, we have other things to focus on. Let the repair team do repairs and the shooty people shoot things.

>Give command to the John Carter.

Seems like pretty lackadaisical captaining on Thiago's part, considering he just seems to delegate all the decision making to the repair crew.

>>893580
"You got control." You say.

"...Thank you." She nods. "All units prepare to fire! We'll coordinate with the Randolph to destroy the Hades!"

The Randolph fights admirably. It keeps the Hades off balance with quick strikes, fighting defensively.

It's captain appears on the sand table, a small winkled man with thick glasses and a defiant expression.

"Thiago, the Zodrak really is the most unconventional Rig in the Fleet..." He addresses the sand model of Thiago before turning his eyes to you. "Are you sure you all know what you're doing? This...contraption isn't based on any practical model or plan."

"We like to pride ourselves on improvisation sir." You reply. "This will work."

"Captain Gonzales, did you approve this?"

"I resisted this to the limits of my authority Sir." The captain of the John Carter says. "My authority is...overruled by the Repair Team..."

"And don't you forget it..." Lewis chuckles softly so the sand table doesn't broadcast it.

"What? How on Earth did...never mind. This creature is intelligent, but all plans can be turned against their planner. It thinks it's taken the John out of the fight. Getting blasted will surprise it, and if we concentrate fire we may wound it and get it to run. The Dagons will likely attack to cover their leaders escape though..."

"My ship is a tough old bitch. We can take a pounding from some glorified whale carcasses." Thiago says.

"Anyone going to ask what we think!" Lewis asks.

"We don't plan the battles we clean up afterwards, you know that Lewis..." Maria says.

"Looks like you're going to get that hug after all Maria..."

"Shut up Lewis. The only good Lovecraft is a dead Lovecraft but understanding they're smarter than they look makes it easier to kill them."

Maria frowns quickly before catching herself.

"Await our signal...then fire at the weak point!" The Captain of the Randolph says.

"Yes sir! We are standing by and waiting!" Captain Gonzales gives a vigorous salute.

"Eh, it was fun being important for awhile..." Lewis complains.

>Roll 1d20+2 for exhaust cannons

>Roll 1d20+4 for hyper searchlight

>>893580
Thiago is a pretty unconventional Captain for a pretty unconventional ship.

That and I'm trying to balance the feel of being locked in a larger conflict with getting to be heroic and doing heroic, important things

"Ouch..." Maria tugs at her ear. "I hate when the pressure changes..."

"Heh. I love it when we get ready to fire. Feels like I'm at the center of a giant's heartbeat!" Henri says.

"Poetic." Lewis rolls his eyes.

You glance at the sand table and find a vote for all Fleet Leaders on what to do about the Eilonwy.

"Damn..." You mutter. "Guys the Eilonwy is getting wrecked..."

"Eh, don't worry about it man." Lewis says. "Worry about us having to fix it. Miles upon miles upon miles of rail gun..."

You vote against moving the Alveric to assist. There needs to be a strong defense around the Home Island. Anything could jump out of the waters at any time.

"....How did you vote..." Captain Gonzales asks you quietly.

"What?"

"Tell me how you voted..."

"Why?"

"Because we don't have much time until we fire and I want to know how the man that usurped my command thinks..."

>TELL HER

>DON'T TELL HER. Its really none of her business.

Also, in case it wasn't clear Maria has a soft spot for Lovecraft and our answer troubled her a little. She keeps a Tekeli as a pet. She's a bio-engineer when she isn't on the Repair Team.

Who is BEST WAIFU so far: Captain Gonzales, Ana Clara, or Doc Zed?

>>893785
>"Eh, it was fun being important for awhile..." Lewis complains
Sorry, that's just the life of a healslut Lewis.

Your whole job is to make someone else look good, keep someone else safe. A good engineer stays out of the spotlight, if they're doing their job right no-one will even notice you were there. Once in a while they might step on stage to fix a problem or set something right. But before anyone even realises you were there or what you did? You're gone.

>Roll 1d20+2 for exhaust cannons
"Alright captain Gonzales, I told you to trust our people to do their jobs, now it's time for us to trust you to do yours. Fire at will."

(let someone else roll the searchlight, I don't trust my luck)

>>893888
>TELL HER
"I don't want to see good sailors die, but the entire reason we're out here fighting is for those islands and the helpless innocents aboard them. We lose them and all of this is for nothing, the combat rigs would only last so long without support. Lovecraft can be cunning, no way they'd miss a shot at those islands if they're undefended. And having authority means having to make cold blooded decisions like that, even if you hate yourself for it.

...There's no real good answer in a situation like this, only different bad ones. For what it's worth, I wouldn't think any less of you if you voted the other way."


We haven't had much time with Gonzales or Zed. Ana Clara is a wannabe nihilist stick in the mud.
I'm kind of partial to Gonzales, she's not useless, just inexperienced. Plus I wanna see past her grumpy exterior and into her gooey emotional side.

>>894016
forgot muh dice again

Rolled 6 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>894024
Huh, weird. Could've sworn I rolled.

>>894036
Typical. Well, at least that was the reliable attack we can try again later. Definitely don't trust myself with the searchlight now.

>>894067
It happens.

>ROLL 1D20+4 FOR HYPER SEARCHLIGHT CANNON

.....

>That reference

You're my favorite anon in this thread.

>spoiler

The Captain and the Grease Monkey could be really cute. She's got a lot of pent up emotions especially considering She has to directly compete with her sisters. The ones the Admiral had with his actual wife. The ones that actually have his last name.

Rolled 4 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>894247
Aw, fuck it. I don't see anyone else here. DEATH AND THUNDER.
>ROLL 1D20+4 FOR HYPER SEARCHLIGHT CANNON

It shows, she's certainly driven. I guess she's just so determined to make a good impression and prove herself that she doesn't dare deviate from what she was taught. But that can be fixed with practice, if there's one thing you pick up from experience it's a willingness to bend/completely disregard the rules if the situation warrants.

>>894036
>>894330
Damnit Gonzales! You had *one* job!

Rolled 2 (1d20)

>>894330
>>894346
A hum echos throughout the room as the Zodrak surges with power.

"...I don't want to see sailors die..." You say. "But the entire reason we're out here fighting is for those islands and the helpless innocents aboard them. We lose them and all of this is for nothing. Lovecraft can be cunning, no way they'd miss a shot at those islands if they got one...I guess having authority means making cold blooded decisions like that, even if you hate yourself for it. I voted for Big Al to say."

She smiles, and for all the bitterness she's shown you can't deny that she has a nice smile.

"I voted the same way....it's not easy having authority, is it?"

I'm rolling for the Randolph Carter...

>>894562
Oh dear...

For a moment I thought you'd rolled d2 again, but no, it turns out we really are just that unfortunate. I guess the stars must be right today or something.

Rolled 15, 4, 7 = 26 (3d20)

>>894562
Well this isn't good...

The Randolph Carter begins its attack. A beam of light surges up from the tip of its triangular center, forming a construct similar to the Eilonwy's plasma orbs. It moves it in an elusive pattern, slowly circling in on the Hades.

At the very moment the Hades flinches the Randolph Carter strikes forward with all four arms, their light focusing on a single point.

It spears the Hades. Iridescent shock waves streak through its body. You hear it make a sound like submerged bells, deep and distorted.

"Now!" Captain Gonzales yells. "Fire all weapons at the point!"

The Zodrak raises its hands and beams of light streak forth from the exhaust ports. Hundreds of rays pour forth, all leaping to the point where the Randolph Carter's tentacles struck.

"Cut power!" She orders. "Scrape out residue, get another coating in the exhaust tubes! Now put all engine power to their searchlight canon!"

The Zodrak whines as its wiring is strained to the utmost. Maria jumps at the noise.

The lights in the room dim. On the sand table you see the Zodrak's one enormous eye pours forth a powerful beam. The Hades is crushed under the light, its body burning with rainbows.

"That's right you giant bubble! Burn!" Lewis says.

You hear the sound of the Zodrak's armor pop and shift before you notice the sand table models depicting the Dagon's casting an electric web over the Zodrak in defense of their master. The Yuggos inside them swirl in a circle powering the blasts like a dynamo at the cost of their own lives.

"You call this damage? Ha!" Lewis laughs. "I bet we could fix this in under a day!"

The beam suddenly cuts off.

"Shit! The bulb must have burst!" You say.

"Scrambling the drones to fix it now boss." Henri says.

"Cut power! Trigger the reserve caches!" Captain Gonzalez orders. "Repair Team! Tell us when we can fire again!"

"Will do captain." You say.

The Hades stands stiff as stone, its transparent body now smeared with muted colors.

"Is it dead?" Maria asks.

"Here's hoping." You say.

"That rainbow stuff is supposed to be its version of bruising." Henri says. "Yeah...I think we might have killed a Cathy guys!"

You hear cheering coming from the behind the captains on the sand table.

"Sensors aren't reporting signs of life." Thiago says. "Good job."

"We're charging a volley right now to clean out those Battleships for you." The Randolph's captain says

"Repair Team." Captain Gonzales says. "Good job."

Everyone goes quiet when they realize its starting to vibrate...

"What...no! Are you absolutely positive?" Captain Gonzales asks one of her crew members. "Everyone, that is NOT a Hades! I repeat, that is NOT a Hades! It's something wearing one as armor!"

What new horrors will be revealed? Find out tomorrow!

Also, rolling for the rest of the Fleet.

>>894602
I'm being punished by the dice gods for creating the least popular quest on the board.

>>894728
>That 15

The poor Eilonwy keeps getting wrecked, but on the positive side the Hunters and Scouts are about to arrive. That means if you can just hold on a little longer you can form Mung.

And you're going to need Mung.

What you're seeing with the Hades is a member of the Alien City that caused the waterspout. It's a scout that got separated from the city when it started to emerge in this reality. These beings are the reason the world is like it is. The Lovecraft are a symptom of their incursion into this reality. The Lovecraft are the smallpox. This is the European. More detail will be given when the characters see the city and start talking about it.

Questions? Comments? Ideas?

How can I make this quest as popular as my other quests?

>>894728
> the least popular quest on the board.
Don't know why, it's a really cool setting, and it seemed like you had at least a fair few players last thread.

>What new horrors will be revealed?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kxczI-8OQ0

>>894785
>Eilonwy

I mean Elbereth. Freaking E names!

>>894785
>Questions?
Why do the dice gods hate ambiguously gendered engineers?

No important questions though, I feel like the less we the players know about the setting that the character doesn't know the better we can play them. Though how things develop is also contingent on this crossover dealio.

>Comments?
Maybe the first one being labelled a oneshot disinclined people to expect more entries. That or timing, I dunno.

>Ideas
Honestly, I'm kind of content to see where you take this, it's your setting after all, so that's part of the fun of it. Part of me wants to suggest average dice so that everything doesn't just go to shit all the time...but then again this is an eldritch horror story, so that's kind of par for the course, plus everyone DID vote no mercy.

>>894794
Now that you mention it, you did it quite a few times in an earlier post>>892538. Whatever, doesn't really matter.

>How can I make this quest as popular as my other quests?
Heck if I know. I mean, I bet a lot of people tuned into mechagirl for the fanservice and stayed for the actually really interesting story, but I doubt that's a track you can really take with eldritch horror. Plus that was back on /tg/, and /qst/ is quite a bit more sparse. Just preserve and keep running I guess. If you build it they'll come, and if it's worth it they'll hang about.

>>894785
I'll be honest, I'm loving this quest. In my opinion, it's one of the better quests on the board. Perhaps if you stopped labeling it as a oneshot, that might help?
Also, both the writing and content are superb.

"Hold on." Captain Thiago says. "Gonzales what exactly do you mean?"

"Is...Is this a new kind of Lovecraft?" Maria asks.

"Holy God. Look at it. Its still moving..." Henri says.

"Sir...something is inside the Hades. It's...well its powering it and its moving it like a man inside an outside suit..." Captain Gonzales explains.

"Oh what the fuck? That's disgusting!" Lewis exclaims.

"Everyone stay calm!" The Captain of the Randolph Carter says as the sand table shows the Randolph project a high wall of white electro-muffling super-plasma between you and the Battleship bombardment. The electric web crackles up it like ivy. The web and wall dim as their powers equalize each other. "Do not attack!" He orders. "I repeat, do not attack! Let it make the first move. If it has anything like a Blake's advanced shielding we don't want to throw our own attacks back at ourselves!"

"You think this might be a Blake?" Thiago asks.

"Smallest Blake in the Universe if it is!" Lewis snorts.

"We know nothing about it. That's all I'm saying." The Randolph Carter Captain replies.

"Hmmm..." Captain Thiago strokes his chin. "Yes...our Scan Team has confirmed your hypothesis Captain Gonzales, and we've done one better. We're projecting a scan of the Hades crossed with a Marsh analysis...now!"

The Hades turns a solid black color. Across its body flickering red lines appear leading to a center shaped like...like something that hurts your eyes.

"W-What is that?" Maria gasps.

"It's...a hexa-no wait its a...a...group of polygons?" Henri struggles describing the Hade's heart.

"Wait until it slows down to describe it." Lewis says.

"Lewis buddy...it's not moving." Henri explains.

"What?How can you say that?"

"It only looks like its moving. Our eyes are struggling to describe something quasi-dimensional."

"Ohhhh, so its just like a big version of those tiny organs Cathys have?"

"Big is an understatement..." Maria says. "It's enormous by comparison!"

"Sirs!" Captain Gonzales exclaims. "If this is like armor then this might be like a man struggling in a broken outside suit! It may be vulnerable! We should attack it!"

"No. Do not attack!" The Captain of the Randolph Carter says. "That is the largest quasi-dimensional organ we've ever seen! Who knows what it can do?"

"I agree." Captain Thiago says. "We need to wait and see. You say it may be like armor to it...but what if its more like a coat? Or something it wears to blend in?"

"What are you suggesting?" Captain Gonzales asks.

"Nothing but theories, which is why we wait."

The Hades writhes, steps forward, and steps forward again.

"Come on and do something already you damn freak!" Henri yells.

"Maybe it can't?" Maria suggests. "One of the hypotheses bouncing around the ships is that this...thing inside it is in a symbiotic relationship with the Hades. It might have been inspired by watching our technology or by watching the Battleships...

-cont

>>897045
"Inspired? Oh brother..." Lewis moans. "What is it going to do next? Paint us a picture?"

"It might give the Hades extra power, or a chance to run away after its wounded..."

"Oh, I get it!" Henri says. "It's like an internal version of the Scarecrow Dagon. It's supposed to drag the Cathy corpse away so we can't use it for parts after killing it."

"Yeah, but we busted it up so bad its having trouble moving at all. If we're lucky that is..."

"And say we aren't?" You ask.

"What? Us? Not lucky? Psha!" Lewis says.

"...Then are you familiar with the old film The Terminator?"

Lewis frowns. "Man I really wish I wasn't..."

"It's a predator. That infiltrates groups of Hades, maybe to get at their Battleships."

"A wolf in sheeps clothing!" Henri says with a snap of his fingers.

"Yeah...but what kind of creature makes a Hades into a sheep?" Lewis asks.

"Everyone! Good news!" Captain Thiago exclaims. "The Hunters and Scouts have reached Ring 4! They'll be projected on the sand table as soon as they're in engagement range!"

Captain Gonzales sighs. "I always wondered what it would be like being on a combiner ship. I guess I get to find out today."

"...Guys I just had a horrible thought." Lewis says. "You know the Terminator was really powerful under the skin. Like really, really powerful. It just faked being a weak human until it could get close enough to kill guys."

"What's your point Lewis?" You ask.

"My point is what if this isn't a weakling inside armor? And what if its not disguised to blend in with Hades and poach their Battleships or whatever? What if that's just what it wants us to think with all that twitching and jerking? What if we're the ones being played?"

"Relax. We form Mung we'll tear this sucker to pieces whatever it is." Henri says.

"Henri...what if it wants us to form Mung...just so we can't run away from it?" Lewis says gravely. "What if its not trying to fool other Lovecraft? What if its trying to fool us?"

"I thought you didn't think the Lovecraft were too smart?" Maria asks.

"Naw. I know they aren't stupid. I just really, really wish they were sometimes..."

>Roll 1D20+3 to repair searchlight

Rolled 18 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>897068
I'm sure nothing will go wrong with this dice roll!

Rolled 12, 2, 14 = 28 (3d20)

>>897365
"Repair team reports the bulb is already replaced in the searchlight cannon!" Henri reports excitedly.

"It is? Excellent! Someone's team just earned themselves extra cafeteria tickets!" You say.

"Well...give the order Captain Marcos you just give the word and we'll blow whatever this creature is into oblivion!" Captain Gonzales says.

"Everyone just hold on...we're charging a dome field." Captain Marcos of the Randolph Carter says. "When the Hunters and Scouts arrive we'll throw up the field and give you all time to combine.

"Almost there!" Captain Igor of the Tulkus appears on the sand table. The young man sits on the edge of his command chair grinning with excitement. "Heard you guys got a problem with a Cathy that just won't die?"

"Hey, you ask me this is an opportunity to work out some frustrations." Captain Victor or the Orome appears, sitting back in his chair, evidently at ease. "It keeps coming back to life we can kill it again and again and again..."

"Vanna reporting." Captain Emerson appears, saluting. "Another mysterious monster threatening us all, how dreadful."

"Nessa here." Captain Isadora Adriano appears. The old scientist peers at her sand table with calm, patient eyes. "Well, gentlemen and Camila Gonzales, I believe our adversary has done us all the favor of deciding our actions for us. Shall we proceed to combine before the wave of Lovecraft chasing us overtakes us?"

"That might be what he was waiting for. reinforcements..." Lewis says nervously.

"...We surprised him with the integrated weaponry from the John Carter." You say. "Whatever plans this monster has he can be outwitted. We just have to keep doing what we've already done..."

"On my order!" Captain Marcos says. "Deploying dome in 5...4...3...2...1..."

"Roll 1D20+4 to combine to form Mung!

Rolling to see how the rest of the fleet is dealing...

>>897600
>Roll 1D20+4 to combine to form Mung!

Rolled 12 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>897609
>>897600
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJo_3B5-1uk

Rolled 15 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>897609
Dice gods please.

>>897678
>>897991

"FIRE!" The Ranolph Carter spreads its arms and creates a double-barrier around the Zodrak and the other four Rigs. One barrier is projected from the inner arms, one from the outer arms. Safely behind the wall you see the Hades' jerky movements cease. It begins to move more naturally. Red quasi-matter starts pooling in its hands. Its clearly preparing to attack the Randolph Carter, but you have Mung to worry about now...

"Alright team, let's do this!" You shout. "Re-wire their firing tubes from the exhaust ports to the Hunters' photon weaponry! Scramble repair teams to the Scouts! Let's rock and roll!"

>Your result: Great Success!

The Zodrak's magnets guide the four ships where the need to go. The Tulkus and Orome engulf the arms as two massive spinning cylinders. Thick golden photon energy begins to accumulate around the arms in bands, each generated by the concentrated power of an entire Rig. The Scouts latch on to the legs. Powerful super-motors lift the Zodrak high above the water. Lakes worth of water falls away in torrents. The bands around the Hunters grow brighter and their spinning grows faster as the Scouts add their power to the whole. The sleeping functions of the Zodrak awaken under the power surge. The Kuranes system activates and readies itself. Every single atom aboard the Mung jumps slightly, and you feel every inch of your body vibrate for a moment.

"Feel that? We're unstuck in relativistic time and space. We're apart of you, Mung you big wonderful bastard." Lewis says.

"There under Trehagobol they shall fight alone when all the gods are gone..."

"What're you talking about Henri?" Lewis asks.

"Its from the book we took the name from Lewis." Maria says.

"Eh, never bothered to read up on that stuff."

"You should." Henri says. "We didn't call it Mung because the name sounded good."

>Choose Action:

>Comet Fists: Max out the photon chains and fire the Hunters at the enemy! Powerful, but not the most accurate attack.

>Photon hook: Tell the eldrith horror to get over here. Risky, but can transition to the finisher move GOLDEN SLUMBERS.

>Photon Chains: Low damage, but immobilizes the enemy and has a high chance of success.

>Searchlight Buster: An enhanced version of the Zodrak's regular Searchlight cannon, enhanced even more by the John Carter's power. Average power, debuffs the enemy by keeping them off balance with pure kinetic force.

>Photon Artillery: Photon bursts complimented by super-plasma projectiles shot at light speed, now even deadlier with a complimentary barrage from the John Carter. Low damage, but highly accurate.

>Kuranes System A: Debuff the enemy's defenses by shifting your atomic frequency to better strike past any teleporation/telekinetic defenses.

>Kuranes System B: A one time use that shifts the temporal ratio of the universal constant to allow you to move really, really fast without your bodies exploding.

>Kuranes System C: Become harder to hit by teleporting really fast.

Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>898450
>Kuranes System D: Spend a turn powering up to make the next attack even more powerful through harmonic-spacial distortion matching.

Rolling to see how the Randolph Carter is doing...

Note: Technically Alex and friends aren't deciding on how they're attacking the Hades and Lovecraft with Mung. But I think its fun to play with the giant combiner bot.

>>898456
Ouch. Well don't expect them to be much help. At least they aren't completely disabled.

Sand Table update following your next decision.

>>898450
It's charging to attack us? Can't have that.

>Searchlight Buster: An enhanced version of the Zodrak's regular Searchlight cannon, enhanced even more by the John Carter's power. Average power, debuffs the enemy by keeping them off balance with pure kinetic force.

>>898450
>Searchlight Buster: An enhanced version of the Zodrak's regular Searchlight cannon, enhanced even more by the John Carter's power. Average power, debuffs the enemy by keeping them off balance with pure kinetic force.
Sounds good to me.

To chime on earlier questions:
>>893888
>Waifu
I'm warming up to Captain Gonzales. Previously, I opted to let Lewis and Ana Clara be, and then he died, so she's a contender again. If this becomes more than a "one-shot", Doc Zed would need more screen time to be a contender again.

>>894785
>Popularity
Maybe a larger audience would come if Fleet 8 is no longer a one-shot. I follow Mechagirl for previously posted reason of "came for fanservice, stayed for plot."

>>898450
>Searchlight buster.
Let's shine some light on the situation, shall we?
And maybe consider preparing for a fighting retreat back to Ring 1 (and the Alveric?)

File: Radar 2.png (187 KB, 387x385)

187 KB PNG

SAND TABLE UPDATE

RING 6: Clear

RING 5: 1 Dagon, moving down the Rings.

Ring 4: Your current location. Besides the Hades and the two Battleships there is a 1 unidentified Dagon and 30 Yuggos that moved to this Ring from Ring 5. The Randolph rolled 7+0 for BAD RESULT and suffered an attack by the Hades and sustained light hull, weaponry, and engines damage.

Ring 3: The Welleran and Eilonwy rolled 12+2 for 14 and GOOD RESULT. The Welleran completely clears the area of the 1 Dagon and 100 Yugos, and the Eilonwy is able to project its super-plasma orbs to bend space around the Cathy menacing the Elbereth on Ring 2, hopefully weakening its space shields enough for other ships to hit it with delicate weaponry and avoid harming the Elbereth trapped in its tentacles.

Ring 2: The poor Elbereth rolled a 2 for VERY BAD RESULT. The Cathy crushes it in its metaphysical (and physical) tentacles. The mighty Rig is nearly broken in half.

Ring 1: The Alveric attempts to complement the Eilonwy's orb attack with pin-point teleportation missiles. It rolls a 14+3 for VERY GOOD result. The missiles fool the Cathy's instincts by teleporting themselves right back to the Cathy after its space shield teleports them away. The Cathy is damaged. The Elbereth may just survive this...

DAMAGE TABLE:

Nessa: Light engine damage (Repairing)
Vana: Light engine damage (Repairing)

Elberth: Significant hull damage, critical damage to primary weapon, moderate damage to sub weapons, moderate damage to engines, gremlin infestation in the magnetic shielding confirmed.

Randolph Carter: Light hull, weaponry, and engine damage

>Roll 1D20+3 to blast the Hades with the searchlight!

>Roll 1D20 to speed along Scout repairs!

Story write-up of all this DEEPEST TACTICS coming after the roll.

>>899952
Fighting retreat is one of our options next round. We could in theory grab the Randolph like a toy boat and run with it, switching on Kuranes B if we have to.

>>899081
>Fleet 8 no longer a one-shot

I think it sort of has to be a mini-quest the way its going right now. I think we'll finish up the fleet battle this thread but I don't know about the character development/interaction I want to do before we hit the city.

I have to admit I'm having a hell of a lot of fun with the setting and characters, way more than I was expecting honestly. The idea originally was to do something quick for the crossover quest but I just started worldbuilding and worldbuilding and now I got this really neat eldrith ecosystem on my hands and the heroes fuse dead giant fish parts to their giant robot submarine boats and make stuff out of them and I love it, I feel like a kid playing with action figures and I love it.

I'm a little conflicted over what to do once we hit the city. I sort of want to make one more quest to kind of show how different quests in this setting can be, but I got my other quests to work on and they're all at really exciting points. Slasher Quest has the Carnival of Corpses, Sibella Quest has Nayara teaming up with Sibella, Mechagirl has one final day to prepare for the Yurei season finale fight (and a short episode from Diana's perspective as her captive), and after watching a lottttt of China Uncensored I have this great idea for the second episode of Capeworld Presents: The Statesmen. It's about identity and Watermargin and heroic bandits and I swear its shaping up to be one of the coolest things I've ever written.

What do you guys think? Should I do one more mini-quest after this one (a single pilot super robot quest based on FIRE in which you defend Russia's last city against monsters made of snow and wind and darkness) or should I focus more on my other quests?

Rolled 2 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>900946
>Roll 1D20+3 to blast the Hades with the searchlight!

>>900966
>Should I do one more mini-quest after this one?
If you want, though you might end up getting into that one as well and turning it into a full series too.

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>900946
>>Roll 1D20 to speed along Scout repairs!

Rolled 11 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>900946
>Roll 1D20+3 to blast the Hades with the searchlight!
Repair roll coming up.

>>900966
I won't say no. If you can juggle running that many quests, go for it.

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>900946
>>902958
>Roll 1D20 to speed along Scout repairs!

Rolled 12 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>900946
>Roll 1D20+3 to blast the Hades with the searchlight!

Rolled 1 (1d20)

>>900946
>>Roll 1D20 to speed along Scout repairs!

>>901062
>>902217
Eh, time to let some other rollers be heard.

>>902958
>>902962

Your roll: 14. Your result: Good Result!

"My god..." You grimace as you look at the sand table's projection of the Elbereth's plight. Green tentacles squeeze against the metal hull and magnet shell sending large sparks of energy flying as the metal bends from the pressure. The Elbereth is completely helpless, its sub weaponry useless.

This Cathy is called a Poseidon, and unofficially a Squid Head for its bulbous shaped head and "beard" of writing tentacles. It got named Poseidon back in the early days of the fleet when it was assumed it would be the largest thing in the ocean. Although the Fleets have fought Poseidons many, many times in the past they remain a constant threat as the plight of the Elbereth shows.

Poseidons are predators. They do not domesticate Dagons like the Hades They hunt and eat anything short of another Cathy...and even then it sometimes makes exceptions. They are highly territorial and tend to stick to their own hunting grounds, and this habit made it easy for the Fleets to avoid Poseidons and even plan hunts against them. But they will fight to the death to destroy whatever crosses their territory-and after being thrust up to the surface by the waterspout this individual sees the Elbereth as violating its territory.

Its seemingly vestigial membranous "wings" on its shoulders keep biologists up at night but everyone else is more concerned with its flabby claws that rip and tear across several dimensions, its ability to rapidly repair damage and change its molecular density, and of course its primary hunting weapon-its tentacles. These face-mounted appendages naturally attract the quasi-living organisms known as "gremlins", decomposers made of electricity and fundamental forces that are drawn towards unstable space-warping systems.

Gremlins, classified as Tekeli Lovecraft although many reject classifying them as Lovecraft, are a notorious nuisance to the Fleets, and your Repair Team has been called upon to exterminate a gremlin infection from every single one of the ships in the fleet at least once. They infect damaged magnet shells and weapon systems and anything that plays around with "normal" physics. The Kuranes system on the Mung is so technical and so experimental that there is a 1/20 chance that all or some of the Mung ships will have mild Gremlin infections after combining.

-cont

>>905516
Gremlins are thought of by most as infectious viruses. They get into systems and multiply and eventually shut them down. Before they were even confirmed to exist sudden inexplicable power failures were blamed on "Gremlins" and even now they're the go-to scapegoat for lazy and incompetent engineers. But biologists are quick to defend them. They point out that instead of being thought of as viruses they should be thought of as decomposers occupying a necessary niche in the Hodgson ecosystem. They may be the reason why so many "physics-altering" organisms can inhabit the Hodgson Sea at the same time. They may work like platelets in human blood, attending wounded and dying systems and siphoning off the energy before they start to harm the environment. But while they're role as decomposers of the Hodgson might soothe engineers and repair team its the reason why bio-engineers who have to harvest Lovecraft parts hate them even more than engineers. Gremlins quickly swarm dead and dying Lovecraft with potent "physics altering" organs. Harvest teams routinely have to fight off the pesky vermin to get to the goods, and then have to carefully store the organs so they don't attract gremlins to the ships.

Poseidon Cathies attract gremlins with their beards which then traps them. They can use trapped gremlins as food when Dagon hunting isn't so successful, consuming their own beards in the process. Hunters tends to target Poseidons with small beards for this reason, although they are pressured by bio-engineers to acquire larger samples of beard matter under the hope that the material may provide a new way of preserving material from Gremlins or even a way to control and domesticate them.

But their primary use for gremlins is as an offensive weapon. When they attack with their tentacles the Gremlins attack just as infection from a dirty weapon would.

A while ago black arcs of energy coursed throughout the tentacles and the trapped Elbereth. Now the tentacles only bend and tear. The Gremlins have been injected. The Elbereth has been infected.

"Alex!" Lewis shouts. "Stop worrying about the Elbereth! They'll be okay! Look at the Randolph Carter!"

The Hades hands shatter. Multi-colored pieces of matter drop to the sea in a rain of scintillating shards. In their place you see two pulsing balls of red light. Black spots of energy crackle around them like ebon halos.

It raises its hands, and the Randolph Carter is lifted clean out of the sea.

"Jesus Christ!" Lewis shouts.

"Holy shit! What kind of telekinesis-" Henri exclaims.

The Randolph swings its arms at the Hades but they bounce away, propelled back by a wall of force. It floats in mid-air, parts of its hull denting and spitting sparks.

"If not for the magnetic shell holding them together they'd be crushed like a soda can!" Maria exclaims.

"Well here we go!" Lewis says pointing to a chart of the Mung on the sand-table. "We're hitting them with the searchlight!"

-cont

>>905671
Glancing at the sand table's Ring map gives you a burst of hope. They're rescuing the Elbereth.

The Poseidon has transformed itself into a whirling maelstrom of razors below the water. Normally Poseidons hunt and fight like bears, charging into their prey without a care for getting hit because of their regeneration factor. But Cathies are smart. This one knows if it went all out it would give the other rigs free shots at the bulk of its being. But by sitting under the water in the form of a tornado and dragging the Elbereth toward it it presents a choice to the rest of the fleet: they an either focus on freeing the Elbereth from the tentacles or target its main body below the waters.

They chose to carefully free the Elbereth from a distance and so far its working. The Eilonwy fires two plasma orbs that over above the damaged Elebereth like two pale white suns. They begin to carefully distort the space around them. The tentacles seems to expand and stretch in the spacial distortion, allowing the Alveric the chance of getting all the explosion of their tele-missiles on the Lovecraft and none on the Elbereth.

Tele-missiles are difficult to build. They're constructed out of Zeus bones, and they're reserved for use in emergencies like this one. But they're extremely effective. When they hit the space-shield of a Lovecraft they are reflexively teleported back to the ship where they were fired from, but this activates the Zeus casings causing them to slingshot right back to the Lovecraft, fooling their reflexes and effectively bypassing the space-shield altogether.

The plan is working. You see some of the tentacles loosen and fall away as they shake and splinter under the distortion-contained blasts.

The Elbereth just might be saved...

"Firing searchlight NOW!" Gonzales orders.

The single unblinking white eye of Mung generates a corkscrew of golden light in front of it utilizing the photon-harnessing technology found in its arms. A ray of light extends, pauses between the bands of light, grows a vivid golden color, and then blasts toward the Lovecraft.

The Randolph falls to the water. "We're alright. A little shaken but alright." It's Captain reports.

The Hades is pushed below the waves as it catches the light on one of its hands. The beam cuts off and dies down to its white tip harnessed between the corkscrew, flickering like a candle light. It roars forth again and again and again.

The sand table shows you what happens below the water. The beams are blocked on the Hade's fists...and then it does something unexpected.

It grabs the beam.

You feel Mung lurch forward as it somehow becomes trapped by its beam. Its golden color fades back to white.

"What the FUCK?" Lewis yells.

"Its drawing out blasts from the searchlight itself...somehow!" Henri explains. "If we don't cut it off now the bulb is going to break!"

But fortunately the searchlight is shut off.

Everyone on your bridge takes a moment to sigh.

-cont

Rolled 10, 8, 17 = 35 (3d20)

>>905687
"Repairs on the Scouts are nearly completed!" Maria reports.

"Who cares about that?" Lewis says. "What the fuck did that thing even just do?"

"Well...light contains information, right?" Henri says. "I mean that's how we break light-speed on some weapons. We encode information on photons so that they resonate at a higher universal frequency, interacting with tachyons to move faster than classical physics would allow and thus-"

"But that's bullshit!" Lewis yells. "You telling me this thing reprogrammed our beam?"

"Well, tried to anyway."

"You can't ...reprogram light!"

"Take your complaints up with him." You point to the Hades. "I'm sure he'd concede the point."

>SELECT NEXT ATTACK

>GRAB THE RANDOLPH CARTER AND RUN

>GRAB THE RANDOLPH CARTER AND FIGHT A RUNNING BATTLE

Rolling for Fleet stuff!

>>905693
>Photon artillery.
>We Persians now; run away, shoot behind us.
What the actual FUCK.

>>905908
"Fire the photon artillery!" Captain Gonzales orders. "We need to make a tactical retreat down the Rings!"

"I'm all in agreement." Captain Thiago says. "Engines to full reverse!"

"Well welcome to our Rig meet-and greet Randolph Carter." Captain Victor of the Orome says as his portion of the Mung pulls the ship out of the water with couple of photon chains. "Sorry we're short on snacks. We're currently running for our lives." The Orome hand wraps the Randolph Carter in bands of photonic energy for protection and cradles it behind Mung.

"What was that Captain Victor?" Captain Igor of the rival Tulkus says. "Did I detect a note of defeatism? Don't tell me you Orome boys are throwing in the towel already? We ain't running for our lives. We're engaging in a running battle!"

The Tulkus arm goes to work. The bands of light separate from the arm and expand, still encircling the appendage as they spin in mid air. The air between the bands and arms burns bright with golden light that streams forth in short bursts. White super-plasma leaps forth from the fingertips to compliment the barrage, enhanced by volleys from the John Carter's gun batteries.

>Roll 1D20+5 for photon artillery!

Rolled 1 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>906010
>roll 1d20+5 for photon artillery
So do we have any clue as to how we actually kill this thing?

>>906242
fuck.

>>906242
>>906245

Neither the super-plasma nor the photon blasts seem to have an effect. The super-plasma flickers away within feet of the Hades, snuffed out by telekinetic force. The photon blasts seem to be drawn to its hands where it dissipates.

"Well look at that! It's been awhile sense we had a Cathy surprise us like that!" Captain Igor says.

"Having fun?" Captain Victor replies. "I think I'd have more fun finding out how to hurt it."

"Now seriously, what the actual FUCK?" Lewis yells. "How is it doing all that?"

"Nessa here." Captain Adriano chimes in. "Our computers think whatever is inside that Hades is able to use a form of telekinesis on the particular level. It's able to move photons, changing their position and therefore their vibrational information."

"See? I told ya." Henri says.

"Fucking super-physics." Lewis grumbles. "It's bad enough the stuff kills you, but we can't explain how it kills you without a poet and a mathematician to collaborate on paragraphs."

"Note how the artillery is dissipating, but it isn't being manipulated like the searchlight beam. It's not able to manipulate photon streams that don't connect back to the source."

"Well that leaves our photon chains right out..." Captain Thiago says.

"Not necessarily!" Captain Victor says. "We can program in pauses to the photon generation. Instead of generating a chains we'll just generate links, and throw them at the Hades like shrapnel!"

"Hmmm..." Captain Emerson muses. "Light, precise damage isn't exactly your style. You aren't the Eilonwy. You sure you're up to it?"

"Hell, if he's not we are!" Captain Igor says.

"We have another plan in case it doesn't work out. We can-"

>Roll 1D20+2 to withstand the Hades' attack

Rolled 11 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>906733
Dice gods don't abandon us now.

>>907105
Result: GOOD

The Hades slams its red hands together. Waves of kinetic force tear across the water leaving ripples in their wake. They slam against the Mung and you feel the floor beneath you jump.

"Woah!" Maria exclaims. "The magnet shell is holding! It's holding!"

"Oh shit! I think I can feel my molecules sliding!" Lewis yells.

"It's all in your head man." Henri says. "The magnet shell is keeping us together."

"We're siphoning the kinetic forces to the buffer layers...yeah, we're doing it, we're doing it..." Maria smiles. "Nothing but superficial damage to report!"

"...Well, as I was saying..." Captain Adriano continues. "The other option is to try to use this photon communication ability it has to our advantage. If it can speak it begs to reason that it can also listen."

"The plan part Captain Adriano!" Captain Gonzales yells. "Skip to the plan part!

"We fire out a low power chain and see what it can do. But this time we'll be prepared with a power surge...think of it like a tug of war."

"I think I get it!" Captain Igor says. "We fake em out and then hit them hard!"

>Attack with photon slices. Low damage but reliable.

>Attack with a low-intensity photon hook fake-out. Risky, but has the potential to really wreck this Hades.

>Engage Kuranes B (one time use, locks out Kuranes system)

Healing question:

>Risk deploying repair drones to the Randolph Carter? They'll travel along Mung's arm to the Carter and help their repair team out, but in all this fighting you might just end up destroying some good drones.

>>907269
>Attack with a low-intensity photon hook fake-out. Risky, but has the potential to really wreck this Hades.
With the concentration of low rolls, I'm feeling inclined to end this before more low rolls make it uglier.

>Healing question
I vote to risk it.

>>907314
>Roll 1D20+2 to attack!

>Roll 1D20+1 to heal with drones!

Rolled 15 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>907336
Rolling Attack

Rolled 18 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>907336
Rolling Healing.

>>907343
>>907349
YOU GOT: very good results!

"Alright, one low powered hook coming up!" Captain Igor declares as one of the glowing bands around the Tulkus dims and falls into its hand. The wrist spins, twirling the chain of photons before casting it out at the Hades.

The Hades catches the tip of the dim ribbon of light between both its hands. The chain draws tight, but the Rigs are ready for it this time. The Nessa and Vanna pull enough to prevent the Mung from being drawn forward.

"Power output is increasing...but steadily this time....steady...steady..." Maria intensely studies the systems update on the sand tables.

The chain starts to grow in intensity as the Hades pulls, drawing out more and more power form the photon harnesses. The Hades pulls and jerks, at first seemingly trying to pull you forward and overtax your battery like last time, but after the first few pulls it starts rolling its shoulders with each pull. You think it might be dawning on it that its trapped...

"Oh man oh man oh man its working..." Lewis mutters.

"They DO learn." Henri says. "It probably thought we were going to keep hitting it with max power, because that's usually how we deal with Lovecraft. It's too bad knowing is only half the battle."

"Oh? What's the other half then?" You ask.

The Hades skin around the inner creature starts to chip away from the arms as it pulls with all its might. As the bruised colors shed you see a thin, skeletal lines as thin as straw connecting the quasi-geometry at the center to the hands. They flicker off and on as the Dunwhich scan maps them, and the strangest thought enters your mind: whatever it is you're fighting is like a walking constellation: bright red, dying stars connected by lines that aren't really there. You're fighting men made of stars...

"I think we're about to see the other half real soon..." Henri grins.

"Everyone hold steady!" Captain Thiago yells. "It's starting to really pull!"

The Hades spreads its legs. The red hands shake with storing energy...

"Take this pull! Don't let it burn out any systems!" Captain Gozales says. "Then when it stops....Hit it with everything!"

"You ready to back us up Orome?" Captain Igor asks.

"Oh yeah." Captain Victor replies. "You reel it in we'll cut it up and cook it." The bands around the Orome vanish as their power is diverted inward...

>Roll 1d20+4 to resist pull!

Rolled 13 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>907591
Please dice gods. Please.

Rolled 17 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>907591
Oh damn, things've gotten exciting since I've left.

>>907591
>Roll 1d20+4 to resist pull!

Rolled 1 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>907639
Can't believe I forgot the dice.

>>907616
"Well what do you know?" Captain Adriano says. "We're holding. Good job Repair Team. I wouldn't have wanted to try this stunt out on damaged engines."

"Thank you Ma'm." you reply.

The Orome sticks the Randolph Carter on the Mung's back, securing it with the photon wrappings it placed around it. "Sorry about this. " Captain Victor says. "I know its not the most dignified way to treat our most decorated gunner..."

"Shame is for those that don't win battles." Captain Marcos replies. "Just win and you'll have no complaints from us."

"Don't worry. We can't afford to lose. The Tulkus would never let us here the end of it."

"Good call sticking it on the back!" You say. "We can better deploy repair drones out form the gun ports!"

"The Hades is dropping pull! Let them have it!" Captain Gonzales yells.

"C'mere fishy! You wanted to meet humanity well here we are!" Captain Igor yells.

The photon chain burns bright.

"Come and give humanity a hug!"

>Roll 1D20+4 to punch the Hades in the face!

Rolled 12 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>907657
>F-F-F-FINISH HIM!

Rolled 19 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>907657
ONE!
MORE!
TIME!

>>907713
Oh. Forgot I already rolled.

>>907677
VERY GOOD RESULT

The Hades is flung forward. The chain caught between its hands grows and further entangles its arms under the effects of the power surge. The photon harnesses on the Orome's arm begin to spin. It's fist glows like a bright, bright sunrise.

"YAAAAA!!!!" Captain Victor screams as the the entire rig as one fist with all the power of the combined engines behind it punches forward faster than the speed of light.

You remind yourself that the blurring image of the fist cocking back, launching forward, and smashing into the Lovecraft's face in a single elongated oval is not the actuality of the moment. The fist moves faster than light, its photons agitated into higher vibrational frequencies through mankind's most advance science. The light you see happens after the impact as the photons "cool" and return to normal.

A lot of what Newton and Einstein and Hawkings talked about found exceptions in the Hodgson, but one thing that has proven true time and time again is that force equals mass times acceleration.

A fist the size of a tiny city travelling faster than the speed of light does enough damage of destabilize the molecule bonds of the Hade's body and at the speed it fires the reflexive space shield does not have time to deploy. Even if it did the vibrational enegy of the fist would have caused it to collapse.

This is GOLDEN SLUMBERS. It would be a great weapon to use against Blakes if it didn't max out the combined energy of 5 Rigs to pull off. Try it with the Kuranes B next time for extra fun!

You have to look at the sand table to see what happened to the Hades, because all you saw was it vanish.

The Hades skin hums away into nothingness, burnt by photons and scattered by vibrations. The core and its two hands are swallowed up completely in the golden radiance and nothing is left, not a molecule, not a spirit, not an echo, and not a trace.

The sand table erupts in cheers.

"Oh...god. Oh god I cant believe we're alive..." Lewis says.

"One more day of hard work eh?" Henri says.

"Oh fuck that. I'm calling in sick until we wind up in the sea where the alien invaders are blue skinned women in bikinis."

"Eh, you're nothing but a goldbrick!" Henri wallops him with his baseball cap.

"We still have the Battleships to take care of. And that 1 Dagon is still inbound..." Maria reminds everyone.

"Oh no, not Dagons!" Lews says with a sly smirk. "What ever will we do? I don't think the little puss bag Battleships have even moved yet...nope, they're just sitting there like warts."

"Well...if you were a dog and you just saw your master get disintegrated in front of you I doubt you'd feel very brave." Maria says.

"Maria, if I was a dog and I looked like that I'd hope you'd do the right thing and shoot me, put me out of my misery." Lewis says.

-cont

>>907806
The Orome appears to have several hands for a few moments as its photons return to normal and the photon harnesses in the arm return to normal operation limits. The hands glow a bright orange color, the color of sunset or fresh brass.

......

Getting some sleep. Tomorrow all we need to do to close out this encounter is clear out the last Dagons and (maybe) go rescue the Elbereth). Then we'll have time to mourn lost friends, comfort Ana Clara, talk to Maria about Lovecraft, volunteer to be on the exploration team to a strange ruined city rising out of the waters, and Welcome Captain Gonzales to our team, kicked to the Zodrak for a month for threatening to blow a hole in the docks earlier and threatening to take you to court over you rejecting it. While she was in the dock she technically talked back to a superior officer (you) and if liberally interpreted she nearly mutinied. Her superiors are hoping she can learn something from her time on the Zodrak.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

>>907834
Great fight scene, good pacing, more readers are sure to come.
Poor Gonzales. Maybe she and Ana will get along?

>>907834
Most satisfying, good sir.
Gonzales in our team. I await anxiously, this outta be fun any way it goes.

Rolled 19, 13, 18 = 50 (3d20)

Rolling for the fleet!

>>908450
The sand table brings another round of cheers from the Mung Rigs.

The Eilonwy unleashes another pair of plasma orbs that fly to the defense of the Elbereth. They land near the other two and they begin to pulse in a sequence of coordinated flashes. Precise and powerful forces start to unravel the tentacles from the Elbereth. They slowly start to peel back from the ship...and then in a single burst they fall back into the water! The Elbereth is free!

With its engines no longer pulling against the Poseidon's tentacles the Elbereth flips in the water, and with expert operations the crew points the end of its railgun down in the water at the Poseidon. White and blue lines surge across the largest slip in the Fleet and concentrate at an opening in the brow.

Elbereth. The Tolkien goddess, a Valar. She created the stars. The Rig Elbereth is named after her because every time she fires she puts a new star in the sky.

The saying is true even when she aims down into the water. The Hodgson curves space in a sphere. Scouts have confirmed that if one goes far enough one way they come out the other way. Laymen of the Fleet call it the "Pac-Man effect" while its official title is the Escher Effect. If one goes high enough in the sky they will eventually touch water. If one goes through the ocean floor they will start falling from the sky.

Where water and sky meet is a place and a thing known as Trogool. The name is from Lord Dunsany and refers to a thing that is neither god nor beasts that stands behind the gods. Trogool is the heart of the Hodgson, beating and pulsing with energy. It is a place of deep, deep darkness. Lovecraft keep their distance from Trogool like animals from fire. Even Blakes. And for good reason. It makes things vanish that move too close to it and make them never appear again.

Only the experimental scouts of Fleet 3 were able to pass through Trogool and confirm the Escher Effect theory, and even they lost on of their number.

Whether Trogool is living or quasi-living thing is hotly debated in the scientific community. Some consider it no more "living" then a storm or a star. Some even consider it a kind of alien sun, a source of life and growth radiating energy for the Hodgson ecosystem. Others see it as humanity's jailer, trapping them in the Hodgson. Some call it God, and some cal it the thing behind God.

The lights seen blazing in the sky are the same lights sometimes seen dimly under the water. They are the eyes of Trogool, and they never blink.

The Elbereth fires and makes a new star is born in the hell that is the Hodgson Sea.

Even with the severe damage to the railgun the effect is spectacular. The bolt of light tears to the center of the whirlpool The Poseidon caves in around its gravity, drawn towards it like water down a hole.

>>908546
Officially this weapon is known as a "super-gravity bullet" but its known as a "black hole bullet" by most of the Fleet, although scientists say the term is inaccurate. "white dwarf bullet" would be more accurate. It is made out of the the super-dense neural nodes of the fungus like Uranus Cathy known for its gravity manipulation. The ammo is precious and is reserved for emergency situations like this one.

The Alveric finishes the job. The bombardment of photons and super-plasma forces the Cathy down into the bullet. When the bubbles clear there is only a tiny white pin-point that winks out of existence.

"YES!" Lewis shouts. "YES! THEY DID IT!"

"Heh. You just remember that enthusiasm when we go to work on them." You say with a grin.

"Well..." Igor says as the Mung takes the end of a photon chain in hand. "Three Dagons, one photon chain. Think I can do it?"

"I know spirits are good boys but really, we have jobs to do." Captain Adirano says. "Just kill them."

"Yes Ma'm!" Captain Igor replies as the Tulkus starts to spin the chain for a cast.

"Look! There's the Dagon that was chasing the Hunters and Scouts!" Maria points to a portion of the sand table.

You see a Dagon with a square head and stalks full of eyeballs. Its tubular body twists and turns like worm as it slithers through the air. Long, thin clawed arms extend out from segments on its body. Two large hood like membranes extend out from it and beat against the air.

The Dagon is called a Manta-Raptor for sharing similarities to Earth's manta rays and birds of prey. They glide through water as well as it does through air and hunts Yuggos and Tekeli, spearing them with its many arms. Its able to squirm through air as easily as water because their wings project a cone of force in front of them that they can also use to attack with as a battering ram. Scientist theorize that their wings might represent an ancestral state for the space-shield organs found in the more complex Cathy Lovecrafts. Manta-Raptors are one of the most commonly hunted Lovecraft. Orome and Tulus sweep them out of the sky with nets of photonic energy. Their wings are key components in constructing the magnetic shell of a Rig and provide basic barrier projection abilities for Island ships.

"Well that's peculiar." Captain Thiago says. "It's ignoring us. Its trying to avoid us."

"Well wouldn't you?" Captain Victor says. "If Lovecraft do communicate with each other like we think they do then it knows our reputation. And it just saw us kill the not-a-Hades."

"Hold off on attacking. This is peculiar behavior. " Captain Adriano says. "I want to observe this."

"Sheesh, you sciency types. First its kill and then its not kill." Captain Igor says. He gives the command and the chain retracts back up the arm.

-cont

>>908605
"Most Manta-Raptors travel in packs sense they adapted to our hunting. I haven't seen a lone Manta-Raptor since the early days of the Fleet." Captain Adriano says.

"Yeah...the ones we killed earlier back up the Rings weren't Manta-Raptors come to think of it..." Captain Victor says.

"Could this be a breed that hasn't gone through behavior adaptation?" Captain Thiago asks.

"Its possible, but then again this water spout did mix together random Lovecraft." Captain Gonzales says. "We even got our wolf in lion's clothing out of the incident."

"But why is it running toward us then, in the direction where more Rigs lie? That's what's bothering me. Manta-Raptors were only this reckless before they understood what we could do." Captain Adriano says.

The Manta-Raptor dives and grabs the Battleships with several of its arms and disappears below the water with them.

"Is it...attacking them?" Captain Thiago says.

"Since when do they eat Battleships? That's not typically apart of their diet." Captain Igor says.

"Perhaps opportunistic poaching?" Captain Marcos suggests. "It saw the fake Hades die and now its after its Battleships?"

"It doesn't look hungry enough to risk getting this close to us." Captain Adriano says. "This is something else."

"Maybe its...its domesticated!" Maria wills herself to appear on the sand table.

"Excuse us Repair Team, who is this?" Captain Gonzales glares at the unauthorized sand table projection.

"It's...it's like a pet, like how the Battleships were! It's saving them on its master's behalf!"

"Manta-Raptors were never domesticated by Cathies!" Captain Gonzales says. "Is this that girl that tried to keep a Gremlin as a pet? What is she doing on the sand table?"

Maria cringes. She is that girl. "I-I mean its possible...its not really a Hades after all, maybe it...made pets out of more than Battleships..."

Lewis groans in embarrassment and places his face in his hands.

"Repair Team leader." Captain Gonzales says sternly. "PLEASE get your subordinate under control and remove her from the sand table."

"They're not puppy dogs Maria..." Lewis grumbles. "Damn it...."

>Stand by Maria.

>Politely remove Maria from the sand table

>Give Maria a stern reprimand.

>Stand by Maria but give her a stern reprimand for speaking out of turn.

>>908619

>Politely remove Maria from the sand table

>>908780
"Excuse me a moment." You gently grab Maria's shoulder. "Maria, you know we have protocols about sand table projecting. You can't just project yourself like that."

"I...I'm sorry...everyone." She and her sand table projection hand their head. The projection falls back into clear sand as she turns to you. "Alex...they can't kill them! They're just running away, and we just killed their owner! There's no reason to keep-"

"Alright. Alright that's enough!" Lewis slams his hands on the table and rises up. "Listen here Maria! We just killed god only knows what that hid inside the Hades. Elbereth was nearly sunk. We lost good men in that waterspout and we still don't know what caused it!"

"Hey Lewis, chill man...." Henri grabs his arm.

Lewis throws his hand off. "No! Not this time!" He looms over Maria. "I am sick and tired of your bullshit!"

"I...I'm sorry Lewis..." She stutters.

"No you aren't! If you were you'd stop doing it! We just barely got out of this alive. Hell, some of us didn't get out alive! It's going to take weeks to repair what the Cathy did to the Elbereth and what's the first thing out of your mouth? Oh no, someone think of the monsters!"

"They aren't monsters! They're just animals...animals like you or me!" She snaps.

>Let this argument continue.

>Order them both to chill out. Take no sides.

>Take his side

>Take her side

>>908828
>Order them both to chill out. Take no sides.
They might be animals, but that's exactly what makes them a threat, we're food to them and nothing more, they can't recognise or appreciate the concept of mercy. If they see us again they will kill us if they get the chance.

On the OTHER hand, charging off half cocked like a psycho and slaughtering them 'because they're monsters' instead of taking the opportunity to try and learn more invaluable information is just as foolish. Both of them are reasoning off of emotion instead of...well, reason.

All of which is irrelevant to the issue at hand, which is that they're having an argument in the goddamn control room in what is still technically a combat situation.

>>908828
>Order them both to chill out. Take no sides.
We are there commanding officer, and should act as such.
However, on a personal level, I'm all for sympathizing with Maria.

>>909171
"You two are NOT having an argument in my control room." You step between the two of them, temporarily switching your sand table projection off. "We're still in Mung, we're not officially cleared from combat, and yet you two pick now to have a fight?"

"I'm tired of her being like this every time we kill something!" Lewis yells. "You think the way she carries on she'd like to have memorials to them alongside the men they killed!"

"I never said that!" Maria yells.

"I think we need to all sit down now." You say.

Lewis elbows past you. "Don't you take her side!"

"I'm not taking her side."

"Every time we get out of pitched combat with something everyone cheers, but oh no, not Maria. She has to get all moody and pensive, because her animal friends got mulched. I'm tired of it!"

"Shut up Lewis! I'm tired of you thinking I'm some sort of heartless bitch just because I see the Lovecraft as more than things to murder!" Angry tears stream from her eyes. "You think I'm not going to miss anyone today? Look at the list of names in grey and red on the sand table! Everyone has lost someone today!

"Yeah, right there, Enrique Hyde-Red!" Lewis jabs a finger at the sand table staff list. Rodrigo Vargas-Red! Juliano Felipe-Red! I knew these men, I worked with these men!"

"So did I Lewis!"

"Now that really is enough." You motion for Henri to help you separate the two. You stare hard at Lewis. "You keep trivializing the deaths of all the men and women today by turning it into some sort of game of who cared the most I will kick your ass. Understand me?"

Lewis reluctantly nods.

"We all lost friends today. Maria is right about that. Now sit down and I swear to God if you start more shit I'm throwing you off my bridge."

Maria opens her mouth to say something but you silence her with a glare. "That goes for you as well Maria."

"...So while I doubt the theory this is some sort of... pet I am looking forward to what makes this Dagon act so strangely." Captain Adriano says. "Perhaps it is different in the same way the Hades was...different."

"We're going to have to take a lot of precautions if you think this has a erm, "passenger" inside." Captain Thiago says.

While you intervened in your crew's squabbling the Captains decided to capture the Battleships and Manta-Raptor. They've made considerable distance under the water...but the photon chains of Mung can extend for miles upon miles upon miles and travel at the speed of light..

The Mung shot a chain from the Tulkus down into the water and now pulls up a golden net filled with wriggling, thrashing Lovecraft.

"I suppose we can keep them here for now." Captain Igor says as Mung lets the net float on the water. "We can discuss attaching it to the Vanna or Nessa once we separate."

"That might not be for awhile." Captain Thiago says. "Admiral is putting us on maximum alert. We are to stay combined until he lifts it."

-cont

>>909344
"Well look at that." You scold your two crew mates. "While the children argued the adults got work done."

Maria looks over the sand table, a thankful smile spreading across her face.

Then she notices Lewis standing out of his chair again.

"Lewis..." Henri warns. "Let it go..."

Lewis takes a deep breathe. He shuts his eyes. His whole body shakes as he exhales. He turns to you.

"She smiled."

"And what of it?"

"She smiled. I'm just saying. I mean is that not a thing that's important to you Alex?"

"Doing our job without killing each other is important to me. I thought that was important to you."

"Do you think Maria would smile if she saw those Lovecraft chewing on somebody?"

"Stop."

Behind Lewis you see Maria fail to fight back tears.

"Hey. I'm not arguing Alex." He throws his hands up. "I'm just asking is all. I mean would THAT be weird, to smile at a time like that?"

"Now."

The two of you lock eyes.

It is only when Captain Thiago announces the all-clear that he moves.

"I'm gone." He says as he heads to leave.

"Lewis hold on."

"Danger is officially over."

"We still need to lead repairs on the Randolph Carter!"

"You know you don't need me for that."

"Lewis you're breaking protocol!"

"Then tell the white suits to punish me."

"Lewis we're not done here!"

Lewis turns around. "I stay here Alex and I'm slapping her. And I don't want to do that. So I'm taking walk."

Lewis leaves the bridge.

"Well...he's right that we don't need him. We've got the repair teams of several ships backing us now." Henri says. "Still, I've sent out a summons for...let's do Emilio. I think he'll do-"

Maria bolts out of the bridge, hands holding her face. You don't have any time to yell for her to stop.

"...And Herny. Yeah. They'll be able to cover."

"...Fuck..." You mutter as you sink down in your chair. "Just...fuck."

"Hey. Tensions are high. That waterspout ambush was brutal." Henri says. "Maria and Lewis are just picking at old wounds to give some familiarity to the tension."

"...God...it's true what they say about adrenaline." You say. "In the middle of danger nothing hurts. But once the danger is past and the adrenaline drains..."

"Everything hurts. Yeah...you start to remember this was a victory only in that we could have lost a lot, lot more than we did."

"Henri...Lucas is dead..."

Henri leans forward and peers at the sand table's list. "Is he....aw....shit..." He shuts his eyes and leans back in his chair. "Lucas..."

"Didn't pay much attention to the roster did you?"

"I only glanced at it. I see all that red light and I'm afraid whose names I'm going to read off it."

"Me to." You say. "I guess we're going to have get to reading it eventually though, right?"

A sand projection of Captain Gonzales appears close by you. Letters below it tell you that she wants to engage in a private conversation with you and Captain Marcos of the Randolph Carter.

>Decline. You're dealing with enough shit right now.

>Accept the conversation.

>>909487
>Accept the conversation.
Compared to our own crew, Gonzales will be a welcome relief.

>>909487
>Accept the conversation.
Captain Marcos looks to be worth our time, very much to put aside our current grievances with Gonzales.

>>909662
"Compared to our own crew shell be a relief..." You grumble.

"You sure you want to talk to her?" Henri asks.

"The worst she can do is sue me. Compared to...everything else...that's nothing." You accept the conversation. Captain Gonzales materializes as prim and proper as ever. She gives her hat a quick tweak as she sees you project. Besides her the old warhorse Captain Jose Marcos stands with his white gloved hands folded in his lap.

"Ahem." Captain Gonzales begins. "Thank you for accepting our summons."

"No problem Ma'm."

"First of all I want to tell you...good job. Leadership is not the easiest thing in the world and considering your experience and training you did...well. But the fact we managed to survive the unknown Cathy's attack until we could form Mung does not mean your strategy saved us. Nor does it mean it wasn't reckless. Now I...might have been too severe in what I threatened to put you through. But that does not change the fact that you forced us to link the John Carter's systems to the Zodrak in a foolhardy, untested, reckless plan! You must make amends. But I am willing to extend to you all the mercy that I-"

"I apologize on her behalf." Captain Marcos suddenly says. "It goes to show that top test scores aren't the end-all-be-all."

Captain Gonzales blinks. "S-Sir?"

"We are here to talk about the...incident earlier and what military discipline demands we do about it. But Captain Gonzales has misunderstood who is at fault here."

"Sir...I did everything I could to prevent him form taking control away from me! He used a rather esoteric reading of the Fleet Code to-"

"He had an idea of how to fight back against a superior foe. You wanted to blow a hole in the dock walls and threaten to permanently ruin the best repair center in the Fleet. The Code serves the Fleet. The Fleet does not serve the Code. Have you forgotten your lessons so easily Captain?"

"But Sir! It was an untested maneuver! You...you can't be...are you actually taking his side?"

"Are you questioning the judgement of a superior officer?"

"Sir...I...I would have set up a defensive perimeter around the Zodrak...I had a plan..."

"Do you really want to keep talking Captain?" Captain Marcos glares at her. She flinches under the weight of his stare.

She shakes her head.

"I am here to assure you that no legal action will be taken against you." Captain Marcos says to you. "I am here to apologize on the part of the Naval Academy. And SHE is here to apologize as well..."

Captain Gonzales swallows hard. "I...I..." Her face turns as red as her dark, fiery hair. "I am sorry. Sir."

-cont

>>910162
"Now, even under a liberal interpretation of the Code she was under your authority, even if we interpret the Code to mean that while in dock she remained sovereign over her own Rig. She had absolutely no right to threaten your Rig with harm. She had absolutely no right to threaten you with legal action. And under a strict interpretation you were sovereign over her vessel while it was in the dock and her actions are nothing short of mutiny. Now, she might not seem like it, but Captain Gonzales is a skilled leader and an asset to our Navy. While you are well within your right to demand punishment I ask of you to bear in mind she was truly doing what she thought was best in a very unorthodox scenario."

Captain Gonzales looks like she's about to cry.

"She will be punished for her own recklessness by the Academy. We do not look kindly on insubordination of any kind. But you as a private citizen of Fleet 8 can still bring charges against her. Is there anything we can do to settle this matter out of court?"

>Say/Do?

>You don't want anything. As a matter of fact you want to put in a good word for Captain Gonzales.

>You don't want anything. All is forgiven.

>A public apology would be nice.

>You want her to be your personal assistant. You think you could help teach her how to improvise as she works on the Zodrak for a little while.

>>910237
>You don't want anything. All is forgiven.
Mixed with
>You want her to be your personal assistant. You think you could help teach her how to improvise as she works on the Zodrak for a little while.
"I've seen people make bad decisions in heated situations before, so I'm not holding any outstanding grudges against her. If she is to be reassigned to Zodrak as I'm suspecting to happen, I have no problem helping her hone her judgement."

>>910237
>You don't want anything. All is forgiven.
Threaten to sue me again though and I'll reverse the polarity of your magnetic shell.

>>910402
>>911006

>Page ten

Going to continue on next thread. Fleet 8 Quest will now be known as Fleet 8 Quest: SRW Q or Super Robot Wars Q. I've decided to go ahead and bite the bullet and turn this into a super robot wars quest.

What does this mean? For those that don't know super robot wars is a series of crossover vidya based on mecha properties. There won't be any fanfiction here though. All the "series" will be original just like Fleet 8, and they are all drawn together to the alien city to battle for the fate of the Earth and beyond.

Warriors throughout time and space are drawn to the shining, phatasmal city inhabited by strange constellation shaped beings. What is the purpose of this city? What is the reason behind its sudden apperance across realities?

The story will still focus on Alex and friends, but expect it to jump to other characters and "series" from time to time. Eventually everyone will be in the same super robot armada.

I'm going to ask the QMs of other mecha based games if I can have their characters and robots cameo as alt continuity versions. I think it would be neat to give SRW Q some star power.

Last question of the thread: Every SRW has an "original" which represents the player and has ties to the "true" bad guy faction of the game. We're going to generate our original.

>Do you want to pilot a real robot or a super robot?

Real Robot: Individual Rigs, Gundams, VOTOMS, Mechwarrior.

Super Robot: Mung, Voltron, Getter Robo, Mazinger Z, Power Ranger Zords

>>911093
SUPAH ROBOTO.

>>911341
You come from an Earth different from Alex's. Your world is in the midst of an alien invasion by giants of light that call themselves the Guardians of the Threshold. They came to Earth when mankind was first developing teleportation technology. At first they seemed benevolent. They warned mankind that they threatened all of reality with their teleporation experiments. They shared their technology. They were peaceful ambassadors from the stars.

But they were lying. The numbers didn't add up. The teleporation technology developed on Earth holds no threat of unraveling reality. A benevolent member of their own race blew the whistle.

They want to keep humanity on Earth. They want to keep humanity on Earth forever. This is how they rule the universe, through benevolent bloodless conflict.

But as you learned in the early days of the Human-Photonoid war they were quite good at bloody conflict as well...


There is a secret behind their conquest of the universe, but even the traitor doesn't know exactly what it is. There is a...place...that can only be accessed through teleporation. A place older than your universe. Its where the Guardians of the Threshold originated. It is their homeland, and yet they have been cut off from it.

They are hellbent on being the first to re-establish contact with their homeland, even if it means keeping the races of the universe separate from each other. No one but the Guardians are worthy of being the ones to know the secret history of the universe.

You are the pilot of a special combat mech equipped with mankind's latest teleportation technology, the Nimoy 8. The war is not going well. They took Berlin and London and New York. Losing this war is a real possibility. Mankind has made rapid advancement in war technology, even beyond the Photonoids, but the Photonoids have raw numbers on their side.

The United States Military has decided that your mech will be equipped with the Nimoy 8 and sent straight to where quantum computers and half-crazed scientists think the Homelands are. Your mission is to essentially hold the Homelands at gunpoint and force the Photonoids to surrender before they overwhelm Earth.

You are:

>A military veteran, chosen because you are the best of the best. You will carry out your mission to the best of your ability.

>Slightly-mad scientist. It takes a certain type of mind to handle the Nimoy 8's quantum navigation system. You're that certain type of mind

>Rookie in over his head. A classic. You didn't sign up for this, but circumstance has forced you into the cockpit anyway.

>>911654
>Rookie in over his head. A classic. You didn't sign up for this, but circumstance has forced you into the cockpit anyway.
I mean, how can we not?

>>911792
You fell into the cockpit during an ambush. You weren't meant for this. You were meant to work computers and place video games when no one was looking. But you find yourself behind the controls of the United State's most powerful Combat Mech designed to keep the Nimoy 8 and yourself alive while you perform the misison. You find yourself inside the:

>Bitter Rose. Thin. Wiry. Elusive. Built for stealth and speed. It is equipped with remote operated "petals" that jam detection frequencies and can be wired to explode or shred an enemy.

>Black Knight: A colossal giant built entirely out of the wonder alloy Dunsanium for defense. It bares a resemblance to a blast furnace with legs and arms with its round torso and squat head. It is armed with an enormous rotating chainsaw-sword and a powerful heat ray built into the chest.

>Project Shepherd: A sleek, shining robot built for offense. Its primary weapon is its cape which can move and transform its physical properties to allow a variety of weaponry from shields to blades to energy cannons. It is armed with numerous sub-weapons including a transforming rifle-spear and energy weapons built into the hands.

>>912214
>>Project Shepherd: A sleek, shining robot built for offense. Its primary weapon is its cape which can move and transform its physical properties to allow a variety of weaponry from shields to blades to energy cannons. It is armed with numerous sub-weapons including a transforming rifle-spear and energy weapons built into the hands.
We Red Joker naoh (though I feel like some other people should get a chance to vote instead of me calling everything).

>>912636
>Super Robot
>Rookie
>Project Shepherd

Anyone can vote to change or confirm any of our selections.

Also, the default name is ANDY and our default mech name is GATECRASHER. These can be changed as well.

What is ANDY's personality like?

>Jaded and cynical. The war with the Photonoids has left Andy deeply wounded. He is prickly and defensive and dislikes talking to people. He doesn't think the Gatecrasher project will really work.

>Optimistic and thoughtful. The war has been terrible but is has opened up so many possibilities that were only fiction before the Photonoids came. There are other worlds. There are aliens. There is hope in all of this and Andy holds on to it with both hands.

>Friendly and Open. Andy wishes there could be peace between the Photonoids and Humanity. The two races have so much to teach one another.

>Angry and Vengeful. They burnt your cities, slaughtered your people, and say its for your own good. They cant' get away with it, and you won't let them. This can only end in death-yours or theirs.

Weighing in on things:

>>911093
>Super Robot
>>911654
>Rookie in over his head. A classic. You didn't sign up for this, but circumstance has forced you into the cockpit anyway.
>>912214
>Project Shepherd: A sleek, shining robot built for offense. Its primary weapon is its cape which can move and transform its physical properties to allow a variety of weaponry from shields to blades to energy cannons. It is armed with numerous sub-weapons including a transforming rifle-spear and energy weapons built into the hands.
>>912753
>Optimistic and thoughtful. The war has been terrible but is has opened up so many possibilities that were only fiction before the Photonoids came. There are other worlds. There are aliens. There is hope in all of this and Andy holds on to it with both hands.

>>912753
>
>Optimistic and thoughtful. The war has been terrible but is has opened up so many possibilities that were only fiction before the Photonoids came. There are other worlds. There are aliens. There is hope in all of this and Andy holds on to it with both hands.